*Flashback*
Sydney lay in the very small blow up pool trying to cool herself. "I think I may need some ice in this thing." She said laughing and rubbing her swollen belly where the baby fussed about.
"Then maybe you'll freeze to death!" Vaughn exclaimed dramatically, making Sydney laugh. He handed her a drink and loosened his tie as he sat by the pool. "I have now taken leave so I can stay at home with you until the baby is born.
"I love you." She said moving awkwardly to kiss him. "How was work today?"
"Yep heaps of fun," he laughed, "well actually, it was pretty boring until Weiss had this mini mental break down. He turned the air conditioner and fans on full ball and started to rip up the paper on people's desks and letting it fly around the room. I've never laughed so hard in my entire life."
"Is he okay now?" Sydney asked sounding quiet worried but still smiling.
"Yes, he's fine. I don't know if his job is but he's fine, plus I think he did it as a joke." Vaughn started. "Although some of those papers alone could get him fired."
"That's not funny!" Sydney splashed him.
"Hey." He jumped into the pool and they started to splash each other a lot.
"Vaughn, Vaughn!" Sydney screamed stopping him, he looked at her blankly. "That suit is dry clean only!"
"Oops!" He said sarcastically and continued to splash her.
*End Flashback*
~*
Vaughn thought that starting to look for Sydney in the capital of Russia was as good as any. He also knew that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. For the first two days of his trip he walked around aimlessly, with a photo that Jack had left with him, asking people if they'd seen this girl.
He was about to give up and go home to LA and go back to the life he had believed for the last seventeen years but something just didn't want to leave her here with these people.
Vaughn decided that he would hang around the K Directorate base for a few hours. He hoped that she would come to work or leave the office or something.
He had been sitting on the bench outside for about three hours when someone, who must have thought he was homeless handed him a sandwich. Vaughn looked at the sandwich and then saw the note that came with it. It read: 'I know who you are, follow me.'
Vaughn followed him being very careful of who was around him and where he was going. He followed the guy who gave him the letter into a small café and sat at the table behind him.
The man was reading a newspaper, "I know what you want." He said casually.
"What do I want than?" Vaughn asked as he picked up the menu to look it over. He had decided that he was feeling a bit hungry and started to wish that he didn't dump the sandwich.
"You want Sydney Bucannon." He whispered, "I can tell you that she is on a mission and won't be back for a couple of days."
"Who are you?" Vaughn asked as he saw the waiter approach the table.
"Can I help you sir?" The wait asked in Russian.
"I'll have a toasted cheese sandwich," Vaughn replied in perfect Russian.
"Any drinks?" The waiter asked again in Russian.
"Just a coffee." Vaughn answered.
The waiter moved on to the next table.
"Jack told me to expect you around somewhere." He continued.
"Jack told you?" Vaughn asked, "You're a double aren't you?"
"Yes, but that's all you're to know." He said turning the page of his newspaper.
"Is it true that they move her around between bases?" Vaughn asked smiling as a young couple walked past his table.
"Not like that. It's just that sometimes she's needed in other parts of Russia and they send her off to work there. She has different aliases for each base and has been trained to use them wherever she is. She's a very intelligent girl." He said folding up his paper.
"And who is she here?" Vaughn asked.
"She's just Sydney Bucannon, mother of two, her husband was killed in a war that never happened and she was in a car crash and lost her memory." He said picking up a piece of bread that a waiter sat on his table.
"Are they her children?" Vaughn asked clearly hurt that she had children.
"God no!" He exclaimed. "They're just a couple of orphans that K Directorate picked up and planted with her."
"Why are they doing this?" Vaughn kept the questions coming hard and fast.
"Hey, as far as she knows this has been her life, she doesn't know that she is an American, she doesn't remember her daughter, she doesn't remember you." He answered every question flawlessly.
Vaughn was hurt, he just wanted to cry. "Where does she live?"
"I can't tell you that." He said seriously. "If they see anyone sneaking around, they kill you on sight."
"They guard her house?" Vaughn asked shocked.
"Yes, there are many who want her dead." He replied, "Even people in the same organization, ever heard of Anna Esponosa?"
"Yes." Vaughn answered.
