Author's Note: Some parts in the beginning may be rated R-ish, so please read at your own discretion.

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Every evening after dinner, Sydney and Vaughn escaped from the house to go off by themselves. It wasn't as if they didn't see each other during the day, but they thought of this as their private time, to laugh and steal kisses and complain and strategize. Irina saw to it that the guards kept their distance and neither she nor Sark dared to intrude in on their time together.

They took to going by the lookout on most evenings. The path leading out to the edge of the cliff was surrounded by a wide open expanse of grass with hardly any trees to hide behind so that no one could sneak up on them without being seen and far enough away from the house that their conversations could not be overheard.

The lookout also afforded them a view of the city lights, which renewed their faith that the real world still existed out there and all hope was not lost. They just had to stay strong and keep true to the belief that some way they would find a means to escape.

"Michael, I think I am going to snap if I have to listen to Irina justify her actions one more time." Sydney was ranting again as she had done every night before. She and Vaughn were sitting together in a cozy hammock Irina had set up by the lookout especially for them. After carefully inspecting it for listening devices, Sydney grudgingly admitted that it had been a sweet gesture. "She wants me to be open-minded and understand why she did everything she did, but that's like asking me to forget all the pain and suffering she caused and I just can't do that."

"I know it's difficult to sit there and take it, Sydney, but you have to hang in." Vaughn said consolingly. "You're making real progress with her and you can't give up now."

"That's easy for you to say." She made a face. "You're not the one trapped in that stuffy, overdone library with a pasted smile on your face, nodding and agreeing like some brain-dead Stepford wife."

"No, but that's why you're the brawn of this outfit." He replied.

Sydney threw him a strange look. "I'm the what?"

"The brawn. The action star. The person this whole drama revolves around." Vaughn elaborated. "You get to tackle all the tough assignments."

"Oh, lucky me." She deadpanned. "And what's your role in this production?" She inquired, a grin playing about her lips. His plan to draw her out of her sour mood was working.

"I'm the peripheral guy. Strictly behind the scenes." Vaughn looked thoughtful. "In other words, the brains." He added modestly.

Sydney laughed out loud. "If you're the brains, then I'm in trouble." Her eyes danced merrily.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that one!" Vaughn lunged for her, grabbing her where she was most ticklish until she laughingly started screaming for mercy. He didn't torture her for very long, but by the time he relented, they were both breathing heavily and it wasn't because they had over-exerted themselves in their horseplay. No, it probably had more to do with the fact that he had ended up on top of Sydney in a rather provocative position.

They were both consciously aware of the heat generating between them, the fact that a mere few layers of denim and cotton and Lycra was all that separated them from the feel of smooth bare skin against skin. Sydney was gazing up at him with her hair in a sexy tousle and her sensuously full lips parted just a tad and it was too much for him to resist. Vaughn lowered his head to kiss her, slipping his arms around her body to draw her closer. Sydney melted against him and the two of them didn't come up for air for awhile.

"Syd?" They were lying side by side now, his arm around her and her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. Vaughn's eyes were closed as he suddenly felt Sydney's tongue flick at the spot right below his earlobe. Somehow his shirt had become unbuttoned down from more than his usual two, which afforded her very easy access as she leisurely proceeded to trail kisses down his neck.

"Yes, Michael?" She purred, loving how his skin tasted and how good he smelled.

He groaned pleasurably. "Tell me again why we aren't running over to the guest cottage so I can tear your clothes off right now?"

"Michael, you know why." Sydney stopped what she was doing to remind him, although at the moment she couldn't think of a single good reason why as his hand crept underneath her skimpy tank top, his fingers inching their way up her flat stomach towards the curve of her breast.

"But, sweetheart, I promise I will make it up to you on the very first night we are away from here." Sydney pressed herself closer against his body, which only served to inflame him more. "Rest up and be prepared because I have waited just as long as you have and I intend to have my way with you." She smiled seductively, kissing him softly on the lips. After a few moments, Vaughn found it too much to bear and he rolled away from her, off the hammock, and fell the scant six inches face-down onto the grass.

"Michael!" Sydney cried out, her face looming above him over the side of the hammock. "Why did you do that?"

"Because if I don't, I'm going to be forced to take a cold shower when I get back to the house and I hate cold showers." He informed her matter-of-factly, making no move to get up just yet.

