By golly, another chapter.  I hope you like it.

            Sydney starred nervously at Vaughn.  She had to tell him about the mission, but she didn't know how.  Vaughn was staring at his menu.  "Vaughn?"  She said, Vaughn looked up from his menu.  "I have to go on a long mission tomorrow.  And afterwards I may have to enter the protection."  Sydney admitted to Vaughn.

            "I know."

            "You what?  How do you know?"  She couldn't believe he already knew.

            "You know how you will be held prisoner?"  Sydney nodded, not sure where Vaughn was taking this.  "Well, they need all the available field agents for the actual take down, so I got placed as one of the "bad" guys." 

            "Shouldn't you already be there?"  Sydney asked.

            "Every three weeks they're putting new people in.  My number came up, especially with the past captors needed in the take down."

            Sydney stared at Vaughn in disbelief.  And then buried her head in her hands.  "Figures this day could get worse."  She mumbled.

            "What was that?"

            "Nothing."

            "Think of this as a good thing."  Vaughn took Sydney's hand.  A tingle ran throughout her body.

            "How?"

            "We'll get to spend that extra time together."  Vaughn said.

            "My father will get sent in.  He'll be sent into that room.  He'll notice."

            "So?"

            "Vaughn." 

            "Do you think that it will work?"

            "I don't know.  Do you?"

            Right then, she was ready to give up the short relationship.  She felt that this was more than some fling.  Something more.  Both of them working on the same mission like that, that had the chance of blowing her cover.  And other people, and her would pay with their eyes.  Sydney couldn't let that happen.  She could stop the chances of that by just breaking it off with Vaughn.  Vaughn put his hands to lift up Sydney's chin, so that she could look into his eyes.  Sydney looked up into Vaughn's trusting, bright green eyes, and her doubts just washed away.  "Yeah.  I think it will work."  He told her.

            "Good.  I do too.  I didn't want to have to end this."  Sydney leaned in for a kiss, "But you can't treat me any different, or nicer, just because we're dating."  She said, giving him a kiss.

            "That might be hard."

            "Deal with it."  She said, giving Vaughn a second kiss.

            Behind them, they heard the waitress clear her throat.  "Are you two ready to order?"  She said.  Slightly embarrassed, the couple turned their attention to the waitress.

            "I need to get home; I still have to pointlessly pack."  Sydney said, after dessert.

            "I understand.  I have to get ready."  They strolled out of the restaurant.  "I'm parked over there, where are you parked?" 

            Sydney looked around the parking lot.  "I don't remember- oh wait.  Will totaled it today.  Francie gave me a ride."  Sydney said, spinning around.

            Vaughn held Sydney still, to stop her from spinning.  "I'll take you home."

            Sydney wasn't sure if that was a good idea, but she liked the idea of getting a ride home from her date.  "Thanks."  She said.  She followed him to his car, and got in.  The car was filled with silence. 

            "I guess tomorrow will be awkward, huh?"  Vaughn said.

            "Yeah."  Sydney got out at her house, and after a quick good night kiss, she went inside the house.

            "Will's still here?"  Sydney asked in confusion.  She saw Will's car out in front of their house.  "It's late for him."
            "No, that's why he took your car, because his wouldn't start."  Francie explained.  "I took him home."

            "Kinda funny isn't it?"

            "What is?"

            "You're the only one with a working car."

            "No, not so funny.  I have to shuttle you around."

            "Oh don't worry about me.  I'll take a cab tomorrow."

            "Oh no.  I'm driving you .  Especially with that suitcase." 

            "Thanks Francie."  Sydney called as she retreated into her room to pack.  She threw in the normal things, and then something on her dresser caught her eye.  It was a picture of her and her friends. Danny was in it too.  It was the night that Sydney and Danny had gotten engaged.  Francie was the one that had insisted on it. Everyone was so happy.  Will, was a little jealous, but he always seemed to be jealous of who ever Sydney dated.  Sydney hadn't decided to Danny about SD-6 yet.  Things were still good.  It was right then that she was glad that Francie insisted on taking the picture.  When it came back from the photo shop, she bought a nice frame, and put it on her dresser to remind her of better times.  Sydney picked it up, and carefully put it on top of her clothing.  She shut the suitcase, and put the lock on it.  She went to go watch TV before she went to bed.  But the picture in the suitcase nagged her.  Slone would undoubtedly x-ray her bag.  She figured he had been doing that every time she had a trip. She had never packed anything sentimental before.  It would feel suspicious.  And if Slone gave back the suitcase to Francie and Will when she would be presumed dead, they would find it and know that something was up.  And then they would start putting the pieces together.  Discover SD-6, and be killed.  Sydney quickly backtracked her steps, and unlocked her suitcase.  Taking one last look at the photo in her suitcase, Sydney picked it up, and carefully put it back on her dresser.

            The next morning, Sydney got a ride from Francie to work, despite the fact that Francie  could be killed for doing it.  Sydney knew that her father wouldn't let Slone do that to her again.  Sydney walked into her office confident that things were going to go as planned.  Her view towards the whole operation changed when Vaughn told her that he would be on the other side of it.  After a last minute briefing in the conference room, Sydney and Dixon flew to New York, where the take down was going to happen. The CIA figured that if the take down was going to happen this way, they would want to have every person not at the SD-6 head quarters as far away as possible.   "Syd?"  Dixon asked on the plane.

            "Yeah?"  She said.

            "Do you think that we'll come out of this alive?"  Dixon asked.

            Sydney pondered this.  "Maybe.  How hard can placing this pen be?"  She said.  Dixon chuckled.  She knew that they were going to come out alive.  But she needed to lie.  That's all her life was, a lie.  Was everything a lie? Those intense feelings for Vaughn, were they lies too?  No, she told herself.  Those feelings were the only real things in her life.   The moment she stepped off the plane, Sydney knew that things would be different.  She wouldn't be getting onto another plane until she was freed from SD-6, and safely.  She knew that she would be out of the intelligence and that she would be able to teach.  But the bigger thing to her was that she wouldn't have to worry about lying to her friends.  And the costs of telling the truth.  The picture on her dresser reminded her of the costs of telling the truth.