Title: Angel Dark
Author: DOKChairman
Time: No particular time frame. Assume everything that has happened up to Counteragent is fair game.
Disclaimer: I do not own Alias. If I did, Dixon would actually appear in an episode this season, Marshall would be in practically every scene (that guy cracks me up so much), Sydney and Vaughn would at the very least admit that they have feelings for each other, and most importantly of all, Sydney would wear even less clothes than she usually does. Unfortunately for my bank account, J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, and ABC own Alias. I own nothing so don't sue me.
Pairing: This will be a Sydney/Vaughn piece. As if there's anything else.
Author's Note: I want to start right off the bat with saying that this note will be rather long, so if you don't want to spend time reading it, feel free to move down to the second author's note. This note is mainly for the benefit of only two people anyway. The two people I'm talking about are Jada Lynne and an anonymous reviewer. You guys scare me. Seriously, you really weird me out. I don't know how you're doing it, but somehow both of you have successfully guessed, repeatedly I might add, what direction the story is going in. I'm beginning to wonder if you have some special telepathic ability, or if my story is just that predictable. I take solace in the fact that my take on the CIA surprised you Jada, but somehow you still managed to gain some insight into my thought processes. I may have to change my story now.
From now on, I ask that if you have any more "insights", you send me an e-mail instead of posting them on the open review board. I don't want to sound like I'm angry with you, because I'm not, I just don't want the story being so easily picked to pieces :). Now that's not to say I don't want you to review, because I do. Just don't post anymore of your predictions. I know its not your fault your brilliant, but I'm too stupid to come up with enough credible twists to stay ahead of you.
Author's Note: I would just like to say that I really dislike this chapter. Honestly, if I wasn't so swamped with other stories, school, and life, I would rewrite this whole chapter. Unfortunately, I'm too busy to do anything as time consuming as that, so you guys get the short end of the stick. I'm sorry. I'm only posting it because I promised a new chapter, and I always keep my promises. If the response to the chapter is good, then I'll probably keep it as is. However, if you guys hate it, then off to the chopping block it goes. I will redo the whole thing and repost it at a later time, of course that will mean, a much later time. It's really all up to you.
Sydney stared at Vaughn in open-mouthed shock. "Did-d-d you just s-say that the CIA is trying to kill you?" Sydney was so shocked that her question came out in a stutter.
Vaughn frowned. "Yes and no."
"What do you mean yes and no? Either they're trying to kill you or they're not. There's not really a middle ground in a situation like this."
Vaughn frowned again. "What I mean is that there are people within the CIA who are trying to kill me. I'm not saying everyone in the Agency is out to get me, just a few. Unfortunately, since I don't know who those few are, I have to avoid the entire Agency altogether."
Sydney asked desperately, "But why are they trying to kill you Vaughn? Please tell me!"
Vaughn tried to avoid talking about it. Instead he said, "You're cold Sydney. Maybe we should talk about this in my car."
Sydney shook her head resolutely. "No. We are not leaving this spot until you tell me everything. And I mean everything. I want to know why the CIA is trying to kill you. I want to know about your past. I want to know about her." Sydney pointed at Tiffany, who was standing behind the two. Vaughn saw Tiffany smile at the jealous tone in Sydney's voice. Vaughn, himself, found it difficult to contain a pleasing smile. Smiling right now for whatever reason would probably only set Sydney off.
Sydney continued on her little tirade. "I want to know what really happened to you on that day everyone thought you'd died. I want to know everything."
Against his better judgment, Vaughn said challengingly, "And what if I don't? What are you going to do about it?"
Sydney stared at Vaughn with a strange look on her face. When she hadn't said anything after about twenty seconds, Vaughn started to panic. He really should learn to keep his mouth shut. Finally, Sydney came out of her stupor and advanced a step towards Vaughn. Vaughn, not knowing her intent, took a step backwards. He did not want to be too close to Sydney. That led to inappropriate actions and even more inappropriate thoughts.
When Sydney saw that Vaughn was matching her step for step, she stopped herself and tried to say as evenly as she could, "You want to know what I'll do to you, then stop moving away so that I can tell you."
