* * * * *
Sydney almost dropped the gallon of milk she was putting into the fridge. "What are you doing here Kelsey? I thought you had work?"
"Well, I was at work until your dad came and got me." Kelsey earnestly said, moving into the living room.
Sydney laughed a little. "My. Dad. Came. And. Got. You." She said, as if the words were foreign to her lips. "Is this some kind of joke? Why would you go and get Kelsey, dad?"
"Well, Elizabeth here,"
"Wait a second!" Sydney held up her hands and stopped all conversation. "Are you going to tell me that Kelsey is really Elizabeth, and the SD-7 asset that you were talking about?"
Both nodded. "Only I wasn't SD-7. That was just a good cover for my alias. I am and always will be 100% CIA." Elizabeth walked over to Sydney and held out her hand. "Hi. I'm Elizabeth Garden." Sydney took her hand and shook it.
"Why didn't you tell me? I told you."
"Did you ever wonder how I accepted who you really were so well?" Sydney stood there unsure of how to react. Sure she had always expected for people not to take her profession very well. But never had she imagined that she would be on the receiving end of it. "Listen. When you told me, I almost burst out laughing. I wanted to tell you, but that would get me in trouble, and all I could do was think, 'at least it's not me that just blew my cover.' When you showed me your file, I wanted to reach into my desk and show you my own. But that wouldn't have been a smart move by any stretch of the imagination."
"So what did you do to enter the witness protection program?" Sydney asked.
"Oh, I didn't enter. I'm on assignment. I have to make sure that the people that live in the area that are part of the program keep their cover."
"What?" Sydney asked, thoroughly confused.
"They call them guardians." Jack answered. "You were briefed on them when you got your bag."
Sydney thought for a moment, as she attempted to remember. "Oh yeah. I was told that we weren't to meet our guardians."
"Wasn't supposed to. But then, you didn't know what was supposed to happen. So we just let it flow. It was all Jack's doing. Kendall wasn't too keen on the idea, but by the end of the day, your father had him convinced."
"Thanks you guys." Sydney said, rushing over to give them both large hugs.
"It has been really great being your friend Syd. I was tempted when they first found out about our friendship to quit because you didn't know, and you didn't have to know. I would have kept up with the whole Kelsey thing, and I still do. Elizabeth Garden died. But I would have been able to be friends with who ever I wanted to be friends with. In case you haven't noticed, the CIA has some pretty strict rules."
Sydney gave a small chuckle. "Yeah, I've noticed."
Jack's cell phone rang, and he excused himself to go answer it. Elizabeth quickly disappeared from the picture, leaving Kelsey behind. Kelsey turned to her best friend. "So, I see you've already seen Michael with wonderful news." She joked.
"Of course. He was getting lunch when my dad told me, but we told him the second he got back."
"How did he take it?" Kelsey asked, eager to know more.
Sydney smiled, and reached into her pocket, putting the ring on, but she hid her hand from her friend. "Well, he was as ecstatic as I was, and then he gave me this." Sydney held out her hand. Kelsey took it and squealed.
"Oh my God! This is amazing Sydney! And this is so gorgeous."
"I knew it was coming, but I was expecting it more like tonight. But he just got down on one knee in the middle of the store room."
"Does that crazy customer of yours that's always telling you guys to get married know yet? Was she even there?"
"Lilly? No. She was there, but we didn't tell her. Lets see, you know, and Francie knows, and Will. I ran into Gretchen at the store, but I didn't tell her yet. And I've got to tell my dad too."
"What do you have to tell me?" Jack asked, reentering the room.
"Dad," Sydney took a deep breath before continuing. Her father was a hard man to read. Even after Sydney thought she had figured him out, he would surprise her with acting the total opposite. Her father had never approved of any guy that she had dated. And he had never really been all that pleased with how friendly she and Vaughn were all those years ago. He had suspicions that something a little more was going on, and he was right. Making Sydney very nervous to tell him her exciting news. "Michael and I are getting married!"
Jack's face morphed from shock, to understanding. His face frowned, and then smiled. But his words came out flat. "Congratulations Sydney."
