Chapter 4: Palermo's

"Whoa!" She smiled at the person who she had bumped into.

"Dad! What are you doing here? I thought you were going on a mission today?"

Her father looked quizzically at her. "What gave you that impression Sydney? I never said anything of the sort to you."

Sydney grinned at him, "Are you sure, Dad? You might be forgetting in your old age."

Jack pursed his lips, trying not to smile. Something was weird about her daughter though. She usually wasn't the type to joke around the workplace. "Or perhaps it is your memory that's at fault Agent Bristow." He cocked his eyebrow at her expression. "No, seriously Sydney. What are you doing here? You don't have authorization to be in this section of the facilities." *And why are you so happy?*

He wanted to add that part to the end of his sentence but didn't, knowing her daughter would use it to bite his head off about why she couldn't just be happy. The wiles of one's daughters. But she did look different. She almost seemed to glow with some sort of inner happiness. He almost felt himself grow happier in the light of his daughter's smile until he remembered what she reminded him of. Irina's face had glowed just like that when the nurse had placed Sydney in her arms for the first time.

The look on her face was probably the reason why he had taken such a long time for him to convince himself that she hadn't loved him. Them. He loved that look of softness but hated it at the same time. He couldn't forgive Irina for what she had done to his emotions. Now he couldn't even see his own daughter happy without feeling resentment for his ex-wife.

"Oh. . . well, I was just looking around. You know, getting acquainted with the place." Sydney blushed furiously. *I wasn't snooping for backgrounds of civilians. I promise. I'm a good girl; why would I ever sneak into the computer room and look up records of anonymous hot men with the initials MV?*

It was a good thing Jack was preoccupied. Had he been in his usual state of alertness, he would've seen the sudden flush of his daughter's cheeks and the slightly girlish tone of her voice. . . the one she used when she was trying to change the topic and get away with something.

"Okay. Anyway, I was going to find you after I delivered a message anyway so why don't you stay here."

Sydney looked at her father, "Why, what do you want to tell me?"

"Well, remember how your handler couldn't make it to the meeting yesterday?"

She nodded her head. Yesterday was also the day at the hardware store. Yesterday was the day Michael Vaughn had swept in and saved the day. Well. . . saved the day for her anyway. Wow. He was hot.

"Well, he's coming today for sure. In about 3 hours at the old warehouse all right? He'll fill you in on all the details. Oh, and I basically told you everything I was going to tell you so you don't have to wait anymore." He finished talking and strutted away, exuding professionalism. Sydney suppressed a smile. Her father could be quite funny.

She walked out to her car, planning on using her free 3 hours to her advantage. As she walked towards it, she saw something fluttering on the windshield. What the hell is that? She picked it up. *Palermo's. A New Café opened near YOU. Try fine Italian cuisine at low prices. Open every day from 10 am to 9 pm. Hmmm, sounds interesting. And I'm hungry. What the hell, let's give it a try. I mean, it's not like anything else as exciting as this will happen in my lifetime.*

She put her key into the ignition and pulled out of the space. The café was only 3 blocks away and hadn't attracted many new customers, much to her delight. It's not that she had anything against new restaurants or anything but less people meant more open tables and for now, she wanted silence where she could think. . . about certain men who saved her who also possessed green eyes and dirty blond hair. *Whoa girl, save it for the café.*

The waiter sat her at a table quickly and was a bit overeager to take her order and cater to any other desires. *Hmm, slow day is it?* She grinned at her own wit. Yeah, she was one of those people who laughed at their own jokes. But hey, if no one else was going to, why not? She got bored waiting and realized that she didn't have a lot to think about. The whole hardware episode had only taken about 5 minutes of her life and she didn't want to start any fantasies in a nearly-empty café. God, that would be the orgasm from When Harry met Sally all over again. Though she figured that Michael Vaughn would be good in. . . whatever he set his mind to doing. She shut her eyes and allowed herself a tidbit. A tidbit in a café wasn't bad. It was like a flirt, just a taste of what could happen but much less embarrassing.

She imagined his voice, husky and low. "Hey, I didn't think I'd be seeing you again." She almost sighed but stopped herself. She had gotten the timbre and pitch of his voice just right.

Too right. She had never been able to imagine anything so real before. Her breath caught in her throat and she warily opened one eye and, after quickly swallowing the tic tac in her mouth, opened the other. "Michael!"

TBC. Haha, you guys thought she ran into Vaughn in the beginning of the story didn't you? Lol, thanks for your reviews, they're great. Keep writing them. (Yes, that is an order.)