Vaughn stopped and allowed Sydney to walk up to him. For a second, he had a brief flash of Sydney kicking his ass explode into his thoughts, but that thought was quickly replaced by the one that was telling him to keep his cool. Sydney got up to Vaughn, and before he knew what she was doing, she was whispering in his ear. Before Vaughn fully realized what she was actually saying, all he could concentrate on was how Sydney's warm breath on his skin made him feel.
But then everything that Sydney had said quickly sunk in, and he hurriedly backed away from her. He looked at her in amazement and saw a pleased smile on her face. Vaughn blushed and asked incredulously, "Are you serious?"
Sydney nodded her head and smiled smugly. Vaughn could only shake his head at the whole thing. "You do realize Sydney, that saying something like that is only going to motivate me to do the opposite of what you want just so that I can make you carry out your promise."
Now it was Sydney's turn to blush. Vaughn couldn't help but think how cute she looked. He quickly erased that thought from his mind and tried to concentrate on the important matter at hand. It was hard though. Sydney's words kept replaying themselves in his mind.
Thankfully, Tiffany was there to keep him on track. After seeing the direction their conversation was heading in, Tiffany interceded. "Alright! That's enough. You two are acting like a bunch of horny teenagers. I realize that's its been a month since you've seen each other, but dear Lord, please try to focus here."
Both Sydney and Vaughn got embarrassed at Tiffany's chastisement and pulled even further away from each other. Tiffany mumbled under her breath, "Thank god. You know the world is coming to an end when I have to provide the voice of reason."
Apparently Vaughn heard what she said and shot her a glare. He quickly refocused on Sydney though. Vaughn decided that it would be best for everyone if he just resigned himself to the fact that Sydney deserved to know what was going on, and that he was going to have to tell her.
"Alright Syd, I give up. You win." Vaughn couldn't help but share Sydney's huge grin when she heard he was giving in. "I think in order for this all to make sense you need to first hear about what happened that day my car crashed into that building. You see Syd, it all happened like this..."
Flashback-(Vaughn in the Wharehouse)
Vaughn stepped on a piece of broken glass, and he instantly froze as the cracking sound exploded throughout the room. The two kneeling men instantly perked up and swung around to face Vaughn. Vaughn leapt to his side and landed hard. So hard that his gun flew out of his hand. Vaughn swore and frantically searched the ground for his gun.
He was too late. The two men were standing right above him as his hand closed on the handle of his piece. Vaughn looked up at the two men and saw one of them raise his gun and point it at Vaughn's head.
Vaughn asked desperately, "Why are you doing this? Who are you?"
Vaughn's only response was the man above him pulling the trigger.
Vaughn shut his eyes and waited for the inevitable. When all he heard was a deafening, to his ears at least, click signifying that the assassin's gun was out of rounds, Vaughn was amazed. He had seen that happen in the movies, but he had never seen it happen in real life. Unfortunately, unlike the movies, there were two men with guns pointed at Vaughn's head instead of one and Vaughn knew that the second man's gun was not empty. Fate just wasn't that forgiving.
The second man aimed his weapon at Vaughn's head and was about to pull the trigger when a loud bang came from the door of the store room. Almost instantly after the shot, the first man who had tried to kill Vaughn crumpled to the ground in a heap. The second man spun around quickly to face the door. Unfortunately, as he was turning very quickly, his finger involuntarily twitched against the trigger and his gun went off.
The bullet hit Vaughn in his left shoulder, right below his clavicle, and continued moving through his body until it exited out through the other side. Vaughn let out a cry and contorted his face into a grimace of extreme pain. For some reason, at that precise moment, Vaughn started thinking on the old saying that a paper cut was the most extreme pain anyone could feel. Vaughn felt that he could safely debunk that opinion now.
The second assassin was not as lucky Vaughn. Despite the fact that he had more time to react than his partner had, he simply wasn't fast enough. Another loud bang exploded in the enclosed room and the second man fell to the ground.
Vaughn tried to ignore his pain and he quickly pried the second man's weapon from his hands. Whoever had saved his life would more than likely come into the store room, and while they may have saved him, that didn't necessarily mean they were friendly. Vaughn had to be prepared.
Vaughn backed himself up against a stack of crates and gripped the gun as tightly as he could with his right hand. He pointed the gun in the direction of the doorway and waited for whoever was out there to come in. He didn't have to wait long.
