Chapter 2: "A Lot"
On Monday morning, Sydney and Dixon were sitting in the briefing room at SD-6 catching up with each other. Dixon was telling Sydney about his daughter's soccer game that past weekend, and she beamed as he told her how Lisa had scored two goals and assisted on another. He was such a proud father and a good man. She wished for the millionth time that she could tell him the truth about who he was working for. As if on cue, Sloane walked into the room.
"Good morning, you two. How were your weekends? I trust you enjoyed your time off, Sydney?"
"I did, sir. Thank you again. It was just what I needed."
"Did you do anything in particular?"
Sydney shifted in her chair. Was he fishing for something or just making small talk? She would love to tell him that she had spent the weekend solidifying her future and plotting his downfall, but such an admission would immediately get her sent to McCullough and the psych room, so she bit her tongue. "No, I didn't do anything special. I just relaxed."
"Well good. How are Diane and the kids?" Sloane asked, turning to Dixon.
"Couldn't be better," Dixon said as Jack walked into the room.
"I apologize for being late. Welcome back, Sydney," he said with a nod towards his daughter. She gave him a tight smile back. Things were still thawing between them since the Project Christmas revelation, but she had softened towards him considerably since he had helped save Vaughn's life. As she studied her father, she wondered how Jack would react if he knew that she had spent the weekend with Vaughn. She wanted to believe that he would approve if he knew how happy Vaughn made her, but she was more convinced that the over-protective father in him would probably first have Vaughn removed as her handler and then taken to a darkened alley and shot.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Sloane cleared his throat. "Well, now that we're all here, let's get down to business."
Sydney sat anxiously in her chair as Sloane began briefing them. For the first time since she had learned the truth about SD-6, she was actually hoping that Sloane would send her on a mission, for one reason only -- so she could see Vaughn. She reminded herself that each mission presented the opportunity to plan a countermission that could further weaken SD-6, but that was only a secondary concern to her. The only opportunity she cared about right now was the chance to spend some time alone with Vaughn. She should have known that once she got a taste of what it was like to be with him, she would want to spend every waking moment with him. Since that was impossible, she would simply have to grab every moment with him that she could, even if it required her to do Sloane's bidding.
". . . so the two of you will be leaving for Lima tomorrow morning to retrieve Rambaldi's amulet from Juarez's safety deposit box. Any questions?"
"No sir," Sydney and Dixon said in unison. After the meeting broke, Sydney made a beeline for the door but was intercepted by Jack.
"I need to speak with you for a moment." He led them to an empty conference room and pulled out his signal jammer.
"Dad," Sydney said with a slightly annoyed sigh, "I need to make my dead drop so I can get my countermission from Vaughn."
"That can wait," Jack said tersely.
No, it really can't, Sydney thought.
"When was the last time you spoke with your mother?"
"I don't know, about a week and a half ago, I guess. I'm sure you're happy about that. I know you want me to stay away from her."
"I think you should ask her about the amulet."
"Excuse me?" Sydney asked with a confused look on her face. "What makes you think that mom know anything about the amulet?"
"*Irina,*" Jack said pointedly, "has sought to acquire almost every Rambaldi artifact in existence. She might be familiar enough with the amulet to decipher its text and give the CIA a leg up on SD-6."
"I see. So you really just want me to stay away from mo -- *Irina* -- until its convenient for *you* and suits your purposes. Aren't you the one who keeps telling me that she can't be trusted?"
"Sydney -- " Jack said reproachfully.
"Fine," Sydney said softly. She knew she shouldn't be giving her father such a hard time, especially when she herself had been so inconsistent in her own attitude towards her mother. "I'll go talk to her. But I really need to go right now . I'll see you later."
"Good," Jack said as his pen beeped to indicate that their time was up, anyway.
*****
Sydney waited as the last gate lifted before walking up to her mother's cell. Irina sat in the middle of the cell meditating, but immediately stood up when she sensed Sydney's presence.
"Sydney," she breathed. "I haven't seen you in a while."
Sydney studied her mother carefully. She wasn't completely sure, but Irina seemed almost disappointed that they hadn't seen each other recently. "I know. I had some time off."
"Really? What did you do with that time?"
"I went skiing."
Irina briefly looked surprised, as if she had made a new discovery about her daughter. "I didn't know you skied."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Sydney said resentfully. She couldn't help getting a dig in, although she wasn't sure her words had any effect. As usual, Irina's face betrayed no emotion.
"You had a good time." It was a statement rather than a question. "You look . . . different."
Sydney was unnerved by the way her mother was studying her face. She straightened her back and stuck out her chin. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You look happy," Irina said thoughtfully as she stared at Sydney. "You look like a woman in love."