"She knew Sydney when she worked of SD6." He started.
"I know!" Vaughn said bitterly. Remembering that he blamed Anna for Sydney's death.
"Well," He continued, "she tried an assassinate Sydney about five years ago. They threw her into a jail for three months of questioning and then released her. She never went near Sydney again."
"So they consider her and asset?" Vaughn asked feeling stupidly proud of his wife.
"Hell yes!" he said as if to say 'der', "If anything happened to her they'd, go after the cause and everyone and everything the cause knew."
"Why..?" Vaughn stopped talking and smiled when the waiter came over and put his meal on the table and left again. "Did you order?"
"I come here a lot, they know exactly what I have." He replied.
"I'm supposed to be going home to the States tomorrow, if I give you my number will you call me and tell me when she gets back and what she's doing next?" Vaughn asked trying as hard as possible not to sound desperate.
"Yes, I can certainly do that." He replied.
As the waiter passed Vaughn's table, Vaughn stopped him, "Excuse me," he said in Russian again, "May I please use your pen?"
"Yes," the waiter said handing him the pen.
Vaughn quickly scribbled his number on a paper napkin and handed the pen back to the waiter who then walked off. He screwed up the napkin and dropped it on the floor next to he guy's chair.
He bent down and picked it up. "Sure thing." He said reading the number then putting the napkin into his pocket.
"I want to follow her to her next mission." Vaughn said with determination.
"That may not be a good idea but I'll ring you and tell you where she's going anyway," he said, "Don't blame me if you get dead." The he called to the waiter, "Marcus can you pack that to go. I'll see you later."
"Bye" Vaughn said putting a mouthful of toasted cheese sandwich into his mouth, as the guy got up and went over to pick up his food and left.
~*
Vaughn didn't sleep that night. He could only see Sydney fighting and stealing for his enemy, for the people who were once her enemy.
He got up and got a drink. He looked at the clock: four am. It was about four pm in LA and with any luck, Sarah would be at home and keep him company for a little while.
He reached for the diseased hotel phone that he'd pay a fortune for when he checked out and dialed home.
*(phone conversation)*
"Hello," Sarah's voice answered.
"Sarah," Vaughn whispered into the phone, "What are you doing sweetie?"
"Dad?" Sarah asked, "Me? I'm not doing much. I was just about to give Jr. a bath. What are you doing?"
"Nothing, just trying to get some sleep." He replied.
"What time is it?" she asked, "Where are you exactly?"
"I'm in Russia and it's four am." Vaughn stated.
"What are you doing in Russia?" She asked quiet shocked.
"Visiting some friends." Vaughn lied, "I wanted you to come but decided that with Jr. it would probably be best for you to stay at home with him. They say hi by the way."
"Daddy why are you having trouble sleeping?" Sarah showed deep worry for her father.
"I think it's because I fly home tomorrow and I'm worried about the flight and if every thing will be okay with the airline and the luggage and the shuttle home." he stopped when Sarah cut him off.
"Why don't I call nana and we'll come and pick you up and you that will be one less thing that you have to worry about." Sarah said as if to solve all of his problems.
"Thank you honey that would be very nice of you." Vaughn replied.
"Daddy, I want you to stay safe." Sarah laid down the instructions. "I wasn't old enough to feel the loss of my mother but I felt her absence. If I were to loose you I would feel loss, absence, pain, everything. Promise me you'll stay safe."
"I promise." Vaughn said, he felt pain himself, knowing that his wife was alive somewhere, somewhere that wasn't with him. "Sweetie I better go okay?"
"That's okay daddy. I'll see you at the airport." She replied rather chirpy.
"Thanks. I love you." He whispered.
"Love you too Daddy." Sarah said.
"Bye." Vaughn said and then hung up the phone. He sighed to himself and lay back in bed. She sounded so much like her mother. He loved that about her. He slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
~*
Vaughn knew that something would go wrong, he could feel it.
He climbed out of bed, running late, grabbed his bags, paid the bill and jumped into a cab. He managed to make a note that Russians couldn't drive just before the cab he was in was hit by a bus.
