AN: Anything that has around it is in German.
Chapter 6
M: So how long have you known Michael?
V: About two years.
Vaughn answers for her, seeing her hesitation at how to answer, entering the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water for the pills Matt gave him.
V: You can tell her anything you want to, just tell me how far you go.
He says giving her a look that means don't go too far so soon, and leaves.
S: Oh, yeah, well thanks for the guidance, that'll probably be next to nothing
V: Fine, anything but the events surrounding my fathers death.
S: I thought you didn't know German?
She says unbelievingly.
V: You assumed, if you haven't noticed I tend to buckle under that type of pressure ...unlike certain doubles I know.
S: Whatever, now scram, we have to feed all of you.
He leaves the kitchen and they return to cooking, and Marie continues her questioning.
M: How did you meet?
S: That cold take a while, you want the long or edited version?
M: Well we have quite a bit to ourselves now, why don't you choose whichever you feel comfortable with dear?
S: Well we met at the agency; he was my handler, basically my boss. We've been friends ever since.
V: Okay, stop. You have to listen to me, okay?
S: You said you wanted to talk about the plan. I'm giving you the plan.
V: It's not your job to give me the plan. I'm giving you the plan. Tomorrow's your first day back at SD-6. Now, nothing should change. When you get your assignment, you'll detail your mission on a paper bag. (picks one up, showing her) Bag. Then you'll call this number. (gives her card) Memorize it. After three tones, press the appropriate digit -- one through six. Each corresponds to a trash can in a specific location. Now we'll review your information, create a counter mission, and we'll contact you posing as a wrong number. Joey's Pizza. Any questions, so far?
S: Yeah. Can you show me what a bag looks like again?
(Vaughn rolls his eyes.)
S: Now, you listen to me, Mr. Vaughn. I appreciate what your job is here, even though I think you're a little young to be doing it, to establish a protocol between the C.I.A. and their latest double agent. But I'm not sitting here to pick up the ins and outs of Langley procedure. I am sitting here for one reason only, and that is to destroy SD-6!
V: Hey!--
S: After which I am out! I want no more of this spy crap, that's why I went to you in the first place. So, listen to me and I will hand you, in record time, the people who will render SD-6 useless.
V: Record time.
S: Two months. Tops.
I don't know what your problem is with me. Maybe it's that I'm a woman, or maybe you just don't like my attitude, or something, and I'm sorry about that. But I really don't feel like wasting time here. Three's only one way we can immobilize SD-6, and that's MY way. So, forgive me for being forthright or... female, but this is how it's going to be.
S: I'm giving SD-6 the wrong number!
V: What? No, no, no, no, you give them exactly what--
S: I'm not giving them the right sequence! There is no way, forget it!
V: Sydney, listen to me! This is critical! Sydney, you give them the number. That's an order.
S: An order?
V: Yes.
S: We have to have a long talk when I get back to Los Angeles!
S: You do NOT give me orders!
V: Maybe I do--
S: I could have easily misled SD-6--
V: You're not thinking this through!
S: ...That's what I'm here for!
V: Just stop talking for a second! If you'd given SD-6 a bogus code, what would have happened when Ana gave K-Directorate the correct sequence?
S: Who cares? They would have thought I made a mistake!
V: Oh, and what, that Ana didn't? She would've given them the correct code, they would have seen the code indicate at Athens, K-Directorate would head there, SD-6 would have nothing. They would suspect you. Sydney, we have to be very careful here. We have to be wildly, crazy careful. If SD-6 suspects you in the least, it's over.
S: (sobbing) I'm sorry to call you, I just didn't know who else to call. My father and I were supposed to have dinner tonight. The first time since I was a kid. I can't even remember the last time. (sobs) He just didn't show. He said he had work. He didn't have work. This isn't just about my dad. When I was in Morocco, the man who died... he was a friend of mine. He was a good man, who thought he was fighting for the right side, that he was working for the C.I.A.! He was lied to, and now he's dead. I had his blood on my hands!
V: Sydney...
S: I feel like I'm losing my mind! Like I don't even know who I am anymore, or what I'm doing, or why I'm doing it!
(Her pager suddenly beeps. Sydney grabs it, and throws it in the water below them. It splashes.)
V: You just threw your beeper in the Pacific.
S: (laughs through tears) I know...
