I apologise to everyone who has waited so long on this chapter. It's also
very short, because I'm working on the action sequences right now. Please
forgive the shortness, and the lack of real content. There's far too much
information in this story I can't let out yet. I hope you will stick with
it for the time being until I have everything sorted out . Thanks again
for your continued support, and please give feedback. Eckle.
Hiding
Chapter Thirteen
By Eckle Feckle
"Mike, we have a problem." Eric Weiss leaned against the doorframe, clutching something in his hand. Vaughn pulled himself away from Sydney, and reached over, pulling the object free. It was a yo-yo.
"Eric.?" Weiss closed his eyes and sighed. "What's going on?"
"The string on my yo-yo broke."
"I can see that, but what are you doing here, and how did you find us?" Vaughn stepped up, into the house with Sydney following close behind. "How did you know where we'd be."
"Mike, I'm your best friend. Of course I know where to find you." Vaughn looked at him, half annoyed, half touched at his concern. "I had a feeling. plus the tracking device on your mobile phone came in handy."
"You were tracking me?" His eyes opened in surprise. "I told you to let us disappear."
"I know, but I had to know where to find you incase something really went wrong." He moved into the living room, and gestured to the suitcases against the kitchen bar. "I've to come and stay with you guys until this is sorted out. We've finally got a lead on the mole. Looks like he really was inside the Agency after all. Works in the offices below us. Who would've guessed, eh?"
Sydney took off her coat, and laid it over the sofa. "So, you're staying with us until the mole is caught?" Weiss nodded, and Sydney's heart sank. "Oh." She couldn't help but steal a glance at Vaughn, who was glaring intently at his best friend. She could almost see the smoke escaping from his ears. Sydney cleared her throat, and looked back at Eric, who seemed to have shrunk two inches under Vaughn's glare. "There's a spare bedroom in the back, isn't there Vaughn?"
"Why did they send you up here, Eric?"
"They told me to keep an eye out for you. They thought you two might be a little.." He looked down at his feet, which had decided to move around nervously on their own. ".distracted. They said a level head was needed. Devlin told me to find you, and to stay until things had been dealt with."
"So what's the ID on this mole?" Sydney was more interested in what had happened in LA, than having Eric ask about what had happened in the cabin. How do you phrase heightened sexual tension when briefing another agent? "You said they were inside the Agency. Who was it?"
"They think it was a guy from the finance department. We'd already found another agent dead a few weeks ago. They worked for the finance department too. All fingers point to a guy called Aitken."
Vaughn inhaled sharply while Eric continued.
"Thomas Aitken." Eric was watching his friend intently. He had a feeling he had heard of Aitken before. Now his suspicions were confirmed, he could talk freely. "You know him, don't you Mike. That's the guy you knew in college."
"Yeah." He looked at Sydney, who had already pieced everything together. "Aitken is."
"I know. What I don't know is why he's doing this." She reached up to her left ear, and tugged at the ruby earring she was wearing. It came out easily. Weiss rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"When did you get here, Agent Weiss?"
"Call me Eric. I arrived ten minutes ago."
Vaughn noticed the worry lines around his friends eyes. "You don't look like you've slept in a few days. Want me to set up your room?"
"I'll do it, it's no problem." Sydney disappeared from the room, leaving Vaughn watching as his friend reached down and pulled open a briefcase sitting on a chair behind him. He pulled out two manila folders, and handed them to Vaughn.
"This is all the information we could pull up on Aitken. There isn't very much there that would point to him being the mole, but there were reports a few months ago of him going a little wacko in the office downstairs. Psychiatric reports were filed, and he was placed under surveillance. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, until he disappeared over a month ago. No-one knew where he went, but when we finally found out that the dead accountant from the office had been in contact with him, we put two and two together. Aitken killed that other guy we thought was the mole. We think he found out something he shouldn't have, and Aitken had to get rid of him. This guy's a serious piece of work, Mike. We have no idea why he would threaten Sydney's cover. He's nothing to do with SD-6. There's no way he could have found out about it, unless he was working for them already."
Eric finally took a breath, and looked up to find Sydney standing in the doorway. "So we have an ID, and a location."
"Location?" Weiss looked up, confusion and tiredness. He still clutched his yo-yo. "You know where he is?"
