Sydney walked into the warehouse the next morning tired and tetchy. She hadn't got to sleep till 4 o clock and then had snapped at Francie on the way out of the house. Recovering her composure she sent her a conciliatory text apologising. Travelling across the world then being kept awake half the night was not good for your complexion. She hated her job and her lifestyle with a passion. All of this was forgotten when she reached the cage. Vaughn was sat, slumped over. He looked awful. His eyes were red he had large dark circles under his eyes.

            "Vaughn?" she asked softly "are you ok?"

            "Fine" he got up and shook himself slightly "how was your mission."

            "Vaughn you are obviously not fine. Look at you. You're tense, tired and you look so depressed. Is this because of last night?" She moved to stand closer to him.

            "Partly" he answered avoiding her eyes" "Alice and I broke up"

            "Vaughn, I'm sorry."

            "Don't be it wasn't love. It went on for longer than it should have any way. How was your mission?"

            "Vaughn, I really do think we should talk."

            "Sydney, I just want to get on with my job, bring down SD6 then you can have a normal life."

            "But if you ill or depressed, you can't do your job properly then it will take longer."            "What is there to talk about?" Vaughn sighed deeply. It touched Sydney acutely. She sat down and beckoned for him to join her."

            "You and Alice, you and my mother, you and me"

            "I don't know if I've got the energy any more."

            "Vaughn, I'll help you. You've been so different since you went to see my mother. I have no idea how difficult it must have been for you to go and see your father's murderer. And I know that you did it to help me." Sydney paused to look how he was responding. His beautiful green eyes were filled with pain they shimmered slightly. Sydney reached out and held his hand.

            "Sydney, I would do anything to help you. Meeting Irina was hard but I don't think I'll have to do it again; she seemed annoyed that it was I and not you that went to see her."

            "Vaughn, you don't I'll do it next time."

            "Sydney you can't compartmentalise this. I thought I could but it is so hard. Don't do it unless you have to."

Sydney looked directly at Vaughn his eyes were like swirling tumultuous, turbulent, troubled seas. On instinct she reached out and pulled him into a hug. He was solid, unmoving.

            "Oh my God he can't even bring himself to touch me now. All because of who my mother is."

He suddenly relaxed and almost collapsed into her embrace. He gripped her as if she was a life jacket the only thing keeping him afloat.

            "Sydney we've got to do the debriefing." He extracted himself from her embrace. "But can you stay after and we can talk some more please."

            "Of course" she said softly.

            "The disk you retrieved from Qatar does show SD6 links with rouge middle eastern governments. The CIA has passed the intel on. You did well Syd."

            "What are they going to do with the intel?"

            "Stop a arms shipment, which is good news for our troops out there."

            "Is that it?"

            "Yeah but I can't neglect company business just because I'm upset."

            "Vaughn the CIA is so lucky to have you. You are so dedicated. I'm lucky to have you." He brightened slightly.

            "Thank you Sydney. The CIA is lucky to have you. Without you we wouldn't have made so much progress."

            "Vaughn why don't you ask for some time off? I think you need some time to relax and leave the company behind for a bit; get away from it all."

            "I can't Sydney SD6 has been sending you on so many missions this is a crucial time."

            "I can look after myself! You don't have to be here all the time"

            "I don't trust any one else with your safety, what if something happened to you while I wasn't here."

            "The CIA might be lucky to have you but there are others capable of looking after me I'm not that special. Weiss could look after me."

            "Your wrong." He looked up

            "No Weiss could look after me. He seems to be a really good agent."

            "No" he smiled at her misapprehension. "You are special. Very special." He looked down embarrassed that he'd said something so personal. Sydney was struck dumb for a moment. It was the most personal thing he'd ever said.

            "Thank you Vaughn. You do know if it hadn't been for you I would have never got this far. I would have been dead or cracked up long ago." Sydney said genuinely touched. "I think you're very special as well too. You've been so good to me since all I ever do is complain and moan. And you've never once held it against me about my mother and…" she trailed off, as if she didn't want to acknowledge her mothers awful deeds.

            "Sydney I know I have no right to ask you this but as I was leaving your mot.. I mean Iriana said something about my dad."

            "How did she know it was your dad?"

            "She just knew."

            "Do you want me to ask her?"

