Huzzah. New chapter. I feel so productive. ;P

One thing Sydney hated about her father; he was always late.

Always, without fail. Every time it was his turn to take Sydney for the weekend (as stated as part of the divorce) he never showed up on time. Never. Not once. For example, he'd say that he'd be there, at her mother's house at six and this time he'd be on time.

He'd show up two hours later claiming that 'work' had held him up.

Figures that the one time Sydney was counting on her father to show up late like always, he showed up early.

"Sydney! Your father's here!"

She stopped dead in the middle of her sentence and looked up from the keyboard. Oh, this had better be one of the times that her stepfather was lying to her. With a frown, and an impatient sigh, she pushed back from the desk, getting out of the chair in one fluid moment.

"What?" She called back, sticking her head into the hallway.

"Your dad's here!" Eric was the one to tell her that this time. From what she could tell, he was in his room. "Are you deaf or something?"

"Oh shut up!" Sydney yelled back. "I wasn't talking to you."

"Oh sorry, miss ruler of the world," Eric replied sarcastically. "But all of this yelling is not helping with my concentration."

Sydney rolled her eyes at him before calling down the stairs. "What was that, Robert?" Maybe she (and Eric) were just imaging things. It could happen.

"For the love of God, Sydney. I'm here."

Well, that settled it. Her father really was at the house. Her frown deepening, she set off down the hall, and then down the stairs two at a time.

"Are you ready to go?" Jack asked, the moment she came into view.

Um, no, you're fricking early, she replied silently. "Not exactly," She replied trying to stay out of a fight. The last thing she needed was to get into a fight with her dad again. Though it was more of an inevitable event now-a-days.

"What does 'not exactly' mean?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow at his only daughter.

Sydney sighed, running her hand through her hair idly. "For starters… you're early," She replied, gesturing towards the clock on the wall by the stairs (it currently read fifteen minutes until six) with the hand that had just been in her hair. "And I'm in the middle of writing my English essay."

"I can't be early?"

Oh you have got to be kidding her. "You're never early."

"I'm early today," Jack replied with a patronizing tone. "And you're not ready."

"No, I was expecting you to be late actually," She responded. "Like you always are."

Jack didn't have a response to that. Instead, his eyes flicked over to her stepfather for a moment before he said, "Now isn't the time to talk about this. Get your things. I'll wait down here."

"Yes, father." She muttered under her breath and not in the respectful way.

Why did he have to choose today of all days to show up early? Honestly. The one time she'd been counting on him to show up late so she could get her essay done and then not have to worry about it all weekend and he shows up early. Damnit, that meant she was going to have to take the laptop with her.

"Where are going with that?" Eric asked, poking his head out into the hallway.

Sydney stopped, rolling her eyes before turning back to face her stepbrother. "To my dad's."

"No you're not." He countered.

Oh you have got to be kidding her. Narrowing her eyes at him she replied, "I need to finish my essay. It's coming with." Who cared if it was technically his computer too? She needed it to finish her essay and she could bet that her father wouldn't let her use his laptop.

"No, it's not." He repeated. "What if I need it?"

"Then use your father's," She pointed out. "I'm sure he'll let you play pinball on that."

His gaze narrowed slightly. "I didn't mean for playing pinball."

"For what then?"

"I was going to use it to talk to Vaughn." He replied. Oh that's not fair. You can't throw Vaughn at her. Not when she was just found out that she liked the guy. "He's not allowed to use the phone or go anyway today you know… and he's stuck with his mother and her boyfriend." Okay, really not cool. Try to make her feel guilty about that now.

Sydney knew that Maman was weird like that where'd she take away the phone and going places but leave the internet wide open. And she knew that Vaughn would be pretty lonely… "I'll talk to him then. There. Problem solved."

"What if I had something to talk about with him?" He pointed out.

Damn. Well… "Write a letter. I'm sure if you put an express stamp on it, it'll get there by Monday." She was being mean but she had good reasons here. First she had an essay to finish before Sunday afternoon because that's when she was meeting Vaughn… and now her father was early.

"That's not what I meant, squid."

"Calling me squid's not going to help any." She pointed out.

