Author's Note: Hi, everyone!  You've probably forgotten me and my story since it's been over a week between chapters, but I was one of those people having problems connecting to the site (blame it on AOL!).  I actually wanted to get this chapter up on Monday, so it's been a very frustrating week for me. I can't believe I've had to go five days without my FFnet.fix!

Anyway, here's the next chapter and the upside is that you'll probably get the next one much sooner if AOL doesn't screw up again.  If you don't hear from me for awhile, that'll be the reason why.

P.S. to Corinne: (Hi, by the way.  I haven't been "talking" to you as much, but I still enjoy reading your comments as always.)  If you still remember what you wrote in your last review about the Cairo thing, no, it's not from the show, but just something I'm throwing in as a bit of wishful thinking.  Plus I think we all know that Syd and Vaughn can't possibly work together for five years and not have something happen between them.  Since I keep mentioning "the incident in Cairo" throughout the story, I just wanted to clarify that you (the readers) will find out about it eventually.

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Sydney wasn't surprised that Alice was confronting her. If she were in her position, she would have done the exact same thing. Will had told her that she and Alice were complete opposites, but at that moment, Sydney realized that they did have one thing in common. They both knew that being loved by Vaughn was a precious gift; it was not something that would be given up without a fight.

"I'm not sure that we have anything to talk about, Alice." Sydney said evenly. "We did just meet each other only an hour ago, after all."

"Don't play innocent with me." Alice snarled at her. "I know who you are. I've been aware of your existence for the last six years."

"I see." Sydney's voice was cool. She found it hard to believe that Vaughn would have told Alice about her while they were working together as handler and agent. For one thing, that information was classified and she knew he wouldn't have endangered her life like that by throwing her name around to anyone who would listen.

Could he have mentioned her to Alice when he broke up with her six years ago? Maybe not by name, but perhaps Vaughn had said he had met someone.

"What exactly did Va--I mean, Michael, tell you about me?" Sydney asked curiously.

"I know you used to work together." Her eyes were cold. "Rather intimately, from what I gather."

"You couldn't know that." Sydney shook her head. "Michael wouldn't have told you anything about our professional relationship."

Alice looked piqued and Sydney knew she had been right. "And I bet you just love the fact that you and he share a secret that I know nothing about." Alice hissed at her.

"Whatever we did in the context of our working relationship doesn't concern you, Alice." Sydney said loftily.

"Like hell it doesn't!" Her icy blue eyes flashed. "Anything pertaining to you and Michael concerns me!"

"Listen up, Ms. Bristow, because I'm only going to tell you once." Alice got up into Sydney's face, which didn't sit well with the former CIA operative. "I was the one who put him back together after you callously threw him aside. I was the one to get him to stop drinking himself into oblivion every night. I was the one who made him realize that he could lose his beloved career if he didn't get his act together."

"It was me, not you, so don't even think that you're going to just waltz back into our lives and take him away from me again." Alice said menacingly.

True to her nature, Sydney did not even flinch during Alice's harangue. "What did you mean by 'again?'" She asked calmly.

"What?" Alice threw her a confused look.

"You said you didn't want me taking him away from you again." Sydney said patiently, emphasizing the word. "That implies that I took him away from you before."

Alice's eyes narrowed. "Don't flatter yourself. You were simply able to turn his head at a time when we were having problems. Giving in to an infatuation is always more alluring than dealing with the ups and downs of a real relationship." She sniffed, disdaining the notion that Sydney and Vaughn might have had any sort of bona fide connection to each other.

Sydney did not appreciate Alice's condescending tone. "If your real relationship was so important to him, why didn't he stay and try to work through whatever problems you were having?" She asked in a tight voice.

"Maybe it was because you kept coming on so strong." Alice said accusingly.

"I beg your pardon?" Sydney looked bewildered.

"Don't deny it!" She snapped. "You were after Michael from the moment you met him!"

