ALIAS: Training
This is a story about Sydney Bristow. She is a double agent. Her loyalties lay with the CIA, and her current assignment is to bring down a large-scale terrorist network, known as the Alliance of 12. Sydney once worked for the Alliance unknowingly. SD-6 recruited her, telling her SD-6 was a part of the CIA. She believed them.
After she told her fiancé she was a spy, SD-6 had him killed. That was when she learned the truth.
Sydney is now undercover at SD-6 and works with the CIA and her father, another double agent for the CIA, and together they are working to take the Alliance down permanently.
DISCLAIMER: As you know, I don't own Alias. ABC owns Alias. Oh yeah, and ABC owns all the characters, too.
This story takes place after the first episode and before the second episode in the series. This is only the first part, and if I receive positive reviews, I will continue this story. Thanks for reading and enjoy!
"Faster!"
"Block!"
"Jab!"
Sydney fell to the floor again when Vaughn's low kick connected with her shin. Vaughn smiled. He wiped some sweat off his forehead and placed his arm out to help Sydney back on her feet.
"You need to block your left side more, I'm noticing that you tend to favor your right, which leaves your left open for attacks."
Sydney glared at her handler, but decided to take his offer to help her up. She grabbed his hand, and as he pulled her up she quickly twisted and extended her left arm into a quick jab to Vaughn's jaw, causing him to fall on the soft mats.
"Vaughn, I've been doing this job for over seven years. Just because the CIA orders all new recruits, regardless of pass training, to do a full training course, it does not mean you can boost your ego by giving me combat tricks," Sydney said angrily.
Vaughn stared at the young woman in disbelief, lost for words.
Sydney smiled. " Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a shower and finish my term paper. I'll see you here tomorrow at 2."
Vaughn began to smile as Sydney walked away, still hiding the pain Sydney caused. Once she was out of sight, he crashed back onto the mats, dropping his painless visage. After making sure Sydney didn't leave any permanent damage to his jaw, Vaughn stood up and decided it was time to hit the showers.
Sydney left the CIA training facility and walked to her car, making sure no one was following her who could expose where her true loyalties lay. Feeling content that she was safe, she hopped into her red Land Cruiser and headed to her home, where hours of homework were waiting.
THIRTY MINUTES LATER
When Syd walked into her home, the first person she saw was her friend Will.
"I hope that bank job of yours has good health insurance so when they break you from working so hard you are at least covered," said Will.
Sydney sighed. "Need I remind you, I was just promoted at the bank, and as you know, for the next four weeks, I have to keep up with work and go through training for my new position."
Will turned away from Sydney, suddenly becoming fascinated by his beer bottle.
"And for the record, yes, I do have good health insurance," added Sydney.
Before the awkward silence set in, Francie, Sydney's roommate, walked in. "Are you arguing with Sydney again about the bank? I swear if you do that one more time Sydney and I both will come over there and beat you."
Looking defeated, Will became even more interested in his beer and acted as if the girls were not even in the room.
Rolling her eyes, Francie said," Syd, you're still going to help me car shop later, right? You owe me after coming back with my truck with bullet holes in it.
Sydney smiled sheepishly. A few weeks ago, Sydney had borrowed Francie's truck while her car was in the for repairs. While she was leaving work, a highly trained SD-6 operative tried to assassinate Sydney because SD-6 feared she was a security threat. She escaped as the truck was shot apart and later cleared her name with SD-6 and proved herself to the agency once again.
"Oh, Francie.... I... I can't. I have a term paper due in a few days, and I haven't even picked my topic yet, plus I have to work late at the bank tomorrow," explained Sydney. She hated lying to her friends.
"Of course you're busy.... You know Will, maybe I shouldn't bug you for yelling at Sydney for having such a weird job. Maybe I should be join you, and together we can try to convince her to quit that damn job," said Francie in a hurt tone.
Sydney looked sad. "Guys... come on... you know how important this job is to me, especially now that I've been promoted. I'm trying to balance so much; I can only do so much. I promise I'll try be here with you two more."
Looking content, Will and Francie smiled at Sydney.
