Title: Can you ever really know someone?
Season/Setting: Just after the Season two premiere.
Summary: The recent series of events lead Francie to suspect that something is going on. In the meantime, someone finds out about Sydney. But is everyone really ever like they seem???
Genre: Suspense, Drama
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own ALIAS. That privilege is someone else's. But I'd like to! J
Author's Note: The new season hasn't actually started showing here, so I don't really know what happened- I've had to go by episode guides, which hardly ever say anything. So any discrepancies there aren't really my fault. Any other errors are though, so I'd like to apologise in advance.
Francie watched closely as the routine repeated itself. The phone would ring at a late our, and a male voice would ask for Joey's Pizza. Then, just minutes later, Sydney would leave for a reason she'd never told anyone about before. At first Francie didn't notice it- Sydney would 'need to get some time for herself to help cope with Danny's death' or just have cravings. But the calls and the act continued, and Francie had to admit to herself that something was going on. So the suspicion began.
Today could have been like any other- Sydney received the phone call from the mysterious no one in search of pizza, then minutes later would leave on some vague errand. But it wasn't like any other, and Francie knew it. There was no way the old Syd would have just left after finding out that Will had been on drugs for the past three years. It just wasn't her. But she left without a backwards glance, leaving Francie with Will, the one person she thought she truly knew. It just wasn't what she would have expected from Will. But then again, she wouldn't have thought that both Will and Syd would disappear for ages at the same time. And now Will didn't suspect a thing about Sydney. It just didn't add up.
*
"How's Will handling things?" asked Vaughn, his face a mask of worry. Sydney frowned.
"He seems to be doing okay," she said slowly. "Finding out what he did, the way he did was a huge shock. Add that to the way we covered it up, and anyone would be different."
"Well, I just wanted you to know that you can always talk to me about it," Vaughn offered. Sydney smiled gratefully.
"Thank you," she replied.
After the meeting Sydney drove to the corner store to pick up the chocolate that she'd 'craved'. She didn't really feel like it, but if she didn't get it Francie would get suspicious. Or more suspicious than she already was. Sydney pulled into the driveway, hunched her shoulders and buried her face in her hands. It was great that she didn't have to hide anything from Will, but she felt terrible for letting him get dragged into all this. At least she volunteered for this deceit; he was thrown unwillingly into the middle of it. And Francie. She longed to tell Francie the truth, to stop the lies and share everything like they used to. Finally she sat up, picked up the chocolate and walked out of the car. She plastered a fake smile on her face before entering the house. More lies.
*
Francie wandered out into the hallway, about to leave for school. She was nearly at the front door when she noticed a large brown envelope on the floor. She bent down to pick it up. Sydney Bristow it read on the front. Francie sighed, walked to Sydney's door and pounded on it.
"Something came for you," she called through the door. There was a muffled thud, then the door opened. Sydney reached out for the envelope, which Francie handed to her. Sydney glanced at it then tore it open, a confused frown on her face. She pulled out the contents, and her frown disappeared. Her face paled and her brown eyes widened. She looked like someone who's just received a death sentence. The contents spilt out of her hands and onto the floor. Francie looked at Sydney, concerned.
"Are you okay? Come and sit down," she said. She took Sydney's arm and led her into the lounge room, quickly glancing over her shoulder at the envelope's contents.
A pile of photos, depicting Sydney with a handsome man at several locations, lay strewn over the wooden floor.
*
Sydney walked quickly through the SD-6 offices, not letting the panic she felt show on her face. The memory of the photos of her meeting Vaughn was permanently imprinted in her mind. They'd been compromised, and she didn't know how much time she had. In her panic, she ran to the first person she thought could help her. Her father, Jack Bristow.
She burst into his office, surprising both her father and Marshall. She looked over at Marshall.
"Umm…Dad? I need to talk to you about something in private," she said pointedly. Jack sighed in exasperation.
"Can't it wait? We're in the middle of something," he said.
"No, it's urgent," she said, some of her panic creeping into her voice. Jack picked up on it; he frowned at her in concern.
