~Hey y'all! Sorry for the delay! The SAT's and ACT's totally suck! Anyways, on with the story- just a reminder that this takes place around the end of season one, so Francie's not evil, SD-6 hasn't fallen, etc.

Chapter 2

*** Nuclear Ops Center, Minsk, Russia***

            Sydney's feet padded down the corridor making tiny smudges on the newly waxed floor. She was wearing a typical business suit and a short black wig that fell to about length of her chin. Her eyes made one last sweep of the hallway before she whipped out her cell phone equipped to decode the encryption that would open the door to the control room. She waited impatiently as the numbers scrolled on the screen, tapping her toes on the floor.  She heard a voice come over her comm link.

            "You in yet?" It was Dixon.

            "No, just give me 10 more seconds." She whispered quietly. She looked down at the phone. Only one number left. She heard another voice, only it wasn't Dixon this time. The voice was coming from the hallway, and was approaching quickly. She looked down at her phone in desperation and as if on cue, it beeped and the code was broken. Sydney quickly entered the room, shutting the door quietly behind her, in the nick of time. She scanned the room and was surprised to find it unoccupied, she was sure she was going to have to take down at least one computer nerd. Sydney wasted no time and ran over the main computer and inserted a disk that she had pulled out from her purse. "I'm in

Dixon."

Two minutes later, with the disk carefully stowed away in her purse, Sydney quickly made her way back down the hallway and into the elevator. The doors were almost shut as a hand made its way in, sending the doors sprawling back open. A tall man wearing a suit and a scowl entered the elevator, and Sydney took a step back, making room for him. He glanced up at her, and upon sweeping his eyes over her body, gave her an approving smile. She said nothing but offered him a timid but flirtatious smile. She counted the seconds in her head, as time seemed to pass ever so slowly. Finally the polite ding of the elevator signaled her liberating release and she quickly exited the elevator, leaving the creepy man behind. She passed the information desk out front, which was filled with useless information and an annoyingly perky secretary. She strode confidently out of the building and spoke into her comm link "Alright I'm out. Meet me at the extraction point in 2 minutes."

 "Roger that." Dixon said with a slight smile in his voice.  Sydney pulled back the glass doors and hurried down the surprisingly desolate sidewalk. She glanced down at her watch and felt a few sprinkles of rain splash down on her, staining the sidewalk darker. Sydney had just turned into a dark alleyway when she heard steady footsteps behind her. She knew better than to turn around and look so she kept walking, placing a hand by her hip, feeling her gun.

As the rain continued, she concentrated on the footsteps, concluding it was a man, probably of average height and weight, but he walked with a slight limp, which was apparent by his uneven cadence. She passed cars parked on the curb along side her and slowed her steps ever so slightly to catch a glance in the side mirrors but as she turned her head to the side to look, Sydney felt something come into contact with the side of her head with such a force it almost knocked her off of her feet. The rain started pouring out of the ominous clouds as up to face her attacker, which turned out to be two. One, the man who was following behind her, and the other a woman, whose face was concealed by a black ski mask. Sydney let her instincts take over as quickly sprung to her feet as she first struck the man behind her, taking him down in one swift kick. This distracted the woman who for just one second let her guard down as Sydney jumped up to kick her in the stomach, but the woman was lithe and adapted, blocking her as they engaged in a full fight. Sydney faced the woman, as she flung her legs up in the air in a roundhouse kick. Her foot coming in contact with the head of her attacker seemed to render the woman unconscious, as Sydney radioed Dixon and ran off to the extraction point while the rain relentlessly pelted down on her.

*** Bristow and Calfo Residence, L.A***

A distinct smell wafted through the humid air and reached Sydney's nose. "Francie must be cooking." She thought trying to distinguish the aroma, as she stepped out of the shower. Sydney quickly got dressed in a tank top and some comfortable pajama pants as she went to join Francie in the kitchen.

"Hey." She greeted Francie, brushing back her damp hair.

"Hey you." Francie said as she glanced up from her bubbling concoction.

"What smells so good?" She asked, leaning over the stove, trying to catch a glimpse of the enticing food.

" Fettuccini Alfredo. "

"Yum. I'm starving. Where's Will?"

"He just ran out to grab some wine."

"Oh okay." Sydney said as she reached up and grabbed some plates from the cupboard, and began setting the table, relishing the time she had to catch up with Francie. "So how's life at the restaurant?"

