Chapter Three

A/N- Tonight's episode, at the bar-did anybody else want to just hug Vaughn, Will and Sydney and kill Alice? And on the roof...Syd can't even hug her mom..God, that was sad. And POOR MARSHALL!!!!! Sorry, I'll stop ranting now. As usual, sorry about the slow update time. I have finally given myself up to the fact that all you readers prefer my fluff to my angst. Next chapter up as soon as I can think of what it should say and actually write it down. She'll finally talk to Vaughn in that one.

Reviews- As usual, I prostrate myself before you all. Please, please review!!! I'm lost without them. I die a little inside every time my inbox is empty.

Syd was exhausted already, and today was NOTHING compared to some days in her life. It was becoming harder and harder for her to pretend ignorance at SD-6, when she wanted to scream "SD-6 is NOT the CIA!" at the top of her lungs every time she walked into the place. She wondered who would believe her. Nobody, probably. They might reconsider when she was found dead the next day.

She had managed, through what feat of will she could not imagine, not to think about Vaughn throughout her SD-6 briefing, but it had been tough work, even for someone in her field. Somehow, she had decided that if she didn't even THINK Vaughn's name around Sloane, then maybe he would never have to pay the deadly price that every man who loved her paid sooner or later...

She was still deep in thought as she turned the key in her lock and let herself into her house.

"Syd?" Francie's voice, accompanied by multiple tantalizing aromas, assailed her form the general area of the kitchen.

"Hey Fran," Sydney replied, hanging her coat up and heading towards her friend. She was met before she made it halfway there by Francie, who wore a full length red apron and was armed with a wooden spoon.

"Oh no you don't," Sydney suddenly found herself being batted violently towards the living room by Francie's spoon. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me absolutely everything."

Sydney almost froze, but her long years of training helped her manage to keep her façade in place. 'You are not Sydney Bristow the agent OR Sydney Bristow the double agent now. You are just Syd, Francie's best friend. You know nothing about espionage. You have no secrets'.

"What do you mean, Francie? When do I ever keep secrets from you?" She managed to smile in a puzzled way.

"Then what's this?" Francie's tone was slightly annoyed but mostly expectant and she slid the note from her apron pocket into Sydney's hand.

'Oh, crap,' was Syd's immediate mental response. 'Okay, Bristow, you're supposed to be some kind of genius. You can bluff your way out of this one somehow..'

"Come on Syd, spill. Who is he and why haven't you ever told me about him before?"

"How do you know it's a he?" Syd provided lamely. Francie's eyebrows responded for her, quirking into a look of 'did you even sound convincing to yourself?'

"Okay, okay, so it's a he."

"Soooo.. Who is he and why is his letter so cryptic?"

"He's one of my clients." Where had THAT come from? Lies were easier to spit out than the truth these days. "We've been attracted to each other for a long time, but we felt that we couldn't maintain a professional relationship if we tried a personal one." Sydney was surprised at how lame this sounded. Too bad it was the truth.

Francie was sympathetic but still slightly skeptical. "So what's been 'incredibly hard for you'?"

"His account is extremely thorny. I've been wading through miles of red tape and all kinds of other problems too. It's a mess." Another half- truth. The problem that she was working on with Vaughn was extremely difficult, and it was taking so much out of her. It just had nothing to do with banking; it had to do with international crime.

"So, how long have you known this guy?"

"A little more than a year."

"That long? And the reason I never heard about him before is.."

"You have."

"WHEN?"

"He's the one who gave me the picture frame.." Sydney knew that this didn't really count, but she wasn't in the mood to quibble over small points. Unfortunately, Francie was.

"Oh, that soooo doesn't count. I mean, you didn't even tell me his name. In fact, you still haven't.."

What was the harm in giving the right first name? "It's Michael," she said softly. For being so common, the name felt strange and exotic when applied to her handler. He had always been just Vaughn. Was she ready for him to be Michael yet?

"You love him."

Francie's statement shocked her. "I'm not sure yet how I feel," she replied.

"You do, though. You haven't used that tone of voice about anybody since Danny died."

Syd's eyes widened at her friend's strong reaction. In their house, the two subjects which were generally off limits were Danny and Charlie, and the use of Danny's name was enough to convince her that Francie meant business. How could Francie possibly be so sure that she was in love?

'Because it's written all over my face,' Sydney realized. Every time she thought about him, or saw him, or heard his voice, or said his name she got both softer and stronger inside. Meeting with him was almost always the high point of her day. Joey's Pizza calls made her grin like a fool. But more than that, Vaughn was the only person she could trust, the one person who would never betray her, the person who would always love HER unconditionally, no matter what. How could she help loving him, really?

Sydney's eyes started to tear up, and Francie, noticing, slid over on the couch and pulled Syd into a hug. "You're right, Francie. I..I do love him." The revelation both scared her and filled her with joy.

"Then what are you waiting for? Go get him, Syd!" Francie pulled back and grinned at her friend.

Syd bit her lip. "There's still protocol.."

"Syd, I see how much you care about this guy. There shouldn't be anything more important than that. Well..except me, of course."

Sydney finally grinned back. "Right as usual, Fran. I'm on my way." She jumped up and grabbed her phone, purse and coat. Then, as an afterthought, she ran back to her room to take the rose that he had given her. "I'm supposed to meet him tonight anyway. I'll just call and tell him to meet me earlier." She would call Vaughn on her cell on the way to the warehouse. Right now she just had to see him, to tell him that she loved him too. Suddenly there was nothing more important.

"Just one more question, Syd."

"Yes?" She paused, almost out the door.

Francie's grin returned as she asked, "Is he hot?"

Syd laughed out loud. "If I tried to say how hot, you wouldn't even believe me." With one last smile at her friend, Sydney closed the door and was about to walk out to her car when she ran into Will on the steps.

She didn't have to say anything at all. "Good guys or bad guys?" he queried with a smile.

"One very good guy," she replied, sure that her face would split apart if she smiled any wider. She kissed a very out of the loop Will on the cheek and darted off towards the car, pausing only to shout back to Will, "Ask Francie, she'll be dying to tell!"

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Vaughn had finally given up pacing. He sat in his most comfortable chair, completely dejected, his phone in one hand and the other absently patting Donovan on the head. This was it, he had decided. She'd turned him in. She didn't love him. He'd been a fool to think she could. After all, she had Will..

And then his phone rang.

For a moment he sat in stunned silence, then hastily answered it and brought it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hi!" It was her. It was HER! And she sounded ..happy?!

He tried to speak, but his brain didn't seem to be working. Luckily, she spoke for him.

"The warehouse, half an hour, be there."

"I will." There was nothing else to say. She wanted to see him! She didn't hate him. In just half an hour, she would be there in front of him, and he would know for sure.

His heart started beating again.

A/N- They will finally meet in the next chapter. I know that not too much happened in this chapter, but they were things that needed to happen. Please bear with me, and REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!