Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one having to do with Alias.
A/N: This is the end folks.
They walked in now without warning and my brain started doing wind sprints. People like those two weren't for we mere mortals to understand but being mortal themselves I could only wonder how they persevered.
I'd never before seen them quite like this. It was as if both had sloughed off the weight of a thousand extraneous personas. The radiance coming from them was nearly palpable. Oddly enough they shared a glow similar to that of an expectant mother who knows she's about to witness the beginning of a new life.
Something had happened. Changed. It was something so momentous that they were knocked out of that perpetual cycle of pains and joys and set on a straight path toward something better.
Or so they thought.
It was really just another turn of the circle, I knew. A turn they deserved but a turn just the same. In time they would see the landmarks again that told them they were on the path their feet had created with years of circling. The masks they thought useless would once again mean survival.
Later I would grieve for the faces that had so little time to look upon the world, unhindered. But for now I just watched quietly and saw the shapes that cast the passing shadows.
*******************
Sydney
LAX seemed different. I was still looking over my shoulder. Still assessing every possible exit and evaluating the threat of every passerby. But it was different.
The world was different.
You've heard the expression 'high on life.' Well I was high on life without the Alliance. My glass was half full no matter how much I drank from it.
I walked through the metal detector and smiled at the security personnel who were x-raying my luggage. He was there just beyond the checkpoint like always. Had things been different he might have been one of ours.
I could afford a smile this time.
He met my eyes then. Physicians say that a single part of your body cannot become paralyzed but I swear at that moment I could not have moved my feet to save my life. I'd felt his gaze on me before, felt the recognition there. I'd reported this to the CIA thinking he could be a threat. They had taken one look at the man and disregarded him. I knew now they were wrong he could not only be a threat, he could be an asset. Had things been different.
Those eyes of his were black on black. Or maybe they were just so full they seemed black. I knew without I doubt that he could see through me. This broken seeming old man was bound to a wheelchair by some forgotten accident. An accident that left his skin a mass of scars and claimed his voice box. But all of that faded to background noise in that electrifying instant that I met his eyes.
He was seeing me. Really seeing me. I knew then that I hadn't lost myself somewhere between the pages of an ops report or left my identity in some exotic location because he was seeing me now. I wanted to run over than and hug him, thank him for doing the thing I most feared, seeing through my disguise.
Instead I took a few steps toward him. "Hello."
His face became a mass of wrinkles as he smiled up at me. Slowly and with great effort he lifted a hand and made slow deliberate motions. It's nice to finally meet you.
End.
A/N: This is the end folks.
They walked in now without warning and my brain started doing wind sprints. People like those two weren't for we mere mortals to understand but being mortal themselves I could only wonder how they persevered.
I'd never before seen them quite like this. It was as if both had sloughed off the weight of a thousand extraneous personas. The radiance coming from them was nearly palpable. Oddly enough they shared a glow similar to that of an expectant mother who knows she's about to witness the beginning of a new life.
Something had happened. Changed. It was something so momentous that they were knocked out of that perpetual cycle of pains and joys and set on a straight path toward something better.
Or so they thought.
It was really just another turn of the circle, I knew. A turn they deserved but a turn just the same. In time they would see the landmarks again that told them they were on the path their feet had created with years of circling. The masks they thought useless would once again mean survival.
Later I would grieve for the faces that had so little time to look upon the world, unhindered. But for now I just watched quietly and saw the shapes that cast the passing shadows.
*******************
Sydney
LAX seemed different. I was still looking over my shoulder. Still assessing every possible exit and evaluating the threat of every passerby. But it was different.
The world was different.
You've heard the expression 'high on life.' Well I was high on life without the Alliance. My glass was half full no matter how much I drank from it.
I walked through the metal detector and smiled at the security personnel who were x-raying my luggage. He was there just beyond the checkpoint like always. Had things been different he might have been one of ours.
I could afford a smile this time.
He met my eyes then. Physicians say that a single part of your body cannot become paralyzed but I swear at that moment I could not have moved my feet to save my life. I'd felt his gaze on me before, felt the recognition there. I'd reported this to the CIA thinking he could be a threat. They had taken one look at the man and disregarded him. I knew now they were wrong he could not only be a threat, he could be an asset. Had things been different.
Those eyes of his were black on black. Or maybe they were just so full they seemed black. I knew without I doubt that he could see through me. This broken seeming old man was bound to a wheelchair by some forgotten accident. An accident that left his skin a mass of scars and claimed his voice box. But all of that faded to background noise in that electrifying instant that I met his eyes.
He was seeing me. Really seeing me. I knew then that I hadn't lost myself somewhere between the pages of an ops report or left my identity in some exotic location because he was seeing me now. I wanted to run over than and hug him, thank him for doing the thing I most feared, seeing through my disguise.
Instead I took a few steps toward him. "Hello."
His face became a mass of wrinkles as he smiled up at me. Slowly and with great effort he lifted a hand and made slow deliberate motions. It's nice to finally meet you.
End.