A/N: I'm not too pleased with how this came out, but I wanted to get it up ASAP
~*~*~*If Tomorrow Never Comes - Part 24*~*~*~
Liz surveyed the restaurant that she'd chosen to eat in. She'd asked the taxi driver his opinion on restaurants and he'd recommended this one. The food was great and the service was supposed to be impeccable. Not to mention value for money. It had won a bunch of awards in its three years and all the critics were raving about it. Seemed like the perfect choice.
And it was. The red of the walls were soothing and relaxing. It wasn't the bright red that gave you a headache, but a darker shade, which felt warm and inviting. The place wasn't packed, which was strange seeing as it was lunch, but Liz remembered the hoards of people eating out on the verandas under the big umbrellas. Liz suspected it got busier at dinner as it seemed like that type of restaurant.
"Hi, can I help you?" a young black woman asked as she came up to Liz's table. Liz realised she had the menu in her hands. The black woman cocked her head a little as Liz tried to think of something to say.
"Uhm…I'll have the…" Liz studied the menu before looking up at the waitress and grinning sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what to order. What's the chef's special?"
"That would be the catfish," Liz scrunched up her face. "Not a big fan of fish, huh?" the waitress asked with a smile. Liz shook her head.
"Do you do any sandwiches?" Liz asked looking over the menu again.
"It's on the other side of the menu," The waitress turned it over and pointed to the section where it was located.
"Thanks," Liz took a minute to go through the choices before setting it down and ordering. "I think I'll go for the toasted ham and cheese," The woman wrote it down. "But with pickles,"
"Pickles,"
"And no ham…"
"No ham,"
"Don't toast it either,"
"Untoasted. Is that all?" the woman asked. Liz thought for a second.
"And a coffee please," she said finally. The waitress wrote it down.
"So basically you want a cheese and pickle sandwich and a regular coffee?" Liz nodded.
"Sorry. I'm not good with making decisions," Liz excused.
"It's okay. You a tourist?" she asked. Liz nodded.
"You can tell?"
"Only a tourist would order a regular coffee. We have a million kinds here. Are you Australian or British? I can't quite place the accent,"
"I'm from Australia but I've been living in London the past eight or so years," she explained.
"What brings you to LA?"
"Business. Well, my friend's business. I'm just here for support," The waitress nodded. "I'm Elizabeth, by the way," she said, holding out her hand
"I'm Francie," she introduced. "I own the restaurant,"
"Why are you waitressing?"
"I like to do everything. Sometimes I man the bar, or cook and sometimes I waitress," Francie paused for a moment, "Listen, seeing as you're new here. How about you try a different type of coffee? Get a bit of variation in you?" Francie offered.
"I wouldn't know what to choose,"
"Here are our drinks. Chose one," Liz looked over the drink menu. There were a lot, but one caught her eye.
"A 'Sydney's Choice'? What's that?" Liz asked.
"Oh, it was named after my best friend. She loved the drink," Francie explained with a sad note. "She passed away two years ago. Her picture's up on that wall," Francie pointed to a wall with three pictures mounted on the top. One of a man with messy blonde hair, one of an elderly man and one of a younger, happier Sydney with long chestnut hair and a big grin on her face. Liz almost felt like crying.
"Who are the others?" Liz asked.
"The old man was a regular customer of mine. He died a few months back. The other guy is Will. He was other best friend. He passed away a few days before Sydney. I miss them a lot," Francie said softly, tears forming.
"I'm sorry," Liz said, feeling guilty. This was Sydney's best friend, who was under the impression that she was dead, while Liz was living with her.
"It's not your fault. Will died in a car accident and Syd…well; I don't know all the details. I don't *want* to know all the details. All I know is she was only recognisable from her dental records," Francie sighed. "Oh your sandwich. I'm sorry, I forgot. You don't want to listen to me drone on. It'll be with you in ten minutes," She said, wiping a few stray tears as she left.
Suddenly the sandwich didn't seem so appetising anymore. Liz glanced at the photos on the wall. Sydney looked happy, yet there was something in her eyes that told Liz she hadn't been completely happy. Sydney had never had any pictures of Will, Francie or her father. But on the way here, Sydney had shown Liz the picture of Vaughn she'd kept. Liz decided to ask Sydney about that later - when she got back to the hotel.
~*~*Ops Centre*~*~
A slight limp and a few bruises later, Vaughn strode into the Ops Centre. He ignored all the looks he got from other agents and walked up to Weiss, who was busy playing Tetris on his computer.
"Weiss!" Vaughn shouted. Weiss quickly exited the game and held his hands up in an 'I-wasn't-doing-anything' type gesture.
"Oh, it's only you," Weiss grumbled, "Y'know, I could have got a top score on that,"
"You can't even get past the first stage," Vaughn shot back before getting back to business, "Did Jack and Sydney come here?" he asked, Weiss nodded.
"10 minutes ago, they're waiting in your office," He told his friend, "Hey, what happened to you-" But Vaughn was already racing up the stairs to his office. Sydney and Jack both stood up respectfully when Vaughn entered the office.
