A/N: I'm not really the author so from now on the things I have to Say will be P/N for poster's notes. I hope you enjoy ch. 3 and review.

Chapter 3: The Call, Part 2 – Who is it this time?

"God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right, even though I think it is hopeless." – Admiral Chester W. Nimitz


Sydney woke up a few hours later on a cot in the sick bay. Jack was sitting quietly by the bed.

"Hello sweetheart…"

"Dad?"

"Yeah, it's me. How are you feeling?"

"How did I get here? We have to get Vaughn!" She bolted upright in the bed.

"Sydney, please, calm down. You were exhausted after your phone call with Sloane. I brought you in here to rest. We're doing everything we can to locate Sloane and Vaughn."

Sydney started to cry again. Jack moved to sit on her bed. She tried to pull it together, but it wasn't working very well. "Dad, Sloane is going to kill him. I could hear them beating him in the background."

"Sydney, we'll find him. He's strong, he'll make it."

"You have no way of knowing that…"

Jack was quiet again for a few minutes. "Sydney, tell me about the phone call…what did you hear, besides Sloane I mean. What background noises were there?"

Sydney tried to think and said, "There was a lot of scuffling noises, I think they were holding Vaughn, trying to keep him quiet."

"No, I mean did you hear any outside noises, that could give us a clue as to where Sloane was calling from."

"I don't know, Dad. I was too involved with what Sloane was saying and what was going on with Vaughn. I'm sorry, I should have been more attentive."

"No, no, sweetheart, that's ok. It's not important."

"YES! YES! It is important."

"We'll find him, Sydney…"

Sydney looked at her father and even with his best game face on, she knew there were doubts lingering in his eyes as well.

It had been three days since that fateful call from Sloane, three days of waiting, hoping. Three days of nightmares whenever she closed her eyes. Three days of terror. Three days and they still had no leads as to where Sloane was hiding and where he had Vaughn. Every morning, Sydney got up from a restless night of no sleep and nightmares and went to work. Every day she did the same thing, she looked for clues. The rest of the world went on with their lives, oblivious to Michael Vaughn's disappearance, but for the group of CIA Agents who knew him best, and one woman in particular, the world stopped and the search started. Sydney, Jack, Weiss, Dixon, Marshall, Kerry and a handful of other agents worked tirelessly trying to find leads that would result in the acquisition of their lost agent and friend. Three days turned into a week, and a week turned into 16 days and 16 days turned into 18 days. Kendall was growing more restless by the minute and Jack and he had a number of altercations. Day 19 started out like the previous 18 for Sydney. She followed the same routine and the morning progressed like the others had. Some agents were beginning to lose hope of ever finding a clue that would lead them anywhere near Vaughn. Sydney was at Vaughn's desk searching various records when her cell phone rang. The whole Ops Center went mute. Sydney said a silent prayer that this was the call that would end her search and result in Vaughn being back with her where he belonged. She closed her eyes as she brought the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she said.

"Hello, Sydney…"