Vaughn had never known the weather to be so cold but that what you got in a
climate that you weren't used to and a hotel that was dodgier than most of
the ones in the US, but Vaughn didn't care.
~*
"Dad, I need ice cream." Sarah said moving oddly down the hall of the home she shared with her father. Many things had changed in her life in the past few months. Her and her father were getting along much better than they had before. She didn't know if it was because she was pregnant or if her leaving school did it, but it was better.
"Ice cream you say?" Vaughn questioned, getting up out of his chair and opening the freezer door. "We've got. just about all the thirty-one flavors courtesy of our good friends at Baskin Robins. Pick one, or would you like all thirty?"
"I thought you said thirty-one?" Sarah laughed, rolling into view of her father. She went to speak again but was cut off by Vaughn.
"Don't even think about complaining. You got yourself into this mess, it's your own fault. I was supportive and I excepted it." Vaughn said, waving his finger at her. It was a speech that she managed to receive every couple of days.
Sarah rolled her eyes, put her hand on her hip and begun to tap her foot on the floor, "I know, I know. I made some changes too. I got rid of the belly button ring and the tongue ring, I left school, I wear colors."
"I know sweetie," he said and wrapped his arms around her, "you look just like your mother did when she was seven and a half months pregnant, just a little bit younger and the nose ring but that's just yuck."
"You always talk about her." Sarah whispered quietly. She didn't like being compared to her all the time. When Vaughn didn't answer her she continued to speak. "Dad, how did mom die? I know that you don't like to talk about it but. I think that I'm old enough to handle it." She looked at him with a pleading face.
Vaughn scratched his head and took a seat at the table. Sarah sat uncomfortably in the chair next to him and listened to him intently. "I'm going to tell you the truth. I think that you can handle it too but I also think that I owe it to you. You mother was an agent for the CIA. She had a mission, something went wrong and in the process of trying to get away she was shot and killed. I'll never forget what she said before she left."
Sarah could hardly believe what she was hearing. Her mother, the amazing Sydney Bristow, was shot. Sarah took a few deep breaths, "What did she say?" She asked quietly, trying not to tear up.
"She said that she was coming back, she promised that she was going to be here to watch you grow up. She." He stopped, images of Sydney flashed through his head. When she took a week off work to nurse him when he was sick, when she first kissed him, when she sat at the big table in the CIA building with pink hair furiously scribbling away at her statement. "She would never forget."
A look of worry crossed Sarah's face. Her father only ever talked about the mother she believed in, the mother that Sarah believed existed once upon a time. Now she was a bigger stranger than ever before. "My mother was an agent for the CIA?" Sarah almost sounded bitter, "And you kept it from me my whole life." She wanted to run, she wanted to get out of the house, she wanted the truth, and she had it. She stood and waddled out of the room.
Vaughn didn't try to stop her, he knew that there was nothing he could do to comfort her. She acted much like Sydney did when she first found out the truth about her mother. Vaughn knew that Irina was still out there some where. Maybe justice was finally done, maybe Irina was finally claimed by those who hated her and despised her as much as he himself did.
~*
Dear Jack Michael Jason Henry Vaughn Junior was born on the first of September. He was seven pound four ounces. Both mother and son are doing well. If you're not to busy, we'd love for you to come and spend Thanks Giving with us this year. Your great grand son was just born and we haven't seen you for quite a while, it would be nice to catch up. Please consider it, Sarah hasn't seen you in about ten years. It's her birthday soon as well, come and celebrate with us. Hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely Michael
"Another letter to grand-dad?" Sarah questioned looking over his shoulder as he sealed the envelope.
"We can only keep trying." He sighed and placed a stamp on it. He added it to the other pile of letters that needed to be sent to friends and family, bundled them all up and headed for the door. "Care to join me in a walk down the street?" He asked an amused Sarah.
"Well don't mind if I do." She said, pulling Michael Junior into her arms and following her father out the front door and down the street.
~*
Vaughn watched as Sarah looked out the window, Michael Junior sat awkwardly on her knee making baby noises.
