Killing Me Softly
Kendall and my father were at it again, yelling at each other over the radio. Vaughn and I had just gotten back and we still had to find Weiss, but Weiss could wait, my father couldn't. I picked up a headset and got onto the radio with them.
"What do you mean, you can't turn on the tracking device?" Kendall asked angrily.
My father went silent and I knew he'd removed the tracer. Nice going, Dad.
"You took it out, didn't you, Jack?" asked Kendall.
"Yeah. She'll pull it off against Sloane, she'll kill him," my father defended my mother.
"The point here, Jack, is that a CIA-custody terrorist is on the loose, again, with the Rambaldi documents, and she could be anywhere in Panama! Need I remind you that we have post-it notes instead? Plus, she's with Sark, Sark used to work for her. They could easily go back to wherever they have their base at. Jack, this is your fault."
"You're blaming me? How was I supposed to know that she was going to take off with the Rambaldi documents?"
"She's your ex-wife! You're supposed to be able to read her after thirty years!"
This is getting old, really fast. Kendall's so annoying, even more so when he's right.
"Can you just stop arguing?" I finally asked, annoyed. "We're just going to have to trust Mom on this one."
"Miss Bristow, you're saying that we should trust Irina Derevko's judgment, and trust that she'll come back on her own?"
"Yes," I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. "We should. She'll contact us eventually. We should just wait for that to happen."
Kendall sat back up in his chair. "All right, we wait. Jack, come back on the next flight. See you at home."
I wasn't asked again to search Vaughn's hard drive, thank goodness. I wasn't pulled back in for questioning either after Weiss and I made our discovery and tracked Vaughn. Still, it was a bit suspicious that they just dropped the investigation, but I didn't think much of it. Somehow though, I think that it just brought the three of us closer together, Vaughn and I together as a couple, more in love, and Weiss along with us, as friends.
Kendall left the room, and so Vaughn and I were left alone. I sat down and blankly stared off into space.
"You okay?" asked Vaughn.
"Yeah. It just blows my mind that my mother is with Sloane and Sark in Panama, with the Rambaldi documents. I don't know if I'm lying to myself when I say that she'll contact us, when really, she might not."
"So when you told your dad and Kendall that your mom will contact us, you don't really believe it?"
"I think that she will contact us, I really do, but then I remember who she is. I remember that she's Irina Derevko, the woman who abandoned my father and I, the woman who's lied about so much, the woman who." I didn't want to finish. I didn't want to say that my mother had murdered his father.
"Murdered my father," Vaughn said quietly. "That's what you were going to say, isn't it?"
"Vaughn, I."
He smiled and wiped away the tears that I didn't even know were there. "Don't cry. I told you this earlier. It's not possible for us to have a relationship and not talk about our parents. It's going to come up, Syd, and we're going to be ready for it when it comes."
Weiss stood behind Vaughn. "Uh.guys, I hate to break it to you, but there are other people in the room, and they're staring. Remember the little thingy called 'protocol,' remember?"
I smiled. Leave it to Weiss to break the mood. I nodded and Vaughn stood completely up.
"Do you guys want to go and get some lunch?" Vaughn asked, completely changing the subject.
"I don't want to be a third wheel, Vaughn," Weiss said, trying to back out.
"Come on. Weiss, are you embarrassed to be seen with us or something?" I joked. I knew he'd get defensive and decide to come with us. That was just Weiss.
"No, of course I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you guys. I'm coming with. Where are we going?"
I smiled. I had him. Vaughn smiled too. We had gotten Weiss right where we wanted him.
"I don't know," said Vaughn. "Where do you want to go?"
"Subway," I answered automatically.
"Rabbit food?" Weiss asked in mock-disgust, wrinkling his nose. "How about the all-you-can-eat ribs joint that's like, a block away?"
"No," Vaughn and I looked at each other. "I can't eat ribs with you again," said Vaughn with a laugh.
"I feel a long story coming on," I said.
"Yeah," said Vaughn. "It is a long story.
"Tell me," I said, smiling.
"Let's go," said Weiss, quickly. "If he starts now, we'll be dead before he's finished."
"Yeah, I can't tell it that fast. Weiss will interrupt so much that the story will be even longer."
We drove a little ways out to Subway and got our food. After we sat down in a booth and ate, Vaughn grabbed my hand under the table and our eyes met. Weiss sat across the table and faced us.
"Vaughn, spill," said Weiss with a grin.
