If THIS IS MARCH 13, THEN HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
Okay, before I do anything else, I have to thank Julie. Wow, your review completely made my day; thank you so much for all of your enthusiasm and support; it's nice to know that people enjoy my writing~
And, it actually gave me inspiration to write this chapter, I thought I was going to go brain-dead for at least a week after I went on that writing spree and posted 6 stories On Sunday but here I am on Monday, writing again (though I probably won't finish today).
Oh, that reminds me; thanks to all of you who reviews those six~
There are definitely 4 more (long) chapters left just to bring this story to an even 40. There might be more if I decide I don't want to write super-long chapters and break them up instead but you get what I mean.
2 cliffhangers that I know are going to happen will come up in this chap and then the next just because you all know how much i love my cliffhangers and I'm evil like that. The ending will be Ch. 39 God willing and then 40 will be the grand finale.
Oh my goodness, i think that's the first time I've thought in advance about one of my stories :)
Any luck with the Far From Home code?
MY B-DAY = ON THURSDAY!!!! SWEET SIXTEEN!
37.
It wasn't anything especially mystical or mind-boggling. It was just an ordinary room. Well, perhaps it wasn't mundane but it was a far cry from some of the other highly-protected devices that she had retrieved. Letting the door close gently behind her, she faced the middle of the room where the glass case lay. And the wild maze of red lasers that criss-crossed their way across the floor.
Taking a deep breath, she raised a leg over the first beam; it was surprisingly easy considering that this mission could dictate the rest of her life.
Weaving her way around, under, and over the red beams, she slowly, carefully made her way towards the center of the room. She had been going for about ten minutes when she felt the sweat start to drip and mist her body and she bit her lip in more concentration, willing herself to be even more in control of herself now that she was physically aware how tired she was.
Arms still aching from her climb, she stood up in the lone square where she could rest for a minute, closing her eyes and just knowing that the final solution to the complications in her life lay mere feet away. A small smile swept over her face and and took a deep breath, getting ready to start again when she heard something.
It was just a small slight noise, a short whirring sound and it took Sydney a moment to fully recognize what it was before her eyes widened in horror.
The beams moved.
Two seconds later, she stood stock still, in shock, looking at the beam that sliced through her legs, touching her, claiming her to be intruding. Fighting the sudden sense of desolation and the tears that sprang up her eyes, she disregarded all the other beams in her way and ran towards the case in the middle of the room. Jamming an elbow into the glass roof, she felt a sort of gladness in the sickening crack of the glass under her pressure, as if it were the outlet for all of her anguish.
She picked up the small square velvet-covered parcel in the case and heard the distant rumblings of footsteps on the staircase that went up to this floor. She cursed, she wouldn't have enough time to check the parcel. "Vaughn... I've been made." The words were disgusting to her, as if she was admitting her defeat against the only true enemy in her life. She shook the thoughts out of her and concentrated on the door that marked the only exit in the room.
Running towards it, she could vaguely hear Vaughn's words in her ear but was unable to concentrate. They could still win; the package was with her, hidden in the lining of her suit; she could still win. She placed her hand on the doorknob and yanked it open.
Only it wouldn't open.
Letting out a small shriek of frustration, she dropped to her knees, feeling the tickling sensation of sweat dripping down her forehead and onto her cheek. There was no time to wipe it away, she quickly checked to see if there was anyway she could open it but there was only a small diamond shaped hole etched into the smooth metal. In a dizzyingly quick epiphany, she drew out the velvet parcel once more and opened it. There was the disk, Charlemot, which would change her life completely. And there was the slender metal pole lying beside it, smoothly linear and straight until the end where it pointed into a twisting dragon.
In the shape of a diamond.
She thrust it into the handle almost frantically, hearing the footsteps growing gradually louder. To her relief the door swung open with a tiny click. Looking at the carpeted gray wall in front of her, she noticed a faint shadow on it and smiled, once again in control of her situation.
Jumping in both a forward and sideways direction, she swung her leg up to kick whoever happened to be there. But there was no one, only a bag leaning against the wall. She felt the sudden hard impact of a foot pressing against her lower back, cramming her to the floor and then pressing her against it. She was now suddenly, unmistakably aware of the small gun lodged in her shoe, was missing it terribly now that she also felt the cold steel of a gun pressing against her neck.
The implication was obvious.
She closed her eyes and sunk against the floor, her breathing elongating and relaxing as she fell so suddenly limp, surprising the person behind her, making him falter for a second and bring his gun slightly upwards to see if she truly was unconscious.
And that was all she needed. Putting her weight into her arms and hands, she pushed against them gently in order to swing a leg around and under the guard, completely sweeping him off his feet and causing him to land with a deafening thud onto the floor. Even dazed, the man was alert, inching his hand towards his weapon. Sydney stomped on the gun and then flicked it away with a twist of her heel, hearing it crash against the wall.
The man leaped forward, grabbing her arms and using her resistance to pull himself up before swinging at her. She jumped artfully back and kicked his hand away with a flawless roundhouse. But he recovered quickly and scored a shot to her stomach that she didn't see coming. She bent over it for a second, conceding to her instinct to reach for the wound and not the weapon.
