A/N: Thanks for reading and I appreciate your comments on the story. I hope you all like this chapter. Let me know what you think.

Chapter Seven:

She walked furiously to her mother's apartment, knowing that her mother was already expecting her. Before she had the chance to knock on the door, it had already been opened. Irina stood by the door smiling, opening her arms ready to hug her daughter.

"Don't." Sydney backed away, she didn't want to be held, she wanted to be angry. She wanted to yell and scream and break things. It was her right, she had been lied to by the people that she had trusted the most.

"What's the matter?" Irina seemed surprised, although in reality Sark had already informed her of the situation. She didn't want to infuriate Sydney further by presuming to know what was going on and so she pretended not to know.

"Were you ever planning on telling me the truth?" Sydney walked past her mother and into the luxurious apartment.

"Sydney what are you talking about?"

"My father! He was CIA, a little fact that you failed to mention to me!"

"It was irrelevant." Irina, unlike Sydney, was capable of maintaining her cool, something that was beginning to annoy Sydney more and more as the conversation progressed.

"How is that not relevant? This is my father we're talking about!"

"Yes, and he is dead. That little known fact wouldn't have changed anything."

"It would have changed a lot of things for me. How do you think I feel, knowing that if my father were alive that I would be working against him. This isn't what he would have wanted for me. How am I supposed to feel knowing that I let him down, that nothing that I have done in my life would have made him proud!"

"That's exactly why I didn't want to tell you. I didn't want to complicate your life, making you wonder about foolish things like you are right now."

"Did he know about you? Was this all some sort of set-up, a plan of yours, of the KGB? Were you using him?" Sydney's voice had returned to normal now, not because she was calm but because of the questions that she was now asking her mother. Beyond the fact that he was CIA was the question of whether her mother had used her father. It was something that she hoped wasn't true.

"Yes. He knew about me, but it is far more complicated than you wish to acknowledge. It wasn't just a coincidence that I happened to be KGB and that he happened to be CIA. I was sent to the states to steal information from him. So yes, I suppose, I was using him. It doesn't mean I didn't love your father or that he didn't love me. He chose to stay with me even after he found out the truth."

"You lied to him, you used him, and you've done the same with me!"

"Sydney, things aren't always what they appear to be. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you will come to understand a lot of things. You can't have a tantrum every time you find out something you don't like. There are a lot of things you don't understand, and it is unfair for you to judge me for something that you know nothing about."

"And whose fault is that?"

"Sydney, I am not perfect. I am not a perfect mother and I wasn't a perfect wife. Have I kept things from you? Yes. Did I use your father? Yes. But neither of those truths change the fact that I love you and that I loved your father, and I will continue to love him until the day I die."

"How could you lie to me for so long. Everything you've ever told me I have believed without question and now I don't know whether any of it was ever true." Tears began to stream down her face. Irina walked toward her and held her in her arms, Sydney was hesitant at first but finally the love she had for her mother overcame her anger and they sat on the couch while Sydney cried in her mother's arms just like she had when Irina had first told her that her father was dead.

CIA Office, Los Angeles

For the past two days Vaughn and his team had searched for any information that would lead them to the location of Julia Thorne. They had found nothing, not a birth certificate, not a credit card statement, not even a late rental fee. They had no proof of her existence, let alone her whereabouts. Agent Vaughn had been almost a tyrant for this assignment. He had played it off as simply being disappointed that his team had been unsuccessful, and he had even told Eric that it was simply his frustration at allowing Sloane to have the upper hand. Eric hadn't bought it for one second, he had insisted that Michael had a "crush" on this woman. Michael had denied it of course, but now he was beginning to wonder what was really affecting him. Yes, he was frustrated that his team was unsuccessful and that Sloane had the upper hand but his frustration was more than just that. It was something else, something that he couldn't put his finger on. Maybe it was the fact that this mysterious woman knew him, maybe it was the fact that she had been so close to him and he had let her get away. He wasn't sure what it was but he didn't like it.

Irina's New York Apartment

They had spent hours catching up and talking about everything and anything. They had finally come to the decision that Sydney would not be returning to LA, instead she would work directly with Irina in New York. At least now Sydney would be able to do what she loved most, going on mission around the world.

