Chapter Four - They're Going Back to the Start
Nobody said it was easy
Oh it's such a shame for us to part
Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard
I'm going back to the start
"The Scientist" Coldplay
Sydney and Vaughn both remained suspiciously quiet as the rest carried on their conversation. Jules nudged her brother and gave him a 'Since when did you of all people become a mute?' look before Francie spoke up.
"So what do you do for a living, Juliana?" Francie asked, trying to make conversation.
"Oh, I'm actually a pediatrics resident back east," Jules answered enthusiastically, clearly conveying her love for her job.
"Perfect job for the ten year old trapped in a 29 year old's body, huh?" Vaughn joked, trying to break the ice.
"Hey...I'd like to see you go through 4 years of med school plus residency, mister. It's a long hard road and I can guarantee you no ten year old could do it." Jules teased. "Just because I'm one with my inner child doesn't mean I'm childish."
Vaughn laughed and nodded sarcastically, "Yeah, sure..."
Syd laughed to herself...Seeing Vaughn like this -- so relaxed. At ease, even. With his sister of all people...Never in a million years did she see herself in this situation...
"What's so funny, Sydney?" Jules asked jokingly, playing off of the banter her and her brother always shared.
"It's nothing really. It's just funny how different Michael is here than he is at work..." She said, glancing up at Vaughn. Vaughn scratched his head nervously.
"Oh, really?" Jules asked, sensing that this might ease the tensions a little, "how so?"
"Well..." Syd started, unsure as to whether she should share.
It's no big deal. I can be ambigous...I'm the master of ambiguous!
"It's just that, he's usually so...stressed." Syd said, looking up at Vaughn, who looked uncomfortable talking about work. "Which is completely understandable ...our work is pretty stressful..."
Jules looked at her brother, then back at Sydney. Clearly her senses fooled her. She'd pretty much made everything a whole lot more awkward. Not only with Vaughn and Syd, but also Will and Francie
"Mikey, can't you loosen up on the work subject for one minute?" Jules asked, somewhat angrily. "He hates talking about work." she said turning to Sydney Personally, I think its draining the life out of him. Like you said, Sydney, he gets way too stressed...it's not healthy." Vaughn rolled his eyes.
"I like to leave my work at work. If thats alright with you." Vaughn snapped to his sister, then looked sympathetically at Syd. Syd shot him an apologetic look, and Vaughn immediately felt bad for not 'playing it cool' like Jules insisted.
"See, this just proves my point," Francie spoke up, "you guys work way too hard. Your boss is a slavedriver. Seriously, never in my life have I met someone who works as hard as Syd does, right Will?" Will looked up, startled.
"Oh...Um yeah. Definately." Will said, looking preoccupied, not wanting to get involved in any conversation about Syd's work. He knew what an amazing person and agent she was. And if it wasn't for her, he'd be dead.
"Francie, I don't want to get into this..."
"No, Syd. I don't understand why you're in this job if it makes you so unhappy. You two clearly are into each other, but this damn job of yours doesn't even let you be together."
"Francie..." Syd responded in a warning tone. Things were not going the way she wanted them to...
"What kind of a job puts restrictions on your personal life?"
"Fran, lets not get into this here..." Will said trying to be the peacemaker.
"My job does, alright? MY JOB DOES." Syd said, suddenly exploding. "Francie, quite frankly, I don't give a damn what you think about my job. If you knew what I do everyday...if you knew what I go through...how important my job is, not only to me, but to the people I help and work with, then you'd understand where im coming from. So don't critisize me on the way I handle my life and my job."
"Syd, you're a freaking banker, for goodness sake! How demanding can a bank be?!"
"You know what? I don't have to deal with this. It's my first day of vacation and I don't have to deal with this. I'm sorry Michael. And Jules. I didn't mean to ruin your dinner like this..." Sydney said getting up angrily.
Jules sat in disbelief, shocked at how everything changed in a split second. Vaughn immediately got up and followed Sydney.
"Syd...wait Syd, don't leave," he called after her. Syd didn't turn around, and instead veered toward the bathroom, Vaughn still right on her tail. She entered the bathroom, and all Vaughn heard was a sniffle as the door swung shut. He rubbed his head in frustration.
