Danger Will Follow
By Elise Koerner
-Sydney POV-
PROLOUGE:
The mission was relatively simple. All I had to do was to monitor Khasinau's heart rate. I succeeded; I planned to leave, but somehow I got sidetracked. I remember wondering why Will was in Paris, especially out of all the places in the world that I had already been to. I ruined his life once more, and because of me he had to be locked in the CIA safe house. Because of me Sark had the upper hand. It must have been like shooting a fish in a fish tank to him…It was the Joey's Pizza call that changed me and filled me with a new found sense of determination.
-THE WAREHOUSE-
-Sydney POV-
"He's not dead; we have satellite feed confirming that….but Sark is serious. Either we destroy the Muller device or…" Vaughn's voice trailed off into the distance as I interjected. "There is no or! We steal the Muller device from the SD-6, create a falsified doppelganger and present it…" I replied.
"Do you know how dangerous that is?" Vaughn hissed. His strong brow was noticeably filled with wrinkles of worry. "I got Will into this life….If only I had followed protocol…" I thought aloud. I fumbled with the terse sentences.
"When have you ever followed protocol?" asked Vaughn lightly. I could tell her was trying to make me smile. He succeeded and a weak smile came over my face. "Good point" I answered. The smile had surfaced and vanished within seconds. Vaughn could see I wasn't amused, he continued though on a more serious note. "It wasn't your fault; you weren't privy to your father's operation. I'm sure Will was relieved…I know I would be!" he said as he blushed.
"Relieved? To know I work for the people who killed my fiancé?" I retorted. Stupidly as I looked back on this moment I couldn't believe how insufferable I had been to Vaughn but yet he always let me rant and rave.
"No. Relieved as in to know that your priority is him; not the agency!" he responded. I changed the topic…a topic that seemed better suited to his complement.
"Vaughn, since we've made it clear how I feel about protocol….I was wondering if you wanted to escort me to Khasinau's exchange." I asked.
"Sydney, that's a big risk. We are assuming that Sark won't remember me from Denpassar. Wouldn't you rather go with someone with more field experience anyways…" he was dodging my eyes while he spoke.
-Vaughn POV-
"Look, we broke into the Vatican together. We worked together in Algiers and without you in Denpassar….we would have not only lost the ampule…..but there is a large chance that the CIA would have lost me too. I know you are my handler but you can handle more of me…more then me…Wow that didn't come out right! Listen, you do good field work and I enjoy working with you…It's one of the only times that I don't feel like I'm working for the bad guys…." Sydney said. I was blushing almost as much as she was. Somehow though we faced awkward moments like this so many times, but never had an answer to resolve them. There was the embrace in Rome. The stolen glances that took place constantly… so many awkward moments that if I had a penny for each one I would be rich enough to pay Arvin Sloane to recuse Sydney for good.
"At least consider it…" she said. She brushed a lone strand of brown hair behind her ear and looked at her toes which rested in open-toed heels. "Devlin would never agree" I said. I wanted to say yes, but it was too dangerous. I knew Sydney didn't like excuses; she tended to refute them and make them disappear. She knew just what to say though. "He will if I threaten not to help the CIA with the Khasinau exchange and future missions…." She said; she was playing with the words as if she knew I'd never let her take a chance like that…though she knew that I knew she'd never recuse herself….it was a game we played…saying things in an off handed way to receive the reactions we desired. A CIA tip perhaps…
"Sydney, though that worked; last time you got me my promotion….I don't think you should threaten to leave again. Let me see what I can do. I'll contact you…" I said. I didn't want to be known as the office wimp, and Sydney had done enough for me already. She was too amazing of a person for me to take advantage of. Though she held more clout them me, I shouldn't resort to making her throw it around more than necessary.
She looked skeptical, I suppose she didn't believe that I would take this upon myself and come through. She looked up from her toes and said "I can't wait". She grabbed her purse and stood directly in front of me. She let her lips graze my cheek for a moment and walked away. I thought to myself 'neither can I'.
