Setting: A week after "The Frame" 3.17. The story doesn't exactly follow the missions of the episodes following 3.17, but I might incorporate some depending on how well this fic does. Though story line still the same! (Vaughn still with Lauren and has no idea that she is Covenant)
Ship: S/V baby!
Rated: I'm not too good with rating but I would say high PG-13 for some colorful language and some descriptive scenes.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Alias, that all goes to the brilliant mastermind JJ Abrams, though if I did Vaughn would be shirtless in a lot more episodes!
Music fic based on: "Die another day" Madonna, "Headstrong" Trapt, "I'm just a girl" No Doubt, "Overdrive" Katy Rose, "Extraordinary" Liz Phair
Authors note: Okay its official I am the worst updater in history but in my defense I had major writer's block. Thank you so much for my reviews I cherish them dearly and for all you readers who just didn't review don't worry here's your third chance!
Here's another chapter coming on up. Enjoy!
In a hospital room in Anadyr, Russia…
Beep…beep…beep…beep, Eric flays his arm out to the side looking for his alarm clock to throw against the wall so that he can just have five more minutes of sleep before he has to get up and face the world. But when he doesn't find his alarm clock he pops an eye open only to find a stark white room and a heart monitor that was making the noise, not his alarm clock. As Eric moved to sit up in his bed he felt this searing pain shoot through his lower abdomen and he shouted out in pain. A nurse having heard him rushed in to aid him and laid him back down and then moved the bed to a semi upright position. Eric smiled his appreciation but before he could get this kind and very hot nurse's name she was called on the inner com to report to the cardiac wing. But before she slipped out the door she gave Eric a coy smile and blew him a kiss, leaving him star strung for at least two minutes.
After his mind returned from la-la land he grabbed his CIA issued cell phone from the bed side table and dialed Dixon's work number. "Dixon," answered Dixon in a curt voice. "Director Dixon this is Agent Weiss. Listen I just woke up and I'm in a hospital in…" Weiss checked his wrist band that the nurse or doctor had put on him "Anadyr, Russia. I have no idea what happened to Mike or Sydney," replied Weiss. "Are you able to get on an airplane to LA?" asked Dixon in a semi-concerned voice. "Uh, not unless they roll me in a wheelchair, sir," replied Weiss. "Alright here's what we'll do, I'll send two agents from a near by office and they will escort you back to Los Angles, once there you can receive proper medical care and inform us as to what went wrong on this mission. Now before I go is there anything else that you can tell me that would be of help in finding Agents Bristow and Vaughn faster?" asked Dixon. "No sir," replied Weiss. "All right then, I'll speak with you again once you've landed in Los Angeles. Until then rest up Agent Weiss," replied Dixon as he hung up the phone and called for Jack to meet him in his office. 'Oh boy, yet another migraine to add on to the massive one that I already have. I'm not looking forward to telling Jack that we lost his daughter, again' thought Dixon.
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Meanwhile in the CIA Los Angeles division…
Jack walks into Dixon's office and Dixon offers him a seat before he tells Jack about the latest news on Sydney. "Let me start of by saying that I care for Sydney and I would never let anything happen to her," said Dixon in a relatively calm voice. "I am aware of your care for my daughter. However I fail to see why that is of any concern to me. This leads me to wonder if something went wrong on Sydney's mission which would lead you to voice your care for my daughter to me. So let me cut to the real reason why you called me to your office Marcus. What happened on the mission?" asked Jack. "Alright Jack in that case, Sydney and Vaughn never called in at their designated check in time so currently they are MIA, mostly likely in the custody of McKean," responded Dixon. "What about Agent Weiss has he not called in either?" asked Jack. "No, agent Weiss did call in, however he was involved in a shoot out with McKean and was injured and sent to a hospital, so due to his injuries he was in no further condition to help find Sydney and Vaughn and now he is currently on his was back to Los Angeles," replied Dixon.
"So what's being done to find my daughter?" asked Jack. "We have Marshall trying to find any possible locations for McKean to hid Sydney and Vaughn, but so far he hasn't come up with anything," responded Dixon. Dixon then got a call from Marshall saying that he found something. Dixon walked out of the room with Jack in step heading to Marshall's office.
