Chapter Three
Sydney followed Vaughn when he got up and walked across the room to Marshall's crammed office. As soon as he opened the clear glass door, he was met with mounds of clutter, consisting of anything from an old bike wheel, to a cell phone.
"Marshall?" Vaughn called out, trying to find the cause of the mess.
"Hold on a second!" they heard a voice come from behind a pile. Marshall appeared seconds later, shifting objects around his desk, looking for something he seemed to have misplaced.
Vaughn and Sydney both stood waiting in his office, with their arms crossed. Vaughn's thoughts wandered off to how their mission could end up to be quite a fun one, in which he hoped to learn more about the real Sydney Bristow. She, on the other hand, was looking from one object that was carelessly thrown into piles of junk, to another, marveling at the fact that no civilian would guess that the "make-up compact" she had used on missions before, was really a password decoder.
"Ah hah!" Marshall cried out happily, pulling a black bag out from under a couple of other normal looking items. "I have a lot of things for you guys this summer," he smiled mischievously, patting the bag.
Sydney looked at him anxiously, waiting to see the new op. tech. She always loved seeing the new things Marshall could create. Everyone else seemed to take him for granted, just because he had a slight problem talking without going off topic at least seven times.
Marshall opened the bag and pulled out a regular Sonicare© toothbrush. He started with his usual introduction. "See, it looks like a regular electric toothbrush," he said, waving it around a little bit. "But it's really a recorder.
"I know what you're thinking, 'why would we need a recorder in a toothbrush?' but its just so the CIA has something to do. We thought it best that there'd be a recorder anywhere possible."
Vaughn nodded with a smile, urging him to continue. "This is a flashlight." Marshall said with a jittery smile. "And personally, its my favorite.
"This is just for a worst case scenario though," he warned. "If you turn it this way," he pointed the end with the light on it at them, " - it's a light - " then he turned it the other way, " - And this way, it's a gun. So if you get into any serious trouble, you can just turn it around and go 'bang bang'! and everything is okay; well, not really 'okay' because you just shot someone, but -"
Sydney let out a small grin, which didn't go unnoticed by Vaughn. "Which one of us gets that?" he asked cautiously.
"Both of you," he said simply. "I managed to make two of almost everything."
"Oh, okay." he said, glancing over to Sydney, who still had a grin on her face.
Marshall pulled out item after item. After explaining how to use the flashlight properly, he took out two watches, both styled differently. They were to be used as cameras and recording devices. Sydney smiled when she found that he had more in store for them. He kept taking out more items as time passed; some of them included little 'throwaway cameras', untraceable bugs that were disguised as simple objects that no one would suspect, mini-flashlights that were styled as key chains, sunglasses, paperclips, a necklace, and even a button that matched her coat.
"So, once you guys start packing, just come in and we'll get this stuff sorted out for you." he finished. "Just make sure not to use these items in a way that would reveal yourself, or make any of the people suspect you, okay?"
Sydney and Vaughn nodded and Marshall continued. "We've been checking up on the camp's schedule, and luckily, they still have about four or five openings for counselors." he paused for a moment, then picked up a folder off his desk. "Sydney, you need to go up there tomorrow to have an interview, and Vaughn, you'll go the next day.
"Oh yeah, and Mr. Weiss has more information, so you two need to talk to him before tomorrow."
"Weiss is part of this?" Sydney asked.
"Well we're all a part of it," he said quickly. "But he's basically going to be your guys' handler for this mission. Obviously you can't call, or else that'd kind of give away your position, and that wouldn't be pretty, so when you need to talk to him, just use this watch - " he grabbed one of the watches out of the bag, " - and contact us. You just click this button here," he said, popping off the cover of the watch, revealing a little red button, "then put the cover back on and speak into it and it'll relay the message to Weiss.
"And I know this is a lot to take in all at once, so if you guys have questions about any of the items I've shown you, just refer back to this, uh, folder." he said, handing them each a peach-colored folder.
Marshall said a quick "Goodbye," and gave them a hesitant smile, then went back to tinkering with some random article behind his desk.
---
Weiss's desk.
Sydney started to dawdle over to Weiss's desk a couple minutes after she left Marshall's office. She walked right up behind him, and he didn't even realize she was there. She leaned over a bit and saw that he was sorting out his playing cards, or more likely planning out some ridiculously stupid card trick to try to impress one of the woman agents from the office. He must not know anything about women, if he thinks doing card tricks is going to get him one. She laughed silently.
"What'cha doing?" she asked in a silly voice.
"G-ah!" he jumped, his cards flying everywhere on his desk. "You scared me."
"I know, I have that effect on people." she said acerbically, then continued, "Marshall said you had some things to tell Vaughn and I about the mission?"
Weiss nodded. "We just need Vaughn here so I don't have to repeat myself." he said, noticing that Vaughn was making his way over to them. He made a lame attempt in covering his cards by spreading some papers across his desk. "I bet you're excited for this mission, eh?" he whispered before Vaughn graced them with his presence.
