insert ANOTHER really cool title that I can't think of
9.
A Bead of Sweat
[spoiler = Truth Takes Time]
She lay there on the cool sheets, her back against his chest, listening to his warm and steady breaths on her neck, feeling the soft rises and falls of his chest. She should have been comfortable, relaxed. And she was. But she couldn't sleep.
Because there had been something in his eyes- something in the look of him- that had clued her in that something was very wrong. And despite the fact that she knew he loved her- that she knew he would never do anything to hurt her- she had to know what he was hiding from her.
It was called trust.
But she didn't have it.
At least, not totally. She wasn't going to go rifling through his laptop, through his files. She wasn't that desperate. But still… her instinct told her that far from protecting her from the damage any outside enemy could inflict on the mission, Vaughn had been protecting her from the damage it would to do her. And that didn't fit in her job description.
Careful not to move any part of his body, she slipped out from under the covers and walked over to the phone. It was late but everyone knew that Karma didn't sleep. Or if she did, she didn't need much of it.
"Hello?"
"Is this room 641?"
"I'm sorry," said Karma's voice, "I don't believe that there is a 641 in this entire hotel."
"Oh, I'm very sorry to wake you."
"That's quite all right."
The phone went dead. Karma would be waiting for her in 5 minutes by the hotel bar.
Once she had pulled on some clothes and taken one last wistful look at Vaughn, still sleeping so quietly buried under the blankets, she left the room and took the elevator down to the lobby. Where the bar, at this hour, was still teeming with life.
She caught eyes with the doorman, nodded discreetly, was led into the dark backroom of the bar where a familiar silhouette was waiting.
"Hello Sydney."
"Agent Manuel."
She didn't even look tired. Her eyes were unshadowed, keen even, and her posture remained unchanged from any other time she had seen her.
Breaking the formal protocol, she bent over, leaned towards Karma over the table and spoke in the urgent tone she had been fighting against ever since she had seen that look in Vaughn's eyes. The one that had flashed for only a second before he had enveloped her into his arms. The one that still haunted her.
"Why is Agent Vaughn keeping information from me?"
Karma raised an eyebrow.
"What information has he been keeping from you?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be here. I think it would be a shorter list merely to tell you what I DO know. I realize that my past is… unusual… and that my family ties are not by any means commonplace. But I refuse to be kept in the dark just because there is the fear that I might not be able to handle it. Now I realize that we haven't been on the same side knowingly for very long but you know what kind of a worker I am.
I know that I have emotions and that Vaughn is keeping things from me so that I can maintain my calm and perhaps even work better with a clear mind but part of my job is being able to compartmentalize my emotions so that I can work. And though I appreciate his care of me, I do not wish to be babied."
Karma sat, regarding her for a moment before nodding. "I can see how that might frustrate you and though I cannot say that I condone Mr. Vaughn's actions, I can see how he might have thought that it would be better for the mission if you didn't know. I know that you believe that he kept it from you to save you but know that in saving you, he is saving an integral part of the mission."
Sydney's jaw clenched, not knowing what to make of this information.
"What are you talking about?"
"Are you sure you want to know this?"
She couldn't believe it. "Of course I do. Do you really think that I would tell you that I would like to informed about every aspect of this mission and then change my mind?"
Her words were received with an icy smile.
"Miss Bristow-"
"Agent Bristow."
"-Agent Bristow, Agent Vaughn was correct in noting that the Apollyon Soul Harvest was indeed the 'ash' that Rambaldi was talking about it. Ever since we left that meeting, we have had several analysts completely re-decipher the meaning of Rambaldi's text based on this new information we have.
"ASH is the foundation of everything we have been looking for, everything we have been trying to stop."
Karma stopped here. "And I believe that what Vaughn was trying to save you from was the fact that there is a high chance that your mother, in conjunction with Arrivda Satarri, founded the Soul Harvest."
Her blood ran cold at the words "your mother". "Please refer to her as Irina Derevko. My mother has been dead for over 20 years." But she didn't really care. She was still too much in shock over the news she had just received.
Karma's eyes were steely and unresponsive.
"And- and Laila Rambaldi's connection to all of this?"
