Sydney gasped as she saw Vaughn in Devlin's office. Her hand flew over her mouth in surprise as she rushed over to Vaughn.

"You're alive?!" Sydney exclaimed. She sat down in the chair next to Vaughn's. "I thought" Her voice trailed off.

"I didn't know if you had made it out of Taipei either." Vaughn managed to say. Sydney discreetly brushed her hand against Vaughn's. She wanted to make sure that she wasn't imagining him sitting there. She longed to put her arms around him and tell him how glad she was that he was alive, but she was acutely aware of Devlin's presence.

"We don't have much time." Devlin began. "We received some intel from Switzerland this morning. A Swiss broker by the name of Julien Clausard is selling a Rambaldi artefact to K-Directorate tomorrow. We can assume that SD-6 will also want the artefact." Devlin added.

"Yes." Sydney replied trying to concentrate on what Devlin was saying.

"Go to SD-6 to find out the mission specifics and then meet with Vaughn to discuss the counter-mission."

Tears of happiness that threatened to spill down Sydney's cheeks were replaced by tears of sadness at the thought of carrying out the promise she had made. "I came here today, to say it was my fault that Agent Vaughn went to Taipei with me. I asked him to help me."

"No, wait, that isn't true. I volunteered" Vaughn said.

"In light of this, I don't think that Agent Vaughn should be my Handler anymore." Sydney interrupted.

"What?! Sydney, don't do this." Vaughn looked across to see Sydney stony-faced.

"Whatever work issues you two may have, I don't want anyone else to get their hands on that artefact. And I am not willing to disrupt our chances at capturing Khasinau or your mother." Devlin directed this at Sydney."

"I should hope so!" Vaughn muttered under his breath.

"We aren't going to take any chances this time with your safety Agent Bristow. So Vaughn will go on the mission as back up."

"I don't need back up! And what use will Agent Vaughn be?! He has a broken leg!" Sydney protested. Her heart broke as she could hear how harsh she sounded. But she knew that Vaughn could be risking his life for her once again.

"He will be only be on comms." Devlin answered.

"What about Agent Weiss?" She asked, desperately trying to think of ways for Vaughn not to go to Switzerland with her.

"Agent Weiss will be overseeing Mr. Tippin's case. And we need someone here if a contingency plan is required. There is no one else we can use on such short notice. Agent Vaughn will be going with you."

"II have to go to SD-6." Sydney said flatly. She got up and headed out of the office, without looking at Vaughn.

Devlin waited for Sydney to leave the office before he said to Vaughn, "We will discuss your position as Sydney Bristow's Handler as soon as you get back from the mission."

"I look forward to it!" Vaughn replied sarcastically as he got up from his chair. Vaughn's head began to spin as he began to wonder why Sydney had been so cold towards him. At first he had thought she was happy to see him, but her words proved otherwise.

Sydney rushed out of the building as quickly as possible. It was only when she was sitting in her car that she let herself cry freely.

~~~~

Vaughn slowly walked back to his office and slumped into his chair. A few moments later he heard a knock on the door and saw Weiss coming into the office. Vaughn was glad to see him. He hoped that Weiss would be able to help him understand why Sydney had acted the way she did.

"So what happened with Devlin?" Weiss asked as he sat down into a chair.

"I just saw Sydney."

"I bet she was pleased to see you." Weiss said brightly. He was surprised to see the pained look on Vaughn's face.

"I have no idea what's going on with her." He said still confused.

"Give her a break. She didn't have a chance to explain herself."

"So why does she want someone else to be her Handler?"

"What?" Weiss said surprised.

"I still have to work with her though. Devlin ordered me to go to Geneva on the mission with her."

"It'll be okay." Weiss replied. Vaughn forced a smile across his face, but he wasn't sure he believed him.

"Listen, can you do something for me? I have to go straight to the airport after my meeting with Sydney. So I don't have time to check out the Broker she has to meet. His name is Julien Clausard. He's based in Geneva."

"Yeah, Sure."

"Thanks."

~~~~

Sydney waited for Sloane to begin the meeting. She hoped that no one noticed that she had been crying.

"Are you not feeling well Ms. Bristow?" Marshall asked.

"I was ill, but I'm feeling much better today." She smiled brightly at Marshall.

"I'm glad." Marshall replied. Sydney tried to avoid Dixon's gaze, afraid that her face would give too much away.

At that moment both Sloane and Jack walked into the meeting room. Jack sat opposite Sydney and smiled at her briefly. Sloane began the presentation immediately.

"A few hours ago we received some new intel that K-directorate will be buying this Rambaldi artefact from a Swiss broker in Geneva." Sloane pressed the button on his remote and a photo of a small black box appeared on the screen behind him. "You will both go to Geneva to stop the sale from happening. We want stop the artefact from getting into K-Directorate hands." Sloane explained.

"Who is the broker?" Sydney asked.

Sloane pressed the remote once more and a grainy, out-of-focus photo of a man appeared. "We believe his name is Julien Clausard and here is the name of the hotel where the sale is expected to take place." He passed along a file to both Sydney and Dixon with a map and the address of the hotel.

"We are not sure if Clausard has previous contacts with Khasinau. So you both have to be very careful, in case Khasinau is also aware of the existence of the artefact." Jack said.

"This is a copy of the artefact, well the casing anyway. We don't know enough about it to make an exact working replica. But it should be good enough to fool K-Directorate." Marshall said handing over the box along with the listening devices and the camera Sydney and Dixon would need.

