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Disclaimer: The title of this chapter comes from the song 'Have A Little Faith in Me'.

Just Turn Around And You Will See, I Will Catch Your Fall

Irina glowered as she reached around her back and pulled out a pistol. She aimed, moving from Sydney to Vaughn. "Who first? Tell me, Mr Vaughn. Would you like to watch my daughter die, or shall she watch you perish?"

Sydney looked at Irina with contempt. "Why the hesitation, mum?" She asked, her final word dripping with antipathy. "Quit with the games and just pull the trigger."

Irina shrugged. "As you wish," she said as she cocked the gun.

Sydney's breath caught in her throat as she watched Irina squeeze the trigger, almost as if she were moving in slow motion. This was it. There was no getting out of this.

However, before Irina had the chance to fire the gun at Sydney, somebody came bursting through the door, tackling her to the ground and sending the direction of the shot into the wall.

They tossed the gun away, before pulling Irina's hands behind her back and pressing their knee into her back to keep her down.

"You guys ok?"

At that point Sydney and Vaughn both realised that it was Weiss.

"Uh, yeah." Vaughn replied, appearing a little dazed. A second later, Dixon entered the cell, his gun cocked. Spotting Weiss and Irina he moved fast, pulling out some restraints and placing them around her wrists.

He then turned to Sydney and Vaughn as Weiss started to go through Irina's pockets. "They've got Sloane, Sydney," he said. "We got him."

Sydney closed her eyes briefly. She would never be able to explain the emotions that coursed through her at that point. They had Sloane. They had her mother. She and Vaughn were safe.

"Here." Weiss held up a set of keys and tossed them to Dixon. After a few failed attempts, he found the key to the handcuffs and Sydney and Vaughn were finally able to move freely.

"Retriever to team," Weiss was speaking into his comms. "We've got Derevko in a cell at the west end of the basement. She is secured. Requesting back up to escort her out of the building." He turned to Sydney and Vaughn. "You go. We've got the medic outside. They're going to want to look over you."

Sydney shook her head. "I want to wait. Make sure that we get her out of here." She looked at Vaughn and he nodded, placing a protective arm around her.

Weiss and Dixon exchanged a glance after observing that action, but both of them chose not to say anything. There was a time and place to bring up that conversation.

The extra agents arrived a few minutes later and the group started to make their way out of the facility. Weiss led the way, then there was Irina flanked by two agents, with Dixon, Sydney and Vaughn bringing up the rear. The only sound was Weiss or Dixon's occasional mutterings into their comms.

When they stepped outside, Sydney stopped short, taking a deep breath of fresh air. There had been a point when she believed that she would never have a chance to do that again.

Irina was quickly surrounded and escorted to a blacked out van. Through the flurry of activity Sydney spotted a familiar figure moving somewhat hesitantly towards them.

"Uh, I'll just head over to the medics," Vaughn said diplomatically. "I'll see you over there?" Sydney nodded and so he headed off, just as Jack came to a stop.

"Hi dad," Sydney said quietly.

"Are…are you ok?" Jack asked, clearing his throat.

"Yeah," Sydney replied. "Weiss got there just in time."

A flicker of anger crossed Jack's face. "Did you…did you talk to her?"

Sydney shook her head. "It was more of her and Sloane doing the talking. She recognized Vaughn…she told him that he looked like his father. I just can't believe…" her face crumpled slightly. "That was my mother."

"You're not like her, Sydney." Jack said quietly. "You are nothing like her."

'That doesn't change the fact that she is my flesh and blood," Sydney paused. "I thought that catching her would be it. But it's not, is it?"

Jack paused before giving a short nod. "But you, uh, you don't have to do it alone."

"I know," Sydney replied. "Thank you."

Sydney had never felt more relieved or grateful to have her feet back on Los Angeles soil.

"L.A, hey?" Vaughn said quietly and Sydney knew that he was thinking the same as her.

"Yeah."

"You heading off?"

Sydney nodded. "Straight home to get cleaned up. I need to feel human again." she hesitated, chewing her bottom lip a little. "Maybe you should come over later?" she suggested. "We can order in, crash with a movie…"

Vaughn's face broke into the smile that she loved so much. "Sounds great. How long do you need to feel human again? A couple of hours?"

