Note: I didn't write this chapter based on any spoilers, but being the spoiler-ho that I am, I realized that part of the conversation that Weiss and Vaughn have in this chapter might seem a little spoilery. (Is that a word?) I just wanted to provide fair warning to those of you who are unspoiled, but I promise that any similarity to what might happen in a future episode is purely coincidental. As always, thanks for reading!
Chapter 3: "Irises"
Vaughn had just returned from a jog and was removing a bottle of water from the refrigerator when his cellphone rang.
"Hello?"
"Vaughn?" he heard a loud whisper. "It's me."
"Sydney, hi. I thought you were at dinner with Francie and Will."
"I am, but I snuck outside for a few minutes. I told them I had to make a call to the bank."
"Is everything okay?" he asked, leaning back against the kitchen counter.
"What? Yes, everything's fine. I just . . . I wanted to thank you for the flowers. They were gorgeous. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them."
"I'm glad you liked them. I bet you had a hard time explaining them to Francie, huh?" he asked with a grin in his voice.
"Yeah," she laughed. "I told her they were from my father, but she was sure that they were from some guy I met in Lake Tahoe."
"Well she was right. I just wanted you to know how much last weekend meant to me. I wanted you to know how much *you* mean to me."
"I do," she said softly. She could feel a lump forming in her throat. Ever since she had known him, Vaughn had done one amazing thing after another for her. She felt as if she hadn't done nearly enough to show him how much he meant to her, but she swore to herself that she would find a way to do just that.
"I should probably go back inside before Francie and Will start to worry about me," she said reluctantly. "Vaughn, I love you. I just wanted to call and tell you that."
"I love you, too, Syd. Please be careful in Peru," he urged her.
"I will. I'll see you when I get back."
"Okay. Bye."
Sydney felt as if she was floating on air as she walked back into the restaurant and rejoined Francie and Will. It was amazing how the mere sound of Vaughn's voice could make her feel so happy.
"Is everything okay at the bank?" Francie asked.
"Yes," Sydney smiled. "Things are great."
Will looked at Sydney quizzically. He assumed that her call had something to do with either SD-6 or the CIA, but if so, why was she smiling so much?
"You seem like you're in a really good mood, Syd," he said, studying her closely for any kind of reaction.
"Of course I'm in a good mood, Will. It's your birthday and I'm here with my two best friends. Why wouldn't I be in a good mood?" she asked, giving him another dimpled smile.
"Not to mention that she just got back from Lake Tahoe and got a *huge* bouquet of flowers today," Francie interjected. "Who wouldn't be in a good mood after that?"
"Someone sent you flowers?" Will asked.
"It's not what you think," Sydney said as a blush started to rise in her cheeks. "They were just from my dad."
"So she says," Francie laughed, giving Will a knowing look. "But I'm convinced that she met someone in Tahoe, and she's not telling us."
Sydney rolled her eyes. "I didn't meet anyone, Fran. You just have an overactive imagination."
"Whatever, Syd. It's okay, you don't have to tell us all about your romantic weekend in Tahoe with a mysterious stranger," Francie said with a tone of mock hurt in her voice.
Sydney just shook her head and fought another smile as she looked down at her plate.
Will watched her closely. He could definitely tell that something was up with her. She might be a supersecret spy, but she couldn't disguise the fact that she was blushing and smiling a lot more than usual. Was it possible that she *did* meet someone on her trip? And if so, why was she being so secretive about it, he wondered. Will's journalistic curiosity was starting to get the better of him. He knew Sydney probably wouldn't tell him what was going on, so he was going to have to do a little investigating. He had a feeling that he knew just where to start.
*****
On Tuesday afternoon, Vaughn looked up from his computer as Weiss entered his office.
"Hey. How did things go with Barnett?" he asked with concern.
"Fabulously," Weiss said sarcastically. "First we talked about my childhood growing up at the orphanage. Then we discussed the trauma I feel every morning when I go to the break room and discover that all the jelly doughnuts are gone. It got pretty heavy. She held my hand while I cried."