Will grabbed his coat. "Well, ladies, I should be heading home. I have an interview with the chairman down at the L.A. Water Board. Apparently, the mudslides last week somehow reached the water supply, and now I need to find out what that means to all the tap water drinkers around here. I'll stop by tomorrow."
Francie, still looking mildly disappointed from not being able to car shop with her friend, went and sat on the couch. "Sounds like fun, Will. Oh, and before you stop by tomorrow, could you pick up some water filters? It sounds like we may need them..."
FOUR HOURS LATER
After working for several hours on her term paper, Sydney decided to call it a night. She walked into the living room, where she found Francie researching cars on the Internet.
"I am officially done with the whole truck thing, so I'm thinking economy car. Maybe that new Saab? OH! What is this car?" Francie excitedly leaned closer to monitor.
"I hope you realize whatever that car is, it costs more than the house," said Sydney.
Francie winced, and quickly turned away from the screen. "Well, I guess I'm officially out of the economy market."
Sydney smiled. "No kidding. I think I am gonna go get some shut-eye myself. See you in the morning!"
Sydney gave Francie a pat on the shoulder and headed to her room. She slid into some pajamas, and crawled into the bed, letting the soft mattress absorb her aches from training. Sydney started thinking about Danny, her fiancé before SD-6 had him murdered, but her fatigue quickly took over as she fell into a deep and comfortable sleep.
THE NEXT DAY
Sydney awoke with a jump. Someone was knocking on her door.
"If that's Will, I am going to hurt the twerp," she mumbled.
Sydney put on her bathrobe and walked up to the door and looked into the peephole, where her father's blank stare awaited her.
Sydney sighed as she opened the door. "I was hoping this would be a good day..."
"Vaughn needs to change times for training today. He told me to tell you to meet him at the facility at 3pm today. I assume this will not be a problem?" stated her father.
"No, it's fine. Thanks for stopping by. Would you like to come in for some coffee or anything?" asked Sydney.
"No, I have to go to SD-6. Sloan wants all senior officers there in an hour, I think something big is going on. I'll talk to you later," said Jack as he started to turn towards his car.
"Bye, Dad." Sydney sighed again, and closed the door and started to get ready for her classes.
SEVERAL HOURS LATER
After her class ended, Sydney checked her watch. Her training with Vaughn didn't start for another hour. She knew she did not have enough time to do anything too productive, such as the term paper that continued to haunt her, so she decided to go for a jog. When she reached the track at her university, she found herself alone.
"Well, I guess I have the whole place to myself," she said to herself.
AN HOUR LATER
After running several laps, Sydney decided it was time to head over to the CIA training facility. Like every time she went to a building occupied by the CIA, she had to create an elaborate way to reach the building in order to keep her cover at SD-6. She knew if anyone from SD-6 saw her walking into a government building, she would be assassinated within the hour. She walked into the facility to see Vaughn, in his typical tee shirt and shorts, standing on the mats like he has been everyday for the past week.
"Ready to learn some kung fu?" he asked.
"I've been practicing kung fu for about five years now. The only thing that is gonna come out of this session is you in pain," she replied.
"After this session, which is not intended to bring either one of us pain, but instead intended to teach you new combat, you should consider having a mental scan. You seem to be angry lately," said Vaughn.
Sydney suddenly looked crestfallen. "I.... I know. I'm sorry Vaughn, but this has been a rough time for me. You know that."
Vaughn smiled, which helped Sydney calm down. "You're right," she said. "Let's see some of the moves you've got."
Sydney dodged left right before Vaughn's hand came swiping down where her head was seconds ago. As she dodged, she thrust her bodyweight into her left arm and got a nice solid punch into Vaughn's lower chest. Vaughn coughed, winced a bit, but was able to recover quickly. He did a full roundhouse, hoping to take her off guard with a non kung-fu move, but she was too quick for him. She ducked, and kicked his ankle, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Before he could recover, she lunged onto him, pinning him to the floor.
Gasping for air, Sydney said, " I assume I passed today's session?"
Also having difficulties breathing, Vaughn replied, "Of course."
