guys and dolls

here's chapter six! pm's going out now.

chapter six: reason

“what the f***?!” vaughn exclaimed. “what in the hell was that?!”
sydney looked out the window. it was all she could do not to burst into tears, and here vaughn was screaming his head off at her.
“what do you mean?” she asked, knowing very well it would just piss him off more.
“you know what i mean! he couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. and then you go and tell him he will see you again in his wet dreams?!” he yelled.
“is it possible he couldn’t keep his eyes off of me because i am pretty? you certainly thought so at some point!” syd snapped.
“okay very possible. yet why would you cringe when he called you doll? or break character and tell him that is the only time he would ever see you again?” vaughn pressured.
syd searched for a good excuse. she knew there could be one.
“when you found out lauren was a double agent and had to pretend like nothing was wrong, didn’t you cringe when you had to kiss her?” sydney asked. “maybe the idea of some ***hole who works with sark calling me doll got on my nerves…and i’m sorry that i broke character. that was a really stupid thing to do. i’m just so f***ing sick of dealing with a cocky, accented son of a b****. and that was sark, now we have another one!”
vaughn’s breathing slowed. he seemed okay with her explanation. he sighed.
“yeah, but we’ll get this one.”
it was just a stated fact.
***
“great work in germany vaughn, syd. but we have something better,” dixon seemed very happy the next day.
“what?” syd asked.
“charles mccready.”
in walked guy, dressed impeccably in a white shirt and black suit, no tie. he sat down across from syd and tried not to stare at her.
“he turned himself in. agreed to work with us,” dixon explained.
“why?” sydney spat bitterly.

i’m not a perfect person. there are many things i wish i didn’t do. but i continue learning. i never meant to do those thigns to you. and so i have to say before i go, that i just want you to know.

i’ve found a reason for me, to change who i used to be. a reason to start over new, and the reason is you

“i first began working with sark after my fiance died. she had been british intelligence and was killed by a terrorist cell,” guy began. “i wanted revenge, so i called up an old friend who i knew had to be involved with something illegal. sark. and indeed he was. he got me into the game, got me connections and all that jazz. i’ve done a lot of things of which i am not proud. i look back on days in my life and i am embarassed and saddened by my actions. but i want to change.”
“why?” sydney was still bitter.
“my fiance died five years ago. it’s not worth it anymore,” he explained. “and once more i might lose someone i love because of this stupid game.”
sydney took a deep breath. god this was all too much to come at her at once. in only a period of days she had learned that the man she loved was bad, and then he had switched sides and became good.

i’m sorry that i hurt you, it’s something i must live with everyday. and all the pain i put you through, i wish that i could take it all away, and be the one who catches all your tears. that’s why i need you to hear

i’ve found a reason for me, to change who i used to be. a reason to start over new, and the reason is you

“i’ve hurt this woman in ways i can’t begin to explain,” guy went on. “but i love her so much. all i want to do is make things right, and this is the only way to do it.”
sydney could feel the eyes of dixon, vaughn, jack, all on her, but she didn’t care. she was doing her best to stop tears from swelling into her eyes. sometimes she hated what love could do to her.

i’m not a perfect person. i never meant to do those things to you. and so i have to say before i go, that i just want you to know

i’ve found a reason for me, to change who i used to be. a reason to start over new, and the reason is you. i’ve found a reason to show, a side of me you didn’t know. a reason for all that i do, and the reason is you

“i need to change,” guy stated simply.
the room was silent for a moment, no one brave enough to break it. finally jack cleared his throat.
“mr. mccready has given us information on sark’s next mission. it’s in a small town outside of paris,” jack said as a picture of the city popped up on the computer screens. “sark and a woman by the name of georgianne louella frescot want to kill this man.”
“pause for a moment,” sydney cut in. “georgianne louella frescot?”
“is the name familiar?” dixon asked.
“yeah, i think i might have seen it topping the worst names list of 2004,” she replied.
jack’s expression hardened, if that was possible. he clicked a button so a picture flashed onto the screen.
“wait a minute, this is abendroth,” vaughn said.
always the quick one vaughn, sydney thought to herself. it was obviously abendroth. the picture was the same one they saw before going on the mission to gain information on guy.
“pretty ironic, huh? you get killed by a gun that was bought from you two days earlier,” guy said.
“this is frescot,” jack said as a picture flashed onto the screen.
what she lacked in her name, she more than made up for in her looks. she was absolutely gorgeous. she had straight red hair that flowed almost all the way to her waist. she had porcelain skin but dark brown eyes. and if you weren’t already drooling, the smile that played its way onto her lips and the look in her eye said she was ready for fun. she was every man’s dream.
“she is very good. i have seen her work first hand. impressive,” jack explained.
“your mission is to apprehend all three of them; abendroth, frescot, and sark,” dixon said. “mccready will be working with you. he knows the equipment they are using, the floor plan, the exits, everything. this should go very well. you leave tonight. you’ll stay overnight in paris going over the mission. i want this to be perfect.”
sydney nodded. she was so out of it. it was as though she had drifted out of her body and was watching everything that happened, not being able to respond. she stood and left the room to go home like everyone else. but once in her car she just sat there. she wasn’t angry. she wasn’t sad. she wasn’t even confused. there was just too much all at once. she was overloaded.
“sydney?” jack was at her window.
“yeah?” she asked, snapping out of her trance.
“are you okay?”
“yeah, i’m fine. just tired i guess,” syd replied. “gotta go pack.”
she started her engine and pulled away, leaving her father standing alone in the parking garage. sydney kept her window down and left the radio playing softly on her way home. as she pulled into the driveway, “the reason” drifted over the speakers. she yanked the keys out of the ignition and went into her house.
she didn’t want to think about it. she didn’t want to be the reason for all of this s***. all she wanted was a hot bubble bath and then to curl up underneath a down comforter and dream sweet dreams. but she didn’t have time for that.
syd pulled a suitcase down from a shelf in her closet. she started packing. she packed clothes for comfort, not caring what she would be looking like. when she was done packing she sat on the edge of the bed. she looked around the room, her eyes landing on a picture of guy that was on her bedside table. she stood and picked it up.
he was indeed gorgeous. the picture was in his bed. his hair was tousled from sex, his green eyes were sparkling, and he was grinning. she had always loved the picture. he was happy, so wrapped up in her. she traced his face. as a tear rolled down her cheek, the doorbell rang.
she wiped her eyes and went to get it.
“i was wondering if i could give you a ride in.”
guy was looking at his feet, fidgeting back and forth. sydney stared at him and didn’t answer.
“i mean, if you’re all packed and ready to go.”
she just kept staring at him.
“saying something would be nice, you know. anything. i kinda put myself out on a line for you today,” he said.
“you put yourself out on a line for me?” sydney snapped. “you embarassed me in front of all my coworkers, including my father. it was obvious i was the woman you were speaking of. god didn’t you notice the uncomfortable silence when you were finished?! i’m surprised dixon wants me to go on a mission with you!”
“look i’m sorry!” he exclaimed. “i don’t give a s*** what the others think because i love you. if you don’t feel the same way it’s my loss. see you on the flight.”
syd watched as he walked down the steps toward his car. she cringed at what she was about to do but did it anyway.
“well is that ride still available?” she called.
he turned around and nodded, grinning one of those happy, wrapped up in her grins.
 
