Gone and Back Again
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Alias. They belong to ABC and J.J. Abrams. I own only the characters that have not appeared on Alias and none of my storylines will be used in upcoming episodes.
Spoilers: Maybe.
A/N: Weiss's opinions do not match my own. I love the movies he mentions. Oh, and this is re-uploaded because I realized I made a mistake regarding Irina's knowledge of Sydney going to Hawaii.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What do you want?"
"Oh, now, Michael, there are plenty of things that I want..."
"You know what I mean."
"Yes, well, see now, that's the thing. You know what I want."
"Refresh my memory."
"I want answers, Michael. Answers to all the questions I've been asking myself."
"If you want answers, I'm not the one you should be talking to."
"Don't be silly, Michael. You're exactly who I want to be talking to. And I'd like to see you again."
Vaughn froze. "What?"
Irina chuckled lightly. "Yes, well, though my former husband was able to extract you from me the first time, he won't succeed again. I virtually guarantee it."
"And how do you think that you're going to get me in your hold a second time?"
"I happen to know that the CIA is sending Sydney on a mission to Hawaii. You're going to go with her."
"And if I don't?"
"I have your cell phone number, Michael. What makes you think I didn't go the extra mile and get your home address as well?"
Vaughn closed in eyes for a moment and shivered. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Because I like to have fun. And trust me, Michael, causing terror in a young man's heart is quite enjoyable."
"Well, then, come to my apartment. Kill me for all I care, but I sure as hell am not going to Hawaii."
Irina sighed. "Well, then, maybe I'll pay your friend, Eric, a little visit..."
Vaughn gasped. "How..."
He was cut off. "I have friends in high places, Agent Vaughn. Now, give me what I need or your friend will pay the price."
"You're not going to get away with any of this."
"I beg to differ. Oh, and by the way...if I find out that Sydney knows a word of this conversation, I will have both Agent Weiss and, though it may be heartless, Sydney terminated."
Vaughn paused. "You wouldn't kill your own daughter."
"Try me."
"Fine. I'll go on this little expedition. But don't expect to be getting anything out of it."
"Very well. When you get to Oahu, you will be staying at the Sheraton hotel. I know when you will be arriving, so I will give you a call then. See you soon."
Vaughn was about to reply when he heard the dial tone. He let out the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding and cautiously looked around at his surroundings. He realized he was still in the warehouse, so he hopped into his car and drove home, knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep that night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I have to talk to you, sir," Vaughn exclaimed to Devlin, rushing passed a curious Weiss.
"Agent Vaughn, what is the meaning of this?" Devlin demanded as he was gently pushed along into his office.
"Sir, this is extremely important and cannot wait."
Weiss exchanged a look with Devlin's assistant. "What the hell's going on?" he asked.
She shrugged and looked at the closed door. "I have no clue."
Weiss walked up to the door, got on his knees, and put his ear to the door, hoping to hear some of the conversation.
"Last night, I got a call from Irina Derevko," Vaughn explained.
Devlin's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Irina Derevko?"
"Yes, sir. She told me that I have to go to Hawaii, and she's going to kill Sydney and Eric if I don't, and if Sydney finds out she'll..."
"Agent, agent, slow down! Start again."
Vaughn took in a long, slow breath. "SD-6 will be sending Syd...Agent Bristow on a mission to Hawaii. Somehow, Irina found this out...well, actually, she thinks the CIA is sending her, but anyway, she wants me to go with her daughter."
"Why?"
"She wants me back in her custody."
"That's absolutely impossible, Agent Vaughn. I refuse to send you back to that woman's..."
"Sir, she knows where I live."
"Come again?"
"She knows where I live, she knows my number...hell, she even knows where Agent Weiss lives, and I'm sure that if I don't show up in Hawaii, she will have him killed."
Outside of Devlin's door, Weiss heard his name associated with the word killed. His eyes widened to the size of a toad's and he shoved himself closer to the door.
Devlin was silent. "Agent Vaughn, I can't let you risk your life on this."
