"Rêves"
Author: AquarianLady/Waterdancer
Email: jch114@hotmail.com
Feedback: constructive crit or positive feedback, please
Classification: Episode Fic, AU, Action/Adventure with a dash of Romance
Summary: Diana from Recoil is Will's handler
Website: No
Archival: CD. Anyone else please ask
Disclaimer: Here's the thing. I don't own Alias. It's the property of ABC, Touchstone, JJ Abrams, Bad Robot, and anyone else who gets an annual stockholders check.
Rating: PG-13 for language and mild sexual imagery will go to R and NC-17 later.
A/N: For Robin. Also big thanks to Celli for doing the beta for me. This is two parts of a planned four-part story
*******
Will watched as Diana made her way through the crowd towards him. "Mr. MacAllister," one of the older women called to him.
"Ian," he said in response. Hurry up, Diana. He had been subjected to questions about his background for the past hour. He answered all the questions as expected. Questions about where he went to school, how long he had been married, how long had he been an investment banker were beginning to wear on his nerves. Although he had said he was married several times, it didn't stop some of the women from trying to fix him up with their daughters.
"Okay, Ian," the older woman replied. "You say that you've been married for five years, but how do you and your wife keep that romantic fire burning?"
Will's mouth dropped open. This was one question that he hadn't been prepared for. "That--that romantic fire burning?"
"He does it by making love to me every night," he heard Diana say behind him.
He spun around to face her, with his mouth still hanging open. "Honey, you embarrass me."
"Well, Ian, it is all true," she said, standing on her toes to kiss him on the nose. He smiled nervously as he heard her say to the other women, "He's amazing."
"Ladies, I'd like you to meet my wife, Alisha MacAllister." He frowned as he watched the women give Diana the once over and narrow their eyes at her. He smiled as she brushed it off and held out her hand.
"Nice to meet you."
"Did you miss me, honey?" she asked him, running her hand through his hair. He felt a shudder go through his body. Unable to control the thoughts running through his head, he pulled her close and kissed her. She pulled away from him and looked at him in surprise. "I guess you did," she said with a wink. Why did I do that? She's going to kick my ass later, I know it.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to steal my husband away for a little while," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him with her. "We'll be back later."
There was an awkward silence as they walked further away from the crowd. Walking around the corner, she poked him in the side. "Nice job back there, Will."
"You're not mad?" Please, don't be mad.
She laughed and leaned against his shoulder. He took a deep breath and casually smelled her hair. It smelled like honey. "There is no way I could be mad at you for that. It was great. It proved that we are in love. Are you okay with what just happened?"
Am I okay with kissing you and pretending that it doesn't matter? Not really, but I'll take what I can get. "Yeah, I'm okay with it."
"Good," she said. "Now, let me show you what I've noticed."
*****
As they came back around the corner, she leaned against the wall and pulled him to her. He felt heat come from her body as he wrapped his hands around her waist. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as she whispered in his ear. "Did you see that older man with the salt and pepper beard, sitting at the bar?"
"The guy who was leering at you? Yeah, I saw him," he mumbled, surprised at his tone.
"Good. That's Lucas Dano, owner of this resort and half of the other resorts on this island. He's the one that we need to become friendly with. We get in with him, and we are that much closer to our target."
"Alisha!" a male voice called from behind Will.
"And here he is right now," she whispered, brushing his lips with hers. His heart skipped a beat again.
"Mr. Dano! Hello." She waved.
"Is this the workaholic that you're married to?" the older man said, chuckling.
"That's right. My husband, Ian MacAllister," she replied, smiling up at him.
"Your wife, sir, speaks highly of you," said the older man. "I tried to tell her that you were insane to come down here for business, and NOT spend every moment with her, but she was quick to tell me that you two have an understanding marriage."
He squeezed her hand. "That's Alisha for you. She's very direct." He winced as she poked him in the side.
"Indeed. She's told me that you're looking for new ways to spend your clients' money," Dano said, stroking his beard, and taking a puff of his cigar.
"This is true. They got tired of buying real estate on the East Coast and having hospitals name wings after them. They're looking to invest their money in a business here in the Caymans, and I've been sent to see whether or not this area is good for them."
