Chapter 10
Sydney stopped speaking as Lauren entered the room followed by Dr. Nicholas. Lauren looked a little paler than usual, as if she was worrying about something. She looked relieved to see Vaughn again, even though this feeling wasn't returned. He would wait for a moment alone with her, to tell her about what he was planning, but he didn't want to make a scene, especially with one of the CIA's doctors in the room. He also needed to finish his conversation with Sydney but he thought that it would wait.
"Lauren are you ok?" He did the concerned husband routine, hoping she wouldn't realize that something was wrong.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Actually Michael," She paused looking at Dr. Nicholas, knowing that he was waiting to take her husband for some tests. The doctor understood what she was wanting, and nodded. "There's something that I really need to talk to you about... in private." She cast a cold glance at Sydney, indicating that her presence was unwanted.
"Yeah, I need to talk to you about something as well." Sydney watched as Vaughn lead his wife into the corner of the room so that they could 'talk.' This was it, he was finally going to break up with her.
"You go first. You were gone for a long time, was something wrong with your tests?" He knew deep down that he didn't love Lauren the way that he should, but he still cared about her. And if she was sick or in trouble he wanted to help.
"The results which tell me whether or not I have the virus haven't come back yet. But that's not what I wanted to say." She spoke in a hushed tone, so that Sydney couldn't hear. "When Dr. Nicholas was doing the tests, he found something out which I didn't know about." She took a deep breath preparing her for what she was about to say. "I'm pregnant Michael."
The expressions on his face told Lauren that this was the last thing that he was expecting her to say. "Your what?" He couldn't believe what she was saying to him. They had discussed having children before but nothing had been decided upon. Sydney looked over at them wondering what they were talking about.
Vaughn stared at Lauren in disbelief. "How can you be pregnant Lauren? We haven't... you know in a long time. There must be some kind of mistake." Everything was going wrong in his life. He had wanted Sydney to be his wife, but he ended up marrying Lauren, and he had always thought that someday him and Sydney would have children together. But no. He had managed to get another woman pregnant.
"What are you trying to say Michael? That I've slept with someone else? How could you even think that? You know that I love you even though you don't love me."
"That's not what I meant. This is just such the wrong time!" He rubbed his eyes trying to make himself believe that this was just some crazy nightmare that he would soon wake out of.
"What's so wrong with now? What was it you wanted to tell me?" She asked anxiously.
Chapter 10 (part 2)
Vaughn looked into Lauren's eyes. Confusion was spread all across her face. He knew the answer to her questions, but could he bring himself to share it with her? He ran his hand through his hair, trying to find a way to break the truth to her. But he couldn't. There was no easy way of telling her that he wanted to leave her for another woman. Not now that she was carrying his child.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter anymore." He lied to his wife AGAIN.
"Ok. I guess you should probably go an have your tests and then we can talk when you get back." She kissed him on the cheek, and he forced a smile across his face. Regretting not telling her, he turned to leave the room. He couldn't bring himself to look at Sydney. He had lied to her too by breaking his promise about telling Lauren the truth. He would just have to deal with the consequences later.
Sydney realised that he hadn't told Lauren, the minute that she kissed her husband on the cheek. That wasn't usually something you do to someone when they have broken up with you. She watched as he left the room, avoiding looking at her. How could he lie to me? He's gonna stay with her, and I'll end up alone as always. Why is it that every time I get close to him something happens to drive us apart? Sydney wanted the answers to these questions but she just didn't have them. The only person that did was Vaughn and he had left leaving her with Lauren. She hadn't liked Lauren since the first day they met.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A couple of months ago:
Sydney burst into Dixon's office, not bothering to knock. He was sat at his desk, with a pile of papers in his hand, and he looked up from his work as she entered the room. "Sydney..." He tried to talk to her, but she cut him off.
"I appreciate that you think it's good for me to know that there are other people out there who've experienced what I have, but you cannot put me into that group!" She was angry with him, he could tell, but he had only been trying to help her.
"Sydney..." He tried again to talk to her, but she wouldn't let him speak.
"Look, I'm not even gonna pretend that it isn't hard losing Vaughn. Do I still have feelings for him? Of course I do. Finding out that..." She was trying hard to control her anger, but talking about the man she lost wasn't easy for her.
This time it was Dixon's turn to interrupt: "Sydney. This is Lauren Reed." He turned to face a young, blonde woman who was sitting in the corner of the room. Sydney hadn't bothered to check that Dixon was alone before she barged in, she was just too eager to get her point across to him. "She is going to be our new liaison to the National Security Council." Dixon continued.
Sydney was embarrassed for making a fool of herself in front of someone from the NSC. She apologized to Dixon, feeling colour rise to her cheeks. ": I... I didn't mean to interrupt." She turned to face Lauren. "I didn't know you were here... I... I'm sorry." Lauren looked friendly enough, so Syd hoped that she wouldn't judge her for her little outburst.
