Title: The Life She Created

Pairings: Julia/Sark, Julia/Simon, Sydney/Sark, hints of Vaughn/Lauren & Vaughn/Sydney

Summary: Whey Sydney is taken by the Covenant, she manages to convince them she has become Julia Thorne. Now working undercover for the CIA she must maintain her cover as Julia even when a previous enemy discovers the truth. When she feels she is losing herself to her new fake identity and can't turn to anyone from her past, she must turn to the last person she would ever expect to care. This is my first Alias fic, but I've had the idea for a while. Sark is my favorite character and I absolutely love how captivated he seems to be by Sydney. So I figured that she must have had some excitement in her two years working for the Covenant. Of course the show told us some of what happened and I'll be following that roughly, however, I'll also be changing a few things. Spoilers could be anything up to season 3. For the most part this is going to focus on Sydney during her missing two years, so there won't be much of the familiar characters at CIA until later chapters probably. The posts will probably be relatively short, I find that's easier to get them up faster and also easier for the reader! I'll try to stay constant (and not abandon my other stories at the same time!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Alias or any of its characters. Any character name not from the show is my own creation.

Please let me know what you think of it! Reviews are sooooo greatly appreciated and they are very encouraging for me to get the chapters out quickly! I am also open to suggestions and requests and recommendations and comments or just general praise (just kidding, sort of!) Please read, enjoy, and let me know it!

…………

"Hello, this is Julia…yes sir, I'll be right over!" She hung up the phone with a long sigh and dropped her head back into the downy comfort of her fluffy pillows, murmuring to herself: "Here I go again!"

………

It had been nearly two weeks since Agent Sydney Bristow had sacrificed her identify and the familiarity of everything she knew and everyone she loved. She had given herself over for the sake of her country, which was of course nothing new for her, but this time she was afraid she would never escape…at least not alive.

………

"Freelancer reporting in. Request meeting with home base at 1300 hours." Sydney reported into her secure cell phone dutifully.

"Meeting confirmed." The robotic operator on the other line concluded the conversation and Sydney hung up.

………

It had probably been the shock of seeing Vaughn with another woman that had been the most influential factor in Sydney's decision to remain undercover with the Covenant. Well, that and her fear for the safety of everyone dear to her. She had lost too many people and had reached a point of resolution not to ever supply cause for danger to anyone else. And so she had made an arrangement with Director Kendall to relinquish the life of Sydney Anne Bristow and to become Julia Thorne.

The first to weeks as Julia had been rather uneventful. The Covenant had assigned her a handler of sorts, Marti Easton, who was her main contact with the Covenant, since they mostly sanctioned her for freelance work. His responsibility was to keep her updated on the Covenants' expectations of her, but so far the most exciting thing she had done was to decorate her new penthouse apartment in Rome.

Though her Covenant work was so far fairly mundane, Sydney was quickly learning that life as Julia Thorne was actually quite thrilling. Her new persona had a character and a name to live up to – a certain style to live by. It included, but was not limited to: a posh Roman flat, a brand new white Jaguar, and a wardrobe appropriate for her frequent appearances at all the classiest parties. She had a reputation to uphold. Hers was a name respected, desired, and most importantly feared. Of course, there was not true evidence to the events that established her significant reputation, but the Covenant had skills, which even Sydney doubted to ever fully comprehend.

"Have you been waiting long?" Sydney asked without a flaw in her practiced English accent as she arrived at the familiar outdoor café a block from her flat. It was the perfect place for a light breakfast, an afternoon cup of coffee (or rather tea, as Julia preferred), or an early-morning meeting.

"Not terribly, though I do wish we could work on your promptness problem." Marti scoffed as Sydney took a seat across from him.

"You can work on it all you want, though I doubt it will do any good." Sydney held up her Julia-manicured hand and a waiter scurried over. "Two egg omelet please, with red pepper and jack cheese."

"And to drink, Miss?"

"Herbal tea."

Since Marti had waited for so long, he already had his food, so the waiter hurried off to retrieve Sydney's order. He analyzed her unsettled expression. "Is something the matter Miss Thorne?"

"You do realize it is seven o'clock on a Saturday morning, don't you?" She replied.

"Of course I do."

"Then I am assuming that this meeting is for an emergency of some sort." Sydney pressed, instructing him to quickly state his goal.