Vaughn saw a silhouette in the doorway move into the room. The silhouette spoke up, "Mikey? Are you alright Mikey? Its Tiffany." There was a worried tone in the woman's voice.
Tiffany? What the hell? Vaughn had no idea what Tiffany was doing here, but after just saving his life, he honestly didn't care that much. He let out a an audible sigh of relief, and let the gun fall limply out of his hands. He said weekly, "I'm over here Tiffany."
Vaughn heard scurrying feet and soon Tiffany's tall frame was standing over him. He heard her gasp, "Oh my god, they shot you." Tiffany paused and then got a curious look on her face, "Does it hurt?"
Vaughn looked at Tiffany like she was crazy. He gritted out, "Does it hurt? Are you fucking kidding me?"
Tiffany blushed. "Oh right. Stupid question." She stopped talking and studied Vaughn's wound. "It's too dark in here, I can't see it. We need to get you outside."
With Tiffany's help, Vaughn climbed to his feet, his teeth clenched together and left arm held tightly against his side. Tiffany moved Vaughn to just outside the doorway in the alley, where there was enough light to see the wound properly.
She said gently, "I'm going to have to take your shirt off and its going to hurt" Vaughn nodded his head stiffly and took several deep breaths.
Tiffany unbuttoned his shirt and pried it away from his body as gently as she could. Vaughn's breath exploded outward at the extreme pain the movement caused. After enough of his dress shirt was off his shoulder, Tiffany got a firm grip of the white T-shirt underneath and tore it away from his shoulder. Vaughn let out a small whimper. His wound was now exposed to the air.
Gritting through his teeth he said, "How does it look?"
Tiffany peered at the wound closely. She moved Vaughn's body away from the wall he was leaning against and checked out the back of his shoulder. When she gently set Vaughn back against the wall and faced him, she gave him a big smile. "It looks like its your lucky day Mikey. There's an exit hole and I don't think there are any bullet fragments lodged inside the wound. It looks like it missed your clavicle by about half an inch. It was a clean shot; a flesh wound."
Vaughn groaned out, "It sure as hell doesn't feel like a flesh wound."
Tiffany admonished him. "Oh stop being such a baby. I didn't complain this much when I got shot in Barcelona."
"You didn't complain this much because you were so hopped up on sodium pentothal that you wouldn't have known if your arm had been chopped off. Besides, you're a woman and everyone knows women handle pain better than men do." Vaughn said the last part as an attempt to make Tiffany smile. Tiffany had a great smile. It was in fact very similar to Sydney's dimpled grin. Maybe that was one of the reasons why he liked seeing Sydney smile so much. It reminded him of the woman in front of him.
Vaughn's comment succeeded in earning him a big grin from Tiffany. "Yer damn right Mikey, and don't ever forget that. Anyway, as I was trying to say until somebody who shall not be named started whining, we can't disinfect it and patch you up here, but we do need to stop the bleeding."
Vaughn racked his brain for ideas and quickly came up with something that would probably temporarily fit what they were looking for. He explained his idea to Tiffany. "Use what's left of my shirt to wrap the wound and then use my tie to hold it in place."
Surprisingly, Tiffany made nary a comment and started out working. She efficiently made quick work of Vaughn's T-shirt, tearing it into strips and wrapping them around Vaughn's shoulder. To Vaughn's unending pride, he did not let out a single cry of pain throughout the whole ordeal. That is, until it came to the wrapping of the tie.
Tiffany had the tie wrapped around her patchwork of T-shirt strips and only needed to tighten it. "Ok, Mikey, I'm gonna do the tie now. This is going to really hurt so I'll try to do it as fast as possible, but I think you might want to bite down on something."
Vaughn took Tiffany's advice to heart and put a sizable chunk of his dress shirt into his mouth. "On the count of three. 1...2...3!" Tiffany tightened the knot and Vaughn let out a very loud moan, biting down hard on his shirt. His face got red from exertion and sweat started to form on his brow.
Finally after about ten seconds, Tiffany was done and she backed away to sit on her haunches. She took one look at Vaughn's red face and she instantly felt bad for making fun of him. She knew that he wouldn't hold it against her, but she felt bad all the same.
