Michael Vaughn watched from his car parked down the road as Sydney jauntily exited the warehouse after her meeting with Weiss. He noticed the extra spring in her step and wondered (a bit jealously) if Weiss had been the reason for the little smile on her beautiful face as she jumped into her car and took off.

Vaughn was still frowning to himself as he entered the warehouse for his briefing with Weiss. He had not been to CIA Headquarters since embarking on his undercover op, so any information he was receiving was being delivered strictly through Weiss, who was acting as a go-between.

Weiss looked up at the sound of his footsteps. "Hey, you just missed--" He suddenly stopped short, realizing it was no accident that Vaughn arrived just minutes after Sydney's departure. "Never mind." He finished lamely.

Well, if that's the way he wants to play it, that's the way we'll play it, Vaughn grimaced to himself. Even though Sydney was his primary interest, he wasn't going to ask about her right off the bat.

"So how's Donovan?" He asked instead. His bulldog was bunking at Weiss' place temporarily while Vaughn was staying at a CIA safehouse during his assignment.

Weiss smirked. "You mean the glutton you mistakenly call your dog?"

Vaughn looked indignant. "Hey, I am not the one who taught him how to snitch peanut butter cookies from the nightstand!" He protested. "Before I left for Bogota, he was perfectly content to sleep on the floor and eat his own dog food."

"The hard floor is no place for a roly-poly like him." His partner said defensively. "No cushioning."

"Yeah, and since you let him sleep on your bed the few nights he stayed with you, he now expects to sack out on my bed pillow when he's at home." Vaughn retorted. "Do you know what it's like to sleep on dog drool?"

"Hey, if he doesn't mind yours, you shouldn't get all bent out of shape over his." Weiss deadpanned.

Vaughn gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes. "And knock it off with the fat jokes. He's simply big-boned."

"Yeah, right, he's the Incredible Hulk of bulldogs." Weiss quipped.

Their bonding reparteé out of the way, the two agents got down to business. "So we received the intel regarding SD-6's mission from Agent Bristow." Weiss said in a formal manner. "She'll be attending the reception with her father since Dixon is on vacation this week."

"You told Sydney I was going to be there with Anna?" Vaughn asked.

"She was informed of that, yes." Weiss said affirmatively.

Vaughn looked up at his friend, who was behaving rather oddly. "And didn't she wonder why?"

"Of course." Weiss nodded. "I made the decision to tell her what you were doing. It didn't make sense to keep her in the dark any longer seeing as how SD-6 is aware of your alias, Russell Phillips."

"And are they buying it?"

"As far as I know, your cover is intact."

Vaughn let out a deep breath. "So Sydney knows about me and Anna?"

"She knows you've been undercover." Weiss acknowledged.

"And she knows it's all an act, right?" Vaughn asked urgently. "That my spending time with Anna is because of the mission and not because I wanted to?"

"Well, I didn't say that exactly." Weiss admitted.

"Eric!" Vaughn cried out in protest. "Don't tell me you made it out to be that I'm having some hot and heavy romance with Anna!"

"Actually, Sydney kind of already jumped to that conclusion on her own." Weiss said awkwardly.

Vaughn's mouth dropped open. "What does she think is going on?" He demanded.

"Well, she became a bit upset when I couldn't tell her how you found out which piece Anna was after." Weiss told him.

"What's the big deal?" Vaughn shrugged. "I took her out to dinner, a search team went into her room, found the fake—in plain sight, mind you—and then they got out. Done deal."

"That's really how it went down?"

"It's not brain surgery, Weiss." Vaughn chided him. "Why make things more complicated than they have to be?"

"Well, Agent Bristow must have some kind of imagination because she's all out of joint thinking you had to sleep with Anna in order to gain access to her hotel room." Weiss revealed candidly.

"What?" Vaughn yelped. "How could she think that about me?"

"Apparently, she's well-versed in Anna's methods when it comes to the opposite sex, if you know what I mean." Weiss said delicately.

"Damn it." Vaughn started pacing. "Doesn't she know that I would never cheat--" He suddenly stopped in mid-sentence, realizing what he was saying. "I mean, not that there's anything going on where sleeping with Anna could be construed as cheating..." He was aware he was babbling and let the words trail off into a rather awkward ending.

"Put down the shovel, Vaughn, you're just digging your hole deeper. I know your clandestine little love affair is only in your head." Weiss's look softened. "That being said, I know you would never 'cheat' on Sydney."

"Yeah, well, I think there's something wrong here when you have more faith in me than she does." Vaughn said glumly.

Weiss gave him a sympathetic look. "Look, Mike, when this is all over, you can explain to her that nothing happened with you and Anna."

"Even if I did, what would it matter?" Vaughn gave a rueful shake of his head. "It's not as if she feels even a tenth of what I feel for her, anyway."

"Do you really think that's true given the fact that she's got herself all bent out of shape because she thinks you slept with Anna?" Weiss quizzed him.

Vaughn looked contemplative. "She really seemed jealous?" He asked, a hopeful note in his voice.

Weiss thought to himself about what Sydney was planning for Vaughn. "If you only knew, my friend."

To be continued…

Author's Note: I know this chapter was a bit short, but there is a lot of action coming up in the next few chapters and this was the only place I could put a pause in between.  To make up for it, I'm pretty sure I will be able to get the next chapter out by Wednesday, so be on the lookout for it.  Thanks to all for the positive reviews!