Hey, guys. This chapter is really short, sorry! I needed a warm-up after a few days of writing absolutely nothing-- I've been having a bit of writers' block. Please let me know what you think, and thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed so far!

Chapter Twelve: Their Next Move

Michael Vaughn wasn't sure why he'd decided to follow Brooke Banning that day. It wasn't like he'd made up some elaborate plan to do so or anything. One minute he was sitting in his car-- Irina's driver had picked up Sydney earlier that morning, so he'd driven to work alone-- the next he was watching Brooke Banning get into a taxi. And he followed her. He couldn't have said why. Instinct.

He followed her all the way to an abandoned warehouse, and for just a moment, he flashed back to all of the times he'd met up with Sydney to give her a counter mission. Had he even realized he was in love with her then? Realized he would turn his entire life upside down just for a shot at a future with her? If he had known how things would turn out, would he have kept his distance?

Something told him that of course he wouldn't have, and that even if he'd tried, it wouldn't have mattered. He and Sydney had been destined for each other from the moment they'd met, for better or worse.

That didn't mean that he'd never thought about how much simpler things would be if he could only be in love with someone he didn't have such a complicated history with. Oh, he hadn't had such thoughts lately. But once, he'd been briefly, barely attracted to Brooke Banning, if for no other reason than that she was completely unlike Sydney in every way, from her white blonde hair to her freckled skin to her uncomplicated smile. He'd never acted on that attraction, of course. Really, he'd been fooling himself to think he could ever feel anything for someone who was everything Sydney was not.

Yet he followed her that day, for no good reason except that he knew he couldn't trust her. He'd never expected to follow her to an abandoned warehouse not unlike the one where he'd shared so many meetings with Sydney.

Never expected to find her chatting with Jack Bristow.

Never expected to follow her back to Organization headquarters and watch as she headed up the stairs toward Irina's office.

And as he watched her, he knew. Knew Irina knew about Jack Bristow's offer and was probably watching him and Sydney expertly, carefully. Waiting for them to make their next move. Waiting to devise hers.

But he did not take that information and wait as if he were helpless, impotent. No. He took action, scrambling after Brooke Banning like a man possessed, grabbing her arm before she could reach Irina's office. "You're coming with me," he said, his voice brusque.

Brooke snatched her arm away, offering him a look of utter disdain. "I don't take orders from you. Neither would anyone else, if you weren't Irina's daughter's little plaything."

"Really?" Michael challenged. "Who do you take orders from? Irina Derevko? Or Jack Bristow?"

Brooke's eyes grew wide. Michael took advantage of her moment of shock, taking her by the arm and guiding her toward his office. "You're coming with me."

She didn't argue this time.