Vaughn rolled his eyes. "You're such a funny guy, Eric. I'm sure Barnett is thrilled that she gets to spend so much time with the CIA's resident wiseass."
"Alright, we didn't really talk about jelly doughnuts, but we might as well have. I don't understand why I still have to see her. I got shot, not tortured. I'm pretty sure that I'm not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder."
"Maybe they have you seeing Barnett because they've finally realized that you're mentally disturbed," Vaughn smirked.
"Oh, look who's the funny guy now," Weiss said as he sat in the chair in front of Vaughn's desk and nodded towards his computer. "So what are you working on?"
"I'm writing a preliminary report on Sydney's mission in Peru."
"Isn't she still *on* that mission?" Weiss asked, confused.
"Yeah, but there was no countermission because the Rambaldi artifact Sloane sent her after doesn't have any value to us."
"How do you know that?"
"Based on intel Derevko gave us."
"And you trust that?" Weiss scoffed. "How do we know Derevko isn't lying?"
"Well, so far, all the intel that she's given us has been accurate. There's no reason to think she's lying about this. I doubt that she'd rather see information in Sloane's hands than ours."
"So you trust her?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hell no. If she gives us intel, we're gonna use it, but I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. I still have a lot of questions, and there are too many things that don't add up right now."
"Like what?" Weiss asked with interest.
"Well, first of all, why did she turn herself into the CIA instead of the FBI? Kendall and the FBI are in charge of her case, but she walked into *our* offices. Also, why did she turn herself in into our office instead of going to Langley? And it's a little too convenient that a couple of months after she turned herself into the CIA, Sark strikes up a partnership with Sloane and the Alliance."
"You don't think that's just a happy coincidence?" Weiss asked with a wry laugh.
"Hardly. For some reason the words 'trojan horse' keep echoing in my head." Vaughn said with a laugh of his own. "I'm really glad that you're back, because I haven't had anyone to discuss this with."
"Why can't you discuss it with Jack Bristow?"
"Are you kidding me? After Madagascar, I'm not sure that I trust his judgment where Derevko is concerned. I'd go to him with my suspicions, but I'm afraid he might find something else to blow up."
Weiss shook his head and chuckled. "Yeah, how crazy of him. It's amazing the lengths that some men will go to for Sydney Bristow, huh?"
Vaughn looked at his friend with a look of exasperation. He knew from the tone of Weiss' voice what he was getting at "Eric, please don't start --"
"No, I'm just saying that she's lucky that she has two men in her life that would do anything for her, no matter the cost. Look man, I know that in the last year I've been all over your back about your relationship with Sydney, but maybe I was wrong. I used to think you were crazy for being so emotionally attached to her until I realized that it wasn't exactly one-sided."
"What are you talking about?" Vaughn asked, his heart skipping a beat.
"It's just that when you were missing after Taipei, I saw how much she cares about you. She was frantic to find you, and she was pissed that she wasn't part of the team sent to search for you. When I told her that she had to go on her SD-6 mission instead of going back to Taipei, I thought she was going to kick my ass," he laughed. "Plus, you know, since I've been back at work, I've heard gossip about the way that she reacted when she found out that you were infected with that virus. It's obvious that you're not the only one with an emotional attachment, here," Weiss finished with a shrug.
Vaughn swallowed hard. Even though he worried about Sydney all the time, Vaughn hadn't considered the possibility that she worried just as much about him. He wasn't sure whether he should be happy about that or whether he should be alarmed that it was so obvious to Weiss and other people in the agency.
"So this is the part where you give me the big protocol lecture, right?" Vaughn asked warily.
"Nope. Not anymore. The two of you are lucky that you found each other. Actually, I'm kind of jealous. I don't have anyone in my life like that, and I wish I did."
"Is this the effect that Barnett has on you?" Vaughn teased. "All of a sudden, you're getting all soft and introspective on me?"
