"Sydney!" Sloane's voice snapped me back to earth.
"Yes, um.....Dixon and I saw Sark's representatives make a switch however we do not know what the switch was made for. We managed to acquire copies of their hard drive though so if it's on there we'll find out." I said recovering quickly.
"Very good," Sloane said and then continued to drone on about whatever it was he was talking about before. I had no idea what it was given that I hadn't been listening. It was a little embarrassing though, a spy caught daydreaming during a briefing.
"Real professional Syd," I thought to myself, "Oh well, who cares? It's SD-6."
 I was just not in the mood to pretend to be enthusiastic today. I wanted nothing more than to go home to a warm bath and a nice cup of tea.
People standing told me that the briefing was over. I gathered up my things and quickly headed out the door before Sloane could think of something he wanted to say to me in private. I wasn't sure I could have handled that with the way I was feeling.
I went to my desk and began loading up my briefcase, eager to get as far away from Credit Dauphine as possible.
"The days just seem to get longer and longer don't they?" Dixon asked coming up behind me.
"Yeah," I agreed.
"So, should I tell Diane to expect another person for dinner?" he asked as he gathered up his own briefcase.
"Nah, as much as I appreciate the offer, I'll probably just spend some time relaxing at home," I said.
"Well if you change your mind the offer still stands," he offered
I smiled at him, "Thanks Dixon."
"I'll see you later," he called as I headed toward the elevator.
"Bye, Merry Christmas," I responded before stepping inside.
I waited until I got out of the parking lot before gulping down two Advil. I only had one thing left that I had to do today and it was certainly the least stressful of all. Next up was to meet Vaughn for my debriefing.

I arrived relatively on time for the debriefing. Considering the fact that I had to battle rush hour traffic four days before Christmas to get there I'd say I did pretty well timing wise. Vaughn was already there of course. He smiled warmly as I approached. I returned the smile. Wishing for a moment that I could see him smile more often. Our conversations were usually solemn and professional, we hardly ever got moments where we could just be ourselves it was always business.
"I got the copy of the hard drive just like the one SD-6 has," I said handing him the disk.
"Good, we'll get it analyzed as soon as possible," he said and took the disk from me. I nodded in response. "Are you okay?"
It would figure he'd notice, he always seemed to be so perceptive about how I was feeling. "Yeah, I'm fine I'm just tired and kind of have a headache. Sloane just seemed to be extra unbearable today," I explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry," He said.
"Well.....at least even he gives holidays off," I shrugged, trying to seem like I wasn't very bothered by it.
"Yeah," he agreed.
"Well, I'll see you in a few days then," I said.
"Goodnight, Syd," he responded. We looked at each other silently for a brief moment before breaking eye contact. I nodded slightly to him and then turned to leave.
As I exited the warehouse an empty feeling came with me. "I wonder what Vaughn's doing for Christmas?" I thought to myself, then shook my head, "There's no point in wondering that. I wouldn't matter even if you did know!"
 With a sigh I started the ignition and pulled out of the parking space.

I dropped my coat and briefcase by the door as I arrived home and massaged the knots in my neck. God I was tired. In the kitchen I found a tin with pictures of holly, reindeer, and candy canes on it. On the top was a note.

"Dear Syd,
Thought you might want these later. Think of it as an extra present.
Love, Francie"

When I opened the tin and saw what was inside, I chuckled lightly. Leave it to Francie to think of something like that. I picked out a snowman shaped one and sat down on the couch to munch on it while I searched for something on TV to keep myself entertained for a few hours.