Two Years Ago Chapter 7 *************

When Vaughn finally woke up, he reached for Sydney, but all he found was a cold, empty bed. He opened his eyes in confusion and looked around the room. No Sydney. He got up to check the bathroom, but no Sydney there either.

*That's weird,* he thought. *Maybe she went out to get breakfast or something. I wonder why she didn't leave a note.*

Vaughn hopped in the shower to wait for Sydney to return. When he was done, she wasn't back, so he flipped the TV on as he got dressed. *She'll be back soon, I'm sure,* he thought as he plopped back down on the bed.

After a half hour had passed, Vaughn was starting to get a little worried, and more than a little hungry. He dialed room service and had them bring up enough food for two, still optimistic that Sydney would be there any minute.

A couple more hours went by. By this point, Vaughn had made several calls into CIA headquarters to see if she had contacted them, but they hadn't heard from her either. He didn't want to leave the room, in case she came back, but he wanted to go look for her. The problem was, he didn't even know where to start.

He wrote a quick note for her on the dresser where she would be sure to see it if she came in, telling her to call his cell the minute she saw it, and he left. He wandered around for several hours and went to all the places that they had been, plus a lot more, but no sign of her. He eventually headed back to the hotel room, hoping against hope that she would be there. He opened the door once again to an empty room, his note untouched on the dresser and all of her stuff untouched where it had been left the night before.

He sat in the room for the rest of the night, confused and worried, the TV on for noise, but watched only by a blank stare. Vaughn called in to CIA headquarters about once every hour, but no one had heard anything at all from anyone but him. The day faded into night, a very sleepless night for two very far apart newlyweds.

Another long day passed, with many hopeful calls to the CIA, and many depressing answers that no one had heard anything from Sydney. Around dinner time, Vaughn started packing up all of their stuff. He went down to find the hotel manager.

"I'm afraid something may have happened to my wife. I haven't heard anything from her in two days. This is her name and my phone number; can you let me know if you hear anything from her?"

"I'll hang on to this, sir, but I can't promise you anything."

"I appreciate any help you can give me. I'll be checking out now."

"But sir, you have already paid for the rest of the week. I'm afraid I cannot return your money."

"That's alright. I can't stay here by myself. Consider it payment for your trouble if she happens to come back or you do hear something from her."

"Yes, sir. I am very sorry to hear of our guests in trouble."

"Thank you." Vaughn handed over the keys and went to pack up his car.

When Vaughn arrived home, he checked his messages, hopeful that he had heard from Sydney, but the only message was from his dentist, reminding him that he had an appointment next week.

Vaughn dropped the suitcases on the floor in his living room and went in to his room and cried.

*** R/R!! I'm almost to the point where I'm going to jump into the future.I think :)