Vaughn spit out his shirt and said, "Holy shit that hurt."
Tiffany smiled in what she hoped was in a comforting way and moved to help Vaughn stand. "We need to move Mikey. Its not safe here."
Vaughn nodded his head in acknowledgment, but disagreed with her on leaving. At least for the time being. "I agree with you completely on the not being safe part, but we can't leave yet. I need to know who those men are." Vaughn started to move back towards the store room, but he became dizzy and swayed precariously. Tiffany was at his side in an instant, and helped Vaughn walk the small distance back toward the store room.
As soon as they reentered the room, Vaughn heard a sickening gurgling sound. That was when Vaughn remembered that one of his assassins had been wounded and was not dead. "Over there. I think one of them is still alive."
Tiffany led Vaughn in the direction he was pointing in and they came upon one of the body armor wearing assassins. He was the man the two assassins had been standing over earlier when Vaughn had tried sneaking up on them.
As soon as Vaughn and Tiffany reached the prone man, Vaughn understood why the man was sounding the way he was. Despite the fact that he was wearing a black ski mask that covered his entire head, Vaughn could easily see that the man had been shot in the neck. His left hand was pressed firmly against the wound, but it was a futile gesture. There was already a large pool of blood forming underneath the man, and more was seeping through his gloved fingers every second. Vaughn couldn't help but feel sorry for the man. Dying like this was no way for any person to go.
Vaughn tentatively grabbed a hold of the man's mask and began to pull upwards. The man tried to stop Vaughn by hitting him with his right fist, but he was so weak that his blow had very little power behind it. Eventually Vaughn pulled the mask off, causing the man to lose even more blood as his hand had to be moved to remove the mask. As soon as the mask was off, the man quickly replaced his hand.
Vaughn tossed the mask off to the side and got his first look at one of his would be assassins. The man was around Vaughn's age, perhaps a little younger, with dark brown hair that was matted to his forehead with sweat. He had brown eyes that were widened in fear and pain. It was obvious to Vaughn that the man did not want to die, and he was trying to do everything possible to prevent it from happening. Vaughn moved his gaze away from the eyes to check out the rest of the man's face. He had an angular nose, thin lips that were slightly blue from lack of oxygen, and a prominent chin with a cleft very similar to his own.
It was the chin that tipped Vaughn off. He had seen this man before. He searched his memory, trying to pinpoint the when and where, when it came to him so suddenly that he fell in utter shock. Tiffany was too slow to catch him and Vaughn fell to his knees.
"Vaughn are you alright? What's wrong?" Tiffany asked worriedly.
Vaughn looked up at Tiffany's concerned face with unabashed surprise and despair on his face. "I know this man." Vaughn said quietly. The enormity of the situation was starting to overwhelm him. He could not believe that this was actually happening to him. To think that his own people, the people he had dedicated his adult life to serving, were trying to kill him, made him feel so small and insignificant. It was as if his entire life meant absolutely nothing.
Tiffany responded to Vaughn's statement with as much surprise as he felt. "You do? How?"
Vaughn pointed an accusing finger at the dying man, who just happened to be staring at Vaughn with what looked like genuine guilt in his eyes. That gave Vaughn a brief pause. "I've seen him before. Two months ago, while planning an op for my agent I saw him back at headquarters." Vaughn looked into Tiffany's eyes. "He's CIA special ops and security. I remember because he was part of a special ops team we were planning to send in if my agent's mission went south."
Vaughn suddenly turned to the man and started questioning him intently. He asked angrily, "Why are you trying to kill me? Who ordered you to do this? Tell me!"
For whatever reason, the man answered. When he spoke, his voice was raspy and barely audible. And it took him several seconds in between fading breaths to talk. "Told...you had gone...rogue...and were a da...nger to CIA operational...security. We were ode...red to eliminate you...and make it look...like an accident."
Vaughn was feeling his control slipping. His entire life was flashing right before his eyes and it was quickly going down a drain. "Who ordered you? Who issued the order?"
The man's breath became even shallower and Vaughn could see the life draining from the man's eyes. When the man's eyes closed and it looked like he had slipped into unconsciousness, Vaughn slapped his face harshly. He had to get his answers. He just had to. His life depended on it.
