Chapter 25

The next day, Vaughn woke up and his eyes fell on the picture of him and his dad that he kept on his bedside table. He sighed. Since the day he turned 9 years old, November 27 had always been bittersweet.

Every year on this day, he would get a call from his mother wishing him a happy birthday. And that reminded him all too cruelly, that his father would never do the same.

I'm a grown man, for God sake's, Vaughn silently admonished himself when he felt the tears stinging his eyes. Why was it so hard this year? It should become easier as time went by…

But it didn't. As he neared the age his father had been when he was killed, Vaughn caught himself thinking about him more and more. The sad thing was that he talked about it less and less, which only made it more difficult to bear.

Vaughn rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling intensely, trying to understand how he had been able to open up to Sydney. He hadn't said that much to her, but the things left unsaid, the things his body language had revealed, had exposed his soul even more efficiently. Exposed him more than he had ever been capable of before with anyone, including Weiss and even Alice.

How come he had felt so at ease with her? It wasn't just because she had been through the same thing he had? Vaughn ran both his hands over his face, knowing all too well what had happened. He had let his feelings for Sydney take over his good sense. If he started walking down this road, something inappropriate was bound to happen.

He would have to be more careful in the future.

XXX

"… an agent from SD-3 has been able to get some information on Khasinau. The problem is that this agent, Philips, is under deep cover in Poland," Sloane explained to the agents sitting at the table.

On this grey and rainy morning, Sydney was having a tough time focusing on what Sloane was saying. Even though she should be really excited about the prospect of learning more about Khasinau and his organisation, including her mother, she couldn't help but think about the new side of Vaughn she had seen the previous day. It really meant a lot that he had been able to talk to her about something so close to his heart. Seeing how he still seemed to hurt from the loss of his father, her heart really went out to him.

She was strangely comforted by the fact that he could understand, to some extent, what she had gone through. She too had 'lost' her mother when she was a child and still suffered from it. The fact that her mother wasn't really dead was another story entirely.

Sloane's quietly assertive voice brought her back to reality when he concluded:

"Sydney, Dixon, you're going to Krakow to obtain the microchip where his findings are stored. Your plane leaves in two hours. That'll be all."

XXX

As soon as she got home, Sydney hurried to contact Vaughn in order to get her countermission. As usual, 'Boy Scout' was online. To ensure a quick reply to Sydney's messages, this board was closely monitored at the CIA. Quickly, she sent him a message detailing the mission she had been assigned by SD-6, then proceeded to pack while she waited for the answer. Finally, the following message appeared on her screen:

"Hi, Freelancer. You'll make a copy of the chip. What is your favourite kind of flower?"

She raised her eyebrows, puzzled. What did her taste in flowers have to do with anything?

"Daisies. Why? :confused:" she typed, curious about Vaughn's answer to her question.

"Good, I was afraid you'd say roses. My discretional budget is running thin. Good luck in Krakow."

"Heyyyyy!" she wrote.

He wasn't going to get away with this so easily.

" :lol: Since you are in a hurry, I'll send you the necessary optech so you don't have to come all the way to meet me. You'll receive a delivery from 'Juanita Florist' in a few minutes", he explained.

Although she recognised how professional he was in making that decision, Sydney was briefly disappointed that they weren't going to meet today. She then smiled, picturing him in front of his computer, thinking he was so funny…

"Ha. Ha. Ha", she wrote, trying to think of a witty reply. "Thought you were asking for personal purposes."

That would destabilize him for sure.

"I'll send you some flowers when we spend a whole month without arguing.;)"

She laughed. Since she loved flowers, she would make an extra effort to be nice.

"Deal."

"See you when you return, Freelancer."

"Take care, Boy Scout."

XXX

Vaughn walked out of his office and approached Weiss, who was sitting at his desk, making notes from files.

"I need you to take care of Sydney for me," announced Vaughn suddenly.

Weiss continued to scan his papers.

