Chapter 11: Some Complications
Disclaimer: If only…the closest I'll ever come is fanfiction.
A/N: Please note the poll at the end…it could very well determine how I decide to end the story!
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Sydney jumped when the front door opened; it was too early for Danny to be home. When she saw it was Vaughn, she had to restrain herself from jumping at him.
"Where have you been? What happened? What took so long?" she cried, cornering Michael just inside the door.
Michael frowned at her, grasped her shoulders, and moved her a few steps away from. He found her presence, and especially her close proximity, somewhat disconcerting. He carefully kept the coldness shielding his eyes.
"We ran into some complications," he said, keeping his answer vague enough to bait her. He liked to see her riled up.
"What do you mean complications?" she cried.
He stifled a grin, and Jaime started crying down the hall, distressed by him mother's tone.
Sydney frowned, gave a low growl of frustration, and spun away. Before she disappeared around the corner she snapped, "Don't move! I'll be right back, and you're going to tell me what happened!"
Michael grinned at her hastily retreating back. As she slipped into Jaime's room, he allowed himself a soft chuckle. Ignoring her all too clear order to stay put, he went into the kitchen and grabbed a soda from eh refrigerator.
Sydney walked in silently, and managed to surprise Michael. He had an almost soft look on his face; his eyes took on a warm tone and he had a soft smile on his lips. But when he saw her standing behind him, watching him, he erased the smile and the depths of his green eyes became unreadable before she had a chance to recognize the appealing quality hidden there.
"How smart is Lorrie?" he asked curiously. He seemed slightly friendlier for the moment.
"What do you mean?" Sydney asked, settling Jaime in his high chair and putting a handful of Cheerios on the tray before she sat down across the table from Michael. "Intelligence? Book smarts? Common sense?"
Michael explained what he'd done with Lorrie, and to his surprise she understood. It struck him that she was more approachable just then than she usually was.
"I guess we can't let her dad know who either of us are," she said with a sigh.
"My question is, can she pull it off? Can she, and will she, convince him she snuck off to steal my wife's roses?" Michael asked, allowing himself a self-depreciating grin.
"So you're not married?" Sydney said, grinning then blushing. She continued without waiting for him to answer. "She's smart. I've seen her convince a teacher she did her homework but her dog ate it that very morning, when she didn't have a dog. She'll pull this off, easy." After a few moments filled with silence, she added, "I'll find out what happened after you left. She'll find me in the morning."
"Good. Despite what you might think, I didn't want to get her in trouble. I tried to sneak her through the back door, but he was already in the house. And it would have seemed weird for me to take her to the back if he'd seen me, so I had to make a choice between being the strange guy or the disgruntled neighbor. Now if Miller should see me around, he won't get suspicious," Michael babbled, filling the silence.
"And it's more important that we remain anonymous than that Lorrie remains the perfect," Sydney said, smiling slightly. Her grin dissolved into a frown as she decided to voice a troubling thought that had plagued her progressively worse since she'd had discovered her connection to Lorrie. "Michael, what if my…Irina Derevko finds out we know who Lorrie is? I don't know how Lorrie will react if she contacts her."
"I don't know what Derevko might do. She'll know that there's a chance that if we know about Lorrie, she'll know too. That would make it pretty risky for her to contact Lorrie." Michael shook his head, then looked directly at Sydney. "If Derevko surfaces around here again, I'm going to suggest taking both Lorrie and you to a safe house. It may also be necessary to take Taylor Miller into protective custody; I'm not sure it's safe to tell him everything," he said honestly.
Sydney's eyes widened. "You mean we'd have to just…disappear? I have a job, and Lorrie has to go to school, and Danny…"
"If he wants to say with you, Danny can stay in the safe house too," Michael said, meaning to reassure her but sounding a little to curt to be comforting. Sydney marveled at how fast his whole demeanor changed as her draped the coldness about himself like armor.
Sydney mentally shrugged it off and adopted the same business-like attitude.
"Do you think Derevko will show back up here?" she asked bluntly.
"She's started something," Michael answered quickly, having been thinking just that. "She's not one to let things go unfinished."
"How long?"
Michael rose from his chair and stood over Sydney where she sat, as though he needed the advantage.
"I would suggest that you put in for an extended leave starting the day after tomorrow. Tell them it's personal. Give them an excuse. Tell them an aunt died. What ever you do, don't…"
Sydney stood up abruptly and cut him off.
"Don't tell them I'm taking off because the mother I thought is dead is back, I have a younger sister I never knew existed living behind me and she's a student in my class, and I can't stay because my mother poses a threat to my sister?" Sydney said in a falsely bright tone. Then her voice hardened. "I can't tell them that anyway, Mr. Vaughn. They'd strap me into a straight jacket and pack me off to the nearest mental asylum before I even got to my excuse: my secret agent body guard made me do it," she said sarcastically.
"Something like that," he said in a low voice that wasn't nearly as angry as he would have liked, but Sydney didn't notice.
As they stood facing off, the tension seemed to seep into the room, oozing through every crack and smothering them. Jaime had even stopped smashing his Cheerios, and sat staring up at the two.
"Ma-ee?" Jaime said quietly, splitting the almost tangible tension.
Sydney smiled and her entire expression softened, even while she looked over her shoulder at Michael.
"What, baby? Did Mommy talk too much with Mr. Vaughn and not talk to you? I'm sorry." She lifted him to her hip.
Michael stood silently and watched as Sydney bustled around the kitchen one-handed, pulling out a sippy cup and lid, and a bottle of juice from the refrigerator. She chattered away to him the entire time. He can't understand a word, Michael thought in awe, yet she talks as if he does. He fought down an urge to smile and join in the one-sided conversation.
