Title: It's All in the Mind
Author: Queenie, Nicole, sv4ever07
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, they belong to J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and ABC, as do the parts of the scripts I've used from certain episodes.
Spoilers: 2.12 "The Getaway" and on - AU spin-off later on
Summary: Sydney dreams things before they actually happen.
Dedication: To the ZAP! You guys are the best!
Author's Note: November 1 - November 30 is National Novel Writing Month, at NaNoWriMo.org you can sign up to write novels, this year they include fanfics, so this is my novel. This is going to be my baby over the next little over a month, expect frequent, long updates, I wrote the entire first chapter in a single day and am hard at work on chapter 2, so probably update tomorrow! Please review and thanks to Screech for beta'ing (criticism is welcome, I want to improve my novel along the way.)
Chapter 1 - The Date That Would Soon Happen
(At Rousseau's, they're brought inside by the owner. Vaughn tells him in French that they're going to L’Avignon; his mother was born in Montpellier, after Rousseau asks.)
"Volia, pour la. Alors, vous restez en ville?"
"Non, de passage seulement. On va a Avignon. Ma mere est nee a Montpellier."
"Well you speak French almost as well as I do. Mademoiselle."
"Thank you."
(Vaughn takes her jacket and they both sit down.)
"See what you like and I'll be right back."
"Merci."
(Vaughn smiles at her. She opens the menu and then looks over at him. He looks at her. Awkward pause.)
"I think wine would help the situation."
"I was just thinking the same thing. S'il vous plait?"
...................
"So I heard you on the phone with base ops. Your code name is Boy Scout?"
(Vaughn laughs.) "Yeah."
"Why?"
"Um...it goes back to CST -- clandestine service training. You don't want to hear this."
"Vaughn."
"Okay, the Boy Scouts have a motto--"
"Always be prepared."
(Vaughn nods.) "On my first day, I showed up and I had forgotten my field manual so the instructor said, 'That is your one screw up. And from then on, you'd better be prepared.'"
(Weiss comes over the comm.) "This story is a disaster!"
(Vaughn looks humiliated, gestures to his ear where his comm. link is.)
(Comes over the comm. again.) "Just tell her she's pretty! Are you an idiot?"
"Okay, I'm going to turn you off now. Goodbye."
(Vaughn removes the earpiece.)
"Sorry."
....................
"Tell me about your pets."
"What?"
"Your pets. I want to know about every pet you ever had."
....................
"Playing pool. I can see it."
"We should play sometime."
"So you liked everything?"
"C'etait tres bon, merci."
"Parfait."
"So, uh, it is too late for you to set out for L'Avignon and you had much to drink. Upstairs I have an inn and tonight, you are my guests. Please."
(He places a room key on the table.)
"Take your time. Merci."
(She looks at Vaughn. He leans in.)
"Did you ask him to do that?"
(She smiles.) "There are so many issues with this, I don't know where to begin."
"Hold on a second. I think we should have an open mind about this."
"An open mind."
"It'd be rude to overlook such a generous offer without proper consideration."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Okay."
"But there are clearly issues."
"Yes. I don't disagree."
(He smiles at her.)
"Okay."
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The harsh sound of her alarm clock wakes Sydney Bristow from her deep sleep and wonderful dream of going on a date with her CIA handler Michael Vaughn.
But there are so many reasons why it was exactly that: a dream, a wonderful, beautiful, perfect dream.
She lugs herself out of bed and throws a robe on, knowing that she had to go face Sloane soon, Sloane and SD-6, and silently she hopes that he will send her on a mission - that way she will have an excuse to see Vaughn more than just the normal passing in the hall.
Sighing, she goes through her morning routine, the dream never far from her mind, the way he leans over the table as if to get even an inch closer to her.
She longs to feel even a morsel of closeness to him, because even that much was more than the emptiness she feels now.
"Time for work," she replies mock-cheerfully, then grumbles, "That's all I ever do, work for godforsaken SD-6. Don't I deserve a day off sometime?"
....................
Francie's sentiments were the same, "You so need to quit that damn job at the Bank, finish school, become a teacher."
"But...but..."
"No buts about it Syd," Francie retorts, "Quit, now! Then there will be no reason that you can't make millions of babies with this Michael."
"I had a dream about him last night," Sydney gushes excitedly.
Francie squeals, "Really? What happened? Tell me how it was, and what happened, I want to know everything!"
"If I had the time I'd tell you every detail," Sydney sighs, "But I have to go to work. How about I stop by the restaurant after work and tell you everything."
Francie jumps up and hugs Sydney, "Have a nice day at work, I'll see you later."
......................
Sydney walks into SD-6 and smiles at Dixon as she spots him across the room.
"Good morning Sydney," he tells her.
"Morning Dixon," she replies, "What's on the agenda for today?"
