Two years now:
"OK class... page 137... Let's work on the example question..." There was a knock on the class room door. A woman walks into the room.
"Professor Vaughn? Dean Cantrell would like to see you in his office.
"Thank you, Mrs. Andrews. I will be there after this class."
"No, I think you need to go right now. He was pretty insistent." There was a stir in the classroom.
"Someone's in trouble." was heard sung from the back.
Vaughn looked around. "OK Class... finish chapter 4 on your own. We will do the review question at our next class. You can go." The class put their books away and began to file out. Vaughn packed his teaching materials and met Mrs. Andrews outside the class. "What's up Diane?"
"There are two gentlemen in Dave's office. They went in and he came out and said I should go get you. They looked pretty serious Michael."
They walked to the Dean's office. Dave Cantrell was sitting at the secretary's desk when they arrived.
"Mike. Thanks for coming. There are some gentlemen here... uh..." He looks at Mrs. Andrews. "They need to talk to you, you can use my office."
Dean Cantrell opened the door and stood aside while Vaughn entered. Vaughn immediately saw Weiss. The tone immediately lightened, "Eric, what are you doing here? It's great to see..." Vaughn stopped mid sentence and mid step when Jack Bristow stood from his seat in the office. Again the mood changed... back to serious. Vaughn felt his stomach flip with dread.
Jack broke the silence, "Dean, if you don't mind, we need some privacy while speaking to Mr. Vaughn. I would appreciate the use of your office for a while."
"Of course sir..."
"Please leave us then." The dean left the room and closed the door.
"Mr. Vaughn. Please sit."
"Jack, it's good to see you. Doing well, I hope."
"Vaughn, we are not here for pleasantries... we need your assistance..."
Vaughn interrupted, "I am not CIA any longer. You can't just show up here and tell me..."
"I am not telling you anything, I..." Jack stopped to calm his demeanor. Vaughn saw emotions in his eyes that included worry and sleeplessness. "Vaughn, we are asking for your help... this is ... ah... a special circumstance... uh... the CIA would... needs your help." Jack looked down, away from Vaughn's eyes. Vaughn thought he saw tears threatening to fall. He had never seen Jack Bristow like this. The feeling in his stomach got worse.
"Vaughn, Sydney needs your help."
Tension filled the room. Vaughn looked at Jack and then to Eric. Neither of them looked at him. "Sydney is dead. Has been for two years now." The statement was made with no emotion, but only added to the tension in the room.
Weiss spoke for the first time. "Mike, about..." looking at his watch, "...about forty hours ago, the agent distress line received a call from Hong Kong, someone claiming to be Agent Sydney Bristow. She knew the number, but used a code... two years old..."
"Sydney would know that code is changed quarterly..." Vaughn stands and starts to pace. Weiss continues, turning toward Vaughn, following his movement.
"The agent was instructed, per procedure, to go to the safe house. Given no directions, she arrived an hour later and has been there since, under observation."
Vaughn stopped pacing. "You've left her alone for two days... no outside contacts... no..." Vaughn stopped as the word 'handler' tripped through his mind.
"Vaughn, you are her handler. We would like you to go over there... bring her back." Vaughn looked at Jack.
"You think it's her, don't you Jack?"
"My daughter is in Hong Kong. From her voice and recorded conversation on the distress line, she does not know that two years has past. Please Vaughn, my daughter..." Jack could not continue his thought.
Vaughn looked at Weiss, "What do you mean, doesn't know..."
"Mike, Sydney made reference to the fight with the Calfo double and Will being hurt yesterday. She said that she didn't understand how she fell unconscious after the fight in LA and woke up in Hong Kong. She used the emergency code that would have been active then... She believes, if it's really Sydney... She believes that its two years ago. No time has passed for her."
The room went silent. Vaughn kept replaying what Weiss has just said. 'How can this be? Sydney alive... Sydney alone in Hong Kong... Sydney still in love with him... thinking they were still together...' "NO! NO! I can't go... I'm not CIA, I shouldn't be asked to go."
