Title: Life, undermined
Author: sweetsouthernbell. You know, the nutcase. :P
Rating: PG... for now. Most likely going to upped later.
Summary: Sydney Bristow is depressed. And with good reason. Her boyfriend left her because of her job, that same job is slowly killing her, her friends are practically ignoring her, and to top it all off, she and dad aren't speaking with each other anymore. Enter: Vaughn and a fake marriage.
A/N: Alright, so this is a Pre-season one fic. With a few exceptions. Syd never worked for the Alliance, she works for the real CIA. She knows her dad is a spy as well. Marshall and Carrie already have Mitch. Um... Syd is around 23 or 24. Vaughn's six years older, like in the show. Anything else should be cleared up by the chapter or if you ask me, I'll explain.
Warning: Shameless fluff alert. A girl's allowed to have one fic with shameless fluff. Okay, this girl already has like ten of those. This one, truly shameless. Truly fluffy.
Happy reading and don't forget to review!
The sun was shining. Birds were chirping from their nests full of ready to hatch eggs. The wind had taken a break for once. The temperature was just right. No jacket was necessary on this particular day. Neither were shorts for that matter. In essence, no one possibly could have been depressed on this lovely April afternoon.
But Sydney Bristow never could have been construed as no one.
Or normal.
Standing at a few inches below six feet, Sydney was a pretty girl. Not quite to the standards of beautiful but eye catching nonetheless. Her sun streaked chestnut hair lay about her shoulders in soft curls as she sat on a bench in the park near her college watching the other people with chocolate eyes.
One thing that Sydney had mastered was hiding her emotions. To any passing person, she seemed to be a student taking a well deserved study break in the park before hitting the books again. Even her friends (if she could call them friends any longer) had a hard time with seeing through the mask she maintained at all times. She'd picked up the habit soon after her mother had died and it proved to be useful for her than any textbook ever had.
Contrary to appearances, Sydney wasn't on that park bench because she wanted a break from studying. Actually, she couldn't remember the last time she had studied like she should have. Studying just seemed trivial in comparison to some things. Like the currant drama going on at her apartment.
Her best friend, Francie was getting married. Truthfully, Sydney didn't particularly like her friend's fiancé. Something just wasn't right there. While she could usually pinpoint what made a person so untrustworthy like they fiddled with a pen while talking or they just had that look in their eyes that made them untrustworthy but with Charlie, she was stumped. If it weren't for the chills and sinking feeling in her gut that she got around him, she would actually like the guy.
Her other roommate, Will was another story in itself. She knew without anyone ever having to tell her that Will had a crush on her and that little fact could have been ignored if it weren't for the looks her gave her. Stolen looks, at such things as dinners or parties, that he thought no one including her saw. She'd glance around and there he'd be looking at her. While he never gave her the chills like Charlie had, Sydney had never been able to be completely comfortable around him.
Not that many people in her life had ever held that honor as it was. Ever since becoming engaged, Francie and Charlie were attached at the hip, so that ruled her out. Will was a given. Dixon, her partner, nice as he was always seemed to have this pitying look in his eyes and Sydney hated pity more than anything. Eric Weiss, a friend at work, was always making an inappropriate joke or giving her the once over that made her turn the other way. Her father and she hadn't had an actual conversation since she was nine despite them working together.
That left the only two people in her life that she trusted and treasured above all others; Yelena and Katya. Her mother's sisters.
Sydney had just been accepted into the CIA training program when Katya first contacted her. She had been apprehensive but when Yelena contacted her as well, she felt like she had to meet them. The three women had hit it off immediately. She found an expected joy in her mother's sisters but their lunch was abruptly cut short by Yelena receiving a call from someone. She never said who and her niece never bothered to ask. All that had mattered to her was that she had finally found two people that she could trust.
For six months, Sydney met with her two aunts on a regular basis. At lunch or for dinners, anything. She'd often skip a class to be able to meet with her aunts. She became known for ignoring the CIA when they called her that she was about to be fired when the contact just ceased.
Suddenly and with no warning.
Her aunts had always contacted her to meet, never revealing any information on how to reach them. Sydney hadn't minded. Until they stopped contacting her that is. The blow had been just as, if not more, devastating than her mother's death.
Sydney had yet to recover from it, three years later.
But that wasn't why she was in the park today. She was there because her boyfriend of a year and a half (Danny was his name) had met her after her English Lit class to tell her in a polite yet blunt way that he had had enough of her and her obsession with her job (ever since she lost the contact with her aunts, she devoted herself to her work). In simple terms, he left her.
Bastard, she cursed mentally. Just as she was starting to trust him and let him into her life, he goes and does this. She should have known that this would happen. No one ever stuck around long enough for her to trust them. Maybe that was why she was so bitter.
The sound of her CIA phone going off broke her out of her bitter thoughts. With a sigh to herself, she pulled the phone out of her pocket. "Bristow."