-CIA-
-Vaughn POV-
It was 10 AM the next morning. I had been feverously working on the growing mound of paperwork on my desk, when I glanced up at the clock. '20 minutes', I thought. 20 minutes until I would call Sydney. It would be early for one of our debriefings but Sydney was going into work later for a Khasinau update. Nothing new though. Sloane obviously felt that he needed to waste her time on nonsense.
Weiss poked his head in and interrupted my thoughts. "Hey! Wanna grab lunch later?" he asked. "I can't" I responded. I glanced at the clock and continued to try to complete the paperwork. I could tell Weiss had moved from the door to the chair in front on my desk because I could hear him fiddling with a candy wrapper, he obviously didn't approve of my answer. "I have to see Devlin then I need to pick up coffee and have a debriefing with Sydney." I said. I didn't look up, I knew better by now. "What do you need to see Devlin about?" he asked, blatantly ignoring the fact that I had mentioned Sydney.
"Just a question I need to ask for Sydney." I said. I tried to sound professional. Like I wasn't emotionally attached, but Weiss knew me better. He stood up and closed my laptop which forced me to not only look up but to also react because I didn't want to lose my fingers. Hadn't I already lost enough due to my job?
"Didn't we go over this a few days ago? You are getting too attached!" he said in a harsh tone. I could tell he was pissed. Perhaps in the future I'll learn that being vague is better in situations like this…
"I don't know how to be unattached…but I now know not to involve you in this conundrum in the future!" I responded. Weiss could see this wasn't worth his time. He sat back down and politely stated, "We established that next time I'm not covering for you….I'm serious." I could tell he was serious. I was too though. We had always been good friends but on some issues, such as my relationship with Sydney, we'd never agree.
"I can survive…but Sydney won't like it." I said. I was only half serious, I was just messing with him, trying to make him roll his eyes and leave so that I could stay on schedule and meet with Sydney. Why, oh why didn't I back off before it was too late?
"Devlin just called me into his office. You're off her case. You need a breather and you need to stay focused." He said. I couldn't believe he'd betray me, as he walked to the door I cursed at him. He turned around and said "Devlin initiated this. Not me."
I angrily sprinted out of my office and heard Weiss yell out "Calm down…" I got to Devlin's door and practically knocked it over. "Where the hell do you get off discussing me and my job responsibilities with Weiss?" I yelled. I startled Devlin who was on the phone, he said "I have to go" into his phone, and hung up. He faced me and did not look amused. "Good Morning to you too Mr. Vaughn; I'm assuming you are referring to your reassignment. I felt your services could be more beneficial elsewhere. Don't make me regret that decision." He motioned for me to sit down and handed me what appeared to be my CIA file. He continued. "For future reference I don't appreciate being interrupted or yelled at." I mumbled sorry as I flipped through the data. "This isn't my file." I responded. "It isn't accurate." I continued.
"Exactly; you start tomorrow, Jack will meet you in front of SD-6's headquarters, Credit Dauphine at 8 AM." He said. "What?" I said. I was confused. Was Devlin saying what I thought he was? "Jack wants Sydney to have back-up. He hasn't been privy to confidential intelligence nor has he been reassigned to active duty. Jack feels that by bringing in a new operative that it will upset the balance in SD-6 and offer us a better chance to not only protect Sydney but to take them down. So Jack 'recruited' you from the CIA to work with Sydney while Dixon recovers from the head injury you so generously offered him in Denpassar." He said.
"Wow…I just…wow." I said. The rest of the afternoon was filled with training to prepare me for surveillance checks. Before I left for the night Devlin said to me "If you ever pull a stunt like that again, anger-management classes will be the least of your worries." I knew I'd regret it, but I couldn't see a downside to working with Sydney full time. I suppose I couldn't have known what I was getting into but whatever SD-6 seems to touch danger follows.
-Credit Dauphine/SD-6 HQ-
-Sydney POV-
It was early in the morning. I hadn't heard from Vaughn in two days, which concerned me a bit. I had come in early in hopes of convincing Sloane to give me the afternoon off. After all Dixon was leaving for Paris, France tonight. He and his wife Diane were going on a month long European tour while he recovered from his head injury.. Sloane wasn't thrilled but he accepted it. Sloane figured that if Dixon had to be out of work he might as well use it as a vacation. Typical Sloane; always trying to take personal days away from anyone he could. I had high hopes that I would get a lighter mission load while he was away…at least something good might come my way.