"It doesn't matter how long you wait, it hasn't snowed in LA for years and it probably won't start now." Vaughn said plainly, smoothed her hair away from her face and gently kissed her head.
"Well that's good because I gave up waiting for it to snow here years ago." She met Vaughn's tone, but didn't take her eyes off the front walk. "Do you need a hand at all?"
"No thanks. My mother has handled everything, the soup, the vegetables, the turkey, everything!" When he received no answer from his little bit of light humor, he continued, "Are you waiting for him?" Vaughn asked. He gained her gaze and again he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"No. maybe." Was all she said before looking back to the front walk, "Why won't he come and see me? I'm his daughter's daughter. Why won't he come?"
"I gave up on that question years ago. I only call the man and write and fax and e-mail for your benefit but he doesn't seem to care. In some ways, I think it hurts him. The world he fought to keep right, took his daughter away when he was just getting to know her again, really know her." Vaughn tried to explain Jack to his daughter but it was an effortful attempt that just wasn't possible. "He loves you, you know that right?"
Sarah sighed, yeah she knew that, but she didn't want to believe it. "Yes, I know."
"Good. Actually you can set the table." He said smiling and taking Michael Junior from her arms.
"No sweetie, there's nothing for you to do." She said mimicking him as she walked into the kitchen.
Vaughn, Sarah and Vaughn's mother, who Vaughn claimed to be invincible, sat down to their Thanks Giving meal, when there was a small knock on the door. Vaughn abandoned his seat to answer it.
He swung the door open and was faced with an old, weathered Jack. First Vaughn just stood astonished and stared at him.
"Are you going to invite me in or not?" Jack asked, almost still as bitter as he had become after the death of Sydney.
"Ah, yeah sorry." Vaughn said moving aside and letting him into the warmth. "We didn't think that you would be coming. After we didn't get a reply." Vaughn realized that he was babbling and quickly stopped himself.
"Yes," Jack had that tone that Vaughn hated, "When I said that I never wanted to speak to you again, I meant it. Never the less, Sarah is my granddaughter and Sydney would have wanted me to be around a bit." Jack pushed past him to get reacquainted with his granddaughter and Vaughn's mother, leaving a shocked Vaughn gaping at the front entrance.
Sarah nearly fell off her chair when Jack walked into the living room. "Granddad," she yelled abandoning her chair and running to hug him. "Oh my God. How are you? Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?" Questions flooded her head as she fussed over the old man.
Jack accepted the hug and the seat and the drink. Every time went to answer another question was thrown his way. Jack put his finger to Sarah's mouth, she stopped talking and just smiled at him. "I am very well my dear, where's my little baby?"
A big smile spread across Sarah's face as she turned and gathered up Michael Junior from his bouncer on the floor and handed him to Jack.
"Wow, aren't you a fine young man? Yes you are, yes you are." Jack gooed at the baby whilst Sarah, Vaughn and Mrs. Vaughn stared in awe. "What?"
"The meal was lovely, thank you grandma," Sarah said politely to Mrs. Vaughn as she helped scoop up the dishes and take them into the kitchen.
Vaughn dreaded being left alone with Jack. Vaughn knew that with the way jack was looking at him that he was live bait. "Is something the matter?" He asked.
"How the hell did you manage to let your daughter, your only daughter go off and get pregnant? She's ruined her life." Jack said as calmly as he could muster.
"Oh so this is my fault. In case you forgot, the last seventeen years haven't been the greatest for me either, my wife died." Vaughn shot back at him.
"Don't you know that when you have a child, you don't matter anymore. Sarah was your child and you failed at being a good father to her." Jack had raised his voice at an attempt at getting his point across.
"You weren't the best father either!" Vaughn yelled back, "You walked out on Sydney at the same time her mother did. When she died you left and Sydney was all alone."
"I know that I wasn't the best father but Sydney wasn't pregnant at sixteen." Jack was trying to build a case against Vaughn.
"No but Sydney was hurt, her whole life she carried that hurt with her. I know I was there when she cried, when she found out about her mother, when her friends died, I was there. I love Sarah and I wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt her, she made this decision, I let her decide what she wanted to do, she was old enough and I think she made a good one." Vaughn felt that his speech had penetrated the thick walls that were built up around Jack.
