Title: Coming to Terms (Chapter 6)
Author: UConn Fan (Michele)
E-Mail: LoveUConnBasketball@yahoo.com
Authors Note:
Mike Woodward played in a UConn exhibition came a few days ago and had ONE WHOLE POINT! He's so cute, even if he's a bench warmer . . :)
Travis Knight is cute too, and last night the Knicks had their first win of the season! YAY! :) I was so happy!
Yankees pitcher Steve Karsay has surgery today, keep your fingers crossed for him! :)
I LOVE my reviewers, please keep it up! I'm slightly uncertain about this chapter, so if you could respond I'd love you all forever! Hey, seriously, if anyone wants to read my original fiction, just ask. Although this story's up on my priority list right now.
Oh, I mentioned my hometown in this story! :) Actually, not my hometown, just the town I live in now. Anyway, I wanted to mention that. It's pretty obvious what it is, so now you all know where I live, congratulations :)
At the end of this section, Sydney will have thirteen weeks to go until her due date. I'm slightly hesitant about my name choice now, but I'm sticking to it because it's a brilliant name in my opinion. I'm doing my best to highlight the destruction of the Alliance & Syd's pregnancy without making it boring. Is this boring? if this is boring, please tell me.
Also, you might want to know that there will be another story after this one. There wasn't originally going to be, but now I lay in bed at night and these scenes from the next story just keep coming into my damned mind. So that's the way it is, sorry. If you don't like this story or if by the time it ends, it sucks, I won't post the next story, but I will write it regardless.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Webster's Dictionary company, the LA Kings, the San Jose Sharks, Moulin Rouge, Catcher in the Rye, Scrabble . . You get the point. Obviously I certainly do not own any Alias-related character, place, etc. I'm having fun, please don't sue.
REMEMBER: This was written PRIOR to MANY MANY MANY late season 1 episodes. Sydney's Mother has not been found. Will is still oblivious to Syd's true occupation. Charlie isn't a creep (obviously, they're married). Emily's still very much alive. It's all pretty obvious. Please don't hold the timeline against me. I had no idea of all the twists and turns JJ was going to make. Please just enjoy the story as it, and please please PLEASE give me feedback! :) I just LOVE everyone that has!
PLEASE READ & RESPOND! :) CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY! (actually . .I'd prefer NONE, but I'll take constructive . .)
The Webster's II Pocket Dictionary that Sydney found after a frantic search in her desk defined dead as "no longer in existence or use".
In those terms, Irina Derevko had been dead to her for over twenty years.
An awkward silence bubbled over the room after her Father's words. Her mind had raced, confused, heartbroken, and angry all at the same time. Unable to meet anyone's gaze, she thanked him or her and excused herself. She walked briskly back to her car and then drove home, not even bothering to check for tails.
After a long night with a dreamless sleep, she called out sick to SD-6, complaining of nausea. That wasn't a complete lie. Ever since she was a little girl, she had wanted a Mother, and for a long time she had thought she had lost a wonderful, loving, devoted Mother. Part of her was still unable to match up that image with the horrible hard facts she knew about Irina Derevko. Now she would never have a chance to reclaim the Mother she so desperately wished, or to enforce justice on the woman who had caused so many people so much pain.
Not to her surprise, Vaughn's "Joey's Pizza" call caused her phone to ring shortly after lunchtime. The call forced her to get out of her bed and get dressed. There were visible bags under her reddened eyes but she didn't bother to apply make up. She couldn't explain why she was taking the news so badly. Truth be known, her Mother had been dead to her for twenty-four years. Perhaps it was her hormones along with the knowledge that she'd soon be a Mother. All she knew was that it scalded her soul and sent her mind into a tizzy.
An obviously professional Vaughn greeted Sydney when she walked into the warehouse. When it came to her Mother, it was understandable that he had to remain professional. His own personal bias towards Derevko could not jeopardize his professional judgment or his relationship with Sydney. Without exchanging a word, she sat down on the warehouses only chair and looked at him expectantly.
"Sloane hasn't contacted you about the take down of SD-12?"
"No, he didn't even ask to speak to me when I called this morning."
"This is a massive step in the ultimate destruction of the Alliance."
"I know," she nodded.
Vaughn sighed and brought over a crate to sit on. "Syd . . I'm sorry about your Mother."
"You don't have to say that," she protested, shaking her head as she rested her head on her hands. "I know you don't mean it."
"I do mean it," he insisted. "I'm only sorry because losing her hurts you, and I hate to see you hurt."
"Vaughn . . " She started, the apparent anguish in her voice breaking her spirit. When she looked up at him, she was struggling with unshed tears. "Irina Derevko was a *horrible* woman . ."
"She was your Mother." He cut in. "We don't choose our families Syd, they're just given to us . ." He reminded her strongly before he added in a gentle, softer tone, "maybe they're given to us for a reason."
She looked up at him questionably, needing him to continue. Perhaps he could attempt to rationalize events and emotions that only served to puzzle her. "As horrible as it is . . . Without Irina Derevko, you wouldn't be here. You were born for a reason Syd. You've corrected so many of your Mother's wrongs."
"How can you say that?" She asked, her brow scrunched. "My Mother betrayed my Father, she betrayed this government, and she killed twelve CIA agents - including your Father."
"Yes, thank you, I remember." His face was hard but visibly softened when he spoke again. "You and your Father are working on what could be a wonderful relationship again. I'm positive that despite your Mother's betrayal, your Father would not change the fact that he has you. You're working with the CIA, and thanks to you we've taken leaps and bounds in destroying the Alliance that would have taken us decades otherwise."
"What about you and your Mother? Charlotte? Maya doesn't have a Grandfather because of my Mother . . What about all of those other families I know nothing about?"
"Well, I can't speak for those families," he said somberly. She watched him visibly swallow and meet her gaze. "She took away my Father, but she gave me you."
Sydney doubted it was even half a second before she was in his arms, sobbing. Then he did the only thing he could, he held her silently, hoping that his words had put some balm on the painful burn of her soul. Eventually, she forced herself to pull back and wipe away her tears, muttering an apology.
"Don't apologize Sydney." She nodded as he went to get something out of his briefcase. "Here, I've been meaning to give this to you. Sorry it's late." He sheepishly handed her a package wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.
"Thank you," she smiled, despite the tears that still stained her face.
"I have a meeting with Devlin, I should go." He realized, snapping his briefcase shut.
"Okay," she nodded. Work, she reminded herself, the whole point of how and why you met one another in the first place.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked somberly, meeting her gaze.
"I will be." She promised. "You don't want to be late for meeting Devlin."
Vaughn nodded and smiled at her one more time before he walked out of the cage and seconds later out of the warehouse.
Now alone, Sydney succumbed to the excitement bubbling in her. Why she was so surprised by his Christmas gift, she didn't know - he had given her one every year they'd been working together. Seconds later, she pulled out a leather-bound journal. Opening it, she smiled at the short, simple message in his chicken scratch handwriting.
'For when I can't be there.'
She smiled and waited a few seconds before following Vaughn's lead out of the warehouse. Despite the necessary secrecy, having Vaughn in her life was something she would always be grateful for. When the world fell to pieces, he was there to pick them up and glue them back together. Then, when he couldn't piece them back together, he was the only one who knew instinctively how to pacify all the fear, anger and doubt that would swarm in her heart. No matter how much she may have loved Danny, he didn't make her feel safe in the way that Vaughn could.
Despite the waves churning in her stomach, Sydney returned to SD-6 bright and early the next morning. The last two days of the week were spent in long briefings with Sloane, hearing him talk about how the government and their Allies were being put in peril because of an 'unidentified outside source'. The five of them - herself, her Father, Dixon and Marshall - spent hours debating who could have received the Intel, how they would have received it and ways to stop it. By the time they left the office on Friday night, there was talk of the possibility of Dixon leaving Monday morning to help a 'government allies' in Vancouver.
"What's wrong?" Vaughn asked, walking into the warehouse Friday night. He had found her anxiously pacing the cage; all color seemed to have disappeared from her face.
"What's in Vancouver?"
"Excuse me?"
"Vancouver, what does the Alliance have in Vancouver?"
"Vancouver . . That's where they have the branch of SD-11, why?"
"Sloane's talking about sending Dixon there on Monday . . He's talking about sending teams to various 'allies' to try to offer them reinforcement."
"What's he saying about Moscow?"
"He's not saying anything forthright. Just something about how the government and our allies are being compromised and it's our lawful duty to protect those on our side."
"'Lawful duty', that's a good one." He muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We're working on a probable timeline for the destruction of the various branches. Since we have you and your Father in SD-6, and you're our most credible doubles, SD-6 will be the last branch to be shut down."
"So, how long?"
"We're still looking at May 16th being D-Day for SD-6. Currently, we're interrogating Jeter and Cavilerri primarily about SD-10 and SD-2."
"Why two branches at once?"
"It's a double branch. There are two; SD-10 and SD-2 work out of joint offices from a bank in Rome. SD-4 and SD-9 are the other branch, they're located out of Vienna."
"Why isn't the CIA just working with other law enforcement agencies to take down all the branches at once?"
