Two Faced

K

kriz-te

Cadet
Two Faced
Her name was Sydney Bristow. Now, it’s Julia Thorne.
by kriz_te
Disclaimer: Alias is not mine. :(

Summary: Sydney Bristow was kidnapped by the Covenant who attempted to brainwash her into becoming Julia Thorne. They believed they succeeded as she became one of their best agents and assassins. What they didn’t know was that Julia had never forgotten about Sydney’s life and she wanted to get it back. But when the chance comes, will she really be able to give up the identity she has been immersed in for so long? Who is she?

Author's Note
About the dates, I assumed that Seasons One and Two covered about two years, excluding the memory loss time jump. If you know how long they actually covered, please tell me, but I probably won’t change the timeline for this story.
As for where this takes place within the official show timeline, this is AU after Sydney is tested by the Covenant. Therefore, she didn’t contact Kendall right away or end up erasing her memories.


Prologue

Excerpt from CIA agent profile Bristow, Sydney A.:

“November 18, 2004: In accordance with standard protocol, this statement is being issued to the effect that Agent Sydney Bristow is hereby presumed dead. Bristow has been missing in action for a year and no clues as to her whereabouts have been found since that time. Closure of Case File 114717B – Doren, Allison will also be effective immediately.”

Opening sentence of the final report sent to the Covenant leaders on Subject 47’s treatment by Dr. Oleg Martijik:

“I believe she has fully responded to the treatments designed for her and recommend proceeding to final testing at this time.”
 
Chapter One – Just Another Day

October 1, 2011

Her alarm clock was beeping; she was awake but still in bed. Eyes open, staring out through her skylight at the predawn light barely illuminating the angel statue on the church across the street. All sorts of dawn colors were reflected in the glass and she lay on the bed, almost relaxed after a night of troubled sleep. Pretty soon the alarm’s beeps became louder and faster and she sighed before throwing out a hand to fumble for the button and turn the thing off.

In the sudden silence, she pulled herself together quickly and got up to exercise. Her usual two mile run in the crisp morning air woke her up fully and then she spent the next forty-five minutes with her punching bag. All too soon it was time for a shower and breakfast. And work.

She took her time getting ready, it was essential her appearance said only what she wanted it to. She carefully did her make up to look very natural even while highlighting her best features; cheekbones and eyes. She dressed in dark jeans and a deep red sweater. For shoes, she’d learned long ago that fashion alone never cut it. Soft tan leather sneakers were perfect.

Finally, Julia Thorne was ready to walk the streets of the city. She left her penthouse apartment and perfectly blended in as one of the crowd, moving with the same bored pace. But she was always aware, her guard never down. It had always paid off for her to stay in a mental state of preparedness. She was even ready when her beeper went off. Without breaking stride, she peeked at it, noted her contact’s location and changed her course to go meet him.

It wasn’t too long before she arrived at the Piazza Navona and spotted her contact from a distance. She observed him and the crowd for a few moments and then moved in, confident everything was normal.

“Good morning, Ms. Thorne,” the Covenant agent said. She nodded in acknowledgement of his greeting.

“Hello, Savio. What do you have for me this time? Something more challenging than the last one, I hope.” Her last assignment had been strictly observation of a subject; she found nothing more boring.

The agent smiled. He had passed along assignments to Julia Thorne more times than he could count since she’d been assigned to operate out of Rome. She was incredibly difficult to read, her demeanor almost never changed, but he thought he’d managed to observe some things he was fairly sure he could interpret accurately. Today, she’d actually called him by his name, no titles, which he’d noticed she would do when she was getting restless. Savio wondered if one of her spontaneous trips to London was imminent.

“Yes,” he said, handing her a small round disk, “You might even enjoy this one. You have a week.”

“Thank you.” She looked him straight in the eye as she gracefully plucked the disk from his fingers. He suppressed a shiver.

She turned and walked out opposite the way she’d come. If Savio thought she’d enjoy this one, then it must be an assassination order. With a small smile of chagrin, Julia knew he was probably right.

Later that day, Julia sat on the sofa back at her apartment, laptop on her legs. She had a desk, but she preferred this. The desk was in her bedroom and she used it for her personal business. If she really needed to spread out, there was an office she leased.

She looked up from browsing through the disk’s information when a knock came at her door. The surveillance monitors showed the man she was expecting so she quickly set her laptop aside and went to answer the door. On the way, she pressed a button under a swinging switch-plate that signaled the picture frame on the wall to slide back in place over the screens.

