Her plane touched down roughly under the dimming California sun. Looking
out the window of the enormous jet, the tarmac looked hazy in the high heat
of still left in the fading day. Lauren quickly pulled her things together
and checked around her for stray belongings. The fasten seatbelt sign
turned off and she bolted from her seat, not wanting to be trapped amongst
the masses of people trying to deplane all at once. She made it to the exit
before the flight attendant had even begun to open it, and was the first
one off the plane and into the fresh air.
She hurriedly made her way through the terminals and out to the curb where a car was waiting to pick her up. She recognized the car immediately, with it's black tinted windows and it's distinct license plate. She was reaching for the handle of the back door when it opened suddenly in front of her. She barely had time to retract her hand before the door crushed into it. With a swift look around she gracefully stepped into the car and it sped off.
"Everything went as planned I assume?" Her handler smiled, sitting across from her, his visage marred by the darkness of the tinted windows.
"Did you expect anything less than perfection." She smiled back, an intentionally seductive and confident smile.
"Angel when it comes to you I find expectations to be rather unnecessary." He chuckled softly.
Lauren watched his dark figure carefully. She worked tenaciously to hide her resentment of him. "To what do I owe this most pleasurable visit?" She questioned glancing nonchalantly out the window.
"I have some new information for you Angel. Very interesting information." He said softly.
"Regarding?" She prompted pulling her gaze from the tree's flying by outside, and replacing it on the man in front of her.
"Irina Derevko." He smiled, knowingly.
"I see." Lauren smiled back devilishly.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
She'd been waiting for almost an hour when she decided to that her informant wasn't going to show. She glanced into her water glass, and laughed softly to herself. Nothing had gone as planned in this mission. Lost targets, and missing informants were the least of her problems. Her time was running out, and the Covenant wasn't going to be pleased. It was her fist mission back in the States. The Covenant had kept her away from her homeland for almost a year, testing her out in unfamiliar territory. And now for the first time she was back in LA, on Sydney Bristow's old turf. She needed this mission to go well. She needed the Covenant to believe that she was Julia Thorne and that LA meant nothing more to her than Bei Jing. But everything had gone wrong and she wasn't pleased.
She shivered pulling the sweater up around her shoulders more tightly. The air conditioned restaurant was keeping its word, twice over. The waiter was approaching fast, ready to inquire for the fourth time if she was ready to order dinner.
"Bonjour Madame, have you made your decision yet. Or, ah, is there maybe a certain gentleman you have been waiting so patiently for?" The waiter was kind, but his French accent was fake. Sydney stared at him through her blue tinted contacts, trying to keep a straight face.
"It seems as though I've been stood up. But I would love to try your Agneau aux haricots." She said smiling.
The waiter looked at her for a moment, and then smiled. "Right away Madame, will you be having anything more to drink then?" He smiled expectantly.
"No thank you." She smiled turning her attention away, and signaling for him to leave.
She scanned the room again, looking for her Covenant Tail-ers. Always conspicuous, they were sitting at the bar, having cocktails and stealing glances at her through the large mirror on the far wall. She laughed again, thinking how easily she would be able to lose them, when she needed to leave for Nevada. Her eyes finished scanning the room and feel upon the entry way.
There was a small crowd in the entry way, consisting of a few couples. Sydney cursorily looked them over and much to her surprise she recognized one of the men. She would have missed him if she hadn't been paying attention, but after looking him over thoroughly she was certain that it was him. Her informant, 66 minutes late, had just shown up at their designated meeting place. It was 7:06, and Sydney watched as he looked around the room until he saw her. He acknowledged her with a slight nod and then turned back to the woman he was talking to.
Sydney was unnerved by the presence of this man's date, but let it slide. Her mission would fail without this man's intel, so she really had no choice but to go along with whatever he did. Sydney watched as he and the blonde woman spoke intensely for about a minute as the stood in line. The woman seemed angry, but the informant remained calm. Just before the line cleared to allow them to speak to the hostess, the blonde woman stormed off out the door.
Sydney watched the entire interaction patiently. As her informant approached the hostess he looked over to her, and presumably told the hostess that he'd found his party. He quickly made his way across the restaurant floor and to her table. She smiled as he approached, keeping their cover as a dating couple. She smiled as well leaning over the table to kiss her cheek.
