ok: Hey, happy birthday, and I hope that you had a great day.

Chapter Five:
Friction

Chapter Five:Friction

Sydney barely even looked up when she heard a knock on her office door. "Come in," she said, immersed in the file before her.

"Sydney," Jack's voice broke through her concentration.

"Hey," she looked up. "You heard?"

Jack nodded. "They've got me heading up the case."

Sydney figured that would be the case. While, due to his age, it had been a long time since Jack had been in the field, he had still remained an integral part of the agency. When it came to game plan and strategy nobody even came close to him.

"You'll keep me updated?" Sydney asked. "I know that technically I am not privy to any information, but—"

"Sydney, you and Vaughn will be notified of absolutely everything. You have my word."

Sydney gave him a small smile. "Thank you," she said, quietly.

"There is also another reason that I want to speak with you about."

"What?"

"I know you, Sydney. Know how you like to be…involved in things."

Sydney cocked her head. "What are you getting at?"

"I've had you approved to do research," Jack replied. "I understand that it's not as enthralling as your previous agent work, but it gives you access to any files we have on or related to Elena. I thought that you would like to be involved."

Sydney just stared at him for a few seconds. Given his nature, this was probably one of the sweetest things her father had ever done for her.

"Thanks dad."

Jack gave a short nod as he placed a folder on her desk. "Here are a few starting points we have."

Sydney smiled. "I'm right on it."

"Mum."

Sydney turned around from the mirror the following morning to face Ana, who was standing in the bedroom doorway. "Yeah?"

"Would it be ok…" she trailed off, chewing her bottom lip.

Sydney placed her hairbrush down and took a few steps towards her daughter. "Ana?"

"Would it be alright if I invited somebody around for dinner tonight?" Ana asked very quickly, all in one breath.

Sydney nodded. "Of course." She paused, knowing exactly why Ana was so anxious. "So…what is his name?"

Ana blinked. "What?"

Sydney smiled. "You dad saw the two of you on campus. I made him promise not to say anything until you were ready to introduce us."

Ana's jaw dropped slightly. "You knew? Ugh." She threw up her hands. "Is it possible to have any secrets around this place?"

'Yes,' Sydney thought, a slight knot forming in her stomach. Mentally, she shook it off and decided it was simpler to ignore Ana's question. "So, am I going to get a name or any details?"

Ana smiled. "His name is Misha. I met him in my Modern Lit class…he's gorgeous." She shook her head a little. "I really like him, mum. Like, really."

"Well then, I'm looking forward to meeting him," Sydney said. "Any requests for dinner?"

Ana shook her head. "Nope, whatever was originally planned is cool. But," she gave her mother a painful look, "can you make sure that dad doesn't bring up the whole CIA thing?"

Sydney laughed. "Don't worry. We've had a little chat about that and I think your dad has gotten the hint."

"…and this is my mum, Sydney and dad, Michael," Ana introduced. So far things had been going smoothly. Granted, Misha had only been in the house for about five minutes, but Ana was going to take any positives from the evening that she could.

Billy had slunk off to the corner of the living room, making it seem as if he were looking though the CD collection. He wasn't exactly sure, but he had taken an instant dislike to this guy. It was probably completely paranoid, but there was something about Misha that irked him.

Vaughn was opening scrutinizing Misha. "I've seen you around the uni rink, right?"

Misha nodded. "I'm good mates with David."

"Oh right. Good guy, David. One of the bestplayers I've ever coached."

They fell into a conversation about, what else, hockey and Ana let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that Sydney had been right. Vaughn was keeping his mouth shut.

Rising quietly from the couch, Ana made her way to the kitchen. "So," she asked Sydney when she got there. "What do you think?"

Sydney went to reply, but got cut off by Lexi. "He's hot, Ana. Tell me. How did you land him, how have you held onto him and does he have a younger brother- preferably not younger than me."

Ana burst out laughing. "You're a dag, Lex. You know that, right?"

Lexi just shrugged and reached into the salad that Sydney was preparing.

"Lexi!" Sydney gave her hand a light slap. "Out of it."

"But mum," Lexi protested. "I am hungry."

"I think that you can last five minutes without starving to death."

"How do you know that?" Lexi asked cheekily. "You could end up eating your words."

"Maybe you should eat them," Ana quipped, beating Sydney to the punch. "Then you wouldn't be so hungry."

Later that evening, while Ana was farewelling Misha at the door, Billy approached Vaughn in the kitchen.

"Dad."

Vaughn looked up from where he was stacking the dishwasher. "Can you pass me those plates?"

Billy handed them over. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Shoot."

"What did you think of Misha?"

Vaughn straightened up, looking a little concerned at the tone of Billy's voice. "I think the question that we should be asking is what you think of Misha."

Billy looked downright miserable. "I don't really know why, but…"

Vaughn picked a tea towel to dry his hands with. "Just say it, Billy. Ana isn't going to hear it."

