Chapter Two
AN: I wrote this really fast… I don't think the rest of the updates will go this fast. I'll be on holiday in Amsterdam starting Thursday!
Cheers! (Please review)
Part One
"You will just have to wait. We can't risk exposing you right now, this is the safest plan of action." Kendall massaged his temple, first Vaughn now Sydney. Today was turning out to be hell.
"Kendall, I want to see my dad and Vaughn. I have waited almost a month; I have done everything you have asked, given you good information. And now I just want to talk to the people I love." Sydney sounded near tears, but this was how almost every conference call went. She would give him information and beg to be extracted.
"Look, Agent Bristow I understand your frustration, but by coming to Los Angeles you risk exposing yourself and those whom you love to the Covenant. Give me another month and I will find a way to let you see them." Sydney sighed and Kendall heard her sniffle.
"Alright, one month. But then I want to see them." He adjusted the phone and tapped out a beat on the table.
He hated lying to her like this, but it was necessary. "Ms. Bristow let me just warn you, 10 months can change people, people like Agent Vaughn."
He heard her scoff, "If Vaughn loves me the way I know he does, 10 months is nothing."
"Ok." Kendall breathed deeply and glanced across the table to a troubled looking Dixon.
"Syd, we miss you." Dixon spoke softly.
"Yeah, I miss you guys too. I just wish I could come home..." She stopped, and there was silence. "I have to go, Simon is back with his team! I'll make contact after Paris." She hung up.
Dixon put down the hand-held and ran a hand down his face. "We are lying to her."
Kendall looked up and coughed, "It isn't like I enjoy doing this, but she is our only window into the Covenant. Without her, we don't stand a chance. So for now, we need her to stay there."
Dixon nodded, "What are we going to do with Vaughn?"
"We send him to her and let him see Julia in action. He will believe us, before now I would have never thought she had it in her, but after seeing Julia. Well, lets just say, Julia Thorne is a monster. Vaughn will see it and come running back to the Senators daughter."
"So when Sydney comes to visit he will be with Lauren." Dixon hated all of this but Kendall was right Sydney was too much of an asset to lose.
Kendall looked to his computer screen, "I am sending Vaughn to Paris, Julia and Simon have a job there next week."
"But when he get back he might not want to let this go…" Both men sat in silence trying to find a comfortable solution.
"In the past month our lab has been developing a toxin that alters memory, it is formulated to remove periods of time from the test subjects memory." Kendall said all this without looking up.
"Is it accurate?"
"It looks that way. The reports I've read show that the time period in question fades and with this sort of memory loss the chances of recovering lost memories is highly unlikely. I think that if we were able to get Agent Vaughn to agree to this procedure, we could couple it with hypnosis." Kendall toyed with a pen and looked across the desk at Dixon, who was frowning, but listening intensely.
"Therefore we could not only remove the information from Vaughn, but also give him a sense of unhappiness of remaining with the CIA. Of course, any physician would diagnose all this as Post Traumatic Stress." Dixon still hadn't moved or said anything; in his heart he was fighting with Sydney's voice, perhaps his own conscious. Though he knew that this path of action would not only benefit the CIA, but the NSA and the whole of the intelligence community.
"Alright. But we give him the initial option of removing the memories, if he doesn't chose to do it, we will do it for him."
"Why take the risk?"
"Because if Julia is as bad as the reports say she is, Vaughn wont be able to handle it."
"Fine."
Dixon knew that someday he would tell Sydney; he just hoped she would find it in her heart to forgive him. He stood and acknowledged Kendall before exiting toward his office.
It was days like these that he hated himself, and as he had numerous times he wished he could tell Jack. But Kendall was right, telling Jack would just complicate things. It was dangerous with the Covenant gaining power so quickly; he didn't need to add Jack Bristow and Irina Derevko to the mix.
In his office he sat down pulling a file from the locked cabinet, 'Jack Bristow' was scrawled carefully on the file. Opening it he starred at photographs of Jack and Irina standing closely, examining what looked like a map. Though he didn't want to, he knew he would have to report Jack to that new NSA ass Lindsey.
Robert Lindsey thought he was god, that bastard had the whole of JTF under his thumb. Of course it didn't help that he golfed with the president once a week at Camp David, nor was it wonderful that he was right out of Washington. These two facts, combined with his love for the unemployment of his underlings had made Dixon's life a living hell for the past six weeks.
At first he had tried getting rid of Vaughn, who had been borderline rouge, but an annoying daughter of a Senator had changed his mind. Now his focus was solely on Jack, who appeared to have a serious disregard for protocol and rules. Dixon had tried warning him, but Jack was hell-bent on finding Sydney, who he was sure was alive and well. Though Dixon wasn't privy to Jacks sources he had no doubt they were accurate; he no longer had a choice. Jack needed to be stopped, suspended, relieved of his duty; it didn't matter, as long as he didn't find the truth about Julia/Sydney.
Dixon sat a little straighter and picked up the phone, placing a call to Lindsey. He was betraying both Bristows, and neither of them deserved it.
