"Alright, alright, let's nail this out," Kendall said firmly, moving to
the head of the conference room. "Ok, Parker, Weiss, Bristow, and Vaughn-
you're all on this one. Sark has a meeting George Mandell, who we think has
ties to the Covenant. As you already know, the Covenant is not a group
friendly to the U.S. government. Naturally, everything they know,
everything they do, everything they have.we want to know about it. Weiss
and Vaughn, you'll be on communications but Vaughn-be prepared to assist
the other agents if need be. We are not losing out on this one!
"So are we just observing or are we going to take any.things, artifact, whatever, that are a part of this meeting?" Sydney asked, folding her hands on the smooth table.
Kendall looked uncertain for a second. "Personally, I'd like to see us take in Sark but he always seems to escape our clutches. So, unless by some miracle you are able to do it, that's not the goal of this mission. What I want...what the CIA wants, is to know what this deal is about-this is critical-legally we can't do anything yet but if we find out they're dealing arms, they're ours. Under no circumstances can we let Sark or Mandell come into possession of an unknown object..thus, don't make your presence known until we know the contents of their meeting.you're there for observation basically," He finished, taking a deep breath. "Your plane leaves in 2 hours."
Jack stood up, bending over his daughter. "Sydney-be careful. Sark won't be so easy to trick after the last mission. Good luck. That goes for you too Anna-watch out." And with that, Jack strode briskly from the room, following Kendall.
Sydney and Anna looked at each other, slight smiles on their faces. This would be their first mission since SD-6. Weiss and Vaughn also glanced at each other blankly..they weren't even getting in on the action...if there was any!
"Let's do this," exclaimed Anna.
**************
As Sydney tied back her long, brown hair, she glanced cautiously at her friend. "Anna?"
Anna lifted her dark eyes distractedly for a moment, pulling on a pair of black pants. "Uh huh."
"Anna.when we do this.don't try to..don't do anything rash. Don't go too far. Sometimes you just get this disregard..for your own life. Not this time. Sark will kill you if he sees you."
Anna dropped the gun she holding; it hit the ground with a tense and loud bang.
Vaughn and Weiss' heads whirled around from the front of the van, their eyes flashing with concern and fear at the same time. "Christ, Anna, way to start off the mission," Weiss said incredulously, thankful the small gun had not gone off.
She bent down, carefully picking up, and made sure it was disengaged. "Sorry, sorry. Are we going or what?"
Sydney leaned towards Vaughn, sweetly pressing her forehead to his. He kissed her twice gently, mouthing 'I love you' as he pulled away. Anna watched his forehead crease into about a thousand worry wrinkles.
She rolled her eyes, feeling a wave of jealousy wash over her ever so briefly as she jumped from the van. "See you soon," Anna called out to Weiss, winking with a big smile gracing her lips.
Weiss broke up Sydney and Vaughn's lovefest. "Get a room, you guys-after the mission," he broke in, jokingly. His expression turned tense and serious as he looked back at Anna. "Sark's dangerous. He'll be on the watch for the person in Marseilles-"
"Agh! I know! Seriously, I know!" she replied shrilly.
"Anna-just...just be good."
Her lips turned up. "Aren't I always?" she retorted, slamming the door shut. "Ok, Syd, we should be early enough that Sark and Mandell aren't here yet. I'll be on the roof. You know how it goes but let's recap: Get in the club, top floor, turn on the transmitter. Get just close enough to her. Let me worry about the visuals. I'm gonna get in through the vents.Weiss has the floor plans. Ok? We good?
"Yeah.," Sydney looked around her surroundings, a look of disbelief adorning her features. "Maybe he's here because the past few times, the location has been at really posh clubs.maybe he thought we wouldn't trace him..I'm not sure."
Anna nodded in agreement. "Yeah.something about this whole meeting seems...odd.the info., the details; they were so available to us, barely hidden at all. I just wonder what and Sark...and Sloane are doing. What the hell is their endgame?"
Sydney gave her concerned friend a brief hug. "One step at a time, Anna. Then, Sloane," she finished, her soft expression turned steely.
"You're right. See you soon," Anna responded, her mind once again focused on their assignment.
