TWO GUNS, ONE HEART

By The Madhatter

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: 3.18 Unveiled

Summary: Takes place during Unveiled, after the scene with Vaughn and Jack at the shooting range, where Jack tells Vaughn about his suspicions of Lauren being the CIA mole. Jack advises Vaughn about the situation with Lauren at a shooting range.

A/N: Wow, I haven't written or posted in the longest time. But I'm glad to finally be back into it. I had this sitting on my computer and decided that it was time to share it with the world. :P I wrote this before I saw the next episode, Hourglass. So please forgive me about not being accurate when Vaughn tells Jack and Sydney his findings. This was just my take and immediate response after the ep. Hope you guys enjoy! :D

"… Lauren is not Irina, and I am definitely not you," Vaughn spat at Jack after his warning. Vaughn grabbed his gun and headed towards the door, pissed off.

"Vaughn," Jack called out. He was two steps away from the door. "No one gave me a warning." Jack turned to face the back of Vaughn's head. "You're lucky."

Vaughn, still seething, didn't bother to acknowledge Jack's statement before he called again.

"Vaughn," this time Jack's voice was sterner. He was one step away from escaping this unfortunate confrontation. "What I said earlier was a courtesy warning. I will find more evidence to back this up, and, if push comes to shove, Mr. Vaughn, I will shove – hard."

Vaughn, having heard enough of this old man's tale whipped around and shoved Jack up against the wall, hand at his throat. "Is that a threat? 'Cause I swear, I will keep my promise about killing you if any harm comes to my wife."

"Then you will have no one else to blame but yourself."

"What the hell's that supposed to mean?"

"Sydney warned you, I warned you about the pending circumstances. And I won't back down on what I said."

"Neither will I." With that, Vaughn stormed off again.

"Vaughn," Jack called again. Damn this man! His hand was on the handle. "You're right."

"About what?"

"You're not like me." Jack paused as if trying to decide how to phrase his next statement. "Everything I've said today has one purpose."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" Vaughn asked, bitterness and sarcasm dripping into this words.

"That you don't become like me."

Vaughn froze for a moment, pondered it, then walked out of the shooting range without glancing back.

Jack Bristow let out a sigh of frustration and relief, frustration at this absurd ordeal with Lauren possibly being the CIA mole and linking it with his own past with Irina, and relief that it was said, even though Vaughn didn't seem to care. Jack new the younger man listened, although he kept the façade of what could possibly be considered arrogance or conceit. Jack used to be the same way – acting like nothing ever mattered and could care less, but in reality he filed it away for future use and possibly test it. Both he and Vaughn were alike and that thought alone scared him. The last person the agency, and the world needed was another Jack Bristow.

Jack fingered the gun holstered at his side and decided against it. He wasn't pissed off enough to shoot the daylights out of a piece of paper just yet. Glancing up at the paper Vaughn mutilated, he froze.

A large gaping hole replaced the location of where the heart would be.

Michael Vaughn stormed into the shooting range the next day, armed and pissed off at the recent developments concerning his wife, Lauren. Intent on blowing the sheet of paper into bits, he didn't notice Jack Bristow until he finally looked up after loading a full magazine into his nine millimeter. He paused in the middle of loading and waited until Jack placed his gun down and took off the headphones.

"You were right, Jack."

Jack looked to his left, almost surprised to find him there. "About what?"

"Lauren," Vaughn stated, finishing the loading procedure and cocking the gun. He didn't even bother to hide his hatred and frustration anymore. He was sick of pretending. "You were right all along."

Vaughn didn't even bother to wait for a response before snapping the headphones on and pulling the trigger until there were no more bullets left. Once he finished one magazine, he loaded up another one, giving Jack time to cut in a bit more.

"Vaughn, what do you mean?"

Vaughn gave Jack an annoyed look. "What you do mean 'what do I mean'? You're right, Jack! You're damn right, okay? Are you happy now?"

"You need to spell it out for me, Vaughn. What did you find out? How do you know?"

"I just do," the younger agent snapped and let off a couple more rounds. "She's a fucking traitor!" He yelled over the soundproof headphones, as he finished off the last few rounds. Vaughn placed the gun down with shaking hands and pulled off the headphones. "She lied to me – to my face. She looked me straight in the eye, told me she loved me, and fucking lied – for a year! All her NSC business trips and crap were damn lies too. Damn her!"