"Syd, you have to come in today," Dixon told her immediately. Well, the pair never had exchanged pleasantries when it came to work related calls. Had he been calling to ask her to dinner with Diane and the kids, then they would have been friendlier.
Sydney frowned. "It's my day off," She replied.
"Try telling Kendall that," Her partner answered.
Her eyes fell closed as she cursed her boss silently in several languages. "I'll be right in," She answered hanging up the phone immediately after. She doubted he had anything else to tell her and if he did, then it could wait until she got to headquarters.
Twenty minutes and thirteen seconds later, she parked her car in the underground parking lot at headquarters. It took her another five minutes to make her way up to the briefing room. The entire way there, she was dwelling on what her boyfriend told her.
She was not obsessed with her job, she decided. But as she looked around, she came to the sickening conclusion that was, in fact, fixated with her job. All she did anymore was work. Groaning to herself as the realization hit home hard, she pressed her hand to her forehead and leaned against the nearest wall. God, no wonder he had left her.
"Sydney, there you are," Dixon said suddenly from somewhere to the right of her. "We were about to send someone to go get you." His face was serious enough but his tone told her that he was teasing.
Sydney's eyes shot open as she lowered her hand from her forehead. Forcing a smile, she answered, "Traffic was heavier than normal."
"I'm sure Kendall will be so pleased to hear that," Her partner joked.
Her smile slowly became a little more real. Even if he did pity her most of the time, she found that he was good for a laugh and a talk once in a while. "I don't care if he likes it or not. That's the truth." Lying to people's faces was one of her specialties.
Dixon laughed lightly and gestured towards the briefing room. "We're about to start," He informed her. For a split second, she saw a different emotion –hesitation maybe- flicker through his eyes. She blinked and it was gone.
With an understanding nod, she followed him down the hall, her slight frown reappearing the moment Dixon turned his back on her. Maybe she was just paranoid –something she couldn't put past herself any longer- but something didn't seen right here. It was that look in her partner's eyes that told her that this was not going to be a normal smash and grab mission.
"He wants to see you alone," Dixon told her as he dropped her off at the door.
Sydney forced another smile and nodded. "I'll see you later," She told him, opening the door and slipping inside. Instantly she spotted Marshall the tech guy at the CIA and…
"Good, Sydney you're here," came the impatient sounding voice of her boss. Kendall. God did she hate him at times. Now being one of them. "Sit." He said, gesturing towards one of the empty chairs around the round table.
"Before I lay out your mission, I'd like to introduce you to Michael Vaughn." Kendall continued after she had taken her seat.
Sydney raised her eyes from the table to see a handsome dirty blonde green eyed man sitting across from her. God, she hadn't even noticed him before now. So much for being good at observing everything in a room. The man –Michael Vaughn, Kendall called him- smiled at her and inclined his head in greeting. She found herself smiling and nodding in return.
But Kendall's next statement slammed her back to reality with painful force. "He'll be your husband for the next two weeks."
Sydney felt her mouth fall open a little as she tore her gaze away from Michael Vaughn to Kendall, her eyes flashing with unasked questions.
Kendall ignored her and turned to the man. "Vaughn, this is Sydney Bristow, she'll be your wife."
When Sydney glanced over at Vaughn as he was now called, his mouth had fallen open as well and he was staring at Kendall. So she wasn't the only one blindsided by this sudden revelation. For some reason, that gave her a sort of a satisfaction.
"You both are aware of who Julian Sark is, correct?" Kendall questioned, apparently still unaware of the confused looks crossing his agents' faces. Marshall however noticed them and shifted in his chair uncomfortably.
Sydney nodded. "He's one of our most valuable contacts," She answered.
"And very private," Vaughn added.
No one knew much about Julian Sark. You went on a mission and worked off gear that he provided or you knew how to blackmail someone because of something he told the CIA, but other than that, you didn't know he even existed. Sydney wasn't sure if anyone had actually ever met the guy.
"Maybe a little too private," Kendall told them. "Langley believes that he's double crossing us."
A frown crossed both of his agents' faces at this new information. Sark had always provided correct intel. To say that he might be double crossing the CIA made them wonder what sort of effect that had on the organization.
"Why do they think that?" Sydney asked.
"Recently, he provided the intel and weaponry for two recon missions. One in Russia. The other in the Middle East." Kendall told them.
"What happened?" Vaughn questioned.
"Both missions were a complete failure. Our agents were ambushed and slaughtered." Kendall answered, his expression grave. Sydney swallowed hard and out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Vaughn was having the same difficulty accepting the news of fellow agents' deaths. "Sark was the only one that knew where our agents would be."
"You think he's selling us out?" Vaughn asked.
Kendall nodded. "We do. He hasn't been known for his ability to stay loyal to one organization for too long but if he is double crossing us, then that is breaking his pardon agreement and then we have a new enemy of the state."
