A/N: As you can probably tell, this story will be completely AU after this point. Also, for the sake of this fic, Francie and Will are together, and Francie had not been doubled. You will be seeing both of them in a couple of chapters.

Thanks for the feedback from sarah, Sydney, WyaRose, irionelissa, leggy9591, Five Stories Fallen, sid47, Forceful, Catherine, Arodloverus2001, Meadow, and froggygrl101. Your reviews are greatly appreciated!


Chapter 4 - One Year Later…

"Vaughn," Sydney sighed. "I am so happy you're back here with me."

"I am, too." He stroked her face gently as he smiled down at her on the bed. "I love you, Sydney Bristow."

"I love you."

"I love you, too, darling."

Sydney's eyes snapped open and she turned to see a smiling Danny lying beside her. "Danny."

"Sydney. Are you quite alright?"

"I'm fine. It was just a dream."

"A nightmare?"

"No… Whatever. It doesn't matter. I'm awake now, right?"

"Right. We should probably get up and start getting ready for work."

"I still can't believe that they let you continue schooling while you were in hiding."

"I know, insane, right? But I'm thankful for it. It's because of that that I was able to start up my own practice last year and work semi-normal hours. And you are enjoying teaching.

"Yes, of course."

"So you don't miss the spy life at all?"

Sydney lowered her eyes and fought to suppress the memories that ached to resurface. "No. Not at all."

"Good. So the wedding is still on for next month?"

"What type of question is that, Danny? Of course it is."

Danny smiled. "Just checking." He kissed her, then rose to go take a shower.

Sydney allowed herself the luxury of lying in bed while Danny showered and dressed. She got up to kiss him goodbye, then proceeded to get herself ready.

Finally, she picked up her purse and opened the front door. She stopped in surprise upon seeing her father there. "Dad? What are you doing here?"

"Can't a father just stop by to visit his daughter?"

"Dad, I am very appreciative of the fact that we've been seeing so much more of each other this past year. However, we both know that you would not be standing at my door at six in the morning if there wasn't something important that you needed to discuss with me. Also, you waited until Danny was gone, so I'm assuming it is some sort of CIA business. Am I right?"

Jack smiled. "I can see that you still have possession of the keen powers of observation that made you such an effective spy. May I come in?"

"Sure." Sydney closed the door behind him, then led him over to the couch.

"I prefer to stand, thank you," said Jack.

Sydney nodded and remained standing as well. "We might as well cut to the chase, Dad. What is going on this time?"

"Do you recall the Devrier case?"

"That was the one in which Pierre Devrier had acquired the building specs of the Tête Nucléaire Océanique, the new French design for a thermonuclear warhead, right?"

"Correct. Thanks to you, we were able to infiltrate Devrier's mansion and steal back the specs and supplies he had stored there. Also, you found your way to his holding cells and bailed out Professor Wagden, who Devrier was forcing to assemble the thermonuclear device."

"Yes, of course I remember it. But that was five years ago, when I was working for SD-6 and still thought I was saving the world. Why is it relevant now?"

"We recently had an undercover agent in Paris posing as a big arms dealer who was interested in dealing with Devrier. Our man worked with a French agent named Jean-Luc Pignon. They had planned a raid on Devrier's mansion a few days ago. Mistakes were made, and Pignon was compromised."

"Okay…"

"Pignon must be rescued immediately. You understand the consequences if Devrier is able to torture information about the new weapons technology or our operation out of him."

"Yes, I do. What I don't understand is why you are coming to me with this. I retired from the CIA a year ago, Dad. I don't want to be part of that life anymore. I'm content now."

"Are you really? Can you look me in the eye and say that you are truly happy, that there is nothing more you would want?"

"Dad…"

"Don't lie to me, Sydney."

"My complete and utter happiness or lack thereof is beside the point. Why are you telling me about Pignon and Devrier?"

"You are the only agent who has successfully broken into the secret subbasement in Devrier's compound. That is where Pignon is being held. Also, as you know, Devrier's security is nearly flawless. The mansion is impervious to surveillance. If we are to successfully retrieve Pignon, we need you. Otherwise, our agents will be going in completely blind, and the chance of success is very low.

I am not asking you to rejoin the CIA, Sydney. I want you in this life even less than you want to be in it. But I cannot deny that it is necessary to involve you at this point in this case. If you refuse to help, you are essentially forfeiting the lives of at least a dozen agents."

Sydney sighed. He father knew just how to get to her. "I suppose I have no choice, then."

"I suggest you call in to the university and request a vacation."

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Sydney couldn't help but feel a little nervous as she re-entered the CIA Operations Center for the first time in a year. As she walked to the conference room with Jack, she was met with many curious glances from her old co-workers. Marshall, Dixon, and Weiss all stepped towards her, but Jack shook his head and motioned them away.

"You can catch up later. Now, listen to me, Sydney. There is one more thing I should tell you. You will have to go in with the agent who worked directly with Pignon before he was captured."

"Yes, I would expect that. Who is it?"

