-Over and Out-

Sydney wasted no time in following Vaughn as he raced down the corridor and into the east stairwell, the blaring sound of the alarm resonating in her ears. After a quick check for security cameras that could expose their location, they sprinted up the stairs.

Finding the ninth floor devoid of activity, they must still think we're on the sixth, Sydney drew her weapon and eased soundlessly into the hallway. "Stay right behind me and keep as close as you can to the wall," she instructed as they made their way quickly toward the lab.

Reaching the outer lab door Sydney pulled up and cursed under her breath. "You're going to have to buy me a few minutes." When she received no response, she looked up at him, "Vaughn?"

His adrenalin pumping, his breath coming in rapid bursts, he looked over at her, calm and decisive as she addressed him. She was here for him. To fix his mistake. He made a sudden decision that he never should have allowed her to be part of this. But by God, there was no force on earth that could get through him if it meant they would get to Sydney.

"Do it."

She kneeled down in front of the door and turned her attention toward breaching the lab. Sending a fervent prayer heavenward that she could somehow channel Marshall, Sydney removed the outer panel of the electronic lock. She studied the protruding wires for only a moment before diving in, cutting, twisting, and taping together, joining exposed tips.

With drawn pistol, Vaughn hovered over her, alternately pacing and scanning the corridor.

A loud click told them the lock was disengaged. They were through the door an instant later, firmly closing it behind them.

Inside, Sydney and Vaughn scanned their darkened surroundings. The room looked as one would expect a laboratory to be painted in the flowery language of an old science fiction novel. Brightly colored chemicals vied for space with electronic equipment and test tubes strewn across large metal tables. But what made this particular lab distinct were its walls. From ground to ceiling, lit glass enclosures held mysterious objects and lined three of four sides of the room. What they were, Sydney had no idea; but she did know that the sheer number of cages would increase the difficulty of their task exponentially.

Without a word they split up to cover ground more quickly, Vaughn heading right and Sydney to the left, hurriedly examining each glass container for – what? It occurred to her that apart from a general size and weight she had no idea what this artifact would look like. Vaughn must have been reading her mind.

"Syd, what the hell are we supposed to be looking for?" he yelled to be heard over the din of the earsplitting alarm.

"I only saw the wooden chest that it was held in!"

"No chest." he bit out as he shifted to the next row of glass cells.

"Vaughn!" Sydney called, catching his attention, "look at this!" Glancing to the table she grasped a large microscope, braced her feet and heaved it into the nearest glass panel. Shattering the obstacle, she carefully reached in and drew out a bronze sphere slightly larger than a softball.

Vaughn hurried to her side as she examined the object. "Rambaldi," he breathed as light from the hall caught the familiar engraving.

The sound of footsteps pounding down the corridor broke the sphere's hold over Sydney and Vaughn. "Let's hope this is it," she said, stuffing the orb in her bag. "We've got to get out of here."

At Vaughn's affirming nod they turned in unison toward the door, just in time to see it explode inward.

"Vaughn, get down!" she ordered as she grabbed a handful of collar and propelled him behind the nearest workstation. Diving to the left she hit the floor just as the first burst of gunfire spouted from their assailant's automatic.

Unable to return fire, Sydney tried to make herself as small as possible as glass shattered around her and bullets bit into the stainless steel that served as her cover. Lying prone on her stomach she peered cautiously around the table.

The tall guard was framed ominously in the doorway, methodically moving through the room with the probing fire of his Heckler & Koch SMG.

Shit. Sydney took a deep breath. She needed to focus. She squirmed closer to the edge, scraping as cautiously as possible over the broken glass; then slowly rose to a crouch, dragging her Sig 9-mm from the back of her waistband.

A beat before she would have stood to return fire, Sydney caught short as she spotted Vaugh running at a crouch toward the right, attempting to make use of the ruble to surprise the guard from the side. He's too far out. His pistol won't stand a chance against that SMG.

From her position she heard the steady cough of the guard's gun, but she could only concentrate on Vaughn. Making a snap decision she scrambled to her feet and fired four quick shots, shattering the glass that she hoped was just to the right of the guard. Not waiting to see if her distraction was successful, she barreled toward him, gun pointed forward; ready to risk a bullet if it meant giving Vaughn a chance to take out the gunman.

As she moved Vaughn crashed into the guard and deflected his aim with a powerful kick to the forearm. A second later Vaughn's fist slammed into his chin, causing the gunman's head to snap back as he staggered, then crumpled to the ground.

Weak with relief at the fact that they both had survived unscathed, Sydney permitted herself to steal a quick glance at Vaughn to assess for herself whether he was alright. His boyish half grin made her blush despite the harrowing circumstances. Damn, Sydney thought, keep moving. She forced her gaze away. As she moved passed the downed man she bent to retrieve his weapon, throwing it over her shoulder before heading down the hallway and trusting that Vaughn would follow her lead.

Moving down the corridor with increasing speed, Sydney knew that the sound of gunfire would be sure to draw more goons. With Vaughn close behind, she sprinted toward the elevator and adjoining stairwell while simultaneously reloading, taking the partially depleted magazine from her pistol, pocketing it, and inserting a full one from her belt.

Twenty feet from her goal, Sydney's fears were realized as the light above the elevator announced another visitor to their floor. Vaughn pulled up short and aimed his gun toward the door. Sydney didn't slow down.

