Summary: Alternate Truth Be Told. Syd never told Danny the truth and in return she never discovered the truth about SD-6. However, after a year of marriage, everything is about to change.
Disclaimer: I do not own Alias, or any dialogue borrowed for the purpose of this fic.
The title of this fic comes from the song 'Shelter' by Ray Lamontagne
The title of this chapter comes from the song 'Here Comes the Flood' by Peter Gabriel.
Stranded Starfish Have No Place To Hide
With an exhausted sigh, Sydney Bristow dumped her bag by the front door and shrugged off her jacket. She needed a bath. She needed a glass of wine. She needed Danny.
However, the apartment was still, no sound, no movement and no sign of life.
'The hospital,' Sydney thought, trying not to feel unforgiving. Between Danny's shifts at the hospital and her numerous 'business' trips, the two of them barely got to see each other. After a year of marriage it was still a novelty to actually sit down and have dinner together. Their lives had no routine, no structure. It was randomly in and out, grabbing an hour together here and there.
It was taxing, and while the thought devastated Sydney, she knew that it was taking a toll on their relationship. The fact that she wasn't able to disclose the truth about her job, Sydney knew, was causing the most damage, but there was nothing she could do about it. She had sworn to serve her country and if that meant keeping a secret from her husband, she had to deal with that. There was no way she could give up her life at SD- 6. It meant too much to her.
A couple of hours later, Sydney was stretched out on the couch, much more relaxed after a long and languorous bath. Immersed in her book, she jumped slightly when the front door opened.
"Hello beautiful," Danny said, walking across and sitting down beside her. "I have good news."
"And what might that be?" Sydney asked.
"I managed to get next Thursday off," he said. "It turns out that my horrible boss actually agreed that I should be able to see my wife graduate."
Sydney smiled. "Not so horrible, after all."
"Oh, he's still horrible," Danny replied. "I have to pick up an extra night rota to make up for it."
"Not good."
"No, but it will be worth it," Danny smiled. "My wife, the English teacher."
Sydney said nothing as she shifted, slightly uncomfortable, in her seat.
"So, have you started applying for any schools?" Danny queried. "Because Sam was saying that his wife's school is looking for English teachers."
"Uh, Danny." Sydney sat up straight. "I'm not going to be applying for any teaching positions."
Danny eyed her. "What?"
"I'm not going to be applying for any teaching positions."
"Why?"
"Because I am going to continue working for Credit Dauphine."
"Is this some kind of joke?" Danny asked, clearly looking unimpressed.
"No. Danny, I am being completely serious. I'm staying at the bank."
"Forgive me if I'm feeling a little confused, but you have slaved away for years so that you could be become an English teacher and now you are throwing it all away. It makes no sense."
"I'm not throwing it all away, Danny. I am happy at the bank. I want to continue with it before I start to teach."
"Happy?" Danny scoffed. "I don't think so."
"Danny!" Sydney exclaimed indignantly. "Why would you say that?"
"Because it's true. You are always exhausted Sydney. It takes too much out of you."
"You're always tired when you get back from the hospital." Sydney pointed out, her voice taking on a hard edge. "Does that mean your job doesn't make you happy?"
"That's completely different." Danny replied obstinately.
"How Danny?" Sydney demanded.
"Because we always knew that I would be a doctor. That was always in our plans. Your job at the bank was only ever supposed to be temporary."
"Well, now it's no longer temporary. I'm staying at the bank, Danny."
"Syd," Danny lowered his tone. "Think about this, please. About the amount of time you spend away from home."
"It's the same amount of time that you are absent." Sydney shot back.
"Syd, your business trips. You have to admit, they're excessive. I tolerated them because I knew the day was coming when they would cease." He drew in a deep breath, raking a hand through his hair. "Things…things have been slightly strained lately, am I right?"
Sydney did not speak and instead just gave him a slight nod.
"And if we want things to improve, then something needs to change. We cannot keep living the way we do. It's destructive and you know it."