"Can we continue this later, Marshall? Thanks," he said, ushering Marshall out of the room before he could start complaining. He then reached under his desk and pushed a button.
"Okay, Sydney, we have about 3 minutes. What is it?" he asked, frowning at her. Sydney took a shaky breath.
"Someone knows," she said. Jack looked confused.
"Knows about what?" he asked.
"About me…about Vaughn and me…everything," she said, her face crumbling. She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing. Jack sat down next to her and rubbed her back comfortingly.
"Tell me everything," he asked quietly. Syd struggled to regain her composure. After a few deep breaths she began.
"This morning Francie came to give me something that arrived overnight. It was a large brown envelope, and I had no idea what it was, so I opened it right there. And inside…inside there were photos of… of me with Vaughn. At the warehouse, the pier, in Taipei, it was all there. And there was a note."
"What did the note say?" asked Jack, his voice urgent.
"I've got it here," said Sydney, pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. She handed it to Jack.
"My, my, we are a naughty girl Agent Bristow…" he read, and then crumpled it up. Sydney watched him anxiously.
"Okay, Syd, here's what we going to do. I'm going to contact Devlin and let him know you've been compromised. He'll alert Vaughn. I need you to go home and destroy those photos. I'll call you with more details as soon as I know them. Okay?" Sydney nodded slowly. Jack glanced at his watch, the handed Sydney the crumpled piece of paper. She took it and shoved it in her pocket, then faced her father.
"Am I going to be alright Daddy?" she asked nervously.
"I hope so."
*
Francie arrived home from school, frowning at Sydney's car. She wasn't supposed to be home yet. Francie opened the front door and dropped her keys on the table.
"Syd? You home?" she called. There was a scraping of furniture and a rustling of papers, then Sydney's head poked around the corner. She smiled.
"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute," she said. Francie walked down the hall towards Sydney, and then frowned. She sniffed at the air.
"What is that smell? Is that smoke? What are you doing in there?" she asked, walking into the room. Sydney grinned sheepishly.
"I was burning my photos of Danny- I thought that if I didn't see them then it wouldn't hurt as much," she explained quickly. Francie looked at the floor dubiously. That did not sound like something Sydney would do. Things were just wrong around here, and she knew it. Sydney looked at Francie, concerned.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
"Sure…fine," replied Francie vaguely. If something was going on, she didn't want Sydney to think she was onto it. She smiled at her.
"Fine…"
*
Sydney sat anxiously by the phone. She had been waiting for nearly two hours, waiting for her father to ring. Even Francie had noticed, she'd commented on how Syd looked like she was waiting for a phone call the day after a date. Then Francie had gone into her room, declaring that she couldn't stand the incessant pacing. Sydney had ceased pacing, but still tapped her foot nervously. It had been ages. What was going on?
Suddenly, the phone rang, making Sydney jump nearly a foot. She calmed herself down, and then answered the phone a little breathlessly.
"Dad?" she asked hopefully.
"Yeah," came the gruff voice at the other end. "This is the first chance I've had to ring you. I contacted Devlin and informed him of the situation. There's nothing we can do right now, so you're going to have to sit tight for a while, just until we know where the leak came from." Sydney nodded, then realised that her father couldn't hear her. She acknowledged it vocally. There was a pause.
"And Sydney?" Jack asked hesitantly. Sydney made an encouraging noise.
"Devlin didn't want me to tell you this in case you were unduly worried but… we haven't been able to contact Agent Vaughn." Sydney gasped.
"I don't want you to get yourself worked up over it, he's probably just turned off his phone or something. We're going to keep trying to reach him, and as soon as we do I'll let you know. For now, just sit tight," Jack said, then hung up. Sydney gently placed the phone on the hook. She wrapped her arms around herself and resumed pacing, her face beginning to crumble.
