"Tell me the truth about what Michael?" asked Marie expectantly.
"I'll tell you later, mere."
"Maybe I should cancel my trip and come with you Michael," Said Alice sweetly.
"It's best for all of us if you just go, this trip did nothing to help our marriage Al, we're not any closer than when we started this last week." He said referring to the retreat that Alice had proposed they take to salvage their failing marriage and their family.
"These things take time Michael," she said hoping to placate him.
"Look Alice I was drunk and depressed when we got married, and I've tried to make it work for your sake but we both know it can't. I'm sorry; I'll let the lawyers know that we're going to go through with the divorce on Monday. Call me when you get to Paris safely."
"But what am I supposed to do? I don't know any French except for basic things!"
"Basic is enough and most places are used to tourists and speak English." He replied tired of her whining and turned to leave, Marie a little ahead of him. He stopped at a guard in the hallway and asked him to lead Alice to her plane.
While walking down the hall he couldn't help but remember the trip Alice had said would help them, two weeks of hiking, and other outdoor activities and staying in a nice cabin somewhere in the mountains, he had been skeptical because she was born into money and had never even sat in a public chair without making sure it was clean, but she said it was time to learn something new and promised she would try, and she had tried, on the first day, but then she said that she was sore, and could do nothing the rest of the trip and so the next week as spent taking care of his spoiled wife, his mother doing what he could not and taking over when he went out. The only good thing that came out of this trip was the message...
He had just walked into the cabin and was taking of his heavy hiking gear when his mother came to see if he needed any thing.
"Hey," he said with a warm smile, "how did things go today?"
"We're fine, Alice has scheduled the return flights, but there was a problem, we have a six hour delay at Hong Kong Int'l."
"What time do we leave?"
"In three hours."
"All right I'll get a shower and take our bags to the car."
After taking a shower and taking his bags tot the car the left for the airport, and Michael turned his phone off. The boarded the flight and all went smoothly until the delay in Hong Kong, As they were getting off the plane he decided to check his messages.
"I'm going to check my messages and see if I missed anything important." He said walking off and dialing his answering service.
Mechanical Voice: Hello Michael. You have five new messages and one saved message. To listen to your messages press one..
He pressed one and waited for it to start.
MV: Message one, October 1st 7PM "Hey man it's Eric, Just checking on how things are going. I don't know why you agreed to do this but good luck working things out. I'm sorry but I've got to go Kendall wants to see me. I'll talk to you later man."
MV: Message 2 October 1st 7:45 PM "Hello Mr. Vaughn, its Irina just calling to tell you that Jack and I are returning from Egypt, the leads on Sydney were nothing again. Why don't you have dinner with Jack and me when you get back from Paris? Only you though. Good bye."
He smiled thinking about his relationship with Jack and Irina. After Sydney disappeared they had formed a bond, not quite friends but no longer adversaries, he'd even gone so far as to forgive Irina for the things she had done to his family, after all she had done it to save her own family and he could not blame her for that.
MV: Message three October 1st 9PM "Hey Mike, Will here, Craig and the guys want to have a game of hockey next weekend give me a call if you're up for an ass kicking! See ya later man."
MV: Message four October 2nd 12AM "Michael, umm it, it's Marshal Flinkman, but you knew that right? Of course you did, well, I, I just wanted to say that ummm We, we had a baby girl, I'd let Carrie say hi but she's sleeping and so' the baby, I mean Eva, Eva Melissa Flinkman, I'm a daddy! I'm sorry I have to go now the nurses say that I can't be on the phone here, the signal can hurt the babies, that's only if it has a.(nurse in background) bye sir, I mean Michael"
He smiled thinking of Marshall. He and Carrie had gotten married ten months before and they found out Carrie was pregnant after the honeymoon.. he and Marshall had worked closely with Jack, Dixon, Will, Carrie and Irina to find Sydney and they were all close friends but none of them liked Alice much, they'd be nice to her but they weren't really fond of her at all.