A pleased smile was on her face when she swung the door wide. Simon Walker entered and took in the sight of her sweater, jeans, and now bare feet, and smirked in approval.

“Hello, sweetheart, miss me much?” he immediately kissed her and she responded enthusiastically.

“Not really,” she teased after a moment, pulling back for some air.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to leave a better impression on you tonight, won’t I?” he played back.

“It wouldn’t hurt.”

They smiled at each other challengingly before heading to her bed to forget everything else but each other for awhile, as usual.

~*~*~*~

Like it? Want to read more? Review. :smiley: Updates will be sporadic because I am in school, but they will come. I will send PM's if you ask for one.
 
Chapter Two – Worlds Apart

October 1, 2011

He could almost see her face. He wanted to so badly, he was trying to hard to see it. But it was hazy and fading. Grey mist obscured her features. A feeling of danger arose within him as the haze turned yellow, orange, red. He tried to reach for her, but flames cut him off. In the light, he directly focused on her eyes. They pulled at him, desperate. He tried to reach out again, but he was sucked backwards. She faded until the flames swallowed her.

Michael Vaughn sat straight up in bed covered in sweat. He glanced uncomfortably at the woman lying next to him. She hadn’t stirred. He carefully swung his feet around to the floor and got his gasping breath to slow.

He hadn’t had a nightmare about Sydney in two years. But of course he should have seen one coming soon. Sighing, he took one last look at the woman’s dark red hair fanned out on her pillow before standing up and going to the bathroom. He shut the door quietly and splashed water on his face.

Natalie Paterson was a good woman and yes, he’d come to love her, but she wasn’t Syd. The dreams always made him feel guilty about that. Now that he was thinking of proposing to Nat, he should have expected to think about Sydney again.

Staring at his face in the mirror, he remembered the years he’d refused to believe she was gone, deluding himself until he’d almost gone crazy. Jack Bristow had been the one to literally knock him to his senses. She was gone, and probably dead, so he grieved and then slowly began to live again.

The bed rustled, prompting him to hurriedly shut off the water and light and return. As he sighed and crawled back under the covers, he put the haunting image of Syd’s accusing eyes behind him and focused on falling asleep next to his future.

October 3, 2011

Julia was sitting on her sofa, going over her next assignment again when Simon walked out of the bedroom, still yawning. She hid a smile as he went straight to the kitchen for coffee.

“So when are you leaving?” he asked.

“At eight tonight.” She closed the lid of her laptop and laid it aside. Standing, she joined him in kitchen. They pulled out cereal and milk and settled in at the table.

“So, what’s the new job?”

Julia threw him a small smile, “Why? Are you hoping to get in on it?”

“Guilty as charged.”

“Sorry, I’m better off doing this one alone, it’s an assassination.”

Simon raised his eyebrows. “Really! Who’s the target?”

“Some CIA agent, a guy named Bristow. He’s getting too close to our operation in St. Petersburg.”

“Why can’t they take care of it themselves?”

Julia smirked. “Because they want the best.”

October 4, 2011

Julia walked through the streets of St. Petersburg in the dawn light. She was highly aware of the small amount of activity around her. The people she passed assumed she was just like them, just another citizen on her way to an early job.

She’d conducted her surveillance last night as soon as she’d arrived. The disk had been very detailed and she’d quickly finalized a plan. Then she’d used the cash she’d brought to get her equipment and a hotel room. Now, everything was ready and Julia was very eager to get on with the action.

Suddenly, she stepped into a small alley between buildings a few feet away of the office complex where her target would arrive in half an hour. She slipped a set of lock picks out of the heel of her shoe and had a back door open in seconds. Closing it softly, she put the lock picks away and started up the stairwell.

Her rubber soles made no noise on the medal treads and she reached the twelfth floor in one minute. Julia pulled a ski mask out from under her jacket and put in on. She checked to make sure her gun had a round in the chamber and the silencer was secure. The door opened easily and she made it to the right office without being seen.

She stood beside the door hinges and waited.
 
Chapter Three – A Door Opened

October 4, 2011

The door handle wiggled and twisted as the person on the other side unlocked it. Julia concentrated even harder, slowing her breathing until it almost stopped, standing perfectly still.

Her target opened the door just enough let himself pass through. He gave it a nudge with a flick of his wrist to shut it behind him, and he walked straight to his desk without looking around.