"You're delusional." She hadn't wanted to get into a war of words with Alice, but the woman was a raving maniac. Never mind the fact that Sydney was sure Vaughn wasn't in love with Alice; if her current behavior was any indication, he was in for a heap of trouble if he went through with his plans to marry this loony tune.

"What about that time you called him in the middle of the night because you needed to talk?" Alice spat at her. "That was the night of my twenty-fifth birthday and he left our bed to go dashing off to you. Do you know how that made me feel? I was devastated that he would leave me for another woman if she so much as snapped her fingers!"

"I'm sorry if you felt cheated out of a special evening, Alice." Sydney was somewhat sincere in her apology, but it was tempered by the fact that she still thought Alice was deranged. "We were still getting to know each other at that time and so we didn't talk about our personal lives too much. I didn't know he would be off celebrating your birthday when I called him that night."

"And you're wrong in saying I threw myself at him. I never did that." She said firmly. "At the time you were with Michael, I was still mourning the death of my fiancé. I wasn't looking for a replacement."

"God, then that just makes it ten times worse." Alice sounded bitter. "You gave him no encouragement yet he fell for you, anyway."

Sydney didn't know what to say after that. "I'm sorry your boyfriend fell in love with me." wasn't exactly a statement that would comfort.

"You know, now that I've finally met you, I can't imagine what he saw in you." Alice said cattily. "Oh, you're attractive enough, I guess, and you have a good figure, but I just don't get the appeal."

Did she want to play nasty? Sydney thought to herself. Because I can give as good as I get. "I guess I shouldn't be so surprised that you think it was only a physical attraction. From what I can tell, you care more about the way something looks rather than what it actually means." Sydney gave a pointed look at Alice's monstrosity of an engagement ring.

Alice followed Sydney's gaze down to her left hand and then looked back at her with a mean glint in her eye. "How dare you presume to know anything about me! I'll have you know that I earned this ring and you don't have any right to judge me for it!"

"You 'earned' it?" Sydney frowned. "That's a funny way of putting it."

"I mean that I earned it after everything Michael has put me through!" Alice threw back at her. "I deserve this ring just as much as he deserves what's coming to him."

The conversation had suddenly taken a turn and Sydney wasn't quite sure where Alice was going now. When she spoke about Vaughn just now, she almost sounded as if she hated him.

"He said your name once when we were making love." Alice shocked Sydney as she uttered her revelation in an oddly controlled voice. "I don't know if he even realized it, but I heard it clear as day."

"I hated you from that moment on." Her blue eyes glittered with an undisguised fury. "You probably think it's strange to hate some faceless woman who occupies your boyfriend's every waking thought, but I think it's perfectly justified." She gave Sydney a defiant look.

Sydney didn't find it strange at all. She only had to think back to when she learned that Vaughn had found another woman with whom to share his bed and she knew exactly how Alice had felt. Sydney remembered thinking that the woman was a tramp, even though she'd had nothing on which to base her rather childish name-calling.

Although now that she knew the woman had been Alice…

"I never mentioned it to Michael, of course, and I thought I could just pretend that it never happened." Alice was speaking again. "But then one day, he came home and he broke up with me."

"He said things weren't working out, that we were drifting apart, but I knew that was a lie." Her voice turned hard. "It was really because of you. Because he couldn't get you out of his head."

Sydney's cheeks reddened. She didn't like Alice nor did she like the slightly wild-eyed look that crossed Alice's face whenever she mentioned Vaughn, but it was hard not to feel sorry for her that she'd had to go through what she did. Under different circumstances, Sydney might even have been upset with Vaughn, but then again, he had done the honorable thing. He hadn't strung Alice along when he realized he had feelings for Sydney. He'd let her go.

"That's when I swore I would get even with the both of you." She whispered spitefully.

Alice's declaration caused a chill to run down Sydney's spine. Get even?

