Title: Savior
Author: UsagiPrincess
Summary: My take on the two-week torture session (AKA waiting for Alias)
from 2-9 to 2-23-03, based on the preview for the episode (AKA Firebomb).
Spoilers: Firebomb Preview, Passages One and Two
"You'll be driving me out of here," Sloane tossed me the keys. Driving him out of here? I hoped that my mouth hadn't fallen open. Whatever happened to his empty "If you interfere, I will end your life" threat? I just looked at Vaughn and nodded. Sloane hadn't mentioned Vaughn; I just assumed that he wanted to get to me alone. I was escorted to his car by a few guards, heavy guards at that, and I got into the drivers seat. I just barely placed my hands on the wheel, too afraid to move, too afraid to speak.
I didn't turn around, but I heard Sloane get into the back seat. What did he do to his face? I thought he was scary before, and that he'd reached an all time low, but this? The people at the bank were so stupid, not seeing the loop in the camera. No doubt the work of Sark. Where was he anyway? He usually drives, whether it's Sloane, or whether I would have been on a mission with him, he's always the cab driver.
I caught a glimpse of Vaughn, silently standing in the corner of the parking garage, unnoticed. I waited for Sloane to tell me where to take him. Probably the airport, so he could get somewhere else and hide. I was dying to ask about what was in the suitcase. It probably had something to do with the family that he kidnapped.
Sloane tossed a piece of paper in front of me, not speaking a word. It was the address of a warehouse, the same one that we had stormed earlier and found the mother and son. He wouldn't be stupid enough to go back to the same warehouse, would he?
Yeah, my mind told me, he would. And it wouldn't be stupid. He knows that you and Vaughn are alone on this one, and now he has you and it's down to just Vaughn. I slowly inserted the keys into the ignition. The car started and I jumped, but silently pulled out of the parking space. I looked in the rearview mirror. Sloane had somehow gotten rid of whatever he was wearing before, a mask, I guess. I'm just glad that it wasn't plastic surgery. That'd just be too weird.
"What are you doing here?" he asked me. I choose not to respond. "What are you doing here?" he repeated, a little louder this time.
I searched for a good answer as I turned the corner. "The CIA received word of a family gone missing at an aquarium a few days ago. We checked into the husband's occupation and figured that you probably had him. We were obviously right." No need to deny my double-agent status now.
"Sydney, I know you better than that. What are you really doing here? You did come after me, even though I warned you not to."
And I found you, I thought. Somehow I wish I hadn't though, somehow I wish that this could all just go away, that I had indeed signed those resignation papers, ignored my mother and resigned from the CIA. But I didn't, I'm still here, in more danger than I've probably ever been in my life.
"I warned you that I would end your life if you came after me!" He sounds almost regretful that he now has to carry out his threat. I pulled the car over at the warehouse. I opened the door and I stood outside the car, waiting for the guards to take me to wherever. Sloane just doesn't let hostages go, my mind repeated for me. As if I needed to be reminded. I just hoped that wherever Vaughn was, he was safe.
***
Fifteen Hours Later, CIA Ops Center
Vaughn's POV
"We have to go after her!" I practically yelled at Kendall. He looked a little shocked that I was overreacting to Sydney's situation like this, but not surprised that I would.
"Agent Vaughn, there is nothing we can do. Agent Bristow is on her own. She's been on her own before."
"Yeah, on her own with her parents. It's different. Plus, this is Sloane that we're dealing with."
Sloane, I probably wanted to kill him as much as I wanted to kill Irina when I found out that she had been the one to murder my father. But now, he had Sydney involved.
"Agent Bristow knew what she was doing when she took this mission. Agent Vaughn, there is nothing more we can do but wait, and hope that she comes home."
God, I wanted to kill that man. We all knew where Sloane's keeping her, we all knew what he has; the Rambaldi artifacts. He wanted to try to put them together somehow. Good luck, I thought bitterly.
I had already been to Dixon's. He had flat out refused to help the CIA. He said that as far as he was concerned, he didn't know a Sydney Bristow. Whatever she did must have made him really mad.
My mind flashes back to when I went over to Sydney's house after I got off of work one day last week. Will and Francie were off somewhere, so she had the house to herself. I heard faint music coming from the bathroom, and so I decided to investigate. She was almost asleep when I found her, up to her neck in bubbles.
"Hey," I said quietly, putting my hand against her cheek.
Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled at me. "Hey."
"You up to dinner tonight?"
She nods. "Of course. Give me ten minutes."
That was the last time we ever went out to dinner before this.Stop it Vaughn! I yelled at myself. She's not dead! She'll be just fine, you wait. Maybe if I talked to Irina.she'd know what Sark was up to. I saw him after the car pulled away, hidden in the shadows just as I was. Maybe Irina would know.
I went down to her cell and found her reading a book. When wasn't she reading a book? She looked up at me and smiled. "Hello, Agent Vaughn."
"I need some information."
"I've agreed to only speak to my husband and Sydney about CIA information."
"This isn't for the CIA. This is for Sydney."
***
I'm going to kill myself if I walk around this room one more time. It's stone cold and gray and I'm pacing. After Sloane shut me in here, I tried the lock. No luck, it's locked. I could always pick it- I've got a hairpin, but I'd rather wait and find out what Sloane needs me for. The more information that I bring back for the CIA, the better.
Vaughn. I hope he made it back all right. Hell, I hope he made it back to LA. He's probably trying to convince Kendall to come after me right now, but Kendall's putting up a fight like he did when we were in Kashmir. Kendall's probably trying to convince Vaughn that I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself, but that's not all true. Any minute, Sloane could come in here and kill me, any minute. I sit down on the floor. The room is completely empty, except for the single light bulb over my head. If I didn't know better, I'd think that it was a prison chamber designed especially for me, one to make me go insane.
Sloane opens the door and sits on the floor across from me. I fight to keep a straight face. He'll probably break his back trying to get up. Oh well. That's the price you pay for not putting in some furniture.
"What are you really doing here, Sydney?" he asks.
"I told you. We came after the family. We retrieved the family. Our mission is complete."
"There's more than that. You wouldn't have even gone to the bank if it was just the family. Plus, hundreds of people get kidnapped each day. The CIA doesn't go after all of them."
"I told you. It was the occupation of the father that interested us. What are you doing with the Rambaldi artifacts?" I was on top now. I was the one asking questions.
"Ah, Sydney Bristow finally makes her point. What am I doing with the Rambaldi Artifacts? As you know, Rambaldi was a prophet."
"I know. If you're answering my question, you don't need to take a day just to get to the part that I want. I know who Rambaldi is, I know what he prophesied. Get on with it," I said coldly.
"A weapon," he said slowly, standing as he said it. I waited for his back to break. It never happened. Damn, I thought, trying to keep the smile from appearing on my face. "Rambaldi prophesied a weapon." He left the room. The smile appeared. I hated that man, he's evil in every way possible and I hate him.
Where's his lapdog though? I haven't seen Sark at all. He's probably off torturing some other poor soul, probably scaring him into an early grave. Wish he'd do that to Sloane. It'd make my life easier.
My cell phone vibrates in my pocket. I remembered that I had set it to vibrate right before we entered the bank, in case something like this happened. I never expected Sloane to flat out surrender, and I was right. I pulled out the phone and looked at the caller id, Dad. I debated answering it, but I let it click into voicemail. Then I listened to it.
"Sydney, if you get this message, you need to call me. We need to know where you are. Kendall's not sending in a team. We're on our own on this one, but we'll get you out."
Dad, what if Sloane happened to have my cell phone? I asked as I deleted the message. Sloane would have the upper hand, as if he already doesn't. He would know that a team wasn't coming in after me, and that it was just you and Vaughn, maybe Mom and possibly Marshall. There's a team to be afraid of, really.
***
"I'm doing it for Sydney," I repeated.
"Are you?" she sounded skeptical.
"I would never say I was doing it for Sydney and do it for Kendall," I said.
"What do you need to know?"
"I need to know what Sark was doing before you left."
"He was a free agent. He worked for anyone."
"Well, now he's working for Sloane."
"I know."
We stood in silence for a moment.
"So, Sloane has Sydney?" asked Irina.
"Yeah. He spared her life, and in return she drove him out of the bank. She's probably at the warehouse. Kendall won't let us go after her."
"We should anyway."
"Yeah, we should, but we can't. There's who knows how many of Sloane's men and what, three of us?"
"We should still try."
"But we're no use to her if we get caught."
"Good point." She fell silent. "But we should try anyway."
***
Where was the air strike? Where were the CIA agents storming the building? I paced some more. Sloane would be back soon, and what was I going to tell him, that he could go ahead and kill me?
