AUTHORS NOTE-----------------

I really hope you're enjoying this and thanks for the reviews. Since I've finished writing the story, updates will come pretty regularly, so look out for them!


Vaughn collapsed into his bed and looked at the slim silver cell phone in his hand. It was three am and she'd probably be asleep. It had been a long day of questioning the recruits. He even interviewed the suspected mole who was a young woman by the name of Diana Louis. She had passed the lie detector test with perfection.

Taking his cell phone, he pushed his speed dial number for Sydney and was almost sure that he'd get her message machine. He was surprised when he heard a groggy voice on the other side of the line.

"'llo?"

"Syd?"

"Hey Michael." she answered and he knew he had woken her up. She rarely ever called him Michael and he always wondered why. Tonight was no different.

"Sorry for waking you. I thought I'd get your answering machine."

"It's okay… You just get in?"

"Yeah. How was the rest of your day?"

"Ugh, I spent two intimate hours with a punching bag downstairs."

"That bad?"

"Yeah… How was yours?"

"Good, I think… Everything went smoothly and I only had to send one person home." He smiled, happy to hear her voice. He was so use to having her body next to him that he missed it. They did so many missions together they were hardly ever apart. "I miss you."

"Miss you too." She replied and he heard her exhale. "But if I'm actually going to pass tomorrow, I'd better get some sleep."

"They called?" It was a stupid question. Sydney had to be one of the smartest women he knew. Not surprisingly she had surpassed all the recruits on her written exam. Plus the fact that all of her IQ tests were off the charts.

"Had any doubt?"

"Of course not."

"Good night."

"Night." He replied and turned off his cell. It would be another night of staring at his ceiling. Hopefully the mission would be over in a couple weeks time. It all depended on how long it would take this Louis woman to slip up and show them who she was working with. In the mean time, he would have to act like he didn't know Sydney. It'd be a hard challenge. Letting out a long sigh, he closed his eyes and waited for morning to come.


"We have looked over your scores on the examinations that you took yesterday. They are excellent. Now you said earlier that you knew a few different languages. How'd you come to learn them?" Vaughn looked down at his papers and then back up at Sydney who sat slightly slumped in her chair. He knew she had been through more than twenty some hours of questioning and could tell she was growing tired of it all. Remembering his own annoyance of the hours of questions, he smiled apologetically.

"I spent a few years in the Peace Corps. Also I studied abroad. My father was a military man and dragged his family to different countries around the world. So I picked them up as we moved around. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, German, Italian. I guess I just had a knack for them." She replied.

"Tell me of your years in the Peace Corps."

She shrugged. "I worked in Morocco. It's where I learned Arabic. I taught English to the adults and to some of the children. Also did a bit of medical relief on the side. They had me doing odd jobs so that I could help in any way they needed me. I spent two years there. It's a dry country."

"You said your father worked in the military?"

Nodding, she bit her lower lip and looked down her hands as if not really wanting to talk about it. "Yeah, he was a top ranking officer in the Navy Seals. He served his country and wanted me to do the same. So I decided to do the Peace Corps. When he died, his truck exploded right outside of Telaviv, I felt the need to do something more than just the Peace Corps. So I decided I wanted to work at the CIA. See my mother… she died when I was six in a car accident. My father was all I had. Now… I feel I need to do what my father wants me to do, which is to serve my country."

Vaughn swallowed. Although he knew the story was made up, he was convinced by it. He nodded and began writing what she had told him down on the paper in front of him. When he looked up, he saw her eyes glazed over and he had to keep himself from comforting her.

The phone rang in front of him and he picked it up. "Yes, this is Agent Vaughn."

"We've got our fifteen selected. Bring her into the conference room so that we can brief her on the Farm with the rest of them." A deep throated voice said loudly.

"Will do." Hanging up the phone, he smiled. "Ms. Haskins, welcome to the CIA."

Sydney broke out into a grin and her dimples deepened. Wiping her eyes, she tried to make it so he couldn't see what she was doing. "Thank you so much."

"I'll take you to the conference room so that Mr. Donaldson can brief you on what's to come. Congratulations." He stuck out his hand and she shook it. They paused for a brief moment as he squeezed her hand slightly.

They stood up and headed out together. A few other recruits had come out of their meetings with dazed and haggard looks on their faces. Hours of questioning made them all drag even though they were happy to make the final selection.

The main conference room was the same room they had taken the written exam. Vaughn led her to a seat and stood at the far wall. Leaning against it, he could hardly forget his nervousness when he had been in the same situation. Only Sydney had nothing to worry about since she already had a position in the CIA. She wasn't here to prove herself. She was here in order to trick the same office she worked for.

Mr. Donaldson, a large fellow full of confidence and arrogance, walked into the front of the room. His mustache looked ridiculously cartoonish as it curled at its ends. The glasses made him look like a distinguished millionaire. Even his suit, pressed and wrinkle free, spelled out his self loving.

"You've made it this far." His scratchy throat sounded throughout the room. The grin that grew on his face showed off his thousand dollar teeth that he had spent years improving. "However the Farm is your next test. It's where you'll spend months training to become spies for the US government. If you're here for the money, forget it. You get just enough to live off of. Fame? There is no fame. If you've done a marvelous job, the public will never hear about it. They only hear about your mistakes. And if you die, your family gets an American flag and pin. They'll never know the truth of your death, only that you served your country.

"So why become a CIA agent?…"

At seven years of age, Vaughn had learned about what families got when their father, husband, brother dies in a mission. His father was killed in action and a man in a dark business suit came to him during the funeral. He told him his father was a good man, that he died helping his country. All Vaughn wanted was his father, he didn't care if his father had saved the world in his death.