"Sir, if I don't, my best friend will die and his blood will be on my hands. That punishment would be worse than death and I will take a chance on my life to do this."
Devlin sat back in his chair for a moment before replying, "Are you sure, agent?"
"I've never been more sure in my life, sir."
"Alright. We'll tell Agent Bristow the situation, and..."
"Uh, sir, there's a problem with that. Derevko has ordered me not to tell Agent Bristow any of this, or there will most certainly be quite a bit of trouble."
Devlin sighed in frustration and rubbed his temples.
"What do you suggest, sir?"
Devlin thought for a moment. "Tell her that I am sending you on this mission for back-up."
"She won't believe it. Either that, or she won't have it."
"Well, she'll just have to accept it, won't she? Tell her that under no circumstances is it debatable."
"Yes, sir. Sir, I..."
Suddenly, the door was pushed open and Weiss came tumbling in. Vaughn and Devlin both looked down at the man on the floor with questioning eyes. Weiss looked up and gave them a sheepish smile.
"Sir," Weiss began, "I'd like to request to be sent on this mission as well."
"What?" Vaughn asked incredulously. He turned to Devlin. "Sir, please, that is completely unnecessary!"
"I can't say I disagree," Devlin said, slightly amused. "What would be the cause for you to go along, Agent Weiss?"
Weiss stood up and brushed the lint off his suit. "Well, sir, uh, Agent Vaughn will need back-up himself. You know, I'm the back-up to Bristow's back-up and all that jazz?"
"Hmm," Devlin murmured.
"Sir, you wouldn't actually consider this, right?" Vaughn asked, looking from Devlin to Eric and back again.
"Agent Vaughn, it doesn't sound like a very bad idea. After all, we wouldn't want a repeat of Taipei, would we? The CIA would want you back in L.A. safe and sound."
"I...but, we...I mean..." Vaughn sputtered, not being able to come up with a suitable argument.
"I understand that you don't want Agent Weiss to be put in danger, but I think it's too late for that," Devlin said. "Now, I think it's settled. We will get the two of you tickets to Hawaii immediately."
Vaughn groaned in defeat and shot Weiss a dirty look.
"Both of you are excused," Devlin told them, waving them out.
Weiss followed Vaughn out the door and into his office.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Vaughn yelled after he shut his door.
Eric had expected the outburst and calmly shrugged. "I'm not about to let you get hurt again, Michael."
"I can handle it," Vaughn replied, brining his voice back down to its normal tone.
"No, you can't. Not by yourself."
Vaughn sighed and slumped down in his chair. He pulled out his gold coin and started twisting it in his hand. "I know," he said quietly.
"Listen, Mike, this time it'll be different. We'll be ready for the bitch."
Vaughn shook his head. "Nobody can be 'ready' for that woman. She doesn't care if a thousand FBI agents have surrounded her. She'll do everything in her power to kill as many of them as she can." He ran a hand through his spiky, dark blonde hair. "By the way, I forgot to thank you before for taking care of Donovan."
Eric raised an eyebrow at the subject change. "Uh, it wasn't a problem."
"I think he misses having you around, actually," Vaughn continued. "He's whining a lot when I'm home and just sits by the door, moping..."
"Michael, stop, you're babbling," Eric interrupted.
"Sorry. Eric...thanks for having my back through this."
"Yeah, well, I'll be damned if it was any other way."
The friends smiled at each other.
"Hey," Vaughn said suddenly, jumping out of chair, "we'd better meet Sydney at the warehouse."
"Oh, yeah, you're right. Let's get a move on."
As soon as Sydney took a seat on the comfortable couch, the phone rang. She let out a mock sob and reached over to grab it.
"What?" she mumbled.
"Joey's Pizza."
She sighed. "Damn you. Wrong number."
She saw Vaughn's outline standing by his car and she stomped toward him. He turned when he heard her angry footsteps.
"What's wrong? You sounded upset on the phone."
Sydney rolled her eyes. "I was upset. I was just about to get a nice rest!"
