Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Alias characters that are portrayed on this story, so please don't sue me!!!!!! Summary: Five years have passed since the fall of SD-6, and Sydney has gone missing for the 3 last years. Vaughn is in for the shock of his life when he finally finds Sydney.with a family. S/S; some S/V

While She Was Missing

Chapter 6 Sydney slowly woke up, and was surprised by the feeling of a soft mattress underneath her. 'Was it all just a bad dream?' she thought. She rolled over to the right side of the bed, expecting to softly collide into the strong body of her husband, but instead, she fell right onto the floor.

"Sydney! Are you alright?" she heard a voice ask.

No, the recent events were not just part of her dreams.

"Sorry, Vaughn. I didn't mean to wake you up.it's just that I'm not used to sleeping on the right side of the bed," she explained. She climbed back onto the bed, and Vaughn immediately engulfed her into his arms. Sydney relaxed into Vaughn's warm embrace, but she could not help but feel a little guilty. She never thought that she would ever be the woman who would sleep with another man while she was married. 'What am I doing?' her mind screamed at her. Sydney's heart cried out to the little girl whom she had left behind. What was she thinking? 'I abandoned my family, just like my mother,' Sydney fleetingly thought.

Silent tears began to flow down her face, and to her surprise, the sleeping Vaughn did not awaken to sense her emotions. Usually, Sark would immediately wake up to comfort her, because they had become so perceptive to each other in the short time they had shared together. She slowly untangled herself from Vaughn's arms and put on her robe. Sydney walked to the kitchen to make some coffee and eggs. She immediately missed the view of the beautiful ocean. The ringing of the telephone broke Sydney out of her thoughts. She decided to let the machine pick up the message and she got back to making scrambled eggs. The answering machine beeped, and she heard Vaughn's voice start the message.

"You have reached Michael Vaughn. Please leave your name and number, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Michael!" Sydney heard a woman's voice start. "It's Alice, honey, if you haven't already realized it. I know that you're probably still asleep, but I just wanted to let you know of some fantastic sites I found for our wedding. Now, the first place is in Napa on my uncle's vineyard. It's so beautiful there, and we could have wine tasting as part of our reception. Wouldn't that be lovely? Yes, I thought so. Another amazing place would be in Beverly Hills at my parents' house. Since you've already been there, then you already know that it has more than enough room to fit all of our guests. And the last place is my absolute favorite! Ever since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to get married on the beach, and I think that the best beach would be in Carmel-By-The-Sea. It's perfect there, and the weather is always just right. I've already made arrangements for the both of us to drive up there tomorrow morning, and we'll be staying for five days, just to get situated with the town. Well, I've got to run! Bye Mike! Call me when you wake up!"

Sydney could not believe her ears. Vaughn was getting married.to Alice! And he had not told Sydney that important piece of information at all! What did he expect Sydney to be, the other woman? Sydney was seething in anger, and she had to sit down as Vaughn walked into the kitchen. He walked over to kiss Sydney on the lips, but she turned her head, signaling to Vaughn that something was wrong.

"Hey, Syd, why the hostility?"

"Maybe I'm being just a little bit hostile because your fiancé just called up to tell you of wedding locations. I suggest that you listen to her message," Sydney replied icily.

Vaughn ran a hand over his face and sighed.

"Syd, I was planning on telling you today, okay?"

"Are you going to leave Alice?"

"Syd.I.I can't."

"Wait, what do you mean 'I can't'? How did you expect to be romantically involved with me while you were married?!"

"Well.I just figured that you wouldn't mind being the.the other-"

"You expected me to be the other woman? There is no way that's going to happen! I am leaving, Vaughn. And don't ever call me or talk to me again. How could you think of me being that low?"

"Well," Vaughn muttered, "you left your husband for me, so I figured that you would be happy to fulfill the role."

"Don't even go there!" Sydney shouted.

Thirty minutes later, Sydney was in a taxi back to Carmel, hoping that her family would accept her.