Chapter 2

Los Angeles

The buzzer on Director Devlin's intercom distracted him from the paper work he was finishing.
"Yes?" he asked, jamming the button.
"Mr. Sloane is here to see you," his assistant's voice came over the intercom.
"Send him in," Devlin said. He signed the last line on the form and placed in the outgoing basket for later. He sat back and rubbed his eyes. The last few months had been very stressful for him, and he knew that it was about to get a lot worse. As the door opened, he mentally prepared himself for what he was about to do.
"You wanted to see me, Sir?" Sloane asked as he entered the office.
"Yes, Arvin. Sit down." Sloane did so.
"You are aware of the problem The Agency has been having recently?" Devlin asked. Sloane made no response, but the look on his face told Devlin that he understood perfectly.
"Internal Affairs has been looking into this problem for sometime and they have come to a conclusion," Devlin said the paused, "We found no evidence linking you."
"But you have linked someone else?" Sloane asked.
"Why would you say that?" Devlin asked.
"Well if you didn't call me in to tell me I'm under arrest, then why else would I be here?" Sloane asked.
Devlin did not make any kind of gesture, simply slid a folder across the desk.
Sloane did a quick scan through the file and looked up a Devlin. "This is quite a bit of evidence," he commented.
"I know," Devlin said, "I want you to check it out. See if it's genuine, make sure we aren't missing something here. Report back to me once you're finished."
"Of course," Sloane said rising out of the chair, taking the file with him as he left the office. Once Sloane was gone Devlin sat back in his chair feeling a headache coming on.

Sydney walked in the door of her house at about 10:30 PM Los Angeles time.
"Hey, you're back!" Francie exclaimed from where she was sitting on the couch hold in a bowl of popcorn.
"Yep," Sydney said and came over to join Francie on the couch, "What are you watching?"
"The Wedding Singer," Francie said with an eye roll, "What can I say? There isn't much on tonight."
"Uh hu," Sydney said munching on some popcorn from Francie's bowl distractedly.
Francie turned to her, "Okay what's going on with you?"
"What?" She asked. Francie gave her a look.
"It's nothing.......I was just thinking," Sydney answered.
"About what?"
"Nothing."
"Well it must be something! What it is a guy?" Francie said jokingly and then stopped laughing when she saw the look on Sydney's face, "Really? Who is he?"
Sydney hesitated for a moment trying to decided if she should bluff her way out of the question then finally gave up, "Someone in my department."
"Well tell me about him," Francie said.
Sydney sighed and let Francie pull her head into the pillow on her lap, "We've worked together for about a year now."
"What's his name?"
"Michael. And he's... I don't know how to describe him. He's smart... and he's funny. He's so cute," she said.
"Hot cute, not goofy cute?" Francie asked.
"Hot cute," she affirmed, "It's just...........I don't know it's this whole complicated situation. Plus he as a girlfriend."
"Of course he does," Francie snorted.
"Which is ultimately irrelevant anyway. The office has a policy against coworkers dating," she explained.
"Well so what? I mean all companies have policies like that but people still do it! I doubt they'd actually fire you for dating a co-worker as long as it didn't effect your work," Francie said.
"Well that's the thing really. I don't know if it would. We work well together and we make a good team, but I don't know it might effect that if we tried to make this something more," she said.
"Well, I don't know Syd, but I do know that I haven't heard you talk like this in forever. And if anyone deserves some happiness it's you. Maybe you and Michael are destined," Francie said.
Sydney rolled her eyes, "I think you're getting a little a head of yourself."
"Maybe," Francie said with a half skeptical smile. Sydney rolled her eyes again.
"Well you know what? I'm zonked," Francie said yawning, "I'm going to bed."
"Okay goodnight," Sydney said letting her up off the couch.
"Night!" she responded.
Once Francie left Sydney stretched out on the space she left on the couch. No matter how many times she reminded herself of the reasons it was not a good idea, her mind simply kept wondering back to that restaurant in France.

Week Later

Arvin Sloane sat at a metal table before the CIA board. He took a sip from the glass of water as they prepared their questions.
"Mr. Sloane could you answer for the record how you became involved in this investigation?" the speaker asked.
"Evidence was presented to me by Director Devlin. He asked me to review it and check for any alternate explanations that might have been missed," Sloane explained.
"Director, will you state for the record that what Mr. Sloane says is true?" the speaker asked turning toward Devlin's seat at their long table.
"Yes I will," Devlin nodded.
"Thank you. Mr. Sloane could you tell us what your association with Agent Sydney Bristow is?"
"I knew her parents. Her that Jack and I have worked together here at The Agency for many years. I consider her to be like my own daughter. I recruited her when she as in college and she worked in my department as a freelancer for seven years," Sloane answered.
"Last year you recommended that she be transferred out of your department? Was there some particular reason for that?" the speaker asked.
Sloane nodded, "Last year her fiancé Daniel Hecht wad killed by an unknown agency after Agent Bristow told him the nature of what she does for The Agency. We were unable to stop to assassination before it was carried through and she held me responsible. She grew very hostile and I soon realized that clearly if she continued working around me she would be of no use to herself or anyone, so I requested her transfer."
"The evidence presented to you by Mr. Devlin shows Sydney Bristow has been stealing information from The Agency and filtering to an unknown source," the speaker said, "Were you aware that Ms. Bristow was a mole?
"No I was not," Sloane said.
"Do you believe that it was a grudge against you that caused Ms. Bristow to betray The Agency?"
"I can't speculate one way or the other.
The speaker shuffled around with his papers, "We understand that you have proposed a plan for how to handle Ms. Bristow?"
"Yes," Sloane, "If you will all turn to page ten of your reports you will see my proposal. I believe that it would be beneficial for us to hold off arresting Sydney Bristow for a while. As far as we know she doesn't know that her cover has been blown. So we put her under surveillance we find out who she's working for, how much information she's leaked, and if there are any other doubles within The Agency."
"I agree with Mr. Sloane's," one of the board members came in, "I propose that we follow is plan and allow him to head up the operation regarding Agent Bristow."
"All those favor please indicate with a show of hands," the speaker said. All hands here raised.
"Then it is agreed. Mr. Sloane you have the assignment of monitoring Sydney Bristow and figuring out whom she is working for."
Sloane stood, "I will dedicate as much time as possible to doing so."