Title: Angel Dark

Author: DOKChairman

Time: No particular time frame. Assume everything that has happened up to Counteragent is fair game.

Disclaimer: I do not own Alias. If I did, Dixon would actually appear in an episode this season, Marshall would be in practically every scene (that guy cracks me up so much), Sydney and Vaughn would at the very least admit that they have feelings for each other, and most importantly of all, Sydney would wear even less clothes than she usually does. Unfortunately for my bank account, J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, and ABC own Alias. I own nothing so don't sue me.

Pairing: This will be a Sydney/Vaughn piece. As if there's anything else.

Author's Note: I want to begin by apologizing to everyone for taking so long to update. Unfortunately, I fell victim to that vicious predator called real life, and I have been unable to write until now. With Thanksgiving break, finals quickly approaching, and the fact that I just got a new computer, life has become extremely hectic. As you can obviously see however, that has changed somewhat.

Author's Note: I received over 15 reviews for my last chapter, so just saying thank you to all you wonderful people out there seems so inadequate, but I can't think of anything else to say: so thank you very much. Your reactions motivate me to write more, so keep them coming. Thank you again.

Author's Note: On a side note, I feel like sharing with you all the fact that I got an A on my history paper I told you about earlier. Yay me! Anyways, you aren't here to read about me, so here's the story.




Vaughn's leg involuntarily twitched up and down as he sat in pensive apprehension outside of Devlin's office. He was full of so much pent up frustration, apprehension, and good old fashioned nerves, that he was finding it difficult to keep himself still.

Usually only something involving Sydney could get him so worked up, but anyone who had ever worked on Project Sally knew just how passionate he could get at times. When there was something that concerned him, he could be as tenacious, emotional, and ruthless as the next guy. He just tended not to show it.

Finally, giving up on the pointlessness of sitting down, Vaughn suddenly leapt to his feet and began pacing. Devlin's secretary, a rather young, but severe looking brunette with wire rim glasses, looked up at Vaughn's sudden motion and gave him a glare of annoyance.

"Must you do that Agent Vaughn? Perhaps you could sit down?" The secretary tried to keep her voice as pleasant and even as possible, but it was obvious to Vaughn that the woman did not appreciate what he was doing. He admitted to himself that his pacing was probably distracting, pacing was in general distracting, but since it was making him feel better, he didn't really feel like stopping.

Vaughn just ignored her and continued pacing up and down the floor of Devlin's anteroom. When he heard the sound of typing, he assumed the secretary had returned to her work, and focused on his thoughts.

He knew he had to tread carefully. Despite his shock and anger at discovering that Project Sally was more than likely active again, one did not outright accuse a person of Devlin's stature of wrongdoing, no matter how damning the evidence.

Vaughn would show Devlin the disk, ask him about what he knew, and if he determined that Project Sally was active again, he would demand to be put on the case immediately. Project Sally had been his baby, and the only other person that knew the project as intimately as he did, was apparently dead.

Vaughn suddenly heard the typing stop and looked up to see the secretary staring at him. Blushing slightly, Vaughn smiled sheepishly at the woman and stopped his pacing motion.

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to distract you from your work, but this waiting is driving me crazy. How much longer until Director Devlin's meeting is over." Vaughn tried to appease the secretary with his words.

Whether it was his charm, or simply the fact that the woman was more easygoing than she appeared, her face softened. Her mouth slipped out of its seemingly permanent frown and gave Vaughn an understanding smile. "Unfortunately Agent Vaughn, I don't know when Director Devlin's meeting will be over. Department evaluations always go long. It could be hours before he is free."

Vaughn sputtered in disbelief, "Hours? I can't wait that long. I need to see Devlin now."

The frown appeared back on the secretary's face. "I'm sorry Agent Vaughn, but there is nothing I can do. You can leave me a message, and I will pass it on later, but there is no way you can see Director Devlin at this time."