Why do I ever listen to Jules?! He thought to himself So what if this place is clean? Sometimes things should just be left alone. Some situations just shouldn't be tampered with, especially when we're okay the way it is...
Vaughn knocked on the door softly. "Syd? Syd? Can you please come out?" Suddenly the door opened, and another lady walked out and made her way towards the bar. Before the door closed, a hand popped out and grabbed Vaughn's shirt, pulling him into the bathroom with a jerk.
"Syd, what are you doing?! This is the women's bathroom!" Vaughn whispered loudly as Syd locked the door and checked the rest of the stalls.
"I know...theres no one in here." She said, fishing through her purse for the bug killer that she carried with her everywhere she went.
"Oh..." Vaughn said, staring in wonder at the bathroom. This was like every high school boy's dream...he suddenly shook himself out of his daze and turned to Syd as she activated the debugger. "Syd, I'm so--"
"No, Vaughn. What were you thinking inviting us to have dinner with you and your sister? Do you understand how dangerous this is?!" Syd asked, fuming.
"Syd, this place is clean...It's owned by one of my friend's parents...Plus, it wasn't my idea..." Vaughn said, with his head bowed.
So he didn't really want to have dinner with me... Syd thought immediately. What am I saying? I'm supposed to be mad at him!
"Vaughn, it doesn't matter if it was your idea or not. What matters is that we're in a whole lot of sh-t right now." Syd said, wiping the tears from her eyes. Vaughn was ready to snap back at her, but stopped himself. He leaned on the counter next to Syd and took a deep breath.
"Syd, we both know that's not what's bothering you. You were fine at first. I can even venture as far as saying that you were having fun. I was having fun too...It was nice to actually have dinner with you and your friends, despite the awkwardness..."
Sydney suddenly found more tears silently spilling from her eyes.
"But I also know how hard and aggravating it is to talk about 'the bank'. And understandibly so." Vaughn said, trying to get to his point. Come to think of it, he didn't exactly know what his point was, he just felt like he had to talk until Syd was willing to talk back.
"I was having fun," Sydney responded wiping her eyes once more.
"Then what happened?" Vaughn asked looking straight into the stall in front of them. "You're usually so good at not letting your emotions get to you...especially about work..."
"That's exactly it Vaughn. Thats exactly it." Syd said getting worked up again, as she started to pace the length of the bathroom.
"What's exactly it?" Vaughn asked, trying to get Sydney to reveal more as he watched her pace.
"The lying. I'm sick of lying. You don't understand how nice it is to have someone like you...or even Will to just talk to without feeling like you're constantly under their watchful eye. I know that Will understands when I have to leave, or when I have missions, but it just gets so incredibly frustrating with Francie. I mean, I love her, she's my best friend...but sometimes I just wish she would stop asking questions all the time and just move on..." Syd stopped and turned to Vaughn with a confused expression on her face, "Am I making any sense whatsoever?"
"Well...did you ever think that maybe she's always asking questions and wanting to talk about work because she's worried about you?"
"Of course I have," Sydney said, settling back next to Vaughn, "I just wish I could tell her and stop all of this..."
"I know, I know..." Vaughn said looking down.
"Vaughn, does your sister know what you do?" Sydney asked, suddenly curious.
Vaughn sighed exasperatedly, "Yes, but against my will of course."
Sydney laughed, "How did she find out?"
"Well, you know how sisters are..."
"Actually I don't..."
Vaughn smiled at Sydney, then turned towards her.
"Well, she pretty much tells me everything. And I tell her everything too. Ever since we were kids...I don't think we've ever kept a secret between us...except for her having a crush on my best friend from high school, which I actually knew about, mind you." Sydney smiled at the thought of a young Jules following Vaughn and his friend around. "So I was pretty discreet during training and everything, but after I became an agent, and actually starting having missions and was told classified information, I guess I wasn't as good of a liar as I was before. Jules sensed it, and called me on it. I promised her I'd never keep anything between us, and I figured my relationship with my only sister is more important than anything else. And I'm glad I made that decision."