"It's too risky. If we attack them at different times, leaving just enough time for the other branches to believe their safe, we have a better chance of success. Plus, with the destruction of the other branches, we have the Head of the SD branches in custody. They can offer us Intel to help destroy the other branch, and in return the government allows them to keep a few of their civil rights. By taking down SD-6 last, we insure that Arvin Sloane gets to keep *none* of his civil rights."
"Good," she agreed, waddling slightly in their tiny haven.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked softly.
"Okay," she smiled. At his obviously skeptical look, she continued. "Better," he nodded, relieved at her words. "Apparently your hockey player doesn't want me to sleep anytime soon," she muttered, placing her hand on her stomach.
"The baby's moving?" He asked in awe, daring to step closer.
"Yeah, a lot. The baby must think the placenta is another hockey player that he or she keeps trying to check." She teased, her eyes wide. "Here, you have to feel this," she smiled, taking his hand. Placing it on the swell of her stomach, she rested her hands over his and smiled at him as their baby offered them a few swift kicks.
"Does it hurt?"
"Only when it's an attack on my ribs at two in the morning."
"That's amazing," he whispered as she smiled at him.
"Yeah, it is." She agreed, allowing herself to briefly find haven in his eyes. They had always done that, she realized, looked at one another for a bit longer then they should have. Rarely did either take a step to stop it; instead they stood smiling at one another, Vaughn feeling the reality of his child's life for the first time. Seeing Sydney visibly carrying his child made his heart melt, but feeling the child inside her for the first time nearly made it stops altogether. "There's a Kings game tonight," she spoke as they slowly returned to the semblance of professionalism.
"Yeah, I know. Against the Sharks."
"They're good this year, the Sharks." She commented as he looked at her.
"You've been watching?"
"All season," she smiled as he grinned back. "Some of the penalties the officials give seem absurd."
"Did you even watch hockey before this year?" He asked skeptically, a smile on his face.
"In high school I went to a few games. There was this boy, Roger . . He went to the boy's prep school that we had all of our dances with . . . His Father owned this massive publishing company. He was athletic and he was cute and rich . . . We spent most of sophomore year making eyes at each other across campus." She smiled at the memory. "Anyway, junior year we dated a few months. He played goalie for the hockey team . . We broke up. I think I had a bit too much of a brain for him," she muttered as he smiled. "Anyway, he ended up going to Cornell and playing. So I've been to a couple of games."
"Cornell's a tough team to play."
"You play hockey?"
"Yeah," he shrugged and smiled at the expression on her face.
"Oh," she said in surprise. "In college?"
"Michigan. Then Michigan Law."
"You're a lawyer?" She asked, sitting down, now fully surprised. This was the man she was having a child with, the man she lo . . Best not to think of that, she scolded, and yet she didn't even know he went to law school?
"I went for five semesters. With one semester left I realized I wanted to be an operations officer, not work for the OGC at Langley. Instead I spent the next few months back in L.A. going through the necessary tests and started that fall."
"So your a genius?"
Vaughn smirked and shook his head. "Coming from you, that's a compliment." Meeting her eyes, he held her gaze for a few seconds before looking away. "You should go if you don't want to miss that Kings game."
"Yeah," she realized as she slowly stood. "You'll contact me as soon as you have any news about Rome?"
"Of course." He promised. They shared a smile one more time before he watched her walk out of the cage.
Sydney was exhausted and not at all prepared to find her friends in her living room when she walked home. Although Moulin Rouge was on the television, she didn't even return their greeting until she grabbed the remote control and switched it to the Kings game. "Syd! That was Ewan! Why would you do that?" Francie pleaded.
Sydney smiled and looked at her friend. "You are a married woman," she playfully reminded her. "Anyway, I like hockey."
"Since when?" Will interrogated.
"Since now," she smiled and shrugged. "Deal me in, I'm going to go get out of these shoes and I'll be back."
A few minutes later she walked back in, sitting down between Jennie and Francie as Charlie dealt her cards. "Why aren't you at the restaurant?" Sydney asked Francie and Charlie.
"Angie's got it all under control." Charlie insisted.
"Yeah, he overbooked the staff so we weren't needed at all." Francie added as they all laughed. "So who's the cute hockey player?"
"Why do you assume there's a cute hockey player?" She asked, unable to stop the image of what Vaughn would look like in a hockey outfit filling her mind.
"There's no reason for anyone to watch sports unless a cute guy is involved." Jennie insisted as Francie agreed.
"My Dad watches hockey," Sydney meagerly insisted.
"Okay, now it makes sense," her best friend said seriously. "I think it's great that you and your Dad are working on having a better relationship. When do childbirth classes start?"
"About a month," she explained before she scrunched her nose in disgust. "I have this glucose test thing in two weeks though, to check and see if I have gestational diabetes."
"Is your Dad going with you?" Will asked.
"No, it's a three hour test during the day, he has to work."
"Well I'll go with you," Francie spoke up. "Does it require a lot of blood?"
"No, I don't think so. Are you sure you want to though Francie? I can go by myself."
"You don't want to be bored for three hours by yourself. I'll go with you, it'll be great." Francie eagerly insisted. "We're going shopping tomorrow, right?"
"Right," she nodded. "Paint and baby necessities."
"Oh, that's right! I finished the sketches for the murals!" Francie grinned, dropping her cards and going to get a folded piece of paper out of her purse. "Here! Jennie and Will helped me."
"I would have helped, but my idea of art is stick figures." Charlie added.
Sydney smiled and looked at paper. There were images of teddy bears with raindrop eyes holding balloons and having a tea party. There were big, smiling ladybugs and ants and flowers painted close to the floor. To her it looked like all the workings of a child's wonderland, no matter whether she gave birth to a boy or a girl. "I couldn't show it, but Will and Charlie agree to paint the ceiling blue and add clouds."
"That'd be great. Wow . . This is so great guys," she said, awed by how much her friends loved and wanted to help her. "Thank you so much for everything."
"Hey, no problem Syd." Will chimed in. "It's actually sort of fun."
"It gives Will a reason to be messy without getting in trouble." Jennie explained. "You never told us, did you give your Dad the ultrasound picture for Christmas?"
"Yeah, I did." She smiled. "He was surprised, but he really liked it. Thanks for finding the Grandpa frame, it was a great touch."
"Well, my first major was interior decorating. . Then Art . . . Then Psychology . ." Jennie trailed off as they all looked at her. "I had some trouble finding myself in college."
"At least you didn't dye your hair green." Sydney mumbled.
"Hey!" Francie protested. "It was never green! Purple, maybe, not green!"
"Yeah, Francie, it was green." Will insisted and smirked at the memory.
"Yeah, you're one to talk," Francie muttered playfully. "I thought the piercing booth in the mall was going to give you your own booth for awhile."
"You have piercings?" Jennie looked at him in obvious shock.
"I *had* a *few* piercings."
"A few?" Francie and Sydney said in unison.
"It was not a few." Sydney spoke.
"More like a few hundred." Francie added.
"They've all closed. They've all been closed for a long time." Will promised. "Everyone goes through weird periods in college .. Actually, Syd, I think your the only person I know who didn't go through a weird period."
Sydney looked up and shrugged. There was no way she could tell them she was too busy being a spy and full time student to go through any weird periods. She was too busy pretending to be weird alter egos in an attempt to help people she thought were the American government. Instead of telling them the truth, she smiled and shrugged. "I was never as outgoing as you guys."
"I just hope for your sake that your baby takes after you in college." Francie spoke up. "What was the baby's Dad like in college?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. Although after their last meeting, she had a better understanding of what he might have been in college. Since he played hockey and was accepted to Michigan Law School, she suspected Vaughn didn't do much goofing off.
"Maybe you'll get lucky and you'll have a calm college kid," Jennie suggested.
"With your Father's gene pool, that's not hard to imagine." Will spoke up as they all looked at him. "What? I've known Sydney a long time and I've never seen the man agitated, not once."
Sydney smiled and shrugged. The rare occasion when her Father was agitated usually involved national security or her safety, not the type of situation she could share with her friends. Will had a point though; Jack Bristow was stoic by nature. Although she did her best to be stoic, and most of the time succeeded, she knew compared to her Father even Mount Rushmore would be emotional.
"Is it possible you get agitated too easily?" Charlie asked.
"No!" Will protested as they all laughed. "Syd, I have a brand new name suggestion."
"Yeah, what's that?" She asked with a smile.
"Willard."
Seconds later he was hit simultaneously by three couch pillows.
Monday morning Sydney walked into SD-6 and walked to her desk. Fifteen minutes after arriving, she had finally arranged herself and her twenty-five weeks pregnant belly so she was comfortable at her desk. Having just taken out some paperwork to begin work on when her Father walked by and motioned for her to follow him.
A few seconds later they were walking into an empty conference room as Jack took out his pen. "I only have three minutes, but the CIA is currently in Rome. In a few minutes they should be raiding the offices of SD-2 and SD-10."
"What about Vancouver? I thought Sloane was sending Dixon there tomorrow for a long term operation."
"In today's debriefing he's going to cancel that mission. By then he should be aware of the destruction of the Rome offices and will probably be sending Dixon there for a reconnaissance mission to obtain was information might be left."
"Will there be anything left?"