"Just leave the laptop. Use your father's." He commanded.

"No. I can't. He won't let me." She answered with a shrug. "Ask Mom. She has instant messenger on her computer." There problem solved again. She was good at this. She should solve problems for a living. What kind of job that was called was beyond her, but it sounded interesting.

"Your mom won't let me use her computer." He countered.

She loved how he still referred to her mother as 'your mom'. The woman had only been his legal mother for thirteen years. True, she did refer to her stepfather as 'your father' but she had two dads. It was hard to keep them straight sometimes. Eric on the other hand, only had one mother. Not that hard.

"Have you ever asked her?" She asked.

"No…" He admitted.

"Then how would you know?" She pointed out. "Mom's pretty flexible. Just clean the windows for her and she'll let you use it as long as you'd like."

"Or until she needs it," He replied, starting to get desperate for a good excuse for her to leave the computer.

"You say tomato. I say tomado." She answered with a shrug turning back to the stairs, the laptop still under one arm, her bag under the other. "See you on Sunday." She added over her shoulder.

"You're evil, squid. Pure evil," Eric muttered.

"And you're a brat. So deal," She replied, before disappearing down the stairs. "I'm ready Dad," She announced.

Jack stopped mid sentence, looking almost thankful for a moment to see his only daughter re-enter the room with her bag. "We'll continue this later," He told the other man with a short nod immediately heading for the exit.

Robert gave Sydney a small smile and a feeble wave which she returned grimly before turning around. Visits with her father were never pleasant and even if this was only for two nights and one day, she was not looking forward to this.

"How's school?" Jack asked, once they were speeding off down the street.

Sydney rolled her eyes slightly, buckling her seatbelt and slouching in the passenger seat. Here they go again. The usual questions with the usual answers. She wasn't entirely sure why they did this anymore really. "It's fine."

"How are Nakia and Frances?"

It took Sydney a moment to decipher who the hell he was talking about. She didn't know any Nakias or Franceses. "Nadia and Francie," She started, over stressing her friends' names. You'd think he'd remember their names by now. She'd only been friends with them since first grade and talked about them during every visit. "…are fine."

If her father noticed her stressing of her friends' names, he didn't show it. "Getting all of your homework done?"

"Of course."

"Did Nana write you?"

She had to pause for a moment and rack her memory to see if she had gotten a letter from her dad's mother. "Yes." She answered finally.

"Did you write her back?"

What was she? Four? She knew to send a letter back to her Nana when she got one. "Of course Dad."

"I hope you didn't eat. Rebecca's making her specialty tonight." He commented.

She frowned and looked at him, her eyes flashing with questions. She did not know a Rebecca. She knew a Natalie worked for her dad as his housekeeper and she used to know a Rosa… but the name Rebecca did not ring any bells.

"Who's Rebecca?" She asked finally.

"My new housekeeper."

Oh. Well then. "What happened to Natalie?"

"She quit."

"Uh… why?" Yeah, her dad could be a bit hard to work for, that she could understand but he paid good money for having to put up with his antics.

"She's getting married," He explained.

Ah. Well. Thanks for the invite Natalie. And here she thought that the woman had liked her. Guess she was wrong about that. "When did she quit?"

"Two weeks ago."

That settled it. The woman didn't like her as much as she'd thought. Then again… she'd only really talked to Natalie like four times and that didn't really warrant an invite to the wedding but still. Your employer's daughter. "Hm" was her only response.

"She left an invitation for you at the house," Jack added.

Oh sure. Now he tells her that. It must have been too hard to tell her up front. Because, he had to let her worry and seethe a little. "Oh. Okay."

"Are you going to go?"

She shrugged. "I might. It depends."

"You should call her as soon as you can and tell her."

Again, what was she? Four? She knew this. "I know, Dad." She replied, gritting her teeth.

"There's no need for the tone, Sydney Anne." Jack replied.

If she wasn't around her father, she would have growled in frustration. This was why she hated going to her dad's. He always treated her like a child and got angry with her when she protested. "Don't treat me like I'm four, and you'll never have to hear the tone again." She answered.