Sydney smiled at him. "I completely understand."
"Do you like her?"
"I love her." Sydney responded happily, "but she doesn't seem anything like you."
"Are you kidding? We are like the same people. It's sick!"
Sydney just laughed. It was nice to have some of the tension eased. Now wasn't the time for dramatics...She was there to have fun with her friends, and there was no need to ruin that.
"So..."
"...What are we going to do about Francie?" Vaughn asked, finishing her sentence.
"I guess I'll just have to apologize. She won't hate me, will she?"
"I don't think it's possible for anyone to hate you, Syd." Vaughn said sweetly, giving her a gentle sqeeze. Sydney felt a blush threatening her face, but she held it back, and instead just smiled.
"Believe me, that's not true." She joked.
Vaughn laughed then turned toward the door, and started to unlock it.
"So...You told Francie about me?" He asked raising an eyebrow suspiciously.
"Well...maybe..." Syd responded nervously.
"Huh, interesting..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Syd asked, pretending to be shocked. It was rare when they were able to have a normal moment, and Syd was milking it for all it was worth.
"'Clearly you two are into each other'..." Vaughn said repeating Francie's words.
"Geez! What are we in, the third grade?!" Syd responded quickly as she left the room. Vaughn just smiled to himself.
Things are going to be very interesting... He thought as he walked out of the bathroom, much to the shock of the older women approaching him.
"Did that young man just come out of the ladies bathroom?!" They asked each other.
Sydney laughed as she approached their table once again.
Clearly, Will had cooled Francie down, but Jules still looked like she felt a little out of place.
"Fran, I'm really sorry for everything I said. Please don't hate me, it's just been a really stressful time lately. And it's almost Christmas, and I don't want to spend Christmas Eve with you mad at me, and Christmas wondering if youre still going to be mad at me when you come home. So let's call a truce."
Francie smiled at Syd apologetically. "Syd, it's not your fault. I can't even imagine how hard it must be for you to be going through work and school all at once. It was wrong of me to make any assumptions about your job or you for that matter. You must be an amazing banker, thats all I have to say." Francie joked.
Sydney laughed and hugged Francie, glad that they made up without having to confront anything that isn't meant to be confronted.
"Believe me, she is," Vaughn and Will said at the same time. Jules raised her eyebrows at the clash of testosterone exibited before her. Vaughn just laughed it off, but Will seemed a bit annoyed.
In the whole 15 minutes Jules had known Will, she decided he was a good guy. Clearly, he had a pretty bad crush on Sydney, but from the way it seemed, he was starting to move on. From what Vaughn had told her, he had been through a lot. Quite a sad story, but he was surely lucky to be alive. And there was no doubt about the fact that he was cute...kinda scruffy, blonde, tall, abnomally white teeth. What more could a girl ask for? Cute, indeed, but she did only know him for 15 minutes...
"So, Jules, you're in pediatrics? My sister is thinking about medicine, actually. You should probably chat with her sometime." Will said, taking a bite of his food.
"Oh yeah, definately. I'd love to. I have some great med school stories...mostly not so great, but I do have a few good ones here and there." Jules replied with a smile.
"Ugh, I could never handle being a doctor...blood is something I just can't handle."
"Haha, that's what I thought at first too, but after awhile, you really get used to it. And I think with kids, you really are able to appreciate the whole "being a doctor" thing a lot more. But then again, I am biased..."
"Aw, I love kids...I can't wait to get married and settle down..." Francie said dreamily.
"Yeah, that's usually what's so great about Christmas with my Mom...She has all our relatives over, and all their kids. Nothing puts anyone in a better mood than kids on Christmas morning." Jules added, her mood brightened considerably.
"Yeah, definately...skating with the kids is definately a Christmas highlight for me..." Vaughn added.
"That must be a lot of fun...are you guys doing it this year?" Sydney asked curiously, wanting to find out what plans Vaughn and his sister had for Christmas.
"Sadly, no," Jules said, putting her napkin aside.
"She sounds like she has to spend Christmas with the Grinch or something..." Vaughn said, acting hurt.