When they arrived they found Marshall snacking on a big jar of gummy bears. "Marshall what do you have for us," asked Dixon in a loud but kind voice, which startled Marshall and made him jump almost spilling his jar of gummy bears. "Oh right, hello Mr. Bristow and Director Dixon. Uh… gummy bear?" stuttered Marshall. They both shook their heads responding "no". "Marshall, what did you find," ask Jack. "Oh, right well I used a satellite to takes pictures of the area surrounding McKean's club, I then ran those pictures through my latest inferred software to detect any hidden buildings and in put the longitude and latitude of McKean's club and came up with one match a warehouse about an hour and a half away from his club in a place called Ola,"said Marshall. "Good work Marshall," said Dixon. "Why thank you sir," said Marshall. "Alright Jack you assemble a team together and I will go and make the necessary phone calls to make this infiltration happen, send for me when you have a team constructed," said Dixon as he walked out of the room with Jack in step once again. Jack nodded and headed off to go round up a team, while Dixon went to his office and sat down to make yet another dreaded phone call.
"Lauren Reed speaking," responded Lauren as she finished packing her bag. "Ms. Reed, this is Director Dixon. I have some unfortunate news concerning your husband," replied Dixon. "What is it? What's happened to Michael?" asked Lauren in a concerned voice. "You are aware of his latest mission are you not?" asked Dixon. "Yes of course, now where did he go again?" asked Lauren in a naïve voice. "He went to Magadan, however he came across some complications while on his mission and he is currently MIA but we currently have a team in place to get him out of there and back home safe," responded Dixon. "Oh no, is there anything I can do? I mean I have an NSC conference but I can cancel if you need me," replied Lauren in a concerned voice. "No there's nothing you can do. It would be best if you went to your conference, and I will call you the minute that I get word of Michael's return to safety," said Dixon. "Thank you Director Dixon for your compassion, and I'll wait to hear from you. Good day sir," responded Lauren as she hung up the phone and walked out to her car with her luggage in hand. She picked up another phone from her other pocket and dialed a number once she was in her car. "Sark" "Julian, its Lauren I have the information on McKean's whereabouts, meet me at the air strip in twenty minutes," said Lauren as she hung up the phone and turned up the car's radio as she zipped on to the highway.
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Meanwhile in a torture chamber in McKean's warehouse…
Sydney was in a scarcely lit room with two men (a torture specialist and McKean) and a whole lot of torture devices. Currently Sydney's hands were tied behind her back and her already bruised head was being held under ice water for long periods of time, a method that the specialist seemed to really enjoy. "Now let's try this again my dear who do you work for?" asked McKean whose face was in Sydney's and he was grabbing her chin very hard to have her look at him. "Myself," replied Sydney as she let out a throaty laugh.
McKean, frustrated with the getting nowhere with her, decided to have her chained hands linked to a hook in the middle of the room when he took out a whip and began to beat her with it a few times before he asked her yet again, "Who do you work for?" shouted McKean. Sydney glanced over at McKean's specialist's smirk and she could only imagine the sick thoughts running through his mind as he so openly gawked at her scantly clad body in a now bloody ripped teddy.
"Alright, I'll tell you, get a pen," whispered Sydney. "I knew you would come around my dear. Given the right "persuasion"," replied McKean as he grabbed a pen and pad of paper. "E-M-E-T-I-B, now reverse that," said a breathless Sydney. "Bite me" read the paper; Sydney started laughing in a disturbed way. "ARRRGGHH!" shouted McKean as he grabbed his whip and beat Sydney until she fell silent and passed out.
