Chap.27- Remember
Sydney quickly slid into her seat in the debriefing room and Mark looked up from his seat. He placed his hands on his hips and pointed to his watch, shaking his finger at her and frowning. He had begun to mouth words to her when the Kendall walked into the room.
"Agent Jamison, what the HELL are you doing?"
A giggle escaped Ana's lips and Mark glared at her.
"Uh, nothing....sir," he answered meekly, his face coloring.
"You are leaving for Bosnia-Herzegovina in two hours." Kendall started, not even waiting for Mark's answer. "You are to use the equipment you were given for your trip to Lithuania. After you attain the core of the nuclear bomb, you are to make a dead drop in the city park ten miles away."
"Wait...you want us to make a dead drop of a NUCLEAR BOMB?" James asked incredulously.
"I don't think that is such a good idea." Vaughn commented.
"Whether you think that it's a good idea or not, you are to obey."
"Obey?" Ana shot back. "We're not your slaves, you know."
"That's where you're wrong, Agent Lee. You may not be my slaves, and you should be glad of that, but you ARE public servants to this country and you WILL obey. Is that understood?" Kendall fumed and walked out of the room.
"Yes, sir." Ana replied, surly, gathering her things and walking out the back door.
Sydney, Vaughn, Mark, and James looked at each other and left in the direction of the parking lot.
Two hours later, the five of them sat in the confines of the small, private plane. Ana was still furious about the incident of the debriefing and occasionally she would throw her hands up in the air and let them fall back down again, exclaiming and murmuring about Kendall's attitude problem.
The rest of them were silent and a little nervous about the unknown and dangers they were about to face. A crackling voice over the intercom jolted them from their thoughts.
"Mr. Vaughn, your wife on line six."
Vaughn frowned and leaned forward to pick up the phone. He held it to his ear and spoke hesitantly.
"Hello?"
"Michael!" Lauren's voice came, sounding small and far away.
"Lauren, how'd you get this number?"
"Oh, a secretary gave it to me." Lauren answered, sounding pleased.
"Is something wrong?"
"No....well, yes."
"What? What's the matter?" Vaughn asked urgently.
"You know my Aunt Grace, the one that lives in Chicago?"
"Yea."
"She slipped on a patch of ice and she broke her ankle, so she can't get around the house."
"Doesn't she have a son...what's his name again?"
"Kevin. Yes, but he's away for the week on a business trip."
"Okay..."Vaughn trailed off, not sure how this applied to himself or Lauren.
"I need to go to Chicago and take care of her. It's just for week and you're going to be gone for a while anyways."
"Alright...just be careful, okay?"
"I will." Lauren answered.
"Bye."
"Bye, love you."
Vaughn hung up the phone and leaned back into his chair. He looked to his left at Sydney who had fallen asleep in the seat. A strand of her hair fell from its place behind her ear and seemed to shield her face from the outside world. His fingers twitched and he felt the urge to reach up and brush her hair from her face, to tell her that she had nothing to be afraid of, that he would protect her.
But he didn't. He let her sleep, because he knew that was the only time she would look as peaceful as she did now and after everything that she had been through, that was what she deserved.
Peace.
Sydney didn't know that Vaughn knew that his mother had given the pocket watch to her. Although he felt an emptiness in his heart, as that watch was one of the only things he possessed that connected him to his father, a part of him thought that the watch partly belonged to Sydney.
It was the watch that had stopped on the day they met.
Sometimes, he would feel ashamed because he would forget Lauren's birthday or their anniversary. But even after all these years, he still remembered that day, the exact moment, the weather, his emotions.
October 1st.
He would never forget.
The five agents took the side entrance into the building and looked around. Seeing no one, Sydney directed them towards the stairs.
"Mountaineer, this is Home base. Are you currently on the fourth floor?"
"Yes, awaiting further instruction."
"Seventh door."
"Copy. I'm going radio silent."
"Copy that."
Sydney nodded and held up seven fingers. Quietly, they padded to the seventh door and opened it. The room was stark white with stainless steel tables and file cabinets lining the room. The light hanging above was piercingly bright.
Vaughn walked around the room toward the file cabinets and observed the numbers written on each one. He frowned.
"Sydney."