"Are you both okay?" he asked looking both of them over for any injuries. He was taken aback when Sydney hugged him tightly.
"The building blew up just as we drove off. Thanks for the heads up," she said. Vaughn tried to smile, but the bruise near his face made it difficult and painful. Sydney cocked her head to the side. "What happened to your face?" she asked, motioning to the bruise.
"I ran into an SD-6 agent. Probably the one who bugged the room. I managed to knock her out and left her with the CIA agents we have at the hotel. They're trying to get as much information as possible and are de-bugging the room," he explained, moving away from Sydney as she tried to touch his bruise. "It's too dangerous to go back there. We're looking for Liz. We're not sure if she was taken. The SD-6 agent says she saw Liz leave the room of her own accord," Vaughn looked at Sydney who sighed heavily.
"What's the plan? Sydney, Liz and I are homeless," Jack sat down in a seat. Vaughn nodded thoughtfully and sat down in his chair. Sydney followed suit.
"Well, I guess you can stay at my apartment. I can make up the guest bedroom and you have a few suitcases there," Vaughn suggested, "As for Sydney and Be- Liz," Vaughn corrected, "I've made a call to put them into a safehouse a few miles from here. SD-6 are more likely to go after them, rather than you, Jack,"
"Wait, how come my dad can stay at your apartment and Liz and I have to stay in a house with people watching us?" Sydney exclaimed. She wasn't happy. She hated safehouses. They were creepy. There were cameras, and bugs and two-way mirrors.
"We need both of you in a close vicinity and we only have one safehouse currently available in LA," Vaughn explained. Jack excused himself, knowing it could get ugly.
"I don't want to stay in a safehouse!"
"Where else do you suggest? My apartment? Cos the last time we ever shared a place, things didn't go so well," Vaughn bit out, knowing he'd regret it later. Sydney chose to ignore the comment, but gave him a venomous stare.
"How about another hotel?"
"SD-6 could find you. They may know your aliases,"
"Change the alias and put us in another hotel with CIA security,"
"We did that last time and they still got to you,"
"I don't care! Make me live in a shoebox. I'm not going to stay in a safehouse!" Sydney crossed her arms and pouted. Vaughn grinned as best he could. "What?" she asked when she saw the crooked smile. He shook his head and tried to hide his smile, "No, seriously, what?" still no reply. "Are you going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you?" she threatened. Vaughn smiled again.
"It's just…you look cute…doing the pout…and then with the threat. You look adorable,"
"It's not *supposed* to be adorable," she muttered before breaking into a smile herself.
"Listen. I'll see what I can do. But for now, you'll have to stay in the safehouse. And I promise we'll try and make sure we disable the cameras inside to give you more privacy," he offered.
"Mike! Sydney!" and out-of-breath Weiss cried as he entered Vaughn's office, "I think we got a lead on Liz. Someone spotted her in Francie's restaurant half an hour ago," Sydney shuffled uncomfortably and managed an 'oh'.
"We need to get her here. Francie thinks Sydney's dead so that rules you out and Liz won't appreciate me there," Vaughn said. Sydney nodded and the two looked at Weiss.
"Who, me?" Weiss pointed to himself, "Nope. No way. The last thing I want to do is meet your sister again,"
"Again? Weiss met your sister before, yet you didn't mention it to me," Sydney grumbled.
"Weiss is my friend," off Sydney's unimpressed look, he added, "He's been my friend longer. He came to Liz's 21st with me,"
"Liz told me about that. What happened between you and her anyway," she told Vaughn.
"Well, Eric here didn't know she was my sister and tried chatting her up and she…"
"Punched him in the nose," Sydney finished off. "Liz told me about that". Sydney grinned.
"Oh great. She remembers me. If she hits me again, I'm never speaking to you again,"
"Does that mean you'll do it?" Vaughn asked hopefully. Weiss sighed, realising he'd let himself in for it. He nodded.
"But I'm warning you if she hits me…don't ever think I'll feed your dog for you again," he groaned, rubbing his nose as he remembered Liz's powerful left hook.
~*~*Francie's Restaurant*~*~
Liz finished off her sandwich and sighed contently. At that moment, Francie came over to collect her plate.
"Finished?" she asked. Liz nodded, chewing the remnants of the sandwich, "How was it?" Francie asked. Liz grinned.
"Best sandwich I've ever had," Francie grinned back. "And I think the awards on the wall will agree with me," Liz added.
"I like to know people enjoy the food. Do you want another?" Francie asked. Liz shook her head firmly.
"I don't think I could eat another bite, but I'm definitely coming here tomorrow,"
"Come tonight. Bring your friend along," Francie suggested. Liz gulped.
"I'm not sure. My friend…well, she didn't want me to leave the hotel," Francie's eyebrows went up.
"Wow, sounds strict," Liz shrugged.
"Not really. The business she does…it's dangerous," Liz said, before realising she may have said too much. Fortunately, someone called Francie, before she could reply. Francie waved them over.