Weiss laughed. "Hey, I'm *not* getting soft; introspective, maybe. Laying in a bed all day long for weeks will do that to a guy." He took a deep breath. "I just had a lot of time to think, and one of the things that I realized is that I've never really been in love. I've never known what it's like to care about someone so much that you would do anything for them. I could have died without ever knowing what that feels like."
"Hey, you'll have that one day." Vaughn said reassuringly. He was surprised to hear the things that Weiss was saying. He had been convinced that Eric would be a bachelor forever, hanging out in bars with Peter while they both oggled woman after woman. Discovering out that Eric actually wanted to fall in love shocked him, but when he thought about all the wonderful things that loving Sydney brought to his life, he realized that he wanted his best friend to feel those things too. He deserved it.
"Yeah. Maybe one day, but I think you have it now," he said looking at Vaughn meaningfully. "Look, I'm not going to tell you to go for it with Sydney, but I'm not going to tell you not to, either. Not that it would matter *what* I told you, would it?" he laughed.
Vaughn turned his head and looked away from Weiss. Now probably wasn't the right time, but he decided that soon, he's tell Weiss the truth about him and Sydney.
"No, it wouldn't matter what you said. But I'm being careful, Eric. I won't let any feelings that I have for Sydney get in the way of my job -- or yours. I swear."
Weiss could tell that Vaughn meant those words. "I know you won't, man. I know."
*****
A couple of days after she returned from Lima, Sydney found herself perusing the galleries of the J. Paul Getty Museum. She occasionally stopped to study a few pieces of art in case she was being watched, but she was mostly preoccupied with trying to find Vaughn. As she entered yet another gallery, she finally saw him standing in front of a painting. She smiled at the thought that even in a museum filled with priceless works of art, nothing had caught her interest the way that Vaughn did. She casually walked up next to him as if she was also studying the painting in front of them. Luckily, there were few other people in the gallery at 10:30 on a Friday morning.
"Hi," he said in a low voice.
"Hi. I didn't realize you were such a cultural guy, Vaughn," she teased. "This is an interesting place for a meet."
"I like art," he shrugged. She looked over and saw a smile on his face. "Besides, I thought it would be better if we met in public, so we could behave ourselves."
"Yeah, you're probably right," she said, turning her head back to the painting. "So what's up? Sloane hasn't given me a new mission yet. Were you that desperate to see me?" she asked with a sly grin.
"I *always* want to see you Syd," he said, smiling again when he saw the smile on her own face. "But that wasn't why I set up a meet. Has the amulet come back from SD-6 analysis yet? Does Sloane know that it's worthless?"
"Not that I know of, but I'm not sure he'd tell us even if he did. Why?"
"I was talking to your father the other day while you were in Lima. He told me that Sloane's been concerned lately about SD-6's performance."
"What do you mean?" she asked, a note of alarm in her voice.
"He told your father that he's worried that the Alliance will take note of SD-6's recent failures, particularly the failure to acquire the terrahertz wave camera, the formula for zero-point energy that was encoded in Rambaldi's music box, and the bible to your mother's organization."
"Those were all ops that I worked, Vaughn. Do you think he suspects me?"
"No. Your dad didn't suggest that he does. But it wouldn't take much for Sloane to put two and two together, and finding out that the amulet is worthless isn't going to make him any happier. So I think that for the next few weeks or so, we're going to lay low, and not give you any countermissions."
"What?" Sydney said, glancing over at Vaughn with a shocked expression on her face. Vaughn, we can't just let SD-6 acquire everything it wants."
"I know, but we need to be careful, Sydney. We can't afford to arouse Sloane's suspicions right now. I'm pretty sure you don't want to deal with McCullough and Dreyer again, do you? If there's another mole hunt, and you're a prime suspect once again, I doubt that Sloane's going to think that it's just a coincidence."
Sydney exhaled sharply. She knew that Vaughn was right, but the thought of handing over intel to SD-6 rather than the CIA made her sick.
"Listen, I know you don't want to give SD-6 anything that the CIA doesn't have," Vaughn said, as if reading her mind, "but it's better than the alternative."