She looked up from the numerous scalpels lining the tray and walked over to him.
"You noticed too." She observed when he pointed to one of the numbers.
"We're on the fourth floor, seventh door. This is cabinet number forty-seven. Rambaldi had a fascination with the number forty-seven."
"I don't think that that's a file cabinet, Vaughn."
"I know." He answered.
Swallowing, he placed a hand on one of the handles and pulled it open. Sydney gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Ana, James, and Mark quickly crossed the room and they looked at the body in shock.
"Wasn't she in the closet in Lithuania?" Mark asked quietly.
"Yes." Ana answered. "I thought the CIA has the body in their custody."
"Apparently they don't." James answered. He looked around at the other stainless steel cabinets. "This is a morgue."
"Do you think the bomb is...inside of her?" Ana asked.
They looked around at each other, knowing, that that was what they had been questioning all along. James, Vaughn, and Mark looked at each other and together, they pulled the drawer all the way out. Lifting it, they slowly walked towards the stainless steel table in the middle while Ana looked for trays and dissecting equipment.
A loud clatter sounded from outside the door and Sydney, who was standing by the doorway, looked to her team members.
"I'll be back." Sydney said and walked quickly out into the hallway.
"No, Sydney! Wait!" Vaughn shouted.
They finally reached the table and set the body on the table. Ana took a sharpened scalpel and quickly slid it down the center of the body. Mark grimaced as he took one section of skin and James, the other. Pulling it back, Ana frowned as she saw a small blinking light. She cut the connections of the major organs and dropped them into the tray beside her, revealing the bomb.
"Oh, shit..." Mark breathed.
Vaughn quickly took Marshall's gadget out of his pocket and he snapped a picture of it. The search progress bar inched by and when it was complete, the screen flickered to show that there were no known matches.
"Home base, this is Carebear. Do you copy?"
"Copy."
"There are NO KNOWN matches. I repeat there are NO KNOWN matches."
Mark produced the small tool kit from his vest pocket and unscrewed the lid carefully. Vaughn, anxiously kept watching the door, anticipating for it to open and for Sydney to burst in.
"I have a blue wire, a blue white, a green wire, a green white, a brown, a yellow, orange, orange white, purple, red, red white, white." Ana rattled off.
"Carebear, this is home base. Cut the red white. Do you copy? Cut the red white."
"Copy." Ana answered. "Cut the red white." She told Mark.
"The red white?"
"Red white." She repeated.
Mark took the wire cutter and placed it around the red-white wire that Ana had picked out with her deft fingers. Clenching his teeth, he cut the wire and to their relief the light stopped blinking.
"Can you take it from here?" Vaughn asked.
"Yea." James answered wearily, speaking into the comm. link. "This is Zebra, requesting information."
Vaughn nodded and walked quickly out of the door wondering where Sydney could be.
Twenty minutes earlier, Sydney had left the room cautiously. The corridors were mostly empty, but as she slowly padded along, overturned objects cluttered the hallways and a large ribbon of blood trailed along. The blood trail ended abruptly and Sydney looked to her right to see the dead guard, slumped against the wall, blood still flowing profusely from his chest.
Sydney started to turn back and was met face to face with a woman clad in black; the eyes were the only visible part of the body. The woman blocked all of Sydney's kicks and punches with surprising force and reflex. She knocked Sydney's gun out of her hand and swiftly kicked her in the stomach.
Sydney collapsed in pain and the woman bent over her, their eyes meeting, before knocking Sydney unconscious.
Author's Note: Dun dun dun!! Lol. I can't remember who predicted that this would happen...but whoever it was (I will find out and will laud you next chapter) you deserve a pat on the back for your awesome prediction skills. ::pat pat:: BUT, I do have to say, that you only have PART of your prediction right. So...keep thinking.
Okay, to address this whole name issue thing that Jayme brought up. I like the name Scott and I really didn't think of Scott Foley, so sorry...that's not a foreshadowing thing. BUT you know what else I also figured out? His name is Scott Voyer right? So his initials are SV. Lol. But again...no.
So, Jayme, you ALSO deserve a pat on the back ::pat pat:: for your observation and analyzation skills that you've put to good use, but it doesn't really work here.
Now shoo! Go analyze something else!!
