Sydney shook with silent tears as Vaughn held her tightly against him. She
held him just as hard, afraid that if she let go, she would lose him. The
one true thing, the person she could always count on to be there for her.
Like now, when she just needed him to be there, not forcing her to talk
with him... just holding her.
Suddenly, she felt all of the emotions she had been unable to let out welling up within her. The worry, the fear... guilt that came from the knowledge that the pain her loved ones were being going through had been caused by her. Stifling a sob, she supressed those feelings once more. She couldn't deal with them... not here... not just yet.
A soft clearing of the throat alerted her to her father's presence. Sydney took a shuddering breath and turned to face him from Vaughn's arms, which he moved to tuck her close to his side. It was as if he knew that she needed the connection to last a little longer.
Jack cleared his throat again uncomfortably. While he was somewhat against the closeness of their relationship, it was apparent to him that his daughter would most likely be a lot worse off if she didn't have it. Not that he'd ever tell either of them that. It was hard enough letting himself accept it. And, he thought to himself, there are worse people for her to share that relationship with than Michael Vaughn. The memory of Weiss sitting outside playing with that d*mn yo-yo as his neck was bandaged up came to mind.
Still feeling as if he were intruding, Jack said, "I came to inform you8 that we're ready to move on with the nexst stage of our operation. Mr. Winters, a retired CIA agent, is awaiting our arrival..."
Vaughn nodded, and recluctantly released his hold on Sydney. He hated to do it - it tore him up to see her so upset. However, her safety was his main concern right then, and if that meant postponing the comforting, so be it. Besides, Sydney really needed to talk with her father.
"Then I guess we'd better get going," he said, starting towards the door. Sydney watched him leave, with a confused expression for a moment, then realized what he was doing. She turned her attention back to her father and took a deep breath before starting her narrative on the events which had occurred earlier in the building.
Outside, Vaughn quickly spotted Weiss, sitting in a car, white bandage on his neck, playing with his yo-yo.
Seeing him, Weiss yelled, "Hey Mike! Look!! Around the world!"
* * *
Vaughn, Jack, Sydney and two other agents were the only ones left from the team at Winters' house. The others had received their aliases and gone to the airport, where they would all be boarding a flight back to the United States in three hours. Agents Johnson and Williams were both around Jack's age, but looked more like they should be sitting behind a desk than participating in a mission.
A sudden exclamation from Sydney roused the men from whatever stupor boredom had caused them to fall into.
"No. ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Muffled voices could be heard from the room Sydney and Winters' were currently occupying. From what Vaughn could tell, he guessed Winters was on the recieving end of one of Sydney's rants. Exchanging a look with Jack, he was just about to get up and see what was going on when a ticked off Sydney entered the room, in her new disguise.
Her hair was dyed a slightly lighter shade of brown, and was hanging loosely in soft waves around her shoulders. She wore no make up, save for a sheer shade of lip gloss. The tan pants and sweater - duster she wore were not out of the ordinary, very tame when compared to what SD-6 had her wear. Where she had a problem was the large bulge underneath her black shirt, where Winters had forced her to wear whate he called "The Belly", made to simulate pregnancy.
Sydney turned her glare on Vaughn and shouted accusingly, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!"
Jack looked as if the sip of water he had just taken was in danger of being spit out, in reaction to the direction the conversation had just taken. Agent Williams looked over at Johnson and said, "You know, it's not every day you get to see and agent and their handler have this conversation."
Suddenly, she felt all of the emotions she had been unable to let out welling up within her. The worry, the fear... guilt that came from the knowledge that the pain her loved ones were being going through had been caused by her. Stifling a sob, she supressed those feelings once more. She couldn't deal with them... not here... not just yet.
A soft clearing of the throat alerted her to her father's presence. Sydney took a shuddering breath and turned to face him from Vaughn's arms, which he moved to tuck her close to his side. It was as if he knew that she needed the connection to last a little longer.
Jack cleared his throat again uncomfortably. While he was somewhat against the closeness of their relationship, it was apparent to him that his daughter would most likely be a lot worse off if she didn't have it. Not that he'd ever tell either of them that. It was hard enough letting himself accept it. And, he thought to himself, there are worse people for her to share that relationship with than Michael Vaughn. The memory of Weiss sitting outside playing with that d*mn yo-yo as his neck was bandaged up came to mind.
Still feeling as if he were intruding, Jack said, "I came to inform you8 that we're ready to move on with the nexst stage of our operation. Mr. Winters, a retired CIA agent, is awaiting our arrival..."
Vaughn nodded, and recluctantly released his hold on Sydney. He hated to do it - it tore him up to see her so upset. However, her safety was his main concern right then, and if that meant postponing the comforting, so be it. Besides, Sydney really needed to talk with her father.
"Then I guess we'd better get going," he said, starting towards the door. Sydney watched him leave, with a confused expression for a moment, then realized what he was doing. She turned her attention back to her father and took a deep breath before starting her narrative on the events which had occurred earlier in the building.
Outside, Vaughn quickly spotted Weiss, sitting in a car, white bandage on his neck, playing with his yo-yo.
Seeing him, Weiss yelled, "Hey Mike! Look!! Around the world!"
* * *
Vaughn, Jack, Sydney and two other agents were the only ones left from the team at Winters' house. The others had received their aliases and gone to the airport, where they would all be boarding a flight back to the United States in three hours. Agents Johnson and Williams were both around Jack's age, but looked more like they should be sitting behind a desk than participating in a mission.
A sudden exclamation from Sydney roused the men from whatever stupor boredom had caused them to fall into.
"No. ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Muffled voices could be heard from the room Sydney and Winters' were currently occupying. From what Vaughn could tell, he guessed Winters was on the recieving end of one of Sydney's rants. Exchanging a look with Jack, he was just about to get up and see what was going on when a ticked off Sydney entered the room, in her new disguise.
Her hair was dyed a slightly lighter shade of brown, and was hanging loosely in soft waves around her shoulders. She wore no make up, save for a sheer shade of lip gloss. The tan pants and sweater - duster she wore were not out of the ordinary, very tame when compared to what SD-6 had her wear. Where she had a problem was the large bulge underneath her black shirt, where Winters had forced her to wear whate he called "The Belly", made to simulate pregnancy.
Sydney turned her glare on Vaughn and shouted accusingly, "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!!"
Jack looked as if the sip of water he had just taken was in danger of being spit out, in reaction to the direction the conversation had just taken. Agent Williams looked over at Johnson and said, "You know, it's not every day you get to see and agent and their handler have this conversation."