Chapter 8: The Pieces are Coming Together…

Weiss pulls into the parking garage at the CIA Archives building. He sees Vaughn approaching, so he gets out of the car.

"Hey man, thanks for coming." Vaughn has a goofy kind of grin on his face, and Weiss eyes him warily.

"Dude, where's your tie and jacket? And what are you doing at the Temple of Dust?"

Vaughn snickers at the use of their private nickname for the Archives. He then grabs Eric's shoulder, still wearing the goofy grin, and says, "Today is the day, my friend. I'm going to tell Sydney the truth."

Weiss looks at him in disbelief. "You're crazy…you can't blow your cover to Sydney! Kendall would be all over your ass like white on rice!!"

Vaughn chuckles a little, then explains, "I talked to Dixon this morning and he gave me the okay. Despite how Kendall may feel about it, Dixon believes that telling Sydney can help us to bring the Covenant down sooner. He seems to remember a certain international crime syndicate being taken down in 'record time,' in large part due to the desire of Syd and me to be together. He thinks that we can work that to our advantage again."

"The man's a genius. Seriously, MENSA should put him on their mailing list. So what's the plan?"

"Well, I called Lauren a few moments ago to let her know that I would be here at the Archives all day following up a potential lead regarding the Covenant. If she gets curious and asks Dixon about it, he'll back me up. I'm leaving my car here…"

"Because of the GPS tracker…"

"Yeah, and I have left my suit jacket and tie in one of the lower archive rooms…"

"Because of the trackers that Lauren puts on your clothes…"

"Correct. I was swept this morning at JTF, as usual, and those were the only trackers on me. Now, I need you to drive me to Syd's, but we'll need to lose any tails, just in case. I have waited too long for this to risk anything going wrong." Vaughn gives Eric's shoulder a squeeze, then runs his hand through his hair.

Weiss looks at his friend…his best friend…who has suffered through so much. The man before him has sacrificed everything for love…he is a walking testament to the lengths that a man would go for a woman. Dude…I hope I never fall in love.

"Mike…I don't want to burst your bubble, but we're nowhere near the end of this. Even after you tell Sydney, you still can't be with her. You're still going to have to continue being married to Lauren."

The smile on Vaughn's face finally fades. "I know that, Eric. But I can now be honest with Syd – that's the most important thing to me right now. It may not change the physical appearance of my situation, but it changes everything mentally and emotionally…for me and hopefully for her, too."

Weiss gives him a quick nod and a smile. "Well, let's get to it, Romeo. Can't leave the little lady waiting any longer, can we?"

Vaughn's smile makes a reappearance with full wattage. "No…no we can't." He and Weiss get into the car. "You know I'm going to tell her that you called her a 'little lady,' right?"

"Your threats are meaningless to me, old man. That girl of yours, on the other hand…"

They both laugh as they drive off.

Knock…knock.

Sydney walks out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, while continuing to rub her hair with another towel. "Just a second," she calls. It's probably Weiss. Don't want to give him a heart attack. She enters her bedroom and grabs a soft pink stretch camisole with thin straps and puts it on. After she puts on a pair of undies and some shorts and tosses the towels back into the bathroom, she walks over to the door and looks through the peep hole. Just as I thought… She opens the door. "Hey, Weiss. Everything go okay with Dixon?"

She starts to walk towards the kitchen, but he doesn't follow her. Instead, he stands in place and waits for her to turn around. "Syd…I can't stay."

She stops and turns to look at him. She gives him a funny look with a smile and asks, "Why not? We're suppose to finish talking."

"But it's not me that you are suppose to be talking to…" Weiss gives her a knowing look, then nods his head towards the back of the living room, where the sliding glass doors are.

The smile fades and her body stiffens somewhat. Her face starts to tighten with emotion, preparing for what…or who…she will see over her shoulder. She crosses her arms tight around her front, then slowly turns. Vaughn is just outside the sliding glass doors, standing with his hands in his pockets and his head tilted down. But his eyes are raised towards her…begging her to let him in. Trying to quell the feelings rising up within her, she takes in a deep breath, then turns back to face Weiss…who is looking sheepishly towards the ground.

"Why is he here?" Her voice is just above a whisper.

"You need to talk to him…and not just about the stuff you were telling me. He has things that he needs to tell you as well. You need to trust me on this, Syd. Let him in…then let him talk. The answers you have been looking for are waiting just outside those doors." He gives her an encouraging look, then pulls her door shut and heads for his own place.

Sydney stares at the closed door for a few moments, gathering her strength while trying to process what Weiss has just said to her. The one word that stands out the most is "answers." That word alone propels her to turn around and walk towards the glass doors. She stands there a moment and takes in the sight before her: This is Vaughn, of course, but something is different. He's wearing dark blue suit pants and a light blue oxford. The tie and jacket are missing, and the top button of his shirt is undone, revealing a peak at the white T-shirt beneath. He has the holster on, ever the Boy Scout that he is, but there is something more…something in his face…something in his eyes. I know those eyes. This isn't the Vaughn I have been around since my return…this is…the old Vaughn…the one who was with me in the cell in North Korea…this is my Vaughn. Her eyebrows shoot up and she lets out a small gasp at this realization. Some kind of veil has been lifted from his face.

As Sydney is studying him, he is studying her as well. He is gazing at her intently…trying to will her with his eyes to open the door and let him in. Not just into her house, but back into her soul as well. Come on, Syd…please trust me. Let me come in. He notices that her long chestnut hair is damp and tousled, like it looks when she just gets out of the shower. He takes in the vision before him: Wet hair…face scrubbed clean and without a hint of makeup...tight pink tank that reveals her incredibly toned arms and abs…a tiny pair of grey shorts that show off her endless pair of legs…bare feet. God…how am I going to be able to talk coherently with her looking like that? Easy, Mike…you've been trained to handle merciless acts of torture. She's got to hear the truth…then maybe she'll let me run my finger along her jaw line and kiss those precious lips and… Vaughn is pulled out of his reverie by the sound of the sliding glass door opening.

"Come in."