"We just had dinner with him." Vaughn stated calmly, and rubbed his forehead roughly. "We were in his house with his family, and his friends. And Marie."
"Marie?" Weiss' eyes widened. "As in the Marie you were head over heels for? The same Marie that burned you out?"
"Yeah, that one." He sighed loudly, and looked at his friend again. "We've got to do something. They obviously know who we are, and why we're here."
"We're going to have to play dumb. They think we don't have a clue what's going on. We're just going to have to keep playing their game until we can get some more information, and see what's behind the threat." Sydney seemed to bring everyone back to reality. Weiss nodded.
"We shouldn't get in touch with the Agency just yet. He'll have a source back there, too. No-one knows I'm here except Devlin, and he doesn't even know where I am. We're going to have to do this one by ourselves." Eric yawned. "I don't think we're in any danger just yet, as long as we stay playing dumb. I'll keep out of sight."
Sydney was still thinking about dinner. "So he must have people working for him all over the place, then."
"Basically, yes. He's got at least one accomplice we know of. Goes by the name Brad White."
"Could be the Bradley that was sleazing over you." Vaughn didn't bother to look up at Sydney, but she knew there was a sparkle of jealousy in his voice. Even Eric sensed it.
"Not a fan, then?"
"Not then, and especially not now." He sat back, and handed the files to Sydney, who read through them quickly. The three sat in silence for a few moments, processing all that had just happened.
"You're room's all set up, Agent We."
"Call me Eric, since we're going to be living together for a little while."
"Eric." She smiled, and nodded to him as he got up, and headed out the door.
"We can talk properly in the morning. G'Night."
"Eric." Vaughn shouted to him. He popped his head in the doorway again. "Why don't you just tie the string of your yo-yo back together?"
"You don't get a smooth movement then. It's ok, though. I've got a spare." He disappeared out the door, and into the back room.
If Vaughn wasn't in such a heavy mood, he would've laughed at his friend. Sydney yawned from the doorway, and walked over to Vaughn. He shifted over in the sofa, to give Sydney a seat. The rest of the living room had been taken over by the masses of equipment Eric had shipped over to the cabin. Sydney sat down next to him, her shoulder touching his.
"I'm really sorry about all of this." Vaughn wanted to apologise, to make Sydney understand that he didn't want any of this to happen. "I didn't know."
"This is nothing to do with you. Aitken is just wanting some attention, I'm sure. We'll sort it out in the morning, and get a plan together." Sydney closed her eyes, and yawned again. Vaughn put his arm around her, and pulled her close. She snuggled her head under his chin, and inhaled the scent of his aftershave. She could feel the bowtie he was wearing softly on her cheek.
"Vaughn." She pulled away from him, alarm lighting her face. "Take off your tuxedo. Now!"
He looked at her strangely, then down at his tuxedo. Could she be this forward? It suddenly dawned on him. "Oh." He stood up, and pulled his jacket off, as Sydney undone the buttons on his shirt. He was half way through undressing, when a familiar voice piped up from the hall.
"Uh.. disturbing anything, am I?"
"No, we're just getting rid of the tuxedo." Vaughn offered some way of explanation, but it fell on deaf ears as Eric winked at his friend, and disappeared again.
He pulled off the shirt, just as Sydney stood back. She quickly turned her back to him, and cleared her throat to stop the high pitched 'eep' from escaping. Suddenly, her face was getting hot again.
"I'm going to bed." She couldn't turn round to face him, for fear that she would betray herself and do something she knew she wouldn't' regret. Vaughn was too busy checking each item of clothing for bugs to notice Sydney slowly turn around, and face him again. The colour of her cheeks was intensifying as she witnessed him standing two feet away wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers. She could barely contain herself, as he looked up at her.
"No bugs, as far as I can tell."
Sydney didn't manage to hear what he said, as the sound of blood rushing to her ears was enough to drown all background noise out. She couldn't take her eyes of him, as he reached down to pick up the belt he had dropped onto the floor. She had to think of something else. Eric Weiss was in the back room.
She had to think of anything else, apart from her half naked handler standing in front of her, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, and. a black bow tie. There were no words she could trust to form properly, so she just reached over, and tugged on the bow tie, pulling it free from around his neck.
"You forgot about the bow tie."
"No I didn't." He gave her a cheeky grin, and looked down at his feet, suddenly giving the impression he was now shy. "I always wanted to be a chippendale."