She centered her weapon on his head and kept still, waiting for him to notice her. When he was seated and finally saw her, he froze, staring.

“Good morning, Agent Bristow,” Julia said casually. “Do you want to live?”

Her voice came out deep and metallic, thanks to the throat modulator in her mask.

He stared into her eyes for a moment, his face unreadable, before he responded.

“That would be nice,” said Jack, completely serious.

“Then you must do exactly as I say.”

“I understand.”

Julia gave him an appraising once over with her eyes to judge if he actually meant to cooperate before laying out her demands. He waited expectantly. She sharply nodded once.

“First, I need copies of all the records you’ve kept and the reports you’ve made to the CIA since you began this assignment.” She pulled a small disk out of her vest pocket and tossed in onto his desk.

Jack slowly reached for it, picked it up, and inserted it into his computer. All was silent except the click of the mouse buttons as he set up the files for transfer.

“It will be a few minutes,” he said blandly.

“I am very patient.”

Silence reigned completely for a few moments until Jack suddenly whipped out a pistol from under the desktop. He almost had it completely up, but Julia had been prepared for this. She squeezed her own trigger the second his shoulder twitched, and so with a quiet spit, a bullet sailed straight into him.

He grunted and his weapon clattered to the floor before her.

“I expected that from you, Jack,” she went on, sounding a bit like a disappointed parent, as he grimaced and reached up to put pressure on his wound while eyeing his fallen gun. Julia walked out from the wall, picked it up, and threw it behind her.

She sighed, “ I might as well tell you, I was sent here by the Covenant.”

At hearing this, Jack looked a little less sure of himself.

“Then why didn’t you just kill me when I came in? I would never have seen it coming.”

“If I’d been just another agent, I would have. But you are not just another problem they want fixed. They send the best, and that’s me.”

Jack kept silent, sat there looking confused. Julia raised her gun from his forehead, but still held it out in readiness as she explained.

“I don’t think I need to kill you to fix this leak. But I won’t hesitate to if you continue to be uncooperative. You have no reason to trust me, I know. But if you don’t work with me now, even if you did manage to escape, you know the Covenant will only send someone else. Someone who wouldn’t even let you know he was there. Don’t be stubborn.”

Julia kept her gun raised and they stared at each other until Jack finally nodded. The computer beeped.

“Your files,” he stated warily. She glanced at her watch and smiled behind her mask.

“Good. Next, I’ll need some of your blood.” She tossed a blood drawing kit onto the desk.

~

October 6, 2011

The Piazza Navona was almost empty at the time she’d asked Savio to meet her. She waited by the fountain in the middle, watching for him.

He approached from the same corner he always did, and she wanted to laugh at how he was obviously watching her, trying to figure out her mood.

When he’d reached her, she handed him a key.

“How did it go?” Savio asked as he pocketed it, hoping he’d guess right as she was back to normal.

“Smoothly,” Julia replied and nodded toward his pocket. “The disk and confirmation of completion are in that box at the usual location.” She waited to see if he had anything else to say.

“Good job, you should have another assignment next week. I’ll contact you when I get the orders.”

She nodded, and walked past him, the way he’d come.

Savio smiled as she left, confident his best agent was again in a good mood, at least for awhile.

~

Sydney Bristow stood in a wide airy hallway, hands deep in the pockets of her black trench coat. This compound in Switzerland was the only place she could let herself exist right now. She hated it, but knew it was necessary if she was to survive.

She took a deep breath, tears already imminent, as she looked at the door in front of her. To enter would mean admitting who she’d become, and it would mean ripping someone else’s world apart. But she had to do this; she had to take this chance. It might be the first step of setting herself free.

She swiped a hand at her eyes and in one quick movement she opened the door, stepped inside and quietly shut it behind her. The man sitting in a chair by the window with a bandaged shoulder looked over casually, then did a double take.

“Sydney?” Jack Bristow questioned with a whisper, his jaw slack in astonishment and disbelief.