"Sloane wants to see us in 5 minutes," Dixon explains, "I think he's sending us on another mission - I saw Marshall running around crazily."
Sydney nods, "I'll be there." But inside she was teeming, 'I'll get to see him now!'
She walked into the debrief room with a smile on her face, feeling happier than she had been in a while.
Sloane walks in and nods at his two agents, "So nice of you two to be here early, now all we're waiting for is Marshall..."
Marshall runs in the door and starts talking immediately, "Sorry I'm late, but there's so many interesting things going on around the office, and I got lost watching it all, and didn't realize what time it was, and..."
"Marshall, sit!" Sloane orders, "Then we can start."
"Yes sir," Marshall salutes as he sits down and organizes his papers, "Okay sir, I'm ready, you can begin now."
"Thanks for your consent Marshall," Sloane says sarcastically.
"You're very welcome sir," Marshall smiles, then quiets down after seeing Sloane's glare."
Sloane hits a button on the remote, and a picture pops up on the screens.
"You're looking at a prototype of the triad's most startling achievement to date--the quantum gyroscope missile guidance system. According to the partial specifications we were able to intercept, not only is this device cheap and easy to manufacture, but it is far more accurate than anything in our current arsenal. It is capable of turning a 70s-era scud into a precision guided munition with range and lethality equivalent to that of a cruise missile," Sloane explains.
"How did we get these photos?" Sydney questions.
"Last month, SD-5 tasked a team of agents to perform a recon op on the triad's R&D lab in Nice, France," he answers, "Your task is acquisition."
The picture on the screens changes to that of a man.
"Here we have Karl Schatz, he's a courier for the triad and he's transporting the prototype to Berlin for mass production. You will intercept it en route," he hands Sydney and Dixon the folders. "There is no room for failure on this one. You can imagine the consequences if enemies of the United States acquired the technology."
Sloane nods to Marshall, who stands up excitedly.
"Now, if it's not in his briefcase and it's in his pocket..." he trails off, showing Sydney and Dixon a ring, "Here is a little goody every pickpocket can use. I like to call this baby the Artful Dodger. You know, after that movie. Um..."
"Oliver!" Dixon supplies.
"Right," Marshall says excitedly, "'Please sir, can I have some more?' I love that movie. It's a good one. So, basically, you just turn this guy like that, slip it on, turn around and this little guy will cut through anything."
With the ring on, he's talking with his hands, and he passes his tie, cutting the end off.
"Damn it. I like this tie."
....................
Sydney walks into the warehouse, Vaughn already waiting for her, as usual.
“Hey,” he smiles.
Just that one smile brings the dream back to her, and she thinks her knees may give out, “Hey.”
“So France?” he questions.
“Yeah,” she replied, beginning to explain to him everything that Sloane had told her and Dixon, she even shows him the ring Marshall designed.
After she is done, she sighs heavily.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“There are so many things I hate about Arvin Sloane, but the thing that I hate the most is the way he wraps his criminal activity in the flag.”
“Well, we won’t let him get away with it,” he sympathizes, “Before you go, we’ll make a defective copy of that gyroscope for you to give to SD-6. We’ll need to see those photographs.”
“Dixon has them. He’s already on his way to Nice,” she tells him.
“Then we’ll have to get a team to France,” he concludes, “When you’re through with the mission make sure you’re holding the gyroscope. We’ll duplicate it on-site.”
Sydney nods, “Well I’ve got to go. I have to pack and then visit Francie before I leave.”
“I’ll see you before you leave Syd,” he calls out as she walks toward the warehouse door.
....................
Sydney walks into Francie's restaurant, and looks around for her. Behind her she hears her name called out and whirls around to face Francie.
"Hey sweetie," Francie smiles, pulling Sydney to the kitchen area of the restaurant, "Now, you, tell me everything."
Sydney smiles back, "Before I tell you about the dream, I have another bank trip to go on. So as soon as I tell you, I need to rush to go catch my plane."
"A bank trip with Michael?" Francie questions.
Sydney blushes, and averts her eyes to the floor, "Maybe."
"Well I'll make sure you tell me every last detail," Francie laughs, "Now tell me about the dream!"
Sydney laughs too, and tells Francie everything about the amazing dream she hopes to never forget.
.....................
Sydney sits in the ops center, as she and Vaughn go over the counter mission.
"Once you recover the gyroscope, you and Dixon will separate for your flights home. Our team will be set up in this utility room where they'll duplicate the gyroscope," Vaughn explains, and smiles down at her, "Any questions?"
Sydney shakes her head, "Nope."
"Okay--"
"Hey! Look who's joining you in France!" Weiss exclaims.
"Hey," Sydney says delighted.
"'Hey?'" he questions, "Three months in the hospital, and all I get is a 'hey'? How about a little sugar?"
