Sydney was talking to one of her tech people when her cell phone rang. "Hello?"
"Good news is your house hasn't burnt down!" Kelsey's peppy voice answered.
Sydney began to panic. If that was the good news, she couldn't even fathom the bad news. "What's the bad news?" She groaned.
"Your boss called."
Sydney gave a little cough. "Excuse me?"
"Well, what's worse? Your house burning down, or your boss calling?"
"Good point. How do you know that my boss called?"
"I was feeding Roxy when the phone rang."
"Hold on a sec Kelse, the reception sucks in here." Sydney left the JTF, and stood outside the CIA building.
"Thousand dollar cell phones that work globally. You'd think that they could make them work better in the JTF."
"You would think. So why were you feeding Roxy at our house?"
"I ran out of food."
"How could you do that? We gave you enough food for two or three weeks, how could you run out." Sydney paused. "If Michael comes home to a fat dog, your head will pay."
"Well then, let me just state right now, that I probably won't be able to be your maid of honor."
"Wait! What!"
"Michael will have my head."
"Alright, I'll make sure you live past the wedding. So you were at our house feeding Roxy, and the phone rang."
"So I picked it up for you."
"Why didn't you just let the answering machine get it?"
"I have never been able to do that."
"What did Mr. Timothy McClelland say?"
"Wanted to remind a Mary Waters of the staff summer celebration."
"I still have to take care of that."
"Have you decided how?"
"Nope."
"Well, you've got to do it quick. The party thingy is next week. You'll be home by then, right?"
"Sure."
"Come on Mary, sorry, Sydney. I need you to come back! Gretchen is going non-stop about how she wants to call you, but would feel stupid calling you. She's also going on and on about the apartment that she and Trevor have found. Roxy waits by my door, hoping that you and Michael will be coming for her soon. And I need my best friend!"
"Yes, we'll be back next week. But I need you to do one more thing for me."
"Anything."
"I need you go to Perfect Bridal, somewhere in the city, and make sure my dress arrived."
"Gotcha. Anything else?"
"Yeah, don't overfeed Michael's dog."
Weiss came up behind Sydney. "Hey, Syd. You need to talk to Marshall now."
"Was that Eric?" Kelsey asked.
"Yeah, I got to go."
"Alright, I'll see you when you get home."
"Yup. Bye Kelse."
"Bye." Sydney hung up, and turned towards Weiss.
"That was Kelsey?"
"Yeah."
"Did she say anything about me?"
"Not really. We mostly talked about me having to clear some things up back home."
"So nothing about the WeissMaster?"
"No. WeissMaster?" Sydney and Weiss began to walk back to their desks, when they walked through the middle of a tour group.
"Ms. Waters!" A voice rang out. Sydney heard it, and instinctively turned and looked.
"Don't look, don't look, don't look." Weiss encouraged. When he saw that she looked, he groaned. "You looked."
Sydney took a quick glance, and then turned, pretending that she wasn't who the young man was looking at. She kept walking with Weiss, as they went behind the locked doors. "That was one of my students." She said
"I'll ask… who was the tour guide? …to make sure that him and his family are taken aside at the end."
"You dated her for a while before I left."
"I did?"
"Broke up with her because she talked too much?"
Weiss thought really hard. "The former basketball player?"
"No."
"Wait, was she the one that was also a tidy freak?"
"Yeah."
"Great. I'll make sure that someone else takes care of it then. You need to go talk with Marshall now. As soon as you're done, come find me and I'll show you to that family."
"Thanks Eric. This was honestly the last place I expected to find any of my students."
"That's what assistant directors are for."
Sydney smiled, and then walked down the long hallway to where she was going to meet Marshall in one of the conference rooms. Marshall sat at the end of the table. The two guards were waiting outside, but were relaxed. They knew there was no way that he was going to try anything too dangerous. Upon seeing Sydney, Marshall jumped to his feet. "Ms. Bristow, uh… Sydney! Wow, hi. You look great. I mean not like you didn't look really great before, but we haven't seen each other in what, six years. Wow six years. That's a long time. It's like three nineteenths of my entire life. Which suddenly makes me feel really old. I mean I'm only 38, but six years is three nineteenths of my life makes me feel it. It's good to see you Sydney."