"The CIA's going to leave some invalid information about the Alliance there for Dixon to obtain. Perhaps even some decoys of Rimbaldi artifacts. When I last spoke to Devlin he wasn't entirely sure yet."
"I thought they weren't going to go into Rome for awhile."
"They received Intel that Jakob David, the head of SD-10, had a wager to settle and intended to do so by bombing a government building in Rome. It's become imperative to dissemble the office now, before any innocent civilians were hurt because of one man's need for revenge.
The pen beeped, signaling the end of the three minutes. "Thanks Dad," she smiled.
"Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm fine." She agreed before leaving the conference room.
In the early afternoon she sat in the conference room with her Father, Dixon and Marshall when Sloane stormed in the room. Seconds after arriving, he brought up a photo of an obviously aged, balding man. "This is Jakob David. He was in charge of one of our offices in Rome. This morning agents of an unknown organization raided our offices. They've taken Jakob David as well as Walter Axel, the other head of our offices, into custody. We haven't confirmed how many priceless documents and artifacts were taken by this unknown group of anarchists." He seethed before sliding a folder in Dixon's direction. "The trip to Vancouver is canceled. You leave for Rome in an hour on a reconnaissance mission. Your mission is to obtain as much as you can from what is left. Among some of what you are to look for is a copy of 'The Catcher in the Rye' that contains a list of officers in charge of our various offices throughout the country as well as several countless Rimbaldi artifacts that are essential in solving the mystery of Rimbaldi."
"Yes sir," Dixon nodded and glanced through the folder.
"After you return, you and Sydney will be in charge of sifting through what you've obtained and compiling a list of what we still need to regain. Jack will supervise the operation."
"Yes sir," Dixon spoke as Sydney nodded.
"Marshall, you are to brief Dixon on the Optec and then you'll leave for the airport." Sloane added as they all nodded. Then they all watched as he stormed back out of the room.
Sydney forced herself to wait until the end of the day to contact Vaughn. Before she met him at the warehouse she briefly stopped at home to shower and change, her feet sore and back sore from wearing high heels all day. Vaughn's car was waiting in the parking lot when she pulled up and walked into the warehouse.
"You're looking for a copy of 'Catcher in the Rye'. According to Sloane, it contains a list of the officers in charge of the Alliance branches and a list of certain Rimbaldi artifacts."
"Okay. They confiscated a whole library of books; I'll have them start looking for 'Catcher in the Rye'. When does Dixon leave for Vancouver?"
"That was canned, he's already on his way to Rome." She hastily informed him.
"Okay. We planted bogus information for him, I'll make sure a bogus copy of the book is planted too."
"Great," she smiled.
"Are you okay?" Sydney shrugged and sat down.
"I will be. I'm not sleeping too well, that's all."
"The baby's keeping you up?" He asked, kneeling down next to her. "I'm sorry Syd."
"It's okay. Easier to deal with it when the baby's still sleeping in the uterus as opposed to a crib on the other side of the room." She suggested before she smiled. "At least this is all close to being over . . SD-6, the pregnancy . . . Francie agreed to go to my glucose test with me."
"Good," he nodded. "At Our Lady of Mercy?"
"Yeah," she smiled.
"I had the tech guys look for anything on the camcorder Emily gave you. According to them it's clean, either your Father will get it to you or I will at our next debriefing."
"Thanks." She nodded. "Hey, did Charlotte ever have her ultrasound?"
"Yeah, about a week ago. They're having a boy."
"That's good, that's what they wanted."
Vaughn nodded, "yeah, now we just have to convince my brother in law not to name him Patrick Junior."
"Try William, it's Will's favorite suggestion. Although now his new gimmick is Willard."
"Willard?" Vaughn asked, unable to stop his features from scrunching in disgust.
"Yeah, it's Will Smith's real name. It's just another one of his attempts to force me to name the baby William - which I'm not going to do, it would be too confusing." She explained before she continued in a soft voice. "William might be a good suggestion for Charlotte and Patrick though . . Since it's your Father's name.."
"Yeah," he shook his head in agreement.
"Vaughn . . If it's a boy, do you want me to name it William after your Father?" She asked softly. This was the first time she had ever requested his opinion on what to name the baby; most of the time she would mention names and do her best to gauge his reaction.
"Syd . . . I want you to name the baby a name you like. I loved my Father, but my sister was his little girl. They already know they're having a boy, and I think I'll suggest the name to them. Charlotte will love it."
"Good," she smiled and nodded. "I should go, I promised Francie I'd stop and have dinner at the restaurant."
"Have a nice night," he instructed as she promised she would and walked out of the warehouse.
Dixon returned from his reconnaissance mission to Rome on Thursday evening. The next day was spent going through what Dixon had been able to obtain, determining what was and wasn't of relevance and then Jack directed it to the proper section of SD-6. Sydney was relieved to see that Dixon had discovered a copy of 'Catcher in the Rye' and Sloane didn't have any problems with the list they found inside. After the sorted through everything, it was an endless few hours of paperwork before she was able to leave and call it a day.
Starting that night, her friends invaded her home. Old, tattered sheets covered the floor of the nursery and Francie and Will wore clothes that Sydney hadn't seen wear since college. Francie was determined that Sydney would not breathe any paint fumes, instead sent her to the kitchen to make dinner and rewind from a long week at work. The night, despite how much paint splatters ended up on her friend's clothes, was a blast. They blared the music and sat around goofing off until late in the night, before everyone fell asleep on her living room floor and she snuck into her own bedroom for the night.
Most of the weekend proceeded that way. When they weren't painting, they were in the living room eating, watching television or playing Scrabble (Sydney won five games, she let Will take two). Early Saturday morning all five of them were up, thanks to Will's loud early morning bathroom trip, eating cereal and watching weekend cartoons. Sydney spent Sunday afternoon making a large dinner to thank her friends for all their work. After all, by the time they left, they had painted everything - from the murals to the blue ceiling with clouds. Even barren of carpet and furniture it was a baby's paradise.
No matter how much fun she with her friends, or how close she knew the ultimate destruction of the Alliance was, those were sleepless nights. She was getting larger and while her friends insisted she wasn't showing, she was growing more uncomfortable as the days until her third trimester neared. On the rare occasion she'd fall asleep, she'd be forced awake by vivid nightmares. She had been doing dangerous, life-altering work for years but only since she was pregnant did they come to haunt her in her dreams. Usually she would write passages in the journal that Vaughn had given her, passages he would have called 'Tolstoy-long'. Then she would get up and pace or watch the infomercials that clogged the television between the time that Los Angeles fell asleep and the rooster awoke.
In a surprising change of pace, Sloane announced in a meeting Monday morning that he was sending Marshall out on a mission with Dixon. The objective of the mission was to obtain blueprints from a top-of-the-line vault in West Haven, Connecticut. The blueprints were to top of the line machine warfare and technology that were supposedly designed by a Professor at Yale who was attempting to sell them to the Germans. Sydney tried not to squirm with discomfort as Sloane went spoke of how it was their duty to national security to obtain the blueprints to keep them from falling in the wrong hands. It took every ounce of her not to tell her oblivious friends that the man standing in front of them was the one with the wrong hands.
When Sydney arrived at the warehouse Monday afternoon to brief Vaughn on what she had learned, she was surprised to see her Father waiting with him. "Dad, what are you doing here?"
"I was informing Mr. Vaughn that the CIA needs to get into the vault in Connecticut immediately before Dixon and Marshall can be there."
"We've already reached our offices in New York and they're working on it right now," Vaughn added.
"Oh," Sydney exclaimed, wondering what her purpose was at all now.
"How are you feeling?" Jack asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.
"Fine," she smiled. "I have my glucose test on Friday."
"Is Francie still going with you?" Vaughn spoke up.
"Yep, she is," she smiled and nodded.
"I should be going. I agreed to sit in on a meeting at SD-6. I'll see you tomorrow," Jack nodded at his daughter before he walked out of the warehouse, allowing the two parents to be a brief second of privacy.
"Don't worry about Connecticut, it'll be taken care of before Dixon and Marshall get there," he promised.
"Thanks," she nodded. "Did you suggest the name to Charlotte and Patrick?"
"William?" Sydney nodded. "Yeah, I did, they loved it."
"Good," she smiled. "I'm glad."
"I'm sure your glucose test will be fine."
"Thanks, I think so too." She agreed. "I hate the thought of having to give myself insulin."
"Will you be able to find out on Friday?"
"Basically. If my test results come back high, they'll have me go back for a longer, more thorough test to be certain. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't get that far."
"You'll let me know?" He asked, his eyes wide with concern.
"Yes," she nodded. Reaching out, she took his hand in hers. "The baby's starting to wake up," she whispered, bringing their hands to rest on her stomach.
"Is it getting hard to walk?"
"It's getting harder," she agreed in a soft voice. "Francie just can't wait until the day I start waddling like a duck. She's all over me because she doesn't think I'm showing enough."
"You aren't showing much," he agreed, daring to move his stomach as he felt the baby move. "Charlotte's bigger then you are, but she says that has something to do with having a second baby."
