Hey! This chapter's a lot longer and hopefully the following one's will be
too. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Please continue!
Chapter 3
Sydney rushed into the SD-6 scanning room. Although the full-body scan only took a few seconds, it felt like a few hours when she was hurrying. Speed walking, she made a beeline for the briefing room, not stopping to give her usual greetings to her fellow agents. The door to the briefing room was open and the eyes of Sloane, Dixon, Marshall, and her father, were all on her as she entered.
"I am so sorry I'm late! I woke up late this morning and I didn't have enough time to."
"Let's get started," Sloane interrupted dryly, "We have received intel of how to locate a nuclear warhead that we have been searching for, for several months. This nuke belonged to Ineni Hassan," Sloane explained, as a picture of Hassan came up on the video screens, "and in his death the nuke, and the knowledge of it's location, have been passed on to his cousin, Hanein Hassan," Sloane continued, the picture of Ineni changed to one of Hanein. Hanein was much younger then his cousin. He looked to be about thirty years old and was clean-shaven. Only his eyes and his skin tone remotely resembled Ineni. "Located in a safe in Hanein's house in Madrid," Sloane moved on, "is a set of blueprints. These blueprints map out the building the nuke is hidden in and where in the building it can be found. Encrypted on the blueprints are the coordinates for where the building is. Hanein is having a dinner party tomorrow night. Agent Bristow and Agent Dixon, you will be going in as a partygoer and a waiter, respectively. While Dixon creates a distraction, Agent Bristow, you will find Hanein's private office, located on the second floor, and retrieve the blueprints. Any questions? Marshall, please go over the tech."
"Okay sir.um.okay," Marshall stumbled, "Dixon, you will need to create a distraction, you know, so Sydney doesn't get caught. Not like Sydney would ever get caught, but just in case. That's why I made this little baby," Marshall said, pulling out a wristwatch, "It's a watch that emits a high frequency tone that will not only shatter all glass within 100 feet, but totally kill your ears, not permanently of course. Just make sure you and Syd wear earplugs. Trust me, it hurts, I tested it myself. Just push this little button right here and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Looks pretty cool too. I tried to fashion it after this Gucci watch I saw, but I put a little mistake in the logo on the back. See?" Marshall pointed to the back of the watch and Dixon and Sydney squinted to look at it. "Now it's like those counterfeit watches you buy on the streets.like in New York City. I want to go to New York City just to get a fake."
"Marshall!" Sloane interrupted.
"Oh! Sorry sir," Marshall jumped, "Um.yeah. Okay, Syd. This is gonna be a heavy duty safe. I mean heavy duty, like those Ford Trucks.what are they called? I want to get one of those. Maybe in red or black or." Sloane cleared his throat, "Right!" Marshall said, uncomfortably squirming under his boss's stare, "Okay, so you need this!" Marshall explained, ceremoniously pulling out a sparkly gold clutch. "Since we don't know what kind of safe it's going to be, our best choice is cutting into it," he continued, opening the clutch, which expanded widely to reveal the inside to be a solid black box. "Just clamp this onto the safe and press this button here on this earring," he gestured, bringing a pair of earrings to match the clutch into view, "and a laser goes around the inside perimeter of the purse and cuts a rectangle out of the safe. When you pull the clutch off, it pulls out the piece of the safe and holds onto it until you press the other earring. Just don't drop the big chunk of metal on your foot. That would suck. It would probably alert the guards when it hit the floor too. Wow! That would double suck! Anyway, I know what you're thinking, Marshall you must be a genius. Oh, well thank you!"
"Alright," Sloane cut in, "your flight leaves tomorrow at noon. Dismissed." Sydney rose to leave but was stopped by Sloane, "Sydney, stay a minute please." After everyone was gone, Sloane closed the door and pulled a chair up by Sydney. "Sydney, are you okay? It's not like you to be late and you have huge circles under your eyes."
"I'm fine, I just had a long night studying," Sydney lied, "I'm really sorry."
"Just don't let it happen again. You know my opinion on your school situation. This agency should always be your first priority. By letting yourself go you're not only risking the safety of yourself, but also the safety of your fellow agents and the entire United States."
***************************
"I couldn't believe it!" Sydney said exasperated, looking at Vaughn sitting across from her in the abandoned warehouse they used for meetings. "It is so ironic! He's hurting the United States! By slacking off in SD- 6, I'm helping my country! It took all I had not to laugh in his face. What I really wanted to do was take him out with a massive spin-kick."
"I have a feeling he would be the only one who would have a problem with that," Vaughn said laughing.
"So what's my counter mission?" Sydney asked, glowing at the fact that she made Vaughn laugh. "It's pretty simple and straightforward this time. Just take pictures of the blueprints for us. We'll let Sloane have the real ones and wait till he sends you to retrieve the nuke before we try and pull anything." "Sounds good." Both sat quiet for a while. It was an awkward silence, yet a comfortable one. "Syd?" "Yes?" she asked, unable to keep from smiling at the affectionate nickname.
"I wanted to talk to you about last night. First of all, what happened with Francie?"
