A/N: Here it is everyone, the final chapter. I apologize again for the time it took for me to post this, but I hope it was worth the wait. The next entry is the epilogue which is actually the start of another story (I explain further in the epilogue). Anywho, thank you all for reviewing, and I hope you all will give this story a final review. I would appreciate any reviewers to please rate my story 1-10 (10 being the best) and explain why. I know it sounds like something out of English class, but I'm really curious to what you thought of it. Thank you all!
Chapter 24
The whole scene seemed to take place in slow motion. All thirteen agents were loaded into the CIA van, all of them dressed in black and supplied with rope, a gun, a flashlight, the canteen of water, a gas mask, and the Rambaldi crystal. Weiss was at the wheel, dropping each agent off two blocks away from each SD facility. Vaughn was designated to SD-5, and Sydney SD-6.
Weiss stopped the truck two blocks from the SD-6 facility, and waited for Sydney to leave. Agent Horner who was nearest to the door, slid the door open and waited. Sydney gave Vaughn one last look and headed out of the van. As soon as she was out, Agent Horner slammed the door shut, and the van went riding away. Gradually, each agent was dropped off, leaving only Weiss and Vaughn. Weiss slowed the van and stopped in the same location as he did all the others. Vaughn didn't move. He was still looking at the door that eleven agents had exited out of, but he was only thinking of one.
"She'll be okay, Vaughn," Weiss said to his friend.
"How can you be sure?" Vaughn whispered. "How can you be sure?"
* * *
Sydney looked at her watch. It was 8:57 a.m. She had been in a vent that overlooked the SD-6 offices for almost four hours, and in three minutes everything she had worked so hard to end was finally going to be over. She took one last look over the office she used to work in, all the familiar faces. Everyone's lives in this office were about to change, just as hers had.
8:58 a.m. Sydney pulled out her gas mask and put it on. She reached into her holster and pulled out the canteen and the crystal.
8:59 a.m. Sydney took the lid off the canteen and waited. Fifteen…fourteen…thirteen…twelve…eleven…ten… Sydney held the crystal above the canteen. Five…four…three…two…one… Vaughn dropped the crystal in the container, and waited. In a few seconds, agents were already falling. One after another, until everyone in his view was down.
Vaughn put the cap back on the container and kicked the vent open, and waited. No one came running from the offices.
"Boy Scout, this is Ranger, mission completed," came the voice from the SD-2 facility.
"Boy Scout, this is Blue Gill, mission completed," came the voice from the SD-7 facility.
"Boy Scout, this is Red Eye, mission completed," reported the agent for SD-9 facility. The reports came pouring in of completed missions. Come on, Sydney. Where are you? Vaughn thought worriedly.
"Boy Scout, this is Mountaineer, mission completed." Vaughn smiled. It was all finally over.
"Good job everyone, continue with phase two. I'll contact the agency immediately," Vaughn said. As happy as he was to have taken down the Alliance, he was not looking forward to this call. "Everyone please report in after you've locked down the office."
Sydney continued to the nearest exit door and down to the basement, where she immediately found the power box and phone connections. A few seconds later, they were a heap of junk hanging on the wall. Sydney continued up the stairs, back to the floor of the SD-6 facility. Sydney was about to go pull the switch to put the floor on lockdown, when she spied a single man standing in the middle of the room. Sydney reached for her gun when she saw that he had a gas mask on.
"Don't move!" Sydney yelled sounding slightly distorted from the mask. The man, who had originally been facing the window, turned around to face her.
"Ah, Agent Bristow, we finally meet," he said smoothly stepping towards her.
"I said don't move!" Sydney yelled again, and the man stopped for only a second before charging at Sydney, keeping his head below gun level. He hit the gun out of her hand, and knocked her to her back. Sydney fell with a thud. The man went for the gun and grabbed it. He kept the gun steady in his hand and pointed it at Sydney.
"Take out your communicator, Agent Bristow," he said. Sydney raised an eyebrow in slight surprise, but didn't move for the earpiece as she remembered the gas mask. "The gas should be out of the air," he said as if reading her mind. "You can remove your mask and remove your com piece." Sydney grudgingly did as he asked. "Now give me the piece." Sydney did as he asked reluctantly, knowing that for the time being, there was no way that she could contact Vaughn. The man took the piece and crushed it with the heel of his shoe. Sydney didn't react.
