Reunion
Sydney felt rather than heard or saw a person behind her as she walked to her car. First instinct was to turn around and fight, but instead she merely smiled. "Hello Kat."
"Howdy," Kat stepped out of the shadows and immediately fell in stride with Sydney. "How's life these days?"
"Confusing." Syd pulled out her keys and unlocked the car door.
Kat walked around to the other side. "How so?"
Sydney got in the car, and Kat stepped into her side. "Well, the week started out really bad. And now it's a little better."
"What made it better?"
"Weiss was so sweet. He bought me a third edition of Alice in Wonderland because the gift from my mother was destroyed in the fire. Actually, he's been my salvation all week."
"That's good. So how's Vaughn's wife?"
"This is the problem with my life," Sydney turned the keys in the ignition a little over zealously. "Nothing is clear-cut, nothing is simple. I mean look at the facts: I work for the CIA. Oh, wait, I don't. I actually work for a group of terrorists pretending to be the CIA. My mother died when I was six. No, try again. She's still living and is currently a fugitive from the U.S. government. And just to top it all of, I'm dead. But like that finality could ever happen. I'm alive, kicking, and absolutely miserable." She rested her head against the steering wheel and closed her eyes.
"On the bright side," Kat commented, "it would make a good T.V. show."
Sydney lifted her head and just looked at Kat. The sheer pain in her eyes spoke volumes.
"Syd, I know it seems bad, but it will get better. You think life can't get any worse, and no one could ever understand the pain you're going through. You won't even believe those who have. But please, believe me."
Sydney lifted her head to look up at Kat. Her face simply said, 'prove it.'
"I can't give you details. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't. Basically, it was a disagreement with my friend. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was a life-altering decision for her and myself. And she made the wrong one. I don't know if she's even alive today because she made her choice, and I did absolutely nothing to stop it." Sometime during this speech, Kat's eyes had gone out of focus and reflective. Then she returned to the present and rested them on Syd. "In this entire time I talked to absolutely no one. It kept hurting more and more everyday. I don't want anyone to have to go through the pain and suffering of something like that. Not alone."
Sydney sat up to lean back against her seat. "Vaughn's wife... Lauren is... I don't know. I can't figure her out. One minute we're fighting, the next it's like she's trying to be friends with me." Syd stared out into space for a minute, and then she laughed.
"What is so funny?"
"My father, he asked me the same thing about Lauren Reed."
"So...?"
"He said he 'wasn't interested in interoffice gossip.'"
"I can't even imagine your father and gossip in the same sentence." Kat chuckled lightly. "See? You can already find some humor."
"I guess so. But he was really concerned with Lazarey's murder. They haven't figured it out yet. My father managed to corrupt the file from a the camera in the office."
"Are you any closer to figuring out where you were?"
"No. Absolutely nowhere. You'd think we would at least be getting closer, but it's so distant from now. I know that Lazarey was Sark's father, and he left Sark a very large amount of money. The covenant needed that money. I killed Lazarey."
"So," Kat continued, following the pattern, "it follows logically that the covenant hired you. Any evidence to support that theory?"
"There was a man in that club who was torturing those agents they captured. Before he died, he said, 'you were my favorite. You never broke.'"
"I say that's a good reason. I'm assuming that the CIA has no idea about any of this."
"Of course not. Showing them proof the Covenant captured me would mean showing them the video. And there's something else I haven't even told my father yet." Sydney lifted the bottom of her shirt to reveal a small scar on the side of her abdomen.
"Was this new when you got back?"
"Yes. I have no idea where it could have come from."
Kat looked closer. "On a rough guess, it looks comparable to some torture methods I'm familiar with. It bears a resemblance to something else, but I'll have to check on some things first. I've got to go."
Kat got out of the car. "Oh, and by the way," she leaned down to look Sydney in the eye. "I've been checking some old contacts for intel. So far nothing."
"Thanks for trying," Syd smiled briefly.
"Stay strong, Bristow." And with that, she walked away, leaving Sydney's car alone in the parking garage.