“Dad,” she managed to choke out before she started sobbing and ran to fall into his hug.


~~~Authors Note~~~

Sorry these updates are very far between, but be assured I am still writting. :smiley: With the Christmas break, I'll get a lot more done to save up for posts during the next semester! If you like this, please post a comment, I'd love to see how many people are actually reading this. Thanks Michael_Vartan_Hottie for your enthusiasm! It's kept me writting, just knowing one person enjoyed it. :smiley:
 
Oh My GOD!!! love this fic... but i am a little confuzzled... with the syd & julia thingy...

but anyways, can i plz get a pm when you update???

thanks,
from ABV
 
Chapter Four – Blow to the Heart

October 6, 2011

The coffee was bitter, but at least it was waking him up. Vaughn shoved a stack of files away from the corner of his desk with his mug and opened the file that was the cause of his early morning presence at the office. The past two days had been like this too. Ever since Jack missed a dead drop and his next two contact windows were silent.

Yesterday, Kendall had ordered a team in to investigate on his recommendation and their report had finally come in. He read the first line and immediately felt wide awake. Forgetting his coffee, he hurried to Kendall’s office.


He didn’t bother knocking and Kendall looked up from his desk.

“Jack Bristow’s dead,” Vaughn half told, half asked.

“Yes, Agent Vaughn I know. I have already read the report. Sit down. I was going to call you in a few minutes anyway.”

Kendall turned down the lights in the room and flipped on the large screen on the wall. He brought up a slightly fuzzy picture of the back of a woman. She was dressed completely in black, wore a mask over her head, and had an equipment vest on, but the outfit was tight enough to reveal her gender.

“We believe this is Julia Thorne.”

“What?” Vaughn exclaimed. If Julia Thorne had carried out the hit, Jack was certainly dead and it was useless to double check their intel.

“Yes, she is one of the Covenant’s top agents and undoubtedly their top assassin. If Jack’s cover was made, they would have sent her, no question. Plus in all the photos we’ve been able to get of her, she appears as she does here.”

Vaughn sighed and lowered his eyes, letting Kendal go on. “This is the last frame recovered from the camera in Agent Bristow’s office. Previous footage shows her entering the room and then the tape goes blank, another clue this is Julia Thorne; she has been known to do that.”

A new picture flashed on the screen, Jack lying on his stomach, splatters of blood surrounding him and a small river of it soaked into the carpet, flowing from his neck. Vaughn cringed and had to look away.

“When will the team arrive with his body?” he asked.

“They haven’t found his body. These images were on a generic digital camera found on his desk. But the blood stains were there. DNA confirms its Jack’s.”

The last thread of hope Vaughn might have harbored died.

~

The coffee was cold by the time he got back to his desk. He sat down and stared at the mug, unsure what to do next.

“Hey, I just heard about Jack,” Weiss walked up and startled him. “How are you holding up?”

Vaughn put his elbows on his desk and leaned his head into his hands.

“Not well.”

“Right, that’s what I thought.” Weiss sighed, pulled over and empty chair and sat down. “And you’re probably thinking this is your fault,” he scolded.

“Well, it’s not like I didn’t have anything to with it.” Vaughn snapped and sat up. “I was his handler. He trusted me, relied on me to watch his back from here. And I have no idea how this happened, how the Covenant could have found out about him.

“Plus,” he hesitated. “A few nights ago I had a dream about Sydney. I was sure it was because I was thinking of proposing to Natalie. I wanted to talk to Jack about it, but now he’s gone. It’s giving me a weird feeling, like I just lost both of them at the same time.”

Weiss was quiet for a moment then he said, ”Wait a second, you’re thinking of proposing to Nat?”

“Yeah,” Vaughn answered quietly. Weiss straightened up and looked a little relieved.

“Wow, ok. Well, all I have to say then is this. What happened is sad, it’s a big loss to all of us, but Jack knew the risks of taking that assignment. It’s quite obvious he sought out the more dangerous ones since Sydney’s death. All today proves is that life is short and you should never let a chance for happiness to pass you by. Both he and Syd would want you to be happy.”

Vaughn nodded and kept a straight face, “Thanks, Dr. Phil.”

Weiss snorted, “You’re welcome. And you know, if Jack could see us, he would be staring at us and making us feel like idiots because we’re sitting around brooding.” He got up and walked away.

Vaughn turned back to his desk and slowly got back to work. He owed his life to Jack, so the best way to honor him was to not wallow and to get on with living.

October 7, 2011

Julia walked into her apartment and immediately took off her coat and shoes. She felt like smiling today, something she hadn’t felt like doing in a long time. She walked back to her room and put her purse on her desk.

Laying down in the middle of her bed, she stared up at the angel statue. Someone really had been watching over her lately and given her an opportunity she wasn’t going to waste.

