Sydney Bristow
Moderator
CIA Agent
"Write this down. E. M. E. T. I. B. Got it? Now, reverse it."
Posts: 67
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Post by Sydney Bristow on May 12, 2005 21:39:21 GMT -5
Hit by a bus were the first words that came to Sydney’s drug fogged mind. She kept her eyes closed, floating between sleep and wakefulness. A heart monitor beeped steadily somewhere nearby and she could feel the sticky pull of the monitor’s leads against her chest. The pain killers that had been dripped into her blood stream through the needle in her hand had been nice, keeping the pain to a dull ache. Now, they had all but stripped the dosage to nothing, bringing her out of the drug induced coma she had been in.
The pain was excruciating, her entire body aching unmercifully. It was the only way she knew she was truly alive. Her lungs burned with each breath and a wracking cough bubbled up, causing her body to arch off the bed. She opened her eyes, struggling to breathe through the fire in her chest. A hand gripped her shoulder and a straw was thrust between her lips.
“Drink,” the familiar voice said softly, his tone soothing.
Sydney drank deeply, the ice water feeling like heaven as it went down her throat. Finally, the cup was empty and she turned her head slightly to look at Marcus Dixon, her former partner and superior. She smiled, the gesture lighting up her pale face. “Dixon.” Her voice was rough, her throat scorched.
Dixon returned the smile. “Hey, Syd. I’d ask how you’re feeling, but I think that’s a stupid question.”
Sydney swallowed and grimaced. “More water, please.”
As Dixon poured more water for her, she began to wonder why he was in New York. It had to be something major if they had pulled the head of the Los Angeles field office away from his command, considering his second-in-command was in New York as well...
Sydney suddenly sat up, unmindful of the pain in her badly bruised back and ribs. The meeting in the park with her father, the smell of gas in the apartment and the explosion that had thrown her and Patience through the door of a neighboring apartment all came back to her in a rush. “Dixon, where’s my father? Is he alright? Are Marshall and Patience alive?”
Dixon regarded her, his expression grim. “Your father and Marshall are in intensive care. They’ve been there for three days now, since the bomb went off. They both suffered some serious injuries from the explosion and your father has severe smoke inhalation.”
Sydney leaned back against the pillows, closing her eyes. “Three days? I’ve been out for three days?”
“I’m afraid so, Syd.” Dixon nudged the cup into her hand. “Your injuries weren’t too severe- some blunt trauma to the chest and back. They were more worried about the smoke inhalation. You’re lucky someone dragged you out when they did or you’d be in worse shape than Marshall and your dad. It appears as though you might have a guardian angel.”
“There was a woman, with a black cloak- armed to the teeth. Was she there?”
Dixon shook his head, splaying his hands. “The police found no one in the neighbor’s apartment except the neighbor. They think that by you going through the door the way you did saved you from worse injury. You were thrown clear, for the most part. Going back in is what landed you here.”
Sydney drank more water, staring down at the hospital bracelet adorning her right wrist. Patience was still alive and was now gone. Syd cursed herself silently, knowing that the mysterious woman wasn’t easy to find and she wondered if she’d be able to get to her again. “How much longer do they want me here?” she asked, not looking up.
“Only a few more days. They want to make sure there’s no long term damage.”
Syd nodded as she drank more water. They sat in silence for a long moment before Sydney looked at him. “Dixon, what aren’t you telling me?”
Dixon sighed, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. “Michael Vaughn is missing. He disappeared responding to the bomb.”
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The Magdalena
Patrolman
"Answered them, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever commiteth a sin is the servant of sin.."
Posts: 27
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Post by The Magdalena on May 13, 2005 0:47:35 GMT -5
The hit was hard… however despite passing out… she had made it to a cemetery and hid in a mausoleum, tending to each wound, which in two days time had become the most she has ever had in her life. However, despite her good abilities to recover quickly, Patience had no memory of getting herself to the cemetery. Hissing slightly she stood, sore and upset, she lost the mark.
“Kristof… I know you are there.” She said with a wince of pain. Her eyes closed and her body sighed. “Kristof…” with that a man stepped from the shadows of the home of the dead. “Bonjourno Kristof.” He slowly began to bandage her up.