"The best plan would be to find Clausard before the sale and change the real artefact for the fake one." Jack suggested.

"If that is all?Oh, Sydney if you could wait for a moment?" Sloane said.

"Sure." Sydney forced herself to smile at Sloane.

"I just heard from Jack that you haven't been feeling well, lately."

"It was just something I ate." Sydney lied once again.

"He said you were feeling better, but I wanted to make sure you were well enough to go on the mission."

"Oh, no! It's not a problem. I'm okay now. Besides I know how important it is. I want to do this."

"I knew your commitment to the job wouldn't be in doubt." Sloane smiled broadly at Sydney.

"I should get up to date with Marshall. See what I've missed." She said quickly. As she left the meeting room, she began to dread the thought of having to meet Vaughn at the warehouse.

~~~~

As soon as the meeting was over, Jack walked over to where Dixon was talking with Marshall.

"Can I speak with you?" Jack asked.

"Of course." Dixon replied.

"In my office." Jack began to walk to his office and Dixon stood up and followed him. "I am aware that you have questions concerning Sydney."

"Yes I do. But as you are her father I don't think you are the best person to discuss this with."

"As a senior agent here, I will be able to answer anything you want to ask." Jack answered.

"It's a question of loyalty." Dixon said.

"We are all working for the good of this country."

"Look, Jack." Dixon said impatiently.

"That is all I can say for the moment. If you are patient, I will explain fully."

"I thought you could answer my questions."

"Just wait until this mission is over. If your concerns are still the same you are free to go to security section. Just wait."

"Is that an order?" Dixon asked unimpressed with Jack's evasive answers.

"Yes." Jack said firmly.

"Very well." Dixon walked out of Jack's office. He decided that he would wait as soon as they got the artefact from Geneva and then he would go to security section regardless of what else Jack said on the matter.

~~~~

Sydney walked into the warehouse wondering exactly how upset Vaughn would be with her.

"Hi." Sydney said nervously.

"Hey." Vaughn answered looking up to see her approaching.

"Is your leg okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. It looks worse than it is." He answered curtly.

"Oh right. Vaughn"

"Look Sydney." He said interrupting her. "I don't know what your problem with me is, why you don't want to continue working with me. If you don't want to tell me why, that's fine." Vaughn was clearly annoyed with her.

"I didn't ask you to come to Taipei." She said defensively.

"However you did accept my offer to help. Don't worry I'll remember not to make the same mistake next time!"

"Make sure you do!." She muttered.

"Oof! Damn plaster!" Vaughn grabbed a pen from his pocket and dug under the plaster to scratch his leg. He soon gave up when he realised the pen wouldn't reach down far enough. "I should be standing here grateful that I only have a broken leg, but instead I'm wondering what the hell happened in Taipei for you to be like this!" Vaughn shouted. He then threw the pen down in anger on the crate beside him.

"I saw my mother in Taipei alright?!" Sydney blurted out. She instantly regretted the blunt way in which she had said it when she saw the expression on his face. She hadn't intended to hurt him like that.

"Oh." Vaughn managed to say. He sat down on the wooden crate. He had known this moment would happen eventually, but he was still unprepared for the shock he felt.

"I'm so sorry." Sydney said sincerely. She regretted her recent behaviour with him and the pain she was causing him at that moment.

"No, no it's okay." He replied still a little dazed.

"I have been selfish. Hurting the people I care about the most and risking your life to find a woman I'm not sure I even want to know now."

"She didn'tshe didn't hurt you?" He asked afraid of her answer.

"No, I wasn't there long enough." She said.

"Good." He replied. Sydney could see the relief on his face. "Anyway I have a ear-piece and microphone for you so you can communicate with me during the mission." Vaughn said quickly changing the subject. He handed over a small box. "And this is what we want you to give to SD-6." He passed another smaller black box to her. She placed both items in her pocket.

"Will anyone know it's fake?" She asked.

"Yes, eventually. But SD-6 will most likely think that Clausard double-crossed K-Directorate." Vaughn answered.

"Vaughn?" She said softly

"Yeah."

"I'm glad you're okay." With that she took a step forward and put her arms around him. His initial surprise was replaced with relief that she still cared for him. He wrapped his arms around her waist and closed his eyes, cherishing each second of the embrace. She reluctantly released her arms from around his neck.

"I'll see you in Geneva." Vaughn said.

"Bye."

"Bye, Syd."

~~~~

Jack left the SD-6 office and went to see Devlin. He needed to know exactly what Sydney had said to him. He wanted to know if Devlin had reprimanded her. Jack was quickly updated by Devlin and was relieved to know that Vaughn would be on the mission with her.

Weiss hung up the phone and rushed out of his office. He headed straight for Devlin's office and saw Jack leaving it and turning the corner.

"Mr Bristow!" Weiss called out. "Jack!" He shouted even louder.

Jack spun around to see Weiss approaching.

"What is it?"

"I just found out" Weiss said breathlessly. "the Swiss broker."

"What about him?"

"He doesn't exist. There are no brokers called Julien Clausard based in Geneva. The intel was a set-up for Sydney."

"Khasinau?" Jack said, but then immediately had another thought. "Laura?!" he whispered.

"We have to tell them." Weiss said. "But Michael went straight to the airport after his meeting with Sydney and has probably already taken off." Weiss said looking at his watch.

"Sydney is with Dixon. I won't be able to top her in time." Jack stood there for a moment, before he realised what he had to do. "I have to go to Geneva."

Weiss was alarmed to see for the first time, the look of fear on Jack's face.