Chap.32- Glory
Vaughn hesitated as he reached out and rang the doorbell of the house. He looked around him, the silence of the familiar neighborhood suffocating him. The bright front lights snapped on and the door swung open.
"Vaughn! Do you know what TIME it is?" Eric mumbled grumpily, standing in the doorway.
"You look tired." Vaughn observed casually.
"Me? Tired? Oh no, it's only two o'clock in the morning. Why would I be tired?" Eric remarked sarcastically. "Ok. Yes, I am tired. You're the genius."
He moved out of the doorway and Vaughn followed him into the house and into the kitchen. Lisa was sitting at the table, yawning as she watched the coffeemaker that was happily dripping away.
"Did I wake all of you?" Vaughn asked, concerned.
"No." Lisa answered assuringly. "You see, we have a three-year old son who appears to get too many naps in the daytime. You, on the other hand, are lucky enough not to have children. Have I ever mentioned that I'm jealous?"
Vaughn grinned as he walked to sit at the table across from Lisa and Eric. Eric frowned.
"Mike, have you been drinking?"
Vaughn ran his hand through his hair tiredly and nodded.
"It wasn't a lot."
"At this hour?!" Eric exclaimed.
Lisa sighed and hit her husband on the arm, glaring at him.
"Michael, what happened with Lauren?" She asked softly.
Vaughn jerked his head up to look at Lisa, surprised at her perceptiveness. After a moment's deliberation,
"She left me."
Eric and Lisa looked at Vaughn in shock; the coffee that had finished brewing was ignored. Jake's screams erupted from upstairs when he woke up alone and without the presence of his mother. Lisa sighed and bolted from her chair and up the stairs.
"What the hell happened, Vaughn?" Eric asked seriously.
"She thought I was cheating on her."
"What?" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief. "Were you?"
"NO!" Vaughn said vehemently. "She said that she 'smelled' Sydney and she found her underwear somewhere..."
"Whoa. Whoa. Back up." Eric interrupted. "I heard 'Sydney'. What does this have to do with Sydney?"
Vaughn sighed again and he accepted the steaming cup of coffee offered to him by Eric. Wrapping his hands around hot cup, he looked up.
"Sydney was pregnant and she didn't tell anybody because Kendall was lacking field agents. I don't know why, but I just felt responsible and so I volunteered to go on the series of missions with her." Vaughn paused and struggled for words, wishing that Eric still worked for the Agency so he could get more off of his chest.
"Go on." Eric encouraged.
"So after a couple, we went on this one and while I was busy with the rest of the team, she heard something and went ahead. I called after her, told her not to, but you know how she is."
"Oh yea, stubborn as hell..."
"She miscarried." Vaughn said. "I was with her at the hospital, you know that."
Eric nodded.
"How is this relevant again?" He asked in confusion.
"I was getting there."
"Oh."
"I never told you, but the day that she was admitted out of the hospital, she called me to pick her up. Later that night, she came over to my house. Sydney was soaking and shivering....she was crying."
Eric raised his eyebrows and Vaughn nodded.
"Doesn't she have a husband?"
"He was at a medical conference; Lauren was at her aunt's in Chicago..."
"You two didn't....you know..."
"NO!"
"Okay! Okay!" Eric exclaimed, both hands raised in surrender. "So, what happened?"
"She was really upset. She just lost her child and she blamed herself for everything. We just sat there, really...talking."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"So what's this about smelling her?"
"Sydney fell asleep in the armchair and so I carried her to the bed and I went to sleep on the couch. When I woke up in the morning, she was gone. It was like she wasn't even there the night earlier."
"Do I have to remind you at how good she is at her job?"
"She's pretty damn good at her job." Vaughn agreed.
The two were silent for a while.
"Hey, man. I know that you loved Lauren and I don't mean to be harsh here, but do you think that you could have been insanely happy with Lauren beside you, the rest of your life?"
"No. Never insanely happy."
"Well there you go." Eric concluded. "If it makes you feel any better, I never really liked her anyways."
Vaughn snorted.
"This is the man who was beside himself with jealousy before he met Lisa?"
As if on cue, Lisa appeared back in the kitchen and sat down again.
"What are we talking about?"
Eric looked threatingly at Vaughn and put his arm around his wife's shoulders.
"Nothing."
--
Vaughn sat waiting and the click of heels interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and Kendall's secretary smiled at him.
"Mr. Kendall will see you now."
"Thank you." He answered politely, walking past her into the room and shutting the door after him.
Kendall looked up from the work on his desk as Vaughn strode into the room.
"Have a seat." Kendall motioned. "I'll be with you in a second."
He scribbled some comments on the paper and closed the folder, reluctantly looking up at Vaughn.
