Disclaimer- please see previous chapters for disclaimer information and add on the fact that don't own Casablanca or any of the characters in that amazing movie. If you haven't seen I highly recommend it.
Authors notes- I want to send a huge thanks to those that have reviewed my story so far. It means a heck of a lot to me to know that someone is actually reading this story besides me. I am always up for constructive critism so if there is something that you don't think works please let me , of course I would love any type of feedback.
I would also like to thank my sister for her awesome Betaing skills, she has really helped me get and keep this story in line and moving forward and is quick to point out when I stop making sense.
There is a mistake in the previous chapter that I have corrected but if anyone noticed, the date at the beginning of chapter 3 should have been 2010 NOT 2005. I am sorry if anyone got confused.
Chapter 4: A Time to Gain
February 2010
Marrakech Morocco
The noise of the airplane engines revved in the back of Malone's mind. He was used to being on a plane so he was able to ignore the sound of the engines and the goings on in the cabin and focus on his upcoming trip. Malone had been on 4 missions to Morocco in the past month. The Agency was stepping up their surveillance in the region and his contacts in the local area had come through with vital information. It was too risky to have his informants send everything though email, and he needed to keep up their trust, so he was off to Morocco almost weekly.
STG, Senior's Terrorist Goons, as Malone had taken to calling the as yet unnamed organization, had a large strong hold south of Marrakech. Malone was again on his way to the beautiful country but this time his mission was different; intel provided by one of Malone's informants advised them of a gathering of sorts at the stronghold.
Malone was nervous. He was always a bit on edge when dealing with this organization but he had never had to get inside before so his nervousness was heightened. Not only that but this would also be his first time "in the field" actually making contact with an enemy of the United States. The last time the CIA tried to gather information about this organization 5 good men had died, Michael Vaughn among them. Malone did not have anywhere near the experience that Vaughn had, but he knew the risks and he was willing to take them.
The plane landed and Malone made his way to customs after getting his bags. He had to make it to the hotel and check in before attempting to make contact with his informants. He caught a taxi and watched the countryside go by. He was thinking about what the last few months had brought him. Respect inside the Agency, a chance to make a difference in the world. He was excited about where he saw himself going in the Agency and this Op could really put him one step closer.
When Malone arrived at his hotel he quickly showered. He always felt so dirty after being on a plane for so many hours. All the germs and recirculated air just sat on him making him feel contaminated. After his shower, he changed into comfortable close and hunkered down to read the file again.
He had arrived a day ahead of the rest of the team, so as not to raise suspicions and in the next couple of days he would get more information on the upcoming gathering at STG. As Malone relaxed into the atmosphere, his mind began to wander, he had read the file so many times that he knew it back and forth and he found himself again wondering about Agent Bristow and her past. He wondered if he would ever NOT want to be part of the Agency. Her desire to leave the life he so loved perplexed him. Being an agent meant excitement, purpose, loyalty, how someone could not want that was beyond him. He had started to notice her more and more around the building in the past weeks and she had even sat in on a few meetings he had had with Weiss and other field agents. She never said anything, except for the occasional grunt and sigh. A language Weiss obviously understood as he would then correct whatever it was that Weiss said wrong or stop talking all together.
Malone drifted off into a deep if troubled sleep; thoughts of the upcoming mission and curiosity about the mysterious agent whirling in his head.
He awoke the following morning and immediately set out to reestablish his connections. Malone felt uneasy, as he went about the market place, as if he were being watched. He made sure to act like he was just a man touring the beautiful city, but the locals knew him now and it was becoming increasingly difficult to disappear into the crowd. He sat a local bar almost reminiscent of Ricks from Casablanca, the low lights and piano man playing in the background, a mix of locals and tourist making deals in the "secret" gambling parlor in the back of the lounge. He suddenly realized that whoever it was that he felt watching him had followed him to the bar. He casually looked around, pretending to look for the waiter. A man in the corner was staring at him. Malone had never seen him before and his gaze made him uneasy. After he finished his drink he headed back to his hotel to relax and figure out his next move. He got the feeling he had just been made, but his team was on the way and he had no way of contacting them yet. So he was forced to lay low and keep watch all night.