Sydney tried to hide her shock. How could her mother, who barely knew her, read her so easily? Was it that obvious that she was in love with Vaughn? She nervously glanced up at the surveillance cameras providing a feed to the main ops center. "I don't -- "
"A mother knows these things, Sydney," Irina said in a tone that bordered on patronizing.
"But you haven't been much of a mother, have you?" Sydney snapped. The last thing she was going to do was discuss her love life with her mother, especially when she didn't know who might be watching their conversation. "Look," she said, with a shake of her head, "I didn't come here to discuss me. Sloane is sending me to Lima to retrieve an amulet currently in the possession of a man named Ramon Juarez. It was designed by Rambaldi; are you at all familiar with it?"
"That amulet actually used to be in my possession. Juarez is a Rambaldi collector. I sold him the amulet when I realized that it was worthless. It's nothing more than a piece of jewelry that Rambaldi designed for Pope Alexander the Sixth. The fact that Arvin isn't already aware of that tells me that he hasn't been doing his homework. I expected more from him," she said with a withering smile.
"Sloane's been distracted lately," Sydney frowned. She couldn't help but notice the familiar way that her mother referred to Sloane by his first name. "So you're telling me that he's sending me to retrieve something that's going to be of absolutely no use to SD-6. Are you sure, because we can't afford to let SD-6 get any intel that we don't have."
"We, as in the CIA?" Irina asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay. Well, thank you."
"You're welcome. Don't be such a stranger," Irina said with a cool smile before Sydney turned to leave. "Oh, and Sydney -- "
Sydney turned around to look back at her mother. "Yes?"
"Do tell Mr. Vaughn I said hello."
*****
Vaughn's heartbeat quickened as he heard the familiar click of Sydney's heels on the floor of the warehouse. He had been counting the minutes until this meeting ever since Sydney's brown paper bag had been delivered to his office. He always looked forward to meeting with her, but today he was also a bit nervous. He wasn't sure what their first post-Tahoe meeting would be like. He hopped down from the table he was sitting on as Sydney opened the gate and walked towards him. His breath caught in his throat as he took note of the way that her suit hugged her figure. He tried to push those thoughts from his mind, but he knew his efforts were futile.
"Hi," he said as she walked up to him.
"Hi." They awkwardly smiled at each other, both unsure whether they should kiss like lovers, hug like friends, or shake hands like colleagues. They were both acutely aware that all the rules had changed between them, and they were both feeling uneasy about it. After a few more moments of awkward silence, Vaughn sat back on the table and Sydney hopped up next to him. He felt a surge of electricity run though his body as her leg brushed against his. All he wanted to do at that moment was take her in his arms and make love to her for hours. He cleared his throat and reminded himself that he had a job to do and that he couldn't afford to be having such thoughts about her right now.
"So, uh, we got the details of your mission, and -- "
"There's no countermission," Sydney said, cutting him off.
"What are you talking about?" Vaughn asked, confused.
"Earlier, my dad suggested that I talk to my mother, to ask her if she knew anything about the amulet I'm supposed to retrieve. As it turns out, the amulet is just a piece of jewelry; it doesn't have a function. Apparently Sloane doesn't know that yet. So I'm just going to get it and let him discover on his own that it's worthless."
"Oh."
"I was going to send you a message so you wouldn't have to waste your time coming here, but I didn't because . . . because I wanted to see you. Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile.
Vaughn laughed. "No apology necessary. Actually, I would have been really disappointed if we hadn't met. I've been looking forward to seeing you all day," he admitted. "But I'm surprised that Sloane doesn't know that the amulet is useless to him. It's not like him to be so uninformed," he frowned.
"I know. But I'm not complaining. That's just one less victory for SD-6."
"Yeah," Vaughn nodded. "I just hate to think of you going on a pointless mission." His eyes were clouded with concern and he was starting to get the adorable forehead wrinkles that Sydney had gotten so used to. She hated for him to spend so much time worrying about her, but at the same time, it made her feel so protected and loved. She knew that he would do anything to keep her safe.
She placed her hand on his cheek and turned his head to her. "Hey, it's not a big deal," she assured him. "I'll be careful, I promise."
"Good," he said, letting himself relax a bit. "Well, since there's no countermission, I guess we can cut this short, huh?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Oh, no way, Agent Vaughn. I'm sure we can find some other way to pass the time," she said suggestively as she let her hand softly stroke his thigh.
"I'm sure," Vaughn said smiling at her. He couldn't believe how intoxicated he was by her. She had the ability to completely rob him of all rational thought.
"Really?" Sydney asked, surprised. "I was sure that by now you'd be giving me a lecture about how we have to remain professional."