Somewhat excited, she jumped up and retrieved a paper she’d hidden in the lining of her purse. Written there was the information that could set her free, could change her back into who she knew she deserved to be. She read it three times and had it memorized, so she pulled out her book of matches and burned it.

Then she got out her computer and some other equipment and recorded a few phrases. It only took her a moment to do a little voice altering and then she was ready. Bringing her telephone over, she dialed, waited to hear the beep, and played the message.

~to be continued~



Thanks everyone for the interest! People who have asked for PM's will get them, and I'm almost done with editing chapter 5 so, it won't be too long before another update!
 
Chapter Five – No Turning Back

October 7, 2011

The light on his voice mail box suddenly started blinking and it startled him. Vaughn yawned and closed the folder before him. He’d been there all night, focusing on the work that needed to get done, compartmentalizing his grief.

He reached out and picked up the phone with one hand and dialed his voice mail with the other. He was sure it was just Natalie; she usually left him direct messages so the ringing wouldn’t disturb him. He felt bad he hadn’t called to let her know he wouldn’t be home last night, but he forgot about that as the message played.

“I have information regarding officer 2300682. Confirmation: Russian Christmas. I will be in Venice, Campo San Polo, October 10, at one hundred hours, local time. Come alone.”

Vaughn pressed the number to save the message and slowly placed the phone back in the cradle. He tried to make sense of what he’d just heard, but he couldn’t. The voice was obviously altered and the message was so short he doubted even Marshall could trace the source.

He stared at the phone and thought. His first instinct was to follow the instructions. There was a chance it was a Covenant set-up, but whoever had sent that had to have been close to Jack. Jack would never have revealed his CIA contact information and protocols unless he did it willingly. His gut told him to take this person seriously.

Vaughn listened to the message again, wrote down the meet place and time, and then deleted it. He left a note for Kendall that he was following up on a lead and left.

October 10, 2011

Julia had left for Venice the day after she sent the message. She wanted to give herself time to settle in and refresh her memory of the city. Blending in was crucial. The Covenant didn’t have many operatives in Venice because the canals were not conducive for the movement of anything but information or small cargo. However, that meant some of the most secretive exchanges and meetings for the European cell went down here.

Julia knew it was a risk to meet a CIA agent here, but it was not a suspicious place to be for her, and that was what made her choose it. If she ran into anyone she knew, she would not have to explain her presence and the other person would not be likely to mention seeing her to anyone else. Even if they were to see her meeting with Vaughn, they would probably not investigate, unless he was recognized too. She wasn’t sure whether to expect Agent Vaughn to come to the city alone, but it really didn’t matter, as long as he came to the meet alone.

She looked into the mirror of the vanity she was sitting at, scrutinizing her appearance. She’d had to really change it this time, adding subtle prosthetics to give her face a completely different structure. The highest quality contacts were making her brown eyes hazel and her straight black wig was probably the most secure she’d worn yet.

Sydney Bristow could not be seen, and Julia nodded to herself in satisfaction. This would be enough.

Glancing at the clock, Julia saw it was just after midnight. After giving herself a last critical once over, she grabbed her overcoat and left the building.

~

She waited in a carefully chosen window, one level above the street, with a view of all the entrances to the square. The owners of the place were conveniently absent and would never know she’d been here. The open square was quiet although not deserted, a few couples wandered through, some people hurrying alone to wherever they needed to be. She scrutinized each of them thoroughly, even though she recognized a couple of them from her previous stake-outs.

She had just checked her watch to confirm it had reached one o’clock when she saw him and her heart almost betrayed her. It thumped once, hard, memories she hadn’t dwelt on in years tried to come flooding back, but Julia clamped down on them and forced them aside. Later, she told herself, later. She would be Sydney later.

She watched as he walked over to the fountain and looked around. She quickly went downstairs and left the building, letting the door lock behind her.

She walked slowly towards him, her heels echoing a clicking rhythm. Her breathing slowed to match her step and she felt like she was moving in slow motion. When she was close enough to read his face, she only saw curiosity and alertness. Then it changed. She realized what she’d done. Her right hand dropped from behind her ear, a few pieces of hair clinging to her gloves until the last second. She kept walking until she was a few feet away and then stopped.

