Title: All The 'Best Deceptions' and 'Clever Cover Story'

Author: Secret Agent Girl (SAG)

'Ship: You ask this… why?

Spoilers/Timeline: Pre-Phase One, Post-The Getaway, AU

A/N: This was a story that I never thought I'd write and I ended up really getting into it. Here's chapter two. Thanks for all the kind reviews. Oh, and the few lines that made me start this whole thing in the first place are in here… can ya find them?

Ch. 2

My heart is yours to fill or burst,
to break or bury,

or wear as jewelry.
Whichever you prefer.

            He began to pace. His heart was racing and sweat was pouring down his forehead. What was he doing?! Was he a complete idiot!? What was he really hoping would happen today?! Well… that was simple. He wanted her to say that she felt the same way. That she wanted to be with him just as much as he wanted to be with her. That she needed him in everyway that he needed her. And most importantly, he wanted her to not hate him for being completely willing to risk their lives for even a moment of happiness.

            Rationally, he knew this was wrong. She had lost too much in her short life for him to even be contemplating the fact that they could be together when SD-6 was still around, but if he didn't do something, today then he would go insane.

            Forcing himself, to calm down, he took a deep breath and sat down on one of the crates in the warehouse. His heart seemed to calm and his breathing began to lax as he forced himself to relax, remembering that it was only Sydney. And then he heard her heels click across the cold cement floor, and everything seemed to fly out the window.

            "Hey." She called softly as he stood and opened the fence for her, hoping to seem like he was acting completely normal.

            "Hey."

            "So you got my message."

            "Yeah." He took a deep breath and was about to say it, he was going to do it, when she interrupted.

            "So, countermission?"

            "Right." He nodded, a tiny bubble inside of him deflating. "So, when you get the disks…" He began talking through the countermission, only half of his mind registering what he was saying as he tried to go through it as quickly as possible before he lost all of his nerves. "And that's it."

            "Seems simple enough."

            "Well, you've done it enough." He smiled as she blushed slightly. "Look, Syd, we need… we need to talk."

            "What about?" She asked as she sat down on the crate he had been occupying before.

            "You know what." He whispered softly as his gaze fell to the floor. "Syd, this… situation we are in, it's driving me insane."

            She nodded and looked down to the ground, fear filtering across her face before she put up her mask. "I had a feeling this might happen."

            "Well, it was pretty inevitable after Nice."

            "I know." She sighed. "Just, make sure they don't put Lambert back on, ok?" She asked meekly as his head shot up and his eyes met hers.

            "What?!"

            "When you ask for re-assignment, just please ask them not to put Lambert on as my handler. The guy's an ass." She smiled slightly before dropping her gaze again.

            "Syd, I'm not asking to be re-assigned."

            "I don't understand." She looked at him questioningly. "I know we made a mistake and I just figured, what with you still seeing Alice…" She trailed off for a moment before taking a deep breath. "You know that I won't resent you."

            "Sydney." He took a step closer. "Getting re-assigned is the last thing I want to do."

            "Then what are you talking about?"

            He stepped closer to her and kissed her softly, catching her off guard. When he backed away she had a stunned look on her face. "I want to be with you." He whispered softly as she kept her eyes closed.

            "No." She stated softly as she dropped her eyes, refusing to look into his.

            "No?" He asked in shock as he stepped back.

            "I'm sorry Vaughn, but no. I… I…" She trailed off still unable to meet his eyes.

            "Sydney. We can't keep this up. This… 'crazy-tiptoeing-around-the-issue'… thing that we've been playing at for the last year. I can't keep doing it."

            "I'm sorry Vaughn. You may be… I just don't feel the same way you do." She whispered, her eyes glued to a spot on the floor.

            He shook his head and laughed softly. "I don't believe you."

            "Believe what ever you want. That's the deal."

            "Then why can't you look me in the eye?" His anger was building.

            "Please, can we just... forget about this?"

            "No." His voice raised a decibel. "No we can't. Sydney, I can't keep doing this. I can't keep coming to this warehouse, giving you countermission after countermission and pretending that I don't feel the way I do about you." She kept her eyes on the ground as he took a step closer.

            "If you honestly don't feel the same way. If you can honestly say that your heart doesn't beat a little bit faster every time we meet, that your breath doesn't hitch when we touch, tell me and I will back away. Look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me."   

            "I can't." She whispered, tears building in her eyes.

            "Why not?"

            She slowly lifted her gaze to meet his, tears falling softly down her face. "Because I can't keep lying to myself." Her voice was barely a whisper.

            "Then don't." He whispered back as he brought his hand up to wipe away the tears that glistened on her cheeks. "It doesn't have to be this hard."

            "Yes it does." She shook her head and took a step away from him.

            "No, Sydney, it doesn't."

            "Don't you get it Vaughn? It does. I can't be with you. Not because I don't love you. Not because of the rules that are set by the CIA, but because of me. Because I can't go through what I went through with Danny. Not again. Not with you." She met his eyes for a moment before looking away. "I'm sorry." She whispered softly before walking past him through the gate and towards her car, tears streaming down her face the entire time.

            All he could do was stare after her.