Part Two
Bob Lindsey reclined in his big armchair, taking a sip from his coffee. Dixon was turning out to be more of a team player than he had given him credit for, and if he continued being so helpful Lindsey would just have to tolerate him. Yes, he could tolerate Dixon, but Jack Bristow was out. Not only was he out, he was destroyed; there was no way the Security Council would over look such telling information.
Lindsey removed the pictures from the fax, and grinned wider. Jack Bristow was an unbearable pain in the ass, and now he would be taken into to custody for working with a known terrorist, and conspiring against the Untied States of America. No one would cut him slack, not after all the protocol breeches he had caused. It was amazing that man had managed to retain his position thus far, and the pictures where just the final nails in the coffin. Jack Bristow was history, and as for his search for the fabled Sydney Bristow, well, it didn't take a genius to see that it was just the desperation of a feeble old man, distraught over his only child's death.
Lindsey stood and placed the incriminating photos into an envelope along with an extensive debrief, written by his favorite agent, Lauren Reed. All he had to do was wait until Kendall was reassigned, then he could easily remove Jack Bristow.
Part Three
She lifted the gun calmly, pointing at the elderly bald man. He was innocent, but Julia didn't care. No, Julia Thorne killed for the fun of it, she relished the feel of the cool gun in her hand and that miraculous pull-of-the-trigger. Any spectator would see the glee in her dead eyes as the chamber emptied, sending its contents into the withered flesh of the innocent old man.
She rotated her shoulder and stretched a bit, then stood up from the couch she had been occupying. She was a dazzling sight, almost too beautiful and deadly to be real. Her once brunette locks were a soft blonde shade and reached past her shoulder blades, curling defiantly at the ends.
She was dressed in black and red, always black or red as though some other colors would shatter the deadly nature of her job. At the moment she wore a pair of low sitting black jeans, and blood-red hater and her favored black leather jacket. Those who lived to tell of her crimes against mankind often referred to her as the bringer of death, because that was all Julia Throne brought with her.
Julia was nothing like the woman who had once been the dominant being in her body. She didn't share her tastes in men, music, careers; they didn't even abide by the same moral code. The only aspect that hinted at the woman buried deep inside, were the calculating brown eyes, which appeared closed off to emotion.
The submerged woman rarely surfaced and most of the time it was Julia ruling in that glorious body, but lately she had found a way past the barriers of her mind and into the world. Of course no one, other than her CIA contacts, ever witnessed the brown eyes spark to life, everyone accepted that their striking assassin was devoid of emotions.
What they couldn't see, was the woman behind the shrewd coffee eyes, the woman who hated herself and the gun in her hands. No one had seen Sydney Bristow in over ten months; even she had forgotten the strong warrior she had been, only to be reminded in her nightmares.
If it hadn't been for the nightmares she would have been lost in Julia, but now Sydney was reemerging and working against the Covenant. Their brainwashing had worked, to an extent. Then as soon as she had stepped into the world, Sydney had found ways past Julia. Strangely enough, it had been the feeling of a gun in her hand that had awoken her.
Now, because of her cooperation, the CIA had a clear view into the workings of the Covenant, and she knew how valuable her information was.
Kendall had made sure she understood that remaining in the Covenants good graces was essential, but now all she wanted was to get home to her family. Only one more month and she would be free of Julia.
As the months had worn on Julia's voice had receded, but still remained dominant in her head. This was most likely a good thing, because it enabled her to keep up the pretenses of the brainwashing, even Simon had not noted the change in her.
As though he had sensed her thoughts he appeared behind her, tucking away his pistol, "Julia…" he approached behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "I got the disk; lets get going."
She nodded then turned, still encircled in his strong arms bringing her lips up to his. The kiss was everything but gentle, Julia was never gentle; she liked everything to be rough.
He bent down and lifted her, pressing her up against the wall; she brought her legs around his waist, smirking all the while. Sydney would have never allowed any of this to happen, but Julia welcomed his kisses with fervor.
"Mmmh," Simon let her down, and starred into her eyes, grinning. "As much as I would love to continue this, we have a helicopter waiting for us."
"You aren't any fun." Julia rolled her eyes and brushed past him on her way out of the room.
Simon shook his head, and looked around the room. He paused at the dead body, and quirked an eyebrow, "Umm... Jules? Might I ask why you killed the gardener? I mean he wasn't our target… Julia?" He caught her by the arm as she collected her semi-automatic from the table in the corner.
Swinging it onto her shoulder, she replaced her favored Berretta Cougar in the waistband of her pants before turning and smiling, "I know, but I was bored and he was there and I had a gun… should I go on or have you gotten the gist of the matter?"
"No, I got it! Thanks." Taking her hand in his they made their way up two flights of stairs and to the helicopter that was waiting for them on the top of the mansion.
"It's a nice house, too bad it's drenched in blood now… I would have liked to buy it…" Julia pondered out loud as they jogged up the stairs.
Simon smiled and gave a husky chuckle, "And whose fault is that?"
Julia gave a snort and tried to hide the smirk that adorned her face; sprinting to the master bedroom, which led to their extraction point.