Vaughn walked up to her desk and looked down at her sitting form. "I need to speak with Devlin now. I don't care what you have to do to get him up here, but do it. This is a matter of national security, and I don't think Devlin would like being kept out of the loop."

The young woman sighed and reached to grab her phone. Pausing with her hand on the phone, she looked up at Vaughn's towering form and said, "Are you willing to take full responsibility for interrupting Director Devlin's meeting? I will not be held responsible for your actions."

Sudden realization dawned in Vaughn's head. He understood now why the secretary was acting as belligerently as she was. She was afraid of taking the heat. She wanted to protect her own ass.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure that you won't get in trouble." Vaughn tried to be as reassuring as possible.

His answer appeared to work because the woman picker up her phone and she quickly dialed a number.

A few seconds passed and then the woman spoke up. "I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but there is an Agent Vaughn demanding to see you as soon as possible." There was a pause. "Yes sir. I explained to him that now was not a good time, but he is very adamant about seeing you." Another pause. "He says it is an emergency regarding national security."

The young woman placed her palm over the bottom of the phone and looked at Vaughn. "He wants to know what is so important."

Vaughn racked his brain for a way of telling Devlin what he needed to know without giving anything away to his secretary. Finally he had it. "Tell him that I have recently leaned that my long lost sister Sally isn't as lost as I thought she was."

The secretary looked at Vaughn in confusion, but then shrugged her shoulders in acceptance and relayed Vaughn's message. Devlin's secretary listened for a long time without saying anything, before replying, "Yes sir. I'll let him know." She then hung up.

With surprise apparent on her face, she faced Vaughn. "Well, it looks like you got your meeting Agent Vauhgn. Director Devlin is on his way now."

Vaughn grinned in victory and moved back to the seats to sit down. The young secretary just went back to her typing.


Sydney tried to hide her disappointment when she saw that Vaughn was nowhere in sight, but she was fairly certain her father had seen her reaction. The scowl on his face was a dead giveaway, although, Sydney thought ruefully, when was a scowl not on Jack Bristow's face?

Either way, it didn't matter. Her father disapproved of the relationship, if it could even be called that, between her and Vaughn. That much was obvious to anyone who knew her father. But to his credit, he had yet to blatantly interfere with either of them, at least as far as she knew.

Sydney shifted her eyes from her father to Assistant Director Kendall, who was going over all the last minute additions/changes to her mission. She had been hoping that Vaughn would have been back from his meeting with Devlin to see her off, but unfortunately for her, that was not the case.

Despite how she felt about her handler, there was something to be said for all the personal touches he added to his briefings. Kendall was just so...bland and sterile. That conjured up a very unpleasant mental image, and a shiver ran down Sydney's spine.

In rare fatherly concern, Jack asked if she was alright. Sydney inwardly cringed, but outwardly smiled and assured her father that she was perfectly alright. She was just a little cold, was all. Jack accepted what she said and all three continued on. At least Kendall and her father did. Sydney's thoughts were entirely focused on her wayward handler.


Vaughn wasted very little time in starting as soon as Devlin and himself stepped into Devlin's office. As Devlin was moving to sit at his desk, he started to talk. "What is this about Agent Vaughn?"

"It's about Project Sally." Vaughn said.

Devlin sighed as he sat down heavily in his chair. "I gathered that from your message Agent Vaughn, but Project Sally was ended four years ago and all files regarded it were sealed. You know you're not suppose to discuss it."

Vaughn said exasperatedly, "I know the protocol sir, but apparently, Project Sally is not as dead as we thought."

"What do you mean?"

Vaughn sat down in the chair across from Devlin's desk. "What I mean is that I have received two phone calls today that would seem to indicate otherwise. One was to inform me that Kyle Prescott was dead and the other was to tell me where I could find this." Vaughn then pulled the CD out of his jacket pocket and tossed it on the desk so that it landed right in front of Devlin.

Devlin picked up the disk and looked at it curiously, "What is this?"

