The Dream
Chapter 16: Pizza Anyone?
Sydney walked in the door and collapsed on the couch. Francie wasn't home yet, and she had some time to revel in the peace and quiet of her empty house. It had been a long day.
As she sat back on the couch, she let her thoughts wander to Vaughn. That had been happening a lot lately. When Francie was telling her about her day at work, when Marshall was explaining one of his gadgets, when she was in the middle of connecting her heel with some guy's forehead…Vaughn, Vaughn, always Vaughn. Those thoughts were the only ones that brought her any comfort or pleasure anymore.
She didn't want to have to go on another mission, but at least she would be able to see him soon. And with any luck, this mission would be her last.
She glanced at the clock. It was 5:01. Was Vaughn still at work? Did he have a nine to five workday? Did he like to stay late at the office? She didn't know. It had never come up in conversation. Their first few weeks together, she had asked him endless questions. She knew what his favorite kind of ice cream was, where he took his suits to be dry cleaned, and how he liked his eggs in the morning, but she didn't know his work hours. Somehow, they had always shied away from talking about work. Too much of what they did or didn't and couldn't do involved their jobs with the CIA and SD-6. They didn't need to mix business with pleasure anymore than it already was.
She absentmindedly brought her hand up to finger the gold charm on her necklace. Vaughn had given it to her a few months ago, and she never took it off.
She had been about to leave for Turkey and told him she wished that she could be with him. He had called her in the middle of the night via Joey's Pizza. She had arrived at the warehouse expecting him to announce a change in her counter-mission. Instead, he had told her to turn around and had fastened the delicate gold chain around her neck. Surprised, she had looked down at it, and a small golden angel twinkled back at her in the soft warehouse light.
Vaughn had brushed her hair away from her ear and whispered, "Now, I'll always be with you. Your guardian angel."
She had melted in his arms, and needless to say, had been very tired when she had arrived in Turkey the next day…
Sydney woke with a start when the telephone rang. She reached over to pick up the receiver, when the ringing stopped.
"Hello?" came the sound Francie's voice from the other room.
Sydney looked at her watch. It was almost seven thirty. She sat up and held her breath, waiting for what Francie would say next.
"Actually, this is Frank's Pizza, but our sauce is much better than Joey's."
With those words, the phone slammed down and Sydney smiled and leaned back on the couch. Francie came walking through the living room carrying a basket of laundry, but stopped when she saw Sydney.
"Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Sorry, did I wake you?"
"No. I heard the phone ring."
"It was that damn Joey's Pizza again. You know, maybe I should open a pizza place. I bet I would make a lot of money."
Sydney smiled and stood up. "I had such an awful day. Pizza actually sounds really good right now." She picked up her keys and walked towards the door. "You want anything while I'm out?"
"Yeah, can you get some laundry detergent; we're almost out," Francie answered as she started to walk out of the room.
"Sure. See you in a little while."
"Bye, and make sure you get pepperoni on the pizza!"
Vaughn nervously paced back and forth in the darkened warehouse. The pale light played tricks with his shadow, throwing it this way and that across the room. He glanced at his watch for at least the twentieth time in the last five minutes and sighed.
He finally sat down on a crate, anxiously tapping his foot. He had memorized Sydney's note by now and was replaying it in his mind, still wondering if it was real.
As soon as Weiss had pointed out the importance of the last few lines, Vaughn had quickly thought up a counter-mission. It had taken him a little time to convince Devlin to agree to it, but somehow he had managed it, gathered up the materials he needed, and called Sydney. Her roommate had answered the phone, and had sounded a little pissed about having to answer to yet another Joey's Pizza call, but hopefully soon none of that would matter.
After what seemed like an eternity, Vaughn heard the door of the warehouse open, and Sydney's familiar footsteps coming towards him. He sprang up, not only to open the gate as a gentleman should for a lady, but also to be able to see Sydney as soon as possible.
She smiled when she saw him; he could just make out her dimples in the dim light.
"Sorry I took so long," she called as she approached him. "Francie wanted me to get some laundry detergent, and I knew I'd forget if I didn't get it first. Oh, and don't let me forget to get pizza; that's the reason I went out."
"Of course," Vaughn took her hand and then whispered, "And you know I'd wait forever for you."
Sydney flashed him another smile and lightly pressed her lips to his. "Keep talking like that Agent Vaughn, and we'll never get to my counter-mission."
"I know," he answered. He didn't want to talk to Sydney about operations and counter-missions, but if everything went according to plan this time, he wouldn't have to again.
Vaughn led her over to one of the crates and they both sat down. "You're going to Cairo again," he began, trying to find a way to lead into her counter-mission, enjoying every moment that he got to talk to her.
Sydney nodded. "I hear it's nice this time of year."
"You may want to check your source," Vaughn replied with a smile. "I don't think Cairo's nice any time of the year. At least not the part you're going to."
"Don't remind me," Sydney groaned.
"What do you remember about Ahmed Fahim?" Vaughn asked. He might as well just get this over with.
