Hey all. Thank you all so much for your feedback- I was really heartened when I read what some of you had to say.

aliastar: Wow, thank-you. You're proud that I am an Aussie? That really made my day reading that (and I'm glad that you are enjoying the fic)

Ridan Rose: Thanks for the compliments on the plot and grammar (I would hope that my grammar is adequate- I'm currently at uni studying to be an English teacher!)

Now after the end to the previous chapter all I can say now is, please don't hate me...

Chapter Nine:
The Prophecy Revisited

Without a word, Vaughn bent down slightly and cupped her face gently. He paused for a second, as if wanting Sydney's approval and when she gave no resistance, he pressed his lips into hers.

The kiss was intense, that was the only was to describe it. Years of wanting and tension were being released through this one contact and quite frankly it scared Sydney.

Abruptly pulling back, she felt a pang of guilt where she saw the confusion in Vaughn's eyes.

"I'm sorry…I don't…I'm not…" she stammered, stepping back and massaging her right temple.

"Syd, are you ok? I thought…" Vaughn paused. "I thought you wanted this."

"I did… I mean, I do." Sydney corrected herself. "I'm just not sure if now is the right time to start something."

"Why?"

"There is just so much going on at the moment."

"Sydney, there is always going to be something happening. That's just the lives we lead."

"Now is different. I told you before, Vaughn, I'm a mess. I'm still trying to get back to the old Sydney and try and figure out exactly what I feel."

"So you're unsure of how you feel about me…us?"

"No. I know exactly what I feel. But how do we know that what we are feeling is real?"

"Syd, I have held on for the mere possibility of something with you. How can you doubt if that is real?"

"Because you said possibility." Sydney replied. "This is something that we have been thinking about for so long. What if the reality doesn't measure up to that?"

Vaughn raised his eyebrows. "Syd, somehow, I don't think so."

Sydney gave him a small smile, as she thought about the kiss. "You're probably right."

"So, then what is that problem?"

"Vaughn, I need to settle back into my life. For two years I foolishly believed that I would just be able to return to LA, back to my old life and start living it again. I knew that the Alliance would be gone and thought that Sloane would be out of action too. I had accepted my father's death- there was nothing to stop me from getting back on track." Sydney paused. "But with Sloane free, my father alive and now the news that I have a sister- well, that's a lot for a person to take in. It's not that I don't care, Vaughn, I just think I we should wait."

"I understand." Vaughn said, quietly.

"Vaughn." He looked at her. "I'm sorry."

"Sydney, you don't need to be sorry." Vaughn smiled at her. "I think I should be going."

Sydney nodded and accompanied him to the door.

After getting into his car Vaughn made no attempt to start it up. He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been. He should have realized that now wasn't the time to act upon his feelings for Sydney.

Yes, it was obvious that the two of them shared something special, but Sydney was right. Not wasn't the right time and deep down he probably already knew that.

He was a grown man for christs sake. He should have been able to control himself. But after spending the evening together as two average human beings, together for personal reasons and not because of work, he couldn't resist.

The only thought running through his head as he turned the ignition was that Sydney Bristow was the most amazing person he'd ever known. He'd waited for over two years and he could wait some more.

Inside Sydney was seriously considering banging her head against the wall. Why had she just done that? Her life was a mess- what the hell kind of an excuse was that? She had wanted something like this to happen for so long. Her life would always be a mess- so why was she using it as an excuse to pull away from the Vaughn.

"Because the closer you get, the harder it will be to hide it from him." A little voice said in her head. Sydney groaned loudly and headed to the freezer. She needed coffee ice cream and she needed it now.

When Vaughn walked into the operations centre the next morning, the first thing he saw was Sydney's furious face. She was standing on the other side of the centre with Kendall, the two of them locked in the middle of a heated conversation.

"What's going on over there?" Vaughn asked Weiss, as he sat at his desk.

"I think Sydney is about to deck our lovely director." Weiss replied, staring at his computer screen.

"What?"

"A meet had been organised with some guy who might have some intel on Sloane, and Kendall won't let Sydney go."

"Who's going?"

Weiss looked up at him. "Dixon."

"And?"

"And you." Weiss grinned. "There's a debrief in five minutes."

"Jeremiah Dolour." Kendall stated as a picture of a surly looking man flashed up on the screen in the conference room. "Works out of France as a supplier for many terrorist cells. His name has appeared in a few of the files we retrieved from SD-6."

"How exactly was he connected to Sloane?" Vaughn asked.

"That was never mentioned specifically." Kendall replied. "That's what you and Dixon are going to find out."

