A/N: Sorry for the late update but things have been busy. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. Please review and give me feedback!
Sydney drove home, anxious to see her daughter after teaching four classes worth of English. She opened the door and put her bag down while hanging her jacket on the hook in the foyer. She heard some feet shufflling from the room next door before high-pitched 'Mama' echoed down the hallway.
Isabelle ran into her mother's arms and planted a big kiss on Sydney, "Mama, I miss you!"
Sydney smiled, "I missed you too, sweetheart." She then saw her father appeared into the hallway. "How was she?"
"She was a peach," Jack said. He gave her a glance towards the manila folder in his hand.
"Mama, play!"
"Okay, I will. Let me talk to Grandpa Jack first," Sydney said putting Isabelle down and watching her run along back to her toys.
They walked towards her kitchen where she grabbed a water from the fridge. Jack sat down at the kitchen island and opened the file. "I wanted to inform you of our recent report that Sloane may be in Zurich."
"Is there any word on what's he doing there?"
"Intel suggests that he's aligned himself with a new group called the Covenant. Have you ever heard that name before?"
Sydney shook her head.
"After the Cold War ended, a number of Russian nationalistic from the KGB came together, determined to discover Rambaldi's endgame. They've spent about the last decade, trying to find Rambaldi's artifacts."
"Why haven't we heard of them until now?" Sydney asked.
Sydney, this is may be far worse than anything we've ever gone up against. They rely on discretion and kill anyone who gets too close to them. I believe that Sloane's commitment to them brought them out of hiding as they now have a face to their organization."
"So what's the plan now? Wait for Sloane and the Covenant make the first move?"
"Precisely. For all we know, Zurich could be a trap from them. Anyways, I should get going," He said looking at his watch.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?"
"No, I've taken enough of your time with Isabelle."
"Dad, come on. You're her grandfather."
"Sydney, times like these are the one you need to cherish more. When you were a child, one of my regrets as a father was that" he paused. "that I didn't spend more time with you."
She offered him a smile and walked with him to the door, "I'll see you tomorrow?"
He nodded. "Have a good evening, sweetheart."
After she closed the door, she walked into the living room to see Isabelle playing with one of stuffed animals while talking gibberish to it.
"Okay Isabelle. What do you say we head out to the park for a little bit before dinner?" Sydney kneeled down and put her hand on her daughter's head, running through her scalp.
Isabelle clapped her hands, "Yay! Pak! Pak!"
Sydney put a pink sun hat on top of Isabelle's head and tucked the small strap underneath her chin. She then grabbed the sunglasses out of her purse and put it on while opening the front door. She grabbed Isabelle's hand and walked down to the park down the street.
As soon as they reached the park playground, Isabelle let go of her mother's hand and ran towards the play structure. Sydney parked herself on the bench where she could maintain a full visual of Isabelle at all times. Even though she knew that no one was out to get her, Sydney still couldn't kick the old habit. Having to always look over your shoulder. It was no way to live, but she couldn't live her life to the fullest knowing that Sloane was still out there, now partners with the Covenant.
"Twice in one day? If I didn't know better, I'd say you were following me," she heard from behind her, causing her to turn around quickly to see that it was the man who bumped into/helped her this morning. She watched him take a seat on the other side of the bench.
"I think it's the other way around," she said, smiling. "Which one's yours?"
"What do you mean?" he asked.
She tilted his head back, "Well you wouldn't go to a children's park if you didn't have a kid. Unless you know..."
Vaughn put up his hands in defense, "Whoa. You've got it all wrong. My son is right over there near the slides. Geez, jump to conclusions much?"
She looked over to where he was pointing to see a little blond boy about to slide down. She looked down in embarrassment. "Sorry. As a mother, you gotta be careful. Like you said, twice in one day."
"I know what you mean. You can never be too careful." He smiled at her, before clearing his throat. "So which one is yours? I've already showed you mines."
Sydney let out a small laugh, "She's also near the slides. The one with the sunhat."
Vaughn looked over to see the little girl also having a great time going down the slides. "I guess both of our kids like the slides."
"I didn't take you for a parent."
"That's funny. I didn't take you for one either."
After another twenty minutes of small talk, Vaughn had found out that Sydney was a professor of English literature at UCLA. He decided to not let her know that he also worked there, wanting to later use this to his advantage. He learned more about her in those twenty minutes than he ever did with his ex-wife in the three years they were married. He couldn't explain it, but he could feel the tension in his shoulders leave as he sat there, listening to Sydney talk about her daily routine with Isabelle. He would occasionally chime in a "Yeah, same here". Before he knew it, the little girl he saw earlier jumped into her mother's arms.