Now his gaze held mild suspicion as well. But oddly enough, now that she was here, it didn't matter. The first sighting was over and it was easier to shut down her thoughts and act as Julia.

“Agent Vaughn,” she said. Her voice was quiet, but again metallic and grating. The modulation piece around her throat was hidden by her sweater.

“Yes,” he stated strongly although she could tell the voice had unnerved him a little more. “You have information about Jack Bristow?”

“Yes.” She plunged right in, “I had to fake his death because the Covenant found out he was a CIA agent and ordered him killed,” and waited for his reaction.

“So he’s alive?” he asked while wrinkling his brows.

“Yes.”

“And you’re Julia Thorne?” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Yes.”

“I don’t understand. Why would you do that? What is it you really want?” He took a step back.

“It’s not about what I want. I need to take down the Covenant and I know how, but I can’t do it alone.”

“So you saved Jack to get the help of the CIA,” he mused, “But if it wasn’t for his connections, you would have followed your orders, wouldn’t you?”

She remained silent, letting him believe whatever he wanted. She wouldn’t make excuses because she acted as necessary to survive. To try to explain would confuse him and reveal too much.

He scoffed, “And of course you know that as much as I’d like to arrest you right now, I can’t. The chance of gaining a double agent as high ranking as you is too valuable.”

She interrupted him, “No, I am not offering to be a double agent. I will tell you how to take down the Covenant, and I will be a part of the force. And after they are gone, I want a full pardon.”

“That’s asking a lot,” Vaughn sounded amazed. "Besides, I'm for from convinced you're telling the truth about Jack in the first place."

“I understand.” Julia looked around the square, nothing was amiss, but she was not going to stand here any longer. She pulled out a business card from her back pocket and handed it to him. He looked at her outstretched fingers as if they were snakes before gingerly taking the card.

“You can get confirmation of what I’ve told you about your Agent Bristow at the first number. Call the second when you agree to help me. Both will only work for the next five days.”

She turned slightly on her heels and walked past him. She felt his eyes on her back long after she was out of sight.

~to be continued~
 
Chapter Six – Breakdown, Breakthrough

October 10, 2011

She left Venice and hour later and headed straight to London, not letting herself second-guess her previously made decision. She shifted her bag on her shoulder with one hand while ringing a doorbell with the other.

“Sexy,” Simon smiled in approval when he saw her. He stepped back and held the door open wide. Julia didn’t say anything, just walked in smirking and then dropped her purse and coat on the nearby sofa. Simon turned from shutting the door to find her already approaching. She swiftly pulled his face in and fiercely attacked his mouth with hers.

“Straight to business then?” He managed to tease as he put his hands on her waist and guided them back to his bedroom.

“Of course,” she practically growled, desperate to alleviate the mental pressure, just for moment.

Later, she lay on her side, the sheets draped over her waist, watching Simon pack a bag.

“This is such a drag,” he was saying. “You had to come when I have a gig.”

He left off packing to lean down and kiss her. “But you know you’re welcome to join us; the team hasn’t seen you in a while.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’m expecting orders soon.”

He sighed and sat down, running his hand along her upper arm.

“Three days, and I’ll be back. Feel free to stay and use the house.”

Julia searched his eyes and saw what he was really saying: he wanted her to be there when he got back. She sat up, nodding, “I’ll stick around if I can.”

Simon smiled, kissed her again and squeezed her bottom before returning to packing. She threw a pillow at him as she rolled out of the bed, sauntering out to the living room to retrieve her bags. She needed a shower.

She left the bathroom door open and kept one ear tuned to the noises Simon was making. Closet doors and drawers banged; his cell phone rang and she heard the murmur of conversation.

“My ride’s here,” he popped his head around the jamb as she was toweling off. Julia smiled and secured the towel around her chest as she walked him to the door. He kissed her cheek, she squeezed his hand, he said “Cheers,” and he shut the door behind him.

The quiet was welcome. She hesitated a moment before locking the door, grabbing a bottle of wine and a glass out of the kitchen, and heading back to the bathroom. She ran the water into the tub as hot as she could stand it and rummaged in her bag until she found her bubbles.

When the bath was ready, she slipped in slowly, the wine bottle in her left hand open, the glass in her right hand full. Simon didn’t need to know this was the main reason she’d told him she would stay.

While she’d given up a lot of her personal preferences and created a persona more appropriate to her alias, she’d decided that for the sake of her sanity, she could still indulge in an infrequent bubble bath. Sydney leaned her head back against the wall and slowly let her body relax and her mind wander.

