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Chappie #4 – Our Orders Were…
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"Base ops, I'm going after the shooter." I said, drawing my gun.

"No! Wait!" Vaughn yelled after me.

"Mountaineer! Hold your position! Your cover will be blown if you go after him." Dixon commanded through my com.

I peeked around the corner and shot at the fleeing Sark, but I missed. I was about to run after him when Vaughn grabbed my arm.

"What are you doing!" I yelled.

"Keeping you from doing something stupid." Vaughn replied.

"For God's sake, it was Sark! We could've finally taken him into custody and gotten some answers!" I yelled, ripping my arm from his grip.

"But then you would've been going against orders and you would've asked me to help save you from Dixon!" he yelled back.

"A month or two in the mailroom at Langley would be worth it to see that bastard back in a federal cell." I replied, walking away.

"Base ops, this is Boyscout. We're on our way back to the safehouse." Vaughn said into his com.

"Copy Boyscout. I expect the two of you back here and in my office by noon tomorrow." Dixon replied.

"Crap." Vaughn whispered under his breath.

There was complete silence as Vaughn & I packed, until he decided to speak.

"Syd, I don't get why you're so mad about this. Our orders were-"

I cut him off.

"Screw our orders! We could've caught Sark in the act and taken him into CIA custody." I said.

"You know what? I don't wanna talk about it anymore." Vaughn sighed, "Dixon wants to see us in his office as soon as we get back. We should be thinking about what to say to him."

Vaughn & I spent the 25-hour flight back to LA trying to reconcile.

"Vaughn, I'm sorry for snapping at you before. I don't know what came over me." I said. Vaughn nodded.

"I understand, but you can't let your emotions get the better of you on ops." he replied.

"Ssh. No more talk about ops. It's about time we start talking about wedding plans." I said, smiling.

"Of course." Vaughn smiled.

We spent the rest of the flight back cuddling and talking about wedding plans.

Upon our arrival in Los Angeles, Vaughn & I dropped off our luggage at home and proceeded to the CIA rotunda. Dixon saw us come in and motioned us to join him in his office. I looked to Vaughn for courage, and he mouthed 'I love you.' It wasn't exactly what I was hoping for, but it would work. We walked into Dixon's office and prepared ourselves for the worst.

"Agent Bristow, before I begin, do you have anything to say for yourself?" Dixon asked, trying to remain calm.

"I won't make excuses for my actions, but I ask that you not punish Vaughn for what I did." I said.

"Thank you for not making excuses, Agent Bristow. As for Agent Vaughn, he's here because he was your partner on this op." Dixon replied. Vaughn looked relieved, but took my hand for support.

"Now I must say that I am very displeased that you broke protocol and nearly put you and your partner in grave danger. The Faction is a new terrorist organization; we can't risk losing any information we can gain access to. Sydney, I'm keeping an eye on you. If you break protocol again, you will be restricted from field ops as long as I see fit." Dixon said.

"Yes sir." I replied, lowering my head.

"You're both dismissed." Dixon said.

Vaughn & I walked out of Dixon's office breathing a sigh of relief. Suddenly, I had a thought.

"Vaughn, how are we gonna tell everyone about this?" I said, holding up my left hand. Vaughn pulled my hand down & took it in his.

"The more important question I wondered was, how are gonna tell your father?" Vaughn asked.

"Oh, what fun we have before us..." I said, rolling my eyes.