AN: Sorry guys (or not), this is another long chapter. Hoping this will be finished soon so you all can enjoy it. Thanks for still reading :)

A good man

Jack –

So Vaughn had saved her. Vaughn, the man whom married someone under the same pretences as his own marriage, had managed to protect his daughter. This man who repeatedly made the wrong choices, yet performed well in the field.

It was clear the effect Sydney had on Vaughn. If Jack had the opportunity to destroy Irina Derevko after he found out, he wouldn't let anyone stand in his way. Yet Sydney had prevented Vaughn from murdering Lauren. Sydney had stopped Vaughn doing many things, whilst persuading him to do many others. Vaughn was blind when it came to his daughter.

He wasn't stupid, he knew that when it came to Vaughn, the protocol was nothing compared to Sydney's wellbeing. Any other agent to that matter. Vaughn was a compassionate man. He was a man that preferred to listen to his heart. Jack was often not too fond of such.

Things had to be done a certain way. Vaughn had not gone to get help when he should have. Things would have gone a lot smoother if he had.

Yes, he can make Sydney happy. But did that mean Vaughn was now the only man good enough for her. Not to him it didn't.

He cannot be trusted. That man does not always make the best decisions. He is blinded when Sydney is in picture. Vaughn listening to his heart, cannot be trusted.

Yet, even whilst speculating this in his mind, Jack could not help repeating the same few words. But is that not what I would do?

Vaughn let Sydney escape which because of the situation, added valuable time and risked every agents cover. He'd seen a chance to get Sydney free, and he'd taken it without thinking it through. He put Sydney first and risked his own incarceration. But is that not what I would have done?

The more he pondered over today's events as the sun went down and the rays of moonlight soaked the rooftop, the more he thought to himself, But is that not what I would have done?

The more he could see Vaughn's face as he was laid on the ground after a beating. After saving your daughter.

The more he saw Vaughn's joy as he had tried to enter Sydney's house this morning.

His lover.

That particular thought had come out of nowhere. Jack had surprised himself. It was clear that Vaughn had a soft spot for Sydney, but…

His lover? The idea that they were in love was almost a laughable expense to Jack. He refused to think that they had enough admiration for such things.

No. He refused it because he couldn't let that happen. Yet he already had. They are in love. In love. She loves him back.

With this 'fact' rolling around his mind, Jack wondered back to the mission once more in preparation for the mission.

Vaughn –

He was starting to get anxious. Dixon had entered the briefing room and had sat opposite. He was looking through his own notes of the mission.

The sounds of Dixon's finger sliding against the pages then whipping them over felt like they were slipping straight into Vaughn's mind, as though a microphone was next to them.

Distant chatter from agents from a different meeting room sounded louder and louder. The air from the air vents seemed to be shooting out like bullets.

"Are you ok?" Dixon had looked up from his notes a moment ago and could see the sweat starting to emerge on Vaughn's forehead.

He felt like he was suffocating. He had no idea what Sydney would say to Jack. The truth was, Vaughn did fear Jack. He wasn't afraid to talk to him or even stand up to him if he needed too, but the thought of what a man with that much power could do. That troubled him.

"Yeah. Sorry, can't get things off my mind today."

What would Jack do to stop them being together? How far would he actually go?

After a short moment had passed, Vaughn found himself picturing his new life in Santa Barbara after he'd convinced himself that Jack would somehow lead him to disappear.

Dixon had been sat relaxed, with his cup of coffee for the last ten minutes. Then again, Dixon didn't have much to go through.

The words on the pages in front of Vaughn seemed too dark and yet too bright. He'd read through his report but all he could see was 'FAILURE' slapped on every page.

Taking a deep sigh and leaning back in his chair, Vaughn stroked his palms against his forehead.

"You didn't do anything wrong. The mission was a success. A little deviation from protocol is often necessary when something unexpected happens." Dixon registered Vaughn's angst and attempted to make him feel better.

"None of us could have anticipated what happened. I feel you dealt with it rather well. You took a beating to save your colleague, I've seen stupider things happen."

Vaughn felt Dixon's remarks were fair, but he knew how the mission would have gone down if he hadn't been so stupid. He would have gone out of there as soon as he was free, grabbed Jack and stormed back in to destroy Scar face in a matter of seconds, using surprise and tranquilizers of course.

Sydney might have been left alone with that creep for a few minutes, but nothing she couldn't handle. The whole thing would have been over an awful lot sooner.

Jack –

He did as he always had. He'd rehearsed some important information to give and he'd memorized some facts. It was important to him to feel he gave a professional and accurate briefing. He took a few deep breaths to maintain his calm appearance.

He was taking in the sights of nightime LA when he heard the rooftop door burst open and saw as Sydney hurriedly approached him, wearing all black.

She stopped in a huff beside him and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Father." She stated, flatly.

This isn't going to be fun.

Sydney –

This is going to be fun. She practically jumped the stairs to the roof as she was intruded by too many thoughts at once.

He is not going to get in our way. Why does he even hate Vaughn so much? Her anger was building as she recalled the last few years events between her boyfriend and her father.

