Disclaimer: I own it ALL!! ALL!! HA HA HA HA HA *

Rating: PG-13 for language, slight violence and a bitta smut.

Sydney walked slowly into the CIA office, rubbing her eyes and straightening the lapels of her navy blue Chanel jacket. She scowled as she looked down at the wrinkles, but there was nothing she could do about it. Diane's funeral had been that morning, and after delivering an eulogy that had brought most of the audience to tears, she'd run off to the security of her own home and spent over an hour curled up on the sofa, crying over her mother's picture.

Two hours later, she'd erased the circles under her eyes with a thick coat of Cover Girl, and reduced the tear-induced swelling with an application of cucumber and ice water, but nothing could erase the hollow look on her face. Vaughn noticed it as soon as he walked in the door. "You okay?" he asked, quietly, stepping up close to her. The agents around them averted their eyes.

"I think so. Where's Dixon?"

"I saw him going into conference with Kendall and your father around four- didn't think he was coming in today, though."

"Neither did I." she gave him a peck on the cheek and headed off in the direction of Dixon's desk.

She didn't see him sitting there, but she did see a half-finished cup of coffee and Marshall, who was tossing some things from the top of his desk into a plastic Gap bag. She sneaked up behind him. "Um....Marshall?"

Marshall jumped up about ten feet, dropping the contents of the bag on the floor. He scrambled to pick them up.

"Oh...Marshall, I'm sorry." She knelt to help him, then cocked one eyebrow. "Why are you in Dixon's desk in the first place?"

"Well........" Marshall looked uncomfortable for a minute, then bumbled on. "Mr. Dixon was cleaning out the desk....personal photos and stuff from before...you know, the accident, so I offered to do it." He paused and looked at his feet. "Figured it was the least I could do, y'know?"

Sydney smiled, touched his shoulder lightly, and left the room. She caught sight of Dixon in the corridor ahead, still dressed impeccably in the dark Armani he'd worn for the morning funeral, his face tight. Jack was standing opposite him, the expression on his face mirroring Dixon's. Sydney approached quietly, so as to interrupt when she heard a break, and she caught the ending half of a very interesting conversation.

"....have anyone you can send them to?" Kendall was asking.

"My brother in Oregon, Alistair Dixon," Dixon answered.

"The CIA has no record of him as a family member of yours." Kendall said, in a surprised tone.

"You do, under the name Father Samuel Grant. He legally changed his name years ago, when he was eighteen. My parents weren't too keen on his taking the priesthood, and he left Minnesota that same year. He lives in a small town outside Portland, very quiet place. He'd be happy to take them."

Kendall lost his voice for a moment, undoubtedly shocked at the very idea of his precious CIA's not knowing something. Characteristically, however, he found it in less than half a minute. "So you've been lying on your background check."

"No," Dixon's voice was frayed, indicating his waning patience. "I haven't exactly been ASKed if I have any family members who took the priesthood, changed their names, and moved to Oregon on my background check, to the best of my knowledge."

Kendall opened his mouth but was cut off sharply by Jack. "What Dixon did with his background check is irrelevant," he snapped. "Please go on, Agent Dixon."

Dixon ignored the dirty look that Kendall shot Jack and continued accordingly. "If my children have to go into witness protection, I'd rather it be with someone I know. If I can't speak to them for months or even years, I want them to be with someone I trust, who'll raise them right."

"Are you close to your brother?" Jack asked.

"Not as much as I should be, perhaps...but I trust him infinitely."

Kendall broke in again. "Impossible. Witness protection policy states that- "

Jack cut him off again. "Actually, Agent Kendall, think of the advantages. Agent Dixon's children will be with a relative, and if the CIA knew nothing of him, I think there's a very slim possibility that anyone else will. SD-6 knew nothing, according to its employee files. Both will become Grants, no questions asked, due to Mr. Grant's present surname."

"Who will they be?"

"Long-lost nephew and niece, of course," Jack was warming to his subject. "They already know Mr. Grant as their uncle, I'm assuming?"

"He sends them cards every year, and money and things on their birthdays," Dixon replied. "They've never actually met him, though. I haven't seen him since before they were born, myself."

Jack nodded. "Except for the change of name, they should adjust well. We'll need to do a background check on your brother and get him to sign some things, but otherwise-"

"When are we going after Sloane?"

Jack blinked. "Excuse me?"

Dixon raised his eyes upward and repeated himself, talking VERY slowly. "I said, When. Are. We. Going. After----"

"I heard you." Jack gave him an irritated look. "Agent Dixon, we still haven't proven it's him, and-"

"Bullshit." Sydney flinched at the sound of his voice, as well as his choice of language. "You KNOW he did it."

"Dixon, it's not as simple as that. We have a team going in, and-"

"The same 'team' that took down SD-6 ONLY after a decade and a half?" Dixon's voice had grown harsh and sarcastic, rising with every syllable. "PLEASE." He tossed up his hands.

"Agent Dixon, please calm yourself...."