"It might," she sighed. Looking at her face, noticing the bags that were starting to form under her eyes, he sighed and dropped his hand. This was not what she should be doing, he realized. Sydney should be at home, with her friends, where she was safe, with her feet up and resting.
"You should go home."
"Yeah," she realized sadly and nodded. "You'll contact me if you hear anything?"
Vaughn nodded in agreement, reminding her to rest before he silently watched her walk out of the warehouse. Looking down at the warehouse floor, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Every time he saw her it was more difficult to pull himself away from her and their child. She was facing the brunt of the stress now, he realized. Although she didn't complain, it was obvious it was getting more uncomfortable for her to get around or be comfortable, and she was sleeping less and less. More then that, she was alone at night, no one to rub her back or feet or get her a glass of water. Not even someone to get up with her on what he assumed were frequent night trips to the bathroom.
Consoling himself, he remembered that at least Will wasn't competition - at least not anymore. As selfish as it was, he'd rather her be alone then with someone else taking care of her. Vaughn sighed and closed up his briefcase. Without as much as another glance over his shoulder, he grabbed his case and walked out of the warehouse alone.
"Syd, did you know that if Charlie and I made love in the missionary position, we'd have a better chance of having a girl?"
"What?" Sydney asked, looking up from her own magazine. She and Francie sat in the doctor's office waiting for her to take her three-hour glucose test. With Francie to keep her amused, the wait wasn't too unbearable. "That's not true."
"Yes, it is! See, right here!" Francie insisted, handing the article to her friend. Seconds later, it was playfully tossed back at her.
"Francie, those are midwives tales, they're only worth a grain of salt."
"They're fun though!" Francie grinned. "So Syd, what position were you in when baby Bristow was conceived?"
Sydney rolled her eyes and muttered curses as her cheeks flushed. Returning to her normal tone, she answered, "I don't remember."
"Let's see . . Your looks haven't worsened, but they haven't really improved all that much. ."
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"You're carrying more out front then wide . . . What's the baby's heart rate?"
"140 at the last doctor's appointment."
"Dead center," her friend muttered. "Is the baby's Father gaining weight?"
"What?" She asked, now giving Francie her full attention.
"The baby's Dad. Is he gaining weight too? According to this, if he is, especially since your carrying in front, it's a sure sign you're having a boy."
"I don't remember. I don't think he has. I've already told you, I don't want to know what I'm having. Those are just old midwives tales anyway, they don't predict anything."
"I'm so excited about this weekend. What color carpet did you decide on?" She asked. That was the weekend that Will's friend was coming over to install the nursery carpet, and once again Francie insisted on being there to supervise. At nearly twenty-seven weeks pregnant, Sydney was going to need to rest, not stand supervising a carpet installation.
"Dark blue. Not because I think it's a boy, but because it goes with the painting very well and it won't stain easily."
"Pink carpet would probably be too much," Francie agreed. "I really hope it's a girl. I love the name Laura, especially because of your Mom . . Plus, I'd really hate it if Will bragged about it being a boy for the next eighteen years."
Sydney laughed, imagining that if she had a baby boy Will would do just that. "I think my Dad knows what it is. Somehow he was able to tell, but he won't tell me. He keeps reminding me that I want to be surprised."
"You do, so it's a good thing that he reminds you. After all Syd, you'll be in labor for hours and hours and hours, you might as well be given some surprise at the end."
"Do you think I'm crazy?"
"What? For not finding out - "
"No, for doing this on my own."
Francie turned in the hard plastic chair to look at her best friend. "What? Syd, no, of course not! I'm so proud of you and so happy for you! Remember when I opened the restaurant, everyone thought I was nuts? You didn't, you and Will and Charlie were so supportive, even when my Mom laughed at me! You are going to be a great Mom Syd, I know it, and I am going to be the *best* Aunt that any infant has ever seen." She finished as both women laughed.
"You will be great . . . Would you be interested in being the Godmother too?"
"Really?" She smiled as her friend nodded. "I'd love that Syd, but only if your sure - "
"Francie, there's no one as excited about this as you are, maybe not even me." She teased with a smile. "You've always been there for me, I don't know what I'd do without your help, and so I'm really sure I want it to be you."
"That's so sweet!" Francie exclaimed, leaning over to hug her. "Thank you!"
"Your welcome," she grinned.
They separated and returned to their catalogues. "Syd, if it's a boy, circumcision or no?"
Sydney was unable to stop her laugh, "circumcised, I guess. I haven't given it much thought."
"You should, it's very important."
"Any other important decisions that I've overlooked?"
"You have plenty of time Syd . . It's just that some decisions need to be prepared for. Are you going to breastfeed?"
"Yes." She answered, only to be met by Francie's surprised look. "What? It's best for the baby, I want what's best for the baby."
"I don't know . . You seem so insistent that you'll return to work right away, I guess I didn't picture you having time to breastfeed."
"I'll pump," she shrugged. "Keep some in the refrigerator for whoever is watching the baby."
"Well I want to watch the baby whenever your Dad isn't."
"You'll grow sick of the baby if you're with it all the time."
"No, I won't, I'm Aunt Francie," she pointed out. "Your going to need help though, but promise me if I ever get to be too much, you'll tell me."
"I promise Francie, if you ever get to be too much, I'll tell you." She agreed. Seconds later, the nurse popped in, calling her for her results. "Guess it's time."
"You'll be fine," Francie insisted, squeezing her hand before Sydney went off on her own.
Sydney's results were perfectly healthy and afterwards Francie took her to the restaurant for an early dinner to celebrate. The restaurant was just starting to go more crowded when she left in the early evening as dusk was starting to cover the city. After hugging her friends and saying goodbye, thanking Francie for the help and Charlie for making her food personally, she got into the car. Taking an extra ten minutes to insure she wasn't being followed, she drove in the direction of the familiar pier.
At nearly twenty-seven weeks pregnant - almost seven months - leaning up against the pier watching the ocean wasn't as simple or comfortable as it used to be. Nowadays her back grew sore quickly and her feet would fall asleep. She was certain someone must have heard her complaints, because she wasn't waiting long before her companion arrived.
Once again he stood a respectable distance away, creating the appearance that they weren't speaking to one another if someone else was monitoring them. He did, however, dare to glance at her before looking back out at the pier. The only thought on her mind, aside from how ridiculously sore she felt, was that it was getting too cold for them to be meeting outside. When he once again risked a glance in her direction, she realized she should say something.
"My test was fine, no problems."
"Good," he nodded slightly.
"Classes start next week."
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah." She answered, wishing they had met in the warehouse so she could sit down and look at him.
"We're taking down Vancouver next Monday, February second."
"Okay," she replied, uncertain what to say to that.
"I just thought you might want to know."
"Thank you," she smiled. "I should go or I'll miss the Kings game." She realized.
His response was a chuckle and a sigh. "I'll be in contact." He said softly, seeing her nod out of the corner of his eye before she turned around and walked away.
The next afternoon Sydney found herself in the middle of rows and rows of baby sheets, examining colors, fabrics and styles with Jennie and Francie. "Syd, how about this?" Jennie asked, holding up linens in soft blue with yellow checks and stripes. "
"I like that," Francie commented, picking up another package of it. "It's perfectly neutral, and it would go perfectly with the colors of the nursery."
"I like it too," she agreed. "Do you think it was smart to leave Charlie and Will to supervise the carpet installation?" She asked, looking at her friends in worry.
"They'll be fine. They're men, men are good at stuff like that." Francie pointed out. "We're women, we're good at shopping."
"That's true," Jennie laughed. "So is this the one Syd?"
"I think so, yeah. I really like this pattern." She agreed as her friends picked up the necessary amount of linens.
"Next week should be so much fun, we finally get to see the Bristow heirloom furniture." Francie grinned. "You're definitely going to need an electric swing and a snugly."
"A snugly?" Jennie questioned.
"Yeah, it's like a sling. You can carry the baby hands free, and with a snugly the baby can either face you or the outside world. They even make ones with head support for younger babies. It's a must have for single Mom's like Syd."
Jennie and Syd rolled their eyes at one another, sharing a brief laugh before the politely followed Francie. While her best friend might seem over-enthusiastic at times, Sydney was grateful to have Francie in her life. Not only was she one of her best and biggest supporters, but also she seemed to be able to give Sydney's pregnancy all the thought and excitement that Sydney was too preoccupied to provide.
The women returned to Sydney's house later that night with all the linens necessary, a snugly and an electric swing, that while still in the box claimed to be easy to assemble. Before returning home they had stopped for dinner at the restaurant, unwinding from a busy day of shopping. By the time they got back to Sydney's house, Charlie and Will were in the living room watching Die Hard and there was a soft, beautiful, brand new blue carpet installed in what was to be her child's nursery.
"It's actually starting to look like a nursery," Will realized, standing behind Sydney in the doorway of the nursery. The boys had been kind enough to set up the swing in the corner of the room, although she suspected it would be it's temporary home. With the carpet down, the walls done and the swing set up, it *did* look like a nursery.
"So, how many more weeks?" Francie asked.
"I'll be twenty seven weeks on Monday, so thirteen weeks."
"Less then four months," Jennie whispered.
"Let the countdown begin."