"I would, if it weren't for the fact that I've really missed you and that I desperately want to kiss you right now," Vaughn said, looking at her intently. His voice was low and intense and it sent a thrill through Sydney as the heat of his green eyes practically burned her skin.
"It's not like you have to ask permission," she said softly as she slid off the table and stood in front of him. She laughed as she noticed for the first time that his jacket was off and he had his gun holster on. "Was this for my benefit?"
"Yeah," he admitted with a sexy, lopsided grin. She didn't think she had ever seen him look more gorgeous. "It was hard to sleep without you last night," he whispered as his lips brushed her ear.
Any self control Sydney had was lost as she slipped her hands through the straps of the holster and pulled Vaughn closer to her. She looked longingly into his eyes before she began to kiss him slowly and deeply. His lips were warm and sweet, and Sydney could feel her whole body melting into his as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. After a few moments, his hands began restlessly exploring her body, and she could almost feel the fireworks exploding everywhere he touched her. Sydney moved her hands to his face, cupping it as their kiss intensified. She was starting to feel lightheaded until she gently pulled away and caught her breath.
"God, Sydney," Vaughn rasped, trying to catch his own breath, "where did you learn how to kiss like that?"
"I can't tell you all of my secrets just yet," she said, smiling as she nuzzled his neck.
"Spoken like a true spy," he laughed. "One day, I'm going to find out *all* your secrets, and then I'm going to use them against you," he teased.
"I can hardly wait," she murmured, tracing his lips with her right index finger. "So, how hard was it to readjust to being back at work today?"
"It wasn't that bad, although there was a mountain of paperwork on my desk to greet me. But just when I thought I couldn't read another report or sign another order, I got your paper bag, and my day got a lot better."
Sydney laughed. "Those paper bags . . . remember what a hard time I gave you when you first went through our s.o.p? I was so mean to you," she said, cringing at the memory.
"Oh, I don't know. It was probably a little obnoxious of me to show you what a paper bag looked like. Those first couple of weeks, I thought we were going to end up strangling each other. ÊI wasn't sure what to make of you yet, and I was a little nervous about handling my first double agent. It was just my luck to end up with an agent who was incredibly willful and headstrong, and impossibly gorgeous, to boot. It made it hard to think sometimes. It still does," he said, stroking her cheek and grinning at her.
"You've acquitted yourself quite nicely, Agent Vaughn," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. Seriously, I can't imagine how different things would be if I hadn't been assigned to you. I probably would have quit the CIA a couple of weeks after I started. I know I gave you a hard time at first, but even then I knew that I needed you. That's why I freaked out when they reassigned me to Lambert."
"Lambert," Vaughn scoffed. "What an ass." Vaughn remembered the way Lambert had leered at Sydney's picture, and felt his blood pressure rise a few points. "But if it hadn't been for Lambert, you never would have realized how wonderful I was and gotten me my promotion. So things didn't turn out half bad, after all," he smiled at her.
"Ooh, that's right. I *did* get you that promotion, didn't I?" she said, her eyes twinkling. "Come to think of it, you've never adequately thanked me for that, have you?"
He laughed. "Okay, what do you want? Just name it; I'll give you anything."
"Are you sure that's a promise you want to make?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"For you? Absolutely."
"Okay. Promise me that when this is all over, you'll whisk me away to some deserted island where we can be all alone for weeks."
"Done."
"Just like that? Is it always going to be this easy to get whatever I want from you?" she grinned.
"Probably," he laughed. "It's hard for me to say no to you, Sydney."
She just stared at him and smiled. She was certain that she had never loved anyone so much in her life. She wished that she could put this moment on "pause" and feel this way forever. Even though they were in the dark, dank and depressing warehouse, she had never felt happier. If only she could block out the rest of the world and keep it from spoiling their happiness.
"Syd, what are you thinking about?" he asked, snapping her back into reality.
"Oh, you know, just how nice it is to be standing here with you like this. Two weeks ago, we were still playing the protocol game, you on one side of the table, me on the other. I'm glad we finally stopped pretending. I need at least one thing in my life that's just simple and honest -- well, honest, anyway." They both knew there was nothing simple about their relationship, at least not as long as SD-6 continued to exist.
Vaughn nodded. "It was killing me not to tell you how I felt, even though it was probably written all over my face. I know that Weiss knew, and Haladki, and probably your dad, too. Did he suspect that anything was different about you today?"
"No, but get this -- my mom did."
"Really? What did she say?"
"When I went to go ask her about the amulet, she just kept staring at me. Finally, she told me that I looked happy, like I was in love."
"Well, she may be diabolically evil, but your mom's a smart woman. She was right, wasn't she?"