The guards came for me just then. I quietly followed them to the car and once again, I was driving Sloane somewhere, hopefully nuts, but I was driving him to somewhere.
He tried talking to me, getting me to spill my guts, even tried threatening me. I just drove faster. I screamed as I lost control and slammed into a fire hydrant, and fell back against the seat as the airbag popped out.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Sloane, getting out angrily. I pushed the airbag aside and undid my seatbelt, checking for bruises. There were a few, but I was fine.
"I was trying to tune you out," I said.
"Looks to me like you were trying to kill me."
No, really? I'd rather kill him with my own hands though, not have him die in the backseat of a car that I slammed into a fire hydrant.
Another black car pulled up and the window rolled down. Sark. The faithful companion to the rescue.
"Get in," he said in his cocky, son of a bitch, British accent. I crossed my arms. I was not just going to give in and go back to being a prisoner without a fight.
"Sydney, get in," Sloane said this time.
I stared the two of them down. Were they going to go after me? I ducked as I heard something behind me. Guns started firing, chaos was everywhere. I looked up just as Sloane and Sark drove away.
"Sydney!" I heard my father's voice.
"Dad!" I stood up and hugged him. "How did you find me?"
"Vaughn showed us the warehouse and from there he had a tracker on the car, before you crashed," he surveyed the damage. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," I said. "Where's Vaughn?"
"He and your mother are on their way."
I nodded.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. Sloane and Sark got away again."
"We'll get them eventually," he said, and led me towards the car.
***
"Vaughn!" I heard my name being called as I turned around. I was at the airport. Jack had called to tell Irina and I to just stay there, that there was no need to come out to Switzerland. That was fifteen hours ago. It was Sydney, the love of my life, calling my name.
"Syd!" I hugged her. We couldn't kiss here, not in front of her parents.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" she asked. She looked a tad disappointed.
"Your parents are here," I whispered.
"Sydney, I'm taking your mother to the car," Jack said, leading Irina off like a dog. Those two would never change.
"Now I can kiss you," I said quietly as I kissed her.
"I missed you," she said.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine, Vaughn, really I am."
"You're sure?"
"Positive." She leaned in and we kissed again. I didn't have to be her savior, her angel this time; she was her own savior, and mine.
"You'll be driving me out of here," Sloane tossed me the keys. Driving him out of here? I hoped that my mouth hadn't fallen open. Whatever happened to his empty "If you interfere, I will end your life" threat? I just looked at Vaughn and nodded. Sloane hadn't mentioned Vaughn; I just assumed that he wanted to get to me alone. I was escorted to his car by a few guards, heavy guards at that, and I got into the drivers seat. I just barely placed my hands on the wheel, too afraid to move, too afraid to speak.
I didn't turn around, but I heard Sloane get into the back seat. What did he do to his face? I thought he was scary before, and that he'd reached an all time low, but this? The people at the bank were so stupid, not seeing the loop in the camera. No doubt the work of Sark. Where was he anyway? He usually drives, whether it's Sloane, or whether I would have been on a mission with him, he's always the cab driver.
I caught a glimpse of Vaughn, silently standing in the corner of the parking garage, unnoticed. I waited for Sloane to tell me where to take him. Probably the airport, so he could get somewhere else and hide. I was dying to ask about what was in the suitcase. It probably had something to do with the family that he kidnapped.
Sloane tossed a piece of paper in front of me, not speaking a word. It was the address of a warehouse, the same one that we had stormed earlier and found the mother and son. He wouldn't be stupid enough to go back to the same warehouse, would he?
Yeah, my mind told me, he would. And it wouldn't be stupid. He knows that you and Vaughn are alone on this one, and now he has you and it's down to just Vaughn. I slowly inserted the keys into the ignition. The car started and I jumped, but silently pulled out of the parking space. I looked in the rearview mirror. Sloane had somehow gotten rid of whatever he was wearing before, a mask, I guess. I'm just glad that it wasn't plastic surgery. That'd just be too weird.
"What are you doing here?" he asked me. I choose not to respond. "What are you doing here?" he repeated, a little louder this time.
I searched for a good answer as I turned the corner. "The CIA received word of a family gone missing at an aquarium a few days ago. We checked into the husband's occupation and figured that you probably had him. We were obviously right." No need to deny my double-agent status now.
"Sydney, I know you better than that. What are you really doing here? You did come after me, even though I warned you not to."
