Valoriahn, RoutineRiot, kiz-aliasrox & Muddy Poodle: Thank you all so much for your feedback.
Disclaimer: The title of this chapter comes from the song 'Bad Moon Rising' by Creedence Clearwater Revival
There's A Bad Moon On The Rise
Outside of the supermarket Thea grabbed her mobile, hitting on of the speed dials. The other party answered only after one ring.
"What is it?"
"We have a problem I just ran into Summer. She was with her father. He recognized me."
"He spoke to you?"
"Yes. The girl is more than well aware that something doesn't add up," Thea said.
"This is not a huge issue. We'll just have to move onto the next stage earlier than anticipated. Do you have all the necessary documents?"
"Putting on the final touches."
"Have them completed first thing. We'll be speaking to Summer tomorrow morning."
Sydney entered her father's office and saw that Weiss and Dixon were already there and waiting. Years ago, there had been a reshuffle of management at the Operations centre. Dixon, frustrated at being stuck at a desk had requested to be out back on active duty. It had been an easy decision for those in higher places to offer the position to Jack, and he accepted after only some consideration.
Sydney had always suspected that, even though there was not a chance that her father would admit to it, perhaps age had been starting to creep up on him in the field.
"We have a problem," Jack said as Sydney sat herself down.
"Oh god," Weiss groaned. "Who is it now?"
"We're not exactly sure who the group is," Jack replied. "There has been no acknowledgment of their existence or they fact that they affiliated with one another."
Sydney frowned in confusion. "What are you talking about? If there is no group, no affiliation then isn't there nothing to worry about?"
"The Agency has been looking into some of the supposedly random crime acts committed during the last years. Something was brought to their attention."
"What?" Dixon asked.
"That several dozen suspects of these crimes all share a common ground. They all had something to do with the Covenant before it crumbled."
Dixon sat forward in this seat. "And we are only discovering this now?"
"As I said before, we assumed that these were unrelated acts. With the Covenant gone, these people were surely to look somewhere else for work. However, now we are not so sure."
"What's happened?" Sydney asked.
"One of the CIA's offices was compromised. I'm not classified to reveal which one, but they discovered a mole working within their organization. This person was a former Covenant operative."
"Have there been any anomalies here?" Weiss queried.
"Not yet. We are taking steps to ensure security, but right now our concern are these former members. The mole was questioned. He revealed nothing concrete, but under duress did hint towards that these former operatives are re-grouping. If this proves to be the case, then that is serious threat that we will have to contend with."
Back at her desk, Sydney could not ignore the sense of foreboding that was settling in her stomach. Anything about the Covenant made her feel physically ill. The fact that they took two years of her life, had very nearly destroyed Vaughn's…
The fact that they were out there and active was not something that she was just going to accept.
With a sigh, she picked up her phone. She needed to talk with Vaughn.
"Hello," he answered after a few rings.
"It's me," Sydney replied. "How is everything?"
"Well actually, I just had kind of a weird moment."
"What?"
"I took Summer shopping with me. We ran into Dr Emery."
Sydney straightened in her seat. "Wow…talk about a blast from the past. What did Summer say?"
"She seemed really…I don't know. She has barely said a word since."
"Ah, she'll be fine. It was probably incredibly weird for her too."
"Yeah," Vaughn sighed. "So any new developments that you should warn me about, so I can decide whether to pull a sickie tomorrow."
Sydney didn't laugh. "Unfortunately, there is," she replied.
"Oh no. Why do I get the feeling that our workload is going to start expanding dramatically?" Vaughn asked. "What is it?"
"I won't get into it over the phone. I'll tell you everything when I get home."
"That sounds promising," Vaughn said wryly. "This isn't good news, is it?"
"Is it ever good news around this place? Unless of course we've just brought down the bad guy, not being introduced to a new one."
"You've got a point there…will you be home for dinner?"
"I'll try. See you when I get home."
"Yeah. Love you."
"Love you, too."
A couple of hours later Sydney stepped through the front door to be greeted by a cacophony of sound, coming from the kitchen. Her curiosity peaked she headed down the hallway, and into the kitchen. There Vaughn was standing by the stove and Liam was crouched down, the entire contents of the cutlery drawer spread across the floor, including the drawer itself.
