Jack glanced quickly at Williams before concentrating on swallowing his
water before either Sydney or Vaughn said anything else. He was glad for
his foresight when he heard the next words out of Vaughn's mouth.
"Syd, I think I can safely say that I had nothing to do with this," he stated sarcastically, gesturing towards her "stomach", and obviously forgetting the implications his words carried.
"If you hadn't come -," she started, pointing an accusing finger at him. You'd probably be having an emotional meltdown, a little voice in her head reminded her. Pushing the thought firmly aside, she continued, "If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have to go through with this, because THEN there would be no one to play my husband!"
Vaughn paused, looked at her critically for a moment, before saying slowly, "Explain to me again how you got to be one of the top field agents at SD- 6?"
"Enough, both of you!" Jack interrupted, feeling a headache coming on. One had to wonder how those two ever got anything done. Both looked startled, as if realizing for the first time that they weren't the only ones in the room. "Now, while that fine display of maturity was fascinating to behold, we are here for a reason. That reason being the development of new covers so that we will be able to return to the United States without attracting any unwanted attention. Sydney, that means accepting your new alias for what it is. Vaughn, go with Mr. Winters."
As Sydney nodded, still embarrassed that her father and two other CIA agents had been witness to that conversation, she maneuvered herself into a chair beside her father, and Vaughn left the room. She couldn't help feeling as if they'd just been sent for a time out. Looking over at her father, she thought she might see a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Despite the fact that she wasn't 100% sure of that detail, she knew without looking that the two other agents' faces were set in smirks. In a dangerously low voice, she said, "Anyone says a word, and I will use that person to show Agent Vaughn exactly why I am a top field agent at SD-6."
The room remained silent. Jack couldn't help but notice that his daughter's threat didn't include Vaughn. He also observed, somewhat irrelevantly, that Sydney's use of the title Agent was mostly to regain some semblance of professionalism between them, or at least give the impression that their relationship contained that factor. Vaughn was also in the habit of doing that, and Jack had to wonder if they hadn't actually decided upon that approach, they were so vigilant about reciting it every so often, when the occasion seemed to call for it.
However, now he had to deal with more important thoughts. Such as deciding which bothering him more - the disturbing knowledge that he had just sounded like that d@mned CIA shrink, or the fact that he was going to have to deal with Sydney like this for quite awhile longer.
* * *
It was definitely the latter, Jack had decided, four hours later. The flight was already long, and the person he normally like to refer to as his daughter was not making the trip go by any faster. Sydney, or Hallie Jenkins as her new alias stated, had not stopped complaining since they'd boarded the plan.. Or had it been since they'd arrived at the airport an hour prior?
When a small break came as she left to "use the bathroom" - though Jack had a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with relieving herself to the extra weight and discomfort her disguise created - he leaned quickly across her seat towards her husband, Jacob Jenkins, and said, "Would you please calm her down?"
Vaughn turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. He had seen Sydney in this mood only a few times before, and he knew that calming her down was probably not an option. "How do you propose I go about that?"
"I don't know, just do it. She is being completely unreasonable!! It would be in the best interests of all of us if -,"
"Look, Paul," Vaughn interrupted, using Jack's new name. He, Sydney, Vaughn, and Weiss were all "traveling together". Jack had the role of Hallie's rich father, and Weiss was the doctor that had been hired to look after Hallie in her "condition" on the trip. "With all do respect - your daughter has a perfect right to be complaining. I can't just -,"
Jack cut him off, and, noticing Sydney walking unhappily back to her seat between them, whispered urgently, "Just do SOMETHING!"
Vaughn tried to hide how hilarious he found the panic he saw in Jack Bristow's eyes. If it had been someone else, he probably would have laughed. But he wasn't talking to someone else, and laughing was probably not a good idea.
"Okay," Sydney said, sitting down awkwardly. "My shoulder hurts, and my back is killing me. And you know what? I think my feet are swelling."
"Hal," Vaughn said softly. "Maybe you should try to get some sleep."
Sydney looked at him for a long moment, trying to decide what to say to that. It had been a long time since she had slept without the dreams coming. Nightmares, really, in which she was forced to relive over and over the moment she had found Will had been taken, or when she had watched that door slide shut, the sound of rushing water once again filling her ears. She didn't like to admit how much that had affected her, and as of yet, she hadn't had to. Not to anyone, not even herself. Eventually, though, the aches and tiredness in her body won over her reluctance to sleep, and she shifted in her seat closer to the warm body next to her.