Sydney felt rather than heard or saw a person behind her as she walked to her car. First instinct was to turn around and fight, but instead she merely smiled. "Hello Kat."
"Howdy," Kat stepped out of the shadows and immediately fell in stride with Sydney. "How's life these days?"
"Confusing." Syd pulled out her keys and unlocked the car door.
Kat walked around to the other side. "How so?"
Sydney got in the car, and Kat stepped into her side. "Well, the week started out really bad. And now it's a little better."
"What made it better?"
"Weiss was so sweet. He bought me a third edition of Alice in Wonderland because the gift from my mother was destroyed in the fire. Actually, he's been my salvation all week."
"That's good. So how's Vaughn's wife?"
"This is the problem with my life," Sydney turned the keys in the ignition a little over zealously. "Nothing is clear-cut, nothing is simple. I mean look at the facts: I work for the CIA. Oh, wait, I don't. I actually work for a group of terrorists pretending to be the CIA. My mother died when I was six. No, try again. She's still living and is currently a fugitive from the U.S. government. And just to top it all of, I'm dead. But like that finality could ever happen. I'm alive, kicking, and absolutely miserable." She rested her head against the steering wheel and closed her eyes.
"On the bright side," Kat commented, "it would make a good T.V. show."
Sydney lifted her head and just looked at Kat. The sheer pain in her eyes spoke volumes.
"Syd, I know it seems bad, but it will get better. You think life can't get any worse, and no one could ever understand the pain you're going through. You won't even believe those who have. But please, believe me."
Sydney lifted her head to look up at Kat. Her face simply said, 'prove it.'
"I can't give you details. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't. Basically, it was a disagreement with my friend. I know it doesn't sound like much, but it was a life-altering decision for her and myself. And she made the wrong one. I don't know if she's even alive today because she made her choice, and I did absolutely nothing to stop it." Sometime during this speech, Kat's eyes had gone out of focus and reflective. Then she returned to the present and rested them on Syd. "In this entire time I talked to absolutely no one. It kept hurting more and more everyday. I don't want anyone to have to go through the pain and suffering of something like that. Not alone."
Sydney sat up to lean back against her seat. "Vaughn's wife... Lauren is... I don't know. I can't figure her out. One minute we're fighting, the next it's like she's trying to be friends with me." Syd stared out into space for a minute, and then she laughed.
"What is so funny?"
"My father, he asked me the same thing about Lauren Reed."
"So...?"
"He said he 'wasn't interested in interoffice gossip.'"
"I can't even imagine your father and gossip in the same sentence." Kat chuckled lightly. "See? You can already find some humor."
"I guess so. But he was really concerned with Lazarey's murder. They haven't figured it out yet. My father managed to corrupt the file from a the camera in the office."
"Are you any closer to figuring out where you were?"
"No. Absolutely nowhere. You'd think we would at least be getting closer, but it's so distant from now. I know that Lazarey was Sark's father, and he left Sark a very large amount of money. The covenant needed that money. I killed Lazarey."
"So," Kat continued, following the pattern, "it follows logically that the covenant hired you. Any evidence to support that theory?"
"There was a man in that club who was torturing those agents they captured. Before he died, he said, 'you were my favorite. You never broke.'"
"I say that's a good reason. I'm assuming that the CIA has no idea about any of this."
"Of course not. Showing them proof the Covenant captured me would mean showing them the video. And there's something else I haven't even told my father yet." Sydney lifted the bottom of her shirt to reveal a small scar on the side of her abdomen.
"Was this new when you got back?"
"Yes. I have no idea where it could have come from."
Kat looked closer. "On a rough guess, it looks comparable to some torture methods I'm familiar with. It bears a resemblance to something else, but I'll have to check on some things first. I've got to go."
Kat got out of the car. "Oh, and by the way," she leaned down to look Sydney in the eye. "I've been checking some old contacts for intel. So far nothing."
"Thanks for trying," Syd smiled briefly.
"Stay strong, Bristow." And with that, she walked away, leaving Sydney's car alone in the parking garage.