I could use the extra free time, especially because I was planning a surprise birthday party for Francie and I needed to get organized, of course with my luck I'd be out of the country for it…
-Vaughn POV-
I hadn't gotten a chance to see Sydney since our last meeting. I knew she'd want to kill me though for not telling her, but Jack stressed to me that it would not only be a bad idea but it would but this entire operation under scrutiny.
I met Jack in front of Credit Dauphine; I had been inside once before, but never with their knowledge. Jack escorted me and I was amazed. I mean, you'd never know…As we walked through the office I saw Sydney chatting with Dixon. She looked up when she noticed her father and I could see her trying to remain composed. She excused herself and walked over to her father. "Hey, Dad…who's this?" She asked sweetly. "Sydney, this is Michael Vaughn. He is a new operative and he'll be taking over for Dixon while he's on vacation." "it's nice to meet you." I said. "You too" she cooed. I could tell she was putting up this front for Sloane. I could sense she wanted to kick my butt in her four inch heels.
Her father escorted us into the conference room. Sydney asked if she could borrow a pen for the meeting and he handed her a titanium vessel which I had heard Sydney describe to me. Jack excused himself and Sydney purposely fiddled with the pen. Finally she clicked on the cap and said "We have two minutes"
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a loud whisper. "When would I have done that?" I asked in the same whispered tone that she exuded. "I don't know" she confessed in a softer voice and she continued, "I hate surprises"
"Good to know" I said. She looked at her watch and frowned. "I'm glad you're here though. It's nice to get to see you in public. Now that hockey game is a possibility…"She said. Her fingers motioned the number two. Time was up. Time was always up.
My first meeting with Sloane went relatively well. He seemed to like me and described our mission to London, England for tomorrow morning. I was surprised that he'd sent me out on a mission so early. Sydney obviously wasn't amused. She looked at me and scrutinized my reactions to Sloane's description. Our mission was to steal some files from a lab in London. Sydney and I were posing as biologists from America who were interested in working for them. We were scheduled to be interviewed tomorrow afternoon. Sydney said goodbye and left early. I, on the other hand, was forced to stay late because I needed to review mission specs. Later I received a Joey's Pizza call and Weiss briefed me. It was my job to alert Sydney to the counter mission.
-Airplane-
-Sydney POV-
Sitting on the plane next to him was painful. We spoke briefly, only a few words here and there. We tried to concentrate on the in flight movie but somehow "Harry Potter" didn't agree with us. Eventually Vaughn doodled on his napkin. He drew a cube and I could decipher a note written inside. I thought to myself 'smart move'. No one else would ever know or see. The note said "Remember how you told me that you expect betrayal? I won't betray you, you don't have to worry. I have your counter. I'll fill you in."
I smiled. It was sweet. This just gave me one more reason to admire him. I handed him back the napkin and said "cute". He looked at me and I nodded. I melted as he looked into my eyes. It's not fair to be this close to someone and not be able to act on it. We'd be perfect together…but it didn't matter anymore, did it? Sloane obviously wanted us together though. He got us a hotel room to share in London. We were after all married scientists, one room was expected. We wanted to be together too. I'm pretty sure that the natural order of things wanted it too. We seemed to work together really well…
-Vaughn POV-
I wrote on a napkin that she could trust me. She already knew that she could, but I think knowing it again calmed her nerves. She hated flying. She had told me that once. I found it ironic that she hated the very thing that she spent half her life doing. Her entire life was filled with things she hated…I previously could only grasp this to a miniscule extent because I wasn't there the entire time. When Devlin made me a double, he gave me a chance not just to protect Sydney, but to see what she has to put up with on a daily basis. Spending more time with Sydney wasn't necessarily a good thing, because I knew I'd fall deeper in love with her.
After we arrived and were on our way to claim our bags, I decided to break the silence. "London is the same city as my favorite…" I said as Sydney interrupted me "Melt Away, right?" A big smile washed across her face. It was like she read my mind…we were on the same wavelength and it felt amazing.