Instinctively, Vaughn put his arm around her, drawing her closer so that Sydney's head rested on his shoulder. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as he felt, more than heard, her sigh and close her eyes.
* * *
Some time later, though Sydney couldn't be sure how long, she was awakened by Vaughn, who was carefully trying to remove his arm from around her. Still half asleep, she made a small noise in protest. Vaughn's quite chuckling brought her completely out of her dream-like state. She sat up quickly and blinked rapidly in an attempt to refocus her eyes.
"What's going on?" she asked in confusion. Jack, who had thus far kept studiously silent, interrupted whatever reply Vaughn might have had for her.
"We're landing," he said shortly. While he was glad Vaughn had been able to stop her complaints, seeing Sydney cuddling with her handler was definitely not on his list of things he wanted to witness again soon. At the perplexed expression on Sydney's face, he added by way of explanation, "A storm warning over the Atlantic has been issued. All transatlantic flights have been grounded. We'll be touching down in London in about ten minutes."
"How long will we have to stay here?"
"Anywhere from three days to a week. The airlines don't want to take any chances," Vaughn answered.
"So where are we staying?" she asked, then another thought struck her. Feeling a little silly that she hadn't thought to ask before, Sydney added, "And what do we tell Sloane?"
"It's already taken care of. As of today, you and I are on a vacation. We need time to deal with the events of the last week," Jack told her, face not betraying any underlying emotions that might be lurking underneath the surface. It was impossible to tell if there might be any grain of truth to that statement. Sydney nodded, more to herself than anyone else, and waited for a response as to their accommodations. When one was not offered, she turned to look at Vaughn.
Knowing what she wanted, he said, "We'll be staying at the Four Seasons (I don't know if there is one in London or not, but it's the only think I could think of!!) in Penthouse 1. We'll have to share our rooms with a couple of young business men who are also on this flight, but overall Hallie, it shouldn't be too bad."
Following the direction Vaughn had discreetly nodded in, Sydney saw two members of their team. Glad that their roommates were CIA, and that she wouldn't have to keep up her uncomfortable disguise, Sydney settled back into her seat and waited for the plane to land.
"Syd, I think I can safely say that I had nothing to do with this," he stated sarcastically, gesturing towards her "stomach", and obviously forgetting the implications his words carried.
"If you hadn't come -," she started, pointing an accusing finger at him. You'd probably be having an emotional meltdown, a little voice in her head reminded her. Pushing the thought firmly aside, she continued, "If you hadn't come, I wouldn't have to go through with this, because THEN there would be no one to play my husband!"
Vaughn paused, looked at her critically for a moment, before saying slowly, "Explain to me again how you got to be one of the top field agents at SD- 6?"
"Enough, both of you!" Jack interrupted, feeling a headache coming on. One had to wonder how those two ever got anything done. Both looked startled, as if realizing for the first time that they weren't the only ones in the room. "Now, while that fine display of maturity was fascinating to behold, we are here for a reason. That reason being the development of new covers so that we will be able to return to the United States without attracting any unwanted attention. Sydney, that means accepting your new alias for what it is. Vaughn, go with Mr. Winters."
As Sydney nodded, still embarrassed that her father and two other CIA agents had been witness to that conversation, she maneuvered herself into a chair beside her father, and Vaughn left the room. She couldn't help feeling as if they'd just been sent for a time out. Looking over at her father, she thought she might see a hint of amusement in his eyes.
Despite the fact that she wasn't 100% sure of that detail, she knew without looking that the two other agents' faces were set in smirks. In a dangerously low voice, she said, "Anyone says a word, and I will use that person to show Agent Vaughn exactly why I am a top field agent at SD-6."
The room remained silent. Jack couldn't help but notice that his daughter's threat didn't include Vaughn. He also observed, somewhat irrelevantly, that Sydney's use of the title Agent was mostly to regain some semblance of professionalism between them, or at least give the impression that their relationship contained that factor. Vaughn was also in the habit of doing that, and Jack had to wonder if they hadn't actually decided upon that approach, they were so vigilant about reciting it every so often, when the occasion seemed to call for it.
However, now he had to deal with more important thoughts. Such as deciding which bothering him more - the disturbing knowledge that he had just sounded like that d@mned CIA shrink, or the fact that he was going to have to deal with Sydney like this for quite awhile longer.