V: Okay, listen to me. There's something you need to know. When you first walked into my office with that stupid Bozo hair, I thought you were crazy. I thought you might actually be a crazy person. But I watched you, and I read your statement, and I've seen... I've seen how you think, I've seen how you work, I've seen how you are in this job. In this job, you see darkness. You see the worst in people and though the jobs are different and the missions change, and the enemies have a thousand names, the one crucial thing, the one real responsibility you have is to not let your rage, and your resentment, and your disgust, darken you. When you're at your absolute lowest, at your most depressed, just remember that you can always... you know. You got my number.
(A few seconds pass. Sydney grabs Vaughn's hand, and holds on tight.)
She smiles faintly and corrects, chuckling.
S: Well maybe not from the very beginning.... (chuckle) I...um actually thought he was married when we met.
S: Did you have a fight with your wife?
V: My what?
S: Your wife.
V: What wife? I have no wife.
S: No, there was a picture in your office. You and that woman. I thought you were married.
V: No. She and I are not remotely m-- You thought I was married this whole time?
S: I guess so. What's the big deal?
V: Nothing. So when you get an idea on who he's meeting and/or details of that meeting, just call the usual number. Hit the eight key. We'll dead- drop in the trash can. Why did you ask me if I had a fight with my girlfriend?
S: I don't know. Did you?
V: Huge. Good luck in Morocco.
M: Now why would you think that?
S: A bunch of little things and an overactive imagination.
M: Well why don't you tell me more about yourself? I know almost nothing about you, but you name.
S: Well, I'm Sydney Amanda Bristow, My dad is Jack, you met him, and my mom died in an accident when I was 6. I've been in intelligence for 9-10 years, but I've been working under cover for 2 years, that's how I met Vaughn, sorry, Michael, old habits die hard. The group I was working for was taken down a couple months ago, but they had an idea that I was a double and that it was connected to Vau, Michael, and that's how we ended up here, it's familiar territory in case we're found there are a million different places to go, and it's secluded so no surveillance cameras can spot us.
M: Hmm, that's interesting dear, but I want to know about you, and your relationship with Michael, not your work.
S: Sorry, well I'm 28, an only child, and somehow I've managed to attend UCLA, I'm studying to be a lit professor.
M: That's quite a career jump; form an agent to a teacher, why do you want to be a professor?
S: I was approached at nineteen, when I was first starting at UCLA, and I thought it was great that my country was interested in me, so I thought about it for a while and I accepted to work while I finished me degree, unfortunately my idealism and patriotism helped me make the single biggest mistake of my life.
M: What was that?
S: Accepting the offer. The group that approached me, they weren't CIA, they were a rogue group who told their agents they were a secret division of the CIA, working on cases that they couldn't afford anyone, like the media, getting a hold of. Seven years later my life was perfect, I was engaged, I had a great job, great friends, and only one problem, no one knew what I really did, my cover was an international banker to cover for all of my missions and trips, and for all they knew I was a klutz too, a few days after Danny proposed I decided to tell him the truth, ....
She pauses, trying not to break down and to compartmentalize. Marie comes closer and hugs her, rubbing her back.
S: ... He took it as well as he could, I had another trip that night and so I left, Danny had gotten drunk that night and called me and left a message to apologize for how he had acted when I told him, when I came home the next day, our apartment had been trashed, a-and he was in the bathtub...he-he was covered in his own blood, SD-6 had assassinated him, because of my damn conscience the man I loved had been murdered.
She says quietly sobbing on Maries shoulder.
S: They gave me a month off, I took three, they said I had compromised my agency and that I could never tell anyone what I had told Danny again, that I had been responsible for his death, and I was so naïve, I believed them, but I couldn't return, they sent assassins after me, my father saved me that day, he told me the truth about everything, about my employers, and tried to get me to go into hiding, I wouldn't listen, I went to the CIA, I told them everything I knew but never mentioned my father, I couldn't betray him, even as he betrayed me by working against the CIA and letting me believe all the lies. That's where I met your son, he kept me grounded, focused, and saved me from myself and my demons more times than I can count. He was my guardian angel.
She was so lost in the memories that she wasn't completely aware of her surroundings, but after a few seconds she realizes that Marie is no longer holding her, but she is now enveloped in a strong, loving embrace that can only come from one person......
