Author: I know you wouldn't buy Rick Springfield, but what about Jesse's Girl?

Summary: Sydney said if she'd been the one left behind she would have waited for him. This is what her life could have been if Vaughn had been the one to disappear.

Disclaimer: Same thing!

Author's Note: OK so some of you may have guessed what's going on, but I hope you still keep reading. I swear Sydney has answers for what's going on.

Chapter Two

Usually Sydney would have made the short trip to the coffee shop by car, but something about the idea of being trapped alone in her car with Vaughn, if only for five minutes, had her setting off on foot. It was a short walk, made in complete silence; Sydney could feel Vaughn's need to ask questions. She however, was not ready to answer them and so she continued to ignore the confusion between them.

Thankfully, they arrived at Coffee Spot before Amélie. Sydney told Vaughn to wait out of sight and wait until signalled to come out. The whole thing felt a bit like a bad episode of A Reunion Story, but Vaughn knew better to disagree with Sydney when she began giving mission parameters.

After tucking himself into one of the small booths at the back and hiding behind a newspaper, Vaughn peeked cautiously towards Sydney. He took full advantage of his first opportunity to study her since Hong Kong. There were differences, changes wrought by time. She seemed more grown up. She hadn't been a child by any right before he disappeared—he'd always thought her to be an old soul—but there was a new wisdom about her, something beautiful. There were changes in her body as well, the way she carried herself. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew her body almost as well as he knew his own, and she'd changed.

It wasn't long before his mother arrived. She was as beautiful and elegant as ever. Her short silver hair accented the graceful line of her neck and made her look positively regal. The calm, sometimes cool, expression she always wore was so familiar; Vaughn found it difficult to stay away. She was exactly the same as he remembered her. When she smiled that special smile she saved for her little boy, it became nearly impossible not to dash towards her like a child. His heart sunk when he remembered there was no way the smile was directed at him.

As he watched his mother greet Sydney like family, a tight hug and kisses on each cheek, Vaughn felt an inexplicable surge of jealousy. That was his mother! Who did Sydney think she was smiling at her that way? A week of unanswered questions and tentative responses had filled him with a confusion he hadn't felt since his father had died and no one would tell him how. He'd had enough of people telling him to 'ask Sydney,' or saying 'it wasn't there place.' Everything in his life had been put on hold because of her. And for the first time since they'd met, he wasn't willing to put her needs above his own any longer.

He began to rise and make his way towards his mother. Surely she wouldn't be too surprised to see him! She was his mother. Surely she'd just know he was here!

After Vaughn disappeared into the back of the small café, Sydney was left alone with her thoughts. She'd known since the moment they'd sent her to Hong Kong to bring him in that she would have to tell him everything. Tell him the truth. But that didn't make it any easier. She knew she owed him an explanation for Billy, but how could she say what she needed to? She knew it would break his heart and she'd never wanted to hurt him.

She was saved from another self debate of the best methods for telling Vaughn the truth when his mother arrived. Sydney was so grateful to have a woman as wonderful as Amélie in her life. Meeting when they had, had been a blessing. She knew exactly what Sydney was going through, having lost the love of her life, and just being around each other had made them feel closer to the man they both loved so much. In many ways she owed her life to his mother.

Standing to greet her, they embraced like old friends; it was amazing how quickly they'd grown so close. The relationship with her own mother being what it was, Sydney cherished the moments she shared with Amélie, as she had with Emily Sloan, grateful to receive their motherly love.

"It's my Michel," Amélie said, after brief pleasantries.

Sydney smiled at the mother's intuition. "Yes, he's back."

"How? Why? Where has he been?" the same questions Sydney had been asking herself all week came rushing out.

"Unfortunately we don't know. Michael has no memory of his missing time. He called from Hong Kong last week and he's been in debrief since. He's gone through hypnotic regression, but we still don't know anything."

Worry creased her beautiful face, "But he's OK? He doesn't remember, but my son's OK?"

"Yes he is," Sydney affirmed. "Before you see him, you have to know; I still haven't told him about everything that happened while he was gone."

"Billy?" she asked knowingly.

"No, he still doesn't know the whole story. You won't say anything until I can tell him?"

"Of course not. You should be the one to tell him. And don't worry I was married for 15 years, I know how to keep a secret," she said with a sly smile.

"Good. He's here now. I'm guessing you want to see him?" without waiting for a response Sydney looked up to give Vaughn the signal, only to find him already making his way over. With a slight nod to Amélie in Vaughn's direction, Sydney rose to leave the two alone for what was bound to be an emotional reunion.

"Chaton!' Amélie cried when she saw her son.

"Maman," he whispered pulling her into a tight hug.

"Tu m'as manqué, Michel," she told him, tears stinging her eyes.

"Moi aussi, tu m'as manqué."

"Tu as minci, mon petit," she fussed holding him at arms length to get a good look at him.

Vaughn flushed deep crimson and smiled glad that his mother would never change.