Teeheehee.
Sydney quickly slid into her seat in the debriefing room and Mark looked up from his seat. He placed his hands on his hips and pointed to his watch, shaking his finger at her and frowning. He had begun to mouth words to her when the Kendall walked into the room.
"Agent Jamison, what the HELL are you doing?"
A giggle escaped Ana's lips and Mark glared at her.
"Uh, nothing....sir," he answered meekly, his face coloring.
"You are leaving for Bosnia-Herzegovina in two hours." Kendall started, not even waiting for Mark's answer. "You are to use the equipment you were given for your trip to Lithuania. After you attain the core of the nuclear bomb, you are to make a dead drop in the city park ten miles away."
"Wait...you want us to make a dead drop of a NUCLEAR BOMB?" James asked incredulously.
"I don't think that is such a good idea." Vaughn commented.
"Whether you think that it's a good idea or not, you are to obey."
"Obey?" Ana shot back. "We're not your slaves, you know."
"That's where you're wrong, Agent Lee. You may not be my slaves, and you should be glad of that, but you ARE public servants to this country and you WILL obey. Is that understood?" Kendall fumed and walked out of the room.
"Yes, sir." Ana replied, surly, gathering her things and walking out the back door.
Sydney, Vaughn, Mark, and James looked at each other and left in the direction of the parking lot.
Two hours later, the five of them sat in the confines of the small, private plane. Ana was still furious about the incident of the debriefing and occasionally she would throw her hands up in the air and let them fall back down again, exclaiming and murmuring about Kendall's attitude problem.
The rest of them were silent and a little nervous about the unknown and dangers they were about to face. A crackling voice over the intercom jolted them from their thoughts.
"Mr. Vaughn, your wife on line six."
Vaughn frowned and leaned forward to pick up the phone. He held it to his ear and spoke hesitantly.
"Hello?"
"Michael!" Lauren's voice came, sounding small and far away.
"Lauren, how'd you get this number?"
"Oh, a secretary gave it to me." Lauren answered, sounding pleased.
"Is something wrong?"
"No....well, yes."
"What? What's the matter?" Vaughn asked urgently.
"You know my Aunt Grace, the one that lives in Chicago?"
"Yea."
"She slipped on a patch of ice and she broke her ankle, so she can't get around the house."
"Doesn't she have a son...what's his name again?"
"Kevin. Yes, but he's away for the week on a business trip."
"Okay..."Vaughn trailed off, not sure how this applied to himself or Lauren.
"I need to go to Chicago and take care of her. It's just for week and you're going to be gone for a while anyways."
"Alright...just be careful, okay?"
"I will." Lauren answered.
"Bye."
"Bye, love you."
Vaughn hung up the phone and leaned back into his chair. He looked to his left at Sydney who had fallen asleep in the seat. A strand of her hair fell from its place behind her ear and seemed to shield her face from the outside world. His fingers twitched and he felt the urge to reach up and brush her hair from her face, to tell her that she had nothing to be afraid of, that he would protect her.
But he didn't. He let her sleep, because he knew that was the only time she would look as peaceful as she did now and after everything that she had been through, that was what she deserved.
Peace.
Sydney didn't know that Vaughn knew that his mother had given the pocket watch to her. Although he felt an emptiness in his heart, as that watch was one of the only things he possessed that connected him to his father, a part of him thought that the watch partly belonged to Sydney.
It was the watch that had stopped on the day they met.
Sometimes, he would feel ashamed because he would forget Lauren's birthday or their anniversary. But even after all these years, he still remembered that day, the exact moment, the weather, his emotions.
October 1st.
He would never forget.
The five agents took the side entrance into the building and looked around. Seeing no one, Sydney directed them towards the stairs.
"Mountaineer, this is Home base. Are you currently on the fourth floor?"
"Yes, awaiting further instruction."
"Seventh door."
"Copy. I'm going radio silent."
"Copy that."
Sydney nodded and held up seven fingers. Quietly, they padded to the seventh door and opened it. The room was stark white with stainless steel tables and file cabinets lining the room. The light hanging above was piercingly bright.
Vaughn walked around the room toward the file cabinets and observed the numbers written on each one. He frowned.
"Sydney."
