Tangled Lies
by Tayce Skye
* * *
Rating: PG-ish.
Spoilers: All of Season 1 and maybe the first episode or two of Season 2 (based on info from spoiler sites).
Summary: Post ATY. Will be AU after Season 2 starts. My version of what might happen in (and after) Taipei. Last time on "Tangled Lies"... Katrina's secret is out. She explains herself to Michael, but Sydney was listening too.
Pairings: None really.
Distribution: Sure, but don't forget to email me first at teague1350@hotmail.com. I'd also appreciate a link.
Disclaimer: I own this story along with Katrina Hunt, Lillian Li, and Matthew Hunt/Matthieu Delorme. Alias is not mine. It belongs to JJ Abrams, Bad Robot, ABC, etc. No copyright infringement was intended.
* * * * *
It was her again. Five-foot-three. Probably less than one hundred pounds. The Cat.
Sydney was caught, hand in the toolbox. The small figure approached in a blur of black and knocked her radio away. It clattered uselessly against the hard, concrete walls, smashing into small pieces. Leaping to her feet, Sydney blocked a kick aimed at her head.
The Cat's attack was mechanical, almost daring the agent to strike. It was a game. Sydney grinned and feigned a roundhouse. Her fist shot out, attempting to land on The Cat's veiled jaw. To Sydney's surprise, her opponent had been expecting it and used her momentum against her. In one dizzying move, Syd was flat on her back. The gray ceiling seemed to swirl.
A half-hidden face came into focus. Green eyes regarded her carefully. The Cat's head swiveled, suddenly, to the corridor. Footsteps. It sounded like thousands of them.
The CIA's backup team! Sydney remembered, finally, about Vaughn telling her that this time there would be Plan B. First, she would infiltrate the compound, planting bugs and gathering intel. If her presence was detected, the backup team would enter and initiate a takeover. And in they came.
Vaughn led the group and stopped short when he saw Sydney on the floor.
"Syd! Are you alright?" She looked around. The Cat had escaped.
"Yeah. Let's go."
* * *
Sydney ran a finger over the glass desk, eyes fixated on a photo... of her, at age 7. So this was Irina's office. It was stark and sterile. The wooden picture frame acted as the only splash of warmth. This was where Mommy worked.
Her airway tightened, to her disgust. Still, Sydney couldn't help wondering. Did Mom really care about me? Or did she put this here on purpose, knowing I would see it? Does she think about me every day, like I think about her? Is she even capable of loving me?
She shook her head, trying to rid her brain of these desperate deliberations. It would be best to take things one at a time.
Vaughn and the other agents had scoured the place. It had been abandoned, apparently. Khasinau had known that they were coming. The file cabinets were empty and the computers had been wiped of data. Irina's office was the last room. Sydney wanted to search it herself.
She opened a drawer, gripping its cold, metal handle tightly. Several paperclips and a stapler. Another compartment revealed a box of tissues, some Advil, and three cough drops. Apparently, Irina had a cold the last time she was here. Guess even The Man wasn't invincible to viruses, she mused.
Sydney sighed, looking around the room warily. There was absolutely nothing here. Then, she saw it. Wedged between two classic novels was a thick file. It came out with a quick jerk. The label read "KAT". Inside was a large collection of surveillance photographs.
* * *
Michael ran a hand through his hair. Perhaps Sydney was having better luck. The team hadn't recovered a single item of significance. Irina probably tipped her employees off, leading the CIA on a wild goose chase.
"Vaughn!" It was Syd's voice, urgently calling from her mother's office. He immediately found her, visibly relaxing when she appeared to be fine. That woman almost gave him a heart attack.
"I found this file. Look, I think it's The Cat!"
He examined the black and white pictures. A young woman, back towards the camera, aiming her gun at two bulky guards. The same girl, engaged in a passionate liplock with an unidentified man. Caressing the man's face... Sark's face.
"So she really was involved with that son of a bitch," Michael observed. Sydney smirked.
"There's more. It's like fuzzy porn."
Bare bodies. Blurry faces. Intertwined limbs. Katrina Hunt, head thrown back in ecstasy.
"No!"
* * *
She collapsed onto the bed, inhaling the scent of her shampoo on the pillow. Fighting Sydney was always fun. Katrina just hoped that Michael's agent wasn't too badly hurt this time.
The trips to and from Helsinki were uneventful, no government flunkies breathing down her neck. It was almost too easy. Not that it mattered now. She was home after all, and Michael wouldn't suspect a thing. The guilt gnawing away at her stomach would pass soon enough. Maybe it was hunger. Yes, a sandwich would be nice.
Katrina padded into the kitchen, kneading her tired muscles. She was too young for the aching that followed these trips. Then again, most people never got this amount of excitement, danger, and ass kicking, no matter how long they lived. Time for large dose of painkillers.
Settling on the couch with the sandwich and some milk, along with a certain wrinkly canine, she turned on the television. Homer Simpson's face filled the screen. That's when the door burst open. Michael came storming in.
"The business trip didn't go well, I take it." Her cousin glared. "Mike, calm down. Wanna explain?"
"Explain this." A thick manila folder slapped the coffee table. It's contents slid out. Katrina paled, recognizing the various positions that the photos caught her in. She then proceeded to throw up all over Michael's new suit.
* * *
He was jolted out of his blinding rage by the... well, it's best not to go into details. Ten minutes later, Michael was still scrubbing viciously at the ruined pants, attacking them with the anger that he had intended to aim at Katrina. By now, the blue material was giving way and he stuffed his clothing into a trash bag.
