Warehouse
City of Industry
Vaughn was relaying what the CIA had decrypted from the disks that Sydney had retrieved in Brussels during her last mission, but she couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. She couldn't seem to stop looking at his hands, imagining them applying paint to canvas in sure strokes ... imagining them on her.
She felt herself flush. God, what was she doing? It certainly wasn't as if she had never thought of him in that way -- he had starred in more than a few extremely detailed dreams that had left her catching her breath or sighing with pleasure as she awoke. But somehow, seeing his painting of her, seeing his want represented in bold colors, had brought her own firmly suppressed desires clamoring to the surface. Knowing that he had committed her image to memory and had then spent untold hours lovingly transferring it to canvas -- it was overwhelming, intoxicating, erotic. It was something she couldn't ignore. Images of him, of *them*, had been forcing themselves into her thoughts almost constantly since the previous afternoon at the art gallery.
"Sydney, are you OK?" he asked, interrupting himself and eyeing her with concern.
She started. "What? Oh, I'm fine. I just ... I think I need this vacation."
"You deserve it." He smiled. "And as a matter of fact, I needed to let you know that I'm going on one, too."
"Oh. Where? When?" She was shocked at the immediate rise of not-quite-panic welling inside her. He'd hardly ever been out of her reach before -- at least when it was *him* who was going somewhere -- and the concept unnerved her.
"I'm leaving tonight for a long weekend in the mountains. My Aunt Trish -- I told you about her -- and Uncle Jason have this amazing cabin in the San Gabriel Mountains off Route 2. They're going to Paris, and she called and offered it to me for the holiday. Barnett has been after me to take some days off, and it seemed like good timing, since you won't be going on any missions." He didn't mention that Trish had offered it to him and his girlfriend. When he had told her that he wasn't seeing anyone, she had simply laughed and admonished "a handsome boy like you" to not let the opportunity go to waste.
"That was nice of them." Why did she feel this twinge of pain? For a wild, frantic moment, she wondered if he could be taking someone with him. Alice's face flashed into her mind.
"You should see this place. You'd never believe a house like that was up there. There's this dirt road that cuts into the woods just after this old-fashioned country store. Since it's Trish, there's a sign of a castle in the clouds. Which is about apt, frankly. You think you're driving into the utter wilds, and then you round a corner and, boom, there's this *mansion* perched on the edge of the mountain. My uncle's a record producer, and he only lets his *top* artists stay there."
"It sounds wonderful."
"It is. I'll probably be bored out of my mind up there by myself. But Donovan loves to run around and chase squirrels. Now, it may seem like the middle of nowhere, but there's cell-phone service. So if you need me for *anything*, anything at all, don't hesitate to call. I can be back in L.A. in three hours."
His words calmed her fears. It would just be him and his dog. And he wouldn't be *too* far away. "I'm sure I'll be fine without you. Sloane's even promised not to call me or Dixon in for the next four days."
He laughed. "Don't tell me he's got a patriotic streak!"
She snorted in response. "Only for appearances, I'm sure."
"No doubt. So, are you doing anything with Francie and Will on your vacation?"
She noticed the slight pause before he said Will's name and was barely able to suppress a grin. "Francie'll be at the restaurant, of course, and Will and his sister are going to some family reunion in Oakland. So it'll just be me. Probably bored out of my mind, too."
"You should...." He paused and stared at her for a moment, then dropped his gaze to the floor. His voice seemed a little strained when he looked back up and finished, "You should go somewhere fun."
For a moment, she thought that he was actually going to ask her to come with him, and her heart leaped at the prospect, only to fall a second later. Of course he wouldn't ask her to go with him. It wasn't as if she *could*, after all. "Yeah. Maybe I will." She forced a smile, her eyes following his hands as he picked up his briefcase.
City of Industry
Vaughn was relaying what the CIA had decrypted from the disks that Sydney had retrieved in Brussels during her last mission, but she couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. She couldn't seem to stop looking at his hands, imagining them applying paint to canvas in sure strokes ... imagining them on her.
She felt herself flush. God, what was she doing? It certainly wasn't as if she had never thought of him in that way -- he had starred in more than a few extremely detailed dreams that had left her catching her breath or sighing with pleasure as she awoke. But somehow, seeing his painting of her, seeing his want represented in bold colors, had brought her own firmly suppressed desires clamoring to the surface. Knowing that he had committed her image to memory and had then spent untold hours lovingly transferring it to canvas -- it was overwhelming, intoxicating, erotic. It was something she couldn't ignore. Images of him, of *them*, had been forcing themselves into her thoughts almost constantly since the previous afternoon at the art gallery.
"Sydney, are you OK?" he asked, interrupting himself and eyeing her with concern.
She started. "What? Oh, I'm fine. I just ... I think I need this vacation."
"You deserve it." He smiled. "And as a matter of fact, I needed to let you know that I'm going on one, too."
"Oh. Where? When?" She was shocked at the immediate rise of not-quite-panic welling inside her. He'd hardly ever been out of her reach before -- at least when it was *him* who was going somewhere -- and the concept unnerved her.
"I'm leaving tonight for a long weekend in the mountains. My Aunt Trish -- I told you about her -- and Uncle Jason have this amazing cabin in the San Gabriel Mountains off Route 2. They're going to Paris, and she called and offered it to me for the holiday. Barnett has been after me to take some days off, and it seemed like good timing, since you won't be going on any missions." He didn't mention that Trish had offered it to him and his girlfriend. When he had told her that he wasn't seeing anyone, she had simply laughed and admonished "a handsome boy like you" to not let the opportunity go to waste.
"That was nice of them." Why did she feel this twinge of pain? For a wild, frantic moment, she wondered if he could be taking someone with him. Alice's face flashed into her mind.
"You should see this place. You'd never believe a house like that was up there. There's this dirt road that cuts into the woods just after this old-fashioned country store. Since it's Trish, there's a sign of a castle in the clouds. Which is about apt, frankly. You think you're driving into the utter wilds, and then you round a corner and, boom, there's this *mansion* perched on the edge of the mountain. My uncle's a record producer, and he only lets his *top* artists stay there."
"It sounds wonderful."
"It is. I'll probably be bored out of my mind up there by myself. But Donovan loves to run around and chase squirrels. Now, it may seem like the middle of nowhere, but there's cell-phone service. So if you need me for *anything*, anything at all, don't hesitate to call. I can be back in L.A. in three hours."
His words calmed her fears. It would just be him and his dog. And he wouldn't be *too* far away. "I'm sure I'll be fine without you. Sloane's even promised not to call me or Dixon in for the next four days."
He laughed. "Don't tell me he's got a patriotic streak!"
She snorted in response. "Only for appearances, I'm sure."
"No doubt. So, are you doing anything with Francie and Will on your vacation?"
She noticed the slight pause before he said Will's name and was barely able to suppress a grin. "Francie'll be at the restaurant, of course, and Will and his sister are going to some family reunion in Oakland. So it'll just be me. Probably bored out of my mind, too."
"You should...." He paused and stared at her for a moment, then dropped his gaze to the floor. His voice seemed a little strained when he looked back up and finished, "You should go somewhere fun."
For a moment, she thought that he was actually going to ask her to come with him, and her heart leaped at the prospect, only to fall a second later. Of course he wouldn't ask her to go with him. It wasn't as if she *could*, after all. "Yeah. Maybe I will." She forced a smile, her eyes following his hands as he picked up his briefcase.