Vaughn leaned forward slightly and said coldly, "That is Project Sally."

Devlin stared at the disk for a few seconds before placing it back down on his desk. Devlin let out a sigh of resignation. "How did you get this?"

"I told you. Someone called me and told me where I could find it. They said that I would be very interested about what was on it, and boy were they right." Vaughn was starting to get emotional, and before he could stop himself, he said accusingly, "Why didn't you tell me that Project Sally was active again?"

Devlin stared at Vaughn and said coldly, "It's not. And may I remind you Agent Vaughn, that I am your superior and you will not address me in your manner again."

Vaughn calmed down slightly. Devlin's denial of Project Sally being active again had surprised him. He had been so sure that that was the only reason why someone would know about it in the first place. Now that he was being told that what he thought was true, was in fact not, he didn't know what to do. Of course, there was always the chance that Devlin was lying, but Vaughn didn't think Devlin would lie about something like that. Not to him.

"If Project Sally is not active, then where the hell did this disk come from." As an afterthought he added, "Sir."

Devlin stayed quiet, contemplating whether or not he should tell Vaughn what he knew. He seemed to reach a decision. "There as been a leak."

Vaughn's surprise showed clearly on his face. "A leak? But how?"

Devlin frowned. "I don't know."

"Is that why Kyle is dead?" Vaughn asked.

Devlin hesitated slightly, "Yes and no."

Vaughn asked with frustration in his voice, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Devlin explained, "I had asked Prescott to look into the matter for me. I didn't want to bring in outside help, and you were busy trying to ruin your career with your stunt in Taipei." Devlin paused before adding, "Prescott was getting close to the source of the leak, and in his last communication, he had said that he had a computer disk that contained everything about Project Sally that had been leaked. Unfortunately until now, as far as we knew Prescott had been apprehend by the Chinese and killed before he could deliver the disk. We had been afraid that maybe the Chinese had the disk, but now it doesn't look like it."

Vaughn did not like hearing that Kyle had been killed because he had been too busy with Sydney to do his job. He was beginning to think that there might be something to everyone's claim that he was letting his relationship with Sydney affect his judgment. "But how did the Chinese catch him? Kyle is more careful than that."

"We believe that the person who is stealing the Project Sally files is also the person that tipped the Chinese off about Agent Prescott. Prescott was getting too close."

"But why did the disk come to me? It couldn't have been Kyle that sent it, because he's dead. Someone was talking to me on the other side of that phone." Vaughn wondered.

"A very good question Agent Vaughn, and one that needs to be answered immediately. It doesn't make sense that the leaker would be sending you the files, and Agent Prescott is not a viable candidate, so a new player must have emerged on the scene." Devlin responded.

Vaughn reached a decision. "I want on the case. I want to catch this person."

Devlin disagreed. "I don't think that would be a good idea Agent Vaughn. You are occupied enough with being Sydney Bristow's handler. Besides, you are too emotionally involved."

Vaughn said excitedly, "You damn right this is personal. I ran the Project Sally op for two years, and Kyle was a close friend. I want to catch the bastards who killed him."

Devlin responded as fervently as Vaughn had. "That is exactly the problem Agent Vaughn. You can't look at this situation objectively."

Vaughn felt outraged. "Objectively? There is no other way to look at it sir! They killed an agent of the CIA. They should be brought to justice and punished. Surely you can't just ignore that."

Devlin said angrily, "If you are accusing me of something Agent Vaughn, then come right out and say it. If not, then shut up and let me finish."

Vaughn shut up, but he was far from calm. Looking at Devlin, he could see his same feelings reflected in Devlin's eyes. It had been a long time since he had seen his boss get so riled up. Not since the last argument that they had had about Project Sally over four years ago. Devlin and he never did see eye to eye on the whole thing.