She hugs him playfully, "I'm glad you're back."
"Oh, thank you. And thank you for the plant," he smiles, "Amazingly I've been able to keep it alive. All right, bring me up to speed. What's our plan?"
Sydney looks at both of them, "Let Vaughn explain it. I have to get to my plane."
............
Sydney sits in the airport, idly flipping through a magazine, "Let me know when to move."
"Copy that," Dixon agrees, "You know what?"
"What?" Sydney asks.
"I've already made forty-seven euros," he explains.
A few minutes later, the silence on her comm. link is broken, "Game time Syd. Here comes our guy. Gyroscope is in a shoulder harness, under his left pec. You can use the Artful Dodger."
"Right," she replies taking the ring off and preparing it for the mission.
As Sydney makes her way there, Dixon stops the man and his company, and stalls until Sydney can get there. As his attempts are thwarted, his voice crackles in Syd's ear, "Better hurry Syd."
Sporting her new New York accent with her purple hair, she hurries towards the metal detectors.
"How you doin'?" she asks.
She passes through the detector and it beeps. The security guy tells her to go through again.
"Oh oh oh! Wow wow wow! Voulez-vous repasser mademoiselle, s'il vous plait."
"It wasn't me!" she claims.
He motions for her to take off her bracelets and necklace as the second security guard starts to speak to Schatz.
"Damn machine, that happens every time I go through these," she bluffs.
"C'est seulement pour votre securite mademoiselle. Merci," he says as he asks her to please step through again.
"Whatevah," she replies, "At JFK I went through five times, they literally had me take off my shirt."
She walks through again and it beeps, this time by Dixon who hits a button on his donation can.
"Oh my gawd!" she dramatically exclaims.
The security guard takes Sydney by the arm. "Watch the hand," she yells, "Hey, it's not a date!"
She sees Schatz being led through the metal detectors, and knows she has to do something. "I see, you wanna get your thrills?" she questions, and takes off her shirt and shows off her vinyl bra underneath. As she goes back through the metal detector she bumps into Schatz' chest, and strategically takes the gyroscope out of his harness.
Batting her eyes at him she says, "Excusez-moi."
This time she passes through the metal detector without setting them off.
Dixon knows Sydney got the gyroscope, "Good work. I'll see you in LA."
...................
Fully dressed once again, Sydney walks into the utility room.
“Good work,” Weiss tells her.
“Base ops, this is Boy Scout. Mountaineer has just delivered the package. We’re proceeding with the copy.”
Vaughn hangs up and turns to look at her, still in her mission get-up.
“We’re estimating two hours until the duplicate is ready,” he explained, “Listen, uh, do you want to go to dinner? When we were driving into town I saw this place, Rousseau, I think it’s called.”
“Vaughn, we...” she hesitates, “We can’t do that.”
“Why not?” he questions.
“Well, for a million reasons,” she says rather lamely, “If Alliance security sees us together they’ll kill us.”
“The nearest Alliance cell is in Zurich,” he tells her, “The CIA tracks SD-6 security section. There haven’t been any signals, no movement.”
“You’re serious,” Sydney replies, astonished.
“We’ve been to restaurants and sat near each other. We’ve met in parks and convenience stores, and all of them in LA, where we are much more likely to be seen. Look, two things, one, I think it’s not that great a risk and two, I am hungry. I’m starving. I mean, we’re going to be together anyway, why can’t we be eating? Aren’t you hungry?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m hungry,” she pauses, “Let’s do it.”
“Yeah?” he questions.
She nods, “I’m going to change.”
His head rolls back on his shoulders as he laughs, “That’d be a good idea.”
“Okay,” she agrees.
As she walks away, Weiss comes over.
“Well?” he asks.
“We’re going to dinner,” Vaughn says simply.
“Oooh yay!” Weiss exclaims and does a little dance.
Back to business again, Vaughn tells him, “I’m going to keep my comm. channel open. I need you to monitor the RF frequency.”
“Got it,” Weiss agrees, “Okay. In exchange I’ll take an éclair.”
......................
As they walk into the restaurant, something triggers Sydney’s mind, and as the dinner progresses, she realizes this was the dream she had just had that morning, and if that was the truth, a key would be presented to them soon enough.
.....................
An hour later...
“So, uh, it is too late for you to set out for L’Avignon and you had much to drink. Upstairs, I have an inn and tonight, you are my guests. Please,” Rousseau offers as he slides the room key onto the table, “Take your time. Merci.”
They look at each other as Vaughn leans in.
“Did you ask him to do that?” he asks.
Sydney smiles, “There are so many issues with this, I don’t know where to begin.”
“Hold on a second,” he objects, “I think we should have an open mind about this.”
“An open mind,” she repeats.
He smirks, “It’d be rude to overlook such a generous offer without proper consideration.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she murmurs.