"And now I've finally done it." The look on Alice's perfectly made-up face was vindictively triumphant. "In two days, I will be marrying the man you love and he will be entering the worst nightmare of his life."

"I'm going to make that man's life so miserable it won't even be funny." Alice said, looking downright vicious. "And the added bonus is that if I have him, you won't." She gave a sharp turn of her heel and flounced off, leaving Sydney stunned and speechless.

Was it possible that Alice was behind her mysterious wedding invitation? Did she want Sydney to be an actual witness to the destruction she was about to bring forth? That was too sick and twisted to comprehend, but really, if the woman was crazy enough to try to trap Vaughn into marrying her just so that she could destroy him, it wasn't so farfetched to believe that she would want to rub Sydney's face in it by having her be there to see it.

Her first instinct was to go straight to Vaughn with the story of Alice's despicable scheme, but her doubts surfaced almost immediately. Sydney knew she didn't exactly have much credibility with him at the moment, so it wasn't very likely that he would believe her. Alice was his fiancée, the so-called love of his life. She was just the woman who had broken his heart.

As Sydney stood there contemplating her dilemma, she suddenly became aware that some of the partygoers were moving outside to the open-air dance floor, which was connected to the deck by a wooden footbridge. She'd been so engrossed in her various conversations that she hadn't even noticed when a small orchestra began tuning up just a short distance away from her. She saw Vaughn and Alice lead the way towards the dance floor, which was lit up around the perimeter with colorful Japanese lanterns. A lilting melody began to fill the air and Sydney felt a lump rise in her throat as she watched Alice melt into Vaughn's arms.

"Syd?" Will suddenly appeared at her elbow.

"Oh, Will, you startled me!" Sydney nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Sorry." He looked apologetic. "I was looking all over for you. Have you been out here all this time?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

"Alone?" Will asked with an inquisitive raised eyebrow.

Sydney gave him a droll look. "You obviously know the answer if you're asking the question."

"Well, okay, I did see Mike head out here earlier." He admitted. "He saw you?"

"We talked." She said noncommittally.

"And how did it go?"

"Not very well." Sydney shook her head sadly. "I'd rather not get into it right now, but let's just say that he's still pretty bitter towards me."

"Oh, Syd, I'm sorry." Will said sympathetically. "I know you were hoping…" He let his sentence trail off.

She gave him a grateful look. "I was probably just kidding myself that Vaughn could find it in his heart to forgive me. He doesn't owe me any such courtesy after what I did to him."

"He was probably just in shock over seeing you again." Will tried to put a kinder spin on the situation. "I bet once he has time to absorb it all that he'll start to remember exactly what you mean to him."

"Will, he's getting married in two days! If and when he ever gets over his anger, it's still going to be too late!" She looked forlorn. Alice will have her hooks into him by then and she won't ever let him go.

"Too late?" Will looked confused.

"I'll tell you about it later." Sydney said, suddenly feeling weary. "Right now, it's still too heinous to believe."

"Okay, Syd, whatever you want." He said, a look of concern on his face. "You know, you don't look so hot. Do you want to leave?" 

Sydney heard Will's question, but her attention was diverted towards the dance floor. She heard Alice's trilling little laugh float her way and oddly enough, it filled her with a renewed sense of vigor. No, she did not want to leave just yet. She still had a few statements to make.

"Actually, I'd rather dance." Sydney looked at Will with a shrewd gleam in her eye. "Care to join me?"

Will loved it when Sydney got fired up. "Lead the way, mon capitaine." He offered her his arm.

When Sydney and Will descended upon the scene, Vaughn was settled along the outskirts of the dance floor with a perfectly coiffed middle-aged blonde woman who looked like an older version of Alice. The bride-to-be was nowhere to be seen and Sydney was just about to ask Will where she was when he leaned in close to whisper in her ear that he had seen Alice go back to the reception hall a few moments ago. She gave Will a grin when he seemed to have read her mind.

