Chapter Two
Vaughn was waiting for her, seated on a bench while reading a newspaper.
"Hey." Sydney made sure to appear as if she didn't know Vaughn as she slid onto the bench next to him. She didn't look at him, but instead chose to watch a teenage boy attempting to walk three large St. Bernard dogs.
Vaughn followed her gaze and laughed under his breath. "He's been having quite a time with them." Vaughn smiled and glanced at Sydney out of the corner of his eye. His brow furrowed with concern at her expression. "What's wrong? You look upset."
Sydney couldn't help but let a flicker of a smile cross her lips at his worry over her. "It's nothing really…" She paused. "Yes, actually it is. Today is Francie's birthday and I totally forgot."
Vaughn was relieved it wasn't something to do with work; he'd rather talk to Sydney about problems with her friends. Discussing things outside of their jobs helped them both feel like they had normal lives for a while. "Was she mad?"
"At first she was just disappointed, but yeah, for her she was pretty upset." Sydney sighed. "Especially after explaining to her we couldn't have the party tomorrow since Dixon and I are having dinner with Sloane and Emily…and after using my trip as an excuse."
Her trip. Of course that was what they were supposed to be talking about now, not her personal problems. Vaughn grimaced thinking of "agent-handler protocol." He decided it was time to move on to business. "Well, I'm sure you two will work it out. Speaking of your trip, how did it go?"
Sydney glanced at him quizzically. 'He sure changed the subject fast,' she thought. Vaughn returned her look for a second. His face seemed to say, "Let's follow protocol just for a minute or two so I feel better."
Sydney quickly focused on the dog walker again and shrugged her shoulders in reply to his question. "We got the pictures, if that's what you mean by that. The process wasn't too great; I have quite a bruise on my face. But we retrieved them. SD-6 has copies, the originals I dead-dropped to the CIA."
"Good, good." Vaughn wanted to ask if she was okay, but stuck true to the promise he had made to himself to try to follow protocol until the end of their meeting. "That's all Devlin really wanted me to talk to you about for now. Sloane up to anything interesting lately?"
"Things are pretty tame, for SD-6 anyway."
"Well, you know the drill: contact me if he starts cooking up another scheme."
"You got it."
"See you soon, then." And he was gone.
After buying a birthday card for Francie and having a large bouquet of flowers sent to her, Sydney settled down at her desk in SD-6 headquarters. She had some paperwork left to fill out about the previous day's trip to Paris to gain pictures of some K-Directorate agents that were stirring up trouble.
Dixon sat down at his desk not far from Sydney's. "Good morning, Syd. How's your face?"
Sydney looked up and smiled at her partner. "It's been better, but make-up does wonders for things like that." Her good mood started to fade when she noticed Sloane walking out of his office and heading towards them.
"Sydney, Dixon, meet me in the briefing room at nine."
The two agents nodded and then concentrated on finishing their written work before their meeting.
At nine Sydney entered the briefing room with Dixon to find, Sloane, Marshall, and her father waiting for them. The two partners sat down and were quickly handed file folders by Jack Bristow.
Sloane walked to the front of the room, looking somewhat concerned. "I'm going to warn you both in advance that this assignment is going to be both difficult and dangerous." He paused. These were the moments Sloane relished. "Intelligence has followed the mysterious K-Directorate agents we've been tracking to London. You both will be traveling there tonight to intercept them and take their information."
Dixon frowned. "What exactly do they have that we want?"
"We are not completely sure, but we do know that the KGB wants it," Jack replied.
Sydney couldn't help becoming annoyed. "You mean to tell me that you don't even know what we're going after?"
Jack looked irritably at his daughter. "We do know they are documents of some kind, and are of high importance to both K-Directorate and the KGB."
Sloane sensed the tension between the Bristows and turned to Marshall. "Could you give Sydney and Dixon a briefing on their tech for the mission?"
"Uh, yeah, um, sure." Marshall scrambled up and started chattering about a bracelet embedded with a microphone.
Sydney wasn't interested though. Usually she and Dixon were given much more information about their missions. Sydney immediately became suspicious of Sloane's intentions concerning the mission. What was he hiding from them?
