"Government Involvement" Chapter 07: Let the Games Begin

Summary: Dark Angel/Alias Crossover

Dark Angel storyline: Mid Second-season, somewhere around "Love in Vein" - Max burnt down Manticore and freed all the transgenics, including the extremely-hot-yet- playfully-annoying Alec (*sigh*). The virus is in effect, but it's really not relevant to this storyline.

Alias storyline: Mid second-season as well, after "Salvation." Although Irina Derevko probably won't play into the story that much. Sark hasn't come to work for SD-6 yet, though he may enter the storyline later ;)

Alterations.. The year is 2002 (Just pretend Dark Angel was set in that year). The pulse still happened, though the only place that was really affected was Washington: especially Seattle. Seattle is still like a third-world- country, sort of excluded from the rest of the U.S.

Enjoy the story, and DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!!

If you want me to e-mail you as soon as the next chapter is up, leave your e-mail address in the review section, or e-mail it to me!

Next Chapter: Should be up relatively soon. I have idea for where I want this story to go, I'm just trying to piece some stuff together :-D anway, it should be up sometime this week.

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"Good work guys," was how Kendall addressed Sydney, Jack, Vaughn, and Weiss the next morning at the beginning of the meeting he called after they brought Max and Alec to CIA headquarters.

"I must say I am surprised you were able to pull this together so fast, especially under these circumstances," he continued. "We now have every available agent researching this 'Manticore' place, and the lab technicians are running some blood tests on the two civilians you captured, to see if they really are 'super-soldiers' as you say." He said his last comment almost sarcastically, as though he didn't believe such an idea existed.

"Where are Max and Alec?" Sydney asked. The previous night, Sydney had wanted to stay to interrogate the two, but Kendall had insisted they were not a great threat, and could be dealt with later. After much arguing, Vaughn finally convinced her that she'd only be able to do her best work after going home and getting a good night's sleep. So, reluctantly, she agreed.

"They're of course still in our custody," Jack reassured her. "They were placed in a holding cell, similar to the one your mother is in now."

"They're still unconscious; after we locked them in the cell, they were given a drug to keep them knocked out," Kendall continued. "We don't fully know the extent of their abilities, and we can't risk them trying to escape. Especially since they know who Eyes Only is."

Eyes Only. Sydney had forgotten all about that. She was more interested in the whole genetically enhanced thing. She couldn't tell why, but for some reason Max and her abilities interested her a lot.

"So what's the next move?" Vaughn asked readily. "Jack already interrogated the girl back at SD-6, and she wouldn't say anything."

"Well then let's just make her talk," Weiss joined in.

Kendall nodded. "That's the plan," he sighed. "Until we know more about them, the only thing we can do is try and get them to talk. So, Sydney and Vaughn: you two are going to question the prisoners."

Sydney looked up in surprise. "Me? But I don't usually do the interrogations, I'm not very well trained in that area. It's more my dad's field." she explained.

"Well today it's your field. Jack is going to be busy with a cover-up at SD-6, and Weiss is running the research team. But don't forget, Vaughn will be there to help," Kendall insisted.

Before Sydney could get a chance to argue with him, Kendall dismissed the group and left the room.

As Weiss and Jack filed out the door, Vaughn stood up and looked at Sydney. "You ready to do this?" he asked, compassion in his voice.

Sydney nodded, and forced a smile. "Yeah," she replied. "I don't know what it is, but there's just something about that Max girl." her voice trailed off.

Vaughn grinned. "What? Afraid she'll go super-soldier on you again?"

Sydney's smile was genuine this time. "Not exactly," she joked back as she rose to her feet. "It's. nothing, forget it. Let's just do this."

With that, Sydney and Vaughn left the conference room and headed toward the holding cells.
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It didn't take much of the cold water splashing on their face to wake Max and Alec up. It made them incredibly alert, and they were wide awake in seconds.

"What the hell?! Are you trying to drown me?!" Alec yelled in anger, spitting water out of his mouth as he came to. Max groaned inwardly as the water cleared off her face and she noticed Sydney and Vaughn standing in front of her.