"Of course, she was right. It's just weird, the way that she can read me like an open book. ÊIt's actually kind of scary. I want to believe that she's trying to help me, but I can't help feeling like she's eventually going to twist a knife in my back, you know?"
Vaughn nodded his head. He shared Sydney's fears. Irina had provided them with valuable intel, but he still didn't trust her as far as he could throw her. Moreover, he knew that he hadn't yet begun to deal with his feelings about working with the woman who killed his father. He had been so focused on Sydney's reaction to Irina's reappearance that he had pushed his own feelings to the background. But now that he and Sydney had dared to let themselves imagine a future together, he knew that he would have to come to terms with his own emotions. However, that wasn't what worried him the most about Irina. What he was most apprehensive about was Irina's interest in his and Sydney's relationship. He wanted to believe that she was only concerned about Sydney's happiness, but she didn't strike him as the maternal type. He wouldn't put it past her to use their relationship against them, and he had to be prepared if that day ever came to pass.
"Enough talk about my mother, though," Sydney said, interrupting his thoughts. "The last thing I want to do when I'm alone with you is think about her." Her fingers played in his hair. "Do you have plans for tonight?"
"A Monday night?" he laughed. "Yeah, I have a hot date -- with Donovan."
"Lucky dog," she smiled.
"Well, not *that* lucky. He's gonna have to share me with the Steelers, the Jets, and a memo about homeland security. What about you, do you have plans?"
"Actually, I do. It's Will's birthday and Francie and I are taking him out to dinner." She glanced at her watch. "Actually, I should probably get going. I need to go home and change," she said reluctantly.
Vaughn loosened his grip on her waist. "I didn't know it was Will's birthday. Wish him a happy one for me."
"I will. I love him, but I'd rather stay here with you," she said sadly. This was so wrong, she thought. She should be able to take Vaughn to dinner, and hold his hand in public, and not hide their relationship. She should be able to go back to his place and wake up with him in the morning. Instead, she was going to wake up alone and then catch a flight to Peru.
"Actually, it's a good thing you're leaving now, because if you stayed, I probably wouldn't be able to control myself for much longer. I've got to work on that, seriously. We shouldn't be doing this," he sighed, his fingers softly stroking her hair.
Sydney threw her head back and grimaced at the ceiling. "Here comes the lecture. I knew it was coming eventually."
"There's no lecture, Syd. We both know that I'm right. We can't keep taking chances like this. I swept for bugs before you arrived, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we're safe."
"I know, I know," she sighed. "This is going to be even harder than I thought it would be, because I just want to kiss you every time I see you. I can't help it; you're just so damned irresistible," she giggled, leaning in for another kiss.
"Mmm, so are you . . . that's why it's time for you to go," he said, laughingly pushing her away. "Besides, you don't want to keep Will and Francie waiting."
"They would understand," she protested as he turned her around and gently nudged her toward the gate. "Fine, I'm leaving," she grumbled as she turned around to grab her bag.
She was just about to walk out though the gate when Vaughn grabbed her from behind and pulled her back to him. "Hey, two things before you go. First, have a safe trip and call me as soon as you get back. Second, the answer is 'a lot,'" he whispered in her ear.
She smiled quizzically. "Um, did I miss something? What was the question?"
"It'll make sense later," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. "Have a good time tonight."
"I will," she said, still confused. "I'll see you soon."
*****
As Sydney opened the door to her home, she was still trying to decipher the meaning of Vaughn's cryptic statement.
Francie was all smiles as she looked up from the couch. "Syd, you're home, finally! Hey, remember yesterday when we were talking about your trip? Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me about it?" she asked.
"What are you talking about?" Sydney asked suspiciously.
"Those came for you," Francie said, nodding towards the kitchen counter.
Sydney gasped as she saw the huge flower arrangement sitting on the counter, a vibrant bouquet of red roses, pink gerbera daisies, stargazer lilies, snapdragons, and delphinium.
"Spill it, Syd. Who are they from?" Francie asked excitedly. "It's taken every ounce of restraint I've had not to read the card," she laughed.
"Wow, they're from my dad," Sydney lied as she snatched the envelope from the arrangement and slipped it into her suit pocket. "Wasn't that sweet of him? I think he's been worried about me because I've been working so hard lately. Listen, I'm going to go change quickly, before we leave, okay?"
"Okay, but hurry. Will should be here any minute."
As soon as Sydney closed the door to her room, she tore open the envelope and read the card. She quickly remembered the words that Vaughn had whispered right before she left him, and grinned as she read the card.
All it took was six words to make her understand: "How much do I adore you?"
TBC . . .
