"Hey Syd. How are you doing?" She gave him a look.

"It's only been one week, Will. I can live without him for a while."

"I know you can Syd, but I know you must miss him."

"Of course I do. But it's only for a year, and I'll see him in six months. Until then, there's always e-mail. And phone calls and letters. And maybe accidental meetings on missions…" Will laughed.

"Wow, glad to see you don't miss him too much already." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh, shut up. I need to get to work, I'll see you tonight."

"Another late night?"

"Of course. We're still dealing with everything from the takedown." Will nodded in understanding.

"Francie and I will make something for dinner, I'll leave some out for you." Sydney raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sure making dinner is all you'll do…" Will made a face, and it was his turn to stick his tongue out.

"Get to work!" Laughing, Sydney headed out the door. When she sat down at her computer twenty minutes later, the first thing she saw was a new e-mail notification. She opened it to see that it was from Vaughn. Smiling to herself, Sydney quickly read the contents of the short note.

"Hey Syd, Spain's not too bad. Sorry I haven't had the chance to get in touch, this first week's been pretty hectic! The work, on the other hand, has been pretty dull so far. A full week, and I have yet to see a single person with bozo red hair walk in- can you believe that? Work beckons, so I'd better answer. I expect to hear from you soon!"

No longer able to hide her smile, Sydney hit the reply button. She took a moment to organize her thoughts before beginning to type her response. She had just gotten past her greeting when her father appeared. Sydney gave him a worried look.

"Should you be back at work so soon after what happened?" she asked in concern, recalling the incident with Geiger. Jack brushed off her concern.

"I'm fine. Kendall wants to see us in his office, now." With a reluctant look at her unfinished e-mail, Sydney closed the message and followed her father. They found Kendall sitting in his office, waiting somewhat patiently. He had been much easier to work with in the week since SD-6 was taken down, though Sydney continually wondered how long that transformation would last.

"Jack, Sydney," Kendall nodded to each of them in turn. "I appreciate all the hard work you each have done over the past year. But as you both know, Sloane and Sark are still out there. Until they have been apprehended, neither of you will be given new long-term assignments. Our main focus will be on capturing them. Any questions?"

"Do we have any idea where they are?" Sydney asked. Kendall shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but no. We've had no intel on Sloane's whereabouts since he disappeared from SD-6. As for Sark, you, Miss Bristow, were apparently the last person to see him."

"What about Dixon and Marshall? What's happening with them?" Jack took that one.

"Marshall has already agreed to a job with the CIA. He starts tomorrow, when he's officially cleared. Dixon will also be cleared tomorrow, but he has given no indication of accepting a CIA position." Kendall looked at Sydney as Jack finished his explanation.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to help out with that?"

"It's not that I'm not willing- I'd love to work with him again, and I'd be more than happy to do what I can to convince him to join the CIA. But I don't think he'd be very happy to see me right now." Kendall nodded.

"Alright then. We'll keep trying with him. Thank you both for stopping in." The Bristows stood and walked out. Sydney returned to her computer as Jack faded into the hallway, on his way to the former SD-6 headquarters. Sydney reopened the e-mail from Vaughn, and quickly set about replying to it. She was just getting started when Weiss tapped her computer.

"Lunch in five minutes, care to come with me?" With a light laugh, Sydney nodded.

"Sure. Just let me finish this real quick." A crooked smile touched Weiss' lips.

"Ok. Tell Vaughn I said hey."

"What makes you think it has anything to do with Vaughn?" Weiss rolled his eyes.

"Syd, I wasn't born yesterday. You don't smile like that for just anything, especially not dull CIA work." Sydney grinned.

"Ok, fine. You got me there." Weiss smiled triumphantly.

"Be back in five." She took the time allotted to write Vaughn a quick e-mail.

'Hey, glad Spain's being good to you. Don't worry about me, just take your time getting things in order over there. I'm off for lunch with Weiss, who says hi by the way. Sorry this is so short. Take care of yourself!' Sydney looked over the e-mail and sighed, promising herself she'd write a better one tomorrow. She clicked the send button, and stood up just as Weiss returned.

"Ready?" he questioned. She nodded.

"Sure. Let's go." He smiled at her and led the way out.

Now, for my lovely reviewers…

Star: Thank you, glad you liked! This whole thing will be finished by April 14th.

Ryanne: Nope, no finding other people. That's just not allowed, not for this fic anyway.

Catherine: Thank you, I appreciate the feedback! Another update will be here soon.

Nana: Yeah, the first six months will probably go by pretty fast, I think…

Chele: It's going to follow Syd more than Vaughn, so you'll definitely see what she does in the time apart.

Kimmers: Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it!

Jade: I've been told this is the happiest story I've done to date. Ironic, considering it revolves around a year-long separation…