Sydney waved goodbye, walking around to the front of this dive and pulling off her long coat, revealing a short, electric blue dress.
Anna breathed in deeply and started up the rickety, metal stairs to the roof. She could totally do this.well, she hoped she could.
*********
Anna coughed, trying to be as quiet as possible, but the air in the vents was dusty and dry. The last thing she needed though was Sark or Mandell shooting up the aluminum hovels she was inside of. Having memorized the ventilation system, she had a general idea of where Sark and Mandell's meeting would be, but she was still listening carefully for sounds of music, or voices.
"Mr. Sark.a while..well, I see?" Anna could faintly hear words and fragments and she knew she only had a bit further to crawl. She pulled a mini-mic out of her pocket, carefully placing it on top of the metal rows of the vent, hoping the sound of their conversation would transmit well. Anna silently thanked Marshall for making a device that worked in areas that had anti-microphone and sound recording devices. She laid down flat, listening to and trying to watch the conversation.
"Ahh, Mr. Sark, Sloane has informed me of your..new direction." Anna recognized Mandell's voice from previous recordings when he had been in custody of Sd-6.
Sark looked around his surroundings cautiously. "Excuse me for saying, sir, but I don't think this is the time or place to be discussing my.dealings.out forthright." He sat down in front of a small glass table, the music causing the table to pulsate slightly.
Mandell laughed quietly, also settling into a black leather cushion. "Right, I understand. Shall we move on to more.pressing business?"
Sark leaned forwards, his elbows resting on his knees as he places his hands together. "Sloane wants to collaborate. He's looking for another partner, someone with.similar interests."
"Ha. And what would Mr. Sloane have to offer me?" Mandell retorted haughtily.
"7-5-H-I-8," Sark said simply.
Anna covered her mouth in shock, trying not to make a sound.
Mandell balked and stood up, shaking his head. "Mr. Sark, I think you are wasting my time."
"Sir, I assure you, I am not. The combination of numbers and letters that I have just read to you is a code. A code to the location of 4 nuclear weapons. I know this location. I know you're organization is currently shopping for marketers. I am here to offer you that location."
Mandell sank back into the seat, his eyes entirely focused on Sark. "I heard that code was lost to the God damn CIA!"
"No.the one they possess is a fake. I have the real one. Even if the CIA discovers this code, they will be unable to crack it. It is entirely random. The code was a pretense. It is the location that matters, which was bestowed upon me as a gift. I'm here to offer it to you-"
Sydney's voice broke on through the Comm. "We are not letting them walk out of here, Anna. I don't care what Kendall said. We can't. Letting them get nukes? Not an option. The second they walk out of there, you get Sark, I'll get Mandell."
Anna tensed up, waiting for the meeting to end. As soon as she heard Sark say "I'll get in touch when it's necessary.", she jumped slightly, hitting the top of the shaft loudly. Shit, she closed her eyes, attentive to any sounds of movement in the room.
"There's someone in there!" Mandell exclaimed, drawing his gun. "Allow me." He shot three rounds into the vents and Anna scurried quickly through the shaft. Anna heard Sydney's voice enter the meeting room and detain Mandell. "Anna, Sark's escaped.out the back!" Sydney called out.
Anna flipped out of the vent shaft, running down the dark hallway, trying to recall which exit was the nearest and most likely for Sark to take.
"Stop! Stop!" Two security guards yelled out, whipping out their weapons. She stopped, raising her hands in surrender. As the guards came closer to her, she grabbed a piece of pipe lying to the side of the hall and swung at the first guard. She knocked him into his partner and brought her leg across both there mid-sections, both going down writhing in pain.
Anna breathed deeply, her attentions alert for any sounds. She spun around hearing rustling from the other end of the hall. She crept slowly towards that end, preparing to draw her gun from her ankle. But it wasn't there. It must have fallen out when she'd kicked the guards. Well, looks like I'm doing this alone, she thought, feeling herself harden mentally and physically.
Anna felt a hand grip her waist tightly from behind, another hand pushing the barrel of a gun into her hip. She gasped in surprise, as the figure pressed against her body and she could feel warm breath by her neck. "I didn't think we'd ever meet again...Isabella," an accented male voice said smugly.