Sydney smiled. "Should be plenty."

Sydney flung open her front door. There had been an urgent message from Francie on the machine when she got home. However, when Sydney called her Francie had refused to say anything over the phone, insisting that both she and Will come over and speak to her personally.

"Hey guys," Sydney greeted them with a smile. However, they did not return it, heading over to the couch, their faces so serious that Sydney had to laugh. "What on Earth is going on?"

"We need to talk to you…"Francie said. "About Michael."

Sydney frowned as she sat down. "What about him?"

"It has to do with the background check." Will replied.'

Sydney's anger rose in an instant. "Will, we've been through this. The check showed nothing." She could not believe that he was bringing this up again, and that he had dragged Francie in.

"Well," Will glanced at Francie and she nodded. "The thing is, the check was clean but there are some…things you need you know."

Sydney just stared at him. "Could you be any more cryptic?"

Will let out a long sigh. "The background check had been altered, Syd. Marty realised that and did some looking around- on his own accord," he added very quickly. "I did not ask him to do it. Anyway, it turns out Michael…he's not who you think he is."

Sydney's mind went into overdrive. Surely not… "Then who is he?" she asked carefully.

"We're not sure," Will replied. "But we do know that his job, it's government. And powerful enough to change his records."

Sydney's ears started to ring…oh no, oh no, oh no. She wasn't ready for this, was she?

Will misunderstood her distraught expression. "If you don't believe me, I can show you—"

Sydney held up a hand. "I don't need to see anything." She looked between her friends. "The truth is, I already knew this." She paused, taking a deep breath. Here goes."Vaughn, he works for the CIA."

Had it been any other situation, the stunned expressions on Will and Francie's faces would have cracked her up. She wasn't sure that shocked them more- the knowledge of Vaughn's true job, or the fact that she was aware of it.

"And," she continued. "So do I."

They continued to stare at her, almost as if she were a stranger, until Will broke the silence.

"You what?" He shook his head. "I don't understand. You…you worked for a bank. How can you go from a banker to CIA?"

"I never worked for bank."

Will sank back into the cushions. "Maybe you should start from the beginning."

Sydney gave a short nod. "Ok, but I'll try and keep this simple. I promise you, I will tell you absolutely everything one day, but for now…my bank job was just a cover. I was really an agent for what I believed was a black ops division of the CIA, called SD-6. I was ordered not to disclose the true nature of my job. If I had done that…well, you don't even want to think about the consequences. Anyway, around eight months ago, SD-6 was exposed. It was not a part of the CIA; it was, essentially, a terrorist group. The majority of agents there had been lied to, tricked." She paused, taking in a deep breath. "We were all taken into custody by the real CIA and questioned. That is how I met Vaughn. He was the agent processing me."

Francie was looking at her in an almost incomprehensible silence. Sydney felt sick.

Will leaned forward, with his 'reporter' face on. "What about the coffee gig? What was that?"

"That was what it seemed. I decided after SD-6 I wanted out of the spy trade. But after six months…it was like it was calling me back." Sydney said. She made the executive decision to leave the story about her parent's involvement to another day.

"So that was when Michael supposedly got you a job?" Will pressed. Sydney nodded, glancing at Francie. She still hadn't said anything.

"I am so sorry. I wanted so much to tell you. But I couldn't when I was at SD-6 and then after…after I told Danny—"

"Danny knows?" Will cut in.

"Yeah…" she trailed off. "And that's why he left." She brought a hand up, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "We were going through a rough patch and I thought that if I told the truth, that if I explained…but he wouldn't have a bar of it. He told me that he couldn't trust me and walked out."

"What a jerk," Francie suddenly let out and Sydney felt relief wash over her at the sound of her friend's protective tone. "So that's why you never told us the full story behind the split, because you were afraid that we would react in the same way?"

Sydney nodded, chewing her bottom lip. "The truth of the matter is, I'd been lying to you and I was so scared that I was going to lose you as well as Danny."

"Sydney, you are a dill," Francie admonished lightly as she got up and sat down next to her. "Yes, you lied. But you had a legitimate reason. We're not going to turn on you because of that."

"Yeah," Will chimed in. "We love ya, Syd. It's as simple as that."