Sydney was taken aback. That was the last response she was expecting from him. She wasn't sure what her first guess would have been, but congratulations wasn't the first. "Thanks Dad."
"I actually have to go." Jack said, kissing his daughter on the cheek.
Sydney's face fell. "What? Why?"
"Kendall ordered me back. Missions to go on, debriefs to give. He was upset that I wasn't there sooner."
"Dad." Sydney pleaded.
"I'll see you in three days Sydney."
"Dad?"
"Goodbye Sydney." Jack said before leaving. Sydney collapsed into a chair.
"So he's that emotionless to everyone. I worked with him a little bit last year, and he was straight to the point. I figured he would be warmer with you, his only daughter." Elizabeth said quickly disappearing afterwards. Kelsey sat down into the chair next to her disappointed friend.
"You would think that, wouldn't you? He's been doing this ever since my mother died. I've gotten used to it."
"So I guess you guys are back to having Cheerios for dinner again?" Kelsey joked.
"We've got chicken. We've got extra chicken. Why don't you stay tonight?"
"Oh good. Otherwise it would be me and my microwave for dinner."
"Yeah, because Eric isn't in town right now." Sydney teased, as she went to prepare the chicken."
"He left a while ago. You should know that. Wait a second, who told you about our dinner?"
Sydney smiled. "You told me you had a date with someone, and at the time you were trying to find out if Eric was single. That night Eric said he went to a bar, but came back surprisingly sober."
"You put two and two together?"
"No, he told us."
Kelsey smiled, and leaned against the counter. "I told him not to. Why would he do such a thing?"
Sydney was too distracted with the chicken to catch the little bit of interrogating that her friend was doing. "He was excited. To tell you the truth, I have never seen him so excited about anything."
"Really?" Kelsey pressed.
"Yeah." Sydney suddenly realized what she had just said. "Oh, I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Weiss is going to kill me. See? This is what happens after six years of being out of interrogation practice."
"It's ok Syd. Everyone falls out of practice eventually."
"Am I supposed to tell Vaughn about you being our guardian and all?" Sydney shyly asked Elizabeth.
"I don't know. I guess it's up to you."
"Then we're not telling him."
"And why is this? Why are you going to keep important information secret from you fiancé?"
"The same reason that Lilly doesn't know about the proposal."
"You want to tell someone else first?" Kelsey asked, thoroughly confused.
"It was better for our own good. Honestly, if she found out that Vaughn had proposed to me in a warehouse and a back room, she would have given him all this crap about doing it wrong."
"I'm still failing to see the connection. Help me out a little here."
"If he finds out how many rules we broke, or how you almost quit over your friendship with me, he'll be a little upset that we broke the rules."
Kelsey gave Sydney a blank stare, and then started laughing. "Are you kidding me? He'd really be like that? Do you realize how badly you guys ignored the rules?"
"I'm telling you, when it comes to the book, he sticks to it everywhere, except when it comes to me."
"He is crazy."
"Yes. But I love him so much."
"Well, that much is obvious."
"You're not going to tell him?"
"I am going to follow the rules, and not tell him."
"Good." The two friends chatted until Vaughn got back from the bookshop.
"Hey Syd." Vaughn said, kissing Sydney on the cheek. "Where's your dad?"
"He got called back to LA. But look who's here to eat chicken with us anyway."
"Did you ever leave last night?" Vaughn joked.
"Yes. I went to work today, and then came straight back here afterwards." Kelsey jokingly retorted.
Sydney caught Kelsey's eye, and they both smiled, as they both remembered their pact not to tell Vaughn about who Kelsey really was. "Why is she always hanging around us?" Vaughn whined.
"Because she is the Will of Greenwich."
"Ok. I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment, or an insult." Kelsey exclaimed in a mock hurt.
Vaughn opened his mouth to make a wise crack, but Sydney beat him to the punch. "Neither. Will just always hung around mine and Francie's apartment, and he knew my secret. See? Just like you."
"Well your house is nicer than my apartment, and this chicken smells better than anything my microwave can cook."
"You know I'm only kidding right? You're welcome here anytime." Vaughn checked. "But you have to leave tonight. Sydney and I have much to celebrate."
