Sydney was at her desk at Credit Dauphine the next morning, but instead of going over the op tech of her latest mission, she was brooding over Vaughn. She didn't like the way they had left things at the warehouse and she had tried contacting him afterwards to no avail. It appeared he was doing his damnedest to avoid her, much to her dismay.

She kept seeing the picture of Vaughn and Anna in her mind. It rankled her how bothered she was by the thought of the two of them spending time together and it was even more disturbing for her to figure out why. Knowing Anna the way she did, she was, of course, concerned for Vaughn's safety, but the bigger issue here was the strong feelings of envy and jealousy such a coupling brought forth in her.

When had it happened? How had he been transformed from handler to lust object? She admitted to feeling the pull of his magnetism. He was, after all, an extremely handsome man. She admitted to the clammy hands and the butterflies in her stomach when she asked him out to the Kings game, even though she knew he'd turn her down. She admitted to the fluttering of her heart and the blush in her cheeks when he shyly told her she looked pretty. She admitted to the heart-wrenching conflict she felt when she realized he knew what had happened between her and Noah at the safehouse in Archangelsk.

Whatever they had between them had been building for months, she realized. It hadn't happened overnight or because of one life-altering event. It had been a gradual process, sort of like putting a pot of water on the stove to boil. Once you turned the heat on, it was only a matter of time before things would get hot.

And the fact was that he had become an integral part of her life. Vaughn had always been there for her in a professional capacity, but it had finally dawned on her that he was so much more than just her colleague. He was her confidante, her lifeline, her anchor and maybe quite possibly, her destiny?

It scared her to think of him in that way. So many people she had loved had been lost to her forever. If she gave in to her feelings for Vaughn, would he end up as just another dead body on the stockpile she was unfortunately accumulating?

"Sydney?" Marshall's concerned voice brought her out of her musings. "Are you coming to the briefing?"

"Oh, right." She gave him a sweet smile. "I'll be right there."

When Sydney arrived in the conference room, the usual gang of suspects was present. Sloane was at the head of the table as usual. Marshall and her father were sitting across from her. Sydney noticed the frown on her father's face as he caught sight of her glum expression and purposely avoided his gaze.

"We have received intel that Anna Espinosa is here in Los Angeles." Sloane began. "We believe she is here for a jewelry exhibition at the Cultural Arts Museum downtown. Several Rambaldi pieces will be shown and we think she is after one of them."

"What is the piece and what is its significance?" Jack inquired.

"Rambaldi designed several pieces of jewelry, some of which were said to be inscribed with a series of codes, which would be useful in helping us gain information regarding Rambaldi's mystery invention. The jewelry was later given as gifts to his sister in the hopes that she would safeguard this information from getting into the wrong hands. Over the years, the pieces have changed hands until they landed in the private collection of an Italian shipping tycoon." Sloane explained. "Since they have never been seen before by the viewing public, no one has been able to determine whether or not the codes actually exist or if they will be of any help in learning more about the invention."

"How many pieces are in the exhibition?" Sydney asked.

"Three." Sloane replied. "Marshall has already provided us with reasonable facsimiles of each piece, but we don't know which one Anna is after."

Sloane clicked a button and Sydney stifled a gasp as a photograph of Vaughn and Anna appeared on her monitor. They were sitting outside at a table, obviously taken yesterday when they were at lunch. Sydney looked over the top of her monitor at her father, who gazed back at her with a perfect poker face. She looked away, cursing herself for not being more in control of her emotions.

"The man with Anna is named Russell Phillips. We have learned that he is a stockbroker at a local firm here in L.A." Sloane went on.

Sydney kept her face studiously bland as she digested this information. Vaughn was using an alias with Anna? Were his dealings with her CIA-related, after all? "Is he involved in the operation?" She spoke up.

"No, we don't believe so. His background does not indicate anything we should be suspicious of, so we think Anna is only using him as a cover."

"So he's just an innocent civilian?" She pressed on. "If we get involved, he's not in any danger?" Sydney ignored the piercing look from her father.

"Well, Ms. Espinosa is a dangerous woman, Sydney. If the man chooses to become involved with her…" Sloane shrugged as if to say, "What can we do?" She wanted to glare him at for his cavalier attitude concerning Vaughn's well-being, but knew it was out of the question.

"Sydney, your mission will be to tail Anna while she is at the exhibition. She will no doubt have the piece she is planning to switch somewhere on her person." Sloane focused his beady gaze on her. "Let Anna do whatever she has set up to do in order to get the brooch. Once she has the piece, you can go after her. If you can maneuver it, switch the real piece with our fake, but if not, just make sure she doesn't leave with the real deal." Sloane handed out the specs of the mission to everyone at the table.

"Oh, one other thing, Sydney." Sloane continued. "Since Dixon is on vacation this week, you will be going to the exhibition with your father. Once you're inside, you will proceed to make everyone believe you are consuming large quantities of champagne."

"And what is that supposed to accomplish?" She inquired.

"It will be purely as a means of distraction." Sloane replied. "If Anna thinks you're intoxicated, she won't believe you're after her. She'll think you're just there to have a good time."

"We will have several people posing as waiters working the party. They will be wearing pink carnations. Make sure you get your drinks only from them." Sloane stood up to adjourn the meeting and left the room. Marshall followed suit, but Sydney waylaid her father.

"Dad, can we talk a minute?" She gave him a meaningful look, which he instantly deciphered. Jack reached into his pocket and turned on his signal scrambler.

"Actually, you have two minutes." He informed her.

"Dad, I need to know what is going on with Vaughn." She said urgently.

Jack's face took on a guarded look. "Has he told you anything?"

