A/N: Voila! Here's the second to last part. I'm on a writing roll, so you can probably expect the last part sometime this weekend. Enjoy. -)

Just Dinner

During the drive to the restaurant, nearly all that permeated the atmosphere was a slightly awkward silence. Every so often, Sydney would turn her gaze to Vaughn and quietly study him. Her eyes were drawn to his strong jaw line and dark stubble protruding from his otherwise smooth skin. Later, her attention was drawn to his eyes, willing them to turn towards hers so that she could gaze into them and know exactly what his expectations were for this dinner. But, he mostly kept his eyes on the road… at least until he could sense her eyes upon him. He turned to see her looking at him inquisitively, and he smiled.

"What?" he asked innocently as he turned his eyes back to the road.

There was a long pause as Sydney contemplated her answer, but all she ended up saying was, "Nothing," as she shook her head.

"Syd, you can tell me anything." She was glad that his attention was focused on driving because she knew that if he looked at her right then, his eyes would pierce through her discovering for himself the thought that she wanted to analyze by herself for a little longer. But she knew that she had to say something.

"Vaughn, I… I'm not so sure we should be doing this."

"Syd, trust me on this. We're not in danger of being found out. SD-6 will never know—"

"That's not what I mean," she interrupted.

"Then what is it?" He pulled up to a red light and turned his full attention to her.

"It's just that…" She took a deep breath and decided it was time to just get it out. "Alice is important to you. I know you care about her, so I'm not sure about what our going out like this says in relation to your relationship with her, and I don't know what you're expecting from me in this situation." She kept a steady gaze on him, not willing to let her embarrassment show through.

Vaughn sighed and nodded, cursing himself for not bringing this subject up earlier. "We're just going to dinner, Sydney. I'm not expecting anything more than that. As for my feelings about Alice," he paused momentarily, "I don't love her."

A horn sounding behind them told Vaughn it was time to go. He turned away from her, but he reached out his hand to find hers and gripped it gently. Sydney looked down at their joined hands and smiled.

As they were seated at their table, Sydney felt a surge of nervous excitement flow through her. She knew that Vaughn said that this was just going to be a normal dinner, but she couldn't help but wonder if he was feeling like she was.

Sitting down to another awkward silence, Sydney quickly opened the menu, and Vaughn followed suit. Sydney perused the menu, but her mind was preoccupied with thoughts of the man across from her. She couldn't keep her eyes from drifting up to look at him, and she found that Vaughn, too, was having problems focusing on his menu.

Their eyes met. They both stifled a smile as they looked back at their menus. It didn't take long for their thoughts to wander back to each other, as they both glanced up again.

Vaughn started to say something, but stopped himself. His pause caused Sydney to finally speak up.

Closing the menu, she was relieved to finally have thought of an icebreaker. "I think wine would help the situation."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Vaughn affirmed and called the waiter over.

They were both feeling much more relaxed once they had wine and food at their disposal, which led them to discussions about code names, pets, and pool.

Suddenly, the host appeared at their table and offered them a key to a room upstairs. They both looked at each other, stricken speechless.

Vaughn looked at the key as if it would give him an answer to the questions running through his mind, and then he looked at Sydney. "Did you ask him to do that?" he asked her, accusingly but lightly.

She only smiled in response, embarrassedly touching her neck. "There are so many issues with this, I don't know where to begin."

"Now hold on a second," he stopped her. "I think we should have an open mind about this," he said seriously.

"An open mind," she echoed.

(Oh reason! Where art thou? Well… right here. That's right, Vaughn turned to his best friend once more.) "It would be rude to overlook such a generous offer without proper consideration."

"I wouldn't dream of it," she answered softly.

"Okay," he responded excitedly, figuring that he had won.

But she persisted. "But there are clearly issues."

"Yes," he conceded. "I don't disagree." He waited expectantly for her answer.

At that moment, it seemed like they were the only two people in the restaurant, the only people in the city, for that matter, as time seemed to stand still, while erasing the slightest thought of a dispute in a warehouse or the name of some woman that Vaughn had been involved with. It was only the two of them, waiting for the answer that would set them both free.

"Okay."

But their moment was shattered.

TBC