Lauren stood up, and walked towards Sydney to shake her hand. "It's okay, really." She definitely wasn't an American as she spoke with an accent. Sydney smiled, and turned to leave but Dixon talking stopped her. "Apparently, you had a conversation with Bob Lindsay in the men's room of the federal building in which you made your distaste for him abundantly clear." Sydney nodded felling even more embarrassed. She noticed that Lauren was watching her, and she dreaded to think what that woman thought of her, as she certainly wasn't making a good impression. "I guess I did."
"Well, he got the message, because he decided to return to Washington. He's assigned Agent Reed here in his place to assist our efforts against The Covenant. She'll also be looking into the murder of Andrian Lazarey as part of a joint investigation with the Kremlin." Dixon informed her.
Sydney was quite surprised by this, but now everything was becoming clearer. She turned to Lauren. "If there's anything I can do to help."
Lauren looked at her for a minute before speaking again. "You should know, in addition to being the new NSC liaison, I'm also Michael Vaughn's wife..."
Sydney's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't help the complete look of shock from covering her face. This is who he married! Swallowing the lump in her throat and trying to keep herself from crying, she managed to speak. "Hi."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The tension between them had started at that moment. Ever since their first meeting, they had been bitchy with one another. Lauren disliked Sydney for being close with her husband, and Sydney hated Lauren for being married to Vaughn.
Lauren had sat down on the bed, leaning against the wall. Syd looked over at her and decided to break the silence.
"Was everything ok with your tests?" Sydney asked curiously.
Lauren looked at her, surprised that she was talking to her. She was unsure about whether or not to answer her, but then she decided that if Sydney was trying to be nice then she could at least make an effort.
"I'm not sure yet. But I found out that I'm pregnant." She replied. She watched as Sydney laughed nervously. "Excuse me?" This couldn't be happening. She already had the man Sydney loved, and now she had to go and have his child. If anybody ever tried to tell her that life is fair, then she would probably kill him or her, as nothing about this situation was fair.
"You heard. I'm having a baby." "Well who is the father?" Sydney asked puzzled.
"Why does everybody keep asking me that? It's Michael's of course. Just because you make a habit of chasing other women's husbands doesn't mean I do."
Sydney stopped speaking as Lauren entered the room followed by Dr. Nicholas. Lauren looked a little paler than usual, as if she was worrying about something. She looked relieved to see Vaughn again, even though this feeling wasn't returned. He would wait for a moment alone with her, to tell her about what he was planning, but he didn't want to make a scene, especially with one of the CIA's doctors in the room. He also needed to finish his conversation with Sydney but he thought that it would wait.
"Lauren are you ok?" He did the concerned husband routine, hoping she wouldn't realize that something was wrong.
"Yeah, I'm ok. Actually Michael," She paused looking at Dr. Nicholas, knowing that he was waiting to take her husband for some tests. The doctor understood what she was wanting, and nodded. "There's something that I really need to talk to you about... in private." She cast a cold glance at Sydney, indicating that her presence was unwanted.
"Yeah, I need to talk to you about something as well." Sydney watched as Vaughn lead his wife into the corner of the room so that they could 'talk.' This was it, he was finally going to break up with her.
"You go first. You were gone for a long time, was something wrong with your tests?" He knew deep down that he didn't love Lauren the way that he should, but he still cared about her. And if she was sick or in trouble he wanted to help.
"The results which tell me whether or not I have the virus haven't come back yet. But that's not what I wanted to say." She spoke in a hushed tone, so that Sydney couldn't hear. "When Dr. Nicholas was doing the tests, he found something out which I didn't know about." She took a deep breath preparing her for what she was about to say. "I'm pregnant Michael."
The expressions on his face told Lauren that this was the last thing that he was expecting her to say. "Your what?" He couldn't believe what she was saying to him. They had discussed having children before but nothing had been decided upon. Sydney looked over at them wondering what they were talking about.
Vaughn stared at Lauren in disbelief. "How can you be pregnant Lauren? We haven't... you know in a long time. There must be some kind of mistake." Everything was going wrong in his life. He had wanted Sydney to be his wife, but he ended up marrying Lauren, and he had always thought that someday him and Sydney would have children together. But no. He had managed to get another woman pregnant.
"What are you trying to say Michael? That I've slept with someone else? How could you even think that? You know that I love you even though you don't love me."
"That's not what I meant. This is just such the wrong time!" He rubbed his eyes trying to make himself believe that this was just some crazy nightmare that he would soon wake out of.
"What's so wrong with now? What was it you wanted to tell me?" She asked anxiously.
