30 Days of Shipping Day 9: Proof of Plan
30 Days of Shipping Day 9: Your least favorite couple
Title: Proof of Plan
Fandom: Alias
Characters/Pairing: Vaughn/Lauren
Rating: Gen
Orientation: Het
Word Count: 781
Prompts: Love Bingo Fill: “Diamond”
Dark Bingo Fill: “Possession/Mind Control”
All of her training had led to this night, if Lauren was reading the signs correctly. It was her job to read the signs correctly, she had planned and worked for this and it was going to happen. After the waitress came and took their order, she smiled brightly at Michael across the table and reached over to clasp his hand, giving it a quick squeeze.
“Will you excuse me Michael? I need to use the little girl’s room.”
“Of course.” He was a perfect gentleman, he jumped up and scooted around to pull her chair out for her. He kissed her cheek and his hand slid down and lingered at the small of her back before she stepped away.
She needed to be patient, rushing things now would ruin all the work she had put into this assignment. She lingered in the restroom, giving Michael time to stew in anticipation. His eagerness would not spoil things, in fact it would help, he wouldn’t be thinking as clearly if he was thinking with his heart. With this man, that was an advantage. Agent Vaughn was one of the toughest nuts at the agency to crack. Success at this task would be quite a feather in her cap. She had to succeed. Maybe then her superiors would take her more seriously and give her more high profile assignments.
It had taken her months to get him under her control, he had fought the mind-altering drugs at first. That had been a surprise, his grief over losing her should have made him so much more malleable and open to suggestion.
Fluffing her hair, Lauren stared at her reflection in the large mirror over the sink. She pulled out her lipstick and freshened the color. It was important to look her best for Michael, to look the part so he did not sense anything amiss and start fighting against her control over him again. Her purse began to vibrate, her cell phone was ringing. She opened it, pressing it to her ear. “Yes?”
“Please see to our friend by morning.” The line went dead and Lauren sighed. She had begun to regret taking on extra wet work now that this assignment was finally coming to fruition. But she would need to stay active and on the radar, or they would forget about her. She would have to sneak out on Michael in the night to take care of the diplomatic courier they wanted her to take down. She checked her purse, relieved to see that there was a capsule of tranquilizer she could slip Michael in a drink. She would have to remember to order a bottle of wine to go, Michael rarely had anything in the apartment. It should be easy to get it into him, if they were celebrating.
Gliding back to her seat, she smiled at him. The meal passed quickly enough, though he was anxious. It would be tonight, she was sure of it. The suggestion for it had been hers, after all. She’d given him the order as he slept a few nights earlier. He had played along perfectly, done as she had told him to do, the tie she’d told him to wear, the restaurant she’d told him to make reservations at, the flower she’d told him to buy for her. It was all so easy, it was almost a disappointment. Playing puppeteer had drawbacks.
When the plates were cleared away, he reached over and took her hand, raising it to his lips and kissing her knuckles. “Lauren...” he got down on one knee. There were happy gasps and whispers from around the restaurant. Plenty of boyfriends were getting the stink eye across the table tonight.
He pulled the ring out of his pocket and extended it to her. “Will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
The diamond in the ornate setting caught the light and cast prisms on the white tablecloth. She stared at the diamond, proof that she had succeeded. That stone was her tangible proof that Michael Vaughn was completely under her control now.
Her hand was steady as she held it out to him, ring finger slightly up. She nodded. She had thought she would have to feign happiness at this moment, but seeing the diamond had made her so happy that the smile on her face was actually genuine. When he embraced her and kissed her, she almost felt the way most girls must feel at this moment of their lives.
Behind his back, she held her hand up and admired the two carat diamond.
Pity none of this was real. He was just an assignment.
The EndOriginally posted at http://rinkafic.dreamwidth.org/