Author: UConn Fan (Michele)
E-Mail: LoveUConnBasketball@yahoo.com
Authors Note:
Mike Woodward played in a UConn exhibition came a few days ago and had ONE WHOLE POINT! He's so cute, even if he's a bench warmer . . :)
Travis Knight is cute too, and last night the Knicks had their first win of the season! YAY! :) I was so happy!
Yankees pitcher Steve Karsay has surgery today, keep your fingers crossed for him! :)
I LOVE my reviewers, please keep it up! I'm slightly uncertain about this chapter, so if you could respond I'd love you all forever! Hey, seriously, if anyone wants to read my original fiction, just ask. Although this story's up on my priority list right now.
Oh, I mentioned my hometown in this story! :) Actually, not my hometown, just the town I live in now. Anyway, I wanted to mention that. It's pretty obvious what it is, so now you all know where I live, congratulations :)
At the end of this section, Sydney will have thirteen weeks to go until her due date. I'm slightly hesitant about my name choice now, but I'm sticking to it because it's a brilliant name in my opinion. I'm doing my best to highlight the destruction of the Alliance & Syd's pregnancy without making it boring. Is this boring? if this is boring, please tell me.
Also, you might want to know that there will be another story after this one. There wasn't originally going to be, but now I lay in bed at night and these scenes from the next story just keep coming into my damned mind. So that's the way it is, sorry. If you don't like this story or if by the time it ends, it sucks, I won't post the next story, but I will write it regardless.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the Webster's Dictionary company, the LA Kings, the San Jose Sharks, Moulin Rouge, Catcher in the Rye, Scrabble . . You get the point. Obviously I certainly do not own any Alias-related character, place, etc. I'm having fun, please don't sue.
REMEMBER: This was written PRIOR to MANY MANY MANY late season 1 episodes. Sydney's Mother has not been found. Will is still oblivious to Syd's true occupation. Charlie isn't a creep (obviously, they're married). Emily's still very much alive. It's all pretty obvious. Please don't hold the timeline against me. I had no idea of all the twists and turns JJ was going to make. Please just enjoy the story as it, and please please PLEASE give me feedback! :) I just LOVE everyone that has!
PLEASE READ & RESPOND! :) CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM ONLY! (actually . .I'd prefer NONE, but I'll take constructive . .)
The Webster's II Pocket Dictionary that Sydney found after a frantic search in her desk defined dead as "no longer in existence or use".
In those terms, Irina Derevko had been dead to her for over twenty years.
An awkward silence bubbled over the room after her Father's words. Her mind had raced, confused, heartbroken, and angry all at the same time. Unable to meet anyone's gaze, she thanked him or her and excused herself. She walked briskly back to her car and then drove home, not even bothering to check for tails.
After a long night with a dreamless sleep, she called out sick to SD-6, complaining of nausea. That wasn't a complete lie. Ever since she was a little girl, she had wanted a Mother, and for a long time she had thought she had lost a wonderful, loving, devoted Mother. Part of her was still unable to match up that image with the horrible hard facts she knew about Irina Derevko. Now she would never have a chance to reclaim the Mother she so desperately wished, or to enforce justice on the woman who had caused so many people so much pain.
Not to her surprise, Vaughn's "Joey's Pizza" call caused her phone to ring shortly after lunchtime. The call forced her to get out of her bed and get dressed. There were visible bags under her reddened eyes but she didn't bother to apply make up. She couldn't explain why she was taking the news so badly. Truth be known, her Mother had been dead to her for twenty-four years. Perhaps it was her hormones along with the knowledge that she'd soon be a Mother. All she knew was that it scalded her soul and sent her mind into a tizzy.
An obviously professional Vaughn greeted Sydney when she walked into the warehouse. When it came to her Mother, it was understandable that he had to remain professional. His own personal bias towards Derevko could not jeopardize his professional judgment or his relationship with Sydney. Without exchanging a word, she sat down on the warehouses only chair and looked at him expectantly.
"Sloane hasn't contacted you about the take down of SD-12?"
"No, he didn't even ask to speak to me when I called this morning."
"This is a massive step in the ultimate destruction of the Alliance."
"I know," she nodded.
Vaughn sighed and brought over a crate to sit on. "Syd . . I'm sorry about your Mother."
"You don't have to say that," she protested, shaking her head as she rested her head on her hands. "I know you don't mean it."
"I do mean it," he insisted. "I'm only sorry because losing her hurts you, and I hate to see you hurt."
"Vaughn . . " She started, the apparent anguish in her voice breaking her spirit. When she looked up at him, she was struggling with unshed tears. "Irina Derevko was a *horrible* woman . ."
"She was your Mother." He cut in. "We don't choose our families Syd, they're just given to us . ." He reminded her strongly before he added in a gentle, softer tone, "maybe they're given to us for a reason."
She looked up at him questionably, needing him to continue. Perhaps he could attempt to rationalize events and emotions that only served to puzzle her. "As horrible as it is . . . Without Irina Derevko, you wouldn't be here. You were born for a reason Syd. You've corrected so many of your Mother's wrongs."
"How can you say that?" She asked, her brow scrunched. "My Mother betrayed my Father, she betrayed this government, and she killed twelve CIA agents - including your Father."
"Yes, thank you, I remember." His face was hard but visibly softened when he spoke again. "You and your Father are working on what could be a wonderful relationship again. I'm positive that despite your Mother's betrayal, your Father would not change the fact that he has you. You're working with the CIA, and thanks to you we've taken leaps and bounds in destroying the Alliance that would have taken us decades otherwise."
"What about you and your Mother? Charlotte? Maya doesn't have a Grandfather because of my Mother . . What about all of those other families I know nothing about?"
"Well, I can't speak for those families," he said somberly. She watched him visibly swallow and meet her gaze. "She took away my Father, but she gave me you."
Sydney doubted it was even half a second before she was in his arms, sobbing. Then he did the only thing he could, he held her silently, hoping that his words had put some balm on the painful burn of her soul. Eventually, she forced herself to pull back and wipe away her tears, muttering an apology.
"Don't apologize Sydney." She nodded as he went to get something out of his briefcase. "Here, I've been meaning to give this to you. Sorry it's late." He sheepishly handed her a package wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper.
"Thank you," she smiled, despite the tears that still stained her face.
"I have a meeting with Devlin, I should go." He realized, snapping his briefcase shut.
"Okay," she nodded. Work, she reminded herself, the whole point of how and why you met one another in the first place.
"Are you going to be okay?" He asked somberly, meeting her gaze.
"I will be." She promised. "You don't want to be late for meeting Devlin."
Vaughn nodded and smiled at her one more time before he walked out of the cage and seconds later out of the warehouse.
Now alone, Sydney succumbed to the excitement bubbling in her. Why she was so surprised by his Christmas gift, she didn't know - he had given her one every year they'd been working together. Seconds later, she pulled out a leather-bound journal. Opening it, she smiled at the short, simple message in his chicken scratch handwriting.
'For when I can't be there.'
She smiled and waited a few seconds before following Vaughn's lead out of the warehouse. Despite the necessary secrecy, having Vaughn in her life was something she would always be grateful for. When the world fell to pieces, he was there to pick them up and glue them back together. Then, when he couldn't piece them back together, he was the only one who knew instinctively how to pacify all the fear, anger and doubt that would swarm in her heart. No matter how much she may have loved Danny, he didn't make her feel safe in the way that Vaughn could.
Despite the waves churning in her stomach, Sydney returned to SD-6 bright and early the next morning. The last two days of the week were spent in long briefings with Sloane, hearing him talk about how the government and their Allies were being put in peril because of an 'unidentified outside source'. The five of them - herself, her Father, Dixon and Marshall - spent hours debating who could have received the Intel, how they would have received it and ways to stop it. By the time they left the office on Friday night, there was talk of the possibility of Dixon leaving Monday morning to help a 'government allies' in Vancouver.
"What's wrong?" Vaughn asked, walking into the warehouse Friday night. He had found her anxiously pacing the cage; all color seemed to have disappeared from her face.
"What's in Vancouver?"
"Excuse me?"
"Vancouver, what does the Alliance have in Vancouver?"
"Vancouver . . That's where they have the branch of SD-11, why?"
"Sloane's talking about sending Dixon there on Monday . . He's talking about sending teams to various 'allies' to try to offer them reinforcement."
"What's he saying about Moscow?"
"He's not saying anything forthright. Just something about how the government and our allies are being compromised and it's our lawful duty to protect those on our side."
"'Lawful duty', that's a good one." He muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We're working on a probable timeline for the destruction of the various branches. Since we have you and your Father in SD-6, and you're our most credible doubles, SD-6 will be the last branch to be shut down."
"So, how long?"
"We're still looking at May 16th being D-Day for SD-6. Currently, we're interrogating Jeter and Cavilerri primarily about SD-10 and SD-2."
"Why two branches at once?"
"It's a double branch. There are two; SD-10 and SD-2 work out of joint offices from a bank in Rome. SD-4 and SD-9 are the other branch, they're located out of Vienna."
"Why isn't the CIA just working with other law enforcement agencies to take down all the branches at once?"