2 hours later a knock at his door startled the young agent. Malone was unsure if he should answer the door or if he should try to make a break for it. He decided to throw caution to the wind and see if he could find out who was there, but not before getting his gun.
He called out "Who is it?" in French.
There was no answer, which only made him more unsettled, just as he was about to go out the window a voice came through the door and answered, "I have important information for you"
"What kind of information?"
"Please just open the door" The man on the other side of the door whispered in an urgent tone.
Malone opened to the door and was surprised to see the man who had been staring at him at the bar. The man, older than Malone had originally thought, had cold eyes that showed no emotion. He was tall but not overly so, and he was dressed in the finest clothes Malone had ever seen, his light brown hair was slightly longer than was fashionable. The stranger handed Malone a piece of paper.
"Give this to Jack Bristow as soon as possible, its imperative that he get it before anything else can happen" the man said in a rushed way. Malone opened the paper and saw that it held an address and 4 names. When he looked up again the man was gone.
He was utterly confused as he sat staring at the names and address, 'What does it mean, who are these people?' Malone asked himself, well it would have to wait until he saw Weiss in a few hours, and he had no idea how to get in contact with Jack Bristow.
Bristow was even more elusive than his daughter and quite a bit scarier. Malone found that he could not sit still, he began pacing between the main area of his hotel room and the small bathroom. The mention of Jack Bristow had thrown him for a loop and the fact that someone here in Marrakech was apparently on the inside, set his whole plans on their side. 'Why didn't he know that someone was already here?' he ran his fingers through his forever messy hair and waited for contact to be made by Weiss. At 6pm he got a phone call.
"I am calling to confirm your room service order"
"I'm sorry I didn't order room service." Malone answered, hanging p the phone he left his room and headed to the meeting point, another room, two floors up. In the room were a number of agents, including Weiss and Sydney Bristow. Immediately Malone filled the agents in the room in on his earlier visitor.
"What did this guy look like?"
"I don't know, tall but not too tall, brown hair, light eyes, blue or green, cold though, no emotion, wearing Armani"
"Well where's the paper he gave you?"
Malone gave Weiss the sheet of paper. He looked it over for a few minutes and then handed it off to Sydney. Her face fell for a minute then looked questioningly at Weiss.
"What do you think this means?"
Weiss answered "I don't know, we assumed they were dead, but maybe..."
"Who are they?" Malone asked the two agents. They stopped looking at each other and turned their gaze to him.
"These men, on this list, are CIA agents. In fact these are the men that were with Agent Vaughn when he was killed. We assumed they were dead when they failed to make their rendezvous point and since they have not been heard from in over 5 years, well..." Weiss answered.
"Weiss, do you think...?"Sydney asked with what sounded like hope in her voice.
"Syd, no. You were there. You know..."
"Eric, maybe, maybe, could it not be possible, I mean come on, if they survived maybe..."
"Syd listen to yourself, there is no way, he's gone, he was shot and killed. You heard it yourself, quit beating yourself up over it."
"Weiss think about it!!!!" Sydney was starting to sound frantic.
"NO" Weiss yelled at her "stop it, stop it now" Sydney's face fell at that moment and Malone could almost feel her pain.
"Are you talking about Agent Vaughn, do you think he could still be alive after all these years?" Everything in the room stopped for a moment before going to back to it's earlier hectic pace. Malone got the impression that he had just voiced something that had never been spoken aloud before, at least that bluntly. Sydney hung her head and walked to the other side of the room. Weiss looked at Malone and shook his head in the negative and then walked over to Agent Bristow and pulled her into a hug. She was crying and Weiss was trying to console her to no avail. Malone felt like a heel watching the two of them but he could not tear his eyes away. Malone felt the need disrupt the two of them to get his mission back on track, but he knew the information passed to him earlier that day still needed to be discussed and Jack Bristow still needed to be contacted.