And I found you, I thought. Somehow I wish I hadn't though, somehow I wish that this could all just go away, that I had indeed signed those resignation papers, ignored my mother and resigned from the CIA. But I didn't, I'm still here, in more danger than I've probably ever been in my life.
"I warned you that I would end your life if you came after me!" He sounds almost regretful that he now has to carry out his threat. I pulled the car over at the warehouse. I opened the door and I stood outside the car, waiting for the guards to take me to wherever. Sloane just doesn't let hostages go, my mind repeated for me. As if I needed to be reminded. I just hoped that wherever Vaughn was, he was safe.
***
Fifteen Hours Later, CIA Ops Center
Vaughn's POV
"We have to go after her!" I practically yelled at Kendall. He looked a little shocked that I was overreacting to Sydney's situation like this, but not surprised that I would.
"Agent Vaughn, there is nothing we can do. Agent Bristow is on her own. She's been on her own before."
"Yeah, on her own with her parents. It's different. Plus, this is Sloane that we're dealing with."
Sloane, I probably wanted to kill him as much as I wanted to kill Irina when I found out that she had been the one to murder my father. But now, he had Sydney involved.
"Agent Bristow knew what she was doing when she took this mission. Agent Vaughn, there is nothing more we can do but wait, and hope that she comes home."
God, I wanted to kill that man. We all knew where Sloane's keeping her, we all knew what he has; the Rambaldi artifacts. He wanted to try to put them together somehow. Good luck, I thought bitterly.
I had already been to Dixon's. He had flat out refused to help the CIA. He said that as far as he was concerned, he didn't know a Sydney Bristow. Whatever she did must have made him really mad.
My mind flashes back to when I went over to Sydney's house after I got off of work one day last week. Will and Francie were off somewhere, so she had the house to herself. I heard faint music coming from the bathroom, and so I decided to investigate. She was almost asleep when I found her, up to her neck in bubbles.
"Hey," I said quietly, putting my hand against her cheek.
Her eyes slowly opened and she smiled at me. "Hey."
"You up to dinner tonight?"
She nods. "Of course. Give me ten minutes."
That was the last time we ever went out to dinner before this.Stop it Vaughn! I yelled at myself. She's not dead! She'll be just fine, you wait. Maybe if I talked to Irina.she'd know what Sark was up to. I saw him after the car pulled away, hidden in the shadows just as I was. Maybe Irina would know.
I went down to her cell and found her reading a book. When wasn't she reading a book? She looked up at me and smiled. "Hello, Agent Vaughn."
"I need some information."
"I've agreed to only speak to my husband and Sydney about CIA information."
"This isn't for the CIA. This is for Sydney."
***
I'm going to kill myself if I walk around this room one more time. It's stone cold and gray and I'm pacing. After Sloane shut me in here, I tried the lock. No luck, it's locked. I could always pick it- I've got a hairpin, but I'd rather wait and find out what Sloane needs me for. The more information that I bring back for the CIA, the better.
Vaughn. I hope he made it back all right. Hell, I hope he made it back to LA. He's probably trying to convince Kendall to come after me right now, but Kendall's putting up a fight like he did when we were in Kashmir. Kendall's probably trying to convince Vaughn that I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself, but that's not all true. Any minute, Sloane could come in here and kill me, any minute. I sit down on the floor. The room is completely empty, except for the single light bulb over my head. If I didn't know better, I'd think that it was a prison chamber designed especially for me, one to make me go insane.
Sloane opens the door and sits on the floor across from me. I fight to keep a straight face. He'll probably break his back trying to get up. Oh well. That's the price you pay for not putting in some furniture.
"What are you really doing here, Sydney?" he asks.
"I told you. We came after the family. We retrieved the family. Our mission is complete."
"There's more than that. You wouldn't have even gone to the bank if it was just the family. Plus, hundreds of people get kidnapped each day. The CIA doesn't go after all of them."
"I told you. It was the occupation of the father that interested us. What are you doing with the Rambaldi artifacts?" I was on top now. I was the one asking questions.
"Ah, Sydney Bristow finally makes her point. What am I doing with the Rambaldi Artifacts? As you know, Rambaldi was a prophet."
"I know. If you're answering my question, you don't need to take a day just to get to the part that I want. I know who Rambaldi is, I know what he prophesied. Get on with it," I said coldly.
