In This World

[indiepunk]

Title: In This World
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Spoilers: S1, S2 and S3 as it goes along.
Archive: Sure, but ask first. J
Disclaimer: Don’t own anything, blah blah blah, please don’t sue me, blah blah blah. The only character that’s mine and only mine is the one of Murphy, so don’t go using her without asking.
Feedback: My first Alias fic ever, so please be kind.


#1

I walked directly into the warehouse completely unarmed. I had gone there by myself since I had no reason whatsoever to be fearful. I had known these people for as long as I could remember and I was certain that this meeting would be just as the others: uneventful. I couldn’t have been more wrong. As soon as I walked in I knew something was off. Everybody in the room (Sark, a black woman and some Neanderthal-looking goons) were standing while some old man I had never met in my life was sitting on a simple metal chair. I would be lying if I told you that old man didn’t give the creeps and I’m an assassin-for-hire, for Christ’s sake! I’m supposed not to fear anything.
“This has definitely been not what I expected.” The man said while looking at me up and down like he was checking out some piece of merchandise. Little did I know that was exactly what he was doing. I kept an expressionless face and, what I hoped to be, a threatening stance. Mess with me and I will make you suffer.
“Isn’t she too young?” He asked, this time looking at Sark, who quickly tried to move towards me but as soon as he saw me tensed even more he stopped himself.
“She’s actually my age.” Sark said, his eyes never leaving mine. I was ready to strangle him and he knew it. “She’s really good at what she does and I’m convinced that she will be a great collaborator, only, of course, if she’s on our side.” He smiled slyly at this and at that moment I’d had enough.
“I think it’s extremely rude on your part to be talking as if I’m not even here.” I said, mustering all my will to sound calm and in control, which of course, I wasn’t. “Now, could any of you tell me what the hell is going on here?”
The old man smiled widely.
“You remind me so much of someone I know.” He said.
“I’m honored.” I said. “Now, who the f*** are you?”
“I am Arvin Sloane and I’m here to make a deal.”
“You should change your name to Monty Hall, then. More effective.” He didn’t smile this time, obviously not enjoying the joke, but for the smirk on their faces, apparently Sark and the woman had.
“We want you to work for us.” Sloane continued.
“Us?”
“Yes, us.“ He was starting to get annoyed.
“How much money are you willing to give me?”
“None. You’re going to work for us for free.” The words escaped his mouth as if he was saying ‘Congratulations, it’s a girl!’ I scoffed. I mean, was this some sort of joke? I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. This pompous prick appeared out of nowhere acting as if he owned the whole f***ing world and had the balls to try to threaten me into working for him, for nothing, no less?! I was so not going to take that kind of attitude from anyone, not even from Sark himself, whom I held in great regard right until that moment. I was definitely ready to kick some old-man ass. But I didn’t. Instead, I turned around and started to walk away. I heard a click and I just knew a gun was being pointed in my direction.
“Is that your final answer, Miss Murphy?” Sloane asked with an almost sadistic tone. He was practically begging me to say no.
I turned around and said, “You watch a lot of TV, don’t you? What’s next, some improv right out of ‘What’s my line, anyway?’“
The prick of the dart was barely noticeable; I only became aware of it lodged on my neck when my vision started to get blurry. It had been so fast, really. No time to think or to try to escape. I unceremoniously fell flat on my face unconscious. My last thought was: how could I fall without hitting myself too hard. I was definitely in trouble and for the look of it I was not going to get any help from my so-called former friends.