"Hey guys, I hate to interrupt here but is there a way to contact Jack Bristow?" He asked trying to move along the conversation and figure out what it all meant. Weiss and Sydney looked at him and Sydney shook her head.
"I don't know where my father is right now. He hasn't been with the Agency on a full time basis for years. Weiss can Kendall track him down?"
"That wont be needed." A strange voice came from the front of the room. Jack Bristow stood there looking at the two agents in front of him.
"Dad? Where have you been?" Sydney walked over to her dad and gave him an awkward hug.
"Hi sweetheart. Where I have been is not important, what is important is the note that was handed off to Malone this morning" Jack held out his hand, waiting for someone to give him the note.
Malone was stunned that Jack Bristow knew his name but he hid his pleasure and consternation and just handed the senior agent the piece of paper that he received that morning. Jack Bristow looked over the paper and a small smile lit up his face. "Tell me exactly what the man said"
Malone repeated the exact words back to Jack and waited for someone to explain to him what it meant.
The senior Bristow just shook his head and turned back to Weiss, "Agent Weiss we need to send in a team to this address to extract these men."
"What do you mean extract these men?"
"Now is not the time for questions Agent Weiss, just do as I say." Jack snapped at Weiss.
Weiss looked like he was about to argue but Sydney put her hand on his arm and he stopped, he then turned to the other agents and started barking orders to get an extraction team together.
"Malone go back to your room and get ready for tomorrow night, you are going in as a waiter. You will wait for a contact from the inside. When you get the signal let us know and a team will enter the compound and take Vaughn senior into custody as well as his cohorts." Jack Bristow addressed Malone.
"Wait, there's someone on the inside? Why wasn't I told about this?" Weiss demanded.
"Because you didn't need to know" Jack answered
"What do you mean I didn't need to know? I am in charge of this operation, not you Jack, hell you're not even with the Agency anymore. You have no say in what goes on here. We are not prepared to take them down today."
"Yes we are, and what I have been doing is of no concern to you, finishing this op is. Do as I say, a team is in place, the information Malone got today was confirmation, the Agency has the information needed now to take this man and his organization down. Malone go. A uniform is in your room as well as glasses that have a small camera in them so we can see what's going on."
Malone did not want to leave, what was unfolding in the room was much more interesting than what ever awaited him in his room, but from the tone of Jack Bristows voice there was no room for argument. Malone took one last look around the room and saw Sydney Bristow looking scared and defeated in the corner and Weiss stealing glances at Jack Bristow while trying to get the teams in place and organized. Jack Bristow just stood in the middle room watching everything that was going on around him.
Malone headed back to his room in a state of confusion. 'Where the hell had Jack been all these years, and was everyone ready to just jump in and follow him like lambs to a slaughter?' From what he knew the man had been married to one of the most evil women in the world and never even knew it, he had been a leading Agent in the development of a diabolical plan to test children for service in the Agency, and Malone just did not trust him. The way Weiss had deferred to him without much of fight had left Malone feeling alone in his discomfiture.
The next day Malone prepared for his mission. He arrived at the compound with the rest of the catering staff and got to work preparing the food. He had an earpiece in and was just waiting for Weiss to make contact. He had no idea what had happened with the 4 men but he assumed that since the mission was still a go that the extraction team had found the address and was successful. He was curious as to the condition of the men but realized that he needed to keep his mind clear and get back to work.
The party had started and the main hall was full of people. Malone walked around with a tray of hors d'ourves and kept his ears open waiting for some small piece of information to float his way. 2 hours into the party Malone noticed a man in the corner watching him. Upon closer inspection he realized it was the same man that passed him the note the day before.
"Base this is Swinger, I see the man who passed the note to me yesterday, is this my contact?"
Malone heard Jack Bristow over his comm link. "It is, go about your business he will make contact when the time is right."
He knew that once contact had been made that he and the Agent on the inside would leave the building and the raid would begin. He did not have to wait long. At 10: 30 the man who had made contact with him yesterday approached Malone from behind.
"Are those canapés?" the man asked. This was the sign he had waited been waiting for. Malone turned around and heard the unmistakable gasp of Sydney Bristow in his ear.