When Devlin saw that Vaughn had in fact shut up, he tried to calm himself. In a much more subdued tone he continued, "I had a feeling that you would want to be put on the case, but I had to try to convince you otherwise. There is something else that you must know." Devlin paused. "Kyle Prescott is not the only one of your team to have been killed."

Vaughn felt like the he had just been punched in the gut. In a shaky voice he asked, "What do you mean?"

Devlin looked at Vaughn sympathetically. He remembered how everyone on the Project Sally operations team had been like a small family. It was severely frowned upon of course, but sometimes, leeway was given to those extremely exceptional people like they had been. Besides, considering the close quarters that they had been in, it was only inevitable that they would grow closer.

"Hollister, Krugar, Prescott, and Perez are all dead. We had foolishly hoped that maybe the deaths were all a coincidence, with the exception of Prescott of course, but when Krugar was gunned down this morning outside of his house, we were forced to face the realization that someone is hunting down the members of Project Sally."

"And your just telling me this now?" Vaughn yelled.

Devlin actually looked ashamed. "We had no choice. We had to be absolutely sure that the deaths were in fact assassinations and not just highly unusual. Both Hollister and Perez died of apparently natural causes. Krugar was the only one of the four to be blatantly killed."

"What about Kirkpatrick and Greene? I hope you've warned them." Vaughn asked.

"Kirkpatrick has been warned and brought into protective custody. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate Agent Greene."

Vaughn leaned back dejectedly. His entire team was almost gone. For a time, he had been closer to them than anybody. If he had had his way, he would still have been with them, but in the aftermath of the ending of Project Sally, he had been reassigned. Despite his regret, he knew that his reassignment was for the best. If not for it, he would have never met Sydney.

Devlin began talking, "That is what my meeting was about this morning. I met with the Director and the department heads, and we discussed our course of action. The Director is as anxious to deal with this problem as you are. If you are still interested in being part of the investigation, I can probably convince the Director to let you back in."

Vaughn nodded his head enthusiastically and said, "Of course I want to be involved. I want to head the investigation. You need me. No one knows this case as well as I do."

Devlin sighed. "I'll do my best to get you assigned. However, you do realize that as long as you are working on this case, you will be unable to be Agent Bristow's handler."

Vaughn's enthusiasm died. It would not be good to be away from Sydney, but he felt like he had no choice. He owed it to the others who had died to find the person or persons responsible. Sydney would just have to accept that his reassignment was only temporary and that it was a decision that he had made willingly.

"I understand sir. I'll deal with Agent Bristow."

Devlin nodded his head. "Good. Just don't forget that this is a highly classified matter. No one outside of the original project team is to know about this. Absolutely no one. The CIA does not like airing its dirty laundry for everyone to see."

"Of course sir."

"I assume you'll want to get started immediately?" Devlin asked.

Vaughn responded as he stood up. "Yes sir. I just need to get some stuff at my apartment."

Devlin nodded his head distractedly as he started dialing a number on his phone. "I'll get started immediately on getting you the proper clearance again. We'll meet again in two hours."

Vaughn acknowledged Devlin's order and left his office. Flashing the secretary outside a somewhat smug smile, he walked down the office hallway and stepped into the elevator. Once the elevator reached the parking level, he walked out and quickly climbed into his car.

He started the car, pulled out of the parking lot, and was quickly on his way to his apartment. There were some papers there that he kept hidden there. Papers having to do with Project Sally. It was against protocol, but Vaughn did not like to be caught unawares and having proof of the things that went on in Project Sally was a great way of making sure that nobody would ever be one step ahead of him.

Surprisingly, though, his biggest worry wasn't about Project Sally, it was about Sydney. What he was going to tell her was weighing heavily on his mind. He remembered what she had told him before he left, and he knew that she was just stubborn enough to follow through with what she threatened. The last thing he needed, or wanted for that matter, was for Sydney to get involved in his mess. He did not want Sydney to know about the stuff that he had done while working on Project Sally.