Jack didn't seem surprised by Vaughn's reaction. Jack had the same, if not worse. At least they were able to catch and contain – hopefully – the leak before it became worse and carried out for years, unlike Jack's case. "Vaughn, you need to calm down. Take a breath. Don't be too loud either, we don't want to attract unwanted attention, especially Lauren's."

"I don't give a damn about what people hear, especially her. I just –"

"Vaughn!"

Perhaps it was the sharpness in Jack's voice that snapped Vaughn back into reality or the realization that the CIA and possibly the rest of the world were in danger or that Jack had suffered through the same predicament – or all three – that made him shut up and calm down. "Sorry."

"Okay, tell me everything, Vaughn. Details. I need to know everything – how you found out and what you found out."

"Everything you told me yesterday was right, Jack. The kiss… avoiding questions… vague answers… everything. It all clicked once I saw it in action."

"What do you mean? Be more specific."

"After I stormed off from your warning, I followed her to do her 'errands' after refusing me dinner. She was doing a dead drop -- of what, I don't know -- but I know she was dropping off something to someone. But then she received a phone call and went down to the garage. I called up Weiss and told him to tap into the conversation, but we only got bits of it. I think something caught her off guard, change of plans – I don't know – but she was disturbed."

"Could someone have threatened her? Did you get anything off the tap?"

"I don't know if someone threatened her, but she seemed pretty ticked off at the person. We only heard the last of the conversation, and she was yelling at someone… it might have been a man…"

"Sark?"

Vaughn shrugged. "I don't know. We only heard the last few seconds. Maybe Weiss can remember more."

Jack nodded. "I'll ask him, then check with Marshall, see if he can pick up anything from the recording."

Vaughn nodded in affirmation. "When I asked about what she did earlier, Lauren just shrugged it off like it was nothing, just 'errands'. Then she mentioned something about getting into a fight with her mom on the phone about her father's death… I don't know. It seemed so real."

"I'm sure it did. People like those are skilled liars, they know how to deceive some of the best. You're doing fine, Vaughn. I need to know what else made you sure of her betrayal."

Vaughn sighed, closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Her suitcase. She said she went to London…"

"To scatter her father's ashes, yes, I know that."

"But she didn't." Jack raised a questioning eyebrow. "I'm sure Sydney told you about the possible sighting of Lauren in the nightclub. Well, she's right. I found the wig. I found it all – a passport, gun, everything needed for a mission – and it was right under my nose the whole time. God, some agent I am."

"You're sure about all of this?"

"I wish I wasn't. Of course, I'm damn sure of this! She's my wife! I should've known."

"I know," Jack replied sympathetically. "I'll talk this over with Sydney and Dixon and see where we'll go from here. In the meantime, I want you to keep an eye on her. I want this contained. We don't know how much she's compromised, so we need to be careful about what we say and do in front of her."

"I understand. How long is this going to go on for?"

"I don't know. Hopefully, not too long. When we talk to Dixon, we'll get an estimated time. It depends how much she's compromised."

Vaughn nodded numbly. His wife… "Hey, Jack?" He gulped, not sure of how to ask his next question. "When you found out about Irina, how did you react?"

Jack looked at him, his features growing grim. "Worse than you," he replied gravely, then headed toward the door.

"Jack?" Vaughn called again tentatively.

"What, Mr. Vaughn? Time is of the essence here."

"Sorry. I'm just curious… why you were here blowing the brains out of a piece of paper?"

"That's not your concern right now." Jack reached for the door. "Thank you for coming to me. I'll check with Marshall and Dixon and contact you with their findings. In the meantime, be careful. There are eyes and ears in the most unlikely places." With that final warning and a spin of the heels, Jack Bristow exited the shooting range.

Vaughn exhaled loudly and shook his head. Jack could still be intimidating at times. He pinched the bridge of his nose again, another headache. His wife… a traitor… a spy… for an entire year… he still couldn't believe it. He couldn't grasp that concept. My wife.

He fired off a few more rounds to clear his head. His wife. Bang. A traitor. Bang. The Covenant.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

- End -