"Well, that agent was…"

Sydney's came to a grinding halt as she entered the conference room.

"Hello, Sydney."

"Vaughn? I thought you were on a deep-cover assignment."

"I was. In Paris, remember? I was working with Pignon."

"Oh. I see."

"So…"

"Yeah…"

Jack cleared his throat in annoyance. "If you two are done being awkward, the less time we waste, the better."

Sydney glared at her father, but acknowledged that the sentiment he expressed was accurate. "So, are we headed to Marshall?"

"Vaughn and I are. You have something else you must do first, however, Sydney. Even if you can find Devrier's prison, there is a vast expanse of holding cells. We need to know in which cell block Pignon is most likely to be. Only one person whom we have at our disposal is liable to have that information."

"And who is that?"

"Your mother. She has been speaking to me of late, but after I mentioned needing to bring you in on this mission, she refused to discuss it with anyone but you. She misses you, Sydney."

Sydney narrowed her eyes at him. "Why did you tell Mom that I would be involved. Isn't she not supposed to know any more information than necessary?"

She could have sworn that she saw her father squirm for a moment before he coolly responded, "I thought that she would be more likely to give us accurate information if she knew who was being put at risk." He preempted more questions by rather briskly motioning to Vaughn and walking away.

Sighing, Sydney began the walk to her mother's cell. Despite her nervousness and annoyance at her father, she could not help but feel a spark of happiness at being able to see her mother again. Regardless of the many circumstances that would have made it highly unlikely, she had formed a bond with Irina Derevko, and was unable to help missing her for the past year.

The cell looked exactly as she remembered it, as did her mother, who was sitting in lotus position on the slate floor. Sydney coughed softly, and Irina opened her eyes. When she saw who her visitor was, she smiled and rose quickly, walking towards the glass wall that separated the two women. "Sydney! It is wonderful to see you again. I was beginning to think that I never would, after you left."

"I missed you, Mom. But I felt like I had to leave this life behind me if I wanted to have a shot at truly being happy. And without my CIA credentials, there was no way of seeing you."

"I understand. I don't need any explanations. Your father has been keeping me up to date about the goings-on in your life."

"He has?" Sydney asked, surprised.

"Yes," Irina responded, smiling fondly. "He can be quite talkative once he gets comfortable, though I know you may find that hard to believe."

Sydney made a mental note to ask her father about that at a later point.

"Anyway," Irina continued. "Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Who would have thought that it would be to Danny, right?"

"Um, thank you. It's hard to believe that I thought he was lost to me forever just over a year ago."

"So you are happy with him?"

"Yes, of course. As soon as I finish this mission, which I am hoping to do expediently, I need to start planning the wedding."

"Ah, the mission. That is the base reason why you are here, no? Pignon should be in block D. I took the liberty of drawing this map with some materials that Jack had given me." She passed a heavily-marked piece of paper to Sydney. "That should be helpful for navigating the cells."

"Thank you, Mom."

"Please do me the favor of coming by to tell me how the mission went before you turn in your badge again."

"Of course."

"And, one more thing. You are going on this mission with Agent Vaughn, correct?"

Sydney swallowed, not sure what was coming. "Yes."

"Will that be difficult for you?"

"Why would it be?"

"You obviously had feelings for the man. I quite liked him myself, to be honest. And I could tell even from my few brief encounters with him that he truly loved you. I don't think that things like that simply go away because a little bit of time has passed."

"I am happy with Danny, Mom. I can work with Vaughn on this mission without any problems, okay?"

Irina smiled. "I would be more convinced if you didn't sound so much like you were trying to convince yourself, sweetheart."

Sydney just looked at her, unsure how to respond. Irina finally shook her head and said, "Well, just be sure to let me know how it goes later on, okay? Good luck with all aspects of mission in Paris, my dear. Or should I say, Bonne chance."

Sydney smiled and said goodbye, then turned quickly away to try to mask the many emotions that threatened to overwhelm her. She has not been part of a majority of my life. How does my mother read me so well?

She made every effort to appear unruffled as she strode towards the tech room.

"Hey!" called Marshall as she entered. "It is unbelievably cool to see you working here again, Syd. I mean, wow. The spy couple is back in action!"

Awkward glances were exchanged around the room. Marshall, oblivious, began to repeat his explanation of the op-tech for Sydney's benefit. Jack interrupted. "Sydney can be briefed on the plane. We don't have time for a complete recapitulation of your ramblings, okay?"

"If you don't mind my saying, you are seemingly particularly tense today, Mr. Bristow. Maybe you could use a nice day off to relax…?"

"Thank you for your suggestion, Marshall. I'll take it into consideration," Jack replied, with gritted teeth. "Sydney, Vaughn. The plane will depart in a half hour. I hope you are prepared." He didn't bother to wait for their response. He simply strolled out the door of the tech room.

Vaughn rose and followed him, pausing to hold the door for Sydney. "Ready?" he asked, trying to keep his tone light.

Sydney just forced a smile and nodded, trying to belie the feeling that she would never truly be ready for this.

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