With a smile, Sydney went over and greeted her old friend. "Good to see you too Marshall."
"I guess you heard the bad news."
"What bad news?"
"SD-6 wasn't part of the CIA."
"I know. I've been working with the CIA since I found out almost eight years ago."
"Really? I mean I guess that makes sense. It explains where you've been. They told us you were dead, but there were so many things wrong about your drowning that I never believed it for a second. I figured some other group took you hostage or something."
"I was actually in witness protection."
"Oh really? That's too bad."
"Marshall, the director wanted me to come in here and offer you a job."
"Here, with the real CIA?"
"Yeah. It would be basically the same job as you had with SD-6, only it would be with the CIA."
"And what about everyone else that worked at SD-6? Dixon?"
"Dixon is still being questioned. His clearance and activity was higher than yours, so they need to make sure that he didn't know who he was working for. I'm sure he'll check out, and we'll offer him a job here, just like we've offered others."
Marshall smiled. "Alright. Get me the papers."
Sydney gave Marshall's shoulder a squeeze. "I'll see you around Marshall." Sydney said.
"Um… Sydney. I know that we were never the kind of friends that would hang out and such, but listen, when I get out of this place, I was wondering if you'd like to catch up. A lot has changed in six years. Not as much as it should have, but still a lot has changed."
"Marshall, I'm engaged."
Marshall's smiling face fell. "Oh, well, of course. I wouldn't have expected anything less. Well if you'd still like to get a cup of coffee or something."
"Yeah. I'd like that."
"Good, good."
"You're probably getting out tonight. Michael and I are going to be here until late tonight. So just come find me, and I'll get you a number where you can reach me. Or we'll work something else out."
"Great."
Sydney smiled and left. "Ms. Bristow," One of the guards called.
Sydney spun around. "Yeah."
"Um, that family from the tour group you asked to be pulled aside is waiting in the next room."
"Thanks. And make sure that Marshall is treated right. He's harmless. He wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Already under orders to do that ma'am."
"Alright." Sydney took a deep breath before opening the door to the conference room where her student and family was waiting. What she found was a scared family. The oldest son, Peter had been in her College Composition class. They had brought along Peter's best friend and partner in crime, John. The mother and the father sat at the head of the table, each holding a young girl, twins, around eight.
"I knew I saw you out there!" The student said.
"We're good people." The mother cried.
Sydney quickly calmed the mother's fears. "I'm sure you are. I know your son Peter, and his friend John. And that's the only reason that we have you here."
"What?" Peter asked. "What are you saying Ms. Waters?"
"I'm saying that because you called out to me in the halls, and I noticed you, you are going to all sign about a dozen non-disclosure agreements."
"Why? Are you a spy?" John, always the loudest of the pair asked.
"Ex-spy. I haven't done the spy stuff in a couple years."
Everyone's eyes grew wide. "Really?" One of the girls asked.
"No. Way." John exclaimed. He turned to Peter. "Our College Prep teacher was a former CIA spy. Do you know how cool that is?"
"Yeah!"
"Hey Ms. Waters, did you ever spy on the Russians? Do they really have all the nukes that the Internet says they do?" John dared to ask.
"Can't tell you one way or another."
"Why? Because you don't know or because it's classified."
"Can't tell you."
"You can't tell us one way or another?"
"Nope. They're supposed to be bringing me those papers for all of you."
"Is your name really Ms. Waters? Because Peter told me that John told him that everyone in the CIA lives under a different name." One of the young girls asked.
Sydney took a deep breath. "Well, the whole school was going to find out that my name isn't Mary Waters this year anyway."
"So I was right?" John asked. "I told Peter that, just to tell him that. I never dreamed it was correct."
