INT. PARIS HOSPITAL - CONTINUED

Jack leaves Vaughn's room still rubbing his nose. Weiss is walking down the hall. He has a bandage on his neck and a few scratches on his face but other than that he looks relatively unscathed. When he sees Jack his eyes go wide.

WEISS
Jack?! What happened?

JACK
(Matter of fact) Vaughn woke up and panicked.

WEISS
Do you need a doctor?

JACK
I'll be fine.

Then he adds, slightly under his breath:

JACK
At least he didn't break it like Sydney did.

Weiss hears him.

WEISS
Wait, Sydney broke your nose? When?

Jack waves his hand dismissively. He has a nonchalant tone.

JACK
Oh, she must have been about 7 or 8. I tried to wake her up when she was having a nightmare and she hit me in her sleep.

WEISS
Breaking your nose? At age 7 or 8?

Jack gets this sad smile on his face that's a mixture of pride and concern for his daughter.

JACK
She's always been strong.

Weiss picks up on this.

WEISS
Hey, she'll be okay.

Jack's face again becomes impassive and his voice again takes that matter of fact tone.

JACK
Of course she will.

He looks back at Vaughn's room.

JACK
However I have my doubts about him. He's convinced himself that he's to blame for Sydney's condition.

WEISS
That sounds like Vaughn.

JACK
Yes, well, she is going to expect him to be there for her when she wakes up and I don't want her to be disappointed.

WEISS
I'm on it.

JACK
See that you are. I have a meeting with Dixon and then I'll be with Sydney if you need to reach me.

With that he walks away.

CUT TO:

INT. VAUGHN'S ROOM - LATER

Vaughn slowly wakes up and looks over to find Weiss sitting next to his bed covering his nose. Vaughn roles his eyes.

VAUGHN
I see you've spoken to Jack. You know, I didn't mean to do it.

WEISS
Really and here I thought you were just taking advantage of an opportunity to slug Jack Bristow without any repercussions.

Vaughn looks at him.

WEISS
Work with me here. I'm just trying to cheer you up.

VAUGHN
Unless you're here to tell me that Sydney is awake and feeling fine I doubt I'll be "cheering up" any time soon.

WEISS
Sorry, Mike. No change. But Jack did tell me a cute story about her.

VAUGHN
Did you just use "Jack" and "cute" in the same sentence?

WEISS
I know but this isn't teddy bears and puppy dogs cute it's Bristow cute.

VAUGHN
This I have to hear.

WEISS
Apparently your little altercation with Jack reminded him of one he had with Sydney once. She was having a nightmare and he went to try and wake her up when "BAM!"

Weiss slams a fist into an open palm.

WEISS
Daddy's got a broken nose. And the best part is, this all happened when she was like 7 or 8 years old.

Vaughn nods sadly, his expression much like Jack's when he was talking about Syd.

VAUGHN
It figures. She was stronger than me even when she was just a kid.

WEISS
Hey, come on, it's gotta be nice to have girlfriend that can fight your battles for you. Just think of what she could have done to Silvio your friend the Italian florist.

VAUGHN
That's not exactly what I meant.

WEISS
I know. Again, me cheering you up.

VAUGHN
And I appreciate it. It's only...

His voice trails off and he looks down.

WEISS
Yeah.

There's a silent moment where Vaughn thinks about Syd before he tries to move on to other topics.

VAUGHN
So, uh, what about you? How are you doing? Jack tells me you were hit 4 times.

Weiss looks proud.

WEISS
Mere scratches! Once in each leg, one in the side, and one on the arm. They're starting to talk about changing my call sign to Neo.

VAUGHN
Who's they?

WEISS
(Busted) Okay, mostly me but I've almost got Marshall convinced.

VAUGHN
Well, I hate to point this out but Neo dodged the bullets he didn't get hit by every one that was fired in his vicinity.

WEISS
No, Neo moved so fast that the bullets only grazed him.

Vaughn looks unconvinced.

WEISS
Just got with it, will you?

VAUGHN
Just go with it? Like I just went with it when you switched my call sign to Pool Boy?

WEISS
Oh come on, you have to admit that that was pretty funny.

VAUGHN
For you!

WEISS
And? Your point?

Vaughn shakes his head and chuckles slightly.

WEISS
So how about you?

VAUGHN
Physically? I'm fine. It's kind of hard to complain when they've got you on a generous morphine drip.

WEISS
Aw, yes, the only good think about getting hurt. Well, that and the nurses. You can't forget the nurses.

VAUGHN
Especially when they're named Jacque and they won't stop hitting on you.

WEISS
Yeah, well, at least you didn't have to sit in a meeting full of French officials as they ripped into Dixon and the DCI.

VAUGHN
Ouch. Where's the finger pointing?

WEISS
Jack. They said that he shouldn't be running ops with his daughter in the first place and that his concern for her was the reason the mission failed.

VAUGHN
Damn it, I told him to pin it on me.

WEISS
In which case they would have either fired you or transferred you. Jack's got the clout to take a career hit like this. You don't.

VAUGHN
You think I give a damn about my career right now?

WEISS
I know. But it wasn't your fault. And, she's going to be fine. This is Sydney Bristow remember? She's the Timex of spies: She takes a licking and she keeps on ticking. Now let's go see her. We've still got some time before visiting hours are over.

VAUGHN
I don't know.

WEISS
Come on, you know you want to.

VAUGHN
I do. And I will. I'm just tired and I should probably take it easy. I'll go later.

WEISS
Yes, you will. I'll be back in a few hours, okay?

VAUGHN
I'll be here.

Weiss walks out of the room leaving Vaughn to sigh and look worried.

CUT TO: