Yay! It's the Easter holidays now so that means more time for writing.
Well, in theory anyway. I have to study for exams in the summer so it may
mean much less writing :(
Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter, please keep reviewing!!
Oh yeah, please can someone tell me how to do bold and italics?
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Marie was small and pretty, she could not have been more than twenty. Her shoulder-length black hair hung loosely, held off her face by a little silver clip above her right ear. Her olive skin and almond-shaped eyes suggested that at least one of her parents was Oriental and Sydney made a mental note to ask her about it sometime.
"You're Agent Sydney Bristow," Marie said. "I've heard a lot about you," she added shyly. Sydney laughed, embarrassed.
"I guess you don't wanna break protocol as many times as I have, huh?" Sydney smiled at Marie, realising that the young Agent had probably been told about all the times she had broken rules and done things without permission from her CIA superiors.
"Oh no!" Marie gasped, taking Sydney's joke seriously. "I'm really impressed by what I've heard. You've achieved so much, I only hope I can be as good as you are."
Sydney felt slightly guilty that Marie seemed to be so eager have this sort of life. A part of her wanted to tell the young woman what she was getting herself into, but another part of her was unwilling to ruin Marie's high expectations and bring her dreams crashing down. Kendall shot Sydney a harsh look and she knew he was warning her not to pass on her recklessness to his newest recruit. She was tempted to tell Marie that sometimes the best decisions were made in the heat of the moment and often the best way to do things was the most dangerous and CIA-protocol-breaking way there was. Vaughn noticed the mischievous twinkle in her eyes and held out his hand to Marie, putting a stop to further conversation between the two women.
"I'm Agent Michael Vaughn-" he paused, hesitating over his next words. "Agent Bristow's handler." When he saw that Marie was not gushing with praise of *him*, he turned to Kendall.
"Is Agent Henley going to be working on the Lloyd case with us?"
"Yes. I trust that won't be a problem?" He raised his eyebrows, daring them to protest. "I know there is a substantial amount of research to be done, using our latest intel. Agent Bristow, show Agent Henley what we've got so far."
Sydney nodded and turned back to Vaughn, waiting for Kendall to leave.
"Now," he said and shot a meaningful glance at Sydney. He stalked off in the other direction and Sydney sighed.
"Come on, Marie." Marie followed Sydney over to her desk, next to which another desk had been cleared for the younger Agent. As they walked, Sydney filled Marie in on the case and the intel she had gained in London.
Sydney gave Marie some folders to look through to familiarise herself with the work, while Sydney herself continued to meticulously search databases and records for any hint of the whereabouts of Lloyd or his associates. After a while Marie glanced up.
"So, this is stuff is really dangerous, huh?" she asked timidly.
"Yeah." Sydney replied. It was a stupid answer, but what else was she supposed to say? No, it's not at all dangerous-the guns and fighting techniques are all just for show? She remembered her first mission for SD- 6; she had been so scared. But at the same time she had been excited and willing. She had believed that she was risking her life for the good of her country. At least for Marie that belief was true.
"Hey, it's not all bad," she said, on seeing Marie's wide-eyed and innocent stare. "Mic - Vaughn always plans my missions really carefully. I mean like, obsessive-almost-to-the-point-of-ridiculous careful." Sydney could not help the soft smile that came over her features when she thought of her husband. "He'll do the same for you. We both will." She smiled warmly at Marie and they both returned to their work.
* * *
"I'm going home now. You won't be too long will you? Francie and Will are coming over tonight." Sydney put a hand on Vaughn's shoulder as she spoke and glanced casually at the news report on his computer screen.
"Okay, sweetie. How are you getting on with the research?"
"Still nothing," Sydney frowned. This nothing-ness was driving her crazy. She couldn't believe that Cauber's intel hadn't helped them at all. She *wouldn't* believe it. "How about you?"
"Yeah, nothing all round," Vaughn sighed, rubbing his hand across his forehead. Absent-midedly he read a few lines of the report. "Hey, what's this?" He sat up straight in his chair, staring at the computer screen as if one of the images had just leapt out of the screen onto his desk.
"Although the location of the disk is not known, it can be traced and local police are working to find the thieves. It is believed to be of very high value to the man shown below. At present the reasons for this are not known." Sydney read over Vaughn's shoulder. He scrolled down until a picture came into view. A picture of Henry Lloyd. "That's it. That's gotta be it, right?" she said breathlessly, pulling up a chair to sit beside him. "Is there a way we can find it?"
"It was stolen from a bank in Paris. It was in a locked safe, in a vault, in a high security bank. I think we can assume that whoever took it knew what they were doing. It's gonna be pretty hard to find it."