"Yeah, I know you're right. I just . . . I hate the idea of SD-6 having any success at all. Sometimes it just seems like we're never going to take them down."
"Sydney, we will. We just have to be smart and patient in the way that we go about it. I know it's hard."
"Not just for me," she said looking over at him. "I know it's hard for you, too. You don't have to pretend that it's not, just to make me feel better," she said softly.
"Yes, it's hard," he admitted, "but we'll cope."
"Yeah, we will," she said, trying to convince herself.
They stood in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts about the task ahead of them until Sydney broke the silence.
"So are you really into art?" she asked, a disbelieving note in her voice.
"A little. I mean, I don't love it like I love hockey, but when I was growing up, my mom used to love going to museums, and I guess that's how I developed an appreciation for it. But I enjoy it more on an aesthetic level than an intellectual one," he shrugged. "I took an art history class in college, but only because I thought it would be an easy A, and there were a lot of girls in the class."
They both laughed. Sydney loved discovering all these new things about him. "So what do you know about this one?" she asked, gesturing to the beautiful purple flowers in front of them.
"It's Van Gogh's 'Irises.' He painted it while he was in an asylum. He got the idea from looking at the flowers in the asylum's garden. It's rather appropriate for us, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Van Gogh went to the asylum because he thought he was going crazy, but while he was there, he kept painting, and out of the madness came something beautiful, this painting. It just reminds me of our lives. Everything around us is crazy -- SD-6, the CIA, your parents -- but in spite of all of that, we managed to find each other."
"We found our something beautiful," Sydney said, understanding him.
"Exactly," he smiled at her. "Listen, I hate to go, but I need to get back to the office. I have a briefing with Devlin that I need to prepare for."
"Okay," she nodded. "I'm going to stick around here for a while. I think I've just been inspired to learn more about art," she said with a grin.
Vaughn laughed. "Okay. Be prepared for a pop quiz the next time we see each other." He turned to go, subtly letting his hand brush against hers as he left.
*****
On Monday afternoon, Sydney was sitting at a desk in the joint ops center, impatiently waiting for Kendall.
"Hey, Sydney. What are you doing here?" she heard a booming voice behind her.
"Weiss! I haven't seen you since you came back to work. How are you?" she asked with a smile as she stood up to greet him.
"I'm great, thanks for asking. Were you supposed to meet with Vaughn? Because he's back in his office at headquarters."
"No. Actually, Kendall called me. He wants to talk to me, presumably about my mother. Of course, as soon as I got here, I found out that he's in a meeting, so now I'm waiting, and I'm not that thrilled about it." she laughed.
"Yeah, it's just like Kendall not to care about anyone else's time," Weiss nodded.
"So are you feeling okay?" Sydney asked with concern. "I feel awful knowing that if it hadn't been for my mother, you never would have gotten shot."
"Sydney, come on. That's not your fault. You're certainly not responsible for your mother's actions."
"I know, I just feel like it sometimes. She's somehow managed to hurt almost everyone that I know in one way or another."
"Maybe," Weiss shrugged. "But I hear that she's been pretty cooperative so far."
"Yes, she has -- so far. And if it weren't for her intel, Vaughn would probably be dead right now, so I'm grateful to her for that, although she's the reason he was exposed to the virus in the first place," Sydney said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, all that matters is that he's okay now, thanks to you. He's lucky that he has you."
Sydney blinked in disbelief.
"What?" Weiss asked, noticing her shocked expression.
"Nothing. I guess I'm just surprised to hear you, of all people, say that."
Weiss laughed. "Yeah, I know, but I'm not blind. I can see that there's something between you two, and as I told Mike, I've decided to stop being the Protocol Police."
"Really?" Sydney smiled. "What's gotten into you Weiss?"
"Nothing. Really," he laughed as she raised an eyebrow. "I'm just trying to be a good friend."
"Well, I'm sure Vaughn appreciates that -- as do I," she added in a low voice. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.