Sorry my review is so late! I thought that I had responded to it the same day I got my PM! :Ponder: But apparently I didn't! Silly me!

Loved the chapter, with Vaughn's jealousy and Mac's fiancee and him now working with the CIA!

I can't wait to see what happens on this mission of theirs! ;)
 
chapter seven: melanie

it was one of those nights when girls disappeared walking on the street and dead bodies were found in the garbage. it was cold and dreary. rain continually fell from the black mass of clouds that covered the sky. every once in a while a full moon would peak through and shine its mysterious light over everything.
sydney thought about what she was to do as she watched the rain pour down the tinted window.
***
“why do they want to kill abendroth?” vaughn had asked on the plane.
“he knows too much about their operation. and now he is expendable. they found a new supplier,” guy explained. “abendroth is delievering a batch of weapons to marc o’neill. when he comes out of the meeting place, sniper shot bam. he’s dead.”
“who’s shooting?” sydney asked.
“well it was supposed to be me,” guy avoided eye contact. “i’m guessing it will be julian. he’s got more experience. but g will be positioned in case she has a better shot. sark will be in this building.” he motioned to a building on the map. “g will be here.”
“how do you know they haven’t changed the plan since you aren’t there?” vaughn said.
“that’s not the way these two work. they lose a team member, they continue on. it’s the way they play the game. no emotions,” guy explained.
“so what do they think happened to you?” sydney wondered.
“i went four-wheeling in the rockies. came in contact with a mountain lion. that’s the end of me.”
there was a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth, as though the story amused him.
“are you sure they believe that?” vaughn asked.
“yeah. they are having my funeral tomorrow. or would be if they aren’t in cia custody,” guy replied.
“which one of you is going to take down frescot?” sydney changed the subject.
“which one of us?” guy looked at her quizzically.
“i’m taking sark,” she stated it matter-of-factly.
“he’ll kill you.”
“i’m glad you are so confident in my abilities,” syd scoffed. “but no, he won’t kill me. i’ve got him. vaughn, you got frescot?”
“no, i do,” guy cut in. “i know how she works.”
syd glared at him.
“syd it’s fine. i’ll be right behind him and we’ll take her. then we’ll meet up with you with sark,” vaughn said.
she nodded. no she didn’t like it, but she could deal with it. it wasn’t that she trusted vaughn more than guy, it wasn’t that she didn’t. it was just that she had been so royally screwed in her life that she wasn’t about to let it happen again. just because guy had given her a ride to work and said he loved her didn’t mean anything was any different from when he worked with sark.
“okay,” she sighed. “how are we doing this?”
***
guy had said that sark and frescot would get there in the morning, check everything, and wait, re-checking everything a lot. syd, guy, and vaughn had gone in the night before and planted cameras. they were amazingly well-hidden cameras. marshall was even able to make a camera look like a spider. they planted them in the corners of the rooms and could watch everything sark and frescot did without being detected in the least.
now there was the wait. it was just as long for the team from the cia as it was for sark and frescot. they sat together in a white van parked behind the building where sark was stationed. the van was turned off and it was so cold breath was visible in the air.
“that’s the fifth time sark has checked for bugs in the past two hours,” vaughn sighed. “he’s paranoid.”
“well, we are watching him, aren’t we?” guy replied. “he’s not paranoid, he’s the best.”
vaughn scoffed. sydney was still staring at the rain out the window. she was ready for this. she was going to take down sark, and find the truth about guy while she was at it. she was ready, but abendroth had just showed up and it was another hour before it was go-time.
***
sydney’s heart beat faster as she tiptoed up the staircase. she had a handheld screen and was watching sark. he didn’t seem to hear her at all. he was still positioned at the window, waiting for abendroth to appear.
“approaching frescot. wait for confirmation before taking sark,” vaughn’s voice was in syd’s ear.
and so she waited once more. pure adrenaline pumped through her veins as she watched sark on the monitor. her toes wiggled with anticipation, her fingers shook.
“frescot apprehended. on our way over. make the move on sark,” vaughn said.
sydney stepped out from the staircase. her gun was pointed at sark’s head.
“step away from it,” she demanded.
he glanced at her and smirked. as she slowly walked toward him, each step deliberate, purposeful, he moved from his gun.
“how have you been sydney? it’s been a while,” he said.
he was so calm. so sarcastic as she walked toward him. she kept the gun pointed at him, right between the eyes. he looked her up and down.
“no fancy get-up for me this time?” he asked.
“don’t kid yourself. the fancy get-up is never for you,” she replied. just as calm. just as sarcastic.
“for charles then?”
she ground her teeth together. she was only steps from him.
“we’re in the stairway. we’ve got your back,” he was again in her ear.
sydney lowered her gun. “charles.” it was just a statement. “tell me about him.”
“i’m afraid he’s told you the truth love,” sark said, smirking. “we were football mates.”
“and the fiance?”
“ah he told you about melanie, did he?” sark took a step toward sydney. “you know she looked kind of like you.” he touched her face. “he loved her with all that he had. does he love you that way?” he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.
“julian.”
the stern voice came from the other side of the room. guy had his gun trained on sark. he was shaking with restraint.
“get the hell away from her.”
“glad to see you weren’t killed by that mountain lion,” sark smirked. his hand traveled from syd’s face to her hip. he held her close to him.
“we already have frescot. you are obviously going to be taken into custody as well. so get your hands off of her and step away,” guy demanded.
sark chuckled to himself but stepped away. sydney slapped him and guy stepped to her side. vaughn was still in the back of the room, making sure frescot didn’t try anything.
“so you do love her like melanie.”
guy ignored him and turned him around, throwing him against the wall. syd had pulled her gun up again and didn’t put it down until guy had sark cuffed and was pulling him across the room.
“get these two both in the van and then we can grab abendroth,” syd instructed.
she followed guy and vaughn as they led the prisoners down the stairs. it was an awkward silence. frescot was glaring at guy. vaughn was looking, rather helplessly, from guy to syd. sark was simply smirking, the way he always did.
the rest of the mission went just as planned. they picked up abendroth and were back on a plane to l.a. within the hour. but the awkward silence was still there.
as sark was watching the clouds go by out the window of the plane, he finally broke it.
“why didn’t you tell me you loved her?” he asked.
“what would you have done, huh? what would you have said?” guy snapped. “you would have killed me.”
“no, i wouldn’t. g may have, but i wouldn’t,” sark said.
sydney was listening, but she didn’t want to. once more all she wanted to do was curl up under the covers or take a bubble bath. but she continued to listen.
“i’m sorry i turned on you jules,” guy’s voice was quiet. “you know i had to do it.”
“believe it or not, i do remember what love can do to a man,” sark replied. “but once more, g might be thinking differently.”
“i told her it was over. the day that i realized that i love sydney i told her.”
his voice softened at the mention of her name. sometimes men say things in a way that is 100% sincere, and it is obvious that it is sincere just from how they say it. “i love sydney” was said in just that way; it sent a pang through sydney’s heart. she pulled headphones over her ears and turned up her music. she hated how he made her feel, but she loved it just the same.

