AN: Sorry for the late update. Blame it on school! I've been suffering from the infamous writer's block so if this is sort of bad, sorry. Anyways, read and enjoy! PLEASE REVIEW!!! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews from the last chapter!

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Chapter 3

"Mommy, who's this man? He looks a lot like my daddy in the picture you showed me."

Sydney's face flushed at Michelle's words. She didn't respond. Instead she looked intently at Vaughn. His face was blank at first, then there was a flash of recognition. Soon his face was masked with anger. Sydney's observant nature noticed his hands were slightly clinched in fists. He was furious and she could definitely understand why.

"Let's go inside first. It's not safe out here." Vaughn didn't answer, but gave a slight nod. He turned around and started going towards the door with Sydney and Michelle at his heels.

After they got inside, Sydney locked the door and spoke to Michelle.

"Why don't you go find a room sweetie and play with your dolls, okay? I need to speak with Mr. Vaughn here for a while." Michelle eagerly agreed and hurried to find a room. Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. The one thing she could rely on was that Michelle had a short attention span.

She had been looking at her hands and looked up when Vaughn spoke.

"So is it true?" Sydney sighed and turned to stare at the fireplace.

"Yes."

"Why in the hell did you keep this from me? Don't I deserve to know my own daughter?" Vaughn's voice got louder with every word. Sydney winced slightly. She had never known him to be so angry.

"I was going to tell you, but I kept putting it off because I wasn't sure how you would react. I know I hurt you when I left. Then my father visited me. He told me that you had been promoted and that you had gotten back together with Alice. I didn't want to burden you." Sydney's voice was barely above a whisper. Vaughn sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.

"My daughter is not a burden. No matter the circumstances, you know that I would want to be with my daughter." Even though Sydney was staring at the fireplace, she could feel Vaughn's eyes on her.

"I know that, but I had doubts. I love her with all my heart and it would have killed me if you didn't feel the same way. I just couldn't take the chance. Besides I knew Sloane was watching you and if you had gone anywhere near me, he would have known my whereabouts." Sydney gave a bitter laugh "Guess it was all for nothing huh? He knew where I was and he was close to killing me."

"What? what are you talking about?"

"He placed a bomb in my house. As we were pulling onto the street, the bomb went off. We were almost killed." Sydney finally looked up and saw a look of shock pass through Vaughn's eyes.

"So he's really after you?" Sydney nodded.

"I called your father. When he gets here, we'll decide what to do. We'll probably have to put you into Witness Protection Program." Sydney looked at Vaughn, alarmed. There was no way she was going to have her daughter live looking behind her shoulder for the rest of her life. Sydney had lived enough of a lie, there was no way she was going to have that happen to her daughter.

"Please, no Vaughn. I want Michelle to live a normal life. I don't want her to have to go through what I went through." A look of surprise passed through Vaughn's eyes as he realized Michelle had been named after him.

"I don't want her to either. We have other options, but it's very limited. We'll discuss them further when Jack gets here." Sydney nodded and sat down on the couch.

"Why did you leave, Sydney?" They looked at each other for a second before breaking eye contact.

"You know why. I wasn't safe. Sloane was trying to find me."

"You know what I mean. Why did you leave that night? Why didn't you even say goodbye?" Sydney's thoughts flashed back to that fateful night in France. They had been taken to a safehouse there while they decided where Sydney was going to go. One thing lead to another and Vaughn and Sydney had ended up making love. Sydney left early the next morning while he was sleeping. She hadn't wanted to leave him, but she knew that if she didn't, he would never let her leave without him. For his sake, she left knowing that if she didn't, his life could be in danger.

"I had gotten a call that saying that if I didn't leave and go into hiding, you would be killed. I naturally didn't want you to be killed."

"My god, Sydney. Who was the caller?" Sydney shook her head.

"That's the thing. I don't know. It was distorted and I even tried to trace the call, but it was blocked. I knew it must have been a serious thing though if someone went to all that trouble. I didn't want to take the chance. I rather not be with you than to have you..." Sydney didn't finish her sentence, but they both knew what she meant. Vaughn moved over and sat on the couch with Sydney. He put an arm around her and she leaned her head on his shoulder. Even after all these years, he could make her feel safe and comforted.

He was about to speak when the door burst open. A woman with short blonde hair walked slowly in. There was something oddly familiar about her. She turned and looked at them with an evil look.

"I told you to stay away from him, Sydney. Too bad you didn't listen. If I can't have him, no one will." She pointed her gun at Vaughn. Sydney gasped.

*Sorry about the cliffhanger guys. Hopefully there won't be too many.