"So all I have to do is break into his office and steal the manuscript?"

"Yes. It shouldn't be too difficult. The whole place has cameras, I can hack into their system and loop the cameras so that shouldn't be a problem. You just have to get up there unnoticed and break into the safe as quickly as possible. There is no room for mistakes Sydney, if you get caught they'll shoot you on sight. The Chinese government isn't nice to American thieves who break into a wealthy man's home."

"Don't worry mom, you know I'm a pro."

"Yes, and sometimes it really worries me. No one should have so much fun risking their lives like you do."

"It's all part of the thrill."

"Sark mentioned the other day that you knew the agent that was sent instead of Mr. Fleming."

"Yes."

"Who is this agent and how exactly do you know him?"

"It's William Vaughn's son, Michael. He and I were friends when I was a child, during the time I thought you were dead."

"Michael Vaughn, yes I do remember him. You haven't seen him in over twenty years, how did you recognize him."

Sydney smiled and close her eyes as she conjured the image of Michael's face in her mind. "His eyes. He has amazing eyes." Irina watched her daughter and began to laugh in amusement.

"Oh yes, his eyes." she mocked. "I take it from the look on your face that he is a handsome young man now."

Sydney looked down, embarrassed at her mother's words. "Yes, he is."

"So you like him then?"

"I liked him as a child, now I just happen to be attracted to him, nothing more."

"Sark felt a bit jealous you know. He told me that he could see that you had a special interest in him."

"Does Sark tell you every little thing about me? What happened to privacy?"

"Don't get mad Sydney, you know that Sark loves you."

"Not as much as he loves you."

"Sydney, please."

"It bothers me. Julian seems to trust you more than he trusts me. I know that he keeps things from me, perhaps they are job related, but I can't be sure. In any case there is this huge space between us."

"Do you love him?"

"I'm not sure. I care about him, but I don't think I love him."

CIA office, Los Angeles

Eric had a huge smile on his face as he walked towards the not so happy Michael who was sitting at his desk, continuing to look for any trace of the woman who had gotten him in so much trouble.

"You won't believe what I just found out."

"What?" Michael answered unamused.

"Well I could see that looking for Julia was getting us nowhere so I decided to look for something that Julia would look for."

Eric had gotten Michael's attention and now Michael was intently listening to everything that Eric was saying. "Did you find something?"

"I remember that we recently got custody of some guy who sold in the black market and I know that this guy usually deals with antiques and things of the sort. So I thought I'd take a shot and I asked him if he knew of anyone owning Rambaldi pieces, and as luck would have it, not only does he know of someone who had a Rambaldi piece, but he sold it himself. I have the guy's name and address and get this, he's hosting a party in tomorrow night."

"You think that the Man will send Julia to negotiate a deal?"

"I'm thinking that tomorrow night is the perfect time to negotiate a deal or steal the damn thing, depending on what they like to do best."

"Have you talked to Devlon about this?"

"Yup, and he's sending us to go check it out." he said as he began to do a silly victory dance.

Michael began to laugh and patted his best friend on the back. "You're the best."

"Here's the mission." he said as he handed Michael a file which contained the specifics of the mission. "We're basically going in as spectators. If Julia isn't there we're just gonna party but if we find Julia we have orders to apprehend her, and Devlon says that under no circumstances can we allow Julia to walk out of there with the Rambaldi manuscript."

"Sounds easy enough."

Party, China

Sydney walked into the enormous mansion feeling confident and beautiful. She was wearing a gorgeous dark blue dress that made her look stunning. The halter top dress was semi-backless and had a high slit on the right. Her long brown hair was curled and a section of her hair was pulled back, except for a few curls that framed her face. She had gotten in by giving the name Andrea Lazar and saying that she was there representing an American company that was thinking about investing a large amount of money in the business of the mansion's owner.

She walked around the room and talked with several of the guests. She was waiting for her mother to loop the surveillance cameras so that she could sneak into the upstairs office that held the safe. In the meantime she enjoyed the party, drinking champagne and talking to the various guests. Irina and Sydney knew that the guards would change their posts and leave the staircase unattended for a maximum of a minute so they had to do everything precisely at the right time. Irina would wait until the guards were just about to leave before looping the cameras, and Sydney would walk up to the office soon after.