A giggle escaped her lips. "Well, at least get up off the ground."

"No, I'm pretty comfortable where I am." Vaughn replied.

"Michael, the grass is damp and you'll stain your clothes."

"Thanks for the warning, Mom, but they're not my clothes." He rolled his eyes at her. "They're your brother's hand-me-downs."

"Oh, well, then in that case, I don't care what you do to them." She gave him an impish grin and he shook his head at her, hiding a smile of his own.

"Since Sark's name has come up," Vaughn looked at Sydney. "I just remembered that I wanted to ask you what happened with him earlier today."

"When?"

"I guess it was around the time you and Irina were having your daily powwow." He said thoughtfully. "I was in the game room and he came in like a charging bull, headed straight for the bar and proceeded to pour himself a very large vodka on the rocks."

"Oooh, I knew he was upset when he found Irina and me in the kitchen together!" Sydney squealed delightedly. She told him all about today's gabfest with her mother and how it had extended all the way into Irina's Happy Homemaker routine.

"He tried to play it off as if it wasn't a big deal, but it obviously bothered him to see us looking all chummy." Sydney mused.

"Yeah, I think it's pretty much driving Sark crazy that you have Irina's ear." Vaughn moved back to sit next to Sydney on the hammock, but made sure to keep both his feet planted firmly on the ground. "At least, that's what I got out of talking to him."

Sydney gave him a surprised sideways glance. "Are you working that angle, too?"

"Hey, you're not the only one to realize that fostering sibling rivalry is a great divide-and-conquer tactic." He chided her.

"Do you think he's mad enough to want to get rid of me?"

Vaughn's forehead crinkled worriedly. "I hope you mean that figuratively and not literally."

Sydney rolled her eyes at him. "Michael, I don't think Sark would resort to murder just to get back his cushy second-in-command post."

"Right, because we both know he's way too much of an upstanding guy to kill someone for personal gain." Vaughn said ironically.

She shot him a wry grin. "It would hardly put him in Mummy's good graces if he knocked off his big sister now, would it?" She reminded him.

"Well, you've got a point there, thank goodness."

"Although I wouldn't put it past him to try something and then make it look like an accident." She said reflectively.

"Gee, Syd, thanks a lot for now giving me something else to worry about."

Sydney let out a frustrated sigh. "God, he's so insufferable. Every time I look at him, I just want to wipe that arrogant look off his face."

"He likes to push your buttons, Syd, and you let him." Vaughn pointed out to her.

"I know."

"But you do it, too, so I guess you're both even." He glanced over at her. "You're really getting into this sibling rivalry thing, aren't you?"

She made a face. "I know it's immature and I know I should just ignore him whenever he hassles me, but he makes it impossible. He always acts so smug and superior."

"Well, I guess there's no harm in it, but I wouldn't expect a Christmas present from him this year if I were you."

Sydney giggled and then slapped a hand to her forehead. "Oh, God, I can't believe I didn't mention this before, but it appears Irina is ready to discuss 'business' with you." Sydney did double quotation marks with her fingers. "Maybe tonight, if you're up to it."

"Ah, you mean it's time for the big talk." He intoned with dramatic embellishment.

"She wants to find out if you can be trusted, Michael."

"Trusted with what?" He deadpanned. "Her precious secret or her precious daughter?"

Sydney stuck out her tongue at him and he laughed. To Sydney's ears, there was no sweeter sound. "Both, I guess." She met his eyes with an anxious expression. "Are you going to be able to stand being in the same room with her without wanting to kill her?"

"Well, I've made it this far without snapping, but then again, I haven't been alone with her yet, so I don't know." Vaughn gave her a sober look. "I want her to pay for what she did to my father, Sydney, and I want to be the one to make her pay, but right now, it's all about getting her to trust me."

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When Sydney and Vaughn returned to the house, Irina met them at the French doors that led into the game room.

"Hello there, did you have a nice walk?" Irina asked pleasantly.

"Yes," Sydney forced herself to smile. "It's lovely outside after the sun goes down and the breeze kicks up."

Her mother smiled. "Sydney, I was wondering if I might borrow Michael for a little while? We haven't had a chance to sit and talk since he's been here and I'd like to get to know him a little better."

Sydney looked questioningly at Vaughn, who had a noncommittal expression on his face. "It's fine with me, Irina." He said amiably.