She looked up from the numerous scalpels lining the tray and walked over to him.
"You noticed too." She observed when he pointed to one of the numbers.
"We're on the fourth floor, seventh door. This is cabinet number forty-seven. Rambaldi had a fascination with the number forty-seven."
"I don't think that that's a file cabinet, Vaughn."
"I know." He answered.
Swallowing, he placed a hand on one of the handles and pulled it open. Sydney gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Ana, James, and Mark quickly crossed the room and they looked at the body in shock.
"Wasn't she in the closet in Lithuania?" Mark asked quietly.
"Yes." Ana answered. "I thought the CIA has the body in their custody."
"Apparently they don't." James answered. He looked around at the other stainless steel cabinets. "This is a morgue."
"Do you think the bomb is...inside of her?" Ana asked.
They looked around at each other, knowing, that that was what they had been questioning all along. James, Vaughn, and Mark looked at each other and together, they pulled the drawer all the way out. Lifting it, they slowly walked towards the stainless steel table in the middle while Ana looked for trays and dissecting equipment.
A loud clatter sounded from outside the door and Sydney, who was standing by the doorway, looked to her team members.
"I'll be back." Sydney said and walked quickly out into the hallway.
"No, Sydney! Wait!" Vaughn shouted.
They finally reached the table and set the body on the table. Ana took a sharpened scalpel and quickly slid it down the center of the body. Mark grimaced as he took one section of skin and James, the other. Pulling it back, Ana frowned as she saw a small blinking light. She cut the connections of the major organs and dropped them into the tray beside her, revealing the bomb.
"Oh, shit..." Mark breathed.
Vaughn quickly took Marshall's gadget out of his pocket and he snapped a picture of it. The search progress bar inched by and when it was complete, the screen flickered to show that there were no known matches.
"Home base, this is Carebear. Do you copy?"
"Copy."
"There are NO KNOWN matches. I repeat there are NO KNOWN matches."
Mark produced the small tool kit from his vest pocket and unscrewed the lid carefully. Vaughn, anxiously kept watching the door, anticipating for it to open and for Sydney to burst in.
"I have a blue wire, a blue white, a green wire, a green white, a brown, a yellow, orange, orange white, purple, red, red white, white." Ana rattled off.
"Carebear, this is home base. Cut the red white. Do you copy? Cut the red white."
"Copy." Ana answered. "Cut the red white." She told Mark.
"The red white?"
"Red white." She repeated.
Mark took the wire cutter and placed it around the red-white wire that Ana had picked out with her deft fingers. Clenching his teeth, he cut the wire and to their relief the light stopped blinking.
"Can you take it from here?" Vaughn asked.
"Yea." James answered wearily, speaking into the comm. link. "This is Zebra, requesting information."
Vaughn nodded and walked quickly out of the door wondering where Sydney could be.
Twenty minutes earlier, Sydney had left the room cautiously. The corridors were mostly empty, but as she slowly padded along, overturned objects cluttered the hallways and a large ribbon of blood trailed along. The blood trail ended abruptly and Sydney looked to her right to see the dead guard, slumped against the wall, blood still flowing profusely from his chest.
Sydney started to turn back and was met face to face with a woman clad in black; the eyes were the only visible part of the body. The woman blocked all of Sydney's kicks and punches with surprising force and reflex. She knocked Sydney's gun out of her hand and swiftly kicked her in the stomach.
Sydney collapsed in pain and the woman bent over her, their eyes meeting, before knocking Sydney unconscious.
Author's Note: Dun dun dun!! Lol. I can't remember who predicted that this would happen...but whoever it was (I will find out and will laud you next chapter) you deserve a pat on the back for your awesome prediction skills. ::pat pat:: BUT, I do have to say, that you only have PART of your prediction right. So...keep thinking.
Okay, to address this whole name issue thing that Jayme brought up. I like the name Scott and I really didn't think of Scott Foley, so sorry...that's not a foreshadowing thing. BUT you know what else I also figured out? His name is Scott Voyer right? So his initials are SV. Lol. But again...no.
So, Jayme, you ALSO deserve a pat on the back ::pat pat:: for your observation and analyzation skills that you've put to good use, but it doesn't really work here.
Now shoo! Go analyze something else!!
Teeheehee.