"Mama!" the little girl shouted.
Sydney smiled, pulling her up onto her lap. "Did you have fun?" Isabelle nodded. Sydney then turned towards Vaugh, "Isabelle, say hi to Vaughn."
"Hello, Isabelle. Nice to meet you," he said, offering his finger to her, which she examined closely, wondering who exactly was this person before speaking in gibberish that neither Sydney or Vaughn understood. "What a beautiful name."
"Thank you."
Vaughn then looked at his watch, which he'd forgotten had stopped working this morning. He asked Sydney, "Do you have the time?"
Sydney glanced at her watch, "A quarter to five."
"Thanks. I have to get going. It's almost time for dinner." Vaughn stood up, called out his son's name and waving him over. The little boy ran to his dad, laughing and giggling. "Hey buddy, we gotta go home. But first, let's say hi to someone." He took James over to the bench where Sydney and Isabelle were sitting. "James, say hi to Sydney and Isabelle."
"Hi" the little boy said shakily, hiding behind his father's legs.
"Hi, James. Do you want a cookie?" Sydney asked, pulling one of the container and handing it to Isabelle. The little boy poked his head out at the mention of food and nodded. She looked to Vaughn for permission.
"Sure," Vaughn said. "James, what do you say?"
"Tank you," James said, already accepting the cookie in his hand.
The four of them sat in relative silence, with both parents trying to study the other's kid. Vaughn noticed Isabelle was almost the spitting image of daughter, down to the nose and smile. At first glance, James bared a similar resemblance to his father, especially with those green eyes. Sydney found it hard not to get lost in Vaughn's eyes. There was something about it; it gave her a sense of comfort. She shook away those thoughts, believing now was not the time to start a relationship. Maybe not ever.
Sydney then stood up, putting on her purse while setting Isabelle down. "We should get going. Dinner's not going to cook itself."
Vaughn immediately stood up as well, "Umm yes, us too. We should do this again."
Sydney smiled at him again before telling Isabelle to say goodbye to Vaughn and James. As they were walking around, she could still feel his eyes watching them leave.
Vaughn ordered a pizza for dinner, deciding that he didn't want to eat He cracked open a beer and gave James his cup of milk. They ate in silence at first before James piped up.
"Daddy, pizza good!" the little boy said, with marinara sauce all over his mouth. Vaughn grabbed a napkin to wipe him before they continued eating.
"I know. But don't eat with your mouth full."
"Okay," the little boy continued to munch on his pizza.
"So what did you think about Sydney and Isabelle today?" Vaughn decided to bring it up, only to get a feel of how his son would react if he started dating again. There were still nights James woke up crying for his mom. He was still learning on how to be a single parent, but it was difficult juggling everything all by himself. It felt like every little choice he made would solely affect James. Often times he wanted to just pack a bag and leave. To go anywhere and do anything. If he could, he would go back to Langley again. He missed the thrill sometimes. But it wasn't the most parental thing to do, especially when he had a three-year-old depending on him to come home every night and read him a bedtime story.
James attempted to pronounce their names, but came up short with "Syd" and "Iz".
"Yes, Sydney and Isabelle. Remember, you met them at the park earlier?" His son still looked at him quizzically, obviously unsure of what his father was talking about. Vaughn sighed. "Oh well, you might see them again soon. I hope."
His phone rang loudly, bringing him out of his trance. He walked over to the counter and picked it up. "Vaughn."
"Hey, it's me," the man on the other line said. "Guess what? I'm being transferred!"
"What?" Vaughn said in shock. "Why?"
"I requested a transfer to LA."
"Weiss, don't tell me you did this because of me."
"Wow, Vaughn. You've only been there how many weeks? Looks like LA has made you self-centered."
"Come on, you know what I mean. What's going on?"
"I wanted to tell you when I got there, but I guess there's no point in waiting. Vaughn, there's been activity."
"Where?"
"Last known sighting was in Zurich."
"When?"
"A few days ago."
"Regardless, this doesn't explain why you're moving to LA."
"Because I'm going to be in a task force, working on dismantling them. I'd just figured the sooner we end this, the better."
"Oh."
"You alright?"
"I'm fine. James will be happy to see his Uncle Eric again."
"Me too. Listen I gotta go. I'll talk to you soon."
"Eric?"
"Yeah."
"Thanks."
Vaughn put down the phone and turned around to see his son taking the final bites of his pizza. In that moment, he made a promise to himself. That he would protect his son from all threats, including his ex-wife.
A/N: Yep, Weiss is now in the picture! I hope yall enjoyed this chapter. Please review. Thanks!