The plane touched down at Los Angeles International Airport in the dead of
night. As it taxied its way down the maze of runways to its arrival point,
Vaughn snuck a glance out of a small window near the main door. He could
see the CIA teams waiting for them on the tarmac, as well as two
ambulances, lights flashing like beacons against the muggy night sky.
Vaughn simply shook his head in amazement. He had no idea how Jack Bristow
could get this kind of support response for an unsanctioned mission which
involved stealing from a CIA storage facility where one of the victims was
a civilian, but it was just further proof that he certainly still had a
great deal to learn about his job.
Will had since returned to the land of the conscious, although he was still plenty drugged with painkillers to have virtually no grasp of what was going on around him. That was Jack's intention in the first place, and it was quite acceptable from Vaughn's point of view. The less Tippin remembered tomorrow, the less that would have to be explained to him in great detail.
Before the plane came to its recommended full and complete stop, Vaughn was cradling Sydney is his arms once again, ready to disembark, and Jack was helping Will to stand. They waited together, still in shock-induced stunned silence, which they had maintained for the majority of their transoceanic flight.
The door swung open, away from them, and in the glare of the bright lights of the airstrip, Vaughn was relieved to note that the first face he saw back in the States was that of his best friend and partner, Eric Weiss. And for once, that instead of being filled with anger and due reprimand, it instead showed only deep sorrow and concern. Vaughn stepped past him, and moved down the steps as quickly as he could while maintaining his balance, avoiding jostling Sydney as much as possible. Weiss and Jack navigated a rather delirious Will down the stairs behind him. Vaughn reached the awaiting EMS crews as quickly as possible.
"What have we got here?" someone asked as Vaughn laid Sydney down on a stretcher.
He rubbed his eyes wearily before giving them the rundown of her suspected injuries. "Head wound, concussion, bruised or possibly broken ribs, severe bruises and cuts and possible internal injuries, stab wound to the thigh, dislocated shoulder, and wrist and ankle injuries consist with restraints."
Vaughn himself felt just about ready to keel over as the crew began loading Sydney into the ambulance.
"Can I come along?" he pleaded, his eyes desperate.
"No room," an EMT informed him. "Meet us at the hospital." And with that the back doors of the ambulance slammed, and it roared off into the night, sirens blaring. Looking briefly to his left, he saw Will being eased into the neighboring ambulance.
Vaughn was rooted to the ground, staring blankly at the ambulance as it shrank in the distance. He felt a hand clamp his shoulder. He slowly turned. Weiss.
"I'm sorry man."
"For what," Vaughn asked distractedly.
"For going to Devlin, especially for incredibly selfish reasons. For not being there with you in Taipei, when I should have. For not taking your advice and throwing that damn little protocol book in the fireplace years ago. For letting you down--"
"You didn't let me down," Vaughn interjected. "Maybe you disappointed me a little, but I'm sure I deserved it after all the crap I've dragged you through recently."
"Oh, and for not offing Haladki when I had the chance."
"I'm all for throwing all of my anger management seminars out the window. Let's go, we'll kill the bastard together."
Weiss just looked at Vaughn with an unreadable expression.
"What?"
"Bristow didn't tell you?"
"No, she didn't tell me anything. She's never even met Haladki, I don't think."
"Not Sydney, Jack. Haladki was Khasinau's mole in the CIA. He revealed Jack and Sydney. He exposed Will. Jack figured it all out, tortured him to confession, and killed the bastard before you guys left. I know that I, for one, and you, for two, will have little to say at his funeral besides good riddance."
Jack approached the two men as Will's ambulance departed. "They're being taken to the CIA hospital in North Hollywood," he informed them. "And I think they'd like to check you out as well." Weiss actually saw the concern in Jack's eyes, and couldn't help but wonder exactly what had gone on between these two in Taipei.
Vaughn just stood, still staring off into space. He had ignored the pain in his body for so long that he was basically numb, both emotionally and physically. As he contemplated Jack's words, he felt the screaming pain in his chest come roaring back to life. He stumbled a little, as if he were about to faint, but felt Weiss's steady hands catch him.
"Whoa, buddy, you ok? No passing out on me. Come on, let's go get you checked out." Jack and Weiss led Vaughn to an awaiting car, which sped off after the ambulances.
"So what the hell happened in Taipei?" Weiss asked the two men, who were in the most shaken and distant conditions he had ever seen either in. Although after seeing what condition Sydney and Will were in, he could almost understand why. "The CIA has pretty much accounted for all that happened up until the time you got off of that plane, but after that is a mystery to us all."
