A/N: Hey guys, thanks for reading and reviewing. Here's the Simon/Syd scene I promised, hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think. Is it too much, or not enough? I want input and the more you review the faster I'll update.
Chapter 13: The Art of Dancing
"Where are we going?" Sydney asked indifferently, although deep down she was worried about the situation at hand. She looked out the window but didn't recognize the road they were taking.
"It's a surprise beautiful." Simon simply answered taking a quick glance at her.
"I don't like surprises." She said in a bored tone while she played with the ends of her blonde hair.
"This will be fun. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." Simon answered. They continued driving for fifteen minutes before Simon parked the car in front of a large mansion.
"Do you like art?" Simon asked her.
"I'm not a big fan but I can appreciate a work of art when I see one." She answered.
"Yeah, well I'm no fan either but there are a few works that I love. I especially love Da Vince's work. My favorite paintings is the,"
"Mona Lisa?" Sydney interrupted.
"No actually. It's the Virgin and Child. See that mansion?" he began, as Sydney nodded. "The owner has a private collection, one he doesn't share with the public or anyone else for that matter. It's located two floors underneath the first floor, there's not a lot of security. It's fancy stuff but nothing you can't handle."
"You want me to steal it?" Sydney asked trying to sound as composed as she possibly could.
"I just wanna see it, not steal it. There's nothing like seeing a masterpiece in real life... don't you agree?"
"Any guards, cameras, added security? Where's the painting kept?" she asked him.
"No guards, about five cameras, one at the front door, elevator, first floor, ground level A and ground level B, that I know of. The painting should be kept inside a vault in ground level B. No added security, the vault looks complicated but it's not, it's very basic. It uses a password, not a combination."
"Anyone home?" she asked.
"Just the owner, who luckily for you is sound asleep."
"Alright, I'll need some things." She said.
"You can do whatever your heart pleases beautiful, just keep in mind that you have a time limit, thirty minutes from now. So I suggest you hurry." He said to her pointing to his watch.
"I need your car." She said, her voice going from bored to meaning business. It only took her an instant to get into the spy mindset. She knew what she had to do and she wasn't about to let anything get in her way.
"I don't think so darling." Simon answered.
"Well then move over so I can drive." She said her tone serious and demanding.
"Alright." He said getting out of the car and going into the passenger seat as Sydney got into the drivers seat, put on her seat belt and drove off as quickly as possible. Simon didn't speak to her, he could see in her eyes that she meant business. Sydney stopped at a small store and ran in. She walked through the aisles quickly taking only what she needed. She grabbed a can of spray paint, and a English-Italian translator. She paid the cashier quickly and ran out the door without wasting any time. By the time she got back to the mansion she had only used up fifteen minutes which meant that she was going to have to work very quickly. She took off her high heel shoes and grabbed her purse where she quickly put all the things she had just bought. She looked at the mansion and approached the front door from the side, on the camera's blind spot. She took out the spray paint and sprayed the camera with black paint, making it impossible for anyone to identify her. She took the two pins that had kept her straight hair in place and used them to open the door. Once the door was open she carefully entered trying to locate the second camera. She spotted the camera hanging from the ceiling a few feet away from the door. The house was completely dark so there was no reason to believe that the camera would be able to clearly identify her but she wasn't one to take chances during a job so she sprayed the second camera as well. She looked around the living room area but she couldn't find an elevator anywhere. She entered an office where she saw a large bookcase.
"Bingo." She whispered to herself. She pulled as many of the books as she could until finally the hidden door was revealed. She walked into the small passageway and when she found the elevator she sprayed the camera before getting in and pushing B. She looked impatiently at her watch as the elevator went down, she had only eleven minutes to locate the painting and get it to Walker or else she didn't pass the test. When the elevator doors opened she realized that something was wrong. From where she stood she could tell that the vault was far too easy to break into. She pulled out the spray paint once more but instead of aiming at the camera right outside the elevator she sprayed to the empty space directly in front of her. Out of nowhere several red laser lines appeared.