"And how is this all being paid for?" Jack questioned smartly.
"I work," Vaughn said slightly confused.
"Where," Jack kept asking questions.
"The CIA." Vaughn responded in a 'you already knew that' tone.
"How much does she know?" Jack asked trying to keep himself from being heard by anyone else in the house.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Vaughn asked looking rather confused.
"How much does she know about her mother? How much does she know about you? What does she know about anything?" Jack questioned quickly and quietly.
"I fail to see how any of this is revenant." Vaughn snapped back at him.
"Would you just tell me?" Jack was about two seconds from losing all of his temper.
"There are no secrets in this house." Vaughn stated, "If Sarah wants to know I'm not going to keep it from her."
"So what you're saying is that she knows that you work for the CIA, and she knows that her mother was shot whilst cruising around Paris in a Mercedes Benz?" Jack questioned being a smart-ass.
"No, well, yes, she knows that Sydney was shot and killed. That's all she knows, promise." Vaughn said as if he were trying to explain a schoolyard prank to a principle.
"Well then, let's stick to that story and keep the truth between the two of us." Jack said moving towards his coat and pulling out a folded yellow envelope.
"What do you mean, truth?" Vaughn asked following him, "My wife's dead and nothing in your little envelope is gonna change that."
"Maybe it will." Jack said handing Vaughn a photo that he had removed from the envelope. "Isn't that your wife there with those young children selling lemonade?"
Vaughn stared at the photo. It looked like Sydney, a young Sydney. Much different to how he imagined her. "This could have been taken years ago."
"It was taken years ago, about ten, six and a half years after she died!" Jack said handing him more photos of Sydney playing with small children, dressed in a navy blue suit, having a picnic.
"No, my wife is dead, I buried her." Vaughn said tossing the photos at Jack and sitting down on the floor.
"You buried someone, someone who is not this girl." Jack said crouching in front of Vaughn and putting the photo right in his face. "This girls name is Sydney Bucannon, ironic? It goes on. She works for K Directorate, they very people who supposedly killed Sydney. Also if you do a full blood work up, you will find that this girl has the same blood type, the same DNA and the same medical history. Sydney's alive."
"You can't just come in here and tell me that what I've believed for the last seventeen years is wrong, you can't do that!" Vaughn was yelling loud enough to draw his daughter out of the kitchen.
"Dad what's wrong?" Sarah asked rushing to his side and wrapping her arms around him.
Vaughn was sobbing now, he couldn't string a single sentence together.
"What happened?" Sarah looked to Jack for an answer, "What the hell happened?" She screamed at Jack. When he didn't answer she looked back to her father. "Daddy, are you okay? What happened?"
Vaughn continued to sob he hoped that Sarah hadn't seen the photos of Sydney. He didn't know what to tell her yet. He didn't even know what to think himself. He was so confused.
"Nothing darling." Jack said peeling Sarah off Vaughn, "Can you please get me a cup of coffee?"
"Is dad going to be alright?" Sarah asked without taking her eyes off Vaughn.
"I'll take care of him." Jack said giving Sarah a gentle nudge in the back to get her going. He waited until Sarah was safely out of the room, before he grabbed a hold of Vaughn's arm and pulled him into a chair.
Vaughn thought Jack was still pretty strong for a man who had long since retired. "Wh-W-Why?" Vaughn managed to sob.
"What? Do you want me to give you an explanation?" Jack said losing his temper again, "I don't know. My daughter, who's meant to be dead, has been living in Russia with a bunch of psycho killers. How's that?"
"How do you know this?" Vaughn managed to get out between sobs.
"I have connections in Russia. I have connections tucked away in the strangest places." Jack started, "He met Sydney once, briefly. This girl, went to him for some work and he thought he recognized her, took some photos and sent them to me."
"When?" Vaughn asked, when he didn't get an answer Vaughn resulted to yelling, "When? Ten years ago? Is that when you got them? Ten years ago?"
"I was going to tell you, but I just couldn't." Jack said.