~*
Vaughn didn't know what hit him but he knew that whatever it was it hit him hard. He was awake and alert for someone who had been in a coma for three days.
"What happened?" Vaughn asked the first person that entered his room.
The nurse turned and picked up the file that hung at the end of his bed. "You were hit by a bus."
"I was what? Where am I?" Vaughn started to panic.
"Stay calm," the nurse said pinning him to the bed, "You're in the American embassy. Do you know what country you're in?"
"Russia." Vaughn said in a 'what do you think I'm completely stupid?' tone.
"Okay," the nurse said letting go of him after he had stopped thrashing around. "You'll be flown home tomorrow, you should be well enough then and you'll be placed in a hospital for a few days observation. Oh and we called you daughter. She would have come but we told her that you'd be home soon and she could see you then. You're very luck Mr. Vaughn."
~*
Vaughn hated hospitals. Every one, no matter where you were in the world, they all thought with their asses instead of their heads and treated you like a four-year-old.
"Hey daddy." Sarah said entering the room with Vaughn's mother in tow and Michael Jr. in a pouch on her front. "What are you doing to yourself?"
"Oh, you know a bit of this and a bit of that. I feel fine, maybe you could use your charm to convince the doctors that I'm ready to go home." Vaughn whined.
"No I don't thing so." Vaughn's mum piped in. "You going to rest and watch daytime soaps young man."
"I can watch daytime soaps at home mum." He whined some more.
"I will not hear of it, would you like some coffee, son?" Mrs. Vaughn asked.
"Sure thing ma." Vaughn said sarcastically.
"Dad, what the hell happened?" Sarah asked, hands on hips.
"I don't know," Vaughn answered, "I'm fine, I swear to you, I am fine!"
"Dad you promised that you'd come home safe!" Sarah yelled, "You're lucky that you weren't brought home in a body bag."
"Look I'm sorry," Vaughn said loosing his temper. "It wasn't my fault. I was just sitting in the back of the cab and this bloody bus came out of nowhere and hit the cab."
"I'm sorry for yelling," Sarah showed deep regret, "I just don't want to have to live without you. You're my dad, you raised me alone, you helped me bring my son into the world, now you're helping me raise him. You're the best person in the world. Now I don't believe that you were visiting friends in Russia but I care what you were doing, I just want you to take care. That's all I'll ever ask."
"I believe you." Vaughn started, "You're a great child and I love you. Just do one thing for me."
"What's that?" Sarah asked slightly confused.
"Never promise anything!" Vaughn replied.
"Why?" Sarah asked very confused now but smiling.
"Because whenever anyone I know promises anything the opposite happens." Vaughn said sound stern but humorous.
"Okay then." Sarah responded. She unclipped Michael Jr. from the pouch on her front and laid him on the bed with her dad. She took a seat and watched the two of them together.
~*
The Vaughn household knew exactly how to drive Vaughn crazy. Mrs. Vaughn watched him from four am to three pm whilst Sarah pottered around shopping and cooking and watching TV and going out with friends. At three pm Sarah took over babysitting her dad whilst his mother fussed over the house chores.
Vaughn failed to understand how there were any chores to do, but knowing his mother she had probably cleaned every cupboard in the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms. She had already vacuumed every room in the house, Vaughn knew this as she had been in with the vacuum earlier that day.
~*
On the third day of his home imprisonment, he received a phone call.
*(phone call)*
"Hello," Vaughn answered the phone, Sarah was sitting at the end of his bed so he threw in, "Vaughn residence, we'll keep you locked up against you're will and make you watch 'The Bold and the Beautiful' and reruns of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'."
"Mr. Vaughn?" The voice on the other end of the phone asked.
"Yes" Vaughn replied.
"She's headed to Paris, next week." The voice continued. "She's conducting a heist from the national art gallery there. She leaves on Monday."
"What time?" Vaughn asked a beep tone. "Damn!" He cursed and hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Sarah asked looking concerned.
"No one sweetie." Vaughn replied calmly.
"If you say so," Sarah said in disbelief but let it go, "Dad, can I go to a party on Friday night?"
"Yes, I suppose so." Vaughn agreed, "As long as you don't do anything stupid."
"I promise!"