"But this is huge, right? How do we start?" Sydney was impatient to bring Lloyd to justice. Vaughn, apparently, was less so.
"I don't know. I'll talk to Kendall now. You go home, there's nothing more we can do yet. Besides, you can't cancel on Francie again." Sydney frowned but recognised the sense in what he was saying. She sighed.
"Okay,"
"I won't be long," Vaughn assured her. As she left he printed out the article and went off to show Kendall his lucky break.
* * *
Sydney had almost finished setting the table when Vaughn arrived home.
"What did he say? How long will it take to find?" she asked, nearly dropping the bowl of salad she held. Vaughn stepped forward quickly to rescue the salad, which Sydney managed to catch by herself anyway. He took it from her hands and placed it in the centre of the table before answering her question. She followed him with her eyes and he could feel the intensity of her gaze even though his back was turned.
"It's going to take a while. Weeks, maybe, if we work fast." Sydney was dismayed but this latest setback only increased her determination.
"Then we'll work fast," she said firmly. There was no time for more discussion because Francie and Will chose that moment to ring the doorbell.
Sydney went to greet her friends, plastering a smile onto her face as she did so.
"Hey guys," she said affectionately, hugging them each in turn.
"I haven't seen you for ages!" exclaimed Francie. This was not strictly true. Francie and Sydney had seen each other only a week ago but in the world of Francie Calfo, for reasons unfathomable to anyone else, a week constituted a long time. Sydney laughed and apologised again for having cancelled their night out.
"Hi," said Vaughn, coming over to stand next to Sydney. More smiles were exchanged as they made their way over to the table. The evening passed in laughter and jokes, Sydney was positively glowing as she laughed at a story Will was unfolding, complete with impersonations and hand-actions, and she enjoyed the warmth of friendship that transformed the house. Vaughn saw how happy she was and marvelled at the change in atmosphere that had taken place as soon as their friends had stepped through the door. The tension and worry that had pervaded their conversation was gone, replaced by a sense of carefree delight and timeless joy.
"How are things going with Sophie?" Sydney asked Will, once the laughter had subsided and talk had turned to more serious matters.
Will frowned. "She went to stay with her parents for a week. . . a month ago. That's never good."
Sydney laughed a little at his laid-back attitude but then smiled sympathetically.
"Well, maybe if you'd called her once in a while, instead of complaining to me about how she never called *you*, she wouldn't have left," offered Francie, with a smirk.
"Wasn't meant to be, I guess," smiled Will, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh, Syd. How's your friend?" Francie asked suddenly.
"Which friend?" asked Sydney, looking up questioningly.
"You know! The one you went to see when she was ill!"
"Oh, um, yeah she's fine now." Sydney said wishing to avoid this conversation as much as she could. Sensing his wife's discomfort, Vaughn turned the conversation to business, engaging Francie in a series of questions about her restaurant. Thankful to have the attention turned away from her, Sydney listened in silence, nodding in agreement in the appropriate places. Towards the end of the meal, they were interrupted by a phone call.
"I'll go," said Sydney, rising from the table. The other three continued their conversation, but Vaughn kept one eye on his wife. He could not hear her conversation but he could tell by her body language that something was wrong. Up until then, she had been perfectly relaxed but now her shoulders were tense and her pose just screamed apprehension.
She returned to the table, the smile firmly back on her face. She looked at her watch.
"I'm really sorry," she began. "I'm gonna have to leave. I have a. . . meeting that I need to go to."
"At 9:00 at night in the middle of the summer vacation?" joked Will. Sydney smiled weakly.
"Yeah, Syd, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were working for that bank again." Francie observed casually. Sydney laughed lightly at her friend's joke, but her laugh was a little too forced and to the inquisitive ears of Will Tippin, it was all that was needed for realisation to hit. He stared at Sydney open-mouthed as she grabbed her car keys and made for the door.
* * *
Later that night, Sydney and Vaughn were curled up together watching an old movie on TV. The meeting had been about the new intel and how best to use it. Sydney had been furious at the way they had demanded her presence when she was not really needed, but she had since calmed down - the day's excitements and stresses had taken their toll on her. She sighed contentedly and wriggled closer to Vaughn. He smiled down at her and lightly kissed the top of her head, his fingers caressing her back.
"Mmmm" Sydney murmered, as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Gently and carefully, Vaughn lifted her in his arms and carried her to their bedroom. She awoke for long enough to get herself changed and crawl into the bed next to Vaughn. Sleepily, she rolled into his arms and rested her head on his chest. He pulled her closer to him and they remained in each other's embrace until morning.