He spun her around harshly, her back pushing against the wall and a gun still forcing itself on a smooth band of tanned skin. Anna stayed silent, her breathing deep and slightly wincing in pain. Sark leaned one arm against the wall, above Anna's blank face. "Nothing to say? I don't remember this silence." He ran his fingers along the curve of her cheekbone, watching her tremble with disgust.
Anna jerked her face from his touch. "Don't touch me. You make me sick, you son of a bitch!" she spat out.
"This hostility hurts me. But one thing, you do know that what you stole from me WAS A fake. In fact, the CIA has nothing."
"We will when I take you into custody," she replied coolly, her eyes finally meeting his.
His free hand touched the bare expanse of skin between her shirt and belt, roaming softly. "I think I'm the one with the collateral here."
She tried to wriggle free but Sark's grip hardened. "I want you to know that this isn't just a physical thing," he continued easily, as he got closer to her, blue eyes staring into brown. "You know, you had me interested. And that doesn't often happen. For that, you have my respect and admiration."
She rolled her eyes. "You were an easy target."
"I won't disagree with you. But now I feel like everything we had was a lie," he paused, chuckling, the sounds reverberating down the empty hall. "And Anna-what a beautiful name, you know-I really dislike when people are dishonest with me." Sark put a finger to her chin, turning her head to face him. "I won't stand for it."
"And what are you going to do? Huh? Kill me! Could you?" she stared at him defiantly. "Could you kill Isabella, that sweet girl who you just couldn't help but be attracted to? Could you forget her so easily?"
His eyes widened, becoming steely. "That's just it.you're not Isabella. You're Agent Parker of the CIA and the CIA.well we're on less than fabulous terms..and when someone gets in my way, they have to be eliminated." Sark pulled away from her, leveling the gun squarely at her. "Forget Paris." His finger pressed firmly on the trigger.
Anna went down with one shot.
********
Sark moved to roll her over, wondering if he had really killed her with only one bullet as he glanced at the small but expanding pool of blood. His expression was straight, knowing that he had done what was necessary.
Anna's eyes popped open and taking advantage of Sark's distraction, she swung her leg violently, knocking him squarely in the jaw. She stood up somewhat shakily as Sark huddled to the ground, blood running from his mouth.
"It was Marseilles, jackass!" she uttered, before kicking him swiftly in the head, rendering him unconscious.
"So are we just observing or are we going to take any.things, artifact, whatever, that are a part of this meeting?" Sydney asked, folding her hands on the smooth table.
Kendall looked uncertain for a second. "Personally, I'd like to see us take in Sark but he always seems to escape our clutches. So, unless by some miracle you are able to do it, that's not the goal of this mission. What I want...what the CIA wants, is to know what this deal is about-this is critical-legally we can't do anything yet but if we find out they're dealing arms, they're ours. Under no circumstances can we let Sark or Mandell come into possession of an unknown object..thus, don't make your presence known until we know the contents of their meeting.you're there for observation basically," He finished, taking a deep breath. "Your plane leaves in 2 hours."
Jack stood up, bending over his daughter. "Sydney-be careful. Sark won't be so easy to trick after the last mission. Good luck. That goes for you too Anna-watch out." And with that, Jack strode briskly from the room, following Kendall.
Sydney and Anna looked at each other, slight smiles on their faces. This would be their first mission since SD-6. Weiss and Vaughn also glanced at each other blankly..they weren't even getting in on the action...if there was any!
"Let's do this," exclaimed Anna.
**************
As Sydney tied back her long, brown hair, she glanced cautiously at her friend. "Anna?"
Anna lifted her dark eyes distractedly for a moment, pulling on a pair of black pants. "Uh huh."
"Anna.when we do this.don't try to..don't do anything rash. Don't go too far. Sometimes you just get this disregard..for your own life. Not this time. Sark will kill you if he sees you."
Anna dropped the gun she holding; it hit the ground with a tense and loud bang.
Vaughn and Weiss' heads whirled around from the front of the van, their eyes flashing with concern and fear at the same time. "Christ, Anna, way to start off the mission," Weiss said incredulously, thankful the small gun had not gone off.
