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. No harm intended.
Rating: G
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Author's Note:
Chapter Eighteen – Signals
The crowd applauded wildly when the trio finished the set. The three of them stood together at the front of the stage, smiled, and bowed. Then, while the applause continued, the three of them made their way to a small table near the bar that had been reserved for them.
Hanson came over immediately with a round of drinks, congratulated them, and made Jess an official job offer. Eventually, Hanson got up to tend to his regular patrons. Jess, Quinn, and Guy stayed together at the table talking and laughing.
Several of Will's co-workers had moved to the center table and were trying to talk to Will about his trip, but Will was clearly distracted. He kept glancing nervously towards Jess.
After his co-workers had left, Sydney said, "Will, just go over there and introduce yourself, for God's sake. You haven't been able concentrate on anything else since she stepped on that stage."
"What in the world makes you think she'd be interested in meeting me?" Will asked, playing it up.
Sydney was taken by surprise – considering the situation, she didn't think that he was going to argue with her. Francie stepped in, "Maybe she's not into macho men… uh… I mean maybe she likes sensitive writer types."
Will gave Francie an exasperated frown that could only be fully appreciated by good friends. Sydney, on the other hand, smiled at Francie's jab.
"Seriously, Will," Sydney said, putting her hand on his shoulder in a gesture of support, "You have a lot to offer…"
"Like you're straight," Francie jabbed again.
Sydney did her best to suppress another smile at Will's expense. "You're attractive, funny, intelligent… what woman could resist your charms?"
Francie started looking around the room and pointing at women, "That one… and that one… and that…"
"Francie!" Sydney scolded.
"What?" Francie asked laughing at her own joke, "Will knows I'm kidding."
Will gave Francie a flat stare, "I need another drink…
Waitress?"
*****
Weiss' and Vaughn's 'dates', which were also CIA officers, had gone to the bathroom. Weiss hopped into his date's chair. He put his elbow up on the table and leaned into Vaughn. "So, what do you think?"
Vaughn took a quick drink of his beer. "I think he'd better make a move soon or I'm going to kick his ass." Vaughn sighed. He couldn't wait to get out of the club. The whole evening had become something like a bizarre dream.
"Give the guy a break, Mike," Weiss said. "Look at those two pretty boys that are flanking her. Would you have the balls to go hit on her with those two fawning all over her?" Vaughn considered the two musicians for the first time and decided that Weiss was right.
Both men were tall, at least 6'2", and well built. The drummer looked like he had just come from a photo shoot for Tommy Hilfiger – he wearing a pair of navy slacks and a white button down, had wavy, dark brown, hair, blue eyes and a fresh, Midwest farm boy look.
The "Piano man", as Vaughn had already labeled him, looked more like a professional musician. He also had blue eyes, and wore his light brown hair in one of those trendy, longer styles that made his hair occasionally fall across his eyes. All the better for when he gave the women his sultry look from his place on the stage. He wore a bright blue shirt with matching tie, and a European style suit. This guy knew that he was good looking. He knew that every female in the club was panting for him, and he enjoyed it. He strutted around the stage and would rock his hips seductively. Vaughn disliked everything about the guy.
"So, what can we do about that? Those guys might never leave her side," Vaughn said.
"Then, we've got to get her to leave them," Weiss said like the solution was obvious.
"And how are we supposed to do that? The Agency gave up the mind control experiments in the 60s." Vaughn said sarcastically.
Weiss stood up. "Watch and learn, my friend, watch and learn." Weiss slowly raised his arms up over his head in an enormous stretch. Then he dropped one shoulder down, and then dropped the other shoulder down. He stretched both arms up one more time as he looked in Jess's direction.
Vaughn followed Weiss's eyes to see that Jess was watching Weiss, and nodded slightly – just enough for them to notice, but not enough that anybody else would. Weiss sat back down smiling broadly.
"What was that?" Vaughn asked.
"Keep watching, grasshopper," Weiss replied.
Within a minute, Jess got up from the table and went to the bar, presumably to get another drink. Vaughn looked at Weiss who was wearing a Cheshire cat grin.
"You signaled her to go to the bar?" Vaughn asked incredulously.
"Uh huh," Weiss replied proudly.
"What, did you guys set that up earlier? Did I miss something in the agent-handler SOP?"
Still grinning, Weiss said, "Nope. It's from college." Weiss looked at Vaughn. "You know, you're at a party and you need some help – you're stuck talking to some long-winded bore or you're trying to impress somebody -- we had signals. One stretch means come help me, two stretches means meet me at the bar, and then it just gets more complicated after that."
After a moment Vaughn said, "Lucky for Will you two were so sly in college."
Weiss turned back to look at Will's table, "Let's just hope that he is smart enough to take this opportunity." Vaughn also turned to look towards Will. "And quick too. Jess won't be able to hang around up there for long."
At Will's table, Francie was giving a humorous account of Will's dating history when without warning, Will got up from the table and walked towards the bar.
"Was it something I said?" Francie said laughing.
Sydney watched as Will approached Jess. "Maybe," Sydney said with a smile. "I think he's going to talk to the singer."
Francie and her boyfriend turned around to see Will walk up behind Jess. "You go Will!" Francie said.
Jess felt a soft hand brush against her elbow and come to rest hesitantly on her forearm. She turned around to see Will. He smiled nervously and said "Hi."
Giving him an unsure look, Jess replied, "Hi."
"Uh, I know that… I'm sure that…" Will stumbled nervously. Jess cocked her head to the side and gave him a faint smile. He looked into her eyes and his nervousness faded. He gave her his most charming smile and leaned towards her. As his face got close to her, he moved his hand up to brush her hair away from her ear. He moved his lips close to her ear. Even though under different circumstances Jess would have already had him down on his knees, she couldn't help but smile at his original approach.
"You are an incredibly beautiful woman, and I'm sure that you get hit on all the time," Will whispered. "I want you to know that I'm being totally sincere when I say that I would like to get to know you better… not because of your looks or the way you sing, but because I know you are so much more than those things."
Will paused briefly and placed his hand lightly on the small of her back. "What can I do to convince you that my intentions are pure?"
At first, Jess' eyes were filled with disbelief. But once Will pulled back and she looked into his eyes, she smiled and a slight blush rose on her cheeks. They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity to their sizable audience.
Finally, Jess leaned in to Will, pressed her lips softly to his ear and said, "I'm generally a cynic, but this inventive approach has won you the honor of buying me a cup of coffee at the café across the street. You can detail your intentions there."
Jess pulled back to look at him again. They smiled at each other and Will nodded his consent. Jess turned to the bar and picked up three drinks. "Wait here, okay?" Will nodded again.
Jess walked back to her table and set the drinks on the table and told Quinn and Guy that she was leaving with Will. They were concerned about her leaving with a stranger. She gave them each a friendly kiss on the cheek and said, "You guys are sweet, but don't worry about me. I'm an excellent judge of character."
While Jess was saying good night to Quinn and Guy, Francie and Sydney were softly applauding Will. Will mouthed the words, "Don't wait up."
When Jess rejoined Will, he held out his left arm to her. She looked at him and smiled at his gentlemanly gesture. She put her right hand into the crook of his arm and they walked out of the club.
In the back of the club, Vaughn and Weiss breathed a sigh of relief. After a brief silence, a thought suddenly occurred to Vaughn. "Hey! Did Jess ever use the signals on me?" he asked.
Weiss just looked at Vaughn and laughed.