Alias - Stalking the Truth
by theONLYone -|therealonlyone@yahoo.com|-
(key:) = - scene change, [xy:] - voiceover by xy, /*/*\*\ - flashback, \*\*/*/ - end flashback
=====
"Okay guys, I have to leave. My flight leaves in an hour." In truth, she had three, but she wanted—needed to get away for a while.
She got up from the couch and placed her glass in the sink. Will and Francie looked back at her, Francie pausing the movie they had been watching. "How long will you be gone?" Francie asked, eyes wide as Sydney stepped into her bedroom.
"Four days," Sydney replied as she reappeared with her usual black bag.
"You have four days worth of clothes in that tiny suitcase? I envy you!"
Will laughed at Francie's remark and added, "Yeah, you'd have four suitcases."
"It's a convention on world currencies."
"You must really love your job if you're going to survive that boredom until Tuesday."
Sydney smiled. She couldn't really trust herself with replying.
"What about school?" Francie wondered.
"It's four days." I won't be missed. "Besides, I'm only going to Japan. The convention's at this casino. They've got it blocked off for us."
"A whole casino?" Will asked. "I never knew that bank was so powerful," Francie said.
You don't know the half of it. "Well, all the employees from all over the world will be there." She took a deep breath. "Okay, I've gotta get going."
"See you." "Bye! Call!"
"I'll try." The door slammed behind Sydney. She knew she wouldn't be able to.
=====
"Sydney, what are you doing here? Vaughn just left." Haladki stood in front of Sydney, staring.
Sydney, startled, quickly said, "What do you mean? Where did he go?"
"To meet you wherever he meets you, I guess."
"Wait a minute. Why wasn't I informed?" She started towards Vaughn's office.
"Because he's not." Weiss interrupted. "He's going to your place to pick you up for the airport."
"He is?" both Haladki and Sydney asked, staring at him.
Sydney rushed to the phone inside Vaughn's office, dialing his cell. "I just fed Will and Francie this bull story about a convention. He said he wouldn't come over anymore. Vaughn, where are you?" She sat on the desk and frantically drummed her fingers on it, waiting for him to pick up.
"When did he go there the first time?" Haladki asked Weiss.
"I don't know for sure," was his reply, "but Devlin's not going to be happy."
"Why?"
"The shrink told him he wasn't supposed to meet her any time other than the scheduled meetings, but they went to dinner once and he went over to her house to drop off doughnuts once. And I doubt that was the first time he went over."
"They're dating?" Haladki looked surprised.
Weiss shrugged his shoulders. "Looks like it to me. Better hope her father doesn't find out."
=====
Vaughn sat back in his seat as he drove through Sydney's neighborhood. He hoped she had checked her pager or her voicemail, otherwise she might be gone already. She didn't know that he had to brief her.
He heard an odd ringing noise. What the hell? he thought, shaking his head rapidly. The ringing didn't go away and he realized it was his cell phone. He didn't usually have it on so he wasn't used to it's noise.
He picked it up. A blocked phone number appeared on the screen and he pressed Talk anyway.
"Hello?"
"What are you doing? Are you at my house yet?"
Sydney. "No. Where are you?"
"CIA. You have to come back."
He swung wide and made a U-turn. "Didn't you get my pages? Or my messages?"
"No. Did you call the house phone?"
"Why would I?"
"Never mind. Just get back here before you appear on my doorstep to a confused Will and Francie. They think I'm off to bank conventions."
"Well, I'm on my way back."
"Good."
They both hung up.
=====
Sydney sat in the passenger seat of Vaughn's car. Actually, it was CIA issue so it technically was not his. The Volkswagen was nice to ride in on the typical Los Angelos day—the air-conditioning was on full blast. Vaughn sat comfortably beside her with one hand on the wheel and the other on his knee. It kept twitching almost violently; Sydney was sure that Vaughn usually put his arm around the passenger-side head rest but didn't now because of the situation. It almost made her smile. She felt the need to fill the silence; it wasn't awkward or anything of the sort—she just was in talking mode and the borderline-angry feeling she had felt while talking to Vaughn on the phone was still there.
"You should have called the house."
"I will next time."
"Yeah right. Next time I'll keep my pager on, so there won't be a next time."
"If you say so."
A few more minutes of silence. As soon as Vaughn had returned to headquarters, Sydney had quite literally tossed her suitcase into the trunk of his car before she quickly sat in the passenger seat and ordered him to drive to the warehouse. He knew that was where she was most comfortable talking, and that the twenty-minute ride there would most likely be filled with silence.
Sydney reached over and turned off the fan, therefore turning off the air-conditioner. A few seconds later, Vaughn's arm went up around her head rest. There they sat, still in silence. Vaughn's fingertips brushed Sydney's shoulder and pulled back, which this time was covered in a white blouse. She played with the hem of her skirt.
The warehouse came into view of the front windshield. Both unbuckled their seat belts as Vaughn parked. They opened their doors at the same time and stepped out, one with his left foot first and the other with her right. Two doors slammed, but they sounded like one. They went into the warehouse walking next to each other, neither in front or back. Vaughn sat in one chair and Sydney sat in another. In silence, they stared at different parts of the room for the next hour.
a/n quick and concise and to the point, i'm hoping? IT IS, after i improved it. well, it's your call. a little less cutesy than the last chap, so me is happy. ha ha, bad grammar. o well. out here waiting for a fantastic idea for the next chapter courtesy of some genius reviewers: tOo.
everybody, check out Entertainment Weekly for this week! jen garner is on the cover, and there's an alias scoop as well as some awesome pics in it. i have it, and if i can get to a scanner i can upload them onto my web page.
by theONLYone -|therealonlyone@yahoo.com|-
(key:) = - scene change, [xy:] - voiceover by xy, /*/*\*\ - flashback, \*\*/*/ - end flashback
=====
"Okay guys, I have to leave. My flight leaves in an hour." In truth, she had three, but she wanted—needed to get away for a while.
