Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, JJ Abrams and Warner Brothers do. Please don't sue me.
Author's Note: takes place mid season four
Of Geico, Aflac, and Rambaldi
By: Kityye
Chapter Two: Marshall
Marshall Flinkman had secured the briefing room to prepare for his presentation forty minutes ago. The first thing he'd done was close the blinds.
He opened the door at exactly 2:00 pm to the gaggle of agents waiting outside. His wife was the first person to enter the re-decorated room. Sloane was the last.
The walls were covered with pictures of Marshall in different tourist spots around the world. Each was labeled with month and year. Sydney smiled as she found the ones she'd taken for him.
Marshall had a laptop open on the table, in the center of the room. "Welcome, everyone," he chirped. "I'm here to give you a crash-course in my secrets." He pressed a button on a tiny remote in his hand and the monitors on the back wall turned on. The spies didn't miss the flick of his thumb that controlled the devices.
The first slide was titled "My Secrets" in yellow letters on a blue background. The second… well, nobody had the heart to tell Marshall that divulging secrets did not include his first crush on his third grade teacher.
"This is the first secret I successfully kept," Marshall said proudly.
Sloane's face grew more and more expressionless as Marshall ran down his list of early secrets: doing others' homework in such ways that the teacher never suspected he was responsible for ten papers turned in at the same time, sneaking out of the house at night to drink, the men at the bar teaching him how to count cards and hustle outsiders at pool. On the slide of a college party (complete with picture; Marshall's secret was that it was the only time he tried LSD) Sloane finally snapped.
"Marshall! Fast forward to your time in the CIA!" Carrie blushed and scrunched up in her seat, as if she were responsible for Marshall's presentation. Of course, being married to him, she probably felt as though she were. Sydney and Nadia looked disappointed; it appeared they'd enjoyed the life and times of Marshall Flinkman thus far.
"Yes, sir, Mr. Sloane, sir," Marshall stuttered, going to the laptop and turning off PowerPoint. He brought up a different program and opened a file called, "CIA SECRETS". "I, um, was afraid you might get bored, so I made an animated movie to explain my connections with the technology agents of terrorist groups worldwide." Marshall pressed "play" on the program and returned to his seat to take a drink of water. The lights in the room dimmed.
A mini-Marshall waddled onscreen and waved. Then, it walked past CIA-issue pictures of various tech-leaders. Mini-Marshall pointed out what each man and woman was brilliant at (Marshall himself being a Jack-of-all-trades when it came to technology). The letters of the techs' names sometimes swirled into or out of existence on screen, and the transitions from person to person were unique. The film ran for about fifty minutes. At the end, mini-Marshall came back onscreen – only to be erased by a pencil-eraser bit by bit. Mini-Marshall fought back (much as Daffy Duck fought from being erased in a Loony Tunes cartoon). Marshall chuckled at the animation. Carrie reddened again when he was the only one in the room who found his creation amusing. Well, Sydney seemed to be smiling. But, then, she'd also enjoyed that poem about keys…
The movie was over, and the lights came back up. Marshall stood and asked, "Are there any questions?"
Dixon sat up abruptly, dabbing at the drool gathered at the corner of his mouth. "What? Where am I?"
Marshall's face fell. "Didn't you like the animation?"
Guiltily, Vaughn and Weiss stopped poking each-other (a game that had kept them occupied since the mini-Marshall had come on-screen for the finale), folding their hands in front of them.
"Of course we liked it, Marshall," Vaughn said.
"It was… very like Bugs Bunny," Weiss added, clearing his throat.
Marshall still frowned uncertainly.
"It was fine, Marshall," Sydney reassured her friend with a smile.
Jack glanced at his watch. They'd been in the room for three hours. He looked meaningfully at his boss.
"Perhaps, Marshall, you should wrap things up…" suggested Sloane.
"Ah, yes, well, I have one more treat for you. Literally." Marshall scrambled at the papers in front of him and held up eight light-pink papers, like carbon copies.
"Now, these babies are delicious. You know how in the movies, you're supposed to eat the really classified stuff after you read it? Well," Marshall smiled proudly at his captive audience, "I made you files of bubble-gum paper." He began passing them out, one to each member of the group. "Did you ever get the base-ball cards printed on bubble-gum? I once collected them, but my younger sister ate my three best, and…" Marshall intercepted the LOOK his wife was sending him. "Anyways, this is the short version of devices I have made in the past." Marshall took the final "paper" and nibbled on the edge. "Mmm, strawberry… Oh! Each page has a different flavor… who got root-beer?" Dixon discreetly laid his on the table in front of him. Sydney tried hers, looking at Vaughn while she did so. He and Weiss read the list and then stuffed the whole page in their mouths.
"Good," Weiss mumbled around the candy.
"Thank you," Marshall beamed.
Sloane took that to be the end, and (thankfully) released the spies to go home.
AN2: Did you fall asleep during the movie, too? Shame on you! Well, review to tell me how much of it you did see, and I'll think about writing the next chapter while I'm traveling this weekend. Next up: Nadia!
