Chapter 10
A/N: sorry it's a bit short, but this was a good stopping place.
I walk through the halls of the gallery slowly, a martini in my hand. Another mission, another day in the life of Sydney Bristow, double agent. I smile at some passerby's, all well dressed for the occasion. In my long red dress, and high red heels, I look no different than the rest. I twist a lock of my now curly hair around my finger, giving off an air of arrogance. The opening of the sculpture collection is about to begin.
I work my way to the back of the room and lean casually against a table. As soon as Kovalev begins his speech I release the martini glass onto the table and make my way towards a stair case on the other side of the room, moving slowly so as not to attract attention. Slowly, and carefully I climb the stairs and step into 'combat mode' as I expect guards will be at the top.
To my surprise, the hallway at the top of the stairs seems completely forgotten. It makes me uncomfortable that this area is not well guarded and I am prepared for just about anything I may meet as I jog down the hallway, looking over my shoulder every few seconds. I reach another set of stairs, somewhat shorter, and climb to the top. Once again, I am greeted by no one.
I find Kovalev's office and warily touch the doorknob. It's as if they want me to let my guard down. I pull the descrambler out of my purse with my other hand and open it up. It releases a small beep to signal that it is on and working. I am about to use the device when I turn my hand to take it off the doorknob and to my great surprise the door opens.
Why would they leave such an important office unlocked? I am more nervous by the minute and I cautiously enter the room and find the picture frame. I turn on my comm. link and hear Dixon on the other end.
"Hey there, Syd. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's perfect" too perfect. I touch the picture frame gently and run my fingers along the golden frame. After admiring it for a second I swing it open and find a scroll of paper. I replace it with SD-6's counterfeit and swing the frame back in its place. I look around me again. This is too easy. I'm suspicious of the mission's simplicity, and it's quite unsettling.
Chills run down my spine as I quickly leave the office and shut the door again. I expect alarm bells to go off at any second, but none do.
"I'm getting the hell out of here Dixon" I run down the stairs and down the hall, expecting a guard to jump out at me. I make it to the last set of stairs and go down slowly. A sigh of relief leaves my lips, but I won't be reassured until I'm far away from here. I leave the party without anyone taking notice and get into the black sd-6 van.
"How'd it go? Did you get the codes?"
"Yeah, I got them" I pull out the CIA copy and hand it to Dixon. "It was freaky in there, everything was too perfect," I look at Dixon worriedly, "I didn't run into a single guard, I didn't even need to use the descrambler, the door was unlocked!" Dixon shrugged his shoulders.
"Guess you were lucky, that's all"
***
"I just don't understand it. it was so simple, too simple" I tore my gaze from the floor and looked up at him, "do you think it was fake, could it have something to do with SD-6?" He shook his head.
"I don't think so Sydney, no it was definitely a real mission" His eyebrows furrowed as he dove into deep thought. In a few seconds, he's left this world and seems to be muttering to himself. I chuckle lightly, amused by his focus.
"Dad?" He looks up, slightly startled, and smiles faintly.
"Sorry. I don't think there's anything we can do Sydney, we'll have to just wait and see, I'm not even sure Sloane knows what he's after quite yet" I let out a sigh and meet his eyes again. I look around me at the dark warehouse, dusty old crates and boxes lined up against the walls, faint lighting, the rusting chain link fence, and an old chair or two scattered around the room. It's strange how such a dark, gloomy place can at times feel so comforting.
"Thanks Dad, for some reason, I feel a bit better about all of this now" He nods his head and gathers his things and as he's getting up he speaks.
"So, how was your briefing with Vaughn the other day?" He keeps his eyes on his coat the whole time, pretending to dust it off. A smile crawls onto my face as I see that he's avoiding my gaze.
"It was great" He looks up and smiles at me briefly. He turns, his coat swishing around him as he heads for the door. I hesitate for a moment as the debate in my head draws to a close and call out to him.
"Dad!" he turns around to look at me and I smile openly. "Thanks, Dad."
***
I walk into my living room, slip off my coat, and go forward to inspect as I hear a rustling in the kitchen.
"Must be Will," I mutter quietly to myself. I'm about to come in and jokingly denounce him for breaking into my house when I stop, frozen, at the doorframe. I look down at the familiar man searching through my refrigerator and I try to convince myself I'm seeing things. This is one hell of a hallucination. I rub my temples and stand there, unsure of what to do.
He gets up from his crouching position and turns around facing me, a beer in his hand. He was always attractive, a tall, well-built figure with soft brown locks that fell in curls around his face. Looking into his shocking blue eyes, I start to feel a little bit fuzzy. He smiles and I bring my hand up to my face, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. My eyes travel to the floor and trail back up to his face. I smile gently and clumsily stroke my sweater, flattening out one of the corners. I can feel myself turning red as look of surprise crawls onto his face and he breaks into a boyish grin.
"Syd?"
