***********************



Vaughn moved closer to the opening and listened. The words were in Russian, so he couldn't understand them, but he did hear the name "K-Directorate".



Weiss had apparently heard as well, as his eyes widened slightly.



Moments later, the voices grew fainter, as if they were walking away from them.



"Vaughn . . ." Weiss hissed. "You've got to go get help. We can't stay here."



Vaughn knew he was right but wasn't sure what to do. If they stayed here, they would freeze . . . if they weren't found by K-Directorate first. If he left, Weiss would freeze. Before Vaughn could decide anything, the voices returned again.



"You stay here and keep quiet. I'm going to lead them away and double back for you."



Weiss nodded and Vaughn shifted the metal and went outside. The men were just around the corner, so Vaughn took off running. He was spotted almost immediately, judging by the harsh sounding shout, but neither of the men chased him. That was odd. Why was that? He got his answer moments later, when Weiss' gun went off.



Fear does strange things to a person's perceptions. Time and memory become distorted and twisted around. And sometimes the most mundane of things can be brought into the notice of a person's senses. Noises become louder, color become brighter. To Vaughn, the gunshots echoed through his mind, again and again. The snow seemed whiter and brighter than normal and he no longer noticed the chill of the air around him. He was torn. The likelihood was that if they had decided to kill Weiss, then he was already dead. If they hadn't, could he really just leave? But if he didn't then no one would have any idea about what happened to them.



He had to decide. The fact that they hadn't chased him probably meant there was nothing nearby, or at least nothing they don't already own. Either way, they'd be after him momentarily. He looked back. There was really nothing he could do to help Weiss . . . so he had to do what he could to get help. Turning around, he ran away from the area as fast as he could.



***********************



Vaughn ducked into a thin patch of trees. There was no one coming, but his conscience was knawing at him. He couldn't leave Weiss there. What if . . . He spotted something that made his decision for him. Mentally cursing, he turned back and slowly made his way back to the small cave. He had no clue what he was going to do, or how in the world he'd accomplish it.



He was able to get close enough to see that there were only two of them. Of course, one of them was nearly as big as three men put together . . . but well . . .



Weiss was nowhere in sight. So, he had to be in the cave, which the two men were sitting in front of. The large man stood and picked up his rifle, as if to scout the area, probably looking for Vaughn.



Now was his only chance. He could feel his stomach clench. He'd been behind that desk too long . . . Raising his arms in the classic surrender pose, he started walking slowly toward the remaining man. The man immediately leapt to his feet, aiming his rifle at Vaughn's chest and shouting something in Russian.



Vaughn stopped when he got within a few feet of the man, staring at him suspiciously. When the man's posture relaxed slightly, realizing that he was in charge, Vaughn said the only Russian word he knew. Suffice to say, it wasn't the kind of word that was slipped into his everyday conversation in English. Anger flashed over the man's face and he raised the butt of his rifle as if to hit Vaughn, who ducked, falling backwards. He then kicked his foot out, sweeping the man's feet out from under him. The man fell backwards, hitting his head hard on the ground. Vaughn sprang to his feet to find his adversary was out cold.



He rushed into the cave to find that Weiss was very much alive. His face was bruised, but other than that, he looked fine. "You okay?"



Weiss nodded, "Yeah." He paused, "He may be knocked out man, but how are we going to get anywhere . . . And you do know that there's another one of them out there somewhere?"



"Yeah," Vaughn nodded, "Saw him earlier. There's a thin patch of trees up ahead and some small shelter is inside it." He added.



"They'll find us . . ." Weiss said.



Vaughn shrugged, "We risk that whether we go there or stay out here. Out in the snow we're more likely to freeze, however."



"True," Weiss nodded, "Did you get his rifle?"



"What do you take me for? A junior officer?" Vaughn asked.



"Nope. Just a senior officer with a big head."



***********************



The small shelter was something of a cross between a lean-to and a cabin. It was extremely small. There wasn't enough room for either to stand up inside it, but it made the cold more bearable. At least they wouldn't freeze to death . . . or so Vaughn hoped.



Weiss shook his head. "Hey, Vaughn, thanks for coming back for me."



"No problem." Vaughn replied, not sure what else to say.



"I just have one question."



"What?" Vaughn asked.



"What exactly did you say to that guy?"



"Let's just say it was a colorful metaphor and leave it at that." Vaughn replied.



Weiss smirked.



"Hey, I got you out didn't I?" Vaughn asked.



"My hero . . ." Weiss said mockingly in a high pitched tone.



"Oh shut up!" moaned Vaughn. They sat in silence for a moment, then Vaughn asked, "Why did you join the CIA anyway?"