*
Francie frowned at her computer. The words that normally flowed out of her hands and onto the page were blocked. She glared at her hands. It didn't help. The sound of the phone ringing startled her, and she started to answer it. But the ringing had already stopped by the time she reached her door. She opened the door a crack. Sydney was talking into the phone in a hushed, hurried voice. Francie closed the door again and turned back to her computer. This assignment was going nowhere fast, and she had to get it started. She glared at the screen, particularly the little blinking light the signalled that she could begin typing. It blinked away merrily, oblivious. The sound of Sydney's voice permeated the walls, and Francie found herself listening despite herself. Syd sounded unusually panicked, and she was talking to her father. There was an unusually long pause, followed by Syd's gasp. Francie frowned. A few minutes later the phone hung up.
Francie waited a few minutes, and then opened the door a crack. Syd had resumed that god-awful pacing, this time hugging her arms to herself and struggling not to cry. Something was definitely up, and Francie knew better than to ask. All she would get would be fob offs. She turned back to her computer and switched it off, resigned to her fate. There was no way she was going to finish the assignment, not with Syd working grooves into the hardwood floor. Honestly, the girl had enough drama to keep a daytime soap on air, and that's saying something. Francie grabbed her jacket and walked out of the room, closing her door behind her. Sydney turned to see what was she was doing. Francie held up her black, woollen coat.
"Thought you could use some space, so I'm going out for a while," she said, grabbing her keys off the table. Sydney nodded absently and went back to her pacing. Francie watched her for a minute, then left.
*
The phone still hadn't rung, and the grooves were well and truly in the floor. Sydney wandered aimlessly around the house until she found herself in the kitchen. Sitting in the fridge was a bottle of wine. She debated with herself for a minute, then poured herself a glass. Maybe it would help relieve her nerves. She filled a wine glass, then returned the bottle to the fridge. Then she settled herself on the couch, the portable phone in her lap. She had just gotten comfortable when the doorbell rang. She frowned, then stood up, putting the phone on the coffee table. She walked to the door and opened it.
She had time for a brief glimpse of a face covered by a balaclava and a black woollen coat before she collapsed to the floor, unconscious from the blow to her head. The wine glass fell to the floor and smashed, spilling wine everywhere. The unknown person reached down and dragged Sydney's unconscious form through the doorway, smearing the wine around the floor. The door was slammed shut.
Inside the house, the phone began to ring. After a few rings the answering machine picked up. Jack Bristow's urgent voice came on.
"Sydney, you need to get out of there. They have Vaughn already, and they're coming for you. Don't answer the door, just get out!! Syd…"
With that the machine cut him off. "There is no more room on this tape," an electronic voice announced, before hanging up. Silence fell.
*
Sydney woke up with a groan. The first things she was aware of were a) that she was tied up and b) that she had a pounding headache. She groaned again for good measure. A familiar face swam into her vision.
"Vaughn?! What are you doing here? Where is here anyway?" she asked urgently. Vaughn was tied to the chair next to her, a considerably large bruise covering his left temple. He opened his mouth to answer but was cut off by the door opening. Sydney's unknown assailant entered, followed by…
…Arvin Sloane. Sloane had a strange look on his face when he turned to Sydney. Sydney glared back at him. Sloane smiled in amusement.
"I'm glad you're finally awake, Sydney. After all, I wouldn't want you to miss any of this," he said, gesturing around vaguely. Sydney's glare darkened.
"Ooh, such anger," taunted Sloane. "It's such a pity you know. I had such grandiose plans for you, and your mother. Oh well. At least you wont miss this. I'm about to reward Agent Vasquez here," gesturing at the masked person "for catching the double agent who ruined so much stuff for us. Come over here Vasquez, let Sydney see your face."
Agent Vasquez walked over until she was right in front of Sydney's face. Vaughn watched on, his green eyes wide in terror. Sydney shot him a reassuring glance.
"Double Agent Sydney Bristow, I'd like you to meet Undercover Agent Cassandra Vasquez," chortled Sloane. Sydney glared at him even fiercer than before, then turned to face Vasquez. Vasquez reached up and slowly removed her balaclava. Sydney's chocolate brown eyes widened in shock.
"…Francie?" she whispered.
THE END!!
Author's Note: Well, what did you think? Good, bad, absolute rubbish or am I a nasty person for ending it there? There's only one way for me to find out! FEEDBACK!!!