"How's your marriage..."

The question, with far more snark than he'd wanted to show, was out almost before he'd thought the words. It was a slip, a tiny hint of the man showing through the facade, but it was one he couldn't regret. It was delivered with the well-timed skill only a few Section operatives were capable of. He knew Vaughn's weak points as well as anyone. Better. He'd analyzed and watched over them for years. Knew where to hit and what to say. He just didn't most of the time. He played the part of the supportive friend, cheerleader and occasional Yenta. None of which were located anywhere within the Section handbook for undercover agents. Not that Section actually *had* such a handbook.

Though, thinking back on the years Operations and Madeline had run the joint, he wouldn't have been surprised if they did. Madeline especially. She seemed to have a plan or a guide of conduct for anything and everything.

Given his current situation, Weiss couldn't help wondering if maybe there was still one of them floating around Section. Preferably one on how to deal with watching your lover of many years actively seduce and feign love for the man you'd pretended to be the best friend of for many years. He was definitely on new ground and it was getting to be more and more treacherous every day. Every time Vaughn displayed any preference to Sydney over Lauren he had to resist the urge to punch the man's lights out. Not that he particularly *wanted* Vaughn to be touchy-feely with Lauren. It was *his* Lauren after all but...at the same time, there was a quite irrational part of himself that wanted to slam Vaughn into the nearest wall and demand to know why Lauren wasn't good enough. Was he blind? Stupid? Or both?

Or neither.

Well...

Vaughn was a great guy but not exactly Stephen Hawking and he was being quite masterfully played by Lauren into *not* seeing just the fantastic lady behind the facade she’d created. Madeline would have been busting her buttons with pride over her protege's skill. Course, busting her buttons might not be exactly the right description but she'd probably have a proud look for a nanosecond or so. Something like that. Lauren definitely had the hardest part of their assignment, that was for sure. He got to go home and let the pretense slip a bit. What pretense there was. Weiss the CIA guy and Weiss the Section Op weren't all that different. Beyond the fact Weiss the Section Op was just a smidge more...oh, lethal than Weiss the CIA guy but hey, what's a few bullets and assassinations among identities?

For the most part, he definitely had it easier than Lauren. She was "in character" almost 24 - 7. Especially since they'd begun playing the Covenant off the CIA to see what would shake loose. She was the lynch pin there, playing Sark for all he was worth, and the pressure was intense. Section was expecting more and more results and while Nikita didn't quite have Operations' ruthlessness, she wasn't someone you much wanted to disappoint. Not if they wanted the 'improvements' that had been made to Section to last. They had to deliver. Section had Oversight and Center to answer to. The Covenant was becoming an irritant and no one wanted another Alliance/SD debacle on their hands....no one was going to forget being played by Sloane anytime soon.

The resulting pressure coming down on Section One and their agents in the field...Both he and Lauren were feeling it. Rumor was, Center's favorite Senator was going to be checking up on them and neither one of them was all that happy at the prospect. Dreading it would have been more appropriate. They didn't need the complications this was bound to produce. It was harder to maintain the illusions, harder to keep the others off balance, to avoid noticing anything untoward....

Weiss was getting a headache the size of Sloane's ego just thinking about it...which probably accounted for the slip.

Though he still didn't feel sorry. There was a certain satisfaction in watching Vaughn flinch. In knowing Sydney'd overhead it. Petty maybe. But he got to be the one on the inside while Lauren had to suffer the proverbial scarlet woman treatment and since he couldn't out and out defend her without jeopardizing their covers...a little dig here and there...well who could blame a guy for wanting to defend his girl?

He might have been Section but...Weiss was still Weiss and he kinda liked it that way. He couldn’t defend Lauren out in the open but...well, there was always snark. Beautiful snark. Not to be confused with Sark, of course. He really had no opinions on the little prick’s looks whatsoever. Nope. None.

Opinions on Sark he had a-plenty. Most of them led to strong urges to just cancel the guy and be done with it but, Section wanted him alive and what Section wanted, Section got. So, while he couldn’t kill the guy, Weiss could definitely entertain the odd fantasy. Vaughn he was supposed to like. And Vaughn, well, there were times - times when he obviously wasn’t feeling the intense need to torture the guy for being mean to Lauren - when he almost pitied the poor guy. Almost.

Just when he got close to pity lately it seemed the S.S. Sydney ‘n Vaughn reared it’s smokestack and/or lobbed an emotional torpedo in Lauren’s direction and he got all protective and territorial. Not that he could let himself *show* that, mind you, but it was there and well...yeah, no pity. Well...no *real* pity. He could fake it with the best of ‘em. Section was a great teacher that way. Great motivator too. Learn or be cancelled. Not really needing a lot of truant officers that Section bunch...

But, whatever their methods, Section had certainly taught him how handle the highs and lows of life among the Bristows and their ilk...even if he did ignore it on occasion. Spy prerogative and all that....Oh yes, Weiss had fond memories of his time with Madeline...learning the ins and outs of screwing somebody over mentally. Fond memories.

Emotional Bullshit 101 - where you learned to shovel it with the best of them...

So hefting his psychological shovel, Weiss resisted the urge to whistle and got back to work. Places to go, people to lie to, bad guys to kill/arrest/make go bye-bye...just another day on the job in the wonderful world of Weiss.

finis

 

La Femme Nikita's concepts? Not mine. Alias's Not Mine. If they were...oh the things that'd be different. heh.

 

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