Disclaimer: If I owned Alias, then Lauren Reed would be somewhere in
Antarctica, Francie would still be alive, Will would still be in the
picture, and Irina would be back in the show! None of those things are in
the show, so apparently I don't own it
Melanie was sleeping in the corner farthest away from the door. She had been there for two days and so far she hadn't gotten anything to eat. She hadn't seen light which made her dread coming out. Her eyes wouldn't be able to stand seeing light for the first time in a while. Her stomach let out a loud grumble. She knew she was starting to digest her stomach, which wasn't a good feeling.
Lauren hadn't been around to ask her what her name was yet, which surprised her because the first time she would come down once an hour. She amused herself and kept herself sane by daydreaming about her mother busting in here, rescuing her, and killing Lauren for kidnapping her. Melanie knew the CIA wasn't supposed to kill people just for the hell of it, but she had a feeling Lauren was on a Watch To Kill list. She was remembering the time she was four and her parents had taken her to Disneyland for her first time. That was probably the best day of her short life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mommy, can I go on Splash Mountain?" Melanie asked anxiously as they entered the park.
"Are you sure you want to go down a five story waterfall?" her dad asked her.
"That's why I want to go on it! You guys get to do fun stuff like that all the time! I want to do something fun!" she exclaimed happily, trying to drag Sydney to where she heard screams and laughter.
Sydney laughed. "What we do isn't fun. But now isn't a work day. Now is a fun day, and it belongs to you." She said, letting her daughter drag her towards Splash Mountain. They got there in record time, getting into the line which stopped in the very last cave.
"Why can't we skip all these people?" Melanie whined.
"Because we don't have fast-track passes. We'll get them next time ok sweetie?" Sydney asked. Melanie nodded and waited impatiently for their turn to go into a log. When it was their turn, Melanie was basically jumping up and down.
"Ready?" the attendant asked as he tried not to smile.
"Yeah! Come on Daddy, it's going to be fun!" Melanie said as she motioned for Vaughn to sit behind her. She was sitting at the front of the log.
"Well, have fun!" the attendant said and soon they were off. Melanie kept pointing out everyone she recognized and laughed when she saw Brer Bear's butt hanging out of something at the top of a waterslide. Sydney laughed as Melanie screamed as they went down the waterfall that led to the big one.
"When are we getting to the really fun part?" Melanie asked Vaughn as the depressing music started.
"That track leading upwards. Not long now Mel." Vaughn said. As they were going up the track, Melanie was suddenly struck by a wave of fear. "Daddy, I don't want to do this anymore!" she said, never feeling as scared as she was just then.
"It'll be ok sweetheart. It only lasts about two seconds. Besides, once you go through it, you'll feel so grown up you'll want to go on it again." Vaughn said comforting her.
"But I'm still scared! Hold my hand!" Melanie said and held out her hand.
"Why don't I hold onto your shoulders? It'll be more comfortable for you." Vaughn said as they got to the top. As they went down, he held onto his daughter, knowing she'd want to go down it again. When they turned the corner Melanie started laughing.
"You're right Daddy! That was fun! Let's go on again!" she said to him. "We will. But there's a lot other rides you'll want to go on." Vaughn said. He turned to Sydney, who smiled at him. Her jacket was covered with water and her hair was totally matted down to her head with water, but what did he expect? "Having fun?" he asked.
"Is she?" Sydney replied.
"Yeah she's fine. So what ride do you want to go on?" Vaughn asked her after they got off.
"Whatever Melanie wants to go on. It's her day not mine." Sydney replied. When Disneyland closed and they were back at their house, Sydney went to put Melanie to bed. "So did you have a fun time?" she asked.
Melanie nodded. "It was the best day of my life!" Melanie replied. "What ride was your favorite?" Sydney asked.
"I don't have one. What was yours?" Melanie asked interestedly.
"Don't have one either. But I don't want you staying up all night thinking about Disneyland. We'll go back sometime, but you need some sleep." Sydney told her. She sat down in the rocking chair and Melanie climbed into her lap. "Ready?" Syd asked her. Melanie nodded and they started singing the lullaby together. When they finished singing, Sydney leaned over and whispered, "You know who that song's for, don't you?"