"It's too risky. If we attack them at different times, leaving just enough time for the other branches to believe their safe, we have a better chance of success. Plus, with the destruction of the other branches, we have the Head of the SD branches in custody. They can offer us Intel to help destroy the other branch, and in return the government allows them to keep a few of their civil rights. By taking down SD-6 last, we insure that Arvin Sloane gets to keep *none* of his civil rights."
"Good," she agreed, waddling slightly in their tiny haven.
"Hey, how are you feeling?" He asked softly.
"Okay," she smiled. At his obviously skeptical look, she continued. "Better," he nodded, relieved at her words. "Apparently your hockey player doesn't want me to sleep anytime soon," she muttered, placing her hand on her stomach.
"The baby's moving?" He asked in awe, daring to step closer.
"Yeah, a lot. The baby must think the placenta is another hockey player that he or she keeps trying to check." She teased, her eyes wide. "Here, you have to feel this," she smiled, taking his hand. Placing it on the swell of her stomach, she rested her hands over his and smiled at him as their baby offered them a few swift kicks.
"Does it hurt?"
"Only when it's an attack on my ribs at two in the morning."
"That's amazing," he whispered as she smiled at him.
"Yeah, it is." She agreed, allowing herself to briefly find haven in his eyes. They had always done that, she realized, looked at one another for a bit longer then they should have. Rarely did either take a step to stop it; instead they stood smiling at one another, Vaughn feeling the reality of his child's life for the first time. Seeing Sydney visibly carrying his child made his heart melt, but feeling the child inside her for the first time nearly made it stops altogether. "There's a Kings game tonight," she spoke as they slowly returned to the semblance of professionalism.
"Yeah, I know. Against the Sharks."
"They're good this year, the Sharks." She commented as he looked at her.
"You've been watching?"
"All season," she smiled as he grinned back. "Some of the penalties the officials give seem absurd."
"Did you even watch hockey before this year?" He asked skeptically, a smile on his face.
"In high school I went to a few games. There was this boy, Roger . . He went to the boy's prep school that we had all of our dances with . . . His Father owned this massive publishing company. He was athletic and he was cute and rich . . . We spent most of sophomore year making eyes at each other across campus." She smiled at the memory. "Anyway, junior year we dated a few months. He played goalie for the hockey team . . We broke up. I think I had a bit too much of a brain for him," she muttered as he smiled. "Anyway, he ended up going to Cornell and playing. So I've been to a couple of games."
"Cornell's a tough team to play."
"You play hockey?"
"Yeah," he shrugged and smiled at the expression on her face.
"Oh," she said in surprise. "In college?"
"Michigan. Then Michigan Law."
"You're a lawyer?" She asked, sitting down, now fully surprised. This was the man she was having a child with, the man she lo . . Best not to think of that, she scolded, and yet she didn't even know he went to law school?
"I went for five semesters. With one semester left I realized I wanted to be an operations officer, not work for the OGC at Langley. Instead I spent the next few months back in L.A. going through the necessary tests and started that fall."
"So your a genius?"
Vaughn smirked and shook his head. "Coming from you, that's a compliment." Meeting her eyes, he held her gaze for a few seconds before looking away. "You should go if you don't want to miss that Kings game."
"Yeah," she realized as she slowly stood. "You'll contact me as soon as you have any news about Rome?"
"Of course." He promised. They shared a smile one more time before he watched her walk out of the cage.
Sydney was exhausted and not at all prepared to find her friends in her living room when she walked home. Although Moulin Rouge was on the television, she didn't even return their greeting until she grabbed the remote control and switched it to the Kings game. "Syd! That was Ewan! Why would you do that?" Francie pleaded.
Sydney smiled and looked at her friend. "You are a married woman," she playfully reminded her. "Anyway, I like hockey."
"Since when?" Will interrogated.
"Since now," she smiled and shrugged. "Deal me in, I'm going to go get out of these shoes and I'll be back."
A few minutes later she walked back in, sitting down between Jennie and Francie as Charlie dealt her cards. "Why aren't you at the restaurant?" Sydney asked Francie and Charlie.
"Angie's got it all under control." Charlie insisted.
"Yeah, he overbooked the staff so we weren't needed at all." Francie added as they all laughed. "So who's the cute hockey player?"
"Why do you assume there's a cute hockey player?" She asked, unable to stop the image of what Vaughn would look like in a hockey outfit filling her mind.
"There's no reason for anyone to watch sports unless a cute guy is involved." Jennie insisted as Francie agreed.
"My Dad watches hockey," Sydney meagerly insisted.
"Okay, now it makes sense," her best friend said seriously. "I think it's great that you and your Dad are working on having a better relationship. When do childbirth classes start?"
"About a month," she explained before she scrunched her nose in disgust. "I have this glucose test thing in two weeks though, to check and see if I have gestational diabetes."
"Is your Dad going with you?" Will asked.
"No, it's a three hour test during the day, he has to work."
"Well I'll go with you," Francie spoke up. "Does it require a lot of blood?"
"No, I don't think so. Are you sure you want to though Francie? I can go by myself."
"You don't want to be bored for three hours by yourself. I'll go with you, it'll be great." Francie eagerly insisted. "We're going shopping tomorrow, right?"
"Right," she nodded. "Paint and baby necessities."
"Oh, that's right! I finished the sketches for the murals!" Francie grinned, dropping her cards and going to get a folded piece of paper out of her purse. "Here! Jennie and Will helped me."
"I would have helped, but my idea of art is stick figures." Charlie added.
Sydney smiled and looked at paper. There were images of teddy bears with raindrop eyes holding balloons and having a tea party. There were big, smiling ladybugs and ants and flowers painted close to the floor. To her it looked like all the workings of a child's wonderland, no matter whether she gave birth to a boy or a girl. "I couldn't show it, but Will and Charlie agree to paint the ceiling blue and add clouds."
"That'd be great. Wow . . This is so great guys," she said, awed by how much her friends loved and wanted to help her. "Thank you so much for everything."
"Hey, no problem Syd." Will chimed in. "It's actually sort of fun."
"It gives Will a reason to be messy without getting in trouble." Jennie explained. "You never told us, did you give your Dad the ultrasound picture for Christmas?"
"Yeah, I did." She smiled. "He was surprised, but he really liked it. Thanks for finding the Grandpa frame, it was a great touch."
"Well, my first major was interior decorating. . Then Art . . . Then Psychology . ." Jennie trailed off as they all looked at her. "I had some trouble finding myself in college."
"At least you didn't dye your hair green." Sydney mumbled.
"Hey!" Francie protested. "It was never green! Purple, maybe, not green!"
"Yeah, Francie, it was green." Will insisted and smirked at the memory.
"Yeah, you're one to talk," Francie muttered playfully. "I thought the piercing booth in the mall was going to give you your own booth for awhile."
"You have piercings?" Jennie looked at him in obvious shock.
"I *had* a *few* piercings."
"A few?" Francie and Sydney said in unison.
"It was not a few." Sydney spoke.
"More like a few hundred." Francie added.
"They've all closed. They've all been closed for a long time." Will promised. "Everyone goes through weird periods in college .. Actually, Syd, I think your the only person I know who didn't go through a weird period."
Sydney looked up and shrugged. There was no way she could tell them she was too busy being a spy and full time student to go through any weird periods. She was too busy pretending to be weird alter egos in an attempt to help people she thought were the American government. Instead of telling them the truth, she smiled and shrugged. "I was never as outgoing as you guys."
"I just hope for your sake that your baby takes after you in college." Francie spoke up. "What was the baby's Dad like in college?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. Although after their last meeting, she had a better understanding of what he might have been in college. Since he played hockey and was accepted to Michigan Law School, she suspected Vaughn didn't do much goofing off.
"Maybe you'll get lucky and you'll have a calm college kid," Jennie suggested.
"With your Father's gene pool, that's not hard to imagine." Will spoke up as they all looked at him. "What? I've known Sydney a long time and I've never seen the man agitated, not once."
Sydney smiled and shrugged. The rare occasion when her Father was agitated usually involved national security or her safety, not the type of situation she could share with her friends. Will had a point though; Jack Bristow was stoic by nature. Although she did her best to be stoic, and most of the time succeeded, she knew compared to her Father even Mount Rushmore would be emotional.
"Is it possible you get agitated too easily?" Charlie asked.
"No!" Will protested as they all laughed. "Syd, I have a brand new name suggestion."
"Yeah, what's that?" She asked with a smile.
"Willard."
Seconds later he was hit simultaneously by three couch pillows.
Monday morning Sydney walked into SD-6 and walked to her desk. Fifteen minutes after arriving, she had finally arranged herself and her twenty-five weeks pregnant belly so she was comfortable at her desk. Having just taken out some paperwork to begin work on when her Father walked by and motioned for her to follow him.
A few seconds later they were walking into an empty conference room as Jack took out his pen. "I only have three minutes, but the CIA is currently in Rome. In a few minutes they should be raiding the offices of SD-2 and SD-10."
"What about Vancouver? I thought Sloane was sending Dixon there tomorrow for a long term operation."
"In today's debriefing he's going to cancel that mission. By then he should be aware of the destruction of the Rome offices and will probably be sending Dixon there for a reconnaissance mission to obtain was information might be left."
"Will there be anything left?"
