Alternate Infatuation

Sequel to Alternate Existence. We all know that certain people are simply destined to be together. When Syd finally gets out of the life of espionage she was drawn into at sixteen, how will she find her own destiny?

Chapter 5: Fire and Ice

Disclaimer: Author does not own most of these characters. Said author does not wish to be sued. However, Jeffrey is all mine! This is also my original plot, and if anything resembling it ever shows up on Alias, I'm suing!

Vaughn paced his office, trying to just shut off his mind for an instant. He'd been locked in that interrogation room with Sydney Bristow for hours on end, until she had told him her story and he'd told her everything they knew: SD-6 had taken Sydney because of some new Rambaldi prophecy. The whole time, after the security of argument had been rudely stripped away, there had been some nearly explosive element present that made the air between them sizzle with tension.

With a start that mad him stop dead in his tracks, he realized that that element was familiar. It had been there, in some measure, even when Sydney had been a child. God, what kind of person did that make him?

He'd been attracted to her, there was no question about that but she was just too young for him, that was it.

Sydney curled up on the fluffy red couch, clad in old jeans and an oversized T-shirt, trying to think clearly.

She'd already called Rob and given him the cover the CIA had sanctioned and backed. She'd been in a car accident, and she'd been hysterical. The doctor had given her sedatives, and her father had stayed with her. She'd been out of it for days, and had called the first chance she'd gotten. The story accounted for the ugly bruises SD-6's team had given her, and Rob had been wonderfully receptive to her story, telling her how glad he was that she was all right.

Her thoughts quickly strayed to the more interesting topic of her time with her Green-eyed Suit. The chemistry between them was amazing. There was some definite potential there.

She sighed, depression threatening to overtake her. Agent Vaughn had reciprocated the attraction, she thought, but he was unwilling and fought it. She'd been kidnapped, held captive, and saved an agent's ass while he thought she was a pitiful woman who couldn't keep herself together. She'd lied to the man she'd worked for for one day.

She rose, about to light into the gallon carton of chocolate ice cream in the freezer, when a loud knock sounded on the door. With another sigh, Sydney diverted her path to the door instead of the kitchen.

Sydney cracked open the door, then laughed and launched herself at the figure outside her door.

"Jeffrey!" she squealed, her mood instantly taking a turn for the better. "I didn't know you were coming!" She grabbed up the overnight bag he'd dropped when she'd hugged him. "Come on, get in here."

Jeffrey noticed the bruises on his friend's face and wrists immediately.

"Syd, what happened?" he gasped, grabbing her arm to keep her from turning away.

"I…was kidnapped," she said slowly.

"Sydney! You promised you were out of that!" He never had liked her working with the CIA.

"I was!" She sighed and then shrugged. "I am. That…it had nothing to do with my other life. It was a fluke, Jeffrey. I'm not going back."

"Syd, how? How can you be sure this was just an isolated incident?"

Sydney dropped her eyes, unable to look at him.

"Can we talk about this later?" she pleaded, dropping her guard as she could only with Jeffrey. "I've had a rough day."

"Of course," Jeffrey agreed reluctantly. "I just…I'm worried about you, Syd."

Vaughn walked nervously from the elevator, looking for apartment 324. This was business, he assured himself. He wanted to speak to her outside an official capacity. That was all.

He knocked softly. It was eight o'clock in the morning, but he didn't want any more neighbors than necessary to see him. It was merely habit.

A man in low-slung jeans--and nothing else--answered the door.

"Sorry," Vaughn said quickly. "I was looking for Sydney Bristow."

"You've got the right place," the man assured, a friendly grin on his face. He turned and yelled back into the apartment. "Hey, Syd!"

Vaughn stepped back, inexplicably hurt.

"No, never mind. I'll just…I'll catch her later."

He walked off at a fast gait.

Sydney came out of the bedroom in another pair of jeans and a blue fitted t-shirt.