hope you like

m-c
 
I apologize for the late-ness of my review. Damn new job is really taking away a lot of my free time (don't get me wrong...I really love my actual job - it just takes up a lot of time)

Great chappy - I'm loving the interaction with Mac and Sark. And of course jealous Vaughn is always fun! :lol:

Keep up the great work - I'm interested to hear how the rest of this situation plays out :smiley:
 
omg i'm so sorry for the lack of updates. i didn't know where to go from the end of last chapter and now i just keep spouting out s***! i'm sorry. i'm trying.

m-c
 
aha! got over my writer's block and very much enjoy this chapter. especially cuz i can call it a "part one" hehe. anywho read and review puhlease!

chapter eight: interrogation, part one

it’s not always rainbows and butterflies
it’s compromise that moves us along

“she will be loved”

sydney stood, arms crossed, in front of sark. he was handcuffed to his chair. they were in the interrogation room. it wasn’t the nice interrogation room to which they took the standard people. no, it was clichéd, dark and dank, water seeming to sweat off of the walls. there were no windows, the light was dim. the standard mirror stretched across one side of the room, but it had a crack running all the way through it, and for once there was no one standing behind it.
sydney stared at sark. he stared back at her, his blue eyes reading everything that passed over her face. she wanted him to start the conversation, but knew he would never break.
“tell me about your operation,” she instructed.
“why? don’t you want to hear about your dear charles? or maybe how i came to have these devilish good looks?” he smirked.
sydney chuckled instead of rolling her eyes. sark arched an eyebrow at her.
“i figure you have to cooperate. i convinced dixon to let me talk to you instead of anyone else. though i do see you as a cocky son of a b**** just like everyone else, i also believe you know some things that could be useful. so unlike everyone else who doesn’t give much of a s*** what you have to say, i do. you should be grateful that i am the one talking to you,” she explained.
“though they may not give a s*** what i have to say, you won’t let them do anything to me because you are too curious about charles. you can be as professional as you want, but the questions you don’t ask will still be the ones you want to ask the most,” sark said. “who is charles really? what is he like? who was melanie? what happened between he and frescot? did he know who you were before you met? did he intentionally meet you and form a relationship? does he really love you? i can tell you that the answers to the third and second to last are yes, so what do you think the answer to the last one would be?”
sydney took a breath. she wasn’t going to let sark get to her.
“tell me about your operation,” she said.
“you can compartmentalize as quickly as your mother,” he chuckled.
“that’s great, who do you work for?” she practically growled.
“sloane,” he smirked.
“sloane?!” sydney exclaimed. sark nodded. “what? when? why? how?”
“mac came to me to find his wife’s killer. when i discovered who it was i knew i could use it to my advantage. first sloane and i partnered without him knowing that i knew about the murder,” he began to explain. “our partnership dwindled to nothing after sd-6 and the alliance were destroyed. but as soon as i heard that he had supposedly turned himself in and was ‘good’, i contacted him. i told him that i knew he hadn’t switched sides and i would expose his killing of a british agent. we struck a deal. five million dollars every year i work for him, collecting rambaldi artifacts. plus if i ever need anything, he is to supply it.”
“so that’s what you have been doing all this time?” sydney asked. “what has he had you collect?”
“he hasn’t had me collect anything. he gives me free rein. as long as it has to do with rambaldi, i can do whatever i want,” sark smirked.
“what does guy think about sloane?”
“guy?” he arched his eyebrow again. “you call charles guy?”
“never mind that,” she tried not to blush. “what does he think of sloane?”
“i never told him. to him, we’re still searching.”
“i thought he was your friend,” she said in an accusatory tone.
“i thought you were supposed to only care about my operation,” he smirked once more.
“sloane is still collecting rambaldi artifacts? i thought the message was already relayed. how much more can there be?” she changed the subject.
“the message was not peace. it detailed rambaldi’s final plan. an even more complex, abnormal plan,” sark replied.
“what is the plan?”
“i don’t know. i don’t want to know. i don’t believe in this rambaldi s***. i’m not doing this for the prophecy or any of that,” he said.
“what are you in it for?” sydney wondered.
“does it really matter?” he asked.
she sat in silence. no it didn’t really matter, especially not now. she had never believed sloane was no longer evil, and now she finally had reason to take him down. adrenaline was pumping through her veins. sark was in custody, sloane would be brought to justice; all of it made her forget about the problems with guy.
“tell me more about sloane,” she said.
“what do you want to know?” sark sighed. “yes, he is using his organization to make overseas contacts, among other things. yes, he is still searching for rambaldi’s true meaning. yes, he still is involved in activities that involve treason against his country.”
“like you have room to talk about betraying your country,” sydney scoffed.
“i don’t have a country. i don’t have rights. my counrty betrayed me and now i have none,” sark was angry.
sydney was taken aback. sark had always been so mysterious, no history, no background. she had never taken any time to think about why he was the way he was. but it didn’t matter; he was a traitor, and so was sloane.
“i have to go talk to dixon,” she stood and headed for the door.
“sydney,” he called her back. “don’t drop to our level. don’t compromise for him. as close as i am to mac, he could never been good enough for you.”
she ignored him and left. outside the door sydney took a breath, compartmentalized, and went to find dixon and her father.
***
“frescot is sitting there with her arms crossed and not speaking at all. and now mccready says he will only talk to you. did you get anything from sark?” jack asked when sydney found him.
“yes,” she said quietly.
everyone seemed to realize it was important. there was quiet. vaughn’s eyes were darting from person to person. jack was simply waiting for sydney to speak. dixon broke the silence.
“what did he say?”
“he works for sloane,” she replied.
“sloane?” vaughn exclaimed.
jack glared at him and he quieted.
“go on,” he instructed his daughter.
“sloane killed mccready’s fiancee. sark discovered this but kept it from mccready. once he heard sloane had switched sides, sark contacted him, told him he would never believe it and threatened to expose the killing of a british agent. sloane hired him,” syd explained. “sark now has control. anything he wants that has anything to do with rambaldi, he can do. plus he gets paid five million dollars a year and sloane provides him with anything he needs.”
“did he tell you more about sloane?” dixon asked.
“he said sloane was using his organization to make contacts overseas, he was still searching for rambaldi’s true cause, and he was still involved in treason against the united states,” she said.
“jack, go talk to sark. i’ll meet you there,” dixon instructed.
jack nodded and quickly left.
“sydney you talk to mccready. he is very stubborn about only talking to you, and we need to know if he knows anything. find out anything you can. if there is nothing of importance for him to say, see if you can break frescot,” dixon went on. “vaughn, you can observe sydney with mccready, then help her break frescot.”
dixon headed after jack. vaughn looked at sydney but she ignored his eyes. she made her way to charles, vaughn following like a dog behind her.


hope you like

m-c
 
Interesting what our Mr. Sark is saying...

I can't wait to see what Mac will say to Sydney - especially with Vaughn observing.

And Frescot...very interesting to see if they will be able to break her :smiley:

Thanks for the PM! :flowers:
 