"Hi mum," Liam chimed brightly as he started to gather up the forks.
"Hi…" Sydney trailed off, looking at Vaughn questioningly.
"Apparently our son has forgotten how to open a drawer," he explained.
"No, I haven't," Liam shot back. "I just underestimated my own strength."
"You wish," Vaughn laughed. "This was all just a ploy in the hope that you won't get asked to set the table for the next week."
"Would I do that?" Liam asked, his eyes wide and innocent, as he turned to face Sydney. "Mum, dad is starting to get a little paranoid. Maybe you should get him some help."
"Hey Liam, maybe you should just pick all that up so we can eat," Sydney asked and then looked at Vaughn. "Is dinner ready?"
He nodded. "As soon as the table is set, we can eat."
"Where's Summer?" Sydney asked.
"In her room," Liam answered.
Sydney and Vaughn's eyes connected for several moments. "I'll go get her," she said, turning on her heel and heading up the stairs.
Reaching Summer's room, she tapped lightly on the door. "Sum," she said, peering in and seeing her sitting at her desk, writing furiously.
Looking up, Summer placed her pen down. "Yeah?"
"Dinner's ready…are you ok?"
Summer nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"You look worried and—"
"Dad told you what happened at the supermarket?" Summer interjected. "Look, that was noting. A little strange, but I'm not going to stew about it."
Sydney cocked her head to one side. "So then why the super concerned expression?"
"I've just got a few essays due in the next couple of days. I'm hitting that stress point."
Sydney winced. "I know exactly what you mean and I do not envy you the slightest."
"Well, it serves me right for leaving them this long," Summer said, and as her eyes fell back on the paper on her desk, her brow furrowed even more.
Sydney watched her and could not help but smile, causing Summer to ask "What?"
"It's just your 'concerned' face," Sydney said. "You look so much like your father when you pull it."
Summer had to laugh. "My 'concerned' face?"
"Yes, your 'concerned' face," Sydney affirmed. "Now, are you coming down for dinner?"
Vaughn let out a loud sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ex-Covenant members are becoming active again?" he repeated quietly.
"Well, apparently they've been active all along. We just didn't realize that they were active together," Sydney replied.
"We are the CIA, for Pete's sake. How could we not realize?" He paused. "But why place a mole now? What are they planning?"
Sydney shrugged. "That's what we need to find out."
Vaughn was shaking his head. "I really thought that they were gone. We got through what they did and they crumbled. But now…"
"I know," Sydney placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know."
Thea was waiting for Summer when she walked into V.O.J Insurance the following morning.
"Good morning, Summer."
But Summer was not in the mood for pleasantries. "What the hell was going on yesterday?" she demanded, dumping her bag on one of the desks. "And don't start on all that security business. Why did my dad think you were a doctor? The doctor who delivered me, nonetheless."
"Because that is the truth," Thea replied calmly.
Summer blinked. "But…but I thought that you worked at the CIA…you said that you knew…"
"Summer, I omitted several details when I first approached you. The higher ups, and myself, wanted to wait before telling you everything. We wanted to be sure that you would be able to handle the truth."
Summer's eyes narrowed. "What the hell have you gotten me into?"
"There is somebody here who will explain everything to you," Thea gestured behind her. "Will you come this way, please?"
Summer hesitated for a few seconds, but then against her better judgement fell into step behind Thea. The cat getting killed by curiosity all of a sudden made perfect sense to her.
"Here." Thea stopped at a closed door. "I just want to prepare you. When I open this door, you are bound to get a shock."
"What do you mean by shock?" Summer asked.
"You need to see for yourself." With that Thea pushed open the door.
Summer had been about to step through the door when she froze. It wasn't possible, she was imagining things, she was being set up…and Thea had completely underestimated her reaction. Shock was nothing to what she was experiencing now.
The woman standing in the room, her face- it was the same one that was in the several precious photographs that she possessed. Staring directly into her eyes Summer drew in a deep breath and finally found it in herself to speak.
"Mum?"