It was always some trashy night club that they had to be sent to. There was always sex and drugs, everywhere-music everywhere. It was the perfect place to lose yourself and for a while, they were lost, not wanting to be found. With enough make-up, a new hair color, new name, and new clothes, she was anyone they wanted her to be and with her new lease on life, it's how she liked it. She was no longer Sydney Bristow, the poor agent who was presumed dead for two years. Instead, she was a strong and capable woman, Ava Davis, tall red head with overflowing curls that dangled below her shoulder blades. With piercing blue eyes, she staggered out of the limo and struck a rather dramatic pose. Her hand, painted with elegant henna tattoos, a first for the veteran agent, went to her forehead as she faked a drunken state. There were people everywhere and she needed to make this work. Draw attention to yourself but not too much attention, rule number one of this. No, rule number one was never become emotionally attached and she was about six years past that. She whipped around and watched as her partner got out of the same limo. He put up the same act and walked over to her, wrapping his arm around her tiny waist and drawing her close. To anyone, and there were many people, walking by, it was just the norm for people in and around Nyrisha, the hottest underground club in all of Odessa.
Sydney's body was wrapped in a purple beaded top that exposed her stomach. The beading of different shades of purple extended down in long strands to cloak her stomach to a certain degree. They glistened in the pulsating lights. She wore a pair of tight fitting black leather with strappy stiletto heels. The one thing she loved about her new look, Ava's look, was her make-up. She was simple girl and not into the hype of cosmetics, barely wearing mascara to work everyday but tonight, she wore amethyst eye make-up with dramatic black eye-lashes.
She tucked her body close to his and they made their way through the black doorway, crowded with people drinking, dancing, and flat out making out. The loud music clouded her senses and she wanted to be taken under. They made their way down a long black hallway, illuminated only with red lights. The air was tight and it was hard to breathe in the close quarters. Vaughn tightened his grip on her, pushing out any thoughts of his life before. He was James Adler and James Adler didn't have a cheating wife and wasn't staying with his ex-girlfriend for three weeks. They made their way together and slid down the long, curling staircase. Below them was a sight that they had both seen many times.
It was something out of a movie. Barely clad girls dancing everywhere with guys, lapping it up like a puppy with table scraps. The music thumped hard and fast and replaced Sydney's own heartbeat. Smoke rose and hung in the air, smothering all who tried to breathe clear air. Somewhere in this mess of R rated activity, was a room that Sydney and Vaughn needed to find.
"Okay, so let's go over the specs, shall we?" Madison sat down, balancing her baby on her knee the next morning. The folders were opened over the kitchen table and each of the four agents were looking at the intelligence inside. "The office sent us updated information. They've revamped our aliases."
"Alright." Sydney leaned forward and glanced through her papers. Her eyes were still puffy from the tears and the almost complete lack of sleep. But no one really needed to know that's why she needed the three cups of tea that morning instead of the usual one. Caffeine never made her jittery. The only thing that made her jittery was the person sitting next to her at the kitchen table and who had proclaimed his undying love for her last night. Caffeine she could handle, Michael Vaughn, she could no.
"Let's do the round the table." Kilmer smiled as he looked around the table at the tired faces drinking aged tea in chipped mugs. "Who would like to start?" He was unusually chipper than early morning. The sun had barely risen but he was already eager to do laps around the countryside.
There was a deafening silence. Sydney and Vaughn didn't know what he was talking about so took that moment to remain silent. Madison was just rolling her eyes. She hated doing the 'round the table technique.' It was boring and dry.