"I do not treat you like you're four."

And now he was denying it. "Mmmhmmm…" She mumbled. "Sure you don't."

"You're acting like you're four," He pointed out.

"I am not!" She protested loudly, her tone portraying the anger she felt.

Her father was silent for a moment. "You will not speak to me like that, Sydney Anne Bristow."

"I'll speak to you as I like thanks," She replied a little more bitter now. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that she should just shut up and go with whatever her father wanted for the rest of the weekend. It would be over soon enough.

"Did Irina teach you to talk like that? Or was it Robert?"

Something told her that that comment had very little to do with her and a whole lot to do with her mother and her stepfather for whatever odd reason. "I learned it from Francie, actually." She answered. That probably wasn't her brightest idea to rat out her friend for teaching her to be blunt (and a little disrespectful) but it wasn't like her dad was going to meet Francie? Was it?

"If I had my way, you wouldn't be friends with girls like 'Francie'," Jack answered pulling the car into his driveway.

Sydney was mildly surprised that the twenty minute drive from her mom's house had passed without her noticing much or wishing that her father had chosen to live closer. Unbuckling her seatbelt, she looked over at her father with a disdainful look. "If you had your way," She started, her hand reaching for the door handle. "I'd be living in a boarding school rather than with Mom." She finished the statement by throwing the door open, jumping out, and slamming the car door after her before she stalked off to the house.

-break-

"Come on…" Vaughn muttered under his breath, staring at the computer screen with an evil glare. This was definitely the last time he listened to anything his best friend said. He'd be on and they could talk at sixty thirty his ass. And here he was under the impression that his best friend understood that Maman had crazy whims like what she did to him today. "That is the last time I ever believe you…"

"Talking to yourself?"

Okay. That made him forget about any plans to want to kill Eric because he'd lied to him. Made him forget about his Maman's whims too. It wasn't that he'd gotten caught talking to himself. He did it all the time and it failed to be an embarrassment to him anymore. It was that Jonathon had caught him. Just great.

"Yes." Vaughn answered turning his head to look at his future stepfather. Well, it wasn't official but unless his maman either got into a huge fight with the man (not likely) or died (again, not likely), then they were getting married. "I was."

Jonathon raised an eyebrow at him, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. "At least you're honest."

"I find that it comes in handy every once in a while," Vaughn answered hiding his sarcasm well.

Jonathon either didn't get the joke or completely missed the sarcasm for he nodded slowly, his eyes drawn to the computer screen. "Waiting for someone?"

How did he…? No, he wasn't sure he wanted to know how Jonathon knew anything about instant messengers. He nodded slowly. "Mmmhmm."

"Girlfriend?" Jonathon asked.

Vaughn froze for a moment. Okay, it was weird enough for his future stepfather to come catch him talking to himself but now he was sticking around for a man to man talk? This was going to be interesting. Why wasn't he downstairs with Maman? That was a good question. He should ask that. Nah. "I don't have a girlfriend," He answered.

"You don't?" Jonathon asked surprised causing Vaughn to shake his head. "I could've sworn that Amelie said that you had a girlfriend."

The last time he had a girlfriend was before his maman started dating Jonathon. Now he was being lied to. Perfect. He shrugged. "Maybe you heard wrong?"

"That's probably it," Jonathon answered. Yeah, he definitely had the look of a man caught lying by someone he was trying to bond with. Oh shit, that's what he was trying to do. He was trying to bond with him. Well, eff that. If he could help it, he would go through life not getting to know this man. "Any prospects?"

Um, yes. And her name stared with the letters 's' and 'b'. But if he hadn't even told his best friend or the girl that he liked that he liked her, he wasn't about ready to tell Jonathon. God, he'd rather go up to Jack Bristow and tell him that he liked his daughter than tell Jonathon. Alright, maybe he was being a little childish and immature, but come on. Didn't he get a say in stepparents?

Apparently not.

Being the child sucked sometimes.

Vaughn shrugged again. "I'm not sure." He answered.

Jonathon was silent for a moment. Okay, two moments. At the very least. And in that time, Vaughn was convinced that his future father was either trying to figure out his next move or deciding if just buying off his girlfriend's son would be a good idea or not. Personally, he would have preferred the buying off. He got money out of the deal.

