A/N: For those of you who only read Chapter 27 here at ff.net, part of Sydney and Vaughn's conversation below may not make a whole lot of sense. It pertains to, um, some of the things that went on in the warehouse during their reunion. All you really need to know is that a fence and one of Vaughn's ties were involved. I'm sure you can imagine what might have happened. :-) Anyway, just wanted to give you that little bit of information so you wouldn't be wondering what in the world they were talking about. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks, as always, for all of the kind reviews.
Chapter 28: "Blindsided"
Vaughn was already deeply engrossed in sorting through a stack of paperwork at 8:50 on Monday morning, when he was interrupted by the buzz of the intercom on his phone.
"Agent Vaughn, Agent Bristow is here to see you."
"Really? Tell her I'll be out in just a minute. Thanks, Donna."
A few moments later, he opened his door and smiled when he saw Sydney standing a few feet away, having an animated conversation with his assistant. "What are you two gabbing about?"
"I was just telling Agent Bristow how nice it is to have you back," Donna smiled.
"And I was telling her that she must be on drugs if she honestly feels that way."
Donna laughed and Vaughn rolled his eyes at Sydney. "Funny. You're a regular little comedian, aren't you?"
"I try," she shrugged.
"Yeah, well, you should stick to your day job." He turned to Donna and gave her the smile he always used when he wanted a favor from her. "Can you hold my calls for a while?"
"Of course."
"Thanks, Donna. Agent Bristow," He held out his hand and gestured for her to enter his office. Once inside, he locked the door and pulled the blinds closed.
"Subtle, Vaughn," she teased. She dropped a shopping bag into one of the chairs in front of his desk and looked back at him with a dimpled smile. "I'm sure *that* won't spark too many rumors."
"Would you rather that I open the door and the blinds back up?"
"I didn't say *that,*" she smiled. "I just suggested that people would talk -- I never said that I cared." She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him softly. "Good morning, Agent Vaughn."
"Wow, good morning to you too. Do you greet all your colleagues that way?" he grinned.
She gave him a sultry smile and smoothed his tie with her hand. "Just the really sexy ones. Nice tie, by the way."
"Glad you like it," he murmured, leaning back into her for another kiss and threading his fingers through her hair as his mouth brushed against hers. She hungrily kissed him back, feeling the desire ramping up between them until he breathlessly pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. "Alright, we have to stop this right now, before I forget where we are and start doing some very unprofessional things to you."
"Too bad there's no fence in here," she smirked.
He laughed and shook his head. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
"I can't imagine why you'd ever want to, Vaughn. If you had any idea what that felt like . . . Seriously, when we buy our house, I'm going to look into having a fence installed in our bedroom."
"Okay, Syd, you do that," he laughed.
"You're not daring me, are you?" she teased, "Because I was only half kidding about the fence, and I've already decided that I'm giving you a new tie for every Christmas, birthday, and anniversary."
"Great, just what I've always wanted, a closet full of ties," he rolled his eyes. "The tie thing was just a one time deal, Sydney. You know that, right?"
"What? You're joking, right? Please tell me that you're joking, Vaughn," she looked at him beseechingly.
"I don't know," he nonchalantly shrugged. "Perhaps I could be persuaded to do it again, but it would take a lot of convincing. I mean, a *lot* of convincing. I'm not sure that you're up for all the convincing it might take."
"I'm going to have so much fun proving you wrong about that, Vaughn. I'm a spy, I can be *very* persuasive when I need to be. You should know that by now." Her voice was low and husky in his ear and it took all the self control he had not to take her right then on his desk or the floor of his office.
"Syd," he breathed into her neck, "you're so sexy. I want you so much right now."
"Me too," she sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Remind me again why we went the whole weekend without seeing each other?"
"Because we didn't want to tempt fate," he smiled. "Besides, I needed those two days to recover from Friday night."
"That *was* a rather exhausting night, wasn't it? It was a great night, though."
"The best," he agreed. "So how did you know that I was going to be here?"
"I didn't. I went to the ops center first, but Agent McCarthy said that you would be here for most of the morning."
"Yeah. I have a meeting with Devlin later, but I knew there would be a mountain of paperwork here to keep me occupied until then. Plus, it's been so long since I was actually here in my office that I thought I should reacquaint myself with the place and remind Donna what I look like," he laughed. "This was an unexpected surprise, though. I didn't think I would see you until later in the day."
"I know, but I just wanted to see you first thing in the morning. I'm still trying to get use to the fact that I can do that again. I'm so glad you're back, Vaughn."
"Me too." He kissed her forehead and finally broke apart from her, offering her one of the chairs in front of his desk as he sat down in his own chair. She quickly glanced around the office, making sure that all of the blinds were closed, and once she was satisfied that they were, she grabbed the bag she had brought with her and sat down on his lap.
He looked at her with a bemused expression as she made herself comfortable. "What? I like your chair better," she explained as she held out the bag to him. "This is for you."
"You got me a present?"
"No, I'm just returning one."
He reached into the bag and was surprised when he pulled out his Dartmouth Hockey sweatshirt. "Syd, why are you giving this back to me?"
"Because, you asked me to hang onto it for you until you came back. You're back now."
"Yeah, but I don't want it back. I think you should keep it," he decided.