****
Chapter 14 - before the end of September. Look out for some action sequences for a change!
Hiding
Chapter Thirteen
By Eckle Feckle
"Mike, we have a problem." Eric Weiss leaned against the doorframe, clutching something in his hand. Vaughn pulled himself away from Sydney, and reached over, pulling the object free. It was a yo-yo.
"Eric.?" Weiss closed his eyes and sighed. "What's going on?"
"The string on my yo-yo broke."
"I can see that, but what are you doing here, and how did you find us?" Vaughn stepped up, into the house with Sydney following close behind. "How did you know where we'd be."
"Mike, I'm your best friend. Of course I know where to find you." Vaughn looked at him, half annoyed, half touched at his concern. "I had a feeling. plus the tracking device on your mobile phone came in handy."
"You were tracking me?" His eyes opened in surprise. "I told you to let us disappear."
"I know, but I had to know where to find you incase something really went wrong." He moved into the living room, and gestured to the suitcases against the kitchen bar. "I've to come and stay with you guys until this is sorted out. We've finally got a lead on the mole. Looks like he really was inside the Agency after all. Works in the offices below us. Who would've guessed, eh?"
Sydney took off her coat, and laid it over the sofa. "So, you're staying with us until the mole is caught?" Weiss nodded, and Sydney's heart sank. "Oh." She couldn't help but steal a glance at Vaughn, who was glaring intently at his best friend. She could almost see the smoke escaping from his ears. Sydney cleared her throat, and looked back at Eric, who seemed to have shrunk two inches under Vaughn's glare. "There's a spare bedroom in the back, isn't there Vaughn?"
"Why did they send you up here, Eric?"
"They told me to keep an eye out for you. They thought you two might be a little.." He looked down at his feet, which had decided to move around nervously on their own. ".distracted. They said a level head was needed. Devlin told me to find you, and to stay until things had been dealt with."
"So what's the ID on this mole?" Sydney was more interested in what had happened in LA, than having Eric ask about what had happened in the cabin. How do you phrase heightened sexual tension when briefing another agent? "You said they were inside the Agency. Who was it?"
"They think it was a guy from the finance department. We'd already found another agent dead a few weeks ago. They worked for the finance department too. All fingers point to a guy called Aitken."
Vaughn inhaled sharply while Eric continued.
"Thomas Aitken." Eric was watching his friend intently. He had a feeling he had heard of Aitken before. Now his suspicions were confirmed, he could talk freely. "You know him, don't you Mike. That's the guy you knew in college."
"Yeah." He looked at Sydney, who had already pieced everything together. "Aitken is."
"I know. What I don't know is why he's doing this." She reached up to her left ear, and tugged at the ruby earring she was wearing. It came out easily. Weiss rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"When did you get here, Agent Weiss?"
"Call me Eric. I arrived ten minutes ago."
Vaughn noticed the worry lines around his friends eyes. "You don't look like you've slept in a few days. Want me to set up your room?"
"I'll do it, it's no problem." Sydney disappeared from the room, leaving Vaughn watching as his friend reached down and pulled open a briefcase sitting on a chair behind him. He pulled out two manila folders, and handed them to Vaughn.
"This is all the information we could pull up on Aitken. There isn't very much there that would point to him being the mole, but there were reports a few months ago of him going a little wacko in the office downstairs. Psychiatric reports were filed, and he was placed under surveillance. Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, until he disappeared over a month ago. No-one knew where he went, but when we finally found out that the dead accountant from the office had been in contact with him, we put two and two together. Aitken killed that other guy we thought was the mole. We think he found out something he shouldn't have, and Aitken had to get rid of him. This guy's a serious piece of work, Mike. We have no idea why he would threaten Sydney's cover. He's nothing to do with SD-6. There's no way he could have found out about it, unless he was working for them already."
Eric finally took a breath, and looked up to find Sydney standing in the doorway. "So we have an ID, and a location."
"Location?" Weiss looked up, confusion and tiredness. He still clutched his yo-yo. "You know where he is?"
"We just had dinner with him." Vaughn stated calmly, and rubbed his forehead roughly. "We were in his house with his family, and his friends. And Marie."
"Marie?" Weiss' eyes widened. "As in the Marie you were head over heels for? The same Marie that burned you out?"