Karma laughed, her eyes finally sparking with humor. "Laila Rambaldi is now turning six years old."
This time, completely convolution took over Sydney's mind. "What?"
"Laila Rambaldi is not the leader or the brains behind the Soul Harvest. She is the memory."
"I'm confused."
"A couple months ago, your mother attempted to steal a disk which would enable her, Sark, and Sloane to have in their possession the genetic code for every single person, giving them the power to assassinate a single person by merely rearranging the water molecules to become deadly for the one person with that certain type of DNA who drinks it."
Impatience filled her body. "Yes, I know this already. They did not succeed in the retrieval of this disk. That was the day that Emily-" her voice broke up.
"Yes. But Irina had an ulterior motive. Not surprising. Anyway, using what she had memorized from the download, specifically the genealogy and family ties etcetera, she, along with Satarri, manipulated the gene pool in order to mix the in the old memories in the young mind."
Sydney laughed, if a little nervously. "That doesn't even make sense. You can't do that."
Karma raised her eyebrows. "Oh can't you? Marshall detailed me on a certain course of action one might take in order to perhaps see results."
"And?"
"When you sweat, it's a way for your body to cool of by releasing the particles that contain the highest kinetic energy, a.k.a. heat. Therefore, should everyone sweat at the same time, there are millions of evaporated sweat droplets each with the highest kinetic particles each which contain a fraction of the person's DNA. So, using the same idea as was used for the assassination technique…"
She realized that she had been holding her breath the entire time Karma had been detailing this out for her, horror shining in her eyes. "It can be used as a tracking device."
Both nodded.
"But- but how do they induce every person to sweat. Some people just don't… and I don't that they can afford to wait until the weather becomes hot enough."
"Everyone sweats. It just has to be the right temperature."
Sydney closed her eyes. "One of the Rambaldi devices."
"One of the Rambaldi devices," said Karma in agreement.
"And what exactly does it do?" Her voice was softer in fear at what the answer might be.
"Heat wave."
"And how this genetic energy can be used to insert old memories into a "young mind"?"
Karma looked at her, a slight tinge of warning and concern entering them as she watched Sydney's response. "Rambaldi foresaw ASH… he wanted it. He manipulated his own DNA so that it became, and this sounds crazy I know, transferable."
Shaking her head, she laughed. Even if did sound a bit maniacal. "That's not possible."
She felt eyes snap onto hers, heating her up a bit from the intensity. "I'm sure that's exactly what Rambaldi's contemporaries said when they saw his drawing of the cell phone." Her response was clipped.
"So- what am I supposed to think? That this genetic code that it begotten from some machine that generates a heat wave which in turn causes sweat from a 6 year old girl… that you can transfer Rambaldi's memories INTO her???"
Karma sat back. "We think so."
Sydney's jaw clenched. "And my mother is the subordinate of Rambaldi. She founded the Apollyon Soul Harvest."
Her voice was resigned. "Now you know. Are you glad of it?"
"Yes. And no."
"Can you think clearly?"
"I've been asked this before. I've been questioned before. I've shot my own mother before and vice versa. I can do this."
But her emotions churned inside at the new information. It didn't even seem possible. Was it?
She stood up on somewhat steady legs and walked out of the room without saying goodbye. She didn't have the energy.
Opening the door to her room, she saw Michael lying so angelically on the bed and her heart conflicted with her. Here was the man who had hidden things from her. Here was the man who had protected her. Here was the man who loved her. Here was the man who probably, in some portion of his heart, feared her.
God, she loved him.
She moved closer, and then slipped into the bed. Turning to face him, she couldn't help tracing the lines of his face ever so softly with the tip of her finger. Making sure he was real. She drew her finger away, feeling a wetness there.
A bead of sweat.
tbc…
more?
tbc…
more?
I'm sorry that this chapter was so long and technical and probably godda*n boring but it had to be explained somewhere and I apologize again if this chapter was awful because I didn't even think about what I was going to write before I started… I do that a LOT I know…I should think and plan more… but I'm bad.
What can I say?
I hope that you stick around for the next chapter though… maybe I'll try to redeem myself with some more fluff or something?
[hangs head]
sorry.
-jenn