"Who are you? How do you know my name?" Sydney asked. The man kept one hand firmly on the gun and removed his mask to reveal a man who looked to be in his mid-fifties with graying brown hair. His hazel eyes were cold and hard.
"My friend, Arvin told me all about you. I'm sure you know him?" He asked. Sydney didn't answer. "My name's Frank, Frank Porter. After Arvin's unfortunate death the Alliance put me in charge of SD-6. I've gone through your files, Agent Bristow, very impressive."
"I'm glad you like the work I've done to take down your agency," Sydney said coldly.
Porter smiled. "Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Agent Bristow. This is not my agency any longer, nor does it belong to the Alliance. With the Alliance off my back, I'm free to indulge on my own projects."
Sydney's eyes widened. "You sent the information about the crystal to the CIA."
Porter chuckled. "Quick aren't you? Yes, I sent you the information. I was recruited into the Alliance twenty years ago, but I've watched it fall. I knew the Alliance was not going to be around much longer, but I couldn't just leave, so I decided to help the CIA."
"How honorable," Sydney said sarcastically.
"Indeed," Porter answered back in a sly voice, just before glancing at his watch. "I must be leaving you Agent Bristow, but before I do, I must ask, will you work for me? Your skills as an agent would be very beneficial to our agency."
"Never," Sydney said through clenched teeth.
"You're sure?" he asked unconvinced. "Because if you say no, well, I have orders to kill you."
"You're a fucking hypocrite," Sydney said angrily. "You say you helped the CIA bring down the Alliance, but yet, you're not hesitating to kill a CIA agent?"
"Ah, doesn't seem logical does it? The thing is Agent Bristow that you are a huge asset to the CIA, something we want for our agency. If you say no to us, I'm afraid the CIA can't have you either," he said as he cocked the gun. "Not fair is it?"
* * *
Vaughn was starting to panic. Every other agent had reported in at least a half an hour ago, except Sydney. He had already phoned the CIA (avoiding Kendall of course) and asked them to proceed to all the facilities, which didn't reassure him one bit. Sydney's com was completely unreachable, and Vaughn wanted to know why. Unfortunately, he could tell he wasn't going to find out anytime as soon as Kendall arrived.
"Agent Vaughn, I want to know what the hell you were thinking, and I want answers right now," Kendall demanded.
"The CIA wasn't doing anything to take down the Alliance. We got the intel, we went in, simple as that," Vaughn replied evenly, not really in the mood to argue with Kendall.
"Oh, is that all?" Kendall asked incredulously. "Because you're completely capable of assigning your own missions. Agent Vaughn, do you realize that you've broken at least a dozen CIA rules? That you've endangered the lives of twelve CIA agents? That-"
"They came willingly," Vaughn interrupted. "Look, I accept full responsibility for their actions, for everything that's happened tonight, for whatever you want me to accept, I don't care. What I do care about is Sydney. She never reported in, I want to know if she's okay."
"Agent Vaughn, you are not going anywhere." Kendall waved a senior officer over. "Agent Vaughn, I'm putting you under full arrest. You are not to leave this spot without permission from me, and only me. If you do, I promise you, you will be arrested and placed in a federal prison." Kendall strode away leaving Vaughn alone with his thoughts and a stranger.
* * *
Sydney stared into the barrel of the gun. Porter fired, and Sydney moved to the side, shooting her leg up at the same time so that the gun would land somewhere behind her. Sydney got to her feet, throwing a punch to the older man's stomach. He blocked her and kicked back. Sydney jumped back from his kick just as he delivered another one to her head. She fell back onto the floor, and he went running for the gun, but Sydney grabbed his leg before he could reach it.
Sydney tried to get over him to get the gun, but he grabbed her ankle, and she fell hard. She felt a snap in her ankle. Sydney moaned, and in her second of hesitation, Porter had the gun again. This time, he wasn't hesitating. He fired the gun as Sydney rolled around on the floor to avoid his shots. Porter moved closer so that the gun was pointed straight at her heart. Sydney couldn't move.