Sydney opened and closed her mouth a couple times, forcing herself not to say anything so that she wouldn't embarrass herself even more. "Cat got your tongue?" Weiss laughed, then turned to Vaughn.
"So?" Vaughn asked, ignoring the comment Weiss had made.
Weiss looked up at Vaughn, then to Sydney. "As you now know, I'm going to be your handler. Once a week I'll be expecting a message from one of you, preferably on Saturday evenings. I know you two get tired of hearing this, but you will need to tell me what's gone on that week and anything suspicious that you've seen.
"Now, we've gone over that..." Weiss said, "Sydney, we checked into the camp's archives, and tomorrow there aren't any scheduled interviews, so we'd like you to go in. Vaughn, you can go the day after tomorrow, so it will be less suspicious."
"Okay," Sydney shrugged. "But how do I know that they'll accept me?"
"Good question." Weiss laughed. "The man that should be there tomorrow, his name is Robert..."
Sydney let out a loud sigh. "And you think if I'm charming enough, I'll get the job?" she laughed.
Weiss shrugged and opened a drawer to his desk, pulling out a box of donuts. "Pretty much, yeah."
"What if I don't get the job?" she asked.
"Chances are slim," Weiss said with a full mouth, a couple of donut crumbs spilling onto his suit. "There's only two more weeks, and they need about 5 counselors; in the past, they've had all of their counselors a month in advance.
"Plus," he said, wiping his mouth. "I have the standard copy of questions that they use while giving an interview, and the answers that they'd like to hear."
He shut the drawer to his desk then shuffled around in a disorderly manner, trying to find the questions. He grabbed a couple of the papers that he had distributed across his desk, then handed them to Sydney. "Here they are. Just... Memorize them and make it seem like you're sincere with the answers that you give. I wouldn't be too exact with the answers or they'll assume that an agency sent you, so be a little bit vague on a couple of the questions."
"Sounds good," she nodded. "Thank you."
"Alright," Weiss said, turning his attention to Vaughn. "You'll need..."
---
The next day.
Sydney rubbed her eyes lightly after she clambered out of her car. She had been driving for about three hours, and even though jet lag didn't seem to affect her (most of the time), a couple hours in a car seemed to draw out all the energy she had that morning. She adjusted the tank top she was wearing, making sure that it was as low as she could without looking indecent. She let out a yawn and started walking up to the front office of Camp Liberty.
From the first building she saw, she could tell that it was a nice camp. The actual camp was supposedly about a mile past the front office, due to privacy for the staff that lived there year 'round. She smiled resolutely, determined to get the position as a counselor. She pulled the glass door open and walked in, the sound of a bell tinkling somewhere within the store.
"Can I help you, Ma'am?" a voice broke the silence.
Sydney turned to her left to see a man sitting in a big leather chair, behind a desk that was covered with countless manila folders. He had brown hair and blue eyes, he was wearing a pair of oval shaped glasses, and he had a pencil behind one ear. She gave the man a smile and quickly read the name tag he was wearing - Robert.
"My name is Sydney Parker, I'm here to see if there was any openings for the counselor position this summer." she said with a heartwarming smile, sticking her hand out to greet the man.
"Actually, yes." Robert said while shaking her hand. "I was actually trying to recall the phone numbers of a couple of the locals who took the girls' counselor position last year. We're still short about 4 girls, and 3 guys, and the camp is already filled."
"Okay," she said, taking a seat in front of his desk. "So what should I do? I took these order forms off your guys' website, and filled them out, but I was thinking there was a little more to it than that." she laughed, handing him the papers that Weiss had given her to fill out, with Sydney Parker's information and history.
"Just a little," Robert let out a chuckle. "We'd actually like to interview you sometime, and if you end up being part of our staff this summer, you would be submitted to a drug test, a background check, and a two week training period on how to deal with the children in different situations and such."
Sydney nodded and tucked some stray hair behind her ear. "Would right now be a good time for an interview, or are you busy?"
Robert glanced around his desk for a moment, then looked up at Sydney's sweet, smiling face. "I think I can fit in some time." he winked.
---
Two hours, a drug test, and many questions later, Sydney walked out of the camp almost positive that she was accepted. Robert seemed to have taken to her, and she almost laughed aloud at how obvious he had shown it. As she left, he told her that he'd put in a good word for her.
When Rob, as he wanted her to call him, asked her for a telephone number to get in contact with her, she was reminded of what Weiss had told her a couple minutes before she left. She was to give him a cell phone number, which was registered under Sydney's alias, and it had numbers to various aliases who were supposedly "friends" of Sydney Parker.
Sydney looked at her own cell phone, which she had conveniently forgotten to bring along with her to the interview, and noticed that Weiss left her a message, telling her to come into the CIA when she got back.
Just as she drove into the CIA parking lot, her new phone started to ring. She glimpsed at the caller ID but didn't recognize the number. "Hello?" she answered.
"Hi, Sydney, this is Rob,"
"Oh hi, Rob." she said politely, "What's up? Is something wrong?" she stopped and leaned against her car.
"I was just calling to tell you that we've looked over your forms, and I discussed it with the camp director, and your application was accepted."