After slapping the man a few times, his eyes reopened and he attempted to concentrate on Vaughn, but it was obvious he was rapidly losing the ability to stay cogent. Vaughn repeated his demand slowly and forcefully so that the other man would be able to understand, "Tell me who issued the order!"
The man responded breathlessly, "The order...came...from...the Director of Operations."
Vaughn needed more information. "Did it come from the director himself or from somebody in his department?"
"Came...through Deputy Director D-D-Devlin." The man barely got out.
The shit kept hitting the fan. Devlin had ordered the hit? Vaughn could not believe that. He had just come from Devlin's office and he had shown no indication that he wanted him dead. Sure they had argued, but they always argued when it came to Project Sally. Obviously things were more complicated than Vaughn had ever imagined.
Vaughn was so deep in his thoughts that he almost missed the man speaking. In almost a pleading tone, he said, "S-s-sorry. Only following...orders." In a whisper he said, "I'm sorry." And then, the man's eyes closed and he soon stopped breathing soon thereafter. He was dead.
Vaughn shook his head in disbelief. "This doesn't make any sense. Why would Devlin want to kill me? He's the one who told me about the team getting murdered and he said he was trying to put me back on the case. Something doesn't add up here."
Tiffany decided to play devil's advocate. "Why not? We both know how much you and Devlin have disagreed in the past. And we have both experienced the pain of a CIA cover up. Is it such a stretch to think that the CIA would be trying to kill us in order to keep us quiet?"
Vaughn shook his head vehemently in disagreement. "CIA security I can believe, but not Devlin. I've known him for over ten years and he was a friend of my father. I can't believe that he would try to kill me."
"Why not Mikey? Devlin is a spook. Loyalty don't mean squat to them. The secret comes first."
Vaughn looked at Tiffany funny. "Aren't we spooks too Tif?"
Tiffany waved her hand dismissivally, "Nah. We're spies, not spooks. There's a big difference. Spies look to uncover information while spooks look to cover it up."
Vaughn just laughed. "I'll take your word for it."
Vaughn looked over at the dead man he was sitting next too and suddenly felt an intense desire to move as far away from him as possible. He struggled to his feet and started to walk towards the doorway. He almost lost his balance but he recovered before he fell. When Tiffany moved to help him, he shook her off. If Sydney could escape from a heavily guarded facility in Taipei with a gunshot wound in her shoulder, then surely he should be able to walk on his own. He wasn't that much of a wuss.
Vaughn smiled slightly when he heard Tiffany mutter disgustedly behind him, "Men!"
After what seemed like hours, Vaughn finally reached the stability of the alley wall and he leaned against it with a contented sigh. Tiffany followed him and walked to in front of him. She had a 'what do we do now' look on her face.
It didn't surprise Vaughn that she was depending on him for direction. Tiffany had always deferred to him in the past, and obviously nothing had changed. Vaughn decided to take charge. It would keep his mind off his problems with the CIA and it would help him deal. He had the immediate problem of worrying about covering everything that had happened here up. The CIA could not know he was still alive.
Vaughn started explaining his plan. He was flying on the seat of his pants so his brain was running a million miles a second. "Ok Tif, first things first. The CIA can't know I'm still alive. If they do, they'll come after me. Unfortunately, they can't know their little hit squad failed because that would tip them off all the same." Vaughn paused and thought on an idea he had forming. "That guy said that they were going to make my death look like an accident, so that's what we're going to do. We'll take one of the dead CIA guys and put him in my car and then blow it up. We'll make it look like my car crashed and then exploded."
Tiffany was nodding her head in rapt attention. Tiffany knew that since Vaughn was injured she would be doing most of the work so she needed to pay close attention. When it came to business, Tiffany's happy go-lucky attitude went the way of the dodo.
Vaughn got a contemplated look on his face. "We'll have to put all my i.d. and belongings in the car to make it look like its me. It probably won't fool them for more than a few days but at least it'll buy us some time."
Vaughn stopped and looked out the alley to the black Suburban parked on the other side of his crashed car. Vaughn turned to Tiffany said, "We'll load up the bodies of the other three agents and put them in their car. Then we'll take the car and dump it somewhere where nobody we'll find it for awhile. CIA security will wonder where they are, but without any direct confirmation from the team they sent after me, they'll never know for sure what really happened. That should buy us some time as well."
