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: So I lied. There really is no basis for any sort of value on my word, when it comes to when I'm gonna update that is. *sigh* oh well! Here's the next part. Thank you to my beta of this chapter. You are everything and then some. The lyrics in italics are from Dashboard Confessional's Rapid Hope Lost off their new album which I love *swoon*.

Ch. 4

Do what you must if that's what you wish,
I can't be a pardon to this
You have a sense that you were born with
You'll find a way to make things right.

          Blueprints lay scattered across his desk, covering every inch that wasn't laden with spiral bound manuals and pads of paper, filled completely with back up plan upon back up plan. The steady clack of computer keys echoed in the silence of his office and his eyes remained trained on the screen, unmoving.

          "You'd think that giving up the case would mean leaving all of this behind."

          Vaughn's head shot up. He had been so enthralled in his work that he hadn't even heard his office door open and close, nor had he heard Weiss enter and approach his desk.

          "Eric." Vaughn breathed a sigh of relief as he leaned back in his chair.

          Fingering a blueprint, Weiss flipped through them gently, not meeting Vaughn's eyes. "I thought you were off the SD-6 case."

          "I'm off Agent Bristow's case; I've been brought back on for this assignment."

          "Agent Bristow?!" Weiss's head shot up, meeting Vaughn's eyes, a look of shock playing across his face. "Since when has she ever been Agent Bristow to you?!"

          Sighing, Vaughn leaned forward in his chair, his elbows resting on his desk as he held his head in his hands, slowly massaging his temples. "Eric… I'm just… I'm just trying to distance myself from it all."

          "And this is how you're choosing to do so?" Weiss asked, fingering the blueprints, flipping through each one slowly.

          "I didn't ask for this assignment Eric. But I know what it could mean and… despite what happened; I would never deny her this. Not this."

          "Mike… I wasn't suggesting that you would…"

          "I know Eric." Vaughn sighed deeply. "Just promise me you'll make sure she's ok. Make sure she gets out."

          "Mike, I may not feel for her what you do but I always…"

          "Just promise me, Eric." Vaughn cut him off, his voice tense, the desperation in his eyes clear.

          "I promise." Weiss nodded softly, never losing eye contact with his best friend.

          She walked quickly through the warehouse, her sneakers making an unusually quiet sound on the cement floor. She quickened her pace through the warehouse as the cage came closer, so that by the time she was there, she was almost at a jog. She wanted to get in and out as soon as possible.

          Pulling back the cage, her mind fluttered briefly to a time when there was always someone standing on the other side, waiting to pull it back for her. Time had moved slowly, and while those days had been behind her for months now, her mind would always return to those days every time she pulled back the chain link fence. Every time Weiss's voice called instead of his.

          Closing the fence behind her, she folded her arms across her chest, bracing herself against the cold air that suddenly assaulted her. "God you had to pick this hour didn't you? You know, it is like, freezing in here?!" She bantered lightly as she walked the few more steps to be face to face with her handler.

          "Well, you could have, oh, I dunno… gotten dressed!" Weiss smirked, peering down at her pajamas, smirking at the flannel pajamas, laden with panda bears.

          "Hey, I like my pjs." Sydney smirked softly. "And besides, its late, I'm tired and I didn't feel like getting dressed." Perching herself on a crate, she folded her legs under her and looked up at Weiss. "So, you wanna tell me why I was dragged out of my nice warm house on one of the coldest nights of the year, at this insane hour?"

          Sighing, Weiss began to slowly pace. Sydney's smile faltered. It was times like these when the similarities between her former handler and Weiss were so apparent. When he began to pace, Sydney began to worry.

          "Eric, you're scaring me." She whispered quietly, fear filtering across her face.

          "Sydney… do you remember those disks you brought back from Tuscany?"

          Her mind began to race. It had seemed like a life time ago that she had asked for that countermission, had sat at that picnic table, furiously scribbling away the details of her SD-6 mission, waiting silently in the confines of her bedroom for the phone to ring, walking through the warehouse meeting his jade green eyes, feeling the pain of thinking that he was leaving, the rush as his lips silently fell upon hers, and the fear that came flooding back when she realized that she could never let it happen. And the pain she felt bearing into her back as she walked away.

          Nodding slowly, she swallowed the lump in her throat and forced the tears in her eyes to disappear. "Y-yeah. I remember."

          "Well, they got back from analysis about a week ago."

          "A week ago!?" Sydney stuttered. "Eric… I gave Va- The CIA," she corrected herself quickly, "those disks months ago."

          "I know." He sighed. "But there was a lot on them. And… Sydney…"

          "Eric…spit. It. Out." Sydney urged the panic rising inside her.

          "Sydney… the information on these disks allowed a team of analysts and strategists create a plan."

          "A plan? Eric…"

          "Sydney… next Tuesday at 8 o'clock PM PST the CIA and all of its allies will make a simultaneous raid on all of the SD cells, brining an end to the alliance."

          She stared at him in wide-eyed wonder, tears pooling in the corners of her eyes. "Are you…are you serious?" She whispered softly.

          Weiss nodded softly. "I assume you'd like to be apart of it?"

          She stared at him for a moment, his words registering in her mind before she nodded slowly, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "I'm in."