Author : S@nd
Disclaimer : Everything belongs to J.J, Bad Robot, ABC… blablabla (you know). OK, OK, I don't own anything.
AN : Hi this is my first fiction. I started writing it a year ago, as I was watching Season 1. Here in France (because I'm French) we're just watching Season 2 (Episode 17-18 this week), and I've decided to post my fiction (at last !) because I think things could have turned differently, and I wanted to share my POV with you. So here it is. Just read and tell me what you think. Thanx. Sandra
AN 2 : Imagine this story begins at the end of Saison 1, when SD-6 is still up, Will and Fran have suspicion regarding Sydney's mysterious business trips.
PROLOGUE - PART 1*****
Sydney hurried into the house and slammed the door. She was exhausted. She had
run as if someone had been running after her. But nobody had. She put her bag
down and took a deep breath.
It had been a long day and she was fed up. Fed up with everything.
Sometimes she happened to wish she were an ice cube stored in a warm place so she could melt and disappear.
She wished she had never heard about SD-6, she wished she were not working for
the CIA, she wished her father never had met her mother, she wished she were...
normal, just normal. A normal student with friends she could have real
conversations with.
She would trade anything for a few moments of being truthful. She just imagined how her life could be if she had no secrets from her friends, if they could simply cheer her up when she got down and ask no questions, especially when she had to do a crazy thing like going out just as someone called and wanted to order a pizza.
"If only I had a real job which wouldn't endanger my life, or my friends'
lives, if I had trustworthy parents, a real family indeed...", she
bemoaned.
But she knew she would never have this. She knew it just wasn't worth thinking
of. But she couldn't help. She couldn't even be honest with her boyfriend
without having him killed... They had deprived her of that right. Of almost
everything indeed. She felt lost. More than she could ever be. She had no one
to talk to, about what just happened the day before, or about anything
regarding her life as a double agent. No one.
Except...
She sighed, deeply. She had a heavy heart and she was on the verge of tears.
She closed her eyes and leaned against the door. She just wanted to forget, for
a few minutes, what her life looked like and that there were days like that,
when you wish you had stayed in bed...
*****
FlasHbAcK – A feW dAyS bEfOrE - CrEdIt DaUpHiNe - CoNfErEnCe RoOm
Sydney was sitting next to Dixon. Marshall was standing next to the door.
Sloane was pacing and talking.
"Last week, we picked up conversations between Muhammad Bin Larbi and potential buyers. Bin Larbi is an Afghan militant who backs up many terrorist groups. Yesterday we heard from a reliable informant that he is in possession of technologically advanced weapons. And most important that he is about to sell them to the highest bidder.", Sloane narrated.
"What will the mission consist of?" Sydney asked.
"Learn about those weapons, monitoring the meeting, and I.D. the clients. We want to know who they are, in order to know what they want to do next. Dixon, you are Augusto Mendes, Afro-Cuban, and you will help him, Sydney", he explained.
Sydney was a bit surprised and objected "Wait a minute, what am I supposed
to do there ? I mean, you know how Afghans consider women..."
"Point taken !", he said, "That's just why we're sending you there with Dixon. Nobody will pay attention to a servant wearing a burnous and a veil, so you will be able to collect information regarding those weapons easily. Jack will hand you a plan of Bin Larbi's hideout. It is located in the desert, near a mountain. We are quite sure the meeting will take place there, the day after tomorrow. So you will leave for Kabul tomorrow at 9 a.m. Is that understood ?"
"OK for me", Sydney replied.
"For me as well", Dixon added.
"Marshall ?", Sloane looked at him questioningly.
"Well, um, er....Did you watch that movie last night..."
"Please, Marshall !" Sloane yelled, cutting him off.
"Well, um, so. You will be given the usual tech, sat relay, comm gear, … but do you remember the camera I gave you for the last mission. This one is new. Look, Sydney, this one looks like a brooch. You can put it on your fez for example. Nobody would notice. Then, when you find out information, just press this button and take photos. And oh, you have to be really careful because there is also a microphone inside and it would be a great pity that you break it down."
