CHAPTER TWELVE
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
NUMB.
That was about all she felt.
Well, that and anger.
She continued to stare out the car window as Vaughn drove her, her father, and Weiss to APO. Her mother had decided to stay in Argentina for a bit, before heading back to Russia(Sydney had thought it was only right to scatter her sister’s ashes in the country where she grew up in).
Sydney figured Sloane must have heard about their excursion, and he just called them all in to lecture them about listening and following orders. Whatever it was, she was in no mood to listen to it.
Vaughn parked the car a couple blocks away from the subway station, and together the four of them made their way inside APO. Vaughn was surprised to see Dixon and Marshall there, since they had nothing to do with their little adventure.
“What are you two doing here?” He asked, as he watched Sydney wander over to Nadia’s desk.
“We got called in. He said it was urgent,” Marshall replied.
“Maybe the CIA retrieved the document,” Dixon added.
Vaughn sighed. “The document is not important. It’s safer in the hands of Vornamen then Sloane.”
Marshall was taken aback by Vaughn’s revelation. He was about to say something when he saw Arvin motion everyone into the conference room.
***
Sydney entered the conference room, and took her place. Sloane looked at her, but she just glared back. She had other things-more important things-on her mind, then listening to Sloane scold them for an hour.
“As you all know, the document that was to be retrieved from Vornamen has been retrieved by the CIA through a little negotiation. It has been decided that the CIA will keep it for safe keeping,” Sloane said.
“So does this mean we come back to work?” Marshall asked, disappointment evident in his voice. He liked spending time with his wife, Carrie, and son, Mitchell.
“Yes. As of next Wednesday, you and Marcus will be returning to APO.”
“Next Wednesday? We get a week off?” Dixon asked.
“We thought it would be prudent to give you some more time off with your family,” Chase responded.
Marcus smiled. Sydney wondered if Chase was implying something to Dixon.
“What about us?” Weiss asked. “When do we return?”
Sloane took a breath. “Marshall, Dixon, thank-you for coming in, but that’s all that we need to discuss. Have a good vacation.” Marshall and Dixon nodded their heads and dismissed themselves. Being agents for so many years, everyone knew that a phone call stating they had an extra week off was to risky to discuss over insecure lines. Even if the meeting was only a minute long.
“About returning? When do we…?” Weiss reminded, trailing off. He hated stepping on Sloane’s shoes, so-to-speak, but he hated Nadia being dead more, and anything to keep her off his mind he would do in a heart beat.
“Right, you don’t. Your on a three month suspension for not following my orders,” Sloane said, putting his hands together, reminding Weiss of Mr. Burns.
“What? You can’t be serious!” Sydney stated. It looked like Sloane was shocked to see how fast Sydney got irritated.
“I specifically told you, Sydney, not to retrieve my daughter’s body. And you went against my wishes.”
Sydney threw her hands up in the air. She looked at the Director. AKA Sloane’s boss. “She’s my sister too. I have every right as Sloane does to have some peace of mind.”
“Half sister,” Sloane corrected, which irritated Sydney some more.
Jack spoke, “You can’t penalize us for something that Sloane and you did.”
“What did we do?” Sloane asked, intrigued. Even Chase wanted to know what she did.
“You told us to take the time off. We had all this time on our hands to think of Nadia. It was driving Sydney insane. She wanted some answers and we followed leads. If she was tasked to work on something instead of being suspended she wouldn’t have been looking for Nadia. She wouldn’t have the time.” Jack sat back in his seat, before glancing at Sloane.
“Jack’s right. I won’t authorize the suspension, but you four will be put on probation.”
“What are we in jail? We just lost someone we all loved. I think our actions were understandable,” Weiss said angrily. This was the first time anyone saw him get angry like this.
“Agent Weiss, calm down,” Chase said with authority.
“Calm down? Wait until you loose someone you love with all your heart and then ask me to calm down.” Weiss got up from his chair and left the conference room.
“That man is unstable,” Sloane remarked.
“No. He’s grieving,” Jack remarked.
***
“Sydney, are you hungry?” Vaughn asked as closed the front door to Sydney’s house. “I can order something in or-”
Sydney interrupted him. “That would be good. But, I think we should ask Weiss to come over. I’ve never seen him get so worked up like that. I don’t really want to leave him alone.”
Vaughn nodded. “I’ll call him.”
Sydney gave Vaughn a small smile while he went into the other room to phone Weiss. The truth was, she wasn’t really hungry, but she knew Nadia would be beating her up if she didn’t take care of herself.
Vaughn came back into the room, phone in hand. “Weiss doesn’t want to come over.”
Sydney frowned and motioned for the phone. Vaughn gave it to her. “Weiss? Why don’t you want to come over?”
“I want to be alone, and I’m not that hungry,” He responded.
“I know. I’m not either, but, would Nadia want you to act like this?”
Weiss chuckled.
“What?” Sydney asked.
“Well, it’s nothing really…just this one time she said something.”
“What did she say?” Sydney asked.
“We were on a mission once, and it didn’t look promising. She said if anything happened to her she wanted me to continue life…and if I met another girl who loved me as much as she did, she would come back and haunt us both.”
Sydney felt her eyes well up with tears. She knew her sister liked Weiss, she just didn’t know how much until today. “Come over Weiss,” She pleaded. “Nadia would want you too.” She heard him say a silent okay.
“What do you want me to order? Chinese? Pizza? Thai? ” Vaughn asked.
“I’m kind of in the mood for some Argentine Cuisine.” Sydney responded.
Vaughn nodded his head, as he answered the door for Weiss. “You in the mood for some Argentine Cuisine?” He asked his best friend.
“I think that’s the only thing I’m in the mood for.” Weiss responded.
***
SOMEWHERE, UNDISCLOSED
The sedatives she had been given were starting to wear off to the point where she was actually able to think. Her mind was racing with thoughts, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to stay conscious for much longer. Her eyes were getting heavier again, and she could make out faces of people in her mind that belonged to her father, Dixon, Marshall, Vaughn, Jack, her sister-Sydney, and the love of her life, Eric, all that time wondering if they knew she was still alive.
--------
A/N: TY for all your reviews. Can you please tell me if you are having trouble reading wether it be due to format or grammer? TY.