* * * * *
Sydney and Vaughn were immediately flagged by familiar faces. Everyone from Weiss to Vaughn's secretary's best friend's aunt (who surprisingly worked with them). They were greeted with a smile, and a "Welcome back." and they graciously returned the welcome back. Sydney smiled. She had to admit, as much as she loved teaching, it did feel good to be back at the Joint Task Force. Just being in the building made her adrenaline rush. "Wait, stop here a second." Vaughn whispered. Sydney stopped walking and looked at Vaughn. "Do you know where we are?" He asked.
Sydney looked around. "The JTF?"
"No, I meant this very spot. Do you know where we're standing?"
Sydney took a closer look at her surroundings, and bust out laughing when she realized where they were standing. "Oh my God, we're in the flirting corner."
"That's right."
Sydney pressed herself right up against Vaughn. "Do you remember that kiss you stole, when you thought that no one was looking?" Vaughn smiled at the memory.
"Yeah. Only Weiss was looking." He laughed.
"It's a good thing that you kissed me after your birthday."
"The day after is after enough."
Sydney kissed him. "You know what the difference between now and then. This time it's not forbidden. Plus, you are all mine." She joked, kissing him again.
"Somehow I don't think that Devlin will be exactly thrilled at us making out in the flirting corner."
"Then it is forbidden again." Sydney teased, pulling Vaughn closer. "Good, because sometimes, it was sexy to be seeing you when it was all forbidden."
"It didn't matter to me if it was in the open, or forbidden, all I cared about was having you in my arms."
"Always the charmer."
As their lips were about to touch, a voice rose behind them. "God, do you two ever grow up?" He asked.
"So says the man with a yo-yo in his pocket." Vaughn commented, eyeing his best friend.
"Excuse me. Kelsey thinks it's hot." He replied.
"She says hi by the way." Sydney said, passing on the message from her best friend.
"Really?" Weiss begged.
"Yeah."
"What's up man?"
"Apparently you."
Vaughn turned bright red. And Sydney laughed along with Weiss. "Seriously Eric, what did you want, besides to embarrass Michael?"
"Oh so now he's Michael?"
"What is it?" A still very embarrassed Vaughn demanded.
"Geeze, if you're going to get all that way man, Devlin wants you two in his office pronto."
Sydney and Vaughn continued their journey to the office. "Agents Vaughn and Bristow, you have no idea how good it is to see you again." Devlin greeted. Sydney and Vaughn took the seats opposite of the ageing man. Devlin took a quick glance at his watch before continuing on. An act which did not go unnoticed by the experienced agents. "You have no idea how much we have been in need of your services."
"Excuse me?" Sydney interrupted. "Did you expect us to just pick up our missions like nothing ever happened?"
"No. I expected you to return some of your services to this agency."
"With all do respect sir, I'm afraid I cannot do that."
"And why not Agent Bristow?"
Sydney sighed. "I have been out of practice. I don't think I can take on three armed guards with just my hands anymore."
"Agent Bristow, you have not officially resigned yet, you are still obligated to complete assignments that I order you to do."
"Do you have a computer I can borrow so I can type out my resignation letter?"
"And do you agree with Agent Bristow, Agent Vaughn?"
"Our lives are in Greenwich now, not LA."
"You do realize that you won't be allowed to keep the Cryptology, which need I remind you is an agency owned bookshop if you resign."
"I do. But there are other things I can do." Vaughn and Sydney sat there determined not to waiver on their position.
Devlin looked like he was going to explode. His face looked like a time bomb, with seconds left. Sydney grabbed Vaughn's hand, bracing herself for the yelling that was bound to follow. Devlin quickly checked the time again. But instead, Devlin calmly sat down. "You called my bluff." He admitted. "There is no way that this agency can afford to allow you to resign, either one of you. Vaughn, your analysis that you have been doing for us over the past five years has been invaluable, and over the past seven months, your production has almost tripled."
"Sydney has been helping me out." He admitted.
"Sir, I don't wish to resign. I just refuse to do anymore missions."
"Sydney, we have yet to find an agent that even comes close to paralleling your abilities. We need you."
"I'm sorry."
After checking his watch yet again, Devlin looked at Sydney and Vaughn with a disappointed and hurt look. "I don't want to keep you from your other activities, seeing as you both don't actively work here. I expect to see you again tomorrow morning for debriefing."
"Are we keeping you from something?" Sydney inquired.
"No."
"Tomorrow, 9:00."
"Yes sir."
Devlin escorted them out of his office. "WELCOME BACK!" A large banner read. It hung of a large crowd of their old coworkers, who were all cheering for them as they left the office. "We figured you wouldn't do active duty, but this was your work. You two helps as much as the team that raided the cells." He answered upon seeing their very surprised faces.
"Wow. I'm actually speechless." Sydney said, drawing in her breath. "I wasn't expecting this."
Vaughn agreed. "Neither was I."
