Chapter Five
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Sydney smiled, relief spreading over her face, and she leaned forward to embrace the woman, one of her former co agents at Prophet Five. Pulling back, she said, “It's good to see you again, Lauren.”
Lauren smiled and pulled out a coin from the pocket of her short black skirt. She flicked the small hidden switch before speaking. “It’s a bug killer; we’ve got about a minute. Sydney, it’s so good to see you again.”
Sydney smiled. “I know; it’s been almost 2 years since you left? How are you?”
“Fantastic. How’d you end up here?” Lauren asked curiously.
*FLASHBACK*
“Sydney darling, sit down.” Irina Derevko gestured, pouring 2 cups of iced tea.
Sydney took it gingerly, tracing the rim of the crystal glass with her long, slender, perfectly manicured finger. She finally gave into her thirst. The cold liquid slid down her throat, cooling her body, and relieving a small amount of stress in her muscles.
The sharp taste of cinnamon shocked her tastes buds. She smiled slightly, pleased that her mother had remembered that she wouldn’t drink tea unless it was flavored with cinnamon.
She was tempted to drink all of the tea, but refrained, and instead she delicately set the empty cup on the wooden coaster that rested near a picture of her and her mother.
She sank back into her seat, getting comfortable. “What’s going on?”
“The CIA knows about the operation in Australia.” Irina began, drumming her fingers quietly on the desk.
“We’ve dealt with CIA fools before. It shouldn’t be too difficult to stop them before they even reach Australia.” Sydney said smugly, crossing her legs.
“If it were really that easy, I wouldn’t have called you in here.” Irina retorted. “It’s your father.”
Sydney cringed at the word. Father. That idiot had no right to be called her father. He had given up on her, not coming to her rescue all those lonely nights when she felt abandoned and homesick, crying herself to sleep.
“You’ve outsmarted him numerous times; you had him fooled for almost 10 years… this simple operation shouldn’t be that hard.” Sydney said stubbornly, picking at the bright red nail polish on her thumb.
“Sydney, listen to me!” Irina hissed, her hand slapping the table. Sydney looked up at her mother and for a split second she saw a glint of fear in her eyes. “He knows. He knows that I faked my death and he’s figured out that you’re alive too. He’s convinced himself that you’re here against your will. He’s staged an extraction.”
“Here against my will? Does that fool really think that I could he held hostage for almost 20 years and not escape? How did he ever become a spy?” She sneered. “Well the solution is still simple; I won’t accompany you on the Australia job. I’ll just fly over to New Zealand and meet with some old friends who owe us some favors.”
“No. We’re being presented with a grand opportunity, my child.” Irina’s fingers delicately closed around a think manila file. She handed it over to Sydney before continuing. “I’ve decided that you will let yourself be extracted by them.” She held up her hand, silencing her daughter before she had a chance to object. “You’ll be a double agent for us.”
“We already have someone in the L.A. branch, don’t we?” Sydney asked, twirling a lock of hair in her fingers.
“We do... but we’ve found that she isn’t as… effective as we would like.” Irina said a look of disgust spreading across her face. “The mission is simple. The Joint Task Force is currently researching Milo Rambaldi. We don’t know how much they know about him. You must find out and relay anything regarding Rambaldi to us.”
“Simple enough.” Sydney replied, shaking her head. This was going to be fun. Deceiving a bunch of CIA agents who thought that they were the greatest people in the world. The thought made her smile maliciously.
But the name Rambaldi made her want to roll her eyes. She didn’t of course; she could never allow her mother to know that she thought that this Milo Rambaldi stuff was garbage. She knew that Irina would lash out, even on her, if she discovered that she wasn’t a true believer.
“But there’s something I want you to focus on. Open the folder.” Irina commanded.
Sydney obeyed. Her heart beat faster at the sight of a photograph of a handsome young man paper clipped to the inside of the folder. His smile caused an odd feeling to well up in her heart. She shook the feeling away and focused on her mother’s words.
“That is Michael Vaughn. He works with your father. Your job is to get especially close to him, seduce him like I did your father. His father, Bill Vaughn, did some research on us and Rambaldi back when he was still alive. We need to know how much Michael Vaughn knows about his father’s work and locate any copies of Bill Vaughn’s research, if they still exist.” Irina replied. “Your plane leaves in 48 hours.”
Sydney nodded and walked out of the office, hurrying back to her quarters to prepare. Her black stilettos clicked rhythmically on the cold cement, echoing in the empty tunnel. The dim lights above her flickered, threatening to go out and bathe her in darkness. Turning the corner and walking up a flight of steps, a mixture of excitement and dread came upon her. She was finally going on a deep undercover mission, something she had been yearning for ever since she had started training. But she was also going to have to face her father, face her past.
Pulling her large sunglasses down to cover her brown eyes, she stepped out of the cold darkness of the underground passageway and into the beautiful courtyard in the center of Prophet Five headquarters. A warm breeze blew past her, cooling her body.
She greeted a select few of the company’s finest agents with a small nod of approval. They returned it, while taking a minute to bask in the glory of being acknowledged by their leader’s daughter, one of the most legendary agents in Prophet Five.
Sydney sauntered into her room, pushing the door closed with her foot. Tossing her sunglasses onto the small table, she turned on the kitchen light.
“Peyton?” She yelled out, wondering where her roommate was. Getting no response, she figured that Kelly Peyton was out with her boyfriend Simon Walker. Well, at least there’d be no one to bother her while she was preparing.
She walked into her room, juggling the file, a bag of potato chips, and a soda. Plopping onto her bed, she pulled back the curtains, dousing everything in light.
Glancing out, she saw some of the younger agents playing football. This part of the compound resembled a college more than the headquarters for a top secret spy organization. Of course, that was the point. This way, agents felt like they weren’t part of a terrorist organization, but a loving community.
