Disclaimer: Everything Alias is the property of JJ Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, ABC, and Touchstone. Please consider this a humble tribute to the genius of the Alias characters and plotlines. Jess is my only creation. No harm intended.
Rating: PG for mild language, mild sexual situations.
Feedback: Make my day -- please leave a review!
Author's Note: You don't have to be a CIA officer to figure out that I don't know much about LA and it's neighborhoods or roads. Please forgive me again for not researching.
Chapter Sixteen – Goodbye Again"This is already too complicated," Jess said to herself as she drove the gold Maxima into a public parking deck in downtown LA. She parked next to her silver BMW, and switched cars. She would be back in the morning – Saturday morning – to switch cars again, drive back to Vaughn's neighborhood and pretend to move in to the house behind him.
As was her training, Jess made note of the cars and the few people that she saw during the switch. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She drove the BMW out of the parking deck, and proceeded towards Vaughn's house. It would take her at least 20 minutes longer than necessary to get there because she needed to make sure that no one was following her.
When she got to Vaughn's, she found him on the patio with take-out Chinese food and a bottle of wine. As she slid the patio door open, he turned and smiled at her.
He was eating the food directly out of the container using chopsticks. "Sorry, I couldn't wait any longer. I'm starving!"
"It's okay," she said walking over to kiss him. She flopped down on the lounge chair next to him. "I'm not that hungry anyway."
"Oh no you don't!" Vaughn got out of his chair and knelt down beside her. "You are going to eat something!" Jess smiled as Vaughn held out a bite of chicken and lo mein noodles for her. She knew that he was still worried about her weight.
As she took the bite of food Vaughn asked, "What took you so long?"
"I thought I had a tail," Jess responded after swallowing her food.
"What?" Vaughn asked. "Jess, you're not even undercover yet. What makes you think somebody was tailing you?"
"I know, I know… I've been doing this job so long I've become paranoid. But I swear the last couple of days I've seen the same dark blue Town Car way too often to just be coincidence."
Vaughn offered her more food. "How long was it following you tonight?"
"I first noticed him on Crenshaw. He followed me on to the I-10, but I exited early and lost him in the theater traffic."
Vaughn looked at her thoughtfully. He dug back into the food with the chopsticks and brought some up for her. "I don't think that…" Vaughn suddenly lost control of the chopsticks dropping the food down Jess' sweater. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.
Jess laughed as she started pulling the noodles off, "You never were very good with those things!"
Vaughn looked at the mess he had made and smiled mischievously. He put down the box, grabbed both her wrists and pulled her hands towards him. "Here, let me get that for you," he said playfully as he leaned into her, took his tongue and ran it from the top of her tank sweater, up to her neck. Despite her protests that he was tickling her, Vaughn continued. Jess started flailing about so much that Vaughn climbed onto the lounge and pinned her down by straddling her legs. He pulled her hands down to her waist so that he had better access to her. He knew that she could have thrown him off at any time, and the fact that she did not encouraged him all the more.
Feeling her writhe under him as she giggled made his thoughts turn from playing to passion. He started kissing her along the edge of her sweater then slowly moved up towards her neck. He felt the tension in her body change and felt her warmth surround him. When his lips found her ear, he paused, millimeters from her, and whispered, "I need you, Jess."
He pulled back to look at her and saw desire in her eyes. He devoured her with kisses until she begged him to make love to her. He stopped and just gazed at her trying to memorize the way she looked at that moment – the way her lust for him was manifested in her heavy-lidded eyes, in the twitch of her lips, the catch in her breath. Soon she would be gone, and he wanted to remember her this way.
Vaughn pulled her hands up to his face and kissed each one softly then clutched them against his chest. When he finally released her hands, she immediately tugged at his shirt, searching for his bare chest. He accommodated her by taking of his shirt.
As Jess ran her hands along his shoulders and down his chest, he easily undid her button fly jeans. She grabbed his hands. "Mike, what about the neighbors?" she asked breathlessly.
"I don't care about the neighbors," he said as he slid his hands up under her sweater and kissed her until he had taken her breath away entirely. He moved his lips to her ear again and whispered, "Do you really care about the neighbors, Jess?"
Jess was moaning softly. "I don't give a damn about the neighbors," she replied. She put her hands on his face and pulled him into another long kiss.
They made desperate love to each other. They connected so completely that the entire world seemed to disappear. They were the beginning and the end. It was the first time that either one of them had experienced spiritual sex.
*****
Vaughn lay on top of her, resting his head on her chest. They hadn't spoken a word, but it was obvious that they were thinking about the same thing.
"Tell me we're doing the right thing, Jess." Vaughn said softly.
His request surprised her. She had been the one that questioned the op at every step. After a few moments consideration, Jess said, "We're doing the right thing for the company, and we're doing the right thing for Will."
Vaughn was quiet for a while. "And what about us?" he asked.
"I don't know, Mike."
*****
The next day Jess was busy pretending to move into her new house. She took a break and wandered out to the garden. She sat down on a bench under an arbor covered with pink climbing roses. Dwarf lilac bushes, roses in every color, sunflowers, deep purple clematis, and dozens of other flowering plants created an outdoor room. Jess smiled. This was going to be her favorite room.
Or maybe not. Jess looked over at Vaughn's yard. She had seen him and Donovan puttering around. Trimming bushes, cleaning the grill, spraying weed killer. It was highly suspicious. She studied him. He was barefoot and wearing a loose white t-shirt and tan shorts. She enjoyed watching his athletic body as he worked. When he started washing windows, she laughed. "No plans for direct surveillance…" she repeated Vaughn's words from the briefing.
