Chapter 5
It was a week before I'd see him again. The days seemed to drag by until McKenas called me up to meet with him. I went to his office and he told me I was to leave for Los Angeles at once. I did as I always did, going to my apartment and packing a bag, but on the way back I called Julian to tell him of the sudden change of plans.
"Julia love, I didn't expect to hear from you so soon." He said.
"Change of plans. I'm leaving for Los Angeles in about 20 minutes."
"Why the change?"
"McKenas called me to meet with him and told me I was to leave immediately."
"Very well. Meet me at the 15th Street Bridge at 2100 hours."
"I'll see you then. Bye." I shut my phone and drove to The Covenant's private airstrip, wondering why McKenas would send me to Los Angeles on such short notice.
I boarded the plane and spent the 18-hour flight thinking of what I should expect when I landed. I hadn't been to the States in quite awhile, so I wondered how much the city of angels had changed while I was away.
I landed safely on a private airstrip and was promptly chauffeured to a fancy hotel a few blocks away from the 15th Bridge that I had to meet Julian at in less than an hour. The driver handed me a new passport as he helped me out of the car. The bellboy took my bags and led me up to my room.
"The bed's been turned down and if you need anything, just dial 9 on the phone to reach the front desk." He said.
"Thank you." I replied graciously.
"Have a pleasant stay Miss Bristow." I almost fainted when I realized what the bellboy had just called me.
I finally knew what was happening. McKenas wanted me to be Sydney Bristow and be a mole within the CIA.
I waited about 20 minutes before leaving my room. I rode the elevator down to the first floor, looking through my passport. Surely enough, I was going to become Sydney Anne Bristow – top brunette CIA agent. My mind silently cursed McKenas for throwing me into this mess without a clue as I quickly walked across the lobby and out the front doors of the hotel.
It took me about 10 minutes to walk to the bridge, which I was thankful for. I waited a few moments before I saw a black Audi pull off to the side of the road. I watched carefully as the driver turned off the engine and got out of the car. I walked across the road and I was met with a pair of the most beautiful blue eyes I'd ever seen.
"Were you followed?" Julian asked immediately.
"No. I walked from the hotel a few blocks away." I replied. He put his arms out and enveloped me in a warm embrace.
"I don't think I can do this one." I said.
"Why not?"
"McKenas wants me to be Sydney Bristow."
"Are you certain?" he asked, looking into my eyes in the hope I wasn't being serious.
"My driver gave me this passport when I arrived at the hotel." I replied, handing him the passport. He took one look at it and let out a heavy sigh.
"I can't believe he asked you to this."
"I think he wants me to go back to the CIA tomorrow. There's no way I can get prepared in that short of a timeframe."
"With my help, you'll be able to make it through the first day."
"Well first of all, I need to be a brunette."
"I'll take care of that." He said, pulling out his cellphone. He made a few calls before shutting his phone contentedly.
"Shall we?"
"What are we doing?"
"We're going to get you ready for tomorrow. I called in a few favors."
"Thank you." I said, kissing him sweetly.
We both got in the car and we were off. I stared out the passenger window as buildings and houses went by. We stopped at an intersection and I looked over at a cluster of apartments. I saw a man getting out of his car before he looked my direction and I saw his face. Instantly, my mind flashed to a scene of this man and I locked in each other's arms as we talked about something called SD-6.
"Julian, I think I just had a memory." I said.
"What was it of?" Julian asked.
"It was a man and I talking about something called SD-6."
"What did the man look like?"
"He was tall with light sandy brown hair and green eyes." Julian nearly choked.
"What?" I asked.
"You remembered your ex-love."
'What do you mean? Simon doesn't look like that!"
"The man you just described is Michael Vaughn, Sydney's ex-love. They were together for nearly 2 years before she disappeared."
"Well what in the hell is SD-6?"
"I promise I'll explain every single detail later on. Right now, we have to worry about making you look like Sydney."
"You'd better." I said.
He kept driving and I continued to think. More and more buildings passed by until we stopped. We were in front of a small building among a cluster of warehouses. I got out of the car and followed Julian up to the main door of the building. I felt more and more wary with every step, but I shoved my fear down. Julian pulled the heavy door open for me and I walked in, seeing a light shining from the rear.
"Julian, is that you?" an older brunette woman asked.
"Yes, Irina, it's me." Julian replied, "I've brought Julia along because she needs your help."
My mind tagged on the name Irina. Irina…Irina…Where have I heard that name before? I stepped forward and Irina looked me over before I saw tears collect in her eyes.
"Does she…?" she began.
"I'm afraid not. She had a memory when she saw Michael Vaughn, but she hasn't remembered much else." Julian replied.
With that, the tears pooling in Irina's eyes gently fell down her face. I felt bad that this woman was crying because I didn't remember her, but I had to shove that feeling as far down as it could go.
She looked at me for a few more moments before she enveloped me in a warm hug. I closed my eyes and breathed in her scent briefly. It smelled like home, like a life I once knew. At that moment, another vivid memory hit me: I was a young girl, wrapped up in a loving embrace. I looked up into Irina's eyes and saw her smile. "My darling Sydney," she said. "You're going to grow up to be a beautiful and strong woman one day. I just know it." I smiled at her and said "I'm gonna be just like you, mommy!"
I came back to Earth when Julian put a hand on my shoulder to steady me. Apparently, Irina had taken a step back during my moment of remembrance. She was looking at me oddly for a moment before I launched myself back into her arms.
"Mom…" I said. She sighed joyously and held me close as she started to cry. Julian looked on with his usual blank face, clearing his throat after a few moments to remind us of what we were there for.
"I'd hate to interrupt, but we have a bit of business to attend to." He said.
"Right." Irina replied, wiping her eyes, "Let's get you looking like my beautiful daughter again."
After about 2 hours of beautification, I was finally finished. Julian finally got to see me when I was done and all he could do was stare with his mouth hung open. I sensed that his look must've meant that I was the spitting image of Sydney Bristow.
"My god, Julia." He finally said. I looked to Irina.
"Do I look that much like her?" I asked. She nodded.
"Then looks like all I need is a tutoring session. I need to know her habits, normal reactions, friends, past history, and so on." Julian pulled out a file folder and handed it to me.
"First things first: you need to know about the people you'll be working with. Sydney is a field agent for the CIA, so she has a lot of close friends from her work. The first person you'll need to know about is Jack Bristow, Sydney's father."
I looked at the picture of the older man with graying hair and felt another small memory come up. I was sitting next to Jack on a piano bench as a young girl, playing a song for him. He smiled and started to join me when Julian snapped me back once again.
"Julia, you have to focus." He said, "The next person is Michael Vaughn. Since you've already had a memory of him, you know that he and Sydney were together before she disappeared."
"He'll be easy to work on." I replied.
"Then there's one of Sydney's closest friends, Marcus Dixon. They were partners at SD-6 for 9 years before the SD cells were dismantled. He worked with her at the CIA shortly thereafter. He's now on his way to becoming director of the Los Angeles CIA office."
"You still haven't explained SD-6."
"In short, they were a terrorist group under the direction of Arvin Sloane, who lied to all the lower level agents by telling them that they were working for a black-ops group of the CIA. With Sydney and Dixon's help, the group was dismantled 2 years ago."
"So where's this Sloane guy now?"
"Fully pardoned by the United States Justice Department and running a world relief organization called Omnifam in Zurich."
"Now isn't that a kick in the head?"
"Something of the sort, I'm sure." Julian replied. The study session went on for a few more hours until we were all sure that I could handle my first day at the CIA.