“You are taking lots of risk for this… they asked me to find you and aid you. Patience you should have listened to your intuition not to go back.” Patience huffed slightly, however, in the back of her mind, she knew he was right.
Though, she couldn’t stop wondering, how Sydney made it from all the smoke she inhaled and the beating up she had been getting those passed few days. “I need to get back… to watch for Sydney.”
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Sydney Bristow
Moderator
CIA Agent
"Write this down. E. M. E. T. I. B. Got it? Now, reverse it."
Posts: 67
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Post by Sydney Bristow on Jun 6, 2005 20:47:05 GMT -5
Sydney brought her gloved hands up to protect her face from another barrage of blows. She did her best to avoid the flurry of kicks and punches, most of them successfully thwarted by her hands and forearms. One managed to get through her defenses and she felt the wind as the trainer’s glove swiped past her nose.
Syd countered quickly, catching him in the ribs as the punch followed through. He cried out in surprised, tinged with pain, and she swept his feet out from under him, her fist lashing out and stopping inches from his throat. Straightening up, she offered him a hand up and he accepted.
“Very good, agent Bristow,” he said, looking down at her.
Syd spat her mouth guard into her hand and smiled up at him. “Thanks. What do you think? Will I be ready for my review tomorrow?”
The trainer smiled and spit out his own mouth guard. “You’re one of the only agents I know that’s eager to return to field status. Although, you’re also the only agent I know that’s managed to bounce back this quickly from the kind of injuries you had.”
Syd paused for a moment as another trainer unfastened her protective headgear. “I have my reasons for wanting to get back into the field,” she said, her tone neutral as she thought of Vaughn.
The trainer nodded. “I’d ask you if you were ready for the showers, but that’s a stupid question. What is it going to be today? Running another mile against doctors orders? Finding another sparring partner? Or are you going to do some bag work?”
Sydney shrugged, looking at her gloved hands. “I think some bag work will be fine, considering I do have my review tomorrow.”
“Alright. Don’t overexert yourself or you’ll do more harm than good.”
“I know.”
The trainer laughed and shook his head. “We’ve been saying that to you all along and you haven’t listened a single time.”
After they parted ways, the cavernous gym housed just outside of the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, emptied. From the shadows on the floor, Syd guessed it was around dinnertime, when most of the agents would be going home to their families. Squaring off against the heavy bag, Sydney began to work through her routine. There was a combination of a straight jab and an uppercut, followed by a high round house kick. Next was an elbow drop, followed by a vicious knee. After a while, she began to lose herself in the physicalness of working on the bag. Sweat poured down her face in rivers, soaking her dark gray CIA T-shirt even more as she moved.
Dancing back and forth on the balls of her feet, she countered every swing of the bag sharply and with a power most opponents woefully underestimated. When she could barely lift her arms anymore, Sydney stopped the bag’s motion and stood, hands on hips as she caught her breath.
“I knew you’d find me again,” she said, looking over her shoulder at the shadows.
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The Magdalena
Patrolman
"Answered them, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever commiteth a sin is the servant of sin.."
Posts: 27
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Post by The Magdalena on Jun 22, 2005 22:22:17 GMT -5
Kristof argued for miles as she made her way through shadows, holes and odds and ends. Her spear helped her jump large gaps and his helped him follow her. Suddenly there was a stop on a roof, she staring him down and vice versa. “Kristof! Go back to them and tell them I died… tell them something… because I am not letting the key get taken nor will I let her get hurt. Now go away!” With that she spun in an array of black velvet cape and started off once more.
Hours passed, hours of making her way through the city and through passcodes and what not. “Americans and their secrecy…” she mumbled underneath herself. Sighing slightly she found herself on CIA property. What to do.
Her eyes scanned this way and that. Huffing and puffing she lunged onto the nearest roof. Growling she curled into the ventilation shaft. From there on she was silent, even the metal on her ‘uniform’ made no noise against the metal shaft in which she crawled through. Some how she knew that she would find Sydney practicing.