Looking back up at the group of trainees, he saw the eagerness in their eyes. They didn't know that with their new jobs, they would soon loose many of the things they loved most about in life. Their lives would become a secret even to their families. They would probably loose their friends and loved ones. He could hardly count how many people he knew that had lost their lives or the lives of their loved ones because of their affiliation with their job.

Sydney also knew this harsh reality. She had lost as much or even more than he. Her fiancé, her best friends, she had even lost two years of her life in which she would never get back. Suddenly he understood her need to slow their relation down. She was afraid of loosing yet another person she loved. No one could ever blame her for her need to be careful.

"After you finish filling out the last of the paperwork, go home. Take a break, go out with your friends, because tonight will be your last free night as a normal civilian. Tomorrow you will forever join the CIA. Once you're in the CIA, you never leave." Donaldson had the flare for the dramatic and ended his presentation with a slight bow. Heading out, he pulled Vaughn to the side. "You're going to be in charge of three of the new recruits. Haskins, Louis, and Baker. They're going to live in the same wing as you. Learn to love them."

Vaughn nodded and took the folders from Donaldson's hands. Looking through the three files quickly to make sure he had the right ones, he headed out of the conference room without looking for Sydney. He'd go home and spend a good deal of time talking to her on the phone. At least that was his plan.

"Agent Vaughn?"

He looked up to see a new recruit stop him in the hall. He looked around and saw Sydney exiting the conference room with a few other recruits. She gazed back at him for a moment and then kept going.

"Yes?" he asked looking down at his watch to see the time. It also had Sydney's heart monitor on the very left hand side.

"I'm Melissa Baker. They told me you'd be my case officer." The woman looked to be in her late twenties and had her hair flipped out in a style that must have taken hours to do. Her green eyes looked at him curiously and he had a bad feeling that she was eyeing him. "I was wondering if I could have a word with you."

Rotating his shoulders slightly, he nodded. "Sure, but I have to get home soon."

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry. It's just I was wondering what kinds of things we should pack for the Farm. I just don't want to over pack."

"Nothing fancy. Just the necessities… some good workout clothes. They give you most of the stuff you'll need there." He told her. "Now I'm sorry, but I do need to get home. If you have any further questions, you can ask me tomorrow. Okay?"

She nodded. "G'night Mr. Vaughn."

He made a quick dash into the parking lot and noticed Sydney's car missing. Frowning slightly, he got into his own four door coup and drove to his apartment. Getting out, he loosened his tie and took out his cell phone. Pushing one, he listened as the phone began to ring.

When he got her answering machine, he shut his phone in frustration and made his way to his apartment. His door sat slightly ajar and he pushed it open with his foot. Looking around, he was about to get out his gun when he saw Sydney sitting on his couch with a mug in her hand watching his TV.

"Syd?"

She looked up and smiled. "There's this guy at my apartment building that seems to think that every girl is his for the taking. He kept knocking on my door so I decided to come over here for the night."

"I don't know if I like the fact that my girlfriend can pick my locks." He grinned and shut the door. Locking it, he threw his keys on the table and sat next to her. "We could get in a lot of trouble for this."

"Well, I figured we needed to meet before we head off to the Farm. You said you thought you had some ideas about this Louis woman?" She replied kissing him on the cheek and then taking a sip from her cup.

"Yeah… She did perfectly on the lie detector test. Too perfectly, in fact. I think she's been in the job for a while. Some things don't fit together either. Even through her southern accent, I sensed something else mixed in it. Maybe Russian or Romanian. I'm not one hundred percent sure yet." He looked in to her cup and saw that she was drinking tea. It came to no surprise to him and he leaned back to put his arm around her.

Sydney put her cup down on his coffee table and stared off for a moment. Her lighter hair color made her almost unfamiliar to him. Even after all the missions they had been on, it was hard to recognize her when she was in costume.

"Something's not right." she looked over at him.

"What do you mean?"

She rested her chin on her hand and shook her head. "She's not covering her trail well. If this is a professional we're dealing with, they wouldn't make these kinds of mistakes. It's too easy."

"So what are you thinking?"

"I don't know yet. Are those the files on your recruits?" She pointed to the files that he had on his lap.

They began to scramble through Louis' file and Sydney grabbed his laptop to start a police search on the woman's name. Two hours later and they were no farther in figuring out who this person was. Even her slightly mixed accent checked out since she came from a Russian family.

Sydney leaned back on the couch to stretch and then ran her hand through his hair as he sat on the floor with the files spread out in front of him. He laid his head on her leg and sighed slightly in frustration. She leaned down and kissed him on the top of the head.

"Find anything?" She asked.

"No, you?"

Shaking her head, she leaned back on the couch again and moved the laptop off her lap. Her hair had fallen out of hair tie and into her face making her look tired. It was time to get some shut eye even though they had not gotten very far in their search.

Rubbing tiredly at his eyes, he yawned and then looked at his watch. "It's two in the morning… Are you packed?"

Sydney gave him a look as if to reply 'of course.' Then she put the file back together in such an orderly fashion that Vaughn was tempted to screw some of them up to make it look like he had actually taken a look in the file.

"We should get some rest." She said as she pulled him into his bedroom. He quickly stripped down to his boxers and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he returned, he found her already curled up and asleep in bed. He lay down next to her, careful not to make any noise. Her slow and gentle breathing made him smile. He had missed that for the past few nights. Turning off the lights, he wrapped an arm around her. She turned to face him and tucked her head into his chest. Shutting his eyes, he smiled slightly. When he woke, he frowned to find that he was alone in bed. There was piece of paper on the pillow next to him. She had left him a note:

"Went out for a run, see you at the Farm."

To be continued….


More to come…Please take the time to review! The more reviews the sooner the updates. Thanks!