Alternate Termination

Sequel to Alternate Existence and Alternate Infatuation. Sydney and Michael finally had a perfect life. A real family with no lies. Friends who knew the truth. And then they lost it all.

Chapter 3: This Is Bigger

Disclaimer: No, Alias is not mine. Nor is Sydney, nor Vaughn, nor Irina, nor Jack, nor Khasinou, nor Kendall. But Jeffrey is! He's all mine! No touchy!


"I want Alex Vaughn.

"He is descended from a very important asset that this agency was unable to attain years ago. The original subject obtained CIA protection, and the caretakers of the child maintain those ties. He also may prove difficult to get to."

"How many agents are you talking about, sir?"

"At this point, two. One active, field rated, one a desk agent, formerly field rated."

"Take out the guardians?"

"Not necessary. Jeffrey Lexington is a stockbroker. Misty, his wife, is a kindergarten teacher, currently staying at home with her baby."

"There's a baby?"

"Yes. The nursury is at the opposite end of the hall from the child's room. Shouldn't be a problem."

"What about the active agent?"

"He doesn't frequent the Lexington home."


Misty bounced her squalling baby daughter in the dark nursery until she quieted down. Misty knew every nuance of that little pale pink room. She'd decorated it herself. She didn't need a light.

When Emily finally drifted back to sleep, Misty couldn't bring herself to go back to bed. In some deep, instinctual way, she wanted to watch her baby. Her senses were on high alert, but she heard nothing out of place.

Jeffrey, lying alone in the cozy king sized bed he and Misty shared, tensed as he realized the soft noise he'd heard was definitely not his wife walking with Emily in the nursery. It had come from the other direction down the hallway.

He slipped silently from his bed and opened the cabinet built into the wall that was too high for Alex to reach. He kept his gun there, the one that he'd purchased the same day he'd gotten out of the hospital after being nabbed by SD-6. One Saturday a month for the past six years had been spent at a public shooting range practicing with the weapon. Waiting for this night.

He thumbed the safety off and palmed pistol. Not a very accurate weapon, but if he ever used it he planned to be close enough that it wouldn't make any difference.

Alex's night-light shone through the cracked door, tossing a stream of light onto the floor. In the light, Jeff could see a shadow. His heart leapt to his throat. Alex was his…how dare anyone…

Jeff peeked past the doorframe and saw a figure plunge a needle into Alex's arm and inject some liquid into him before Jeffrey had a chance to react.

When he did, he swung open the door and fired once toward the intruder, who ducked and rolled away just in time. Jeff caught a glimpse of his face before he dove out of the second story window. Jeff froze for an instant.

The man had interrogated Jeff at SD-6.

He didn't bother to go after the agent; he'd never catch him. He was far more concerned with Alex.

The little boy hadn't awakened when the gun was fired. Jeff could hear Emily squalling and Misty rushing down the hall with her, but Alex hadn't even flinched. Jeff tossed the gun onto the end table and knelt to press his fingers to Alex's neck. His pulse was still strong, but who knew what drugs he'd been given or what effects they'd have?

"Misty, get the phone. Call Eric," Jeffrey said before she'd even gotten in the door.

"But…" She juggled the baby from one hip to the other nervously. "Jeff, I heard a gun…"

"I'm fine, Alex was drugged. Call Weiss."

It was the first time Jeff had ever referred to the man as Weiss. Sydney and Vaughn had called him that when it was connected to the CIA. Almost unconsciously, his statement had the desired effect.

Jeff wrapped Alex up in the blanket from his bed and lifted him, tucking the gun into the back of the waistband of his jeans.

Misty was talking to Eric as Jeff laid Alex on the couch.

"Eric, there was someone in our house…he shot him…they drugged Alex…"

Jeff took the phone from her, gently prying it from her fingers.

"Eric? He was SD-6...No, I shot at him...He was trying to take Alex…I don't know! May be for the same reason they wanted Syd! Hell…you've got doctors on staff out there, right?...Yeah, medical doctors. The guy drugged Alex, I don't know with what…damn it, I don't care, just meet us there!" Jeff threw down the phone and turned to his wife.

"Get Emily's things, I'll get Alex's. Necessities only. Get some stuff for yourself. I don't know how long we'll be gone, Miss," he added before she could ask.

"What are we doing, Jeff?"