Sydney smiled, amused. "Thank you, Marshall"
"My pleasure, Sydney." He paused for a few seconds and finally asked her as he noticed Sloane and Dixon had left the room. "Well, so, now you can tell me, did you see that movie last night, about..." he insisted.
"Thank you, Marshall", she dodged. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now", she said softly.
Then she headed to the door and crossed the hallway, quickening her pace. She
didn't even pay attention to Sloane who was scrutinizing her through the window
of his office.
*****
LaTeR – SyDnEy'S hOuSe
"Syd, have you seen my sweater, the red one ? I can't put my hands on it.
It gets on my nerves !", Francie shouted from her room. She seemed to be
really angry.
Sydney grinned. Fran was often looking for something she couldn't find. Too often. And she always asked Sydney to help her. Not that she was disorganized but she unconsciously wanted Sydney to come and help her tidy her room, so they could chat together. Of course they were flatmates and they got on well. But they were less and less having a natter together.
For a simple reason.
Sydney was travelling. More and more. And she was tired when she came home. And
above all she was feeling guilty as she constantly had to lie to her best
friend. She hated that. It was more and more painful. She didn't know what to
say, as she had to chat her up. So she seemed to avoid talking to Francie. The
less she said, the less she had to lie. "Ask me no questions and I'll tell
you no lies", Sydney wanted to tell Fran every time she was wondering how
her trip or her day was. But she liked her so much she didn't mean to hurt her.
She was now so skilled in telling stories she could apply for a job as a scriptwriter.
She could hardly understand how miraculous it was that Fran had not found out
yet.
"Well, I don't know, Fran, did you simply search for it in your closet ?", she finally answered.
"Who do you think I am, Sydney Bristow ? Do you really think I'm stupid ? Of course I searched in my closet, but are you sure it is not..."
She broke in on the conversation. The phone was ringing. Francie went out of
her room and picked up the receiver.
"Hello", she said.
"Joey's Pizza", the voice said.
"Stop ! There IS NO pizza place in here, and there never will. DO STOP CALLING", she yelled.
She hung up on the man who was on the line and kept on shouting.
"I can't simply believe it ! Syd, I can't stand it anymore. We should do something ! And above all, tell me, who on hell can order pizzas in the middle of the afternoon or even early in the morning on Sundays, I want to know ?"
Sydney smiled and chuckled. It was the first time she had seen Francie so angry
about such a detail. Of course she wasn't glad to see Francie vexed but she was
just trying to imagine how Vaughn could look at the moment after Fran crying
out against him. Of course he knew right from the start that he could happen to
talk to Francie or even Will when he tried to get in touch with her. But he certainly
never would have expected Fran to react the way she had.
She closed her eyes for a few seconds to imagine Vaughn's astonishment. For
sure he must have been rooted to the spot and she was sure he had been
wrinkling his forehead the way he used to do when he was annoyed. And he looked
so sexy like that she couldn't do anything but succumb. How could such a
handsome man be alone ? She still couldn't understand. He was so sweet,
handsome, sympathetic, clever, attentive, kind… that every woman should have a
crush on him and fall in love at first sight.
"Syd ?", Fran said, breaking her train of thoughts. She was standing at the half-open door, and was staring at her, a bit puzzled.
Sydney came down to earth. She had been daydreaming for a few minutes and now she realized she had to go to meet Vaughn in person.
"Oh, Fran, I was just thinking,… I forgot something. Sorry, I have to go now". She spluttered.
"How absentminded you are, Sydney Bristow !" she mocked. "I couldn't say how many times you left me stranded giving the stupid excuse that you forgot something." She sighed. "Well, never mind. I was about to order something for dinner, but if you go out, you could bring it then ?
"All right, what do you want ? Chinese, Greek, Italian ?"she asked with a smile.
"Anything you want, except PIZZAS !", she replied exasperated.
Sydney smiled. "Ok then, Chinese food it is, right ?
Fran just growled, took on her heels and headed for her room to look for her sweater.
