This has got to be the shortest chapter. . .it's basically just the phone conversation, and it's not that good. But whatever. WAAAYY too much work and stressing over Christmas shopping. . . AH! But expect more chapters next week and the week after [vacation!!!]

- Ah. . . my wonderful readers. Thank you! =) Don't worry, the Sydney vs. Gabriella thing is far from over. I think. I'm making up the airport and some names of places, simply because I have no idea what they are called, and I'm too lazy to check. Or some places may just be from my imagination.

And p.s. I do not own anything here. Except for the characters that you don't recognize from the show [ex. Patrick, Gabriella, Patrick's parents, etc]

Chapter 7

Her hand froze. The small cell phone slid to her lap and onto the hard wooden seat of the booth, causing a sound. But Sydney was unaware of it all. Those two little words brought with them so many memories. They all came whirling back. Vaughn and the warehouse, Vaughn and the outdoor café, Vaughn and the bloodmobile, Vaughn and his suits, Vaughn and well, Vaughn. Vaughn offering her a Slush-O - how stupid she had been . . . declining the offer, his look of surprise and hopefulness when she asked him to the Kings game, his awkward speech that accompanied her Christmas present . . . It brought back the memories that she had willed to stay back in the backspaces of her mind. Memories of a man she would never be able to have . . . to claim as her own.

"Lily?" Terri said slowly. "You dropped your phone."

You just threw your beeper into the Pacific was what she heard.

"Lily!" Terri said loudly, snapping her fingers in front of Sydney's face.

"Who's - Oh, um, yes?" Sydney replied, feeling disconnected from it all.

"Your cell," Terri said simply yet curiously.

Sydney looked down at her lap and saw the blinking screen of her cell phone. It was still on.

" . . . Hello?" Sydney said tentatively, half hoping it wasn't a dream.

"Syd, it's . . . it's me," a familiar yet distant voice said hesitantly.

" . . . Hey," Sydney forced herself to say in a perfectly normal voice. This is wrong, she thought. Saying hi to Vaughn as if we had just seen each other yesterday. Can't -

"It's Sloane."

"What?" It definitely was not Sloane. Sloane's voice was not soothing. Sloane's voice did not hold a strong masculine tone to it. Neither did it heighten Sydney's senses like Vaughn's did.

"It's Sloane. He's there," came the not so hesitant voice now. His voice had taken on a bit of control and authority. She liked it.

"Where?" Sydney asked, willing herself to remain calm. She flashed a smile at Terri and turned back to the phone conversation.

"Michigan. We got the information from Detroit International just yesterday. Our man there spotted a Sloane-look-alike exiting from a terminal, and we're not taking any chances. We've got people going over the security tapes, and Devlin wanted me to alert you about this. Just be on the lookout," Vaughn finished.

Devlin wanted me to alert you about this . . . So he hadn't called because he wanted to. He called because he was under orders.

"Well, thank you very much for the notice," Sydney replied, a bit stiffly.

She pressed the end button of her cell phone, but not before she heard his trademark phrase, "Be careful."