She bent down, carefully picking up, and made sure it was disengaged. "Sorry, sorry. Are we going or what?"
Sydney leaned towards Vaughn, sweetly pressing her forehead to his. He kissed her twice gently, mouthing 'I love you' as he pulled away. Anna watched his forehead crease into about a thousand worry wrinkles.
She rolled her eyes, feeling a wave of jealousy wash over her ever so briefly as she jumped from the van. "See you soon," Anna called out to Weiss, winking with a big smile gracing her lips.
Weiss broke up Sydney and Vaughn's lovefest. "Get a room, you guys-after the mission," he broke in, jokingly. His expression turned tense and serious as he looked back at Anna. "Sark's dangerous. He'll be on the watch for the person in Marseilles-"
"Agh! I know! Seriously, I know!" she replied shrilly.
"Anna-just...just be good."
Her lips turned up. "Aren't I always?" she retorted, slamming the door shut. "Ok, Syd, we should be early enough that Sark and Mandell aren't here yet. I'll be on the roof. You know how it goes but let's recap: Get in the club, top floor, turn on the transmitter. Get just close enough to her. Let me worry about the visuals. I'm gonna get in through the vents.Weiss has the floor plans. Ok? We good?
"Yeah.," Sydney looked around her surroundings, a look of disbelief adorning her features. "Maybe he's here because the past few times, the location has been at really posh clubs.maybe he thought we wouldn't trace him..I'm not sure."
Anna nodded in agreement. "Yeah.something about this whole meeting seems...odd.the info., the details; they were so available to us, barely hidden at all. I just wonder what and Sark...and Sloane are doing. What the hell is their endgame?"
Sydney gave her concerned friend a brief hug. "One step at a time, Anna. Then, Sloane," she finished, her soft expression turned steely.
"You're right. See you soon," Anna responded, her mind once again focused on their assignment.
Sydney waved goodbye, walking around to the front of this dive and pulling off her long coat, revealing a short, electric blue dress.
Anna breathed in deeply and started up the rickety, metal stairs to the roof. She could totally do this.well, she hoped she could.
*********
Anna coughed, trying to be as quiet as possible, but the air in the vents was dusty and dry. The last thing she needed though was Sark or Mandell shooting up the aluminum hovels she was inside of. Having memorized the ventilation system, she had a general idea of where Sark and Mandell's meeting would be, but she was still listening carefully for sounds of music, or voices.
"Mr. Sark.a while..well, I see?" Anna could faintly hear words and fragments and she knew she only had a bit further to crawl. She pulled a mini-mic out of her pocket, carefully placing it on top of the metal rows of the vent, hoping the sound of their conversation would transmit well. Anna silently thanked Marshall for making a device that worked in areas that had anti-microphone and sound recording devices. She laid down flat, listening to and trying to watch the conversation.
"Ahh, Mr. Sark, Sloane has informed me of your..new direction." Anna recognized Mandell's voice from previous recordings when he had been in custody of Sd-6.
Sark looked around his surroundings cautiously. "Excuse me for saying, sir, but I don't think this is the time or place to be discussing my.dealings.out forthright." He sat down in front of a small glass table, the music causing the table to pulsate slightly.
Mandell laughed quietly, also settling into a black leather cushion. "Right, I understand. Shall we move on to more.pressing business?"
Sark leaned forwards, his elbows resting on his knees as he places his hands together. "Sloane wants to collaborate. He's looking for another partner, someone with.similar interests."
"Ha. And what would Mr. Sloane have to offer me?" Mandell retorted haughtily.
"7-5-H-I-8," Sark said simply.
Anna covered her mouth in shock, trying not to make a sound.
Mandell balked and stood up, shaking his head. "Mr. Sark, I think you are wasting my time."
"Sir, I assure you, I am not. The combination of numbers and letters that I have just read to you is a code. A code to the location of 4 nuclear weapons. I know this location. I know you're organization is currently shopping for marketers. I am here to offer you that location."
Mandell sank back into the seat, his eyes entirely focused on Sark. "I heard that code was lost to the God damn CIA!"