chapter nine: interrogation, part two


vaughn wanted so badly to hug sydney before she went in the interrogation room. she wanted to tell her everything would be alright, that he would take care of her. but he knew he couldn’t. she had become so distant. and something was definitely happening between this mccready and her. he hated that he had to watch it, but he did what dixon told him to and stood behind the mirror.
this room was better than sark’s. for one, it wasn’t a cell. mccready wasn’t handcuffed to the chair. plus it was well lit, and a window allowed one to view the outside world. the mirror was clean and wasn’t broken. there was even a table; coffee pot, cups, sugar and cream included.
“syd i – ” charles began.
“sit down,” she said curtly. he did as he was told. “you turned yourself in, said you were going to cooperate.”
“i am, i – ” he started.
“i wasn’t finished,” she interrupted again. “though you said you would cooperate, you demand only to talk to me. that doesn’t seem very cooperative to me. cooperating is cooperating, no matter to whom you are speaking.”
“i just – ”
“shut up!” she yelled. “i don’t want any excuses for it. and i don’t want any lies. no nice little side comments, just the truth. tell me about your operation.”
he sighed. “fine, i’ll tell you. i work for sark, helping him find things having to do with rambaldi. in exchange, he helps me investigate melanie’s murder.”
“who is his employer?” sydney asked.
“he’s never told me. i know he is an american man,” charles replied.
“where does frescot fit in?”
he sighed. “i met g on a mission. she amazed me. i asked her to come work for us.”
“so she is lower than both you and sark?”
“she and i are more equals. sark is higher,” he said.
“and just out of the blue you asked her to come work for you?” sydney asked.
“no, not just out of the blue. i was on a mission. i met her. she was pretending to be a hooker. i f***ed her. i woke up with a knife at my throat and suggested she come work for us. is that good enough for you?” he scoffed.
“don’t give me this ‘is that good enough for you’ s***. i want to know the whole truth and if that is the whole truth then yes it is good enough for me but if not, keep talking!” she exclaimed.
“yes, that’s the whole truth,” charles said.
it did not seem to be a lovers’ quarrel. it did not even seem to be a friends’ quarrel. it seemed as though charles was a prisoner who wasn’t cooperating. the only thing that gave it away was syd’s eyes that boiled as she relived their past. she took a breath and jumped, into the deep end of the pool that was their relationship and the truth behind it.
“sark said you knew me when you first met me in the bar. did you? and what was the point of it?” sydney asked.
“so he doesn’t have to tell you the whole truth but i do?” charles chuckled.
“what do you mean?”
“you didn’t ask why i knew you?” he said. he went on, not waiting for an answer. “my first task was keeping tabs on you. i was supposed to know your friends, knoew where you liked to eat, know what you had in your morning coffee. i was supposed to know everything about you.”
“what did i have to do with your business?” sydney wondered.
“nothing.” he paused before continuing. “you fascinate him. any child of irina derevko and jack bristow is bound to fasicnate him. but you are different. he really is tangled in awe over you. what did you expect?”
“i didn’t expect him to send someone to f*** me for information.”
“please. julian knew you wouldn’t give up actual information. he just wanted to know about your life outside of business,” charles explained.
sydney paused for a moment. she stood and opened the door to the room behind the mirror.
“bring henry down to take a statement,” she told vaughn.
“just henry? we aren’t going to be here?” vaughn asked.
“charles will write his version of their mision and we will work on frescot,” she ordered.
vaughn nodded and left to find henry. sydney went back to charles.
“i’m sending someone down. he’ll take your version of the mission,” sydney said. “since you are cooperating, it shouldn’t be a problem.”
charles sighed. he missed their old relationship. he missed the comfort. he missed breakfast in bed. he missed walking on the beach together, watching the sunset. he missed telling her he loved her and kissing her. but this was the way it was, no matter how much he missed the old life.
the door opened and a man entered.
“thanks hank. let me know about any trouble,” sydney said, glancing at charles.
hank nodded and handed charles paper and a pencil. sydney headed out of the room.
vaughn was waiting patiently for her when she stepped out. she took a breath, avoided his eyes, and started toward the next interrogation.
***
frescot was just as dixon had described her. she was sitting behind the table, arms crossed, tapping her foot with an angry expression on her face. she did not look up when sydney and vaughn entered the room.
sydney immediately took the seat across from frescot. vaughn stood next to the mirror and attempted not to react to anything said.
“you don’t want to cooperate. completely understandable,” sydney said. “if the man i was sleeping and working with not only dumped me, but left my operation and began to fight against me because he was in love with another woman, i wouldn’t cooperate either.”
frescot glared at sydney. “he doesn’t love you.”
“okay. but by saying that you are also saying there must be something wrong with you to make him leave. what would that be? not good company? or worse, not good sex?”
“when we were together, it was the best sex either of us had ever had,” frescot scoffed.
“wow. it must have been good then,” sydney taunted. “because, you see, with us, it was great. there was this time in the shower. it was early morning. i had gone out for a run before he woke up. i was taking a shower and he surprised me; joined me in there you know? it was amazing. he lifted me – ”
“you b****,” frescot snarled.
“the one thing that gets you to talk,” sydney was almost laughing. “it is the one thing that was so easily discovered. you wouldn’t say a word to anyone else but the minute i started to talk about charles, you’re broken. if you are supposed to be such an amazing person with great work, whouldn’t you know better than to have such a personal relationship? such a vulernable part of your life?”
“miss bristow,” frescot smiled cruelly. “don’t you have the same relationship with charles? isn’t yours personal, vulernable?”
sydney smiled back just as cruelly. “i do have a personal relationship with him, but it is not half as vulernable. i can separate personal from professional. everyone thinks you are so good, but if someone knows the right words to say, you can’t stay stoic for a minute.”
“don’t say that i can’t separate my relationships from my business. you don’t know the first thing – ”
“then why don’t you?” vaughn jumped in. “why don’t you separate it? i would think you would be embarassed sharing your personal life with us. it would make more sense to speak of your operation; at least then you could keep your dignity.”
sydney smiled inside herself. maybe vaughn wasn’t as spineless as he had seemed.
frescot practically growled at vaughn’s comment, but she replied. “what do you want to know?”
“how did you come to work with charles and sark?” sydney asked simply to bother frescot, to see if she really could keep things separate.
“i met charles, f***ed him, was going to kill him, but took the offer to work with him and julian instead.”
her eyes never wavered from sydney’s as she answered. she had done it. personal and business were different.
“what are you doing for sark?” vaughn asked.
“collecting rambaldi artifacts,” frescot replied simply.
“why?”
“some american fellow. sam, slom, sloane. sloane. that was it,” she said.
sydney stood, not saying anything, and signalled vaughn into another room.
“the stories are all too perfect. too exact. i don’t doubt that sloane could be involved, but even if he is, they are hiding something,” she explained. “maybe he is, maybe they are lying and he isn’t. but they definitely aren’t telling us the whole truth.”
“let’s find dixon and see what he thinks,” vaughn suggested.
sydney agreed. just as they stepped into the hallway, dixon and jack stopped them.
“we’ve got some news,” jack said.
it didn’t sound good.

hope you like

m-c
 
just read this and all i can say is 'WOW' cant wait to read more.
please cud u pm me when you post more. thank you.
 
you know I loved the update :smiley:

Short review -- sorry...packing and stuff...I can't believe I move tomorrow! Yikes! :eek:
 