"Ten years." Vaughn sighed, "Ten years ago was the last time we heard from you. You found out about this and you didn't contact us or ever reply to letter or phone calls."
"I did it for you and Sarah." Jack started.
"You've never done anything for me in your life. You hated me right from the beginning. Right from when you threw me against the wall and threatened me." Vaughn cut him off and started yelling again.
"I knew that it would hurt you even more then than it would now. So I didn't get in touch. When I got your letter, I thought that in maybe almost time." Jack tried to explain.
"Good thought," Vaughn said sarcastically, "'An extra ten years should be enough.'"
"I've been trying to find her, and bring her back. I've been wandering around Russia at regular intervals for the last ten years. I only came into contact with her twice. They move her a lot. Both times she told me something different. I think that they've done something to make her remember select things. She's not how she used to be."
"I would have guessed as much." Vaughn said quietly.
"It wasn't my intention to bring this on you like this but I didn't really see any other way." Jack said laying a hand on his shoulder.
~*
"Dad, I wish you'd tell me where you're going." Sarah said putting a couple of shirts into an open suitcase laying on the double bed.
"All you have to know is that I'll be back in a couple of days. Can you look after the house while I'm gone?" Vaughn asked coming out of the bathroom with a towel and his toothbrush.
"Yep." Sarah said, surprised that her dad was going to let her handle the house whilst he was gone.
"You know Grandma can come and stay with you if you get lonely, you know my mobile number and no parties while I gone." Vaughn said closing the suitcase and starting for the door.
"Yes dad I know I know I know." Sarah said following him, "Stay safe."
"I will, promise." Secretly Vaughn hoped it wouldn't become another broken promise. He hugged her. "I love you."
"I love you too dad." Sarah buried her face into his chest. She had a feeling that he wasn't just heading off for a nice vacation. "I'll miss you."
"I'll be back." He kissed her on the head and walked out the door.
"I hope so." She whispered to herself after the door closed.
~*
Vaughn exited the terminal into the chilly air and hailed a cab. A cab pulled over and he jumped in and said to the cabby, "Isn't Russia nice this time of year.
~*
"Dad, I need ice cream." Sarah said moving oddly down the hall of the home she shared with her father. Many things had changed in her life in the past few months. Her and her father were getting along much better than they had before. She didn't know if it was because she was pregnant or if her leaving school did it, but it was better.
"Ice cream you say?" Vaughn questioned, getting up out of his chair and opening the freezer door. "We've got. just about all the thirty-one flavors courtesy of our good friends at Baskin Robins. Pick one, or would you like all thirty?"
"I thought you said thirty-one?" Sarah laughed, rolling into view of her father. She went to speak again but was cut off by Vaughn.
"Don't even think about complaining. You got yourself into this mess, it's your own fault. I was supportive and I excepted it." Vaughn said, waving his finger at her. It was a speech that she managed to receive every couple of days.
Sarah rolled her eyes, put her hand on her hip and begun to tap her foot on the floor, "I know, I know. I made some changes too. I got rid of the belly button ring and the tongue ring, I left school, I wear colors."
"I know sweetie," he said and wrapped his arms around her, "you look just like your mother did when she was seven and a half months pregnant, just a little bit younger and the nose ring but that's just yuck."
"You always talk about her." Sarah whispered quietly. She didn't like being compared to her all the time. When Vaughn didn't answer her she continued to speak. "Dad, how did mom die? I know that you don't like to talk about it but. I think that I'm old enough to handle it." She looked at him with a pleading face.
Vaughn scratched his head and took a seat at the table. Sarah sat uncomfortably in the chair next to him and listened to him intently. "I'm going to tell you the truth. I think that you can handle it too but I also think that I owe it to you. You mother was an agent for the CIA. She had a mission, something went wrong and in the process of trying to get away she was shot and killed. I'll never forget what she said before she left."
Sarah could hardly believe what she was hearing. Her mother, the amazing Sydney Bristow, was shot. Sarah took a few deep breaths, "What did she say?" She asked quietly, trying not to tear up.
