Ghosts

PsyOps

Disclaimer:
I do not own Alias; ABC, Bad Robot Productions and JJ Abrams do, and I give full acknowledgement of that (good work guys). I do not own and am not affiliated in any way, with the brands mentioned in this piece (such as Ford, BWM or Colt), more than likely I've used them because they're known, or because they're very nice bits of kit that I hope to have one day. Finally, I'm a student, don't sue me, I've got nothing worth taking.

Authors note:
Wow - been a long time since I last updated this story, so sorry for the wait!

Now, for all of you that wanted some Syd and Vaughn, here you go. Its not much, but it definitely shows how far a man is willing to go for his woman.

Time frame:
None - Just generally set after Sydney becomes a double agent.

"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Did you get the message?"
"Yes Jack I got the message"
"And"

Sloane hesitated a moment before answering - they'd been talking for over an hour now, and neither man showed any signs of letting up.

"The request is denied"

"What?!" Jack boomed

"Sydney is currently the highest placed agent at SD-6 that doesn't know the truth. Once we've eliminated this problem, she can take a month off"

Jack knew what he meant and just laughed at the statement. "With McCullagh I presume"

Sloane just looked down, gritting his teeth firmly.

"Sydney's starting to burn out - both of us can see the signs, and if she doesn't have at least a few days to get her head together she'll burn out permanently and be no use to either of us"

"Dammit, I don't care what she needs" Sloane blurted out, face red with rage "we need to fix this problem and fix it quickly - the alliance"

Jack slammed his knuckles down on Sloane's desk and cut him off. "I don't care about the alliance; I only care about the welfare of my daughter".
Both men knew they needed to cool off, so Jack immediately turned away and walked to the other end of the room - he knew that if he didn't keep his anger in check, he might just end up killing Arvin where he sat.

After a few minutes of silence, Jack had regained control. "Arvin, if you don't let her go for a few days, then you'll be tipping your hand to some of the other agents in this building and they might get suspicious"

"Security section can take care of them then" Arvin said, fuming in his seat

"What, all two hundred of them - security section would be outnumbered five to one, and who's to say that they would do as you asked?"
Jack finally turned towards Sloane, and walked over to the desk.

Leaning forward slightly, Jack said, in a quiet, composed manner "Let her go, just for a few days, then we can get back on track. If the alliance has a problem with it, just tell them to send in their own agents and see what happens."

While Sloane contemplated the offer, Jack poured two drinks for them, making sure to put Arvin's right in his line of sight, before quickly downing his own.

Sloane finally gave in. "Fine" he yelled "she can have three days off, but after that I need her back up to her usual self, working harder than she did before."

Grinning however faintly at the victory, Jack simply put the glass down and turned to leave.

As he got to the door, Sloane spoke up again. "Jack"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for watching my back"

Jack simply nodded before leaving, immediately making a beeline towards his own office.

U-stor Self Storage warehouse

They'd been sat there in silence for over an hour now, her just looking at the floor, not moving an inch, while he was just watching her, his face contorted with concern.

When she'd arrived, Sydney had collapsed into him, passing out momentarily under the emotional weight as the dam in her mind began to crack, as she was nearing the absolute limit of her mental endurance.

She looked up, to find herself safely cradled in his arms before letting go, as the dam burst and Sydney began to openly cry under the weight of recent events.
As she began to think about what happened, she just sobbed even more, and he just hugged her tighter in an effort to help her, even though he knew this was a battle only she could fight, but he had ever confidence she would win.

After half an hour, she stopped crying, and the pair just stood there in silence until his phone rang.

Easing her over, and into one of the seats, Vaughn turned to Sydney and looked her right in the eye as he spoke. "Sydney, I'm here, don't worry, nothing can hurt you - I just I just need to get this, ok?"

She just nodded, smiling weakly.