#2

I woke up in a dark room, tied to a chair. My neck hurt like hell from having my head hanging forward while unconscious. It was obvious no one in there really cared about my well-being. I felt somewhat neglected and, well I admit it, I had the urge to cry. I looked up, and whom do I find standing a few feet away from me, no other than Sark. That pretentious bastard.
“I feel like felgercarb.” I said, my voice hoarse. I didn’t know how many days I had been like this, in that position. “You shot me.”
“I know.” His eyes had a glint to them I couldn’t quite place. “But I’m not going to say I am sorry for it, though. It was necessary.”
“Oh, really?” He had changed into someone I barely recognized. I mean, he always was a pretentious bastard, but now it seemed that quality had become his main trademark. “Since when is it a necessity to shot someone with a f***ing dart! I’m not an animal, you know. You could’ve just asked.”
“We asked and you refused. Like I said, it was necessary.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Now the question is, should I untie you or not?”
“Don’t.” I said. “You don’t want me to mess your pretty face, do you?”
He smiled. God, if his eyes weren’t so cold I would have believed that gesture to be truthful.
“You’d be at a disadvantage.” He said. “With your broken leg and all.”
“My what?” I followed his eyes down to my legs to find my left one was in a cast. They had me in their hands now. Like this I couldn’t fight or make my way around properly. They had crippled my ability to be self-sufficient. Any possibility to escape had just gone to hell. I looked back at Sark, making sure pure hatred was all my eyes showed.
“I’m gonna kick your ass.” I said. We both knew it was a complete lie, but still, he seemed to go along with it. He moved behind the chair and untied me. When I tried to stand up I almost fell on my butt, but since Sark has always been such a gentleman, he quickly grabbed me by the arm to steady me. We exchanged a glance and I could’ve sword I saw the almost patient sweet guy I’d always known, but deep down I knew he wasn’t there anymore. He was never going to come back. Still, some residues of the old one must be there.
“Where’s Allison?” I wanted to move his attention as away from me as possible. “I thought she said she was going to be here.”
He looked down at the floor, apparently bothered by the question.
“Well, she is.” He said, cryptically. “In fact, she was in the warehouse last night...”
“I didn’t see her.”
“You did.” He continued. “You just didn’t recognize her.”
“What do you mean?” I was starting to get nervous. When Sark started to talk cryptically I always knew something bad had happened. And I mean, something really bad.
“Have you ever heard of Project Helix?”
“No, why?”

#3

“Could you please stop staring? ‘Cause it’s starting to bother me.” Ally said as we were sitting on the roof of a building waiting for our target to come out so we could put a beautifully made bullet between his eyebrows. I still couldn’t believe what Sark had told me about Allison and the whole change she went through. And dare I say, all that sacrifice for nothing. The physical change had been complete. There was not a trace of Allison in her, at least not for the eye to see. Sark looked the same but he wasn’t and Allison looked different but she wasn’t; such a paradox.
“It’s just…did it hurt?” I said, without looking away. I was curious.
She turned to me for a second, pain visible in her eyes, “Like hell.”
“I’m sorry.” I didn’t like the fact that I didn’t know what she was feeling. Having to live for the rest of your life with somebody else’s face was no easy thing to muster. She even had to live as that person for some time, live in her house, and hang out with her friends. I sort of envied that. I mean, she had the opportunity to relatively lead a normal life, a chance Sark nor I could ever have. Even if she was there only as a spy, still, she had a taste of it. And it must’ve left a sour flavor in her mouth.
“So, who’s our target today again?” I asked. Arvin Sloane had provided us with a list of forty-seven people to exterminate. The first one was going down today. We heard Sark on our comms: Target’s heading your way.
“Thank God.” Ally looked at me menacingly. “You ready?”
“Why do I have to be the one to pull the trigger?” I asked. I had killed hundreds of people before, but never against my will. Although, I personally enjoyed the experience of annihilating the life of a scumbag, as much of the people I killed were, I wasn’t sure the people on that list deserved to die at my hands. “Why can’t it be you or Sark? You both have done this before.”
“Because you’re special.” I heard Sark say in my earpiece. Allison smiled callously.
“It’s true.” She said. “You are.” And blew me a kiss. I could hear Sark snickering.
I tried not to laugh, but I just couldn’t. It suddenly felt like old times, when we were wicked for fun and not for obligation.
“Stop it you two.” I said while pointing at our target with my rifle. “You’re making me blush.” As the man started crossing the street I pulled the trigger. The hit was so perfect that parts of his brain splattered the wall and the people behind him.
“Let’s go.”
There were screams and panic, but we didn’t stay to witness that. By the time the man’s bodyguards reached our building, we were long gone. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, I was so proud of myself even if all of this had been against my better judgment. I was practically glowing. I loved my line of work.
Suddenly, Allison brought the car to a screeching halt right in front of our safe house. I almost kiss the dashboard with my forehead weren’t it because of the seatbelt.
“Uh...are you all right?” I asked her tentatively a little bit worried she was going to hit me or something; she was a nasty piece of work when she got mad. But then again, so was I. Anyway, there was nothing to be angry about, so I couldn’t understand what her deal was.
“I’ve seen the way you look at him.” Allison stated quietly, her hands on the steering wheel, never turning to look at me. Cold ran down my spine and my stomach turned to knots.
“What are you talking about?” I said, even when I knew exactly what she meant. It was widely known that I had a thing for Sark, but that was a long time ago. I still felt something, but it wasn’t as if I was willing to go into a catfight for him, much less a catfight with Ally. It just wasn’t worth it anymore. Or was it?
“Do you…love him?” She asked gazing at me with hope, maybe? I didn’t know what to make of her question. I gulped. Could I be brave enough to tell her the truth?
“No.” I was never brave enough. I’d save the truth for some other day. “I used to.”
Allison nodded slowly, processing the information.
“Why didn’t you do anything about it?” She asked. I couldn’t believe it; two wanted dangerous women having a girl talk about a guy just as dangerous as themselves.
“Because we were kids trained to feel nothing. Allison.” I was starting to get angry. Why didn’t I do something? God knows. “I thought it was wrong. I didn’t think it was possible.”
Silence.
“Does that answer your question?” I said, while opening the car’s door. I’d had about enough of this sentimental felgercarb. “By the way, I’m not planning to take him away from you, if that was what you were thinking. He’s with you, remember, not with me.” With that I walked away from the car, graciously limping, not even bothering to close the door. And that was when I heard it, the feedback on my earpiece; Sark had been listening to everything the whole time. At that moment I would’ve used my own rifle on myself, but since it was back at the car, I just limped my way to my room and stayed there for the rest of the day.