*****
ThE wArEhOuSe
Vaughn had been pacing for at least thirteen minutes in the warehouse when he
heard Sydney's footsteps. He sighed with relief. She was safe. For a few
minutes he had been panic-stricken as he just thought she could have been
caught. Of course he knew she was very cautious, especially when she had a
meeting with him, but he couldn't help being afraid for her when something
didn't go according to plan.
The door slid and Sydney's face appeared. She was a bit out of breath. She
stepped in and apologized.
"Hi ! Sorry I'm late. Fran asked me to bring something for dinner, and the
shop was about to close so I went there first. You OK ?"
He nodded.
"I'm OK.", he replied a bit evasive.
"So, here's the plan. Stick to the SD-6 plan. Follow through on Sloane's orders. Record the conversation. Find as much information as you can. Take some photos with Marshall's device. But most important, we want it too, so take as many photos as possible and give them to us. Here's our tech guys new camera, and a parabolic mic. I don't like to say that, but Sloane is right, we must take advantage of the fact that you can hide anything underneath your clothes for this mission. You could strap it to your chest and, well, I know it's risky, but you could try to pick up one of those weapon and hand it us to study.
"I'll do my best", she promised. "As always."
"No doubt you will, Sydney". He answered shyly.
The atmosphere was tense. Both of them kept silent for a few minutes. Then Sydney broke the silence. "I'm sorry, Vaughn"
"About what ?", he said questioningly.
"About our 'problem' "
"Which problem ? What do you mean ?"
"I'm talking about Fran, her reaction was …"
""Hum, well, I think we should have known in advance that it would one day happen." He sighed.
"But I think we shouldn't change anything. I know it's a bit difficult for you and for Francie to stand it, but it's more safe. That's the best solution." He paused. "I'm sorry, Syd."
"Don't be. That's not your fault, that's mine. Only mine. I know I can't bring her into this, but I can't stand lying to her any longer. I…. "
"Sydney !", he cut her off.
"Vaughn, please, I need a help, what can I do ? On one hand I can't tell my best friend the truth otherwise they would kill her, but on the other hand I'm making her life miserable. What's the worst of the two, tell me ?" she gasped.
Vaughn looked at her right in the eyes. It was needless to say that he
understood how painful it was for her to live a lie. To be compelled to live
from day to day, to play a role and never be herself. What a pity ! Yes, Sydney
Bristow was such an amazing double agent, but she was so wonderful was she was
simply Sydney, with a huge smile on her face. In fact she was two-sided, but
most people hardly could see the best of the two. In a way, he probably was the
only one to see her this way, the only one to know the real Sydney Bristow. And
he was quite proud of it. He wouldn't share this, with anyone.
Sydney was still looking at him, expecting him to answer her question. A tear
ran down her cheek. She looked at him imploringly. He thought that as an agent
he had trained to fight, he knew what to answer if he was questioned. But
everything changed when he was with her. It was impossible to refuse her. He
couldn't lie or say no to that woman. So he remained silent. He hugged her
slowly and cradled her head against his shoulder. Sydney gave in and started
crying.
They stood like that for a few minutes. Suddenly Sydney broke the silence. She
looked at him shyly and tried to smile.
"I have to go now. Fran must be starving, I'd better bring her something to eat before she gets completely crazy." She said ironically.
"Yeah, I still can't believe how mad she was at me today. And she doesn't even know who I am ! You probably better go now, if you want to stay alive." He tried to joke.
Sydney nodded and gave him a slight smile.
"Be careful out there." He added, to say goodbye.
"See you when I get back."
"Good luck, Sydney".
She turned on her heels and went to the door. Vaughn watched her leave, a bit
disappointed, with a slight smile on his face.
AN : So this was the first part of the prologue. Part 2 will be posted soon (I hope so). Thank you so much Carrie for beta-ing my fiction. If you want to read next chapter and correct my mistakes, just e-mail me, anytime. Thank you to everyone who read this till the end. Now you know what to do, please R/R. Thank you.
S@ndra