Chapter 2
A/N: I promise Sark is coming in the next chapter! I'm going to try and
post a chapter a week! Please review!
** 2 Months after Sydney and Anna's last conversation **
"Marshall, a café latte. Dixon, black coffee. Vaughn, coffee, 2 creams," Anna said, carefully setting down a tray of morning boosters. "Honestly, why am I an agent? I could be, like, coffee-run girl!" She flipped her long, shining dark brown hair for extra measure and struck a pose.
Dixon laughed loudly "Hey, hey now, Anna, it was my turn last week! And I remember waiting in line forever for a latte, skinny, no fat, no sugar, no nothing." Anna swapped him playfully on the shoulder, giving a bright smile to the group as she opened her 'nothing' latte.
She inhaled the smell carefully, savouring that beautiful scent. "Coffee. Is. My. God. Enough said." Anna glanced down at the last cup on Vaughn's desk, looking lonely and desolate by itself. "I guess I better get this to Sydney before it gets cold."
The three men looked up anxiously as Anna walked towards the debrief room, where Sydney was talking avidly with her father and Director Kendall.
Marshall spoke first, breaking the silence thick with the three men's similar thoughts. "I don't think she's ever volunteered to take Syd's coffee to her.maybe the ice is breaking." He smiled slightly, a hopeful look on eyes, as he had always envied the relationship between the two girls. He'd like a friend a like that in his life.
Vaughn shook his head, his forehead creased in thoughtful wrinkles. "You know, after all Sydney told me about Anna, I thought that they'd be friends again by now. I mean, Dixon, you and Marshall managed to forgive Sydney for not telling you the truth about SD-6. I just wish Anna would forget the past. It's really tearing Sydney up and we all know that she has a lot on her plate, what with trying to finally nab Sloane and all that." Vaughn took a deep breathe, feeling the sudden burst of energy that erupted whenever he thought about Sydney. He wanted nothing more than for Sloane to be lodged in a cell in the CIA because he knew that that would free Sydney from all the pain and suffering she had seen. And from Danny, he admitted inwardly.
"I won't lie, Vaughn, it wasn't easy to think that Sydney had been lying to me for years. But I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing if our positions had been reversed," Dixon said quietly, knowing full well that he would do anything to keep those that he cared about from harm's grasp. "But you both are right. Anna needs to let go. They need their friendship. For them and for the CIA! Those two operate like no others, I can tell you that!"
Vaughn grinned. "SD-6 sure had some quality training!"
"Damn straight!" Marshall interjected gleefully, carefully wiping off his newly latte-stained tie with a napkin.
Vaughn and Dixon glanced at eachother before staring with uprised eyebrows at Marshall. Damn straight?
* * *
"Sydney, you absolutely cannot do that!"
All eyes in the debrief room whipped towards Anna, both interested and slightly worried about her outburst and how Sydney would respond to being told she could not do something. Yet Anna remained untouched by these stares and sat forward in her chair, prepared to explain herself.
"Listen, Sark knows you. He'll be expecting someone to come after him, especially with your-" She paused, focusing at Sydney for emphasis, "obsession, and I admit, I share this, of getting Sloane. Of making him pay. So, you don't think he'll just be lying in wait for you, prepared to take you down. Syd, there are probably orders to have you killed. Think about it. Taking a risk for a stupid Rambaldi code!"
Kendall jumped in, firmly ready to take authority. "Agent Parker, you know that we cannot, under any circumstances, allow Sark to get that code. Allowing him to get the location to.God know what is unacceptable. We have to be a step ahead of him and Sloane. Bristow and Vaughn are going in. Your plane leaves in 2 hours." He finished with a curt glance towards Sydney and Vaughn.
Anna cut him off at the door, her expression firmly set with just a hint of worry. "I realize that I have only been here for a few months. However, I didn't realize that putting their agents lives in direct danger was on the agenda of the CIA!"
"Anna-," Sydney tried to interject.
"Let me go! Sark doesn't know me. When he was at SD-6 for that month or so, I was on assignment in Rome, so he won't recognize me. That way we have a better chance of getting the paper with the code and not putting an agent's like a risk, all the same!"
Sydney stood up, eager to witness Kendall's reaction to Anna's strategy, while at the same time feeling a slight twinge of hope. Anna hadn't wanted her to go because she feared that her life would be endangered. Perhaps their friendship could be salvaged after all. Sydney also had to admit that Anna's plan was smart; Sark would be in for a surprise as Anna was one of the best agents she knew.
Kendall placed his hands on the seat of his chair and looked questioningly at Jack. "What do you think?"
"Well, given that Sark has had.extensive dealings with Sydney, perhaps it is better that we send someone else. Anna Parker has an excellent field-ops record," Jack stated factually, his hands together tightly on the table.
Kendall looked Anna in the eyes. "Do it. Marshall, brief her on the tech." He let the heavy door slam behind him, leaving Anna with a somewhat triumphant look on her face.
"I suppose we ought to be leaving too then. Good luck, Anna," Vaughn said, nodding confidently in her direction. He felt relieved that Sydney was not going on this mission. No one knew Sloane's reaction to the revelation of the Bristows' betrayal and double agent status. Plus, Sydney was always extolling Anna's qualities as an agent.