Tiffany started making a mental checklist of everything Vaughn was saying. She didn't want to miss anything and screw up. She would never be able to live with herself if she caused Vaughn to die because of her incompetence. Sure, her life was on the line too, but she was more worried about Vaughn.
Vaughn stood up and away from the wall. "We better get to work. The police haven't come yet, but I'm sure they're bound to show up eventually."
"You know, I'm kind of surprised that they haven't shown up already. What with your big car chase and then your reenactment of the gunfight at the OK Corral, I would of thought they would have been here by now."
"Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth Tif. And you saw my car chase?" Vaughn asked surprised.
Tiffany grinned. "Sure did. I was following you, have been following you since you left your apartment this morning. You should pay more attention Mikey. Although I must admit that that was some fancy drivin' you did."
Vaughn grimaced at the knowledge that Tiffany had been following him and he didn't he even notice. Was he getting sloppy or had he finally reached his peak? He wanted to tell Tiffany that he had had a really bad night and that was why he hadn't noticed her, but that was a cop out and he knew it. Besides, the excuse didn't explain his later lapses.
Tiffany saw the look on Vaughn's face and immediately felt sorry for him. "Hey Mikey, don't feel bad. Everyone has a bad day every once in a while." Tiffany smiled hugely. "Look on the bright side. Because you were so easy to follow, I was able to follow you here and save your life. Not only that, but we get the chance to catch up on old times again."
"About that. What the hell are you doing here?"
"I was wonderin' when you were going to get to that. I'm kinda surprised it took you this long to ask. As I think you know, someone is or has taken out all of our team. I was tipped off that they were coming for me, so I hightailed it out of Dodge so to speak. I went to Krugar to warn him that somebody was offing the members of Project Sally, but I was too late. I had been surveiling his place and was just about to make contact with him when a car pulled up in front of his house and gunned him down just as he was walkin' out his front door. It was horrible Michael. They killed him in front of his own house."
Tiffany had to stop because she was starting to cry. Krugar and she had almost been as close as her and Vaughn. She regained control of her emotions and continued on. "After that, I knew that I just had to find you. I contacted some people in the Agency who owed me some favors and they told me where you were. I got here as fast as I could, but like with Krugar, when I saw that car force you off the road, I thought I was too late. I was determined not to let them get you."
Tiffany was really starting to lose it now. Vaughn wrapped his one good arm around Tiffany and pulled her in close to her body. "Hey Tif its ok. I'm alright. You didn't fail ok. You saved me."
Tiffany looked up at Vaughn with her big brown eyes and smiled faintly. Vaughn gently kissed her on her forehead and Tiffany reluctantly broke away from Vaughn. When she did, she blushed at the way she was acting. She wiped her eyes and said, "Sorry. I can't believe I'm crying like this."
"It's alright Tif. Everyone deserves to vent every once in awhile." Vaughn said understandingly.
"Yeah, but I got a reputation to uphold. If the others saw me acting like this, they'd never let me hear the end of it. They'd be calling me soft and all girlish."
Vaughn looked at Tiffany incredulously, "What do you mean? You're the most girly girl I know."
Tiffany finally dried her eyes and smiled at Vaughn indulgently. "That's only with the people I trust Mikey. With everyone else, I appear the way they want me to appear. And since you're the only person I trust, noone else sees the real me."
Vaughn was incredibly touched by Tiffany's words. When he had last seen Tiffany, over four years ago, they had not left things in a good way. Words had been said and they had parted amicably, but with very little of the old feelings that had been between them. It was a testament to their relationship that Tiffany could still say she trusted him more than any other person after a separation of four years.
"So, you don't hold what happened with your sister against me anymore do you?" Vaughn had to ask.
Tiffany was silent for a few seconds before answering. When she did, her face was open and honest. "Nah. I realized after I got some space from the whole situation that I totally overreacted. I understand now that what happened between you and my sister was between you and my sister and that I shouldn't feel slighted that things didn't work out between the two of you."