"Excuse me, please." Dixon stalked down the hall, followed by Kendall, who was hopping along trying to catch him at quite an undignified pace.

Sydney sucked in her breath and tried to make a hasty exit, but wasn't quick enough. Jack nearly crashed into her. He gave her a tense look and hurried off into the other direction, obviously harried. Sydney twisted first to the left, then to the right, trying to decide whether to go to her father, or to Dixon. She hurried off after Jack, bursting into his office.

"Um, Dad?" Jack was typing at something, seemingly not hearing. "Dad?" she moved closer. "DAD!"

He jumped slightly, but regained his composure in less than a second. "Sydney. You startled me."

"Dad," Sydney sat on one of the office chairs. "What's going on with Dixon now?"

Jack barely looked up. "Eavesdroppers seldom hear good of themselves," he quipped dryly.

Sydney gave him a put-out look. "Dad..."

Jack looked up and sighed. "Sydney, I know you're concerned," he said. "Dixon has been a fine partner to you, as well as a close friend, and I want to assure you that we're doing everything we can."

"Dad," Sydney's voice was tight. "Please don't coddle me." She looked down at her hands, knotted tightly in her lap. "You know, all this stuff that has happened? I somehow always bring it back to Mom. If she hadn't...." she shook her head, unable to speak.

Jack looked at her intently for a long moment; then he spoke. "You really can't think that, can you?"

"What?"

"Sloane is an evil man, Sydney. He did what he felt he had to do in order to get revenge for Emily's death. I doubt your mother had anything to do with it."

Sydney stared at her father in shock at this unexpected defense of her mother, silent. He paused for a minute; then continued. "Agent Dixon is...very grieved, as one might expect. The man is enraged, Sydney. I believe that if he had a chance to kill Sloane, he would....in spite of any and ALL consequences. I'm worried for his mental health, especially in the field."

Sydney found her voice. "What do you mean, 'in the field?' He just buried his wife this morning. He can't be back at work already."

"He is. He told me that he wants to be involved in any missions against Sloane, and he isn't taking time off until the man is brought to justice. I fear that his passion may compromise his effectiveness. His focus is warped."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, that instead of hunting Sloane for the good of the United States, he's hunting him for personal reasons. That may cloud his judgment."

Sydney gave her father an incredulous look. "Dad, I'm sorry to say this, but that is the MOST hypocritical statement I've ever heard you make. Why do you think I'M going after Sloane? It IS a personal hunt, Dad. And what about you? You always are-"

Jack halted his daughter's outburst with an outstretched palm. "Sydney Lauren Bristow!" he said in a frustrated tone. "First of all, PLEASE refrain from raising your voice while in my office, and-"

He halted, and Sydney froze as well, both of them coming to the same realization. Jack hadn't called Sydney by her full name in over eleven years.

Shocked into silence, Sydney could only stare, and Jack continued in a forcibly milder tone. "I mean, Sydney," he said, "surely you have heard of Newton's third law of motion?"

"To every action, there is a visible reaction," Sydney said without a hint of sarcasm. "But I don't see what that has to do with-"

Jack cut her off smoothly. "I'm worried about Dixon's reaction, Sydney. It's inevitable. It's coming. I want to protect him as well as protect the integrity of this agency."

Sydney stood up, signaling the end of their conversation. "I'm going to find him and talk to him."

Jack shook his head slightly, but didn't attempt to stop her. "Please tell Dixon to report for psychiatric evaluation with Dr. Barrett in twenty minutes, when you see him."

"The man just buried his wife today. You can't possibly think of-"

"If he can report to work today, he can be evaluated today," Jack said, his clipped tone betraying his building impatience. "Please obey my request."

Sydney stood and banged open the door as she exited, but she went to find Vaughn first. Standing in a small alcove outside her office, she told him everything. "They're never going to let him help them find her," she concluded. "Dixon will never be at peace until he's caught."

"It'll be okay," Vaughn said, softly, not knowing what other comfort to give her. He bent and kissed her on the lips gently, first tracing them with a finger. "I really love you, you know that?" he murmured.

Sydney smiled in spite of her anxiety. "Yes," she said. "I do." She leaned in for another kiss, glad for the slight privacy the alcove gave them. Vaughn's hands began to trail from her face to her shoulders.

They were interrupted when Weiss walked by, looking in the other direction. "Watch out, kids," he muttered. "Kendall coming in five..four....three....two...." Kendall appeared just as the two managed to pull apart. "Agent Bristow," Kendall said, looking furious, "have you seen Agent Dixon?"

"Um, no. what's wrong?"

"He went MIA when he found out about the evaluation Dr. Barrett has to give him before he can resume work. We can't find him now." He looked at the pair suspiciously, as if they might have had something to do with it. When both faces looked completely blank, he gave them a disgusted look. "If you see him, put him under a citizen's arrest until we get to him." With that, he stalked down the hall.

Sydney sighed and headed for her desk.

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* I DON'T "OWN IT ALL,"- I WAS UNDER THE INFLUENCE WHEN I WROTE THAT.