"Eric's meeting us at the JTF building tonight. They'll protect Alex and Emily. Alex is one of their own…if anything Syd and Michael ever told me is true, they'll take care of him."

"What about…" Misty began.

"Misty, come on, we don't have time for this now." Leaving Alex on the couch, he headed back up the stairs. "We'll be okay, baby. Just go."

Misty nodded.

"This isn't fair, Jeffrey," she murmured quietly, glancing back over her shoulder at Alex and bouncing to keep Emily happy. "This just isn't fair."


Misty stood looking through the small window in the door to the lounge Director Kendall had, at Eric's beseeching, allowed to be used for Alex and Emily's stay. Emily now slept in her infant seat on the table, and Alex was on the couch with his bedspread thrown over him and his red backpack on the floor beside him. Eric had assured Misty and Jeff that the doctor had assured him that it was only a mild sedative that the intruder had injected Alex with. He'd sleep for a while, but there would be no side effects.

The lounge was sparsely furnished, but at least it wasn't as bare as the rest of the building. Or, at least what she'd seen of it. There were very few agents in the part they were in, aside from Eric and the director.

Misty had been too worried about Alex when they'd first arrived to pay much attention to what Jeff and the director had been saying, but Jeff had seemed at least minimally familiar with him. When had they met? Did that only mean Sydney had a history with Director Kendall, of had Jeffrey been in contact with him at some time?

Damn espionage, she thought, turning to follow Jeff back to Kendall's office for an official debrief. She was realizing more and more that she didn't know quite as much about the part of Jeff's life that included Syd and New York Cityas she'd thought. She certainly didn't know anything about Sydney's life before they'd met. She'd asked Jeff once, why Sydney never talked about her childhood, or her college days, and why she seemed to be such an important agent even though she was so young. Misty had been student teaching at the time. Jeff had only said that Sydney had been a spy for a long time, and circumstances had forced her to be the best.

Insecurity had never been her biggest weakness. As a child, Misty had been the one that, if she fell face first in the mud at recess, she'd roll over and belaughing as hard as anyone. But realizing how little she knew about her friends, and how much she didn't know about her husband, left her feeling out of place.

In the office waiting for them were Kendall and Eric, and Jack. Apparently, someone had forwarded the alarm to him.

Jack, Misty reflected, was a man liked by none and respected by few. But Alex adored him, and through watching his with the little boy, she'd come to understand him. Behind his stony gaze and steel gray eyes now, for example, she could see the concern. He saw her watching him and offered a half-smile of comfort as she took a seat next to Jeffrey.

"They'll just keep coming back," Jeff was saying beside her. "I don't know why now, but they'll be back."

Kendall nodded precisely.

"Arvin Sloane discovered the death of his mother. He hopes Alex will possess what he failed to acquire from Sydney."

"That damn code?" Jeff burst out.

"Sloane adamantly believes in Rambaldi's work," Jack spoke up. "A lot of past discoveries have been based on heredity. Based on the idea that Sydney knew the code, he believes Alex will too."

"Does everyone know about this Rambaldi but me?" Misty snapped out. "Alex is like my own child…somebody better tell me something," she threatened.

Jack looked at Jeffrey.

"You didn't tell her…"

"Misty, this guy, Sloane, he heads a criminal organization," Jeff broke in, giving Jack a quick discouraging glance. " Sydney was captured by him once because he believed she was the woman referred to in a 300-year-old prophecy written by Milo Rambaldi. He believed she knew a computer code that would allow him to control all existing technology with one singleprogram."

It was not lost on Jack, or Weiss, or Kendall that Jeffrey left out the part about being kidnapped himself from Sydney's apartmentshortly thereafter as bait.

"But Alex is still a baby…"

"Doesn't matter," Kendall said. "The subject would have to be reduced to an almost catatonic state to access the information. Age isn't an obstacle."

Jeffrey rose and paced to the door, then paused and put a hand to his temple.

"We…Alex is in trouble."

He turned to face everyone.

"I can't protect him any more. This is bigger than me, Director."

Kendall nodded.

"Agent Weiss will take you back to the children. I'll make arrangements."


Oh-ho, what now, skeptics? Lol. Our Jeffrey hath surrendered to the fact that he's not a big bad CIA agent like Syd and Michael...what will they do about it? Hehe...ya'll are so gonna hate me when I reveal the real plot line of this fic...