"Partially. I was actually in the Witness Protection Program, for reasons I will not be discussing with anyone. However, those reasons for why I was hiding, are now gone, and I can resume my old life, if I so desired. In general, in a day to day basis, agents of the CIA are allowed to live as normal lives as your parents do."
"My son was being taught by a CIA agent?" The father asked.
"Former. And for the record, I am an English major, and I had my teaching certificate before I started working at your son's school. I had always planned on teaching. This job came first, but when I tried to quit, things caught up with me. It was the only way I could teach."
"So you got out to teach?"
"The teaching was a bonus."
"I'm confused." The mother said.
"That's because I am giving you really sketchy details."
"So what's your real name?" Peter asked.
"Sydney Bristow. Soon to be Sydney Vaughn."
"Clear something up for me. Are you a spy, or a teacher?" The mother asked.
"Teacher. I am only working here for a week, while we clear some things up with an intelligence bust that we took down a couple weeks ago. My father and I knew the employees of this intelligence agency, as we were once doubles."
"You weren't just a spy, you were a double agent!" John exclaimed. "And your father was one too!"
The father looked annoyed at John. But seeing as how John wasn't his son, he felt that he couldn't tell the boy to be quiet. "These papers we have to sign, where are they?"
"On their way. You'll need a second witness when you sign them. So the assistant director is sending someone."
"Why doesn't he come down here himself?"
"Your tour guide is standing outside this door. And he dated her, and then never called her again. So he's trying to avoid her."
"The assistant director is a womanizer?"
"Former. This was before I moved to Greenwich."
"What happens if I don't sign the papers?" John asked, looking out the window.
"We'll have to get someone to make you sign them."
"I want to tell all my friends that my teacher is a former spy."
"I'd sign the papers."
"They can't make me do anything. This is still America, right?"
"That's actually iffy. If you don't sign the papers, it's within the CIA to consider you a terrorist. And then we can do what ever we want, aside from killing you."
"And if I sign them, and then talk?"
"Federal prison."
"Sign the papers." Peter advised.
The door opened, and in came Vaughn, with six folders. "Our second witness with the papers!" Sydney exclaimed.
John and Peter, who were pacing on the edge of the room, came over and sat down. Vaughn passed the folders around. "The assistant director even said that you could keep the pens for all the trouble Sydney caused you."
"Ha, ha, ha."
John looked down at the papers. "I'm not signing this."
"Why not?"
"It basically says that I can't even say we toured this place. And all we saw were a bunch of mock missions. How am I going to explain the pen to my parents, if I can't say where I got it from?"
"You want to go get Jack, or should I?" Sydney asked Vaughn.
Vaughn could see she was trying to scare John into signing the papers without actually getting the infamous older Bristow. "There is no way I'm going near that man. The only one that can even approach him is you!"
"Not today. I forgot to grab the extra foam on his cappuccino this morning. He's not happy with me."
"Who is this Jack guy?" John asked.
"He's a specialist in getting people to do things, completely in their own free will, and has a habit of scaring us in the process." Sydney answered.
"He may be old, but he scares me pretty bad."
"I've known him my whole life, and there are still many a time that he scares me. Plus, he's had a really short temper ever since we caught someone."
"And Sydney didn't get his coffee right this morning."
"Just sign the papers John. We don't want any problems." The mother trembled.
"No. Ms. Waters is bluffing. She did this last year for a test."
"Alright, I'll be right back with Jack. You guys have to stop signing until I return." Sydney said, standing up.
John was still trying to call their bluff. Sydney left Vaughn alone with the family.
She found Jack standing by his computer, a mug of coffee in his hand. "Dad." Sydney called.
With a soft smile, Jack turned to face his daughter. "Hello Sydney."
"I need your help with something."
"Sure."
"I need you to scare a kid into signing some non-disclosure agreements."
"Oh right, this student that saw you in his tour."
"Yes."
"Why won't he sign it?"
"Says that he doesn't have to, and that he wants to tell everyone that his teacher was a former spy."
"You shouldn't have told them in the first place."