"Well as soon as I pulled in the driveway she ran outside in her robe. She could barely wait for me to get out of the car before she hugged me and asked me if I was all right. As soon as I said I was, she backed up and started freaking out, yelling at me for running off without leaving a note or waking her up, telling me she thought I had been kidnapped. When she finally calmed down enough to ask where I was, I had pulled out the pint of chocolate ice cream I had picked up for an excuse. I told her I had a dream about my mother and needed to clear my head so I started watching TV. While I was sitting there, I got a craving for chocolate ice cream and had to go get some. I think she felt bad about yelling at me after that, since I mentioned my mother, and she apologized and told me to leave a note next time. After that, we stayed up till four finishing the ice cream. That's why I was late to work today. I was so tired after staying up late that I slept through my alarm. I never sleep through my alarm," Sydney said, laughing. Vaughn smiled,
"Are you okay about the dream now? I was really worried about you last night. You weren't the only one who lost sleep last night." Sydney blushed at the confession, avoiding Vaughn's eyes.
"I'm okay now. Dreams are dreams, they don't mean anything," Sydney said, reassuring herself as much as she was reassuring Vaughn. She paused for a minute, meeting Vaughn's eyes again, "Thanks again for coming to meet me."
"Anytime," Vaughn said, beginning another awkward silence.
"Well I should go pack," Sydney finally said, turning to leave.
"Wait," Vaughn stopped her, "I have to give you something first," he said, pulling a tiny black velvet box out of his pocket and handing it to Sydney. She hesitated before taking it, looking into his eyes for some explanation. He just smiled at her and took her hand, carefully placing the box in her palm. Confused, she opened the box, gasping as a reflection of what was inside twinkled in her eyes. It was a gorgeous, three-stone diamond ring.
"Oh my God," Sydney said, sucking in her breath and looking up at Vaughn.
"I know," he said, smiling, "I couldn't believe they could fit a camera in there either."
"A camera," she repeated, finally breathing out, scolding herself for thinking it was otherwise.
"Just point the center diamond at what you want to take a picture of and press the two smaller diamonds simultaneously to shoot. All you have to do is give the ring back to me after the operation so they can be uploaded onto a computer."
"Sounds easy enough," she said, her voice shaking slightly.
"Good luck," Vaughn said smiling, proud of the invention even though it wasn't his. For the first time ever, he was oblivious to Sydney's change in attitude, to what she was thinking.
"Thanks," she said leaving quickly, extremely embarrassed. 'A camera,' she thought to herself as she exited the building, 'only a camera.'
tbc.
Well how was it? You can tell me by reviewing!
Chapter 3
Sydney rushed into the SD-6 scanning room. Although the full-body scan only took a few seconds, it felt like a few hours when she was hurrying. Speed walking, she made a beeline for the briefing room, not stopping to give her usual greetings to her fellow agents. The door to the briefing room was open and the eyes of Sloane, Dixon, Marshall, and her father, were all on her as she entered.
"I am so sorry I'm late! I woke up late this morning and I didn't have enough time to."
"Let's get started," Sloane interrupted dryly, "We have received intel of how to locate a nuclear warhead that we have been searching for, for several months. This nuke belonged to Ineni Hassan," Sloane explained, as a picture of Hassan came up on the video screens, "and in his death the nuke, and the knowledge of it's location, have been passed on to his cousin, Hanein Hassan," Sloane continued, the picture of Ineni changed to one of Hanein. Hanein was much younger then his cousin. He looked to be about thirty years old and was clean-shaven. Only his eyes and his skin tone remotely resembled Ineni. "Located in a safe in Hanein's house in Madrid," Sloane moved on, "is a set of blueprints. These blueprints map out the building the nuke is hidden in and where in the building it can be found. Encrypted on the blueprints are the coordinates for where the building is. Hanein is having a dinner party tomorrow night. Agent Bristow and Agent Dixon, you will be going in as a partygoer and a waiter, respectively. While Dixon creates a distraction, Agent Bristow, you will find Hanein's private office, located on the second floor, and retrieve the blueprints. Any questions? Marshall, please go over the tech."
"Okay sir.um.okay," Marshall stumbled, "Dixon, you will need to create a distraction, you know, so Sydney doesn't get caught. Not like Sydney would ever get caught, but just in case. That's why I made this little baby," Marshall said, pulling out a wristwatch, "It's a watch that emits a high frequency tone that will not only shatter all glass within 100 feet, but totally kill your ears, not permanently of course. Just make sure you and Syd wear earplugs. Trust me, it hurts, I tested it myself. Just push this little button right here and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Looks pretty cool too. I tried to fashion it after this Gucci watch I saw, but I put a little mistake in the logo on the back. See?" Marshall pointed to the back of the watch and Dixon and Sydney squinted to look at it. "Now it's like those counterfeit watches you buy on the streets.like in New York City. I want to go to New York City just to get a fake."
"Marshall!" Sloane interrupted.