"She said that she was coming back, she promised that she was going to be here to watch you grow up. She." He stopped, images of Sydney flashed through his head. When she took a week off work to nurse him when he was sick, when she first kissed him, when she sat at the big table in the CIA building with pink hair furiously scribbling away at her statement. "She would never forget."
A look of worry crossed Sarah's face. Her father only ever talked about the mother she believed in, the mother that Sarah believed existed once upon a time. Now she was a bigger stranger than ever before. "My mother was an agent for the CIA?" Sarah almost sounded bitter, "And you kept it from me my whole life." She wanted to run, she wanted to get out of the house, she wanted the truth, and she had it. She stood and waddled out of the room.
Vaughn didn't try to stop her, he knew that there was nothing he could do to comfort her. She acted much like Sydney did when she first found out the truth about her mother. Vaughn knew that Irina was still out there some where. Maybe justice was finally done, maybe Irina was finally claimed by those who hated her and despised her as much as he himself did.
~*
Dear Jack Michael Jason Henry Vaughn Junior was born on the first of September. He was seven pound four ounces. Both mother and son are doing well. If you're not to busy, we'd love for you to come and spend Thanks Giving with us this year. Your great grand son was just born and we haven't seen you for quite a while, it would be nice to catch up. Please consider it, Sarah hasn't seen you in about ten years. It's her birthday soon as well, come and celebrate with us. Hope to hear from you soon. Yours sincerely Michael
"Another letter to grand-dad?" Sarah questioned looking over his shoulder as he sealed the envelope.
"We can only keep trying." He sighed and placed a stamp on it. He added it to the other pile of letters that needed to be sent to friends and family, bundled them all up and headed for the door. "Care to join me in a walk down the street?" He asked an amused Sarah.
"Well don't mind if I do." She said, pulling Michael Junior into her arms and following her father out the front door and down the street.
~*
Vaughn watched as Sarah looked out the window, Michael Junior sat awkwardly on her knee making baby noises.
"It doesn't matter how long you wait, it hasn't snowed in LA for years and it probably won't start now." Vaughn said plainly, smoothed her hair away from her face and gently kissed her head.
"Well that's good because I gave up waiting for it to snow here years ago." She met Vaughn's tone, but didn't take her eyes off the front walk. "Do you need a hand at all?"
"No thanks. My mother has handled everything, the soup, the vegetables, the turkey, everything!" When he received no answer from his little bit of light humor, he continued, "Are you waiting for him?" Vaughn asked. He gained her gaze and again he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
"No. maybe." Was all she said before looking back to the front walk, "Why won't he come and see me? I'm his daughter's daughter. Why won't he come?"
"I gave up on that question years ago. I only call the man and write and fax and e-mail for your benefit but he doesn't seem to care. In some ways, I think it hurts him. The world he fought to keep right, took his daughter away when he was just getting to know her again, really know her." Vaughn tried to explain Jack to his daughter but it was an effortful attempt that just wasn't possible. "He loves you, you know that right?"
Sarah sighed, yeah she knew that, but she didn't want to believe it. "Yes, I know."
"Good. Actually you can set the table." He said smiling and taking Michael Junior from her arms.
"No sweetie, there's nothing for you to do." She said mimicking him as she walked into the kitchen.
Vaughn, Sarah and Vaughn's mother, who Vaughn claimed to be invincible, sat down to their Thanks Giving meal, when there was a small knock on the door. Vaughn abandoned his seat to answer it.
He swung the door open and was faced with an old, weathered Jack. First Vaughn just stood astonished and stared at him.
"Are you going to invite me in or not?" Jack asked, almost still as bitter as he had become after the death of Sydney.
"Ah, yeah sorry." Vaughn said moving aside and letting him into the warmth. "We didn't think that you would be coming. After we didn't get a reply." Vaughn realized that he was babbling and quickly stopped himself.
"Yes," Jack had that tone that Vaughn hated, "When I said that I never wanted to speak to you again, I meant it. Never the less, Sarah is my granddaughter and Sydney would have wanted me to be around a bit." Jack pushed past him to get reacquainted with his granddaughter and Vaughn's mother, leaving a shocked Vaughn gaping at the front entrance.