Sydney blinked furiously, trying to fight back the tears that were prickling the backs of her eyes. "Oh, you don't know how good this feels," she said, drawing in a shaky breath. "To be talking to you about all this stuff." She let out a small laugh. "I've been dumping everything on Vaughn. He was the only one who knew- everything."

Francie smiled as she wrapped an arm around Sydney's shoulders. "So I guess that explains the out of nowhere friendship?"

"I'm sorry I doubted him, Syd," Will spoke up quietly.

"Don't worry about it," Sydney replied. "Your suspicions were founded. Vaughn was hiding something from you- the truth about me."

Francie sighed. "He is such a great guy, you know. It's about time that—"

"He's coming over for dinner tonight," Sydney cut off, for the pure intention of seeing Francie's reaction.

Her jaw dropped slightly. "What?" she narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing Sydney's face. "You're blushing! What has happened since I saw you last?"

Sydney laughed lightly as she relaxed into her seat. Will and Francie knew, and things were still the same.

"You know, I have never seen you this giddy," Vaughn commented as he followed Sydney into the kitchen later that night, wine glasses in hand.

Sydney let out a laugh as she dumped the empty Chinese food cartons into the bin. "Giddy, hey?"

"School girl giddy," Vaughn replied, placing the glasses on the bench and taking the bottle of wine that Sydney offered him.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Sydney quipped, a beaming smile on her face.

Vaughn glanced at the wine. "Perhaps you should forgo another glass. How many have you had?"

"Vaughn!" Sydney gave him a small push. "It's got nothing to do with wine."

"You just keep telling yourself that," he shot back cheekily.

"I'm not sure if I like this side of you, Vaughn."

"Oh yeah?" he smiled. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Need I remind you of what I am capable of? One well placed kick—"

"Sydney." Vaughn stepped towards her. "Shut up."

"Make me," she grinned.

"Ok," Vaughn murmured, cupping her face in his hands and pressing their lips together.

"Well," Sydney said when they broke apart. "You can shut me up whenever you want."

Vaughn chuckled. "Is that so?"

"Yup," she picked up one of the wine glasses and took a mouthful. "Now, how about you go pick us a movie. I just want to go grab a jumper."

"Ok then," Vaughn headed out to the lounge as Sydney went to her bedroom. He was perusing her movie titles when he realized thatshe had been taking an extremely long time to grab a jumper.

Making his way to her bedroom door he tapped lightly. "Syd?" Hesitantly, he poked his head in and got a slight shock when he saw her sitting in the edge of her bed, sobbing. "Sydney." He was by her side in a flash. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," she managed to choke out. "I don't know." She drew in a deep breath, trying to control the tears. "They just came out of nowhere."

Vaughn could only smile sympathetically as he wrapped an arm around her, holding her tight. "The last months have been pretty intense, hey?"

Sydney nodded, bringing up a hand to wipe her eyes. "I feel so stupid. Five minutes ago I was on this total high. Will and Francie know the truth, you were here…"

"But?" Vaughn probed gently.

"I just saw my mother for the first time since I was six years old and she held a gun at me, with every intention of killing me. The insanity of these past months, it's nowhere near over. It's only just beginning. I don't know how to deal."

"You don't have to do this alone, Syd." Vaughn said, unknowingly echoing Jack's words and pulling his arm tighter around her. "You've got your friends, from both home and work. I have the feeling that your dad will be playing a bigger role in your life. And," he leaned in, "you've got me…and I've got you."

Sydney let out a snort of laughter. "That is so cheesy."

"Hey, was that a laugh?"

"It might have been," Sydney sniffed, rubbing her eyes.

"Maybe," Vaughn said gently as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "we should forgo the movie tonight. You- we've been through a bit. Perhaps we should call it a night and do this another time?"

Sydney had to admit that her pillow was looking extremely enticing. She felt like climbing under the covers and sleeping for a day. However…

"Could you stay?" Sydney asked quietly. "I just…I just want you here."

"Of course," Vaughn said, pressing his lips onto the top of her head.

When Vaughn opened his eyes the next morning he saw that Sydney was already awake, staring up at the roof, her expression contemplative.

"Morning," he mumbled.

