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: The responses that I have gotten for the last few chapters have been, how do I say this delicately...umm, funny as hell I think is appropriate enough. One person out of all the people who left a review actually guessed the storyline for the next few chapters. I won't say who because that would give everything away, but the person deserves a pat on the back. Thanks for the phenomenal feedback. All the people who were worried about Vaughn being dead made me laugh. Not in a mean way, its just that your responses were so damn funny. I was laughing with you. I swear. Thanks guys. I love you all.
Author's Note: I apologize for the briefness of this chapter. This is the final bit of set up before we get to the real heart of the story, and everyone finally finds out what really happened to Vaughn. Unfortunately, finals are starting so it may be awhile before I update again. Sorry.
This chapter takes place one month after the events in the last chapter, i.e. Sydney's mission and her subsequent learning of Vaughn's death.
Sydney unlocked the door to her house and slowly drudged her way through. She was in no hurry. In fact there was no place else she would rather be than in her own home. It was the last bastion of her sanity.
It had been one month since she had learned about the death of her handler, and she had not even begun to recover. Losing Danny had almost destroyed her, and she was quite sure that losing Vaughn had finished the job.
Almost immediately after finding out about Vaughn, her father had practically begged her to get out. For the longest time she had seriously contemplated doing just that. Just forgetting it all. Leaving her twisted, painful, screwed up life and starting over. Ultimately, though, she stayed. Why? She wasn't entirely sure why, although she suspected it had to do with two things.
Despite all the pain that her life as a double agent had caused her, it was the only life she knew how to live. She didn't know if she would be able to function in normal society. Even though she railed against her lifestyle, secretly she knew she craved the excitement, danger, and adrenaline pumping action. It was what made her who she was. When she was on a mission she wasn't Sydney Bristow, she was SD-6/CIA Agent Bristow. They were separate people, with separate identities. She liked to think that they were one in the same, but rarely did they ever coalesce.
The second reason why she found herself having difficulty leaving had to do with her friends and family. She couldn't just leave Francie and Will. Although it was unbelievably hard trying to hide the pain of Vaughn's death from Francie, Will had been her emotional life support in the last month. He had been there for her, without question or complaint, and Sydney loved him for it. Their relationship had grown in leaps and bounds since then, and Sydney couldn't be happier about that aspect of her life. Francie was another matter.
She had realized a few weeks ago that she had been unconsciously avoiding Francie. It was just too hard having to hold everything in when she was around her. It was bad enough having to do it around Sloane and the others at SD-6; it was downright excruciating hiding it from her best friend. Will had called her on it, they had talked about it, and Sydney had promised both Will and herself that she would do her best to stop avoiding Francie. But it was hard. Francie, like always, picked up on her emotional breakdowns and was asking questions. Sydney had tried the best she could to deflect and evade them, but she was getting too damn tired doing it every day.
Fortunately, Francie had stopped asking questions a few days ago, and things were starting to get better between them. Sydney suspected that Francie and Will had had a talk, and Will had persuaded her to back off. Now Sydney was finding it easier to relax at home, which was one of the reason why she considered it to be her sanctuary. It was someplace where she could grieve and cry in peace, without any prying eyes or curious friends.
About the only other good thing to come out of Vaughn's death was her closeness with her father. It made her ashamed to say that even a little good could have come out of Vaughn dying, but her relationship with her father was going better than ever. Jack Bristow was almost like a different man. He was acting like the father that both he and Sydney wanted him to be.
From the very beginning, he had been a shoulder for her to cry on, for her to talk too, and for her to tell how she truly felt about the man that had been her handler. He had done all this without judgment or reproach. He had had a "talk" with Kendall when he had wanted to send Sydney on a mission three days after Vaughn's death, and he had refused to allow Kendall to assign anyone new to be Sydney's handler. He had taken over Vaughn's duties, and that more than anything else, meant more to Sydney than she could probably ever tell him. If she couldn't have Vaughn, then the only person she would ever consider filling his role would be her father.
Despite the improvements in the relationships with the two remaining men in her life, she knew that she wasn't really living. She had stopped doing that the second she heard that Vaughn was dead. She was just going through the motions. She was actually amazed that no one at SD-6 had picked up on her lifeless persona. Either she was the best actress in the history of mankind, or else they were just totally oblivious. To be fair, she suspected that Dixon was starting to pick up on things. She was half-expecting him to confront her on how she was feeling every time she saw him.
Sloane, she knew, was also starting to get a little suspicious. He had been looking at her differently than his general smarmy way a lot lately. She had become especially paranoid when she had heard that her father had requested that Sloane giver her some vacation time. She had been mad at her father when she had heard that, but with the way he was treating her, she couldn't stay mad at him for very long. Besides, nothing had come of his request. Sydney had gotten her time off, and Sloane had not seemed aware of any ulterior motives, but after the way he had been acting lately, she wasn't so sure that was true anymore.