Chapter 10 (part 2)
Vaughn looked into Lauren's eyes. Confusion was spread all across her face. He knew the answer to her questions, but could he bring himself to share it with her? He ran his hand through his hair, trying to find a way to break the truth to her. But he couldn't. There was no easy way of telling her that he wanted to leave her for another woman. Not now that she was carrying his child.
"Nothing, it doesn't matter anymore." He lied to his wife AGAIN.
"Ok. I guess you should probably go an have your tests and then we can talk when you get back." She kissed him on the cheek, and he forced a smile across his face. Regretting not telling her, he turned to leave the room. He couldn't bring himself to look at Sydney. He had lied to her too by breaking his promise about telling Lauren the truth. He would just have to deal with the consequences later.
Sydney realised that he hadn't told Lauren, the minute that she kissed her husband on the cheek. That wasn't usually something you do to someone when they have broken up with you. She watched as he left the room, avoiding looking at her. How could he lie to me? He's gonna stay with her, and I'll end up alone as always. Why is it that every time I get close to him something happens to drive us apart? Sydney wanted the answers to these questions but she just didn't have them. The only person that did was Vaughn and he had left leaving her with Lauren. She hadn't liked Lauren since the first day they met.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * A couple of months ago:
Sydney burst into Dixon's office, not bothering to knock. He was sat at his desk, with a pile of papers in his hand, and he looked up from his work as she entered the room. "Sydney..." He tried to talk to her, but she cut him off.
"I appreciate that you think it's good for me to know that there are other people out there who've experienced what I have, but you cannot put me into that group!" She was angry with him, he could tell, but he had only been trying to help her.
"Sydney..." He tried again to talk to her, but she wouldn't let him speak.
"Look, I'm not even gonna pretend that it isn't hard losing Vaughn. Do I still have feelings for him? Of course I do. Finding out that..." She was trying hard to control her anger, but talking about the man she lost wasn't easy for her.
This time it was Dixon's turn to interrupt: "Sydney. This is Lauren Reed." He turned to face a young, blonde woman who was sitting in the corner of the room. Sydney hadn't bothered to check that Dixon was alone before she barged in, she was just too eager to get her point across to him. "She is going to be our new liaison to the National Security Council." Dixon continued.
Sydney was embarrassed for making a fool of herself in front of someone from the NSC. She apologized to Dixon, feeling colour rise to her cheeks. ": I... I didn't mean to interrupt." She turned to face Lauren. "I didn't know you were here... I... I'm sorry." Lauren looked friendly enough, so Syd hoped that she wouldn't judge her for her little outburst.
Lauren stood up, and walked towards Sydney to shake her hand. "It's okay, really." She definitely wasn't an American as she spoke with an accent. Sydney smiled, and turned to leave but Dixon talking stopped her. "Apparently, you had a conversation with Bob Lindsay in the men's room of the federal building in which you made your distaste for him abundantly clear." Sydney nodded felling even more embarrassed. She noticed that Lauren was watching her, and she dreaded to think what that woman thought of her, as she certainly wasn't making a good impression. "I guess I did."
"Well, he got the message, because he decided to return to Washington. He's assigned Agent Reed here in his place to assist our efforts against The Covenant. She'll also be looking into the murder of Andrian Lazarey as part of a joint investigation with the Kremlin." Dixon informed her.
Sydney was quite surprised by this, but now everything was becoming clearer. She turned to Lauren. "If there's anything I can do to help."
Lauren looked at her for a minute before speaking again. "You should know, in addition to being the new NSC liaison, I'm also Michael Vaughn's wife..."
Sydney's breath caught in her throat. She couldn't help the complete look of shock from covering her face. This is who he married! Swallowing the lump in her throat and trying to keep herself from crying, she managed to speak. "Hi."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The tension between them had started at that moment. Ever since their first meeting, they had been bitchy with one another. Lauren disliked Sydney for being close with her husband, and Sydney hated Lauren for being married to Vaughn.
Lauren had sat down on the bed, leaning against the wall. Syd looked over at her and decided to break the silence.
"Was everything ok with your tests?" Sydney asked curiously.
Lauren looked at her, surprised that she was talking to her. She was unsure about whether or not to answer her, but then she decided that if Sydney was trying to be nice then she could at least make an effort.
"I'm not sure yet. But I found out that I'm pregnant." She replied. She watched as Sydney laughed nervously. "Excuse me?" This couldn't be happening. She already had the man Sydney loved, and now she had to go and have his child. If anybody ever tried to tell her that life is fair, then she would probably kill him or her, as nothing about this situation was fair.
"You heard. I'm having a baby." "Well who is the father?" Sydney asked puzzled.
"Why does everybody keep asking me that? It's Michael's of course. Just because you make a habit of chasing other women's husbands doesn't mean I do."