The next day, Vaughn was finally back at work. Weiss had called about 10 that morning; there was some emergency and they needed all agents at the task force. Since he was now officially cleared; Weiss thought now be a perfect time to get back in the swing of things. He couldn't have been more grateful, the idea of spending the day alone in Eric's apartment hadn't been particularly appealing. His mother, after their tearful reunion had surprisingly not insisted he stay with her. Saying he probably needed male bonding more than time alone with his mother. For the first time since before his twelfth birthday Vaughn couldn't have disagreed more.

Eric had been right, there was a big emergency, and Vaughn couldn't deny that being in the bullpen during a tense overseas op made him feel useful and almost normal again. As he stood tensely staring at a screen with the rest of the people in the JTF, Vaughn forgot for a moment that his life was completely in shambles.

Then he saw her walking down the hall, taking no notice of the chaos that surrounded her. He felt like he was seeing her for the first time. His heart stopped in his chest, and the brief moment of calm was shattered.

"I thought you said she left the Agency," he whispered into Eric's ear.

There was no need to ask who 'she' was. He'd been gone for two years but he hadn't changed at all. When speaking to Michael Vaughn there was only one woman in the world.

"She did. But she still does analysis on a regular basis. And Dixon's talked her into going on a couple of the more technical missions. Spying is in her blood. And she's an adrenaline junkie just like the rest of us. I don't think she'd be able to live without the rush. Besides, the CIA can barely go a whole month without discovering something that affects her life in one way or another. We were going on twenty-two days when you called in."

Vaughn sighed and tried to get his focus back on the drama unfolding around him.

Sydney was walking was walking towards the bullpen after leaving Billy and her father talking, when she ran into Will. He looked good, he was wearing a dark suit, which was practically CIA uniform, and glasses. His hair was cut close giving him a strangely innocent look. Only his bright, but not garish, tie made him stand out from all the other faceless agents milling around.

"Hey Syd," he greeted cheerfully.

"Will. I thought you were still at Langley for that seminar!" Will had been promoted to Senior Analyst almost two years ago. Since they were both Senior Analysts out of LA, Sydney was often able to talk her way out of certain job requirements that interfered with her 'real' life. So Will always had to go for both of them; even though he had a technically higher status. Still, everyone knew that no one would ever hold the CIA in the palm of their hand quite like Sydney.

"No, I flew in this morning. They thought I might be able to shed some light on this whole situation," he said nodding towards the swarm of busy agents. "What are you doing?"

"I came to see my dad. Billy's here too if you want to see him."

"Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen either of them. Is Billy with your dad now?"

"Yeah, but I don't like leaving them alone together too long. You never know what those two will get up to!" she said with a grin.

Will laughed and nodded his agreement. "Oh, I ran into Weiss earlier, he was wondering about movie night? I didn't know so he said he'd talk to you."

It had become a ritual in the last year; Thursday movie nights, Will, Francie and Weiss—when ever they weren't too busy with work—would gather at Sydney's to watch a movie. Would it become casualty of Vaughn's return?

"I guess I'll go talk to him. No reason we shouldn't have movie night," she forced a smile.

"No reason? Syd, come on, he's back. Vaughn is back. Have you even talked to him about Billy?" the way she avoided his eyes told him everything he needed to know. "Well I got to go. But I'll see you tonight."

Then with a quick kiss on the cheek he was gone.

Everyone looked up as Marshall came sprinting into the Bullpen. Sweat adorned his brow and he twisted his hands in nerves—or was that excitement.

"Did you find something?" Dixon demanded.

"Uh no. No sir. I'm not working on this case. That is to say it wasn't assigned to me. However, I did do a little hacking for one of the other guys in Op. Tech but I'm not technically on this case. Would you like me to be?" his boundless energy and never ending stream of conversation was kind of endearing.

All the agents went back to watching the scream tersely.

Marshall sidled carefully up to Eric. "Is he mad? Do you think I pissed off Director Dixon? 'Cause I really can't afford to get fired. You know with Carrie and Michelle."

"Don't worry Marshall, your uncanny genius gives you pretty much unbeatable job security," Weiss assured. If anything Marshall's job paranoia had increased over the last two years. He was now a proud family man, he'd been married to Carrie for a over a year and they had an adorable one year old daughter, Michelle. Who, if Marshall was to be believed, was going to join MENSA in just a matter of weeks.

"Thanks Eric. That's really nice," Marshall trailed off into one of his infamous spacey moments when no one could ever decipher what he was possibly thinking.

When Eric snapped his fingers just in front of Marshall's face he blinked a few times and seemed to settle back into reality. "Care to share with the rest of the class what brought you racing in here like a maniac?"

"Well I think I over did it a little on the synthesised caffeine I put in my coffee every morning. I've been feeling a little twitchy all day. But Sydney's here and she brought Billy. I just thought you might want to come with me to say hi. Grab a little man time. You know."

Eric shot a pointed glance at Vaughn who was standing a few paces away and shook his head. Marshall swallowed painfully and looked a little embarrassed.

"Hey, Vaug—Agent Va—Micha—Hi," Marshall stuttered nervously. "Didn't know you were back. Well I knew you were back from the dead—or from the missing rather since you never really died. I just didn't know you were back here, working."