"Uh." he shifted in his seat.
"Come on," I said. "You promised you'd tell me."
"All right. A couple of years ago, I had a girlfriend."
"A blonde girlfriend," said Weiss.
"And we went on a double date with Weiss and his girlfriend."
"Somehow, I can't picture Weiss with a girlfriend," I said teasingly.
"Well, I did have a girlfriend," he said, getting defensive.
"Anyway," Vaughn continued. "I was on a double date with."
"Another one of his blonde girlfriends," interrupted Weiss.
"And Weiss and his girlfriend and we were having dinner. We were at this rib place and we had just gotten the sauce for the ribs and we were passing it around the table. I asked Weiss to hand the sauce to me, and he ended up spilling the whole bowl, pitcher, whatever it was, all over my lap. I had on khakis too. My date laughed so hard."
Weiss smiled. Obviously, this was a great memory. I could just picture Vaughn with barbecue sauce all over his pants, on a date, and Weiss laughing at him.
"The moral of the story here is that you never go on a double date, to a rib joint, with Weiss, unless you want to break up with your girlfriend," Vaughn finished.
Weiss smiled. "And she did break up with him, the very next day."
"So let me get this straight, we went out to lunch so that you could tell me this "long" story, that really wasn't that long at all, about Vaughn's blonde ex-girlfriend and some barbecue sauce."
"Yup," said Weiss with a smile.
"Want to go for a walk?" asked Vaughn.
"Sure," I smiled.
"Yeah," said Weiss. "Where are we walking to?"
Vaughn looked at Weiss, practically saying, "take a hint."
"Syd, meet me outside, will you?" asked Vaughn.
"Sure," I nodded. He needed to talk to Weiss. I left the building and sat on the warm bench outside, enjoying the nice LA day.
A few minutes later, Vaughn pulled me up from the bench and we walked down the busy street.
"You know, if we hadn't destroyed SD-6, we'd never be able to do this," he said, lightening the mood.
"Yeah. We're free," I agreed. "But won't Kendall want us back at the Ops Center?"
"Yeah, but as long as he doesn't call," he kissed me. "We're free."
He kissed me again, and this time, it lasted longer.
"I love you," he said as we sat down on a bench in the sun.
"I know," I smiled.
"No, you know how to ruin a moment," he said with a grin.
"You know, isn't this the part where someone either shows up and threatens to hurt us or someone we love, or someone calls us and needs us in the office?" he asked with a smile.
"Don't say that," I leaned in for another kiss. "It just might happen."
Vaughn's cell phone rang just as our lips met.
"See?" I asked. "You jinxed us."
He held up one finger, telling me to wait a minute. "Vaughn," he answered the annoying electronic object.
"Agent Vaughn, you and Agent Bristow need to get in here immediately. We're sending you to Panama, and it's not for a vacation," I heard Kendall's voice.
"I'm with her now. We'll be right there."
Weiss pulled up in the car and motioned for us to get in.
"So, you're going to Panama?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Which makes no sense, if my father's coming back. The only reason that we'd be going would be to help my mother, if she's made contact, or been spotted."
"Think about it though, Syd. We could have Sloane," said Vaughn.
"Yeah," agreed Weiss. "Then we could all maybe get a good night's sleep for a change."
"Yeah," I leaned against Vaughn, who was sitting next to me. He put a quick hiss on my forehead as Weiss parked.
"Come on," he said. "Look on the bright side, we're getting a mini- vacation."
"Yeah," I smiled. "I guess."
"You guess? Syd, this is Panama."
We entered the building and headed for the conference room.
"Change of plans," said Kendall as we entered the room. "Jack's staying in Panama. Agent Bristow and Agent Vaughn, you two are joining him."
I nodded. "Any new Intel? Did my mother make contact? What happened? Why are we off to Panama all of a sudden?"
If Kendall was surprised by all of my questions, he surely ignored it. "Your father called. He wants the two of you with him."
Vaughn looked at me suspiciously. I shrugged in response.
"All right," said Vaughn. "We'll go."
Kendall tossed us each a folder. "You are Amy and Matthew Marshall, newly married, new money, vacationing in Panama. You're going to be in a resort hotel. Lie low for awhile."
"Lie low?" Vaughn asked. "As in stay put until we find Sloane or he moves?" "In the meantime, yes. Miss Bristow, Mr. Vaughn, consider yourselves on vacation."