"Mr. Kendall..." Vaughn ventured.
"Yes, what can I do for you?"
"I would like to be put on active field duty, sir. Immediately."
Kendall looked curiously at Vaughn and his sudden change of heart, but it didn't really matter to him 'why', just that he had another field agent.
"Done."
--
Sydney looked up at the clock and fingered the envelope in her pocket as she walked to the debriefing that was suddenly called by Kendall.
She had received another bouquet of flowers and letter from the 'Gentleman'. Resisting the urge to throw up and shred the letter to pieces, she discreetly slipped it into her father's suit pocket and took her seat.
Kendall called the start of the debriefing and Jack looked around the room at each agent.
"Arvin Sloane is dead."
Their faces were expressionless and none looked surprised. Sloane had delicate health and doctors didn't know if he would make it to the next month.
"He was garroted with a two piano wires."
"What?!" Sydney asked in shock.
"But, he was in CIA custody. There are surveillance cameras, security guards..." Ana reasoned.
"Security cameras were down for five minutes yesterday afternoon." James answered. "Routine check."
"The guards blacked out. When they regained consciousness, he was already dead and cameras were back on, but still, nobody."
"Are you even going to investigate into the case?" Vaughn asked.
"Considering that he was a threat to America's safety, probably not much to avenge his murder, but if his murderer poses a threat to this agency then yes, Agent Vaughn...it is my DUTY to investigate into this case." Kendall said.
The room was silent for a moment and Jack looked at his watch, noting that they should conclude.
"Polygraph tests will be issued throughout the month and oh yes, Agents Lee, Jamison, Chaplin, and Voyer; please welcome Agent Vaughn into your team as a permanent member and newly activated field agent. Dismissed."
They walked out of the debriefing and standing in the hallway, Ana looked at Mark and James in glee, clapping her hands.
"Do you know what this means?" She asked them happily.
"What?"
"You two owe me a penny, each! I'm two cents richer!" She said, grinning madly.
They looked at her in confusion for a moment and their minds wandered back to their bet in France.
"I'm shaking my fist at you." Mark said, shaking his fist at her. "Curses! Curses!"
He grudgingly slapped a penny into her expectant palm and James followed suit. She cackled, holding her two pennies up in victory.
"It's TWO pennies..." A voice said behind her in exasperation.
Ana whirled around and smiled widely.
"Marshall, Marshall, Marshall...."
"What? What? What? Why are you saying my name three times? Three is not exactly my lucky number because, uh, you see when I was three I fell down the stairs and broke my leg in three places and my, uh, my mom said that we had to wait three hours..."
"Marshall!" Ana exclaimed.
"Sorry." He said sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it." She said, walking over to him and putting her arm around his shoulders in a friendly way, held her two pennies in-between her thumb and forefinger and up in the air, admiring them from afar. "You see, it's not about the value. But it's ALL about the glory..."
--
Author's Note: I'm so sorry, you guys! But hey, it's another chapter! Yes, well this week has been a poo for me so, I wasn't really in the mood to write and I just had so many tests....and homework...
School, bleh.
But anyways! Thank you to all that reviewed!
Jayme: You got me up to 200! Thank yoo! Here is the chapter you wanted! I mean, it's 12:35 in the morning and I WAS going to just go to sleep and finish it later today, but oh no! Jenzeebunny, eh? That's yet, another, one to add to my list of nicknames. Oh dear, it just keeps growin'! LOL. It's a wonder what people do when their bored....Oh and no, I am not dead. Hehe. Did you know that I actually did think about that before? If I died, who would let everybody that reads my story know? Would they think that I've GIVEN UP on my elaborate plan and ending? ::GASP!::
Naughty-Spy: Thank you too!!! You, wow, got me all those reviews! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Hehe. I'm so glad you have faith in me! Your reviews are so great! They boost my ego so much! LOL. Jush kidding! But no, really. Thank you (yet again) for your awesome compliments and encouragement. I hope you'll like the rest of the story just as much!
Reesie06: Warning! Do not become sleep-deprived! Really, it makes you an awful person, like I was a couple of days ago. You're smart. Split it up! That's it! Splitting-action! Karate chop! LOL. Yes, I'm weird. And tired. That too. Oh there I go again, sleep-deprivedness...
Ahh! I'm so sorry I can't respond to everybody's reviews, but I'm just so dizzy from the clicking back and forth from browser to browser. But if you did review, feel OH SO SPECIAL and I'll be sure to get you next time when I'm not such a bad, lazy person.
Bad bad me.
But, I must say, I did enjoy reading those great "one-liners" about Lauren being gone. Oh yes, they were funny.
Good job! Good job!
