Chapter 5

It's going to be a long night.

Vaughn warred with himself all the way to his apartment over whether or not he should call certain people, those people being Jack, the CIA etc….

What if they come and take her from you? his subconscious asked. Vaughn looked over at her startled with that possibility. No, he wasn't ready for that yet, he just got her back.

By the time he got them to his apartment, he had decided that he was just going to lay low with her for a couple of days. He wanted to get a handle on the whole situation and also to see how bad things were with her before anyone else started to poke and prod her. In the back of his mind, though, he was very aware of how bad Jack Bristow was going to hurt him when he found all of this out. Jack had become a recluse since Sydney had gone missing, she was all he had left and Vaughn realized the last time he spoke to him just how much Jack loved her. He had begged him to bring his little girl back but that was something Jack knew deep down that Vaughn was already moving heaven and earth to do.

He got out of the car and went to the passenger side to help her out knowing full well that she'd need him, what he didn't realize on the ride over was that she had fallen asleep yet again.

So much for those sedatives Brian, all you needed to prescribe was a dose of me…Vaughn thought to himself wryly.

He bent down and picked her up as gently as he could so that he wouldn't hurt her again and the shock of how little she weighed made him almost drop her. Another wave of anger coursed through him and he vowed that someone would pay for this. He got her inside and was about to place her on the guest room bed when she woke with a start breathing heavily.

'Hey! It's okay, I've got you, you're safe.' he murmured as he gathered her closer.

He felt her relax so he put her down on the bed and told her he'd be right back. He ran into his room to grab an old t-shirt then he went to the kitchen to get a glass of water but by the time he had gotten back to the spare room she had fallen asleep again.

How long has she gone without sleep? he wondered to himself incredulously. He hated to do it but he woke her up so that she could change and take the pills that Brian had given him. I wish I could live this for her… he thought as she came back into the room. He helped her back into the bed and kissed her on the forehead as he pulled the blankets around her.

'You aren't going to leave are you?' she asked worried.

'If you want me to stay, I will.' he replied

She closed her eyes relieved that he would be near if she needed him and he thought that this would give him a chance to straighten things out and get his thoughts in order but he couldn't shake the feeling though that he should call Jack. He waited until she fell asleep then he went in search of his cell phone.

'Yes.' Jack replied after he picked up the phone.

'Jack, it's Vaughn.'

Almost immediately Vaughn could feel the tension over the phone.

'You've found her!' Jack exclaimed.

'No, she found me. She called me today and we met like usual, things don't look good Jack.' Vaughn explained.

'Where are you now?' Jack asked with a little more composure.

'She's with me at my apartment. I took her to get checked over but….'

'I'll be right there.' Jack said as he disconnected the call.

Vaughn knew he had done the right thing, now he only hoped that Jack would listen to him when he tried to rationalize why she should stay with him.