"Liz, this is my friend," Liz held out her hand to the red head woman. "And this is Liz, a new customer," Francie introduced.
"Amy Tippin," the woman said, sliding into the seat next to Francie.
"Amy is Will's sister. She's been great since he and Sydney died," Liz looked at Amy, there was something about her that gave Liz the impression she was far from great. Amy just smiled sweetly. The three began to chat. Francie had to take a few more orders and left Amy and Liz. Liz noticed Amy asked a lot of questions.
Too many.
"So, what does your friend do for a living?" Amy asked. Liz stumbled for words and Amy tapped impatiently for the answer. Then Amy's cell rang, Liz breathed a sigh of relief as Amy excused herself and went towards the bathroom.
"Uh, excuse me," Liz turned to see a slightly plump man in a suit standing behind her. "Are you Elizabeth?"
"Yes, and you are…?"
"I need you to come with me," Liz resisted, knowing he was avoiding the question.
"I don't think so," she said, trying to get Amy's attention. The man groaned as he realised what Liz was doing.
"Don't do that. That woman is dangerous. I need to get you out of here," Liz stopped waving to Amy but refused to come. "My name is Eric Weiss. I'm CIA," he said in a whisper only Liz could hear.
"Prove it," Liz said, looking at him in the eye.
"You have a brother called Michael Vaughn, you know Sydney Bristow and you punched me in the nose at your 21st birthday party," Weiss threw some bills on the table to pay for her meal.
"I knew I'd seen you somewhere-"
"Let's go," Weiss said, pulling her away. Amy had ended her call and had seen them and was making her way over, a furious look on her face. Liz followed Weiss, who led her by the arm to his car, in a nearby alley.
"Where are we going?" she asked as she climbed into the black car.
"The CIA. Mike and Sydney are waiting there," he explained as he belted up and started the engine. "Sorry for the way I dragged you away like that. Amy isn't one of the nicest people," Weiss apologised.
"She seemed nice enough," Liz said, "A little inquisitive, but who isn't?" Weiss looked at her.
"Well, seeing as she's killed about 5 of our agents, helped to kill her own brother and tried to kill Sydney, I think it's safe to say she's not going to be on my Christmas card list this year," Liz grinned at his wry humour.
"What happened between Sydney and Michael?" Liz asked after a minute of so. Weiss shrugged.
"I don't know. Mike hasn't said anything. They used to get on well, but a couple of years ago they were in a safehouse in Mongolia or something. When Mike woke up, she was gone. I don't know what happened. I guess learning that Amy was working for SD-6 shook Sydney up," Weiss glanced at Liz, "You know what SD-6 is, right?" Liz nodded.
"Sydney explained it to me on the way here. Didn't tell me why she'd left, though," she sighed and the two fell into a comfortable silence for about five minutes. Weiss looked at her when they came to the traffic lights. She was staring at him, intently.
"What?" he asked. She shrugged and went back to looking at the road, "No, seriously, what?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering if I had broken your nose when I punched you that time. It looks a little bumpy if you don't mind me saying,"
"Well, I do mind and you didn't break my nose. You just bruised it…a lot," Weiss said bitterly.
"I could never throw a punch. I hear Sydney must have some moves though, being a spy and everything,"
"Oh yeah. She could kick our asses any day. Once, she took out three burly guards bare-handed," Liz smiled at the mental image. She glanced out of the window, just as they drove past her hotel.
"Hey, look, there's my hotel. Can I go and pick some stuff up?" She asked. Weiss shook his head. "Sorry. When you left the room, a 'maid' bugged it. SD-6 heard where Sydney was and so we had to de-bug the room and move you both to a safer house. But you'll get all you're stuff once it's checked," he reassured
"They check my stuff?" Liz said in disbelief. "Like, go through all my personal items like my diary and underwear?" she exclaimed. Weiss went a bit red at the last part but tried not to show it.
"They're not going to read your diary. Just check for any tracking devices and bugs. We have to be careful,"
"I should never have left the hotel. I should have listened to Sydney. I've ruined everything!"
"Hey, don't sweat it. It's actually a good thing you left. If you'd been in there when the maid came, God knows what would have happened. In a way, you did the right thing," Weiss rubbed her arm as he parked the car. "We're here," he said as they both got out.
"Mr Bristow!" Weiss called as he led Liz through the Ops Centre. The agent turned around. "I got Elizabeth,"
"Hello, Elizabeth. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Sydney's father, Jack,"
"Call me Liz. Both of you," she said. They both nodded.
"Where are Sydney and Mike?" Weiss asked.
"I'm not sure. They were arguing in his office a few minutes ago, probably still there now," He joked, which was a bit out of character for him, Weiss noticed. "I think they went to the Sparring Room. I'll take Liz there now. Weiss, would you mind getting a coffee for the lady?" Jack asked. Weiss nodded and left as Jack took Liz to the Sparring Room.
~*~*Sparring Room*~*~
Vaughn turned his attention from watching Sydney training through the two-way mirror, when he heard the door open. He looked relieved as he saw his sister. "You're here. We were looking for you," Liz muttered an apology.
