"Sydney I need to talk to you." Vaughn was standing next to Sydney's locker, watching as she took a chemistry book out of her bag and placed it inside the locker. His eyes wondered to the door of her locker, which was filled with photographs. Most of them were of her and her friends but one of them caught his eye. In the middle of all the pictures was a picture of Danny and Sydney. Judging by the background they looked like they were at the beach; Sydney was on Danny's back, both of them leaning towards the camera with huge smiles on their faces. Michael hated to admit it but they looked really happy together; really in love.
"Sure, what's up?" She smiled turning to face him, but he was looking straight past her. Slightly confused at what he was looking at, she followed his gaze, her eyes settling on the picture of her and Danny. She looked down at the floor, biting her lower lip. I can't believe I forgot to take that picture out of my locker. Michael stopped looking at the picture, running his hand through his tousled hair, watching the crowds that walked past them in the corridor.
Pulling down the picture, Sydney held it for a minute, remembering the day that it was taken. It was taken a couple of months ago when everything had been fine between her and Danny. It had been a nice day so Danny suggested that they hang out at the beach. They made it into a double date; Phoebe and Cole offered to come along with them. The picture had been taken right after Danny had told Sydney that he loved her.
She ran her fingers over the image of Danny, silently saying her goodbyes to him. He had been her first love, but she knew that he wouldn't be her last. She put the picture in her locker her past behind her.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" She closed her locker, smiling at Vaughn as she took his hand in hers and started to walk along with the rest of the crowd heading towards the exit of the school. She was relieved when Vaughn smiled back at her, giving her hand a comforting squeeze.
"I had a talk with Weiss before, and he told me about your dad."
"What about my dad?" Sydney asked, her forehead wrinkled in confusion.
"Well he told me that I would be lucky if I survived dinner. He said that he's not the friendliest of people, especially when it comes to guys who are dating his daughter." Sydney smirked, watching the look of shear horror on Michael's face as he talked about her dad. "He also mentioned something about your dad working for the Government, torturing enemies of the United States!" Sydney burst out laughing, despite the sound of panic in Vaughn's voice.
They walked out of the school and Sydney dragged him away from the crowds of people so that they could talk. "Ok, part of what Weiss told you is true. My dad can be a little overprotective of me at times, and he had been known to be a quite harsh, to some people. But my mom's gonna be there, and she said that she would talk to him. He wouldn't go against her once she's said something to him; lets just say my dad isn't the only one in the family who can be a little scary at times!" She gave him a smile as she brought her lips up to his.
Vaughn was relieved but there was still one doubt in the back of his mind. "Ok, but what about him torturing people?"
Sydney pressed her lips together, and nodded slowly. "Well I hate to break it to you Michael but my dad was employed to get information out of prisoners, using any methods that he thought was appropriate!"
The colour in Vaughn's cheeks disappeared as his mouth dropped open. "Wh…what?" His voice got stuck in his throat, he only barely managed to get one word out.
Sydney's lips broke out into a smile, her brown eyes sparkling up at him. She shook her head at how gullible he was. "Michael relax! I'm just kidding. My dad has never worked for the United States Government and he probably never will do! Weiss was just trying to scare you, which I can see is an easy thing to do!" She smiled sweetly at him leaning forward to kiss him, but he turned his head so she ended up kissing his cheek instead of his lips.
"Hey that was mean!" She pouted at him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"That was mean? You're the mean one!" He wrapped his arms around her waist pulling her into his embrace.
"Well you should be less gullible and then I wouldn't have to be as mean!" She stuck out her tongue at him causing them both to laugh.
"So your dad has never tortured anyone?" He asked, just to make sure that he would survive the dinner.
Sydney shook her head, wrapping her arms around her neck so that their faces were only inches apart. "No, not unless you call yelling at the pizza guy when he brings us the wrong pizza, torture!" She smiled and planted a chaste kiss on his lips.
"You will pay for the whole trying to scare me thing you know!" He informed her, a sly smile on his face.
"Sure I will!" She played along, laughing at how adorable he looked when he was plotting against her. "I was thinking…we still have a few hours until we have to be at my dad's house, and my mom won't be back home yet. So you wanna come and hang out at my house?"
"Sounds fun." He smiled and they walked hand in hand to Sydney's house.
"So you think I'm going to survive dinner then?" Vaughn joked. He was lying on Sydney's bed playing with the edge of one of the cushions that were on her bed. The radio was on in the background removing the silence that was filling the whole house. Sydney smiled as she stepped out of her closet and looked at Michael, her hand resting on her hip.
