* * * * *
Sydney stretched for a couple of seconds before opening her eyes. When she did, she found both her and Vaughn fully clothed, lying on top of the still made bed. She smiled at the sleeping Vaughn next to her.
"What are you thinking about?" Vaughn asked, his eyes still closed.
Sydney laughed a little. "I thought you were asleep."
"I could feel you watching me. I thought I'd indulge you a little longer. So, what were you thinking about?"
"That mission in Rome."
*****Flashback*****
Sydney played with Vaughn's hair as he went over the op tech in their warehouse. "You know, you really have got to stop it, while I talk business for like five minutes." Vaughn said, catching Sydney's lips.
Sydney pouted. "Stupid work."
"The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can play."
Sydney picked up the cell phone. "This looks just like the one Marshall gave me."
"That was the idea."
"Is this doohickey going to feed false information through Marshall's doohickey?"
"Doohickey?"
"Marshall gave it a technical name. But I wasn't listening. All I was thinking about was that I was going on another mission, meaning I got to see you again."
"Doohickey?"
Sydney swatted at Vaughn's arm. He playfully dodged, but Sydney caught his tie, and pulled him in for a kiss. "Forget about the doohickey, k?"
"Alright." Vaughn gained his composure again. "I'm going to be staying in this hotel in Rome…" Vaughn showed Sydney a folder. But she paid very little attention to it.
"You're going to be in Rome too?"
"Who is going to relay the information we take with this DOOHICKEY back to base?"
"Is this an invitation?"
"Sydney, I love you, but it's too dangerous for you to come see me while on a mission." Sydney kissed the back of his neck. "Dear, I mean it. Dixon is going to be your eyes and ears. He's going to be there." She nibbled on his ear. "Maybe, but you have got to let me give you your counter mission before you leave!"
"I have an hour."
"No!" Vaughn finally shouted. Sydney backed off, looking a little hurt. "I mean, I want to, but Syd, not now. When we get back, ok? I'll get some great take out, and I'll make us a nice little restaurant right here. But right now, I need you to focus. If you do this wrong, you could die, and I would die right along with you. I'd blame myself for it, because I let myself get distracted while I briefed you."
Sydney took the phone from Vaughn. "I love you, and I'll see you when you get back." Sydney promised.
"I love you too." Sydney kissed Vaughn one last time, and then left the warehouse.
Wearing a long blonde wig, Sydney walked into the high society party. A simple black mask hid her true identity. She quickly scanned the room. "Dixon, do you see Shari?"
"The masks, they're masking everyone."
Sydney chuckled a little. "That was the idea."
"Try the guy standing by the pillar." Sydney walked over to a man in a black tuxedo, and a white mask. She leaned up against the pillar, and smiled at the man. Through the mask, he couldn't tell.
"Lovely party." Sydney said, a thick southern accent shining through.
The man looked at her. His piercing black eyes shone through his white mask. "Yes, yes it is."
Inside a van from around the corner, Dixon was quickly checking voice recognition. Faces quickly flashed, and no match came up. "Syd, move on. Not him."
"Excuse me, I need to get a drink." Sydney smiled, and started to work around the crowd. She was hovering on the side of the room, hidden from the white masked man. "See anyone?" Dixon directed her to several more men; none of them were a match. Both Sydney and Dixon were getting frustrated. The party was relatively exclusive, so they were quickly running out of people to check.
"Those stupid masks. Of all the thousands of parties Shari attends each year, Sloane had us go to the one with masks."
"Tell me about it. Is he even here?"
"I'm starting to doubt it myself."
"Excuse me, could I have a dance with you?" A man asked, approaching Sydney. A thick French accent gave Sydney a comforting feeling. She looked both ways, making sure that he was indeed talking to her. There was no one on either side of her, spare a very drunk man propping himself up against a wall so that he won't fall down. "I mean you." Sydney recognized the thick French accent. She was talking to none other than Vaughn. As she looked closer into his eyes, she saw Vaughn's kind green eyes. Sydney froze. The first thing in the world she wanted was to be dancing with Vaughn, the last thing she wanted to do was compromise the mission.
"Go Syd. If I see anyone suspicious, I'll tell you." Dixon encouraged. "Go."
Sydney smiled. "Certainly." Vaughn extended his hand, and Sydney took it. He led her to the center of the dance floor. Vaughn winked at her, causing Sydney to smile. They waltzed around the floor, before Dixon rudely stopped her.
"Syd, figured out why we can't find Shari. He isn't here. His plane is missing."