"How's Sydney doing?" Jack asked. The three watched as the girl in question hit the punching bag violently and threw in a few kicks too.
"She's going well. She seems to have retained all of her skills and quick too. We'll see how she is with a gun and Op Tech before we do anything else. I think she's almost there,"
"Is that good?"
"The sooner she's ready, the better," Vaughn replied. "Although I don't think she should see any members of SD-6 until she's seen Barnett," Jack agreed.
"Who's Barnett?" Liz asked. Vaughn told her, "Wow. With all the stuff spies have to do, it's no wonder why you have a psychiatrist in the building. I guess it's good money too. Listening to people's secrets while you analyse them and dish out some pretty useless crap," Liz said. Jack and Vaughn looked at each other. She saw their looks "I'm just saying,"
"Anyway," Vaughn took the focus off his little sister, "I don't think she should see Amy especially,"
"I know Amy," Liz interrupted, "I saw her today at the restaurant I was at," Liz took her eyes off Sydney.
"Amy Tippin? Big red hair?" Vaughn asked. Liz nodded.
"Weiss said she was dangerous," Jack and Vaughn looked at each other.
"Liz, did you say anything about Sydney to Amy?" Jack asked.
"No, I'm not stupid!" Liz scoffed, "I know to keep the CIA a secret," she whispered.
"Beth, you don't have to whisper that last part when we're in the CIA," Liz gave him a look and turned to Sydney, who had taken a break.
"Liz, why don't you go talk to Sydney. I'm sure she'd be pleased to see you," Vaughn said. Liz nodded, more than happy to go and see her friend.
"We need to act fast. Not only does SD-6 know Sydney is back, they also know what Liz looks like and that she's with us," Vaughn said.
"I agree. They must know we're going to do something and since my cover there is blown, we have no inside knowledge,"
"What about that paperclip bug we planted in Sloane's office?" Vaughn questioned. Jack shook his head.
"No. I saw Sloane use it for his tax forms. Unless we want intel on the IRS, it's useless,"
"Do you think we need to recruit someone new from inside SD-6?"
"Dixon?" Jack suggested. Vaughn shook his head.
"No, he thinks Sydney is dead. It'll be too much for him. I think we should go for someone close to Sloane. Someone that can hurt him,"
"Amy?" The agents reached a mutual agreement, "Who should we send?"
"How about me?" Sydney replied as she caught the tail-end of the conversation, "I think I'm ready to take her, plus, I want to pay her a little visit,"
~*~*SD-6*~*~
Amy strode into Sloane's office. "You called me?" she asked. Sloane urged her in and told her to sit down,"
"We lost an agent today," Sloane reclined in his seat, "She was captured by one of the agents working for Jack and Sydney. The one you said you encountered in Mongolia,"
"I know, sir," Amy apologised, "And I'm sorry-"
"*You're* sorry?" Sloane cut her off, "Do you know what this has done?" he raised his voice a bit higher. Amy opened her mouth to speak, "The sanctity of this agent depends on the agents and their loyalty,"
"It wasn't because she wasn't loyal!" Amy butted in, "Sydney is back, meaning they are more powerful. I guess Edelson wasn't prepared for it,"
"Agent Edelson was *your* partner. *Your* responsibility. Not SD-6's," Sloane looked at Amy, who glared at him.
"Forgive me for saying this, but I believe we could have prevented this," Sloane allowed the young agent to continue, "If we had eliminated the Bristows, there would be no threat to SD-6, CIA or us!"
"And whose job was it to eliminate Sydney?" he reminded her.
"That was a mistake, sir. They had help and I was on my own. But we could have taken Mr Bristow at any time. But we didn't,"
"That's different. Jack was my best friend. I was working at his weaknesses -his wife and daughter being one of them,"
"Will was my brother and Sydney was one of my best friends. Why couldn't I have done that to them?" Amy retorted. She knew she wasn't supposed to, but she couldn't help it. Sloane stared at her.
"Are you questioning my orders? Do you really believe you know better?" Amy looked downcast at the floor.
"I'm sorry, Mr Sloane. But I don't get your way of working," Sloane looked at her.
"Agent Tippin, while you are here arguing with me, what do you think the Bristows are doing? You are wasting precious time. Time we do not have and we have already lost one agent that could cripple us. I was you to go out and find Sydney Bristow," Amy nodded and silently got up. As she was about to leave, Sloane stopped her. "Amy?" she turned to look at him.
"Yes, sir?"
"When you find her, I want you to kill her. No more mistakes. This is for your brother. For the country," Amy nodded and left.
Amy walked out of the Credit Dauphine building and went to the parking lot. She had to get Sydney Bristow and she knew exactly where to start. She climbed into her car and sat down. Sighing, she positioned the rear-view mirror. As she glanced at it through the corner of her eye, she noticed something. Before she could see what it was, a pair of arms flew up, grabbing hold of Amy's neck.
"Hi, miss me?" Sydney asked as she injected something into her friend's neck.