Melanie nodded. She always asked that every night so that they could always fit her into their night routine. "Molly." She said simply. Molly was Melanie's twin sister, but she died of heart failure when she was born. They had made it a point to sing a song in her honor ever since then. "I'm not going to leave you either, Mommy." Melanie always said to Sydney.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Melanie wiped the tears from her eyes. Thinking of Disneyland and Splash Mountain couldn't end without a tear. She remembered telling her mother that she'd never leave her, and now she broke her promise. She could just picture Sydney when she realized she wasn't there, crying her eyes out because both Melanie and Molly were gone. But that was just it. She couldn't picture it, because it was too painful to think about.
Would Molly be here with her if she was alive? Probably. She was Sydney's daughter too. But Melanie didn't have time to dwell on that subject much. For the first time in two days she heard footsteps which she knew was Lauren's. She had taught herself how to distinguish who was coming by their footsteps. It was a survival technique.
Melanie waited and watched as Lauren stepped in and opened the door widely so that as much light as possible filled the room. Lauren watched as Melanie shielded her eyes and whimpered pathetically. Melanie knew she was waiting to see if she would do anything, but she wouldn't do anything except wait for Lauren.
"What is your name?" Lauren finally asked.
"Anna Reed. My name is Anna Reed, my mother is Lauren Reed and my father is Julian Sark. When I come of age I'm going to join the Covenant, and to prove myself I help out the Covenant when I can." Melanie answered, trying to sound empty and believable.
Lauren stayed silent for a while longer, contemplating whether or not she was telling the truth, then grabbed Melanie's arm and pulled her towards the living room. When she was sitting on the sofa, Lauren took her cell phone and called her boss.
"The deed is done." She said. Silence then, "I'm positive. She is Anna Reed. There is no doubt in my mind."
More silence. Melanie knew something wasn't right from the way Lauren was looking at her. "Ok. She'll prove her worth. What is she to do?" she asked. The more the person on the other side talked, the bigger the smirk on Lauren's face. A smirk she only had when she was thinking about Melanie or her family. "Ok. We'll go over there, and you'll see." She said and hung up.
She spent some time putting her cell phone back in her purse and grab a bottled water from the fridge before sitting on the sofa beside Melanie. Melanie remained quiet and waited for Lauren to speak before she did.
Finally Lauren said, "We're going to Egypt. The Covenant has something they need you to do so that they'll think the same way that Mommy does."
Melanie turned to her. "What am I going to do?" she asked.
"My employer didn't want to say over the phone, but it will determine what he thinks. It'll put a sure answer in they're minds. So I want you to pack. We'll only be there for a day, but after we leave we're not coming here right away. So go to your room." Lauren said and pointed upstairs.
Melanie did so and took out her suitcase and started stuffing as much stuff into it as possible. There was always the possibility of her parents coming and rescuing her and if they did, she wanted to be ready. When she stuffed all the things she'd regret leaving behind into her suitcase, she was about to put it near the front door, when she noticed something brown poking out from under her bed. She put the suitcase down and grabbed the brown thing.
It was Brownie, the stuffed bear Vaughn had won for her at the fair when she was three. She had always refused to go anywhere without Brownie, and had had him when the Covenant had kidnapped her at the park. Lauren had taken it from her and hid him somewhere, saying that toys were too easy to get attached to, and she wasn't supposed to get attached to anything. Melanie had kicked and hit anyone who had tried to calm her down so that they could take her to the dark room, hating them for taking away her favorite thing in the world.
When Melanie demanded to know where Brownie was, Lauren had told her that he was safe but she'd never see him again. And yet here he was, in Melanie's arms as if she had pushed him down there and was waiting for her to pick him up. Melanie opened her suitcase again and stuffed him into it, taking out a short pink skirt to make him fit. She wouldn't let Lauren and the Covenant take him from her again.
When she got downstairs she put the suitcase by the door. After that she went into the kitchen and gratefully took the plate of macaroni and cheese Lauren had prepared for her and ate it in five minutes. She went back for fourths and when she was finished, she went upstairs to bed.
The next morning Lauren pushed her and snapped at her to get up because they needed to leave. "There's a plane waiting for us about two miles from here. We need to leave before people see it. Get dressed in something dark!" she snapped. Melanie took the dark black shirt Sark had given her for her sixth birthday and a pair of black pants that used to be Lauren's when she was a kid and followed her out the front door. When they got there, Melanie went to the back of the plane and looked out the window until she felt the plane descending. She got out of the plane after Lauren and was greeted by McKenas Cole who was wearing an Armani suit and had his arms crossed. He didn't take his eyes off Melanie.