Vaughn laughed, but Sydney glared at him. She noticed someone sitting in Vaughn's car and backed away in surprise.
"Who's that?" Sydney asked.
Weiss stepped out of the car, carefully handling a yo-yo, and looked up at her for a second.
"Hi, Sydney," he greeted.
She sighed in relief. "What's going on?"
"Well..." Vaughn started tentatively.
Sydney raised her eyebrows. "Come on, hurry up. This obviously wasn't a social call."
Vaughn gave her his adorable half-smile. "No, uh, listen, Sydney, you know your mission to Hawaii?"
Sydney nodded.
"Uh, well, Devlin is sending us, Agent Weiss and me, with you."
Sydney blinked. "Why?"
"I...well, see, uh..." Vaughn stammered.
"What Michael's trying to say here is Devlin thinks you need back-up over there," Weiss said, shooting a small smile at a grateful Vaughn.
She blinked again. "What's going to be so hard in Hawaii that I would need back-up?"
Weiss and Vaughn looked at each other and quickly looked back at Sydney's accusing glare. Vaughn bit his lip and said the first that came to his mind.
"The truth is, Devlin said I should take a vacation from work, and I agreed. When I found out that you were going to Hawaii for a mission, I asked Devlin if I could just help you out instead..." he trailed. With a poke from Weiss, he added, "and bring Weiss along, too."
Sydney put on a doubtful expression. "And Devlin just....let you come with me on a mission...even after everything in Taipei."
"Um...yes?" Vaughn asked meekly.
Sydney rolled her eyes. "You're hiding something, I can tell. But I'll let it go, because I'll figure it out."
"I don't have a doubt about that," Weiss muttered under his breath.
"So what's the counter-mission?" Sydney asked.
Vaughn grabbed a file from his car and handed it to her. "This is "Mana'olana," or in English, Hope, Kalani. She's going to be helping us out in Hawaii in getting this thing done."
Sydney took the file from Vaughn and sifted through it, nodding as she went along.
"When we land, we'll be met by one Pomaika'i Kahihikolo. He's the one who has the disks we want. The CIA has fake disks for you to make the switch. It's nothing you haven't done before."
"And what will you two be doing?"
Vaughn shrugged. "We'll do some distracting if its needed."
"I feel really bad," Vaughn admitted as he drank his Coke and looked out the window.
Weiss laughed and sipped his coffee. "It's not our fault Devlin booked us first class seats and Sydney's stuck in coach."
Vaughn felt a smile creep across his face. "I wonder why we got these seats in the first place."
Weiss shrugged. "Don't complain about it, man. It's first class, enjoy it."
Vaughn nodded. "You're right. So what's the movie?"
Weiss reached over and grabbed the airline magazine. He flipped to the movie listing section and rolled his eyes. "First one's Dude, Where's My Car?"
Vaughn chuckled. "Hey, you know, that movie was pretty funny."
"Yeah, to a twelve-year-old."
"What's the other one?"
"Uhhh...Donnie Darko?"
They looked at each other and grinned. In unison, they said, "Drew Barrymore!"
"Sounds good to me," Weiss commented, putting the magazine back in the seat pocket.
"Me, too," Vaughn agreed, putting his feet up on the footrest.
Upon landing on Oahu, Weiss and Vaughn were very excited. They grabbed their bags from the overhead compartment and walked off the plane. They hung around the gate for a while until they saw Sydney walk out with Dixon. She passed them, giving them only the tiniest of glances, and they continued after a beat later.
Vaughn's phone rang and he looked at Weiss with an alarmed expression. He slowly reached for the phone and flipped it open.
"He...hello?" he asked.
"It was a mistake to bring him with you, Michael, my boy," Irina said.
"It's not my fault. I didn't ask him to come with me," he replied, looking up at his friend.
"If he gets in the way, I won't hesitate to kill him," she told him.
Vaughn didn't reply.
"Be very careful, Agent Vaughn. Your life-and your friend's life-depends on your ability to follow directions. I'll be in touch again soon."