~*~*~*~*~
TBC…
~*~*~*If Tomorrow Never Comes - Part 24*~*~*~
Liz surveyed the restaurant that she'd chosen to eat in. She'd asked the taxi driver his opinion on restaurants and he'd recommended this one. The food was great and the service was supposed to be impeccable. Not to mention value for money. It had won a bunch of awards in its three years and all the critics were raving about it. Seemed like the perfect choice.
And it was. The red of the walls were soothing and relaxing. It wasn't the bright red that gave you a headache, but a darker shade, which felt warm and inviting. The place wasn't packed, which was strange seeing as it was lunch, but Liz remembered the hoards of people eating out on the verandas under the big umbrellas. Liz suspected it got busier at dinner as it seemed like that type of restaurant.
"Hi, can I help you?" a young black woman asked as she came up to Liz's table. Liz realised she had the menu in her hands. The black woman cocked her head a little as Liz tried to think of something to say.
"Uhm…I'll have the…" Liz studied the menu before looking up at the waitress and grinning sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I have no idea what to order. What's the chef's special?"
"That would be the catfish," Liz scrunched up her face. "Not a big fan of fish, huh?" the waitress asked with a smile. Liz shook her head.
"Do you do any sandwiches?" Liz asked looking over the menu again.
"It's on the other side of the menu," The waitress turned it over and pointed to the section where it was located.
"Thanks," Liz took a minute to go through the choices before setting it down and ordering. "I think I'll go for the toasted ham and cheese," The woman wrote it down. "But with pickles,"
"Pickles,"
"And no ham…"
"No ham,"
"Don't toast it either,"
"Untoasted. Is that all?" the woman asked. Liz thought for a second.
"And a coffee please," she said finally. The waitress wrote it down.
"So basically you want a cheese and pickle sandwich and a regular coffee?" Liz nodded.
"Sorry. I'm not good with making decisions," Liz excused.
"It's okay. You a tourist?" she asked. Liz nodded.
"You can tell?"
"Only a tourist would order a regular coffee. We have a million kinds here. Are you Australian or British? I can't quite place the accent,"
"I'm from Australia but I've been living in London the past eight or so years," she explained.
"What brings you to LA?"
"Business. Well, my friend's business. I'm just here for support," The waitress nodded. "I'm Elizabeth, by the way," she said, holding out her hand
"I'm Francie," she introduced. "I own the restaurant,"
"Why are you waitressing?"
"I like to do everything. Sometimes I man the bar, or cook and sometimes I waitress," Francie paused for a moment, "Listen, seeing as you're new here. How about you try a different type of coffee? Get a bit of variation in you?" Francie offered.
"I wouldn't know what to choose,"
"Here are our drinks. Chose one," Liz looked over the drink menu. There were a lot, but one caught her eye.
"A 'Sydney's Choice'? What's that?" Liz asked.
"Oh, it was named after my best friend. She loved the drink," Francie explained with a sad note. "She passed away two years ago. Her picture's up on that wall," Francie pointed to a wall with three pictures mounted on the top. One of a man with messy blonde hair, one of an elderly man and one of a younger, happier Sydney with long chestnut hair and a big grin on her face. Liz almost felt like crying.
"Who are the others?" Liz asked.
"The old man was a regular customer of mine. He died a few months back. The other guy is Will. He was other best friend. He passed away a few days before Sydney. I miss them a lot," Francie said softly, tears forming.
"I'm sorry," Liz said, feeling guilty. This was Sydney's best friend, who was under the impression that she was dead, while Liz was living with her.
"It's not your fault. Will died in a car accident and Syd…well; I don't know all the details. I don't *want* to know all the details. All I know is she was only recognisable from her dental records," Francie sighed. "Oh your sandwich. I'm sorry, I forgot. You don't want to listen to me drone on. It'll be with you in ten minutes," She said, wiping a few stray tears as she left.
Suddenly the sandwich didn't seem so appetising anymore. Liz glanced at the photos on the wall. Sydney looked happy, yet there was something in her eyes that told Liz she hadn't been completely happy. Sydney had never had any pictures of Will, Francie or her father. But on the way here, Sydney had shown Liz the picture of Vaughn she'd kept. Liz decided to ask Sydney about that later - when she got back to the hotel.
~*~*Ops Centre*~*~
A slight limp and a few bruises later, Vaughn strode into the Ops Centre. He ignored all the looks he got from other agents and walked up to Weiss, who was busy playing Tetris on his computer.
"Weiss!" Vaughn shouted. Weiss quickly exited the game and held his hands up in an 'I-wasn't-doing-anything' type gesture.
"Oh, it's only you," Weiss grumbled, "Y'know, I could have got a top score on that,"
"You can't even get past the first stage," Vaughn shot back before getting back to business, "Did Jack and Sydney come here?" he asked, Weiss nodded.
"10 minutes ago, they're waiting in your office," He told his friend, "Hey, what happened to you-" But Vaughn was already racing up the stairs to his office. Sydney and Jack both stood up respectfully when Vaughn entered the office.