chapter ten: descending into darkness

sydney was on a plane; heading to a small polish town. so many things were in her mind she could barely handle it. the things that had happened in the past few hours had changed everything.
***
earlier that day
“we talked to abendroth after talking to sark. we hadn’t expected him to have much to say,” jack explained. “we were wrong. he said sark, frescot and mccready had a plan. their operation was supposed to self-destruct if they were ever caught. he didn’t know how, but he knew it was supposed to. he also told us we had better check on sloane’s whereabouts. we tried.”
“tried?” sydney’s eyes grew wide.
“he is missing. he left on a plane that was to be heading to a conference in london, but he never arrived,” dixon said.
“so we have no idea where he is?” vaughn asked.
“no, we do. it is assumed that he is heading to leba, poland,” jack replied. “we don’t know why, but abendroth said something about rambaldi artifacts possibly being hidden there.”
“is this really all abendroth knows, or is he not telling everything?” sydney accused.
“he probably is not telling everything but we are not pushing him yet. we need to push sark and frescot and mccready. they obviously know more than abendroth would about their own operation,” dixon said. “before we do anything, did you get anything out of mccready and frescot?”
“everyone’s stories are too exact. they aren’t telling the truth, at least not all of it,” she explained. “mccready says he works for sark, helping him collect rambaldi artifacts. frescot says that as well. frescot knew that sloane was the employer, mccready just knew it was an american man. but there is no reason for them all to be actually talking to us. i can understand sark, i mean his loyalties have always been flexible, but no one else should. the people involved in an operation never all talk and even if they did they would, the stories would never be the same.”
“i agree,” jack said.
the four stood in silence for a moment. vaughn looked nervous but he spoke.
“that’s not all mccready said.” his voice was quiet, almost timid.
“what else did he say?” dixon asked.
sydney glared at vaughn but answered the question.
“he and i have been involved. i met him in a bar. he just told me that it was his job. that sark wanted to know everything about what i did outside of the cia,” she replied, her voice never wavering.
no one seemed to find the fact that syd and mccready had been involved. it was just accepted. there was no hesitation, no alterations in anyone’s actions; the discussion simply went on.
“what do you have to do with their business? with their operation?” jack asked.
“nothing,” sydney replied. “nothing at all. apparently sark wanted to keep tabs on me. just like mccready said. he wanted to know everything i did outside of work. mccready told me that any daughter of irina derevko and jack bristow was bound to fascinate him. that he was ‘tangled in awe’ over me.”
“if that is true,” dixon began, “you are the one who needs to push sark.”
“it seems she is the one who needs to push everyone,” jack said. “she needs to push sark because he is fascinated with her; she needs to push mccready because they were involved; she needs to push frescot because she was the only one who can get her to talk.”
“frescot will talk now. if not, vaughn can probably get her to talk. tell mccready that you are my father and he will talk,” sydney replied. “i can take on sark.”
“i will continue to speak to abendroth, keep him talking. vaughn take frescot. jack take mccready. and syd, you’ve got sark. let’s do this quickly, if sloane really is in poland, he probably won’t be there for long. get as much as you can.”
they all split up. vaughn turned right around and went back in to see frescot. dixon headed back to abendroth. jack moved quickly toward mccready’s cell, his stone cold poker face already set. sydney was immediately on her way to sark’s, adernaline pulsing through her veins.
“i fascinate you? you are ‘tangled in awe’ over me? you want to know who i hang out with? know what restaurants i like? you want to know what i have in my coffee?!” sydney screamed.
“it’s good to see you again too, love,” sark chuckled.
sydney grabbed him by the neck. his arms, still handcuffed, lifted the chair up with his body as she pulled him off the ground. his eyes widened slightly, but he kept a smirk on his face. she dropped him back to the floor.
“what did you think? he was working with me, and he knew who you were. of course i bloody sent him,” sark stretched out his neck.
“what is so interesting about me? huh, sark, what is it?” sydney asked.
“maybe it’s our banter? or your strength? your skills? who gives a s*** what it is? you certainly don’t. all you care about is that it turns out that your dear charles wasn’t quite so dear after all, and that makes you angry,” sark replied.
“well how the hell am i supposed to feel?”
“that’s what you get for loving someone in this game,” he shrugged.
“like you even know what love is,” sydney growled.
“like i know what it is? i know perfectly well what it is. knowing the lines of your face, knowing the little things that you do, knowing your favorite breakfast, lunch, dinner, knowing every scar on your body, knowing the one thing you want to do before you die, knowing how far you will go,” he replied.
“love is not knowing the lines on your face, love is being there during the laughs that caused the lines. love is not knowing your favorite meals, it is making them for someone. love is not knowing the scars on your body, it is knowing the stories behind them. love is not knowing the one thing you want to do before you die, love is cheering you on when you do that thing. love is not knowing how far you will go, love is going that far with you. love is sacrifice. love is doing anything for another person,” she stood in front of him as she talked.
