Disclaimer: If I owned ALIAS, then would I still be in school? Lemme think about it... uh.... No. Therefore, I do not own aforementioned show for previously stated reason... (I've been writing a lot of FCAT papers...)

A/N: Thanks much Cheeky and Majesticness (I think I misspelled that... sorry!) for your loyal reviews... also, it must be the aliens has several new chapters, but is being stopped for the time being, seeing as no one really reads it... and I'm growing rather fond of this story... anyway.. On with a (hopefully) longer chapter...

Vaughn had showered and was half asleep when his cell phone rang.

After slight hesitation, he picked it up.

"Hey sweetie! Where are you?" A drunken-sounding Lauren asked.

"Um... well... I'm sort of, indisposed at the moment." Vaughn lied.

"When you get a chance, can we get together?" Lauren questioned.

"Well, I guess so... I'll call you, all right?" Vaughn told her.

"Okay! Goodbye, honey." Lauren muttered, the line going dead.

Vaughn sighed and dialed headquarters. "May I please speak to director Dixon?" He requested.

"One moment please..." The operator replied, patching him through.

"Dixon." Said the voice on the other end

"It's Vaughn. Lauren called me and wants to meet. She sounded inebriated." Vaughn explained.

"Well, set up a meeting!" Dixon exclaimed. "Then kill her, damn it! You have the mission specs, you know what to do! It's not like you're a wet-behind-the-ears desk jockey!"

"Sorry." Vaughn muttered. "I'll do it in the morning."

"Good." With that, Dixon hung up.

"No I do not hate my boss... no I do not hate my boss... no I... do not hate... my boss..." Vaughn murmured, slipping off into dreamland.

(scene change)

Sydney had been enjoying her time in Italy with Sark, but she knew at some point that they would have to face one another as enemies.

"People can't live like this... why do the lines between love and hate have to blend together? Why can't everything be in black and white, without any gray area to mess up the boundaries?" Sydney contemplated.

"You seem quiet lately." Sark commented.

"I've been doing some thinking..." Sydney replied.

"Oh? About what?" Sark questioned.

"Most everything, I suppose." Sydney shrugged.

"What does 'most everything' mean?" Sark asked.

"It means..." Sydney began.

Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light, and a loud crunching of metal against concrete. Sydney whirled around, only to be pulled back by two strong arms.

(scene change)

Vaughn was walking through a black and white checkered hall, with floating fruit all around him.

"What in the..." He muttered, trying to get out of the hall with a quick burst of speed. However, he felt rooted to the ground, the hall getting bigger, with the hard fruit attacking him. A red apple here, a rotting banana there... when suddenly, everything went black, the white fading away, and the fruit disappearing, with a small, orange, pinpoint of light appearing at the far end of the now-darkened room, enclosing Vaughn on all sides.

Vaughn found himself squinting, which was odd for such a dark room. As he was pushed towards the light, something in his body screamed at him not to... but he couldn't force himself to stay put or go back. When Vaughn reached the light, he saw a picture, a ripped, faded, yellowing picture, of a smiling Sydney, and a man's body, but Vaughn couldn't see the face, it was blurred out.

"What in the..." He murmured, "Is there something she's not telling me?"

(scene change)

"I wouldn't worry about it." Sark muttered. "They were probably drunk..."

"You're thinking of the French." Sydney replied. "It's in your cocky British blood..."

"I still wouldn't worry about it-French or Italian. Besides, the Italians make wine, nice try." Sark reminded her.

"You should still be concerned." Sydney admonished.

"Why?" Sark questioned.

"You could know them." Sydney replied.

"Or, I could not." Sark shrugged.

"We should report it!" Sydney told him.

"Why?" Sark asked.

"Because that's what decent people do." Sydney answered.

"Well then, I guess that I'm not a decent person." Sark smirked.

"Julian!" Sydney exclaimed. "How can you say that?"

"Easy-I just did." Sark replied.

As they were arguing, a blonde woman stumbled out of the wrecked car, blooding gushing from her forehead, and her left arm dangling lifelessly at her side.

"Oh my God!" Sydney exclaimed.

(scene change)

Vaughn had woken up in a cold sweat, and went out fir a jog, in the woods, at night, with people who wanted him dead most likely somewhere nearby, if not following him. All in all, it was a pretty stupid move.

Of course, when your world seems to be coming unscrewed because you believe that the woman, whom you consider your soul mate, if there was such a thing, was seeing someone else, then it's slightly understandable that your mind wouldn't be all there.

A few shots rang out, but missed and hit a tree. Vaughn was instantaneously brought back into reality, and began to rush back to the safe house. Unfortunately, he had gotten lost, and had no idea where he was. So, Vaughn ran about aimlessly for awhile, searching the safe house whilst avoiding bullets whizzing by his head.

"I'm so fucked." He muttered, ducking behind a tree.