"Are you both okay?" he asked looking both of them over for any injuries. He was taken aback when Sydney hugged him tightly.
"The building blew up just as we drove off. Thanks for the heads up," she said. Vaughn tried to smile, but the bruise near his face made it difficult and painful. Sydney cocked her head to the side. "What happened to your face?" she asked, motioning to the bruise.
"I ran into an SD-6 agent. Probably the one who bugged the room. I managed to knock her out and left her with the CIA agents we have at the hotel. They're trying to get as much information as possible and are de-bugging the room," he explained, moving away from Sydney as she tried to touch his bruise. "It's too dangerous to go back there. We're looking for Liz. We're not sure if she was taken. The SD-6 agent says she saw Liz leave the room of her own accord," Vaughn looked at Sydney who sighed heavily.
"What's the plan? Sydney, Liz and I are homeless," Jack sat down in a seat. Vaughn nodded thoughtfully and sat down in his chair. Sydney followed suit.
"Well, I guess you can stay at my apartment. I can make up the guest bedroom and you have a few suitcases there," Vaughn suggested, "As for Sydney and Be- Liz," Vaughn corrected, "I've made a call to put them into a safehouse a few miles from here. SD-6 are more likely to go after them, rather than you, Jack,"
"Wait, how come my dad can stay at your apartment and Liz and I have to stay in a house with people watching us?" Sydney exclaimed. She wasn't happy. She hated safehouses. They were creepy. There were cameras, and bugs and two-way mirrors.
"We need both of you in a close vicinity and we only have one safehouse currently available in LA," Vaughn explained. Jack excused himself, knowing it could get ugly.
"I don't want to stay in a safehouse!"
"Where else do you suggest? My apartment? Cos the last time we ever shared a place, things didn't go so well," Vaughn bit out, knowing he'd regret it later. Sydney chose to ignore the comment, but gave him a venomous stare.
"How about another hotel?"
"SD-6 could find you. They may know your aliases,"
"Change the alias and put us in another hotel with CIA security,"
"We did that last time and they still got to you,"
"I don't care! Make me live in a shoebox. I'm not going to stay in a safehouse!" Sydney crossed her arms and pouted. Vaughn grinned as best he could. "What?" she asked when she saw the crooked smile. He shook his head and tried to hide his smile, "No, seriously, what?" still no reply. "Are you going to tell me or do I have to beat it out of you?" she threatened. Vaughn smiled again.
"It's just…you look cute…doing the pout…and then with the threat. You look adorable,"
"It's not *supposed* to be adorable," she muttered before breaking into a smile herself.
"Listen. I'll see what I can do. But for now, you'll have to stay in the safehouse. And I promise we'll try and make sure we disable the cameras inside to give you more privacy," he offered.
"Mike! Sydney!" and out-of-breath Weiss cried as he entered Vaughn's office, "I think we got a lead on Liz. Someone spotted her in Francie's restaurant half an hour ago," Sydney shuffled uncomfortably and managed an 'oh'.
"We need to get her here. Francie thinks Sydney's dead so that rules you out and Liz won't appreciate me there," Vaughn said. Sydney nodded and the two looked at Weiss.
"Who, me?" Weiss pointed to himself, "Nope. No way. The last thing I want to do is meet your sister again,"
"Again? Weiss met your sister before, yet you didn't mention it to me," Sydney grumbled.
"Weiss is my friend," off Sydney's unimpressed look, he added, "He's been my friend longer. He came to Liz's 21st with me,"
"Liz told me about that. What happened between you and her anyway," she told Vaughn.
"Well, Eric here didn't know she was my sister and tried chatting her up and she…"
"Punched him in the nose," Sydney finished off. "Liz told me about that". Sydney grinned.
"Oh great. She remembers me. If she hits me again, I'm never speaking to you again,"
"Does that mean you'll do it?" Vaughn asked hopefully. Weiss sighed, realising he'd let himself in for it. He nodded.
"But I'm warning you if she hits me…don't ever think I'll feed your dog for you again," he groaned, rubbing his nose as he remembered Liz's powerful left hook.
~*~*Francie's Restaurant*~*~
Liz finished off her sandwich and sighed contently. At that moment, Francie came over to collect her plate.
"Finished?" she asked. Liz nodded, chewing the remnants of the sandwich, "How was it?" Francie asked. Liz grinned.
"Best sandwich I've ever had," Francie grinned back. "And I think the awards on the wall will agree with me," Liz added.
"I like to know people enjoy the food. Do you want another?" Francie asked. Liz shook her head firmly.
"I don't think I could eat another bite, but I'm definitely coming here tomorrow,"
"Come tonight. Bring your friend along," Francie suggested. Liz gulped.
"I'm not sure. My friend…well, she didn't want me to leave the hotel," Francie's eyebrows went up.
"Wow, sounds strict," Liz shrugged.
"Not really. The business she does…it's dangerous," Liz said, before realising she may have said too much. Fortunately, someone called Francie, before she could reply. Francie waved them over.
"Liz, this is my friend," Liz held out her hand to the red head woman. "And this is Liz, a new customer," Francie introduced.