On Monday morning, Sydney and Dixon were sitting in the briefing room at SD-6 catching up with each other. Dixon was telling Sydney about his daughter's soccer game that past weekend, and she beamed as he told her how Lisa had scored two goals and assisted on another. He was such a proud father and a good man. She wished for the millionth time that she could tell him the truth about who he was working for. As if on cue, Sloane walked into the room.
"Good morning, you two. How were your weekends? I trust you enjoyed your time off, Sydney?"
"I did, sir. Thank you again. It was just what I needed."
"Did you do anything in particular?"
Sydney shifted in her chair. Was he fishing for something or just making small talk? She would love to tell him that she had spent the weekend solidifying her future and plotting his downfall, but such an admission would immediately get her sent to McCullough and the psych room, so she bit her tongue. "No, I didn't do anything special. I just relaxed."
"Well good. How are Diane and the kids?" Sloane asked, turning to Dixon.
"Couldn't be better," Dixon said as Jack walked into the room.
"I apologize for being late. Welcome back, Sydney," he said with a nod towards his daughter. She gave him a tight smile back. Things were still thawing between them since the Project Christmas revelation, but she had softened towards him considerably since he had helped save Vaughn's life. As she studied her father, she wondered how Jack would react if he knew that she had spent the weekend with Vaughn. She wanted to believe that he would approve if he knew how happy Vaughn made her, but she was more convinced that the over-protective father in him would probably first have Vaughn removed as her handler and then taken to a darkened alley and shot.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Sloane cleared his throat. "Well, now that we're all here, let's get down to business."
Sydney sat anxiously in her chair as Sloane began briefing them. For the first time since she had learned the truth about SD-6, she was actually hoping that Sloane would send her on a mission, for one reason only -- so she could see Vaughn. She reminded herself that each mission presented the opportunity to plan a countermission that could further weaken SD-6, but that was only a secondary concern to her. The only opportunity she cared about right now was the chance to spend some time alone with Vaughn. She should have known that once she got a taste of what it was like to be with him, she would want to spend every waking moment with him. Since that was impossible, she would simply have to grab every moment with him that she could, even if it required her to do Sloane's bidding.
". . . so the two of you will be leaving for Lima tomorrow morning to retrieve Rambaldi's amulet from Juarez's safety deposit box. Any questions?"
"No sir," Sydney and Dixon said in unison. After the meeting broke, Sydney made a beeline for the door but was intercepted by Jack.
"I need to speak with you for a moment." He led them to an empty conference room and pulled out his signal jammer.
"Dad," Sydney said with a slightly annoyed sigh, "I need to make my dead drop so I can get my countermission from Vaughn."
"That can wait," Jack said tersely.
No, it really can't, Sydney thought.
"When was the last time you spoke with your mother?"
"I don't know, about a week and a half ago, I guess. I'm sure you're happy about that. I know you want me to stay away from her."
"I think you should ask her about the amulet."
"Excuse me?" Sydney asked with a confused look on her face. "What makes you think that mom know anything about the amulet?"
"*Irina,*" Jack said pointedly, "has sought to acquire almost every Rambaldi artifact in existence. She might be familiar enough with the amulet to decipher its text and give the CIA a leg up on SD-6."
"I see. So you really just want me to stay away from mo -- *Irina* -- until its convenient for *you* and suits your purposes. Aren't you the one who keeps telling me that she can't be trusted?"
"Sydney -- " Jack said reproachfully.
"Fine," Sydney said softly. She knew she shouldn't be giving her father such a hard time, especially when she herself had been so inconsistent in her own attitude towards her mother. "I'll go talk to her. But I really need to go right now . I'll see you later."
"Good," Jack said as his pen beeped to indicate that their time was up, anyway.
*****
Sydney waited as the last gate lifted before walking up to her mother's cell. Irina sat in the middle of the cell meditating, but immediately stood up when she sensed Sydney's presence.
"Sydney," she breathed. "I haven't seen you in a while."
Sydney studied her mother carefully. She wasn't completely sure, but Irina seemed almost disappointed that they hadn't seen each other recently. "I know. I had some time off."
"Really? What did you do with that time?"
"I went skiing."
Irina briefly looked surprised, as if she had made a new discovery about her daughter. "I didn't know you skied."
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Sydney said resentfully. She couldn't help getting a dig in, although she wasn't sure her words had any effect. As usual, Irina's face betrayed no emotion.
"You had a good time." It was a statement rather than a question. "You look . . . different."
Sydney was unnerved by the way her mother was studying her face. She straightened her back and stuck out her chin. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You look happy," Irina said thoughtfully as she stared at Sydney. "You look like a woman in love."
