Chapter 6
Half an hour later, Vaughn sat in the lobby. He was ostensibly waiting for Sydney. That was a joke, the woman could get dressed faster than he could, so clearly the wait was just the usual form of torture to which women subjected men, only given Syd's capabilities the torture possibilities were a little more real than most men experienced.. He heard his com unit click on. Weiss was laughing. Again. "Oooh, boy, you are in so much trouble."
"Why?"
"Here comes Sydney. Yowza." He could hear the other agents snickering in the background but couldn't see what they could due to a different vantage point. He wanted to pop them all.
Finally Vaughn could see her. Ooh boy, he was in big trouble. She had pulled her hair up loosely so that tendrils floated around her shoulders. Just a touch of makeup, except something she did to her eyes made them appear huge and her mouth looked very soft. The dress appeared to be merely a big bright pink silky scarf of some kind that she had wrapped around her body from the front, crossing in back and then bringing the ends under her arms and around her neck. She told him it was a pareu, or some such thing, he wasn't really listening, he was too busy looking. The skirt ended mid thigh and she had on 3 inch sandals. No stockings, just miles of bare legs. He was in big trouble.
He swallowed hard as she approached. Well, that was okay. Even if he were her husband, he would be gulping when he saw her approaching looking like this. Right?
Weiss said evilly, "Just think, if you'd had some guts, you'd know what she was wearing underneath that scarf thingie." Vaughn groaned.
She came to a stop in front of him. He noticed that her eyes were sparkling and the look on her face just spelled trouble. She pirouetted. "Honey, what do you think?"
"You look gorgeous," he said in all sincerity.
In his ear, Weiss added, "You can tell her we all agree." "Shut up, Weiss."
They went into dinner. She flirted mercilessly. Weiss kept saying in his ear, "You are in such trouble." He could not have said what they ate or drank. He knew that they made small talk that anyone hearing would have thought perfectly appropriate, as were the heated glances she kept throwing at him, her supposed new husband. Only he knew those glances were the equivalent of hand grenades. Then she began touching him, light, little strokes to the arm or the hand. Why was he here anyway? He had trouble remembering his mission. Thank God he was just supposed to sit still and wait for the contact. They had finished dinner, still with nothing. Shit. Weiss chortled, "Okay, this should be fun. You two need to go to the hotel club for dancing."
Vaughn excused himself to go to the men's room and meet Weiss. He looked like he was going to bust a gut from laughing. He was glad someone was having a good time. He wasn't and it didn't look like Syd.... Weiss interrupted his thoughts, "Okay, that's enough of a break. Back into the fray."
"I'm glad you are having such a good time."
"Oh, we all are."
"Wait - Weiss? What does everyone know about Syd and I?"
Weiss went silent and then spoke quietly, solemnly. "What everyone knows or thinks they know is that the two of you were a phenomenal team. That you had a connection of some kind. Lots of us figured you two were just waiting until SD-6 was a memory and then.No one could quite figure out the Alice thing. Lots of us thought it was just a cover, that maybe you and Syd were already involved and.But as for the change in handlers - no one but the three of us knows the real reason. Well and probably Jack. And Irina. We're the only ones that know that she was hurt and felt like she couldn't trust you anymore. Lots of speculation, but most people figure you two must have had some huge blowup or that Jack Bristow had you removed for being too involved, emotionally."
"You think Jack knows? And Irina?
"Yeah. Makes a guy nervous, doesn't it?"
"I don't even want to contemplate---"
"The reason why you are still alive with all body parts intact?"
"I'm not gonna deal with that right now. One Bristow out for blood is enough. But -- no one really knows that ---"
"No, Syd doesn't have to feel humiliated."
"Oh."
"You never thought of that, did you?" Now Weiss seemed angry. "You never thought of how it would make her look when people realized that you were falling all over her, figuratively speaking, and then going home to screw Alice? I still can't believe you were still going out with her when you were clearly in love with Syd. I still can't believe that Jack hasn't killed you for that date in Nice when you were still going out with Alice. I don't know what I was thinking to encourage it, except that any idiot could see there wasn't anything real between you and Alice. I thought, honestly, that you'd break up with her the next day, that you'd see the light. What was wrong with you?"
Vaughn's brain had stopped, however, at the factoid most likely to result in his death and/or dismemberment. "Jack knows about the date in Nice?"