Sydney returned home and continued with her term paper. Suddenly, her phone rang.
"Joey's Pizza?" asked the voice.
"Sorry, wrong number," Sydney replied.
She hung up the phone and moaned. Whenever someone called from Joey's Pizza, it meant she needed to meet Vaughn for a briefing at a certain checkpoint. She flopped back onto her bed, wallowing in self pity for moment, then stood back up and prepared for her meeting with Vaughn at one of their meeting points. She thought what number meeting point they were set on. The last time I saw Vaughn I met him at checkpoint 4... so today is checkpoint 5... Which is the grocery store.
Oh well, she thought. I suppose I could use some groceries anyways. She put on her coat and headed to the store.
TWENTY MINUTES LATER
"SPEED UP!" Sydney honked her horn.
The old Buick finally turned, leaving Sydney a clear road ahead of her. Finally, she thought. Now I can relax instead of trying to get people going five under the speed limit to speed up. Sydney decided to turn on a CD. Fleetwood Mac? No. Evanescence? Maybe. She put the CD on her dashboard. Linkin Park? Definitely not. Oh, here we go. She pulled out her Matchbox 20 CD and put it into her stereo. Feeling content, she focused once more on her driving.
About half way to the grocery store, she noticed that the same car had been following her for the past mile, even after several turns she had. To prove if she was being followed or not, she pulled into the nearest parking lot, a Target, in order to test her theory. The car followed closely behind her.
"Great," she mumbled.
Sydney got out of the car and walked into the store as quickly and nonchalantly as possible. She looked out of the corner of her eye and noticed the man was still watching. He was wearing a dark suit, and she noticed he frequently had his hand near his ear. Great. He's talking to someone through an earcom. Sydney grabbed a basket and started walking around the store, and she tried to ignore the man. She realized she couldn't call for help, knowing that if she were being followed her phone would be tapped.
"Joy. Another inconvenience for the day," she grumbled. She took her phone out of her jacket and called Vaughn, hoping her skills in espionage would aid her.
"Hello?"
"Hi, it's Syd."
"Are you..."
"Ya, I'm on my way, but first I had to stop at Target for pens," she said.
"What are you talking ab-"
"For ordering Little/Large Outwear Warm Designed clothes. You know that new gear I was talking about getting, right?" Sydney hoped Vaughn would catch onto her lame message.
"Remember? I told you about that gear last Monday," she continued to hint.
Vaughn began to put the pieces together. Last Monday? We talked about techniques to avoid detection. What is she hinting about? He asked himself. He thought about the different techniques they practiced to avoid detection.
"Hey Syd, I have another call. Can you hang on?"
"Of course," she responded.
Vaughn put her on hold and wrote down what she said. For ordering Little/Large Outwear Warm Designed clothes. He looked at the sentence. That doesn't even make sense... that gear doesn't even exist. Then it came to him. He underlined the first letter in each word in the sentence and wrote it out, minus the word clothing, which spelled only one word. Followed.
Sydney waited for Vaughn to return. He finally came back onto the phone.
"I can't believe I forgot to pick up that gear. How many was I supposed to pick up? One or more?" asked Vaughn.
"One that I'm sure of," replied Sydney. Vaughn was asking how many people followed her.
"Was the gear familiar... or unrecognizable? I mean would I be able to find it if I go try to buy the gear now?" asked Vaughn.
Vaughn wanted to know if Sydney knew the man or not. "I bet you wouldn't recognize it, I picked it out, remember?"
Vaughn was unclear about her last hint. I wouldn't recognize him.. but she would? I'm not sure what she's saying.
Sydney realized she was being unclear because Vaughn was not responding. "I picked it out, but I'm not sure what it would look like in person. You know how Internet pictures always look different." Sydney hoped he would understand.
So she does not know him. Vaughn thought. Is this a test from SD-6? If it is, her best shot is to respond in a way that SD-6 would expect. He grinned, realizing what SD-6 would expect her to do.
"Hey Syd, I guess I'm not much help for the gear. I know you're good at shopping and all, so do whatever it is you think is right," said Vaughn.