* * *
It was definitely the latter, Jack had decided, four hours later. The flight was already long, and the person he normally like to refer to as his daughter was not making the trip go by any faster. Sydney, or Hallie Jenkins as her new alias stated, had not stopped complaining since they'd boarded the plan.. Or had it been since they'd arrived at the airport an hour prior?
When a small break came as she left to "use the bathroom" - though Jack had a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with relieving herself to the extra weight and discomfort her disguise created - he leaned quickly across her seat towards her husband, Jacob Jenkins, and said, "Would you please calm her down?"
Vaughn turned to look at him, eyebrows raised. He had seen Sydney in this mood only a few times before, and he knew that calming her down was probably not an option. "How do you propose I go about that?"
"I don't know, just do it. She is being completely unreasonable!! It would be in the best interests of all of us if -,"
"Look, Paul," Vaughn interrupted, using Jack's new name. He, Sydney, Vaughn, and Weiss were all "traveling together". Jack had the role of Hallie's rich father, and Weiss was the doctor that had been hired to look after Hallie in her "condition" on the trip. "With all do respect - your daughter has a perfect right to be complaining. I can't just -,"
Jack cut him off, and, noticing Sydney walking unhappily back to her seat between them, whispered urgently, "Just do SOMETHING!"
Vaughn tried to hide how hilarious he found the panic he saw in Jack Bristow's eyes. If it had been someone else, he probably would have laughed. But he wasn't talking to someone else, and laughing was probably not a good idea.
"Okay," Sydney said, sitting down awkwardly. "My shoulder hurts, and my back is killing me. And you know what? I think my feet are swelling."
"Hal," Vaughn said softly. "Maybe you should try to get some sleep."
Sydney looked at him for a long moment, trying to decide what to say to that. It had been a long time since she had slept without the dreams coming. Nightmares, really, in which she was forced to relive over and over the moment she had found Will had been taken, or when she had watched that door slide shut, the sound of rushing water once again filling her ears. She didn't like to admit how much that had affected her, and as of yet, she hadn't had to. Not to anyone, not even herself. Eventually, though, the aches and tiredness in her body won over her reluctance to sleep, and she shifted in her seat closer to the warm body next to her.
Instinctively, Vaughn put his arm around her, drawing her closer so that Sydney's head rested on his shoulder. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as he felt, more than heard, her sigh and close her eyes.
* * *
Some time later, though Sydney couldn't be sure how long, she was awakened by Vaughn, who was carefully trying to remove his arm from around her. Still half asleep, she made a small noise in protest. Vaughn's quite chuckling brought her completely out of her dream-like state. She sat up quickly and blinked rapidly in an attempt to refocus her eyes.
"What's going on?" she asked in confusion. Jack, who had thus far kept studiously silent, interrupted whatever reply Vaughn might have had for her.
"We're landing," he said shortly. While he was glad Vaughn had been able to stop her complaints, seeing Sydney cuddling with her handler was definitely not on his list of things he wanted to witness again soon. At the perplexed expression on Sydney's face, he added by way of explanation, "A storm warning over the Atlantic has been issued. All transatlantic flights have been grounded. We'll be touching down in London in about ten minutes."
"How long will we have to stay here?"
"Anywhere from three days to a week. The airlines don't want to take any chances," Vaughn answered.
"So where are we staying?" she asked, then another thought struck her. Feeling a little silly that she hadn't thought to ask before, Sydney added, "And what do we tell Sloane?"
"It's already taken care of. As of today, you and I are on a vacation. We need time to deal with the events of the last week," Jack told her, face not betraying any underlying emotions that might be lurking underneath the surface. It was impossible to tell if there might be any grain of truth to that statement. Sydney nodded, more to herself than anyone else, and waited for a response as to their accommodations. When one was not offered, she turned to look at Vaughn.
Knowing what she wanted, he said, "We'll be staying at the Four Seasons (I don't know if there is one in London or not, but it's the only think I could think of!!) in Penthouse 1. We'll have to share our rooms with a couple of young business men who are also on this flight, but overall Hallie, it shouldn't be too bad."
Following the direction Vaughn had discreetly nodded in, Sydney saw two members of their team. Glad that their roommates were CIA, and that she wouldn't have to keep up her uncomfortable disguise, Sydney settled back into her seat and waited for the plane to land.