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Meanwhile outside McKean's warehouse in Ola, Russia…
Lauren and Sark had scheduled a meeting with McKean, so they walked down a long corridor before coming to McKean's office they stepped inside to find McKean sitting down behind his desk with a brandy in his hand. "Ah, Mister Sark how good to see you again, please sit," said McKean as he rose to shake hands with Sark. "Can I offer you a drink?" asked McKean. "No, Mr. McKean we have a schedule to keep, so if you would," said Sark. "Ah, yes of course, now what is it I can to for you two?" responded McKean. "We would like to know the location of where the Covenant's nuclear weapons are being held," replied Lauren in a blunt voice. "Ah, but you do know that the weapons aren't finished yet," said McKean. "Yes, we are aware of that, however our superior wishes to have us inspect the work done so far, to ensure that our merchandise is up to standards and that it has not been "infected" in any way, so the location if you please," said Sark. "Very well then, the weapons are being produced and manufactured by my supplier Mr. Yasmier in a warehouse in the city of Alexandria, Egypt," replied McKean as he sat back down in his chair. "Thank you for your services Mr. McKean," replied Sark as he helped Lauren up and headed for the door. "No so fast Mr. Sark, what about my payment?" asked McKean. "Oh right," said Sark as he pulled out a gun from his jacket and shot McKean in the heart. Lauren and Sark then slipped out of the office leaving a dead McKean behind.
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Meanwhile outside of McKean's warehouse…
Jack had gathered up a team to infiltrate McKean's facilities and had flown over to Ola, Russia. The team then proceeded to surround McKean's warehouse and taking down the few guards on night shift before heading into the building to find Sydney, Vaughn, and McKean. But just as the team began to raid the warehouse Lauren and Sark slipped into a dark empty office to hide out, away from the CIA until they had a chance to slip out. Jack and a few members of the team ran off to go and find Sydney and Vaughn, while the other part of the team went to try and find McKean and any information on the nuclear weapons.
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A little bit later in a dark holding cell…
A guard comes in and throws Sydney's limp body next to Vaughn's already wilted body, and then leaves the two prisoners to be consoled by the silence of the cell.
A while later Vaughn woke up to a glass shattering shriek and sat up as quickly as his cut and bruised body would allow him to, he looked around to find out where that shriek was coming from and his eyes fell on a thrashing Sydney. Vaughn grabbed a hold of her shoulders and had to fight to keep her from further hurting herself and him. "No, no let me go, please, NO! Help me! Somebody please help ME!" screamed a violently flailing Sydney. "Syd, wake up you are having a nightmare. Syd, it's alright, I'm here to help. Sydney wake up its Vaughn!" responded an anxious Vaughn. After about five minutes Vaughn managed to calm Sydney down and had successfully woken her up from her tormenting dream. Sydney stares up at Vaughn and realizing that she is in his embrace pushes herself away from him.
Sydney begins to rub her cold body to try to warm it up, and Vaughn hands her his slightly tattered jacket to put around her ripped teddy. "Thanks," replied Sydney with a small smile. "Your welcome, so do you want to talk about what just happened here," asked Vaughn. "No," responded Sydney, and her smile immediately disappeared. "Alright well then I won't ask you and I'll do things my way, how long have you been having nightmares?" asked Vaughn. "That's none of your concern," responded Sydney in a dry voice.
"Since I care about you, I would say that it is my concern, now answer my question," responded Vaughn with a little more edge in his voice. "Oh please Vaughn, that's the biggest load of crap that I have ever heard, because if you truly cared about me as you claim to then you wouldn't have to ask me about my nightmares, because you would have taken the time to realize that ever since I have come back I have been a nervous wreck and afraid to fall asleep for fear of what I might uncover in my subconscious, so don't you dare sit here and tell me that you care for me!" shouted Sydney. "Ok that is so unfair, how the hell am I supposed to know all of that if you never even say two words to me without picking an argument," shouted Vaughn. "Unfair! I'll tell you what is unfair..." shouted Sydney but she was cut off by the sound of gun shots outside of their cell door.
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Outside of Sydney and Vaughn's holding cell…
Jack and the members of the team began a shoot-out with the few guards guarding the cell door. Though within minutes the guards were taken down and Jack was inside the cell hugging his daughter. "Sydney, are you ok to walk on your own?" asked Jack. "Yeah dad, I'm fine thanks," said Sydney as she slowly walked out of the cell with her dad and Vaughn trailing her. Jack handed Vaughn and Sydney both a hand gun for protection when they stepped out of the cell, but just as Sydney was about to follow the others out of the warehouse she spots two masked people dashing out of a room. And before she can comprehend what is happening, her body kicks into spy mode and her veins fill with adrenaline as she runs down the hallway after the two escapees. Though as she comes around a corner she is met with a barricaded door and by the time she opens it and runs outside the two people have hopped on to a waiting helicopter that is now air borne. 'Damn, so close, 'thought Sydney as she headed back inside the warehouse. Jack received news that McKean was found dead, shot to death in his office by the other half of the team, and the rest of the warehouse was cleared out so they headed back to Los Angeles.