She got up from the couch and placed her glass in the sink. Will and Francie looked back at her, Francie pausing the movie they had been watching. "How long will you be gone?" Francie asked, eyes wide as Sydney stepped into her bedroom.
"Four days," Sydney replied as she reappeared with her usual black bag.
"You have four days worth of clothes in that tiny suitcase? I envy you!"
Will laughed at Francie's remark and added, "Yeah, you'd have four suitcases."
"It's a convention on world currencies."
"You must really love your job if you're going to survive that boredom until Tuesday."
Sydney smiled. She couldn't really trust herself with replying.
"What about school?" Francie wondered.
"It's four days." I won't be missed. "Besides, I'm only going to Japan. The convention's at this casino. They've got it blocked off for us."
"A whole casino?" Will asked. "I never knew that bank was so powerful," Francie said.
You don't know the half of it. "Well, all the employees from all over the world will be there." She took a deep breath. "Okay, I've gotta get going."
"See you." "Bye! Call!"
"I'll try." The door slammed behind Sydney. She knew she wouldn't be able to.
=====
"Sydney, what are you doing here? Vaughn just left." Haladki stood in front of Sydney, staring.
Sydney, startled, quickly said, "What do you mean? Where did he go?"
"To meet you wherever he meets you, I guess."
"Wait a minute. Why wasn't I informed?" She started towards Vaughn's office.
"Because he's not." Weiss interrupted. "He's going to your place to pick you up for the airport."
"He is?" both Haladki and Sydney asked, staring at him.
Sydney rushed to the phone inside Vaughn's office, dialing his cell. "I just fed Will and Francie this bull story about a convention. He said he wouldn't come over anymore. Vaughn, where are you?" She sat on the desk and frantically drummed her fingers on it, waiting for him to pick up.
"When did he go there the first time?" Haladki asked Weiss.
"I don't know for sure," was his reply, "but Devlin's not going to be happy."
"Why?"
"The shrink told him he wasn't supposed to meet her any time other than the scheduled meetings, but they went to dinner once and he went over to her house to drop off doughnuts once. And I doubt that was the first time he went over."
"They're dating?" Haladki looked surprised.
Weiss shrugged his shoulders. "Looks like it to me. Better hope her father doesn't find out."
=====
Vaughn sat back in his seat as he drove through Sydney's neighborhood. He hoped she had checked her pager or her voicemail, otherwise she might be gone already. She didn't know that he had to brief her.
He heard an odd ringing noise. What the hell? he thought, shaking his head rapidly. The ringing didn't go away and he realized it was his cell phone. He didn't usually have it on so he wasn't used to it's noise.
He picked it up. A blocked phone number appeared on the screen and he pressed Talk anyway.
"Hello?"
"What are you doing? Are you at my house yet?"
Sydney. "No. Where are you?"
"CIA. You have to come back."
He swung wide and made a U-turn. "Didn't you get my pages? Or my messages?"
"No. Did you call the house phone?"
"Why would I?"
"Never mind. Just get back here before you appear on my doorstep to a confused Will and Francie. They think I'm off to bank conventions."
"Well, I'm on my way back."
"Good."
They both hung up.
=====
Sydney sat in the passenger seat of Vaughn's car. Actually, it was CIA issue so it technically was not his. The Volkswagen was nice to ride in on the typical Los Angelos day—the air-conditioning was on full blast. Vaughn sat comfortably beside her with one hand on the wheel and the other on his knee. It kept twitching almost violently; Sydney was sure that Vaughn usually put his arm around the passenger-side head rest but didn't now because of the situation. It almost made her smile. She felt the need to fill the silence; it wasn't awkward or anything of the sort—she just was in talking mode and the borderline-angry feeling she had felt while talking to Vaughn on the phone was still there.
"You should have called the house."
"I will next time."
"Yeah right. Next time I'll keep my pager on, so there won't be a next time."
"If you say so."
A few more minutes of silence. As soon as Vaughn had returned to headquarters, Sydney had quite literally tossed her suitcase into the trunk of his car before she quickly sat in the passenger seat and ordered him to drive to the warehouse. He knew that was where she was most comfortable talking, and that the twenty-minute ride there would most likely be filled with silence.
Sydney reached over and turned off the fan, therefore turning off the air-conditioner. A few seconds later, Vaughn's arm went up around her head rest. There they sat, still in silence. Vaughn's fingertips brushed Sydney's shoulder and pulled back, which this time was covered in a white blouse. She played with the hem of her skirt.
The warehouse came into view of the front windshield. Both unbuckled their seat belts as Vaughn parked. They opened their doors at the same time and stepped out, one with his left foot first and the other with her right. Two doors slammed, but they sounded like one. They went into the warehouse walking next to each other, neither in front or back. Vaughn sat in one chair and Sydney sat in another. In silence, they stared at different parts of the room for the next hour.
a/n quick and concise and to the point, i'm hoping? IT IS, after i improved it. well, it's your call. a little less cutesy than the last chap, so me is happy. ha ha, bad grammar. o well. out here waiting for a fantastic idea for the next chapter courtesy of some genius reviewers: tOo.
everybody, check out Entertainment Weekly for this week! jen garner is on the cover, and there's an alias scoop as well as some awesome pics in it. i have it, and if i can get to a scanner i can upload them onto my web page.