Both agents frowned once more. Sark was working for the CIA on a pardon agreement? Not many agents knew this information apparently. This had to be highly classified information, so why tell them about this now?
"It wasn't helping his case any when he married Lauren Reed two weeks ago," Kendall continued.
Lauren Reed was a name the pair knew about all too well. She hadn't ever worked at the L.A. department (rather in Boston) but her betrayal of her husband and her country to the Alliance had spread all over the CIA network. The last anyone heard was that she had fled to Switzerland. Until now.
"So the marriage blindsided us?" Sydney asked.
Kendall nodded. "Definitely. They're alarmed over at Langley."
"Because you think he's working through Reed to the Alliance," Vaughn deduced.
"Or it could be a partnership between them," Sydney put in.
Kendall nodded again. "That's where you too come in." He told them, grabbing two manila folders and handing them to the two agents. "Thanks to the tracking device planted in Sark made by our own Marshall Flinkman" –Marshall beamed at his work being praised- "we know that the couple is currently at St. Regis hotel in Aspen, Colorado."
Sydney skimmed the paper in front of her. It described an audacious ski resort in the mountains of Colorado, very expensive, very posh. In the notes at the bottom, it was described as the best place for newlyweds in the States.
"Langley asked me to send my best two agents for the mission, and that would be the two of you." Kendall explained. "You'll be going under cover as Mr. and Mrs. James and Melissa Adams. You'll be on your honeymoon."
"Why married?" Sydney asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
"Dating's too shaky and engaged attracts too much attention," Kendall detailed. "Newlyweds is the best option."
Sydney mulled that over. Unfortunately, he had a point. If they pretended to be dating, no normal couple would go to a resort like that one if they were just dating. Engaged would attract questions like "When's the wedding?" or "Where are you registered?" No, married was the best option. People would respect the privacy of a newly married couple and that would make the whole mission that much easier.
But she had just met the man!
How was she supposed to pretend to be married to a man that she had just met? She was good but not that good.
After swallowing hard and licking her lips, Sydney asked, "What exactly do you want us to do?"
"Learn Sark's and if you can, Reed's agenda." Kendall answered. "Do me a favor though, and don't try to be the hero."
Sydney lowered her eyes at that. What she didn't know was that Vaughn had done the same thing. Both agents were notoriously known for letting their pride get in the way at times. In simple terms, they tried to catch the bad guy when it was a danger to themselves and the CIA and most often then not, completely unnecessary.
"Your plane leaves in two hours," Kendall continued. "In your folders, you'll find the information you'll need."
Sure enough when Sydney turned to the next page in the folder, there was a detailed description of her alias: Melissa Adams. Rich, spoiled, not the brightest crayon in the box, whimsical, what else was new? What surprised her was when she turned the page again and found the entire history of the man that she was going to pretend to be married to.
If she didn't know any better, he sounded a lot like her. One parent dead, few friends, obsessed with work, lonely.
She supposed he had the same background on her in his own folder. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if he was thinking that they had more in common than met the eye too.
"Marshall will outline the equipment you'll use," Kendall said. "And I'll see you two in two weeks when you return."
Sydney gave him a half smile as Vaughn nodded. Kendall nodded at them both before getting up from his chair and leaving the room. However, when he reached the door, he turned around and added, "Good luck with being married."
Sydney had to fight the urge to roll her eyes. This was happening all too fast. First her boyfriend leaves her in the morning and then in the afternoon she had to pretend to be married to a complete stranger.
"Right… so, nothing too complicated this time." Marshall said, turning her wayward thoughts back to the present. "Not that I'm saying that you two can't handle anything complicated. Cause you can. I'm just saying that a child could do it. Have you seen my pictures of Mitch by the way? He's definitely a Flinkman, I'll tell you that. Can't keep his hands out of anything anymore…"
As much as Sydney loved to hear Marshall babble about Mitch, his son, today was not her day. "Marshall...?" She interrupted.
"Yeah?" Marshall asked, stopping mid sentence.
"Our equipment," She prompted gently.
"Right!" He nodded and dove straight into explaining the equipment. He had been right though, she decided, a child could have worked this stuff. Listening devices, code scramblers, lock pickers, video surveillance. Stuff that she had been using ever since she started working for the CIA.
When he'd finished, both Sydney and Vaughn thanked him and collected their things. "So…you two are going to be married," He mused.
"It looks that way," Sydney answered.
"Knowing you two, you're going to need all the luck you can get with that," Marshall commented, completely uncharacteristically. Before they could ask him what he meant by that, he was gone.
Slowly, Sydney turned her eyes to Vaughn and saw that his face mirrored the same confused expression that hers wore. "So you're my husband."
"So you're my wife," Vaughn replied. He didn't seem to be taking this any more calmly than she was.
Oh this was going to be the longest two weeks ever.
Yay? Nay? No more? More?