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Back in the CIA in Los Angeles…
Vaughn, Sydney, Jack, and the rest of the team arrived back in LAX and they were immediately sent to the CIA building to be checked out and debriefed. After medical services had bandaged up both Sydney and Vaughn's injuries and given them both clean bills of health they continued to the restrooms to get dressed in some clothes that weren't ripped to shreds. After Sydney and Vaughn were clean clothed they headed off to the conference room to give the people involved with their mission their debrief report about the events that had occurred.
"So once I gained access into the lab and downloaded the specs on the nuclear weapon, I took the card off the screen but when I did it appeared as though I had tripped some sort of silent alarm and the room began to fill with a gas of some sort, so I contacted my team mates for assistance and then I blacked out for a bit" said Vaughn to Jack, Marshall, Dixon, and Sydney. "I having finished with my part of the mission then proceeded down to the lab and found Agent Vaughn unconscious and I woke him up and proceeded out of the lab to where we were both shot with tranq darts only to awaken in McKean's torture room and then was moved to the cell where the team found us," said Sydney. "And did McKean manage to recover the downloads?" asked Dixon. "No Agent Vaughn had given me the downloads before we left the lab and I concealed them from McKean," said Sydney as she handed Dixon the small little card which contained the downloaded specs on the nuclear weapon.
"Well despite some dilemmas you two did a good job, so go home and rest up we will call you if we make any head way as to the whereabouts of the nuclear weapon, so keep your phones on," said Dixon as Sydney and Vaughn gathered up their things and began towards the door. "Oh, before you two leave, I thought that you would like to know that Agent Weiss is fine and he is being held at the Navy Base hospital," said Dixon. "Thanks," Sydney and Vaughn responded in unison.
Once outside the conference room, Sydney puts on her jacket and gets ready to leave, but before she goes she turns to Vaughn and says "Good night." And Vaughn in turn says "Night," and then he turns to leave the opposite way.
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Downtown Los Angeles…
Sydney decides to go to the grocery store on her way home in order to pick up some ice cream to quench her craving for coffee ice cream. After picking up the ice cream she decides to head over to the hospital to visit with Weiss before visiting hours are over.
Vaughn arrived home shortly after leaving the office, only to discover that he was home alone, so he decided to head on over to visit Weiss in the hospital.
When Sydney arrived in the hospital she went up to Weiss's room and when she walked in she found Weiss sipping on a beer and laughing so hard at some sort of joke that Vaughn had just told him, both oblivious to her presence. So she coughed a little which quickly alerted the two agents that they weren't alone.
"Hey Syd, I was wondering when you were going to stop by and thank your wounded hero, damn you look like hell, what you do get in a fight?" asked Weiss in a light voice. "Aw Eric I'm so glad that I can always count on you to say just the nicest things to make a girl feel so special," said Sydney in a light sarcastic voice, as she smile and walked over to give Weiss a hug. "And since when are you my hero?" asked Sydney. "Ouch Sydney that really hurts, but if you must know since I bravely put myself in the line of fire to help save your two asses from being tortured, but apparently even my best attempts were futile in saving the two of you, and look how I get repaid, wounded and on my death bed," said Weiss in a fake dramatic voice.
