"There is a flaw in your plans," Vaughn informed them. He schooled his face into an unreadable mask, preparing to gamble perhaps the unthinkable, and knowing he would kill not only himself but the woman he loved if he lost.
"That's why we're requesting your assistance," Sloane answered, his tone patient. "Am I to take that question to mean that you've agreed to help us?"
He rewarded them with a big smile, slouching even lower in his chair. "No." His smile was genuine, his captors were falling for his ploy hook, line and sinker.
"That would be unwise," Sark warned him, secretly enjoying the thought of breaking the man.
"And I'm sure Sydney would want you to reconsider," Sloane added, menace underlying his even tone.
"That's where your flaw is," Vaughn smirked, laying his cards on the table. "You told me how important she is to you, and you mentioned to Syd more than once that you think of her as a daughter, even after you apparently learned she was working for me and the CIA. This may not be true the other way around, but your threat to use her against me is meaningless, gentlemen, because you clearly have no intention to hurt her. You would have done so already."
For a long time Sloane sat and just scrutinized his cocky prisoner, torn between amusement and irritation. The simple logic Vaughn had presented them with had, if anything, caused the former head of SD-6 to want the Agent's help even more, as it was evidence of Vaughn's burgeoning abilities.
"I'm afraid you're wrong in that assumption," Sark said with cool triumph, pulling out his phone. "Holen Sie Herrn Caplan innen, bitte." ("Bring Mr. Caplan in, please.")
The door opened. Without ceremony, Ricardo shoved the haggard mathematician into a chair at the table and chained him to it securely, before cocking his gun and standing behind Caplan, aiming squarely for the back of his head.
"You were right, Mr. Vaughn," Sark said mildly. "For now, Ms. Bristow has value to us, as do you. That means we'll allow you both to live until you become more of a hindrance than a help. Mr. Caplan, however, is of no more use to our plans for the future. Why keep alive a resource we no longer need?"
Sloane held his breath as Sark and Vaughn glared at each other. His partner was bluffing, of course, they both knew that Caplan's brilliance was not to be wasted. But Agent Vaughn's weakness when it came to civilian safety was well-documented.
"Of course, should Mr. Caplan's continued breathing be all we need to persuade you to help plan Sydney's operation," Sark continued, "then I suppose his usefulness to us is renewed in full. Are we clear?"
Vaughn closed his eyes briefly, unable to look at Neil. Members of the CIA had been tortured for all sorts of information by all sorts of enemies throughout the years, but had often chosen death instead of talking. As a young boy his father had taught him to admire such operatives and he had always assumed that if such a circumstance happened to him, he'd go out the heroic way, too.
However, the stories never mentioned that criminals would do things like murder a civilian right in front of an agent if they didn't cave to demands. The majority of Vaughn's colleagues would have accepted Caplan's death as a necessary sacrifice to prevent two known terrorists from learning the ins-and-outs of a CIA facility, just as they would have risked the lives of 300 private citizens inside a bank to assassinate Arvin Sloane.
But William Vaughn's son could never condone the murder of innocents, no matter the circumstances. And it's not like I'd be giving them state secrets, right? I'd only be telling Syd how to sneak into a building, something she probably knows anyway. And in the process…
He opened his eyes, realizing as he did so that Caplan was shaking his head at him, clearly wanting him to refuse. His appreciation for the older man's bravery went up another notch, even as he met Sloane's waiting gaze.
"I'll help you," he said quietly, angrily, a hopefully more successful plan beginning to take hold. "Spare him and I'll help you."
"Listen, thanks for meeting me," Will said awkwardly. "I really appreciate it."
Elsa responded with a tenuous smile. They sat on a bench at a local park, watching Aaron play on the merry-go-round.
"I was worried everyone had forgotten about me," she replied quietly. "It's been almost a week with no word. If it wasn't for Aaron…" she trails off, blinking away tears.
"How old is your son?" Will asked, trying to relax her.
"He just turned 5," Elsa replied proudly, smiling in spite of herself. It faded quickly. "And he thinks his daddy is just late from work."
"Listen," Will said. "Do you remember Sydney? And the guy she was with, Vau… uh, Michael?"
"Of course," Elsa replied, brightening at the names. "How are they? Listen, could you tell them to stop by? I wanted to thank them."
Will flinched. "Yeah. Listen, after rescuing you and Aaron, they went after the guy that took your husband."
She sat up straighter. "Oh God! And they rescued Neil? Where is he?"
Will shook his head. "They uh, got captured."
Elsa stared at him, horrified.
"The CIA thinks that they were taken to the same place where your husband is being held," Will told her. "Do you have any information that could help us find out where they are? Maybe you overheard something?"
"No," Elsa said softly.
Will frowned, concentrating. He was a former reporter, after all. And right now, the same hunches he had once used to follow a story were screaming at him.
Elsa Caplan was hiding something.
Up next… Vaughn and Sydney finally reunite, but their meeting is both good… and not so good. ;) Plus, Vaughn speaks three languages. (Okay, one is English, but that counts!)
Review Responses
Ilovemypenguin: Don't know about adventure, but it's about time the characters actually got to work, wouldn't ya say?
Kay10197: lol, yay!
Andi Horton: Oh no! Hope this was fast enough, gotta save your knuckles!
Charmedgal005: Spiffy.
Kittyfantastico: Now that's dedication! And duh, Vaughn is with me. Who else would carry my books? ;) 'Presages' means guess. Seriously. Well, a prediction or intuition. Which is a guess. Sort of. And no, I'm not babbling.
K4e: I am so tired, but that's normal. Hope you're coherent, so at least one of us is!
Anonymousthinker: Lil' SarkGerman for ya, hope you liked! And suuure, you can borrow Vaughn. I have him on days that end in 'y' and Kittyfantastico has him on days that end in 'z', so he's all yours on days that end in 'a'. ;) This story is available on SD-1, if you'd like to avoid the evilness that is FF. lol
Reverie: I adore your reviews. They're so thoughtful and well thought-out. (And flattering, hee.) Yes, I adore Elsa too. She has a hopefully really cool 'balls of steel' moment later. As for Irina, well, I could answer those questions. If I was nice. Which I'm not. ;)
UKHoneyB: Kendall pretended to be a jerk for anyone watching, but he approved the mission to give Irina temporary freedom and let Jack think he'd fooled him. :0
Nattie700: Psssh. Sark is evil. Evil! lol. Not gonna tell me? Hmmph. Tease. ;) I read that back in HS, but it's been awhile. I only remember that I was bored. lol