Sarah nearly fell off her chair when Jack walked into the living room. "Granddad," she yelled abandoning her chair and running to hug him. "Oh my God. How are you? Have a seat. Can I get you a drink?" Questions flooded her head as she fussed over the old man.
Jack accepted the hug and the seat and the drink. Every time went to answer another question was thrown his way. Jack put his finger to Sarah's mouth, she stopped talking and just smiled at him. "I am very well my dear, where's my little baby?"
A big smile spread across Sarah's face as she turned and gathered up Michael Junior from his bouncer on the floor and handed him to Jack.
"Wow, aren't you a fine young man? Yes you are, yes you are." Jack gooed at the baby whilst Sarah, Vaughn and Mrs. Vaughn stared in awe. "What?"
"The meal was lovely, thank you grandma," Sarah said politely to Mrs. Vaughn as she helped scoop up the dishes and take them into the kitchen.
Vaughn dreaded being left alone with Jack. Vaughn knew that with the way jack was looking at him that he was live bait. "Is something the matter?" He asked.
"How the hell did you manage to let your daughter, your only daughter go off and get pregnant? She's ruined her life." Jack said as calmly as he could muster.
"Oh so this is my fault. In case you forgot, the last seventeen years haven't been the greatest for me either, my wife died." Vaughn shot back at him.
"Don't you know that when you have a child, you don't matter anymore. Sarah was your child and you failed at being a good father to her." Jack had raised his voice at an attempt at getting his point across.
"You weren't the best father either!" Vaughn yelled back, "You walked out on Sydney at the same time her mother did. When she died you left and Sydney was all alone."
"I know that I wasn't the best father but Sydney wasn't pregnant at sixteen." Jack was trying to build a case against Vaughn.
"No but Sydney was hurt, her whole life she carried that hurt with her. I know I was there when she cried, when she found out about her mother, when her friends died, I was there. I love Sarah and I wouldn't let anything or anyone hurt her, she made this decision, I let her decide what she wanted to do, she was old enough and I think she made a good one." Vaughn felt that his speech had penetrated the thick walls that were built up around Jack.
"And how is this all being paid for?" Jack questioned smartly.
"I work," Vaughn said slightly confused.
"Where," Jack kept asking questions.
"The CIA." Vaughn responded in a 'you already knew that' tone.
"How much does she know?" Jack asked trying to keep himself from being heard by anyone else in the house.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Vaughn asked looking rather confused.
"How much does she know about her mother? How much does she know about you? What does she know about anything?" Jack questioned quickly and quietly.
"I fail to see how any of this is revenant." Vaughn snapped back at him.
"Would you just tell me?" Jack was about two seconds from losing all of his temper.
"There are no secrets in this house." Vaughn stated, "If Sarah wants to know I'm not going to keep it from her."
"So what you're saying is that she knows that you work for the CIA, and she knows that her mother was shot whilst cruising around Paris in a Mercedes Benz?" Jack questioned being a smart-ass.
"No, well, yes, she knows that Sydney was shot and killed. That's all she knows, promise." Vaughn said as if he were trying to explain a schoolyard prank to a principle.
"Well then, let's stick to that story and keep the truth between the two of us." Jack said moving towards his coat and pulling out a folded yellow envelope.
"What do you mean, truth?" Vaughn asked following him, "My wife's dead and nothing in your little envelope is gonna change that."
"Maybe it will." Jack said handing Vaughn a photo that he had removed from the envelope. "Isn't that your wife there with those young children selling lemonade?"
Vaughn stared at the photo. It looked like Sydney, a young Sydney. Much different to how he imagined her. "This could have been taken years ago."
"It was taken years ago, about ten, six and a half years after she died!" Jack said handing him more photos of Sydney playing with small children, dressed in a navy blue suit, having a picnic.
"No, my wife is dead, I buried her." Vaughn said tossing the photos at Jack and sitting down on the floor.
"You buried someone, someone who is not this girl." Jack said crouching in front of Vaughn and putting the photo right in his face. "This girls name is Sydney Bucannon, ironic? It goes on. She works for K Directorate, they very people who supposedly killed Sydney. Also if you do a full blood work up, you will find that this girl has the same blood type, the same DNA and the same medical history. Sydney's alive."