As an afterthought, Tiffany added, "You just have to understand Mikey, that back then, I practically idolized you. I wanted so badly to be a part of your family and I thought you being with my sister would be the best way to go about getting that. So when you and my sister broke up, I was devastated and I took it out on you. I didn't realize what I was doing until it was too late."
Vaughn stared at Tiffany dumbly. "Uh...wow. I didn't know you felt like that."
Tiffany looked embarrassed. "Well, now you do."
"You know Tif, your sister and I didn't have to be together for me to consider you a part of my family. You already were, long before I ever met your sister."
Tiffany grinned. Vaughn grinned back and then let out a laugh. "Feel free to keep idolizing me though."
Tiffany playfully smacked Vaughn on his good arm. They shared a good moment, but both quickly sobered. Vaughn was reluctant to get back to the matter at hand, but they needed to work quickly. "We should probably get to work. We don't have much time."
Tiffany nodded her head and moved to the store room. "You get the car ready and I'll move the men."
Vaughn groaned because he was going to have to leave his wall, but he quickly put his pain to the side and thought about how he was going to rig his car to explode.
End flashback-
"...and that's what happened." Vaughn finished telling his story. He couldn't help but chuckle softly at the fascinated look on Sydney's face.
"Wow. I had no idea." Sydney said awed.
Vaughn just shrugged his shoulders. What more could he do?
Sydney suddenly changed from being fascinated to being worried. "Wait, you said you were shot. Are you alright?"
Vaughn could not describe how happy it made him to see how worried she was. He assured her, "I'm ok Syd. After we finished at the accident site, Tiffany and I found a hotel and she cleaned my shoulder. It's almost completely healed."
Sydney let out a breath she hadn't even realized she was holding and smiled at Vaughn in relief. "Thank god."
Sydney turned around to talk to Tiffany. She wanted to thank her for saving Vaughn's life, but to her surprise, Tiffany was nowhere to be seen. She turned around to look at Vaughn and asked, "Where did your friend go?"
"She went to get the car."
Sydney panicked. He was leaving? He couldn't leave, not now, maybe not ever if she got her way. There were still so many questions she needed answering. "What? You can't leave! You just got here and there's so many questions I still need to ask."
Vaughn shifted impatiently. "Like what Syd?"
There were so many that Sydney was having a hard time picking one. "What about the people who said they saw you crash. There were witnesses Vaughn."
"Oh that? Tiffany found some random guy off the street and persuaded him to lie for us. Tiffany can be quite persuasive, so it wasn't that hard."
Sydney did not like hearing that. Despite how grateful she was to the woman for saving Vaughn's life, she did not like seeing the easy rapport she had with her handler. She did not like hearing anything positive about the woman period. It was irrational and unreasonable to think that, but she couldn't help but feel a little possessive of Vaughn, especially after thinking that he had been dead for the last month. Strangely enough, she felt more threatened by Tiffany than she did Alice. She had never seen Vaughn act as naturally and as freely as he did when he was around his friend.
Sydney still had questions though. "But what about..."
Sydney never finished because Vaughn cut her off. "Look Sydney, I don't mean to be short with you, but I don't have time to answer all your questions right now. I need to ask you something important."
Sydney shut up immediately. "Ok Vaughn."
Vaughn smiled in thanks at her accepting his need for expediency. "This might sound like a stupid question Syd, considering our history, but I need to ask it." Vaughn paused. "Do you trust me Sydney?"
Sydney seemed affronted. "What? Of course I do. I trust you more than anybody else. How can you even ask that question?"
"I'm sorry Syd, but I need to be absolutely sure."
"Why?"
"Because I need to ask for your help to do something that I shouldn't get you involved in. Its dangerous and all three of us could be killed. But you're the only person I can trust to help me."
Sydney was resolute when she responded, "Whatever you need Vaughn, I'll do it. You have done so much for me that it is only fair that I return the favor. Besides, after Taipei, how can I refuse?"
Vaughn was amazed. "Just like that? You don't even know what I'm going to ask you to do yet."
Sydney shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter Vaughn." Sydney paused and then said worriedly, "Uh...what are you planning on doing?"
Vaughn laughed, but then quickly drew serious. "I need your help in retrieving some files. Files that will help me figure out who exactly is trying to kill me and why. I have my suspicions, but until I get some actual proof, I have no leverage."