"Oh great," Max heard Alec mutter as he too noticed the other people in the room with them. It didn't take Max and Alec long to get over their grogginess and take in their surroundings.

"Ya know, for once I'd like to wake up and NOT be tied to a freakin chair," Max said sarcastically after realizing she and Alec were both confined to their seats with a thick piece of rope.

"Max, remind me to never rescue you again," Alec said to his fellow x-5 as he tugged uselessly on the ropes that bound him. "I shoulda just stuck with my date," he grumbled angrily.

"Get over yourself," Max replied. She wanted to reach out and give him a swift kick to the shin, but the ropes tying her feet to her chair prevented any effort to do so. Max sighed angrily: they had been conscious for less than a minute and she was already annoyed with him.

The four were in a small room, the walls a dull gray color. There was a small table in the middle of the room, with two chairs on either side, facing each other. A standard room for questioning. Max and Alec were sitting next to each other, and Sydney and Vaughn walked to sit opposite them, so they could look at them directly.

"Long time, no see," Sydney used the old cliché with a slight bitterness as she sat down.

Vaughn sent her a 'look.' The last thing they wanted to do was tick them off more so they wouldn't reveal any information. He took a deep breath, then addressed the x-5's in front of him. "You are now in CIA custody. I suggest you cooperate and comply with what we say," he said very formally.

Max rolled her eyes. "You can cut it with the technical talk. First things first; what the hell is going on?! First SD-6 locks me up, with the help of Sydney and Jack, and when I escape, here comes the CIA to lock me up, with the help of Sydney and Jack. Care to explain?"

Sydney and Vaughn exchanged a hesitant glance.

"Well," Sydney began reluctantly. She knew it was probably best to just tell the truth so Max and Alec would trust her. It was obvious they weren't dumb; they'd catch on pretty quickly if she was lying.

"I work for both SD-6 and the CIA. Eyes Only's broadcast is right: SD-6 is not a government organization, they're the bad guy."

Alec got a puzzle look on his face. "Then how can you work for both?" he asked. "You work for the government AND the non-government?!"

"She's a double agent, dumbass," Max said, throwing a look his way. "She really works for the CIA, but is undercover at SD-6 to get inside information." She paused to give Sydney a sly look. "Unless it's the other way around."

"You were right the first time," Sydney replied, glad Max understood so she wouldn't have to explain the whole process. "When SD-6 figured out you were a genetically enhanced soldier, Sloane, the director of SD-6, wanted to turn you over to Ames White. But instead, the CIA pulled you into their custody."

Max surpressed a look of disgust when White was mentioned, as she was trying to play innocent.

"Genetic WHAT?" she asked, in fake confusion. "What are you talking about?" her eyes were wide with mock perplexity.

Now it was Vaughn's turn to roll his eyes. "Come on," he said, "We know what you are."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about," Max continued with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"Don't play dumb," Vaughn said bluntly. "We ran some blood tests and have done some research. If we've guessed correctly, you were in the x-5 unit."

"Damnit," Max grumbled angrily, full of rage. They'd been exposed. These people knew exactly what and who she was. If her hands hadn't been tied behind her back, she would've punched something. She didn't like the idea of being at the mercy of the government.

"Don't worry," Vaughn continued as he noticed her anger, his voice a little more understanding this time. "No one but us knows you're here, and we're not the enemy."

"Not the enemy, huh? Then why are we still tied up!?" Alec jumped in.

Sydney sent him a fake smile. "Safety reasons," she said simply.

"Anyway, we're trying to say that we're on your side here: we just want some information," Vaughn finished calmly.

"Of course you want information. That's all anyone ever wants. Information," Max said bitterly, stating the obvious.

Vaughn took a deep breath, doing his best to not let Max's sarcasm annoy him. "Let's just start with the simple things. Just answer me this: do you both work for Eyes Only?" he asked.

Alec smirked at the man in front of him. "You said you'd done your research," he said in a mocking tone.