"You can't just come in here and tell me that what I've believed for the last seventeen years is wrong, you can't do that!" Vaughn was yelling loud enough to draw his daughter out of the kitchen.
"Dad what's wrong?" Sarah asked rushing to his side and wrapping her arms around him.
Vaughn was sobbing now, he couldn't string a single sentence together.
"What happened?" Sarah looked to Jack for an answer, "What the hell happened?" She screamed at Jack. When he didn't answer she looked back to her father. "Daddy, are you okay? What happened?"
Vaughn continued to sob he hoped that Sarah hadn't seen the photos of Sydney. He didn't know what to tell her yet. He didn't even know what to think himself. He was so confused.
"Nothing darling." Jack said peeling Sarah off Vaughn, "Can you please get me a cup of coffee?"
"Is dad going to be alright?" Sarah asked without taking her eyes off Vaughn.
"I'll take care of him." Jack said giving Sarah a gentle nudge in the back to get her going. He waited until Sarah was safely out of the room, before he grabbed a hold of Vaughn's arm and pulled him into a chair.
Vaughn thought Jack was still pretty strong for a man who had long since retired. "Wh-W-Why?" Vaughn managed to sob.
"What? Do you want me to give you an explanation?" Jack said losing his temper again, "I don't know. My daughter, who's meant to be dead, has been living in Russia with a bunch of psycho killers. How's that?"
"How do you know this?" Vaughn managed to get out between sobs.
"I have connections in Russia. I have connections tucked away in the strangest places." Jack started, "He met Sydney once, briefly. This girl, went to him for some work and he thought he recognized her, took some photos and sent them to me."
"When?" Vaughn asked, when he didn't get an answer Vaughn resulted to yelling, "When? Ten years ago? Is that when you got them? Ten years ago?"
"I was going to tell you, but I just couldn't." Jack said.
"Ten years." Vaughn sighed, "Ten years ago was the last time we heard from you. You found out about this and you didn't contact us or ever reply to letter or phone calls."
"I did it for you and Sarah." Jack started.
"You've never done anything for me in your life. You hated me right from the beginning. Right from when you threw me against the wall and threatened me." Vaughn cut him off and started yelling again.
"I knew that it would hurt you even more then than it would now. So I didn't get in touch. When I got your letter, I thought that in maybe almost time." Jack tried to explain.
"Good thought," Vaughn said sarcastically, "'An extra ten years should be enough.'"
"I've been trying to find her, and bring her back. I've been wandering around Russia at regular intervals for the last ten years. I only came into contact with her twice. They move her a lot. Both times she told me something different. I think that they've done something to make her remember select things. She's not how she used to be."
"I would have guessed as much." Vaughn said quietly.
"It wasn't my intention to bring this on you like this but I didn't really see any other way." Jack said laying a hand on his shoulder.
~*
"Dad, I wish you'd tell me where you're going." Sarah said putting a couple of shirts into an open suitcase laying on the double bed.
"All you have to know is that I'll be back in a couple of days. Can you look after the house while I'm gone?" Vaughn asked coming out of the bathroom with a towel and his toothbrush.
"Yep." Sarah said, surprised that her dad was going to let her handle the house whilst he was gone.
"You know Grandma can come and stay with you if you get lonely, you know my mobile number and no parties while I gone." Vaughn said closing the suitcase and starting for the door.
"Yes dad I know I know I know." Sarah said following him, "Stay safe."
"I will, promise." Secretly Vaughn hoped it wouldn't become another broken promise. He hugged her. "I love you."
"I love you too dad." Sarah buried her face into his chest. She had a feeling that he wasn't just heading off for a nice vacation. "I'll miss you."
"I'll be back." He kissed her on the head and walked out the door.
"I hope so." She whispered to herself after the door closed.
~*
Vaughn exited the terminal into the chilly air and hailed a cab. A cab pulled over and he jumped in and said to the cabby, "Isn't Russia nice this time of year.