tbc

 

[Alias Fan Gillian]

Good start. Can I get a pm when you update.

 

[indiepunk]

<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>In This World

4/?</span>

“I have a feeling this is not going to work out.” I said to Arvin Sloane when he came to congratulate me on my first ten hits. He said he was proud of me and that he had known from the start that I was going to fulfill my duties with extraordinary efficiency. I almost told him to stop kissing my ass, but since I had to break him the news that I wasn’t going to do another job for him, I kept my mouth shut. After I stated my intentions of leaving, Sloane’s face acquired an acid look and Sark, who was standing in a corner, crossed his arms over his chest. They were definitely not happy about this. I suddenly wondered what kind technique they would use to keep me theirs this time. Would they break my other leg, maybe an arm, possibly my neck? No, not my neck; they needed me and that, in a very disturbing kind of way, gave me an upper hand. I hadn’t talked to Sark in a month, I only nodded and said yes and no when asked something, but that was it. I didn’t feel like it. Even though we had known each other for some time it didn’t mean we knew everything about each other. I didn’t even know if Sark was his real name, for crying out loud. I mean, Allison was a totally different matter, she didn’t care if I knew her name or not, and I guess that was sort of same attitude I had. I didn’t care if you knew who I was, you would still be at the receiving end of my gun and there was not a thing you could do about it. Sark didn’t care, but he didn’t want anyone to know where he was coming from, that was why his allegiances were flexible; he appeared to have no roots whatsoever. And that, in short, was the key to his success. He was his first, second and third priority, and if the pay was good, the employer came in fourth.
“I think this is working out just fine.” Sloane said, giving a mockery of a smile. He looked at Sark for a second, maybe holding him responsible for this situation. Sark turned my way and I averted my eyes. I couldn’t even look at him. Anyway, I needed information and this was the only way I could.
“I think you should reconsider your decision.” Sark said. It seemed to me he was talking from a great distance and all I could hear were the final echoes of a longer message.
“Why should I?” The trick question.
“For one, if you want to keep your life.” Sark was beginning to loose his temper and that was a good sign. “Second, I thought you had grown accustomed to the fact that not working with us is not an option. How many more broken limbs does it take to convince you, I wonder?”
“I want money.” I said. “Lots of it. And I’m talking about enough money, so that when all of this is over I won’t have to work another day for the rest of my human life.”
“Eli…” Sloane interrupted. “May I call you Eli?”
“Call me whatever you want.” Sark eyed me suspiciously after I said that. Was he into my game? Had he noticed?
“Eli, do you know who Milo Rambaldi is?” Sloane didn’t wait for my answer. “He was, as some call him, a prophet. And one of his prophecies talks about a woman who, in due time, will, and I quote, render the greatest power into utter desolation unless stopped at vulgar cost.”
“What does that have to with me?” My mind is reeling. A prophecy is what had ruined my free-willed life?! Well, this is great.
“Well, you are the vulgar cost I’m willing to pay in order to stop this said woman. So, your proposition of a money payment is acceptable. Just give Sark here the account number you want the money transferred to and it will be a done deal. You’ll only get half of it now, of course, the rest you’ll get when you finish your task. Anything else?”
“No.”
“I thought so.”
Sloane left, but first he whispered something to Sark, which I didn’t get to hear. After that, Sark turned to me.
“Get your coat, it’s cold outside.” He said, with a softer tone now.
“Why?” I stood up. “Where are we going?”