Weiss approached the couple with a large smile plastered across his face. "We already threw a party celebrating the end of a 20 year mission. And then someone brought up the fact that this was your life work too, and that you guys were coming back to LA, so we decided that one more party wouldn't help."
"Thanks guys!" Sydney shouted to everyone. "It feels great to be back." They soon were surrounded by people they had already greeted, but were able to go into deeper conversations.
"So are you going to tell us the epic tale about how it all happened, or are you going to leave us in the dark?" Vaughn begged Weiss after they got away from many of the agents who had to return to work.
"You know."
"No we don't. My father didn't tell us anything." Sydney explained.
"It was simple really."
"Tell us anyway. And don't leave anything out."
"We discovered that Sloane and Derevko were working together. While they were meeting in Milan, we were able to set up a team, and we apprehended the two. They had some back up, but we had more. They also chose to meet in an open air market. Making the whole thing far too easy. So we came back with them here, and took them to questioning. Sloane broke easy. We got really useful information from him. He told us where server 47 was. But Derevko wouldn't talk to anyone but you. We tried to explain that you didn't have the clearance, and that you had to talk to us. But man, Irina Derevko is stubborn. We even sent your father in. She just watched him like a cat. So she's still here. With the location server 47, we were able to find out the location-"
"Wait a second. My mother is still here?"
"Well yeah."
"Is my security clearance high enough to see her?"
"Of course. We only told her that to make sure that she would understand that you couldn't see her."
"I want to see her." Sydney said, standing up.
"What?" Weiss asked.
"What?" Vaughn demanded surprised.
"I want to see my mother." Sydney stubbornly said.
Vaughn stood up and put his arm around in a "Are you sure that is such a good idea?"
"Yes. I want to see my mother."
Irina Derevko was sleeping on her metal cot when the gates loudly started to open. She woke, and went to greet her visitor or visitors at her cell wall, expecting fully to keep her silence. She hadn't said one word, not even a civil "Hello" in over five months. She hardly thought that her pattern was going to change.
Sydney walked down the hallway alone. She understood why Vaughn wouldn't go with her. She didn't question his decision. The knot in her stomach grew tighter and tighter as more and more gates parted for her. She looked behind her for comfort. Vaughn promised that he would wait for her on the other side of the gates. He stood there, watching Sydney's retreating back.
Sydney looked through the glass that lined her mother's cell, and could hardly believe it. In front of her stood her mother, a woman she hadn't seen since she was six. "Sydney." Irina breathed. "Hello."
"Mom." Sydney spoke.
"I see they finally bumped up your security clearance."
"Yeah. Your silence was going to get you killed. Figured I'd try to get something out of you before that happened."
"All I wanted was to see you. I'm glad to see you're well."
"That's none of your concern."
"A mother has a right to know."
"My mother is Laura Bristow. She died nearly 30 years ago. You are not my mother."
"You can never deny who I am Little Bird. Why even now, I can see that."
Sydney gritted her teeth at her childhood pet name. "Don't ever call me Little Bird again. That is a right reserved for my mother."
Irina looked Sydney right in the eye. "I am your mother."
"Where do you keep the Bible?"
"Well, the Gideon's placed a Bible for me to read in my little cell. I tend to keep it stored under my bed."
"You know what I'm talking about. Where is the manual for your organization?"
"I know what you meant. And in seven months, I can scarcely tell you who has it, or where it is. We would change hands and locations ever month or so, and there was no apparent pattern to who gets it when, and who has to go where it was. I passed it off just days before my capture to James Kilmer, and he was to take it to London. Does that answer your question?"
"Thank you."
"Is there anything else?"
"No. Not this instant."
"I could always tell when you were lying Sydney. I was possibly the only one that could. And I still can."
Sydney looked at the woman who gave her life, straight in the eye. "Why did you leave?"
"Orders. It was the only thing that would tear me away from you Little Bird. You have to know that I loved you so much. Do you remember "I dropped a tear in the ocean, when I find it, that's when I'll stop loving you."
"Yes. You used to say it to me every night before I went to sleep."
"And I never lied. Not once. I dropped a tear in the ocean, when I find it, that's when I'll stop loving you."
Sydney's eyes began to well up, but she knew that she had to stand strong. Standing in front of her mother, someone she had spent most of her life believing was dead. It was painful to be staring her in the eye. To have old memories resurface- memories that Sydney had pushed out of her mind the second she found out that her mother was a fake- made Sydney want to kick and scream, until it all wasn't true. The earth would shatter before it all was a big lie.
"Someone else will be down here in a little bit to see what else you know."
"Alright. I promised them that as soon as I saw you, I would talk to whomever."
Sydney said nothing, but turned and left. The second she was both out of earshot, and eyesight, Sydney began to let the tears flow. She walked quickly into Vaughn's waiting arms. He gently kissed her head before speaking.
"Come on. We're going to be late for Francie's party."