"I know, half a can of the dry stuff," he answered absently without looking up.

"What?"

Weiss ceased reading at his friend's perplexed tone and finally looked up.

"I heard you were going to Langley," he explained, thinking Vaughn was unaware word had gotten round the office.

"Yes," Vaughn chuckled, "but that's not what I asked you! I wanted you to take care of Sydney's debrief!"

Weiss started to laugh too and couldn't resist quipping:

"Oops, I doubt she'd like dog food!"

Vaughn raised an eyebrow and touched the underside of his nose with the back of his finger, in a futile effort to hide his amusement at the bizarre image that remark had concocted.

When the two agents sobered up, Vaughn said:

"Come here, I'll tell you what you need to know."

Weiss got up and followed, into Vaughn's office.

"Why have you been called to Langley?"

"They want me to talk to the agents in training there about how I solved the Santoro case," Vaughn answered as he took his gun from a drawer.

"Oh, yeah, the one that earned you a promotion and the incredible chance to work with me?"

"Yeah, that one," Vaughn smirked as he secured the gun into the holster he was already wearing. "So, you'll replace me as Sydney's handler while I'm gone."

"I've heard that one before."

But Vaughn was happy to assure Weiss:

"Well, this time it's only for a few days."

"Should I cancel your birthday beers?"

"No, I'll be back by Saturday."

"Good," affirmed Weiss. "Seeing you drunk always makes my day."

Vaughn decided not to mention Happy Thanksgiving phone calls after Thanksgiving, and reached for his jacket.

"This is her complete file," he said pointing to one on his desk. "She's gone to Krakow to copy a microchip holding info on Khasinau. You'll have to debrief her when she returns. If there's anything, you call me. And please, avoid talking about my private life," he pleaded, remembering how the last time those two had talked Eric had ended up telling Sydney about that stupid bet. "Got it?"

"Yeah," shrugged Weiss.

"Weiss?" Vaughn needed to be sure his buddy had paid particular attention to that last instruction.

Weiss met Vaughn's solemn gaze and nodded.

"I've got it, Mike."

Vaughn studied his friend and decided he meant it.

"Thanks," he said as he finished slipping his jacket on.

He then tossed his house keys to Weiss.

"I need you to feed Donovan too."

"Which key is to the front?" he asked as he inspected the collection.

Vaughn spoke quickly as he put a few last things into his briefcase.

"That's the top lock, that's the bottom lock. Give him a can of the dog food that's on the floor of the cupboard and half a can of the dry stuff. But only a half of a can. There's a bag of the dry stuff next to the canned stuff."

"Right. Have a nice time in Langley."

"Thanks. And remember: half a can only. I don't want to come back to a fat dog," warned Vaughn with a knowing smile.

Weiss matched his grin before conceding:

"Alright."

XXX

At this early hour, the museum was pretty much empty. Looking discreetly around her, Sydney was admiring the beautiful paintings that adorned the walls. The meeting with the SD-3 agent wasn't scheduled for another 12 minutes, so she had time to play art junkie. At one point, she saw a superb image of large, dazzling daisies, which immediately made her think about Vaughn. She smiled to herself, remembering the lovely bouquet she had received just before leaving. Too bad they would probably be history by the time she got back home… There had been a beautiful, engraved compact hidden in those blooms. It opened to reveal a state of the art, chip-copying device.

Slowly, Sydney continued to look appreciatively at the artwork, until she stopped in front of the Chagall painting that was to be the meeting point with agent Philips.

Dixon was standing a little further away in the gallery, watching the entrance, when a man dressed casually entered the room. Dixon was about to warn his partner that their contact had arrived, when he noticed that the man was staggering. Intrigued, he watched him for a second before all of a sudden, the SD-3 agent collapsed.

"Syd!" Dixon called, drawing his gun.

Sydney quickly turned around and on seeing Philips on the floor, she ran to him. That's when she became aware of the puddle of blood that was growing with every second.