Sydney looked over. "Hey," she said, a small smile crossing her face.

"So," Vaughn propped himself up on his elbows. "Why so serious at this hour of the morning?"

"I've made a decision," Sydney replied. "I'm going to see my mother today."

Vaughn couldn't keep the surprise off his face. "You are?"

She nodded. "You saw me last night. I have to do this."

"Do you want me to come?"

"No. I can't expect you to have to face her." Vaughn started to protest, so Sydney continued quickly. "And besides, this is something I need to do myself. Just as long as you're there to catch me when I fall apart afterwards."

Vaughn just grinned. "I was already planning on it."

Sydney did her best to steady her shaking breaths. She had to be calm. Cool as ice. There was not a chance that she was going to let any weakness show.

The guard walking ahead of her stopped and gestured ahead. For a second Sydney froze. Did she really believe that she was up for this? Just turn around now and this will all be over.

'No, it won't.' A voice in her head said, and so with one final deep breath, Sydney approached the glass wall of the cell.

Irina was seated on the metal bench that was to serve as her bed. Catching sight of Sydney, she took a few moments before rising and walking towards the glass, her expression blank. For what felt like an eternity, not a word was spoken between mother and daughter.

"Perhaps," Irina said lightly, a ghost of a smile crossing her face, "we should start with hello?"

Sydney frowned, not able to keep the disgust off her face. Small chat? Surely Irina did not expect that. "Why?" she asked quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"Why?" Sydney demanded, her voice gaining confidence. "Why did you do it? How could you do that? To dad…to me?"

Irina's expression shut off and she remained stoically silent.

Anger boiled up inside Sydney. "One question? You can't even answer one question? You are capable of betrayal and murder, but you're not capable of answering one simple question?"

Irina simply turned and headed back to the bench, sitting herself down. She would not even look in Sydney's direction.

Sydney stared at her. "You are…" she said steadily and then stopped. She wasn't going to get sucked into her mother's little game. "I will be back," she finshed quietly, before walking away. Hastening her steps, she made sure that she had put enough distance between Irina and herself before she allowed the tears to fall.

As she expected Vaughn was waiting for Sydney. She accepted his arms gratefully and stayed there until her sobs finally ebbed.

"What happened?" Vaughn asked tenderly.

"Nothing," Sydney replied. "Which is what I should have expected…I just thought that she would have had the decency…" she shook her head. "Decent. What was I thinking? It would be one of the last words you'd use to describe her.

Vaughn ran a hand through her hair. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," she said firmly. "And this was only my first attempt. I will get my answer. One day."

Vaughn did not doubt that for a second. Sydney was one of the most determined people he had ever met. "I guess that means you're staying with the CIA?"

Sydney nodded. "Not just because of her. This job, when I'm working for the right side, it's me. It was I was born to do."

With a smile, Vaughn pressed his lips onto the top of her head. "We're lucky to have you."

"Hey," Sydney said as the two of them started to walk off. "I just realised something."

"What?"

"We forgot Paris," she said with a smile. "I'm still waiting for that dinner."

Vaughn let out a chuckle. "I guess we kinda got distracted. But," he added, "I promise. One day, Syd."

"I'm going to hold you to that."

"Good," Vaughn said. "Because I don't plan on breaking any promise that I make to you."

Sydney looked up at him. "You promise?" she asked, somewhat cheekily.

"I promise," he nodded, wrapping his arm around her.

Sydney let out a small laugh as she nestled into his side. She didn't doubt his words for a second.

It would seem, that her life, was starting to pick itself up.

THE END

A/N: Once again I want to thank everybody who showed me their support with this fic. To those who read it and especially to those who took the time to review and let me know what they thought. There is nothing more precious to a writer than getting feedback on their stories, and to those who did that, I am truly grateful.
Again, I had a fantastic time writing this fic. When I first started writing I was a little worried that I would not be able to sustain the storyline, but here we are, at the end. And again, I thank those who stuck with me all the way.
A few of you have raised questions about a sequel, and to be honest I had not planned on doing one for this story. I liked the way that ended. However, that is not to say that it won't happen. You never know, one day a spark of inspiration will hit, and I'll have another fic on my hands.
So again (how repetitive am I?) thank you, thank you, thank you.