"I don't like him, dad. I mean, I really don't like him."

Vaughn frowned slightly. "And you have no real reason to feel this way?"

Billy nodded. "It's really weird. But as soon as he walked in, I wanted him out of the house."

"Are you sure that you're not just getting protective over your sister?" Vaughn asked, trying not to smile.

"No, this is more than that," Billy replied. "He's bad news, I know it. Ana can do and deserves so much better. I can't stand him. And I know it sounds completely nutty of me, but if he never shows up here again that would be—"

"Excuse me?" And absolutely livid voice broke into the conversation.

Billy turned slowly. A fuming Ana was standing in the kitchen entryway.

"What did you just say?" she demanded, and then continued without giving Billy a chance to reply. "How dare you? What on Earth would posses you to act like a complete jerk?"

"I am not being a jerk," Billy snapped back. "I'm just telling it like it is."

Ana's eyes narrowed and Vaughn thought it best to step in now before the situation was to escalate. "Ok guys, let's just—"

"Telling it like it is?" Ana scoffed, taking no notice of her father. "You don't even know Misha. What gives you the right to pass those judgements?"

"That'd be right," Billy yelled. "It's all right for you to follow your instincts and crap like that, but the minute somebody else tries to—"

"Don't bring this back on me, you pathetic—"

"I am not the pathetic one. You are the one—"

An ear-splitting whistle suddenly cut off the argument. "Right," Vaughn said after he'd removed his fingers from his mouth. "A little quiet, thank you."

At that moment Sydney burst into the kitchen. "What's going on?" she asked, noting Ana and Billy's expressions.

"What is going on," Vaughn replied, "is that we are all going to sit down and have a little chat. Now."

Sydney and Vaughn strolled leisurely along the beach. Three-month-old William was fast asleep against Sydney's chest, secured by a baby carrier. Ana remained a few steps in front of her parents, occasionally running back to hand Vaughn another seashell to add to her growing collection.

"So," Vaughn said, placing a shell in his already full pocket. "What's our decision?"

"I think," Sydney said slowly, "that when the time is right, we have to tell them everything. We vowed to do all that we could to keep them safe. We can't do that if we're lying to them."

"I agree," Vaughn said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

"And it's more that just telling them the truth." Sydney paused as Ana came up with another shell. "We have to raise them in an open environment," she continued. "To make sure that any issue, any problem, anything can be talked about. Raised, so that nobody is harbouring any ill feelings."

"Well, I guess that we've got our work cut out for us," Vaughn said with a wry smile.

"Hmm," Sydney nodded, gently running a hand over William's head. "We do."

"Ok," Sydney said, her arms crossed. "We are going to talk. And by that I mean talk, not scream at each other."

Ana and Billy did not respond. They were both sitting at either end of one of the couches in the living room, stony expressions on their faces.

"Guys, you are not little kids anymore," Vaughn spoke up. "So stop acting like it."

Ana's expression suddenly turned indignant. "You heard what he said!"

"He is you brother and he has a name," Sydney said.

"Fine," Ana said, huffily. "You heard what Billy said. It was horrible."

"All I was trying to do was have a private talk with dad," Billy retorted. "And all I did was express my opinion."

"Well, your opinions were completely unfounded. You don't even know Misha."

"So?"

"Ok!" Vaughn clapped his hands together. "This has got to stop now."

"Exactly." Sydney chimed in. "Are you really going to let this newcomer cause this much animosity between the two of you?"

"It's not Misha causing the animosity, it was what Billy said," Ana said obstinately. She looked directly at Billy. "You can see that what you said really upset me?"

Billy nodded shortly. "But I can't help the way I feel."

Ana shook her head a little. "I just don't understand. Why? What has Misha done?"

"Nothing," Billy replied. Ana gave him a pointed look and he just shrugged.

"Maybe, Ana," Sydney started, "you need to accept that just because Misha is your boyfriend it doesn't mean that Billy has to like him."

"What—" Ana started but was silenced by a look from Sydney.

"And Billy," she continued, "you have to accept that Misha, whether you like him or not, is a part of Ana's life which means that he is a part of yours. And,' she added, "civility would be appreciated when he is around."

"Fine," Billy sighed."

"Yeah, fine." Ana echoed. While neither of them appeared completely happy, the hostility between the two had seemed to lift.

Uncrossing her arms, Ana got up from the couch. "I'm guessing that this is over, because I have an assignment to work on." With a nod from both her parents she walked out of the room. Billy made to follow, but was stopped by Vaughn.

"Billy."

"Yeah."

"If you ever see or hear anything that gives you a reason to feel about Misha the way you do, you will tell us?"

Billy nodded. "Of course."

As Billy walked out of the lounge room, Vaughn turned to Sydney. "So, what do you think? Crisis averted?"

Sydney shrugged. "I've got absolutely no idea," she said. "I guess that only time will tell."