Magnificent Lies

France

At a quarter to five, Sydney Bristow was ready to leave for France. In the last two and a half hours, she had packed up her suitcase, said goodbye to Will and Francie, and briefly glanced at her new alias's information.

Her suitcase sat by the door, neatly packed with the essentials. She had neatly folded enough changes of clothes to get her through almost every situation, and everything else was zippered into the many side compartments of the bag. It hadn't taken her long to pack; traveling as much as she did caused her to buy an extra of all her toiletries and pre-pack them.

Francie and Will had left at five to go see an early movie and have dinner with some friends. Originally Sydney had planned on going with them, but her "bank trip" had come up at the last minute, and this was a really important client.

"God, Sydney." Francie had sighed. "This always happens! Doesn't the bank know you have a life? I keep telling you, you have to quit that job!"

Will had understood, at least. Besides Vaughn and her father, he was the only person who knew the real her. Even though she felt so selfish about it, she was so happy he knew what she really did. She hated lying to her friends even more than she hated Sloane.

But then again, if it hadn't been for Sloane, she never would have met Vaughn. Interesting how that all worked out.

The doorbell stirred her out of her thoughts, and she smoothed down the soft white skirt she had changed into. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Hey."

"Hey." Vaughn stood smiling at her door. "Come on in. I've just got to get my purse." She said as he stepped through the door. She watched as his green eyes roamed slowly around the apartment, soaking in every little detail. They paused over the picture over the mantle, the one of Sydney and a group of friends taken at a birthday party. He was surprised to see that only one picture of Danny was visible; small and beautifully framed. He wondered what picture she had put in the frame he had bought her for Christmas.

"Nice apartment." He said as she came back into the room with her purse in hand. "It's exactly like I thought it would be." He had often thought about what her place would look like. Now he knew.

"Thanks. Um, I think that's everything." She said. He picked up her suitcase for her and carried it out to his waiting car. Sydney locked her door behind her and walked out to meet Vaughn, who held the passenger side door open for her before getting in himself.

To keep up the pretense of being a honeymooning couple, Sloane had booked them first class seats on a commercial flight.

"This is nice." Sydney said quietly to Vaughn as the plane taxied onto the runway.

"What?" Vaughn asked.

"Flying commercially, I always feel weird being the only one on a plane, especially one owned by SD-6. And you know what else is great?"

"No, What?"

"Being able to talk to you in public without having constantly look over my shoulder. I can do whatever I want, now."

Vaughn grinned, taking her hand in his and resting them on the arm dividing their seats. Sydney's face glowed with happiness and excitement, a fact not missed by Vaughn.

By the time the plane landed at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris ten hours and thirty-five minutes later, Sydney had drifted off to sleep. Even though Vaughn wanted more than anything to take every opportunity during this trip to get to know her more, to talk to her and be with her, he didn't wake her. She had been working such long hours lately; he knew she needed the sleep. Plus, she was curled up against his chest, her head on his shoulder, so it wasn't that bad. Vaughn smiled down at her and gently woke her up.

"Simone, we're here." He said, making sure to use her alias, as the flight attendants were milling around nearby.

"Already?" She mumbled. "But it's only been a few hours..." She pulled herself back up into her seat. "Oh my gosh, Vaughn- I mean, uh, William, I'm so sorry! How long have I been asleep? Were you bored out of your mind?"

"It's okay. I slept too." He told her. He had slept, for about an hour over the Atlantic.

"So, I forgot to ask. What are we going to do with all our free time in France?" She said playfully. "I figure, since you're the Frenchman, you should be the one to pick what we do while we're in France."

"Well, there is a lot of French stuff we can do here." He said. Yeah, like French kiss... Sydney thought, and then mentally slapped herself. Apparently Vaughn was thinking along the same lines, because he blushed and quickly added,. "I mean, uh, like we could go to the French Theater. Not many tourists know about it, but it's definitely worth seeing."

"Okay. You know, I've been to Paris so many times, but I never actually got to do any sightseeing."

"That can be fixed. In fact, we can kill two birds with one stone if we dine at Le Totem. If I remember correctly, it has a spectacular view of the Eiffel Tower and has an amazing menu."

After dropping off their baggage and checking in at the hotel, a modern interior nestled inside a historical building, they called for a taxi and rode to Le Totem. Vaughn helped Sydney out of the cab and guided her into the restaurant.

Even though Sydney could feel the warm touch of Vaughn's hand on the small of her back and the coolness of the night air on her face, she still thought she was dreaming. And when she saw the view from the restaurant she had to pinch herself to make sure. It was late, and the sky was almost purple. The sky-lighted frame of the Eiffel Tower seemed to brighten the whole room with its soft glow.

"You can see why this is my favorite restaurant," Vaughn said as he sat down across from Sydney.

"How long have you been coming here?" She asked.

"Ever since I was little. My father used to take my family here on special occasions." Sydney got quiet at the mention of his father. She still felt guilty that her mother had taken that part of his life away from him. He smiled and reached across the table to hold her hand. "Hey. It's okay."

"What is your family like?" She asked.

They spent the rest of the evening like this, until the maitre 'd started to throw them evil glances, either for laughing too much or hogging the table for hours. Vaughn paid the bill, and they left the restaurant.

They walked around for a while until they found themselves back where they had started; right next to the Eiffel tower.

"Vaughn." Sydney said under her breath, even though they were virtually alone. "This has been... amazing. I can't think of many times I've felt as happy as I do now."

He knew. He could see it light up her whole face. He'd never seen this side of her before, and now that he had, he didn't know how he was going to survive without it.

"Vaughn." Sydney said, and then stopped, wondering if she could, or should say what she was about to say.

"What?"

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

Sydney reached up and kissed him.

Here's a fluff chapter for you guys!!! After all the Jack/Irina darkness, you all deserve it!!! And I deserve a review, don't you think??? 