Hey ya'll! Thanks for supporting me so long! I've finally decided to update
but the thing is if I don't get at least five people telling me that they
are reading I'm thinking of quitting this so get your reviews in quick
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Lots and lots of love for ya
The Other Side of the Story Season 2 Part II Total Vaughn Lover
"Morning Sydney," greeted one of the agents she'd met yesterday. Sydney was so startled at being addressed informally that she didn't know what to reply.
Leighton jabbed her in the side and Sydney cringed.
"Cowell, what did you do that for?" she seethed through gritted teeth.
"Nervous much?" he teased her instead. "That nice little agent just greeted you and you couldn't fathom a response. Is it possible that you are tongue-tied?"
"Maybe, what is it to you?" she retorted as they made their way to his desk.
"It just amazes me that you don't have anything to say when on your homeland, spitting out insults and striking my nerves seemed to have been child's play," Leighton shrugged, laying his briefcase on the table.
"I was just shocked. I didn't expect your former employees to call me on a first name basis my first real day here. I'm surprised she knew my name. I~~~I don't' remember hers," Sydney admitted, smiling at the agent then turned away before she was forced into conversation.
"Well, I told you England is wonderful, but I do believe they know who you are because the majority of their last two years was about finding you," Agent Cowell proposed. "I bet not even alzheimer could make them forget."
"Nice to know I was so traumatic that I've been eternally burned into their minds," Sydney exhaled, rolling her eyes as she planted herself in Cowell's chair. "So, handler of mine, what's the agenda for today?"
"We're due in for a briefing. Director Landor is supposed to come in here and summon us for the briefing. I assume our job for the day would come clear during that," Leighton assured her and took her hand into his which made Sydney feel uncomfortable. Whatever had happened yesterday no longer lingered. The only man she wanted to caress her hand was her real handler Michael Vaughn.
She pulled her hand back without Leighton giving any resistance. But the pain was clear in his expression. It seemed he also realized Sydney was back to scrutinizing him and that their handler-asset relationship had dissipated.
She tried not to look at her partner who was doing his best to act like he hadn't felt rejected and or insulted by the gesture.
"Y~You think the briefing will be about David Lansing?" she put in, breaking the awkward silence. She half thought he would not hear or choose to ignore her.
He glanced at her and smiled. "I don't know~~~but let us hope so, so that we can get this mission over with before you are overcome with homesickness for the loved ones you left in the U.S, mainly one."
She felt her heart pound faster. Michael's green eyes forming in her mind's eye, his husky voice feeding her inner ear with words only she could hear. She felt awashed with warmth, no~~~submerged in his love and she felt as though she were spinning completely out of control.
She felt a tap on her head and turned around.
There he was. With his beautiful eyes, sumptuous lips, a bit of six o'clock shadow covering his skin, making it look darker~~~sexier."
"Michael," she crooned and then put her hands on the side of his chiseled cheeks and pulled him to her till his lips could touch hers.
Only his lips abruptly stopped responding.
She opened her eyes and gasped! It wasn't Michael. It was Ethan Camden, looking picturesquely embarrassed.
"Good morning to you too, Agent Bristow."
She cringed. No! This couldn't be happening! She couldn't possibly have made a fool of herself the first day. She hadn't even made it to the debrief.
"A~Agent Camden, I~I'm so sorry. You've got to excuse me. I thought you were~~~M~Michael."
"Don't' worry about it. I wasn't offended. I'm a doctor so I know your mind is still adjusting to being in a different country which has to harder after the trauma you've suffered," he consoled her. "Besides, you're a great kisser. It'll give my co-workers something to speculate for a few days."
Ethan winked at her to try and calm her nerves but unfortunately it did the complete opposite. She wished she could form into a puddle at his feet.
Camden, however no longer had his attention on her but on the agent that had left for two years and now returned. "And should I ask if you're feeling at home?"
"Well that's very nice of you to ask, Ethan," Leighton chittered, taking his eyes off what he was doing to look at his former companion. "And I appreciate you vacating my former desk so that I can use it during my stay."
"Don't thank me, Cowell. I only did it on the orders of Landor. If it were up to me, I'd have you interrogated so we can find out just where you have been these last two years," Ethan spit, glaring at Leighton, disgusted by the innocence present in his expression.
"Are you trying to suggest something, Agent Camden? Because for the life of me, I can never really tell what goes on in that mind of yours," Leighton told him, his eyes wide.
"Funny, I would have said the same about you," Ethan countered then added. "I wouldn't get too comfortable here if I were you, because I guarantee you wont' be here or part of any agency when I'm through with you. You'll rot in a jail cell right where you belong."