Sydney looked up into Vaughn's emerald green eyes. "I love you so much."
"I know. But, I love you more."
Sydney and Vaughn knew something was up when they pulled into their parking spot outside of Francie's restaurant. The lot was overflowing with cars, except for the most coveted spot, which was obviously reserved for them. "How many people do you think she invited?" Sydney asked, astonished at the number of cars.
"More than she should have."
"This many people cannot know I'm back."
"You know this many people? It has to be 200 people at least!"
"I didn't think I did. Maybe there is another explanation to all these cars."
"She does own a successful restaurant."
"Yeah, but she came out and said that she had closed the restaurant for my party."
Vaughn smiled, and wrapped his arm around Sydney. "And so we're back to the question of the hour. Where did all these cars come from?"
"Let's not dwell on it anymore. Come on!" Sydney grabbed Vaughn's arms, and led him into the restaurant.
"Welcome back!" A small chorus cheered. Sydney and Vaughn beamed brightly at the crowd. Francie came over and hugged her friend.
"Thanks." Sydney beamed.
"It's been a long time Sydney." Amy said, greeting Sydney with a hug.
"Too long." Sydney agreed. Amy went about introducing Sydney to her family. Sydney had already met Derrick, and their oldest, Jenna (6). But it had been nearly six years since she had last seen them. Amy also proudly displayed her son Cole (4) and her youngest daughter Britney (3). They smiled at their mother's friend, and then went to go play in the corner with Francie's kids, Tanner and Margo.
"Syd, this is my wife Robin." Will said, introducing a very pregnant woman.
"Hello Robin." Sydney said, shaking her hand.
"Will's told me a lot about you. It's great to finally meet you."
Once the adults started talking, there was nothing to stop them. It wasn't until Tanner, Margo, and Britney had fallen asleep in their parents' arms, and Jenna and Cole were bored with the little games that Amy and Derrick had brought with them, did the adults even consider heading to their respective homes. With the promise of another night, Francie locked the doors and said good bye to her friends.
"The cars, they've multiplied." Sydney noted. Indeed they did. More cars had come during the night, and if there wasn't anymore spots left, people parked their cars wherever they could.
"Damn it, they parked this poor guy in." Francie cursed. "I'll call the Starlight tomorrow to complain."
"Francie, where do all these cars come from?" Vaughn asked.
"The club a few doors down, The Starlight, well whenever they have a big group playing there, always run out of parking. So they come begging us, the surrounding businesses, to advertise extra parking in our lots. They pay us like $300, plus it increases our business by quite a bit. Since I was closing the restaurant tonight, I thought why not, and put up reserved signs, and let people park here. But when people start parking people in, I have a problem."
"We thought you had invited this many people to the party." Sydney admitted.
"I knew you wouldn't exactly appreciate it."
"Thanks."
"I'll see you tomorrow, right Syd?"
"Yeah. Is two ok?"
"Yeah. That's right after the lunch rush. And right as Margo goes down for a long nap."
"Good!" Sydney and Vaughn got into their car, and drove to the hotel.
Vaughn went up to the front desk. "Reservations for Michael Vaughn." He said.
The night clerk looked bored as she searched the computer for records of Vaughn. Vaughn held Sydney's hand as they waited. "I am sorry, you're not in the computer." She finally said.
"I reserved a suite. How can I not be in the computer?"
"I'll check again."
Sydney looked over at Vaughn. "You reserved us a suite?" Sydney asked.
"Well, I just got seven years worth of paychecks all at once, we're in LA, we haven't had a good vacation with just you and me in forever, so I thought why not splurge."
"I'm not complaining."
"I am sorry sir. There is no Michael Vaughn in the computer." Vaughn put his forehead into his hand. "Is there maybe another name you put the reservation under?"
"Check for any other Vaughns, or maybe it's under Sydney Bristow."
"Why would you put it under my name?" Sydney asked.
"Because I thought I wouldn't forget."
"Nope." The clerk answered. "Let me call my manager."
Vaughn remained at the counter, as Sydney collapsed into one of the overstuffed leather chairs. The manager came out and Vaughn and the clerk tried to explain their situation to him. He too went about trying to find Vaughn on the computer. Meanwhile, Sydney had fallen asleep in the chair, from the tiring day.
"I am sorry sir. We'll give you two nights on us." The manager said, handing Vaughn a key. Vaughn sighed and picked up his bag. He looked over at the sleeping Sydney, and gently shook her awake.
"Syd, we got a room. Would you rather sleep there?"
"Mmmhmmm." Sydney moaned. She sleeply stood up and followed Vaughn to the elevator.
"It's not a suite, but we're getting two free nights out of it." Vaughn said. But Sydney didn't here him. She had already fallen asleep on the bed. Vaughn kicked off his shoes, and lay down next to Sydney, and fell fast asleep, the two intertwined in each other's arms.
* * * * *