"Well, okay, then I guess I'll leave the two of you alone." Sydney squeezed his hand and kissed him lightly on the lips. She gave her mother a brief smile and then left the room.

"Sit down, Michael." Irina said graciously, extending an arm towards the leather chairs by the fireplace. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, thanks, I'm fine." Vaughn was surprised by a sudden attack of nerves. He had, of course, received CIA training in the fine art of interrogation, both as the interviewer and the interviewee, but with Irina, he felt as if he were traveling into uncharted waters. He didn't know what to expect from her or if he would be able to tell her what she wanted to hear.

"How are you feeling these days?" She asked solicitously. "Any aftereffects from your dreadful experience at the warehouse?"

At the warehouse where Sydney and I destroyed your precious Circumference, ruining months and months of work? "I think I'm recovering rather nicely. I don't seem to have a problem taking showers and I even went into the pool today." He joked to ease the tension in the room.

Irina smiled. Sydney's young man was handsome and charming in a completely self-effacing manner, but she could tell there was also a sharp mind behind those good looks. She would sometimes watch him at the dinner table while her children bickered with each other, a keen interest and amusement in his eye. He handled Sergei's taunts without becoming rattled or upset, Irina noted with approval; his cool and composed demeanor would serve him well in a crisis.

Yet Irina knew he was not without emotion. He treated Sydney with a tender touch and showered her with unabashed adoration. Sydney had told her bits and pieces about their complicated relationship as agent and handler and while Irina was happy that her daughter had someone in her life who loved her truly and deeply, she was also a bit wary of him and wondered if Michael Vaughn was a man who would let his heart rule his head.

"Michael, I believe you know why I wanted to talk to you, but I will spell it out for you, anyway," Irina paused. "As you probably know, Sydney has agreed to stay and work with me."

"Yes, I am aware of that."

"What do you think about her decision?" She asked, keeping a watchful eye on him.

Other than the fact that you forced her into it? "I think it was a very difficult choice for her to make." Vaughn said slowly. "But Sydney has spent a good portion of her adult life following other people's orders. Now she wants to be in control of her own destiny and she believes she would have that with you."

"Do you approve of her conspiring with the enemy?" Irina raised an eyebrow.

Vaughn looked at her with a steady gaze. "She sees you as her mother, not her enemy."

"No, not her enemy." Irina agreed. "But I am an enemy to her father and to the CIA." She gave him a pointed look. "And I know that loyalty cannot be turned off as easily as a light switch."

Was she referring to him as well as Sydney? "Sydney's main priority has always been to destroy SD-6." Vaughn replied. "The CIA wasn't accomplishing that as quickly as she had hoped, so she decided to turn to you because she wants to speed up the process and she knows you have the capabilities to do that."

Irina was silent for a long moment and Vaughn wondered what was going through her mind. Was he being convincing enough or would she just believe him because she was so desperate to have her daughter back in her life?

"You have given me Sydney's reasons for wanting to stay with me--all very valid points, I might add--but I want to know about your priorities, Michael." She finally spoke again. "Why should I allow you to join my organization as Sydney wants me to do? Why should I trust you?" Irina turned a piercing gaze on him.

Vaughn swallowed the huge lump in his throat. "I know Sydney has told you that my accompanying her to Taipei probably sealed my fate with my superiors at the CIA." He said somberly. "I have been on thin ice with them for awhile now and when they find out what I've done--if they haven't already--I know I will have nothing left to go back to."

"So you don't have a job to go home to." Irina said pitilessly. "I'm sure there are other things you could do."

"No." His voice was firm. "Being in the CIA was all I ever wanted to do." He would not bring up the subject of his father to this woman; he would not tell her that honoring the name of William C. Vaughn was the sole reason why he had joined the CIA. "But if they don't want me, then I have no choice but to look elsewhere."

"And it doesn't bother you that I am working against the agency to whom you pledged your loyalty and devotion?" Irina prodded him.

"If that's the case, so be it." Vaughn said neutrally. "I no longer feel any allegiance to the CIA."

She gave him a speculative eye. He was saying all the right things. "Does the fact that Sydney wants you to stay with her also figure into your decision to turn your back on your former employers?"

He paused for a long moment before answering. "For the longest time, my job was the only thing in my life that mattered to me." Vaughn said quietly. "Then I met Sydney and everything that had seemed important before suddenly wasn't."