"They were told the same stuff that they're going to find out anyway."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Mostly, I think this kid will respond with just your presence. But you've got to look really stern." Sydney wanted to add a 'more than usual' at the end, but she knew that would be pushing it.
"Alright." They walked down the hallway silently for a few paces. "I heard you picked out your wedding dress a couple days ago."
"I did."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
"When is the wedding?"
"Don't worry Dad. We didn't forget to invite you. Michael and I haven't even picked out a date yet. I just went dress shopping with Francie, so she could feel like she's still a part of the wedding party, from all the way over here. Don't worry; I won't forget to invite you. I need someone to walk me down the isle."
"The pleasure will be all mine."
Sydney paused outside the conference room. "Just scare him into it Dad. Don't hurt him or anything."
"I know." The two walked in. Jack had one of his sternest faces ever.
Sydney stared at John. "Meet Jack." Jack stood there with his arms folded, staring at John. John looked up at Jack. "Will the rest of you please follow me, so that Jack can talk to John alone?"
Faced with the prospect of being left alone with a man that his fearless ex-spy teacher and another spy feared, John suddenly wasn't so cocky. He grabbed the pen, and held it tight, turning his knuckles white. "What are you going to do to him?" Peter asked.
"It's not for you to know. Which is why Sydney is asking you to follow her." Jack grunted. "If your friend values his life at all, he'll sign those papers."
John's eyes grew big. "Alright! I'll sign the papers!" He cried.
Sydney and Vaughn gave small smiles of satisfaction. Jack didn't give a rare twitch of the lips until John was done signing. "Thank you for wasting my time John. If you will excuse me Agents Bristow and Vaughn, I have other business to attend to." Jack turned and left.
"You're her fiancée." Peter said, pointing to Vaughn. "Everyone in class knew that something was up with Miss Waters last year. There were serious rumors that she had a real serious boyfriend, but no one had seen him before. But you're him!"
"How did you know that?" Sydney asked.
"You said your name was Sydney Bristow, and soon to be Sydney Vaughn. That Jack guy called him Agent Vaughn. I put two and two together."
"Why can't you pay this much attention in class?" Peter shrugged his shoulders. "Alright. Someone should be coming by some time soon to escort you out."
"What now?" The mother asked.
"Please just keep your mouth shut, like you signed." Vaughn said.
"Someone should be by soon to escort you out." Sydney said. "Thank you for being so cooperative."
"But John wasn't!" One of the girls piped up.
Sydney smiled. "But you were. Thank you."
"We have a lot of work to do still Syd, we better get going." Vaughn gently reminded Sydney, whispering gently into her ear.
"I recommend doing your summer reading Peter. There may or may not be a quiz on that first day." Sydney advised standing by the door.
"I have you for AP Lit?"
"Yep, so do your reading."
"Thanks for the heads up. I'll make sure Peter does his reading." The mother said. Peter groaned and rolled his eyes, knowing he'd never hear the end of it.
Sydney and Vaughn went back to their desks. Sydney sat in her chair, while Vaughn rested on the corner of her desk. "So you're really going to test your kids on the first day of school?"
"If I get around to writing the quiz, sure. Not many of them will actually read, so why not catch those kids on the first day?"
"You're cruel Ms. Bristow. Very cruel."
"Mike, Syd!" Weiss called, his face grim.
"What's wrong Eric?" Sydney asked, her face full of concern.
Weiss tossed Vaughn's cell phone in his lap. "You left your cell phone in the debrief."
"Thanks."
"It rang, and I answered it."
Sydney was in disbelief. "You know, you and Kelsey were a match made in heaven. You both have a fixation with answering our phones."
Weiss looked confused, but pleased to hear that he and Kelsey were made in heaven from someone else. "It was Angela from the bookshop."
"What did she say?" Vaughn now scared that the worst had happened to Cryptology.
"It wasn't good news."
"I got that from your face."
"Lilly had a stroke. She's in the hospital." Sydney just stopped breathing for a split second, and then grabbed Vaughn's arm for a little support.