"Looping the cameras now ." Sydney heard Irina say over the comms a few minutes later.

Sydney put her hand over her right ear and spoke as inconspicuously as possible. "Going upstairs, I'll be radio silent until I get the manuscript."

Sydney looked around the room and began to walk towards the hallway that would lead her to the staircase. She quickly walked up the stairs, taking advantage of the fact that the guards were changing post and had momentarily left the staircase unattended.

Once she was in the room she quickly walked to where the large portrait of a Chinese man and his family was hanging. Carefully she removed the portrait which wasn't very heavy and put a small device that was hidden underneath her shoe on the keypad of the safe. The small electronic device began to decipher the code of the safe. The device worked quickly and in minutes she had opened the safe. Her mother was right, it was a clean simple job, no need to negotiate when it was so simple to take it. She found the small manuscript quickly and placed it safely in her purse, which she had brought for the manuscript. She placed the portrait carefully back to where it had been before and was ready to leave until she heard footsteps and watched as the door began to open slowly

&&&

Michael and Eric walked into the large room which held at least a hundred guests, all wearing fancy clothes and expensive jewelry.

"You think I could find a rich woman to marry me?"

Michael smiled and looked at his friend. "Not a chance."

"What are you talking about? Rich older women are always searching for young un-rich guys like myself, they want to be sugar mamas, and I don't mind."

"Be serious. If you see her, tell me. I'm gonna go over there and you take that side."

"Yeah, I bet finding her will be real easy, seeing as she changes hair, accent and style of clothing every five minutes."

"Just go look." Michael and Eric took opposite sides of the room hoping to find Julia, but Michael was aware that finding her might be more difficult than anticipated. Eric was right, she was obviously good at disguising herself. She could look like anyone now. She might be Irish with blonde hair or French with black hair. He looked closely at every woman that passed by him but he still couldn't find her.

Just when he was about to lose hope of finding her among all these people he noticed a woman in a dark blue dress. He couldn't see her face but he saw her heading towards a hallway that no one else had gone to. He followed her down the hallway and realized that the guards had just left, leaving the staircase unattended. 'It has to be her.' he thought as he watched her run quickly up the stairs. He was quite a distance from her but he ran up the stairs trying not to lose her from his sight. He watched her turn the corner but wasn't able to see where she went after that. Once he was upstairs he began to go into the various rooms that there were hoping that he might find her. He opened each door slowly because he didn't want anyone else to find him up there, he knew that if he was caught he would be in a lot more trouble then he would like to be. He opened about three doors without finding anyone there. When he came to the next door he heard a bit of noise, hardly any, but he knew that someone was there. He opened the door slowly and through the crack of the door he saw her standing there with fear in her eyes.

It was Julia, no doubt about it. Her hair was different...longer and brown instead of the short red he had seen her with before. She looked amazing and he could have sworn that at the sight of her his heart skipped a beat.

Once the door was fully opened her fearful eyes became annoyed instead. He walked in and closed the door behind him. "Julia Thorne."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to take you into CIA custody."

She looked at him with an amused smile and had to hold back her laughter. "You're arresting me?"

"Not exactly. You're in danger and the CIA can't afford to let anything happen to you at this moment. I'm here for your safety."

"I don't need your protection."

She began to walk towards the door, or at least he thought that was what she was going to do. Instead, she walked right up to him and pushed him against the wall. His back hit the wall quite hard, he hadn't expected her to push him, so he wasn't very grounded when she did so. He had expected her to punch him or kick him after that but instead she pressed her body against his and began to kiss him passionately. She put her arms around his neck and wrapped her right leg around him. Her actions had caught him off guard, but instead of pushing her away, as he knew he should do, he kissed her back. He put his arms around her waist and kissed her back with the same intensity that she was kissing him with. For a moment he realized what he was doing and stopped kissing her. He looked at her expecting her to say something, to give him some sort of explanation for her actions. She stayed silent and looked him in the eye. She smiled and then kissed him again. This time Michael forgot all about what he should do and let himself be consumed in the moment, consumed by her.