Sydney looked petulant. "No, damn it, and it makes me mad."

Jack could see without question that it was right for the agency to keep Sydney in the dark regarding Vaughn's mission. He had been aware of Vaughn's growing emotional attachment to his daughter and was most decidedly against it, but he hadn't realized that Sydney might feel the same way.

"Why are you so upset?" He asked in a placid voice.

"Because he doesn't know who he's dealing with." Sydney said darkly.

"Sydney, I realize that you have had past encounters with Anna and you know how she operates, but how would your knowing what Vaughn is doing be of any use to anyone?"

"If he is working undercover, I could help him."

"It's admirable of you to want to come to the aid of a colleague." Jack said pointedly, his words full of subtext. He was well aware of his daughter's unhealthy concern for Vaughn's safety and it worried him. "Very selfless."

Sydney gave her father a flint-edged look, not wanting to betray her hand. "He's no good to me if he gets hurt." Or worse.

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about Agent Vaughn, Sydney." Jack replied in an offhanded manner. "He's a big boy and he doesn't need you to be there to pick up the pieces if his heart gets broken."

Sydney's mouth dropped open. "That can't be what is going on here." She said stubbornly. "Why is he using another name? You can't be telling me that Vaughn's sole reason for being with Anna is that he's dating her?"

The signal scrambler beeped and they had to end their conversation, much to Sydney's frustration.

"Let me do some research and I'll get back to you." Her father deftly slipped the scrambler into his pocket and left the conference room.

Sydney sank into a chair. Vaughn could not…would not…be dating Anna Espinosa. She would not allow herself to even dwell on that intensely disturbing idea. He had made it clear to her on more than one occasion how he felt about her. A troubled frown settled on her face as she realized she had not been as forthcoming about her feelings for him.

In the beginning, Sydney told herself that it was too soon after Danny's death to feel something for another man and her reasoning was justified at the time. But now that over a year had passed (not to mention her brief reunion with Noah), she knew she could no longer lean on that particular crutch.

It wasn't as if she wanted to, anyway. She was too young to be in mourning for the rest of her life and it wasn't such a difficult task to admit her growing attraction to her handler.

But what if she had taken too long to figure it out? Had Vaughn grown tired of waiting for her to give him some kind of sign that his feelings were most definitely returned?

She realized with some regret that she had taken for granted his always being there for her. She shouldn't have expected Vaughn to live his life in limbo while she kept him dangling on a string, wanting him to want her but holding back on returning those feelings. It was cruel and unfair, especially when she considered all he had done for her.

Sydney thought about all the times Vaughn had put himself on the line for her. She knew he took risks for her—solely to protect her—all the while knowing that he wasn't exactly following CIA protocol. Yet he had had no qualms about breaking in to the Vatican with her or extracting her of out of the FBI lock-up. If only she had realized sooner what that meant.

Sydney suddenly felt an intense desire to see him. She had to find out what was going on or she would go crazy.

*     *     *     *

Sydney tried paging Vaughn numerous times over the next two days. After each phone call, she would sit by the phone for at least an hour afterwards as she waited on pins and needles just to hear his voice again. During those waiting periods, it hit her like a ton of bricks how much she actually missed him. It had never occurred to her how much of an impact a person you saw maybe once every three days—and briefly at that—could have on her life. She realized how very important he was—not only to her sanity but also to any future happiness she might be lucky enough to have.

But as each hour passed without acknowledgement, Sydney grew more upset and more distressed. The fact that she hadn't left the house in two days did not go unnoticed until she finally had to tell Francie she'd sorta kinda met a new guy and did not want to miss his call. Francie thought she was nuts as to be so obsessed that she would actually take the phone with her into the bathroom, but her best friend remained in somewhat concerned support.

By the time the call she'd been waiting days for finally did happen, Sydney was in no mood for it. She was hurt and angry and absolutely fed up. Obviously, Vaughn wasn't the person she thought he was because if he cared one iota for her, he would have been more considerate of her. Even if she had been acting like a lovesick schoolgirl waiting for a call from the captain of the football team, he should have known better. How could she ever have felt these deep feelings for someone who wouldn't even return a simple phone call?

Maybe he had other things on his mind, a little voice inside her head kept taunting her. Like Anna, perhaps? Had he been spending all of his free time romancing Anna? She wondered in anguish. Thoughts like that made her want to punch a hole through the wall.

The phone suddenly rang and she stared at it for a few moments, as if it puzzled her. Somehow, she knew it was him and it unnerved her.

Sydney snatched up the phone. "Hello?" Her tone was purposely expressionless.

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line. "Joey's Pizza?" was finally uttered.

This wasn't the person who normally called her. She recognized the low timbre of the voice in her ear. For a brief moment, she thought about that voice whispering sweet nothings into Anna's ear and she saw red.

"Joey's Pizza?" He said again, confused as to why she wasn't responding.

Sydney pursed her lips together. "I'm sorry, I'm not Joey, there is no pizza here, so don't call me again!" Sydney's voice was near a shout as she slammed the phone down. Okay, so that had been an extremely immature thing to do, but she felt a little better now. She sat back and waited for the inevitable follow-up call.

The phone rang seconds later. She picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Joey's Pizza?" The voice was very subdued, almost a monotone. Much to her dismay, it affected her. Two stupid little words and she was on the verge of tears.

Sydney paused and then cleared her throat, so that her voice wouldn't betray her. "Wrong number." She replied in a perfectly calm, clear voice. Then she replaced the receiver very gently back on the hook.

To be continued…

Author's Note: A big thanks to all who have reviewed.  They really do help in deciding if I want to continue with future chapters. J