MV: Message five October 2nd 3AM "Mr. Vaughn it's Kendall, We just received a call from someone claiming to be Agent Bristow in Hong Kong, she used her old id and verification codes and the project Helix codename, but we'd like you to be there to meet her at the safe house, I know your plane lands in about an hour and there will be reservations for a car for you at the desk. Get there as soon as possible and call me when you get this message."
MV: Last saved message.
He snapped his phone shut and ran back to Alice and his Mother. "Somethings come up I have to take care of something in Hong Kong." He said in a hurry taking out his CIA badge he kept for emergencies and grabbing the carryons leaving Alice and his mother to run to keep up with him as he ran through the check points flashing his badge to security. He ran to the desk and by the time they had caught up and caught their breaths he had got the keys and was ready to leave. They jumped into the rental and he sped to the safe house breaking all traffic laws possible but surprisingly no cops tried to follow him or stop him. He figured that they knew he could get away or had been forewarned. Pulling up to the house he ran out o the car and slowed down to compose himself before walking in his mom and Alice next to him. He showed his id and they were ushered to the back where Sydney was sitting in a bedroom, the only thing between them was a large room that looked like a doctor's office waiting room. He calmly turned to his mother and politely asked them to sit and wait for him knocked on the door and walked in finding Sydney in his arms before he had even shut the door. As she pulled back she said, SYDNEY: They doubled Francie. VAUGHN: I know. SYDNEY: What happened to Will? To Francie? Are they dead? VAUGHN: Will's okay. SYDNEY: What? How? VAUGHN: You... Sit down. (She does. He sits down across from her. He doesn't know how to begin and looks at the floor.) SYDNEY: Vaughn? VAUGHN: We thought you were dead. They asked me to come back to... to explain. SYDNEY: Come back from what? What are you talking about? (Vaughn rubs at his face with his left hand. On that hand is a wedding ring.) SYDNEY: Vaughn... why are you wearing that ring? VAUGHN: Syd... since that night... you were missing. You've been missing for almost two years. SYDNEY: No! That's not possible! You got married! In two years! I thought you loved me! I guess I was wrong.
With that she ran out the door and he did the only thing he could, he ran after her.
"I'll tell you later, mere."
"Maybe I should cancel my trip and come with you Michael," Said Alice sweetly.
"It's best for all of us if you just go, this trip did nothing to help our marriage Al, we're not any closer than when we started this last week." He said referring to the retreat that Alice had proposed they take to salvage their failing marriage and their family.
"These things take time Michael," she said hoping to placate him.
"Look Alice I was drunk and depressed when we got married, and I've tried to make it work for your sake but we both know it can't. I'm sorry; I'll let the lawyers know that we're going to go through with the divorce on Monday. Call me when you get to Paris safely."
"But what am I supposed to do? I don't know any French except for basic things!"
"Basic is enough and most places are used to tourists and speak English." He replied tired of her whining and turned to leave, Marie a little ahead of him. He stopped at a guard in the hallway and asked him to lead Alice to her plane.
While walking down the hall he couldn't help but remember the trip Alice had said would help them, two weeks of hiking, and other outdoor activities and staying in a nice cabin somewhere in the mountains, he had been skeptical because she was born into money and had never even sat in a public chair without making sure it was clean, but she said it was time to learn something new and promised she would try, and she had tried, on the first day, but then she said that she was sore, and could do nothing the rest of the trip and so the next week as spent taking care of his spoiled wife, his mother doing what he could not and taking over when he went out. The only good thing that came out of this trip was the message...
He had just walked into the cabin and was taking of his heavy hiking gear when his mother came to see if he needed any thing.
"Hey," he said with a warm smile, "how did things go today?"
"We're fine, Alice has scheduled the return flights, but there was a problem, we have a six hour delay at Hong Kong Int'l."
"What time do we leave?"
"In three hours."
"All right I'll get a shower and take our bags to the car."
After taking a shower and taking his bags tot the car the left for the airport, and Michael turned his phone off. The boarded the flight and all went smoothly until the delay in Hong Kong, As they were getting off the plane he decided to check his messages.
"I'm going to check my messages and see if I missed anything important." He said walking off and dialing his answering service.
