Chapter 2: On the Inside
Sydney looked out the window and grinned at the sight. It was a small house, very cozy looking, and she realized that all it needed was a white picket fence in order for it to embody the American Dream. Well, that and a beautiful wife with a bunch of equally beautiful and talented kids. But knowing Vaughn, that was only a hop, skip, and jump away. She turned to look at him and saw the worry lines deepen in his forehead.
"What's the matter, Vaughn?" She couldn't help but want to smooth his forehead. She wanted him to laugh.
Instead, he turned towards her, his face masked with fear.
"Sydney, I think I wasn't really in
control of myself until just now. What the hell was I thinking? Who the hell
cares about discomfort at a time like this? Of course Devlin could fire us!
What the hell would stop him? We aren't the only two good agents in the CIA.
Sydney, do you realize where we are? We're at MY house. You're not supposed to
know where I live. And how are you going to get home? Then I'll know where you
live! Sydney! I'm you're handler. You're handler and nothing else." Great
little speech there, Vaughny. What? Vaughny again? I thought we, well, me and
I, discussed this already. I'm MICHAEL. Or VAUGHN. No Y. Ever. Whoa, talk about
digression. What is wrong with me? Oh yeah. Vaughn, just keep telling yourself
that there's nothing else there. Of course there isn't any chemistry. Of course
I don't want to look into her eyes forever. What is wrong with me? Did I even
leave the pin here by accident? What am I talking about? Of course I did. Argh.
The look of shock on Sydney's face was almost enough to make
him flush. Almost.
"Whoa, Vaughn. Calm down. I'm really sorry, I had no idea you felt this
strongly. And I can't believe that I didn't see what was coming and prevent you
from compromising your position. And Vaughn, you live so far away that I
couldn't remember where you lived if a tried," Okay, a little white lie
never hurt anyone. Even though it could in this case but that's not the point.
"You can drop me off at the warehouse,
my car's parked there. I mean, I had to have some means of transportation
right? You don't have to know where I live. And even if you did, I would trust
that you wouldn't come by and kidnap me or something. See, everything's
settled. I won't even go into your house. I'll close my eyes. Get the pin, I'll
take it, call a taxi, and everything will be swell all right? Oh, and one more
thing you were wrong about. You're not just my handler. You're my friend."
She smiled softly at his slightly relieved expression and closed her eyes complacently.
"All right. What's done is done. Just don't become some mad stalker all right?" He grinned. Okay, he's back to his easygoing personality. Or at least he is easy going at the moment. Well, he's not exactly Mr. Relaxed either. Just more, well, more like the person she envisioned him to be in her mind. God knew he wasn't like that all the time.
Sydney grinned, "Do you really think that I wouldn't be able to resist you if I saw where you lived Agent Vaughn? I'm sure you have many women swooning in the streets as you pass by but I'm a strong woman and it'll take more than the information of a place of residence to get me to become a stalker!" She laughed, barely able to get out the last sentence. The tension was gone. "Besides, Vaughn, what makes you so irresistible anyway? For all you know, you could be the completely wrong type of guy for me."
"Ouch," Vaughn replied, touching his chest with his hand, "that went right to the heart, Syd. You really know how to attack a guy's ego." I suppose I just assumed that because I know I wouldn't be able to resist you. Not that I'd become a stalker or anything. God that would be scary. It's just that you are the women of my dreams. He saw her shiver suddenly. "Are you cold? Here, come inside for some coffee. 5 minutes tops and then you can call a taxi."
Sydney could barely nod her head. Had she really heard what she thought she heard? She knew that if she had, it had been through no fault of his. They were both nearly comatose from the mission in Venice last week. She herself had let herself go talking in her sleep about some pie a couple weeks ago after Taipei. She knew then that Vaughn had done exactly what she herself had, though he was in an awakened state. "I wouldn't be able to resist you. Woman of my dreams." The statement was said so softly that the wind outside rivaled its volume. But it pierced through to her ears anyway. And went straight for her heart.
She opened the door and walked to the entrance of his house. He opened the door and quickly disappeared into the room. The kitchen was easy enough to find and she soon saw that there was no more coffee and knew that she would have to fix that problem. She was just turning the coffee machine on when Vaughn came out with the pin in hand.
"What's the pin for?" She asked innocently, chuckling to herself.
"What? Sydney! Were you paying any attention at all to what I was saying?" His eyes were humongous. Peals of her laughter let him in on the joke and he chuckled ruefully along with her. Worry still stayed in his mind. "Here, I'll get the phonebook for that cab."
"Okay," she replied. Vaughn was frustrated and anxious as it was. She wasn't going to add to it by suggesting he drive her to the warehouse. Besides, then he would have to drive back and that was even more of an inconvenience than his original idea. Vaughn left the room and Sydney's eye left to the mantel.
Twenty, maybe thirty pictures, all in simple frames, clustered on top of it. Here was Michael, maybe 5 years ago, smiling hugely at some wedding. And here, him with an older woman who somehow managed to look like Michael without losing any femininity at all. If Michael was a girl… She grinned at her own little thoughts. Her eyes roamed over all the pictures, finally settling on pictures from his childhood. And that's when her breath stopped.
TBC…