"What do you want?" she asked Jeffrey, her tone one of familiar mild annoyance. "I was just in the next room. You didn't have to scream."

"There was some guy at the door." Jeff shrugged. "He left, said he'd catch you later."

Sydney moved and caught the door in one hand before Jeffrey swung it shut, then gasped when she recognized the back stalking steadily away form her, nearly to the elevator at the other end of the hall already.

She took off at a sprint down the carpeted hall. Vaughn gave her a cold look as the doors slid closed. Vaughn did not appear in the least concerned that she would catch the elevator. Sure enough, his icy green eyes disappeared behind the metal slabs.

Without even breaking stride, Sydney bolted down the stairs. She was waiting when the elevator opened in the lobby and Vaughn walked out. Other than breathing a little heavily, she looked quite smug.

She wanted to yell out, to tell him that Jeffrey wasn't who he'd assumed him to be, but for some reason all that came out when she opened her mouth was, "You were looking for me, Agent Vaughn?"

"I came to speak with you," Vaughn said coolly. "I found you were occupied."

He tried to walk past her but she blocked him.

"You're angry because you found a man in my apartment," Sydney said, a slight smile escaping.

"A half dressed man," Vaughn said heatedly before he could check himself.

"Vaughn, it's not what you think. Jeffrey and I aren't involved. He's been my best friend since we were kids," she explained. "He stayed with me because he came from Chicago to see me."

"And nobody objects to that arrangement?" Vaughn asked pointedly.

Sydney touched his arm, then tried to ignore the electric shock that raced up her arm.

"Actually, Jeff has a girlfriend in Chicago who knows exactly where he is," she laughed, and was glad to see Vaughn's eyes lose their icy tint.

Vaughn glanced around uncomfortably.

"I look like an idiot right now," he said, mocking himself before she could do it. A defensive habit he'd never quite overcome.

"Why are you here, anyway?" she asked, awkward now that they'd covered all topics in the immediate vicinity.

"Uh…" Vaughn shrugged and met her eyes. "I'm not really sure. I just…ended up here."

"Really." A teasing grin played across her face.

"Uh, yeah. I had today off, and I was just driving around…" I'm babbling… "…And I thought since I was in the neighborhood, I should come by and see if you were okay…"

"You still think I'm an incompetent computer programmer, don't you?" She was only half joking.

"No, Sydney…I mean, Miss Bristow, I was only…"

"Stop." She held up a hand. "Do you have any plans for today?"

"Uh, well, not right now…"

"How about an early lunch?"

He opened his mouth to ask if she was asking him for a date, but she spoke again.

"There are some things you should know," she said. "Before you get into trouble." She toyed absently with a silver heart-shaped locket around her neck.

Finally Vaughn nodded.

"When and where?"

"10:00, the Italian place on 34th?"

"I'll be there."

Vaughn meant to walk away, but Sydney had continued to play with her locket, her fingers compulsively clicking it open and closed. Suddenly she stopped and dropped her hand to her side, and Vaughn realized she'd caught him watching her.

"I'll see you there," Sydney said quickly, moving toward the elevator and watching Vaughn watch her until the metal doors hid her from his view.

Sydney felt a self-consciousness now she'd rarely experienced before. Other than four men in the CIA that she'd worked with--of them, one was her father, another a second double agent, and another the director--she'd never shared details of her secret life with anyone but Jeffrey, and she couldn't even tell him everything. There'd been nights when she was a kid that he'd found her in the basement laundry room sobbing hysterically and shaking like a leaf, and she hadn't been able to tell him anything.

But that was exactly what she planned to tell Agent Vaughn. Only to make him see her as his equal, she assured herself.

I know, I know, I'm a big one for the self-denial angst, but I can't help it. To me, understanding and even feeling how characters are second and triple guessing themselves makes the story! Now, you be a good little reader and review while I go edit the next chapter to make it a little more substantial, 'kay?