Alias Fic

[vaznetti]

200 words. Missing scene from some time between 3x06 and 3x07. Sark, Allison and a stack of photographs.


Title: Negatives
Author: Vanzetti
Disclaimer: Bad Robot! Give me something to work with, dammit.


Photographs sliding across the table and "Hardly a surprise," is what he manages because Allison sits across him in that face he's never learned to read. He'd like to bite down on the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing but even that would give too much away. Sydney Bristow. Of course. It would have to be, really.

"One more reason," Allison suggests.

Sark lets his eyes dwell on her face. "I didn't need another." Autopilot. He diagnoses shock and his body responds to conceal the weakness. But he can't quite shake the feeling that it isn't his hands reaching for her, it isn't his mouth drowning that bitter laughter in a long hard kiss, and god, if only she'd close her eyes so he could too.

Allison breaks away, touches his cheek so lightly, and he forces himself not to break away. "We'll do it together," she promises. "We'll take care of it."

He nods and kisses her again. His hands can feel the scars under her shirt: that's good, it means he's here and now, not thinking of that other light touch, not thinking of the split second he thought it was another woman on those photographs.

End


Unrelated to my other Sark/Allison pieces, I feel.

Comments

[rez-lo.livejournal.com]

...not thinking of the split second he thought it was another woman

That's killing. That's really, really good.

And this:

Sydney Bristow. Of course. It would have to be, really.

Exactly what I thought. Why, I'm not sure. But true.

Lovely.

[vaznetti]

Thanks!

That's killing. That's really, really good.

But is it too obscure? should I have mentioned Irina by name? I'm torn on this.

As for why it had to be Sydney--no idea. But it did.

[rez-lo.livejournal.com]

I didn't think it was too obscure. I got it right away. Who else does Sydney look like? Oh, this is so good. I'm thrilled. And yeah, it had to be Sydney killing his father because it had to be him fucking her mother because these are the paths that lead them eventually to each other. That sounds like schmoop but it's the story logic that grabbed me from the beginning. You know my weakness. They're twinned characters, whether they end up killing each other or screwing each other senseless. Aren't they?

[vaznetti]

What I was going to say was "..because Sark is the anti-Vaughn" but I think you've put it more accurately. Yeah. That.

[ms-pie.livejournal.com]

But is it too obscure? should I have mentioned Irina by name? I'm torn on this.

I have the same reaction as Rez. I knew immediately it was Irina.

[ms-pie.livejournal.com]

Wow. I am amazed by how much you manage to get out in just 200 words.

Sark lets his eyes dwell on her face. "I didn't need another." Autopilot. He diagnoses shock and his body responds to conceal the weakness. But he can't quite shake the feeling that it isn't his hands reaching for her, it isn't his mouth drowning that bitter laughter in a long hard kiss, and god, if only she'd close her eyes so he could too.

This was just fabulous. Wonderfully written and structured. You get such a picture of Sark from it.

[vaznetti]

Thank you! I now really like writing to a specific word-limit--it's like a game. How much can a person say in 100 words? In 200? (Hundred-word pieces are still hard for me, though.)

[celli]

I *love* it. :)

[vaznetti]

Thank you!

[corngirl-jo.livejournal.com]

Perfection. Your Sark here is perfection. And this... and god, if only she'd close her eyes so he could too just took my breath away - the lack of trust and sincerity between them palpable.

[vaznetti]

Thank you.

the lack of trust and sincerity between them palpable.

Sometimes, obviously enough, I like Sarkison--but it didn't quite suit this piece to allow Sark to have any kind fo ally present.

[zarahemla.livejournal.com]

My favorite is this: because Allison sits across him in that face he's never learned to read. I always wonder: even though you love the inside of someone, what happens if their outside changes so irrevocably? It must be disconcerting at times, to say the least.

[vaznetti]

Thank you. Disconcerting for both of them, I suspect: it's no accident that she's keeping her back to him in that in-bed scene. I think a lot of the flatness of Allison's character has to do with the fact that she's wearing the face of a woman she killed. Because usually, when you're an assassin, the job is over once you've killed the person, right? You're not stuck with them looking back at you out of the mirror every morning.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

Now this is what I was talking about, that the only thing writable in Alias right now are these short pictures of bits we wish we'd been allowed to see. This is striking - and not obscure - anything relating to Sark or Sydney is going to involve Irina at some point. Plus this line conveyed so much vulnerability it just killed me:

and god, if only she'd close her eyes so he could too.

Because I read so much more into that than just his not wanting to see her 'new' face. Allison handing him those pictures to give him 'another reason' paints her as a manipulator, not an ally.

[vaznetti]

In an immature fangirlish aside, your icon is darling. I love the way Sark's hair is sticking up in that picture.

I'd like to be able to write a longer piece, with some character development, but at this stage it's hard to justify expending the energy. I'm pleased that you liked this one. I didn't mean for Allison to be quite so unsympathetic here, but it was what the story demanded.

[kimarama.livejournal.com]

Damn, that's good.

Rez got me thinking about the whole 'Allison looks like Francie and what impact does that have on her sexual attraction with Sark' topic. Seriously, Allison is still Allison. But not.

If part of sexual attraction is based on physical looks, does it go away when appearance changes?

Allison sits across him in that face he's never learned to read

This slays me. Francie's body is a stranger to Sark but it's Allison in there.

and god, if only she'd close her eyes so he could too.

Slay me again.

I also love the way you wove Irina into the end of your story. Irina drifts around the edges, as she really should in all Sark stories.

Great work!

[vaznetti]

Thanks for the feedback--I'm so glad you liked it! (And I'm obsessed with Sark's relationship with Irina. There's just so much there...)

If part of sexual attraction is based on physical looks, does it go away when appearance changes?

Well, yes and no. I mean, people change over time--say you marry a guy, and fifteen years later neither of you look the way you did on your wedding pictures. It's not grounds for divorce. But we don't know that that's the kind of commitment Sark and Allison had, and this is a much more radical change, and I suspect that there's a certain element of deceit built into their relationship from the beginning, given what they do. So the issue becomes interesting--and potentially symbolic.