A/n: TBC
By Elise Koerner
-Sydney POV-
PROLOUGE:
The mission was relatively simple. All I had to do was to monitor Khasinau's heart rate. I succeeded; I planned to leave, but somehow I got sidetracked. I remember wondering why Will was in Paris, especially out of all the places in the world that I had already been to. I ruined his life once more, and because of me he had to be locked in the CIA safe house. Because of me Sark had the upper hand. It must have been like shooting a fish in a fish tank to him…It was the Joey's Pizza call that changed me and filled me with a new found sense of determination.
-THE WAREHOUSE-
-Sydney POV-
"He's not dead; we have satellite feed confirming that….but Sark is serious. Either we destroy the Muller device or…" Vaughn's voice trailed off into the distance as I interjected. "There is no or! We steal the Muller device from the SD-6, create a falsified doppelganger and present it…" I replied.
"Do you know how dangerous that is?" Vaughn hissed. His strong brow was noticeably filled with wrinkles of worry. "I got Will into this life….If only I had followed protocol…" I thought aloud. I fumbled with the terse sentences.
"When have you ever followed protocol?" asked Vaughn lightly. I could tell her was trying to make me smile. He succeeded and a weak smile came over my face. "Good point" I answered. The smile had surfaced and vanished within seconds. Vaughn could see I wasn't amused, he continued though on a more serious note. "It wasn't your fault; you weren't privy to your father's operation. I'm sure Will was relieved…I know I would be!" he said as he blushed.
"Relieved? To know I work for the people who killed my fiancé?" I retorted. Stupidly as I looked back on this moment I couldn't believe how insufferable I had been to Vaughn but yet he always let me rant and rave.
"No. Relieved as in to know that your priority is him; not the agency!" he responded. I changed the topic…a topic that seemed better suited to his complement.
"Vaughn, since we've made it clear how I feel about protocol….I was wondering if you wanted to escort me to Khasinau's exchange." I asked.
"Sydney, that's a big risk. We are assuming that Sark won't remember me from Denpassar. Wouldn't you rather go with someone with more field experience anyways…" he was dodging my eyes while he spoke.
-Vaughn POV-
"Look, we broke into the Vatican together. We worked together in Algiers and without you in Denpassar….we would have not only lost the ampule…..but there is a large chance that the CIA would have lost me too. I know you are my handler but you can handle more of me…more then me…Wow that didn't come out right! Listen, you do good field work and I enjoy working with you…It's one of the only times that I don't feel like I'm working for the bad guys…." Sydney said. I was blushing almost as much as she was. Somehow though we faced awkward moments like this so many times, but never had an answer to resolve them. There was the embrace in Rome. The stolen glances that took place constantly… so many awkward moments that if I had a penny for each one I would be rich enough to pay Arvin Sloane to recuse Sydney for good.
"At least consider it…" she said. She brushed a lone strand of brown hair behind her ear and looked at her toes which rested in open-toed heels. "Devlin would never agree" I said. I wanted to say yes, but it was too dangerous. I knew Sydney didn't like excuses; she tended to refute them and make them disappear. She knew just what to say though. "He will if I threaten not to help the CIA with the Khasinau exchange and future missions…." She said; she was playing with the words as if she knew I'd never let her take a chance like that…though she knew that I knew she'd never recuse herself….it was a game we played…saying things in an off handed way to receive the reactions we desired. A CIA tip perhaps…
"Sydney, though that worked; last time you got me my promotion….I don't think you should threaten to leave again. Let me see what I can do. I'll contact you…" I said. I didn't want to be known as the office wimp, and Sydney had done enough for me already. She was too amazing of a person for me to take advantage of. Though she held more clout them me, I shouldn't resort to making her throw it around more than necessary.
She looked skeptical, I suppose she didn't believe that I would take this upon myself and come through. She looked up from her toes and said "I can't wait". She grabbed her purse and stood directly in front of me. She let her lips graze my cheek for a moment and walked away. I thought to myself 'neither can I'.
