Author: Princess Box
Rating: G
Genre: General
Timeline: AU - about 14 years after 'The Telling'. No EvilFrancie......no Lauren......Will is still Will......Diane is still alive.
Summary: Alex thinks she knows her parents but Syd and Vaughn are hiding something.
Disclaimer: I don't own ALIAS! Anyone you don't recognise is mine and anyone you do isn't.
Author's Note: Soz for not posting in ages! I've been trying for a few days - honest! - but the site wouldn't let me!
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! It's so exciting when someone says they like what iv been writing! Hope you like this!
LOS ANGELES
"There's something we need to talk to you about, something important."
The fear that had slowly been creeping up from my toes suddenly washed through my entire body. Mom looks like she's about to cry, and Dad's subconsciously rubbing his hand down his nose and across his furrowed forehead. There's definitely something going on.
"What happened?" I asked quietly. Did someone die?
"Nothing's happened Alex," Dad said calmly. "First we need you to tell us something and you have to think really carefully, okay."
I nodded. What have I done? What have I done?
"Who's been in our house over the last two months? I need you to give me a list of all your friends, anyone who's come here asking for us, any strangers who've come to the door......"
"Mom, what's this about?"
"That lighter you found under the couch......it wasn't a lighter."
-
My mind flashed back to that night in Paris, almost a week ago now.
"I don't think your parents are analysts Alex."
I tried to block the thought from my mind, so I can concentrate on the serious situation in front of me.
-
"We're not analysts Alex."
I nearly choked. "What?"
"We do work for the Government but we are not financial advisors. We're CIA."
"I don't understand…" But I did understand. James was right.
I'm in shock. It's not like I hadn't ever thought of the possibility. That's what made it all the more shocking. I would lie in bed, while my parents were away, seeing them chase 'bad guys', saving the world. I can't breathe. On the long limo ride – yeah, I imagined them having a videoconference via cell phone with their director, hearing all the details of their secret mission. I had imagined what was coming, but I didn't expect it. I think I'm gonna faint. To actually hear my mother say those words! Regaining my breath and closing my mouth, I looked from one to the other.
"You're spies?"
They nodded simultaneously.
"You're spies? My parents are spies? Sydney and Michael Vaughn are spies? No way. NO WAY! Is this supposed to be funny?" I spluttered so fast that my words jumbled, making me sound like a complete idiot.
Mom and Dad just looked at each other and smiled.
"Spies? As in fast cars, tiny gadgets and lots of sex?"
"No," Mom answered matter-of-factly. "Spies as in classified, undercover missions for the US Government…"
"…with fast cars, tiny gadgets and lots of…"
"Okay, great," I interrupted, even though I knew Dad was teasing me.
-
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked quietly.
"First you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay? It's important. Our lives dependant on it. All of our lives."
I could only nod.
Mom took a deep breath. "I didn't choose this life Alex. My father chose it for me. I couldn't do that to you - introduce you to a world so dangerous, so full of lies. I didn't want you to get hurt. Not only are there really evil people who might want to hurt you, but I know what it's like to have to keep a secret. For years I had to lie to nearly everyone I knew and it was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I would not allow you to be in a position where you had to do that everyday."
"You have to understand that everything we have ever done is for your best interest, to protect you."
"Why are you telling me now then?"
"We had always planned on telling you and now that you're older, you're probably safer knowing the truth."
"Our Director, Dixon……you know Marcus, gave us permission after our trip to Paris."
"Marcus is CIA? The director of the CIA? Seriously?"
"Yeah and……"
"Ohmigod! This is like a reality show! You're not going to tell me that everyone I've ever met has been lying to me my entire life!"
"Not quite. Dixon's our director; Eric, your father and I are agents; Marshall's our tech guy; Will's a senior analyst; and Carrie is an NSA agent working with us at the Joint Task Facility."
"Even Marshall is CIA?" I couldn't help but giggle.
-
My face growing serious again, I turned back to my mother. "What does this have to do with a lighter?"
"It was a bug."
"Our house is equipped with bug killers so nobody heard anything," Dad continued, seeing the horror on my face. "Every three months a security team sweep our house. The last time was six weeks ago, which means, sometime in the last six weeks, someone planted a bug in our house."
"We've given a list of everyone who we know have been here - our friends, Kat and James, the guy who fixed the fridge."
"Is there anyone else?"
"Some of my friends from school came over one day while you were in London last - Jenna, Rebekah, Elliot and Jayne. Oh, there was a guy who came to the door collecting for some children's charity......"
"Did you leave him alone, to get some money or something?"
"Yeah, I grabbed some coins from the kitchen bench but I was only a couple of seconds."
"Long enough to slide the lighter along the floor, under the couch."
How could I be so stupid?
"Alex, you didn't know, but from now on you have to be so careful, okay."
"The CIA checked all the leads we gave them - they were all clean."
I let out the breath I didn't know I'd been holding. I knew Kaitlyn and James were innocent, they knew nothing about this life, but now, I really wouldn't be too surprised to learn they were someone else.
"We'll have this charity......"
"St America's Medical Research for Children." I stated automatically, surprised at my ability to recall the detail.
"We'll have the CIA investigate, make sure they who they say they are."
"I remember what the guy looks like; I could tell someone if you want. But first, you guys do realise that we're not leaving this couch until I know every detail, and I mean every detail, of my life that I don't already know about."
"Okay. But I worn you – we might be here for a few weeks."