“is that what love is? well if love is sacrifice, do you love charles enough to sacrifice your morals, your safety, your own good?” sark’s blue eyes tore into sydney.
sydney slapped him. his hands pulled at his handcuffs; not trying to attack, simply trying to touch his face, to ease the slap.
“some people can’t be there. that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love the woman,” sark said.
sydney just stood and stared at him. he looked so strangely sincere. the smirk was gone from his face. his eyes swirled like a stormy ocean. who would he love? did he know what love was? did it matter?
“it doesn’t even matter,” sydney scoffed. “why is sloane going to poland? how will your operation self-destruct now that you are caught?”
“abendroth wasn’t quite as loyal to me as was supposed, eh love?” sark smirked once more.
“if your loyalties are so flexible, how can you – oh my god, stop leading me off topic. where exactly is sloane? why? for how long will he be there?” she asked.
“he’s in poland like you said. leba, on the baltic sea. that’s where the artifacts are. he’ll be in and get out before you can get a plane ready to fly. unless…” he trailed off. “unless he is assembling the device there. but he should be bloody smart enough not to underestimate you.”
sydney pulled a key out of her back pocket. she unlocked sark’s handcuffs and yanked him out of the chair. she handcuffed him once more, hands behind his back, tight as she could.
“you are coming with us,” she hissed.
she dragged him out of the room.
***
sark shifted in his sleep next to her. mccready was across from her, also fast asleep. she studied them both. they looked standard, normal. without being able to see their eyes – ice blue and swirling green – there was nothing to give them away.
sydney looked over at mccready. his black hair was perfectly shaggy, just like always. she remembered the first time she had seen him, in the bar. she had immediately adored his hair, his defined jaw, his green eyes.
she thought back to the night, the night. she was curled up in his arms, warm, comfortable. he was supposed to be asleep, he wasn’t supposed to hear her. but when he said “i love you too” her heart had exploded. all she wanted to do was stay with him, forever. never leaving. she didn’t care about the cia at that moment. she didn’t care about catching sark, bringing sloane to justice. she just wanted to be with guy, always.
then there was the day she had first seen him with sark. her heart didn’t explode, it imploded. she descended into darkness. she wished she had never met him. all she wanted to do was go back in time, never go to the bar – even better, never have lost francie, or danny, or anyone; never have joined sd-6 in the first place. then all she wanted to do was hit him, hurt him worse than he had hurt her. make him beg for mercy.
the conflicting emotions still tossed inside of her. sometimes she just wanted him to hold her, sometimes she wanted to slam his head against a wall, and sometimes she just wanted him to go away.
she glanced over to sark, who was still fidgeting next to her. she wondered what haunted his dreams, who haunted his dreams. she thought about what he had said earlier that day. did he really know what love was? was he capable of loving something other than a gun or a fine red wine?
sark began to mumble in his sleep. sydney looked at him closely. he was still tossing and turning, and was beginning to sweat.
“no. i won’t. i won’t kill her. i can’t,” he whispered. “no. don’t. leave her alone!”
his eyes snapped open. they were darker than usual, and for the first time that sydney had ever seen, they were fearful.
“are you okay?” sydney asked.
it was almost mechanical. normally she wouldn’t be asking if sark was okay, she wouldn’t care; but seeing him seem so scared and vulnerable, asking if he was all right was a reflex.
“i’m fine,” sark replied. with a glance over at mccready, he added, “are you?”
“of course,” sydney said.
she didn’t look into his eyes that were now devoid of fear. the usual smirk returned to play on his crooked lip.
“of course,” he mocked. “why wouldn’t you be?”
“go back to sleep sark,” she sighed. “or can’t you? will they kill her if you go back to sleep?”
she knew it was a cheap shot, but she took what she could get. sark’s eyes narrowed. she shrugged and left to speak with her father about the mission.
***
the plane landed around midnight. they were in leba at the private estate by twelve thirty. dressed in black, they were almost undetectable by the human eye.
“there are no guards; we didn’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves,” sark had said earlier on the plane. “and if sloane is there, he will be setitng up the rambaldi device and not watching the monitors.”
“sark, you will lead vaughn and me through the front. mccready and sydney will enter through the back. we’ll meet at the door of the wine cellar. that is where he will be, correct?” jack asked.
“if he is still in poland. he will be in the wine cellar assembling the device,” mccready assured him.
charles was leading sydney in the back. sark had turned of the secruity alarm through the front gate, and they were in no danger of setting off any alarms; they simply had to make sure they were not seen by sloane or anyone he may have brought with him.
“look sydney before we go in, just let me say – ” charles began.
“no,” sydney interrupted. “we need to carry out this mission. whatever you have to say can wait.”
“no it can’t and since i am the one who could easily turn the secruity back on or lead you in the wrong way, i am going to say this,” he stood his ground.