“Are you kidding me?!” I very nearly screamed while we drove through the night. Sark tilted his head a little, obviously annoyed at my loudness.
“No.” He said. “I’m not kidding you. Although, I would’ve loved to, only to keep you from yelling so near my ear.”
“This is undeliverable.” I said, outraged, which is the least I felt. “You mean to tell me I never had a broken leg and that I’ve been wearing this cast for a month just so you could keep me under your command?”
Sark eyed me with something I detected to be guilt, “Yes.”
“Do you have any idea how itchy these things can be?” I was ready to jump him, but in a non-sexual kind of way. But now that I think about it, that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing. “And I mean really itchy, like I-want-to-cut-off-my-leg-with-a-chainsaw itchy.”
“Well, what a wonderful description,” He winced. “You think you could keep the next one to yourself?” A second of silence past between us then he said, “Would it have been better if I had offered to help with the scratching?”
“I…I…I don’t know…maybe…” I smiled. There was definitely some flirting in there, deep down. If Allison were here she would’ve probably already kicked my ass. “What are you trying to do? Is this another trick?”
“I may be extremely smart, but right now I can’t seem to catch your meaning.” He was staring up ahead now, not taking his eyes away from the road.
“You heard everything that day.” The words rolled off my tongue without me noticing. “Aren’t you ever even going to ask? Do you care so little?” I was staring at him now, quite shamelessly. Apparently my brain didn’t register that feeling anymore.
He looked at me side ways. Was that pain I saw, or was it my imagination?
“I care.” He quietly and guardedly said. “But since it isn’t an issue anymore, as you said, then I don’t see the point of discussing it any further.”
I gulped down every thing I wanted to state and nodded, “True. There’s no point.”
At the doctor’s house, the cast was taken off. I wasn’t able to walk properly since I hadn’t used my leg for a lengthy amount of time, so Sark had to help me get back to the car and then later to my room. We stood in silence at the doorway, each of us unable to utter a word. Finally, and thankfully, he broke the silence.
“I’ll see you in the morning.” He said, while turning around and walking away.
“Thank you.” I said, but I don’t think he heard me; maybe next time.


<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>#5/?</span>

As the days went by more names where written off the list, me killing each bearer with cold efficiency. Now I had the liberty to go alone with a tracking device stuck in my collarbone, of course, but still it wasn’t the same as going with company. Whoever it was, Sark or Allison, it was a distraction I couldn’t afford, much less now. But on my 35th hit Allison decided to go with me; she said she had adrenaline to waste since her most desired wish was about to come true: she was going to get her face back. No more looking like the Francie girl anymore, she was going to be herself again and what better way to celebrate than with a beautiful blood-splattered murder. I sometimes amaze myself with the things we would say; we may have seen and done horrible things but some of the stuff that came out our mouths wasn’t worth a cent. We didn’t deserve to have such carefree lives. And even though we tried lying to ourselves, there was absolutely no loyalty between us. I had the honor to witness that in person. When we arrived at the said location, as I put the car on park, I felt something cold resting on the right side of my forehead.

“Don’t even think about moving otherwise I’ll shoot.” Allison said. I took a deep breath and tried to analyze the situation. Why was she doing this? I didn’t have to think much; the answer was just too obvious.

“I always thought Sark was the jealous one.” I said smirking. I couldn’t help being a smartass; the moment called for it.

“You thought wrong.” Allison said pressing the gun deeper into my temple. “Anyway, it’s not about jealousy, it has more to do with the fact that I don’t really care for you to be in this association of ours anymore. I think your purpose it’s over where it concerns us. You must go.” She took the key out of the ignition and my gun out of my bag, then stepped out of the car. Again, I was overly confident and I hadn’t brought another weapon with me. Serves me right, really. I probably deserved all this after such stupidity.

A black Hummer parked in front of us and to my amazing luck Simon Walker got out of it. At that moment I just knew I was f***ed. I had killed a man of his some three years before, and since then Simon had looked for the bastard who was responsible, at least that was what the reports said. Apparently Allison just felt compelled to help on the manhunt; she was such a good-natured soul. That b****. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but I could easily imagine. Simon looked my way, obviously thinking of ways of torturing and, finally, killing me.

“Get out of the car.” Allison ordered me and I obliged. Simon quickly pulled me by the collar of my coat and punched me in the stomach with unimaginable force. All the air pushed out of my lungs and I fell to the ground coughing so hard, blood started to flow past my lips. I had bitten the dust.
“Have fun.” If I had have enough force I would’ve probably break her neck for saying that. But since I didn’t, she happily got into my car and before driving away, had the satisfaction of watching how Simon pointed a gun at me and then fired.