"I identified him almost a year ago as selling weapons to K-Directorate. His cover was a pottery vendor and he was in a market in Cairo. He's a little shorter than I am, with dark hair and dark eyes. He's intelligent and sly; he knew I was American even before I spoke. He's dirty and greasy; he likes to take advantage of women. After I met with him, he sent someone after me."
Vaughn might as well have asked her to recite the alphabet. She could have done it just as easily.
"You wrote that your mission is to retrieve information that Fahim has and Sloane wants…"
"Information that is vital to the survival of SD-6," Sydney interrupted, quoting from her message. "Those were Sloane's exact words."
So it was true. Vaughn had seen the words when she had written them, but he had been afraid to let them sink in. They both knew what the successful completion of this mission could mean for them, but were afraid to mention it, to get their hopes up.
"Did you notice anything strange about the way Sloane acted?" Vaughn asked, deciding to continue with business and not let his emotions get ahead of him.
"He seemed a little off, like he was distracted, bothered about something."
"And you don't know exactly what this information is, or what form it's going to come in?"
Sydney shook her head and looked away. "Sorry."
He took her hand and kissed it gently. "Don't be. It's not your fault."
She turned to face him. "So, what's my counter-mission."
"Here," he said, handing her a watch. "This is a communications device. When it's on, we'll be able to hear and record everything that happens. Now, it can go two ways, but if we contact you, whatever we say will be clearly audible to everyone, so we will only contact you when absolutely necessary. We would have given you a device with an ear piece, but we didn't want to give you anything that Fahim might recognize as a communications device and take away. You should be okay with this."
"Who will be on the other end of this?" Sydney asked, motioning toward the watch. "Where will they be?"
"The agent on the other end will be staying in a hotel in Cairo, almost a mile from Fahim's compound, where they'll be able to respond quickly if anything goes wrong," he answered. "It took an awful lot of convincing, but Devlin agreed to let me go."
"Really?" She flashed him another one of her dimpled smiles. He loved seeing her so happy at the thought of them being separated by a mere mile instead of oceans and entire continents.
Vaughn smiled back and nodded. "Since we don't know if any documents or discs will accompany this information, try to make it clear in your conversation exactly what Fahim gives you. When you finish your interview, do not proceed directly back to Dixon. Find a place where you can be alone for a few minutes, and there I'll contact you and schedule a rendezvous for information exchange if need be."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
She leaned in and kissed him lightly, knowing they shouldn't take things too far. "I have to go before Francie starts wondering where I am. Maybe I'll see you in Cairo?"
Vaughn nodded and she stood up and walked away. She disappeared from his sight and he listened as her footsteps became softer. Suddenly he thought of something, and jumped up.
"Syd!" he called, jogging toward her.
She stopped and turned around, smiling. He caught up to her; she waited for him to speak, her deep, brown eyes gazing at him expectantly.
"God, you're beautiful. You can still take my breath away," Vaughn thought. He wanted to tell her that, but instead he said, "Don't forget to pick up your pizza."
"Thanks," Sydney responded. "I won't." She turned to walk away again, but Vaughn took her arm.
"I don't trust him."
"Me neither," Sydney replied, knowing, even without him saying it, that Vaughn was referring to Fahim.
"Please," Vaughn said, his voice low, almost a whisper. "Be careful."
"I always am."
"I know," Vaughn answered, tracing the faded outline of a bruise on her arm, a souvenir from her last operation. "I know. Just promise me."
Without taking her eyes from his, Sydney turned so she was directly in front of him, and moved forward so that they were separated by mere inches. She placed a hand on the back of his neck and pulled his face down to hers.
She kissed him hungrily this time, ravishing his mouth and lips, taking his breath away.
Just before things got out of control, she slowly pulled away.
"I promise," she murmured, cupping Vaughn's cheek with her hand. They both waited in silence for a moment, simply enjoying the fact that they were together.
"If this mission is a success…" Sydney finally began.
"When," Vaughn interrupted her. "When this mission is a success."
"When," she repeated softly, a smile playing across her lips. "Will you make sure I never have to leave you again?"
"You know I will," he whispered, bringing a hand up to her face. "As soon as we use this information to take down SD-6, I'll take you in my arms, out where the whole world can see, and never let you go again."
With those words, he kissed her forehead softly, and she slowly turned and walked away.
Vaughn was about to call out after her with his conventional wish for "good luck," but those weren't the words that left his lips.
"I love you," he called as Sydney was reaching for the door handle. He saw her hand falter and she turned to face him, fighting the impulse to run back into his arms.
"I know," she answered, smiling at him, as she turned and walked out the door.
A/N: Since it took me absolutely ages to post this chapter, I figured I'd let you read it before I put an author's note. I apologize for taking so long, but now that AP exams are finally over, I finally have my life back (at least partially, my teachers have now upgraded to projects and term papers, but it will all be over soon). Anyway, I think a little time adds to the suspense, and we do have all summer. Well, let me know how you're enjoying it so far; thanks for reading!