"Vaughn" he said, answering the call.
"Nine rings, jesus, what's going on out there?" it was Eric and his usual smart assed comments.
"Sydney's here, and she's in a bad way"
"How bad?"
"Very bad"
"Are you"
"Yeah"
"Alright, I'll tell Devlin that you're not going to be there"
"Thanks Eric"
"I'll chat to Martha, and have her cancel everything else, yeah?"
"Yeah Eric" Vaughn said, turning to Sydney who now had her head in her hands, sobbing every few seconds "and thanks. Look, I gotta go" and he hung up, making sure to turn the phone off before putting it back in his pocket.

Vaughn walked up to her, and calmly put his jacket over her shoulders before taking a seat next to her, making sure to talk to her all the while, comforting her as much as he could in an almost desperate attempt to make sure she wouldn't break down permanently.

There they had sat for another few minutes before they broke off, leading to where they were now.

As he looked down at his watch, she looked up at him.

"I don't think I don't think I can take this much more Vaughn" she said, between sobs
"I know Sydney, I know, just hang in there for a while longer ok?" he replied, as she sobbed some more.

On the table adjacent to them, her phone began to ring, and they both looked up at it.

Vaughn walked over, and tentatively picked it up - On the screen it said 'Dad'.

"It's your father, I think" he offered her the phone "I think you should answer it"

Shaking slightly, Sydney reached out for the phone, and just held it in her hand for a second or two before deciding to answer it.
"He... Hello?" she said, trying hard to cover up her emotions.
"Hello Sydney" it was her fathers' stoic voice "I'm just calling to let you know that Sloane has given you three days off from work"
Sydney almost burst out with tears again, but managed to hold them back just a little.
"Thank you dad" she said, her voice tingeing with emotion.
"Not a problem sweetheart, now you get some rest, ok"
"Will do, bye"
"Bye"

Sydney just looked up at him; eye's wide and puffy, as she spoke. "I've got three days off" was all she managed before sobbing again, falling off to the side, into his arms, dropping the phone to the floor.

As she fell forward, Vaughn was fast enough to catch her, and push her back into the chair, making her as comfy as possible, before dropping to a squat. "Thank god" he said, under his breath, before he rose up and made a phone call.

Somewhere in London

Sat in the stylishly decorated conference room, all twelve seats were filled with the respective heads of department, with the elderly man at the head of the table, and Mr Huntingdon at the foot.

They'd been there for what seemed like an age now, but in reality, they had barely been there five hours, discussing and planning the next few steps to be taken against SD-6, and now, the meeting was coming to a close.
There was only two more items to discuss, and both were of major importance to Commander Huntingdon and the continuation of the mission.

"Is that all we have to add on that subject?" the elderly man asked
"What about the Psych-Op?" Commander Huntingdon said, bluntly
"What do you mean?"
"How are we going to proceed with the Psych-Op?"
"Dr Williams?" the elderly man said, motioning for one of heads to lean forward.
"At this point, if our intelligence is correct, and has been reported correctly, we're having the desired effect on the targets" Dr Williams responded
"Which is?" Huntingdon asked
"Mental instability, emotional overload, limited ability to think coherently, the usual"
"Will it work?"
Looking down before answering, the Psychological Operation officer turned towards him "Under the right conditions, its usual effectiveness is 3 to 7 days, but there have already been late phase results, so it has been a lot more effective than usual. Short answer, yes"
"How long before the full effects are brought to bare?"
"As soon as the package arrives, there will be the normal confusion, but with the added note we sent, it should have more than the desired effect"
"And the end results?"
"Projected end result is that Ms Bristow has a complete mental collapse, which in turn starts to erode away at the morale and mental capacity of her co-workers, especially Mr Jack Bristow, her father, and Mr Michael Vaughn, a co-worker."
"And if it doesn't?" the elderly man asked
"If it doesn't then we can arrange for something else to happen that will weight slightly heavier on them" the Psychological Operations officer replied with a grin.