Magnificent Lies
Two Pair

Jack stood at the side of the street outside of the airport and hailed a taxi. As he talked to the driver and loaded the bags, Irina looked around and admired the marvels of Paris in the early morning. No matter how many times she saw the sights, she never stopped being amazed. No one knew this of course, except maybe Volkov.

The cab let them out at the rental car place, Hertz, and within twenty minutes Jack and Irina were driving off in a silver sedan.

"Where are we staying?" Irina asked a few minutes later from the passenger seat, already bored with listening to the radio.

"The Hotel Burgundy. It's located almost directly across the Seine River form the Montalembert hotel, so it should provide us with a good enough view of both Sydney's hotel room and Volkov's apartment. Sydney and Vaughn, of course, will have the better view, but there's really nothing we can do about that. We're going to have to be extremely careful while we're here. If Sydney and Vaughn see us, this whole trip will have been for nothing. And if Volkov finds out you're in town before we're ready, we're made. So lie low."

"I wonder how Sydney and Vaughn have been making out here on their own." Actually, she was wondering if they had been making out here. Alone in a romantic city like Paris in a honeymoon suite, pretending to be married... the possibilities were endless. But she kept her mouth shut in front of Jack; there was no way she wanted to open that can of worms.

"I'm sure they're fine, unless Agent Vaughn has done something ridiculous again to endanger my daughter. Most likely they haven't even spotted Volkov yet."

The rest of the drive was spent in silence. Finally they arrived at the hotel, and Irina checked them in as Mr. and Mrs. Shelton at the front desk while Jack parked the car and unloaded their bags. They took the stairs to their floor; the elevator was out of order. Their room, 4C, was clean but boring.

"This should work fine," Jack said, peering out the window onto their small, bare balcony. It sported a view of the Seine, and he could see Sydney's hotel, even pick out their balcony. Volkov's building, too, was in sight. He set to work assembling the tripod and high-power telescope he had bought special for this trip, all the while keeping a watchful eye on Irina, who was sitting on the edge of their bed and was inspecting the room, picking out every detail.

Finally the telescope was in position and working, and Jack put his eye to it and focused it on Volkov's apartment first. The blinds were open, but the lights were off and there was no movement. He swiveled the telescope up to view Sydney and Vaughn's hotel suite. Nothing there either. He could see one side of the bed, with a lump under the sheets that must have been either Sydney or Vaughn, but nothing else. He liked to think that there was a sofa somewhere out of sight that one of them had camped out on for the night, but if there was, he couldn't see it. Irina came over to sit on the balcony floor next to him. They spent a half hour this way before Jack went back into the hotel room to start unpacking, leaving Irina to keep watch with the telescope.

She lowered her dark eye to the eyepiece of the telescope and refocused it on the hotel room. A few minutes passed, and then finally there were signs of life from within the suite.

She could make out a form moving around on the bed, then Agent Vaughn slowly rose from the sheets and stretched, the went into the other room, out of her sight. A moment later he returned with two steaming cups of coffee and sat on the edge of the bed closest to the window.

"Anything?" Jack called from within their own room.

"Agent Vaughn's awake, he just got out of the bed. He's got coffee for two." Irina replied, then moved aside so that Jack could see too. She picked up a pair of binoculars instead. She zoomed in on the window just as someone else sat up in the bed; Sydney.

"You said Vaughn got out of the bed?" Jack asked in a low growl as he watched Sydney take the cup offered to her by Vaughn.

"Yes." Irina said, then watched as Jack's face turn purple, then slowly return to its normal color.

"Probably they just wanted to keep up the pretense of a newly married couple." His voice was unconvincing.

"Sure." She said noncommittally.

"Because if anyone's watching the room, they're going to have to stay in character. Sydney's just doing her job, nothing more." Jack stood and went back to into the room. Irina stayed out on the balcony for a few minutes to watch, then joined him.

"There's only one problem with your theory."

"What's that?"

"It doesn't explain the kiss."

"What? What kiss?" Jack ran out onto the balcony again.

"You missed it."

"WHAT KISS?" Jack said, turning towards her.

"Sydney and Agent Vaughn kissed. Can't you get that through your head?"

"How... I mean, what kind of kiss? Maybe they were just acting."

"I can't explain it, but it looked real. You can't just explain a kiss, Jack."

"Show me then." Jack regretted this even as the words were coming out of his mouth. He stood stone still as Irina walked closer to him, out onto the balcony. It was odd how little she looked like Laura Bristow when she practically glided over to him, what was even more frightening was how much more beautiful he found her.

"She was still under the covers, and put the coffee down on the table next to her after a sip of it and then..." Irina paused, sliding her hand around the back of his neck and putting his hand at her waist, "And then..." She said softly, trailing off again. Leaning towards him, she closed her eyes.

Jack was at fist paralyzed by the touch of her lips on his, soft and gentle. Kissing her again was like slipping back into bed after a long day to find it warm and more comfortable than ever. He tried to fight it, but he too closed his eyes, slowly pulling her closer. She broke the kiss, then looked into his eyes. He put his other arm around her and pulled her back to him, kissing her again.

Back in the hotel suite, Sydney finished off her coffee and put it in the sink provided for them. Vaughn was already out on the balcony, leaning on the railing. She came to stand behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

"Guess who?" She teased. He laughed and turned around in her arms, kissing her deeply. He slowly turned them around so that her back was pressed up against the balcony. The kiss ended, much to their dismay, and they just stood there on the balcony for a moment, their arms around each other.

"I love you." Vaughn said.

"I love you too." She replied, and she knew they both meant it, from the bottom of their hearts. She leaned in for another kiss, but Vaughn's attention was focused behind her. He could see a glint of sunlight catching off a lens somewhere over across the river. Next to it on the balcony he could see two people, standing close together, it looked like.

"What the..." He grabbed the telescope and brought the image into focus. He couldn't make out what was causing the glint of light, which had disappeared as the sun moved higher in the sky, but he thought he recognized the two people.

"Hey, isn't that..."

So sorry this took so long, it's been a hectic week. I'm applying for a job on the town board and I've spent the past few days running around like a chicken with it's head cut off gathering recommendation letters and whatnot. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and I hope you won't hold my lateness against me and you'll REVIEW!!!


REVIEW!!!