"W~wait Camden, what is going on with you and Cowell?" Sydney cut in, a bit curious.
"Unfinished business," Ethan shot back which scared her more than anything. The gentle and teasing doctor was gone from him now. "I'll make a call to the U.S and ask your fellow agents what they think of you. Personally I'm interested in how you became Vaughn's replacement. You're a doctor, if that Leighton, not an officer of operations."
Leighton felt Sydney's unasked questions and decided to take a stand as Michael probably would. "Agent Camden, it's obvious you don't' like me and I'm not going to waste my time trying to figure out why, but the fact that I'm here wont' change so I hope you can put aside your anger and help me get my asset through her mission so she can be returned to where she belongs," Leighton pleaded, his voice becoming stronger. "She doesn't deserve to be in the middle of our rivalry."
Ethan's eyes were narrowed and his hunger to get Leighton back for what only he knew was growing steadily within his stare. Sydney was sure he was going to punch Leighton.
But Ethan lowered his tensing fists and the anger within his body slowly simmered down. He looked over at Sydney and grinned. "Leighton is right for once. I'm sorry you had to in that position. You shouldn't have had to see that."
"I~It's okay," she stammered, though all she could think was how much it had frightened her to see him so angry.
She was glad when she saw Director Landor had finally appeared in the room, their cue to go to the briefing.
"Come on Leighton, let's go," she whispered to her partner who nodded to her, then smirked at Ethan.
"Not joining us, Dr. Camden?" he taunted when he saw Ethan was heading in the other direction.
"N~no, I have to get to the examination room and set up for Agent Bristow's procedure," he informed Cowell, loathing in his stare. "Hopefully it's not too late to get out the poison you've obviously infected her body with."
Cowell retained his composure but Sydney couldn't. She paused in her tracks and turned to face Ethan who looked surprised to see her hostility.
"Okay, that's enough. You two are adults, respected doctor with Ph. D's! You two need to get over yourselves," she admonished them. "And Ethan, I don't' know exactly what your deal is but Leighton asked you to put aside your differences for my sake, I don't think that's too much to ask."
Camden bit his lip, obviously started and Leighton's face displayed the same expression.
Even Sydney was shocked. She didn't know why she was defending him but she'd felt she had to. From her point of view, Ethan was bullying him and just itching for a fight and to rekindle their formal rivalry, while Leighton didn't. And truth be told, Cowell was the only one she had in this foreign place.
"I~I'm sorry Agent Bristow," he concluded, then shuffled away, still reeling from the shock of her assertiveness.
She felt Leighton's hand on her shoulder and turned.
"Sydney, you just defended me," he cried in awe. "You certainly didn't have to do that. T~thank you."
"You really want to thank me? Tell me why Camden doesn't like you and why he knows Vaughn," Sydney retorted, a bit annoyed by the stupidness she'd just witnessed.
"I will~~~" Leighton promised. "Later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"David Lansing, 32, blond hair, green eyes, about six feet three inches. He's a vegetable in St. Mary Joseph's hospital, just twenty miles from here," Director Landor proclaimed, pointing his remote in the direction of the screen.
Sydney shuddered. The handsome picture of the man had now been replaced by a close-up picture of him in his present state. Eyes opened and red, a tube in his throat. Sydney couldn't help but see herself there.
"Agent Bristow. I'm sure you've been pretty much debriefed in this matter. And I think you'll be glad to know that this isn't going to include any plugging out guards or breach of security."
Sydney tried to smile. It was nice that for once she wouldn't have to worry about getting shot, but she'd grown so used to it and perhaps a little of her actually enjoyed the adrenaline rush.
At least Vaughn could sleep tonight.
If only the CIA would let him in on it.
"Agent Bristow, your mission today is for you to visit David Lansing and get used to the rounds. We need a window of five minutes to put in the double so we can extract Lansing and take him down to our surgery unit, and you're going to have to get that info."
All agents turned to look at Sydney who had stood up.
"Okay, but I'm confused. I thought this hospital was affiliated with the CIA, isn't his surgery scheduled?"
"No Agent Bristow," Agent Sorbeck interrupted, which shocked Sydney, especially when the director sat down without calling on it. "We have agent in the hospital but the regular staff are just convinced that he's a vegetable and that what he's got is a tumor. Though it's not risky in the danger for your life sense, this is a procedure we do not want the doctor of St. Mary Joseph to know about."
"O~oh," she stammered and sat back down.