"Vaughn," she softly protested, "I can't keep it, it's your favorite."
"But I want you to. I'm sure it looks better on you, anyway," he smiled.
"Vaughn, are you sure?"
"Definitely."
"Great. If I had known that you were going to let me keep it, I never would have washed it."
"What?" he asked with a confused laugh.
"Last night was the first time that I washed it since you gave it to me," she explained. "When I first took it out of my suitcase, it still smelled like you, so whenever I was missing you -- which was all the time -- I'd wear it, and it felt like being close to you." She shook her head in embarrassment. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but it helped, and that's why I refused to wash it. Of course, I wore it so much that I think it ended up smelling more like me than you," she laughed.
"You make it sound like that's a bad thing. You always smell so good, Syd." He nuzzled her neck, and when he began to softly stroke her knee, she could feel the familiar sensations building inside of her. She linked her fingers through his and pulled his hand away.
"You have to stop that," she smiled. "You rubbing my knee like that was what led to everything that happened in the warehouse the other night, so I'm just stopping you now before things get completely out of hand. Besides," she sighed as she raised his arm and looked at his watch, "I need to leave anyway. I have an SD-6 briefing at ten."
Hearing the word SD-6 was like having a wet blanket thrown over his escalating desire for her, and he frowned with concern. "I hate the thought of you having to walk into that lion's den."
"Tell me about it. The very last thing that I want to do after being with you is go see Sloane, especially when he's been -- never mind." She shook her head and sighed as she rose from Vaughn's lap but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back down, preventing her from leaving.
"Especially when he's been what?"
"Nothing, Vaughn. It's nothing. Just forget what I said." She tried to free herself from his grasp and stand up again, but he refused to let her go. "Are you going to let me go?" she asked with an exasperated sigh. She looked at the unyielding expression on his face and knew that he wasn't going to let her go without an explanation, so she relented, settling back into his lap and placing her hands over his.
"I wasn't going to say anything, because I didn't want you to worry, but lately he's been acting strangely. All of a sudden, he's developed an interest in my personal life, asking me if I'm seeing anyone, telling me that I seem happier than usual, that kind of thing. It's a little unnerving, but it could just be nothing; maybe he's just feeling guilty about Danny, or something," she said dismissively. "In fact, I'm sure it's nothing. I think I'm just jumpy right now because the raid is getting closer. I'm probably blowing things out of proportion."
Vaughn could tell that she was downplaying her concerns for his benefit, but he decided not to press her on it for now. "Sydney, he hasn't threatened you, has he?"
"No. He hasn't done anything other than ask me a few off the wall questions. I shouldn't have even said anything about it."
"Do you think he knows about us?"
"No," she assured him. She could already tell that Vaughn was doing what he did best -- worrying about her and protecting her -- and she hated the thought of causing him more anxiety and sleepless nights. She absently played with his hair and rested her cheek on the top of his head. "Sloane doesn't know anything about us and he won't, Vaughn. I took every precaution before we met at the warehouse, and I'll do that for as long as I have to until this is over."
"I know," he sighed, "but Syd, if you notice anything strange or out of the ordinary -- I mean, if Sloane even looks at you the wrong way -- you need to tell me, so we can take steps, okay? Promise me," he begged her
"I promise, but only if *you* promise not to spend all your time worrying and obsessing over Sloane. I'll be fine, really."
"Sydney, asking me not to worry about you is like asking me not to love you. I can't do that. I can't promise that I won't worry, but I'll try not to get all worked up about it. That's the best that I can do," he smiled apologetically. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Of course I will." She kissed his forehead and sighed. "I hate to leave you, but I have to go. Will you be at the ops center later?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Maybe I'll see you there." She stood and straightened her suit, then bent back down to give him a quick kiss. "Have a good day."
"You too. Bye." He forced a smile for her benefit as she left his office, but leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh when she was gone. Just when it seemed that SD-6 was close to falling and all the pieces of their life together were falling into place, Sloane had to come along and shake things up.
Vaughn's professional training soon kicked in as he began to devise various contingency plans, in case Sloane needed to be dealt with before the raid. But all the logical problem-solving skills in the world weren't enough to assuage his growing fear that Sloane might somehow ruin everything for him and Sydney.
*****
"Good morning, Sydney," Jack greeted her as she walked into the briefing room.
"Hi Dad. Where is everyone?"
"Sloane pushed the briefing back to ten after the hour," he explained. "I'm just here early reading over some reports."
"Do you mind company?"
"Of course not."
"Good," she smiled as she took a seat across from him. "How was your weekend?"
"Uneventful, as usual. Yours?"
"Quiet," she shrugged. "I mostly just lounged around the apartment with Francie."
"That's all you did?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," she nodded. "Why?"
"You just seem to be in an unusually good mood for a Monday morning. I just assumed that there must be a reason for that."
"Well -- do you have your -- thanks," she nodded as Jack pulled out his signal jammer. "Actually," she lowered her voice as she leaned closer to him, "Vaughn is back."
"Since when?"
"Friday."
"You've seen him since then, I take it?"
"Yes," she acknowledged. A small smile played about her lips before she looked up and saw her father's concerned expression. "Don't worry, Dad. I was careful. *We* were careful."