"Good bye, Agent Bristow," Porter said with a smile. Just as he was about to fire, another shot rang threw the air. Porter fell moaning to the ground.
Seconds later, a man was at her side. "Syd, you okay?"
Sydney looked up at him in surprise. "Dixon? But how…?"
"The minute I saw people fainting was the minute I covered my mouth and nose. It kept me from being knocked out immediately. It must have helped me to regain consciousness as well. I heard everything," Dixon said solemnly. Dixon then saw her arm. "Syd, you've been hit!"
"Dixon, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have found out this way," Sydney said ignoring his exclamation.
"Syd, it's okay, really. I understand it had to have been hard to keep all this from me. But we've got to bandage this up," Dixon said, as he pulled out a handkerchief and tied it around her wound. When he finished he looked at her confused. "You've got to tell me what's going on."
"What do you mean?" Sydney asked.
"You're alive," Dixon said simply, not knowing how else to put it.
Sydney's brow furrowed. "It's a long story Dixon. Can you help me up?" Sydney put her wait on Dixon as she stood, keeping her weight off her injured ankle. "I need to contact the CIA, is there a secure line I can use?"
"The phone in-" Dixon started.
"I cut the phone lines," Sydney interrupted. Dixon reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell-phone.
"I don't know how secure the line is, but it's the best I can do." Sydney gave Dixon a smile as she accepted the phone. She instantly dialed Vaughn's number, but there was no answer.
"What's that?" Dixon asked, referring to the sudden sound of slamming doors from outside. Dixon set Sydney down gently into the chair, and headed to the window.
"Is it the CIA?" Sydney asked.
"Yeah, they should be in here any minute," Dixon said, sounding a little worried.
"Everything will be fine, Dixon. In all actuality, they'll probably want to recruit you," Sydney said earnestly.
Dixon smiled his thanks and turned back towards the window, but seconds later, the door to their floor burst open, and the room was suddenly filled with agents. Sydney looked around for Vaughn, but didn't see him anywhere. This worried her, until she saw Weiss walk in among the crowd.
"Weiss!" She called out to him. He looked up and walked over, relief on his face. "Syd! You're okay!" Then Weiss saw the red saturated cloth around her arm. "You're not okay." Weiss said coming quickly to her side.
"It's fine, really. Vaughn?" Sydney asked with imploring eyes.
"Totally worried about you. Kendall wouldn't let him come," Weiss explained. It was just then that Sydney remembered Dixon.
"Eric, this is Marcus Dixon, Dixon, this is Eric Weiss," Sydney said to the two men. They shook hands.
"Nice to meet you." It was the start of a whole new beginning.
* * *
Sydney just stood there, unable to move as she stared across the room. Vaughn had stopped moving too. This was the first time they'd seen each other since the mission and the questioning. Both of them were suspended for one week for breaking CIA protocol and not getting their mission authorized, but otherwise the CIA was happy that the Alliance had been destroyed. If things had gone bad, their punishment would have been a whole lot worse.
Sydney gave Vaughn a smile as they approached each other from completely opposite sides of CIA headquarters. Sydney walked gingerly on her twisted ankle, but that didn't stop her from taking Vaughn into a huge hug. Vaughn held her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're alright," Vaughn whispered into her ear.
"You mean they didn't tell you?" Sydney asked pulling away slightly in surprise.
"Yes," Vaughn said pulling Sydney closer again. "They told me, but I didn't believe them." Sydney smiled and their lips met in a passionate kiss. It wasn't until they stopped to catch their breath that Sydney spoke again.
"Will and Francie?" She asked.
"They'll be removed from custody." Vaughn looked into her eyes. "Is this going to change things between you three?"
Sydney looked away. "I don't know," she whispered, slightly concerned.
"Hey," Vaughn said lifting her chin so that her eyes would meet his again. "It'll be okay." Vaughn laughed.
"What's so funny?" Sydney asked confused.
"Not to make things sound trivial, Syd, but confronting Will and Francie is probably going to be the easiest thing you've done all week."
Sydney kissed Vaughn gently on the lips. "I think you're right." Sydney looked towards the door. "Don't we have a suspension to go to?"
Vaughn smiled at the door. "Yeah," he whispered as he kissed her back. "I think we do."