"No.the one they possess is a fake. I have the real one. Even if the CIA discovers this code, they will be unable to crack it. It is entirely random. The code was a pretense. It is the location that matters, which was bestowed upon me as a gift. I'm here to offer it to you-"
Sydney's voice broke on through the Comm. "We are not letting them walk out of here, Anna. I don't care what Kendall said. We can't. Letting them get nukes? Not an option. The second they walk out of there, you get Sark, I'll get Mandell."
Anna tensed up, waiting for the meeting to end. As soon as she heard Sark say "I'll get in touch when it's necessary.", she jumped slightly, hitting the top of the shaft loudly. Shit, she closed her eyes, attentive to any sounds of movement in the room.
"There's someone in there!" Mandell exclaimed, drawing his gun. "Allow me." He shot three rounds into the vents and Anna scurried quickly through the shaft. Anna heard Sydney's voice enter the meeting room and detain Mandell. "Anna, Sark's escaped.out the back!" Sydney called out.
Anna flipped out of the vent shaft, running down the dark hallway, trying to recall which exit was the nearest and most likely for Sark to take.
"Stop! Stop!" Two security guards yelled out, whipping out their weapons. She stopped, raising her hands in surrender. As the guards came closer to her, she grabbed a piece of pipe lying to the side of the hall and swung at the first guard. She knocked him into his partner and brought her leg across both there mid-sections, both going down writhing in pain.
Anna breathed deeply, her attentions alert for any sounds. She spun around hearing rustling from the other end of the hall. She crept slowly towards that end, preparing to draw her gun from her ankle. But it wasn't there. It must have fallen out when she'd kicked the guards. Well, looks like I'm doing this alone, she thought, feeling herself harden mentally and physically.
Anna felt a hand grip her waist tightly from behind, another hand pushing the barrel of a gun into her hip. She gasped in surprise, as the figure pressed against her body and she could feel warm breath by her neck. "I didn't think we'd ever meet again...Isabella," an accented male voice said smugly.
He spun her around harshly, her back pushing against the wall and a gun still forcing itself on a smooth band of tanned skin. Anna stayed silent, her breathing deep and slightly wincing in pain. Sark leaned one arm against the wall, above Anna's blank face. "Nothing to say? I don't remember this silence." He ran his fingers along the curve of her cheekbone, watching her tremble with disgust.
Anna jerked her face from his touch. "Don't touch me. You make me sick, you son of a bitch!" she spat out.
"This hostility hurts me. But one thing, you do know that what you stole from me WAS A fake. In fact, the CIA has nothing."
"We will when I take you into custody," she replied coolly, her eyes finally meeting his.
His free hand touched the bare expanse of skin between her shirt and belt, roaming softly. "I think I'm the one with the collateral here."
She tried to wriggle free but Sark's grip hardened. "I want you to know that this isn't just a physical thing," he continued easily, as he got closer to her, blue eyes staring into brown. "You know, you had me interested. And that doesn't often happen. For that, you have my respect and admiration."
She rolled her eyes. "You were an easy target."
"I won't disagree with you. But now I feel like everything we had was a lie," he paused, chuckling, the sounds reverberating down the empty hall. "And Anna-what a beautiful name, you know-I really dislike when people are dishonest with me." Sark put a finger to her chin, turning her head to face him. "I won't stand for it."
"And what are you going to do? Huh? Kill me! Could you?" she stared at him defiantly. "Could you kill Isabella, that sweet girl who you just couldn't help but be attracted to? Could you forget her so easily?"
His eyes widened, becoming steely. "That's just it.you're not Isabella. You're Agent Parker of the CIA and the CIA.well we're on less than fabulous terms..and when someone gets in my way, they have to be eliminated." Sark pulled away from her, leveling the gun squarely at her. "Forget Paris." His finger pressed firmly on the trigger.
Anna went down with one shot.
********
Sark moved to roll her over, wondering if he had really killed her with only one bullet as he glanced at the small but expanding pool of blood. His expression was straight, knowing that he had done what was necessary.
Anna's eyes popped open and taking advantage of Sark's distraction, she swung her leg violently, knocking him squarely in the jaw. She stood up somewhat shakily as Sark huddled to the ground, blood running from his mouth.
"It was Marseilles, jackass!" she uttered, before kicking him swiftly in the head, rendering him unconscious.