Dixon patted her shoulder on his way out. "Anna, I know you won't let that cocky British jerk get that code." Her lips curled in a small smile and she was beginning to feel the pressure of how important this mission was. She could not afford to fail.
Only Sydney, Marshall and Anna were left in the debriefing room. "Oh, ugh, if you girls-well I mean women, you know you've, uh, passed puberty, that little monthly-well you know-"
"Marshall!" Anna and Sydney both exclaimed at the same time.
He smiled nervously. "I'll just, um, read over the operation manual. Whenever you're ready, Anna."
"I'll just be a minute."Anna turned towards Sydney, a nervous expression gracing her soft features. "I'm glad you're not going. We really don't know how Sark has been ordered to deal with you, should you try and stop him from getting that code." She trailed off, uncertain about what to say.
"You'll be incredible. I know you want to get them at least as much as me. I trust you," Sydney replied encouragingly.
Anna bit her lower lip uncertainly. "Even after the horrible way I've been treating you these past 2 months? I've been like a nightmare."
Sydney's brown eyes enlarged, her mouth opened to protest but Anna cut her off. "No, Syd, me first. I just.I couldn't accept that you didn't let me in, that you didn't let me help. The thought that I was actually working for the 'evil' side.I couldn't fathom it and I blamed you. I'm so sorry for that! But you worked so hard and put your life in so much danger to bring it down. You brought down the Alliance!"
"And we will take down Sark.and Sloane, together. This time, it's you and me. And I couldn't ask for a better agent than my very best friend!" Sydney hugged her friend, fighting back tears of happiness. "But you be safe. Sark is one hell of a son of a bitch. He will kill you if he discovers what you are trying to do, Anna," she said seriously.
Anna nodded in agreement, "I know.or so I've heard." She held open the door for her friend, anxious to get started on the plan for the mission. "I'll be safe. Have faith!"
Sydney grinned. "I always have."
Anna smiled as she watched Sydney's retreating figure and then cleared her head, adamant to focus on the issue at hand. Sark. The code.
"Marshall?"
"Oh, yeah, right, Anna. So in order to break into the safe in the hotel in Marseilles, I have this nifty lipstick that when you take the lid off and turn it back-,"he demonstrated, "that will scramble the code-"
"Marshall-I have something else in mind. I just need something to slice through shirt or jacket fabric. Something small that can go on my hand." Anna settled into a chair beside him, slightly smiling. "I think I have something perfect in mind. Sark will never know what hit him, literally. He'll be totally unaware!"
** 2 Months after Sydney and Anna's last conversation **
"Marshall, a café latte. Dixon, black coffee. Vaughn, coffee, 2 creams," Anna said, carefully setting down a tray of morning boosters. "Honestly, why am I an agent? I could be, like, coffee-run girl!" She flipped her long, shining dark brown hair for extra measure and struck a pose.
Dixon laughed loudly "Hey, hey now, Anna, it was my turn last week! And I remember waiting in line forever for a latte, skinny, no fat, no sugar, no nothing." Anna swapped him playfully on the shoulder, giving a bright smile to the group as she opened her 'nothing' latte.
She inhaled the smell carefully, savouring that beautiful scent. "Coffee. Is. My. God. Enough said." Anna glanced down at the last cup on Vaughn's desk, looking lonely and desolate by itself. "I guess I better get this to Sydney before it gets cold."
The three men looked up anxiously as Anna walked towards the debrief room, where Sydney was talking avidly with her father and Director Kendall.
Marshall spoke first, breaking the silence thick with the three men's similar thoughts. "I don't think she's ever volunteered to take Syd's coffee to her.maybe the ice is breaking." He smiled slightly, a hopeful look on eyes, as he had always envied the relationship between the two girls. He'd like a friend a like that in his life.
Vaughn shook his head, his forehead creased in thoughtful wrinkles. "You know, after all Sydney told me about Anna, I thought that they'd be friends again by now. I mean, Dixon, you and Marshall managed to forgive Sydney for not telling you the truth about SD-6. I just wish Anna would forget the past. It's really tearing Sydney up and we all know that she has a lot on her plate, what with trying to finally nab Sloane and all that." Vaughn took a deep breathe, feeling the sudden burst of energy that erupted whenever he thought about Sydney. He wanted nothing more than for Sloane to be lodged in a cell in the CIA because he knew that that would free Sydney from all the pain and suffering she had seen. And from Danny, he admitted inwardly.
"I won't lie, Vaughn, it wasn't easy to think that Sydney had been lying to me for years. But I can't say that I wouldn't have done the same thing if our positions had been reversed," Dixon said quietly, knowing full well that he would do anything to keep those that he cared about from harm's grasp. "But you both are right. Anna needs to let go. They need their friendship. For them and for the CIA! Those two operate like no others, I can tell you that!"
Vaughn grinned. "SD-6 sure had some quality training!"
"Damn straight!" Marshall interjected gleefully, carefully wiping off his newly latte-stained tie with a napkin.