"I will be gone!"
"I like celebrating." Sydney said.
"Hey Syd, guess what I picked up today." Vaughn said.
"What?" Vaughn triumphantly held up a video. "The greatest moments of the LA Kings."
"Now that I am not a born and raised New Yorker, I can have full love for my Kings again." He said.
"This freedom thing is so nice." Sydney said, leaning over to kiss Vaughn.
"Yeah." Vaughn answered, kissing Sydney.
"Hi, single best friend here!" Kelsey said, separating the two.
Sydney and Vaughn both smiled.
"You know, if Eric lived this direction, you wouldn't have that problem." Vaughn hinted.
"Ok, there is a reason that we weren't going to tell you two about our date."
It was then that the phone started to ring. Sydney was the closest to the phone, and she leaned over and picked it up. "Hello?" There was a pause. "Eric hey. We were just talking about you." From the other side of the counter, Kelsey was shaking her head furiously. "About what?"
Kelsey waved her hands up in the air. Mouthing "NO!"
Sydney smiled. "I'm not sure you want to know." Kelsey smiled, glad her friend took her wishes. "Oh it's good." Sydney laughed. "Yes it's about the ladies." Kelsey buried her head in her hands, knowing that Sydney defeated her. "Yeah…Sure…" Sydney tossed the phone to Vaughn. "It's for you Honey."
Vaughn took the phone from Sydney and went into the living room, to talk to his friend.
"You know I'm going to kill you, right?" Kelsey said.
"I know." Sydney smugly said, as Kelsey gave an exasperated sigh.
That night after dinner, as Vaughn settled down to watch ESPN, Kelsey left to return to her own apartment. Sydney came in, sat down next to him, and gently placed a dark mahogany box in her lap. Vaughn's curiosity got the better of him. "What's that?" He asked.
Sydney didn't open the box, she only smiled. "This is a birthday gift from Marshall a few years back. I've kept some things in here."
Vaughn put the TV on mute, and turned to look at Sydney. "What kind of things?"
"The kind of things that I have kept secret for a long time. But I want to show you what's in here."
Vaughn turned the TV off completely. "Can I see it before you open it?" Vaughn asked, Sydney placed the box in his lap.
"You can even open it." Sydney replied with a sly grin.
Vaughn looked at the simple box. The dark wood had been well kept over the years, and seemed to glow. There were no fancy carvings. In fact the nicest part on the whole box was a bronze lock, made to look antique. Sydney pressed the also antique key into Vaughn's palm. He slipped the key into the lock, and lifted the lid up. Instead of Sydney's secrets, he found a second lid, requiring her fingerprint, before he could continue. Sydney let out a gleeful laugh. "I told you Marshall made it." Sydney pressed down on the pad and then the sides slid back revealing newspaper and magazine clippings.
Sydney took the box back from Vaughn. "Sydney, what are these of?" He asked. Many of them had become yellow.
"There are a couple of obituaries. Danny's and mine. An article Will wrote. But mostly wedding stuff." Sydney added with a smile.
"Wedding stuff?" Vaughn asked, as smile spread across his lips.
"Yeah. Since the night you proposed to me in the warehouse, I have been putting snidbits of stuff I'd like for our wedding in here." She picked out a page folded into fourths, and looked longingly at the picture.
Vaughn looked up from reading one of Will's articles, and glanced at what Sydney was looking at. "You would look gorgeous in that dress."
Sydney smiled, and looked at the picture. The strapless white dress smoothly flowed into the train. The lace wrapped gracefully around the dress. It was her dream dress.
***Flashback***
Three months after Vaughn had proposed to her, she was sitting in a bridal shop, trying on dresses. She looked up at the dresses before her smiling as she pictured herself wearing each one. "Sydney, come look at Amy!" Francie called. Sydney rushed over to the dressing rooms where her good friend Amy Tippin was coming out of the dressing rooms displaying her wedding dress.
