The Dream

Chapter 3: Valencia, Part II

His hair was darkened and slicked back, and he was wearing a suit that was very different from any suit that she had ever seen him wear, but Sydney was definitely staring directly at Michael Vaughn. His eyes gave him away.

"You don't sound thrilled to see me," he said in a low tone in case someone around them was listening.

"It was just a surprise," she replied, almost in a whisper. "A big surprise. What if SD-6 finds out?"

"They won't. If you take a look at the guest list, you'll find that Miguel Rivera was invited to this little party."

"Fine, but you still haven't told me what you're doing here."

He looked cautiously around them. "I will in a minute, but…" he held out his hand to her suddenly and said in a louder, accented tone, "Señorita Juarez, will you join me for this dance?" Sydney looked at him strangely and he murmured, "We don't want to arouse suspicion. It would be better if we acted in character and pretended we just met."

She nodded slightly, "I would be delighted, señor. Lead the way." With that she took his hand and he led her to the dance floor.

Once on the dance floor, Vaughn gathered Sydney close to him and they began to dance. They were so close that with every breath he took in her sweet perfume and could feel her heart beat against his chest. He prayed to God that she couldn't feel his heartbeat because his pulse had skyrocketed. Trying to concentrate on something else, he looked at the other people around them. But by doing so he noticed the jealous looks that quite a few men were shooting in his direction, and it only made him realize that he was dancing with the hottest woman in the room.

Vaughn was not the only one having trouble concentrating solely on the mission. Sydney had closed her eyes to savor the moment, and silently thank God that part of her training had included controlling her pulse for lie detector tests. When she opened her eyes, a quick glance at the clock reminded her that time stopped for nothing, and it was getting closer to 10 o'clock. Reluctantly, she broke the silence and whispered, "Vaughn?"

He took the hint, "When SD-6 briefed you on this mission, they informed you that the keypad to the safe is behind a Monet painting, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, that much is true. There is a keypad behind a Monet in Campuzino's office, but you won't be able to open the safe just using that. Someone has to simultaneously enter the code into another keypad behind a Van Gogh across the room."

"Why would the CIA risk your cover? Why not just let me return to SD-6 without the plans?"

Vaughn paused a moment before answering, "The CIA didn't send me; they thought it was too risky because of the high security and your recent problems with SD-6. But I had some connections so…"

"Why did you come, then? Why not just let me return to SD-6 without the plans? That would have aroused less suspicion and…"

Without thinking, Vaughn put his fingers to her lips, silencing her. She gasped and he quickly removed them. He was already using all his self-control to be this close to her without giving in to his secret desires, touching her lips with his fingers suddenly made him realize how badly he wanted to feel her lips against his own.

"Vaughn," Sydney whispered after a moment, "What are you doing here?"

Vaughn took a deep breath and let it out slowly, "If someone tried to open the safe by just inputting one of the codes, an anti-intruder device would be set off and an explosion would decimate everything within twenty feet of the safe."

Sydney stopped dancing and gazed up into his eyes, but before she had a chance to say anything, the music stopped and a voice over the speakers asked everyone to take their seats. "I'll start up to the office, you follow a few seconds behind me," she whispered, and then added louder, "Thank you for the dance, señor."

Sydney quietly slipped out the door and into the hallway. It wasn't really a necessity that Vaughn stay behind, but she needed some time to clear her head before she got into Campuzino's office. The touch of Vaughn's fingers on her lips had almost been her undoing, but thankfully she was a good actress and an even better liar. She was just as good at lying to herself as she was to others, and she had been able to convince herself that being pressed up against his body meant nothing to her. But she couldn't lie to herself forever and she didn't know how long she would be able to hide her feelings for Vaughn.

As she approached the stairs, she noticed two men standing on either side of them. They spotted her and one of them spoke, "Perdón, señorita…"

Sydney took a few more steps while the man was speaking and then collapsed on the floor.