"Says the man who has no Christmas tree,"
"I live alone! Do you know how incredibly depressing it is to decorate a tree alone?"
"Such a bad excuse...decorating a tree is never depressing. Even if you are alone. Although, knowing you, you'd probably decorating it while listening to all your Christmas CDs, so yeah, that would be pretty pathetic."
"Hey! Don't go knockin' the Christmas music!" Vaughn retorted playfully.
"Yeah, I definately have to agree with Micheal on this one," Francie added.
"Me too," Syd added, genuinely having a good time.
"Me three," Will said, smiling at Jules.
"Hey, don't get me wrong...Bono singing "Baby Please Come Home" while decorating a Christmas tree is my idea of fun...but there's no denying the fact that Mikey, the same Mikey who came home every Christmas during college with a new girl, sitting alone decorating a tree all by himself, is just a little sad, dontcha think?"
"Ah yes, enough of that..." Vaughn said quickly trying to change the subject.
"Why? We really would love to hear of your escapades during college..." Syd quipped.
"Trust me, you would. But he's right, now's not the time. I'd need days...maybe even weeks for that. But you'd definately get a kick out of it." Jules joked.
"I'm sure," Sydney responded, grinning at a now embarassed Vaughn.
"Okay, time to change the subject..." Vaughn said desperately.
"I've got your back, man," Will said, nodding his head at Vaughn, "So, Jules, why are you gonna be staying with Mike here instead of your family?"
"Well, our Mom went back to France to spend the holidays with some family that she hasn't seen in years...We were going to join her, but there were some work restraints for the both of us. So we'll stay here, but I'm sure Mom will call us to rub in the fact that she's there, and we're here..." Jules said, laughing at the thought.
"Oh, you guys are French?" Francie asked, her interest piqued.
"You never mentioned that your mother was French, Michael," Sydney added.
"Well, you never asked," Vaughn replied playfully. "Plus, didn't you ever wonder why my French was so good?"
Sydney laughed. When she came to think of it, his French accent was excellent. Better than most French-speakers she heard.
"So, you guys grew up in France?" Will asked, turning once again to Jules.
"Well...yeah, I grew up there until I was about twelve..." Jules added, her tone suddenly taking a sad turn.
"Were you both born over there?" Francie asked.
"Well, we were both born there, but our Dad actually worked for the US government. So shortly after I was born, we came here and lived around DC until I was about eight. Then, when our father passed away, we moved back to France, and stayed with my Mother's family until I was 16. My Grandparents then convinced my Mom to move back to America, but this time to California." Vaughn said, explaining his family's travels.
"Oh, I'm so sorry about your Father," Francie said apologetically, "it must have been a hard time."
"Yeah, it was," Jules added, "especially since I was only four...I barely remember my Father, but Mike was amazing." Vaughn shook it off like it was nothing.
"Our Father was an incredible man. He did so much for this country, and I really am still proud of him," Vaughn said, turning to Sydney, who was herself on the verge of tears. She held them back, knowing that it would be suspicious, especially to Francie, and instead offered her belated condolences.
"I'm sure he really was, Michael." She said, fighting the tears. "I'm sure he'd be proud of you both, if he were with us today."
"Thanks, Syd," Vaughn said, smiling sadly.
"Enough with all this depressing talk," Jules said, trying to cheer up.
"What plans do you guys have for Christmas?" She asked.
"Well, tomorrow we're actually having our annual Christmas Eve dinner at our place," Francie said, excitedly, "with us, Will's sister, Amy, and a couple other people."
"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Jules replied.
"Yeah, it will be...Hey, do you guys want to join us tomorrow?" Will asked, directing the question to Jules, "That is of course, if you guys don't already have plans..."
Jules smiled at Will's sweet offer. "You know, that would really be great, but I have to tag along with Mikey to this dinner that one of his friends is hosting. He'd kill me if we didn't go."
"As much as we'd like to," Vaughn said cutting in, "like Jules said, some old friends from college and some of my collegues are going to be meeting up. I guess you could say its annual for us too, but yeah, I've kind of already promised them we'd be there."