"I met with Sark in a pre-specified alley, and traded the page for Tippin. We waited at our meet point for several hours, without a word from either Vaughn or Sydney. About six hours after we separated, I got a call from Vaughn. He had come to only to find the building deserted. He searched for any sign of who had been there, or where Sydney might be and who might have her while I was on my way. I was searching the building for them, when I found Sark, shot through the head. Shortly after I ran into Sydney and Vaughn and we got the hell out of Taipei." Jack offered.
"So what went wrong with the mission?" Weiss inquired. Vaughn didn't respond. Weiss shook him by the shoulders, and he snapped back to life.
"Everything was going according to plan, but while Sydney was supposed to be in the lab destroying the Circumference, we lost radio contact. I went to check on her, and I rounded a corner in the entry hallway to the lab, when the entire building shook as if there was an earthquake or something. I saw Sydney come flying around the corner in front of me, followed by some monstrous tidal wave of water, straight out of 'Titanic' or something. I just froze. I couldn't move. I was...I was terrified. Sydney's was screaming at me to turn around and go. Finally she reached me and ran straight into me, grabbed me by my jacket and turned me around, which started me running after her. At the end of the hall, there was a watertight safety door, which was closing, I guess because some sort of lockdown had been activated for the lab. Sydney was ahead of me, so she made it out in time, but just barely, and she tried to hold the door for me but she couldn't stop it from closing just as I slammed into it. The water hit me and smashed me up against the wall, and Sydney tried to break the glass in the door with a fire extinguisher. I was signaling for her to go and to leave me...but...she wouldn't stop. She was beating the glass, over and over and over again, but it just wouldn't break. I was running out of air when I saw some guards run up behind her. That's the last thing I remember, until I woke up on the hallway floor. I started searching the building, and when I was able to find a phone, I called Jack, in hopes that Sydney was with him, but she wasn't. So I started searching, and I found Sydney on a hallway floor, passed out. When I picked her up, she stirred for a minute or so. She was alert and she was talking to me, but then she slipped back under and she's been out since. Jack found us, led us out, and took us to the plane."
Vaughn felt the car roll to a stop, and heard the engine turn off. Someone opened the door to the car and helped him out. Weiss emerged after him, and helped him walk inside.
"Let's go see how Sydney's doing first, then we'll go get you looked at," Weiss suggested. Vaughn tried to nod in response, but he was so exhausted from his long-winded explanation and hours without rest, full of nothing but anguish, that he nearly fainted again. Weiss steadied him, and looked into his face with concern.
"Or maybe we should get you a doctor now--"
"No!" Vaughn commanded with all the strength he could muster. "Sydney."
Weiss resigned, and began leading him into the trauma center of the emergency, where Sydney was being evaluated.
Will had since returned to the land of the conscious, although he was still plenty drugged with painkillers to have virtually no grasp of what was going on around him. That was Jack's intention in the first place, and it was quite acceptable from Vaughn's point of view. The less Tippin remembered tomorrow, the less that would have to be explained to him in great detail.
Before the plane came to its recommended full and complete stop, Vaughn was cradling Sydney is his arms once again, ready to disembark, and Jack was helping Will to stand. They waited together, still in shock-induced stunned silence, which they had maintained for the majority of their transoceanic flight.
The door swung open, away from them, and in the glare of the bright lights of the airstrip, Vaughn was relieved to note that the first face he saw back in the States was that of his best friend and partner, Eric Weiss. And for once, that instead of being filled with anger and due reprimand, it instead showed only deep sorrow and concern. Vaughn stepped past him, and moved down the steps as quickly as he could while maintaining his balance, avoiding jostling Sydney as much as possible. Weiss and Jack navigated a rather delirious Will down the stairs behind him. Vaughn reached the awaiting EMS crews as quickly as possible.
"What have we got here?" someone asked as Vaughn laid Sydney down on a stretcher.
He rubbed his eyes wearily before giving them the rundown of her suspected injuries. "Head wound, concussion, bruised or possibly broken ribs, severe bruises and cuts and possible internal injuries, stab wound to the thigh, dislocated shoulder, and wrist and ankle injuries consist with restraints."
Vaughn himself felt just about ready to keel over as the crew began loading Sydney into the ambulance.
"Can I come along?" he pleaded, his eyes desperate.
"No room," an EMT informed him. "Meet us at the hospital." And with that the back doors of the ambulance slammed, and it roared off into the night, sirens blaring. Looking briefly to his left, he saw Will being eased into the neighboring ambulance.
Vaughn was rooted to the ground, staring blankly at the ambulance as it shrank in the distance. He felt a hand clamp his shoulder. He slowly turned. Weiss.
"I'm sorry man."
"For what," Vaughn asked distractedly.