“Okay,” he nods.
“But there are clearly issues,” she points out.
“Yes, I don’t disagree,” he tells her with a smile.
“Okay,” she agrees.
.........................
Minutes later....
Rousseau approaches them with the phone in his hand.
“Monsieur, vous avez un coup de telephone,” he explains to Vaughn that he has a phone call.
“Merci,” Vaughn nods, “Hello?”
“You’ve been made!” Weiss screams, “Get out of there now!”
Vaughn grabs Sydney by the hand and begins to drag her towards the back entrance, he makes sure to drop the phone on Rousseau’s desk and yells ‘thank you’ over his shoulder.
Before they know it, they are by the car. Vaughn places the key in Sydney’s hand, “Take the car. I’ll have Weiss pick me up.”
“I’ll pick up the copy of the gyroscope before I get on the plane,” Sydney tells him.
“No!” Vaughn says frantically, “We’re aborting the counter mission. When security section tells Sloane you were with a man who is not SD-6, they’re going to investigate.”
“No, no, no...” Sydney shook her head.
“Now they can’t prove anything,” he explains, “But this time we cannot deceive them.”
“No, no,” Sydney refuses to believe this is the only way to go, “There have to be other options...”
“We have to give SD-6 what they want,” he tells her, “As dangerous as that is, you know that.”
“We are so stupid,” she murmurs.
“It’s my fault,” Vaughn admits.
“That’s not true,” Sydney disagrees, shaking her head.
“You have to go now,” Vaughn says.
“I’ll see you back in LA,” he tells her retreating back, wishing he would have kissed her when he had the opportunity.
‘Now the chance is gone,’ he thinks, ‘And I have no clue when I might get another perfect chance like tonight.’
He gives up and calls Weiss, to tell him to come pick him up.
.................
Sydney walks into SD-6, directly towards Sloane’s office. She knocks on the door and hears him tell her to come in.
He swivels in his chair and smiles at Sydney, “Sydney what a nice surprise, I was hoping to see you again before I left on vacation.”
“You’re leaving?” she asks, feigning interest. ‘Not that I really care,’ she thinks, ‘Just gets you off my back.’
“Only for a short vacation,” he chuckles, “I think I deserve a vacation, I’ve never really taken one.”
‘You and me both.’
“Well I just wanted to give you this,” she hands him the defective gyroscope, “I thought you might like it.”
He examines the gyroscope before he looks at Sydney with a smile, “Excellent job Sydney! I’m so proud of you...now no enemies of the United States can get their hands on it.”
‘Yeah, no one but you.’
“No problem sir,” she all but cringes, “It’s my pleasure to serve my country.”
“You make your country proud,” he tells her.
“Thank you sir,” she smiles, because she knows she really is serving her country, working as a double agent, “But I really have to go now, I have a lot of paperwork to do.”
He nods quietly, as he just watches her.
“I’ll talk to you when you get back,” she waves, “Have fun.”
“Oh I will.”
..................
The rest of the day she sits at her desk as she does paperwork, writes reports, everything she hates to do, she’d rather be out there and kicking some ass.
But what keeps her there is knowing that she has a meeting with Vaughn right after she is done there.
................
Sydney walks into the warehouse once again.
“Hey,” Vaughn smiles.
“Hey,” she smiles back, “What did Kendall say?”
“He did not mention anything about our date,” Vaughn tells her.
She blushes a little, before she goes on, “Have you written your mission debrief yet?”
“No, not yet,” he sighs, “If I tell the truth, at the least, they’ll remove me as your case officer. Despite what we did, how stupid we were, I know we do good work. We need to stay together.”
“I agree,” she nods, her eyes on the floor, “We do good work.”
His forehead wrinkles in confusion as she gives him the gyroscope, “I don’t understand.”
“When I got back to SD-6, it was clear they did not know you were CIA, I gave them the counterfeit gyroscope,” she explains with a rueful smile, “This is the real one. We win.”
“At the airport, you took them both,” he realizes suddenly.
“Always be prepared,” she murmurs as she walks away.
.................
Sydney and Francie sit on the couch, as they eat popcorn and talk about Michael.
“So the dream and the actual date were one in the same?” Francie asks.
“Yeah,” Sydney nods, “They were.”
“This is so freaky!” Francie exclaims, then smiles, “So how did the date end?”
“With an offer of a key to a hotel room,” Sydney tells her, “And we decided to take it.”
“Sydney!” Francie squeals, “You didn’t--”
“You always say carpe diem, seize the day, so I did,” Sydney taunts, “No, but really, then the boss pages us both and we have to leave before we got to go up there.”
“That sucks,” Francie sighs.
“There’s always another time,” Sydney shrugs, and receives a playful slap as Francie squeals again.
----------------
Please review!