"Thank you for you enthusiasm. I'll start." Kilmer started with a mock hurt tone. "I am…." He started with a feigned ego the size of a small country, "Eli Sarsota!" When he saw that he was getting absolutely no reaction from anyone, he returned to his normal tone, slightly defeated, " I was born January 29, 1974 in Moscow. I have no formal education but my parents were former KGB, who did educate me to some extent. My mother is Russian but my father is German." He got to his feet and started to pace around the kitchen with his file in one hand and steaming tea in the other. He started to talk with a heavy Russian accent and his walk changed significantly into a swagger. Yes, Robbie Kilmer started to swagger. "Papa Sarsota trained me to take over the family business. So, I did and became wildly successful. Fifteen years ago, I married-"
"Maria Bianciavella Sarsota, an Italian born hit-man or hit woman in my case. I was born June 13, 1980-wow I'm a young one!" Madison jumped in and giggled lightly as she worked on perfecting her Italian accent. "I was on a job in Russia when I met Eli. I did some work with his parents and some of their colleagues. I-uh-" she scanned down the page and looked for important information, "ah here it is; I am an orphan but my parents were supposedly wealthy and left a great deal of money so that I could support myself. I researched my parents death and discovered that it was related to their work in the Italian intelligence program. I took a vow to avenge their death and became one of the top assassins, after getting a degree from Oxford, naturally. Started to migrate around the continent until I found someone to my liking. Working with such heavy waits as Irinia Derveko." She continued to rattle on her stats as she bounced a happy Layla on her knees.
But Sydney and Vaughn just gaped at each other. It had been a long time since either of them had heard that name and hearing in the docket was absolutely shocking. Vaughn felt his mouth run dry. The last time they had ever head that name was right after she jumped off the roof over two years ago. Half of the world considered her dead. The other half considered her hiding. But Jack and Vaughn knew that she was doing neither. Irinia was a lost soul, waiting to be found. Jack and Irinia had been in close contacts since Sydney's disappearance and if Vaughn hadn't escaped with a bottle of booze, he would have encounters with her as well. More than likely, he would have known that Sydney was alive and not turned into the arms of Lauren, who was cheating on him with this man, Jonathan. It was a horrible chain of events that Vaughn just came to realize that while he sat in the little safe house with the cold air creeping around him like a cruel cobra waiting to strike him in the heart. As he sat there, he tried to place blame. Whose fault was it really? The Covenant's? Sloane's? The CIA? There was no right answer to this.
"Vaughn? You're up." Kilmer waved his hand over Vaughn's face to get his attention.
Vaughn looked away from Sydney, who was tired but wide eyed. He snapped to attention and grabbed his folder. "Oh-I uh- I'm James Adler, new player on the scene. Born in Texas on February 14, 1976 to two red-blooded American citizens. Went to Yale studying linguistics but got the law degree at Harvard. Glad that law degree of mine will actually come in handy for something for a change. But as James, I stumbled onto the intelligence field because of my roommate at Harvard. Became a translator but want something more. That's why I met up with-"
"Ava Davis, wealthy new player on the scene. I'm the head of the new group, The Avardia. Originally from Tennessee , I was educated at Harvard also. That's where I met Mr. Adler and from there, we became romantically involved. I see we're all connected somehow." She worked on her southern accent but inwardly cringed. She didn't know what to make of this exactly. After last night, the last thing she wanted to do was be a romantic interest of Vaughn. Just ducky.
Baby, can't you see
I'm calling
A guy like you
Should wear a warning
It's dangerous
I'm fallin'
There's no escape
I can't hide
I need a hit
Baby, give me it
You're dangerous
I'm lovin' it
Maybe it was all the smoke. Maybe it was all the alcohol. Maybe it was the 'lose control' atmosphere. But something in her allowed her to let go. She forgot everything that had occurred in the last few hours. "You want to do something, sugar?" She slipped her hand into one of the belt loops on his khaki pants and pulled him closer to her. She smelled his cologne was intoxicated by him.
"Like what, sweets?" He played along but kept a watchful eye out on the rest of the club.
Too high
Can't come down
Losing my head
Spinning 'round and 'round
Do you feel me now?
With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic
"Like this." She twisted around and led him to the center of the dance floor. They were early for the rendezvous time and they needed to kill time. It was better to dance than to drink or to stand around looking out of place. So, she kept him by the belt loops and they were in the middle of the dance floor. Now was the time to lose herself. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and pressed her body close to his, feeling her stomach rub against his belt buckle. She straddled one of his legs and started to let the music pulsate through her body.
"I need you to be honest with me, Syd." Vaughn said as he finished pulling on the tight fitting black t-shirt. He stood on one side of the bed while he watched Sydney who sat at the foot of it, leaning against the bottom of the bedspring.