"Vaughn!"
Authors notes- I want to send a huge thanks to those that have reviewed my story so far. It means a heck of a lot to me to know that someone is actually reading this story besides me. I am always up for constructive critism so if there is something that you don't think works please let me , of course I would love any type of feedback.
I would also like to thank my sister for her awesome Betaing skills, she has really helped me get and keep this story in line and moving forward and is quick to point out when I stop making sense.
There is a mistake in the previous chapter that I have corrected but if anyone noticed, the date at the beginning of chapter 3 should have been 2010 NOT 2005. I am sorry if anyone got confused.
Chapter 4: A Time to Gain
February 2010
Marrakech Morocco
The noise of the airplane engines revved in the back of Malone's mind. He was used to being on a plane so he was able to ignore the sound of the engines and the goings on in the cabin and focus on his upcoming trip. Malone had been on 4 missions to Morocco in the past month. The Agency was stepping up their surveillance in the region and his contacts in the local area had come through with vital information. It was too risky to have his informants send everything though email, and he needed to keep up their trust, so he was off to Morocco almost weekly.
STG, Senior's Terrorist Goons, as Malone had taken to calling the as yet unnamed organization, had a large strong hold south of Marrakech. Malone was again on his way to the beautiful country but this time his mission was different; intel provided by one of Malone's informants advised them of a gathering of sorts at the stronghold.
Malone was nervous. He was always a bit on edge when dealing with this organization but he had never had to get inside before so his nervousness was heightened. Not only that but this would also be his first time "in the field" actually making contact with an enemy of the United States. The last time the CIA tried to gather information about this organization 5 good men had died, Michael Vaughn among them. Malone did not have anywhere near the experience that Vaughn had, but he knew the risks and he was willing to take them.
The plane landed and Malone made his way to customs after getting his bags. He had to make it to the hotel and check in before attempting to make contact with his informants. He caught a taxi and watched the countryside go by. He was thinking about what the last few months had brought him. Respect inside the Agency, a chance to make a difference in the world. He was excited about where he saw himself going in the Agency and this Op could really put him one step closer.
When Malone arrived at his hotel he quickly showered. He always felt so dirty after being on a plane for so many hours. All the germs and recirculated air just sat on him making him feel contaminated. After his shower, he changed into comfortable close and hunkered down to read the file again.
He had arrived a day ahead of the rest of the team, so as not to raise suspicions and in the next couple of days he would get more information on the upcoming gathering at STG. As Malone relaxed into the atmosphere, his mind began to wander, he had read the file so many times that he knew it back and forth and he found himself again wondering about Agent Bristow and her past. He wondered if he would ever NOT want to be part of the Agency. Her desire to leave the life he so loved perplexed him. Being an agent meant excitement, purpose, loyalty, how someone could not want that was beyond him. He had started to notice her more and more around the building in the past weeks and she had even sat in on a few meetings he had had with Weiss and other field agents. She never said anything, except for the occasional grunt and sigh. A language Weiss obviously understood as he would then correct whatever it was that Weiss said wrong or stop talking all together.
Malone drifted off into a deep if troubled sleep; thoughts of the upcoming mission and curiosity about the mysterious agent whirling in his head.
He awoke the following morning and immediately set out to reestablish his connections. Malone felt uneasy, as he went about the market place, as if he were being watched. He made sure to act like he was just a man touring the beautiful city, but the locals knew him now and it was becoming increasingly difficult to disappear into the crowd. He sat a local bar almost reminiscent of Ricks from Casablanca, the low lights and piano man playing in the background, a mix of locals and tourist making deals in the "secret" gambling parlor in the back of the lounge. He suddenly realized that whoever it was that he felt watching him had followed him to the bar. He casually looked around, pretending to look for the waiter. A man in the corner was staring at him. Malone had never seen him before and his gaze made him uneasy. After he finished his drink he headed back to his hotel to relax and figure out his next move. He got the feeling he had just been made, but his team was on the way and he had no way of contacting them yet. So he was forced to lay low and keep watch all night.