"Silent Alarm." She said to herself. Walker must have known, she thought to herself. She used the spray paint to cover the camera before taking the first few steps toward the vault. She realized that the easiest way would be to slide on the floor where there were fewer lasers. She stepped back into the elevator and lied down on her back. Using her feet but without bending her knees much she began to slowly slide toward the vault. She used the spray from time to time and found only few obstacles where she had to sit up and stand up and cross over a few really low lasers. It took her about three minutes to cross the short distance between the elevator and the vault. Once she was safely away from the lasers she looked at the vault. It had a numeric pad, which meant that she would have to hack into the system to find the password. She opened the keypad and began to unplug wires which she then connected to the translator. After pressing a few buttons and adding new commands to the translator, it began to search for the code. Once all six numbers were found the vault opened. Sydney looked at her watch and realized she had a little over four minutes to leave the mansion with the painting in hand. She opened the vault door and immediately spotted the painting. She took it and began to slide it on the floor making sure not to hurt the fragile piece of art. She began to slide herself and within two minutes she was back in the elevator with the art piece. She ran out the door as fast as possible and ran towards Simon who sat in his car waiting patiently. She got in the car and handed him the painting. Simon marveled at the painting while Sydney sat there watching him. He really seemed moved by the painting, something she hadn't expected because of his profession.
"Look how beautiful it is." He finally said.
"It's great, but don't you think that we should get out of here." Sydney said to him.
"Yeah, you're right beautiful. We should go celebrate our new partnership. Congratulations, you passed and with one minute to spare." He said finally taking his eyes off of the painting.
"I'm the best, you shouldn't doubt that." She responded.
----Later that same night at a club in Rome----
The music was great, the mood was vibrant and Sydney was having a great time for the first time in a long time. She and Simon drank and danced like they were teenagers out for the first time. Sydney had thrown herself into her new alias of Julia Thorne. Julia was a free-spirit, she was smart and loved to have fun and although she was also calculating and cold-hearted, Julia was free to do whatever she pleased, wrong or right it didn't matter. To Julia the world was full of endless possibilities, something that as Sydney she had never had. Although Sydney knew better than to submerge herself in this new alias, the traumatic events that had happened over the past few months, made her not care. Her life had been ripped apart, she had been taken away from everything and everyone she knew and loved and for tonight she wasn't going to wallow in self-pity and pain. No, tonight she was going to be wild and crazy and free. She was after all Julia Thorne tonight, not Sydney Bristow.
"Julia, do you want another drink?" Simon asked her.
"Keep them coming Walker!" she yelled at him from her seat. Sydney moved her feet to the beat of the music and tapped her hands on the table. She moved her head from side to side letting her blonde hair move with her. She still wore the sexy red dress she had worn to dinner. Simon came back with two more bears and Sydney took one and began to drink.
"Easy there." Simon told her, putting his hand over her beer and putting it back on the table.
"Let's dance!" she yelled at him. Simon had never been the type to dance but Julia was impossible to say no to, especially after several drinks. Simon stood up and took Julia's hand as they walked to the dance floor. He watched as she moved her body from side to side. Her laughter was enchanting and as he watched her, he couldn't help but realize that he was in trouble. He liked Julia, and although he had liked other women before, what made Julia different was that they were partners.
Perhaps it was the many drinks in him, or the way she looked tonight, or maybe it was the way she moved her body but something took over him. He no longer cared that they were partners, or that he didn't like to get attached. He simply put his arm around her waist and pushed her close to him and looked at her. It was a look that stopped her dead in her tracks. She stopped laughing and placed her hands on his shoulder. She didn't move, she didn't speak but she also didn't reject him. He put his other hand on her back and kissed her with all the passion he had in him. It was a long slow kiss, one which he enjoyed very much. A kiss which she had enjoyed as well.