"Okay." Sydney replied from the floor. She hadn't changed yet but wanted to put on her make-up. She held a mascara wand in one hand and a magnified mirror in the other. She had changed her eye color but only put mascara on one. Her hair was pulled into a thick French braid and tucked under so that it was easy to hide it beneath her wig. Her body was wrapped in a long purple robe, borrowed from Madison and she smelled of fresh berries from the icy shower she had taken about an hour previous.
"Are you going to be okay being Ava tonight? We need to make this look as believable as possible and we-uh-we're suppose to be romantically involved."
She sighed and faked a smile, "I'll be fine. I'm sorry about last night-really I am. I don't normally do that. I've just been really emotional lately. I'm sorry." She turned back to applying her make-up.
"Syd, it's me. You don't have to do this."
"Do what?" She retorted tartly as she started to apply the black paint to her eyelashes.
"Are you going to be okay? Are you going to be able to pull this off? After last night, are you going to be okay with being with me for the night? I know what I said I shouldn't have said but if you want me to take it back-"
She looked at him with wide eyes but concealed her emotions well, "Don't take it back. Please, don't." She breathed desperately.
Vaughn hid his smile as he turned away, "Okay. I won't take it back."
He forgot how wonderful her body felt against his. He forgot what she smelt like, how she moved. He forgot how much he loved her. But most of all, he forgot what it was like to dance with her. Well, truth be told, he did get to dance with her at the party before but nothing like this. Oh wow, nothing like this. He tried to get his mind off of how he was reacting to Sydney dancing so provocatively. His eyes glanced over her body as her knees bent and she dipped closer to the ground. It was time. "Ava." She didn't hear him. "Ava." She stood up and let her hips fall into perfect synch with hers. "Ava." He shouted this time and she straightened up and looked at him.
With a taste of your lips
I'm on a ride
You're toxic
I'm slipping under
With a taste of poison paradise
I'm addicted to you
Don't you know that you're toxic
And I love what you do
Don't you know that you're toxic
"What?" She retorted, a crossed look flying over her face.
"It's go time, sweets." He replied and wrapped his arm around her waist and led her off the dance floor. There were people everywhere and they fought through the droves to get to the stairs. Women tried to latch themselves onto Vaughn, men to Sydney. The music was loud and she felt like she was being drown out. It was an easy escape and she loved that she could forget herself. Forget Sydney Bristow, the introverted control freak without a life. She was gone and Ava Davis, the wild child from England, liked her music loud and her men hot. And she loved Ava.
"I'll go anywhere with you, sugar!" She shouted back and allowed herself to be pulled through crowd to a back staircase. There, they disengaged and bolted down the stairs to the-
"…….basement. From there, you and Vaughn will and get to room AL-347. From there, you need to break in, using the code device in the bottom of your shoe, Sydney. There, in drawer-" Kilmer looked down at the 'community folder' and scanned down the page until he found it, "nope, it's not a drawer. There's two master computers. We need two things downloaded and in one of the drawers there-I'm assuming that there's drawers there, you need to swipe the manifest. Off of the computer, we need the blueprints for Boccolina." Kilmer had gotten off easy and simply wore a pair of jeans and a loose fitting button down shirt. He had run a wash through his air and the black hair was now a gray that looked the most natural.
"A new state of the art defense system that was innovated by a German. It has the capability to tap into any satellite and transfer all of its information to a super computer." Sydney finished, glancing over her paper work. She started to fuss with her clothes too a little bit, trying sit comfortably as humanly possible. It was almost a laughing matter.
"And while we're doing this, you'll be outside in the van checking up on what's going on with security." Vaughn finished. "I don't understand why they need four of us to complete this mission."
"They don't. It's only three of us but I understand your point. It's because this is Covenant and they're afraid what they're going to do if they find out the CIA has infiltrated one of their safe-keeping places. It's massive fear. Trust me, they love working off of fear." Kilmer replied, sinking deep into his chair. "Besides, we still have to complete the second half in a few days."
"One thing at a time, Robbie." Madison corrected. "It's going to be dangerous enough going in there. Being CIA and going into a Covenant area is going to be incredibly dangerous. You all need to be careful and make it home in one piece. When you come back here in four and a half hours, I want all of us back in one piece, got it?"