"Oh, that's alright," Will responded, "we understand."
"What about Christmas? What are you guys doing on the big day?" Jules asked, turning back to Sydney.
"Well, I'm actually gonna be visiting some family," Francie said, "not too far from here."
"Same here," Will added, "My family's down in San Diego, and I promised I'd see them. Especially seeing that I'm so close, and all."
"What about you, Sydney?" Jules asked, curiously.
"Oh, I'm just gonna be spending some time at home." Sydney responded. "No big deal."
"You're gonna be alone on Christmas?!" Jules asked incredulously. Vaughn raised his eyebrows at Syd, pretending like it was news to him, even though he found out earlier in the day.
"Oh yeah, I really don't mind. It would be nice to have some alone time."
"But on Christmas?!" Vaughn asked. Sydney shot a look at him, and he just smiled at her.
"No, Sydney, I'm not standing for this," Jules said as if she was suddenly inspired, "you're gonna spend Christmas Day with me and Mikey! It's just gonna be the two of us at his place watching sappy Christmas movies and listening to good Christmas music...it's fun, but it'll be a lot more fun if you'll be there too."
"Oh, I'm not so sure..." Syd said suddenly nervous. Francie kicked her under the table, prompting her to give Francie a 'What the Hell?!' look. Francie discreetly mouthed 'Go' to her best friend.
"Yeah, I'm not so sure, Jules..." Vaughn responded.
"Nah, it'll be great! Really, you have to come!"
"Um..." Sydney responded, getting another kick from Francie, "Okay! Okay! I'll be there..." Sydney said rubbing her now sore leg.
"Awesome. You'll have an excellent time, I guarantee it!" Jules said ecstatically.
"Yeah, it'll be great." Vaughn said smiling genuinely. At first he thought this couldn't be anything but trouble, but the fact of the matter was that this Christmas Day date with him, Sydney and Jules had much potential.
"Are you sure?" Syd asked uneasily, knowing that this also had the potential to be a very dangerous encounter.
"Yeah," Jules piped in, "for sure."
"I'll call you on Wednesday morning and we'll arrange it all." Vaughn said simply, putting Syd's fears to rest. Atleast somewhat to rest.
"Okay, I...guess so..."
Francie looked excited for Syd while Will looked pretty neutral. Something had changed with him, but he wasn't quite sure what. Despite the uneasy look on Syd's face (which he knew the cause of) she looked genuinely happy. And anxious in that "first date" kind of way. And Will actually liked it. He liked seeing his friend actually get to live her life, instead of having to lie and hide everything to everyone.
She won't be alone...She'll actually be with two pretty cool people, one of which I know will keep her safe. And someone who she really cares about...This is only good for her. And that's what you want for her. It really is. Will reaffirmed to himself.
"Then it's set!" Jules finalized, writing her cell phone number down on a napkin and handing it to Syd. "Here's my cell number...you know, just in case."
"Okay," Syd said, taking it from her, "Sounds great."
"Oh Syd! It's almost 10!" Francie exclaimed, looking down at her watch. "We have to head out and get some last minute stuff for our dinner tomorrow."
Francie, Will and Syd all got up, prompting Vaughn and Jules to also get up.
"Well, it was nice to finally meet 'Michael from work'," Francie said shaking Vaughn's hand politely, then hugging Jules "and also you, Jules."
"Yeah, definately," Will said smiling warmly at Jules, as he hugged her, then shook Vaughn's hand.
"Yeah, well it was nice meeting you guys too!" Jules responded. "We'll definately have to do this again before I leave town."
"Yeah, definately." Sydney responded hugging Jules warmly, then Vaughn, "and I'll see you guys on Christmas."
"You better." Vaughn joked as Syd pulled away.
"Yeah, Mikey's never been stood up in his life, we wouldn't like to change that now," Jules teased.
Sydney smiled graciously at the two of them before her and her friends made their way out.
"See you guys later," Jules called out as they left.
"Yeah," Vaughn said quietly.
Jules just smiled, knowing that her brother's life was going to change in about a day and a half. She nudged him and pulled her dazed brother back down to the table.
END CHAPTER FOUR