He realized that ever since the revelation about his relationship with Alice, his and Sydney's relationship had been strained. The last thing he wanted was for her to find out something about him that might add even more strain. He wanted her to stay blissfully unaware.

Vaughn sighed to himself and involuntarily looked at his rearview mirror. He scanned the road behind him quickly and was about to shift his eyes back to the front when he noticed a black Suburban speeding towards him. Vaughn was shocked; the SUV had appeared out of nowhere.

Vaughn pressed his foot down on the gas pedal and his car began to pick up speed, but it was too late. The Suburban rammed the back of Vaughn's car, and the steering wheel leapt out of Vaughn's hands. Vaughn quickly grabbed the steering wheel and pulled hard to the right. His car swerved violently and he tried to weave through the traffic.

He glanced into his mirror again and saw that the Suburban was following him. Before he knew it, his car jolted again as the Suburban hit the rear of his car again. This time Vaughn was unable to control the wheel fast enough and his car sideswiped the car next to him. The Suburban rammed his car again, and Vaughn's head slammed against the steering wheel.

Vaughn's vision temporarily blackened but he recovered fast enough to yank the steering wheel to the right again. The Suburban moved up alongside him and sideswiped his car twice. Vaughn tried to speed ahead, but the Suburban matched him.

He looked to the side and noticed two of the windows rolling down. He soon saw two men stick guns outside the windows, and he panicked. As the men started firing, Vaughn slammed on his brakes, causing the car behind him to rear end him, but the Suburban to surge ahead.

Vaughn pressed down on the gas and turned to the left. He turned his car away from the SUV and started going down the road the opposite way. He checked his rearview mirror and saw that the Suburban was turning around to follow him, taking out two cars as it did. Vaughn stopped looking at the car following him and focused on dodging the cars coming his way.

Vaughn saw a side road that led away from the main thoroughfare and he turned to take it. He checked his rearview mirror again and saw that the Suburban was still behind him. At least, he thought belatedly, no more innocent people would get in the way.

Vaughn pressed the gas all the way to the floor, but he just wasn't fast enough. It was a government car, and as such wasn't exactly built for high speed chases. The Suburban rammed his car at an angle, sending his car spinning. Vaughn tried to control it, but there was nothing he could do but enjoy the ride.

His car slammed full force sideways into the wall of a building. The airbag exploded outward and absorbed most of the impact of his head coming towards the steering wheel. Vaughn was amazed that he was alive, let alone relatively unscathed.

Vaughn heard tires coming to a screech and he quickly unhooked his seatbelt. He had to get out of his car, as long as he stayed he was a sitting duck. He opened his door and dived out. He quickly scurried to the other side of his car, away from the people trying to kill him, and pulled his gun out of his holster.

Grabbing the gun in both hands, Vaughn took several deep breaths, attempting to psych himself up, and looked over the rear of the car to see what the Suburban was doing. What he saw did not fill him with a lot of hope. He saw four men, all of them wearing body armor from head to toe, and all of them carrying submachine guns. The men spread out and began moving towards Vaughn.

Vaughn recognized instantly that a body shot from a handgun would do nothing but give the men a slight bruise in the morning. He would have to go for the head if he wanted to stop them. Unfortunately, he was not the best shot at the best of times. Oh sure, he fulfilled his bi-monthly qualifications, but that didn't mean he was Annie Oakley.

Vaughn yelled out, "I am a federal officer, and any attempt to harm me is a federal offense. Throw down your weapons and surrender. You're all under arrest!"

Vaughn seriously doubted what he said would have any impact, and as if to prove him right, all four men opened fire on his car. Vaughn cringed as he heard the bullets make a ding sound as they impacted against the metal of the car.

Vaughn stuck just his hand up and returned fire without aiming. He hoped to make the four men hesitate, and it seemed that he had succeeded as they stopped firing. He heard sounds of feet running on the pavement, and he felt some satisfaction at knowing that he had made them think twice about coming after him. At least for the time being.