"Jack Bristow knows everything. Which means Irina knows too probably. If that doesn't freeze your nuts, I don't know what would. Now, get back out there."
Rolling his eyes, Vaughn went back to the dance area. Syd had already snagged a table and ordered two drinks. She was leaning back with her legs crossed, which made them look even longer. Great, just what he needed. She let him take a few sips of his drink while his eyes roamed the dance area. He could do that, he was supposed to be an agent on assignment. Agents should be scanning the area for trouble, right? His reprieve was short- lived, for she tapped him lightly on the hand and said, "I think we should dance." Weiss muttered in his ear, "Let the torture begin." Vaughn was glad he was wearing the earpiece tonight. Syd didn't need any more ideas.
This one was bad enough. Geez, didn't the dj have anything but slow songs in his playlist? He knew Syd could feel his cock hardening against her -- how could she help it since she was plastered against his front song after song? He whispered, "How long are we going to dance?"
"Long enough for the contact to spot us. Why -- is this....hard....for you?" He could hear Weiss chortling evilly in his ear and vowed that somehow, someway, Weiss would pay for his amusement.
Looking down at Sydney, he sighed and then he forgot all about Weiss as his arms took over and pulled her as close as possible. She stiffened for a moment and then seemed to melt into him. Surprised he pulled back to see her face. Was this another salvo in the war? But she turned to the side and short of grabbing her jaw, he couldn't see her features. All he could see was that she was biting her lip. Again. "Syd, can we talk about this? I think we are both feeling---"
"Mike, sorry. Back to the table. The waitress is delivering something..."
The waitress brought a note with the drinks and a bottle of champagne. She told them that a gentleman at the bar had given the champagne to the "newlyweds" with his compliments and a note of congratulations.
They took the bottle back upstairs to the room, where Vaughn immediately went into Weiss' adjoining room and took a cold shower. He didn't even look at the note. He could care less about the damn note. Half an hour into the shower he smacked himself on the head. He should have followed up on that moment on the dance floor, but he had been so consumed by the need to calm down, as it were.. He jumped out, but by the time he was done, Washington and Barclay were back and teasing him about his easy assignment tonight and letting perfectly good champagne go to waste. Ha. He intended to drink the whole bottle tonight and send himself into oblivion. Someone else could be on watch.
Half an hour later, Vaughn sat in the lobby. He was ostensibly waiting for Sydney. That was a joke, the woman could get dressed faster than he could, so clearly the wait was just the usual form of torture to which women subjected men, only given Syd's capabilities the torture possibilities were a little more real than most men experienced.. He heard his com unit click on. Weiss was laughing. Again. "Oooh, boy, you are in so much trouble."
"Why?"
"Here comes Sydney. Yowza." He could hear the other agents snickering in the background but couldn't see what they could due to a different vantage point. He wanted to pop them all.
Finally Vaughn could see her. Ooh boy, he was in big trouble. She had pulled her hair up loosely so that tendrils floated around her shoulders. Just a touch of makeup, except something she did to her eyes made them appear huge and her mouth looked very soft. The dress appeared to be merely a big bright pink silky scarf of some kind that she had wrapped around her body from the front, crossing in back and then bringing the ends under her arms and around her neck. She told him it was a pareu, or some such thing, he wasn't really listening, he was too busy looking. The skirt ended mid thigh and she had on 3 inch sandals. No stockings, just miles of bare legs. He was in big trouble.
He swallowed hard as she approached. Well, that was okay. Even if he were her husband, he would be gulping when he saw her approaching looking like this. Right?
Weiss said evilly, "Just think, if you'd had some guts, you'd know what she was wearing underneath that scarf thingie." Vaughn groaned.
She came to a stop in front of him. He noticed that her eyes were sparkling and the look on her face just spelled trouble. She pirouetted. "Honey, what do you think?"
"You look gorgeous," he said in all sincerity.
In his ear, Weiss added, "You can tell her we all agree." "Shut up, Weiss."
They went into dinner. She flirted mercilessly. Weiss kept saying in his ear, "You are in such trouble." He could not have said what they ate or drank. He knew that they made small talk that anyone hearing would have thought perfectly appropriate, as were the heated glances she kept throwing at him, her supposed new husband. Only he knew those glances were the equivalent of hand grenades. Then she began touching him, light, little strokes to the arm or the hand. Why was he here anyway? He had trouble remembering his mission. Thank God he was just supposed to sit still and wait for the contact. They had finished dinner, still with nothing. Shit. Weiss chortled, "Okay, this should be fun. You two need to go to the hotel club for dancing."