Kendall and my father were at it again, yelling at each other over the radio. Vaughn and I had just gotten back and we still had to find Weiss, but Weiss could wait, my father couldn't. I picked up a headset and got onto the radio with them.
"What do you mean, you can't turn on the tracking device?" Kendall asked angrily.
My father went silent and I knew he'd removed the tracer. Nice going, Dad.
"You took it out, didn't you, Jack?" asked Kendall.
"Yeah. She'll pull it off against Sloane, she'll kill him," my father defended my mother.
"The point here, Jack, is that a CIA-custody terrorist is on the loose, again, with the Rambaldi documents, and she could be anywhere in Panama! Need I remind you that we have post-it notes instead? Plus, she's with Sark, Sark used to work for her. They could easily go back to wherever they have their base at. Jack, this is your fault."
"You're blaming me? How was I supposed to know that she was going to take off with the Rambaldi documents?"
"She's your ex-wife! You're supposed to be able to read her after thirty years!"
This is getting old, really fast. Kendall's so annoying, even more so when he's right.
"Can you just stop arguing?" I finally asked, annoyed. "We're just going to have to trust Mom on this one."
"Miss Bristow, you're saying that we should trust Irina Derevko's judgment, and trust that she'll come back on her own?"
"Yes," I said slowly, choosing my words carefully. "We should. She'll contact us eventually. We should just wait for that to happen."
Kendall sat back up in his chair. "All right, we wait. Jack, come back on the next flight. See you at home."
I wasn't asked again to search Vaughn's hard drive, thank goodness. I wasn't pulled back in for questioning either after Weiss and I made our discovery and tracked Vaughn. Still, it was a bit suspicious that they just dropped the investigation, but I didn't think much of it. Somehow though, I think that it just brought the three of us closer together, Vaughn and I together as a couple, more in love, and Weiss along with us, as friends.
Kendall left the room, and so Vaughn and I were left alone. I sat down and blankly stared off into space.
"You okay?" asked Vaughn.
"Yeah. It just blows my mind that my mother is with Sloane and Sark in Panama, with the Rambaldi documents. I don't know if I'm lying to myself when I say that she'll contact us, when really, she might not."
"So when you told your dad and Kendall that your mom will contact us, you don't really believe it?"
"I think that she will contact us, I really do, but then I remember who she is. I remember that she's Irina Derevko, the woman who abandoned my father and I, the woman who's lied about so much, the woman who." I didn't want to finish. I didn't want to say that my mother had murdered his father.
"Murdered my father," Vaughn said quietly. "That's what you were going to say, isn't it?"
"Vaughn, I."
He smiled and wiped away the tears that I didn't even know were there. "Don't cry. I told you this earlier. It's not possible for us to have a relationship and not talk about our parents. It's going to come up, Syd, and we're going to be ready for it when it comes."
Weiss stood behind Vaughn. "Uh.guys, I hate to break it to you, but there are other people in the room, and they're staring. Remember the little thingy called 'protocol,' remember?"
I smiled. Leave it to Weiss to break the mood. I nodded and Vaughn stood completely up.
"Do you guys want to go and get some lunch?" Vaughn asked, completely changing the subject.
"I don't want to be a third wheel, Vaughn," Weiss said, trying to back out.
"Come on. Weiss, are you embarrassed to be seen with us or something?" I joked. I knew he'd get defensive and decide to come with us. That was just Weiss.
"No, of course I'm not embarrassed to be seen with you guys. I'm coming with. Where are we going?"
I smiled. I had him. Vaughn smiled too. We had gotten Weiss right where we wanted him.
"I don't know," said Vaughn. "Where do you want to go?"
"Subway," I answered automatically.
"Rabbit food?" Weiss asked in mock-disgust, wrinkling his nose. "How about the all-you-can-eat ribs joint that's like, a block away?"
"No," Vaughn and I looked at each other. "I can't eat ribs with you again," said Vaughn with a laugh.
"I feel a long story coming on," I said.
"Yeah," said Vaughn. "It is a long story.
"Tell me," I said, smiling.
"Let's go," said Weiss, quickly. "If he starts now, we'll be dead before he's finished."
"Yeah, I can't tell it that fast. Weiss will interrupt so much that the story will be even longer."
We drove a little ways out to Subway and got our food. After we sat down in a booth and ate, Vaughn grabbed my hand under the table and our eyes met. Weiss sat across the table and faced us.