Vaughn was waiting for her, seated on a bench while reading a newspaper.
"Hey." Sydney made sure to appear as if she didn't know Vaughn as she slid onto the bench next to him. She didn't look at him, but instead chose to watch a teenage boy attempting to walk three large St. Bernard dogs.
Vaughn followed her gaze and laughed under his breath. "He's been having quite a time with them." Vaughn smiled and glanced at Sydney out of the corner of his eye. His brow furrowed with concern at her expression. "What's wrong? You look upset."
Sydney couldn't help but let a flicker of a smile cross her lips at his worry over her. "It's nothing really…" She paused. "Yes, actually it is. Today is Francie's birthday and I totally forgot."
Vaughn was relieved it wasn't something to do with work; he'd rather talk to Sydney about problems with her friends. Discussing things outside of their jobs helped them both feel like they had normal lives for a while. "Was she mad?"
"At first she was just disappointed, but yeah, for her she was pretty upset." Sydney sighed. "Especially after explaining to her we couldn't have the party tomorrow since Dixon and I are having dinner with Sloane and Emily…and after using my trip as an excuse."
Her trip. Of course that was what they were supposed to be talking about now, not her personal problems. Vaughn grimaced thinking of "agent-handler protocol." He decided it was time to move on to business. "Well, I'm sure you two will work it out. Speaking of your trip, how did it go?"
Sydney glanced at him quizzically. 'He sure changed the subject fast,' she thought. Vaughn returned her look for a second. His face seemed to say, "Let's follow protocol just for a minute or two so I feel better."
Sydney quickly focused on the dog walker again and shrugged her shoulders in reply to his question. "We got the pictures, if that's what you mean by that. The process wasn't too great; I have quite a bruise on my face. But we retrieved them. SD-6 has copies, the originals I dead-dropped to the CIA."
"Good, good." Vaughn wanted to ask if she was okay, but stuck true to the promise he had made to himself to try to follow protocol until the end of their meeting. "That's all Devlin really wanted me to talk to you about for now. Sloane up to anything interesting lately?"
"Things are pretty tame, for SD-6 anyway."
"Well, you know the drill: contact me if he starts cooking up another scheme."
"You got it."
"See you soon, then." And he was gone.
After buying a birthday card for Francie and having a large bouquet of flowers sent to her, Sydney settled down at her desk in SD-6 headquarters. She had some paperwork left to fill out about the previous day's trip to Paris to gain pictures of some K-Directorate agents that were stirring up trouble.
Dixon sat down at his desk not far from Sydney's. "Good morning, Syd. How's your face?"
Sydney looked up and smiled at her partner. "It's been better, but make-up does wonders for things like that." Her good mood started to fade when she noticed Sloane walking out of his office and heading towards them.
"Sydney, Dixon, meet me in the briefing room at nine."
The two agents nodded and then concentrated on finishing their written work before their meeting.
At nine Sydney entered the briefing room with Dixon to find, Sloane, Marshall, and her father waiting for them. The two partners sat down and were quickly handed file folders by Jack Bristow.
Sloane walked to the front of the room, looking somewhat concerned. "I'm going to warn you both in advance that this assignment is going to be both difficult and dangerous." He paused. These were the moments Sloane relished. "Intelligence has followed the mysterious K-Directorate agents we've been tracking to London. You both will be traveling there tonight to intercept them and take their information."
Dixon frowned. "What exactly do they have that we want?"
"We are not completely sure, but we do know that the KGB wants it," Jack replied.
Sydney couldn't help becoming annoyed. "You mean to tell me that you don't even know what we're going after?"
Jack looked irritably at his daughter. "We do know they are documents of some kind, and are of high importance to both K-Directorate and the KGB."
Sloane sensed the tension between the Bristows and turned to Marshall. "Could you give Sydney and Dixon a briefing on their tech for the mission?"
"Uh, yeah, um, sure." Marshall scrambled up and started chattering about a bracelet embedded with a microphone.
Sydney wasn't interested though. Usually she and Dixon were given much more information about their missions. Sydney immediately became suspicious of Sloane's intentions concerning the mission. What was he hiding from them?