They exited the balcony and raced for the edge, there Julia leapt and with her free hand grabbed the rail, hauling herself into the helicopter, which was suspended a few feet from the edge of the terrace railing.
Once inside, she stuck out her left hand and waited for Simon to throw her the bag with the disk inside, before he made the leap himself. Catching it with ease she felt the helicopter jerk as Simon pulled himself up.
Julia grinned and strapped herself in for the half hour flight, then watched as Simon made contact with a Covenant server on his laptop. The disk, which contained passwords for different banks in the Grand Caymans and Switzerland, was the perfect way to monitor all assets and make sure they weren't pulling a few extra million.
Simon pressed the send button, and then scanned the list, looking for familiar names. He chuckled a few times and pointed out people who were making money on the side; Julia wouldn't be surprised if the Covenant ordered the murder of these people.
She continued to scan the list and stopped at, 'Andrian Alexander Lazeray'; his accounts totaled to a little over 800 million dollars, but strangely they were all in a trust with a co-signer, 'Julian Sark Lazeray'.
Could it possibly be Mr. Sark? Sydney emerged for a moment to memorize the account number. If it were Sark, the CIA would want to know. Before she could look for more accounts under that name Simon shut the computer and put it away, leaning back in his seat.
The flight was too loud to talk and Julia just leaned against Simon's chest. She sat and thought on the mission they had just completed, and the man she had killed. It wasn't as she had explained to Simon. The gardener had witnessed her giving her CIA call-sign on her private cell phone. He had been innocent, but she couldn't take any chances, she couldn't leave him alive.
Sighing she let a little of Julia slip away, and a little of Sydney emerged. It was dangerous, these few moments of downtime but she needed to relax. Still she could hear Julia in the back of thoughts.
Sometimes it was easier to give into that voice than fight against it.
It was easier to forget Sydney and accept the urges of Julia. Simon was one of those urges; he was one of the more pleasurable urges. Sydney shook her head; she hated Simon.
He was the opposite of every man she had ever loved. He was cold and sardonic nothing like Danny and Vaughn.
Vaughn. That name made her feel broken inside. Kendall had made references to him, to his faith, but that wasn't possible. Vaughn would never give up, he would search forever, what they had shared was too soul shattering for him to just give up after ten months.
Closing her eyes she chose to have faith in Vaughn, if he loved her the way she knew he did, then he would have waited. Michael Vaughn was in LA waiting for her, and in one month she would show up on his doorstep and everything would revert to the way it was supposed to be.
All she had to do now was get through Paris, which threatened to be gruesome. The job revolved around an ex-Covenant agent, who had defected. She and Simon were going in posing as CIA, which was ironic in itself, looking for Intel.
The sad fact was that there was no counter mission from the real CIA, in fact Kendall had told her to see to it that the man didn't fall into the wrong hands.
The CIA had virtually signed his death certificate by declining to take interest in the knowledge he offered. Roger Howard would be dead at the end of the week, as soon as she and Simon had discovered the extent of his betrayal. Not only that, but they also had to find out which of his contacts had deflected too, and those people would be dealt with as well. This was just the kind of job Julia was good at, murder with a hint of intrigue.
The helicopter gave a lurch and Sydney lost herself in Julia again. She looked outside, studying the landscape of the hills of Spain, and the helicopter descended to touch down in the middle of a large villa. This was all hers, all the land, the house, the expensive cars in the garage; even the helicopter belonged to her. Of course it was all stolen, or bought with blood money, but Julia didn't care, she liked it that way.
La Villa de la Rosa was one of her favorite haunt, a small villa right outside of the small city of Castelló, Spain. The nearness of the Mediterranean and the vast expanse of the land gave Julia the sense of freedom, which she prized.
Next to her Simon stirred and grabbed the bag, preparing to jump out. When they were a few feet off the ground, Julia pulled open the door and soared out of the helicopter.
Turning she caught a glimpse of Simon as he jumped. He was a wonderful specimen of the male gender. Marvelously tall, dark, and handsome. His jet black hair was perfectly straight and stood up giving him a daring look, his dark eyes and soft lips made his face all too appealing.
Julia shook her head; Simon would find it hysterical if he knew just how much she appreciated his lithe body. Anyways it wouldn't do to inflate his head any further, he already possessed a god-complex like no other.
Once the helicopter had moved off they both moved to the house, which was a fifteen-minute ride on the dirt bikes that were hidden in tall brush. Julia breathed in the sweet air and rode. In a matter of hours they would be on a flight to Paris and then the killing would begin. Not only Roger, but also Rogers whole family… just for the fun of it; just because she was Julia Throne and she liked to pull the trigger.
Still, the Covenant saw beyond her mere assassination skills and in the past month they had begun bringing her into Rambaldi-verse. Then it hit her, why the name had seemed familiar. Andrian Lazeray was a Russian contact, but more importantly a famed Rambaldi follower. Contemplating the new connection she smiled, the CIA would love this new information, anything to keep them ahead of the Covenant.
AN: If you have any sort of thoughts please tell me! PLEASE! (Yes I know I'm begging) Thanks for reading!