Author's Note:  Sorry about the lack of updates, hit writer's block.  I need reviews on this chapter.  Whether or not this is the way to go. Thanks. Julie.

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"Sydney!  Hey Sydney!"  Weiss grabbed his friend's arm and panted as she looked at him.  "I…(wheez)…heard…(cough)…about…"

"Me and Vaughn?"  Supplied Sydney.  When Weiss finally caught his breath, he noticed her eyes were red and puffy.  She was thinner then usual and she looked pale.

"I take it, this past week has been hard on you."  He eyed her.  "Care to share?"  They fell into step, walking down the hall.

"I felt crowded, like he was pushing me."

"Mike's a good guy.  But I am not ruling out normal teenage guy behavior.  He's going through stress right now Syd."

"Still…"

"I know that doesn't give him the right to push you anywhere you don't want to go.  But, and don't kill me for saying this but…maybe your scared because you don't know what to expect.  You've never had a relationship like the one you and Mike have.  You're used to control and that's the one thing Mike isn't to you.  Control."

Sydney sighed and rubbed her hands over her eyes.  "Maybe.  I don't know.  I mean I have been talking to my dad about this and…"

"Whoa, hold up missy.  Stop the presses, alert the guards.  You've been talking to your dad?"

"Yeah.  We've been reconnecting, he's been really supportive."

"On which side?"  Weiss looked frustrated.  "Daddy dearest never told you about Vaughn calling you in DC, did he?"

"Vaughn never called…" At Weiss's 'told ya' look, Sydney blanched.  "Uh, I have to…a…go.  S'cuse me Weiss."  Without another word Sydney turned and dashed down the halls.  Weiss smiled grimly after her.

"What is it with parents?"  He scoffed before going off to find his friends.

*****

Sydney slammed her front door and hurried to the phone in the hallway, intent on calling her dad.  Just before she dialed his number, Sydney lifted up her head in surprise and sniffed the air.

"Is that…tomato sauce?"  She cautiously set the phone down and walked in to the kitchen and froze as she saw her dad standing at the stove stirring something in a pan.  "Daddy?"

Jack Bristow turned and smiled as best as his demeanor would allow him.  He walked over and pulled Sydney into a tight hug then released her to tend to his sauce.

"Sweetie, aren't you supposed to be in school?"  Jack turned down the stove and turned to the main island where he began to chop vegetables. 

Sydney, still cautious, slid onto one of the bar stools across from him.  "I…wasn't feeling so good."

"With the force you swept into the house with, I'm surprised."  Jack glanced up at his daughter with an expression only a dad could have.  When he smiled at her, Sydney felt her self relax.  She closed her eyes and drank in the soothing smells of the food as he dad returned back to chopping.

Suddenly Sydney sat up and stared at her father.  It was all too perfect.  It couldn't be real.  Nothing like this had ever happened since before her mother's death.  Something was up.

"Dad?"

"Hmmm?"  Jack didn't look up from his work, but smiled.

"Did a guy named Michael Vaughn ever call for me in DC?"  Now Jack looked up.

"Why do you ask?"

Sydney braced herself.  "Danny isn't the one I've been having problems with.  Vaughn is."

"What are you talking about."

"Danny and I, we broke up while I was in DC, maybe even before that.  Vaughn and I have been seeing each other since I got back."

"You are going out with that pathetic excuse for a boy."  Jack's face was getting red, his cooking forgotten.  "I will not have my only child being held back by some hormone driven high schooler."

"How can you say that?"  Sydney had at first been surprised by her father's outburst, but realized she had to fight back.  Not only for her, but for Vaughn as well.  "You don't know anything about him.  You talk to him once on the phone and think you do.  You don't even know me, and I'm your own daughter.

"How can you sleep at night, knowing that you have deprived a little girl of the only parent she had left."  Tears ran down Sydney's face, but she wasn't finished.  "I grew up with out a mother, but I also grew up with out a father.  The man who dared call him self my father was too much a coward to face his own fears to help his daughter."  Sydney finished and glared at her father.  He stood, shocked to the bone at what she had said. 

Knowing he wouldn't answer back, Sydney spun on her heal and ran out the door.

Jack stared blankly after his daughter.  Minutes passed by before he shook out of his trance and pulled out his cell phone.

"Get me Director Devlin, now."

TBC