"I certainly hope that you were. Now is not the time to get sloppy, Sydney," he reproached. When he saw a momentary pained expression flicker across her face, he softened his tone to take the edge off of his words. "So how is Vaughn?"
Sydney smiled, appreciating the fact that he sincerely seemed to care and wasn't simply asking to be polite. "He's good. He's great, actually."
"So, I assume that he'll be resuming his responsibilities as your handler?"
"Oh, no. Actually, we agreed that I should continue to work with Agent Miles. She and I work well together and don't seem to have the same kind of, um, objectivity issues with each other that Vaughn and I have," she admitted. "Besides, he's still going to be back and forth between here and Langley for the next month."
"I see. Well, it's probably for the best that he won't be your handler anymore, given the nature of your . . . personal relationship." Sydney couldn't help but smile at the difficulty her seemed to have getting those words out.
"You mean because he's my *boyfriend,* Dad?" she teasingly asked. "Yes, we both agree that it's for the best, although I really miss working with him, and I think that -- "
Before she could finish her thought, the signal jammer beeped and Jack placed it back in his jacket pocket. A few minutes later, Sloane entered the conference room accompanied by Dixon and Marshall.
"Jack, Sydney, good morning," he nodded.
"Good morning," they replied in unison as Sydney flashed smiles to Dixon and Marshall.
"How were your weekends?"
"Good."
"Fine, thank you."
"Did you do anything special, Sydney?" Sloane turned to her.
"No, I just stayed at home all weekend," she replied with a relaxed smile.
Sloane nodded in approval. Agent Bridges reported to him that morning that he hadn't seen Sydney's car move all weekend, so Sloane was satisfied that she was telling the truth. "Well, I hope it was relaxing."
"It was."
"Good. Let's begin then, shall we?"
*****
"Wow, someone break out the champagne! Michael Vaughn finally decided to grace us with his presence," Weiss boomed as he approached his desk and saw Vaughn seated at the desk next to his. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Vaughn rolled his eyes, but smiled at his friend anyway. "Remember how every time we talked on the phone, I told you how much I missed Sydney?
"Yeah."
"Well, I didn't miss you at all," Vaughn laughed. "I swear, Eric, I haven't even been back for three whole days, and you're already giving me grief. If you were a real friend, you'd at least give me a week to reaclimate myself to your charming and clever wit"
"Oh, come on, Mike, you can't take it. Be a man," Weiss laughed, clapping his hand on Vaughn's shoulder. He sat down at his desk and shuffled a few papers around, before rolling his chair next to Vaughn's. "So hey," he said quietly, making sure that they weren't overheard, "are you gonna tell me what happened on Friday night?"
"How many times have you asked me that since I came to pick up Donovan? Seven? Eight? You need to accept that I'm not going to tell you anything and let it go."
"Let it go?" Weiss incredulously asked. "You know I can't do that. Look, the way I see it, you and Sydney already had the whole forbidden love thing going on even *before* you left for four months. So the combination of that and all of the time that you spent apart had to make for some of the hottest welcome-home sex ever. I just want all the sordid details, that's all."
Vaughn shook his head and Weiss had to smile at the fact that Vaughn wasn't willing to spill the details about his homecoming with anyone, not even his best friend. In the past, the two of them had always engaged in typical guy talk, freely sharing with each other the dirt about their sex lives, but other than admitting that he and Sydney were finally together, Vaughn really hadn't told Weiss anything about their relationship. That hadn't kept Weiss from pressing for the details, of course, but he had resigned himself to the fact that Vaughn was never going to cave in, and all kidding aside, he respected that. It was just one of the many ways in which he could tell that his best friend was deeply in love with Sydney.
"I'm not telling you anything, Eric, but the first thing you mentioned to me when I came to pick up Donovan was how tired I looked, right? That told you everything you need to know about my night with Sydney."
"Ooh, you're a stud, Mike," Weiss teased, "I'm sure that Sydney agrees. I guess I'll just have to get all the dirt from her."
"I seriously doubt that she's going to tell you any more than I have."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. She and I bonded while you were gone. She might spill."
"Yeah," Vaughn laughed, "or she might kill you with a flick of her wrist. Either way, I wouldn't take the risk of finding out. Don't let the sweet exterior fool you, she kicks all kinds of ass."
"Including yours?" Weiss grinned. "Is that some kind of kinky sex game that you guys like to play with each other?"
"Oh yeah, all the time," Vaughn smirked.
"Damn. You're a lucky man, Mike. You have a great girlfriend and an even better best friend. Admit it -- you've missed having these kinds of intellectual conversations with me, haven't you?"
"So much, Eric. You just don't know."
"No, I *know.* I kept telling Sydney while you were gone that you probably missed me more than her, but she refused to believe me for some reason."
"I can't imagine why."
"Me either, man. But enough about how much you missed me. How's your mom doing?"
"She's great. She told me to tell you hi."
"Oh, well be sure to tell her hello for me the next time you speak to her. When is she coming out this way again?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm trying to convince her to come in July. Why?"
"Just let me know a few weeks before she gets here so I can go on a diet. That way I won't feel so guilty about eating all of her cooking. My mouth is already watering thinking about her coq au vin. And that chicken, with the garlic? Oh man, I can hardly wait."
"Do you want to just move into my place while she's here?" Vaughn teased. "That way, she could serve you three meals a day in bed. You wouldn't even have to leave your house."