When she finally put Jaime back in his high chair with his juice, she turned toward Michael. He hadn't expected her to turn so quickly, and he was caught in a grin.
"What?" she asked, smiling at him.
"I, uh…I just like watching you…with the baby," Michael blundered.
"Really?" Sydney said, raising her eyebrows.
When Michael had turned a bright shade of red, Sydney changed the subject.
"Look, Michael, we can't keep doing this. In one day we've gone from enemies to best friends and back again three times. It's exhausting. Let's agree to just get along and be on the same side." Sydney's eyes became teary and she blinked them back. There was no hint of them in her voice when she spoke again. "If my mother comes back, we both need to know we can count on each other. The two of us, and Lorrie, have to be very careful," she added, knowing she was telling him something he already knew. He needed to know she knew it, too. "And to be honest, I'm scared. I'm scared of my mother, and I need to know you're on my side, Michael."
Michael stared at her for a moment, their eyes locking again. Frightened by something she couldn't pinpoint, Sydney was the one to look away. Only then did Michael find himself able to speak.
"You're right. We're making this harder than it has to be. We can't be enemies, but being friendly will only complicate matters," he said much more harshly than he intended. Sydney thought it sounded cold.
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The night before, at Michael's suggestion, Sydney and Danny had packed bags so they could be ready to leave at a moments notice. She'd also promised to tell Lorrie to do the same. But when Lorrie found her that morning nearly in tears, and seeming to kick herself all the more for it, Sydney forgot about the safe house for the moment.
"Lorrie, what's wrong?" Sydney asked in concern, rushing to close the door before anyone witnessed Lorrie's state; teachers getting emotionally involved with students was frowned upon.
"My dad was furious!" Lorrie sobbed, losing her last shred of control. "When I woke up, he was still there! He's never home that late. He said something about making sure I wasn't skipping school. He just glared at me, and I feel so guilty about lying to him last night. I think he plans on being home today when I get there, too. Sydney, I just can't take much more of him looking at me like that! The only time I've ever seen him look like that is when he was looking at pictures of my mother!" Lorrie moaned.
Sydney hugged her comfortingly and said gently but firmly, once she'd regained her power of thought, "Stop, Lorrie. I know this is hard, but it's hard on everyone, even Agent Vaughn. Now calm down, I need to talk to you."
It took Lorrie several minutes to become coherent, and when she had they only had a few minutes before the bell.
"What's going on now?" Lorrie asked, wiping at her eyes.
"Lorrie, Michael thinks it might be better, if our mother shows up, to get us into a safe house. And…" Sydney paused, trying to find the right words. "He's considering, if that happens, taking your father into protective custody. He's been poking around in things Irina Derevko wants left alone, and he could be in more trouble than either of us."
Lorrie just nodded.
"When you get home, pack a bag with some clothes and stuff but keep it hidden. If you have to get away, bring it. Don't…"
"Don't let Dad see me packing," Lorrie finished. "He'd just think I was running away," she said, shrugging.
Sydney opened her mouth to say something, but the bell rang. She smiled encouragingly instead.
"Scat," she said, half-joking but gentle. "I'll see you later. You'll be okay?"
Lorrie shrugged and nodded. Not too reassuring, Sydney thought.
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Sydney's day was mostly a blur. She taught a new lesson, but by the end of the day she couldn't remember most of it. At lunch, Sydney noticed that Lorrie had planted herself among a group of talkative girls, the kind that carry on their own conversations and never notice if someone else doesn't talk. Sydney caught her eye once, but she quickly looked away.
When Sydney walked out of the school building just before four o'clock, she had a feeling she was being watched. She looked carefully as she slipped into her car.
"You're losing it," she told herself as she sat there, willing her pulse to return to normal.
--------------------6 hours earlier--------------------
"Ma'am, I think there may be a problem."
"You're just figuring that out?" the woman snapped, never taking her eyes off her computer screen; hacking into CIA files required concentration. "I told you I wanted up-to-date information! The fact that they've identified my Lorrie crossed echelon hours ago!"
"Yes, ma'am, I know. I've been checking into some things, and that could be the least of your worries," the twenty-something Russian man said fearfully.
"Well, what is it?" Derevko snapped impatiently.
"The guy they've got watching Hecht's house, his name is Michael Vaughn." He waited to see f that meant anything to her; her head snapped around.
"Michael Vaughn? Damn. He's not going to let me anywhere near my girls."
She turned back to her computer, obviously dismissing him. He took a step backward, but she spoke again. "Don't let me see you again."
"E-Excuse me?"
"Don't let me see you again. See Mr. Sark. He'll deal with you accordingly.
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So what do you think of this chapter? Anyway, here's that very important poll for ya. I'd appreciate it if everyone who reads this story would vote. The results of this will determine which direction I head in, and I have very interesting scenarios for each possible result…
1. Who do you want to die at the end of the story out of Michael, Danny, Taylor, or Jack?
2. Who should kill him?
3. Should the story have a happy ending with all loose ends tied up nicely, a tragic ending, or one with lots of loose strings hanging everywhere (leaving lots of possibilities for a sequel)?
Please vote, and reviews on the actual literary aspects of this chapter are greatly appreciated!
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE VOTE! DON'T MAKE ME CHOSE AN ENDING ALL ON MY OWN! THERE ARE SO MANY POSSIBILITIES!
(Hey, did you know this was 5 pages long as a word document in 10-point font? I didn't realize it was so long!)