"The CIA's going to leave some invalid information about the Alliance there for Dixon to obtain. Perhaps even some decoys of Rimbaldi artifacts. When I last spoke to Devlin he wasn't entirely sure yet."
"I thought they weren't going to go into Rome for awhile."
"They received Intel that Jakob David, the head of SD-10, had a wager to settle and intended to do so by bombing a government building in Rome. It's become imperative to dissemble the office now, before any innocent civilians were hurt because of one man's need for revenge.
The pen beeped, signaling the end of the three minutes. "Thanks Dad," she smiled.
"Do you need anything else?"
"No, I'm fine." She agreed before leaving the conference room.
In the early afternoon she sat in the conference room with her Father, Dixon and Marshall when Sloane stormed in the room. Seconds after arriving, he brought up a photo of an obviously aged, balding man. "This is Jakob David. He was in charge of one of our offices in Rome. This morning agents of an unknown organization raided our offices. They've taken Jakob David as well as Walter Axel, the other head of our offices, into custody. We haven't confirmed how many priceless documents and artifacts were taken by this unknown group of anarchists." He seethed before sliding a folder in Dixon's direction. "The trip to Vancouver is canceled. You leave for Rome in an hour on a reconnaissance mission. Your mission is to obtain as much as you can from what is left. Among some of what you are to look for is a copy of 'The Catcher in the Rye' that contains a list of officers in charge of our various offices throughout the country as well as several countless Rimbaldi artifacts that are essential in solving the mystery of Rimbaldi."
"Yes sir," Dixon nodded and glanced through the folder.
"After you return, you and Sydney will be in charge of sifting through what you've obtained and compiling a list of what we still need to regain. Jack will supervise the operation."
"Yes sir," Dixon spoke as Sydney nodded.
"Marshall, you are to brief Dixon on the Optec and then you'll leave for the airport." Sloane added as they all nodded. Then they all watched as he stormed back out of the room.
Sydney forced herself to wait until the end of the day to contact Vaughn. Before she met him at the warehouse she briefly stopped at home to shower and change, her feet sore and back sore from wearing high heels all day. Vaughn's car was waiting in the parking lot when she pulled up and walked into the warehouse.
"You're looking for a copy of 'Catcher in the Rye'. According to Sloane, it contains a list of the officers in charge of the Alliance branches and a list of certain Rimbaldi artifacts."
"Okay. They confiscated a whole library of books; I'll have them start looking for 'Catcher in the Rye'. When does Dixon leave for Vancouver?"
"That was canned, he's already on his way to Rome." She hastily informed him.
"Okay. We planted bogus information for him, I'll make sure a bogus copy of the book is planted too."
"Great," she smiled.
"Are you okay?" Sydney shrugged and sat down.
"I will be. I'm not sleeping too well, that's all."
"The baby's keeping you up?" He asked, kneeling down next to her. "I'm sorry Syd."
"It's okay. Easier to deal with it when the baby's still sleeping in the uterus as opposed to a crib on the other side of the room." She suggested before she smiled. "At least this is all close to being over . . SD-6, the pregnancy . . . Francie agreed to go to my glucose test with me."
"Good," he nodded. "At Our Lady of Mercy?"
"Yeah," she smiled.
"I had the tech guys look for anything on the camcorder Emily gave you. According to them it's clean, either your Father will get it to you or I will at our next debriefing."
"Thanks." She nodded. "Hey, did Charlotte ever have her ultrasound?"
"Yeah, about a week ago. They're having a boy."
"That's good, that's what they wanted."
Vaughn nodded, "yeah, now we just have to convince my brother in law not to name him Patrick Junior."
"Try William, it's Will's favorite suggestion. Although now his new gimmick is Willard."
"Willard?" Vaughn asked, unable to stop his features from scrunching in disgust.
"Yeah, it's Will Smith's real name. It's just another one of his attempts to force me to name the baby William - which I'm not going to do, it would be too confusing." She explained before she continued in a soft voice. "William might be a good suggestion for Charlotte and Patrick though . . Since it's your Father's name.."
"Yeah," he shook his head in agreement.
"Vaughn . . If it's a boy, do you want me to name it William after your Father?" She asked softly. This was the first time she had ever requested his opinion on what to name the baby; most of the time she would mention names and do her best to gauge his reaction.
"Syd . . . I want you to name the baby a name you like. I loved my Father, but my sister was his little girl. They already know they're having a boy, and I think I'll suggest the name to them. Charlotte will love it."
"Good," she smiled and nodded. "I should go, I promised Francie I'd stop and have dinner at the restaurant."
"Have a nice night," he instructed as she promised she would and walked out of the warehouse.
Dixon returned from his reconnaissance mission to Rome on Thursday evening. The next day was spent going through what Dixon had been able to obtain, determining what was and wasn't of relevance and then Jack directed it to the proper section of SD-6. Sydney was relieved to see that Dixon had discovered a copy of 'Catcher in the Rye' and Sloane didn't have any problems with the list they found inside. After the sorted through everything, it was an endless few hours of paperwork before she was able to leave and call it a day.
Starting that night, her friends invaded her home. Old, tattered sheets covered the floor of the nursery and Francie and Will wore clothes that Sydney hadn't seen wear since college. Francie was determined that Sydney would not breathe any paint fumes, instead sent her to the kitchen to make dinner and rewind from a long week at work. The night, despite how much paint splatters ended up on her friend's clothes, was a blast. They blared the music and sat around goofing off until late in the night, before everyone fell asleep on her living room floor and she snuck into her own bedroom for the night.
Most of the weekend proceeded that way. When they weren't painting, they were in the living room eating, watching television or playing Scrabble (Sydney won five games, she let Will take two). Early Saturday morning all five of them were up, thanks to Will's loud early morning bathroom trip, eating cereal and watching weekend cartoons. Sydney spent Sunday afternoon making a large dinner to thank her friends for all their work. After all, by the time they left, they had painted everything - from the murals to the blue ceiling with clouds. Even barren of carpet and furniture it was a baby's paradise.
No matter how much fun she with her friends, or how close she knew the ultimate destruction of the Alliance was, those were sleepless nights. She was getting larger and while her friends insisted she wasn't showing, she was growing more uncomfortable as the days until her third trimester neared. On the rare occasion she'd fall asleep, she'd be forced awake by vivid nightmares. She had been doing dangerous, life-altering work for years but only since she was pregnant did they come to haunt her in her dreams. Usually she would write passages in the journal that Vaughn had given her, passages he would have called 'Tolstoy-long'. Then she would get up and pace or watch the infomercials that clogged the television between the time that Los Angeles fell asleep and the rooster awoke.
In a surprising change of pace, Sloane announced in a meeting Monday morning that he was sending Marshall out on a mission with Dixon. The objective of the mission was to obtain blueprints from a top-of-the-line vault in West Haven, Connecticut. The blueprints were to top of the line machine warfare and technology that were supposedly designed by a Professor at Yale who was attempting to sell them to the Germans. Sydney tried not to squirm with discomfort as Sloane went spoke of how it was their duty to national security to obtain the blueprints to keep them from falling in the wrong hands. It took every ounce of her not to tell her oblivious friends that the man standing in front of them was the one with the wrong hands.
When Sydney arrived at the warehouse Monday afternoon to brief Vaughn on what she had learned, she was surprised to see her Father waiting with him. "Dad, what are you doing here?"
"I was informing Mr. Vaughn that the CIA needs to get into the vault in Connecticut immediately before Dixon and Marshall can be there."
"We've already reached our offices in New York and they're working on it right now," Vaughn added.
"Oh," Sydney exclaimed, wondering what her purpose was at all now.
"How are you feeling?" Jack asked, drawing her out of her thoughts.
"Fine," she smiled. "I have my glucose test on Friday."
"Is Francie still going with you?" Vaughn spoke up.
"Yep, she is," she smiled and nodded.
"I should be going. I agreed to sit in on a meeting at SD-6. I'll see you tomorrow," Jack nodded at his daughter before he walked out of the warehouse, allowing the two parents to be a brief second of privacy.
"Don't worry about Connecticut, it'll be taken care of before Dixon and Marshall get there," he promised.
"Thanks," she nodded. "Did you suggest the name to Charlotte and Patrick?"
"William?" Sydney nodded. "Yeah, I did, they loved it."
"Good," she smiled. "I'm glad."
"I'm sure your glucose test will be fine."
"Thanks, I think so too." She agreed. "I hate the thought of having to give myself insulin."
"Will you be able to find out on Friday?"
"Basically. If my test results come back high, they'll have me go back for a longer, more thorough test to be certain. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't get that far."
"You'll let me know?" He asked, his eyes wide with concern.
"Yes," she nodded. Reaching out, she took his hand in hers. "The baby's starting to wake up," she whispered, bringing their hands to rest on her stomach.
"Is it getting hard to walk?"
"It's getting harder," she agreed in a soft voice. "Francie just can't wait until the day I start waddling like a duck. She's all over me because she doesn't think I'm showing enough."
"You aren't showing much," he agreed, daring to move his stomach as he felt the baby move. "Charlotte's bigger then you are, but she says that has something to do with having a second baby."