Marti ignored the drop of bitterness in her tone. "What's wrong? Am I keeping you from a shopping expedition?"

"Not that you really care, but I was out late last night. I was working at a dinner party at the Ambassador's mansion, it was an enchanting event." Sydney put on her most smug Julia smile and waited as the waiter placed her tea on the table.

"Partying with royalty were you? My, my, I am sorry to have missed such an intoxicatingly vain affair." Marti rolled his eyes.

"You don't fool me for a moment, Marti. You are sorry you weren't there. You envy me. Everyone does. You couldn't buy my reputation for all the diamonds in the world." Sydney knew exactly how to push all of his buttons.

Marti had begun his childish seething. "You two really will be perfect partners."

"Excuse me?" Sydney snapped into her professional mode.

"Well, if you are quite finished with your display, I will explain why I called you here."

Sydney decided she had performed Julia well enough for one morning and politely silenced. "Please, continue."

He cleared his throat and pulled a nondescript black folder from his briefcase. "This is the information you will need for your assignment."

Sydney scanned the important points quickly, noting location, goal, and cover story. Then she frowned. "This does not explain the job."

"All you need to know at this point is that it will vary slightly from your usual work. I am aware that you are more accustomed to quick assassination work, Miss Thorne, but our employers believe that you would be best for this particular job." Marti explained. "It will be quick enough."

Sydney nodded. "I am not concerned with the time it will take." She scrutinized the specific goals of her mission. "But should I not be told what my mission is, since I will be flying to the United States?"

"You will be given more information in time. For you now you may know that it will be brief and will involve return cargo." Marti eyed her carefully. "Is there a problem, Miss Thorne?"

She shook her head casually. "I'm just not usually the girl for a quick-grab job." She smiled at him confidently. "But I'll adjust fine." Sydney was quite aware that Marti was more than just a contact for her, he was also a way for the Covenant to keep an eye on her and to make sure that none of her past identity came through, since they were firmly convinced she had adapted to Julia Thorne. She carefully hid any of her surprise at being given a mission that appeared to be so close to the headquarters for her former employment with the CIA. "You mentioned a partner."

Marti blushed. "He is irrelevant at this point. You will be informed of it when they see fit."

"He?" Sydney smirked as he glared at her. "You weren't supposed to let that bit of information slip, were you?"

He glared at her. "We're finished here. Derek will contact you for wardrobe and tech."

She laughed as he hurried away, leaving her alone to nibble at her boring eggs. She sniffed at the herbal tea and sipped it begrudgingly. What I wouldn't give for a strong cup of coffee! She finished her breakfast dutifully, including the tea, and began the leisurely stroll back to her apartment.

………

Along with accepting a new look and identity as Julia, Sydney also had to train herself to abandon a few of the little things she had become attached to in life, such as coffee, or red meat. At the same time she had been forced to train herself to at least pretend to enjoy things that she typically would have turned away, such as herbal tea.

………

"Good morning, Miss Thorne."

"Good morning, Bernard." Sydney smiled cordially at the doorman who was always waiting to greet her with a smile when she arrived at the lobby of her apartment building. Sydney couldn't deny that being Julia Throne definitely had some benefits.

"You were out late last night Julia."

Sydney rolled her eyes as a familiar anxious voice greeted her ears while she waited for the lift. "I suppose I was." She glanced complacently at the tall man beside her. "Were you waiting up for me, Paul?"

Paul Dillon was one of Julia Thorne's neighbors. He had become completely infatuated with her the first day he had seen her. Sydney considered him impressively good looking, with dark curls and a flashing white-toothed smile that would make any girl swoon, but she had been very careful not to lead him on. It would never benefit a woman like Julia Thorne to form a relationship with a law student; actually she wasn't the sort of woman to form a serious relationship with anyone. Besides, her undercover work with the Covenant was precarious enough without letting in a man as a distraction, not to mention her crushing heartbreak in losing Vaughn was still very new for her.

"So, I assume you have your weekend packed full of all the exciting social events, as usual…" He smiled half-heartedly, as though wishing she would for once make room for him in her busy schedule.

"Actually no, not this weekend." Sydney informed him. His eyes seemed to light up with hope. "I'm taking a trip, out of town."

"Oh…" He looked crestfallen. "To where?"

