Title: The Test
Author: Jenn
Rating: PG
Summary: Alternate Universe; syd and vaughn meet in a totally different way~


Chapter 3



"Are the props in place?"

Agent Kelly looked up. "Yes they are. But are you sure that the puzzles are difficult enough? They are two of our top potential agents."

The man glared at her. "They're fine."

----

"Miss Stevens?"

Syd turned, smiling, at the sound of Adam Keeley's voice. "Lily's fine, sir."

Vaughn furrowed his brow. "I wasn't asking if you were all right, Miss Stevens, I was just wondering if you knew where the Smith file wa-"

Sydney laughed. "No, I meant that you could call my 'Lily'. It's fine. I don't like Miss Stevens, it's a little too early for me to be a Miss-something rather than just my first name."

He smiled. "Well, I'm not that much older than you are. I don't think that I qualify for a "sir"... and I don't really like "Mr. Keeley" too much either. Adam's fine." He flushed, hearing his own rambling echoing incessantly throughout his head. Vaughn you LOSER. Lily winked at him.

"I'm glad you're fine. I'm doing well myself."

Handing him the Smith file from the pile she held in her arms, she turned back towards the cabinet, storing the others inside, half hoping that he would leave so that she could head upstairs, half wishing that he would stay.

He hesitated, wondering whether he was supposed to stay or not, finally deciding to back away into his office. "Well... I'll see you around..."

She turned as if she wasn't expecting him to still be behind her. "Sure, okay."

Nodding, he turned and left, cursing his nonexistent eloquence.

As soon as the footsteps had receded, she turned quickly to make sure that no one was there before moving quickly to her desk and opening the Rachele Lingram file.


"There will be a file marked "Rachele Lingram". Open it. You'll see your instructions on Page 47. Take the page with you and destroy it after you attain the document. Take a picture of it and then put it back-"

"What? Put it back?" Her voice was incredulous. "Why couldn't I just take it, sir? Wouldn't it be the best course of action not to merely attain the document for ourselves but to keep the information away from the enemy as we-"

"Agent Bristow. I am your handler in this matter and I know full well what I am doing. You are in a position of vulnerability. You have no power, no reputation, absolutely nothing making you special except perhaps your happy-go-lucky smile and your ability to make the perfect coffee in the morning. We need you there. And we can't afford to lost the position that you have within that firm. Is that clear?"

Sydney gulped, eyes widening slightly at the harsh tone.

"Crystal clear, sir."

The words were soft.

She flipped through the pages, finding page 47.

hp y[ yjr tohjy vsnomry/
imfrt yjr gotdy ftsert yjrtr djoulf nr s gs;dr npyypm
pmve p[rmrf. upi djpilf gomf s npc/
og omyr; od vpttrvy. yjrtr eo;; nr s gpit fohoy vpfr mrrfrf om ptgrt yp prm yjr npc smf trytorbr yjr fpvi,rmyd.

What the hell is this?

She looked at the unfamiliar words, trying to comprehend their meaning.

Footsteps passed by and she hurriedly grabbed a highlighter, seemingly checking for important dates.

Okay... it's a code of some kind. But what kind?

----

Michael Vaughn sat at his desk, pushing all thoughts of Lily Stevens out of his head. Instead, he took off his tie and shrugged off his jacket, mentally preparing himself for his first assignment.

Pressing his ear against the door, he waited.

And heard nothing on the other side.

"Agent Vaughn, as you know, Barnard and King has a vast quantity of dealings in the Middle East and Asia especially with China. Because of the large quantities of Rambaldi artifacts and documents that China has in its posession, Barnard has been able to secure an understanding between himself and the Chinese Shao Kwang."

"Shao Kwang?"

"An independent intelligence group found on the outskirts of Taiwan, specializing in the accumulation of highly desired imformation and the selling of it on the black market for ridiculous prices."

"Ah."

"Barnard and King has now in their posession, a document which has been bought from Shao Kwang, enlisting the details of Rambaldi's ideas on cell division. A CIA operative was able to spread the document with a liquid tracking device which tells us that it's on the twelfth floor of the building."

"I can't believe that everyone is scrambling for the doodles of a man that died more than 500 years ago."

"And yet you are now one of them."

He opened his office door, noting the emptiness of the halls, how everyone seemed to leave as soon as the clock ticked 7.


Walking to the elevator, he took it to the twelfth floor and took out the small device from his pocket.

-----

GodDAMNit, how the hell am I supposed to decipher this? They just couldn't use confusing legal jargon.

She tapped her fingers impatiently on the desk, stealing a glance at the clock. 7:10. Most everyone had left already. There was only a dim light shining through the crack of Adam Keeley's office.

And that's when her keys hit her keyboard.

She gasped mentally before taking a look at the code once more... the way that the symbols held no reasonable pattern... the way that they all seemed to be completely unrelated to their true identity... except on the keyboard.

She looked at the first word.

hp

h... was surrounded by the letters t,y,u,j,n,b,g
p... was surrounded by the ketters l,o

the only word that made sense was... go

It was a keyboard pattern.

One letter off.

Quickly grabbing the paper, she ran, deciphering the message in her head as she scrambled for the elevator.

hp y[ yjr tohjy vsnomry/
imfrt yjr gotdy ftsert yjrtr djoulf nr s gs;dr npyyp,
pmve p[rmrf. upi djpilf gomf s npc/
og omyr; od vpttrvy. yjrtr eo;; nr s gpit fohoy vpfr mrrfrf om ptgrt yp prm yjr npc smf trytorbr yjr fpvi,rmyd.

go to the right cabinet.
under the first drawer there should be a fake bottom
once opened, you should find a box.
if intel is correct, there will be a four digit code needed to open to the box
and retrieve the document.

"The document be located on the twelfth floor."

"Do I need to take any precatutions with cameras?"

The man looked at her. "We'll take care of it."

She took the elevator, feeling slightly uneasy that it was so easy.

9

10

11

12


There was a ding.

And the doors opened, showing a dark hallway except for one room which streamed light into the hallway.

Walking in the doorway, she saw someone rifling through the papers in the cabinet.

"Adam?"








tbc...

more?