"You're gonna be fine! Do you really think I'd let him hurt you? He'll be on his best behaviour I promise." She gave him another smile and walked back into her closet looking at the clothes infront of her. She didn't have a clue what she was going to wear to dinner, but she had a feeling that it didn't really matter; all her father would be interested in was how unsuitable Michael Vaughn was for his daughter. But she kept that fact a secret from Vaughn; it would only make things worse if he were to start acting all nervous around her father.
She finally made up her mind, choosing a pair of dark denim jeans and a baby blue shirt. Taking out a pair of black pointy shoes, she placed her clothes on the chair next to her desk and shut the closet door.
She playfully hit Michael's feet out of the way so that she could sit down at the foot of the bed. She glanced at Michael to find him looking at her; his eyes moving all over her face before settling at her eyes. She expected him to say something but he remained silent, a small smile on his face as he looked at her.
Her cheeks reddened and she looked away a shy smile taking over her lips. She looked around her room, but no matter how hard she tried she could still feel his eyes on her. Observing her every move.
"Ok, what?" She asked, her smile mirroring his.
Now it was his turn to blush. He looked down at the bed cover a small laugh escaping from his mouth. "I was just thinking!" He shrugged, a smile remaining on his lips.
"Ok! What about?" She asked, her eyes watching him just the way he had been watching her moments before. He raised his eyes and looked at her, his smile growing.
"You." His one word answer had a huge effect on Sydney; her cheeks reddened, her smile mirroring hers. Her heart was beating faster in her chest, his answer playing over and over again in her head. You.
The room filled with silence as the song on the radio came to an end and both of them were too wrapped up in their own thoughts about each other to make conversation. Sydney cleared her throat, deciding that she would finish sorting out what she was going to wear for dinner. She stood up but Vaughn stopped her, his hand holding onto her arm, turning her back around so that she was facing him.
He smiled at her as he gently pulled her back onto the bed, so that she was lying next to him; her head hovering inches above his. He slowly ran his hand down her face his hand resting at her chin. She smiled as he guided her face towards his own, their lips meeting somewhere in the middle.
The kiss was gentle at first, but it quickly deepened, Sydney ran her hands through Vaughn's hair pulling him closer to her. His hands moved slowly up and down her back; the touch of his hands on her back sending chills up and down her spine.
After breaking the kiss, Sydney rested her head in the crook of Vaughn's neck, her arms draped loosely across his chest. He smiled as he kissed the top of her head, never wanting the happiness that he was feeling to go away, but the thought of what was to come in a couple of hours still scared him. Now matter how many times Sydney assured him that he would be ok.
"Sydney?" Irina tapped lightly on her daughter's bedroom door. After she had got back from work she showered and changed, reading for dinner at Jack's house. She knew that tonight was important for Sydney and Michael. But it was also important for her; she was finally ready to have a talk with Jack about what was going on between them. She had spent all day going over it in her head, sorting out her feelings and thoughts. It's about time that I told Jack that I…
Her thoughts were interrupted by Sydney's call from the other side of the door. She walked into the room and smiled. Michael was sitting on Sydney's bed, while Sydney adjusted her hair in the mirror.
"Hey mom." Sydney smiled at her mother, taking one final look of her outfit in the mirror before moving to sit on the edge of her bed.
"Hey sweetie." Irina smiled back and looked over at Michael and then back at Sydney, waiting for her daughter to introduce them.
"Oh right yeah. Mom this is Michael Vaughn. Michael meet my mom." Sydney's arms moved about infront of her as she did the introductions.
"It's nice to finally meet you Ms. Bristow." Michael gave her one of his charming smiles hoping that he could at least win over one of Sydney's parents. From what Eric had told him, Irina Derevko was nothing like her ex-husband; she would give a person a chance to get to know her before she passed judgement on them.
Irina laughed and shook her head. "Please call me Irina. And it's nice to meet you too." Sydney sighed, relieved that the first introduction went well. Now all we need to do is win over my dad!
"I just came to ask if you guys wanted a lift over to your father's?" She walked back towards the door, waiting for an answer.
"Sure!" Sydney nodded and grabbed Vaughn's hand, both of them following Irina out of the house.
Vaughn's heart beat faster as they walked up the driveway to Jack Bristow's front door. From the outside, the house looked fairly big, definitely too big for one person. Sydney gave his hand a comforting squeeze as Irina knocked on the door. He drew in a deep breath as the door slowly opened, revealing a stern looking Jack Bristow, dressed in black pants and a navy blue shirt.
"Hi Jack!" Irina spoke first. Jack smiled at her and then he turned to look at Michael.
"Well Sydney, aren't you going to introduce us?" Although he was speaking to his daughter, his eyes remained on Vaughn as he made his first impressions of him. Vaughn felt his face get hotter, the pressure of Jack's stare being too uncomfortable for him.