"He just agreed to meet with two CIA agents?" Dixon inquired and Kendall shook his head.

"No, he believes that you and Vaughn are part of a French crime syndicate. Only reveal to him that you are CIA if totally necessary."

"When do we leave?" Vaughn queried.

"Two hours. If you head to Op-Tech now, they'll spec out your equipment."

However as he exited the conference room, Vaughn did not go to Op-Tech. Instead he approached Sydney who was sitting at her desk, staring blankly at her computer screen.

"Syd," he said, hesitantly.

"Yeah?" she replied without looking up.

"Are you ok?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fantastic," she retorted, bitterly, finally looking up.

"You can't let Kendall get to you, Syd."

"That's easy for you to say. You're out there doing something. Looking for my father, while I sit here and review files." Sydney inhaled deeply, and her features seemed to soften. "I'm sorry, I'm not being fair. You don't need to hear all this."

"Hey, you're frustrated as all hell. We all know that. But Syd," he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Hmmm?"

"I'll do everything I can to bring him home to you."

Sloane stared at the petite, dark haired girl sitting on the edge of her bed. It was impossible not to marvel at the fact that she was the link to Rambaldi, and that he was linked to her.

The girl could sense a presence and looked up, locking her eyes to the cold, dark ones of Sloane's.

"What do you want?" she asked, sharply. She was desperate to know what was in store for her. Confusion occupied her mind and thoughts and dreamseveryday.

"You could tell me which one of these aliases is your real name." Sloane said, holding up a sheet of paper. Ten different identities, with no clue to the name she had been given at birth.

She didn't reply, only stared passively into Sloane's eyes. He felt a pang of fatherly pride. 'That's right, my child, never reveal anything,' he thought.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Comfortable?" she snorted as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm a prisoner, how could I be comfortable?"

"You are not a prisoner."

"Then why am I being locked up?" The words were spoken calmly.

"Because you need to be kept safe."

"For what?"

"You'll know soon."

As Vaughn walked away from her desk, Sydney opened her draw and pulled out a folder. Her own notes on the CIA's search for her father and Sloane. If Kendall thought that she would just sit back and do nothing, he had another thing coming.

She was, after all, Jack Bristow's daughter.

"I have no information on the whereabouts of Arvin Sloane." Dolour stated bluntly. Vaughn and Dixon glanced at each other before looking back at the man before them.

"I don't believe you." Vaughn shot back. "We know he's got something in the works. You're telling us he didn't come to you for equipment?"

Dolour smirked as he brought a cigarette to his lips. "I never said he didn't come to me. I just said I have no information on his whereabouts."

"Then tell us what you know." Dixon demanded.

"Now, why should I do that?" Dolour asked, with a laugh.

"Because we're CIA." Vaughn said, pulling out his ID. "So, either you tell us everything we want to know or we take you into custody right now."

Dolour's eyes narrowed as he inhaled deeply on his cigarette. He was a smart man, who knew when he was beat. "He spoke to me about The Passenger and The Chosen One."

"What about them?" Vaughn queried.

"He told me what their purpose is. What he believed that he would be able to do." Dolour grinned. "Personally, it sounded like a bunch of hocus-pocus to me."

"What exactly did Sloane tell you?" Dixon asked.

"That The Passenger is some kind of messenger. Sloane believes that she can deliver a direct message from Milo Rambaldi himself."

"How?" Dixon said.

"He didn't say."

"What about The Chosen One?" Vaughn glanced over at Dixon as he spoke.

"Well, this is an interesting one." Dolour answered, observing that the two men had a much more noticeable concern for The Chosen One. "You see, followers of Rambaldi believe that he will have a second coming, by way of a child. This is where The Chosen One and the Prophecy come into the game." He watched as the faces of Vaughn and Dixon dawned with horrified realization.

This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks. Signs that she will be the one to bring forth my works. Bind them with fury, a burning anger unless prevented at vulgar cost this woman will render the greatest power unto utter desolation.

The words swarmed in Vaughn's mind. Looking at Dixon, he knew that the older man was thinking the same thing.

Clearing his throat, Dixon spoke up. "So, this child of Rambaldi's, it will also be the child of the woman in the Prophecy."

"Yeah." Dolour dropped his cigarette butt on the ground. "See what I mean about hocus-pocus."

Vaughn and Dixon flew home in silence. What worried them the most was that what Dolour had told them was believable. And now that they had this information on Sloane's endgame it was more than imperative that they keep Sydney out of it.

Quite possibly, the hardest task both of them would ever have to undertake.