"Ms. Thorne so good to find you here." He said, his Russian accent prevalent.
"You're lucky Mr. Kovalev, you almost missed me." Sydney said, as he sat down across from her. Her expression was one of mild displeasure, but not enough to look angry.
"I trust you found the restaurant alright. It is one of my favorites." Kovalev said slyly, changing the mood of the conversation.
"Indeed, I have found it to have a very pleasing ambiance." She smiled.
"And you, Ms. Thorne, I was told to look for a beautiful blonde alone in a corner, but I did not expect to find your 'ambiance' to be so pleasing. If it is not too forward of me to say." He smiled before turning to the approaching waiter, not giving her a chance to respond.
"Bonjour Monsieur..." The waiter started before being cut off.
"I'll have whatever the lady ordered and a Martini, with three olives. Not two, three olives." Kovalev said, before waiting the gaping-mouth waiter away.
"So back to business." He said turning to face her again. Sydney had watched his encounter with the waiter carefully, and had already assessed how she was going to play this deal.
"Yes, I was told you were the man with all the answers." She smiled leaning an elbow on the table and seductively tracing her lips with her finger.
"I like to think so." Kovalev smiled reaching across the table and taking a sip of Sydney's water. "You need intel on a certain Mr. Savin who is operating here in LA." He smiled setting her water back down in front of her.
"I do. I was informed that he worked out of an office building downtown, but that information turned out to be less than desirable." She arched an eyebrow, challenging him to give her better information.
"I have a lead on where he has moved his 'office' to, as well as intel on his new security system." He smiled challenging her to make him an offer. "And you have my word that this information is of the highest possible veracity."
"I wouldn't doubt that it was." She smiled seductively.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
He changed as quickly as he could, showering in seconds and throwing on the neatest looking suit he had. He hadn't planned his trip's timing very well, but he was fairly certain that he was going to be late for dinner. Very late.
He checked his phone to make sure that she hadn't called, and then jumped into the car. He was in third by the end of the street, and altogether skipped the stop sign as he turned onto the major street.
It took only ten minutes to make the twenty minute drive to the restaurant, and his thanked his luck for keeping the police out of the picture. He pulled into the parking lot and looked frantically for parking but the place seemed packed, and there was not a spot in sight. After five minutes of looking he parked on the street and walked almost a block back the restaurant- Le Central D'Paris.
She hurriedly made her way through the terminals and out to the curb where a car was waiting to pick her up. She recognized the car immediately, with it's black tinted windows and it's distinct license plate. She was reaching for the handle of the back door when it opened suddenly in front of her. She barely had time to retract her hand before the door crushed into it. With a swift look around she gracefully stepped into the car and it sped off.
"Everything went as planned I assume?" Her handler smiled, sitting across from her, his visage marred by the darkness of the tinted windows.
"Did you expect anything less than perfection." She smiled back, an intentionally seductive and confident smile.
"Angel when it comes to you I find expectations to be rather unnecessary." He chuckled softly.
Lauren watched his dark figure carefully. She worked tenaciously to hide her resentment of him. "To what do I owe this most pleasurable visit?" She questioned glancing nonchalantly out the window.
"I have some new information for you Angel. Very interesting information." He said softly.
"Regarding?" She prompted pulling her gaze from the tree's flying by outside, and replacing it on the man in front of her.
"Irina Derevko." He smiled, knowingly.
"I see." Lauren smiled back devilishly.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
She'd been waiting for almost an hour when she decided to that her informant wasn't going to show. She glanced into her water glass, and laughed softly to herself. Nothing had gone as planned in this mission. Lost targets, and missing informants were the least of her problems. Her time was running out, and the Covenant wasn't going to be pleased. It was her fist mission back in the States. The Covenant had kept her away from her homeland for almost a year, testing her out in unfamiliar territory. And now for the first time she was back in LA, on Sydney Bristow's old turf. She needed this mission to go well. She needed the Covenant to believe that she was Julia Thorne and that LA meant nothing more to her than Bei Jing. But everything had gone wrong and she wasn't pleased.
She shivered pulling the sweater up around her shoulders more tightly. The air conditioned restaurant was keeping its word, twice over. The waiter was approaching fast, ready to inquire for the fourth time if she was ready to order dinner.