Her decision was made early on, she wouldn’t call the CIA. She felt she knew what Kendall would ask her to do and so she took it upon herself. It would be simpler this way. She didn’t want to be an official double agent again, that had been dangerous enough at SD-6, doing the same with the Covenant was even more so. It was easier and safer for everyone she loved if she did this on her own.

She had felt a lot more determined in the beginning, when she’d been a newly established agent. The pressure to be convincing in her alias while working to learn as much about the Covenant as she could because anything could be important to making them pay.

But the years had passed, and she’d slowly become Julia, even while organizing and executing her own form of counter missions. It was who she was, what she lived for: her paycheck and her subtle sabotage. Months would go by when she never thought about why. Still, every time a face from her old life surfaced in her mind’s eye, she felt renewed and justified, even as she grieved for the loss of them.

And now, after so long, she had a chance to shed this second skin of hers. Sydney couldn’t tell herself this was a chance to get her life back, she couldn’t ignore that it had been eight years since her death.

Vaughn had surely moved on by now. She wouldn’t let the fact that he hadn’t be wearing a ring mean a thing. Francie was dead. Will was dead. Her father now knew the truth, but all the emotion of that reunion had weakened her focus. She felt she’d just lost everyone all over again. Sydney wiped a tear from her cheek and then drained the last of her glass. As if on cue, she heard the faint buzzing of her beeper.

She pulled herself out of the tub and quickly pulled the stopper. The gush of draining water filled the air. Toweling off again, she retrieved the beeper from her coat and read the message. Sighing, she pulled out her PDA and sent Savio a short message. He would now know not to meet her and to download the next assignment to her PDA.

Sydney set the device down on the counter as she entered the kitchen and rummaged for something to eat. Focus, she thought forcefully as she started slicing bread for a sandwich, her old life wasn’t waiting around for her. Her current life was only the means to get to her new one.

Julia was out the door half an hour later, having memorized her assignment. It was far away, but it would be easy. She’d have plenty of time to get back to welcome Simon home.

October 11, 2011

Vaughn dialed the first number from a payphone in the subway.

“Yes?”

“Oh my god. Jack?”

“Michael, good.”

“Jack. What the hell is going on?”

“I can only say this: If you ever truly loved my daughter, you will take my word that you can trust Julia.”

Vaughn was silent for a moment. He remembered her walking, her fingers moving around her ear. A reminder of all his distressing dreams.

“Tell me about the night of March 17, 2005. If it’s really you, you’ll know what I’m talking about.”

“You changed after her case was closed. I was tired of your attitude, you were only getting more reckless at work and when I found out you were still investigating under the radar, I went to your apartment. You were drunk, and started saying a lot of things you didn’t really mean but they got me angry. I threw the first punch. You retaliated of course, and put up much more of a fight than I expected.”

“That’s putting it mildly,” Vaughn smiled. “My place was basically destroyed.”

“What matters is that you straightened up, came back to work, and I actually started to like you.”

Vaughn stopped smiling, “Yeah, thanks.”

“Michael, I learned a while ago that the Covenant took her. It is because of them that she is gone. Julia approached me with her offer instead of killing me because she knew this and knew I would agree to help bring them down. You can trust her. Call the other number and tell her you will agree to her terms.”

Vaughn sighed, wishing Jack had told him about the connection earlier, but he recognized it was only Jack’s way of trying to protect him.

“Okay. Can I reach you at this number again?”

“No, I will disconnect it after we hang up.”

“So…this is it then?”

“Yes. With one last thing: be careful who you discuss this with. Kendall is ok, of course, but the Covenant has ears everywhere. Julia can not be compromised.”

“Right, I went straight to Kendall when I got back and we are the only ones involved right now.” He paused. “Thank you, Jack.”

“Goodbye, Michael.”

The line died, Vaughn replaced the phone in the cradle, and slowly walked back to work in a bit of a daze.

~~~to be continued~~~

Announcement: Since updating at the end of the month seems to be working for me, I'm making it official. Updates will be at the end of the month. I know you'd probablly like them a little sooner, and maybe that will change when we reach summer, but for now: Monthly just works.

This chapter has not been given the final edit, so...please ignore mistakes or point them out nicely and I may fix them.

A big thank you to everyone who is reviewing!!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
Face-off
2
Replies
25
Views
1K
bluheart13
B
H
Alternative Ending PART TWO
Replies
0
Views
632
hellow
H
J
A Twist of Fate thread two
Replies
8
Views
864
NadiaSantosFan
N
Back
Top