Sydney tried to hide her shock. How could her mother, who barely knew her, read her so easily? Was it that obvious that she was in love with Vaughn? She nervously glanced up at the surveillance cameras providing a feed to the main ops center. "I don't -- "
"A mother knows these things, Sydney," Irina said in a tone that bordered on patronizing.
"But you haven't been much of a mother, have you?" Sydney snapped. The last thing she was going to do was discuss her love life with her mother, especially when she didn't know who might be watching their conversation. "Look," she said, with a shake of her head, "I didn't come here to discuss me. Sloane is sending me to Lima to retrieve an amulet currently in the possession of a man named Ramon Juarez. It was designed by Rambaldi; are you at all familiar with it?"
"That amulet actually used to be in my possession. Juarez is a Rambaldi collector. I sold him the amulet when I realized that it was worthless. It's nothing more than a piece of jewelry that Rambaldi designed for Pope Alexander the Sixth. The fact that Arvin isn't already aware of that tells me that he hasn't been doing his homework. I expected more from him," she said with a withering smile.
"Sloane's been distracted lately," Sydney frowned. She couldn't help but notice the familiar way that her mother referred to Sloane by his first name. "So you're telling me that he's sending me to retrieve something that's going to be of absolutely no use to SD-6. Are you sure, because we can't afford to let SD-6 get any intel that we don't have."
"We, as in the CIA?" Irina asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, I'm sure."
"Okay. Well, thank you."
"You're welcome. Don't be such a stranger," Irina said with a cool smile before Sydney turned to leave. "Oh, and Sydney -- "
Sydney turned around to look back at her mother. "Yes?"
"Do tell Mr. Vaughn I said hello."
*****
Vaughn's heartbeat quickened as he heard the familiar click of Sydney's heels on the floor of the warehouse. He had been counting the minutes until this meeting ever since Sydney's brown paper bag had been delivered to his office. He always looked forward to meeting with her, but today he was also a bit nervous. He wasn't sure what their first post-Tahoe meeting would be like. He hopped down from the table he was sitting on as Sydney opened the gate and walked towards him. His breath caught in his throat as he took note of the way that her suit hugged her figure. He tried to push those thoughts from his mind, but he knew his efforts were futile.
"Hi," he said as she walked up to him.
"Hi." They awkwardly smiled at each other, both unsure whether they should kiss like lovers, hug like friends, or shake hands like colleagues. They were both acutely aware that all the rules had changed between them, and they were both feeling uneasy about it. After a few more moments of awkward silence, Vaughn sat back on the table and Sydney hopped up next to him. He felt a surge of electricity run though his body as her leg brushed against his. All he wanted to do at that moment was take her in his arms and make love to her for hours. He cleared his throat and reminded himself that he had a job to do and that he couldn't afford to be having such thoughts about her right now.
"So, uh, we got the details of your mission, and -- "
"There's no countermission," Sydney said, cutting him off.
"What are you talking about?" Vaughn asked, confused.
"Earlier, my dad suggested that I talk to my mother, to ask her if she knew anything about the amulet I'm supposed to retrieve. As it turns out, the amulet is just a piece of jewelry; it doesn't have a function. Apparently Sloane doesn't know that yet. So I'm just going to get it and let him discover on his own that it's worthless."
"Oh."
"I was going to send you a message so you wouldn't have to waste your time coming here, but I didn't because . . . because I wanted to see you. Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile.
Vaughn laughed. "No apology necessary. Actually, I would have been really disappointed if we hadn't met. I've been looking forward to seeing you all day," he admitted. "But I'm surprised that Sloane doesn't know that the amulet is useless to him. It's not like him to be so uninformed," he frowned.
"I know. But I'm not complaining. That's just one less victory for SD-6."
"Yeah," Vaughn nodded. "I just hate to think of you going on a pointless mission." His eyes were clouded with concern and he was starting to get the adorable forehead wrinkles that Sydney had gotten so used to. She hated for him to spend so much time worrying about her, but at the same time, it made her feel so protected and loved. She knew that he would do anything to keep her safe.
She placed her hand on his cheek and turned his head to her. "Hey, it's not a big deal," she assured him. "I'll be careful, I promise."
"Good," he said, letting himself relax a bit. "Well, since there's no countermission, I guess we can cut this short, huh?" he asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Oh, no way, Agent Vaughn. I'm sure we can find some other way to pass the time," she said suggestively as she let her hand softly stroke his thigh.
"I'm sure," Vaughn said smiling at her. He couldn't believe how intoxicated he was by her. She had the ability to completely rob him of all rational thought.
"Really?" Sydney asked, surprised. "I was sure that by now you'd be giving me a lecture about how we have to remain professional."