"Yeah, you're joking, but that's actually not a bad idea. Alan and I could move into your place for a week or so, and you could go stay with Sydney."
"Who's staying with me?" Sydney asked as she bounded up to the two of them. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Hey," Vaughn said softly, a smile lighting his face when he saw her.
"Hi," she grinned. "Hi, Eric."
"I can't believe that you even noticed me sitting here now that ol' green eyes is back in town."
Sydney turned to him with a mock sympathetic look. "I know you got used to having me all to yourself while he was gone, but come on, Eric. Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's polite to share?" Vaughn laughed, her tone reminding him of a teacher scolding a kindergartner.
"Yeah, Eric. Play nicely," he smirked.
"You need to tell Agent Frenchy that it's polite to share, because he won't tell me anything about your big reunion on Friday night."
"Sorry, that information is classified Omega-17."
"Wow, so neither one of you is talking. Is was that good, huh?"
Vaughn and Sydney smiled at each other, then quickly looked away, as they both started to blush.
"God, the two of you are sickening," Weiss laughed. "I don't want to interrupt your precious flirting time any further, so I'm going to go get some coffee. Do you guys want anything?"
"No thanks," they both answered.
"Alright then. See you two later."
"Bye." Sydney turned back to Vaughn once Weiss was gone. "You look tired," she said softly.
"It's been a long day catching up on everything, but I'm okay. Where were you coming from just now?" He lowered his head for a moment, as he signed a sheet of paper, and she seized the opportunity to brush her fingertips along the back of his neck.
"You're so bad, Syd."
"I know," she grinned, leaning back against his desk. "I just came from meeting with Sylvia; she was giving me my latest countermission."
Vaughn frowned and stood up next to her, pretending to look for something on his desk. "Sloane's sending you on a mission?"
"Yeah, he's sending us to Turin to retrieve yet another Rambaldi artifact, which begs the question, what is his obsession with that man, and why is an alleged intelligence agency getting caught up in it? I never thought that I would actually say this, but I miss the good 'ol days when he used to send us to steal important stuff like nuclear weapons."
Vaughn flashed her a grin, which was quickly replaced by an anxious expression. "Dixon's going with you, right?" he anxiously asked.
"Yes, so don't worry. I'll have backup. I thought you weren't going to worry about Sloane," she reminded him.
"I'm not worried about Sloane, Syd. I'm worried about you. I want you to be safe, and I'll feel much better if Dixon is with you."
"I'll be extra careful, I promise." She looked at him and had to restrain herself from wrapping her arms around him and smoothing the creases in his forehead. She was simultaneously trying to reassure him that she would be fine and calm her own concerns about Sloane. She would feel a lot better, though, if she didn't have to worry about him worrying about her. "Hey, try to get some sleep tonight, okay? Don't stay up all night worrying about me," she teased.
"I'll try, but it's gonna be hard."
"When I come home, I'll give you a legitimate reason to stay up all night long, okay?"
"I'm going to hold you to that."
"I don't mind," she smiled before glancing at her watch with a sigh. "I should probably go."
"Yeah, you should." Sydney made no attempt to walk away from him and he grinned at her. "I thought you were leaving."
"I am," she smiled, even as she stayed rooted firmly in place. "I really want to kiss you right now," she whispered.
"Me too. It's all I can do not to touch you right now, which is why you need to go before something shocking happens in full view of a room of CIA agents," he laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Save the kiss for when you get back. I'll be here."
"Okay. Maybe we could order from Joey's Pizza when I get back," she suggested.
"We will, definitely." He smiled and stepped closer to her, lightly brushing his fingers against hers, no longer caring who saw them. "I love you. Be careful," he whispered into her ear.
"I will. I love you too. See you when I get back."
*****
A few minutes before five o'clock, Vaughn slouched in his chair and closed his eyes, which ached from the strain of reading paperwork and staring at a computer screen for most of the day. Even though he had been looking forward to returning to his job at the ops center, he wasn't prepared for how much work would be waiting for him when he got back, and the day had been completely exhausting.
He briefly thought about how nice it would be to go home for the evening and unwind, but then he remembered that Sydney was on a flight to Italy. Even if he did go home, he knew that he would spend the evening either worrying about her or fantasizing about her. Either way, he wasn't likely to rest or relax, so he figured that he might as well stay at work and try to clear off the piles on his desk.
Just as he picked up another intelligence report from one of the piles, he was interrupted by his ringing phone.
"Michael Vaughn."
"Hi Mike, it's Donna. I was just about to leave for the evening when I remembered that I forgot to give you the message that Agent Bristow set up a 7:00 dinner reservation for tonight at Joey Chang's."
Vaughn frowned, knowing that there was no way that Sydney would risk the two of them being seen together in a public restaurant. "Are you sure about that, Donna? Because Agent Bristow left for Italy this afternoon."
"Wrong Agent Bristow," she laughed. "You're not meeting Sydney, you're meeting Jack. Anyway, have a good night. See you tomorrow," she chirped.
"Yeah, you have a nice evening, too, Donna," he said distractedly.
He hung up the phone and sank back in his chair, feeling as if he had just been completely blindsided. He couldn't believe that he was about to have dinner with his fiance's father, and he only had two hours to prepare himself for what was sure to be one of the more nerve-wracking evenings of his life.