"I assure you, Mr. MacAllister, the Caymans are ripe for investment. I've been here for almost twenty years now. Been very successful."
Will eye's spanned over the enormous hotel and the large pool area where people were laughing, being served by scantily clad men and women.
"I can tell, Mr. Dano," he replied with a low whistle. "I can tell."
"Please call me Lucas," he said, taking another puff of his cigar. "You know, Ian--may I call you Ian?"
Will nodded.
"Okay, Ian. I may just have a perfect opportunity for your clients. Let me buy you a drink and talk to you about it. If that's okay with your wife," he said glancing over Will's shoulder to Diana, who was still leaning against the wall.
Will glanced at him. He wanted to punch him for looking at her that way. There was no doubt in his mind that she could have taken care of him without even breaking a sweat, but he still hated the way Lucas was eyeing her.
"Only if she's sure. We haven't spent that much time together since we've been here," he said. He wanted to hold her again. Remember the mission, Will.
She held her hand up in protest. "Ian, honey. Go talk shop. I can find something else to occupy my time. I'll go for a walk in the village, or I'll take a swim," she said as she pushed herself up from the wall.
She walked up to him and ran her hand lightly across the back of his neck. "Just as long as you promise you're mine later." Will felt a slight twitch where there wasn't supposed to be one. He grabbed her hand, kissed it softly, and looked at her.
"I promise."
He looked at her strangely. Was she blushing?
"You okay?" he asked, voice showing concern.
"I'm fine," she mumbled. "I'll see you later."
***
Diana walked quickly from the two men and ducked into the hotel lobby. Her face was still hot from Will's kiss as she stepped into the elevator and pressed their floor number.
"Agent Rochelle, you've told me that you were not attached to Mr. Tippin. Please explain to me why you felt it was necessary to get involved in Romania?"
"It's simple, Dr. Barnett, he needed my help," she replied stoically.
"There were other agents there, but you felt it necessary to rescue him yourself," Barnett looked down at the case file.
"That's correct."
"And you don't find that unusual?" The doctor looked at her quizzically. "You've been a handler for three other agents, Agent Rochelle, and never have you gone in personally to assist them when they were in trouble."
"To answer your first question, Dr. Barnett: I don't find my going in to help unusual or odd. He was in trouble, and needed help. I'm just grateful that I was able to provide it. As far as those other agents are concerned, we're talking about agents who combined have over a decade of experience. Will had barely been in for a year, and then he's sent to Romania!" she replied, throwing her hands up.
"We deemed him ready," the doctor said, frowning, looking down at his open file that was spread on her desk. "I had talked to him and his tests proved that he was ready."
"Fuck your tests!" Diana yelled. The doctor's eyes widened in shock. Diana sank back in the chair. "I'm sorry, Dr. Barnett, that was inexcusable. It's—It's just that you weren't there. You didn't hear it in his voice. He needed me."
Dr. Barnett cleared her throat, and said, "Agent Rochelle, under normal circumstances, I would recommend that you be removed as Mr. Tippin's handler. Your actions in Romania were reckless and you put in three other agents in danger along with Mr. Tippin. You are too attached to him and he to you. However, if I were to recommend your removal, it might prove detrimental to his ability to perform his job responsibilities."
She glanced at the open file. "Consider this a warning. If I receive any more reports of your inappropriate behavior, you're done as Mr. Tippin's handler and as an agent. Have a good day."
"Well, Doctor, you'd have me fired if you knew what I was feeling now," she mumbled to no one in particular as she opened the door. "A simple operation." What she was feeling could just be attributed to working in close contact with someone, but she knew that wasn't the case. She had done ops like this before, posing as someone's wife or lover, and it was okay. It was just a job, nothing ever happened, but when she was with Will, there was an aura of excitement that surrounded them. She didn't know if it was the way she caught him looking at her sometimes or how appreciative he seemed to be after Romania, but things had changed.
She grabbed the Walkman off the TV and pressed record. She walked out to the balcony and turned towards the bar where Will and Lucas were sitting. "Now, let's see what I can hear."
***
"Dammit!" she cursed as turned the tape recorder off. As much as he had tried, Will had been unable to get any pertinent information from Lucas. "Cagey bastard," she muttered under her breath.