"Oh please Eric, I had that same injury, but at least I wasn't too lazy to sit up when you guys came to visit," said Vaughn who until now had quietly been watching the banter between Weiss and Sydney. Sydney glanced over at Vaughn, but then turned her attention back on Weiss when he said, "Hey man that 'injury' if you could even call it that, was so not as painful as mine, you probably were just faking the whole time just to get some attention." "Oh yeah well I have a scar to prove that my wound was way more painful then yours, and I'll show it to you if you need proof," replied Vaughn with a little bit of cockiness in his voice. "Mike keep your shirt on. Man that guy will to anything to show off his six pack," said Weiss to Sydney with a smile. By this time Sydney had sat down in a chair comfortably next to Weiss and was laughing so hard at Weiss and Vaughn. "Uh, excuse me guys, but I think we all know who has the most battle wounds and that person is me," said Sydney with a smile. "Oh please Syd, you've never gotten a real injury in your whole life," said Weiss, whose voice was dripping in sarcasm. At that comment all three agents burst out laughing but they quickly silenced when a nurse came in to check Weiss vitals, after she was done she left the room but not before smiling at Weiss.
Sydney and Vaughn teased Weiss about the nurse's and his "eye contact", but then Weiss began into his story about the nurse from Anadyr, Russia who had also hit on him. Another hour soon passed and Sydney and Vaughn were eventually kicked out of Weiss's room and they both left to head home for the night.
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In Sydney's apartment at 10:00pm…
Sydney had just arrived to an empty apartment as usual, the only thing different in her apartment tonight was that it was a mess. She had left in such a hurry for her last mission that she didn't have the time to clean up before she left. 'Well no time like the present to clean up,' thought Sydney to herself as she shut her apartment door and walked into her bedroom to put on her cleaning clothes which consisted of sweat pants and an old dress shirt. About ten minutes later, she resurfaced from her bedroom with a handful of cds, and in true cleaning fashion she blasted her music and started to clean.
About twenty minutes into cleaning she spills some left over spaghetti sauce all over her sweat pants and decides to take them off, leaving her in just her boy shorts (underpants) and her dress shirt. Despite the fact that she spilled some really good spaghetti sauce all over her pants, she really didn't mind cleaning in only her boy shorts, because it wasn't as if she had anyone to impress.
Another twenty minutes passed and Sydney was still cleaning up her messy apartment. Unnoticed by Sydney however, someone is watching her through her window…and the door slowly opens and a male figure steps through the door and into her apartment. The figure walks through the apartment heading over towards Sydney, which she doesn't here or see because her back is turned to the door and her music is blasting. The figure reaches up and places a hand on her shoulder in to which she immediately goes into the defensive mode and flips an unsuspecting Vaughn over her shoulder before she pins him to the ground.
"Vaughn? What the hell are you doing here? And since when do you have the right to just barge into my apartment without even knocking?" asked Sydney in a raised tone of voice, as she stood up. "Sydney will you just give me a minute to explain myself," asked Vaughn in a raised voice equally matched to Sydney's as he stood up too. "Fine you have one minute," said Sydney as she crossed her arms in front of herself. "Ok. The reason I came over here was because you wouldn't respond to your cell phone ringing, and since Jack is in a meeting already and Weiss is currently in the hospital, I was asked to come and get you to let you know that they need us in now. And I came into your house because I did try ringing the door bell but you didn't hear me and I saw you through the window so I knew that you were home, and because the door was unlocked I came in," replied Vaughn. After Vaughn's little speech about five minutes of silence passed through the room and the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife so Vaughn asked, "What are you doing?" "I'm cleaning, what does it look like I'm doing Vaughn?' asked Sydney in a slightly annoyed voice. "I can see that you are cleaning, I just never thought that you would be like one of those people who cleans in your underwear," said Vaughn as he smirked a little. "What?" asked Sydney as she looked down and realized that in the heat of the moment she had forgotten that she had no pants on, and she began to turn a little pink, but that was quickly dismissed when Vaughn handed her a nearby blanket to wrap around her self. "Thanks," replied Sydney in a sheepish voice. "Well, I'm going to go get changed and then I'll be in soon, I'm assuming you can let yourself out?" asked Sydney as she headed for her bedroom door. "Um yeah, I'll see you in a little bit," said Vaughn as he walked out of her apartment and shut the door behind him.
'Oh man you idiot! How could you not realize that you weren't wearing pants! I blame Vaughn for this, because if he didn't come in here I wouldn't be so embarrassed right now. Oh well, at least I didn't spill anything on my shirt because that really would have been really embarrassing,' thought Sydney as she changed and headed out to her car after locking her front door.
Tbc….