Title: "Recoil"

Author: Waterdancer aka AquarianLady

Email: jch114@hotmail.com

Website: none at this time.

Feedback: YES YES YES

Distribution: CD ALL DAY. Anyone else please ask.

Disclaimer: Anything Alias related (Vaughn, Devlin, SD-4,SD-6, Weiss, Donovan the dog) are all the property of ABC and Touchstone Pictures. It is the creation of JJ Abrams and Bad Robot Productions. Diana Rochelle is mine.

Summary: A woman from Vaughn's past comes back.

Rating: PG-13 for language

A/N: Thank you to Robin for your wonderful help. Thanks to Rach for helping me with the added action. "Blah, Blah!" ;-)

***

Diana pulled the hat down harder on her head as she walked towards the open-air market. She could almost hear Vaughn telling her that what she was doing was reckless, and, as usual, she ignored his voice of reason. She smiled as she reached her destination; there were mothers pulling their children behind them, and chefs making careful selections for their menus. She located a familiar booth and made her way towards it.

***

"Jacques," she said to an older man who was engrossed in a bushel of green onions.

He looked up from his task and blinked several times. "Diana," he whispered.

She nodded. "How are you?"

"All the better for seeing you, my dear." He placed the vegetables on the table before hugging her tightly. "All the better for seeing you," he murmured.

"What has it been? Five years?" she asked, returning his hug. She felt her heart tug at her as she hugged the older man. Jacques Delacroix, a former operative, had been a trusted friend who knew about her and Michael's real career, and had been a well of valuable information.

"It's been much too long," he responded as he pulled away. "Is this visit 'business' related?"

She flashed him a warm smile. "Actually, no." She sighed, as she realized how much she liked not having to talk to Jacques about business. "I'm making dinner tonight, and—"

"For Vaughn?"

"Yes, and I'd—"

"Like my help in selecting ingredients for dinner tonight."

She smiled at him again. "I see you still have that annoying habit of finishing my sentences, Jacques. Do you know how much—"

"You missed that? I missed it too, Diana." He clasped his hands together. "Now, let's get your menu together."

***

Vaughn drummed his fingers on his desk as he flipped aimlessly through the budget file in front of him. He darted a glance at the small mahogany clock that his mother had given him for his thirtieth birthday. It seemed as if it had been 3:15 for the past two hours.

"You know no matter how long you stare at the clock, it's not going to move any faster," Weiss teased from outside his office door. Without waiting for an invitation, he walked in and sat in the chair in front of his desk.

"What?"

"It's just that you've been walking around like a space cadet all day," he replied with a smirk on his face. "So, how's Diana?"

"She's—she's fine. She's really great," Vaughn replied more eager than he intended. Weiss's smirk grew into a wide smile.

"What now?" Vaughn asked, exasperated.

"Nothing, Mike. It's just that I haven't seen you this happy in a while. Seeing her has been good for you," Weiss replied, sounding very much like a wise man instead of the wisecracking friend that Vaughn had become accustomed to. "So?"

"So, what?"

"So, what's going to happen now?" Weiss asked, raising his eyebrow.

"With me and Diana?" Vaughn asked, knowing what Weiss was getting at.

"No, with you and Donovan. Yes, with you and Diana!" Weiss exclaimed throwing his hands up. "Do you think she'll stick around this time?"

"Part of me wants to believe that she'll be there when I get home, and that she'll continue to be there. The logical part of me, the part that went through her leaving the first time, has a feeling that she won't," he responded.

"Do yourself a favor. Stop thinking about if she leaves again; she's here now. Make the most of it."

"Yeah, I know you're right, Eric, but—"

"But nothing. Diana's back, and you are going to make the most of it." He took the file out of Vaughn's hand. "Go home."

"You know I can't do that. I have a meeting at four o'clock. Then I have to come back here and go over Patrick Williams' file."

"Patrick Williams? Wasn't he Diana's team leader?"

"Yeah, he was," Vaughn muttered. He hated hearing that man's name as much now as he had five years ago. Patrick had been cocky in that Hollywood movie star way and reckless, but he got the job done, which is why the CIA had kept him on. Patrick never hid the fact that he thought he was a better man for Diana than Vaughn was. The fact that Diana had turned to Patrick five years ago still made him angry.

"Mind telling me why you pulled his file? Never mind the fact that black ops files are classified to the point where you'd have to sign over your first born to even look at them." Weiss chuckled, but Vaughn knew that he was partially right; he had to call in a few favors to see the file. He'd spend months repaying them.

"Diana told me this morning that she and Patrick never traveled together when the team had to split up. But this time, before the only mission they had together fell apart, he arranges for them to travel together. I want to know why."

Weiss shook his head. "When the clerk brings the file to your office, I'll bring it to you, and I'll cover for you at the meeting. It's just the annual budget meeting; you won't be missed."

