Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Syd and Vaughn are not mine. So don't sue me. You wouldn't get much from a high school freshman anyway; I currently have about 12 bucks to my name.

A/N: Hey, Darrel Doomvomit, Leah only beat him because she had the element of surprise. I mean, big intimidating CIA agent, little girl? He figured she was young and way more naïve than she is. Which develops later…

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"Uh, it's okay, she's with me," Vaughn said to the room in general from his spot on the floor.

Leah had a self-satisfied smirk across her pretty face.

"Okay, I could go for the civilized option now. I know I can kick your ass if you get out of line," Leah said, keeping her voice dangerously low and putting her hand out to help him to his feet.

To her surprise, he took it.

"Hey, uh, you two know each other?" another man asked, walking up.

"Not well. We just met," Vaughn said to him. "You greet everybody that way?" he asked Leah.

"Only men who insist on being ass holes," Leah quipped.

Vaughn shook his head and grinned.

"Why don't we move this to my office, before one of the desk girls has security throw us out?" Vaughn suggested.

"Fine by me," Leah said by a shrug.

"I can come, right?" the other guy asked. "I didn't really doubt it when I saw her, but the only woman that'd teach her daughter something like that is…"

"Shut up, Weiss," Vaughn said quietly. "You can come, so I can keep an eye on you and gossip at a minimum."

Vaughn led the way into his private office and closed the door firmly behind them, obviously a sign to lower agents to stay away.

"All right," he said to Leah, ignoring Weiss. "Who are you?"

"I see your manners have improved slightly, but I still already answered that question. Answer mine," Leah demanded.

Weiss stood in a corner and noted that the two circled each other in the small space like wolves, each looking for their opponent's weak spot.

"I don't want a name. That doesn't answer my question," Vaughn argued.

"Funny. All I want is a name," Leah said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"You're at a disadvantage here, girl. You're not getting a damn answer to one question until you answer mine."

"I came looking for you for answers. I could just as easily walk away without them, and without you getting any either. Looks like I'm on top here."

"How long you think you could evade the CIA? You're what, twenty?"

Leah shook her head pointedly. "Not until you answer my question, jackass," she retorted.

"Restraints are still an option, kid. And inquiries so tough the Spanish Inquisition looks like 20 Questions."

"Like you could just pop restraints on me. You need another demonstration? Didn't you get it the first time you landed on your ass?"

They were still circling, and going nowhere that Weiss could see. What harm could giving her a name do? Weiss wondered. She couldn't be anybody but Syd's kid, and those eyes raised some clues as to her father. Two sets of those eyes were showing their owners had dug in their heels deeper than any donkey could ever boast.

"Hey, kid," Weiss said, stepping in the middle of them. "You want his name, and you'll tell us who you are?"

"In a second. If you're telling the truth," she added in Vaughn's direction.

"Eric, don't you dare," Vaughn growled.

Weiss never blinked. "His name is Michael Vaughn. Not that you care, but I'm Eric Weiss."

The similarity in Leah's eyes to a time bomb diffused the instant she heard Vaughn's name.

"So," she said with the air of someone whose entire universe had just shifted from under her feet. "My father is an ass hole." She never dropped her eyes from Vaughn's.

She's got Sydney's I'm-gonna-prove-you-wrong attitude, Vaughn thought before he could stop himself.

"Who are you?" he whispered.

"I could leave…" Weiss said, inching toward the door.

"Stay!" Vaughn and Leah commanded, their eyes never wavering.

Leah inhaled a sharp breath.

"My mother is Sydney Bristow."

"Your momma has no clue where you are," Vaughn said.

Leah shook her head. "On the contrary, I imagine she knows exactly where I am. She just couldn't catch me."

"Leah…" Vaughn paused, as if absorbing her name. "How old are you? You can't be twenty."

"Eighteen, as of three days ago."

"Did…did Sydney tell you I was your father?"

"Really, I should…" Weiss tried again.

"Stay!" Leah and Vaughn shouted.

"On my birthday," Leah started softly. "I convinced my mother to tell me about you. She…she'd never told me anything about you. And she told me you had both been CIA, and your name was Michael. And that you only spent one night together and when she found out she was pregnant she got scared, and left."

Suddenly, Vaughn remembered seeing her outside the bank. Fear filled his lungs, and he couldn't breathe.

"Leah, you were outside the bank."

Leah looked confused. "Yeah, I thought it looked nice…"

"Damn, Leah! God…your mother only told you about the CIA, not SD-6?"

"SD-6? What…"

"Damn! Leah, before Sydney worked here, SD-6 recruited her. They claimed to be a secret branch of the CIA, but…she found out they weren't. She was a double agent, she fed the CIA information about SD-6. Then she disappeared. That bank…it's SD-6's headquarters. There's security everywhere. Damn…" Vaughn began to pace.

Leah's face had gone pale.

"Someone was following me this morning," she squeaked.

"What!" Vaughn cried. "And you led them here?!?"

"No!" Vaughn's hands were on her shoulders, shaking her. She pulled loose and stepped back. "No. I lost them." Her voice we brave, but her hands trembled and her eyes were wide.

"I should just…" Weiss said.

"Shut up, damn you!" Leah shouted before Vaughn could even say anything.