Jen
Vaughn hesitated as he reached out and rang the doorbell of the house. He looked around him, the silence of the familiar neighborhood suffocating him. The bright front lights snapped on and the door swung open.
"Vaughn! Do you know what TIME it is?" Eric mumbled grumpily, standing in the doorway.
"You look tired." Vaughn observed casually.
"Me? Tired? Oh no, it's only two o'clock in the morning. Why would I be tired?" Eric remarked sarcastically. "Ok. Yes, I am tired. You're the genius."
He moved out of the doorway and Vaughn followed him into the house and into the kitchen. Lisa was sitting at the table, yawning as she watched the coffeemaker that was happily dripping away.
"Did I wake all of you?" Vaughn asked, concerned.
"No." Lisa answered assuringly. "You see, we have a three-year old son who appears to get too many naps in the daytime. You, on the other hand, are lucky enough not to have children. Have I ever mentioned that I'm jealous?"
Vaughn grinned as he walked to sit at the table across from Lisa and Eric. Eric frowned.
"Mike, have you been drinking?"
Vaughn ran his hand through his hair tiredly and nodded.
"It wasn't a lot."
"At this hour?!" Eric exclaimed.
Lisa sighed and hit her husband on the arm, glaring at him.
"Michael, what happened with Lauren?" She asked softly.
Vaughn jerked his head up to look at Lisa, surprised at her perceptiveness. After a moment's deliberation,
"She left me."
Eric and Lisa looked at Vaughn in shock; the coffee that had finished brewing was ignored. Jake's screams erupted from upstairs when he woke up alone and without the presence of his mother. Lisa sighed and bolted from her chair and up the stairs.
"What the hell happened, Vaughn?" Eric asked seriously.
"She thought I was cheating on her."
"What?" Weiss exclaimed in disbelief. "Were you?"
"NO!" Vaughn said vehemently. "She said that she 'smelled' Sydney and she found her underwear somewhere..."
"Whoa. Whoa. Back up." Eric interrupted. "I heard 'Sydney'. What does this have to do with Sydney?"
Vaughn sighed again and he accepted the steaming cup of coffee offered to him by Eric. Wrapping his hands around hot cup, he looked up.
"Sydney was pregnant and she didn't tell anybody because Kendall was lacking field agents. I don't know why, but I just felt responsible and so I volunteered to go on the series of missions with her." Vaughn paused and struggled for words, wishing that Eric still worked for the Agency so he could get more off of his chest.
"Go on." Eric encouraged.
"So after a couple, we went on this one and while I was busy with the rest of the team, she heard something and went ahead. I called after her, told her not to, but you know how she is."
"Oh yea, stubborn as hell..."
"She miscarried." Vaughn said. "I was with her at the hospital, you know that."
Eric nodded.
"How is this relevant again?" He asked in confusion.
"I was getting there."
"Oh."
"I never told you, but the day that she was admitted out of the hospital, she called me to pick her up. Later that night, she came over to my house. Sydney was soaking and shivering....she was crying."
Eric raised his eyebrows and Vaughn nodded.
"Doesn't she have a husband?"
"He was at a medical conference; Lauren was at her aunt's in Chicago..."
"You two didn't....you know..."
"NO!"
"Okay! Okay!" Eric exclaimed, both hands raised in surrender. "So, what happened?"
"She was really upset. She just lost her child and she blamed herself for everything. We just sat there, really...talking."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"So what's this about smelling her?"
"Sydney fell asleep in the armchair and so I carried her to the bed and I went to sleep on the couch. When I woke up in the morning, she was gone. It was like she wasn't even there the night earlier."
"Do I have to remind you at how good she is at her job?"
"She's pretty damn good at her job." Vaughn agreed.
The two were silent for a while.
"Hey, man. I know that you loved Lauren and I don't mean to be harsh here, but do you think that you could have been insanely happy with Lauren beside you, the rest of your life?"
"No. Never insanely happy."
"Well there you go." Eric concluded. "If it makes you feel any better, I never really liked her anyways."
Vaughn snorted.
"This is the man who was beside himself with jealousy before he met Lisa?"
As if on cue, Lisa appeared back in the kitchen and sat down again.
"What are we talking about?"
Eric looked threatingly at Vaughn and put his arm around his wife's shoulders.
"Nothing."
--
Vaughn sat waiting and the click of heels interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and Kendall's secretary smiled at him.
"Mr. Kendall will see you now."
"Thank you." He answered politely, walking past her into the room and shutting the door after him.
Kendall looked up from the work on his desk as Vaughn strode into the room.
"Have a seat." Kendall motioned. "I'll be with you in a second."
He scribbled some comments on the paper and closed the folder, reluctantly looking up at Vaughn.