i’m full of regret
for all the things that i have done and said
and i don’t know if it’ll ever be ok to show my face ’round here
sometimes i wonder if i disappear
would you ever turn your head and look
see if i’m gone
cause i fear

there is nothing left to say to you
that you wanna hear
that you wanna know
i think i should go
the things i’ve done are way too shameful

“i do love you. yes, you were at first my assignment, but the relationship has been real to me. i know you don’t care, but i want you to know,” he went on. “i love you, i fell for you like any normal man would. but as much as i hate it, i know that i have hurt you and nothing else matters. as much as i adore you, i don’t deserve you.”
sydney stared him right in his swirling green eyes and nodded.
“okay, now let’s go,” she said, sounding much more emotionless than she felt.
he bowed his head for a moment. he lifted it and headed into the house, sydney close behind.
amazing. sydney thought the moment she entered. well five million dollars a year can buy amazing.
even in the dark, the house glowed of money. the high celings, chandeliers and abstract paintings were obvious signs of the millions sark had spent on the house. but it also glowed of death and blood. how could it not? the abstract paintings were dark, with splashes of red and black. the house had an eerie, haunted feeling, as though it knew the business of those who owned it.
left. straight. right. down a staircase. right. second door on the left. sydney memorized her way to the wine cellar door. jack, sark and vaughn were there and waiting.
“ready?” jack mouthed silently.
sydney and charles nodded, unholstering their guns.
jack put his hand on the door knob, and silently opened it. the stairs were pitch black, daring them to go down. they all took the dare and slowly descended into the darkness.

it's a little bit of a longer one. i'm really excited about everything that is coming up, even though i'm not quite sure what it will be. :smiley: hope you like. please r/r

m-c
 
Okay -- I finally have a chance to read your updates :smiley: Sorry for the absence, couldn't be helped -_-

I love the interactions between Sydney and Sark...I think they are very realistic, very true to form.

Macs great too, I can't wait to see where everything is headed! :smiley:
 