Dial Tone.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from Alias. They belong to ABC and J.J. Abrams. I own only the characters that have not appeared on Alias and none of my storylines will be used in upcoming episodes.
Spoilers: Maybe.
A/N: Weiss's opinions do not match my own. I love the movies he mentions. Oh, and this is re-uploaded because I realized I made a mistake regarding Irina's knowledge of Sydney going to Hawaii.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"What do you want?"
"Oh, now, Michael, there are plenty of things that I want..."
"You know what I mean."
"Yes, well, see now, that's the thing. You know what I want."
"Refresh my memory."
"I want answers, Michael. Answers to all the questions I've been asking myself."
"If you want answers, I'm not the one you should be talking to."
"Don't be silly, Michael. You're exactly who I want to be talking to. And I'd like to see you again."
Vaughn froze. "What?"
Irina chuckled lightly. "Yes, well, though my former husband was able to extract you from me the first time, he won't succeed again. I virtually guarantee it."
"And how do you think that you're going to get me in your hold a second time?"
"I happen to know that the CIA is sending Sydney on a mission to Hawaii. You're going to go with her."
"And if I don't?"
"I have your cell phone number, Michael. What makes you think I didn't go the extra mile and get your home address as well?"
Vaughn closed in eyes for a moment and shivered. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"
"Because I like to have fun. And trust me, Michael, causing terror in a young man's heart is quite enjoyable."
"Well, then, come to my apartment. Kill me for all I care, but I sure as hell am not going to Hawaii."
Irina sighed. "Well, then, maybe I'll pay your friend, Eric, a little visit..."
Vaughn gasped. "How..."
He was cut off. "I have friends in high places, Agent Vaughn. Now, give me what I need or your friend will pay the price."
"You're not going to get away with any of this."
"I beg to differ. Oh, and by the way...if I find out that Sydney knows a word of this conversation, I will have both Agent Weiss and, though it may be heartless, Sydney terminated."
Vaughn paused. "You wouldn't kill your own daughter."
"Try me."
"Fine. I'll go on this little expedition. But don't expect to be getting anything out of it."
"Very well. When you get to Oahu, you will be staying at the Sheraton hotel. I know when you will be arriving, so I will give you a call then. See you soon."
Vaughn was about to reply when he heard the dial tone. He let out the breath he hadn't even realized he had been holding and cautiously looked around at his surroundings. He realized he was still in the warehouse, so he hopped into his car and drove home, knowing he wouldn't be getting any sleep that night.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I have to talk to you, sir," Vaughn exclaimed to Devlin, rushing passed a curious Weiss.
"Agent Vaughn, what is the meaning of this?" Devlin demanded as he was gently pushed along into his office.
"Sir, this is extremely important and cannot wait."
Weiss exchanged a look with Devlin's assistant. "What the hell's going on?" he asked.
She shrugged and looked at the closed door. "I have no clue."
Weiss walked up to the door, got on his knees, and put his ear to the door, hoping to hear some of the conversation.
"Last night, I got a call from Irina Derevko," Vaughn explained.
Devlin's eyebrows arched in surprise. "Irina Derevko?"
"Yes, sir. She told me that I have to go to Hawaii, and she's going to kill Sydney and Eric if I don't, and if Sydney finds out she'll..."
"Agent, agent, slow down! Start again."
Vaughn took in a long, slow breath. "SD-6 will be sending Syd...Agent Bristow on a mission to Hawaii. Somehow, Irina found this out...well, actually, she thinks the CIA is sending her, but anyway, she wants me to go with her daughter."
"Why?"
"She wants me back in her custody."
"That's absolutely impossible, Agent Vaughn. I refuse to send you back to that woman's..."
"Sir, she knows where I live."
"Come again?"
"She knows where I live, she knows my number...hell, she even knows where Agent Weiss lives, and I'm sure that if I don't show up in Hawaii, she will have him killed."
Outside of Devlin's door, Weiss heard his name associated with the word killed. His eyes widened to the size of a toad's and he shoved himself closer to the door.
Devlin was silent. "Agent Vaughn, I can't let you risk your life on this."