Sydney looked at the younger agent, playing with her baby, who was sitting straight up and playing with her toes, trying to get them into her mouth as quickly as possible. Layla's blue eyes were sparkling brightly with the excitement and innocence that only a child could possess. "I give you my word that I'll make sure that Kilmer is in one piece." Sydney replied, leaning forward on her seat to play with the daughter. "He has to get home to watch after this one." She smiled broadly as she watched Layla lean forward and succeed in eating her big toe.
"I have to be around. Who else is going to beat all the boys that come knocking on our door?" Kilmer laughed and came behind Madison, squeezing her shoulders tightly. Madison looked over her shoulders and shot him a worried look.
Together, they bolted down the hallway. Sydney's shoes beat against the cold tile. She officially had shut down her personal sensor and was now only working. Her mind focused on only one step after the next, one breath after the next, one movement after the next. It was this type of linear thought process that kept her alive after so many near-death experiences. It was what kept her alive during her stay as a captive or double agent, which ever you prefer to think, in the Covenant. The hallway was much colder and a much different atmosphere than the club above them. The music was still loud and pulsating through them but the hospital like halls were almost entirely different.
They didn't have to worry about the alarm system. Kilmer had cut that the moment he got into the club. Vaughn ran, keeping up to pace with Sydney. That was a feat in and of itself. If you could keep up with the incredible Sydney Bristow, you knew you were in good shape. But he kept in sync with her, glancing behind him every now and then to make sure no one was behind the pair.
Sydney started to silently curse her shoes. They ached more with every step further she took. But then the adrenaline kicked in and the pain disappeared. "How do we look? Anything on the radar?" She asked as they slowed down, glancing at every door to check the number on each door.
"I-I don't know!" Kilmer started frantically over their comm. link. There was a panic rising in his voice.
"What do you mean you don't know? Is there or isn't there?" Vaughn snapped, glancing at one door and finding it not the one they needed.
"The heat sensing is picking up everyone in the club!" The emotion was almost blocking out the sense in his voice. He was absolutely terrified. "You're in there blind. Go radio silent. Good luck. I'll see you at home."
Silence took the place of his voice through their ears. Sydney stopped and placed her arm on Vaughn's for him to do the same. She reached down to pull up her pant leg, and found her concealed weapon. "We're in here blind. We need to be more careful." She hushed her voice and together, they started to walk at a fervent pace to find room AL-347. Sure enough, after checking two dozen rooms, they found it. A small white door in the large white hallway with blacking lettering reading clear as day "AL-347."
Sydney suppressed her smile and pulled off of her shoe. In the heel, there was an electronic device that she placed on the metal door against the standard keypad that she had seen so many times before. She was almost called by the gently beeping noise emitted by the lock door. They were going to succeed. Now maybe this idea of mental celebration was premature or maybe it was just her psyching herself up for the next part of the mission.
Whatever it was, it was too little too late.
"Vaughn?"
He looked away from the windows lining the limo that they were sitting in. They were on their way to the nightclub. "Yeah?"
She didn't know if she wanted to know this or not and wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to hear the answer to this. "Last night, early this morning, whatever it was" she dismissed any notion with her hand but continued, "did you mean what you said? About still-"
He moved a little closer to her and tried to her hand into his but she resisted. She pulled her hand away and clasped it tightly in the other. There was something was that burning in her eyes that he had never seen before, some sort of distrust, anger, resentment, that he had only seen when they discussed Arvin Sloane or her mother or even sometimes her father at certain points. There was something that had changed in her. She had become more jaded. "But what about Lauren? I mean, I don't want to be the other woman, Vaughn. I can't do it. But I don't know what to do anymore."
He looked away and studied some invisible speck of dust on the floor. He swallowed back his emotions and for the first time truly confronted the demons that had been haunting him for a long time. This was his tragic flaw…he didn't like to put himself under the magnified glass. His father always warned him about it. He had over analyzed himself as a child and much as a young adult. Now it was time to face the music. ."I'm just as confused as you are, Syd. I don't know what do about my situation at home. It's a mess but I think I owe it to you, to her, and to me to try to figure everything else before I do anything. I don't know what I'm going to do yet."