Mechanical Voice: Hello Michael. You have five new messages and one saved message. To listen to your messages press one..
He pressed one and waited for it to start.
MV: Message one, October 1st 7PM "Hey man it's Eric, Just checking on how things are going. I don't know why you agreed to do this but good luck working things out. I'm sorry but I've got to go Kendall wants to see me. I'll talk to you later man."
MV: Message 2 October 1st 7:45 PM "Hello Mr. Vaughn, its Irina just calling to tell you that Jack and I are returning from Egypt, the leads on Sydney were nothing again. Why don't you have dinner with Jack and me when you get back from Paris? Only you though. Good bye."
He smiled thinking about his relationship with Jack and Irina. After Sydney disappeared they had formed a bond, not quite friends but no longer adversaries, he'd even gone so far as to forgive Irina for the things she had done to his family, after all she had done it to save her own family and he could not blame her for that.
MV: Message three October 1st 9PM "Hey Mike, Will here, Craig and the guys want to have a game of hockey next weekend give me a call if you're up for an ass kicking! See ya later man."
MV: Message four October 2nd 12AM "Michael, umm it, it's Marshal Flinkman, but you knew that right? Of course you did, well, I, I just wanted to say that ummm We, we had a baby girl, I'd let Carrie say hi but she's sleeping and so' the baby, I mean Eva, Eva Melissa Flinkman, I'm a daddy! I'm sorry I have to go now the nurses say that I can't be on the phone here, the signal can hurt the babies, that's only if it has a.(nurse in background) bye sir, I mean Michael"
He smiled thinking of Marshall. He and Carrie had gotten married ten months before and they found out Carrie was pregnant after the honeymoon.. he and Marshall had worked closely with Jack, Dixon, Will, Carrie and Irina to find Sydney and they were all close friends but none of them liked Alice much, they'd be nice to her but they weren't really fond of her at all.
MV: Message five October 2nd 3AM "Mr. Vaughn it's Kendall, We just received a call from someone claiming to be Agent Bristow in Hong Kong, she used her old id and verification codes and the project Helix codename, but we'd like you to be there to meet her at the safe house, I know your plane lands in about an hour and there will be reservations for a car for you at the desk. Get there as soon as possible and call me when you get this message."
MV: Last saved message.
He snapped his phone shut and ran back to Alice and his Mother. "Somethings come up I have to take care of something in Hong Kong." He said in a hurry taking out his CIA badge he kept for emergencies and grabbing the carryons leaving Alice and his mother to run to keep up with him as he ran through the check points flashing his badge to security. He ran to the desk and by the time they had caught up and caught their breaths he had got the keys and was ready to leave. They jumped into the rental and he sped to the safe house breaking all traffic laws possible but surprisingly no cops tried to follow him or stop him. He figured that they knew he could get away or had been forewarned. Pulling up to the house he ran out o the car and slowed down to compose himself before walking in his mom and Alice next to him. He showed his id and they were ushered to the back where Sydney was sitting in a bedroom, the only thing between them was a large room that looked like a doctor's office waiting room. He calmly turned to his mother and politely asked them to sit and wait for him knocked on the door and walked in finding Sydney in his arms before he had even shut the door. As she pulled back she said, SYDNEY: They doubled Francie. VAUGHN: I know. SYDNEY: What happened to Will? To Francie? Are they dead? VAUGHN: Will's okay. SYDNEY: What? How? VAUGHN: You... Sit down. (She does. He sits down across from her. He doesn't know how to begin and looks at the floor.) SYDNEY: Vaughn? VAUGHN: We thought you were dead. They asked me to come back to... to explain. SYDNEY: Come back from what? What are you talking about? (Vaughn rubs at his face with his left hand. On that hand is a wedding ring.) SYDNEY: Vaughn... why are you wearing that ring? VAUGHN: Syd... since that night... you were missing. You've been missing for almost two years. SYDNEY: No! That's not possible! You got married! In two years! I thought you loved me! I guess I was wrong.
With that she ran out the door and he did the only thing he could, he ran after her.