"It might," she sighed. Looking at her face, noticing the bags that were starting to form under her eyes, he sighed and dropped his hand. This was not what she should be doing, he realized. Sydney should be at home, with her friends, where she was safe, with her feet up and resting.
"You should go home."
"Yeah," she realized sadly and nodded. "You'll contact me if you hear anything?"
Vaughn nodded in agreement, reminding her to rest before he silently watched her walk out of the warehouse. Looking down at the warehouse floor, he pinched the bridge of his nose. Every time he saw her it was more difficult to pull himself away from her and their child. She was facing the brunt of the stress now, he realized. Although she didn't complain, it was obvious it was getting more uncomfortable for her to get around or be comfortable, and she was sleeping less and less. More then that, she was alone at night, no one to rub her back or feet or get her a glass of water. Not even someone to get up with her on what he assumed were frequent night trips to the bathroom.
Consoling himself, he remembered that at least Will wasn't competition - at least not anymore. As selfish as it was, he'd rather her be alone then with someone else taking care of her. Vaughn sighed and closed up his briefcase. Without as much as another glance over his shoulder, he grabbed his case and walked out of the warehouse alone.
"Syd, did you know that if Charlie and I made love in the missionary position, we'd have a better chance of having a girl?"
"What?" Sydney asked, looking up from her own magazine. She and Francie sat in the doctor's office waiting for her to take her three-hour glucose test. With Francie to keep her amused, the wait wasn't too unbearable. "That's not true."
"Yes, it is! See, right here!" Francie insisted, handing the article to her friend. Seconds later, it was playfully tossed back at her.
"Francie, those are midwives tales, they're only worth a grain of salt."
"They're fun though!" Francie grinned. "So Syd, what position were you in when baby Bristow was conceived?"
Sydney rolled her eyes and muttered curses as her cheeks flushed. Returning to her normal tone, she answered, "I don't remember."
"Let's see . . Your looks haven't worsened, but they haven't really improved all that much. ."
"Thanks," she mumbled.
"You're carrying more out front then wide . . . What's the baby's heart rate?"
"140 at the last doctor's appointment."
"Dead center," her friend muttered. "Is the baby's Father gaining weight?"
"What?" She asked, now giving Francie her full attention.
"The baby's Dad. Is he gaining weight too? According to this, if he is, especially since your carrying in front, it's a sure sign you're having a boy."
"I don't remember. I don't think he has. I've already told you, I don't want to know what I'm having. Those are just old midwives tales anyway, they don't predict anything."
"I'm so excited about this weekend. What color carpet did you decide on?" She asked. That was the weekend that Will's friend was coming over to install the nursery carpet, and once again Francie insisted on being there to supervise. At nearly twenty-seven weeks pregnant, Sydney was going to need to rest, not stand supervising a carpet installation.
"Dark blue. Not because I think it's a boy, but because it goes with the painting very well and it won't stain easily."
"Pink carpet would probably be too much," Francie agreed. "I really hope it's a girl. I love the name Laura, especially because of your Mom . . Plus, I'd really hate it if Will bragged about it being a boy for the next eighteen years."
Sydney laughed, imagining that if she had a baby boy Will would do just that. "I think my Dad knows what it is. Somehow he was able to tell, but he won't tell me. He keeps reminding me that I want to be surprised."
"You do, so it's a good thing that he reminds you. After all Syd, you'll be in labor for hours and hours and hours, you might as well be given some surprise at the end."
"Do you think I'm crazy?"
"What? For not finding out - "
"No, for doing this on my own."
Francie turned in the hard plastic chair to look at her best friend. "What? Syd, no, of course not! I'm so proud of you and so happy for you! Remember when I opened the restaurant, everyone thought I was nuts? You didn't, you and Will and Charlie were so supportive, even when my Mom laughed at me! You are going to be a great Mom Syd, I know it, and I am going to be the *best* Aunt that any infant has ever seen." She finished as both women laughed.
"You will be great . . . Would you be interested in being the Godmother too?"
"Really?" She smiled as her friend nodded. "I'd love that Syd, but only if your sure - "
"Francie, there's no one as excited about this as you are, maybe not even me." She teased with a smile. "You've always been there for me, I don't know what I'd do without your help, and so I'm really sure I want it to be you."
"That's so sweet!" Francie exclaimed, leaning over to hug her. "Thank you!"
"Your welcome," she grinned.
They separated and returned to their catalogues. "Syd, if it's a boy, circumcision or no?"
Sydney was unable to stop her laugh, "circumcised, I guess. I haven't given it much thought."
"You should, it's very important."
"Any other important decisions that I've overlooked?"
"You have plenty of time Syd . . It's just that some decisions need to be prepared for. Are you going to breastfeed?"
"Yes." She answered, only to be met by Francie's surprised look. "What? It's best for the baby, I want what's best for the baby."
"I don't know . . You seem so insistent that you'll return to work right away, I guess I didn't picture you having time to breastfeed."
"I'll pump," she shrugged. "Keep some in the refrigerator for whoever is watching the baby."
"Well I want to watch the baby whenever your Dad isn't."
"You'll grow sick of the baby if you're with it all the time."
"No, I won't, I'm Aunt Francie," she pointed out. "Your going to need help though, but promise me if I ever get to be too much, you'll tell me."
"I promise Francie, if you ever get to be too much, I'll tell you." She agreed. Seconds later, the nurse popped in, calling her for her results. "Guess it's time."
"You'll be fine," Francie insisted, squeezing her hand before Sydney went off on her own.
Sydney's results were perfectly healthy and afterwards Francie took her to the restaurant for an early dinner to celebrate. The restaurant was just starting to go more crowded when she left in the early evening as dusk was starting to cover the city. After hugging her friends and saying goodbye, thanking Francie for the help and Charlie for making her food personally, she got into the car. Taking an extra ten minutes to insure she wasn't being followed, she drove in the direction of the familiar pier.
At nearly twenty-seven weeks pregnant - almost seven months - leaning up against the pier watching the ocean wasn't as simple or comfortable as it used to be. Nowadays her back grew sore quickly and her feet would fall asleep. She was certain someone must have heard her complaints, because she wasn't waiting long before her companion arrived.
Once again he stood a respectable distance away, creating the appearance that they weren't speaking to one another if someone else was monitoring them. He did, however, dare to glance at her before looking back out at the pier. The only thought on her mind, aside from how ridiculously sore she felt, was that it was getting too cold for them to be meeting outside. When he once again risked a glance in her direction, she realized she should say something.
"My test was fine, no problems."
"Good," he nodded slightly.
"Classes start next week."
"Are you ready?"
"Yeah." She answered, wishing they had met in the warehouse so she could sit down and look at him.
"We're taking down Vancouver next Monday, February second."
"Okay," she replied, uncertain what to say to that.
"I just thought you might want to know."
"Thank you," she smiled. "I should go or I'll miss the Kings game." She realized.
His response was a chuckle and a sigh. "I'll be in contact." He said softly, seeing her nod out of the corner of his eye before she turned around and walked away.
The next afternoon Sydney found herself in the middle of rows and rows of baby sheets, examining colors, fabrics and styles with Jennie and Francie. "Syd, how about this?" Jennie asked, holding up linens in soft blue with yellow checks and stripes. "
"I like that," Francie commented, picking up another package of it. "It's perfectly neutral, and it would go perfectly with the colors of the nursery."
"I like it too," she agreed. "Do you think it was smart to leave Charlie and Will to supervise the carpet installation?" She asked, looking at her friends in worry.
"They'll be fine. They're men, men are good at stuff like that." Francie pointed out. "We're women, we're good at shopping."
"That's true," Jennie laughed. "So is this the one Syd?"
"I think so, yeah. I really like this pattern." She agreed as her friends picked up the necessary amount of linens.
"Next week should be so much fun, we finally get to see the Bristow heirloom furniture." Francie grinned. "You're definitely going to need an electric swing and a snugly."
"A snugly?" Jennie questioned.
"Yeah, it's like a sling. You can carry the baby hands free, and with a snugly the baby can either face you or the outside world. They even make ones with head support for younger babies. It's a must have for single Mom's like Syd."
Jennie and Syd rolled their eyes at one another, sharing a brief laugh before the politely followed Francie. While her best friend might seem over-enthusiastic at times, Sydney was grateful to have Francie in her life. Not only was she one of her best and biggest supporters, but also she seemed to be able to give Sydney's pregnancy all the thought and excitement that Sydney was too preoccupied to provide.
The women returned to Sydney's house later that night with all the linens necessary, a snugly and an electric swing, that while still in the box claimed to be easy to assemble. Before returning home they had stopped for dinner at the restaurant, unwinding from a busy day of shopping. By the time they got back to Sydney's house, Charlie and Will were in the living room watching Die Hard and there was a soft, beautiful, brand new blue carpet installed in what was to be her child's nursery.
"It's actually starting to look like a nursery," Will realized, standing behind Sydney in the doorway of the nursery. The boys had been kind enough to set up the swing in the corner of the room, although she suspected it would be it's temporary home. With the carpet down, the walls done and the swing set up, it *did* look like a nursery.
"So, how many more weeks?" Francie asked.
"I'll be twenty seven weeks on Monday, so thirteen weeks."
"Less then four months," Jennie whispered.
"Let the countdown begin."