"Amy Tippin," the woman said, sliding into the seat next to Francie.
"Amy is Will's sister. She's been great since he and Sydney died," Liz looked at Amy, there was something about her that gave Liz the impression she was far from great. Amy just smiled sweetly. The three began to chat. Francie had to take a few more orders and left Amy and Liz. Liz noticed Amy asked a lot of questions.
Too many.
"So, what does your friend do for a living?" Amy asked. Liz stumbled for words and Amy tapped impatiently for the answer. Then Amy's cell rang, Liz breathed a sigh of relief as Amy excused herself and went towards the bathroom.
"Uh, excuse me," Liz turned to see a slightly plump man in a suit standing behind her. "Are you Elizabeth?"
"Yes, and you are…?"
"I need you to come with me," Liz resisted, knowing he was avoiding the question.
"I don't think so," she said, trying to get Amy's attention. The man groaned as he realised what Liz was doing.
"Don't do that. That woman is dangerous. I need to get you out of here," Liz stopped waving to Amy but refused to come. "My name is Eric Weiss. I'm CIA," he said in a whisper only Liz could hear.
"Prove it," Liz said, looking at him in the eye.
"You have a brother called Michael Vaughn, you know Sydney Bristow and you punched me in the nose at your 21st birthday party," Weiss threw some bills on the table to pay for her meal.
"I knew I'd seen you somewhere-"
"Let's go," Weiss said, pulling her away. Amy had ended her call and had seen them and was making her way over, a furious look on her face. Liz followed Weiss, who led her by the arm to his car, in a nearby alley.
"Where are we going?" she asked as she climbed into the black car.
"The CIA. Mike and Sydney are waiting there," he explained as he belted up and started the engine. "Sorry for the way I dragged you away like that. Amy isn't one of the nicest people," Weiss apologised.
"She seemed nice enough," Liz said, "A little inquisitive, but who isn't?" Weiss looked at her.
"Well, seeing as she's killed about 5 of our agents, helped to kill her own brother and tried to kill Sydney, I think it's safe to say she's not going to be on my Christmas card list this year," Liz grinned at his wry humour.
"What happened between Sydney and Michael?" Liz asked after a minute of so. Weiss shrugged.
"I don't know. Mike hasn't said anything. They used to get on well, but a couple of years ago they were in a safehouse in Mongolia or something. When Mike woke up, she was gone. I don't know what happened. I guess learning that Amy was working for SD-6 shook Sydney up," Weiss glanced at Liz, "You know what SD-6 is, right?" Liz nodded.
"Sydney explained it to me on the way here. Didn't tell me why she'd left, though," she sighed and the two fell into a comfortable silence for about five minutes. Weiss looked at her when they came to the traffic lights. She was staring at him, intently.
"What?" he asked. She shrugged and went back to looking at the road, "No, seriously, what?"
"Nothing. I was just wondering if I had broken your nose when I punched you that time. It looks a little bumpy if you don't mind me saying,"
"Well, I do mind and you didn't break my nose. You just bruised it…a lot," Weiss said bitterly.
"I could never throw a punch. I hear Sydney must have some moves though, being a spy and everything,"
"Oh yeah. She could kick our asses any day. Once, she took out three burly guards bare-handed," Liz smiled at the mental image. She glanced out of the window, just as they drove past her hotel.
"Hey, look, there's my hotel. Can I go and pick some stuff up?" She asked. Weiss shook his head. "Sorry. When you left the room, a 'maid' bugged it. SD-6 heard where Sydney was and so we had to de-bug the room and move you both to a safer house. But you'll get all you're stuff once it's checked," he reassured
"They check my stuff?" Liz said in disbelief. "Like, go through all my personal items like my diary and underwear?" she exclaimed. Weiss went a bit red at the last part but tried not to show it.
"They're not going to read your diary. Just check for any tracking devices and bugs. We have to be careful,"
"I should never have left the hotel. I should have listened to Sydney. I've ruined everything!"
"Hey, don't sweat it. It's actually a good thing you left. If you'd been in there when the maid came, God knows what would have happened. In a way, you did the right thing," Weiss rubbed her arm as he parked the car. "We're here," he said as they both got out.
"Mr Bristow!" Weiss called as he led Liz through the Ops Centre. The agent turned around. "I got Elizabeth,"
"Hello, Elizabeth. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm Sydney's father, Jack,"
"Call me Liz. Both of you," she said. They both nodded.
"Where are Sydney and Mike?" Weiss asked.
"I'm not sure. They were arguing in his office a few minutes ago, probably still there now," He joked, which was a bit out of character for him, Weiss noticed. "I think they went to the Sparring Room. I'll take Liz there now. Weiss, would you mind getting a coffee for the lady?" Jack asked. Weiss nodded and left as Jack took Liz to the Sparring Room.
~*~*Sparring Room*~*~
Vaughn turned his attention from watching Sydney training through the two-way mirror, when he heard the door open. He looked relieved as he saw his sister. "You're here. We were looking for you," Liz muttered an apology.