Author: Queenie, Nicole, sv4ever07
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters, they belong to J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot, and ABC, as do the parts of the scripts I've used from certain episodes.
Spoilers: 2.12 "The Getaway" and on - AU spin-off later on
Summary: Sydney dreams things before they actually happen.
Dedication: To the ZAP! You guys are the best!
Author's Note: November 1 - November 30 is National Novel Writing Month, at NaNoWriMo.org you can sign up to write novels, this year they include fanfics, so this is my novel. This is going to be my baby over the next little over a month, expect frequent, long updates, I wrote the entire first chapter in a single day and am hard at work on chapter 2, so probably update tomorrow! Please review and thanks to Screech for beta'ing (criticism is welcome, I want to improve my novel along the way.)
Chapter 1 - The Date That Would Soon Happen
(At Rousseau's, they're brought inside by the owner. Vaughn tells him in French that they're going to L’Avignon; his mother was born in Montpellier, after Rousseau asks.)
"Volia, pour la. Alors, vous restez en ville?"
"Non, de passage seulement. On va a Avignon. Ma mere est nee a Montpellier."
"Well you speak French almost as well as I do. Mademoiselle."
"Thank you."
(Vaughn takes her jacket and they both sit down.)
"See what you like and I'll be right back."
"Merci."
(Vaughn smiles at her. She opens the menu and then looks over at him. He looks at her. Awkward pause.)
"I think wine would help the situation."
"I was just thinking the same thing. S'il vous plait?"
...................
"So I heard you on the phone with base ops. Your code name is Boy Scout?"
(Vaughn laughs.) "Yeah."
"Why?"
"Um...it goes back to CST -- clandestine service training. You don't want to hear this."
"Vaughn."
"Okay, the Boy Scouts have a motto--"
"Always be prepared."
(Vaughn nods.) "On my first day, I showed up and I had forgotten my field manual so the instructor said, 'That is your one screw up. And from then on, you'd better be prepared.'"
(Weiss comes over the comm.) "This story is a disaster!"
(Vaughn looks humiliated, gestures to his ear where his comm. link is.)
(Comes over the comm. again.) "Just tell her she's pretty! Are you an idiot?"
"Okay, I'm going to turn you off now. Goodbye."
(Vaughn removes the earpiece.)
"Sorry."
....................
"Tell me about your pets."
"What?"
"Your pets. I want to know about every pet you ever had."
....................
"Playing pool. I can see it."
"We should play sometime."
"So you liked everything?"
"C'etait tres bon, merci."
"Parfait."
"So, uh, it is too late for you to set out for L'Avignon and you had much to drink. Upstairs I have an inn and tonight, you are my guests. Please."
(He places a room key on the table.)
"Take your time. Merci."
(She looks at Vaughn. He leans in.)
"Did you ask him to do that?"
(She smiles.) "There are so many issues with this, I don't know where to begin."
"Hold on a second. I think we should have an open mind about this."
"An open mind."
"It'd be rude to overlook such a generous offer without proper consideration."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Okay."
"But there are clearly issues."
"Yes. I don't disagree."
(He smiles at her.)
"Okay."
Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!
The harsh sound of her alarm clock wakes Sydney Bristow from her deep sleep and wonderful dream of going on a date with her CIA handler Michael Vaughn.
But there are so many reasons why it was exactly that: a dream, a wonderful, beautiful, perfect dream.
She lugs herself out of bed and throws a robe on, knowing that she had to go face Sloane soon, Sloane and SD-6, and silently she hopes that he will send her on a mission - that way she will have an excuse to see Vaughn more than just the normal passing in the hall.
Sighing, she goes through her morning routine, the dream never far from her mind, the way he leans over the table as if to get even an inch closer to her.
She longs to feel even a morsel of closeness to him, because even that much was more than the emptiness she feels now.
"Time for work," she replies mock-cheerfully, then grumbles, "That's all I ever do, work for godforsaken SD-6. Don't I deserve a day off sometime?"
....................
Francie's sentiments were the same, "You so need to quit that damn job at the Bank, finish school, become a teacher."
"But...but..."
"No buts about it Syd," Francie retorts, "Quit, now! Then there will be no reason that you can't make millions of babies with this Michael."
"I had a dream about him last night," Sydney gushes excitedly.
Francie squeals, "Really? What happened? Tell me how it was, and what happened, I want to know everything!"
"If I had the time I'd tell you every detail," Sydney sighs, "But I have to go to work. How about I stop by the restaurant after work and tell you everything."
Francie jumps up and hugs Sydney, "Have a nice day at work, I'll see you later."
......................
Sydney walks into SD-6 and smiles at Dixon as she spots him across the room.
"Good morning Sydney," he tells her.
"Morning Dixon," she replies, "What's on the agenda for today?"