Vaughn searched his surroundings, trying to find some way that he could escape through, or at the very least use as a better defensible position. Unfortunately, it looked like he was in an alley that ended in, fittingly enough, a dead end. There was one door about twenty feet away, but Vaughn didn't know if he could make it to the door in time. If he ran, he would expose his back to fire, but it looked like it was his only chance.

Firing the remainder of his clip out toward the four men, Vaughn leapt up and sprinted toward the door, placing a new magazine into his gun as he did. As he ran, he could hear and feel bullets whizzing past him. Bullets were impacting along the brick wall, sending little shards of brick flying at him and cutting his face.

Just as he reached the door, a bullet came just close enough to draw blood on his upper arm. Vaughn winced in pain but ignored it and slammed his shoulder into the door. When the door didn't budge, Vaughn fired his gun into the doorknob, and then rammed his shoulder into it again. The lock popped, and Vaughn stumbled into a dark room.

Breathing heavily, Vaughn brought his left hand up to grab his wound and searched the room he had just burst into. The room was dark, but from what he could see, it looked like he was in some kind of storeroom. There were boxes stacked all over the place.

Vaughn was about to move further into the room when the door behind him slammed open and he dived forward. As he landed on his shoulder, he slid along the floor and looked toward the door. The light from outside created an outline around his would be assassin and gave Vaughn enough light to aim and fire. The shot, amazingly enough, took his attacker in the head and the man went flying backwards. Vaughn got on his knees and moved farther back.

Vaughn peered from around a stack of boxes to see two men dragging their dead compatriot out of the doorway. Vaughn fired four shots in their direction, two hitting one man in the chest which caused him to grunt in annoyance, the other two going wild.

The two men who had dragged the dead attacker way, stepped into the doorway and opened fire. Because they could not see where Vaughn was exactly, they fired wildly. Their bullets shredded the boxes all around Vaughn but none came as close as the one outside had.

Vaughn was afraid of returning fire because any shot from him would surely give away his position in the darkened room. He peered at the doorway again and saw that the remaining three men were in the room.

He saw the men spread out and start walking forward. Vaughn knew he could not stay where he was and leapt to his feet and ran even further into the room. The three men, who had heard him running, shifted to look in his direction and fire. More bullets slammed into the boxes around him, and Vaughn returned fire.

Fate must have been on his side that day, because as he emptied his clip, he heard one of the men shout out in pain.

Vaughn started to move around the boxes, attempting to move behind the men that had moved into the room. If he could get behind the men, he could either kill them or just leave the room and get outside.

Vaughn stuck his head out from a stack of boxes to see two of the men kneeling next to the third man who was lying on the ground. The man was moving around so Vaughn knew the man was not dead, but something was obviously wrong with him. Vaughn knew that this would be his best chance to do something as the three men were preoccupied.

Moving as quietly as he could, Vaughn began to sneak up on the two men. He had put his last magazine into his gun earlier, so whatever he was going to do, he had to do it quickly. He would be defenseless soon if the firefight continued.

Vaughn stepped on a piece of broken glass, and he instantly froze as the cracking sound exploded throughout the room. The two kneeling men instantly perked up and swung around to face Vaughn. Vaughn leapt to his side and landed hard. So hard that his gun flew out of his hand. Vaughn swore and frantically searched the ground for his gun.

He was too late. The two men were standing right above him as his hand closed on the handle of his piece. Vaughn looked up at the two men and saw one of them raise his gun and point it at Vaughn's head.

Vaughn asked desperately, "Why are you doing this? Who are you?"

Vaughn's only response was the man above him pulling the trigger.




To be continued.....................



P.S. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what Devlin's actual title is. I know he is not the Director of the CIA, but I am unsure if he is a deputy director, or something else entirely. Until someone who is in the know can tell me, I will just refer to him as Director Devlin. Oh, and comments on the action piece would be appreciated. I was afraid that it was too long, and would really like to know what you think.