"I would, if it weren't for the fact that I've really missed you and that I desperately want to kiss you right now," Vaughn said, looking at her intently. His voice was low and intense and it sent a thrill through Sydney as the heat of his green eyes practically burned her skin.
"It's not like you have to ask permission," she said softly as she slid off the table and stood in front of him. She laughed as she noticed for the first time that his jacket was off and he had his gun holster on. "Was this for my benefit?"
"Yeah," he admitted with a sexy, lopsided grin. She didn't think she had ever seen him look more gorgeous. "It was hard to sleep without you last night," he whispered as his lips brushed her ear.
Any self control Sydney had was lost as she slipped her hands through the straps of the holster and pulled Vaughn closer to her. She looked longingly into his eyes before she began to kiss him slowly and deeply. His lips were warm and sweet, and Sydney could feel her whole body melting into his as he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. After a few moments, his hands began restlessly exploring her body, and she could almost feel the fireworks exploding everywhere he touched her. Sydney moved her hands to his face, cupping it as their kiss intensified. She was starting to feel lightheaded until she gently pulled away and caught her breath.
"God, Sydney," Vaughn rasped, trying to catch his own breath, "where did you learn how to kiss like that?"
"I can't tell you all of my secrets just yet," she said, smiling as she nuzzled his neck.
"Spoken like a true spy," he laughed. "One day, I'm going to find out *all* your secrets, and then I'm going to use them against you," he teased.
"I can hardly wait," she murmured, tracing his lips with her right index finger. "So, how hard was it to readjust to being back at work today?"
"It wasn't that bad, although there was a mountain of paperwork on my desk to greet me. But just when I thought I couldn't read another report or sign another order, I got your paper bag, and my day got a lot better."
Sydney laughed. "Those paper bags . . . remember what a hard time I gave you when you first went through our s.o.p? I was so mean to you," she said, cringing at the memory.
"Oh, I don't know. It was probably a little obnoxious of me to show you what a paper bag looked like. Those first couple of weeks, I thought we were going to end up strangling each other. ÊI wasn't sure what to make of you yet, and I was a little nervous about handling my first double agent. It was just my luck to end up with an agent who was incredibly willful and headstrong, and impossibly gorgeous, to boot. It made it hard to think sometimes. It still does," he said, stroking her cheek and grinning at her.
"You've acquitted yourself quite nicely, Agent Vaughn," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. Seriously, I can't imagine how different things would be if I hadn't been assigned to you. I probably would have quit the CIA a couple of weeks after I started. I know I gave you a hard time at first, but even then I knew that I needed you. That's why I freaked out when they reassigned me to Lambert."
"Lambert," Vaughn scoffed. "What an ass." Vaughn remembered the way Lambert had leered at Sydney's picture, and felt his blood pressure rise a few points. "But if it hadn't been for Lambert, you never would have realized how wonderful I was and gotten me my promotion. So things didn't turn out half bad, after all," he smiled at her.
"Ooh, that's right. I *did* get you that promotion, didn't I?" she said, her eyes twinkling. "Come to think of it, you've never adequately thanked me for that, have you?"
He laughed. "Okay, what do you want? Just name it; I'll give you anything."
"Are you sure that's a promise you want to make?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"For you? Absolutely."
"Okay. Promise me that when this is all over, you'll whisk me away to some deserted island where we can be all alone for weeks."
"Done."
"Just like that? Is it always going to be this easy to get whatever I want from you?" she grinned.
"Probably," he laughed. "It's hard for me to say no to you, Sydney."
She just stared at him and smiled. She was certain that she had never loved anyone so much in her life. She wished that she could put this moment on "pause" and feel this way forever. Even though they were in the dark, dank and depressing warehouse, she had never felt happier. If only she could block out the rest of the world and keep it from spoiling their happiness.
"Syd, what are you thinking about?" he asked, snapping her back into reality.
"Oh, you know, just how nice it is to be standing here with you like this. Two weeks ago, we were still playing the protocol game, you on one side of the table, me on the other. I'm glad we finally stopped pretending. I need at least one thing in my life that's just simple and honest -- well, honest, anyway." They both knew there was nothing simple about their relationship, at least not as long as SD-6 continued to exist.
Vaughn nodded. "It was killing me not to tell you how I felt, even though it was probably written all over my face. I know that Weiss knew, and Haladki, and probably your dad, too. Did he suspect that anything was different about you today?"
"No, but get this -- my mom did."
"Really? What did she say?"
"When I went to go ask her about the amulet, she just kept staring at me. Finally, she told me that I looked happy, like I was in love."
"Well, she may be diabolically evil, but your mom's a smart woman. She was right, wasn't she?"