"Sloane wants to see us in 5 minutes," Dixon explains, "I think he's sending us on another mission - I saw Marshall running around crazily."
Sydney nods, "I'll be there." But inside she was teeming, 'I'll get to see him now!'
She walked into the debrief room with a smile on her face, feeling happier than she had been in a while.
Sloane walks in and nods at his two agents, "So nice of you two to be here early, now all we're waiting for is Marshall..."
Marshall runs in the door and starts talking immediately, "Sorry I'm late, but there's so many interesting things going on around the office, and I got lost watching it all, and didn't realize what time it was, and..."
"Marshall, sit!" Sloane orders, "Then we can start."
"Yes sir," Marshall salutes as he sits down and organizes his papers, "Okay sir, I'm ready, you can begin now."
"Thanks for your consent Marshall," Sloane says sarcastically.
"You're very welcome sir," Marshall smiles, then quiets down after seeing Sloane's glare."
Sloane hits a button on the remote, and a picture pops up on the screens.
"You're looking at a prototype of the triad's most startling achievement to date--the quantum gyroscope missile guidance system. According to the partial specifications we were able to intercept, not only is this device cheap and easy to manufacture, but it is far more accurate than anything in our current arsenal. It is capable of turning a 70s-era scud into a precision guided munition with range and lethality equivalent to that of a cruise missile," Sloane explains.
"How did we get these photos?" Sydney questions.
"Last month, SD-5 tasked a team of agents to perform a recon op on the triad's R&D lab in Nice, France," he answers, "Your task is acquisition."
The picture on the screens changes to that of a man.
"Here we have Karl Schatz, he's a courier for the triad and he's transporting the prototype to Berlin for mass production. You will intercept it en route," he hands Sydney and Dixon the folders. "There is no room for failure on this one. You can imagine the consequences if enemies of the United States acquired the technology."
Sloane nods to Marshall, who stands up excitedly.
"Now, if it's not in his briefcase and it's in his pocket..." he trails off, showing Sydney and Dixon a ring, "Here is a little goody every pickpocket can use. I like to call this baby the Artful Dodger. You know, after that movie. Um..."
"Oliver!" Dixon supplies.
"Right," Marshall says excitedly, "'Please sir, can I have some more?' I love that movie. It's a good one. So, basically, you just turn this guy like that, slip it on, turn around and this little guy will cut through anything."
With the ring on, he's talking with his hands, and he passes his tie, cutting the end off.
"Damn it. I like this tie."
....................
Sydney walks into the warehouse, Vaughn already waiting for her, as usual.
“Hey,” he smiles.
Just that one smile brings the dream back to her, and she thinks her knees may give out, “Hey.”
“So France?” he questions.
“Yeah,” she replied, beginning to explain to him everything that Sloane had told her and Dixon, she even shows him the ring Marshall designed.
After she is done, she sighs heavily.
“What’s wrong?” he asks.
“There are so many things I hate about Arvin Sloane, but the thing that I hate the most is the way he wraps his criminal activity in the flag.”
“Well, we won’t let him get away with it,” he sympathizes, “Before you go, we’ll make a defective copy of that gyroscope for you to give to SD-6. We’ll need to see those photographs.”
“Dixon has them. He’s already on his way to Nice,” she tells him.
“Then we’ll have to get a team to France,” he concludes, “When you’re through with the mission make sure you’re holding the gyroscope. We’ll duplicate it on-site.”
Sydney nods, “Well I’ve got to go. I have to pack and then visit Francie before I leave.”
“I’ll see you before you leave Syd,” he calls out as she walks toward the warehouse door.
....................
Sydney walks into Francie's restaurant, and looks around for her. Behind her she hears her name called out and whirls around to face Francie.
"Hey sweetie," Francie smiles, pulling Sydney to the kitchen area of the restaurant, "Now, you, tell me everything."
Sydney smiles back, "Before I tell you about the dream, I have another bank trip to go on. So as soon as I tell you, I need to rush to go catch my plane."
"A bank trip with Michael?" Francie questions.
Sydney blushes, and averts her eyes to the floor, "Maybe."
"Well I'll make sure you tell me every last detail," Francie laughs, "Now tell me about the dream!"
Sydney laughs too, and tells Francie everything about the amazing dream she hopes to never forget.
.....................
Sydney sits in the ops center, as she and Vaughn go over the counter mission.
"Once you recover the gyroscope, you and Dixon will separate for your flights home. Our team will be set up in this utility room where they'll duplicate the gyroscope," Vaughn explains, and smiles down at her, "Any questions?"
Sydney shakes her head, "Nope."
"Okay--"
"Hey! Look who's joining you in France!" Weiss exclaims.
"Hey," Sydney says delighted.
"'Hey?'" he questions, "Three months in the hospital, and all I get is a 'hey'? How about a little sugar?"