"Sir, if I don't, my best friend will die and his blood will be on my hands. That punishment would be worse than death and I will take a chance on my life to do this."
Devlin sat back in his chair for a moment before replying, "Are you sure, agent?"
"I've never been more sure in my life, sir."
"Alright. We'll tell Agent Bristow the situation, and..."
"Uh, sir, there's a problem with that. Derevko has ordered me not to tell Agent Bristow any of this, or there will most certainly be quite a bit of trouble."
Devlin sighed in frustration and rubbed his temples.
"What do you suggest, sir?"
Devlin thought for a moment. "Tell her that I am sending you on this mission for back-up."
"She won't believe it. Either that, or she won't have it."
"Well, she'll just have to accept it, won't she? Tell her that under no circumstances is it debatable."
"Yes, sir. Sir, I..."
Suddenly, the door was pushed open and Weiss came tumbling in. Vaughn and Devlin both looked down at the man on the floor with questioning eyes. Weiss looked up and gave them a sheepish smile.
"Sir," Weiss began, "I'd like to request to be sent on this mission as well."
"What?" Vaughn asked incredulously. He turned to Devlin. "Sir, please, that is completely unnecessary!"
"I can't say I disagree," Devlin said, slightly amused. "What would be the cause for you to go along, Agent Weiss?"
Weiss stood up and brushed the lint off his suit. "Well, sir, uh, Agent Vaughn will need back-up himself. You know, I'm the back-up to Bristow's back-up and all that jazz?"
"Hmm," Devlin murmured.
"Sir, you wouldn't actually consider this, right?" Vaughn asked, looking from Devlin to Eric and back again.
"Agent Vaughn, it doesn't sound like a very bad idea. After all, we wouldn't want a repeat of Taipei, would we? The CIA would want you back in L.A. safe and sound."
"I...but, we...I mean..." Vaughn sputtered, not being able to come up with a suitable argument.
"I understand that you don't want Agent Weiss to be put in danger, but I think it's too late for that," Devlin said. "Now, I think it's settled. We will get the two of you tickets to Hawaii immediately."
Vaughn groaned in defeat and shot Weiss a dirty look.
"Both of you are excused," Devlin told them, waving them out.
Weiss followed Vaughn out the door and into his office.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Vaughn yelled after he shut his door.
Eric had expected the outburst and calmly shrugged. "I'm not about to let you get hurt again, Michael."
"I can handle it," Vaughn replied, brining his voice back down to its normal tone.
"No, you can't. Not by yourself."
Vaughn sighed and slumped down in his chair. He pulled out his gold coin and started twisting it in his hand. "I know," he said quietly.
"Listen, Mike, this time it'll be different. We'll be ready for the bitch."
Vaughn shook his head. "Nobody can be 'ready' for that woman. She doesn't care if a thousand FBI agents have surrounded her. She'll do everything in her power to kill as many of them as she can." He ran a hand through his spiky, dark blonde hair. "By the way, I forgot to thank you before for taking care of Donovan."
Eric raised an eyebrow at the subject change. "Uh, it wasn't a problem."
"I think he misses having you around, actually," Vaughn continued. "He's whining a lot when I'm home and just sits by the door, moping..."
"Michael, stop, you're babbling," Eric interrupted.
"Sorry. Eric...thanks for having my back through this."
"Yeah, well, I'll be damned if it was any other way."
The friends smiled at each other.
"Hey," Vaughn said suddenly, jumping out of chair, "we'd better meet Sydney at the warehouse."
"Oh, yeah, you're right. Let's get a move on."
As soon as Sydney took a seat on the comfortable couch, the phone rang. She let out a mock sob and reached over to grab it.
"What?" she mumbled.
"Joey's Pizza."
She sighed. "Damn you. Wrong number."
She saw Vaughn's outline standing by his car and she stomped toward him. He turned when he heard her angry footsteps.
"What's wrong? You sounded upset on the phone."
Sydney rolled her eyes. "I was upset. I was just about to get a nice rest!"