"Hey, do you want to back up your words with actions? 'Cause I could use a favor . . ." she smiled.
TBC . . .
Chapter 3: "Irises"
Vaughn had just returned from a jog and was removing a bottle of water from the refrigerator when his cellphone rang.
"Hello?"
"Vaughn?" he heard a loud whisper. "It's me."
"Sydney, hi. I thought you were at dinner with Francie and Will."
"I am, but I snuck outside for a few minutes. I told them I had to make a call to the bank."
"Is everything okay?" he asked, leaning back against the kitchen counter.
"What? Yes, everything's fine. I just . . . I wanted to thank you for the flowers. They were gorgeous. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them."
"I'm glad you liked them. I bet you had a hard time explaining them to Francie, huh?" he asked with a grin in his voice.
"Yeah," she laughed. "I told her they were from my father, but she was sure that they were from some guy I met in Lake Tahoe."
"Well she was right. I just wanted you to know how much last weekend meant to me. I wanted you to know how much *you* mean to me."
"I do," she said softly. She could feel a lump forming in her throat. Ever since she had known him, Vaughn had done one amazing thing after another for her. She felt as if she hadn't done nearly enough to show him how much he meant to her, but she swore to herself that she would find a way to do just that.
"I should probably go back inside before Francie and Will start to worry about me," she said reluctantly. "Vaughn, I love you. I just wanted to call and tell you that."
"I love you, too, Syd. Please be careful in Peru," he urged her.
"I will. I'll see you when I get back."
"Okay. Bye."
Sydney felt as if she was floating on air as she walked back into the restaurant and rejoined Francie and Will. It was amazing how the mere sound of Vaughn's voice could make her feel so happy.
"Is everything okay at the bank?" Francie asked.
"Yes," Sydney smiled. "Things are great."
Will looked at Sydney quizzically. He assumed that her call had something to do with either SD-6 or the CIA, but if so, why was she smiling so much?
"You seem like you're in a really good mood, Syd," he said, studying her closely for any kind of reaction.
"Of course I'm in a good mood, Will. It's your birthday and I'm here with my two best friends. Why wouldn't I be in a good mood?" she asked, giving him another dimpled smile.
"Not to mention that she just got back from Lake Tahoe and got a *huge* bouquet of flowers today," Francie interjected. "Who wouldn't be in a good mood after that?"
"Someone sent you flowers?" Will asked.
"It's not what you think," Sydney said as a blush started to rise in her cheeks. "They were just from my dad."
"So she says," Francie laughed, giving Will a knowing look. "But I'm convinced that she met someone in Tahoe, and she's not telling us."
Sydney rolled her eyes. "I didn't meet anyone, Fran. You just have an overactive imagination."
"Whatever, Syd. It's okay, you don't have to tell us all about your romantic weekend in Tahoe with a mysterious stranger," Francie said with a tone of mock hurt in her voice.
Sydney just shook her head and fought another smile as she looked down at her plate.
Will watched her closely. He could definitely tell that something was up with her. She might be a supersecret spy, but she couldn't disguise the fact that she was blushing and smiling a lot more than usual. Was it possible that she *did* meet someone on her trip? And if so, why was she being so secretive about it, he wondered. Will's journalistic curiosity was starting to get the better of him. He knew Sydney probably wouldn't tell him what was going on, so he was going to have to do a little investigating. He had a feeling that he knew just where to start.
*****
On Tuesday afternoon, Vaughn looked up from his computer as Weiss entered his office.
"Hey. How did things go with Barnett?" he asked with concern.
"Fabulously," Weiss said sarcastically. "First we talked about my childhood growing up at the orphanage. Then we discussed the trauma I feel every morning when I go to the break room and discover that all the jelly doughnuts are gone. It got pretty heavy. She held my hand while I cried."
Vaughn rolled his eyes. "You're such a funny guy, Eric. I'm sure Barnett is thrilled that she gets to spend so much time with the CIA's resident wiseass."