Sydney lay in the very small blow up pool trying to cool herself. "I think I may need some ice in this thing." She said laughing and rubbing her swollen belly where the baby fussed about.
"Then maybe you'll freeze to death!" Vaughn exclaimed dramatically, making Sydney laugh. He handed her a drink and loosened his tie as he sat by the pool. "I have now taken leave so I can stay at home with you until the baby is born.
"I love you." She said moving awkwardly to kiss him. "How was work today?"
"Yep heaps of fun," he laughed, "well actually, it was pretty boring until Weiss had this mini mental break down. He turned the air conditioner and fans on full ball and started to rip up the paper on people's desks and letting it fly around the room. I've never laughed so hard in my entire life."
"Is he okay now?" Sydney asked sounding quiet worried but still smiling.
"Yes, he's fine. I don't know if his job is but he's fine, plus I think he did it as a joke." Vaughn started. "Although some of those papers alone could get him fired."
"That's not funny!" Sydney splashed him.
"Hey." He jumped into the pool and they started to splash each other a lot.
"Vaughn, Vaughn!" Sydney screamed stopping him, he looked at her blankly. "That suit is dry clean only!"
"Oops!" He said sarcastically and continued to splash her.
*End Flashback*
~*
Vaughn thought that starting to look for Sydney in the capital of Russia was as good as any. He also knew that it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. For the first two days of his trip he walked around aimlessly, with a photo that Jack had left with him, asking people if they'd seen this girl.
He was about to give up and go home to LA and go back to the life he had believed for the last seventeen years but something just didn't want to leave her here with these people.
Vaughn decided that he would hang around the K Directorate base for a few hours. He hoped that she would come to work or leave the office or something.
He had been sitting on the bench outside for about three hours when someone, who must have thought he was homeless handed him a sandwich. Vaughn looked at the sandwich and then saw the note that came with it. It read: 'I know who you are, follow me.'
Vaughn followed him being very careful of who was around him and where he was going. He followed the guy who gave him the letter into a small café and sat at the table behind him.
The man was reading a newspaper, "I know what you want." He said casually.
"What do I want than?" Vaughn asked as he picked up the menu to look it over. He had decided that he was feeling a bit hungry and started to wish that he didn't dump the sandwich.
"You want Sydney Bucannon." He whispered, "I can tell you that she is on a mission and won't be back for a couple of days."
"Who are you?" Vaughn asked as he saw the waiter approach the table.
"Can I help you sir?" The wait asked in Russian.
"I'll have a toasted cheese sandwich," Vaughn replied in perfect Russian.
"Any drinks?" The waiter asked again in Russian.
"Just a coffee." Vaughn answered.
The waiter moved on to the next table.
"Jack told me to expect you around somewhere." He continued.
"Jack told you?" Vaughn asked, "You're a double aren't you?"
"Yes, but that's all you're to know." He said turning the page of his newspaper.
"Is it true that they move her around between bases?" Vaughn asked smiling as a young couple walked past his table.
"Not like that. It's just that sometimes she's needed in other parts of Russia and they send her off to work there. She has different aliases for each base and has been trained to use them wherever she is. She's a very intelligent girl." He said folding up his paper.
"And who is she here?" Vaughn asked.
"She's just Sydney Bucannon, mother of two, her husband was killed in a war that never happened and she was in a car crash and lost her memory." He said picking up a piece of bread that a waiter sat on his table.
"Are they her children?" Vaughn asked clearly hurt that she had children.
"God no!" He exclaimed. "They're just a couple of orphans that K Directorate picked up and planted with her."
"Why are they doing this?" Vaughn kept the questions coming hard and fast.
"Hey, as far as she knows this has been her life, she doesn't know that she is an American, she doesn't remember her daughter, she doesn't remember you." He answered every question flawlessly.
Vaughn was hurt, he just wanted to cry. "Where does she live?"
"I can't tell you that." He said seriously. "If they see anyone sneaking around, they kill you on sight."
"They guard her house?" Vaughn asked shocked.
"Yes, there are many who want her dead." He replied, "Even people in the same organization, ever heard of Anna Esponosa?"
"Yes." Vaughn answered.