Thanks for the reviews of the last chapter, please keep reviewing!!
Oh yeah, please can someone tell me how to do bold and italics?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Marie was small and pretty, she could not have been more than twenty. Her shoulder-length black hair hung loosely, held off her face by a little silver clip above her right ear. Her olive skin and almond-shaped eyes suggested that at least one of her parents was Oriental and Sydney made a mental note to ask her about it sometime.
"You're Agent Sydney Bristow," Marie said. "I've heard a lot about you," she added shyly. Sydney laughed, embarrassed.
"I guess you don't wanna break protocol as many times as I have, huh?" Sydney smiled at Marie, realising that the young Agent had probably been told about all the times she had broken rules and done things without permission from her CIA superiors.
"Oh no!" Marie gasped, taking Sydney's joke seriously. "I'm really impressed by what I've heard. You've achieved so much, I only hope I can be as good as you are."
Sydney felt slightly guilty that Marie seemed to be so eager have this sort of life. A part of her wanted to tell the young woman what she was getting herself into, but another part of her was unwilling to ruin Marie's high expectations and bring her dreams crashing down. Kendall shot Sydney a harsh look and she knew he was warning her not to pass on her recklessness to his newest recruit. She was tempted to tell Marie that sometimes the best decisions were made in the heat of the moment and often the best way to do things was the most dangerous and CIA-protocol-breaking way there was. Vaughn noticed the mischievous twinkle in her eyes and held out his hand to Marie, putting a stop to further conversation between the two women.
"I'm Agent Michael Vaughn-" he paused, hesitating over his next words. "Agent Bristow's handler." When he saw that Marie was not gushing with praise of *him*, he turned to Kendall.
"Is Agent Henley going to be working on the Lloyd case with us?"
"Yes. I trust that won't be a problem?" He raised his eyebrows, daring them to protest. "I know there is a substantial amount of research to be done, using our latest intel. Agent Bristow, show Agent Henley what we've got so far."
Sydney nodded and turned back to Vaughn, waiting for Kendall to leave.
"Now," he said and shot a meaningful glance at Sydney. He stalked off in the other direction and Sydney sighed.
"Come on, Marie." Marie followed Sydney over to her desk, next to which another desk had been cleared for the younger Agent. As they walked, Sydney filled Marie in on the case and the intel she had gained in London.
Sydney gave Marie some folders to look through to familiarise herself with the work, while Sydney herself continued to meticulously search databases and records for any hint of the whereabouts of Lloyd or his associates. After a while Marie glanced up.
"So, this is stuff is really dangerous, huh?" she asked timidly.
"Yeah." Sydney replied. It was a stupid answer, but what else was she supposed to say? No, it's not at all dangerous-the guns and fighting techniques are all just for show? She remembered her first mission for SD- 6; she had been so scared. But at the same time she had been excited and willing. She had believed that she was risking her life for the good of her country. At least for Marie that belief was true.
"Hey, it's not all bad," she said, on seeing Marie's wide-eyed and innocent stare. "Mic - Vaughn always plans my missions really carefully. I mean like, obsessive-almost-to-the-point-of-ridiculous careful." Sydney could not help the soft smile that came over her features when she thought of her husband. "He'll do the same for you. We both will." She smiled warmly at Marie and they both returned to their work.
* * *
"I'm going home now. You won't be too long will you? Francie and Will are coming over tonight." Sydney put a hand on Vaughn's shoulder as she spoke and glanced casually at the news report on his computer screen.
"Okay, sweetie. How are you getting on with the research?"
"Still nothing," Sydney frowned. This nothing-ness was driving her crazy. She couldn't believe that Cauber's intel hadn't helped them at all. She *wouldn't* believe it. "How about you?"
"Yeah, nothing all round," Vaughn sighed, rubbing his hand across his forehead. Absent-midedly he read a few lines of the report. "Hey, what's this?" He sat up straight in his chair, staring at the computer screen as if one of the images had just leapt out of the screen onto his desk.
"Although the location of the disk is not known, it can be traced and local police are working to find the thieves. It is believed to be of very high value to the man shown below. At present the reasons for this are not known." Sydney read over Vaughn's shoulder. He scrolled down until a picture came into view. A picture of Henry Lloyd. "That's it. That's gotta be it, right?" she said breathlessly, pulling up a chair to sit beside him. "Is there a way we can find it?"
"It was stolen from a bank in Paris. It was in a locked safe, in a vault, in a high security bank. I think we can assume that whoever took it knew what they were doing. It's gonna be pretty hard to find it."