"Dixon, he's been shot!" she shouted.

"Syd, we've got to go! He must have been followed! Take the chip and let's go!"

"My… watch…" the agent managed to say. His words came out weakly, either side of a splutter.

"It's in your watch?" Sydney asked as she took the watch off his arm.

"Yes…" he practically exhaled, as his breathing became increasingly laboured.

It was obvious that he didn't have much longer to live. Sydney hated the fact that she couldn't help this man. Maybe he was just like she had been a few months ago: risking her life for the bad guys when she thought she had been working for the good of her country.

Slowly hesitating, Sydney got up, unable to detach her eyes from the dying agent.

"Syd!"

Dixon was getting impatient and Sydney knew he was right. Quickly, she looked away and they left before anyone had noticed the man they were leaving to die on the floor.

XXX

Sydney and Dixon were sitting in front of one another on a plane bound for Los Angeles. Between them was a small table, upon which lay Philips' watch. A moment ago, she had taken it out of her purse and opened it, to get the microchip.

"There it is," she announced, examining the chip.

Dixon was watching with interest, while she was wondering how in the world she would be able to copy the chip without him noticing.

"Great," Dixon replied with a satisfied grin. "Sloane will be happy."

"Yeah," she said pensively, knowing perfectly well this chip could be holding information about her mother.

Dixon put his hand over Sydney's in an effort to comfort her.

"Syd, I know this microchip may hold clues about your father's exact involvement in Khasinau's organisation. I'm sorry you had to be the one to retrieve this information."

She mentally cursed herself. How could she forget about that? She would have to be more careful playing the part of the betrayed daughter. Not like it had never happened to her, she thought sarcastically.

"I'm okay, don't worry," she replied with a weak smile. "Seeing agent Philips die like this to give us this information… I hate it."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. No matter how many times you see people die, you never get used to it… But at least he died for his country, and there is no greater honour."

The idea that this man had given his life for terrorists, just made Sydney feel like she was going to throw up. What if it ever happened to Dixon? What if he gave his life for a bunch of bad guys? She would never forgive herself for not having told him the truth…

"Now give me this precious chip," Dixon said smiling, trying to lighten the tone of their conversation. "I'll put it in the container Marshall gave us."

"It's in my bag in the back. I need to go to the bathroom anyway, I'll put the chip inside on my way."

Dixon nodded and a relieved Sydney went to the back of the plane, copied the chip while pretending to rummage through her bag before securing both copies of it.

Mission accomplished.

XXX

The following evening, when Sydney arrived at the warehouse to hand the microchip to the CIA, she was surprised to find Weiss instead of Vaughn.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey… Where's Vaughn?" she wondered anxiously.

She feared Eric's answer. What if something bad had happened to him?

"In Langley. He was called in yesterday," Weiss reassured her.

"When is he coming back?"

"I don't know exactly, but he'll be here by Saturday. He told me not to cancel his birthday beers."

"Birthday? It's Vaughn's birthday?"

"Yeah, back on Wednesday."

"Another milestone…" she whispered, more to herself, but Weiss heard.

"What do you mean?"

Sydney was a bit embarrassed, but explained:

"I just… I was just thinking how ambivalent he must be about his birthday… you know, without his dad…"

"He spoke to you about his dad?!" Eric couldn't help but exclaim.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? " she said, although she had sensed that this was a difficult thing for him to talk about.

Suddenly remembering how his friend had warned him not to talk about his private life, Weiss tried to play down his reaction.

"Well, I just mean… uh, you know, that's not something he shares with everybody," he explained. But even as he did so, Weiss realised that he had just said too much again. If there was one thing Vaughn didn't need, it was for Sydney to know he had feelings for her.

"Oh, I see," she said, unable to keep a shy smile from blossoming. Vaughn thought he could confide in her? Maybe because she had been through the same thing he had?

But whatever his reasons for telling her about his father, she felt strangely happy that he had.

XXX