Vaughn sat back in his chair and smiled. "Thanks."

"Anytime. Now, let's talk about your hockey team."

They were arguing the fine points of hockey when Vaughn's assistant knocked on the frame of the open office door. "Agent Vaughn?"

"Yes, what is it, Jackie?"

"One of the agents watching your house is on line one," his assistant said apprehensively as she walked into his office.

The smile on his face left immediately. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm not sure, sir. He's saying that Agent Rochelle is gone. Her bags are still there, but she's gone."

Vaughn's heart dropped. He'd told her to stay in the house while he was gone--it was just like her to ignore his warnings. "Have they searched the neighborhood yet?" It was an obvious question, with an even more obvious answer, but he hoped that he was wrong.

"Yes, they've searched the area, and there's no sign of her," his assistant said, looking at him nervously. Vaughn ran various scenarios through his head as to her location. Grabbed by Security Section. Helpless and doped up, being tortured for information. On a plane to Madagascar or Moscow, running again. None of these sat well with him.

"Thanks, Jackie," he mumbled, staring at the blinking light on his phone. She retreated as quickly as she had appeared.

Weiss stood up. "I'm going to see what I can find out. I'm sure she's okay, Mike," he said over his shoulder as he walked out of the office.

Vaughn picked up the phone. "This is Agent Vaughn."

****

"Do you know that he came here almost every day for a month after you'd left?" Jacques handed her a bushel of cilantro and walked towards the back of the booth.

"I didn't think he'd do that," Diana said, placing the herb in the bag that he had provided to her.

"Oh, he did, and he still comes by here time to time just to talk. Vaughn was devastated when you left, and probably will be worse if you leave again. You are staying, correct?"

"Jacques, you aren't very subtle are you? I want to stay, but—"

"And you are going to stay." He handed her some asparagus and a white linen tablecloth. "I found this after Vaughn told me that he was going to ask you to marry him. The woman at the antique shop told me it was over one hundred years old. I had intended for it to be a wedding gift. Use it tonight."

Diana looked down at the tablecloth and realized that he had known about her being in town. He had always been an excellent source of information. "I can't take this. Michael and I aren't even engaged anymore. Save it for a couple who are going to be together."

"Diana," Jacques said quietly. "Live for the moment. You and Vaughn are together for now. Use the tablecloth; consider it a welcome back present."

Diana looked at him and felt the happiness that had eluded her for years coming back. "Thank you, Jacques." She hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Diana," he responded as he pulled away from her. "Now, I think I've given you everything, right? Cilantro, asparagus, Cajun spices, iceberg lettuce."

She looked in her bag as he rattled off the contents. "Yes, I do have everything you've given me. No tomatoes?"

"Unfortunately, my latest batch was rotted before I was able to pick them up. If you go to Juliana's booth, she should have some there as well as some seafood. Make sure you tell her to pack them in heavy ice for you. I need you to promise me something, Diana."

"Anything, Jacques," she said as she pulled her hat down on her head again and adjusted her sunglasses.

"That you'll come back to see me again. Don't make me wait another five years."

"You've got a deal," she replied over her shoulder as she walked away.

****

"I'll take one pound of shrimp and four tomatoes," Diana said. "Please make sure to pack them in a lot of ice for me."

She handed the woman some money and took an apple from her stand. "Thank you."

Taking a bite, she smiled as thoughts of Vaughn played in her head. Michael. A warm flush came over her body as she remembered the time they had spent together the night before. Jacques is right. Live for the moment. Still engrossed in her thoughts, she almost didn't see the man standing right in front of her. She mumbled, "Excuse me." The man didn't move. She looked up at him, careful to keep her hat and sunglasses in place. "Excuse me," she repeated. She strained to see his face in the bright afternoon sun. The apple dropped to the ground, forgotten, as she finally recognized him.

"Nikolai," she gasped.

"I wish I could say it was good to see you again, Diana, but you already know why I'm here," he replied, his Russian accent still strong.

She reached in her wristband to grab her knife. The man in front of her grabbed her wrists. "No. No. None of your fancy knife tricks. There's a sniper with a rifle aimed directly at Mr. Delacroix's head. We don't want to make a scene."

Diana looked past him to her friend who was bending down and talking to a little girl.

"What do you want?" She yanked her wrists away and glared at him.

He looked around at the crowd surrounding them. "Not here." He pulled her into the alley, causing her to drop the bag. "We need to talk."

***

"Here you go," Jacques said, handing the girl an apple. He looked towards the area where Diana had been standing and realized that she was gone. "Go on now. Go catch up with your mother," he murmured to the little girl. He walked over to where Diana had been standing; he saw the bag he had given her. Concerned, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number Vaughn had left him the last time he was here.

"Yes, I need to talk to Agent Vaughn. It's extremely urgent."