Author's Note: Whoa! I mention my wonderings at reviews, and I get gobs? Not complaining. ;) This early chapter is dedicated to everyone that reappeared. And heck, if there's another 10 in an hour, you'll get another early one. I love reviewers. ;)
"J'ai des questions. Pouvez-vous leur répondre?" Emily said nervously to the man she'd just saved, though perhaps only temporarily if her husband found out. ("I have questions. Can you answer them?")
"Je peux essayer," Vaughn replied, forcing himself out of his stupor. ("I can try.") "And I speak English."
She favored him with a smile. "All right. Your name is Michael Vaughn and you work for the CIA, correct?"
"Yes," Vaughn answered slowly, beginning to wonder if the execution had in fact been staged and this was Sloane's way of tricking him into saying something. No. Syd trusts Emily. At least she did before she 'died'. "Forgive me, Mrs. Sloane, but if you knew enough about me to know I spoke French, how could you not be certain you knew my name? How did you know that they were going to… how did you know about this place?"
She sank down into a chair, every move indicative of deep exhaustion. "I love my husband, Agent Vaughn. But I'm terrified of him."
She took a deep breath. Vaughn remained silent, content for her to answer him at her own pace. "Before he left, he told me things. I'm not a stupid person, at least I don't think I am. But the things he said… the things he admitted to doing after he had sworn to me that he would never lie to me again…"
She trailed off. He waited patiently.
"My husband lied to me for years about working at a bank. Credit Dauphine. Of course, what he was actually doing was working for intelligence. I knew that the second day after he started."
Vaughn raised an eyebrow.
"And when I deduced from overhearing things that he had been transferred to a highly dangerous and highly classified branch of the CIA called SD-6, I would cry myself to sleep every night he went away, because I was certain I would never see him again. And when he told me the truth…"
"I can understand how you felt," Vaughn told her when she paused, clearly having trouble continuing. He was inwardly surprised he was confiding in a woman he knew only from second-hand knowledge; a woman that had, for all intents and purposes, learned well from her husband and somehow managed to fake her own death. But Emily Sloane, despite that, remained the principled and slightly naïve woman Sydney had described to him.
"Sydney is very special to me," she continued, somewhat awkwardly. "Arvin told me that she said in her speech at my funeral that she thought of me as her mother. I have always thought of her as my daughter."
"She cared for you," Vaughn heard himself saying. "When she thought you died… her grief was tremendous."
Emily nodded, forcing herself to ignore his subtle accusation for the sake of saying what she needed to. "My husband has a trait that is admirable sometimes, but can be his own worst enemy, Agent Vaughn. When he becomes obsessed with something, no matter what it is… he is literally consumed by it."
Her voice was tremulous, but she somehow managed to continue. "This Rambaldi quest… his obsession for it frightens me. I know you won't believe me, but my husband was once a good man."
Somehow, Vaughn managed to hold his tongue.
"He went back to Los Angeles to fulfill what he calls 'a major step'," Emily said quietly. "Agent Vaughn, when he told me about SD-6… he told me…"
She broke down. Vaughn watched from the chair, torn between empathy for the beautiful and fragile woman that had saved his life, and satisfaction that the pain Sydney had experienced because of Emily Sloane was being repaid in full.
"We can help each other, Agent Vaughn," Emily said, drying her eyes. "If I give you back your freedom, will you promise me something?"
He waited, eyes meeting hers.
"Promise me that when you catch him," Emily whispered, "that you won't seek the death penalty. In prison, cut him off from Rambaldi… there's a chance the man I love will come back. I won't let you capture him just to permanently lose him."
Vaughn shook his head. "I'm sorry Mrs. Sloane, but that's not up to me." He leaned forward as much as he could. "And to be frank, I would rather die than give your husband any chance at dignity when he's finally caught. He earned his fate."
She nodded, her breath hitching. "I knew you'd say that," she choked out. She stood up, resolution in her movements as she withdrew a key from the folds of her dress. Slowly, she moved in front of him, holding it just out of his reach.
"I knew that Arvin was up to something big," she said, voice infinitely tired. "I woke up when he drove away from our house this morning and I… I followed him. He is not the only one of us capable of trickery."
"That's why you thought I was French. You overheard me when I - "
She nodded wordlessly, reaching over and to unlock the manacle holding his left hand to the armrest of the chair. She then followed that by undoing the straps around his shoulders and waist, enabling him to accept the key from her and work on the handcuff on his other wrist with fingers that were red from the sudden return of blood flow.
"I wasn't lying, Agent Vaughn, when I told you I loved Sydney as my own," Emily said quietly as she stepped back. "She has had to go through so much… and as a mother, I could never add to her pain by contributing to your death, regardless of how you answered my request. I've already hurt her enough."
She turned to leave. "I'll stall Ricardo for as long as I can," she told him, "but you'd better hurry. He isn't the only staff member here, and if they see you, they'll probably finish what I interrupted."
He bent, struggling with stiff fingers to unlock the chains around his ankles. Emily finally returned and did it for him.
"Do you… did you see another man here?"
She shook her head. Vaughn sighed, wondering if Caplan had met the same fate that had been intended for him. His thoughts darkened. Sloane will pay for what he's done, even if I have to shoot him myself.
"You want to kill him," she guessed, reading his thoughts. "For what he's done to Sydney."
"Yes," Vaughn answered honestly.
She nodded quickly. "Then, Agent Vaughn, there is a promise you can make to me."
He rose quickly from the chair, but staggered almost immediately as cramped muscles unused to movement asserted themselves. Barely catching himself on the table with trembling arms, he somehow managed to look up at her again.
"Make it fast?" she entreated softly, blinking away returning tears.
Not trusting his voice, but knowing he owed her that much, he met her pleading gaze and nodded slowly.
Up next: Oh, only Sloane reveals his plans. Nothing important or anything. Also, the Nightstand Debacle is explained. One-line teaser hidden in review responses. ;)
Review Responses
Valley_girl2: LOL, you should stop by the Presages thread at SD-1. People there were diligently working to figure out the Nightstand Debacle. I, of course, was VERY helpful with clues. :snerks:
Kira: Hopefully!
MJ: :0 k, that looooong review certainly made up for it! LOL. Happy labor day to you!
K4e: LOL, that's understandable. ;) Bleach your brains, ay? 'Least you're honest! You survived 300-word chapters in Surmising! These are like 3 times that! LOL
Mayleen: But are they good secrets or bad secrets? ;)
Winking Tiger: Hmmm. I'll give your eloquent request due consideration. Hee.
Teaser: "I hardly think she'll be useful in a cell."
Anonymousthinker: EWWWWW! EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! Ahem. Hehe, it's a key, not a ring. ;) But I love my new Two Towers DVD, too.
Maxwell: :salutes:
Kittyfantastico: Oh, me too! I refuse to think JJ would be so disrespectful of his fans. ;) No worries! I actually hate posting cliffhangers, because I can't wait for people's reactions when they read the resolution! A week would kill me. LOL
UKHoneyB: Next chapter, actually. ;)
Nattie700: Evil teacher! But Vaughn is a cute genius! LOL
Raina Elizibeth: Yup, you know what he's hiding. ;)