Sydney sighed. "Our research doesn't say who you've worked for, we could barely dig anything up on you two, so-" she started to answer for Vaughn, but was cut off.

"That's not what I mean," Alec interjected with an irritated look. "If you know about us being x-5's, then you know that we were taught not to give up information."

"He's right," Max agreed. "We're trained to withstand torture and anything else you throw at us to protect what we know." She tilted her head and flashed them a phony smile. "I hope you can understand."

Vaughn gave the girl an angry look. It was obvious he was getting incredibly irritated at their lack of ability to cooperate.

He jumped to his feet and leaned across the table. "Listen up: if you guys don't tell us what we want to know, we'll-"

"You'll what?" Max interrupted. "You'll drug us up again? Go ahead; I could use another nap." She gave him a daunting look, almost encouraging his anger.

"If you think you can play these mind games with me, you're wrong," Vaughn tried to defend himself.

"Looks like she's doing pretty good to me," Alec jumped in unnecessarily, aware and amused of the rage that had overcome the CIA agent.

Sydney, noticing Vaughn's anger, grabbed him lightly on the arm. She stood up and motioned toward the door with her head. Vaughn, understanding, nodded and the two began to head out the door.

"We'll give you some time to think about this," Sydney said to the two x- 5's before exiting the room.

"Yeah.by that she means they need more time to come up with another plan," Max said sarcastically after the door clicked shut.

Alec agreed with an appreciative laugh. "So how long do you think it'll take us to escape?" he asked his partner in crime.

Max tilted her head as she thought for a second. "I think we can make it out of here within the next four hours," she estimated.

Alec raised his eyebrows. "Four hours?" he repeated, "I'm thinking more like ten." He paused, as an idea darted through his head and a smirk ran across his face. "Care to make this a wager?"

Max smiled. "Of course," she consented immediately. "How does 200 bucks sound?"

"It sounds like I'm going to be 200 dollars richer when you're still trying to annoy the hell out of Vaughn five hours from now," he replied.

"I'd say we should shake on this, but the fact that I can barely move my hands more than a few inches might prevent that from happening," Max added pessimistically.

Alec looked at her with a devilish grin. "Would the lighter in my back pocket help?" he asked slyly.

"You have a lighter?! And you haven't used it to get us out of here yet? What's wrong with you?!?!" Max questioned furiously.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Don't you remember all those classes on tracking and surveillance? In case you haven't noticed: there are two camera's in this room, one in front of us, and one behind us by the door. Neither camera has a microphone on it, so obviously it can't record what we say," he paused to motion towards them as much as he could. "But we're safe to talk because the only bug was on that pen in Vaughn's shirt pocket, and he isn't here right now." He explained this to Max, speaking in a voice as if she were a little kid.

Max was slightly amazed he had caught the camera's, seeing as they were very well concealed. "Oh, I hadn't noticed." she finally replied, letting her voice trail off.

Alec's voice suddenly got a bitter edge to it. "Oh wait, that's right: you and your pals bailed on Manticore before you went through that training," he shot out resentfully.

Max sighed inwardly. "Alec, this is NOT a good time for you to get all dramatic about the escape," she tried to remain calm. "We have more important matters to deal with."

Alec just shook his head and avoided her gaze. He leaned back in his chair, an angry look set on his face.

Max sighed again. "This is going to be a long day." she thought to herself.
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Sloane was typing away at his computer when he heard a knock on his door. He looked up to see who it was, and waved the woman in.

"Here's that phone number you requested, sir," the secretary said as she laid a small piece of paper down on his desk.

Sloane nodded. "Thank you" was the swift phrase of gratitude he gave his employee before dismissing her out of his office.

Arvin Sloane picked up the piece of paper and began to dial the numbers on his telephone. After three rings, a very business-like voice answered the phone.

"Hello?" the man asked curtly, in a very serious tone.

"I'm trying to contact a Mr. Ames White," Sloane said into the receiver.

"This is him," was the toneless reply.

"Mr. White, I have a proposition to make with you. . . . "