Vaughn excused himself to go to the men's room and meet Weiss. He looked like he was going to bust a gut from laughing. He was glad someone was having a good time. He wasn't and it didn't look like Syd.... Weiss interrupted his thoughts, "Okay, that's enough of a break. Back into the fray."
"I'm glad you are having such a good time."
"Oh, we all are."
"Wait - Weiss? What does everyone know about Syd and I?"
Weiss went silent and then spoke quietly, solemnly. "What everyone knows or thinks they know is that the two of you were a phenomenal team. That you had a connection of some kind. Lots of us figured you two were just waiting until SD-6 was a memory and then.No one could quite figure out the Alice thing. Lots of us thought it was just a cover, that maybe you and Syd were already involved and.But as for the change in handlers - no one but the three of us knows the real reason. Well and probably Jack. And Irina. We're the only ones that know that she was hurt and felt like she couldn't trust you anymore. Lots of speculation, but most people figure you two must have had some huge blowup or that Jack Bristow had you removed for being too involved, emotionally."
"You think Jack knows? And Irina?
"Yeah. Makes a guy nervous, doesn't it?"
"I don't even want to contemplate---"
"The reason why you are still alive with all body parts intact?"
"I'm not gonna deal with that right now. One Bristow out for blood is enough. But -- no one really knows that ---"
"No, Syd doesn't have to feel humiliated."
"Oh."
"You never thought of that, did you?" Now Weiss seemed angry. "You never thought of how it would make her look when people realized that you were falling all over her, figuratively speaking, and then going home to screw Alice? I still can't believe you were still going out with her when you were clearly in love with Syd. I still can't believe that Jack hasn't killed you for that date in Nice when you were still going out with Alice. I don't know what I was thinking to encourage it, except that any idiot could see there wasn't anything real between you and Alice. I thought, honestly, that you'd break up with her the next day, that you'd see the light. What was wrong with you?"
Vaughn's brain had stopped, however, at the factoid most likely to result in his death and/or dismemberment. "Jack knows about the date in Nice?"
"Jack Bristow knows everything. Which means Irina knows too probably. If that doesn't freeze your nuts, I don't know what would. Now, get back out there."
Rolling his eyes, Vaughn went back to the dance area. Syd had already snagged a table and ordered two drinks. She was leaning back with her legs crossed, which made them look even longer. Great, just what he needed. She let him take a few sips of his drink while his eyes roamed the dance area. He could do that, he was supposed to be an agent on assignment. Agents should be scanning the area for trouble, right? His reprieve was short- lived, for she tapped him lightly on the hand and said, "I think we should dance." Weiss muttered in his ear, "Let the torture begin." Vaughn was glad he was wearing the earpiece tonight. Syd didn't need any more ideas.
This one was bad enough. Geez, didn't the dj have anything but slow songs in his playlist? He knew Syd could feel his cock hardening against her -- how could she help it since she was plastered against his front song after song? He whispered, "How long are we going to dance?"
"Long enough for the contact to spot us. Why -- is this....hard....for you?" He could hear Weiss chortling evilly in his ear and vowed that somehow, someway, Weiss would pay for his amusement.
Looking down at Sydney, he sighed and then he forgot all about Weiss as his arms took over and pulled her as close as possible. She stiffened for a moment and then seemed to melt into him. Surprised he pulled back to see her face. Was this another salvo in the war? But she turned to the side and short of grabbing her jaw, he couldn't see her features. All he could see was that she was biting her lip. Again. "Syd, can we talk about this? I think we are both feeling---"
"Mike, sorry. Back to the table. The waitress is delivering something..."
The waitress brought a note with the drinks and a bottle of champagne. She told them that a gentleman at the bar had given the champagne to the "newlyweds" with his compliments and a note of congratulations.
They took the bottle back upstairs to the room, where Vaughn immediately went into Weiss' adjoining room and took a cold shower. He didn't even look at the note. He could care less about the damn note. Half an hour into the shower he smacked himself on the head. He should have followed up on that moment on the dance floor, but he had been so consumed by the need to calm down, as it were.. He jumped out, but by the time he was done, Washington and Barclay were back and teasing him about his easy assignment tonight and letting perfectly good champagne go to waste. Ha. He intended to drink the whole bottle tonight and send himself into oblivion. Someone else could be on watch.