"Oh! Sorry sir," Marshall jumped, "Um.yeah. Okay, Syd. This is gonna be a heavy duty safe. I mean heavy duty, like those Ford Trucks.what are they called? I want to get one of those. Maybe in red or black or." Sloane cleared his throat, "Right!" Marshall said, uncomfortably squirming under his boss's stare, "Okay, so you need this!" Marshall explained, ceremoniously pulling out a sparkly gold clutch. "Since we don't know what kind of safe it's going to be, our best choice is cutting into it," he continued, opening the clutch, which expanded widely to reveal the inside to be a solid black box. "Just clamp this onto the safe and press this button here on this earring," he gestured, bringing a pair of earrings to match the clutch into view, "and a laser goes around the inside perimeter of the purse and cuts a rectangle out of the safe. When you pull the clutch off, it pulls out the piece of the safe and holds onto it until you press the other earring. Just don't drop the big chunk of metal on your foot. That would suck. It would probably alert the guards when it hit the floor too. Wow! That would double suck! Anyway, I know what you're thinking, Marshall you must be a genius. Oh, well thank you!"
"Alright," Sloane cut in, "your flight leaves tomorrow at noon. Dismissed." Sydney rose to leave but was stopped by Sloane, "Sydney, stay a minute please." After everyone was gone, Sloane closed the door and pulled a chair up by Sydney. "Sydney, are you okay? It's not like you to be late and you have huge circles under your eyes."
"I'm fine, I just had a long night studying," Sydney lied, "I'm really sorry."
"Just don't let it happen again. You know my opinion on your school situation. This agency should always be your first priority. By letting yourself go you're not only risking the safety of yourself, but also the safety of your fellow agents and the entire United States."
***************************
"I couldn't believe it!" Sydney said exasperated, looking at Vaughn sitting across from her in the abandoned warehouse they used for meetings. "It is so ironic! He's hurting the United States! By slacking off in SD- 6, I'm helping my country! It took all I had not to laugh in his face. What I really wanted to do was take him out with a massive spin-kick."
"I have a feeling he would be the only one who would have a problem with that," Vaughn said laughing.
"So what's my counter mission?" Sydney asked, glowing at the fact that she made Vaughn laugh. "It's pretty simple and straightforward this time. Just take pictures of the blueprints for us. We'll let Sloane have the real ones and wait till he sends you to retrieve the nuke before we try and pull anything." "Sounds good." Both sat quiet for a while. It was an awkward silence, yet a comfortable one. "Syd?" "Yes?" she asked, unable to keep from smiling at the affectionate nickname.
"I wanted to talk to you about last night. First of all, what happened with Francie?"
"Well as soon as I pulled in the driveway she ran outside in her robe. She could barely wait for me to get out of the car before she hugged me and asked me if I was all right. As soon as I said I was, she backed up and started freaking out, yelling at me for running off without leaving a note or waking her up, telling me she thought I had been kidnapped. When she finally calmed down enough to ask where I was, I had pulled out the pint of chocolate ice cream I had picked up for an excuse. I told her I had a dream about my mother and needed to clear my head so I started watching TV. While I was sitting there, I got a craving for chocolate ice cream and had to go get some. I think she felt bad about yelling at me after that, since I mentioned my mother, and she apologized and told me to leave a note next time. After that, we stayed up till four finishing the ice cream. That's why I was late to work today. I was so tired after staying up late that I slept through my alarm. I never sleep through my alarm," Sydney said, laughing. Vaughn smiled,
"Are you okay about the dream now? I was really worried about you last night. You weren't the only one who lost sleep last night." Sydney blushed at the confession, avoiding Vaughn's eyes.
"I'm okay now. Dreams are dreams, they don't mean anything," Sydney said, reassuring herself as much as she was reassuring Vaughn. She paused for a minute, meeting Vaughn's eyes again, "Thanks again for coming to meet me."
"Anytime," Vaughn said, beginning another awkward silence.
"Well I should go pack," Sydney finally said, turning to leave.
"Wait," Vaughn stopped her, "I have to give you something first," he said, pulling a tiny black velvet box out of his pocket and handing it to Sydney. She hesitated before taking it, looking into his eyes for some explanation. He just smiled at her and took her hand, carefully placing the box in her palm. Confused, she opened the box, gasping as a reflection of what was inside twinkled in her eyes. It was a gorgeous, three-stone diamond ring.
"Oh my God," Sydney said, sucking in her breath and looking up at Vaughn.
"I know," he said, smiling, "I couldn't believe they could fit a camera in there either."
"A camera," she repeated, finally breathing out, scolding herself for thinking it was otherwise.
"Just point the center diamond at what you want to take a picture of and press the two smaller diamonds simultaneously to shoot. All you have to do is give the ring back to me after the operation so they can be uploaded onto a computer."
"Sounds easy enough," she said, her voice shaking slightly.
"Good luck," Vaughn said smiling, proud of the invention even though it wasn't his. For the first time ever, he was oblivious to Sydney's change in attitude, to what she was thinking.
"Thanks," she said leaving quickly, extremely embarrassed. 'A camera,' she thought to herself as she exited the building, 'only a camera.'
tbc.
Well how was it? You can tell me by reviewing!