"Hi there!" Jess' thoughts were interrupted by a male voice coming from the yard next to hers. Jess got up and turned to find a man in his late 30s smiling at her.
"Hi," Jess replied.
"So, you're the lucky one that landed this house," he said as she approached him.
"Yes, that would be me."
"I'm Brad Robinson," he said as he extended his hand. "I'm pleased to meet you."
Jess shook his hand as she took note of his features. He was 6' 4", with a sturdy build, deep blue eyes, and nearly black hair. He had an unusually, but not unattractive, pale complexion for a Californian. He was wearing jean shorts, and a colorful bowling shirt that was hanging open, showing off his muscular chest and abs. His cheesy smile was a warning to Jess that he was always on the look out for a new woman.
Taking his hand, Jess said, "I'm Rory McAllister."
Brad continued to hold her hand in his, "Rory, you remind me of my second wife." His eyes traveled over her body.
Jess tried to laugh casually, "Oh, really? How many times have you been married, exactly?"
"Once," he responded with another cheesy smile. Jess forced another girlish laugh and pulled her hand away from him. He suddenly became serious, "I'm recently divorced." Jess studied his sad expression trying to determine if he was sincere or not.
"Don't you believe him. He's been divorced for over three years!" Jess snapped her head around to see Vaughn and Donovan approaching them.
"But, I'm still emotionally vulnerable," Brad said like a bad soap opera actor.
"Hi, I'm Mike Vaughn," he shook her hand.
"Rory McAllister," Jess said playing her part. Donovan had bounded happily up tried to get Jess to pet him.
"I just felt it was my duty to warn you about Brad, here. He's the biggest hound in this neighborhood," Vaughn said.
"You're one to talk, Mike. I've seen what's been going on at your house the past couple of weeks." Vaughn immediately blushed.
Anxious to change the subject, Jess feigned interest in Brad, "So, Brad… no wife, no kids?"
"Just an ex-wife, and no kids -- we were smart enough not to bring kids into the mess that was our married life. How about you, Rory? Husband? Kids?"
"Actually, I'm a widow. And sadly, we never got the chance to have children," Jess said.
Usually finding out that she was a widow was enough to discourage a man from continuing, but it didn't faze Brad. "Boyfriend?" he asked.
Jess discretely glanced at Vaughn and then back at Brad. "No," she said sadly.
*****
That night, Jess was back at Vaughn's for one last night together. He prepared a candlelight supper, and opened an expensive bottle of Cabernet Saivongon They didn't dare sit out on the patio, knowing now that Brad had seen them together. After they made love, Vaughn and Jess were lying naked on the couch. Jess was lying between his legs with her back and head resting on his chest, and his arms wrapped protectively around her.
Jess ran her hands over Vaughn's strong arms, "Mike?"
"Hmmm?" Vaughn replied resting his chin on the top of her head.
"Does Sydney know about us?"
Vaughn was thankful that Jess could not see his face. He cursed himself for not telling her earlier. Now it looked like he was trying to hide something. "Yes, she does."
"How much?"
"She knows that we dated before Raven Song, and that we're dating now."
Jess was quiet for a moment. "She knows about Raven Song?"
"No. She only knows that you were undercover for two years. Nothing more than that," Vaughn replied.
"What about Will? Does he know anything about Raven Song?"
"No."
"Does he know anything about us?" she asked.
"No." They sat in silence for a while. "Do you think we should tell him?" Vaughn asked her.
"I'm not sure. On one hand, it would make things a lot easier for us if he knew – we could be more at ease during briefings and meetings. But on the other, Will might be intimidated knowing that he's putting the moves on your lover. And, we certainly don't want any other agency employees knowing about us right now."
"I know that Will would be discrete about our relationship if we told him. But, the intimidation thing concerns me. He's already intimidated by you and by having to put on an act…" Vaughn was quiet as he thought things through. "Then again, if he knows about us, he is less likely to fall in…" Vaughn stopped abruptly. "Uh, start to believe that the act is real. You know what I mean?"
"Yes, I understand. You're jealous," Jess said playfully.
Vaughn started to protest and then softly said, "Of course I am."
Jess turned serious too, "Mike, maybe you shouldn't come to the club tomorrow night."
"Forget it, I'm going to be there. Now, back to Will. I do want to tell him, but let's wait until he moves into the house. He doesn't need any extra pressure on him while you guys are establishing your relationship."
"Okay," Jess agreed.
The two of them ended up in bed after another round of athletic sex. As they tried to fall asleep, Vaughn rolled over to spoon Jess. "Jess, are you and Will going to, uh, do you think you'll be sleeping in the same bed?"
"Mike, why are you doing this?" Jess asked. "You know as well as I do that it is safer for us to play the relationship out. And that includes sleeping in the same bed."
"I know," Vaughn said softly.
"Do you, Mike?" Jess asked defiantly. " I know that this op is different -- that Will and I don't have to maintain our cover 24 hours a day, but I'm not going to encourage that. This is Will's first undercover assignment. If he gets too comfortable relating to me as an agent, then he's more likely to break cover in public. We can't afford that."
"I'm sorry, Jess. I'm not questioning you. I just… I just needed…"
"Just don't ask for any more detail than what you need as a handler. Okay?" Jess asked.
Vaughn knew that she was giving him advice and not really asking a question. He tried to block out the thought of Jess in bed with Will. "You said that with Raven Song you had a bad feeling – like you weren't going to make it back." Vaughn paused.
"Yeah…?" Jess said softly.
"Do you have any feelings like that with this op?"
Jess hesitated. She decided to tell Vaughn what he wanted to hear. "No," she said. She wasn't lying, exactly. She didn't feel like her life was in danger; but she did have a strong feeling that this op was going to change her life.