"Hmmm." Irina nodded. "You were Sydney's CIA case handler, weren't you?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"It must have been very difficult trying to keep your feelings for each other from interfering with your work." She commented.

"We tried to keep things businesslike between the two of us." Vaughn acknowledged. "Sydney was better at it than I was. I was the one who struggled to keep my feelings in check."

Irina looked thoughtful. "You knew how…complicated it would be for the two of you to become involved with each other yet you still allowed it to happen." She said softly. "My question to you is why would you set yourself up like that? The potential for heartache is so great."

Vaughn remained quiet for a few moments, choosing his words wisely. "When I first met Sydney, she was a mess." He allowed himself a grin at the memory of the bedraggled young woman who had shown up unannounced in the CIA offices one day and then proceeded to change his life forever. "Her hair was dyed to the color of a really ripe tomato. One side of her face was swollen up to the point where she looked like a squirrel storing up nuts for the winter. Her makeup was smeared and streaked down her face."

"But she didn't care about any of that, how she looked or what we must have thought of her. She just came in, sat down and started writing." Vaughn's expression was serious. "When we read what she had gone through, we all thought she should have been an absolute basket case, but instead she came across as the most determined, most tenacious, most resilient person I had ever met."

"You appreciate competent women." Irina said approvingly.

"I do, but that's not what drew me to Sydney." He shook his head. "She has this tough, unrelenting side to her that can definitely be intimidating, but then there's this whole other side of her that is incredibly fragile and vulnerable. You think she might topple over the moment a gust of wind kicks up, but somehow you know she won't because she's so unbelievably strong." He suddenly felt shy for having waxed so poetic about Sydney, but Irina seemed to be touched by his words.

"Sydney is just a very…appealing combination of so many things and I don't think I ever had it in me to resist her even though I knew going in that we would have a rocky road ahead of us." He finished, feeling awkward. Vaughn wasn't quite sure why he was opening up to this woman. He hated her for tearing his family apart with an intensity that burned deep in his gut, but at that moment, she was simply a mother wanting to know of his intentions towards her daughter.

"You love her very much, Michael." Irina remarked rather than questioned.

"Yes, I do." He said simply.

"And you're willing to give up everyone and everything in your past life just to be with her?" She persisted.

"The life I had doesn't mean a damn to me if Sydney's not a part of it." Vaughn said earnestly. "These past few days have shown that to me. We want to be together, Irina, and we can have that if you allow it."

Irina struggled to remain unmoved by the young man's pleas. "If I agree to let you stay, Sydney has asked me if you could be her partner."

"I'm sure she's told you that we work well together." He put in.

"She tells me that you are very in tune with one another." Irina allowed herself a brief smile. "Michael, if the two of you found yourselves in a situation that became life-threatening, what would you do?"

"I would ensure that Sydney could get out of it before anything else." He said without hesitation.

"So you would never jeopardize her safety? Not even to save yourself?"

"Of course not." Vaughn said vehemently. "Sydney means everything to me and if I had to make a choice, I would always put her security and happiness before my own, no matter what the consequences." Even though he had expected to lie through his teeth to Irina, to tell her anything she wanted to hear, Vaughn was surprised to discover that he was telling her the absolute truth. He would protect Sydney at all costs and he didn't give a damn if he suffered for it.

Irina remained silent as she contemplated. Michael had just stated quite convincingly that he would do anything for Sydney--even crossing over to the enemy camp--if it meant they could stay together. Were his fervent declarations of love and commitment enough to guarantee his abiding loyalty, not only to Sydney but also to Irina and her organization?

"I think I will let you stay, Michael." Irina said finally. "I'm sure you realize that you will still have to prove yourself to me, but for now, I believe your feelings for my daughter are the reason I can put my trust in you. If she is as devoted to me as you say, I know you would never do anything that would hurt her or her mother."

Vaughn slowly exhaled the breath he had been holding. "Thank you, Irina. I appreciate your faith in me." He said quietly.

Irina gave Vaughn a shrewd glance, just to show him she was still the boss and she was still in control. "It is in your best interests, Michael, to assure me that my faith and my trust have not been misplaced."

To be continued…

Author's Note: Just a little P.S. to thank you for all the great feedback you've been giving me.  Your comments are really appreciated!

See ya later!