Today, she wasn't Sydney Bristow. She was Abigail Johnson. And he wasn't Michael Vaughn. He was Lucas Johnson. Abigail and Lucas. A beautiful couple with beautiful wedding rings. The ring thing really was becoming quite common. Not that she minded.
But today, the rings weren't just for appearances. Abigail and Lucas were waiting in line at airport security in Chicago. Sheenjoyed pretending to be average Americans, people who waited in line at a commercial airport instead of rushing onto a jet on a government airstrip. But even now, she was still a secret agent.
As Vaughn placed his bag on the x-ray machine and made his way through the metal detector, she casually rotated her diamond ring so the stone was underneath her hand. With her thumb, she pushed on the diamond. It emitted a small radio wave - just enough to disable the metal detector and allow Vaughn to make it through with the two handguns they'd brought along.
Thank you Marshall, she thought as Vaughn smiled and grabbed his carry-on from the TSA screener on the other side of the x-ray machine. Mrs. AbigailJohnson slid her ring back around her finger. She pushed her curly, long brown hair behind her left ear and moved towards the metal detector.
"Ma'am! Ma'am what are you doing?" said the man on the other side of the metal detector.
Without missing a beat, she looked up. "Yes?"
"Your purse?"
"Oh yes, of course!" she responded, with just the rightmixture of surprise and politeness.She giggled, "I'm so sorry." She placed her black handbag on the conveyor belt. She met Lucas on the other side.
Five minutes later, Abigail and Lucas Johnson sat next to each other at the food court.
"Now, here's what I love about rogue missions to Wisconsin," Vaughn said, pointing to his Cinnabon with his plastic fork.
"Lucas, I have no idea what you're talking about." She grinned, but her smile faded quickly. Her eyes darted from him to the other people in the airport.
He leaned towards her. "Sydney, it's going to be fine."
"I know," she whispered. She didn't know. If anyone were watching them, who knew what the consequences would be? Vaughn couldn't be sure everything would be fine. But he pretended it would be, and that's why she loved him.
"Attention passengers. American Airlines Flight 4008 with service to Madison, Wisconsin will begin the boarding process now. Will passengers who require special assistance and those with small children please come to the gate at this time?"
She sat in the blue leather seat, staring out the window. Shesnacked on a small bag of honey-roasted peanuts and drank a Diet Coke, which was watery because of the melted ice. Unconsciously, she tapped her left foot on the floor. It was so rare for her to be on a commercial airline.
She'd once flown on a commercial airline with Will. Will and Francie and Danny. They'd gone to Manhattan for New Year's Eve. That seemed like another lifetime to Sydney. In some ways, it was.
That was when she used to think she would eventually become Mrs. Danny Hecht. That was when she didn't know the searing pain of finding her fiancée dead in a bathtub, or losing her best friend, or finding out her mother was a spy. Before she knew how it felt to lose two years of her life, to find the man she loved had moved on, to find out her own mother had tried to have her killed.
She tried to remember what that had felt like, to be so naive. Who was that girl? Where was she now? Maybe she'd died right along with Danny, or with Francie, or gone into Witness Protection with Will. She certainly was not Sydney anymore.
"Abigail! Abby, honey," said Vaughn softly, tapping her on the arm.
She jerked her head around to find the flight attendant standing at the end of their row.
"Ma'am,may I take your drink?"
"Yes, yes of course," Sydney passed the plastic cup to the woman. "Sorry, I'm a little tired. I was up late with the baby last night."
"Oh sweetie, I understand all about that," the flight attendant smiled and moved on to the next row. Sydney sighed.
Vaughn took her hand and squeezed it.
"Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, I hope you enjoy your stay in the Madison area. You'll find your Corolla in spot 43. Do you need help finding it?"
"No thanks, I think we've got it," Vaughn said, taking the keys from the man at the Hertz counter.
Moments later, they were on the freeway, heading towards the address from the letter.
They'd spent hours deciphering the letter addressed to Miss Sojen. And at the end of that, they'd come up with only three things. The words "it's only worth it if it's safe," an address, and a date – today. Without even discussing it, they started packing.
And now they'd been driving for 45 minutes and Sydney was ready to burst. The flight had taken longer than it should have, they'd missed the exit, and now they couldn't find this address. Will needed her and they were driving in circles. She knew it was desperate; if it weren't, he never would have written to her. He knew how risky it was to contact people from his past. That's the first thing they teach you when they help you disappear.
"This can't be right," Vaughn said, as he slowed down and pulled into the small parking lot. "This is a church," he continued. "Do you think the Covenant lured Will to a church? I mean, not that they are involved…" he tried to correct himself, but it was too late.
Sydney took a deep breath. "You have the guns?" He nodded. "Let's go."
Sydney had prepared herself for almost anything. She had prepared herself for an empty warehouse, for machine guns, for assassins, for a dead body, for violence in the middle of Wisconsin. She was emotionally ready, she told herself, to see anything. If Will had written to her he would need rescuing, or to tell her she'd have to come take his body home, or to tell her to come kill someone who'd hurt him, that was fine.
When Will had left her in the rotunda a year earlier, he'd told her they'd see each other again. He went back to Wisconsin and Sydney dealt with the truth; the Covenant would find him and that was it. He was dead. Whatever this was, whether he was dead or dying, it was no shock. The only surprise was that it had taken so long.
But at least it would be over, she told herself. That's really all she needed. Closure. Maybe that's why he wrote to her.
She and Vaughn made their way to the door of Main Street Methodist Church. It was a small white church with wooden doors, very old-fashioned. This didn't make sense. But then again, not much made sense anymore.
There was no one in the lobby of the small church. Vaughn cracked the door open glanced at Sydney, putting his index finger over his lips.
When she stepped inside, tears filled her eyes. She'd prepared herself for anything, but not for this. She and Vaughn sat in the last row. He took her hand.
A few minutes later, it was all over. "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride," the priest said. Will leaned in and kissed the petite, blonde woman. She was positively gorgeous.
He took her hand and they turned towards the audience, grinning. The happy couple looked at their guests. It wasn't until then that Will noticed the two of them, sitting in the back. His eyes stopped on Sydney for just a moment. A small nod, almost imperceptible.
He'd said they would see each other again. Apparently he'd been right. Sydney wiped the tears from her face. She'd prepared herself for the worst, and this was so much better.
Sydney knew that this manwasn't Will, he was Jonah. And she wasn'tSydney. Today, she was Abigail, but even tomorrow she wouldn't be the girl Will used to know. But when he looked at her, it was like it wasyears ago and they were just Will Tippin and Sydney Bristow. He worked at a newspaper and she worked at a bank and they were best friends.
She mouthed "I love you Will." With that, he looked from her to the beautiful woman at his side.
He was happy. And so was Sydney.
I hope you liked this chapter! Ithink I've got one more in me ifanyone wants me to write it. Thanks for reading!!
