Sweet Madness
3/?
Vaughn stood in front of the mirror, shaving off the beard that he'd accumulated over the time he was trapped. When he was done, the image left there was that of a man barely alive. He'd lost weight and looked ghastly. He'd been given new clothes and was taken to the showers. It felt so good to be clean again. It was like being human again at last.
When he'd been done, they'd taken him to an interrogation room where he was served a meal as they talked. It took some hours before they stopped asking him questions and he was glad. He knew he would be faced with all these questions before he got there, but it was stil very annoying to him. He just wanted to rest, settle in his new freedom.
But then just as he'd lied his head down on the bed they'd given him, there was a knock at the door. He sighed and sat up. "Yes?" A man entered and told him he had a visitor. For a split second he thought it might have been Sydney. It wasn't, but the man who came in instead was just as much a welcome sight, even as he was nearly plowed over.
"I must have asked them to repeat it to me a hundred times, I couldn't believe it," Weiss told him before letting go. "I had to see it for myself. How are you?"
"Tired..." he admitted.
"Oh... I can come back later if you want to..." Weiss started, but Vaughn interrupted him.
"No, it's fine." They sat at a table.
"So what happened? Where have you been?"
"I'm not sure. I don't remember where I was. I know we're still in Taipei."
"They'd given you up for dead. A lot of people gave up hoping, but I knew. I knew you'd still be alive." Vaughn smiled, a thought popping into his head. 'Come on, just ask him...' he thought.
"What about..." he started.
"Sydney?" Weiss filled in the blanks. Vaughn was silent, waiting for the next words. "She's okay, for the most part. I think you scared her most of all. If there's anyone who hoped more than me it was her. She was NOT happy when they assigned her a new handler. I think she'll be glad to get her old one back."
"Yeah..."
"Something wrong?" Weiss asked.
"No, I'm fine," he assured him. "So... what's happened while I was gone?"
*
ROME
Rodenheim Mansion
Sydney walked into the mansion through the back staff entrance waving her ID, which they'd made on the way over. "Dixon, I'm in," she spoke as she switched on the audio.
"Copy that," he confirmed from the reception room, standing by the bar with a glass of champagne in his hands.
In the security room, Sydney's face was scanned and put through the database, where she showed up as Antonina Rosetti. Having this particular 'job' afforded her the fact that no one would doubt her if they hadn't seen her before. She was to be part of a five-people team in charge of caring for Luther Rodenheim's most precious artifact: A large jewel he kept hidden deep in his vault. That was what Sydney was after.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr Rodenheim called his guests to attention from the top of a staircase. "I welcome you to my home, and in a few minutes, I will put on display what I imagine many of you have come to see," he told them with a smile. The crowd applauded. Rodenheim waved to the five standing behind him and they made their way to the vault.
Arriving in the vault room, each took a turn staring into an occular scanner. With her contacts in place, Sydney passed the scan as well. The door was opened and there, front and center sitting on a velvet pillow under a glass case, was the jewel, gleaming in all its blue glory. As luck would have it, the task of carrying it had fallen on Sydney.
As they made their way down the hall, the other four surrounding her like corners in a square. Going to scratch behind her ear, she pressed a button on the back of the necklace she wore. In the surveillance room, they'd only see a empty hall as they moved into that area. Time to make her move.
Carefully, she pocketed the jewel before bringing up a gas mask from inside her uniform and dropping a ball to the ground. It exploded and released a gas. The others began dropping, but one was more persistent than the rest. After exchanging some blows, he went down and Sydney took off down the hall.
In the reception room, Rodenheim was getting impatient and he left to go investigate. Seeing that, Dixon went to intercept him.
"Mr Rodenheim," he called to him. The old man turned as Dixon put out his hand. "Henry Simmons, it's an honor." He shook his hand.
"Thank you. I'm sorry, do you need anything?"
"I was wondering if you could answer a question..." he started as he saw one of the five carriers approach them with a limp.
"Sir, the jewel was stolen..." he told him in Italian as he turned to him. When Rodenheim turned back to Dixon though, he was gone.
Outside, Dixon joined Sydney in the van and they drove off. He looked at her and she held up the jewel. "Good work."
"Thank you." This wasn't their first mission together now that he knew the truth, but there were still some awkward moments.
"They arrived at a rendez-vous point where Agent Belgrave was waiting to get the jewel. They gave it to him and he left. Now that it was in safe hands, it was time for them to set the stage for their deception.
They stopped somewhere, making rubber tracks on the ground. They walked out and after hesitating shortly, they fought briefly. When it was over and they had the 'proper appearance' they made the call for back-up.
