Summary: A chance meeting with a green-eyed stranger. Repercussions? Of course. Set before and during Truth Be Told.

Disclaimer: I do not own Alias.

Her hand was cramped, but still she continued to write. Separate words merged into singular ones as she desperately tried to keep up with the thoughts in her head.

"Can I get you anything?" A male voice asked.

"A new pen. This one's done."

She didn't even look up when the pen was placed in her hand. Who gave it to her was not important. Her main priority was getting these words down on paper.

And so she continued to write.

"Oomph!" Sydney Bristow grunted as she smacked into somebody solid. The pile of books that she carried in her arms tumbled to the ground, in a jumbled mess, combined the with stranger's books.

"I am so sorry!" The other person gasped, crouching down to retrieve her own books.

"That's ok." Sydney said, doing the same thing. "I was too busy looking for some café that's around here that I wasn't exactly looking where I was going."

The other girl smiled. "Is this your first year too?"

Sydney looked up. "Yeah," she sighed, standing and gazing around the university campus. "And I'm beginning to think that I will never be able to find my way around. This place is huge."

"I know what you mean." The girl agreed. "Though, next year we're probably going to be able to navigate with our eyes closed."

"Yeah, probably, but for now I'm still walking on eggshells." Sydney held out her hand. "I'm Sydney, by the way."

The girl accepted Sydney's hand. "Francie."

"Nice to meet you Francie." Sydney hesitated. Should she, or shouldn't she? Why not? This Francie seemed like a nice person. "Look, I was just going to meet a friend of mine- Will- for lunch. Would you like to come?"

Francie's face broke into a grateful smile and Sydney knew that this girl felt as out of place as she did.

"I would love to."

"I'm going to get another drink." Sydney announced as she stood up from their table. "Do you guys want one?"

After Will and Francie (who was already feeling like an old friend) had accepted her offer, Sydney walked over to the counter of a small café.

As she waited for the drinks, a guy who looked slightly older than her approached the counter. He ordered a cappuccino and while waiting for it, gazed around his surroundings. By chance, his and Sydney's eyes met.

"Hi," he smiled.

"Hi." Sydney replied, somewhat uncomfortably. For some reason she felt drawn to this guy, mesmerized by his green eyes. She didn't like what she felt- after all she didn't know this guy from a bar of soap.

Thankfully, at that moment Sydney's drinks were placed in front of her and she was free to walk away.

"Who was that?" Will asked when Sydney placed their drinks on the table.

Sydney shrugged as she sat down. "Just some guy."

"He's cute." Francie commented. "You should have spoken to him more."

"Nah," Sydney replied. "He's just some random guy who I will never see again. What would be the point?"

"This had better be important."

"It's about the possible recruit you've had me checking out."

"What about them?"

"She was seen in the company of a CIA agent in a café on her university campus."

"What is a CIA agent doing at a university campus."

"His girlfriend attends there."

"Did you ID him?"

"No sir. We couldn't get an accurate visual on his appearance, but we did get his superior after he left."

"You said 'company'. What exactly do you mean by that?"

"By the looks of it, it was entirely coincidental. You shouldn't be worried."

"We can't take any chances. Prepare to approach her tomorrow."

It hurt, but she couldn't help it. The hole where her right molar had used to be was just crying out for her tongue to poke it. 'Just once more,' a voice in her head said. 'Just once more to see if it hurts.'

As she went through this process she stared at the photo in front of her. It was your basic, typical shot of a man and a woman, most probably married.

Married. That should be her. Fighting back tears, she continued to stare at the picture, puzzled by the fact that she was so enamoured with it.

The man. He was familiar. There was something about him that she couldn't quite place. She knew that she didn't know him, but still. The photo seemed to be drawing her in and for some reason she felt uncomfortable about that.

She was snapped from her thoughts when he walked in and discreetly turned the photo around. She looked up, struggling to keep her emotions off her face. As he started to speak, she shoved her thoughts about the photo aside.

She'd figure it out sooner or later.