"How's Sydney doing?" Jack asked. The three watched as the girl in question hit the punching bag violently and threw in a few kicks too.
"She's going well. She seems to have retained all of her skills and quick too. We'll see how she is with a gun and Op Tech before we do anything else. I think she's almost there,"
"Is that good?"
"The sooner she's ready, the better," Vaughn replied. "Although I don't think she should see any members of SD-6 until she's seen Barnett," Jack agreed.
"Who's Barnett?" Liz asked. Vaughn told her, "Wow. With all the stuff spies have to do, it's no wonder why you have a psychiatrist in the building. I guess it's good money too. Listening to people's secrets while you analyse them and dish out some pretty useless crap," Liz said. Jack and Vaughn looked at each other. She saw their looks "I'm just saying,"
"Anyway," Vaughn took the focus off his little sister, "I don't think she should see Amy especially,"
"I know Amy," Liz interrupted, "I saw her today at the restaurant I was at," Liz took her eyes off Sydney.
"Amy Tippin? Big red hair?" Vaughn asked. Liz nodded.
"Weiss said she was dangerous," Jack and Vaughn looked at each other.
"Liz, did you say anything about Sydney to Amy?" Jack asked.
"No, I'm not stupid!" Liz scoffed, "I know to keep the CIA a secret," she whispered.
"Beth, you don't have to whisper that last part when we're in the CIA," Liz gave him a look and turned to Sydney, who had taken a break.
"Liz, why don't you go talk to Sydney. I'm sure she'd be pleased to see you," Vaughn said. Liz nodded, more than happy to go and see her friend.
"We need to act fast. Not only does SD-6 know Sydney is back, they also know what Liz looks like and that she's with us," Vaughn said.
"I agree. They must know we're going to do something and since my cover there is blown, we have no inside knowledge,"
"What about that paperclip bug we planted in Sloane's office?" Vaughn questioned. Jack shook his head.
"No. I saw Sloane use it for his tax forms. Unless we want intel on the IRS, it's useless,"
"Do you think we need to recruit someone new from inside SD-6?"
"Dixon?" Jack suggested. Vaughn shook his head.
"No, he thinks Sydney is dead. It'll be too much for him. I think we should go for someone close to Sloane. Someone that can hurt him,"
"Amy?" The agents reached a mutual agreement, "Who should we send?"
"How about me?" Sydney replied as she caught the tail-end of the conversation, "I think I'm ready to take her, plus, I want to pay her a little visit,"
~*~*SD-6*~*~
Amy strode into Sloane's office. "You called me?" she asked. Sloane urged her in and told her to sit down,"
"We lost an agent today," Sloane reclined in his seat, "She was captured by one of the agents working for Jack and Sydney. The one you said you encountered in Mongolia,"
"I know, sir," Amy apologised, "And I'm sorry-"
"*You're* sorry?" Sloane cut her off, "Do you know what this has done?" he raised his voice a bit higher. Amy opened her mouth to speak, "The sanctity of this agent depends on the agents and their loyalty,"
"It wasn't because she wasn't loyal!" Amy butted in, "Sydney is back, meaning they are more powerful. I guess Edelson wasn't prepared for it,"
"Agent Edelson was *your* partner. *Your* responsibility. Not SD-6's," Sloane looked at Amy, who glared at him.
"Forgive me for saying this, but I believe we could have prevented this," Sloane allowed the young agent to continue, "If we had eliminated the Bristows, there would be no threat to SD-6, CIA or us!"
"And whose job was it to eliminate Sydney?" he reminded her.
"That was a mistake, sir. They had help and I was on my own. But we could have taken Mr Bristow at any time. But we didn't,"
"That's different. Jack was my best friend. I was working at his weaknesses -his wife and daughter being one of them,"
"Will was my brother and Sydney was one of my best friends. Why couldn't I have done that to them?" Amy retorted. She knew she wasn't supposed to, but she couldn't help it. Sloane stared at her.
"Are you questioning my orders? Do you really believe you know better?" Amy looked downcast at the floor.
"I'm sorry, Mr Sloane. But I don't get your way of working," Sloane looked at her.
"Agent Tippin, while you are here arguing with me, what do you think the Bristows are doing? You are wasting precious time. Time we do not have and we have already lost one agent that could cripple us. I was you to go out and find Sydney Bristow," Amy nodded and silently got up. As she was about to leave, Sloane stopped her. "Amy?" she turned to look at him.
"Yes, sir?"
"When you find her, I want you to kill her. No more mistakes. This is for your brother. For the country," Amy nodded and left.
Amy walked out of the Credit Dauphine building and went to the parking lot. She had to get Sydney Bristow and she knew exactly where to start. She climbed into her car and sat down. Sighing, she positioned the rear-view mirror. As she glanced at it through the corner of her eye, she noticed something. Before she could see what it was, a pair of arms flew up, grabbing hold of Amy's neck.
"Hi, miss me?" Sydney asked as she injected something into her friend's neck.
~*~*~*~*~
TBC…