            "No Syd there's no point going to see her unless it's absolutely necessary. But I was wondering if you could ask your dad?" He looked at the floor sheepishly.

            "Of course I will. After all you've done for me and all you've put yourself through for me. Going to see my mum for my sake was above and beyond the call of duty so it would almost be a pleasure. What do you want to know?"

            "Anything what he was like at work, if he was well liked, respected if he was close to your dad or mum, if he was a good agent."

            "If he was anything like you are, he would have been the best."

            "Thanks Syd." He smiled slightly but his eyes didn't quite lose their sadness.

Sydney's pager bleeped, shattering the calm of the room and breaking the atmosphere. Vaughn stood up suddenly.

            "It's Sloane. Looks like I'm off again. I might be seeing you this afternoon. I'll speak to my dad as soon as I can."

            "Thank Syd."

There was a slightly awkward atmosphere in the room after the morning's deep conversation. On impulse Sydney reached up and pulled him in to a tight hug.

            "See you later Vaughn."

She turned and walked away. It took all her self-control not to run back and embrace him again.

********

Vaughn sat down on a wooden storage crate. His insides were in turmoil. Half of him was ecstatic that he'd been so close to Sydney, some of him was gutted thinking about his dad and a bit more was angry and frustrated at her life and that he would never know if she loved him back. It took all his self-control not to call her name and sweep her up in his embrace and kiss her. He sat and thought for another half an hour before getting up to return to the rotunda. And when he did he was still thinking about Sydney.

********

Sydney sat in the briefing room thinking about Vaughn. She wondered why he had broken up with Alice. Had they been having trouble for a bit? She realised how little she knew about him and his life. She didn't even know his address. On the other hand he knew everything about her. Her schedule and her life, her friends and family. Even though she knew nothing about him, she still loved him. She was going mad inside because she needed to tell him. She knew it was dangerous and was scared at his reaction but if she told him and he didn't feel the same then at least one portion of her life would have some form of certainty. She didn't know what was worse. If he didn't reciprocate then she would die but if he did protocol said nothing could happen.

            "Sydney" a crisp voice broke into her discourse.

            "Sorry Mr Sloane. I was miles away." She stood up and forced herself to smile at him then said hello to Marshall behind him.

            "Well this briefing will have to be very brief, I am expecting a phone call." He smiled at his own joke. "Sydney you're flying solo on this one. You're to fly to Paris tonight; you're to plant a tracker onto Sark who will be meeting Khanasinu. Your cover is a nightclub singer. I'll hand you over to Marshall to explain the tech. Good day Sydney" without waiting for a response. As Marshall explained the tech Sydney phased out.

*******

Vaughn sat at his desk in his officer absent-mindedly staring into space. Tapping his pen to no particular rhythm.

            "Mike"

Vaughn carried on tapping his pen.

            "Mike"

Vaughn sighed

            "Mike. Aliens from Pluto have eaten Bristow."

That woke him up "Did you say something about Sydney" he jumped out of his seat.

Weiss laughed. "You have got it bad mate."

            "What? got what bad?"

            "You can't kid a kidder!" Weiss laughed "She's handed in her mission, you've got to get the counter mission and then meet her in half an hour at the warehouse."

Vaughn's heart speeded up at the prospect of seeing Syd but he was slightly worried that he was that transparent.

*******

Sydney sat in the warehouse half an hour later. She was filing her nails and casually checked out her appearance in a compact mirror. She had to look ok for when Vaughn arrived.

            "Hi" he appeared out of nowhere. She saw his eyes quickly track up her body and take in her tight suit pants and bare arms where she had removed her jacket. She looked away slightly embarrassed.

            "Hi"

The awkwardness was back between them. He knew she'd seen him look at her but he couldn't help himself.

            "I'm flying solo on this one. Dixon's on leave."

            "Well the tech guys have come up with this. It will let SD6 hear what we want. Its quiet clever. What's your cover on this one."

            "I'm a…." not quite wanting to say "a nightclub singer"

            "Oh, well erm oh I'm coming with you. I'm going to be in the club. So if you have any problems give me the nod."

            "How big are the support crews for something like this?"

            "Well there's me and at least one other agent in the club. Then Weiss and Preston on the CCTV plus some tech guys.

            "Right just wondered. Vaughn?"