Chapter 6
M: So how long have you known Michael?
V: About two years.
Vaughn answers for her, seeing her hesitation at how to answer, entering the kitchen and grabbing a glass of water for the pills Matt gave him.
V: You can tell her anything you want to, just tell me how far you go.
He says giving her a look that means don't go too far so soon, and leaves.
S: Oh, yeah, well thanks for the guidance, that'll probably be next to nothing
V: Fine, anything but the events surrounding my fathers death.
S: I thought you didn't know German?
She says unbelievingly.
V: You assumed, if you haven't noticed I tend to buckle under that type of pressure ...unlike certain doubles I know.
S: Whatever, now scram, we have to feed all of you.
He leaves the kitchen and they return to cooking, and Marie continues her questioning.
M: How did you meet?
S: That cold take a while, you want the long or edited version?
M: Well we have quite a bit to ourselves now, why don't you choose whichever you feel comfortable with dear?
S: Well we met at the agency; he was my handler, basically my boss. We've been friends ever since.
V: Okay, stop. You have to listen to me, okay?
S: You said you wanted to talk about the plan. I'm giving you the plan.
V: It's not your job to give me the plan. I'm giving you the plan. Tomorrow's your first day back at SD-6. Now, nothing should change. When you get your assignment, you'll detail your mission on a paper bag. (picks one up, showing her) Bag. Then you'll call this number. (gives her card) Memorize it. After three tones, press the appropriate digit -- one through six. Each corresponds to a trash can in a specific location. Now we'll review your information, create a counter mission, and we'll contact you posing as a wrong number. Joey's Pizza. Any questions, so far?
S: Yeah. Can you show me what a bag looks like again?
(Vaughn rolls his eyes.)
S: Now, you listen to me, Mr. Vaughn. I appreciate what your job is here, even though I think you're a little young to be doing it, to establish a protocol between the C.I.A. and their latest double agent. But I'm not sitting here to pick up the ins and outs of Langley procedure. I am sitting here for one reason only, and that is to destroy SD-6!
V: Hey!--
S: After which I am out! I want no more of this spy crap, that's why I went to you in the first place. So, listen to me and I will hand you, in record time, the people who will render SD-6 useless.
V: Record time.
S: Two months. Tops.
I don't know what your problem is with me. Maybe it's that I'm a woman, or maybe you just don't like my attitude, or something, and I'm sorry about that. But I really don't feel like wasting time here. Three's only one way we can immobilize SD-6, and that's MY way. So, forgive me for being forthright or... female, but this is how it's going to be.
S: I'm giving SD-6 the wrong number!
V: What? No, no, no, no, you give them exactly what--
S: I'm not giving them the right sequence! There is no way, forget it!
V: Sydney, listen to me! This is critical! Sydney, you give them the number. That's an order.
S: An order?
V: Yes.
S: We have to have a long talk when I get back to Los Angeles!
S: You do NOT give me orders!
V: Maybe I do--
S: I could have easily misled SD-6--
V: You're not thinking this through!
S: ...That's what I'm here for!
V: Just stop talking for a second! If you'd given SD-6 a bogus code, what would have happened when Ana gave K-Directorate the correct sequence?
S: Who cares? They would have thought I made a mistake!
V: Oh, and what, that Ana didn't? She would've given them the correct code, they would have seen the code indicate at Athens, K-Directorate would head there, SD-6 would have nothing. They would suspect you. Sydney, we have to be very careful here. We have to be wildly, crazy careful. If SD-6 suspects you in the least, it's over.
S: (sobbing) I'm sorry to call you, I just didn't know who else to call. My father and I were supposed to have dinner tonight. The first time since I was a kid. I can't even remember the last time. (sobs) He just didn't show. He said he had work. He didn't have work. This isn't just about my dad. When I was in Morocco, the man who died... he was a friend of mine. He was a good man, who thought he was fighting for the right side, that he was working for the C.I.A.! He was lied to, and now he's dead. I had his blood on my hands!
V: Sydney...
S: I feel like I'm losing my mind! Like I don't even know who I am anymore, or what I'm doing, or why I'm doing it!
(Her pager suddenly beeps. Sydney grabs it, and throws it in the water below them. It splashes.)
V: You just threw your beeper in the Pacific.
S: (laughs through tears) I know...