The two guards ran over to her. One started to kneel down next to her, yelling for the other to call a doctor. Sydney took advantage of the closeness of the first man to connect her fist squarely with his jaw. He stumbled backwards while his partner fumbled for a gun. With one quick kick, Sydney knocked the gun out of his hand, and with another he way lying unconscious on the floor.

Just as she was thinking that high heels should be considered weapons, a gunshot rang through the air. She spun around, wondering how the guard could have missed her at such close range, but quickly realized that he was not aiming the weapon at her, but at a man running towards her from down the hall: Vaughn.

Instinct took over and in two seconds flat, Sydney had the guard on the floor, unconscious.

Vaughn approached her, unable to utter anything but an obviously impressed, "Damn."

"Come on," Sydney urged, trying to stay focused on the mission, "We've got to finish this before they wake up."

They ran up the stairs, on the lookout for other guards, but seeing none. "If two guards are their idea of high security," Sydney thought, "This is going to be a piece of cake." No sooner had this thought crossed her mind than Sydney spotted two more guards coming down the hall. "Vaughn, we've got company" she whispered, nodding in the direction of the guards.

Vaughn watched Sydney, waiting for her to take the first move. The guards were quickly approaching; they weren't carrying their guns yet, but Vaughn had no doubt that that could change in a matter of seconds.

Sydney started walking down the hall toward the guards and Vaughn followed her. "Hello gentlemen," she said with an accent. "I have been all over this mansion looking for the restroom, but I have yet to find one…"

"Señorita, you are not supposed to be on this level…" one of the guards tried to interrupt her.

"…And you know how men are at asking for directions," she motioned toward Vaughn. "He promised to help me, but look where we have ended up. Lost! I should have never let a man lead."

"We will guide you to the restroom, señorita, but this area is off limits. We will have to take you downstairs. Follow us."

"Thank you, that would be most helpful." The guards started to lead them away. She looked Vaughn in the eye and he nodded slightly. "But first…"

With those words, Sydney kicked one of the guards in the stomach, and Vaughn punched the other in the head. Sydney swiftly kicked her guard in the head and he went down, a nasty bruise already forming on his forehead. The second guard had tried to punch Vaughn, but he had ducked and missed the blow. The guard had swung too hard and lost his balance. Vaughn took this opportunity to kick him squarely in the back of the head.

"We've got to hurry," Sydney said breathlessly as they hurried down the hall.

Vaughn nodded, "Yeah, before Campuzino discovers that four of his guards are down."

They made it to Campuzino's office door without any further interruptions. Sydney took the comb out of her hair and placed it on the keypad. There was a clicking sound and the door was unlocked.

"After you," Vaughn motioned and Sydney smiled as she entered the room.

"I'll take the Monet," she said, heading to a painting of water lilies behind Campuzino's desk, She lifted the painting off of the wall to reveal the keypad, and looked over to Vaughn. "You ready?"

"Almost."

Vaughn had found Van Gogh's Starry Night and the keypad behind it, but Sydney suddenly realized that he did not have a lock descrambler. She was about to mention this small piece of information to him, when he started taking off his jacket and unbuttoning the top buttons on his shirt.

Sydney averted her eyes. It's not that she didn't want to see Vaughn's chest, but she realized that if she did see it she didn't think she'd be able to stay on the opposite side of the room; she'd definitely have to examine it at closer range. "What are you doing?" she whispered harshly, still looking towards the floor.

He was so engrossed with unbuttoning his shirt that he didn't notice her tone. "Lock descrambler," he answered without looking up.

"What?" Sydney looked at him, confused. He pulled half of his shirt away to reveal a large white bandage. He proceeded to pull it off and Sydney looked away from him.

He continued, "Remember when Patel got into the UCO with a bomb in his chest because he thought he had a pacemaker?"

Sydney nodded.

"Well, Miguel Rivera also happens to have a pacemaker in his chest," Vaughn finished, holding up the device. He turned back toward the keypad, "Ready?"

"On the count of three," Sydney answered. "One…two…three." They placed their descramblers on the keypads and waited, silently praying.