"You really don't like me do you?"

That was unexpected. Really unexpected. He didn't think that he was that transparent with his thoughts about the man. Maybe he was that transparent with his feelings. About everyone. Which, if that were true, Sydney would think that something was up with him (good or bad) and that might bust his secret and…

Okay. Chill. Stop. Whatever.

Deep breaths… in and out… slowly.

'Sydney doesn't know anything. Jonathon was just picking up on the fact that you didn't want to talk to him and was finally getting the hint.' The voice whispered.

Ah well… that makes sense. I have paranoia problems.

'No comment.'

Right then. "What makes you think that?" Vaughn asked carefully.

Jonathon scoffed. "Do you really think me that stupid, Michael?"

Don't say 'yes'. Don't say 'well… you are dating Maman' either. "I wouldn't know," Vaughn answered after thinking about it. "I've never had the chance to get to know you."

"And whose fault is that?"

Don't say 'yours'. Saying 'I wouldn't have the slightest clue' is bad as well. "Mine. I guess."

"And why is that?"

What's with the third degree over here? Can't a guy just not like another guy and therefore not want to get to know the latter without the twenty questions thing? "Wouldn't be able to tell you."

"I think I know," Jonathon replied his eyes on Vaughn.

Vaughn met his gaze defiantly. "Enlighten me."

"You think I'm trying to replace your father."

What. The. Hell?

Where in the name of all that is holy in this world did that come from? Nevermind that once the idea had been proposed, all of his behavior towards the man suddenly made sense. And forget that Jonathon was really good at analyzing him. The man had no right to tell him that. None. What he thought about his father and future stepfather was his own business.

"I'm not trying to," Jonathon added. "No one can replace your father."

How much did this seem like an overly used movie script? People actually had this conversation in real life? That… was really good to know. "I cannot believe you just said that," Vaughn muttered.

Jonathon laughed softly. "I can't really believe I said it either to be honest." He answered. "I need to stop watching family movies."

Vaughn nodded solemnly. "I would have to agree with you."

Wait. Stop. Freeze. Rewind.

Did they just have a sort of male bonding, shared embarrassment moment? If so, why didn't he stop it? Why didn't he realize what was going and throw Jonathon out of the room? Damnit. Now he'd had a moment and moments led to bonding and bonding led to friendship and then all of his plans of hate were flushed down the toilet.

"Is dinner almost ready?" Vaughn asked, changing the subject. The faster they got away from the male bonding one, the better.

"That's actually why I was sent up here." Jonathon replied. "Amelie said twenty minutes. About… four and a half minutes ago."

Vaughn nodded slowly, resisting the urge to smile and laugh. The male bonding moment had been a four minute thing. That was it. Four minutes and his elaborate plans were thrown out of the window. Just peachy.

"I'm going to take a shower," He announced. "I'll be down after that."

"Alright," Jonathon agreed, moving from his spot by the computer desk towards the door. "I'll see you at dinner then."

"Okay." Vaughn murmured turning his gaze back to the computer screen. Well, Sydney had just signed on. And if he knew the Bristow/Weiss family, that meant she was on the laptop and that Eric wouldn't be getting it any time soon. Right. Maybe he'd check back later.

After turning off the computer, he stretched his arms above his head, yawning softly. Okay, Sydney had not helped him any by signing onto MSN. Now he was thinking about her. A lot. Mostly about her eyes… and her smile… and her wit… okay, he was lying. He was thinking about everything about her. Every single thing. Especially her chest.

It was amazing really. How he could go from having an uncomfortable bonding moment with his future stepfather and then go straight to thinking about Sydney. Though, at the moment, he wasn't sure if it was a good thing to be thinking about Sydney.

Definitely going to need a cold shower. That's for sure.

SSB's note: See? Even more things happening in this chapter. And look! Jack speaks in this one! Oh about about Nadia's crush/Eric's maybe/maybe not girlfriend... all good things come with time.

Review responses are on my livejournal.

Next chapter: Just one little date.