Vaughn looks, in disbelief at Jack. "Jack, I can't go... I'm... I'm married now. How can you ask me?" He thought of Meelon. He could not allow her to be hurt because of CIA. Vaughn looked at Jack. "You should go. You are her father..." Then, with some realization in his eyes, "They don't think it's her and they don't want you to go because you do..."
Jack looked at Vaughn. "That issue was discussed... Your name was brought up because you have... uh... intimate knowledge of her..."
Vaughn immediately looked confused, until Weiss started talking again. "Mike, the reimaging process may not have been destroyed. If Sydney was doubled, the double would look exactly like... well, Sydney. But, she would not have any of the... um... non-DNA type visual defects. She may not have the same scars or freckles or gestures as the real Sydney. You knew her Vaughn, rather well I might add. You would know if the scar on her thigh or lower back or wherever, were real or fake."
Vaughn looked incredulous. He first stared at Jack and then back at Weiss. He stumbled over the words at first, but managed to complete the sentence. "You want me to go to Hong Kong... Meet with Sydney... or whoever this chick is... pretending to be Sydney... get her to take her clothes off... so I can inspect her scars and other marks... because I was the last one to see them... two years ago... up close and personnel?"
Neither gentleman offered any further clarification. "Jack, you agreed to this?" Jack and Weiss looked at each other. "What are you not telling me?"
Jack stood, and then spoke quietly and calmly... "The directors do not believe it is Sydney. They continue to aver their original confirmation of her death. They will not allow her back into the US without physical confirmation. They will not allow me to go see her. Vaughn... they will turn her over to the Chinese government and disavow any knowledge of her ties to CIA. Please Vaughn. I can't let her sit there not knowing or understanding. She's my daughter... I don't know what happened to her last two years, but I am not going to give up on her... Please Vaughn."
"I will go... she will hate me, but I can't let her stay there." Jack Bristow let out a sigh and sat down as if exhausted. Weiss removed a number of forms from his briefcase. "Mike, you are to be reinstated, at your previous security level and grade. You have to sign these forms. I have your ID and sidearm with me."
As they were going through the paperwork, Vaughn whispers to Weiss, "She is going to kick my ass all over that safe house room."
"You knew when you first kissed her that she could... any way... your pain won't be even half of what she's going to feel..."
They finished the paperwork in silence. Vaughn received his tickets and documentation, as well as instructions and a passport to bring Sydney back. "We will meet at the Phoenix airport at 9 pm tonight for a 9:30 flight to LA. You will connect to Hong Kong from there. Any more questions?"
"What do I tell Meelon?"
Jack rose and spoke, "You are being sent to a conference... Make up a reason why... you will be gone two weeks."
Weiss gave Vaughn a compassionate look, then Weiss and Jack walked to the door. Exiting, Jack took Dean Cantrell aside. You will need to speak to your employee now. You will approve his request for time off. There will be no repercussions. Understand?"
"Of course sir..."
Dean Cantrell entered his office to find Vaughn sitting in one of the oversized leather chairs near his desk. He had a defeated look about him. He sat in his chair and looked at Vaughn until he spoke. "I am going to ask for two weeks off, starting tomorrow. I can't tell you why, and if anyone calls to ask about me they will be told that I am at a conference, returning in two weeks."
"Mike, those guys were CIA, what kind of trouble are you in?"
"Dave, I am not in trouble, but I have a friend from my past life that is in trouble. My friend needs my help."
"Help that involves the CIA? You need better friends."
"Will you cover for me?"
"Mike, do what you need to do, but remember, you don't have tenure here yet. If anything were to happen and somehow it got back to the university or scandalized the university in any way, your position would have to be reviewed."
"I understand; that won't happen."
"I hope not."
"Thanks Dave. I better go. I have a flight at 9:30."
"Mike, where is this conference... in case anyone asks?"
Hmm... Let's see, how about Charlotte."
Vaughn leaves the room and closes the door behind him. Dean Cantrell pushes a button on his desk that remotely locks the door. He opens a drawer to his desk, switches off a tape player, removes the tape and picks up a cell phone. He speed dials a number and waits for the answer... "He's back in." Was all he said into the phone.