After cleaning up, he went to check on Katrina. She had retreated, mortified, after the vomiting incident. Michael wasn't been thinking clearly and hadn't bother to chase after her. Now, he was looking into an empty bedroom, not completely astonished by her departure.
Did he just release a teen transgressor onto an unsuspecting world?
* * *
Katrina:
It's over.
I tried so hard to protect him from this. From my other life. And now everything has come back to bite me on the ass. He had pictures for Christ's sake. Of me. And David.
Oh, god. David.
One thing at a time. One thing at a time.
I ran. I ran away like I always did. Away from Michael, in this case. And I ended up at Paulie's Pizza Palace.
We came here once a week. Michael and I. Sometimes Eric joined us. The aromas that drifted from the kitchen were intoxicating. Baking bread, sweet herbs, tangy sauce, simmering meat. We would come to laugh, to stuff our faces. To just enjoy each other's company.
Paulie Jr. spotted me right away. I had become one of the regulars and he knew to sit me at the booth directly in front of the emergency exit. He didn't even ask were Mike was, didn't need to know what beverage I wanted. Sometimes I sat here just to think.
Michael found me, fifteen minutes after I had gone. He didn't say a word, just hauled me out of there and into his car. I knew where we were headed. To the warehouse.
It was logical, the only safe place we could talk. Of course, he didn't know that I knew it even existed.
My whole existence is over. And Mike's too, if anyone else finds out.
Then it finally hits me, what I have to do. For probably the first time in my life, it's absolutely imperative that I tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but. Deceit came easily. This... this would be much, much harder.
* * *
They got to the warehouse in record time. Michael swept the place for bugs, trying to control the feelings of betrayal that threatened to overtake him.
"Start talking, Trin. That is your name, right?"
Katrina cringed. "Mike--"
"Just tell me the truth! Are you even related to me?"
"Would you believe it if I said yes? I haven't been completely honest, Michael, but you have to trust me now. I never wanted to hurt you!"
"Bull."
"Then why the hell don't you just shoot me?" Tears streaked her face. His heart constricted.
"I... don't know."
"Either listen to what I have to say or kill me. What's it going to be?"
Michael's hand went automatically to the gun. He lifted it slowly and fired off the rounds...
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Katrina's eyes widened in shock, her lips a rose-red circle. The girl's small frame jerked at each crack.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
...at a group of wooden crates. Bullets gone, Michael dropped his weapon on the unforgiving cement.
"That wasn't very smart," she said, dazed. His mouth pressed together in a thin line before parting.
"I'm willing to listen."
* * *
Michael:
I had to. This was Uncle Matt's daughter. I had to give her one last chance.
And I almost wish I didn't.
Turns out, I don't know anything about Matt at all.
He worked for FTL. Katrina says that the organization tricked him, saying they were a covert division of CDECE, the French version of the CIA. I immediately thought of Sydney and SD-6's lies.
Lillian Li, Katrina's mother, was a spy too. In fact, she was youngest sister of Quan Li. The assassinated leader of the now-defunct FTL. The one that Sark killed in broad daylight. Yeah, that's right. Katrina's little boyfriend murdered her uncle.
Growing up, I wanted to be a pilot. Just like Uncle Matt. Except, he never actually flew planes. While my mother and I thought he was jetting off to Boston or Miami, he was actually stealing sensitive information from the United States. I guess I did end up like Uncle Matt anyway.
He disappeared without a trace, twenty years ago. And was reborn as Matthew Hunt. He did it to protect us. So we wouldn't be associated with him. It's terrifying, now that I think about it. FTL or some other agency could have killed us if Uncle Matt pissed them off. That's why he left. To protect Mom and me.
There's another thing that scares me. Matt and Lillian. They had a forbidden relationship. FTL found out and had them killed. If I follow in my uncle's footsteps, if I have an affair with a fellow agent, will I die too? And Sydney? His life almost mirrors mine. What if the consequences are the same?
I can't think about Syd right now. Back in Helsinki, I convinced her not to tell anyone about the pictures, but she probably told Jack. He knows about Katrina. He'll tell Devlin.
This whole mess is because of my cousin. Uncle Matt's daughter. The Cat. Well, not The Cat. It's almost funny. See, Katrina never had a codename. Her employers called her "Kat" for short and some idiot from SD-6 heard wrong. Yeah, it's almost funny.
Except, it's not.
* * *
Michael massaged his temples. "So, how exactly did you get involved in espionage?"
"Same as my mom. I was learning about the spy game before I could even walk. It's the Li family business. Except, I didn't train with FTL for very long. K-Directorate staged a takeover back in 1990. They held many agents hostage and decided to take me along for the ride. You know Anna Espinosa?" Katrina asked.
"All too well."
"That's my former mentor. I was at K-Directorate for ten years. When I was fifteen, Irina recruited me and--" she stopped abruptly, glancing around the warehouse. Katrina smiled, pupils focused on the tower of boxes to her left.
"You can come out now, Sydney."
* * * * *
Author's Note: I apologize for the long... long... long wait. The next chapter may not be up for a while. My schedule is extremely hectic at the moment. Sorry everyone!
Questions, comments, suggestions, speculation, constructive criticism... I'll take what I can get. I really appreciate all the feedback!
Shelly and Jannah, thank you for being so patient! And for your wonderful beta-ing.
Also, check out Shelly's Alias fic, "Lost", under her pen name, Songbird. I'm so darn proud! Would've plugged it sooner, but someone forgot to tell me that it existed. I hadn't read any Alias fan fiction for a while and then, voila! My beta has a story out and it's bloody brilliant.