"But this is huge, right? How do we start?" Sydney was impatient to bring Lloyd to justice. Vaughn, apparently, was less so.
"I don't know. I'll talk to Kendall now. You go home, there's nothing more we can do yet. Besides, you can't cancel on Francie again." Sydney frowned but recognised the sense in what he was saying. She sighed.
"Okay,"
"I won't be long," Vaughn assured her. As she left he printed out the article and went off to show Kendall his lucky break.
* * *
Sydney had almost finished setting the table when Vaughn arrived home.
"What did he say? How long will it take to find?" she asked, nearly dropping the bowl of salad she held. Vaughn stepped forward quickly to rescue the salad, which Sydney managed to catch by herself anyway. He took it from her hands and placed it in the centre of the table before answering her question. She followed him with her eyes and he could feel the intensity of her gaze even though his back was turned.
"It's going to take a while. Weeks, maybe, if we work fast." Sydney was dismayed but this latest setback only increased her determination.
"Then we'll work fast," she said firmly. There was no time for more discussion because Francie and Will chose that moment to ring the doorbell.
Sydney went to greet her friends, plastering a smile onto her face as she did so.
"Hey guys," she said affectionately, hugging them each in turn.
"I haven't seen you for ages!" exclaimed Francie. This was not strictly true. Francie and Sydney had seen each other only a week ago but in the world of Francie Calfo, for reasons unfathomable to anyone else, a week constituted a long time. Sydney laughed and apologised again for having cancelled their night out.
"Hi," said Vaughn, coming over to stand next to Sydney. More smiles were exchanged as they made their way over to the table. The evening passed in laughter and jokes, Sydney was positively glowing as she laughed at a story Will was unfolding, complete with impersonations and hand-actions, and she enjoyed the warmth of friendship that transformed the house. Vaughn saw how happy she was and marvelled at the change in atmosphere that had taken place as soon as their friends had stepped through the door. The tension and worry that had pervaded their conversation was gone, replaced by a sense of carefree delight and timeless joy.
"How are things going with Sophie?" Sydney asked Will, once the laughter had subsided and talk had turned to more serious matters.
Will frowned. "She went to stay with her parents for a week. . . a month ago. That's never good."
Sydney laughed a little at his laid-back attitude but then smiled sympathetically.
"Well, maybe if you'd called her once in a while, instead of complaining to me about how she never called *you*, she wouldn't have left," offered Francie, with a smirk.
"Wasn't meant to be, I guess," smiled Will, leaning back in his chair.
"Oh, Syd. How's your friend?" Francie asked suddenly.
"Which friend?" asked Sydney, looking up questioningly.
"You know! The one you went to see when she was ill!"
"Oh, um, yeah she's fine now." Sydney said wishing to avoid this conversation as much as she could. Sensing his wife's discomfort, Vaughn turned the conversation to business, engaging Francie in a series of questions about her restaurant. Thankful to have the attention turned away from her, Sydney listened in silence, nodding in agreement in the appropriate places. Towards the end of the meal, they were interrupted by a phone call.
"I'll go," said Sydney, rising from the table. The other three continued their conversation, but Vaughn kept one eye on his wife. He could not hear her conversation but he could tell by her body language that something was wrong. Up until then, she had been perfectly relaxed but now her shoulders were tense and her pose just screamed apprehension.
She returned to the table, the smile firmly back on her face. She looked at her watch.
"I'm really sorry," she began. "I'm gonna have to leave. I have a. . . meeting that I need to go to."
"At 9:00 at night in the middle of the summer vacation?" joked Will. Sydney smiled weakly.
"Yeah, Syd, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were working for that bank again." Francie observed casually. Sydney laughed lightly at her friend's joke, but her laugh was a little too forced and to the inquisitive ears of Will Tippin, it was all that was needed for realisation to hit. He stared at Sydney open-mouthed as she grabbed her car keys and made for the door.
* * *
Later that night, Sydney and Vaughn were curled up together watching an old movie on TV. The meeting had been about the new intel and how best to use it. Sydney had been furious at the way they had demanded her presence when she was not really needed, but she had since calmed down - the day's excitements and stresses had taken their toll on her. She sighed contentedly and wriggled closer to Vaughn. He smiled down at her and lightly kissed the top of her head, his fingers caressing her back.
"Mmmm" Sydney murmered, as she slowly drifted off to sleep. Gently and carefully, Vaughn lifted her in his arms and carried her to their bedroom. She awoke for long enough to get herself changed and crawl into the bed next to Vaughn. Sleepily, she rolled into his arms and rested her head on his chest. He pulled her closer to him and they remained in each other's embrace until morning.