"Excuse me; have to run to the restroom." Sydney quickly ran off the dance floor, and stopped close to the bathroom. "What do you mean, missing?"
"His private jet took off this morning from Moscow. Never landed."
"What's the plan from here? We can't access the vault without his DNA."
"Come to the van. We'll get a lock opener."
"Marshall didn't give us anything that sophisticated."
"What choice do we have?"
Sydney caved. "Alright, I'll be there in five." She took one last look at a lonely Vaughn still standing in the middle of the dance floor, before exiting the party. Sydney rushed into the van.
"I contacted Sloane while you were on the way."
"What did he say?"
"Abort the mission."
"Alright."
"He said you could go back in and enjoy the party. Maybe have another dance with that guy in there."
"What?"
"You came back glowing. You had a good dance with him."
"I am not glowing. Just drive back to the hotel. I have a paper due in two days." Dixon gave an amused smile, and climbed into the driver's seat. Sydney waited until she heard Dixon snoring loudly in the adjoining room, before she snuck out of her room. The night clerk at the front desk was too busy paying attention to the television to see Sydney leave the building. Sydney cautiously walked three streets over, carefully avoiding the riders of the late night. Confidently, she went into Vaughn's hotel. Knocking on the door he showed her at their warehouse meeting, Sydney waited for Vaughn to answer.
He answered the door, still fully dressed from the party, hair mused. "Syd." He whispered, ushering her in. "What are you doing here?"
"Did I wake you?"
"Yeah, but it's alright." He kissed Sydney's cheek. "Syd, what are you doing here? If you're caught, they could kill you."
"I wanted to see you. I missed you. Plus I have some vital information for the CIA."
"Good enough reasons. So what's the intel?"
"You heard about Shari, right?"
"Yeah. Langley can't find the plane either."
"That's the intel."
Vaughn smiled, and took Sydney in his arms. "I'm just glad that you got my invitation."
"You told me it wasn't an invitation." Sydney joked, kissing Vaughn.
"You've learned to read me well."
"It's my job. Thank you for the dance, this evening."
"My pleasure."
Sydney leaned over, letting herself lay on the bed. "All these miles, for a dance with you."
"Half a dance." Vaughn corrected. "Dixon gave you the shocking news before our dance was over."
"I just want this all to be over." Sydney complained. Vaughn laid down, and put his arms around her.
"Me too." Sydney didn't remember falling asleep. Vaughn shook Sydney awake a couple hours later. Her legs still hung off the end, and Vaughn still held her in his arms.
"Wake up Syd."
"Why?"
"Dixon will get suspicious. Besides you've got to sneak back in, before he wakes up."
"Fine. I'll see you at home?"
"Yeah. Love you."
"Love you too."
Sydney quietly snuck back into her hotel room. The second she had silently shut the door; Sydney pressed her ear against the wall, hoping to hear Dixon still snoring loudly in his room. She breathed a sigh of relief at the now comforting snore. Changing into her pajamas, Sydney quickly climbed into bed. She could hear Dixon's alarm clock go off, and Sydney knew it was only a matter of time before he would come in and wake her up. She knew that she had to face Sloane's wrath when they returned to LA. Although they did nothing wrong, by not doing anything, due to a lack of Shari's DNA to open the lock, Sloane would be in a foul mood. But just spending those few precious hours in Vaughn's arms, made everything ok.
*****End Flashback*****
"You were the most beautiful girl at that party. You are always the most beautiful woman at any party." Vaughn complimented.
"Even with the masks?"
"You radiate beauty."
"Thank you." Sydney sat up, and leaned against the headboard. "Do we really have to go to the JTF?"
"At least it's all over."
"It's all over." Sydney repeated, the words still exciting to her. "Are you meeting Eric for lunch?"
"Yep."
"Good, I didn't want to leave you all alone. I'm going to get my wedding dress." She sang. "It's taken me long enough."
"Too long." Vaughn agreed. "It's been killing me to wait this long for you to become my wife."
Sydney giggled a little. "Wife."
"You like that, don't you." Vaughn said.
"Oh yes."
"Let's elope."
"No! I want my dress."
"I know. I was only joking." Vaughn pulled Sydney up. "Come on, time to go to work."
The second they walked into the JTF, Vaughn and Sydney were separated. Sydney took one last glance at Vaughn, before they pulled him the opposite direction. Sydney was immediately pulled into debriefs about everything. They questioned her about her work at SD-6, they asked her questions about her life as Mary Waters; they even asked her detailed questions about her students. Sydney sat for almost 5 hours before they let her stand up for a break. Francie was waiting for Sydney outside the JTF. Little Margo sat sleeping in a car seat in the back.
