The Way of Seeming
I own nothing. All character's belong to someone with much more money
than me.
Author's note: This is the (hopefully) fully corrected version.
If you find ANY mistakes PLEASE leave me a review saying where.
I was reading this story over and the number of mistakes I found drove me INSANE!
P.S. Good news. I got my philosophy paper back. I got an A!!!! Good news has inspired
me to write more, so now I just have to type it.
........And now it begins.
Don't forget to review. They make me happy. :)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Soon after the beep of the heart monitor had faded into the background noise of
the world, the nurse kicked everyone out.
"That girl there needs lots of rest to get better. So shoo," she said with a smile.
Francie bent down and kissed Sydney on the forehead. "Feel better soon," she
whispered before walking out, tears in her eyes. Will followed, staying clear of Sloane,
the devil incarnate.
Jack and Sloane walked out side by side. When the door shut behind them Sloane
laid a bony, skeletal hand on Jack's arm. "We will talk tomorrow. Be at my office at
seven o'clock. Don't be late." He walked away without another word.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Sloane's office gave off a vibe of death. No good had ever come out of it.
Jack walked in as the clock clicked to seven o'clock.
Sloane was sitting there, hands in his lap, reading his computer screen.
"Sit down Jack." Sloane didn't even bother to look up.
Jack took a seat in front of the desk and waited for Sloane to make the first move.
After long moments of silence and stillness Sloane turned from his computer,
folded his hands under his chin, and looked over at Jack.
"Sydney is right now in a local hospital with numerous injuries, a system full of
drugs, and blue hair. Would you like to explain how that came about?"
Here's where years of lying to anyone and everyone I've ever met comes in
handy, he thought.
"I'm not entirely sure. However I fear that this lifestyle is breaking her down. Sydney never
liked lying, and I think the amount of lies she's been telling lately may have pushed her
over the edge."
"And if she'd tried to kill herself then I might be able to buy that story. However,
that does not explain the blue hair or the bruises."
Let's dig a little deeper into this family well of lies. "It's been known, among deep cover
agents, that they keep the habits and behaviors of their alias even after their assignment is
over. Sydney has so many different aliases that she can not take on any one easily. So, I
believe that she combined the most frequent and prevalent aspects of her aliases. The," he
coughed, "revealing clothes and odd hair and the environment, nightclubs or the more
unpleasant areas of society. And of course the bad areas of Los Angeles are filled with
unsavory characters and drugs. A dangerous situation to be in. Even for Sydney."
Sloane sat back in his chair and starred at Jack. "It sounds like you have a very
precise explanation considering the fact that Sydney has only said a dozen words, and
none of them were an explanation of what happened."
Jack didn't even blink. "I had a lot of time to think about this while I was sitting in the
waiting room."
Sloane nodded. He didn't believe what he was saying. Jack clenched his teeth. He
had to make Sloane drop this.
He leaned forward in the chair and massaged his forehead.
"Jack?"
Jack didn't look up. "I really hope that's what happened. Because if it isn't."
Jack trailed off and dropped his head to his hands for just a moment before sitting up
straight and putting the emotionless mask back into position. Had to make this believable.
No one would believe it if he just broke down crying. Even the little emotion he had just
displayed was pushing it. Sloane seemed to have bought it. He was looking at Jack with
concerned eyes. Jack cleared his throat and stood up. "I should get going. Visiting hours
start soon and I want to check on how she's doing before the ten o'clock briefing."
"No. That's ok. You don't have to come to the briefing. In fact, take the day off.
Be with your daughter."
Jack nodded and left the room. "Thank You." As he rode the elevator down to the
parking garage he couldn't help the feeling that something had just gone horribly wrong.
But there was no time to think about that. He had to find out the soonest that he could get
Sydney out of the hospital. If the drugs were still affecting her, who knows what
information she could unwittingly disclose.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Review, Review, Review. Why? Because they're fun to do of course.