Vaughn laughed, but Sydney glared at him. She noticed someone sitting in Vaughn's car and backed away in surprise.
"Who's that?" Sydney asked.
Weiss stepped out of the car, carefully handling a yo-yo, and looked up at her for a second.
"Hi, Sydney," he greeted.
She sighed in relief. "What's going on?"
"Well..." Vaughn started tentatively.
Sydney raised her eyebrows. "Come on, hurry up. This obviously wasn't a social call."
Vaughn gave her his adorable half-smile. "No, uh, listen, Sydney, you know your mission to Hawaii?"
Sydney nodded.
"Uh, well, Devlin is sending us, Agent Weiss and me, with you."
Sydney blinked. "Why?"
"I...well, see, uh..." Vaughn stammered.
"What Michael's trying to say here is Devlin thinks you need back-up over there," Weiss said, shooting a small smile at a grateful Vaughn.
She blinked again. "What's going to be so hard in Hawaii that I would need back-up?"
Weiss and Vaughn looked at each other and quickly looked back at Sydney's accusing glare. Vaughn bit his lip and said the first that came to his mind.
"The truth is, Devlin said I should take a vacation from work, and I agreed. When I found out that you were going to Hawaii for a mission, I asked Devlin if I could just help you out instead..." he trailed. With a poke from Weiss, he added, "and bring Weiss along, too."
Sydney put on a doubtful expression. "And Devlin just....let you come with me on a mission...even after everything in Taipei."
"Um...yes?" Vaughn asked meekly.
Sydney rolled her eyes. "You're hiding something, I can tell. But I'll let it go, because I'll figure it out."
"I don't have a doubt about that," Weiss muttered under his breath.
"So what's the counter-mission?" Sydney asked.
Vaughn grabbed a file from his car and handed it to her. "This is "Mana'olana," or in English, Hope, Kalani. She's going to be helping us out in Hawaii in getting this thing done."
Sydney took the file from Vaughn and sifted through it, nodding as she went along.
"When we land, we'll be met by one Pomaika'i Kahihikolo. He's the one who has the disks we want. The CIA has fake disks for you to make the switch. It's nothing you haven't done before."
"And what will you two be doing?"
Vaughn shrugged. "We'll do some distracting if its needed."
"I feel really bad," Vaughn admitted as he drank his Coke and looked out the window.
Weiss laughed and sipped his coffee. "It's not our fault Devlin booked us first class seats and Sydney's stuck in coach."
Vaughn felt a smile creep across his face. "I wonder why we got these seats in the first place."
Weiss shrugged. "Don't complain about it, man. It's first class, enjoy it."
Vaughn nodded. "You're right. So what's the movie?"
Weiss reached over and grabbed the airline magazine. He flipped to the movie listing section and rolled his eyes. "First one's Dude, Where's My Car?"
Vaughn chuckled. "Hey, you know, that movie was pretty funny."
"Yeah, to a twelve-year-old."
"What's the other one?"
"Uhhh...Donnie Darko?"
They looked at each other and grinned. In unison, they said, "Drew Barrymore!"
"Sounds good to me," Weiss commented, putting the magazine back in the seat pocket.
"Me, too," Vaughn agreed, putting his feet up on the footrest.
Upon landing on Oahu, Weiss and Vaughn were very excited. They grabbed their bags from the overhead compartment and walked off the plane. They hung around the gate for a while until they saw Sydney walk out with Dixon. She passed them, giving them only the tiniest of glances, and they continued after a beat later.
Vaughn's phone rang and he looked at Weiss with an alarmed expression. He slowly reached for the phone and flipped it open.
"He...hello?" he asked.
"It was a mistake to bring him with you, Michael, my boy," Irina said.
"It's not my fault. I didn't ask him to come with me," he replied, looking up at his friend.
"If he gets in the way, I won't hesitate to kill him," she told him.
Vaughn didn't reply.
"Be very careful, Agent Vaughn. Your life-and your friend's life-depends on your ability to follow directions. I'll be in touch again soon."
Dial Tone.