While Sark was a cold bastard, Simon was a hothead. Nothing went past him without the proper fight and while he liked to think of himself as a reasonable person, he wasn’t really one. After Allison drove away, Simon hid his gun. He looked down at me with neutral eyes, but with that glint, which after some time I started to assume it was the lust for danger. He loved his job a little too much.

“You got the money?” He asked, tilting his head a little. I just nodded since I still couldn’t breathe properly after that sucker punch he had just gave me. He offered his hand with a gestured that said: where are my manners? I took it and after I was on my feet I rested my head on his shoulder.

“I thought you said you never mixed business with pleasure.” He teased with a sexy smile. I could feel his hand moving lower than my lower back; never a good sign. I looked up at him smiling coyly and mustering all the force I had punched him square in the face. He reeled backwards, almost falling on his butt.

“f***!” He screamed. “What the hell was that for?!”

“You mo*******er!” I screamed back tucking my hair behind my ears. “I told you not to hit me too hard, you prick! Thank God, I called before coming here to tell you to use blanks otherwise you would have killed me for real!”

Simon quickly moved in on me and threw me against his car, his face too close for comfort. Maybe I shouldn’t have hit him. Maybe it had been a mistake.

“You said to make it look as real as possible and that’s what you got. She bought it all up. But if you keep up this kind of behavior then I will have to make it so real it will actually become true.” Maybe not. I closed my eyes and counted to ten.

“I’m sorry.” I said after a moment. “You know how I always get carried away.” I needed Simon on my side for the moment so I had to play the submissive role, which wasn’t such a hard thing to be when you where around him. He liked control and I was going to give it to him. “So, you wanna f***?” He smiled widely now.

“I thought you were never going ask, babe.” He frowned suddenly as I moved in to kiss him. “But I can’t.” I stopped surprised. Simon Walker refusing sex was something I wasn’t ready to witness in this lifetime.

“Why not?” I pretended to be mad, although maybe I was a little.

“Julia’s back.” He said quietly and pensively. He always had a soft spot for Jules and she obviously had one for him.
“Since when?”
“Some time ago.” He stepped back and put his hands on his pockets.

“Really? A little bit of good news at least.” I said while staring at his tie. “You must be happy. How is she?”

“Strange.”

“Well, when wasn’t she?” I laughed. Strangeness wasn’t a difficult characteristic to find in any of us, specially Julia, whom from what I saw had an incredible amount of secrets she didn’t wish to share with anyone, including her Simon; because it was her Simon and no one else’s. They were a difficult couple to deal with.

“No, I mean, she’s somewhat different.” He tried to explain. “Sometimes it feels like it’s not really her. Her attitude towards me has change, I’ll tell you that.”

“She left for a reason, Simon.” I said soothingly. “You have to give her time to adjust, time to trust you again. You’re not an easy bloke to deal with, you know.”

“Right…” He didn’t like the sound of that, but knew it was the truth. “So…the money?”

“Oh.” He raised an eyebrow as I took off my coat and then my shirt.

“Look, Eli, I already told you…” But stopped as he saw the plastic bag tapped to my abdomen. The thing was full of money and it had a hole in it from the force of his knuckles against it minutes before. If it hadn’t been for that he would’ve caused me some real damage. I ripped it away then passed it to him.

“Lovely doing business with you.” He eyed the money greedily. After Julia, yenom was the thing he most liked. “You want a ride?”

“Yes, please.”

“Hey, you know, your hunk came to my place the other day.” Simon said as we got in the Hummer. I glared at him.

“He’s not my hunk.” I said trying to sound like I meant it.

“Oh, so he’s Doren’s hunk?” He stated more than asked. He knew he was peeling a barely healed scar and was enjoying it immensely.

“He’s nobody’s hunk.” I sighed. “And he’ll kill you if he hears you calling him that.”

Simon was laughing now, “He probably would.” I smiled back and kept quiet the rest of the drive. I needed to think about my options; time was running out.

tbc

thanks for the comment and PM(you know who you are )

 

[Alias Fan Gillian]

Good chapter. Thanks for the pm.

 

[Ambrosia Lorien]

Please write more. What I love is how well you portray your characters, such as Simon Walker, Allison, and, especially, Sark. They seem exactly as they do on TV. I really want to know what happens. Just do me one favor and please don't make Sark get too sentimental or make him talk too much. He conveys most of his feelings through looks. I love how the story is going so far!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Ambrosia Lorien]

Oh, and please pm me when you update!!!!!!!!!

 

[Pacheezy]

wow great story please please ud soon ur stories too fantastic nt to continue pleeaase and pm if you do ud ?