Vaughn smiled slightly and greeted the strange little man. He couldn't believe that he was now married with a kid, but Weiss had told him about his and Carries weird relationship, and how Sydney had talked Carrie into marrying him when she'd been a few months pregnant.

"Well I should go—you know there's a glitch in this device I'm working on so—" with that turned and trotted in a very un-manly towards his office.

"So he hasn't changed has he?" Vaughn asked, staring slightly bewildered at his retreating back.

"Nope, as crazy as ever. It's truly amazing that his daughter is as normal as she is, so far."

"What was that about Billy being here? I got the impression from you he wasn't really part of the intelligence scene. But he must be. So is he CIA or FBI?" he hoped he could catch his friend off guard and get a little information from him.

"Neither," Weiss said with a huge grin. Vaughn had no idea what was so funny. "He's a civilian. Only one I've ever seen at JTF. Bugger doesn't even have to wear an ID, but Sydney never did either, so it kind of makes sense." Weiss's rambling did little to answer the questions still swirling in Vaughn's head.

The familiar tingling at the back of his neck told him Sydney was approaching before he saw her. His hyper awareness of her told him she was incredibly uncomfortable with just a look. Again he found himself strangely compelled not to ease her discomfort. It was such a foreign feeling to him; he remembered their time together like it was only a few days ago; but somehow the feelings he'd felt for her then had already changed.

Or maybe it was she who had changed. Once again he was overcome by the feeling that there was something very different about her. He was sure it would slowly drive him crazy, but as she seemed adamant to avoid his gaze he didn't see them coming to terms any time soon.

As she talked animatedly with Eric only a few meters away, Vaughn could see them both casting furtive glances his way. There was obviously a secret between the two; something they didn't want him to know.

That's when it hit him. The difference. Or at least a large part of it. Fear. He'd seen her afraid a million times before. He'd consoled her with heartfelt words and tender embraces. He'd watched her face her fears and win a thousand times. But this time it was different. This time she was afraid of him.

Anyone else watching as she entered the bullpen would have seen confidence, comfort and beauty. But Eric Weiss wasn't anyone else. He saw the fear and self-doubt that she hid behind the mask she usually saved for missions. He saw how ill at ease she was, by the lightening fast glances she continued to throw towards Michael. And the beauty he saw went much more than skin deep. In many ways he saw her as less physically attractive now than when he had first met her. Not that he could deny how stunning she was. But maybe because he was no longer aware of her incredible beauty, its importance had faded as he'd gotten to know her. As he'd seen her struggle with her loss, as she'd been knocked down again and again and always got back up. Even more heroic was how after all this time; she was still able to light up a room with her smile.

This time her smile didn't reach her eyes and he was all too aware. He'd been warned by many people who knew them both the dangers of falling in love with her. She was spoken for. Her heart belonged to another and she would never be his. But that didn't worry him. Of course he loved her; it wasn't possible to know her and not to love her. But as he and Will had discussed on several occasions; she was just too wonderful to let the sting of unrequited love linger. Any man could easily love Agent Sydney Anne Bristow. But it took something incredible to fall in love with her.

After leaving Will, Sydney headed towards Eric. They needed to talk. Surely the movie night concerns had been cover. There was no way he could really be concerned about that when other such huge things were going on. But then again one never knew with Eric; his ability to see the most inconsequential things as crucial was adorable and definitely appealed to the escapist in Sydney.

"Hey Weiss!" she grinned as she approached.

"Hey Bristow!" he mimicked. "Still on for movie night?"

"As always. But are you sure your houseguest wouldn't be driven a little insane if you ditched him to come hang with Billy and I? I'm not exactly his favourite person at the moment."

"Impossible!" he scoffed. "Besides, I was kind of thinking that perhaps you could go over to keep my house guest entertained while I hosted movie night. You know get him all up to date," Weiss said hopefully.

"I don't know, Weiss," the fear and confusion evident in her voice. "I don't know how to talk to him without making the whole situation worse. He's already lost two years of his life…" she trailed off knowing her predicament was clear.

He grimaced to show solidarity, then placed a gentle arm around her shoulder and guided her gaze toward Vaughn. "Don't you think it would be better to tell him everything now before he loses any more time?"

Weiss knew for once he was making sense and knew Sydney understood. That didn't mean she had to like the forced agreement.

"OK, you can host movie night at my place, if you tell Vaughn I'm coming over to talk to him," she finally whispered.

A/N: I have officially no idea where Weiss' feelings for Sydney came from. I was writing a very different scene when suddenly he was thinking of her as something other than a friend. I always thought it was a bit of a stretch when people said that the character felt that way and you just couldn't stop them. But now I understand that it's true.

I know the scene with Marshall doesn't really fit. But I had it was one of the first scenes that I thought of when I started this fic and it didn't feel right to abandon it.

Please review and tell me what you think. Feedback makes me giddy. Being giddy makes it hard to sleep and insomnia brings out the writer in me! You do the math.