Chapter 19: At Least Warn…Me
Disclaimer: When all the characters in my story belong solely to me, I'll let you know, k?
A/N: I miss my characters…And I like that idea, BudgetBuddy…a very pleasant thought…
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Michael slipped in very early, hoping to talk to Sydney before any official gofer was sent to tell her of her release.
That's not it, his conscience prodded infuriatingly.
Fine. I want to know what she's doing, alright? he thought, only vaguely worried that he was arguing with himself.
While he stood outside the door waiting for the guard to let him in, he studied Sydney. She lay on her cot, but her eyes were wide open. She still hadn't seen him, so he could see worry etched in her face, along with confusion, indecision, and raw emotional pain. All of which reinforced what he'd felt he day before after her cryptic answers to all of his questions. According to the three line note he's found in his car the night before, she'd avoided all of Jack's questions as well. Which, strangely, offered some comfort.
Sydney jerked to a sitting position, armed with a scowl, when the buzzer announcing someone opening the door buzzed loudly. She glared at him, and he stood calmly just inside the door.
Sydney was angry at him at first for the intrusion. Michael's arrival had interrupted her train of thought, which had been, for the first time in days, been taking her somewhere somewhat useful. Then she softened; he looked unexpectedly sweet, and he seemed to be waiting to be invited before coming further in.
She smiled slightly despite her intention. "You want to sit down?" she asked, patting the cot.
Michael grinned and perched on the end of the cot. He wanted to appear comfortable, but not comfortable enough to scare her off. He definitely would have liked to have been much closer.
Still holding a slight grin, he said, "You'll be leaving today. Official word won't get around until at least noon, knowing these people. You can leave with me when I get off."
Lorrie woke to Michael's voice and, by pretending to shift in her sleep, turned to hear them better . The movement might remind them she was there, but they'd assume that she was still asleep. And who knew what Michael might say to Sydney that he might not say if he knew she was listening.
"Thank you," Sydney was saying simply, ignoring the blatant absence of where she could leave with him to.
Michael ventured the question, unsure what else to do, which was odd for a man used to interrogating witnesses and suspects and getting the answers her wanted. "What have you decided?"
Sydney looked at him steadily. "You never said I had to tell you my decision. I never offered. I think that, while you've been very helpful to me, this is a rather personal decision." She stared, daring him to argue.
Lorrie opened her eyes just enough to see that Michael's back was to her, so she opened them wide and watched them. If Sydney looked, she'd see her, and then might think twice about avoiding Michael so keenly. Hopefully, she'd realize Lorrie wouldn't hesitate to say something. Because she wouldn't.
Michael planned his next words carefully.
"I think you owe it to me, or at least your father, to let one of us know what's going on before we let you leave here," he said slowly, dropping his voice just far enough below normal tones to make an impact.
Lorrie had almost decided to intervene when Sydney looked her was in avoiding Michael's gaze. Lorrie grinned, then quickly gave Sydney a look that said, "Well? I'm waiting…"
Sydney took a deep breath, allowing herself a few more moments to gather her wits.
"Michael, I need you to promise that if I tell you the truth, you'll still let me do what I want," Sydney pleaded.
Michael, thinking he was getting just what he wanted, smiled gently and rested his hand lightly on her shoulder. "Syd, it's your decision. I promise, no matter what it is, I won't stand in you way."
Sydney smiled weakly, and Lorrie frowned, realizing what she was doing to Michael.
"Michael, I haven't decided what to do about Danny yet," Sydney confided guiltily. "All I know is that I can't stay here, and I can't keep Lorrie here."
Michael's face fell, and Lorrie jumped up.
"Michael, you can't let her leave! I'll stay with you, I'm the reason she wants to leave!" Lorrie cried, surprising Michael both with her boisterous outburst and her sudden appearance in front of him.
"Michael, you promised," Sydney reminded him softly.
Michael's face took on a pained expression, then became resigned. "Jack's order to have you released had already been approved. He is in a position of some authority, but he couldn't' pull the order now without inviting some unwelcome questions," Michael said, hoping that Sydney didn't hear the regret in his voice, and at the same time hoping Lorrie ded.
When nobody seemed to have anything else to say, Michael reluctantly rose to leave. He signaled the guard and, while waiting for him to open the door, said, "I'll see you around five."
Lorrie frowned at Sydney for several moments, then sat of the cot and asked, mischief sparkling in her eyes, "Has anyone ever called you Syd?"
Sydney completely missed the warning signs and walked right into the girl's trap.
"I had a boyfriend in high school who did," she said.
"It sounds sort of like an affectionate nickname, huh?" Lorrie asked, the frown morphing into a smirk.
Sydney, still oblivious, shrugged. "I guess. Since he's the only one to ever call me that, it makes sense."
Lorrie's smirk expanded into a full fledged mischief filled smile.
"Michael called you Syd," she said happily. "I knew it! He likes you!" she continued in a sing song voice.
"What?!? When did he do that?!? He does not!" Sydney sputtered, not having a clue where to start on that one.