"Vaughn, spill," said Weiss with a grin.
"Uh." he shifted in his seat.
"Come on," I said. "You promised you'd tell me."
"All right. A couple of years ago, I had a girlfriend."
"A blonde girlfriend," said Weiss.
"And we went on a double date with Weiss and his girlfriend."
"Somehow, I can't picture Weiss with a girlfriend," I said teasingly.
"Well, I did have a girlfriend," he said, getting defensive.
"Anyway," Vaughn continued. "I was on a double date with."
"Another one of his blonde girlfriends," interrupted Weiss.
"And Weiss and his girlfriend and we were having dinner. We were at this rib place and we had just gotten the sauce for the ribs and we were passing it around the table. I asked Weiss to hand the sauce to me, and he ended up spilling the whole bowl, pitcher, whatever it was, all over my lap. I had on khakis too. My date laughed so hard."
Weiss smiled. Obviously, this was a great memory. I could just picture Vaughn with barbecue sauce all over his pants, on a date, and Weiss laughing at him.
"The moral of the story here is that you never go on a double date, to a rib joint, with Weiss, unless you want to break up with your girlfriend," Vaughn finished.
Weiss smiled. "And she did break up with him, the very next day."
"So let me get this straight, we went out to lunch so that you could tell me this "long" story, that really wasn't that long at all, about Vaughn's blonde ex-girlfriend and some barbecue sauce."
"Yup," said Weiss with a smile.
"Want to go for a walk?" asked Vaughn.
"Sure," I smiled.
"Yeah," said Weiss. "Where are we walking to?"
Vaughn looked at Weiss, practically saying, "take a hint."
"Syd, meet me outside, will you?" asked Vaughn.
"Sure," I nodded. He needed to talk to Weiss. I left the building and sat on the warm bench outside, enjoying the nice LA day.
A few minutes later, Vaughn pulled me up from the bench and we walked down the busy street.
"You know, if we hadn't destroyed SD-6, we'd never be able to do this," he said, lightening the mood.
"Yeah. We're free," I agreed. "But won't Kendall want us back at the Ops Center?"
"Yeah, but as long as he doesn't call," he kissed me. "We're free."
He kissed me again, and this time, it lasted longer.
"I love you," he said as we sat down on a bench in the sun.
"I know," I smiled.
"No, you know how to ruin a moment," he said with a grin.
"You know, isn't this the part where someone either shows up and threatens to hurt us or someone we love, or someone calls us and needs us in the office?" he asked with a smile.
"Don't say that," I leaned in for another kiss. "It just might happen."
Vaughn's cell phone rang just as our lips met.
"See?" I asked. "You jinxed us."
He held up one finger, telling me to wait a minute. "Vaughn," he answered the annoying electronic object.
"Agent Vaughn, you and Agent Bristow need to get in here immediately. We're sending you to Panama, and it's not for a vacation," I heard Kendall's voice.
"I'm with her now. We'll be right there."
Weiss pulled up in the car and motioned for us to get in.
"So, you're going to Panama?" he asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Which makes no sense, if my father's coming back. The only reason that we'd be going would be to help my mother, if she's made contact, or been spotted."
"Think about it though, Syd. We could have Sloane," said Vaughn.
"Yeah," agreed Weiss. "Then we could all maybe get a good night's sleep for a change."
"Yeah," I leaned against Vaughn, who was sitting next to me. He put a quick hiss on my forehead as Weiss parked.
"Come on," he said. "Look on the bright side, we're getting a mini- vacation."
"Yeah," I smiled. "I guess."
"You guess? Syd, this is Panama."
We entered the building and headed for the conference room.
"Change of plans," said Kendall as we entered the room. "Jack's staying in Panama. Agent Bristow and Agent Vaughn, you two are joining him."
I nodded. "Any new Intel? Did my mother make contact? What happened? Why are we off to Panama all of a sudden?"
If Kendall was surprised by all of my questions, he surely ignored it. "Your father called. He wants the two of you with him."
Vaughn looked at me suspiciously. I shrugged in response.
"All right," said Vaughn. "We'll go."
Kendall tossed us each a folder. "You are Amy and Matthew Marshall, newly married, new money, vacationing in Panama. You're going to be in a resort hotel. Lie low for awhile."
"Lie low?" Vaughn asked. "As in stay put until we find Sloane or he moves?" "In the meantime, yes. Miss Bristow, Mr. Vaughn, consider yourselves on vacation."