"Crazy as usual. Yesterday a guy actually came back into the kitchen, complaining and threatening to sue because there were nuts in the pie that he ordered. Guess what kind of pie?" She asked, not waiting for an answer, "Pecan pie. Apparently he was allergic to all types of nuts and so his head started swelling up like a watermelon and we had to call an ambulance to get him to the hospital."

Sydney burst our laughing but later tried to withhold her laughter after getting a sharp glare from Francie who was still annoyed over the incident. Thankfully, Sydney was freed from Francie's stare when Will walked in the door.

"Hey, did I miss anything?" Will asked as he took off his jacket and set a bottle of wine on the counter.

"No we were just getting ready to eat. Sit down." Sydney motioned as Francie brought the hot food over to the table. Just then Syd heard her cell phone ringing from her bedroom. She sighed and momentarily left the room while Francie and Will sat down at the table. Syd returned, and joined her two friends for dinner.
            "Wrong number." She explained as she began to eat. Will knowingly caught Sydney's eye, exchanging a secret glance. She just shook her head ever so slightly and rolled her eyes. She was determined to have a meal with her friends; the CIA would just have to wait.

An hour later, Sydney found herself jogging through the park, with a coin in her hand. She dropped it in a homeless man's cup and continued on to the broken pay phone. Sydney made her entrance and expectantly found herself at the CIA headquarters. She was almost instantaneously joined by Vaughn, who immediately spoke. "Kendall's requested a meeting with you as soon as you get here." Vaughn glanced up, and gently took her by the arm and whispered into her ear as a warning. "He's really pissed so be prepared."

Sydney felt tiny shivers travel up and down her spine at his touch and his hot breath so close to her face.  She shook the feeling away and just nodded and let out an exasperated sigh, heading towards his office.

Kendall looked up at her from his vantage point at his desk as she entered the room.

"Agent Bristow. So happy you could finally join me." He said with an even voice, mixed with a little hint of sarcasm. " Please, sit down."

Sydney sat down on the plush chair that accompanied the latter side of his desk.  She remained quiet and knowingly waited for him to continue. 

"We've recovered some video footage from some of our CIA counterparts from other parts of the world." He paused, and motioned to the computer screen at his desk. "As you can see, this is from the First World Banking Firm in Minsk. And the man here, is Pavel Yerik, former sales ops that was affiliated with the KGB. Now as far as we know, for the past ten years he has been inactive." He paused and looked at her for a moment, letting out a small sigh. Sydney looked up from the screen and confusedly returned his glance. He went on, "This is video footage of him, setting up a bank account at around 3:15 yesterday. This of course is not an overly unusual activity, but what is unusual is that he seems to be setting up a joint account." Kendall paused again, this time letting his glance land on the screen, and allowing the tape to play. Sydney watched with interest as she saw another figure enter the screen and take a seat next to him. She watched as the security camera zoomed in closer, and revealed her, sitting beside him. She drew in a quick breath and looked to Kendall as he spoke, "Apparently a joint account with you. Would you like to explain yourself?"

Sydney spoke for the first time at the meeting. "That's impossible, this has to be bogus footage, anyone could have made this up."

Kendall stood up and started pacing. "Normally that would be true, but due to the interaction between you and him on the footage and the fact that it came directly from a CIA database, we can assume that this is accurate."

She looked back at the computer screen, showing the two of them at the desk, holding hands and then also them, rising to leave, and herself quickly kissing him on the cheek.  She mulled over Kendall's words. "You can assume this is accurate?" She questioned furiously. "That's insane!"

"Agent Bristow now is not the time to get upset. My patience is already running very thin so I advise you to comply with my orders of having you taken in for further questioning."

"What?!" She said, flying up from her chair to face Kendall.

"This is the second time we have discovered data on you and extraneous activity taking place outside of both the CIA and SD-6. You know that I consider you with my highest regards and you are one of our best agents but I must follow protocol. So I suggest that you quietly go in for questioning so I won't have to resort to using force."  Kendall said as his voice started to rise. "If you don't have anything to hide then what's the harm?" He added.

"The harm is you not trusting me." Sydney said in an eerily even tone, while she locked eyes with Kendall.

 Kendall stood back and hesitated for a second, not knowing how to reply. Determined to keep his front he stated. " I think they're ready to see you now Agent Bristow." Sydney turned on her heels and hurriedly stormed out of his office.

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