She had hoped that Jack would just continue to hate their relationship but while accepting it exists. However, it looked like she wasn't the only one who couldn't forget about Lauren.

Upon arriving to the top floor, Sydney had already decided how she was going to play this. She knew her father enough to probably be the only one capable of manipulating him.

Well, perhaps manipulating him seemed a little too extreme. But she'd decided that if she couldn't get him to act like a god dammed grown up, then that's what she was willing to do.

She was his beloved daughter after all. He would do anything for her, and Sydney didn't blink twice at her opportunity to use that to her advantage. When it came to the possibility of losing Vaughn again, she knew she couldn't see straight.

Jack –

He thought about taking the first word, but he knew Sydney had likely already got a prepared speech in her head. He looked at her face and kept his cold expression, calm and still.

He felt the pull he had towards her. That need a parent has to fulfil their children's wishes. Heck, he could almost feel the dripping anger oozing from her body.

She looked stubborn and ready for a confrontation. Jack noticed she'd gotten changed after the mission, meaning she'd likely already had a long chat with Vaughn at her house.

It had felt like a few minutes at least, shared and yet still neither of them said anything.

She was waiting for him to give her something to argue with. Well Jack was tired and frankly, right now he didn't give a crap about where Vaughn was or who he was with.

This thought did give him a moment to see what it would really be like if he did not care about Sydney being involved with him. Vaughn's whereabouts sometimes haunted him as he was so desperate to believe he wasn't with Sydney. Sleeping in her bed.

The silence broke as Sydney took that one step closer.

"Jack." She never called him Jack unless she was talking about something serious.

"I want you to leave Vaughn alone." She had a glistening in her eyes as she said his name.

Jack was unsure whether to interject or leave her to give him all she had then retaliate.

Sydney was good at improvisation, everyone knew that. He decided to take the shorter route.

"Sydney. I don't think he's a good man."

Silence returned. He saw in her face that he'd already exceeded her expectations. He'd calculated her responses and had hit her with a point she would not expect. To criticise Vaughn being good for anyone.

She remained still and stubborn. Never taking her eyes away from his. Jack took this as his cue to carry on, being careful to use the right words which would hit her the most.

"He does not make good choices. He does not think straight when it comes to you and that will reflect in everything he ever does when he is with you."

Still no response.

"Sydney, he will make the wrong decision one day that will cost you so much more. He's already betrayed you Sydney."

As soon as he said betrayed, Sydney snapped.

"You have no idea what you are talking about! What Vaughn did has nothing to do with anyone but me and him. He may have made a bad decision but it's up to me to forgive him. Not you!" She was angry and emphasised her words, but she was making an effort to stay reasonably calm.

"Well I haven't forgiven him Sydney. I don't think I need to look past that because he gave up on you and that is exactly what he is going to do again."

Sydney paused. She knew he had given up on her, but he had grieved and she still had no real idea on why he married someone else. She didn't want to think about that because it would never happen again.

"Why are you so stuck in the past Dad? It's not going to happen again because he'll never be in that situation."

"He will be the reason you end up unhappy. I am looking to the future, something you refuse to do. That man may make you happy now, but he cannot be trusted to make the right decisions".

Jack continued, "He is a plague on your life and you need to open your eyes and see him for the mistakes he has made. Vaughn will not be there for you one day and you will be sorry."

As far as Jack was concerned, he was done. He knew whatever Sydney had to offer, he would never change his mind. Vaughn would have to prove himself worthy and that was what it came down too.

"Fine. If that's how you feel then forget it. I change my mind, don't leave him alone. From now on, you are going to see what a good man he really is. Everyone makes mistakes, including me today. I am the reason this mission went rough, it's my fault not his. I made a mistake yet here you are talking to me. Do you think I am a bad person? Do you?!" She was smart, He'd give her that.

She was using her father's soft side towards her to balance it out. She knew that if she'd done exactly what Vaughn had, then Jack wouldn't bat an eyelid.

"You know my thoughts towards you Sydney." Jack didn't know what he could say. She'd thrown him a curve ball but he wasn't ready to give up.

"I thought so. You cannot admit that this has nothing to do with his choices. You just hate him because he loves me. You can't stand someone else protecting me. Admit it." She'd steadied herself and lowered her voice to a much more intimidating tone.

Jack thought of himself as a highly respectful man whom was always professional. He thought with his head, not his heart. It was the same cold techniques Sydney was using now.

"You make your own decisions Sydney. If you want to risk everything that you have. Stay with him. I will leave him alone. But only to show you that you should have listened to me in the first place." That was his final word. He never intended to cause Vaughn serious harm, he had just hoped he could scare him away.

Sydney smiled suddenly and lightly squeezed Jack's arm.

"Thank you." She said, then quickly cutting off the smile and staring at him with that cold expression again.

Jack watched as she swiftly walked away and back into the building.

APO was situated in a train station to shield its identity.

Jack pondered whether he was really going to let Vaughn off or not as a train quickly shot through the station.

He's nothing I can't handle.