"She knew Sydney when she worked of SD6." He started.
"I know!" Vaughn said bitterly. Remembering that he blamed Anna for Sydney's death.
"Well," He continued, "she tried an assassinate Sydney about five years ago. They threw her into a jail for three months of questioning and then released her. She never went near Sydney again."
"So they consider her and asset?" Vaughn asked feeling stupidly proud of his wife.
"Hell yes!" he said as if to say 'der', "If anything happened to her they'd, go after the cause and everyone and everything the cause knew."
"Why..?" Vaughn stopped talking and smiled when the waiter came over and put his meal on the table and left again. "Did you order?"
"I come here a lot, they know exactly what I have." He replied.
"I'm supposed to be going home to the States tomorrow, if I give you my number will you call me and tell me when she gets back and what she's doing next?" Vaughn asked trying as hard as possible not to sound desperate.
"Yes, I can certainly do that." He replied.
As the waiter passed Vaughn's table, Vaughn stopped him, "Excuse me," he said in Russian again, "May I please use your pen?"
"Yes," the waiter said handing him the pen.
Vaughn quickly scribbled his number on a paper napkin and handed the pen back to the waiter who then walked off. He screwed up the napkin and dropped it on the floor next to he guy's chair.
He bent down and picked it up. "Sure thing." He said reading the number then putting the napkin into his pocket.
"I want to follow her to her next mission." Vaughn said with determination.
"That may not be a good idea but I'll ring you and tell you where she's going anyway," he said, "Don't blame me if you get dead." The he called to the waiter, "Marcus can you pack that to go. I'll see you later."
"Bye" Vaughn said putting a mouthful of toasted cheese sandwich into his mouth, as the guy got up and went over to pick up his food and left.
~*
Vaughn didn't sleep that night. He could only see Sydney fighting and stealing for his enemy, for the people who were once her enemy.
He got up and got a drink. He looked at the clock: four am. It was about four pm in LA and with any luck, Sarah would be at home and keep him company for a little while.
He reached for the diseased hotel phone that he'd pay a fortune for when he checked out and dialed home.
*(phone conversation)*
"Hello," Sarah's voice answered.
"Sarah," Vaughn whispered into the phone, "What are you doing sweetie?"
"Dad?" Sarah asked, "Me? I'm not doing much. I was just about to give Jr. a bath. What are you doing?"
"Nothing, just trying to get some sleep." He replied.
"What time is it?" she asked, "Where are you exactly?"
"I'm in Russia and it's four am." Vaughn stated.
"What are you doing in Russia?" She asked quiet shocked.
"Visiting some friends." Vaughn lied, "I wanted you to come but decided that with Jr. it would probably be best for you to stay at home with him. They say hi by the way."
"Daddy why are you having trouble sleeping?" Sarah showed deep worry for her father.
"I think it's because I fly home tomorrow and I'm worried about the flight and if every thing will be okay with the airline and the luggage and the shuttle home." he stopped when Sarah cut him off.
"Why don't I call nana and we'll come and pick you up and you that will be one less thing that you have to worry about." Sarah said as if to solve all of his problems.
"Thank you honey that would be very nice of you." Vaughn replied.
"Daddy, I want you to stay safe." Sarah laid down the instructions. "I wasn't old enough to feel the loss of my mother but I felt her absence. If I were to loose you I would feel loss, absence, pain, everything. Promise me you'll stay safe."
"I promise." Vaughn said, he felt pain himself, knowing that his wife was alive somewhere, somewhere that wasn't with him. "Sweetie I better go okay?"
"That's okay daddy. I'll see you at the airport." She replied rather chirpy.
"Thanks. I love you." He whispered.
"Love you too Daddy." Sarah said.
"Bye." Vaughn said and then hung up the phone. He sighed to himself and lay back in bed. She sounded so much like her mother. He loved that about her. He slowly drifted into unconsciousness.
~*
Vaughn knew that something would go wrong, he could feel it.
He climbed out of bed, running late, grabbed his bags, paid the bill and jumped into a cab. He managed to make a note that Russians couldn't drive just before the cab he was in was hit by a bus.