There was more to the whole thing than Vaughn was telling her. Sydney asked, "Where are the files Vaughn?"
"There are two locations that contain the necessary files I'm looking for. Unfortunately, one of those locations is at Langley, and I'm not going to even bother to tell you how impossible it would be to retrieve them there. The other place, however, is much more feasible."
Sydney interrupted him, "I think I see where you're going with this. All I can say is: what if you're wrong."
"If I'm wrong then I won't be any more screwed than I already am, so I think its worth the risk. Besides, I need to know. I need to know if Devlin has really sold me out. With his files, I should be able to draw out the people trying to kill me and expose them. They are the only insurance that I have." Vaughn reasoned to Sydney. He really needed her to get on board his plan.
"What are these files Vaughn and why are they so important?" Sydney asked.
Vaughn sighed. "They are the operational records for a special CIA project I used to be a part of over four years ago. It was shut down and the files were sealed."
Now Sydney was curious. Vaughn was actually talking about his past. "Why was it shut down Vaughn?"
"Can we not discuss this right now?" Vaughn tried to avoid the question. This was what he had been dreading. Vaughn asked pleadingly.
Sydney was adamant about finding out what Vaughn was hiding. She had thought that Vaughn had never lied to her before, but after finding out about Alice, and now this, she was starting to feel insecure about their relationship. She needed Vaughn to be completely honest with her if she was going to continue being honest with him. He was supposed to be the one person she could trust without reservation, and here she was finding out that he was almost like a different person.
"No Vaughn. You promised me that you would tell me everything." Sydney stopped and then looked at Vaughn with a pained look on her face. "You are supposed to be the one person I can count on to never lie to me. How do you expect me to feel when I find out you have this past that you've never even tried to tell me about?"
Vaughn was getting emotional. "Damnit Sydney, you know you can always trust me. Just because I haven't told you about my past doesn't me I've been lying to you."
"Then why won't you tell me?"
Vaughn was grasping at straws. "I haven't told you anything because its classified."
Sydney shook her head and bored into Vaughn's eyes. Her stare was so intense that Vaughn had to lower his head to avoid looking at her. "If your asking me to get involved then I think I have a right to know about everything I'm getting involved in."
Vaughn sighed. Sydney, of course, was right. She was always right. He didn't know why he even bothered. It was time to face the inevitable. With his head down low and his eyes focused on his feet, he resigned himself to his fate. He didn't know how Sydney was going to take what he was going to tell her. Would she be understanding? Would she avoid him? Would she think he was a bad person? All these thoughts ran rampart through Vaughn's mind.
If he was going to tell her, he would at least look her in the eye when he did it. He raised his head and focused intently on Sydney's face.
Vaughn spoke softly, "The reason the project was shut down was because their was a mole, a double agent. One of the members of our team was feeding classified information to K-Directorate and the Russian FSB."
An amused smile appeared on Sydney's face and she said, "A mole huh?" The irony of Vaughn's statement was not lost on either of them.
Vaughn, however, found no humor in the situation and his face stayed in its somber visage. "Eventually, she got complacent and sloppy, and I finally realized what was going on." Vaughn stopped.
Sydney used the break in conversation to ask, "So what happened to her? Did she get arrested or something?"
Vaughn shook his head sadly. "No she wasn't arrested. After we found out what she was doing, I was left with no choice. I killed her Sydney."
To be continued.....................................
P.S. Thanks to everyone for the kind and thoughtful reviews everyone has been leaving. They're great and they keep piling on the encouragement. Don't ever stop. I have noticed that right now, as it stands, this story equals the most reviews I have ever gotten for a story. I would definitely like that to change. I can not think of another group of fans that I would rather have put me over that mark. In fact, I would be eternally grateful to everyone, if by the next three chapters, I go over 100. I know it's a lot to ask, but if it happened, it would totally kick ass.
P.P.S. Now on to the responses I got for my questions. Thanks everyone. I'm glad everyone seemed to like Tiffany. That's good because I have decided to make her a permanent fixture of this story. I also wanted to say thanks for answering my survey question. Which reminds me, I have another question. Of the people you know who watch Alias, how many are female. I'm looking for a percentage here.