*
LOS ANGELES
Sydney and Dixon walked out of the airport and started for their cars when Sydney's beeper went off. She checked it and looked to Dixon. "It's Weiss, I have to go."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled and walked off.
"Okay." She smiled as well and went to her car.
The mission had gone off perfectly, so why was she so down? She knew though... It just hadn't been the same without Vaughn. Sure, Belgrave was a great handler, but it wasn't the same kind of dynamic she had with Vaughn. With Belgrave, it was more of a fatherly kind of thing. With Vaughn, well...
She arrived at the building and walked in. Already she'd felt that something had changed... a sense of new yet familiar. People all looking at her and becoming quiet didn't help.
"Hey," she stopped in the doorway of Weiss' office. He nearly jumped ten feet. "Sorry," she told him with a smirk.
"Sydney, hi, come in, sit down..." She did so, an eyebrow arched at his behavior.
"Is everything alright?"
"What? Oh, yeah, it's fine."
"I don't believe you..." she tested him.
"I'm not lying, everything's great. Actually, I think I lost a bit of weight," he smiled and patted his stomach. She wasn't fooled.
"Weiss..."
"So how was the mission?"
"It was fine. We got what we were after."
"That's... great." An awkward silence settled in.
"Look, just tell me what's going on, alright?"
"I just... I want to tell you, really..."
"So do it..."
"But... I can't! I can't do it... I want to though, boy do I want to." She smiled.
"Come on, you can tell me..." He looked at her for a few seconds, then with a nod he stood and went to stand on the other side of the desk.
"Okay, well... Sydney..." Before he could get another word out though...
"Agent Bristow." They turned to see Devlin standing in the door.
"Sir?" Sydney stood.
"Please follow me." She looked back to Weiss. He nodded her along. She followed the man, Weiss trailing behind.
"What's going on?" she asked, feeling like she'd been asking that a lot lately.
"We had a walk in at a CIA safehouse in Taipei..." Something inside her twisted at that.
"Yes?" she asked for more. He didn't say anything, leading her down a hall and to a window into a room. Taking slow steps toward it, she looked inside.
It couldn't be... After all this time... It had to be another deceiving mirage... But no, it wasn't a mirage, she knew as she continued to look. Vaughn turned his head and looked right at her... and she fainted.
3/?
Vaughn stood in front of the mirror, shaving off the beard that he'd accumulated over the time he was trapped. When he was done, the image left there was that of a man barely alive. He'd lost weight and looked ghastly. He'd been given new clothes and was taken to the showers. It felt so good to be clean again. It was like being human again at last.
When he'd been done, they'd taken him to an interrogation room where he was served a meal as they talked. It took some hours before they stopped asking him questions and he was glad. He knew he would be faced with all these questions before he got there, but it was stil very annoying to him. He just wanted to rest, settle in his new freedom.
But then just as he'd lied his head down on the bed they'd given him, there was a knock at the door. He sighed and sat up. "Yes?" A man entered and told him he had a visitor. For a split second he thought it might have been Sydney. It wasn't, but the man who came in instead was just as much a welcome sight, even as he was nearly plowed over.
"I must have asked them to repeat it to me a hundred times, I couldn't believe it," Weiss told him before letting go. "I had to see it for myself. How are you?"
"Tired..." he admitted.
"Oh... I can come back later if you want to..." Weiss started, but Vaughn interrupted him.
"No, it's fine." They sat at a table.
"So what happened? Where have you been?"
"I'm not sure. I don't remember where I was. I know we're still in Taipei."
"They'd given you up for dead. A lot of people gave up hoping, but I knew. I knew you'd still be alive." Vaughn smiled, a thought popping into his head. 'Come on, just ask him...' he thought.
"What about..." he started.
"Sydney?" Weiss filled in the blanks. Vaughn was silent, waiting for the next words. "She's okay, for the most part. I think you scared her most of all. If there's anyone who hoped more than me it was her. She was NOT happy when they assigned her a new handler. I think she'll be glad to get her old one back."
"Yeah..."
"Something wrong?" Weiss asked.
"No, I'm fine," he assured him. "So... what's happened while I was gone?"
*
ROME
Rodenheim Mansion
Sydney walked into the mansion through the back staff entrance waving her ID, which they'd made on the way over. "Dixon, I'm in," she spoke as she switched on the audio.
"Copy that," he confirmed from the reception room, standing by the bar with a glass of champagne in his hands.