"You look beautiful in that dress Amy." Sydney said. "I think that is the best one you've tried on yet." Sydney meant every word she said. She was truly happy for her friend, but every time Sydney caught a glimpse of the ring on Amy's finger, she couldn't help but feel jealous. Every time someone brought up Amy's wedding, or John, Amy's fiancé, Sydney wanted to get up on the nearest chair and shout at the top of her lungs, "I'm engaged too, you know. And his name is Michael Vaughn, and I love him!"
"I agree Amy." Francie said.
"And what do you guys think of your dresses?" Sydney looked down at the bridesmaid dress she was wearing. Pale blue had never been her favorite color, but she had to admit that they were better than some of the other dresses in the store. The satin hung lose around her body, creating a small skirt at the bottom. The phrase "Always a bridesmaid, never the bride" came to mind as she stood there in her bridesmaid dress, looking at Amy in a wedding dress.
"I love them Amy." Francie said.
A dress in the corner caught Sydney's eye. The simple white lace corset, and simple white skirt with a was train the most beautiful dress that Sydney had seen. She wasn't one for the big flashy dresses, but she like the simple elegant kind. "Syd?" Francie checked.
"Huh? Yeah. These are really great."
The other two bridesmaids agreed with Sydney and Francie, and then went back to talking to each other.
"Ok, I'm going to try on two more dresses." Amy said, going back into the dressing rooms. Francie and Sydney turned to go change back into their clothing. Sydney changed quickly out of the dress, and then sat down and waited for Amy to come out in the next dress. Francie went running outside, chatting to someone on her cell phone, leaving Sydney and the other bridesmaids, Jenna and Krista chatting among themselves in a corner.
Sydney picked up a bridal magazine. She couldn't help but feel jealous of every other girl out there as she flipped through random pages. They lived normal lives. They could fall in love with any guy they wanted to. They would probably marry him too. They would have the picture perfect weddings, and live happy lives. She knew that wasn't the truth with everyone, but it was what she liked to believe. Because she wasn't like all those other girls. She fell in love just like everyone else. But it was to someone she wasn't supposed to have fallen for. They were going to have to wait years to get married. Her perfect happy life would have to wait.
"What do you guys think?" Amy said, coming out again.
Jenna and Krista oohhed and ahhed at the ivory dress. "The other one was better on you." Sydney admitted.
Amy spun around to better see herself in the mirrors. "You think so? Where's Francie? I want her opinion on this."
"She went running out talking on her phone."
There was a knock on the window, and all three turned to see Francie giving a thumbs up while still chatting away on her phone. Amy smiled, and went back into the room again to change into the last dress. Sydney picked the magazine up again. She flipped aimlessly through it, and landed on a picture of the dress she saw in the corner of the shop. She looked up from her seat at the corner dress again, and made sure that it was the same dress. When no one was looking, she ripped the page out, and folded into fourths. She slid it into a secret pocket of her purse. While sliding it in there, Sydney's fingers came across the pen that Vaughn had given her that night he proposed.
Sydney put the magazine away, and watched as Amy came out. Before Sydney had time to assess how beautiful Amy looked, her pager went off. She quickly looked at it, and saw it was from SD-6. "Amy, I love that dress on you. I still like that other one best. I have to run. Emergency at work." Sydney picked up her belongings and ran out the door, as her friends shouted goodbye.
That night, Sydney carefully took out the box that Marshall had given her. At the time it was empty sparing Will's first newspaper article and Danny's obituary. Burying the other two items, Sydney carefully laid the dress on top. Wishing all along that it would all be over soon, so that she and Vaughn could truly be together.
***End Flashback***
"Sydney, we're going to get you that dress." Vaughn promised.
Sydney smiled. "You don't have to. There are other dresses out there that I probably like just as well."
"No. You are going to have that dress when we get married. I want you to have the dream wedding you have been keeping in this little box of yours, and that dress is in here, so you are going to get that dress."
"Thank you." Sydney said, leaning over and kissing Vaughn. "I love you so much."
"I love you too." Vaughn kissed her back, with more passion. Sydney moved to Vaughn's lap, knocking the box to the floor. The pictures and clippings fluttered gently to the ground, with the dress on top.
They celebrated a lot that night. They had a lot to celebrate.
* * * * *