Correct as usual and dusty, Patience slowly lifted the vent off the shaft and placed it to the side. Lowering herself she eyed the two infront of her from the shadows and seemed to stay oddly silent. Soon it was just Sydney and herself.
“I knew you’d find me again,” Sydney said into the shadows.
“You are correct, Sydney…. You are very important… There are people that you cannot protect yourself from. Consider me your shadow from now till the situation is cleared… you are the key and these people shant get you…” the last part was faint, but Sydney probably would hear the direness of the words “not over my dead body.”
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Sydney Bristow
Moderator
CIA Agent
"Write this down. E. M. E. T. I. B. Got it? Now, reverse it."
Posts: 67
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Post by Sydney Bristow on Jul 11, 2005 19:11:30 GMT -5
Sydney began to unwind the tape that protected her hands, her eyes on what she was doing. “I know there are people out there who will stop at nothing to have me. It won’t happen, not if I’m alive and I know I’m no good dead. I don’t need a body guard.”
Tossing the tape away, Sydney walked over to the bench where her gym bag waited. She uncapped a bottle of water and drank deeply, wiping sweat from her face with the back of one hand. “What I need is to get healthy for my review tomorrow or I’m no good to…” She trailed off with a frown, thinking of Vaughn.
Syd was aware of Patience’s eyes watching her, taking in the pain that she had tried to keep from her face. “I have to find someone,” she said softly, raising her eyes to meet the other woman’s. “Someone very special to me and I will give up everything to bring him home alive. You have to understand that; if you don’t, you wasted your time coming back for me.”
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The Magdalena
Patrolman
"Answered them, verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever commiteth a sin is the servant of sin.."
Posts: 27
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Post by The Magdalena on Jul 13, 2005 9:29:46 GMT -5
Eyes seemed to follow Sydney this way and that as she moved. “Oh, this is not for you… Sydney, this is for man kind itself, so you will have to live with there being a sort of body guard, it’s not your own life on the line. Got that Sydney?” However, Sydney continued on and Patience watched as the woman wiped the sweat from her body.
“I have to find someone,” she started off, Patience watching the emotion wash over the woman’s features. “Someone very special to me and I will give up everything to bring him home alive.” Patience eyed her, thinking this woman was CIA but wore her heart on her shoulder, it made no sense. “You have to understand that; if you don’t you wasted your time coming back for me.”
Patience eyed the woman with her head shaking slowly. “Your heart and soul are open books… I will help you, only if when we finish, you will help me.” She turned slowly and headed towards the wall before leaning against the vertical, there was no doubt her body still had to hurt from all the shit she had been through…. A slight rest was all she needed.
“So, inform me…”
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Sydney Bristow
Moderator
CIA Agent
"Write this down. E. M. E. T. I. B. Got it? Now, reverse it."
Posts: 67
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Post by Sydney Bristow on Aug 5, 2005 19:21:17 GMT -5
Syd sipped from the Styrofoam cup in her hand, wincing as the burnt coffee slid down her throat. Grimacing, she glanced around the bustling Washington D.C. street. Winter had come early to the Mid-Atlantic and a few scattered flurries mingled with the dashing commuters. Tossing the rest of her coffee in the trash, she stuffed her gloved hands into the pockets of her black pea coat. She appeared relaxed, as if waiting for someone to those who even spared her a casual glance.
For those who cared to take a closer look, her hazel eyes were intense as they watched the people from behind her sunglasses. The ear piece and its transmitter were invisible, expertly hidden by Marshall. It was a little early for them to be back in the field, but they had both passed their field tests. The only one still in the hospital was Jack, who had been burned on his back in the explosions.
The stake out was their first field assignment together since New York. They were working from Intel that Irina Derevko had a meeting set up in Washington with an operative from the defunct Covenant organization.
“Mountaineer, have you seen anything yet?” Marshall asked.
Syd moved her hand by her right ear, making it look as if she were pushing back a piece of hair. She keyed the ear piece and looked down at her boots. “Nothing yet. I’m going to give it until 1400 and then I’m going to call it a day. It’s getting pretty cold out here.”