Weiss shrugged, "I always wanted to . . . at first the appeal came from the 'action' that I thought had to be associated with the job. After I realized what the job really was, well, just the idea of doing good for my country and all that . . . My parents didn't want me to join, so I got a degree in Economics and then joined." He shrugged again. "You joined because of your father, didn't you?"



"Yeah," Vaughn said, "I always had this picture of him as someone who, you know, died in the line of duty. I never realized that he only died because a KGB agent got a list of some of our agents."



"He's still a hero you know."



"But it's just so stupid." Vaughn said.



"I bet it hurts knowing that the KGB agent was Bristow's mom."



"I don't blame Sydney for what happened." Vaughn objected.



"That's not what I asked." Weiss said calmly, "It hurts, doesn't it?"



"It also hurts that everyone seems to think I can't handle it." he retorted. "And everyone suddenly finds my life as one of the most interesting topics of discussion. Do you know how many comments and jokes I've heard about it?"



"I can imagine. I've heard most of them myself. It really sucks."



"I think you scared the crap out of Blackie though, when you nearly punched him. He stopped me in the hall later and asked me if you were on something. Also asked if I'd back him up on some sort of action against you. I told him that what I saw happen was that you tripped and nearly hit him. And that was my story and I was sticking to it. I gather no one will support him. The other agents there are pretty much newbies and they like you better. He's a jerk anyway."



Vaughn laughed. "Bet that made him happy."



"I've never seen him so ticked off." Weiss replied. "He's out to get you, Vaughn. He doesn't like the fact that you were handed a promotion so early and he's determined to take you down."



The conversation slowed and eventually both dozed off. They were woken the next morning by the sound of a helicopter landing somewhere nearby.



***********************



Los Angeles



Devlin smiled at Vaughn, "You did a good job. Agent Weiss told us the whole story, and you shouldn't feel guilty because he looked outside and unintentionally blew the cover. Besides, for all we know, they picked up the radio signals. We thought we detected a leak from here . . ." Devlin misread Vaughn's look of confusion and took it for guilt, "You shouldn't feel badly about this. You did a great thing - keeping both of you alive. Although, given what happened I can understand if you'd like us to replace Agent Weiss . . . If you want, I can tell him it was my decision."



Vaughn shook his head, "Sir, if it's all right, I'd like to keep him on the case."



Devlin nodded, "All right then. Now, why don't you take a week off?"



Vaughn nodded again, "Thank you, sir." He then turned to enter Weiss' hospital room. "What did you do?" he hissed.



Weiss grinned, "I told them that I opened the door. For pete's sake Vaughn, you know they found us some other way."



"But they got a look at who we were because of me." Vaughn said, "They confirmed us as their target."



"Because of me." corrected Weiss. "And don't you dare tell them otherwise and make me look like a first class liar."



"How are you doing?" Vaughn's expression turned to one of concern.



"K-Directorate couldn't really do too much, ya know. They mainly had me to try and get you." Weiss sighed. "I can move my legs. Doctors say I should be able to return to my normal 'range of motion' soon."



"And what exactly is normal?" Vaughn snorted. He pulled out his cell phone as it rang. After listening to the call, he hung up and nodded at Weiss, "I've got to go . . ."



"Sydney." guessed Weiss, "Tell her I said hi."



***********************



Vaughn waited in the warehouse. Sydney had called, needing to meet him, so he'd come here. He started pacing. She had called over an hour ago.



"Sorry I'm late." she said, running inside. She looked up at him, "How are you and Agent Weiss doing?"



"I'm fine. Weiss is going to be okay too."



"Good. I was worried when no one was on the other end."



"Yeah, we lost the code and I bet you were worried about your cover being blown. Anyway, what's up?"



"Actually I was worried about you." Sydney said, then adding, "And Agent Weiss."



Vaughn smiled, "Thanks."



She held out a photograph, "Are these the men who attacked you?"



"Oh yeah, that's them. Where'd you get this?"



"They're contacts who play both sides. They work for SD-6 AND K-Directorate. The only reason no one has killed them yet is their uncanny ability to get what each organization wants. You and Weiss weren't attacked by K-Directorate."



"That's why they never found us . . ." Vaughn mused.



Sydney nodded far too seriously. "There's more. They did SD-6 a huge favor a few weeks back and now they're calling in the favor."



"Which is?"



"They want the two people who infiltrated their base and disrupted their operations dead."



"Meaning me and Weiss?"



Sydney nodded, "They actually have already identified Weiss. They're planning to take him out when he returns home."



Vaughn immediately opened his cell phone, but Sydney grabbed his arm, "My father is taking care of it. He'll be safe."



"Okay."



"They haven't identified you yet. But that's what I've been assigned to do . . . to track down and kill you."



***********************