Sydney was brought out of her ruminations by a loud clash coming from her kitchen. She felt a small smile grace her lips when she saw Francie digging through one of the cupboards. She asked loudly, "What are you looking for?"
Francie, in surprise, jumped and turned around quickly. When she saw Sydney, she calmed down and shot her roommate a disapproving look. "Jesus Syd! You scared me. I didn't even hear you come in."
Sydney laughed slightly. "Maybe if you weren't making so much noise you would have heard me. What are you looking for anyway?"
Francie got a look of consternation on her face and turned back around to stare accusingly at the cupboard. "I was looking for some coffee. I know I put it in here last night, but it seems to have disappeared since then."
Sydney laughed again and after placing her stuff down on a counter went over to stare at the cupboard with Francie. Sydney cocked her head and said, "You know, staring at the cupboard is not going to make the coffee magically appear."
Francie frowned at Sydney. "I know. I just thought that maybe if I stared at it long enough, it would begin to feel guilty for taking my coffee and it would give it back."
Sydney stared at Francie like she was an alien with two heads and Francie got defensive. "What? This is L.A. you know. Stranger things have happened."
Sydney let out a genuinely hearty laugh, and turned back to look at the cupboard. "You know, I think I saw Will using the coffee this morning before I left for work. He must have moved it."
Francie groaned dramatically. "God. Doesn't even ever eat at his own house. Now I have to wait until he comes over before I can have my coffee."
Sydney patted Francie on the back mockingly and started to walk away. Over her shoulder she said, "I'm going to get changed. Why don't you just call Will and ask him, and while your at it, ask him to bring a pizza over or something. I don't feel like going out tonight."
Francie frowned at Sydney's retreating form and mumbled to herself, "When do you ever feel like going out anymore?"
Francie then sighed and walked over to the phone. She was just about to dial Will's number when she heard someone knocking at the door. Walking towards the door she yelled to Sydney who was coming out of her room as well, "I'll get it." Francie saw Sydney shrug her shoulders and move back into her room to finish changing.
When Francie opened the door she saw that there was a deliveryman outside. Francie was mildly surprised, she wasn't expecting any packages and she was sure Sydney wasn't either.
The deliveryman said, "I have a package for Sydney Bristow."
Francie smiled and said, "I'll take it."
The deliveryman asked. "Are you Sydney Bristow?"
"No, but I'm her roommate. Don't worry, I'll make sure she gets it."
The deliveryman shook his head. "I'm sorry, but my instructions explicitly say that only Sydney Bristow can accept this package. No one else. Is she here?"
Sydney suddenly appeared behind Francie, dressed in a pair of sweats and a too-big sweatshirt. When she saw the confrontational looks on both Francie and the deliveryman, she asked, "What's going on?"
The deliveryman ignored her question and instead asked one of his own. "Are you Sydney Bristow?" When Sydney said yes, the man sighed in relief and handed the small package he held in his hand to her. He then produced a clipboard. "I need you to sign for the package."
Sydney signed her name, and the man turned around and left, moving as fast as he could. Sydney said to Francie as they walked back inside the house, "I think you scared him off Francie."
Francie shrugged her shoulders and then said unappologetically, "Yeah, well, he was being an ass. I don't know why he couldn't just let me take the package."
Sydney laughed lightly and placed the small, brown package on a counter. Francie asked, "I wonder what it is?"
"Let's find out." Sydney then begun to open the package. In the package was a small black box, which looked suspiciously like a jewelry box, and a note. Sydney picked up the note and began to read.
Sydney-
Be at the pier at midnight. You know the place I'm talking about. Come alone and tell absolutely no one.
Sydney looked at the note confusedly. What the hell? Her confusion soon passed to blind rage. Was someone trying to play some sick joke on her? Only Vaughn supposedly knew of that pier, but Vaughn was dead so who the hell was sending her this note.
When Sydney picked up the black box, her hands were shaking. Francie saw and asked her what was wrong. Sydney just ignored her and focused solely on the box she was holding in her hands.
Sydney tentatively opened the box and all the color drained from her face. Lying on a layer of black felt was a beautiful, gold necklace. In the middle of the necklace was the object that had made Sydney feel a pit form in her stomach. The object was a small, intricately carved, gleaming gold angel.
To be continued...................
P.S. Thanks for all the great responses. Its nice to know that so many of you take my impending death so lightly. Way to make a guy feel appreciated. In other topics, I need more reviews people. I need them like a crack head needs his latest fix, so don't make me go cold turkey. What I have gotten so far have been great, and I notice that I seem to building up a fan base, but I've also noticed that the people who review are the same people who always review. I want new people to tell me what they think. You people know who you are. You're like the people that go out to eat and then dine and dash. I need my reviews people. I can already feel the shakes starting.