"A weapon," he said slowly, standing as he said it. I waited for his back to break. It never happened. Damn, I thought, trying to keep the smile from appearing on my face. "Rambaldi prophesied a weapon." He left the room. The smile appeared. I hated that man, he's evil in every way possible and I hate him.
Where's his lapdog though? I haven't seen Sark at all. He's probably off torturing some other poor soul, probably scaring him into an early grave. Wish he'd do that to Sloane. It'd make my life easier.
My cell phone vibrates in my pocket. I remembered that I had set it to vibrate right before we entered the bank, in case something like this happened. I never expected Sloane to flat out surrender, and I was right. I pulled out the phone and looked at the caller id, Dad. I debated answering it, but I let it click into voicemail. Then I listened to it.
"Sydney, if you get this message, you need to call me. We need to know where you are. Kendall's not sending in a team. We're on our own on this one, but we'll get you out."
Dad, what if Sloane happened to have my cell phone? I asked as I deleted the message. Sloane would have the upper hand, as if he already doesn't. He would know that a team wasn't coming in after me, and that it was just you and Vaughn, maybe Mom and possibly Marshall. There's a team to be afraid of, really.
***
"I'm doing it for Sydney," I repeated.
"Are you?" she sounded skeptical.
"I would never say I was doing it for Sydney and do it for Kendall," I said.
"What do you need to know?"
"I need to know what Sark was doing before you left."
"He was a free agent. He worked for anyone."
"Well, now he's working for Sloane."
"I know."
We stood in silence for a moment.
"So, Sloane has Sydney?" asked Irina.
"Yeah. He spared her life, and in return she drove him out of the bank. She's probably at the warehouse. Kendall won't let us go after her."
"We should anyway."
"Yeah, we should, but we can't. There's who knows how many of Sloane's men and what, three of us?"
"We should still try."
"But we're no use to her if we get caught."
"Good point." She fell silent. "But we should try anyway."
***
Where was the air strike? Where were the CIA agents storming the building? I paced some more. Sloane would be back soon, and what was I going to tell him, that he could go ahead and kill me?
The guards came for me just then. I quietly followed them to the car and once again, I was driving Sloane somewhere, hopefully nuts, but I was driving him to somewhere.
He tried talking to me, getting me to spill my guts, even tried threatening me. I just drove faster. I screamed as I lost control and slammed into a fire hydrant, and fell back against the seat as the airbag popped out.
"What the hell are you doing?" asked Sloane, getting out angrily. I pushed the airbag aside and undid my seatbelt, checking for bruises. There were a few, but I was fine.
"I was trying to tune you out," I said.
"Looks to me like you were trying to kill me."
No, really? I'd rather kill him with my own hands though, not have him die in the backseat of a car that I slammed into a fire hydrant.
Another black car pulled up and the window rolled down. Sark. The faithful companion to the rescue.
"Get in," he said in his cocky, son of a bitch, British accent. I crossed my arms. I was not just going to give in and go back to being a prisoner without a fight.
"Sydney, get in," Sloane said this time.
I stared the two of them down. Were they going to go after me? I ducked as I heard something behind me. Guns started firing, chaos was everywhere. I looked up just as Sloane and Sark drove away.
"Sydney!" I heard my father's voice.
"Dad!" I stood up and hugged him. "How did you find me?"
"Vaughn showed us the warehouse and from there he had a tracker on the car, before you crashed," he surveyed the damage. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," I said. "Where's Vaughn?"
"He and your mother are on their way."
I nodded.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"Yeah. Sloane and Sark got away again."
"We'll get them eventually," he said, and led me towards the car.
***
"Vaughn!" I heard my name being called as I turned around. I was at the airport. Jack had called to tell Irina and I to just stay there, that there was no need to come out to Switzerland. That was fifteen hours ago. It was Sydney, the love of my life, calling my name.
"Syd!" I hugged her. We couldn't kiss here, not in front of her parents.
"Aren't you happy to see me?" she asked. She looked a tad disappointed.
"Your parents are here," I whispered.
"Sydney, I'm taking your mother to the car," Jack said, leading Irina off like a dog. Those two would never change.
"Now I can kiss you," I said quietly as I kissed her.
"I missed you," she said.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
"I'm fine, Vaughn, really I am."
"You're sure?"
"Positive." She leaned in and we kissed again. I didn't have to be her savior, her angel this time; she was her own savior, and mine.