She hugs him playfully, "I'm glad you're back."
"Oh, thank you. And thank you for the plant," he smiles, "Amazingly I've been able to keep it alive. All right, bring me up to speed. What's our plan?"
Sydney looks at both of them, "Let Vaughn explain it. I have to get to my plane."
............
Sydney sits in the airport, idly flipping through a magazine, "Let me know when to move."
"Copy that," Dixon agrees, "You know what?"
"What?" Sydney asks.
"I've already made forty-seven euros," he explains.
A few minutes later, the silence on her comm. link is broken, "Game time Syd. Here comes our guy. Gyroscope is in a shoulder harness, under his left pec. You can use the Artful Dodger."
"Right," she replies taking the ring off and preparing it for the mission.
As Sydney makes her way there, Dixon stops the man and his company, and stalls until Sydney can get there. As his attempts are thwarted, his voice crackles in Syd's ear, "Better hurry Syd."
Sporting her new New York accent with her purple hair, she hurries towards the metal detectors.
"How you doin'?" she asks.
She passes through the detector and it beeps. The security guy tells her to go through again.
"Oh oh oh! Wow wow wow! Voulez-vous repasser mademoiselle, s'il vous plait."
"It wasn't me!" she claims.
He motions for her to take off her bracelets and necklace as the second security guard starts to speak to Schatz.
"Damn machine, that happens every time I go through these," she bluffs.
"C'est seulement pour votre securite mademoiselle. Merci," he says as he asks her to please step through again.
"Whatevah," she replies, "At JFK I went through five times, they literally had me take off my shirt."
She walks through again and it beeps, this time by Dixon who hits a button on his donation can.
"Oh my gawd!" she dramatically exclaims.
The security guard takes Sydney by the arm. "Watch the hand," she yells, "Hey, it's not a date!"
She sees Schatz being led through the metal detectors, and knows she has to do something. "I see, you wanna get your thrills?" she questions, and takes off her shirt and shows off her vinyl bra underneath. As she goes back through the metal detector she bumps into Schatz' chest, and strategically takes the gyroscope out of his harness.
Batting her eyes at him she says, "Excusez-moi."
This time she passes through the metal detector without setting them off.
Dixon knows Sydney got the gyroscope, "Good work. I'll see you in LA."
...................
Fully dressed once again, Sydney walks into the utility room.
“Good work,” Weiss tells her.
“Base ops, this is Boy Scout. Mountaineer has just delivered the package. We’re proceeding with the copy.”
Vaughn hangs up and turns to look at her, still in her mission get-up.
“We’re estimating two hours until the duplicate is ready,” he explained, “Listen, uh, do you want to go to dinner? When we were driving into town I saw this place, Rousseau, I think it’s called.”
“Vaughn, we...” she hesitates, “We can’t do that.”
“Why not?” he questions.
“Well, for a million reasons,” she says rather lamely, “If Alliance security sees us together they’ll kill us.”
“The nearest Alliance cell is in Zurich,” he tells her, “The CIA tracks SD-6 security section. There haven’t been any signals, no movement.”
“You’re serious,” Sydney replies, astonished.
“We’ve been to restaurants and sat near each other. We’ve met in parks and convenience stores, and all of them in LA, where we are much more likely to be seen. Look, two things, one, I think it’s not that great a risk and two, I am hungry. I’m starving. I mean, we’re going to be together anyway, why can’t we be eating? Aren’t you hungry?” he asks.
“Yeah, I’m hungry,” she pauses, “Let’s do it.”
“Yeah?” he questions.
She nods, “I’m going to change.”
His head rolls back on his shoulders as he laughs, “That’d be a good idea.”
“Okay,” she agrees.
As she walks away, Weiss comes over.
“Well?” he asks.
“We’re going to dinner,” Vaughn says simply.
“Oooh yay!” Weiss exclaims and does a little dance.
Back to business again, Vaughn tells him, “I’m going to keep my comm. channel open. I need you to monitor the RF frequency.”
“Got it,” Weiss agrees, “Okay. In exchange I’ll take an éclair.”
......................
As they walk into the restaurant, something triggers Sydney’s mind, and as the dinner progresses, she realizes this was the dream she had just had that morning, and if that was the truth, a key would be presented to them soon enough.
.....................
An hour later...
“So, uh, it is too late for you to set out for L’Avignon and you had much to drink. Upstairs, I have an inn and tonight, you are my guests. Please,” Rousseau offers as he slides the room key onto the table, “Take your time. Merci.”
They look at each other as Vaughn leans in.
“Did you ask him to do that?” he asks.
Sydney smiles, “There are so many issues with this, I don’t know where to begin.”
“Hold on a second,” he objects, “I think we should have an open mind about this.”
“An open mind,” she repeats.