chapter eleven: world-domination


in the corner of the cellar was a light. it was just a small glow, but hands could be seen working in its light. sloane seemed not to notice their presence.
jack signalled to sydney and mccready to go around and approach from one side. vaughn and sark came from the other, and jack came from behind.
sydney knew she should wait. she knew they should take down sloane together. but she couldn’t. she didn’t trust whatever rambaldi s*** he was working on, and didn’t want him near it any longer. with one push off step, she leapt at him. when she hit sloane, he crumpled beneath her. she quickly had him on his stomach, arms over his head.
“sydney,” he said. “i expected you to come.”
“shut up you son of a b****!” she exclaimed. “you violated your agreement. when we get back they are going to kill you; and i’m going to watch.”
the ***hole beamed. it wasn’t a smile or a grin, it was a f***ing beam. as though she could not have said anything to make him happier.
sydney slammed his head against the ground.
“no sydney!” jack warned. “it’s not worth it.”
suddenly sydney felt the cold metal of a sig-sauer behind her ear. she glaced over at her father and vaughn. with a smack, sark hit vaughn over the head with his gun. vaughn was out cold and jack was not fast enough for sark, who quickly had his gun pointed squarely between jack’s eyes.
“drop your weapons,” mccready instructed from behind sydney.
both bristows threw their weapons to the side instead of laying them at their feet, but neither sark nor mccready were stupid enough to go after them. they kept their guns where they were.
“get her up and away from sloane,” sark ordered. “did you get it together?”
sloane rose and brushed himself off before he answered.
“of course i did julian. i promised you that i would,” he replied. “all we need now is my dear sydney.”
“i’m going to kill you myself!” she struggled in mccready’s grasp.
“there is no way i am going to let you use my daughter,” jack said.
“now see, that is why my glock is pointed at your head. try anything and i’ll shoot you. we only need sydney,” sark smirked.
“why the hell do you need me to begin with?” sydney asked, looking at charles.
he shrugged.
“you don’t even know? sark, how can you possibly have people working for you who don’t even know what the hell they are supposed to be doing?” she exclaimed.
“when you help people they help you,” sark replied.
“when you help them? how is this helping him ‘find the people responsible for killing his fiancee’? he killed your fiancee! arvin sloane!” she yelled.
mccready nodded. “i know.”
“how the hell can you work with him? and why the hell did you lie about not telling him?”
“look where you are! you are on our property, our estate, in our wine cellar, with our guns aimed at your bloody head. why did we lie? i wonder,” sark smirked.
“you son of a b****. this was all a plan?” she asked.
“of course this was all a bloody plan!” he laughed.
“i know why we need you. i knew who sark’s employer was,” mccready said. “we knew where sloane was going. we knew abendroth was going to tell you. we knew g was going to pretend not to cooperate until you provoked her with stories about me. i never had a relationship with her. i never f***ed her and woke up with a knife to my throat. hell, i’ve never been engaged. i’ve never known anyone named melanie in my life.”
“this was all a lie?” she bit back her emotion. “all part of the plan?”
sark smirked. “sorry love.”
“okay.” it was a simple statement, though nothing about the room or what she had just heard was anywhere near okay. “so what is this rambaldi device? why do you need me?”
“straight to business. i like that in a woman,” mccready chuckled.
sydney’s glare did not succeed in wiping the smirk off of his face. but sark answered her question, and she closed off her fury and listened to his response.
“the first rambaldi device did not spit out the word peace, as sloane easily convinced the ignorant cia,” sark explained. “it laid out a plan. the people who followed the plan would achieve world-domination.”
“you’re joking, right?” sydney scoffed. “you expect rambaldi to provide you with world-domination? news flash, the only people who will ever have world-domination are the kids who win it in video games.”
“how wrong you are,” sloane said. “you could have had it, if only you were not so righteous. if you had bothered to stray from your strict morals, even once, you could have seen the signs. realized that indeed you could have world-domination. but now we have you, so we will get it.”
“how?” jack asked.
“is spy daddy worried?” sark laughed. he paused but went on. “sloane has assembled everything. all we need is sydney’s blood. with that, the device will produce a vial of liquid. anyone who drinks it will have powers beyond this world.”
“and they are supposed to lead you to world-domination?” sydney sighed.
“they will,” mccready said. “what we get from the vial will lead all of us to world-domination.”
“here’s a question: what happens if the three of you disagree? if you are all supposed to have world-domination, shouldn’t you all get your way?” she arched an eyebrow at them, as though mocking their dream.
“we will cross that bridge when we come to it,” mccready replied.
“so in other words, you all have your own ways with which you are going to take the other people out before you even reach the point of disagreement?” she chuckled.
“does her blood need to be giving willingly, arvin?” sark asked.
“no.”
“how long does she have to be alive after she’s given the blood?”
“as long as it takes to make the vial. so about two minutes.”
“if she was shot in the heart, could she be kept alive for two minutes?”
“yes, but here, away from any medical supplies, she would die quickly after that.”
“hmm.”
sark’s blue eyes were daring sydney to go on. she knew he would not hesitate to kill her as long as he still got his portion of the vial. but still, she continued to talk.
“that’s where you have a problem sark. i would rather die then give any of you any power,” she said. “i would find a way to die before the vial was finished.”
sark’s eyes didn’t waver. he glared back at her.
“we have the means to keep you uncomfortable enough that you won’t be able to so much as move, much less find a way to commit suicide,” he replied.
“why don’t i just shoot her and we can take her blood and get this over with?” mccready asked.
“i enjoy sydney’s company. i would like to keep her around after the vial is made. i’m sure arvin wouldn’t want the woman he thinks of as his daughter to be dead,” sark grinned evilly.
“i think you are lying,” jack’s voice was confident. “i think you need her alive as long as you expect to have world-domination.”
“right,” sark scoffed.
“if i’m wrong, then shoot her,” jack said. “if you don’t need her alive, shoot her. prove me wrong.”
sydney’s eyes grew wide. but slowly they shrunk to normal size and her breathing returned to its standard pace. her father had to be one hundred percent certain. there was no way that he would put her life in danger.
sark’s jaw clenched.
“i don’t need to prove myself you to, mr. bristow,” he said. “and even if you are right and we need her alive, remember that we do not need you alive.”
“are you sure that you need her blood? maybe it’s her mother’s you need? irina derevko would even voluntarily help you achieve world-dominance,” jack replied.
sark struck him in the temple with his gun and knocked him out. now it was only sydney.
“sydney love, it seems you are the only good guy left,” sark said. “too bad for you, we aren’t in a movie. you bloody americans always make the good guys win, even if only one is left. that’s the problem with americans, they are always so righteous. like you dear sydney, with your black-and-white morality. you have never even thought that there could be just motives behind something you see as wrong. if it is wrong, it is wrong, no matter the motives or the circumstances. and if it is right, it’s right. the difference is as clear as that of black and white.”
sydney spit at his feet.
“do you want to know what i am going to do first thing? how i am going to exercise my powers?” sark stood right in front of her. “i am going to get my first taste of agent sydney anne bristow. i say first because i will continue – ”
sydney’s arms were held behind her back by mccready, but he had no control over her legs. she pulled her knee up and into sark’s groin. he doubled over in pain.
“arvin, start the process,” sark groaned.
sloane stepped toward sydney with a knife.
suddenly the cellar door burst open. twenty people dressed in black came racing in, guns ready to fire.
“drop your weapons!” one of them yelled. it was dixon. “and up against the wall.”


there will probably only be one more chapter after this, maybe two. i've just got to get things wrapped up. please r/r. hope you like.

m-c
 
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