"Mr. Kendall..." Vaughn ventured.
"Yes, what can I do for you?"
"I would like to be put on active field duty, sir. Immediately."
Kendall looked curiously at Vaughn and his sudden change of heart, but it didn't really matter to him 'why', just that he had another field agent.
"Done."
--
Sydney looked up at the clock and fingered the envelope in her pocket as she walked to the debriefing that was suddenly called by Kendall.
She had received another bouquet of flowers and letter from the 'Gentleman'. Resisting the urge to throw up and shred the letter to pieces, she discreetly slipped it into her father's suit pocket and took her seat.
Kendall called the start of the debriefing and Jack looked around the room at each agent.
"Arvin Sloane is dead."
Their faces were expressionless and none looked surprised. Sloane had delicate health and doctors didn't know if he would make it to the next month.
"He was garroted with a two piano wires."
"What?!" Sydney asked in shock.
"But, he was in CIA custody. There are surveillance cameras, security guards..." Ana reasoned.
"Security cameras were down for five minutes yesterday afternoon." James answered. "Routine check."
"The guards blacked out. When they regained consciousness, he was already dead and cameras were back on, but still, nobody."
"Are you even going to investigate into the case?" Vaughn asked.
"Considering that he was a threat to America's safety, probably not much to avenge his murder, but if his murderer poses a threat to this agency then yes, Agent Vaughn...it is my DUTY to investigate into this case." Kendall said.
The room was silent for a moment and Jack looked at his watch, noting that they should conclude.
"Polygraph tests will be issued throughout the month and oh yes, Agents Lee, Jamison, Chaplin, and Voyer; please welcome Agent Vaughn into your team as a permanent member and newly activated field agent. Dismissed."
They walked out of the debriefing and standing in the hallway, Ana looked at Mark and James in glee, clapping her hands.
"Do you know what this means?" She asked them happily.
"What?"
"You two owe me a penny, each! I'm two cents richer!" She said, grinning madly.
They looked at her in confusion for a moment and their minds wandered back to their bet in France.
"I'm shaking my fist at you." Mark said, shaking his fist at her. "Curses! Curses!"
He grudgingly slapped a penny into her expectant palm and James followed suit. She cackled, holding her two pennies up in victory.
"It's TWO pennies..." A voice said behind her in exasperation.
Ana whirled around and smiled widely.
"Marshall, Marshall, Marshall...."
"What? What? What? Why are you saying my name three times? Three is not exactly my lucky number because, uh, you see when I was three I fell down the stairs and broke my leg in three places and my, uh, my mom said that we had to wait three hours..."
"Marshall!" Ana exclaimed.
"Sorry." He said sheepishly.
"Don't worry about it." She said, walking over to him and putting her arm around his shoulders in a friendly way, held her two pennies in-between her thumb and forefinger and up in the air, admiring them from afar. "You see, it's not about the value. But it's ALL about the glory..."
--
Author's Note: I'm so sorry, you guys! But hey, it's another chapter! Yes, well this week has been a poo for me so, I wasn't really in the mood to write and I just had so many tests....and homework...
School, bleh.
But anyways! Thank you to all that reviewed!
Jayme: You got me up to 200! Thank yoo! Here is the chapter you wanted! I mean, it's 12:35 in the morning and I WAS going to just go to sleep and finish it later today, but oh no! Jenzeebunny, eh? That's yet, another, one to add to my list of nicknames. Oh dear, it just keeps growin'! LOL. It's a wonder what people do when their bored....Oh and no, I am not dead. Hehe. Did you know that I actually did think about that before? If I died, who would let everybody that reads my story know? Would they think that I've GIVEN UP on my elaborate plan and ending? ::GASP!::
Naughty-Spy: Thank you too!!! You, wow, got me all those reviews! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Hehe. I'm so glad you have faith in me! Your reviews are so great! They boost my ego so much! LOL. Jush kidding! But no, really. Thank you (yet again) for your awesome compliments and encouragement. I hope you'll like the rest of the story just as much!
Reesie06: Warning! Do not become sleep-deprived! Really, it makes you an awful person, like I was a couple of days ago. You're smart. Split it up! That's it! Splitting-action! Karate chop! LOL. Yes, I'm weird. And tired. That too. Oh there I go again, sleep-deprivedness...
Ahh! I'm so sorry I can't respond to everybody's reviews, but I'm just so dizzy from the clicking back and forth from browser to browser. But if you did review, feel OH SO SPECIAL and I'll be sure to get you next time when I'm not such a bad, lazy person.
Bad bad me.
But, I must say, I did enjoy reading those great "one-liners" about Lauren being gone. Oh yes, they were funny.
Good job! Good job!
Jen