~*
Vaughn didn't know what hit him but he knew that whatever it was it hit him hard. He was awake and alert for someone who had been in a coma for three days.
"What happened?" Vaughn asked the first person that entered his room.
The nurse turned and picked up the file that hung at the end of his bed. "You were hit by a bus."
"I was what? Where am I?" Vaughn started to panic.
"Stay calm," the nurse said pinning him to the bed, "You're in the American embassy. Do you know what country you're in?"
"Russia." Vaughn said in a 'what do you think I'm completely stupid?' tone.
"Okay," the nurse said letting go of him after he had stopped thrashing around. "You'll be flown home tomorrow, you should be well enough then and you'll be placed in a hospital for a few days observation. Oh and we called you daughter. She would have come but we told her that you'd be home soon and she could see you then. You're very luck Mr. Vaughn."
~*
Vaughn hated hospitals. Every one, no matter where you were in the world, they all thought with their asses instead of their heads and treated you like a four-year-old.
"Hey daddy." Sarah said entering the room with Vaughn's mother in tow and Michael Jr. in a pouch on her front. "What are you doing to yourself?"
"Oh, you know a bit of this and a bit of that. I feel fine, maybe you could use your charm to convince the doctors that I'm ready to go home." Vaughn whined.
"No I don't thing so." Vaughn's mum piped in. "You going to rest and watch daytime soaps young man."
"I can watch daytime soaps at home mum." He whined some more.
"I will not hear of it, would you like some coffee, son?" Mrs. Vaughn asked.
"Sure thing ma." Vaughn said sarcastically.
"Dad, what the hell happened?" Sarah asked, hands on hips.
"I don't know," Vaughn answered, "I'm fine, I swear to you, I am fine!"
"Dad you promised that you'd come home safe!" Sarah yelled, "You're lucky that you weren't brought home in a body bag."
"Look I'm sorry," Vaughn said loosing his temper. "It wasn't my fault. I was just sitting in the back of the cab and this bloody bus came out of nowhere and hit the cab."
"I'm sorry for yelling," Sarah showed deep regret, "I just don't want to have to live without you. You're my dad, you raised me alone, you helped me bring my son into the world, now you're helping me raise him. You're the best person in the world. Now I don't believe that you were visiting friends in Russia but I care what you were doing, I just want you to take care. That's all I'll ever ask."
"I believe you." Vaughn started, "You're a great child and I love you. Just do one thing for me."
"What's that?" Sarah asked slightly confused.
"Never promise anything!" Vaughn replied.
"Why?" Sarah asked very confused now but smiling.
"Because whenever anyone I know promises anything the opposite happens." Vaughn said sound stern but humorous.
"Okay then." Sarah responded. She unclipped Michael Jr. from the pouch on her front and laid him on the bed with her dad. She took a seat and watched the two of them together.
~*
The Vaughn household knew exactly how to drive Vaughn crazy. Mrs. Vaughn watched him from four am to three pm whilst Sarah pottered around shopping and cooking and watching TV and going out with friends. At three pm Sarah took over babysitting her dad whilst his mother fussed over the house chores.
Vaughn failed to understand how there were any chores to do, but knowing his mother she had probably cleaned every cupboard in the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms. She had already vacuumed every room in the house, Vaughn knew this as she had been in with the vacuum earlier that day.
~*
On the third day of his home imprisonment, he received a phone call.
*(phone call)*
"Hello," Vaughn answered the phone, Sarah was sitting at the end of his bed so he threw in, "Vaughn residence, we'll keep you locked up against you're will and make you watch 'The Bold and the Beautiful' and reruns of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'."
"Mr. Vaughn?" The voice on the other end of the phone asked.
"Yes" Vaughn replied.
"She's headed to Paris, next week." The voice continued. "She's conducting a heist from the national art gallery there. She leaves on Monday."
"What time?" Vaughn asked a beep tone. "Damn!" He cursed and hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Sarah asked looking concerned.
"No one sweetie." Vaughn replied calmly.
"If you say so," Sarah said in disbelief but let it go, "Dad, can I go to a party on Friday night?"
"Yes, I suppose so." Vaughn agreed, "As long as you don't do anything stupid."
"I promise!"
