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: The song is from Dashboard Confessional's This Ruined Puzzle.



          Ch. 3

I've written a note,

It's pressed between pages
That you've marked to find your way back.

It says "Does he ever get the girl?"
But what if the pages stay pressed,

The chapters unfinished,
The stories too dull to unfold?
Does he ever get the girl?

         He sat staring at his computer screen double checking every word, every comma, every period, making sure it was perfect. If he was going to do this, if he was going to really do this, everything was going to be perfect.

         Sighing, he moved the mouse ever so slightly and clicked gently on the tiny button in the corner.

         "Printing started."

         The mechanical voice echoed around the room, two voices crying out his fate. Looking up at the door frame, he sighed as the shape of Eric Weiss stood the door swinging shut softly behind him.

          "Hey there, Romeo. I'm surprised to see you here. I figured you'd be off with Juliet celebrating your final admittance of your feelings." Weiss smirked, wiggling his eyebrows in the air.

          "You'd think that, wouldn't you?" Vaughn muttered, defeated.

          "Mike?" Weiss asked softly as he took a seat across from his best friend. "What's going on?"

           Vaughn shook his head softly as he heard the printer finish the final sheet. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing." His tone was bitter and he immediately scolded himself for being so clipped with Weiss. After all, he put himself in this mess. "There's nothing going on." He repeated, this time softer, with a defeated look crossing his features.

           "Are you sure?"

           "Yeah. Can you do me a favor?" Weiss nodded as he kept his gaze on his best friend. "Can you just get the stuff from the printer?"

           "Yeah, sure." Weiss stood and walked over to the printer, pulling the sheets from the paper tray. Glancing at the top sheet, he stopped in his tracks just a few feet from Vaughn's desk.

           "Mike…Are you sure?!"

           "Yeah. I am." Vaughn sighed as he pulled two envelopes out of his desk and held out his hand for the two documents. "Are you ok with that?" He questioned pointing to the top document.

           "Well… I mean if this is what you really want. If you are totally sure. Because it's going to… she's going to…"

            "I know." Vaughn nodded solemnly as took the documents from Weiss. "Can I trust you to deliver the second one?"

           "Sure buddy."

           "Thanks Eric."

           "Mike…"

           "I'm sure." Vaughn insisted as he removed a black pen from his desk and neatly signed them. Placing them into the envelopes he sealed them and addressed them carefully, aware that with each letter he was sealing his fate. Handing one to Weiss, he stood and got back into his suit coat. He sighed deeply before walking towards the door, Weiss walking behind him.

           "Mike… are you sure?"

           "For the last time, yes Eric. This is something I should have done ages ago." Weiss could only follow quietly as Vaughn walked down the halls of the CIA headquarters and stopped in front of a receptionist's desk. Glancing quickly at Weiss, he swallowed harshly before speaking.

           "Can you tell the Director that Michael Vaughn is here?" He asked the older woman, who simply nodded before picking up her phone.

           She spoke quietly into the phone before turning back to Vaughn. "Director Devlin will see you now."

           Nodding Vaughn straightened out his suit coat and cracked his neck in preparation. "Good luck." Weiss whispered as he patted his friend on the back and slowly walked away.





           He walked slowly into the warehouse, dreading what lay before him. Taking a deep breath he slowly entered the caged-in area, drawing attention to the woman that stood with her back to him.

           Upon hearing his entrance, Sydney slowly spun around, poised to begin to apologize when her eyes landed on the man standing before her.

           "Weiss?! What… what are you doing here? Where's Vaughn?" Panic slowly began to settle itself in the depths of her soul as she watched Weiss fidget under her gaze.

           "He … um… Here." He reached into his suit jacket and extracted a white envelope.

            Taking the crisp white envelope from Weiss and peered down at the script on the front. It was unmistakably his. The way he wrote her name, the curve of the letters, she knew that penmanship.

          Peering up at Weiss for a moment, she was met with a shrug. Flipping over the envelope, she carefully broke the seal and slipped out the smooth white sheets.

           Unfolding them, she was unprepared for the impact of the words that hit her the moment she began to read.





           Sydney,

             There are so many things in my life that I wish I could take back. So many instances where I wish I could reverse time and live that moment over again to do it right. I had never felt that way when it came to something to do with you. I have never wanted to go back and fix anything that I have ever done when it came to you. Until last night.

           In a single instance, I broke every promise I have ever made when it came to my job. I broke every rule that has ever been laid down and I put you in a position where you were uncomfortable, where you felt you couldn't trust me.

          I promised myself that I would never betray your trust. I promised your father that I would never betray your trust and last night, I broke that promise. And now, the only way I can truly rectify this situation, the only way I can make things right between us, is by removing myself from the situation.

          Weiss will take good care of you. That I can promise. If there is anyone I trust to secure your safety, it's him. You can trust him. Don't forget why you are here. Why you are fighting as hard as you have been for the last 18 months. Never lose sight of the goal that you set so long ago.

           I have every reason to believe that you will be able to finish what you started. Whether I am standing next to you or not. Don't let anything stop you. This is not just about cutting off the arm of the monster; it's about killing the monster. And I believe that you can do that.

            Michael Vaughn


           When she looked back up and met Weiss's eyes, tears were flowing down her cheeks. The tiny drops creating pools of sorrow scattered across the words, the perfect signature bleeding.