Sydney snorted, thinking back to the words her mother had said when proposing the idea of renovating the headquarters to the board. Sometimes, she just didn’t understand her mother.
Of course, she loved and respected her. Irina Derevko had raised her to become the brilliant agent she was today. But when it came to Rambaldi and her mother’s intoxicatingly intense belief that they were working for the greater good, Sydney couldn’t help but believe that she was insane. Sydney knew what they were doing was considered wrong to many people. She knew she was evil. And she accepted that. Because being evil was all she’d ever known.
Sure there was once a time when she was innocent, but that memory was so long ago, it seemed like a dream. The memories of her early childhood seemed to fade everyday, becoming lost in the memories of her lonesome and isolated past.
Right after the accident, Irina had taken her to Russia and left her with her aunt Katya while she went to straighten things out with Prophet Five. When she came back, she immediately began to train Sydney to become an agent, teaching her everything she knew. When Irina gained full control of Prophet Five, she took Sydney with her to the headquarters, where she was taught by some of the finest spies of the century.
Sydney was almost 16 before any more kids her age where brought to the headquarters. It was there that she met and befriended Lauren Reed, the daughter of a future American senator. Lauren’s father thought that she had been sent to a boarding school in Russia. But in reality, Lauren’s mother, Olivia, was part of Prophet Five and had recruited her daughter.
*END FLASHBACK*
“Well, long story short, we learned that Jack Bristow has finally found out the truth. So I asked my mother to let me come here. I’ve been craving a long term mission and I wanted to see my best friend.” Sydney said bending the truth with a slight smile. She knew that Lauren would be understandably angry if she said that Irina didn’t think that she was doing the job satisfactorily.
Lauren smiled. “Well it’s good to see you.” She repeated. “So I talked to our handler. He said that you need to focus on seducing Michael Vaughn and looking into his father’s files. I’ll concentrate on stealing information regarding Rambaldi. Whenever the CIA sends you on a mission, you have to write the details on a paper bag. Then you’ll throw that bag in one of these 6 trashcans.” Lauren handed her a paper. “Memorize the number at the bottom. You’ll call the number, wait three rings, and then press the digit corresponding to the trashcan. Julian will take a look at it and he’ll come up with a counter mission. Then he’ll call you back, asking for ‘Joey’s Pizza’. You’ll tell him he’s got the wrong number. Then you’ll go to the predetermined meeting place. For now, you’ll be heading down to this old warehouse. The directions are at the bottom of the paper.”
“So Sark’s our handler huh?” Sydney said with a small smirk on her face while she ripped up the paper and flushed it down the toilet.
Lauren looked down, blushing slightly.
“You two finally together?” Sydney asked. Ever since they had turned 19 and Sark had been brought to the headquarters, Lauren had a crush on him.
Lauren nodded and was about to say something else, when the small silver coin in her hand began to beep, signaling that time was up.
Lauren pocketed the coin and glanced back at her old friend. “Well, it’s a pleasure to be working with you. Agent Vaughn says that you’re amazing in the field.” Lauren said then sauntered out of the bathroom.
Sydney felt herself smile immediately at the mention of Michael Vaughn. Her gaze traveled back to the mirror and she quickly became focused on the mission. She took a deep breath and walked back into the rotunda.
The rotunda was buzzing with activity. Agents were rushing from one station to another, confirming intel and searching for data. Sydney stood back, just watching the oblivious agents who were unaware that there were two moles, two traitors, in their midst.
She spotted Lauren to her left, chatting with their tech guy, Marshall Flinkman. Lauren laughed at something that Marshall said. He smiled and laughed as well, in awe that she was talking to him. He didn’t see her nonchalantly touch the edge of the computer with the sapphire on her ring; copying the file on Rambaldi artifacts he had open on the screen.
“Hey, you ok?” Vaughn asked, coming up behind her.
“Oh, yeah I’m fine.” Sydney replied, flashing him a smile, while she had to remind herself that she couldn’t run her fingers through his rumpled hair. Not yet anyway.
“Ok.” Vaughn said, obviously not believing her. He dropped the subject, knowing that even if he pursued the subject, she wouldn’t tell him anything. “Well I’m supposed to take you to the safe house, so if you’re ready to go….” He trailed off and gestured toward the door.
Sydney nodded. “Yeah, I’m ready.” She turned and began to walk across the room. Vaughn instinctively put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her through the building. Sydney loved how his warm hand felt against her back. She glanced up at him, his green eyes sparkling in the light. He smiled slightly as they stepped out into the parking lot.
The ride to the safe house was spent in relative silence. Vaughn had turned on the radio and Sydney closed her eyes. She let herself drift asleep peacefully, the calm jazz music soothing her aching head, her whole body exhausted after the past few days of intense questioning.
Sydney was pulled out of her slumber when she felt the car come to a halt. Vaughn unbuckled his seat belt, turned off the radio, and looked over to her.
“Syd?” He whispered, not sure what to do.
Sydney kept her eyes closed tightly, feigning sleep, as she tried not to smile at the sound of her name coming from his lips.
Vaughn stared at her for a moment longer before he stepped out of the car. He walked over to the passenger side, opened the door, and slowly picked Sydney up. He walked carefully to the safe house, where the door opened and a tall man with shaggy black hair ushered him inside. The man led him to the room where Sydney would be staying.
Vaughn gently laid her down on the bed. After gently removing her shoes, he draped a thin blanket over her slim figure.
“Good night.” He said softly, pushing some of the hair out of her face before walking out the door, closing it slowly so he wouldn’t wake her.
As soon as he left, Sydney’s eyes opened. She smiled.
Seducing Michael Vaughn was going to be easier than she thought.
She just had to keep herself from falling in love with him for real.
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