***
A/N: don't you just love me? hehe
A/N: sorry it's a bit short, but this was a good stopping place.
I walk through the halls of the gallery slowly, a martini in my hand. Another mission, another day in the life of Sydney Bristow, double agent. I smile at some passerby's, all well dressed for the occasion. In my long red dress, and high red heels, I look no different than the rest. I twist a lock of my now curly hair around my finger, giving off an air of arrogance. The opening of the sculpture collection is about to begin.
I work my way to the back of the room and lean casually against a table. As soon as Kovalev begins his speech I release the martini glass onto the table and make my way towards a stair case on the other side of the room, moving slowly so as not to attract attention. Slowly, and carefully I climb the stairs and step into 'combat mode' as I expect guards will be at the top.
To my surprise, the hallway at the top of the stairs seems completely forgotten. It makes me uncomfortable that this area is not well guarded and I am prepared for just about anything I may meet as I jog down the hallway, looking over my shoulder every few seconds. I reach another set of stairs, somewhat shorter, and climb to the top. Once again, I am greeted by no one.
I find Kovalev's office and warily touch the doorknob. It's as if they want me to let my guard down. I pull the descrambler out of my purse with my other hand and open it up. It releases a small beep to signal that it is on and working. I am about to use the device when I turn my hand to take it off the doorknob and to my great surprise the door opens.
Why would they leave such an important office unlocked? I am more nervous by the minute and I cautiously enter the room and find the picture frame. I turn on my comm. link and hear Dixon on the other end.
"Hey there, Syd. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything's perfect" too perfect. I touch the picture frame gently and run my fingers along the golden frame. After admiring it for a second I swing it open and find a scroll of paper. I replace it with SD-6's counterfeit and swing the frame back in its place. I look around me again. This is too easy. I'm suspicious of the mission's simplicity, and it's quite unsettling.
Chills run down my spine as I quickly leave the office and shut the door again. I expect alarm bells to go off at any second, but none do.
"I'm getting the hell out of here Dixon" I run down the stairs and down the hall, expecting a guard to jump out at me. I make it to the last set of stairs and go down slowly. A sigh of relief leaves my lips, but I won't be reassured until I'm far away from here. I leave the party without anyone taking notice and get into the black sd-6 van.
"How'd it go? Did you get the codes?"
"Yeah, I got them" I pull out the CIA copy and hand it to Dixon. "It was freaky in there, everything was too perfect," I look at Dixon worriedly, "I didn't run into a single guard, I didn't even need to use the descrambler, the door was unlocked!" Dixon shrugged his shoulders.
"Guess you were lucky, that's all"
***
"I just don't understand it. it was so simple, too simple" I tore my gaze from the floor and looked up at him, "do you think it was fake, could it have something to do with SD-6?" He shook his head.
"I don't think so Sydney, no it was definitely a real mission" His eyebrows furrowed as he dove into deep thought. In a few seconds, he's left this world and seems to be muttering to himself. I chuckle lightly, amused by his focus.
"Dad?" He looks up, slightly startled, and smiles faintly.
"Sorry. I don't think there's anything we can do Sydney, we'll have to just wait and see, I'm not even sure Sloane knows what he's after quite yet" I let out a sigh and meet his eyes again. I look around me at the dark warehouse, dusty old crates and boxes lined up against the walls, faint lighting, the rusting chain link fence, and an old chair or two scattered around the room. It's strange how such a dark, gloomy place can at times feel so comforting.
"Thanks Dad, for some reason, I feel a bit better about all of this now" He nods his head and gathers his things and as he's getting up he speaks.
"So, how was your briefing with Vaughn the other day?" He keeps his eyes on his coat the whole time, pretending to dust it off. A smile crawls onto my face as I see that he's avoiding my gaze.
"It was great" He looks up and smiles at me briefly. He turns, his coat swishing around him as he heads for the door. I hesitate for a moment as the debate in my head draws to a close and call out to him.
"Dad!" he turns around to look at me and I smile openly. "Thanks, Dad."
***
I walk into my living room, slip off my coat, and go forward to inspect as I hear a rustling in the kitchen.
"Must be Will," I mutter quietly to myself. I'm about to come in and jokingly denounce him for breaking into my house when I stop, frozen, at the doorframe. I look down at the familiar man searching through my refrigerator and I try to convince myself I'm seeing things. This is one hell of a hallucination. I rub my temples and stand there, unsure of what to do.
He gets up from his crouching position and turns around facing me, a beer in his hand. He was always attractive, a tall, well-built figure with soft brown locks that fell in curls around his face. Looking into his shocking blue eyes, I start to feel a little bit fuzzy. He smiles and I bring my hand up to my face, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. My eyes travel to the floor and trail back up to his face. I smile gently and clumsily stroke my sweater, flattening out one of the corners. I can feel myself turning red as look of surprise crawls onto his face and he breaks into a boyish grin.
"Syd?"
***
A/N: don't you just love me? hehe