I LIVE!

Oh, boy. This chapter is far overdue. College work has taken up my life 24-7, and I've finally been able to squeeze in some time, now that the semester is over. I know this chapter may be short, but I hope it tides my loyal readers over until I get into full writing mode. Again, feel free to e-mail me with any ideas. Who knows, I may actually use them.

Thanks to all who are reading now that have put up with my hiatus.

Chapter 10- The Departure

This really wasn't what Syndey needed right now. She had far more important things on her mind that to be Sloane's little errand girl. She now knew where she had to go to get some answers to help Vaughn, and every minute she wasted on SD-6 put Vaughn, and possibly the people around him, in more danger.

Let's just say she showed no mercy on the speed limit.

As she weaved through traffic, she went through what she had to do in her head.

First she needed to go to Sloane and give him some plausible excuse for why she wasn't available at the moment. Then she needed to go see her father, for she would need his help. The trouble would be explaining and convincing him of the situation without him thinking she was crazy.

Then, back to France, where Vaughn and the Rambaldi artifact were.

She arrived at her destination; the Credit Dauphine building. A sly yet successful front for the SD-6 offices, not to mention a big pain in the neck when she had to explain to Francie why she spent so much time at the bank.

She went down the stairs this time (the elevator was too slow), and walked briskly into the small security clearance room.

She stopped in the middle of the room and let the state of the art security system do its job. She waited as the red flash confirmed who she was, physically anyway. With all SD-6's technology, they couldn't see into her thoughts, her feelings. They couldn't see that her loyalties lied somewhere else, with the real CIA.

After the momentary blindness passed, she strode into the offices of one of the United State's greatest enemies, as well as her own. Ironically, it was fueled by its agent's own patriotism.

She walked confidently through the desks of the many office workers, giving a nod and a smile as she walked past her good friend and partner, Marcus Dixon. The smile only masked the sorrow she felt every time she looked at him. He was a good and loyal friend, and she hated keeping him in the dark, along with almost everyone else she cared about.

As she rounded the corner to Sloane's office, she ran headlong into Marshall, causing him to drop the armload of computer parts he was carrying.

"Marshall, I'm so sorry," Sydney said apologetically. She bent down and started to help Marshall gather the fallen equipment.

"Please, Sydney, don't worry about it," he replied as he started to quickly gather the scattered equipment. "I wasn't looking where I was going, but I'm kind of preoccupied because I have this great new idea for this tranquilizer dart. The dart part would be made out of ice, you know, like the kind you put in your drink, except, you probably wouldn't want to put this in your drink, because you'd pass out, and that'd be bad, anyway, it would just melt away, leaving no trace of it, of course I need to solve the problem about-

"Uh, Marshall," Sydney interrupted, trying to hint that she was in a hurry.

"Oh, right, sorry, I was rambling again, wasn't I? I'll just be going then." He hefted the boxes in his arms and continued his speed walk through the hallway. Sydney allowed herself a real smile. Marshall always had a way of making her laugh.

The next minute, Sydney walked into Sloane's office. She could almost feel the air change as she entered through the doorway. It became thicker, and she had trouble breathing. It was nothing physical about the room, but something else; emotions and memories. One memory that always kept invading her mind when she entered this room was of her grabbing Sloane by collar, with hatred flowing through her as she accused him of Danny's murder. Sloane's words still vibrated in her mind. "I didn't kill him Agent Bristow, you did."

Sloane's mood now was clearly opposite of that day. She pretended to return his warm smile, masking the cold feelings behind it.

He was standing gathering papers and folders and appeared to be in a good mood. He gave her a small smile. "Sydney, it's good to see you."

"You called me in she replied," trying not to sound too blunt.

"Nevertheless..." He straightened up a little bit, indicating he was about to talk business.

"Please come to the briefing room, Sydney. Dixon and Marshall will meet us there."

"Actually," she replied," I have to inform you that school is swamping me, and I'm afraid I'll be unable to-"

"Please, Sydney, I think you'll find this mission personally interesting."

Now what did he mean by that? she though. She also wondered why he was in such a good mood. He picked a hell of a day to be in one. She had to leave as soon as possible. The though of Vaughn going through whatever he was going through alone, and on another continent no less, was deeply worrying her. She tried to comfort herself by remembering that Weiss was there with him, but somehow that only worried her more. She was loosing time every second she spent here. She would have to make this quick. She was already formulating an excuse to tell Sloane, but she had no choice but to here him out first. Sydney followed Sloane to the briefing room, and took her usual place next to Dixon, and Sloane began his presentation.

"Your latest assignment will involve the infiltration of the sub-level of warehouse in central France." Sloane flashed an aerial picture of the targeted area up on the viewing screen. "This mission will be very delicate considering the fact that the basement facility is well guarded by both human and computer security.

"What's so important about this facility?" Dixon asked.

"What's so important is that the basement houses a number of valuable items in the possession of Irina Derevko's organization. Possessions that would be better off in our hands."

The words sunk in for about a second, then Sydney couldn't stop her jaw from dropping open. Sloane found out about the same facility she did. This coincidence was more than scary.

Sloane noticed her expression of shock, but seemed to mistake it for a reaction to a different piece of information.

"Yes, Sydney. This is why I asked you on this mission. I thought you would want to take part in anything involving things with connections to your mother. Perhaps you will find something that would lead you to her."

Sloane, of coarse, didn't know that she saw her mother often, since she was in CIA custody, but she knew that she had to act like she was interested.

"That was thoughtful, thank you." The words seemed to burn her throat as she spoke them. Sloane continued.

"You'll infiltrate the perimeter from the west side, since that will be the easiest way to enter the basement of the facility without being detected. Marshall will aid you in bypassing the security system." He nodded towards Marshall.

Marshall stood up and gave his usual smile. "Good morning everyone, although, I guess it's not morning anymore, is it?" he glanced at his watch. "No, it's afternoon, but barely, I mean, it would have been morning about a half-"

"Marshall." Sloane interrupted calmly.

"Oh right, sorry. Anyway, Sloane said you'd need my help to bypass the security system, and he's right. A conventional decoder won't get you inside, the system protects itself from that, so you'll need someone, that would be me, to decode the system rather quickly, so all you'll need to do it attach this," he pulled out a small black device, "and attach it to the system next to the door."

"How do we know all this about the system?" Sydney asked.

"Mr. Sark provided the intelligence," Sloane answered.

"And you believe we can trust this intel?" Dixon added.

"I trust that everything he's given us so far has been accurate, so I see now reason to doubt this," Sloane replied.

Dixon didn't look happy but he didn't argue.

Of course, Sydney thought. Sark. He used to be one of Irina Derevko's top men, so why wouldn't he now about the facility, and what it contained.

Sloane was obviously after the Rambaldi artifact, which added all new complications to Sydney's job.

"Once you get inside, you'll be telling me what's inside and I will tell you if there's anything that needs to be withdrawn."

"Your plane leaves in one hour," Sloane finished, "and good luck."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, in France, Weiss sat reading in Vaughn's hospital room, while Vaughn's nightmares continued.

I hope to get the next chapter up soon. The ideas are slowing done, but fortunately are not gone. I promise to do my best.