Sydney smiled to herself. "Oh, thank you so much, Rob." she said in a sickeningly sweet voice that was not her own. "I guess I'll see you in a couple days for training!"
Rob was proving to be a very desperate man. Sydney could tell that he was excited for her to come back to camp, but if things went the way she wanted them to, he wouldn't be anywhere near her at the camp. He had definitely added a couple questions while giving her the interview, with such things as "Are you currently dating anyone?" and his excuse was that it might cause problems with the camp if she did. She found no reasoning with his explanation, but accepted it instead of complaining, because he most likely was going to get her a position at camp.
After she scribbled down all of the information she headed to Security so she could go inform Weiss of how the interview had gone. She was subconsciously trying to avoid Vaughn for some reason. She didn't know why she did it, because hiding generally wasn't something Sydney Bristow did.
It's not like I won't spend enough time with him at camp... She kept telling herself.
She shook the thoughts from her overactive mind, and trailed off to Weiss's crammed little desk that was placed in the far corner of the rotunda. He smiled and minimized a game of Solitaire on his computer. He smiled innocently and looked up.
"I'm in," she said with a smug smile, crossing her arms over her chest.
"That was fast," Weiss laughed. "You must have done some nice flirting," he said, before swiveling around in his chair to face his desk.
She rolled her eyes and let out a loud sigh. "What did you need me for?"
"I just wanted to see how the interview went..." he rambled off.
"Couldn't you have saved me the time, and gas, to just call?" she asked with an annoyed tone. Weiss started to say something, but she cut him off, "You know, my monthly phone bill isn't nearly as much as I pay for gas each month."
"You wouldn't have minded coming in if Vaughn called you." Weiss pouted playfully.
Sydney ignored his comment. "So I can go?"
"I'm not your keeper," Weiss laughed, then turned his chair around so he could resume playing Internet Solitaire.
---
The next day.
Sydney spent at least three hours scrambling around her apartment looking for clothes and other random items that she would need over the summer. She had managed to pack two suitcases full of supplies. She had one for all of the CIA equipment that Marshall had given her, and another one for clothes; she wasn't even finished packing yet.
When she got back from the CIA the day before, Francie immediately started jabbering on how she was going to go to Camp Liberty the next day, to get an interview. Sydney laughed at how she was already completely packed for camp, when she didn't even know if she had been accepted yet.
Sydney heard the door slam, and the sound of Francie humming drifted through her open door. "I take it the interview went well?" She laughed.
"I think so," Francie grinned. "The lady there was really nice; I think I made a good impression..."
"That's great!" Sydney said as she plopped a couple pairs of jeans into another suitcase.
Francie sat down on the edge of Sydney's bed, watching her friend scuttle around the room, emptying her rooms' contents into her suitcases. Sydney looked up, and saw that she had a grin on her face. "What?"
"Nothing... I just think that this summer is going to be a lot of fun." she smiled happily, then got up from her bed and strolled out of her room with a mischievous smile.
She shook her head and continued to pack. Finally, Sydney flopped down onto her bed, sighing with relief, at the fact that she was almost finished packing. She heard the phone ring somewhere from within the apartment, but she was so drained that she just didn't care. Her eyes were slowly drifting shut, when Francie came barging into her room. "Phone!" she said, throwing the phone down onto her bed, dangerously close to her head. "I think its someone from the bank."
Sydney made sure that Francie was well out of hearing-range before she answered the phone. "What?" she asked crankily, not feeling up to talking with Weiss at the moment.
"I see you're in a good mood," Vaughn said with a hearty chuckle.
"Oh, hey..." Sydney blushed. "What's up?"
Vaughn paused for a moment, then continued. "Well, I just got back from camp. I think I met Francie..."
That explains a lot... Sydney laughed to herself. When Francie met a guy, she'd get giddy and then she'd start to act stupid, even if he didn't ask her out. She seemed to take the fact that if a man opened a door for her or said something nice, then he was the one she was going to fall in love with, marry, and have beautiful children with... But, that was Francie for you.
"That's... nice..." she said slowly. "She didn't get all crazy on you, did she?"
Vaughn cleared his throat a little bit. "Well, not really... But she did seem to like staring."
"I'll be sure to mention that to her." she laughed. "How did it go?"
"I think it went well," he said confidently. "The woman there said that they needed a couple more male counselors, so I'd most likely be accepted. She said she'd call as soon as their administrators talked with her and looked over my application."
"Looks like we're really going to do this," she said, stifling a yawn.
"Yeah, it's kind of scary." Vaughn sighed. "I have to leave my dog with Weiss for three and a half months - and believe me, last time I did that, Donovan gained about 10 pounds."
"Poor Donovan," Sydney laughed, adding the fact that Vaughn's dog's name was Donovan, to her mental records. "Well, I'm dead tired, and if we're going to leave for camp in two days, I need to get my rest so I can finish packing."
"Alright," Vaughn agreed. "I'll talk to you later."
Once she hung up the phone, she flopped back onto her bed. She was going to be near Vaughn for three and a half months.
She couldn't wait.