In the security room, Sydney's face was scanned and put through the database, where she showed up as Antonina Rosetti. Having this particular 'job' afforded her the fact that no one would doubt her if they hadn't seen her before. She was to be part of a five-people team in charge of caring for Luther Rodenheim's most precious artifact: A large jewel he kept hidden deep in his vault. That was what Sydney was after.
"Ladies and Gentlemen," Mr Rodenheim called his guests to attention from the top of a staircase. "I welcome you to my home, and in a few minutes, I will put on display what I imagine many of you have come to see," he told them with a smile. The crowd applauded. Rodenheim waved to the five standing behind him and they made their way to the vault.
Arriving in the vault room, each took a turn staring into an occular scanner. With her contacts in place, Sydney passed the scan as well. The door was opened and there, front and center sitting on a velvet pillow under a glass case, was the jewel, gleaming in all its blue glory. As luck would have it, the task of carrying it had fallen on Sydney.
As they made their way down the hall, the other four surrounding her like corners in a square. Going to scratch behind her ear, she pressed a button on the back of the necklace she wore. In the surveillance room, they'd only see a empty hall as they moved into that area. Time to make her move.
Carefully, she pocketed the jewel before bringing up a gas mask from inside her uniform and dropping a ball to the ground. It exploded and released a gas. The others began dropping, but one was more persistent than the rest. After exchanging some blows, he went down and Sydney took off down the hall.
In the reception room, Rodenheim was getting impatient and he left to go investigate. Seeing that, Dixon went to intercept him.
"Mr Rodenheim," he called to him. The old man turned as Dixon put out his hand. "Henry Simmons, it's an honor." He shook his hand.
"Thank you. I'm sorry, do you need anything?"
"I was wondering if you could answer a question..." he started as he saw one of the five carriers approach them with a limp.
"Sir, the jewel was stolen..." he told him in Italian as he turned to him. When Rodenheim turned back to Dixon though, he was gone.
Outside, Dixon joined Sydney in the van and they drove off. He looked at her and she held up the jewel. "Good work."
"Thank you." This wasn't their first mission together now that he knew the truth, but there were still some awkward moments.
"They arrived at a rendez-vous point where Agent Belgrave was waiting to get the jewel. They gave it to him and he left. Now that it was in safe hands, it was time for them to set the stage for their deception.
They stopped somewhere, making rubber tracks on the ground. They walked out and after hesitating shortly, they fought briefly. When it was over and they had the 'proper appearance' they made the call for back-up.
*
LOS ANGELES
Sydney and Dixon walked out of the airport and started for their cars when Sydney's beeper went off. She checked it and looked to Dixon. "It's Weiss, I have to go."
"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow," he smiled and walked off.
"Okay." She smiled as well and went to her car.
The mission had gone off perfectly, so why was she so down? She knew though... It just hadn't been the same without Vaughn. Sure, Belgrave was a great handler, but it wasn't the same kind of dynamic she had with Vaughn. With Belgrave, it was more of a fatherly kind of thing. With Vaughn, well...
She arrived at the building and walked in. Already she'd felt that something had changed... a sense of new yet familiar. People all looking at her and becoming quiet didn't help.
"Hey," she stopped in the doorway of Weiss' office. He nearly jumped ten feet. "Sorry," she told him with a smirk.
"Sydney, hi, come in, sit down..." She did so, an eyebrow arched at his behavior.
"Is everything alright?"
"What? Oh, yeah, it's fine."
"I don't believe you..." she tested him.
"I'm not lying, everything's great. Actually, I think I lost a bit of weight," he smiled and patted his stomach. She wasn't fooled.
"Weiss..."
"So how was the mission?"
"It was fine. We got what we were after."
"That's... great." An awkward silence settled in.
"Look, just tell me what's going on, alright?"
"I just... I want to tell you, really..."
"So do it..."
"But... I can't! I can't do it... I want to though, boy do I want to." She smiled.
"Come on, you can tell me..." He looked at her for a few seconds, then with a nod he stood and went to stand on the other side of the desk.
"Okay, well... Sydney..." Before he could get another word out though...
"Agent Bristow." They turned to see Devlin standing in the door.
"Sir?" Sydney stood.
"Please follow me." She looked back to Weiss. He nodded her along. She followed the man, Weiss trailing behind.
"What's going on?" she asked, feeling like she'd been asking that a lot lately.
"We had a walk in at a CIA safehouse in Taipei..." Something inside her twisted at that.
"Yes?" she asked for more. He didn't say anything, leading her down a hall and to a window into a room. Taking slow steps toward it, she looked inside.
It couldn't be... After all this time... It had to be another deceiving mirage... But no, it wasn't a mirage, she knew as she continued to look. Vaughn turned his head and looked right at her... and she fainted.