"Yeah, that one." He sighed loudly, and looked at his friend again. "We've got to do something. They obviously know who we are, and why we're here."
"We're going to have to play dumb. They think we don't have a clue what's going on. We're just going to have to keep playing their game until we can get some more information, and see what's behind the threat." Sydney seemed to bring everyone back to reality. Weiss nodded.
"We shouldn't get in touch with the Agency just yet. He'll have a source back there, too. No-one knows I'm here except Devlin, and he doesn't even know where I am. We're going to have to do this one by ourselves." Eric yawned. "I don't think we're in any danger just yet, as long as we stay playing dumb. I'll keep out of sight."
Sydney was still thinking about dinner. "So he must have people working for him all over the place, then."
"Basically, yes. He's got at least one accomplice we know of. Goes by the name Brad White."
"Could be the Bradley that was sleazing over you." Vaughn didn't bother to look up at Sydney, but she knew there was a sparkle of jealousy in his voice. Even Eric sensed it.
"Not a fan, then?"
"Not then, and especially not now." He sat back, and handed the files to Sydney, who read through them quickly. The three sat in silence for a few moments, processing all that had just happened.
"You're room's all set up, Agent We."
"Call me Eric, since we're going to be living together for a little while."
"Eric." She smiled, and nodded to him as he got up, and headed out the door.
"We can talk properly in the morning. G'Night."
"Eric." Vaughn shouted to him. He popped his head in the doorway again. "Why don't you just tie the string of your yo-yo back together?"
"You don't get a smooth movement then. It's ok, though. I've got a spare." He disappeared out the door, and into the back room.
If Vaughn wasn't in such a heavy mood, he would've laughed at his friend. Sydney yawned from the doorway, and walked over to Vaughn. He shifted over in the sofa, to give Sydney a seat. The rest of the living room had been taken over by the masses of equipment Eric had shipped over to the cabin. Sydney sat down next to him, her shoulder touching his.
"I'm really sorry about all of this." Vaughn wanted to apologise, to make Sydney understand that he didn't want any of this to happen. "I didn't know."
"This is nothing to do with you. Aitken is just wanting some attention, I'm sure. We'll sort it out in the morning, and get a plan together." Sydney closed her eyes, and yawned again. Vaughn put his arm around her, and pulled her close. She snuggled her head under his chin, and inhaled the scent of his aftershave. She could feel the bowtie he was wearing softly on her cheek.
"Vaughn." She pulled away from him, alarm lighting her face. "Take off your tuxedo. Now!"
He looked at her strangely, then down at his tuxedo. Could she be this forward? It suddenly dawned on him. "Oh." He stood up, and pulled his jacket off, as Sydney undone the buttons on his shirt. He was half way through undressing, when a familiar voice piped up from the hall.
"Uh.. disturbing anything, am I?"
"No, we're just getting rid of the tuxedo." Vaughn offered some way of explanation, but it fell on deaf ears as Eric winked at his friend, and disappeared again.
He pulled off the shirt, just as Sydney stood back. She quickly turned her back to him, and cleared her throat to stop the high pitched 'eep' from escaping. Suddenly, her face was getting hot again.
"I'm going to bed." She couldn't turn round to face him, for fear that she would betray herself and do something she knew she wouldn't' regret. Vaughn was too busy checking each item of clothing for bugs to notice Sydney slowly turn around, and face him again. The colour of her cheeks was intensifying as she witnessed him standing two feet away wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers. She could barely contain herself, as he looked up at her.
"No bugs, as far as I can tell."
Sydney didn't manage to hear what he said, as the sound of blood rushing to her ears was enough to drown all background noise out. She couldn't take her eyes of him, as he reached down to pick up the belt he had dropped onto the floor. She had to think of something else. Eric Weiss was in the back room.
She had to think of anything else, apart from her half naked handler standing in front of her, wearing nothing but a pair of black boxers, and. a black bow tie. There were no words she could trust to form properly, so she just reached over, and tugged on the bow tie, pulling it free from around his neck.
"You forgot about the bow tie."
"No I didn't." He gave her a cheeky grin, and looked down at his feet, suddenly giving the impression he was now shy. "I always wanted to be a chippendale."
****
Chapter 14 - before the end of September. Look out for some action sequences for a change!