Title: Caught in a Dream
Author: Mandi
Rating: PG-13 to be safe
Summary: Sydney is assigned to a mission that's to die for. Pre-Phase One. S/V Goodness.
Disclaimer: I don't own Alias. If I did, I would put Vaughn in leather pants all the time. Heh... yeah. So anyway, don't sue me. All you'll get is a large bill from your lawyer and a rather large collection of pressed pennies.
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Chapter 2: The Mission from Hell
I pulled into the parking garage and maneuvered through the tightly compacted rows of black cars, all of which are similar to mine. I searched and searched for an empty space and when I went through rows and rows and found not one empty space, I was saddened because I once again realized that almost every one of these cars belonged to an innocent person working against their own government and not even knowing. All at the hands of a cruel tyrant by the name of Arvin Sloane.
And then for what seemed like the millionth time, the thought of my revenge came back onto my mind. I knew that eventually the day would come when I would be successful in bringing him down. And while he's watching his whole world crash down before his very eyes and he'll look up and see me standing over him, his fate in my hands. And at that moment he'll know it was me and that I had been the one deceiving him the whole time and not the other way around.
And then I would be free; no longer a prisoner of the life I lead. I could get a normal job like normal people. I wouldn't come back from business trips with bruises and bullet wounds. I wouldn't have to lie to my friends about where I was going or where I had been.
But most importantly, I could have the one person I wanted the most --Vaughn. We could be seen together in public. We could talk without worrying about who was around to hear it. And I could tell him that I have been in love with him since the day we met and that I want to spend the rest of my life with him. And hopefully, he would tell me that he felt the same way.
Then, I came out of my hopeful daydream and realized that I was at the entrance to SD-6. I stepped through the door and into the white room where I received a retinal scanning. Then, I stepped through the final door and into my emotional torture chamber.
Although I was dreading stepping into the debriefing room, I was already five minutes late and Sloane had been on my case lately. I quickly walked past the hi-tech comuters and equipment to the glass doors of the debrief room. As I opened the door, I put on my worn-out smile to at least make it appear like I was happy to be there.
My father, Dixon, Marshall, and Sark were already seated around Sloane. No one was speaking yet, so they were obviously waiting for me. I quickly took my seat and got a hard, cold stare from Sloane.
"Miss Bristow, your late," said Sloane in an icey voice, "We have been waiting for you and frankly, I'm losing my patience. You are putting yourself before this agency and this country. Now I know that you would never do this intentionally, would you Miss Bristow?"
"I wouldn't dream of it," I replied in the same cold tone.
"Good, now let's continue," said Sloane, acting as if he had brushed off his anger, but he was still staring at me with his evil eyes, "Now, Mr. Sark, you will accompany Sydney to--"
"Wait! I'm going with Sark? What about Dixon?" I asked, alarmed because I might not be able to complete my countermission under the sharp and watchful eyes of Sark.
"Miss Bristow! You will not interrupt me again!" shouted Sloane, his face turning red with anger.
I quietly mumbled an apology looked down at my hands. What horrible sin have I committed to have to obey the orders of the Devil himself?
"As I was saying, Mr. Sark will accompany Sydney to retrieve a disk of information that historians found and sold to a group invovled in the black market. The men are staying in a luxury hotel in France and the disk is there with them. You will be posing as a husband and wife on a vacation. Mr. Dixon will be in Spain retrieving a copy of the disk from the historians' safe," said Sloane, tossing the information for the mission at us from across the table. "You leave tomorrow night. That is all. You may go."
I couldn't believe it. Not only was I going on an SD-6 without Dixon, but I was going with Sark. And as if that wasn't bad enough, we were going as husband and wife. Just the thought made me cringe.
My dad must have figured out what I was thinking by the disgusted look on my face because he came over to reassure me that everything was going to work out. I still don't see how, though.
I left the building, got in my car, and drove home. On the way, I reviewed the mission in my mind, trying to figure out how I was going to make a copy of the disk without Sark noticing. I didn't think anything good would come out of this, but then a smile spread over my face when I realized that a new mission meant I would have to go to the warehouse for a meeting with Vaughn.
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