Chapter 9: A Bit Of A Legend
Disclaimer: Okay, okay, contrary to my claim at the end of chapter 8, I do not have my own personal Vaughn. Burst my bubble, why don't you!
scorpiowolf: I can't explain your question entirely, but I'll give you this: In Jack's secret prophecy thing that he never told anybody about, it said Sark was supposed to be Kelly's father. I'm not real sure where I'm taking that yet, so your question really has no concrete answer right now.
Eyghon: Uh, thanks, I think. I'm not used to such…enthusiastic praise…
eagle219406: Crap. As much as I appreciate useful criticism--and believe me, I do appreciate it--YOU JUST SCREWED UP MY PLOT LINE!!!!! Now I have to fix it...I hate to be wrong...You just go read the rest of my fic and see how I salvage it. I can't leave it alone, I have to be a friggin' perfectionist...
"She'll sleep for a few more hours, at least," Vaughn commented, noting the lines of worry creasing Sydney's forehead.
"I know," she said, barely surprised by Vaughn's observation. "I just..." She looked over at him as they walked together to the briefing. "I want to be there when she wakes up. She'll be scared."
Vaughn felt more than a little guilty for not telling her, but now was not the time.
"She'll be okay," he said, hoping he sounded less calloused than he felt.
He must have sounded strange, because Sydney gave him an odd look over her shoulder as she pushed open the door of the conference room.
The first thing both of them saw was Kendall, along with two agents neither of them recognized.
"Agents Vaughn, Bristow," Dixon gestured quickly at them in turn. "You know Kendall, and these are Agents Harte and Quentin. DSR."
"Why?" Vaughn asked carefully. Past experiences with DSR had not been good.
"I called them," Dixon said.
"Why?" Vaughn repeated.
Dixon hesitated slightly.
"I believe DSR could be helpful in finding out what use Sark has for the child. Since we believe it to be Rambaldi related, it falls in their jurisdiction as well as ours."
Resigned to the interference of another agency, Sydney and Vaughn moved to seats at the table. Vaughn was inexplicably relieved that the six of them seemed to be the only ones invited to the briefing.
Harte, apparently the more outspoken of the pair that flanked Kendall, spoke up first in an attempt to break the ice.
"Personally, Agent Bristow," he said with a charming that contrasted nicely against his jet-black hair and generally dangerous look. "I'm looking forward to working with you. You're a bit of a legend within DSR."
Sydney frowned, and observed Quentin shaking his head slightly at his partner.
"The Prophecy, or the fact that a centuries old prophet controls so much of my life? Which part intrigued you, Agent Harte?" she snapped at Harte.
"My partner," Quentin jumped in before Harte could get himself in any more trouble. "Only meant that it's commonly known that you played a major part in collecting the artifacts we now have." Quentin had the kind of average Joe look that made him vaguely endearing, and, despite Harte's smile, made him the more charming of the two. "We both look forward to working with an agent of your status."
Kendall's look of amusement suggested that he'd expected the exchange. Dixon restrained himself and managed to suppress a grin. While Sydney battled the intruders, Vaughn studied them, filing away nuances of their characters for later reference.
"I have briefed them on our current situation, up to what you know," Dixon interrupted to inform Sydney and Vaughn. "But..." He looked uneasy again. "Some new intel has come to our attention. First, a safe deposit box in a bank in Geneva, Switzerland has been linked to the Calling. The box is believed to contain records of Kelly's birth and development up to, at very least, one year. A great deal of that information would be considered irrelevant by the Calling and has been stored." Again, Dixon hesitated, as if omitting something. "Agents Harte and Bristow will be sent to retrieve the contents of the box."
Sydney's lips thinned to a fine line, and Harte burst out, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Dixon thought it best that one of the agents the child is familiar with remain, and Harte is good with bank security," Kendall said dryly.
Quentin jerked a thumb at Harte.
"He can talk his way into most places, but his social skills leave much to be desired."
Harte gave Quentin a go-to-hell look, but said nothing.
Dixon grinned as he passed files to Sydney and Harte.
"You leave for Switzerland tonight," he offered. "Until then, might I suggest you work on some sort of protocol for not killing each other?"
"I know he's annoying as hell, but I'd hate to have to go through getting used to a new partner," Quentin cracked.
Harte remained stubbornly silent, lest he get himself in a bigger mess.
Dixon filled the silence.
"Vaughn, you'll be guarding Kelly, Quentin will be on surveillance until we hear from Sydney and Harte."
The plane, which wasn't the smallest of the CIA's fleet, couldn't have seemed much stuffier. To add to it, Sydney suffered from a headache and a general bad mood.
Vaughn had approached her several times as if to say something, but never told her anything of importance. Harte had also approached her, probably with the intention of apologizing but each encounter had wound up another verbal battle. Kelly had awoken to have returned to the distant, submissive child she'd been originally. Now Sydney was stuck feet away from Harte and they were stepping around each other like they were in a minefield.
Sydney sighed.
"We're going to have to get past this," she said reluctantly.
"I agree," Harte said quickly. "I want to apologize for what I said earlier. Quentin was right; I only meant that you were well known for being an excellent agent."
Sydney sighed again.
"For future reference, Rambaldi is not taken lightly around here," she said. "I've been arrested, kidnapped, and shot at, to say the least, over Rambaldi. Nothing about Rambaldi will ever be good in my eyes."
"Noted," Harte said.
"Now, let's go over the mission details," she moved on. "Make sure we have this together."
Harte was half dazed.
"Wow," he muttered. "You're just over it, just like that?"
Sydney raised her eyebrows.
"We could go back to awkward silence if you prefer," she snapped sarcastically.
"Uh, no, I just…" Harte stopped. "Op tech," he said decidedly.
"Mini laser, capable of cutting through six inches of metal," Sydney said.
"And a pen that sprays a powerful sleeping gas," Harte continued.
"You charm the women working at the front desk."
"And you dazzle the guards with your short skirt."
"And then I knock them out," she countered.
"And I hack into the security system so that you can knock them out."
"And I break into the safe deposit box."
"And I meet you at the back exit."
Sydney smirked.
"So you win because you get to drive.""No. I win because I get to drive a fancy sports car."
Sydney narrowed her eyes at him.
"You're a smart ass," she commented.
Harte shrugged.
"Not all the time. I can be charming."
"I'll believe it when I see it," she muttered.
Harte smirked this time.
"Well, personally, I don't believe you can possibly fit in that leather skirt you're supposed to be wearing," he commented.
Sydney raised her eyebrows, and Harte laughed when he realized what he'd said.
"I give up. You're not going to tell your Agent Vaughn on me, are you?"
"What?"
"You don't think it's obvious? Ya'll are so sleeping together," Harte said, as he relaxed his voice developing a southern drawl. "I'm more observant that you'd think. I could read it between ya'll every time you moved or talked." He grinned. "He'd kick my ass if he thought I'd called you fat."
Sydney shook her head, but her lips turned up at the corners.
"I don't get you, Harte." She glanced over at the laughing expression on his face. "And I'm not sure I want to."
Okay, I couldn't help it. I had to develop Harte here. I had this idea of his character, and I couldn't leave it alone. No worries, though, and don't get any ideas; Syd's relationship with Harte will be as platonic as her relationship with Weiss, with a mutual friendly affection. Now, please be good little readers and review…I try to answer questions asked in reviews in the next chapter, so gimme something to work with and I'll try to make ya'll happy…