Sydney stood up abruptly, understanding perfectly the real context of what Danny was saying. "What about you, Danny? Are you going to change? Work fewer hours? Be less destructive?"
"Syd, it's not that simple. I'm new at the hospital. I'm still establishing myself and—"
"And so I am going to be the only one who has to change something, right? If you think that that is going to happen then you have got another thing coming, Daniel Hecht."
"Sydney, if you could just—"
"No!" Sydney burst out. "Danny, while it is obviously not apparent to you, my work at the bank is important—"
"Sydney, you are a loan officer."
"It's important to me and I am not ready to give that up." She made to walk off, but then stopped. "If you want things to improve between the two of us, then maybe you should support me and the decisions that I make, instead of belittling the life that I lead."
An ice cream session with Francie did little to bring Sydney out of her funk. She was furious at Danny. While a part of her could understand where he was coming from, she never would have thought that he would expect her to make all the sacrifices in order to salvage their relationship.
"Syd," Francie started cautiously. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"What is it with you and that bank?" Francie asked and seeing Sydney's affronted expression hurriedly went on. "I'm not judging you or anything. I'm just curious."
Sydney paused thoughtfully. How could she word this? "I feel like I fit in there. I know it's odd with me about to complete an English major, but I am good at what I do. Yes, the job can be time-consuming and yes, it can wear me down, but when I achieve what I set out to do, it makes it all worth it. I know that you are unable to see the appeal that a bank can hold, but Francie, the job, it's just me."
"So, have you told Danny all of this?"
"No. What would be the point?" Sydney replied. "There's no way that he's going to cut back at the hospital- and he shouldn't have to. But he'd made up his mind. My job at the bank is not as important as his. He made that quite clear."
"Aw, Syd." Francie ran a comforting hand up and down her back. "You guys will figure this out. You two are made for each other."
Sydney sighed, rasing a spoonful of coffee ice cream to her lips. "Are we, Fran?"
"As many of you may be aware, the CIA recently received intelligence which provides us with vital, previous unavailable details of the inner workings of the Alliance. Thanks to some exceptional work, we've confirmed the validity of this intel. Therefore, tonight at 2200 hours, the CIA in conjunction with the FSB, the BAP, the MI5 and the Shin Bet will conduct simultaneous raids on all Alliance facilities and tomorrow morning, God willing, the Alliance will no longer exist."
"Hey Dixon," Sydney said as she placed her bag on her desk.
"Hey." Dixon's eyes narrowed with the concern as he observed her. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine." Sydney replied, fighting the urge to rub her eyes.
Dixon looked as if he didn't believe her for a second. "You sure about that?"
"Yes," she nodded firmly. "So, have you heard anything new?" she asked, hoping to change the subject. "Has Sloane returned?"
Dixon shook his head. "No. Geiger was still in his office this morning."
Sydney couldn't ignore the ominous feeling in the pit of her stomach. "This is so weird. It's just like Sloane disappeared off the face of the planet."
Dixon gave her a wry smile. "Given our line of work, is a person disappearing really that hard to believe? Sloane is one of the best. If he doesn't want to be found, he's not going to be."
Sydney shrugged. "I guess…I just can't shake the feeling that something is off."
A couple of hours later, Sydney was still seated at her desk, going over a report she wanted to complete before going home. She wanted to talk to Danny, to try and clear some of the bad air. They had never let an argument linger this long before, and that was contributing to her already uneasy feeling.
"Hey Syd…Dixon."
The two of them looked up and saw Marshall headed towards their desks, a small plastic container in his hands.
"Hey." Sydney smiled. "What have you got there?"
"Pigs in a blanket. You want one?"
"Uh, no thanks." Dixon said as Sydney shook her head as well.
"What? Hey, nobody can resist a little pig in a blanket. They're hot, fresh out of the oven."
Sydney, who was about to laugh, did not get the chance. Instead, she found herself diving under her desk, as the space around her seemed to explode in a loud bang.