Sydney lightly fingered the message she had found on the desk that was newly assigned to her. It was from Weiss telling her that Dixon had approved her request to talk with Will. She was supposed to meet with him in a few minutes to go over what she was allowed to say and what had to be kept classified.

She had been out of the hospital for a week now, and still she hadn't seen Vaughn. She knew it wasn't very mature to actively avoid another person. She wasn't stupid. It was just the fact that she didn't want to hear the explanation about why Vaughn was wearing a wedding ring. In her confused head, if he didn't say he was married, then it wasn't really true. Weiss had told her this was the unhealthiest mode of thinking he had ever heard of.

"But I don't care," she mumbled.

"Sydney," said a voice behind her. It was the one voice she did not want to hear mutter her name, and it was the only voice she wanted to hear say her name.

"Michael," she said spinning in her chair to face him. "I'm sorry I haven't been to talk with you."

"It's okay," he said with a weak smile. "You've been busy. I should have made an effort to see you. I need to explain a few things to you."

"Start explaining," Sydney said with her own weak smile. "I want to understand."

"Syd, you were dead. The CIA found your body and everything. I didn't think you were ever coming back. When you died, my heart shattered. It was kind of ironic because I had just finished comforting your sister from the same thing."

"You know, that's the first time someone has mentioned my sister. I'm starting to wonder what is going on with her that everyone has so successfully avoided mentioning her."

"We can deal with that in a minute, Syd. I need to finish explaining what happened to me over the past two years. It's important that you know."

"Start with explaining why the hell you're wearing a wedding ring," Sydney hissed. She was finding it harder and harder to contain her anger as he kept talking. "I still don't understand why you gave up on looking for me. If you were the one who got abducted, I would have never ever stopped looking for you no matter what happened."

"Sydney, they found your body floating in a river. That was pretty solid evidence that you had died."

"You're telling me that you felt deep down in your heart that I had died? That after everything we had been through, you were just going to accept evidence that conveniently washed up on shore? It didn't occur to you that maybe the evidence was planted?"

"Of course that occurred to me, Sydney. It occurred to all of us. But the DNA of the body we found matched yours. There was no way anyone could fake that."

"Well, obviously someone did because I'm sitting here talking to you."

Vaughn took a deep breath and began to finger his wedding ring as he got more nervous. Sydney snapped.

"Stop playing with that damn thing!" she yelled calling most of the office's attention to their discussion. "I can't stand that you're wearing that thing and I don't even know why."

"I moved on, Syd. It was what all my family and friends were urging me to do."

"I bet it didn't even take you that long," Sydney said. She knew she was trying to intentionally hurt him, but it didn't really matter to her. All she could think of is he should hurt just as much inside as she was.

"You don't know how much your death destroyed me, Syd. I spent the first six months after the CIA found your body trying to keep the search for you going. I couldn't believe that you had died. I barely ate or slept. Weiss kept trying to hold interventions on my behalf." Vaughn chuckled at the memory.

"Good for you. Because obviously I was alive and well. I'm sitting here, aren't I? So you were right to try to search for me even after they found what was supposedly my body."

"Please don't patronize me, Syd. After those initial six months of denial, I lost my mind. I started talking to you as if you were still there. I would tell Weiss that I had to get home to you because you needed me. Frankly I think that I scared him shitless. The CIA took me off active duty until I would agree to undergo counseling from one of their on-staff employees. The counseling was extremely effective in helping me understand that you were gone. That's where I met Lauren."

"Lauren?" Sydney said. "She has a name."

"And a face," said a female voice from behind Sydney.

Sydney turned to lay eyes on a woman she had never seen before in her life but who she knew would be an instant enemy. This was her boyfriend's wife, and that position was never a good one to have.

"Lauren, do you think this was the best time to introduce yourself?" Vaughn asked. He tried unsuccessfully to usher this blonde woman out of the area of Sydney's desk.

"No, I didn't think this was the best of times. I just thought that Miss Bristow would like to know that her flight to Mineral Point, Wisconsin," Lauren said.

"What's there?" Sydney said momentarily distracted.

"Will is," Vaughn said. "That's where the Witness Protection program put him."

"Oh," Sydney grabbed her coat and began to walk away from her desk. Vaughn ran after her.

"Sydney, I'm sorry that you had to meet Lauren that way without me finishing my explanation of the situation."

"Honestly, I'm done hearing what you're trying to say." Sydney looked back at where Lauren was standing talking to an intern. "I didn't know that she worked here with you. How quaint."

"I wanted to warn you. She is an employee of the National Security Council. The only reason she's working out of this office is she's trying to straighten out the whole mess you caused by reappearing."

"Oh great. So I'm the reason that she's here." Sydney threw up her hands in disgust and began to walk away from Vaughn. She turned back to him. "On second thought I don't think we're done with this discussion. You still haven't explained why you got married if you were so sure that I was still alive." Satisfied with her parting words, Sydney nodded at Vaughn and walked out of the CIA facility.

Vaughn sighed in frustration and rushed over to Dixon's office. The secretary held up her hands to stop him. "Mr. Dixon is in a meeting," she informed him.

"I don't care," Vaughn hissed. "I need to talk to him about Sydney now." He lightly moved the secretary out of his way and pushed the office door open.

"Agent Vaughn, I'm in a meeting," Dixon said from his desk.

"I noticed. Sorry to interrupt, sir." He turned to look at who Dixon had an appointment with. "Jack, I'm sorry if this is inconvenient." Vaughn turned back to Dixon. "I just wanted to let you know that this is ridiculous, keeping Sydney out of the loop. She had a right to know what we're doing to stop the Covenant. I mean, that's who we think have had her for the two years she was missing."

"Mr. Vaughn, I explained this to you before. We can't let Sydney know all of what has been going on. It would overload her, and chances are she would go running right back into the arms of the Covenant. This is an official order. You are to continue your life as normal."

"With all due respect, sir, Sydney Bristow was one of the best agents the CIA has seen in years. She deserves to know the truth."

"Agent Vaughn, is this about Will Tippin? Or you?" Jack asked him. "Which truth exactly are you demanding that Sydney know?"

Vaughn sighed in frustration again and barged out of the office as quickly as he barged in.

"I don't think Agent Vaughn is going to be able to do what you ask of him," Jack said from his chair.

"Honestly, I don't know if I would be able to do what I'm asking him if I was in his position," Dixon replied rather ominously.