Ignoring her husband, Mom began. "Well, your father and I are Intelligence Officers. We meet 18 years ago and, as you know, we meet at work."
"Except it wasn't an office. No……wait. We met in an office, but we didn't work together in an office. I was assigned to your mother's case."
I swallowed, having no idea what to expect.
"I had a desk job at the Los Angeles CIA facility. One day there was a young woman sitting at my desk when I arrived for work. Seriously, I thought she was crazy. Her hair was the brightest shade of red I have ever seen, she was covered in blood and bruises, and her jaw was so swollen she could hardly talk."
"But he still feel in love with me," Mom joked, remembering the day clearly.
Seeing the confusion on my face, Mom began again. "When I was a freshman in college, I was approached by a covert branch of the CIA who was interested in recruiting me. I had no idea why they choose ME but, thinking the CIA would add some excitement and meaning to my life, I finally agreed. I was only 19 - shy, without many friends, and didn't have much of a life outside school. After the initiation process, I began training - martial arts and street fighting, fourteen languages, as well as skills like stunt driving, electromagnetic lock picking…"
"Locks?" I asked, disbelieving.
"That's just the beginning, trust me!" Dad teased.
"Finally, ready to begin serving our country, I was introduced to my boss – Arvin Sloane, the head of SD-6. Our mission? 'The retrieval and study of intelligence, both military and industrial, throughout the world, that is critical to the survival of the United States of America.' That's how I began my career in the World of Intelligence." Mom grinned. "After seven years……"
"……you were one of the best spies in the criminal world," Dad finished, looking proudly at Mom.
"Criminal?" I choked, my voice suddenly high-pitched.
"That's when things began to change. After working for SD-6, for seven years, Danny proposed. I had to tell him. There was no way we could get married when I was keeping so many secrets from him."
I knew all about Danny and his murder. I feel so sorry for Mom, her fiancée getting killed just weeks after their engagement, his murderer never bought to justice.
"SD-6 found out I told him and……they had him killed."
Mom looked like she was about to cry. I glanced at Danny's picture, which still sat on the mantle piece. I knew she still loved him, but now I understood the reason for her guilt, she still felt responsible for his death.
Dad, knowing how difficult talking about this was for her, pulled her close and wiped the tears from her face.
"After his death," Mom continued, sniffing, "I couldn't go back to work, knowing Sloane was responsible, even if it was working for the good of our country."
Mom paused and laughed. "Soon after that, Sloane ordered my death too. That's when my father came to me. I hadn't seen him in years. You already know about our relationship after my mother died." She glanced up at Dad, pain shooting through her eyes.
"But Dad had some very important, very shocking, news. Not only did he work for SD-6 but they weren't a covert branch of the CIA. I was working for one of the United States' greatest enemies. SD-6 was a part of the Alliance, an international organized crime syndicate which traded in intelligence, weapons and military secrets, among other things, all in exchange for profit. For so long I had believed I was doing the right thing, helping make the world a safer place.
So, I decided I had to do something about it, bring Sloane to justice. To win back his trust, I took Will's sister's identity, flew to China and stole a 500 year old machine. Then I could go to the CIA……"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"That's when I meet your father. After going to the CIA, Michael was assigned as my handler. When I got an assignment, he would give me the counter mission so that I would be benefiting the CIA and not SD-6."
"So……is that when you started dating then?" I asked, wanting to know how my parent's relationship ACTUALLY began.
"Unfortunately, no," Dad smiled. "Our lives were extremely dangerous. If SD-6 knew what your mother was doing, they would have killed her."
"I could never be seen with a CIA officer. We would meet in a dusty, old warehouse, or in public places where we pretended not to know each other."
"Like in the movies!" I exclaimed. Mom and Dad laughed.
"Although we couldn't date, we became very close friends. All my friends knew I worked for the CIA but Syd's friends thought she was a banker. I was the only person she could talk to, tell everything to."
"Of course, that made the CIA very suspicious."
"Yeah," Dad laughed. "There is strict protocol about handler/agent relationships – strictly professional."
"Finally, after being a double agent for almost two years, the CIA finally had enough Intel to shut the whole Alliance down. I was free!"
"And you know the first thing she did?" Dad asked grinning. "She kissed me!"
I couldn't help but laugh at that. Dad looked so proud of himself. Mom joined in, playfully pushing him away.
"So what do you do now? Now that it's all over."
"Well the thing is, it never was over," Dad began. "Before eliminating the Alliance we discovered that Irina…...you're grandmother……"
"My mother……"
"She's still alive."
I thought my family was normal. Now I know what an understatement it would be to say I had a dysfunctional family.
No matter how many times I've pinched myself, I haven't woken up. So, instead of realising I was having an incredibly realistic dream, I have the incredibly dreamlike reality to comprehend.
By three o'clock in the morning I had learnt that my grandmother, once the number one most wanted female terrorist in America, is in prison……here in Los Angeles - only twenty minutes from our house! Grandma was a Russian spy, ordered to marry Jack Bristow to steal Intel from the CIA. Only weeks after she faked her death, to return home, my grandfather began training Mom to be a spy, at six years old. Grandma escaped from CIA custody, only to capture Arvin Sloane and bring him to the CIA two years later. And, to make our family reunion REALLY interesting, Mom and Dad discovered that Grandma murdered my grandfather, Dad's dad, while she was still undercover as Laura Bristow.
How many other sixteen year olds have to deal with news like this?