"When you made him promise not to stop you." Lorrie giggled. "To think, if I'd been staying with him all along I might have missed this!"
"You little sneak!" Sydney snarled good-naturedly. "You were awake the whole time, weren't you?"
"Not the whole time…just from where he said we could leave with him. That's pretty much it, right?" Lorrie grinned.
Finally, Sydney grinned back.
"Lorrie, I really should do something with you, but you make it impossible to know what to do!" Sydney said, exasperated.
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Michael chose to work where that morning where he could stake out Jack's office as well. After nearly an hour of getting nothing done due to the fact that he never took his eyes off of Bristow's door, he finally entered his office. Michael gave him all of three minutes to settle in before storming the place.
"Agent Vaughn, what the…" Jack began.
"Do you have any idea what your daughter is up to?!?" Michael said, much louder than necessary in the small office.
"I just came from speaking with her, actually," Jack said calmly. "She is still dodging my questions."
"She intends to walk into that house with no idea what her own intentions are, and therefore we have no idea what she's going to do!" Jack didn't seem nearly as upset over the matter as Michael was, so he continued. "Jack, you know as much about profiling as I do! You cannot tell me that everything we know about Danny doesn't point to a violent person!"
Jack stood calmly to face Michael. The slight smile tugging at the corners of Jack's mouth left Michael feeling more than a little disconcerted.
"We have to let Sydney do this her own way. She'll never forgive you if you interfere," he added slyly.
"Damn it, Jack, you could have at least warned me what I was dealing with!" Michael growled with the sudden realization that Jack had known what was going on ever before the people involved had known.
That fleeting smile returned. "I thought you'd have more fun finding out on your own."
"Like hell," Michael muttered as he left.
It would seem he and Jack had reached a new level of…understanding. It was a scary thing, Michael decided.
And he had missed the grin on Jack's face as he watched him walk out. Jack had decided that he liked him far more than Danny…
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The tension was so thick in the cab of the small black pickup that you could probably reach out and touch it if you wanted, Lorrie thought irritably.
Sydney faced the passenger window, Michael stared straight ahead, and Lorrie was stuck in the middle. She sighed loudly, leaned back, and crossed her arms huffily.
"I wish you two would talk, instead of making a conscious effort not to," she complained.
Sydney sighed as well, but didn't speak.
Michael sighed, then snapped, "You two are the two most impossible females I've ever met!"
"What did we do?" Sydney asked innocently.
"That sighing," he said shortly.
"You sighed too," Lorrie pointed out.
"Right. But you two do it knowing it'll get you what you want," Michael argued.
"You're just jealous because women claim that talent," Sydney accused.
Another silence fell, but most of the tension had dissipated.
"Syd, are you sure you want to do this?" Michael asked a few minutes later. "It's not your only option, you know."
"Oh? And what are my other options?" she challenged.
His face reddened, but his voice was level when he said, "You could stay with me."
"Let me do this, Michael," Sydney said, her cheeks showing a tinge of pink she turned away to hide. As appealing as that prospect was, she had to do this now. She had to figure out her life. "Is Jaime still with Kaitlyn?" she asked after a few moments.
"Yeah. Danny didn't go get him, and I wasn't going to leave a baby with the guy," Michael answered.
"Can we go get him before you take me home? If it wouldn't be too much trouble."
"No problem," he said, swinging the truck onto the road leading to the day care.
"How was your trip?" Kaitlyn asked when Sydney walked in. Michael, standing behind her with Lorrie, noticed the woman seemed a little wary. She
"My trip?" Sydney said carefully.
"Yeah. Danny said your went to see your mother…?"
She probably had been told at some point that Laura Bristow was "dead".
"Oh!" Sydney said with a laugh as she took Jaime into her arms. "You must have heard wrong. I went to stay with his mother. She was a little under the weather, and he just couldn't get off for that long." She shrugged. "I couldn't leave her alone, could I?"
Kaitlyn smiled, visibly put at ease. "Oh, of course not. Will Jaime be here tomorrow?"
"I'm not sure," Sydney said readily. "I have a few more days I can take off, so I might stay home tomorrow. I'd hate to have to have to leave him again so sure."
Michael smothered a grin. She was convincing, and he'd forgotten to even mention that she might want to keep her ordeal to herself.
He laughed as they walked outside into the bright sunlight.
"That was fun. Who knew you were so quick on your feet?" he laughed.
"Who knew you could lie so convincingly?" Lorrie added with a grin.
"Are you really planning on taking tomorrow off?" Michael asked.
"You bet. And may be the next day, too. If I feel real wild, the whole week," Sydney said. "Lorrie, we're going to be so far behind we'll never get caught up she added, laughing.
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Only 1 more chapter and an epilogue, folks! And for all you S/V shippies like myself, you're going to love this ending! Kind of Harlequin Romance meets Alias…(Hey, it's not as if I'm telling you something you didn't know! I told you at the start I was a S/V shippie!)