But her training had created a new nuscle memory in her and she remebered and grabbed the gun from her shoe in her doubled position and sprang back up, pointing it in the guard's face telling him to back off. But he knew what room she had come from and what she had in her possession and he knew that should he let her go, he would only be in for an even more painful fate. So he lunged again.
Eyes widening slightly, she tilted the gun at a different angle and fired the bullet into the man's knee, causing him to fall and tumble to the floor; almost silmultaneously she heard a shot fired at her leg, and felt the terror and adrenaline rush up as she ran back up the corridor and to the tiling that still lay open. The bullet had ricocheted innto the wall, embedded deep in the carpeting and she turned to fire off three more shots before scrambling onto the roof. And there was the guard that she expected, waiting for her. She still heard Vaughn's terse breathing in her headset and, not wanting to have to deal with the man in front of her, quickly disarmed him and rendered him unconscious with a quick spray from the can Marshall had made for her long ago. Episode = Page 47
She ran without hesitating to the edge and jumped, activating the parachute that the CIA had placed in the lining of her outfit, copying once again one of Marshall's inventions.
The single shot rang through the air, slicing through the otherwise quiet night, tearing through the fabric of her chute, causing her to wince slightly at her accelerated descension. As she neared closer to the ground and saw the black SUV pull up, she pulled out her knife to cut the strings and she raced to the open door and got in.
Only then she did allow herself to rub her stomach.
She heard Vaughn's concerned voice and felt his loving words wash over her like a warm shower. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine."
His relieved sigh brought a smile to her face. "You want to know if I got the disk?" she asked almost laughing.
"I already know you did. I knew that there wouldn't be anything able to stop you."
~:~
"All right, let's see what's in this baby," Weiss took out the disk and placed in into the computer, waiting. It wasn't long before the little box popped up on the screen, announcing "Charlemot" in block letters.
Sydney studied the expression on Eric's face, the sudden intent look that crossed his features, so different from his usual banter. She saw his eyes slightly widen as he uttered the soft words. "Holy Shit."
She turned to look at the screen and felt her own mouth drop ever so slightly. Down the black drop scrolled hundred of names, profiles, information in an endless horde of characters. And down at the end she saw the Intel that she had yearned for for years.
How to take down SD-6.
Michael's voice was soft with wonder. "We... We should tell Kendall... about this."
~:~
"Listen up everybody, Agents Bristow and Vaughn had recently retrieved an invaluable piece of Intel which will now enable us to bring down the Alliance through the use of the contacts. During these last few hours, we have sent agents to stand post at the residences of the people that this disk has been able to give us. They are now standing there, waiting for our signal and they are there to make sure that we can get this done once and for all.
"So we are going to rush in and ambush at the same time that the other agents will rush the Alliance members' homes. Your appointed group leaders will fill you in on the details. Be safe. Stay alive. And come home."
They all nodded at him, still unable to fully comprehend that their work in the past few years would finally be brought to a close. It gave them hope, that all things could be accomplished in due time.
The agents began to filter out of the room to their respective groups to receive the complete details and plans. When they had all gone out the double doors, there were only two remaining.
Agent Bristow took out a small pen and clicked the end of end before nodding at the young man in front of him. "I have you covered. We go now."
Vaughn was confused. "We have all the neccessary Intel already; we are going to bring down the Alliance in a matter of hours. Why is this murder still necessary?" He felt an unfamiliar coldness come over him and grab him heart, making him shudder with sickness. He had never believed that he would actually do this, that he would ever volunteer to participate in the murder of another individual. Yet here it was. Back to bite him in the ass. And it didn't even make sense to him anymore; he could not see why Daniel Hecht could not be allowed to live.
Jack was suddenly very close to him, his eyes steely and hard. "It is in the moments when victory is so close that it can be smelled that one must be at his most alert. Just because it's almost here does not mean that the danger does not exist. We have the tools and the means to shut down the Alliance but as of now Arvin Sloane is still a free man and as far as we know, can be talking to Daniel Hecht at this very moment.
"Are you willing to risk him casting doubt on Sydney and I right when we need him to trust us the most? Does his life and the benefit of having him live outweigh the consequences that might occur if he should lose control of his already shaky mind? Are you willing to assume the responsibility for the failure of the CIA to take down one of the most dangerous groups in the world because you do not want to kill?
"When and only when you can say "yes" to all of these questions with a degree of certainty that would fool any lie detector test, then that is when you should protest. Otherwise, think of the bigger picture. This agency and it's goals does not revolve around Daniel's life and his effect on Sydney. It focuses on his life and its impact on the world. So get that through your head."
~:~
At 4:30, Senior Agent Jack Bristow called in a technician to fix a technical error that was of such that none of the technical staff could untangle it. And the ones that could were sent away to other errands.
At 4:45, a shiny white van with the emblem "Computers R US" emblazoned on it, pulled into the parking garage of the prestigious bank Credit Dauphine.