2 hours later a knock at his door startled the young agent. Malone was unsure if he should answer the door or if he should try to make a break for it. He decided to throw caution to the wind and see if he could find out who was there, but not before getting his gun.
He called out "Who is it?" in French.
There was no answer, which only made him more unsettled, just as he was about to go out the window a voice came through the door and answered, "I have important information for you"
"What kind of information?"
"Please just open the door" The man on the other side of the door whispered in an urgent tone.
Malone opened to the door and was surprised to see the man who had been staring at him at the bar. The man, older than Malone had originally thought, had cold eyes that showed no emotion. He was tall but not overly so, and he was dressed in the finest clothes Malone had ever seen, his light brown hair was slightly longer than was fashionable. The stranger handed Malone a piece of paper.
"Give this to Jack Bristow as soon as possible, its imperative that he get it before anything else can happen" the man said in a rushed way. Malone opened the paper and saw that it held an address and 4 names. When he looked up again the man was gone.
He was utterly confused as he sat staring at the names and address, 'What does it mean, who are these people?' Malone asked himself, well it would have to wait until he saw Weiss in a few hours, and he had no idea how to get in contact with Jack Bristow.
Bristow was even more elusive than his daughter and quite a bit scarier. Malone found that he could not sit still, he began pacing between the main area of his hotel room and the small bathroom. The mention of Jack Bristow had thrown him for a loop and the fact that someone here in Marrakech was apparently on the inside, set his whole plans on their side. 'Why didn't he know that someone was already here?' he ran his fingers through his forever messy hair and waited for contact to be made by Weiss. At 6pm he got a phone call.
"I am calling to confirm your room service order"
"I'm sorry I didn't order room service." Malone answered, hanging p the phone he left his room and headed to the meeting point, another room, two floors up. In the room were a number of agents, including Weiss and Sydney Bristow. Immediately Malone filled the agents in the room in on his earlier visitor.
"What did this guy look like?"
"I don't know, tall but not too tall, brown hair, light eyes, blue or green, cold though, no emotion, wearing Armani"
"Well where's the paper he gave you?"
Malone gave Weiss the sheet of paper. He looked it over for a few minutes and then handed it off to Sydney. Her face fell for a minute then looked questioningly at Weiss.
"What do you think this means?"
Weiss answered "I don't know, we assumed they were dead, but maybe..."
"Who are they?" Malone asked the two agents. They stopped looking at each other and turned their gaze to him.
"These men, on this list, are CIA agents. In fact these are the men that were with Agent Vaughn when he was killed. We assumed they were dead when they failed to make their rendezvous point and since they have not been heard from in over 5 years, well..." Weiss answered.
"Weiss, do you think...?"Sydney asked with what sounded like hope in her voice.
"Syd, no. You were there. You know..."
"Eric, maybe, maybe, could it not be possible, I mean come on, if they survived maybe..."
"Syd listen to yourself, there is no way, he's gone, he was shot and killed. You heard it yourself, quit beating yourself up over it."
"Weiss think about it!!!!" Sydney was starting to sound frantic.
"NO" Weiss yelled at her "stop it, stop it now" Sydney's face fell at that moment and Malone could almost feel her pain.
"Are you talking about Agent Vaughn, do you think he could still be alive after all these years?" Everything in the room stopped for a moment before going to back to it's earlier hectic pace. Malone got the impression that he had just voiced something that had never been spoken aloud before, at least that bluntly. Sydney hung her head and walked to the other side of the room. Weiss looked at Malone and shook his head in the negative and then walked over to Agent Bristow and pulled her into a hug. She was crying and Weiss was trying to console her to no avail. Malone felt like a heel watching the two of them but he could not tear his eyes away. Malone felt the need disrupt the two of them to get his mission back on track, but he knew the information passed to him earlier that day still needed to be discussed and Jack Bristow still needed to be contacted.
"Hey guys, I hate to interrupt here but is there a way to contact Jack Bristow?" He asked trying to move along the conversation and figure out what it all meant. Weiss and Sydney looked at him and Sydney shook her head.