"So you're the famous Anna Reed that everyone I see lately keeps talking about. You know, you're considered a celebrity among us. But tell me Anna. Do you think up all these incredible plans by yourself, or do you have Lauren and/or Sark help you? Because it wouldn't surprise me at all." He said.
"Yes, I'm Anna Reed, and I come up with those plans by myself." Melanie said. She didn't add "Because my so-called mother makes me."
"You know, that's impressive. You'd make a good agent for us, Anna. But I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don't trust you. I don't think you are who you say you are. But the good news is that I'm giving you an opportunity to prove yourself to me, and to the rest who aren't sure yet." Cole said in the snide way Sark always talked to Lauren about.
"Let's just go. Where are they exactly?" Lauren asked as she and Melanie got into the van Cole had arrived in.
"A small house about five miles north. We'll get there soon enough." Cole replied and they sat the entire ride in awkward silence. When they stopped, Cole shoved a 3 millimeter gun into her arms. "Now, here's what you have to do. There are three two CIA agents in that building, one contact for those agents, and a woman that I don't have a clue as to who she works for, but she was found helping out the CIA, so I'm assuming she can't be trusted anyway. All you have to do is shoot one of those agents without remorse, and you'll have my trust as well as the rest of the Covenant's. Ready?" he said.
Melanie glanced at the small dirty house and nodded. Cole talked into his comm and said, "Bring one of them out." To Melanie's horror, two Covenant agents dragged out an agent who looked oddly familiar. *Mommy!*, Melanie thought, almost dropping the gun and going over to her, but she caught herself just in time.
"Remember what you have to do Anna. Just shoot this agent." Cole said and nudged her towards Sydney. Sydney was looking into her eyes, sobbing uncontrollably. How was she going to do this? How could she shoot her mother, and make her mother still be able to live? There was no way for Melanie to do this without crying. So she took the gun, aimed it at Sydney's left shoulder, and pulled the trigger.
A/N: I wish I could've updated this yesterday since it was Jennifer Garner's birthday, but I was in a really bad mood and didn't have this typed. So please review, I need them!
Melanie was sleeping in the corner farthest away from the door. She had been there for two days and so far she hadn't gotten anything to eat. She hadn't seen light which made her dread coming out. Her eyes wouldn't be able to stand seeing light for the first time in a while. Her stomach let out a loud grumble. She knew she was starting to digest her stomach, which wasn't a good feeling.
Lauren hadn't been around to ask her what her name was yet, which surprised her because the first time she would come down once an hour. She amused herself and kept herself sane by daydreaming about her mother busting in here, rescuing her, and killing Lauren for kidnapping her. Melanie knew the CIA wasn't supposed to kill people just for the hell of it, but she had a feeling Lauren was on a Watch To Kill list. She was remembering the time she was four and her parents had taken her to Disneyland for her first time. That was probably the best day of her short life.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mommy, can I go on Splash Mountain?" Melanie asked anxiously as they entered the park.
"Are you sure you want to go down a five story waterfall?" her dad asked her.
"That's why I want to go on it! You guys get to do fun stuff like that all the time! I want to do something fun!" she exclaimed happily, trying to drag Sydney to where she heard screams and laughter.
Sydney laughed. "What we do isn't fun. But now isn't a work day. Now is a fun day, and it belongs to you." She said, letting her daughter drag her towards Splash Mountain. They got there in record time, getting into the line which stopped in the very last cave.
"Why can't we skip all these people?" Melanie whined.
"Because we don't have fast-track passes. We'll get them next time ok sweetie?" Sydney asked. Melanie nodded and waited impatiently for their turn to go into a log. When it was their turn, Melanie was basically jumping up and down.
"Ready?" the attendant asked as he tried not to smile.
"Yeah! Come on Daddy, it's going to be fun!" Melanie said as she motioned for Vaughn to sit behind her. She was sitting at the front of the log.
"Well, have fun!" the attendant said and soon they were off. Melanie kept pointing out everyone she recognized and laughed when she saw Brer Bear's butt hanging out of something at the top of a waterslide. Sydney laughed as Melanie screamed as they went down the waterfall that led to the big one.