Vaughn and Dixon glanced at eachother before staring with uprised eyebrows at Marshall. Damn straight?
* * *
"Sydney, you absolutely cannot do that!"
All eyes in the debrief room whipped towards Anna, both interested and slightly worried about her outburst and how Sydney would respond to being told she could not do something. Yet Anna remained untouched by these stares and sat forward in her chair, prepared to explain herself.
"Listen, Sark knows you. He'll be expecting someone to come after him, especially with your-" She paused, focusing at Sydney for emphasis, "obsession, and I admit, I share this, of getting Sloane. Of making him pay. So, you don't think he'll just be lying in wait for you, prepared to take you down. Syd, there are probably orders to have you killed. Think about it. Taking a risk for a stupid Rambaldi code!"
Kendall jumped in, firmly ready to take authority. "Agent Parker, you know that we cannot, under any circumstances, allow Sark to get that code. Allowing him to get the location to.God know what is unacceptable. We have to be a step ahead of him and Sloane. Bristow and Vaughn are going in. Your plane leaves in 2 hours." He finished with a curt glance towards Sydney and Vaughn.
Anna cut him off at the door, her expression firmly set with just a hint of worry. "I realize that I have only been here for a few months. However, I didn't realize that putting their agents lives in direct danger was on the agenda of the CIA!"
"Anna-," Sydney tried to interject.
"Let me go! Sark doesn't know me. When he was at SD-6 for that month or so, I was on assignment in Rome, so he won't recognize me. That way we have a better chance of getting the paper with the code and not putting an agent's like a risk, all the same!"
Sydney stood up, eager to witness Kendall's reaction to Anna's strategy, while at the same time feeling a slight twinge of hope. Anna hadn't wanted her to go because she feared that her life would be endangered. Perhaps their friendship could be salvaged after all. Sydney also had to admit that Anna's plan was smart; Sark would be in for a surprise as Anna was one of the best agents she knew.
Kendall placed his hands on the seat of his chair and looked questioningly at Jack. "What do you think?"
"Well, given that Sark has had.extensive dealings with Sydney, perhaps it is better that we send someone else. Anna Parker has an excellent field-ops record," Jack stated factually, his hands together tightly on the table.
Kendall looked Anna in the eyes. "Do it. Marshall, brief her on the tech." He let the heavy door slam behind him, leaving Anna with a somewhat triumphant look on her face.
"I suppose we ought to be leaving too then. Good luck, Anna," Vaughn said, nodding confidently in her direction. He felt relieved that Sydney was not going on this mission. No one knew Sloane's reaction to the revelation of the Bristows' betrayal and double agent status. Plus, Sydney was always extolling Anna's qualities as an agent.
Dixon patted her shoulder on his way out. "Anna, I know you won't let that cocky British jerk get that code." Her lips curled in a small smile and she was beginning to feel the pressure of how important this mission was. She could not afford to fail.
Only Sydney, Marshall and Anna were left in the debriefing room. "Oh, ugh, if you girls-well I mean women, you know you've, uh, passed puberty, that little monthly-well you know-"
"Marshall!" Anna and Sydney both exclaimed at the same time.
He smiled nervously. "I'll just, um, read over the operation manual. Whenever you're ready, Anna."
"I'll just be a minute."Anna turned towards Sydney, a nervous expression gracing her soft features. "I'm glad you're not going. We really don't know how Sark has been ordered to deal with you, should you try and stop him from getting that code." She trailed off, uncertain about what to say.
"You'll be incredible. I know you want to get them at least as much as me. I trust you," Sydney replied encouragingly.
Anna bit her lower lip uncertainly. "Even after the horrible way I've been treating you these past 2 months? I've been like a nightmare."
Sydney's brown eyes enlarged, her mouth opened to protest but Anna cut her off. "No, Syd, me first. I just.I couldn't accept that you didn't let me in, that you didn't let me help. The thought that I was actually working for the 'evil' side.I couldn't fathom it and I blamed you. I'm so sorry for that! But you worked so hard and put your life in so much danger to bring it down. You brought down the Alliance!"
"And we will take down Sark.and Sloane, together. This time, it's you and me. And I couldn't ask for a better agent than my very best friend!" Sydney hugged her friend, fighting back tears of happiness. "But you be safe. Sark is one hell of a son of a bitch. He will kill you if he discovers what you are trying to do, Anna," she said seriously.
Anna nodded in agreement, "I know.or so I've heard." She held open the door for her friend, anxious to get started on the plan for the mission. "I'll be safe. Have faith!"
Sydney grinned. "I always have."
Anna smiled as she watched Sydney's retreating figure and then cleared her head, adamant to focus on the issue at hand. Sark. The code.
"Marshall?"
"Oh, yeah, right, Anna. So in order to break into the safe in the hotel in Marseilles, I have this nifty lipstick that when you take the lid off and turn it back-,"he demonstrated, "that will scramble the code-"
"Marshall-I have something else in mind. I just need something to slice through shirt or jacket fabric. Something small that can go on my hand." Anna settled into a chair beside him, slightly smiling. "I think I have something perfect in mind. Sark will never know what hit him, literally. He'll be totally unaware!"