Cool, calm, rational Michael Vaughn rarely, if ever, panicked, but now seemed as good a time as any to start.
TBC . . .
Chapter 28: "Blindsided"
Vaughn was already deeply engrossed in sorting through a stack of paperwork at 8:50 on Monday morning, when he was interrupted by the buzz of the intercom on his phone.
"Agent Vaughn, Agent Bristow is here to see you."
"Really? Tell her I'll be out in just a minute. Thanks, Donna."
A few moments later, he opened his door and smiled when he saw Sydney standing a few feet away, having an animated conversation with his assistant. "What are you two gabbing about?"
"I was just telling Agent Bristow how nice it is to have you back," Donna smiled.
"And I was telling her that she must be on drugs if she honestly feels that way."
Donna laughed and Vaughn rolled his eyes at Sydney. "Funny. You're a regular little comedian, aren't you?"
"I try," she shrugged.
"Yeah, well, you should stick to your day job." He turned to Donna and gave her the smile he always used when he wanted a favor from her. "Can you hold my calls for a while?"
"Of course."
"Thanks, Donna. Agent Bristow," He held out his hand and gestured for her to enter his office. Once inside, he locked the door and pulled the blinds closed.
"Subtle, Vaughn," she teased. She dropped a shopping bag into one of the chairs in front of his desk and looked back at him with a dimpled smile. "I'm sure *that* won't spark too many rumors."
"Would you rather that I open the door and the blinds back up?"
"I didn't say *that,*" she smiled. "I just suggested that people would talk -- I never said that I cared." She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him softly. "Good morning, Agent Vaughn."
"Wow, good morning to you too. Do you greet all your colleagues that way?" he grinned.
She gave him a sultry smile and smoothed his tie with her hand. "Just the really sexy ones. Nice tie, by the way."
"Glad you like it," he murmured, leaning back into her for another kiss and threading his fingers through her hair as his mouth brushed against hers. She hungrily kissed him back, feeling the desire ramping up between them until he breathlessly pulled away and rested his forehead against hers. "Alright, we have to stop this right now, before I forget where we are and start doing some very unprofessional things to you."
"Too bad there's no fence in here," she smirked.
He laughed and shook his head. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"
"I can't imagine why you'd ever want to, Vaughn. If you had any idea what that felt like . . . Seriously, when we buy our house, I'm going to look into having a fence installed in our bedroom."
"Okay, Syd, you do that," he laughed.
"You're not daring me, are you?" she teased, "Because I was only half kidding about the fence, and I've already decided that I'm giving you a new tie for every Christmas, birthday, and anniversary."
"Great, just what I've always wanted, a closet full of ties," he rolled his eyes. "The tie thing was just a one time deal, Sydney. You know that, right?"
"What? You're joking, right? Please tell me that you're joking, Vaughn," she looked at him beseechingly.
"I don't know," he nonchalantly shrugged. "Perhaps I could be persuaded to do it again, but it would take a lot of convincing. I mean, a *lot* of convincing. I'm not sure that you're up for all the convincing it might take."
"I'm going to have so much fun proving you wrong about that, Vaughn. I'm a spy, I can be *very* persuasive when I need to be. You should know that by now." Her voice was low and husky in his ear and it took all the self control he had not to take her right then on his desk or the floor of his office.
"Syd," he breathed into her neck, "you're so sexy. I want you so much right now."
"Me too," she sighed as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Remind me again why we went the whole weekend without seeing each other?"
"Because we didn't want to tempt fate," he smiled. "Besides, I needed those two days to recover from Friday night."
"That *was* a rather exhausting night, wasn't it? It was a great night, though."
"The best," he agreed. "So how did you know that I was going to be here?"
"I didn't. I went to the ops center first, but Agent McCarthy said that you would be here for most of the morning."
"Yeah. I have a meeting with Devlin later, but I knew there would be a mountain of paperwork here to keep me occupied until then. Plus, it's been so long since I was actually here in my office that I thought I should reacquaint myself with the place and remind Donna what I look like," he laughed. "This was an unexpected surprise, though. I didn't think I would see you until later in the day."
"I know, but I just wanted to see you first thing in the morning. I'm still trying to get use to the fact that I can do that again. I'm so glad you're back, Vaughn."
"Me too." He kissed her forehead and finally broke apart from her, offering her one of the chairs in front of his desk as he sat down in his own chair. She quickly glanced around the office, making sure that all of the blinds were closed, and once she was satisfied that they were, she grabbed the bag she had brought with her and sat down on his lap.
He looked at her with a bemused expression as she made herself comfortable. "What? I like your chair better," she explained as she held out the bag to him. "This is for you."
"You got me a present?"
"No, I'm just returning one."
He reached into the bag and was surprised when he pulled out his Dartmouth Hockey sweatshirt. "Syd, why are you giving this back to me?"
"Because, you asked me to hang onto it for you until you came back. You're back now."
"Yeah, but I don't want it back. I think you should keep it," he decided.
"Vaughn," she softly protested, "I can't keep it, it's your favorite."
"But I want you to. I'm sure it looks better on you, anyway," he smiled.
"Vaughn, are you sure?"
"Definitely."
"Great. If I had known that you were going to let me keep it, I never would have washed it."
"What?" he asked with a confused laugh.