"When are we getting to the really fun part?" Melanie asked Vaughn as the depressing music started.
"That track leading upwards. Not long now Mel." Vaughn said. As they were going up the track, Melanie was suddenly struck by a wave of fear. "Daddy, I don't want to do this anymore!" she said, never feeling as scared as she was just then.
"It'll be ok sweetheart. It only lasts about two seconds. Besides, once you go through it, you'll feel so grown up you'll want to go on it again." Vaughn said comforting her.
"But I'm still scared! Hold my hand!" Melanie said and held out her hand.
"Why don't I hold onto your shoulders? It'll be more comfortable for you." Vaughn said as they got to the top. As they went down, he held onto his daughter, knowing she'd want to go down it again. When they turned the corner Melanie started laughing.
"You're right Daddy! That was fun! Let's go on again!" she said to him. "We will. But there's a lot other rides you'll want to go on." Vaughn said. He turned to Sydney, who smiled at him. Her jacket was covered with water and her hair was totally matted down to her head with water, but what did he expect? "Having fun?" he asked.
"Is she?" Sydney replied.
"Yeah she's fine. So what ride do you want to go on?" Vaughn asked her after they got off.
"Whatever Melanie wants to go on. It's her day not mine." Sydney replied. When Disneyland closed and they were back at their house, Sydney went to put Melanie to bed. "So did you have a fun time?" she asked.
Melanie nodded. "It was the best day of my life!" Melanie replied. "What ride was your favorite?" Sydney asked.
"I don't have one. What was yours?" Melanie asked interestedly.
"Don't have one either. But I don't want you staying up all night thinking about Disneyland. We'll go back sometime, but you need some sleep." Sydney told her. She sat down in the rocking chair and Melanie climbed into her lap. "Ready?" Syd asked her. Melanie nodded and they started singing the lullaby together. When they finished singing, Sydney leaned over and whispered, "You know who that song's for, don't you?"
Melanie nodded. She always asked that every night so that they could always fit her into their night routine. "Molly." She said simply. Molly was Melanie's twin sister, but she died of heart failure when she was born. They had made it a point to sing a song in her honor ever since then. "I'm not going to leave you either, Mommy." Melanie always said to Sydney.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback Ends~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Melanie wiped the tears from her eyes. Thinking of Disneyland and Splash Mountain couldn't end without a tear. She remembered telling her mother that she'd never leave her, and now she broke her promise. She could just picture Sydney when she realized she wasn't there, crying her eyes out because both Melanie and Molly were gone. But that was just it. She couldn't picture it, because it was too painful to think about.
Would Molly be here with her if she was alive? Probably. She was Sydney's daughter too. But Melanie didn't have time to dwell on that subject much. For the first time in two days she heard footsteps which she knew was Lauren's. She had taught herself how to distinguish who was coming by their footsteps. It was a survival technique.
Melanie waited and watched as Lauren stepped in and opened the door widely so that as much light as possible filled the room. Lauren watched as Melanie shielded her eyes and whimpered pathetically. Melanie knew she was waiting to see if she would do anything, but she wouldn't do anything except wait for Lauren.
"What is your name?" Lauren finally asked.
"Anna Reed. My name is Anna Reed, my mother is Lauren Reed and my father is Julian Sark. When I come of age I'm going to join the Covenant, and to prove myself I help out the Covenant when I can." Melanie answered, trying to sound empty and believable.
Lauren stayed silent for a while longer, contemplating whether or not she was telling the truth, then grabbed Melanie's arm and pulled her towards the living room. When she was sitting on the sofa, Lauren took her cell phone and called her boss.
"The deed is done." She said. Silence then, "I'm positive. She is Anna Reed. There is no doubt in my mind."
More silence. Melanie knew something wasn't right from the way Lauren was looking at her. "Ok. She'll prove her worth. What is she to do?" she asked. The more the person on the other side talked, the bigger the smirk on Lauren's face. A smirk she only had when she was thinking about Melanie or her family. "Ok. We'll go over there, and you'll see." She said and hung up.
She spent some time putting her cell phone back in her purse and grab a bottled water from the fridge before sitting on the sofa beside Melanie. Melanie remained quiet and waited for Lauren to speak before she did.
Finally Lauren said, "We're going to Egypt. The Covenant has something they need you to do so that they'll think the same way that Mommy does."