At 5:00 the technician was escorted into a room by Jack Bristow himself where he received everything he would need.
The door was shut and locked so that he would be given his privacy to extricate this intricate problem.
At 5:01, he took off his hat, revealing tousled blond hair and then he set up the cameras so that he was watching Daniel's room and the corridors surrounding it.
~:~
Jack Bristow had been sanctioned to have one hour alone with Daniel Hecht. He put his briefcase down on the wooden table and sat down, setting up the lie detector. "Hello Daniel."
"Hello Mr. Bristow." The reply was short yet courteous, one that a son-in-law might have to a feared father.
"This is the last day that you will have to be here if you pass this test. It is a lie detector and it will also simultaneously factor in your recent experiences, your mental health, your heart rate, and your pupil dialation in with your answer to give us the most comprehensive personality and truth analysis known to man.
"It will check your breathing also. When this is all computed, SD-6 itself will judge you and decide ourselves if you are trustworthy and reliable to be let out of here and into the regular world again. There is a great deal of trust here Daniel. Are you ready to earn it?"
His reply was sure. Even relieved. "Yes."
Jack set up the machine and began attatching tubes and wires to Danny's chest and fingers.
"We'll start off easy. Take a couple of deep breaths."
He did.
"What is your name?"
~:~
"All teams are set in their positions sir."
"All right. Tell them to go."
And it was at that moment that 12 groups of CIA agents ambushed various SD cells and Alliance facilities all around the world.
~:~
"What feelings do you have regarding your current situation?"
Daniel reminded himself to be truthful.
"I am bitter and a little resentful of course but I do realize that because it is such a secret branch of the CIA, it is perfectly reasonable that I go through all of these and must prove my loyalty."
The machine showed his impulses and responses to be steady.
~:~
Pandemonium had yet to begin though wires to cameras were being cut and men and women clad in black and armed with guns began to group together around the main doors.
~:~
Michael felt that worried feeling come over him again as he watched Jack and his conversation with Daniel, knowing that soon he would be witnessing a murder. Every so often he would check the hallways but he found it an almost morbid fascination to watch this unfold, watching at how controlled the mind of Jack Bristow really was.
~:~
"Do you still love Sydney Bristow?"
"Of course I do."
"Would you die for love, Mr. Hecht?"
"I already have."
~:~
The first micro-bomb was thrown into the room and the smoke immediately began to spew forth in a wild column of dense mist.
There were shouts and cries already and a few gunshots rang out every couple minutes, a defense mechanism used so that one could get their bearings.
~:~
Jack put on the thick black gloves, sensing Danny's inquisitive gaze already landing on his motion. "I'm working with sensitive material here Mr. Hecht. I'm sorry that this is so tedious but we will now have to take the test once more this time with this truth serum in order to completely verify your answers as best we can."
Daniel nodded.
"This will hurt for a second."
Jack removed a small vial of clear liquid from the briefcase and slowly filled his needle. It was now only a matter of time. He had ten minutes before it lost its potency.
"Where?"
"Your arm."
He could feel the heat through his gloves already as he watched the man sitting in front of him rolling up his sleeves in preparation.
~:~
"What's going on here?"
Arvin Sloane stood up at his desk as he realized that the riot downstairs had begun to move upwards. Quickly checking his monitors, his eyes closed as his face went lax.
"Check the prisoner."
~:~
Vaughn had to restrain himself from twisting his hands. He could see now that Jack was going to do it any seconds now.
Any second now.
~:~
Someone crashed into her, the weight of his body coming down upon her like a dead weight, cramming her to the ground. Quickly, she lept to her feet, pushing the man away and leaping quickly to one side as he grabbed for her.
The clouds of smoke were beginning to clear and she saw the man get up and charge again, this time leaning back she lunged and suceeding in delivering a hard blow to her abdomen. She felt herself pushed backwards against the wall from the force of the blow, the wind knocked completely out of her.
Swallowing the pain, she dropped the man down onto the floor with a swift slicing kick and then leaned heavily against the wall, barely able to keep her eyes open from the blinding pain that rippled throughout her entire body.
She felt the familiar hands of Eric Weiss touch her shoulder. "Syd, are you okay?"
She winced. "Yeah, I'm fine."
There was a pause and then she looked at him, eyes full of sorrow and unshed tears. "But I'm not sure about the baby."
~:~
"Shit" Vaughn knew that this couldn't be good. The big burly man was walking deliberately towards the door, looking wary, gun in hand.
"Jack. Jack, get out of there. NOW. You've been made."
The door flew open; obviously the lock had not done its job. "So have you."
TBC...
Well, you guys didn't get the action I promised you in the last chapter so I hope that this one fulfilled your longing for some and hopefully left you pining for more :)
So yeah, I started this on Monday and then finished it on Wednesday and will be posting it tomorrow which is Thursday which is incidentally...
MY BIRTHDAY!!!!! Happy sweet 16th to me~ lol.
-Jenn
(review... If you ever want the results to this triple-cliffhanger [syd/vaughn/jack]... I still have one up my sleeve).