-CIA-
-Vaughn POV-
It was 10 AM the next morning. I had been feverously working on the growing mound of paperwork on my desk, when I glanced up at the clock. '20 minutes', I thought. 20 minutes until I would call Sydney. It would be early for one of our debriefings but Sydney was going into work later for a Khasinau update. Nothing new though. Sloane obviously felt that he needed to waste her time on nonsense.
Weiss poked his head in and interrupted my thoughts. "Hey! Wanna grab lunch later?" he asked. "I can't" I responded. I glanced at the clock and continued to try to complete the paperwork. I could tell Weiss had moved from the door to the chair in front on my desk because I could hear him fiddling with a candy wrapper, he obviously didn't approve of my answer. "I have to see Devlin then I need to pick up coffee and have a debriefing with Sydney." I said. I didn't look up, I knew better by now. "What do you need to see Devlin about?" he asked, blatantly ignoring the fact that I had mentioned Sydney.
"Just a question I need to ask for Sydney." I said. I tried to sound professional. Like I wasn't emotionally attached, but Weiss knew me better. He stood up and closed my laptop which forced me to not only look up but to also react because I didn't want to lose my fingers. Hadn't I already lost enough due to my job?
"Didn't we go over this a few days ago? You are getting too attached!" he said in a harsh tone. I could tell he was pissed. Perhaps in the future I'll learn that being vague is better in situations like this…
"I don't know how to be unattached…but I now know not to involve you in this conundrum in the future!" I responded. Weiss could see this wasn't worth his time. He sat back down and politely stated, "We established that next time I'm not covering for you….I'm serious." I could tell he was serious. I was too though. We had always been good friends but on some issues, such as my relationship with Sydney, we'd never agree.
"I can survive…but Sydney won't like it." I said. I was only half serious, I was just messing with him, trying to make him roll his eyes and leave so that I could stay on schedule and meet with Sydney. Why, oh why didn't I back off before it was too late?
"Devlin just called me into his office. You're off her case. You need a breather and you need to stay focused." He said. I couldn't believe he'd betray me, as he walked to the door I cursed at him. He turned around and said "Devlin initiated this. Not me."
I angrily sprinted out of my office and heard Weiss yell out "Calm down…" I got to Devlin's door and practically knocked it over. "Where the hell do you get off discussing me and my job responsibilities with Weiss?" I yelled. I startled Devlin who was on the phone, he said "I have to go" into his phone, and hung up. He faced me and did not look amused. "Good Morning to you too Mr. Vaughn; I'm assuming you are referring to your reassignment. I felt your services could be more beneficial elsewhere. Don't make me regret that decision." He motioned for me to sit down and handed me what appeared to be my CIA file. He continued. "For future reference I don't appreciate being interrupted or yelled at." I mumbled sorry as I flipped through the data. "This isn't my file." I responded. "It isn't accurate." I continued.
"Exactly; you start tomorrow, Jack will meet you in front of SD-6's headquarters, Credit Dauphine at 8 AM." He said. "What?" I said. I was confused. Was Devlin saying what I thought he was? "Jack wants Sydney to have back-up. He hasn't been privy to confidential intelligence nor has he been reassigned to active duty. Jack feels that by bringing in a new operative that it will upset the balance in SD-6 and offer us a better chance to not only protect Sydney but to take them down. So Jack 'recruited' you from the CIA to work with Sydney while Dixon recovers from the head injury you so generously offered him in Denpassar." He said.
"Wow…I just…wow." I said. The rest of the afternoon was filled with training to prepare me for surveillance checks. Before I left for the night Devlin said to me "If you ever pull a stunt like that again, anger-management classes will be the least of your worries." I knew I'd regret it, but I couldn't see a downside to working with Sydney full time. I suppose I couldn't have known what I was getting into but whatever SD-6 seems to touch danger follows.
-Credit Dauphine/SD-6 HQ-
-Sydney POV-
It was early in the morning. I hadn't heard from Vaughn in two days, which concerned me a bit. I had come in early in hopes of convincing Sloane to give me the afternoon off. After all Dixon was leaving for Paris, France tonight. He and his wife Diane were going on a month long European tour while he recovered from his head injury.. Sloane wasn't thrilled but he accepted it. Sloane figured that if Dixon had to be out of work he might as well use it as a vacation. Typical Sloane; always trying to take personal days away from anyone he could. I had high hopes that I would get a lighter mission load while he was away…at least something good might come my way.