"Last night was the first time that I washed it since you gave it to me," she explained. "When I first took it out of my suitcase, it still smelled like you, so whenever I was missing you -- which was all the time -- I'd wear it, and it felt like being close to you." She shook her head in embarrassment. "I know that sounds ridiculous, but it helped, and that's why I refused to wash it. Of course, I wore it so much that I think it ended up smelling more like me than you," she laughed.
"You make it sound like that's a bad thing. You always smell so good, Syd." He nuzzled her neck, and when he began to softly stroke her knee, she could feel the familiar sensations building inside of her. She linked her fingers through his and pulled his hand away.
"You have to stop that," she smiled. "You rubbing my knee like that was what led to everything that happened in the warehouse the other night, so I'm just stopping you now before things get completely out of hand. Besides," she sighed as she raised his arm and looked at his watch, "I need to leave anyway. I have an SD-6 briefing at ten."
Hearing the word SD-6 was like having a wet blanket thrown over his escalating desire for her, and he frowned with concern. "I hate the thought of you having to walk into that lion's den."
"Tell me about it. The very last thing that I want to do after being with you is go see Sloane, especially when he's been -- never mind." She shook her head and sighed as she rose from Vaughn's lap but he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back down, preventing her from leaving.
"Especially when he's been what?"
"Nothing, Vaughn. It's nothing. Just forget what I said." She tried to free herself from his grasp and stand up again, but he refused to let her go. "Are you going to let me go?" she asked with an exasperated sigh. She looked at the unyielding expression on his face and knew that he wasn't going to let her go without an explanation, so she relented, settling back into his lap and placing her hands over his.
"I wasn't going to say anything, because I didn't want you to worry, but lately he's been acting strangely. All of a sudden, he's developed an interest in my personal life, asking me if I'm seeing anyone, telling me that I seem happier than usual, that kind of thing. It's a little unnerving, but it could just be nothing; maybe he's just feeling guilty about Danny, or something," she said dismissively. "In fact, I'm sure it's nothing. I think I'm just jumpy right now because the raid is getting closer. I'm probably blowing things out of proportion."
Vaughn could tell that she was downplaying her concerns for his benefit, but he decided not to press her on it for now. "Sydney, he hasn't threatened you, has he?"
"No. He hasn't done anything other than ask me a few off the wall questions. I shouldn't have even said anything about it."
"Do you think he knows about us?"
"No," she assured him. She could already tell that Vaughn was doing what he did best -- worrying about her and protecting her -- and she hated the thought of causing him more anxiety and sleepless nights. She absently played with his hair and rested her cheek on the top of his head. "Sloane doesn't know anything about us and he won't, Vaughn. I took every precaution before we met at the warehouse, and I'll do that for as long as I have to until this is over."
"I know," he sighed, "but Syd, if you notice anything strange or out of the ordinary -- I mean, if Sloane even looks at you the wrong way -- you need to tell me, so we can take steps, okay? Promise me," he begged her
"I promise, but only if *you* promise not to spend all your time worrying and obsessing over Sloane. I'll be fine, really."
"Sydney, asking me not to worry about you is like asking me not to love you. I can't do that. I can't promise that I won't worry, but I'll try not to get all worked up about it. That's the best that I can do," he smiled apologetically. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Of course I will." She kissed his forehead and sighed. "I hate to leave you, but I have to go. Will you be at the ops center later?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Maybe I'll see you there." She stood and straightened her suit, then bent back down to give him a quick kiss. "Have a good day."
"You too. Bye." He forced a smile for her benefit as she left his office, but leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh when she was gone. Just when it seemed that SD-6 was close to falling and all the pieces of their life together were falling into place, Sloane had to come along and shake things up.
Vaughn's professional training soon kicked in as he began to devise various contingency plans, in case Sloane needed to be dealt with before the raid. But all the logical problem-solving skills in the world weren't enough to assuage his growing fear that Sloane might somehow ruin everything for him and Sydney.
*****
"Good morning, Sydney," Jack greeted her as she walked into the briefing room.
"Hi Dad. Where is everyone?"
"Sloane pushed the briefing back to ten after the hour," he explained. "I'm just here early reading over some reports."
"Do you mind company?"
"Of course not."
"Good," she smiled as she took a seat across from him. "How was your weekend?"
"Uneventful, as usual. Yours?"
"Quiet," she shrugged. "I mostly just lounged around the apartment with Francie."
"That's all you did?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," she nodded. "Why?"
"You just seem to be in an unusually good mood for a Monday morning. I just assumed that there must be a reason for that."
"Well -- do you have your -- thanks," she nodded as Jack pulled out his signal jammer. "Actually," she lowered her voice as she leaned closer to him, "Vaughn is back."
"Since when?"
"Friday."
"You've seen him since then, I take it?"
"Yes," she acknowledged. A small smile played about her lips before she looked up and saw her father's concerned expression. "Don't worry, Dad. I was careful. *We* were careful."
"I certainly hope that you were. Now is not the time to get sloppy, Sydney," he reproached. When he saw a momentary pained expression flicker across her face, he softened his tone to take the edge off of his words. "So how is Vaughn?"
Sydney smiled, appreciating the fact that he sincerely seemed to care and wasn't simply asking to be polite. "He's good. He's great, actually."