Sydney hesitated briefly before expertly pulling together a twisted version of the truth. "To America." She told him. "To catch up with some old friends."

"Well, have a good trip." He left her at her door and continued down the hall to his own apartment, completely devastated.

Trust me honey, I'm doing you a favor by rejecting you. Sydney watched him enter his flat as she unlocked her own door.

"I don't like that guy." A cold voice greeted her ears as she entered her flat. It was about as welcoming as a cold shower in the middle of winter.

"Oh really?" Sydney rolled her eyes. "You don't know anything about him, Derek."

"Exactly, and I don't trust him." Derek grunted as he stood from the overstuffed chair he had made himself comfortable in while he waited for her to return to her apartment.

"He's just an ordinary guy, Derek. I've checked up on him."

Derek looked skeptical but gave into her insistence.

"You have supplies for me." Sydney stated, rather than questioned. She was eager to be done with this meeting. Derek was nothing like Marshal who provided her with supplies at the CIA. The two technicians were as opposite as possible. Derek was undeniably brilliant, but equally sleazy and imposing. He clearly wanted more than simply a professional relationship with her, but Julia was not accustomed to giving herself to men such as Derek.

"I have set everything out for you in your bedroom." He grinned slowly. "And I thought that since you have a few hours until departure, we might finally get a chance to get to know one another better…"

"Tempting, but I'll pass." Sydney replied without expression. "Please leave now Derek. I need to prep." He reached for her hand but she quickly pulled away. "Must we really go through this again?"

"Come on Julia, just one kiss?" He pleaded shamelessly.

Sydney turned her eyes to him, revealing an expression of brutal resolve. "If you have not vacated these premises in the next sixty seconds I will make you regret the day your met me."

Derek frowned but started towards the door in resignation. "You may have your way this time Julia, but one day you will realize that being alone is a boring life to lead. And at that time I will be certain to be around for you to turn to!"

"When that day comes, which I am not entirely convinced it ever will, you will definitely not be the one I'd turn to." Sydney answered him calmly. "If I am ever so desperate, I will go to Paul."

Derek seemed to be straining against the verbal attack he would have liked to send her way. Instead of lashing out, he wisely bit his tongue, shot her fierce darts with his eyes, and evacuated from her apartment.

………

"I don't understand why they're sending you to the states!" Director Kendall frowned as he paced the length of the small sitting room where he had his meetings with Sydney.

"Well, my instructions are pretty clear…"

"Of course, but it still is strange. I never would have assumed the Covenant would dare send you back to the CIA. Are they desperate enough to risk you being recognized?"

"You're right. It doesn't make sense." Sydney agreed. "If I were to be recognized, then the CIA would take me into custody and the Covenant would have to assume that I would be useless to them after that…"

"And they clearly have much larger purposes for you if they were willing to put you through so much just to change your perception of your identity. If they just wanted intel from you they could have tortured you." Kendall paused noting the pained expression on her face. "I mean, more than they did, of course…"

Lines creased in Sydney's forehead as she tried to work out the puzzle. "They must have a bigger agenda. I know that they have other people who are usually assigned to thievery jobs. I'm a freelancer usually reserved for assassinations and very high-profile thefts…"

"The CIA is a high-profile theft."

"True." Sydney shrugged. "The thing that's really getting me though is that they won't tell me specifically what I'm doing yet. The only information I have gotten is my cover story, my destination, and my alias. It's obvious that this involves the CIA or they wouldn't be sending me so close to our offices in LA. I guess there's not much I can do about it though. I have to give them what they're sending me for. If I try to give them a fake of whatever it is, they'll know I haven't really changed into Julia Thorne and then I won't be able to infiltrate them undercover anymore…"

Kendall nodded. "I agree. I wish there was another way to do this without losing some important article in the process, but the information you can gather from the inside is undoubtedly more valuable."

"Then I guess I'm off." She stood and headed for the door. "I'll be in touch when I get back."

"Good luck." Kendall offered simply.

"It feels weird to be breaking into the CIA to steal something for the enemy. If that is actually what I'm doing…" Sydney almost smiled. "I guess it's all part of the job."

"Oh, and do I need to remind you to stay out of sight?" Kendall added as she started to leave. "There are many people in your life who cannot know that you are still alive."

Sydney nodded. "I know. I'll be careful."