Summary: Set during So It Begins (1.2). Sydney and Vaughn reflect after their first confrontational meeting in the first aid van. One shot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Alias.

So It Begins, But How Will It Continue?

Vaughn grabbed a pad of paper and pen, placing it in front of her. "Draw me a map. Draw me a map of SD-6 and all its allies. How far you think it reaches."

Sydney shot him a disdainful look. "Do I look like I'm in junior high?"

"Just draw me a SD-6 family tree," Vaughn demanded, his voice rising.

"Braces over my teeth—"

"How far you think it goes!"

"—headgear. Do you see a retainer?"

"Just do it."

Sydney looked at him, before relenting. Within seconds she had completed a harried map, with less than a dozen names on it.

"I don't know what your problem is with me," she said. "Maybe it's that I'm a woman, or maybe you just don't like my attitude, or something, and I'm sorry about that. But I really don't feel like wasting time here. There's only one way we can immobilize SD-6 and that's my way. So, forgive me for being forthright or…female, but this is how it's gonna be."

Vaughn rubbed his chin, his expression unreadable. Without a word he stood, removed a rolled up poster from a cupboard and then spread it out in front of Sydney. A real map of SD-6 and its allies. Reaching each side of the globe with thousands of names scattered within.

"Since I've been at the CIA, I've only seen this map grow," he started, taking in Sydney's completely floored expression. "This is what you're in the middle of, Sydney. If shutting down the Los Angeles cell was all we were after, we would have raided that office three years ago. This is not about cutting off an arm of the monster. This is about killing the monster. And the work you have ahead of you- the work your father has been doing- it's complicated, it's political and it's long term."

Sydney did not respond, trying to comprehend both the map and Vaughn's words. He held out the card with the numbers on it.

"Here, memorize this."

"I did," Sydney replied quickly, almost blankly.

"Okay. I guess we'll wait to hear from you."

Sydney stood, ready to leave, but was stopped by Vaughn.

"Hey, wait." He reached into the cupboard, pulling out a bandaid and placing on the inner side of Sydney's elbow. She looked down. It was a bright yellow smiley face.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

As the door to the van closed Vaughn leaned back into his seat, sighing loudly. What the hell had he gotten himself into? He wasn't exactly sure how he envisioned his new position as handler going, but this certainly was not it.

"Sydney Bristow," he muttered, as he ran a hand through his hair. If all their future meetings were going to transpire as this one had, he had to seriously consider whether he was up for the task. She was definitely a firecracker, if he'd ever known one.

'Give her a break,' an annoying voice in the back of his mind spoke up. 'She's been through a lot. She has the right to be difficult.'

Except that difficult did not even begin to describe her with justice. She was up, she was down, she was all over the bloody place. She was defiant, she was way too confident, she was infuriating, she was…so damn intriguing.

How did a woman like Sydney Bristow end up embroiled in the world of espionage? She was a graduate student, for Pete's sake. It would be hard enough just being an agent. What sort of a person could keep up with such a full-on double life?

'Somebody pretty incredible,' the voice spoke up again. Vaughn had to agree. What she had achieved during her seven-year tenure at SD-6 was incredible. The speed that she had risen through the ranks- push aside the fact of who she was really working for, she was a special and talented agent. Strong, easily adaptable, fluent in many languages…

'And with a tongue that shoots off whatever she is thinking,' Vaughn thought. He could only hope that his map of SD-6 achieved what it was supposed to. Sydney had seemed pretty numbed by what she had seen but Vaughn had an inkling that she would still expect to have a big say in how things were going to play out.

After her little display before Vaughn did not imagine that Sydney would ever let herself become submissive. A person who followed orders without ever questioning them. And that was going to make his job all the more interesting.

Sydney glanced at her watch and hurried her steps. The meeting had taken longer than she'd anticipated and she was now late for class. She was contemplating skipping it. The idea of sitting and listening to a lecture was not all that enticing. Especially after the words she'd just exchanged with Agent Vaughn.

'The epitome of arrogance,' she couldn't help but think. Yes, she had been way off track about SD-6, but he didn't have to be so smarmy about his knowledge.

'But was he really being smarmy. Or was he trying to prepare you for what lies ahead? Your naivety was putting you in danger.'

Danger. Sydney swallowed hard. It would be taking over her days as of now. And her only ally would be Vaughn. He was the only one that she could speak to…except maybe her father. The only problem there was that Jack Bristow didn't really talk.

And so the only person she could turn to was a man who felt the need to show her what a paper bag looked like.

The thought of Vaughn's expression as she went off on her little tangent brought a small smile to her face. She had a feeling that she wasn't exactly what he had expected. She was no longer the battered and broken red head he had first met in his office.

But then again. Vaughn was what she had expected. That first day at the CIA, she had been more than anxious when he had been introduced as her handler. She had assumed that it would be somebody older, somebody more experience, but then…

As much as he infuriated her, he made her feel safe. Safe and protected. And in all truth, wasn't that what she needed now? With what she was about to embark on, she needed that somebody who could be the antithesis to her blanket of danger.

Even if he did feel the need to show her what a paper bag looked like.

Vaughn was sitting at his desk, when his phone started to ring. Still scrawling on the page before him, he answered it.

"Vaughn."

"Bristow's made her first dead drop. We need you here to prep the counter mission."

"Be there in five," Vaughn hung up the phone as he stood from his chair. He shrugged on his suit jacket and sighed. Counter mission. That meant he would be meeting with Sydney in a few hours. He wondered how explosive this one would be.

He shook his head slightly, trying to comprehend the latest turns of his life. Sydney Bristow had come crashing into his life and he knew that a smooth ride was no longer possible.

Everything had changed and only time would tell if for the better or for the worse.