"Of course, she was right. It's just weird, the way that she can read me like an open book. ÊIt's actually kind of scary. I want to believe that she's trying to help me, but I can't help feeling like she's eventually going to twist a knife in my back, you know?"
Vaughn nodded his head. He shared Sydney's fears. Irina had provided them with valuable intel, but he still didn't trust her as far as he could throw her. Moreover, he knew that he hadn't yet begun to deal with his feelings about working with the woman who killed his father. He had been so focused on Sydney's reaction to Irina's reappearance that he had pushed his own feelings to the background. But now that he and Sydney had dared to let themselves imagine a future together, he knew that he would have to come to terms with his own emotions. However, that wasn't what worried him the most about Irina. What he was most apprehensive about was Irina's interest in his and Sydney's relationship. He wanted to believe that she was only concerned about Sydney's happiness, but she didn't strike him as the maternal type. He wouldn't put it past her to use their relationship against them, and he had to be prepared if that day ever came to pass.
"Enough talk about my mother, though," Sydney said, interrupting his thoughts. "The last thing I want to do when I'm alone with you is think about her." Her fingers played in his hair. "Do you have plans for tonight?"
"A Monday night?" he laughed. "Yeah, I have a hot date -- with Donovan."
"Lucky dog," she smiled.
"Well, not *that* lucky. He's gonna have to share me with the Steelers, the Jets, and a memo about homeland security. What about you, do you have plans?"
"Actually, I do. It's Will's birthday and Francie and I are taking him out to dinner." She glanced at her watch. "Actually, I should probably get going. I need to go home and change," she said reluctantly.
Vaughn loosened his grip on her waist. "I didn't know it was Will's birthday. Wish him a happy one for me."
"I will. I love him, but I'd rather stay here with you," she said sadly. This was so wrong, she thought. She should be able to take Vaughn to dinner, and hold his hand in public, and not hide their relationship. She should be able to go back to his place and wake up with him in the morning. Instead, she was going to wake up alone and then catch a flight to Peru.
"Actually, it's a good thing you're leaving now, because if you stayed, I probably wouldn't be able to control myself for much longer. I've got to work on that, seriously. We shouldn't be doing this," he sighed, his fingers softly stroking her hair.
Sydney threw her head back and grimaced at the ceiling. "Here comes the lecture. I knew it was coming eventually."
"There's no lecture, Syd. We both know that I'm right. We can't keep taking chances like this. I swept for bugs before you arrived, but that doesn't necessarily mean that we're safe."
"I know, I know," she sighed. "This is going to be even harder than I thought it would be, because I just want to kiss you every time I see you. I can't help it; you're just so damned irresistible," she giggled, leaning in for another kiss.
"Mmm, so are you . . . that's why it's time for you to go," he said, laughingly pushing her away. "Besides, you don't want to keep Will and Francie waiting."
"They would understand," she protested as he turned her around and gently nudged her toward the gate. "Fine, I'm leaving," she grumbled as she turned around to grab her bag.
She was just about to walk out though the gate when Vaughn grabbed her from behind and pulled her back to him. "Hey, two things before you go. First, have a safe trip and call me as soon as you get back. Second, the answer is 'a lot,'" he whispered in her ear.
She smiled quizzically. "Um, did I miss something? What was the question?"
"It'll make sense later," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. "Have a good time tonight."
"I will," she said, still confused. "I'll see you soon."
*****
As Sydney opened the door to her home, she was still trying to decipher the meaning of Vaughn's cryptic statement.
Francie was all smiles as she looked up from the couch. "Syd, you're home, finally! Hey, remember yesterday when we were talking about your trip? Are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me about it?" she asked.
"What are you talking about?" Sydney asked suspiciously.
"Those came for you," Francie said, nodding towards the kitchen counter.
Sydney gasped as she saw the huge flower arrangement sitting on the counter, a vibrant bouquet of red roses, pink gerbera daisies, stargazer lilies, snapdragons, and delphinium.
"Spill it, Syd. Who are they from?" Francie asked excitedly. "It's taken every ounce of restraint I've had not to read the card," she laughed.
"Wow, they're from my dad," Sydney lied as she snatched the envelope from the arrangement and slipped it into her suit pocket. "Wasn't that sweet of him? I think he's been worried about me because I've been working so hard lately. Listen, I'm going to go change quickly, before we leave, okay?"
"Okay, but hurry. Will should be here any minute."
As soon as Sydney closed the door to her room, she tore open the envelope and read the card. She quickly remembered the words that Vaughn had whispered right before she left him, and grinned as she read the card.
All it took was six words to make her understand: "How much do I adore you?"
TBC . . .