"I don't know where my father is right now. He hasn't been with the Agency on a full time basis for years. Weiss can Kendall track him down?"
"That wont be needed." A strange voice came from the front of the room. Jack Bristow stood there looking at the two agents in front of him.
"Dad? Where have you been?" Sydney walked over to her dad and gave him an awkward hug.
"Hi sweetheart. Where I have been is not important, what is important is the note that was handed off to Malone this morning" Jack held out his hand, waiting for someone to give him the note.
Malone was stunned that Jack Bristow knew his name but he hid his pleasure and consternation and just handed the senior agent the piece of paper that he received that morning. Jack Bristow looked over the paper and a small smile lit up his face. "Tell me exactly what the man said"
Malone repeated the exact words back to Jack and waited for someone to explain to him what it meant.
The senior Bristow just shook his head and turned back to Weiss, "Agent Weiss we need to send in a team to this address to extract these men."
"What do you mean extract these men?"
"Now is not the time for questions Agent Weiss, just do as I say." Jack snapped at Weiss.
Weiss looked like he was about to argue but Sydney put her hand on his arm and he stopped, he then turned to the other agents and started barking orders to get an extraction team together.
"Malone go back to your room and get ready for tomorrow night, you are going in as a waiter. You will wait for a contact from the inside. When you get the signal let us know and a team will enter the compound and take Vaughn senior into custody as well as his cohorts." Jack Bristow addressed Malone.
"Wait, there's someone on the inside? Why wasn't I told about this?" Weiss demanded.
"Because you didn't need to know" Jack answered
"What do you mean I didn't need to know? I am in charge of this operation, not you Jack, hell you're not even with the Agency anymore. You have no say in what goes on here. We are not prepared to take them down today."
"Yes we are, and what I have been doing is of no concern to you, finishing this op is. Do as I say, a team is in place, the information Malone got today was confirmation, the Agency has the information needed now to take this man and his organization down. Malone go. A uniform is in your room as well as glasses that have a small camera in them so we can see what's going on."
Malone did not want to leave, what was unfolding in the room was much more interesting than what ever awaited him in his room, but from the tone of Jack Bristows voice there was no room for argument. Malone took one last look around the room and saw Sydney Bristow looking scared and defeated in the corner and Weiss stealing glances at Jack Bristow while trying to get the teams in place and organized. Jack Bristow just stood in the middle room watching everything that was going on around him.
Malone headed back to his room in a state of confusion. 'Where the hell had Jack been all these years, and was everyone ready to just jump in and follow him like lambs to a slaughter?' From what he knew the man had been married to one of the most evil women in the world and never even knew it, he had been a leading Agent in the development of a diabolical plan to test children for service in the Agency, and Malone just did not trust him. The way Weiss had deferred to him without much of fight had left Malone feeling alone in his discomfiture.
The next day Malone prepared for his mission. He arrived at the compound with the rest of the catering staff and got to work preparing the food. He had an earpiece in and was just waiting for Weiss to make contact. He had no idea what had happened with the 4 men but he assumed that since the mission was still a go that the extraction team had found the address and was successful. He was curious as to the condition of the men but realized that he needed to keep his mind clear and get back to work.
The party had started and the main hall was full of people. Malone walked around with a tray of hors d'ourves and kept his ears open waiting for some small piece of information to float his way. 2 hours into the party Malone noticed a man in the corner watching him. Upon closer inspection he realized it was the same man that passed him the note the day before.
"Base this is Swinger, I see the man who passed the note to me yesterday, is this my contact?"
Malone heard Jack Bristow over his comm link. "It is, go about your business he will make contact when the time is right."
He knew that once contact had been made that he and the Agent on the inside would leave the building and the raid would begin. He did not have to wait long. At 10: 30 the man who had made contact with him yesterday approached Malone from behind.
"Are those canapés?" the man asked. This was the sign he had waited been waiting for. Malone turned around and heard the unmistakable gasp of Sydney Bristow in his ear.
"Vaughn!"