I own nothing. All character's belong to someone with much more money
than me.
Author's note: This is the (hopefully) fully corrected version.
If you find ANY mistakes PLEASE leave me a review saying where.
I was reading this story over and the number of mistakes I found drove me INSANE!
P.S. Good news. I got my philosophy paper back. I got an A!!!! Good news has inspired
me to write more, so now I just have to type it.
........And now it begins.
Don't forget to review. They make me happy. :)
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Soon after the beep of the heart monitor had faded into the background noise of
the world, the nurse kicked everyone out.
"That girl there needs lots of rest to get better. So shoo," she said with a smile.
Francie bent down and kissed Sydney on the forehead. "Feel better soon," she
whispered before walking out, tears in her eyes. Will followed, staying clear of Sloane,
the devil incarnate.
Jack and Sloane walked out side by side. When the door shut behind them Sloane
laid a bony, skeletal hand on Jack's arm. "We will talk tomorrow. Be at my office at
seven o'clock. Don't be late." He walked away without another word.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Sloane's office gave off a vibe of death. No good had ever come out of it.
Jack walked in as the clock clicked to seven o'clock.
Sloane was sitting there, hands in his lap, reading his computer screen.
"Sit down Jack." Sloane didn't even bother to look up.
Jack took a seat in front of the desk and waited for Sloane to make the first move.
After long moments of silence and stillness Sloane turned from his computer,
folded his hands under his chin, and looked over at Jack.
"Sydney is right now in a local hospital with numerous injuries, a system full of
drugs, and blue hair. Would you like to explain how that came about?"
Here's where years of lying to anyone and everyone I've ever met comes in
handy, he thought.
"I'm not entirely sure. However I fear that this lifestyle is breaking her down. Sydney never
liked lying, and I think the amount of lies she's been telling lately may have pushed her
over the edge."
"And if she'd tried to kill herself then I might be able to buy that story. However,
that does not explain the blue hair or the bruises."
Let's dig a little deeper into this family well of lies. "It's been known, among deep cover
agents, that they keep the habits and behaviors of their alias even after their assignment is
over. Sydney has so many different aliases that she can not take on any one easily. So, I
believe that she combined the most frequent and prevalent aspects of her aliases. The," he
coughed, "revealing clothes and odd hair and the environment, nightclubs or the more
unpleasant areas of society. And of course the bad areas of Los Angeles are filled with
unsavory characters and drugs. A dangerous situation to be in. Even for Sydney."
Sloane sat back in his chair and starred at Jack. "It sounds like you have a very
precise explanation considering the fact that Sydney has only said a dozen words, and
none of them were an explanation of what happened."
Jack didn't even blink. "I had a lot of time to think about this while I was sitting in the
waiting room."
Sloane nodded. He didn't believe what he was saying. Jack clenched his teeth. He
had to make Sloane drop this.
He leaned forward in the chair and massaged his forehead.
"Jack?"
Jack didn't look up. "I really hope that's what happened. Because if it isn't."
Jack trailed off and dropped his head to his hands for just a moment before sitting up
straight and putting the emotionless mask back into position. Had to make this believable.
No one would believe it if he just broke down crying. Even the little emotion he had just
displayed was pushing it. Sloane seemed to have bought it. He was looking at Jack with
concerned eyes. Jack cleared his throat and stood up. "I should get going. Visiting hours
start soon and I want to check on how she's doing before the ten o'clock briefing."
"No. That's ok. You don't have to come to the briefing. In fact, take the day off.
Be with your daughter."
Jack nodded and left the room. "Thank You." As he rode the elevator down to the
parking garage he couldn't help the feeling that something had just gone horribly wrong.
But there was no time to think about that. He had to find out the soonest that he could get
Sydney out of the hospital. If the drugs were still affecting her, who knows what
information she could unwittingly disclose.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Review, Review, Review. Why? Because they're fun to do of course.