"Ok, I'll take care of it. Talk to you later!" Sydney hung up her phone. So Vaughn wants me to what I think is right? She stopped walking, and turned slowly and noticed the man was still in his car, watching. Sydney walked up to the nearest customer service station in the store.
"Excuse me, could you show me where the hunting supplies are?" she asked with her friendliest smile.
AN HOUR LATER
Sydney received some strange looks as she walked out of the Target store. She went over to the hunting section of the store and found several important items that she knew would help take care of her stalker. In her hand, she carried the largest combat knife the store had, as well as rolls of duct tape, lighter fluid, and a lighter. About time I had an excuse to take out my frustration for the day.
When she walked out of the store, she walked straight towards the car the man was sitting in. As she walked near it, she noticed he left the vehicle. Damn. I was hoping I could burn him out of the car. So much for the lighter fluid and lighter, she thought. She tossed the items into the parking lot. Before she had an opportunity to decide what to do next, the man grabbed be from behind around the neck.
Even though the man had the element of surprise, he had little else on Sydney. She kicked in his shin, which caused his leg to buckle, and before he had a chance to retaliate, she landed a full roundhouse kick to his head, which spun him around. As he spun, Sydney used his momentum against him, and did another kick, and the impact to his face was double, crushing his nose instantly. While he was still on the ground, Sydney kicked his side, breaking several ribs as a result.
"WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!" she demanded.
She grabbed him and pulled him to his feet. Before he could think, she kicked in his shin, causing him to fall to the hard cement again.
"WHO ARE YOU? I WILL NOT ASK AGAIN!" she bellowed.
Suddenly, a car driving down a street near the Target parking lot sped up, and a man in the back seat took out a large, silenced rifle and shot in Sydney's direction. She hurled herself behind the nearest car as bullets raced towards her. When the bullets stopped flying, Sydney slowly moved towards where the man she was interrogating. When she reached him, she found him dead, with bullet holes throughout his body.
TWO HOURS LATER
Sydney realized she was running low on gas. After the man was murdered, she quickly ran to her car before anyone saw her. She called Vaughn, uncertain what to do, and he told her to drive aimlessly until he contacted her with any information on the man who she was interrogating or the men who shot at her. Sydney did what Vaughn said, but she knew she couldn't keep it up much longer. Before she had to decide what to do with her gas problem, Vaughn called her.
"The man who followed you was named Jason White," said Vaughn.
Sydney frowned. "All I get is a name?"
"That's all we have," Vaughn replied. "We don't even know if the men were shooting at your or White. Maybe they were shooting at both of you. All we know is you may be in danger. Try to act normally as possible, and we will keep a surveillance team outside of your apartment until we know more. I'll keep in contact via your cell phone, we checked it for bugs and it's clear."
"What about SD-6?" asked Sydney.
"We know you start again tomorrow since your midterms at school are finished, and the Director decided that it is best you still go to work at SD-6, too."
"Great..." murmured Sydney. "I better get some gas then head home. Thanks for your help, Vaughn."
Vaughn smiled. "You are welcome. Sleep tight, don't let enemies spies bite."
"Comforting," said Sydney sarcastically.
THE NEXT MORNING
"Welcome, Sydney," said Sloan.
She managed to muster a smile. "Good morning, sir."
Sloan smiled back. "Don't forget we have a meeting in 10 minutes. See your there!"
Sloan walked away while Sydney's smile turned into a cruel stare. She placed her purse on her desk and walked into the conference room, where her father, Marshall, Dixon, and Slone were waiting. She sat down.
"Everyone ready?" Sloan asked as he began to pull up files for the conference.
Sydney looked at her computer screen, waiting for the pictures of whatever Sloan wanted to talk about pop up. Finally, a picture of a man came onto the screen. A man she recognized.
"Dixon, Marshall, and Bristow, this is Jacob Caine. He was one of SD-6's highest trained operatives. He was killed last night while he was investigating a woman, who is known in the underworld by the name of Ikriv Stuvinov," said Sloan.
Sydney felt a cold draft down her back. The man in the picture was the spy who tried to kill Sydney just the night before.