- wow, you guys are lucky! Getting all these chapters within days from e/other.hehe. I don't usually write this fast. I guess I'm intrigued by this storyline too.'cept I don't know how I'm gonna make it work the way I want it to [I don't even know what I want to do w/ this.] --- basically all dialogue . . .



Chapter 4

Vaughn waved Will into his office as he hung up the phone.

"Hey," Vaughn greeted, standing up. He reached for his coat and draped it over his arm. "I seriously don't know why I carry this around. It's sixty degrees outside. . ."

Will snickered. "Hey, why don't you join Francie and I for dinner tonight?"

"It's all right Will. I'm not a lonely old man . . . yet, but thanks for the offer," Vaughn replied, waiting for Will to exit the office. He followed suit, turned off the lights, and closed the door behind him.

"I'm serious. Plus, Francie cooks more than we can stuff. Next month when Christmas comes, I could join the masses of Santas in LA," Will insisted.

Vaughn laughed.

"You're coming. No buts," Will said, cutting Vaughn off.

"Bu - Will. . ."

"Quit it Vaughn. You're our friend. We don't want you alone in your house with that slobbering dog of yours," Will joked, following Vaughn down the familiar halls.

"He's not a "slobbering dog!" Vaughn exclaimed indignantly, casting an evil glare at Will. "You're just saying that because you seem to be his potty."

"Hey, you would feel like this if a strange little dog peed on you!"

"Donovan's not "strange." If he could hear you now . . ." Vaughn threatened.

Will let out another snicker.

"So, the reason I called you was because Devlin read your report. He's giving you the OK to look deeper into it. Any research materials you might need are going to be made available. Just stay out of the FBI's way," Vaughn warned. "Or else they'd take your information away from you and claim it as their property."

"Seriously? Wow . . .it was an interesting subject. Does this mean that the Alliance may be on its way down?"

"We're not sure yet," Vaughn replied. "But hopefully, yes."

"Great. So does that mean - oh, uh, never mind," Will cut himself short. He was about to ask if it meant Sydney could return to LA and get her life back.

Vaughn was silent. He obviously heard Will's unspoken question.

A soft inaudible "I hope so" came from his lips, but was carried away from the wind in the parking lot.

--

"Vaughn! How nice of you to show up!" Francie grinned, pulling Vaughn into the house.

"Will told me he invited you, but you were reluctant."

"I didn't want to intrude," Vaughn apologized, laughing as Francie dragged him to the dining room.

"Intrude? Nonsense," Francie laughed. "Seriously, you're welcome here all the time."

"Thanks," Vaughn smiled, settling in the seat diagonally from Will's.

"Took you long enough," Will said sarcastically. "What? Are you turning into a girl now? Huh? Only girls spend an hour fixing up."

"For your information, I took a "strange little dog" out for a jog," Vaughn retorted.

"Donovan! How is the little thing?" Francie asked, placing a large steaming pot on the table.

"He's fine. Something smells good," Vaughn commented.

"It'd better smell good," Francie responded, pulling off her apron. "I had to run to the store to get some supplies."

"By supplies, she means groceries," Will added.

"Hey, so how's work?" Francie asked, taking a seat next to Will.

"Same old. It's starting to get routine. But hey, it pays, so why am I complaining?"

"Because with a normal, paying job, you don't have the constant notion that you might get killed any day during work," Francie supplied reasonably.

"Yeah, well, I knew what I was getting into," Vaughn replied, helping himself to a portion of mashed potatoes drowned in gravy.

"Hey . . . I just got an idea," Francie said suddenly. "Your mother's in France now, right?"

Vaughn nodded his head slowly, not grasping Francie's train of thought.

"And Thanksgiving's next week . . ." Will added.

"Oh no," Vaughn protested. "I can't. I mean, I don't want . . . I mean -"

"Listen to yourself," Francie chided, "you sound like a kid."

"Then why don't we have a Thanksgiving party of sorts? I'm sick of all the small dinners," Will complained.

"What a great idea Will," Francie grinned. "We could have it here, and I could cook! It's settled. We just need a list of people."

"How about Weiss?" Will suggested.

"His girlfriend would have to come too then," Vaughn said suddenly.

"Great! Now you're a host too, so you'd better act as one," Francie warned.

Interrupting Vaughn, Will exclaimed, "And we could invite Daryl from your restaurant Francie."

Francie half-smiled, half-blushed. "Why don't we do this when we finish eating? Food's getting cold."

--

Vaughn smiled in spite of himself as he settled on the couch in the living room. He rested his legs on the table, and brought a glass of water to his lips. Francie's Thanksgiving party would take his mind off the problems surrounding his life. Thanksgivings were always hard on him - being that he had very little to be thankful for. Now that Sydney was gone, there was nothing to be grateful for. His family, of course, was an exception. But that only consisted of his mother.

Sydney . . . Vaughn thought. He hadn't seen her, or heard from her in years. The last bit of information he had heard concerning Sydney Bristow was that she had boarded a plane to Michigan. She walked onto a United Airlines Flight 004 to Detroit, Michigan . . . and out of his life. Not only that, but she walked away from him on a bad note. I guess she got what she wanted, Vaughn thought bitterly. Her last words to him echoed in his head.

_______________

So, what'd ya think? Personally, I think it could've been better . . . it sounds stupid when I read it over. But I hate reading my stuff over [cuz then I'll realize how pathetic something sounds] . . . so it's all good. Lol

THANK YOU ALL FOR REVIEWING THIS!!!