I could use the extra free time, especially because I was planning a surprise birthday party for Francie and I needed to get organized, of course with my luck I'd be out of the country for it…
-Vaughn POV-
I hadn't gotten a chance to see Sydney since our last meeting. I knew she'd want to kill me though for not telling her, but Jack stressed to me that it would not only be a bad idea but it would but this entire operation under scrutiny.
I met Jack in front of Credit Dauphine; I had been inside once before, but never with their knowledge. Jack escorted me and I was amazed. I mean, you'd never know…As we walked through the office I saw Sydney chatting with Dixon. She looked up when she noticed her father and I could see her trying to remain composed. She excused herself and walked over to her father. "Hey, Dad…who's this?" She asked sweetly. "Sydney, this is Michael Vaughn. He is a new operative and he'll be taking over for Dixon while he's on vacation." "it's nice to meet you." I said. "You too" she cooed. I could tell she was putting up this front for Sloane. I could sense she wanted to kick my butt in her four inch heels.
Her father escorted us into the conference room. Sydney asked if she could borrow a pen for the meeting and he handed her a titanium vessel which I had heard Sydney describe to me. Jack excused himself and Sydney purposely fiddled with the pen. Finally she clicked on the cap and said "We have two minutes"
"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked in a loud whisper. "When would I have done that?" I asked in the same whispered tone that she exuded. "I don't know" she confessed in a softer voice and she continued, "I hate surprises"
"Good to know" I said. She looked at her watch and frowned. "I'm glad you're here though. It's nice to get to see you in public. Now that hockey game is a possibility…"She said. Her fingers motioned the number two. Time was up. Time was always up.
My first meeting with Sloane went relatively well. He seemed to like me and described our mission to London, England for tomorrow morning. I was surprised that he'd sent me out on a mission so early. Sydney obviously wasn't amused. She looked at me and scrutinized my reactions to Sloane's description. Our mission was to steal some files from a lab in London. Sydney and I were posing as biologists from America who were interested in working for them. We were scheduled to be interviewed tomorrow afternoon. Sydney said goodbye and left early. I, on the other hand, was forced to stay late because I needed to review mission specs. Later I received a Joey's Pizza call and Weiss briefed me. It was my job to alert Sydney to the counter mission.
-Airplane-
-Sydney POV-
Sitting on the plane next to him was painful. We spoke briefly, only a few words here and there. We tried to concentrate on the in flight movie but somehow "Harry Potter" didn't agree with us. Eventually Vaughn doodled on his napkin. He drew a cube and I could decipher a note written inside. I thought to myself 'smart move'. No one else would ever know or see. The note said "Remember how you told me that you expect betrayal? I won't betray you, you don't have to worry. I have your counter. I'll fill you in."
I smiled. It was sweet. This just gave me one more reason to admire him. I handed him back the napkin and said "cute". He looked at me and I nodded. I melted as he looked into my eyes. It's not fair to be this close to someone and not be able to act on it. We'd be perfect together…but it didn't matter anymore, did it? Sloane obviously wanted us together though. He got us a hotel room to share in London. We were after all married scientists, one room was expected. We wanted to be together too. I'm pretty sure that the natural order of things wanted it too. We seemed to work together really well…
-Vaughn POV-
I wrote on a napkin that she could trust me. She already knew that she could, but I think knowing it again calmed her nerves. She hated flying. She had told me that once. I found it ironic that she hated the very thing that she spent half her life doing. Her entire life was filled with things she hated…I previously could only grasp this to a miniscule extent because I wasn't there the entire time. When Devlin made me a double, he gave me a chance not just to protect Sydney, but to see what she has to put up with on a daily basis. Spending more time with Sydney wasn't necessarily a good thing, because I knew I'd fall deeper in love with her.
After we arrived and were on our way to claim our bags, I decided to break the silence. "London is the same city as my favorite…" I said as Sydney interrupted me "Melt Away, right?" A big smile washed across her face. It was like she read my mind…we were on the same wavelength and it felt amazing.
A/n: TBC