"For going to Devlin, especially for incredibly selfish reasons. For not being there with you in Taipei, when I should have. For not taking your advice and throwing that damn little protocol book in the fireplace years ago. For letting you down--"
"You didn't let me down," Vaughn interjected. "Maybe you disappointed me a little, but I'm sure I deserved it after all the crap I've dragged you through recently."
"Oh, and for not offing Haladki when I had the chance."
"I'm all for throwing all of my anger management seminars out the window. Let's go, we'll kill the bastard together."
Weiss just looked at Vaughn with an unreadable expression.
"What?"
"Bristow didn't tell you?"
"No, she didn't tell me anything. She's never even met Haladki, I don't think."
"Not Sydney, Jack. Haladki was Khasinau's mole in the CIA. He revealed Jack and Sydney. He exposed Will. Jack figured it all out, tortured him to confession, and killed the bastard before you guys left. I know that I, for one, and you, for two, will have little to say at his funeral besides good riddance."
Jack approached the two men as Will's ambulance departed. "They're being taken to the CIA hospital in North Hollywood," he informed them. "And I think they'd like to check you out as well." Weiss actually saw the concern in Jack's eyes, and couldn't help but wonder exactly what had gone on between these two in Taipei.
Vaughn just stood, still staring off into space. He had ignored the pain in his body for so long that he was basically numb, both emotionally and physically. As he contemplated Jack's words, he felt the screaming pain in his chest come roaring back to life. He stumbled a little, as if he were about to faint, but felt Weiss's steady hands catch him.
"Whoa, buddy, you ok? No passing out on me. Come on, let's go get you checked out." Jack and Weiss led Vaughn to an awaiting car, which sped off after the ambulances.
"So what the hell happened in Taipei?" Weiss asked the two men, who were in the most shaken and distant conditions he had ever seen either in. Although after seeing what condition Sydney and Will were in, he could almost understand why. "The CIA has pretty much accounted for all that happened up until the time you got off of that plane, but after that is a mystery to us all."
"I met with Sark in a pre-specified alley, and traded the page for Tippin. We waited at our meet point for several hours, without a word from either Vaughn or Sydney. About six hours after we separated, I got a call from Vaughn. He had come to only to find the building deserted. He searched for any sign of who had been there, or where Sydney might be and who might have her while I was on my way. I was searching the building for them, when I found Sark, shot through the head. Shortly after I ran into Sydney and Vaughn and we got the hell out of Taipei." Jack offered.
"So what went wrong with the mission?" Weiss inquired. Vaughn didn't respond. Weiss shook him by the shoulders, and he snapped back to life.
"Everything was going according to plan, but while Sydney was supposed to be in the lab destroying the Circumference, we lost radio contact. I went to check on her, and I rounded a corner in the entry hallway to the lab, when the entire building shook as if there was an earthquake or something. I saw Sydney come flying around the corner in front of me, followed by some monstrous tidal wave of water, straight out of 'Titanic' or something. I just froze. I couldn't move. I was...I was terrified. Sydney's was screaming at me to turn around and go. Finally she reached me and ran straight into me, grabbed me by my jacket and turned me around, which started me running after her. At the end of the hall, there was a watertight safety door, which was closing, I guess because some sort of lockdown had been activated for the lab. Sydney was ahead of me, so she made it out in time, but just barely, and she tried to hold the door for me but she couldn't stop it from closing just as I slammed into it. The water hit me and smashed me up against the wall, and Sydney tried to break the glass in the door with a fire extinguisher. I was signaling for her to go and to leave me...but...she wouldn't stop. She was beating the glass, over and over and over again, but it just wouldn't break. I was running out of air when I saw some guards run up behind her. That's the last thing I remember, until I woke up on the hallway floor. I started searching the building, and when I was able to find a phone, I called Jack, in hopes that Sydney was with him, but she wasn't. So I started searching, and I found Sydney on a hallway floor, passed out. When I picked her up, she stirred for a minute or so. She was alert and she was talking to me, but then she slipped back under and she's been out since. Jack found us, led us out, and took us to the plane."
Vaughn felt the car roll to a stop, and heard the engine turn off. Someone opened the door to the car and helped him out. Weiss emerged after him, and helped him walk inside.
"Let's go see how Sydney's doing first, then we'll go get you looked at," Weiss suggested. Vaughn tried to nod in response, but he was so exhausted from his long-winded explanation and hours without rest, full of nothing but anguish, that he nearly fainted again. Weiss steadied him, and looked into his face with concern.
"Or maybe we should get you a doctor now--"
"No!" Vaughn commanded with all the strength he could muster. "Sydney."
Weiss resigned, and began leading him into the trauma center of the emergency, where Sydney was being evaluated.