As the doors began to open she caught sight of a guard standing ready. By the time the elevator doors had spread two feet, two steps were all that separated her from her newly acquired target. Surprised, the guard reached behind him for a gun; but it was too late.

Accelerating her pace, Sydney propelled herself through the doors at full tilt and collided with the frantic gunman. An elbow to his cheek laid the skin open down to the bone. Without waiting to see if she had done enough damage to take him out permanently, she drove her knee upwards into his groin, inducing a strangled gasp as air forcibly expelled from his lungs. With a moan, the guard's knees buckled and he slid to the floor of the elevator, clutching his midsection with both hands.

Sydney picked up his weapon and tossed it to a shocked Vaughn. Backing up, she pressed the button for the lobby, hoping it would buy them some time, at least until the doors opened and deposited her handiwork with whomever else happened to be on duty.

"Impressive." Vaughn's voice drew her focus from the closing doors of the elevator. "Why kill a man when you can ruin his sex life for the next month?"

Sydney fixed him with a pseudo-serious stare, "Just remember that next time we're on the ice." She grinned and gave him a wink. "Come on let's get out of here, I'm not sure how many more times I can keep your ass out of trouble."

Vaughn stifled a laugh as he threw open the door to the stairwell. His humor choked to a grimace at the unmistakable sound of heavy boots pounding their way up the stairs. Sydney leaned over the railing and looked down. At least a dozen men were making their way up the stairs, and as of right now they were only a few floors down. If the options were fight or flight, overwhelming odds such as these called for the latter. Only one direction to go: up.

Aided by the fact that their pursuers had started on the street level, Sydney and Vaughn gained significant ground by the time they reached the roof access. Apparently SOME security team needs to work on their Stairmaster, Sydney smiled to herself.

At the top of the stairwell a door marked ROOF ACCESS – DO NOT OPEN, ALARM WILL SOUND stood solidly in their path. Sydney tried pushing through, but it wouldn't give. A cursory glance confirmed that the hinges were rusted from moisture and lack of use.

"Well," she offered with a sardonic grin, "at least we don't have to worry about the alarm."

Vaughn mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like 'smartass' as he backed up a few steps to consider their options. If their lives hadn't been at stake she would have pursued that statement further, but given the circumstances she decided her energy was best spent on getting through the door.

"I'll stall the posse, you get us through that door," Sydney commanded as she stowed her pistol and drew the guard's SMG. Angling down the stairway she opened fire. Three bursts later the stairway was clear.

Sydney's head snapped up at the sound of gunfire coming from Vaughn's direction. Then the shooting stopped, and in the sudden silence Vaughn flew past her in a blur. He shot out the hinges. Smart boy. Vaughn threw himself at the door, dipping his shoulder to absorb the brunt of the impact. The hinges creaked and then gave, causing Vaughn's momentum to send him careening onto the rooftop.

By the time Sydney had followed him through the doorway, Vaughn was already back on his feet, hand tightened on the grip of his pistol and scanning the empty rooftop for an avenue of escape.

Vaughn hurried to a pile of gallon buckets stacked neatly alongside the ledge that ran the length of the roof. Praying for a stroke of luck, he knelt down to read the label on the containers. He felt a rush of relief as he read the words ACE Paint Thinner. He grabbed four of the pails and glanced over his shoulder to where Sydney was leaning over the edge of the building.

"Syd!" Vaughn called as he crossed toward the door that he had only moments ago burst through. "Give me a hand with this paint thinner."

He didn't wait to see if she was moving before heaving the pails as hard as he could toward the roof access landing. Two out of three cans split open on impact. By the time he had thrown his fourth, Sydney was beside him and was mimicking his action. Seeing the slight upward curve of her lips Vaughn knew she had guessed what he had in mind.

"Ready, aim, fire." Vaughn said quietly as he took aim at the pooled liquid and discharged his gun.

The shockwave from the explosion hit him like a punch, and with a whoosh the doorway to burst in to flames, effectively engulfing the only route by which the guards could reach them.

Sydney turned to Vaughn, "Now all we need to do is get the hell off this roof."

"As long as I don't have to attack any more metal objects with my body, I think I can manage." Vaughn said through gritted teeth as he stiffly massaged his aching shoulder.

"If you play your cards right, maybe I'll give you a massage later."

Sydney's eyes widened fractionally as she reviewed what she had just said. She had meant it as a joke, but somehow bypassing her conscious brain, the delivery of that line had come out more serious than she intended.

Grinning at her expression, he decided that this might not be the most opportune time to press the issue. "Right." he hedged, cautiously. He was well aware of the fact that Sydney's comment had taken her by surprise. For the first time in months he realized he didn't feel the least bit guilty about the giddiness he always experienced when things with Sydney moved just beyond the realm of friendship. That was enough for now. "We should focus on finding a way off this rooftop."

Sydney slowly let out a relieved breath. He had decided to let her off lightly. "No problem. While you were busy using your Boy Scout skills to start fires I was working on a way off of this building."

Vaughn watched with rapt attention as she ran toward the edge of the roof and vaulted over the side. His mouth opened in horror. "Syd!" he cried as he dashed to rim and looked over the ledge. There, standing not fifteen feet below him was Sydney grinning smugly, a helicopter on its landing pad directly behind her.

"What?" she asked playfully. "Do you need me to catch you?"