"Where are we going for your dress?"
"That place where Amy got her dress." Sydney directed. Sydney walked through the doors, and this overwhelming feeling of happiness overpowered all her thoughts. Francie came in, cradling Margo in her arms.
"May I help you?" The sales lady came over. "Let me guess, you're the one getting married." She joked, pointing to Francie. Sydney gave a death stare. "I'm only joking. What kind of dress are you looking for?"
Sydney reached into her purse and pulled out the clipping. "I saw this dress a while back, do you still have it?" The sales lady looked at the dress.
"This is really beautiful." Sydney blushed. "And you're in luck. It used to be a popular dress, and I think we have one or two more in the back."
Sydney smiled, and followed the woman to a dressing room. Sydney tried on the dress, and came out to show Francie. "What do you think?"
"Beautiful Syd."
"You look stunning." The sales lady agreed. "There will have to be some alterations here, and here, but it looks really stunning on you. You'll knock your fiancé dead."
Sydney smiled. "Do you think I should try on other dresses Fran?"
"You have had years to look at dresses, has this been your favorite?"
"Without a doubt."
"Syd, this is such a beautiful dress on you. Unless you want to try on another dress."
Sydney checked her watch. "Great, I'm late already."
"They can't fire you, you don't work for them."
"I have a meeting. Michael is going to be there."
"If you come with me, we can schedule some more fittings if you'd like." The lady offered, hoping to make a big sale.
"Actually, I live in Greenwich. I'm just here for a vacation." Sydney informed the sales lady.
The lady looked disappointed, but as the sign in the break room said, "Serve your customer with 110%. They are always right." She thought quickly about how she could serve the bride-to-be the best she could. "What I can do, is call a partner store in that area, and we can send the dress there, and all your alterations can be done there."
"That would be great."
"Let me just make a few phone calls."
"I'm going to go change."
"You look amazing Syd!" Francie called out once more before Sydney left to change.
Sydney almost didn't want to take off the dress. Looking at herself in the mirror meant that it was all real. She looked at her ring again. She never tired of it. "I'm getting married." She whispered to herself. Everything still felt surreal. Everything felt normal. Sydney's pager beeped from her jeans pocket, and Sydney quickly checked it. It was Vaughn wondering where she was. She smiled. Suddenly staying in her dress was no longer important. Vaughn was waiting for her. She quickly changed, taking good care of her dress. Sydney came out, dress in her arm. The sales lady had finished talking on the phone by the time Sydney was finally out, and took the dress from her.
"I called our store in New York, is that alright?"
"Yeah. Actually I'm working this summer in New York."
"They did not have any more of this particular dress, so they agreed for me to mail this to them for you. We'll put it in this afternoon's mail."
"Thank you."
"My pleasure."
"We're going to charge you when all the fittings are done."
"Alright."
Francie's phone rang. She picked it up, and answered, passing Margo off to Sydney. She returned seconds later. "Syd, Michael is calling my cell. You need to get back to work. Come to think of it, so do I. The dinner rush starts in a couple hours."
"Let me just give you my card. If you have any more questions feel free to call me. Let me also jot down our New York store number, so if you have any more questions, you can also call them."
"Thank you." Sydney and Francie sprinted to Francie's car, where she drove like a teenager rushing back to school, late from lunch.
Vaughn was waiting outside the building when they arrived. Francie slowed down the car just long enough for Sydney to jump out.
"Took you long enough." Vaughn complained. "I thought Kendall was going to have our asses."
"It took longer than I thought. But I got the dress." Sydney beamed.
Vaughn smiled. "I'm sure you look beautiful in it."
Sydney laughed. "I better. The poor sales lady has to do all this extra work, shipping the dress to their New York store."
"You do."
"You haven't seen me wearing it yet!"
"I don't have to. You look beautiful no matter what you wear."
Sydney kissed Vaughn. "Meeting time." They spent the rest of the afternoon in a single meeting, where they sat listening to dry and boring speeches made by everyone. Most of it was just updating them on stuff they already knew about. But Sydney sat there mostly to appease her father and Kendall. Every so often she would glance across the table and smile at Vaughn. He would smile back, and Sydney would beam. With every new presenter, they would always start off with how happy that they were to have Sydney and Vaughn back. Everyone would agree, and it would be several minutes before the meeting would get back on task. When the day was finally done, Sydney took Vaughn's hand and they exited the briefing room. But when Sydney looked down the hallway where her mother was being held, a nagging feeling rose to her stomach. "I've got one more thing to do Honey."
