The Present

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: The show and characters do not belong to me.

Summary: Sydney gives Vaughn a birthday gift. (Sounds smutty, but isn't!) Set some time after 'Spirit' (when Vaughn gave Sydney the Christmas gift).

Please feel free to tell me what you think of the first chapter! Thanks!

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Sydney walked in and sat down in Vaughn's office. She looked around trying to see if he had any personal photos now that Alice, his ex-girlfriend's picture was gone. She was secretly pleased that there weren't any in his office. She crossed her legs and waited patiently for Vaughn to start going through some future plans the CIA had for her.

"Oh" Vaughn said looking through the folder that was in front of him. "Sydney, I'm sorry. There seems to be a file missing from here. I'll just go and get it."

"No problem." She said smiling. As he walked out of the office she found herself looking at her watch. She got up from her chair and paced around his office looking for anything to give her more clues about Vaughn's life away from his job. She picked up a book from the bookcase in the corner of the office. She began to flick through it, but was disappointed to find it was work related.

At that moment Agent Weiss popped his head around the doorframe.

"Agent Bristow." He whispered as loudly as he could.

Sydney spun around looking guilty as if she had been caught stealing chocolate. The expression on her face soon changed to relief when she saw it wasn't Vaughn.

"Hey." She managed to reply.

"I just thought you'd like to know it's Mike's birthday on Thursday."

"Who?" Sydney asked genuinely puzzled.

"Michael Vaughn." He said surprised he had to state the obvious.

"Oh!" Her face reddened with embarrassment.

"I value my life! So don't tell him I told you."

"Sure." She answered.

"Gotta go." Weiss quickly walked away when he spotted Vaughn making his way back with the recovered file.

"Bye." Sydney called out. Sydney quickly moved across the room and sat back down in her chair before Vaughn walked back in.

"What did Eric want?" Vaughn asked as he sat down.

"N-Nothing." She stumbled. "He just came over to say hi'."

"Oh, okay. Anyway here's the file. This shouldn't take long."

Right." She tried to concentrate on what Vaughn was saying, but her mind drifted. She kept thinking how unfair it was. She would have liked to have given him a gift or maybe be able to take him out for a drink or even dinner. Anything. But she knew it couldn't happen. She continued to think about it on the way home and finally decided to discuss it with Francie.

Later that day Sydney opened the door to her apartment and headed straight to the kitchen. She opened the fridge door and grabbed the carton of orange juice. As she poured herself a drink, Francie walked into the kitchen from her bedroom.

"You're back early Syd." Francie said.

"Yeah." I wasn't that busy at work so I left sooner than expected." Syd replied.

Francie took an empty glass that was nearby and poured herself a drink as well.

"Francie?" Sydney said trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Hmm?" Francie replied absently between sips of orange juice.

"There's a guy at work. It's his birthday soon and I want to get him a something, but I don't have a clue what to get him. Do you have any ideas?!"

"What about a CD?" Francie suggested.

"I don't know what type of music he likes."

"A book?"

"Maybe. I don't want it to be too personal. He's just a guy that works in my department that's all."

"Wait. Is it that guy that gave you that photo frame?"

"Er, yes." Sydney hesitated, not sure if she should tell the truth.

"Socks?! Men always need socks."

"Thanks for the useful suggestions! I might stick with the CD idea."

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Good." Sydney was pleased with the idea of a CD. It seemed harmless enough. No one would be able to guess that it was from her. So neither of them would get into any trouble.

After dinner that evening, Sydney went to her bedroom and opened the box that contained all her childhood photos. The photo frame that Vaughn had given her was hidden in the box. She took it out and studied the design of the frame. It was as if she could feel the history and craftsmanship as she ran her fingers across it. She the placed the frame on her bedside table. It was somehow comforting even though there was no photo in it. She decided to keep it like that near her bed as she slept.

Her eye caught the small wooden box that was behind her alarm clock. As she opened it she remembered that sitting in one of the drawers was a silver pen. Her father had given it to her when she was fifteen. It was typical of the type of gift he gave her throughout her life. He had given it to her because she had done well in her exams that year. It was a beautiful silver and black fountain pen. She had always felt it was too good for her to use.

All these years later' she thought 'and there is still a massive distance between us.' She had held onto the pen all this time. She was only beginning to understand him now. She knew that the barrier he had created was to protect himself and therefore herself. Now that the pen finally meant something to her, maybe she could let go of it.

The next day as she was driving to the grocery store she noticed a little jewellery store and decided to stop and go in.

"Excuse me." She said to the old man that owned the store. "Would it be possible to get this pen engraved?"

"Yes, of course." The white haired man replied. "What would you like written on it?"

"Thursday's date and a S' after it." She picked out a font and several minutes later the silver pen came back to her beautifully engraved. Her smile as she thanked the storeowner was mixed with sadness for a moment. She wished all the secrets in her life could be swept away if only for a day.