A/N: So sorry this took so long to update! I was on vacation! And when I got back I had writer's block. Lol. Well, sorry again and enjoy!

Chapter Nine

When she finished her story, I got up to get a tissue. Wiping a tear from my eye, I whispered, "Wow…"

She had such a way of speaking, of telling a tale, that her words touched me and allowed me to feel every emotion as the people in the story. And so, as she told me everything, I had laughed along, sighed along, and now cried along as well.

"Josie… wow. I'm… I'm sorry."

She shook her head. "Don't be. I know it may not seem like it, but I actually have an okay life. I'm safe, I'm free, I can still talk to my friends once in a while… I know Michael's okay. And he has good friends," she smiled at me. I smiled back. "I even still get to write. Not under my name, of course, but sometimes I can send in articles under an alias to the local papers… I'm really okay here."

"Josie… it really isn't easy to live the way you have. You're an incredible person to have done this. Vaughn would be lucky to have someone as amazing a person as you."

She brightened, even laughing a little. "Thanks. But I think he does…"

"What?" I asked, not sure of what she meant.

"Nothing. It's just that… you seem rather fond of him. And the way you've spoken about him, I'm willing to bet he feels the same."

I felt a blush creeping quickly on my face and up my arms. "N… no. We're just friends."

"So were we," Josie commented seriously.

I fidgeted in the silent moment, uncomfortable. Were my feelings for Vaughn really that obvious?

"Well, look, Josie… it was really great to meet you. I really am sorry I barged in on you like this but… well, that's me for you. I really have to get back to LA before my friends call the police though."

"It's really alright. I enjoyed talking to you too. Like I said, I don't talk to many people anymore. And I don't get out much. It's so good to know that Michael's okay and… just tell him I miss him, alright?" Josie got up to open the door.

"Sure. Bye, Josie," I gave her a small hug before leaving.

"Bye, Sydney."

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

THE NEXT DAY

"Joey's Pizza?"

I jumped. That had been unexpected. I didn't realize he would call this early in the day. It was only 11:00. He didn't usually call until after lunch. I had actually seen him eating lunch once on my way to the warehouse. I guess he had called from his cell phone and finished eating later than he thought. He had been staring down at his fries and reaching for the Heinz Ketchup bottle. Heinz, not Hunts. I always kept that in mind, just in case.

Sydney. Answer the phone.

Oh. Right. "Wrong number."

Good thing Francie wasn't home. I just wanted to leave, no explanation.

****

"Hey, Vaughn," I said, approaching him. I was suddenly becoming nervous to tell him all that had happened.

He began to explain the mission as usual, but I wasn't paying as much attention as I should've been. In the middle of his instructions, I suddenly cut in, "Vaughn, I know."

He stopped dead and lowered his eyes, suspecting. "You know what?"

"I know what happened with Josie," I admitted. "I know that she's in a safe house. I know why."

"Sydney, you…" his eyes lit up with realization. "That's where you were yesterday. Seeing Josie. I should've guessed. I kept trying to contact you. I think Francie took the phone off the hook after the 4th time. And all the while… you were going behind my back and seeing Josie."

"Vaughn… I'm so sorry. I just wanted to know more about you. I… I care about you and I didn't like seeing you hurt."

"So you decided to completely betray my trust like this instead? How could you do that, Agent Bristow?"

Ouch. That hurt. That pained me worse than any bullet wound or broken bone or bruise ever could. It's not as if I'd expected him to be thrilled. But the cold that seeped through those words… .

"Vaughn, I—"

"No," he cut in. "No, just… just don't. There's no excuse for something like this. I thought I could trust you. I guess, once again, I was proved wrong. You never cease to amaze me, Agent Bristow." He hadn't meant that as a compliment. His usually laughing green eyes were stony and gray, and is face held a flat expression. "Good luck on your mission."

And he left. My eyes began to mist up. And in the cold loneliness of the warehouse where no one could see, super spy- double agent- Girl Of a Thousand Disguises and Enemies- Agent Sydney Bristow began to cry. The truth sank in. He really wasn't coming back.

As the tears leaked through my shut eyelids and dripped onto the wooden crate I was sitting upon, I realized that Vaughn had every right. This was the second time something like this had happened to him in the past four years.

I can't imagine which hurt him worse. Me acting against his specific request not to and investigating his secret…

Or finding out that the Chicago Sun Times was the cover for SD-8.