Melanie turned to her. "What am I going to do?" she asked.
"My employer didn't want to say over the phone, but it will determine what he thinks. It'll put a sure answer in they're minds. So I want you to pack. We'll only be there for a day, but after we leave we're not coming here right away. So go to your room." Lauren said and pointed upstairs.
Melanie did so and took out her suitcase and started stuffing as much stuff into it as possible. There was always the possibility of her parents coming and rescuing her and if they did, she wanted to be ready. When she stuffed all the things she'd regret leaving behind into her suitcase, she was about to put it near the front door, when she noticed something brown poking out from under her bed. She put the suitcase down and grabbed the brown thing.
It was Brownie, the stuffed bear Vaughn had won for her at the fair when she was three. She had always refused to go anywhere without Brownie, and had had him when the Covenant had kidnapped her at the park. Lauren had taken it from her and hid him somewhere, saying that toys were too easy to get attached to, and she wasn't supposed to get attached to anything. Melanie had kicked and hit anyone who had tried to calm her down so that they could take her to the dark room, hating them for taking away her favorite thing in the world.
When Melanie demanded to know where Brownie was, Lauren had told her that he was safe but she'd never see him again. And yet here he was, in Melanie's arms as if she had pushed him down there and was waiting for her to pick him up. Melanie opened her suitcase again and stuffed him into it, taking out a short pink skirt to make him fit. She wouldn't let Lauren and the Covenant take him from her again.
When she got downstairs she put the suitcase by the door. After that she went into the kitchen and gratefully took the plate of macaroni and cheese Lauren had prepared for her and ate it in five minutes. She went back for fourths and when she was finished, she went upstairs to bed.
The next morning Lauren pushed her and snapped at her to get up because they needed to leave. "There's a plane waiting for us about two miles from here. We need to leave before people see it. Get dressed in something dark!" she snapped. Melanie took the dark black shirt Sark had given her for her sixth birthday and a pair of black pants that used to be Lauren's when she was a kid and followed her out the front door. When they got there, Melanie went to the back of the plane and looked out the window until she felt the plane descending. She got out of the plane after Lauren and was greeted by McKenas Cole who was wearing an Armani suit and had his arms crossed. He didn't take his eyes off Melanie.
"So you're the famous Anna Reed that everyone I see lately keeps talking about. You know, you're considered a celebrity among us. But tell me Anna. Do you think up all these incredible plans by yourself, or do you have Lauren and/or Sark help you? Because it wouldn't surprise me at all." He said.
"Yes, I'm Anna Reed, and I come up with those plans by myself." Melanie said. She didn't add "Because my so-called mother makes me."
"You know, that's impressive. You'd make a good agent for us, Anna. But I have some good news and bad news. The bad news is that I don't trust you. I don't think you are who you say you are. But the good news is that I'm giving you an opportunity to prove yourself to me, and to the rest who aren't sure yet." Cole said in the snide way Sark always talked to Lauren about.
"Let's just go. Where are they exactly?" Lauren asked as she and Melanie got into the van Cole had arrived in.
"A small house about five miles north. We'll get there soon enough." Cole replied and they sat the entire ride in awkward silence. When they stopped, Cole shoved a 3 millimeter gun into her arms. "Now, here's what you have to do. There are three two CIA agents in that building, one contact for those agents, and a woman that I don't have a clue as to who she works for, but she was found helping out the CIA, so I'm assuming she can't be trusted anyway. All you have to do is shoot one of those agents without remorse, and you'll have my trust as well as the rest of the Covenant's. Ready?" he said.
Melanie glanced at the small dirty house and nodded. Cole talked into his comm and said, "Bring one of them out." To Melanie's horror, two Covenant agents dragged out an agent who looked oddly familiar. *Mommy!*, Melanie thought, almost dropping the gun and going over to her, but she caught herself just in time.
"Remember what you have to do Anna. Just shoot this agent." Cole said and nudged her towards Sydney. Sydney was looking into her eyes, sobbing uncontrollably. How was she going to do this? How could she shoot her mother, and make her mother still be able to live? There was no way for Melanie to do this without crying. So she took the gun, aimed it at Sydney's left shoulder, and pulled the trigger.
A/N: I wish I could've updated this yesterday since it was Jennifer Garner's birthday, but I was in a really bad mood and didn't have this typed. So please review, I need them!