Unbeknownst to them, Vaughn was eyeing Will rather warily as he caught the other man's possessive grip on Sydney's elbow and the way he seemed to be standing too close--wait a minute, did Will just kiss her on the ear? Vaughn felt a roiling jealousy begin to build within him.

Will took Sydney into his arms on the dance floor. She made a conscious effort to not even look in Vaughn's direction at any point during the dance and instead concentrated on appearing as if she were captivated by Will's scintillating conversation. Too bad for her because if she had managed to catch Vaughn's eye, she would have found him unable to tear his gaze away from her as he completely ignored his future mother-in-law's ramblings about the upcoming wedding.

"Oh, Will, sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here." Sydney let out a sigh as she laid her head on his shoulder.

"Are we talking existentially or literally or what?" He joked to make her smile, which she did.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Maybe all of the above."

"Well, if you want my opinion," Will looked slightly pompous. "And since you're asking me, I guess you do, I think it has to do with a little thing called 'fulfilling your destiny.'" He said lightly.

"Does my destiny include breaking up a wedding?" Sydney arched an eyebrow. "Now that's really classy and aboveboard, isn't it?" She said ironically.

"Hey, the wedding shouldn't even be taking place." He reminded her.

"You're just saying that because you don't like Alice." She pointed out to him.

"Yeah, well, there's a reason for that." Will paused for his punchline. "She's unlikeable! What better reason is there for me not to like her?"

Maybe it was Will's delivery of the line or the comical look on his face, but Sydney suddenly burst out laughing. Heads turned to look at the strikingly pretty brunette and her tall handsome escort and people smiled as they saw the attractive young couple sharing a cozy moment together.

If Vaughn concentrated hard enough, he could almost picture himself in Will's place, holding Sydney in his arms while feeling the softness of her hair against his cheek and inhaling the subtle fragrance of her perfume as it filled his senses. When they were working together, it had been a constant struggle not to lose himself completely when he was around her. On some days, she would come into the warehouse so dejected that his only thought was to take her in his arms and comfort her. On other days, she would show up absolutely livid, with a bright fire in her eyes that never failed to incite him. And then there were those moments when she'd be so happy and excited that they'd foiled one of Sloane's schemes and he would find himself basking in her exuberant glow.

Somewhat belatedly, it occurred to Vaughn that he had long ago lost the battle to remain inured to Sydney's charms. Her warmth and her vitality and her passion drew him to her like a moth to a flame. Even now, he still found himself hovering too close to the fire as he watched Sydney move across the dance floor, as gracefully as a summer breeze.

His lingering bitterness suddenly took offense. Damn it, why was he constantly romanticizing her? Nothing about Sydney was soft and delicate and aching to be touched, he told himself, in full-force denial. She was hard and unyielding and aloof. Vengeance had always been what fueled her; not love or hope or desire.

"Michael?" He felt a hand on his arm.

Vaughn turned away from gazing at Sydney a second too late and Alice was able to catch the object of his intense scrutiny.

Sydney, always Sydney, she fumed silently. Damn it, the wedding could not come fast enough.

"You know, I just realized how much I've missed you." Sydney grinned at Will. "I feel as if I haven't laughed for ages."

"Well, maybe that'll teach you to not be such a stranger." Will said sternly, pretending to scold her. "You could come visit me more than once a year, you know."

Sydney was just about to reply when someone spoke up behind her. "I heartily agree with that notion. You've been away for too long, Sydney."

Sydney recognized that voice and turned around with a big smile on her face.

To be continued…

Author's Note: Okay, so I made Alice evil. That's because she is even though she hasn't actually done anything to incur my wrath (other than to exist, of course).  Oh, well, every story needs a villain and she's so easy for the shipper in me to dislike.

Thanks to everyone for your positive reviews and again I apologize for the wait, but the situation was out of my control.  Hope you all had a great holiday!