"Dad I'd like you to meet Michael Vaughn, my boyfriend." Sydney emphasised the word 'boyfriend' hoping that her father would listen to hear and realise that nothing he could say would make her stop dating Vaughn. "Michael, my father Jack Bristow."
"Mr. Bristow." He smiled, holding out his hand for Jack to shake. Jack's hands remained by his side showing no sign of moving. Irina realised that Jack was never going to shake his hand so she intervened, determined that she would make Jack be on his best behaviour.
Discreetly stepping forward, she placed her foot over his and stepped down. Jack's eyes bulged as the pain of Irina's heel took over his foot. She pressed down slightly harder causing him to turn to look at her. She nodded at him, her facial expressions telling him that he shouldn't mess with her; if he wanted to keep any feeling in his left foot he had to shake Michael's hand. Sydney and Vaughn looked at each other curiously, neither knowing what was happening.
Jack finally gave in; he shook Michael's hand and forced a smile on his face. Satisfied that he had at least made a small effort to make Michael feel welcome, Irina moved her foot and smiled innocently at Jack. He stepped aside and gestured for them to come inside.
Michael followed Sydney into the living room fearing that he wasn't going to come out of the house alive. Sydney's hand was still firmly in his, which Jack obviously didn't like. He kept looking down at their joined hands and none too subtly shaking his head.
"Jack can I talk to you for a minute? Outside!" Irina nodded towards the door indicating that she didn't want to speak infront of Sydney and Michael. Sydney silently thanked her mother, she knew that her mother was about to have 'the talk' with him, and make sure that he at least tried to be nice to Michael.
"Sure." He nodded, walking slowly to the door.
"You two just make yourself at home." She told them, knowing fairly well that Jack wasn't about to say it any time soon. She followed him into the kitchen, the smell of freshly made lasagne filling the room. Jack picked up a pair of oven gloves and took the dish out of the oven. Placing it on the kitchen counter, he removed the oven gloves and turned to face Irina.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" He folded his arms and leant back against the kitchen counter. Irina was leaning against the doorframe
Irina shook her head in disbelief. It was as though Jack didn't even realise just how rude he was being to Michael. "You. Do you not want your daughter to be happy Jack, is that why you do it?" Her hands were resting firmly on her hips, as she stepped further into the kitchen.
"Do what exactly?"
"Everytime that you meet one of Sydney's boyfriends, you try your best to make them feel so uncomfortable, it's like their under some sort of interrogation. You did it to Danny; you just did it to Vaughn! You even did it when she in the 6th grade and she invited Jake Anderson over for lunch."
"I'm only looking out for her!" Jack defended, cutting the lasagne into pieces and dishing it out onto the four plates.
"Jack you don't need to look out for her in that way! Sydney is old enough to decide who she wants to date, and if she thinks that Michael is suitable for her then that is her decision. And quite frankly I have to say that I agree with her!"
"What? How can you say that? We don't know anything about this Michael Vaughn."
Irina threw her hands up infront of her in exasperation. "That's what tonight was meant to be for Jack." Her voice had a slight sarcastic tone, but Jack ignored it. He was quite used to her sarcastic outbursts so they no longer had an effect on him. "So that we can get to know that guy that our daughter is falling in love with…"
He raised his eyebrow, his stomach feeling like it had just somersaulted. "She's in love with him?"
She rolled her eyes, her voice lowering so that Sydney couldn't hear her. "No, I'm not saying that. Look; call it a mother thing, but I can tell that there is something different about her. She has this sparkle in her eyes that was never there before; not even when she was dating Danny. She's not in love with him now, but given time I think that she could be. From what I've heard about him, he's a great guy and it wouldn't hurt you to be a little nicer to him!" She stated matter-of-factly.
"How about you deal with this your way and I'll deal with it mine!"
"No Jack. That isn't going to work! In your mind no one is good enough for your little girl, but you need to let her make her own decisions about that. You're not in control of her life Jack and the sooner you realise that, the better it'll be for all for us."
She picked up two of the plates of lasagne and walked towards the door. "Now we're going to go back in there and you are going to behave yourself, do you hear me?" She felt like she was shouting at a child, but Jack had to be set straight by someone, and that someone just happened to be here. He stared blankly back at her. "I mean it Jack, if you do anything to make Michael feel uncomfortable or say anything that is going to cause problems in our daughter's relationship, then I will not be held responsible for what I do to you!"
Jack knew better than to argue with Irina. They were both stubborn people, but Irina had this habit of making Jack do what she wanted. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have listened to a word that she said, but after everything that had been happening between them, he didn't want anything to come between them. Even if that did mean holding his tongue for the evening.