            "Yeah Syd,"

            "Why did you break up with Alice? You don't have to tell me but you've been together for so long I thought it was serious."

            "No. It was but I didn't love her we were both lazy. The catalyst was how she spoke in the restaurant. She was well out of order. It wouldn't have lasted much longer. She hated my job, she never understood about my job. She wanted to try to get into my work, she didn't get that I had to keep them separate." What a contradiction he thought. Sydneys my work and I don't want to keep her separate.

            "When I saw you together last night I was shocked. I didn't realise how pretty she was." Sydney looked at Vaughn. "I'm sorry Vaughn. Francie wasn't fussed about the abuse. In fact I think she did do it on purpose."

            "She did? Why?" Vaughn looked genuinely surprised.

            "She said that she saw you checking me out and she wanted to engineer a meeting. Sadly it didn't quite go as planned. She was certain that if she could engineer a meeting you'd sweep me of my feet." After seeing the way he looked at her as she walked in she was less sure that Francie had been imagining it. Sydney and Vaughn both stood still just looking at each other. She wanted to be swept off her feet by him and he wanted to sweep her off her feet but neither knew what the other was thinking. "She gets these daft ideas sometimes."

            "Why's that daft?" Vaughn asked sharply

            "Well not daft that you would look at a girl but daft you would be checking me out because that's daft." Sydney desperately back peddled.

Vaughn laughed again at her misapprehension. She was so clever but at times remarkably dense. He reasoned with himself. Until today as he walked in he has only ever sneaked furtive glances. Today he couldn't help himself. She was always on his mind.

            "Oh shit!"

            "Syd, what is it?"

            "I've got to go and pack. I leave in an hour."

            "I'll see you in Paris."

Sydney turned and walked away. Vaughn gathered up his papers and left the warehouse. The irony that they were going to Paris, city of love and the capital of his ancestor's homeland wasn't lost him.

*******

As she drove home to pack Sydney blushed violently. She just realised she'd told Vaughn what Francie had said. She then focused. "What do nightclub singers wear?"

*******

Vaughn sat at the bar of the nightclub and looked at his drink. They were always told to order real drinks to look real but never to get drunk. Vaughn checked his com link and said

            "Mountaineer, com operational."

            "Mountaineer com operational." Sydney's voice poured into his ear. "I look really daft. Don't fall of your chair laughing, you'll give me away." He heard her take a deep breath and then the lights went down.

The MC boomed, "Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome our entertainment for tonight the seductive soundings of Marié Vallete."

Applause engulfed the room. Vaughn heard Sydney steel herself with a deep breath and then a woman appeared on stage. She had a dark curly wig on and heavy kholed eyes. It took him a minute to reconcile the gorgeous but overtly sexy women on stage with stunning sensuous Sydney Bristow. Then he fell of his chair with a clatter. Every one in the nightclub saw him. And so did Sydney. In is ear he heard Weiss hooting with laughter

            "Nice one Mike!"

As he flamed red he climbed back onto his stool, put his head in his hands and ordered another drink.

********

Sydney stood backstage steeling herself for the performance ahead. She had to touch Sark. Just the thought sent shudders down her spine.

            "Mountaineer com operational." Vaughn's soft voice buzzed into her ear and replaced the shudders for a warm longing.

            "Mountaineer com operational" she whispered back. "I look really daft. Don't fall of your chair laughing, you'll give me away." She looked down at herself. She had a black curly wig on and heavy black make up. Her outfit was tight black short and tarty. She hated the thought of Vaughn seeing her in this garb. Taking another deep breath she signalled her readiness to the MC.

            "Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome out entertainment for tonight the seductive soundings of Marié Vallete."

She walked onto stage to the sound of applause. She heard Vaughn suck in a breath. Then he fell off his chair with a bang.

In her ear she heard Weiss guffaw "Nice on Mike!"

Momentarily ever one looked away from her. She began to sing slowly and levelly the French love song. In her ear she heard Vaughn sigh.

            "Concentrate " she ordered herself. She began the descent towards Sark. Smiling at him, she traced the line of his face with her hand. She smiled and ran her hand across Khanasinu neck smiling at a customer at the bar. She managed to quell the urge to throttle Khanasinu. She walked back to the stage and sat down as she took one last look at the audience the lights went down.

*********