She looked over her shoulder as she heard the door open. "I'm sorry," he said as he sat down in the chair next to her.
"Don't worry about it."
"I had him right there, and then I faltered." He looked at the setting sun.
She sat the tape recorder on the table, and laid her hands out. "Hey. It happens to the best of us. From what I can tell, he trusts you, and that's good, Will."
"If you're sure," he said, tracing the inside of her palm. She felt her cheeks grow hot.
"I'm sure, Will," she mumbled as she pulled her hand away. "What about the party he mentioned?"
"He invited us-- or rather, Ian and Alisha--to a party at the Azure bar, allegedly to talk more business."
"What did you think as you talked to him? Anything seem out of place with him?" She sighed inwardly. She felt silly for quizzing him like this while on a mission, but in order to keep Barnett happy she had to do it.
"I felt that he was feeling me out, mentally verifying what I told him. He asked a lot about our marr—I mean Ian and Alisha's marriage." He shook his head at the mistake. "Sorry."
"It's okay," she said softly. "It's expected. What else?"
"There were two men sitting behind us, and one just outside the lounge area. It was the same man who was following you."
"Did he say anything to you?"
"No, he just watched me. He did talk to Lucas before we went in, but that was that."
She pulled her sunglasses from on top of her head, and placed them back on her nose. "Good. I know that it doesn't seem like a lot, but what you've told me has helped."
He leaned forward like a eager student. "How so?"
"Well, from what I can tell, Lucas is full of hot air. A lot of what he said to you is fluff that's manufactured for businessmen to rope them in. He's achieved a lot of these properties not because he's a shrewd businessman but because of his dealings with Marek. Those three men you saw are telling me that even though Lucas isn't as important as Marek, he's still being watched. We're going to have to be very careful in what we do when we're around Lucas," she said as she stood up from the table.
She turned to walk towards the door that led back into the suite. "What time does this party start?" she said over her shoulder.
"9:00 P.M."
She looked at her watch. "That gives us three hours to get ready. I'm going to try and get some sleep. You should too, Will. You look like you haven't slept in days."
***
Will sat back on the couch and sighed. Every time he closed his eyes, the memory of his latest dream returned. It began with Diana muttering about how he was the man that she'd been waiting for, and concluded with them having fantastic sex. Too bad it was only in my mind.
Convinced that he wasn't going to get any sleep, he stood up from the couch and walked over the mini refrigerator to retrieve a bottle of water. Each time he tried to think about the mission, his mind drifted back to that initial kiss, and the way she looked at him after he kissed her hand. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that she had been blushing. 'It's all a part of the cover,' a small voice said in his mind. "Right. All a part of the cover," he muttered, taking another sip.
"Will," a voice said from behind him.
Will turned around and almost dropped his bottle. In front of him, Diana stood there, dressed in a black slip dress that clung everywhere it was supposed to. He knew that he had to look like one of those cartoon characters whose jaws dropped to the ground, tongue unfurled like long, red carpets.
"Will," she repeated, looking at him strangely. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head to clear the thoughts of what she was wearing underneath the dress. "Hopefully, nothing," another tiny voice said in his head. His pulse quickened at the thought.
Clearing his throat, he replied, "You look amazing, Diana. I know that's improper to say that, because of our working relationship, but honestly, you look beautiful. Really."
His heart warmed as she graced him with a bright smile. "Thank you, Will," she said shyly.
She walked over to him, and he felt as if his heart would stop. She handed him a necklace. "Do you mind?" She turned around, lifting her hair up to expose her neck.
He shook his head again against an image of him licking her neck and massaging her breasts through that thin material. I have to stop fantasizing about her. 'Stay away from her'. That's all I had to do, but I'm here right now imagining myself licking her neck, and hearing her moan my name.
"There. You're all set," he mumbled as he fastened the clasp on the necklace. He thought he heard her sigh as he let his hand run across her left shoulder blade. "I'm—I'm sorry."
"Stop apologizing, Will. Your hand was just a little cold, that's all. I'm fine," she said, looking at him over her shoulder. She looked at him for a minute longer before turning away. "We should go."