"Alright. Eric's calling for me anyway.'
"Meet back here in ten?"
"Sure."
Sydney was slightly more nervous walking down to her mother's cell this time. Irina was waiting for her at the glass. "Little Bird." Irina greeted.
"I had asked you not to call me that."
"I am still your mother."
"We've been over this."
"I know." Irina glared at Sydney. "I take it that this is not a social call?"
"I have nothing social to say to you. When would it ever be?" Irina looked hurt at her daughter's cruel words, but she chose to ignore them. "I figured that it would be beneficial for me to inform you that I will be moving, and therefore losing all of my clearance at the end of this week."
"Who is the man?"
"Excuse me?"
"I see the ring on your finger; I see the glow of a woman in love. Who is the man you are preparing to marry?"
Sydney looked down and instinctively smiled. But when she looked up again, her face turned cold. The irony was too great. Most people, when they look up to see their mothers, smile. And Sydney had always expected to smile when she and her mother would finally meet again. True, Sydney planned on meeting her mother in the afterlife. But Sydney was actually face to face with the woman, and all she felt was betrayal. Betrayal wasn't something she could smile about. "It is none of your business. You are not to ask me personal questions."
"You have nothing professional to say to me. This is a social call." Sydney was a deer caught in headlights. She was right. Sydney had no business to attend to. In fact, Sydney didn't even know why she went down to see her mother. "No response I see. This is what I think Little Bird." Sydney glanced up at her mother, but said nothing. "I think that the whole purpose of this was to say goodbye. See, the last time I left, you had no idea I was leaving. And all these years of our separation, you have wished you could say goodbye to your mother. Now you're leaving, and you can say goodbye."
Sydney was quick to defend Irina's accusation. "That's not true. I wanted to make sure that you would talk to other agents with my departure."
"Of course. What made you think otherwise?"
"You wouldn't talk until I got the clearance."
"Once I saw that you were ok, I told them I would talk to whomever they wanted me too."
"Good."
"Are you moving because you're getting married?"
Sydney didn't think before answering. "Yes." She suddenly looked horrified as she realized what she had just said.
"Where to?"
"Greenwich. I've been living there for a while anyway." Sydney answered, before thinking again. Irina gloated a little. Sydney mentally slapped herself. She was a trained spy, taught to think before she spoke, or not to talk even under the most painful circumstances. But she was giving personal information to one of the government's worst enemies. She knew that if she didn't leave right then, she would give even more away. Irina, her mother, whatever Sydney thought of her as, had an interesting effect on her. "Goodbye." Sydney said, and turned and left.
Vaughn wasn't done talking with Weiss yet, so Sydney sat down at the agreed upon spot.
"Waiting for someone?"
Sydney looked up and smiled. "Hi Dad." She got to her feet, and embraced him.
"Hi sweetie. I've heard you've gone to see your mother a couple of times."
"Twice."
"Just be careful Sydney."
"I always am."
"I was watching your last conversation with her. It seems like you weren't."
"That is none of your concern. Wait! Why were you watching me? Do you not trust me to watch what I'm saying or something?"
"Sydney…" Jack's voice deep with concern and warning.
"Syd! Are you ready?" Vaughn asked, coming over. "Hello Jack."
"Mr. Vaughn." Jack said, only nodding to his future son in law.
"Yeah, I'm ready to go." Sydney didn't say goodbye to her father, but left him standing there, in the corner.
"What was that all about?"
"My father being my father."
Vaughn knew not to touch that subject. They sat in a comfortable silence while Vaughn drove. He finally broke it. "So, when do I get to see you in your wedding dress?"
"When we get married."
"Not sooner?"
"It's bad luck for the groom to see his bride in her wedding dress before the wedding."
"So is walking underneath ladders, but you don't seem to have a problem with that."
"It's tradition."
"So is dating in public. We've broken that tradition too. Come on; let me see you in your dress."
"You already know what it looks like. What more could you want?"
"You."
"Cute. Oh! Take a left at the next light." Sydney instructed. Vaughn's mind was on autopilot, and wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, aside from the hotel until Sydney told him to turn.
"What? Why? I thought we were going back to the hotel."
"Not when there are people to see, and food to dine on for free."
"Whose house?"
"Francie and Vincent's." Sydney sighed contently as they pulled up in front of the house. "Do you have any idea how normal I feel right now? I feel like our whole crazy past doesn't exist, and we're just going to visit old friends."
"That's exactly what happened."
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"Making my life normal."
"Always happy to do it."