"So, I assume that he'll be resuming his responsibilities as your handler?"
"Oh, no. Actually, we agreed that I should continue to work with Agent Miles. She and I work well together and don't seem to have the same kind of, um, objectivity issues with each other that Vaughn and I have," she admitted. "Besides, he's still going to be back and forth between here and Langley for the next month."
"I see. Well, it's probably for the best that he won't be your handler anymore, given the nature of your . . . personal relationship." Sydney couldn't help but smile at the difficulty her seemed to have getting those words out.
"You mean because he's my *boyfriend,* Dad?" she teasingly asked. "Yes, we both agree that it's for the best, although I really miss working with him, and I think that -- "
Before she could finish her thought, the signal jammer beeped and Jack placed it back in his jacket pocket. A few minutes later, Sloane entered the conference room accompanied by Dixon and Marshall.
"Jack, Sydney, good morning," he nodded.
"Good morning," they replied in unison as Sydney flashed smiles to Dixon and Marshall.
"How were your weekends?"
"Good."
"Fine, thank you."
"Did you do anything special, Sydney?" Sloane turned to her.
"No, I just stayed at home all weekend," she replied with a relaxed smile.
Sloane nodded in approval. Agent Bridges reported to him that morning that he hadn't seen Sydney's car move all weekend, so Sloane was satisfied that she was telling the truth. "Well, I hope it was relaxing."
"It was."
"Good. Let's begin then, shall we?"
*****
"Wow, someone break out the champagne! Michael Vaughn finally decided to grace us with his presence," Weiss boomed as he approached his desk and saw Vaughn seated at the desk next to his. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
Vaughn rolled his eyes, but smiled at his friend anyway. "Remember how every time we talked on the phone, I told you how much I missed Sydney?
"Yeah."
"Well, I didn't miss you at all," Vaughn laughed. "I swear, Eric, I haven't even been back for three whole days, and you're already giving me grief. If you were a real friend, you'd at least give me a week to reaclimate myself to your charming and clever wit"
"Oh, come on, Mike, you can't take it. Be a man," Weiss laughed, clapping his hand on Vaughn's shoulder. He sat down at his desk and shuffled a few papers around, before rolling his chair next to Vaughn's. "So hey," he said quietly, making sure that they weren't overheard, "are you gonna tell me what happened on Friday night?"
"How many times have you asked me that since I came to pick up Donovan? Seven? Eight? You need to accept that I'm not going to tell you anything and let it go."
"Let it go?" Weiss incredulously asked. "You know I can't do that. Look, the way I see it, you and Sydney already had the whole forbidden love thing going on even *before* you left for four months. So the combination of that and all of the time that you spent apart had to make for some of the hottest welcome-home sex ever. I just want all the sordid details, that's all."
Vaughn shook his head and Weiss had to smile at the fact that Vaughn wasn't willing to spill the details about his homecoming with anyone, not even his best friend. In the past, the two of them had always engaged in typical guy talk, freely sharing with each other the dirt about their sex lives, but other than admitting that he and Sydney were finally together, Vaughn really hadn't told Weiss anything about their relationship. That hadn't kept Weiss from pressing for the details, of course, but he had resigned himself to the fact that Vaughn was never going to cave in, and all kidding aside, he respected that. It was just one of the many ways in which he could tell that his best friend was deeply in love with Sydney.
"I'm not telling you anything, Eric, but the first thing you mentioned to me when I came to pick up Donovan was how tired I looked, right? That told you everything you need to know about my night with Sydney."
"Ooh, you're a stud, Mike," Weiss teased, "I'm sure that Sydney agrees. I guess I'll just have to get all the dirt from her."
"I seriously doubt that she's going to tell you any more than I have."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. She and I bonded while you were gone. She might spill."
"Yeah," Vaughn laughed, "or she might kill you with a flick of her wrist. Either way, I wouldn't take the risk of finding out. Don't let the sweet exterior fool you, she kicks all kinds of ass."
"Including yours?" Weiss grinned. "Is that some kind of kinky sex game that you guys like to play with each other?"
"Oh yeah, all the time," Vaughn smirked.
"Damn. You're a lucky man, Mike. You have a great girlfriend and an even better best friend. Admit it -- you've missed having these kinds of intellectual conversations with me, haven't you?"
"So much, Eric. You just don't know."
"No, I *know.* I kept telling Sydney while you were gone that you probably missed me more than her, but she refused to believe me for some reason."
"I can't imagine why."
"Me either, man. But enough about how much you missed me. How's your mom doing?"
"She's great. She told me to tell you hi."
"Oh, well be sure to tell her hello for me the next time you speak to her. When is she coming out this way again?"
"I'm not sure, but I'm trying to convince her to come in July. Why?"
"Just let me know a few weeks before she gets here so I can go on a diet. That way I won't feel so guilty about eating all of her cooking. My mouth is already watering thinking about her coq au vin. And that chicken, with the garlic? Oh man, I can hardly wait."
"Do you want to just move into my place while she's here?" Vaughn teased. "That way, she could serve you three meals a day in bed. You wouldn't even have to leave your house."
"Yeah, you're joking, but that's actually not a bad idea. Alan and I could move into your place for a week or so, and you could go stay with Sydney."