V: Okay, listen to me. There's something you need to know. When you first walked into my office with that stupid Bozo hair, I thought you were crazy. I thought you might actually be a crazy person. But I watched you, and I read your statement, and I've seen... I've seen how you think, I've seen how you work, I've seen how you are in this job. In this job, you see darkness. You see the worst in people and though the jobs are different and the missions change, and the enemies have a thousand names, the one crucial thing, the one real responsibility you have is to not let your rage, and your resentment, and your disgust, darken you. When you're at your absolute lowest, at your most depressed, just remember that you can always... you know. You got my number.
(A few seconds pass. Sydney grabs Vaughn's hand, and holds on tight.)
She smiles faintly and corrects, chuckling.
S: Well maybe not from the very beginning.... (chuckle) I...um actually thought he was married when we met.
S: Did you have a fight with your wife?
V: My what?
S: Your wife.
V: What wife? I have no wife.
S: No, there was a picture in your office. You and that woman. I thought you were married.
V: No. She and I are not remotely m-- You thought I was married this whole time?
S: I guess so. What's the big deal?
V: Nothing. So when you get an idea on who he's meeting and/or details of that meeting, just call the usual number. Hit the eight key. We'll dead- drop in the trash can. Why did you ask me if I had a fight with my girlfriend?
S: I don't know. Did you?
V: Huge. Good luck in Morocco.
M: Now why would you think that?
S: A bunch of little things and an overactive imagination.
M: Well why don't you tell me more about yourself? I know almost nothing about you, but you name.
S: Well, I'm Sydney Amanda Bristow, My dad is Jack, you met him, and my mom died in an accident when I was 6. I've been in intelligence for 9-10 years, but I've been working under cover for 2 years, that's how I met Vaughn, sorry, Michael, old habits die hard. The group I was working for was taken down a couple months ago, but they had an idea that I was a double and that it was connected to Vau, Michael, and that's how we ended up here, it's familiar territory in case we're found there are a million different places to go, and it's secluded so no surveillance cameras can spot us.
M: Hmm, that's interesting dear, but I want to know about you, and your relationship with Michael, not your work.
S: Sorry, well I'm 28, an only child, and somehow I've managed to attend UCLA, I'm studying to be a lit professor.
M: That's quite a career jump; form an agent to a teacher, why do you want to be a professor?
S: I was approached at nineteen, when I was first starting at UCLA, and I thought it was great that my country was interested in me, so I thought about it for a while and I accepted to work while I finished me degree, unfortunately my idealism and patriotism helped me make the single biggest mistake of my life.
M: What was that?
S: Accepting the offer. The group that approached me, they weren't CIA, they were a rogue group who told their agents they were a secret division of the CIA, working on cases that they couldn't afford anyone, like the media, getting a hold of. Seven years later my life was perfect, I was engaged, I had a great job, great friends, and only one problem, no one knew what I really did, my cover was an international banker to cover for all of my missions and trips, and for all they knew I was a klutz too, a few days after Danny proposed I decided to tell him the truth, ....
She pauses, trying not to break down and to compartmentalize. Marie comes closer and hugs her, rubbing her back.
S: ... He took it as well as he could, I had another trip that night and so I left, Danny had gotten drunk that night and called me and left a message to apologize for how he had acted when I told him, when I came home the next day, our apartment had been trashed, a-and he was in the bathtub...he-he was covered in his own blood, SD-6 had assassinated him, because of my damn conscience the man I loved had been murdered.
She says quietly sobbing on Maries shoulder.
S: They gave me a month off, I took three, they said I had compromised my agency and that I could never tell anyone what I had told Danny again, that I had been responsible for his death, and I was so naïve, I believed them, but I couldn't return, they sent assassins after me, my father saved me that day, he told me the truth about everything, about my employers, and tried to get me to go into hiding, I wouldn't listen, I went to the CIA, I told them everything I knew but never mentioned my father, I couldn't betray him, even as he betrayed me by working against the CIA and letting me believe all the lies. That's where I met your son, he kept me grounded, focused, and saved me from myself and my demons more times than I can count. He was my guardian angel.
She was so lost in the memories that she wasn't completely aware of her surroundings, but after a few seconds she realizes that Marie is no longer holding her, but she is now enveloped in a strong, loving embrace that can only come from one person......