He smirks, “It’d be rude to overlook such a generous offer without proper consideration.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” she murmurs.
“Okay,” he nods.
“But there are clearly issues,” she points out.
“Yes, I don’t disagree,” he tells her with a smile.
“Okay,” she agrees.
.........................
Minutes later....
Rousseau approaches them with the phone in his hand.
“Monsieur, vous avez un coup de telephone,” he explains to Vaughn that he has a phone call.
“Merci,” Vaughn nods, “Hello?”
“You’ve been made!” Weiss screams, “Get out of there now!”
Vaughn grabs Sydney by the hand and begins to drag her towards the back entrance, he makes sure to drop the phone on Rousseau’s desk and yells ‘thank you’ over his shoulder.
Before they know it, they are by the car. Vaughn places the key in Sydney’s hand, “Take the car. I’ll have Weiss pick me up.”
“I’ll pick up the copy of the gyroscope before I get on the plane,” Sydney tells him.
“No!” Vaughn says frantically, “We’re aborting the counter mission. When security section tells Sloane you were with a man who is not SD-6, they’re going to investigate.”
“No, no, no...” Sydney shook her head.
“Now they can’t prove anything,” he explains, “But this time we cannot deceive them.”
“No, no,” Sydney refuses to believe this is the only way to go, “There have to be other options...”
“We have to give SD-6 what they want,” he tells her, “As dangerous as that is, you know that.”
“We are so stupid,” she murmurs.
“It’s my fault,” Vaughn admits.
“That’s not true,” Sydney disagrees, shaking her head.
“You have to go now,” Vaughn says.
“I’ll see you back in LA,” he tells her retreating back, wishing he would have kissed her when he had the opportunity.
‘Now the chance is gone,’ he thinks, ‘And I have no clue when I might get another perfect chance like tonight.’
He gives up and calls Weiss, to tell him to come pick him up.
.................
Sydney walks into SD-6, directly towards Sloane’s office. She knocks on the door and hears him tell her to come in.
He swivels in his chair and smiles at Sydney, “Sydney what a nice surprise, I was hoping to see you again before I left on vacation.”
“You’re leaving?” she asks, feigning interest. ‘Not that I really care,’ she thinks, ‘Just gets you off my back.’
“Only for a short vacation,” he chuckles, “I think I deserve a vacation, I’ve never really taken one.”
‘You and me both.’
“Well I just wanted to give you this,” she hands him the defective gyroscope, “I thought you might like it.”
He examines the gyroscope before he looks at Sydney with a smile, “Excellent job Sydney! I’m so proud of you...now no enemies of the United States can get their hands on it.”
‘Yeah, no one but you.’
“No problem sir,” she all but cringes, “It’s my pleasure to serve my country.”
“You make your country proud,” he tells her.
“Thank you sir,” she smiles, because she knows she really is serving her country, working as a double agent, “But I really have to go now, I have a lot of paperwork to do.”
He nods quietly, as he just watches her.
“I’ll talk to you when you get back,” she waves, “Have fun.”
“Oh I will.”
..................
The rest of the day she sits at her desk as she does paperwork, writes reports, everything she hates to do, she’d rather be out there and kicking some ass.
But what keeps her there is knowing that she has a meeting with Vaughn right after she is done there.
................
Sydney walks into the warehouse once again.
“Hey,” Vaughn smiles.
“Hey,” she smiles back, “What did Kendall say?”
“He did not mention anything about our date,” Vaughn tells her.
She blushes a little, before she goes on, “Have you written your mission debrief yet?”
“No, not yet,” he sighs, “If I tell the truth, at the least, they’ll remove me as your case officer. Despite what we did, how stupid we were, I know we do good work. We need to stay together.”
“I agree,” she nods, her eyes on the floor, “We do good work.”
His forehead wrinkles in confusion as she gives him the gyroscope, “I don’t understand.”
“When I got back to SD-6, it was clear they did not know you were CIA, I gave them the counterfeit gyroscope,” she explains with a rueful smile, “This is the real one. We win.”
“At the airport, you took them both,” he realizes suddenly.
“Always be prepared,” she murmurs as she walks away.
.................
Sydney and Francie sit on the couch, as they eat popcorn and talk about Michael.
“So the dream and the actual date were one in the same?” Francie asks.
“Yeah,” Sydney nods, “They were.”
“This is so freaky!” Francie exclaims, then smiles, “So how did the date end?”
“With an offer of a key to a hotel room,” Sydney tells her, “And we decided to take it.”
“Sydney!” Francie squeals, “You didn’t--”
“You always say carpe diem, seize the day, so I did,” Sydney taunts, “No, but really, then the boss pages us both and we have to leave before we got to go up there.”
“That sucks,” Francie sighs.
“There’s always another time,” Sydney shrugs, and receives a playful slap as Francie squeals again.
----------------
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