"Who's staying with me?" Sydney asked as she bounded up to the two of them. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Hey," Vaughn said softly, a smile lighting his face when he saw her.
"Hi," she grinned. "Hi, Eric."
"I can't believe that you even noticed me sitting here now that ol' green eyes is back in town."
Sydney turned to him with a mock sympathetic look. "I know you got used to having me all to yourself while he was gone, but come on, Eric. Didn't anyone ever teach you that it's polite to share?" Vaughn laughed, her tone reminding him of a teacher scolding a kindergartner.
"Yeah, Eric. Play nicely," he smirked.
"You need to tell Agent Frenchy that it's polite to share, because he won't tell me anything about your big reunion on Friday night."
"Sorry, that information is classified Omega-17."
"Wow, so neither one of you is talking. Is was that good, huh?"
Vaughn and Sydney smiled at each other, then quickly looked away, as they both started to blush.
"God, the two of you are sickening," Weiss laughed. "I don't want to interrupt your precious flirting time any further, so I'm going to go get some coffee. Do you guys want anything?"
"No thanks," they both answered.
"Alright then. See you two later."
"Bye." Sydney turned back to Vaughn once Weiss was gone. "You look tired," she said softly.
"It's been a long day catching up on everything, but I'm okay. Where were you coming from just now?" He lowered his head for a moment, as he signed a sheet of paper, and she seized the opportunity to brush her fingertips along the back of his neck.
"You're so bad, Syd."
"I know," she grinned, leaning back against his desk. "I just came from meeting with Sylvia; she was giving me my latest countermission."
Vaughn frowned and stood up next to her, pretending to look for something on his desk. "Sloane's sending you on a mission?"
"Yeah, he's sending us to Turin to retrieve yet another Rambaldi artifact, which begs the question, what is his obsession with that man, and why is an alleged intelligence agency getting caught up in it? I never thought that I would actually say this, but I miss the good 'ol days when he used to send us to steal important stuff like nuclear weapons."
Vaughn flashed her a grin, which was quickly replaced by an anxious expression. "Dixon's going with you, right?" he anxiously asked.
"Yes, so don't worry. I'll have backup. I thought you weren't going to worry about Sloane," she reminded him.
"I'm not worried about Sloane, Syd. I'm worried about you. I want you to be safe, and I'll feel much better if Dixon is with you."
"I'll be extra careful, I promise." She looked at him and had to restrain herself from wrapping her arms around him and smoothing the creases in his forehead. She was simultaneously trying to reassure him that she would be fine and calm her own concerns about Sloane. She would feel a lot better, though, if she didn't have to worry about him worrying about her. "Hey, try to get some sleep tonight, okay? Don't stay up all night worrying about me," she teased.
"I'll try, but it's gonna be hard."
"When I come home, I'll give you a legitimate reason to stay up all night long, okay?"
"I'm going to hold you to that."
"I don't mind," she smiled before glancing at her watch with a sigh. "I should probably go."
"Yeah, you should." Sydney made no attempt to walk away from him and he grinned at her. "I thought you were leaving."
"I am," she smiled, even as she stayed rooted firmly in place. "I really want to kiss you right now," she whispered.
"Me too. It's all I can do not to touch you right now, which is why you need to go before something shocking happens in full view of a room of CIA agents," he laughed, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Save the kiss for when you get back. I'll be here."
"Okay. Maybe we could order from Joey's Pizza when I get back," she suggested.
"We will, definitely." He smiled and stepped closer to her, lightly brushing his fingers against hers, no longer caring who saw them. "I love you. Be careful," he whispered into her ear.
"I will. I love you too. See you when I get back."
*****
A few minutes before five o'clock, Vaughn slouched in his chair and closed his eyes, which ached from the strain of reading paperwork and staring at a computer screen for most of the day. Even though he had been looking forward to returning to his job at the ops center, he wasn't prepared for how much work would be waiting for him when he got back, and the day had been completely exhausting.
He briefly thought about how nice it would be to go home for the evening and unwind, but then he remembered that Sydney was on a flight to Italy. Even if he did go home, he knew that he would spend the evening either worrying about her or fantasizing about her. Either way, he wasn't likely to rest or relax, so he figured that he might as well stay at work and try to clear off the piles on his desk.
Just as he picked up another intelligence report from one of the piles, he was interrupted by his ringing phone.
"Michael Vaughn."
"Hi Mike, it's Donna. I was just about to leave for the evening when I remembered that I forgot to give you the message that Agent Bristow set up a 7:00 dinner reservation for tonight at Joey Chang's."
Vaughn frowned, knowing that there was no way that Sydney would risk the two of them being seen together in a public restaurant. "Are you sure about that, Donna? Because Agent Bristow left for Italy this afternoon."
"Wrong Agent Bristow," she laughed. "You're not meeting Sydney, you're meeting Jack. Anyway, have a good night. See you tomorrow," she chirped.
"Yeah, you have a nice evening, too, Donna," he said distractedly.
He hung up the phone and sank back in his chair, feeling as if he had just been completely blindsided. He couldn't believe that he was about to have dinner with his fiance's father, and he only had two hours to prepare himself for what was sure to be one of the more nerve-wracking evenings of his life.
Cool, calm, rational Michael Vaughn rarely, if ever, panicked, but now seemed as good a time as any to start.
TBC . . .