"Bonjour Madame, have you made your decision yet. Or, ah, is there maybe a certain gentleman you have been waiting so patiently for?" The waiter was kind, but his French accent was fake. Sydney stared at him through her blue tinted contacts, trying to keep a straight face.
"It seems as though I've been stood up. But I would love to try your Agneau aux haricots." She said smiling.
The waiter looked at her for a moment, and then smiled. "Right away Madame, will you be having anything more to drink then?" He smiled expectantly.
"No thank you." She smiled turning her attention away, and signaling for him to leave.
She scanned the room again, looking for her Covenant Tail-ers. Always conspicuous, they were sitting at the bar, having cocktails and stealing glances at her through the large mirror on the far wall. She laughed again, thinking how easily she would be able to lose them, when she needed to leave for Nevada. Her eyes finished scanning the room and feel upon the entry way.
There was a small crowd in the entry way, consisting of a few couples. Sydney cursorily looked them over and much to her surprise she recognized one of the men. She would have missed him if she hadn't been paying attention, but after looking him over thoroughly she was certain that it was him. Her informant, 66 minutes late, had just shown up at their designated meeting place. It was 7:06, and Sydney watched as he looked around the room until he saw her. He acknowledged her with a slight nod and then turned back to the woman he was talking to.
Sydney was unnerved by the presence of this man's date, but let it slide. Her mission would fail without this man's intel, so she really had no choice but to go along with whatever he did. Sydney watched as he and the blonde woman spoke intensely for about a minute as the stood in line. The woman seemed angry, but the informant remained calm. Just before the line cleared to allow them to speak to the hostess, the blonde woman stormed off out the door.
Sydney watched the entire interaction patiently. As her informant approached the hostess he looked over to her, and presumably told the hostess that he'd found his party. He quickly made his way across the restaurant floor and to her table. She smiled as he approached, keeping their cover as a dating couple. She smiled as well leaning over the table to kiss her cheek.
"Ms. Thorne so good to find you here." He said, his Russian accent prevalent.
"You're lucky Mr. Kovalev, you almost missed me." Sydney said, as he sat down across from her. Her expression was one of mild displeasure, but not enough to look angry.
"I trust you found the restaurant alright. It is one of my favorites." Kovalev said slyly, changing the mood of the conversation.
"Indeed, I have found it to have a very pleasing ambiance." She smiled.
"And you, Ms. Thorne, I was told to look for a beautiful blonde alone in a corner, but I did not expect to find your 'ambiance' to be so pleasing. If it is not too forward of me to say." He smiled before turning to the approaching waiter, not giving her a chance to respond.
"Bonjour Monsieur..." The waiter started before being cut off.
"I'll have whatever the lady ordered and a Martini, with three olives. Not two, three olives." Kovalev said, before waiting the gaping-mouth waiter away.
"So back to business." He said turning to face her again. Sydney had watched his encounter with the waiter carefully, and had already assessed how she was going to play this deal.
"Yes, I was told you were the man with all the answers." She smiled leaning an elbow on the table and seductively tracing her lips with her finger.
"I like to think so." Kovalev smiled reaching across the table and taking a sip of Sydney's water. "You need intel on a certain Mr. Savin who is operating here in LA." He smiled setting her water back down in front of her.
"I do. I was informed that he worked out of an office building downtown, but that information turned out to be less than desirable." She arched an eyebrow, challenging him to give her better information.
"I have a lead on where he has moved his 'office' to, as well as intel on his new security system." He smiled challenging her to make him an offer. "And you have my word that this information is of the highest possible veracity."
"I wouldn't doubt that it was." She smiled seductively.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
He changed as quickly as he could, showering in seconds and throwing on the neatest looking suit he had. He hadn't planned his trip's timing very well, but he was fairly certain that he was going to be late for dinner. Very late.
He checked his phone to make sure that she hadn't called, and then jumped into the car. He was in third by the end of the street, and altogether skipped the stop sign as he turned onto the major street.
It took only ten minutes to make the twenty minute drive to the restaurant, and his thanked his luck for keeping the police out of the picture. He pulled into the parking lot and looked frantically for parking but the place seemed packed, and there was not a spot in sight. After five minutes of looking he parked on the street and walked almost a block back the restaurant- Le Central D'Paris.