Marshall felt guilty as he sipped from a thermos of hot chocolate in the cargo area of a heated surveillance van four blocks from Sydney’s position. “We’ll find her, Mountaineer.”
“I hope so,” she said softly, not bothering to key the mic. Looking skyward, she sighed dejectedly as she took in the steely sky. Her mind strayed to Vaughn, wondering if he was still alive.
The CIA was working carefully through all official channels trying to find Vaughn, frustrating her and Dixon. A heated argument with Rollins had earned Dixon a demotion and a one-way ticket back to Los Angeles. Now it was just her and Marshall to continue looking for Vaughn in the back channels. She wondered if she’d find him in time or if little pieces of him would find their way to her.
Shaking herself, Syd looked up and studied the faces around her. She found a familiar one, wrapped in a black cloak. Patience never strayed far, even when pulling stake out duty on a 20 degree day. She seemed willing to help Sydney, but the CIA agent didn’t want to owe the other woman any favors. She already owed Patience her life and that was going to be hard enough to repay.
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Flinkman
Rookie
"Hi. Welcome. Don't kill me."
Posts: 9
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Post by Flinkman on Oct 15, 2005 17:27:28 GMT -5
Marshall sat back from his computer station and rubbed his tired eyes. He had been reading encrypted conversations and studying grainy surveillance photos for the better part of the past 12 hours. He felt as if his eyes were going to fall out of his head.
Sliding back in his chair, the tech geek glanced across the office and saw Sydney at her desk. She had her head propped up on one fist as she navigated something on her computer screen. The forlorn, helpless look on her face was enough to break Marshall's heart.
The search for Vaughn wasn't going well and the rumors rippling through the office were ugly. Rollins had been holding closed door sessions in his office and it was expected that Michael Vaughn would be considered dead by the CIA. It was only a matter of time before Rollins and some big wigs from Langley would make the announcement to the entire office. The entire situation made Marshall sick to his stomach and kept him up at night working feverishly. He felt as if he weren't doing enough to help his friend.
Flinkman's computer beeped, drawing his attention back to the monitor. Frowning, he set to work de-coding the transmission, reading as he went. When he finished, he stared at the screen with wide eyes. Adrenaline slammed through his system as he printed what was on the screen and ran to Sydney with the paper.
"Syd! Syd! I think I've got something!"
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Sydney Bristow
Moderator
CIA Agent
"Write this down. E. M. E. T. I. B. Got it? Now, reverse it."
Posts: 67
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Post by Sydney Bristow on Oct 15, 2005 17:54:25 GMT -5
Sydney scrolled through old Intel, trying to find something- anything- that she may have missed. That something, no matter how small, would lead her to Vaughn and maybe save his life. If not...
Shaking her head, Sydney sipped the cold herbal tea in her mug. She wouldn't let herself dwell on the fact that she may never see Vaughn again. The rumors in the office were bad enough, her nightmares even worse. She put in long days and longer nights, trying to avoid home until she absolutely needed to go there. The townhouse in Georgetown seemed too big, too empty. Syd hated waking alone, tears drying on her face from whatever nightmare.
Resting her head on her fist, she continued to scroll through the Intel, pausing at grainy surveillance pictures. Nothing was sticking out, nothing was catching her eye. Huffing out a frustrated breath, a movement caught her eye and she looked up to see Marshall running toward her, a piece of paper in his hand.
"Syd! I think I found something!" he said breathlessly as he skidded to a halt next to her desk.
Taking the paper from him, she began to read. When she finished, she re-read it and slowly raised her bloodshot eyes to meet Marshall's. "Where did you get this?"
Marshall gave her an aw-shucks-smile and ducked his head. "I made up this network that consists of all these encrypted lines used by different factions around the world and I read them from time to time, usually it's some funny stuff. Like this one time-"
Sydney stood up and gripped his shoulders. "Marshall, where did you get this?" she said, her voice low and dangerous.
"I-I got it off a seldom used channel left over from the Cold War."
"Have you told anyone about this?"
"No, no, you're the first one, Syd-Sydney."
Sydney let him go, chewing her lower lip. "Let's keep this to ourselves. Do you still have the latex and prosthetics we used to impersonate Lauren Reed?"
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