Weiss blinked and took a step further back into the office.

"Okay, okay," he muttered.

"What does this mean?" Leah asked Vaughn.

"For now, it means you're staying within these walls. Can you get a hold of your mother?"

"I have her cell number."

"Good."

"I have a suitcase in my car, if I have to stay here…"

"Too bad. It stays there." Vaughn handed a phone to her. "Call Sydney," he ordered.

Leah tried, but the operator said there was no signal.

"She's out of the network," Leah said. "It only covers the southeast." She seemed crushed, then Vaughn saw her eyes light up like you'd see a light bulb over a character's head in a bad cartoon. "Jeff! I can call Jeff! He's been talking to Mom, I know he has! She'll call him!"

Vaughn frowned, jealousy tugging at him painfully.

"Who's Jeff?"

"He's my boyfriend, but I'm pretty sure he been reporting to my mother…"

"Your boyfriend! Of course. Sure, call him. Tell him to give Sydney this number if she calls…" Vaughn said, jotting down his cell number.

Leah moved to dial, then froze and wilted before Vaughn's eyes.

"How much trouble am I in? How much is Mom in" Leah asked, lowering the phone to its cradle and trying to hid e the fact that her hands shook. She looked down to hide the tears pooling in her eyes.

Weiss darted silently from the room.

"To be honest, I think your mom's in bigger trouble than you right now," Vaughn said gently.

Leah sank into a chair and studied her hands, but her shoulders began to shake, betraying her.

Vaughn awkwardly sat in the chair next to her and put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. After a tense moment, she turned and rested her head on Vaughn's shoulder.

"It'll be okay." It had to be okay. "Your mom can take care of herself." And she had to make it to LA. Vaughn couldn't handle loosing her again without ever having seen her again, or being left with his stranger of a daughter who was a carbon copy of her mother.

"Leah," he said gently when she quieted. "You should call Jeff or you might risk missing your mother."

"Okay." Leah straightened and smiled sadly.

"There's someone else here you should meet. Go ahead and make your call. I'll be right back." he patted her back and left her alone.

Jack wasn't hard to find. Word of Leah's unusual appearance had traveled fast, and a couple of people who'd known Sydney had seen her, too. Jack had made himself highly visible.

"Director," Vaughn said curtly.

Jack had gotten out of SD-6 after Sydney had disappeared. The heat had been too much to risk. He'd advanced in rank quickly once his full focus had been on the CIA.

"Agent Vaughn. I understand you have an interesting woman in your office right now," Jack said questioningly.

"You could say that. Sent me sprawling on the floor, and it wasn't just er looks, though that alone floored me."

"Perhaps I should see about her."

"I think you should."

Jack said nothing when Vaughn opened his office door. Leah still sat in the chair facing the wall, and she didn't turn around.

"Jeff was upset when I suggested he'd been talking to Mom. I gave him the number and told him to give it to her if she called, because I hadn't been able to reach her cell."

"Leah, this is Director Jack Bristow," Vaughn said.

Leah's head snapped up and around, her eyes boring into Jack with an expression Jack figured she'd probably inherited from him.

"Sydney's father," Jack said, trying not to allow his voice to carry the same hard tone he usually used and succeeding only slightly.

"My grandfather," Leah said warily. With a glance at Vaughn she said, "What, you're not going to try to drag me off someplace without telling me anything? I thought that was a family custom."

Jack shot Vaughn a look.

"Like you wouldn't have done the same to the saucy little brat. At least you knew she existed. It explains why even Weiss has a better office than me, though," Vaughn accused.

"I knew there was a child. I have only talked to Sydney a few times since she left, and she wouldn't have appreciated me hunting her down." Jack defended. "Which is what you would have done."

Leah stood and crossed her arms, facing the men.

"Are there any more relatives I should know about?" she asked. Apparently she'd gotten back her equilibrium after having lost it for a few minutes.

Jack glanced at Vaughn, then back at Leah.

"I guess I should consider that a more affectionate greeting than he got," Jack commented.

"Gee, I was being so nice, coming to let him know I existed, and he greets me with 'Who the hell are you.' What else could I do? He needed to be brought down a notch or two, threatening to drag--or was it carry?--me kicking and screaming," Leah said sarcastically.

When the men just stared, Leah sneered. "Nice meeting you, boys, but I've got to go find my mother."

with that, Leah took off past them at a sprint. Those idiots hadn't made one move to find her mother. They may be family, but she wouldn't trust them near as far as she could throw them.

Vaughn ran after her, thinking he was too old to be doing this. Jack was right behind him, thinking he'd been too old for this about ten years ago.

Leah sprinted all the way to the parking lot, putting considerable distance between herself and Jack and Vaughn. They reached the parking lot just in time to see a dart embed itself in Leah's neck, and her crumple to the ground. A couple of men in a nearby van jumped out and dragged her into it.

Neither of them were anywhere near the van as it disappeared into traffic.

All Vaughn could think was SD-6 had his daughter. SD-6 had the only piece of Sydney he'd come near in nineteen years.

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Hehehe. Now it gets interesting! Thanks for all the great reviews, guys, but I have just one request. Can you try to make them longer than 5 words? May be include a little useful critique? Please?