"Alright, we didn't really talk about jelly doughnuts, but we might as well have. I don't understand why I still have to see her. I got shot, not tortured. I'm pretty sure that I'm not suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder."
"Maybe they have you seeing Barnett because they've finally realized that you're mentally disturbed," Vaughn smirked.
"Oh, look who's the funny guy now," Weiss said as he sat in the chair in front of Vaughn's desk and nodded towards his computer. "So what are you working on?"
"I'm writing a preliminary report on Sydney's mission in Peru."
"Isn't she still *on* that mission?" Weiss asked, confused.
"Yeah, but there was no countermission because the Rambaldi artifact Sloane sent her after doesn't have any value to us."
"How do you know that?"
"Based on intel Derevko gave us."
"And you trust that?" Weiss scoffed. "How do we know Derevko isn't lying?"
"Well, so far, all the intel that she's given us has been accurate. There's no reason to think she's lying about this. I doubt that she'd rather see information in Sloane's hands than ours."
"So you trust her?" Weiss asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Hell no. If she gives us intel, we're gonna use it, but I don't trust her as far as I can throw her. I still have a lot of questions, and there are too many things that don't add up right now."
"Like what?" Weiss asked with interest.
"Well, first of all, why did she turn herself into the CIA instead of the FBI? Kendall and the FBI are in charge of her case, but she walked into *our* offices. Also, why did she turn herself in into our office instead of going to Langley? And it's a little too convenient that a couple of months after she turned herself into the CIA, Sark strikes up a partnership with Sloane and the Alliance."
"You don't think that's just a happy coincidence?" Weiss asked with a wry laugh.
"Hardly. For some reason the words 'trojan horse' keep echoing in my head." Vaughn said with a laugh of his own. "I'm really glad that you're back, because I haven't had anyone to discuss this with."
"Why can't you discuss it with Jack Bristow?"
"Are you kidding me? After Madagascar, I'm not sure that I trust his judgment where Derevko is concerned. I'd go to him with my suspicions, but I'm afraid he might find something else to blow up."
Weiss shook his head and chuckled. "Yeah, how crazy of him. It's amazing the lengths that some men will go to for Sydney Bristow, huh?"
Vaughn looked at his friend with a look of exasperation. He knew from the tone of Weiss' voice what he was getting at "Eric, please don't start --"
"No, I'm just saying that she's lucky that she has two men in her life that would do anything for her, no matter the cost. Look man, I know that in the last year I've been all over your back about your relationship with Sydney, but maybe I was wrong. I used to think you were crazy for being so emotionally attached to her until I realized that it wasn't exactly one-sided."
"What are you talking about?" Vaughn asked, his heart skipping a beat.
"It's just that when you were missing after Taipei, I saw how much she cares about you. She was frantic to find you, and she was pissed that she wasn't part of the team sent to search for you. When I told her that she had to go on her SD-6 mission instead of going back to Taipei, I thought she was going to kick my ass," he laughed. "Plus, you know, since I've been back at work, I've heard gossip about the way that she reacted when she found out that you were infected with that virus. It's obvious that you're not the only one with an emotional attachment, here," Weiss finished with a shrug.
Vaughn swallowed hard. Even though he worried about Sydney all the time, Vaughn hadn't considered the possibility that she worried just as much about him. He wasn't sure whether he should be happy about that or whether he should be alarmed that it was so obvious to Weiss and other people in the agency.
"So this is the part where you give me the big protocol lecture, right?" Vaughn asked warily.
"Nope. Not anymore. The two of you are lucky that you found each other. Actually, I'm kind of jealous. I don't have anyone in my life like that, and I wish I did."
"Is this the effect that Barnett has on you?" Vaughn teased. "All of a sudden, you're getting all soft and introspective on me?"
Weiss laughed. "Hey, I'm *not* getting soft; introspective, maybe. Laying in a bed all day long for weeks will do that to a guy." He took a deep breath. "I just had a lot of time to think, and one of the things that I realized is that I've never really been in love. I've never known what it's like to care about someone so much that you would do anything for them. I could have died without ever knowing what that feels like."
"Hey, you'll have that one day." Vaughn said reassuringly. He was surprised to hear the things that Weiss was saying. He had been convinced that Eric would be a bachelor forever, hanging out in bars with Peter while they both oggled woman after woman. Discovering out that Eric actually wanted to fall in love shocked him, but when he thought about all the wonderful things that loving Sydney brought to his life, he realized that he wanted his best friend to feel those things too. He deserved it.
"Yeah. Maybe one day, but I think you have it now," he said looking at Vaughn meaningfully. "Look, I'm not going to tell you to go for it with Sydney, but I'm not going to tell you not to, either. Not that it would matter *what* I told you, would it?" he laughed.
Vaughn turned his head and looked away from Weiss. Now probably wasn't the right time, but he decided that soon, he's tell Weiss the truth about him and Sydney.
"No, it wouldn't matter what you said. But I'm being careful, Eric. I won't let any feelings that I have for Sydney get in the way of my job -- or yours. I swear."
Weiss could tell that Vaughn meant those words. "I know you won't, man. I know."
*****
A couple of days after she returned from Lima, Sydney found herself perusing the galleries of the J. Paul Getty Museum. She occasionally stopped to study a few pieces of art in case she was being watched, but she was mostly preoccupied with trying to find Vaughn. As she entered yet another gallery, she finally saw him standing in front of a painting. She smiled at the thought that even in a museum filled with priceless works of art, nothing had caught her interest the way that Vaughn did. She casually walked up next to him as if she was also studying the painting in front of them. Luckily, there were few other people in the gallery at 10:30 on a Friday morning.
"Hi," he said in a low voice.
"Hi. I didn't realize you were such a cultural guy, Vaughn," she teased. "This is an interesting place for a meet."
"I like art," he shrugged. She looked over and saw a smile on his face. "Besides, I thought it would be better if we met in public, so we could behave ourselves."
"Yeah, you're probably right," she said, turning her head back to the painting. "So what's up? Sloane hasn't given me a new mission yet. Were you that desperate to see me?" she asked with a sly grin.
"I *always* want to see you Syd," he said, smiling again when he saw the smile on her own face. "But that wasn't why I set up a meet. Has the amulet come back from SD-6 analysis yet? Does Sloane know that it's worthless?"
"Not that I know of, but I'm not sure he'd tell us even if he did. Why?"
"I was talking to your father the other day while you were in Lima. He told me that Sloane's been concerned lately about SD-6's performance."
"What do you mean?" she asked, a note of alarm in her voice.
"He told your father that he's worried that the Alliance will take note of SD-6's recent failures, particularly the failure to acquire the terrahertz wave camera, the formula for zero-point energy that was encoded in Rambaldi's music box, and the bible to your mother's organization."
"Those were all ops that I worked, Vaughn. Do you think he suspects me?"
"No. Your dad didn't suggest that he does. But it wouldn't take much for Sloane to put two and two together, and finding out that the amulet is worthless isn't going to make him any happier. So I think that for the next few weeks or so, we're going to lay low, and not give you any countermissions."
"What?" Sydney said, glancing over at Vaughn with a shocked expression on her face. Vaughn, we can't just let SD-6 acquire everything it wants."
"I know, but we need to be careful, Sydney. We can't afford to arouse Sloane's suspicions right now. I'm pretty sure you don't want to deal with McCullough and Dreyer again, do you? If there's another mole hunt, and you're a prime suspect once again, I doubt that Sloane's going to think that it's just a coincidence."
Sydney exhaled sharply. She knew that Vaughn was right, but the thought of handing over intel to SD-6 rather than the CIA made her sick.
"Listen, I know you don't want to give SD-6 anything that the CIA doesn't have," Vaughn said, as if reading her mind, "but it's better than the alternative."
"Yeah, I know you're right. I just . . . I hate the idea of SD-6 having any success at all. Sometimes it just seems like we're never going to take them down."
