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Chapter 9:
Michael Vaughn hadn't been able to focus on anything except her for the past two days. From the moment he'd left her at the safe house, after seeing her for the first time in two years, Sydney kept creeping back into his thoughts. Vaughn kept finding himself thinking about her when he should've been concentrating on other things. For example, on the way to school this morning, he should have noticed that the light had turned red. Instead, he nearly hit a car as he flew through the intersection. When he finally made it to school, he proceeded to enter the wrong classroom, forgetting that he was giving his classes a test, and dismissed his last class after the first fifteen minutes.
After realizing what he'd done and that it was too late to get any of the kids back into the classroom, Vaughn sat down at his desk and tried to regroup. Ok Michael, get a grip. He thought to himself. He pulled out his grade book and tried to focus on grading some papers to get his mind of Sydney. It must have worked because he hadn't noticed that he wasn't the only one in the room. Vaughn looked up from his stack of papers, not surprised to see Jack Bristow standing in front of him.
"I was wondering when I'd be getting a visit from you." Vaughn said as he pushed his papers aside and leaned back in his chair.
There was a time when having Jack Bristow standing over him would have intimidated Vaughn. Now, he could care less. Jack was no longer his superior.
"The fact that you expected me, Mr. Vaughn, tells me that you knew what a dangerous risk it was to see her, for the both of you, and yet you still felt compelled to. Please tell me why?" Jack asked as he placed both hands on the top of Vaughn's desk and leaned forward.
"My intention wasn't to put her in danger, but I had to see her. I needed to see her with my own two eyes and I didn't want her to hear about my marriage from anyone but me. I still love her Jack, and I hate the way things ended between us but maybe it was for the best." Vaughn replied. He stood up and started to pack up his papers into his brief case.
"Best for whom Mr. Vaughn? You? Your wife, perhaps? Sydney?" Jack moved around the desk so that he now standing between Vaughn and the door.
"Best for all of us. I didn't enjoy having to lie to my wife about where I was the other night and I certainly didn't enjoy seeing the look on Sydney's face when I told her I was married. If my being around causes Sydney any pain, then it is probably better that I don't see her again. I'm sure you'd agree?" Vaughn said.
The thought of never seeing Sydney again gave Vaughn a sick feeling. He knew it was selfish of him to want to see her but he knew that what he told Jack was the truth. It wasn't fair to Lauren and it certainly wasn't fair to Sydney. No, he needed to try and let her go no matter how much pain it caused him to do so.
"It is no secret that I never warmed up to the idea of you and my daughter as a couple. As her father, I felt she could have done better, but I could see how much the two of you cared for each other. Since you insisted on seeing her, I must now insist that you help us to find out what happened to her." Jack demanded.
"I don't see how I can help. As you can see, I'm a teacher now. I'm not going back into the CIA." Vaughn snorted as he started to walk towards the door. Jack stepped forward to stop him. The two men were nearly nose to nose.
"I'm not asking for you to come back to the CIA. If you were to come back now it might look suspicious and draw unwanted attention in our direction." Jack noted.
"How am I supposed to keep this from Lauren. She works for the NSA for Christ's sake, I can't keep something this big from her. Jack you can't ask me to do this." Vaughn said nervously.
"I wasn't really asking. The way I see it, you don't have a choice. I need somebody who has an "in", so to speak, with the NSA. You could provide us that."
"How? My wife doesn't exactly discuss her work with me over dinner. What makes you think that the NSA would have any information on Sydney's disappearance anyway?" Vaughn's interest had been peeked. He never figured Jack to be a desperate man, but the fact that he even wanted his help had Vaughn worried.
"I received some intel recently that is pointing me in the general direction of the NSA or to someone affiliated with the organization." Jack said. He held back a tiny smile that threaten to give away his delight in knowing that he had Vaughn right where he needed him.
"Tell me what you want me to do." Vaughn said somberly.
"First tell me, do I have you full cooperation?" Jack asked.
"You said it yourself. I don't have a choice, right?" Vaughn said miserably.
"I need to hear you tell me that you are in a hundred percent." Jack insisted.
"Yes. I'm in. Now tell me what you need me to do."
"Nothing at the moment. I'll be in contact with you." Jack smiled in satisfaction and turned to take his leave. When he got to the door he turned around and looked at Vaughn.
"Please tell me how I'm going to get around Lauren with this. She will suspect something is up if I keep coming up with lame excuses to get out of the house." Vaughn asked.
"Yes, Mr. Vaughn, I suspect she will." Jack turned and walked out of the room. Vaughn stood there listening to his footsteps growing fainter and fainter until they were gone. Vaughn finally walked over to the door, took a long look around his classroom, turned off the lights, and walked out.