"Sydney, we will. We just have to be smart and patient in the way that we go about it. I know it's hard."
"Not just for me," she said looking over at him. "I know it's hard for you, too. You don't have to pretend that it's not, just to make me feel better," she said softly.
"Yes, it's hard," he admitted, "but we'll cope."
"Yeah, we will," she said, trying to convince herself.
They stood in silence for a few moments, each lost in their own thoughts about the task ahead of them until Sydney broke the silence.
"So are you really into art?" she asked, a disbelieving note in her voice.
"A little. I mean, I don't love it like I love hockey, but when I was growing up, my mom used to love going to museums, and I guess that's how I developed an appreciation for it. But I enjoy it more on an aesthetic level than an intellectual one," he shrugged. "I took an art history class in college, but only because I thought it would be an easy A, and there were a lot of girls in the class."
They both laughed. Sydney loved discovering all these new things about him. "So what do you know about this one?" she asked, gesturing to the beautiful purple flowers in front of them.
"It's Van Gogh's 'Irises.' He painted it while he was in an asylum. He got the idea from looking at the flowers in the asylum's garden. It's rather appropriate for us, huh?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Van Gogh went to the asylum because he thought he was going crazy, but while he was there, he kept painting, and out of the madness came something beautiful, this painting. It just reminds me of our lives. Everything around us is crazy -- SD-6, the CIA, your parents -- but in spite of all of that, we managed to find each other."
"We found our something beautiful," Sydney said, understanding him.
"Exactly," he smiled at her. "Listen, I hate to go, but I need to get back to the office. I have a briefing with Devlin that I need to prepare for."
"Okay," she nodded. "I'm going to stick around here for a while. I think I've just been inspired to learn more about art," she said with a grin.
Vaughn laughed. "Okay. Be prepared for a pop quiz the next time we see each other." He turned to go, subtly letting his hand brush against hers as he left.
*****
On Monday afternoon, Sydney was sitting at a desk in the joint ops center, impatiently waiting for Kendall.
"Hey, Sydney. What are you doing here?" she heard a booming voice behind her.
"Weiss! I haven't seen you since you came back to work. How are you?" she asked with a smile as she stood up to greet him.
"I'm great, thanks for asking. Were you supposed to meet with Vaughn? Because he's back in his office at headquarters."
"No. Actually, Kendall called me. He wants to talk to me, presumably about my mother. Of course, as soon as I got here, I found out that he's in a meeting, so now I'm waiting, and I'm not that thrilled about it." she laughed.
"Yeah, it's just like Kendall not to care about anyone else's time," Weiss nodded.
"So are you feeling okay?" Sydney asked with concern. "I feel awful knowing that if it hadn't been for my mother, you never would have gotten shot."
"Sydney, come on. That's not your fault. You're certainly not responsible for your mother's actions."
"I know, I just feel like it sometimes. She's somehow managed to hurt almost everyone that I know in one way or another."
"Maybe," Weiss shrugged. "But I hear that she's been pretty cooperative so far."
"Yes, she has -- so far. And if it weren't for her intel, Vaughn would probably be dead right now, so I'm grateful to her for that, although she's the reason he was exposed to the virus in the first place," Sydney said with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, all that matters is that he's okay now, thanks to you. He's lucky that he has you."
Sydney blinked in disbelief.
"What?" Weiss asked, noticing her shocked expression.
"Nothing. I guess I'm just surprised to hear you, of all people, say that."
Weiss laughed. "Yeah, I know, but I'm not blind. I can see that there's something between you two, and as I told Mike, I've decided to stop being the Protocol Police."
"Really?" Sydney smiled. "What's gotten into you Weiss?"
"Nothing. Really," he laughed as she raised an eyebrow. "I'm just trying to be a good friend."
"Well, I'm sure Vaughn appreciates that -- as do I," she added in a low voice. Suddenly an idea popped into her head.
"Hey, do you want to back up your words with actions? 'Cause I could use a favor . . ." she smiled.
TBC . . .