"Thank you for that, Agent Sorbeck," Landor replied as calmly as possible "He's absolutely correct. Though this is a procedure that can help us gain information on how to combat these mysterious growths we've had on certain Project Christmas individuals, the~~~the world will probably think what we're doing is inhuman and torturous."
Sydney bit her lip and nodded.
"Agent Hill, Agent Loren," Director Landor said then and both agents straightened up in there seats, eerily robotic. "You will make sure Bristow gets to the hospital and then introduce her to the team."
"Right," they confirmed in unision.
"That is all then, agents. I will call a meeting at 0800 tomorrow morning to see the progress," he concluded.
The agents in the room shut down their computers, gathered their paperwork, and left the room, filled with a new sense of purpose.
"See you later, Sydney," Loren sang and Hill waved at her as they left the room.
She grinned and waved back.
Leighton was talking with Landor and receiving paperwork from him. She tapped her foot, anxious for the conversation to be over.
She had a question to ask.
"Very well then Cowell, you do know where to take Agent Bristow?"
Leighton nodded.
"Good, well, I must be getting back. I must check back in with the team overseeing Scotland yard's team that is protecting our queen."
Leighton moved out of the way and let the Director pass by, only to be stopped by Sydney.
"Director Landor."
"Yes, Agent Bristow?"
She was warmed by the warmth within his voice that she actually felt he could see the actual person behind the agent's badge.
"Um, I~~~I just wanted to know just why I was chosen to do this job. I mean extracting flesh? I've done much more dangerous things in my lifetime. You have seen my history?" she blurted out, then wince. She hoped she sound rude.
"I have and very impressive. You and Agent Vaughn seem to have been quite a team."
"T~Thank you," was what she should have said but what ended up coming out was, "does this have anything to do with because my father was part of Project Christmas?"
Landor chuckled, leaving Sydney wondering what could possibly be funny about the situation. "Agent Bristow, your father is not in any trouble and quite honestly, I think the reason your director assigned the mission to you was because for one, you were gone for two years and they want to slowly get you back in the run of things. And two, you were part of Project Christmas and this could happen to you," he put in as unalarmingly as possible.
"M~My father may have been married to a terrorist but he~~~he's my dad. He wouldn't' do this to me. He wouldn't do this to anybody," Sydney shrieked and Leighton rushed to her side.
"We don't even think your father had anything to do with his. But somebody's responsible and our job is to find out who it is and not let him win by finding a cure. Then maybe David won't die in vain."
Right. Sydney remembered she was required to kill this guy as well.
And she thought life couldn't' get worse.
"Don't worry so much, Sydney. You are just doing the job the government has asked you to do and then you can go back for the US and get your high maintenance cases.
Only that was the least of her worries.
Landor squeezed her shoulder firmly and then left the room, leaving Sydney and Leighton alone.
She found herself leaning against Leighton's chest and he put his arms around her, uncomfortable as he felt. Her eyes began watering and soaked Cowell's shirt but it didn't bother him. He just pulled her closer.
But a second later, Sydney realized what she was doing and pulled back.
"S~Sorry."
"Don't be," he told her, wanting to hold her again.
"So what was it that Landor was giving you?" she inquired, wiping her eyes.
Leighton extended his handkerchief to her. "Just paperwork on your new identity. And a bit about how I'm supposed to write a report on your mission and its' outcomes."
Sydney giggled. Leighton looked attractively deflated by those news. How many times had she seen Vaughn wearing that exact same expression?
"It's not so bad. Besides this mission is a cinch, and you're a doctor. I'm sure you've been submitting reports all your life."
"True, but not one to the CIA bureau," Leighton grimaced. "I mean you're going to kill Lansing. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to state that."
Sydney gulped. She wished he didn't have to write about it.
Then she wouldn't have to do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't' tense up," Dr. Camden coaxed her as he dabbed her arm with an alcohol pad. "Then I might miss and that could really hurt."
Sydney closed her eyes and tried to think warm fuzzy Vaughn thoughts but her mind was drawing a blank. She gripped the table till her knuckles turned white. Then she made the mistake of looking at the needle in Ethan's gloved hands.
"Oh God!" she groaned. It was the gun type, the one where the doctor pulled the trigger and injected a two-inch stainless needle into the patient's arm.
"We're going to do this on three okay? One~~~two~~~"
Pop!
"Ow!" she cried out as the metal went into her body. "I thought you said three?" she grumbled, glaring at the doctor who was teasing her
"True, but then you'd expect it. I've found from years of giving this shot that the moment you expect it is when you're most tense." He dabbed the sit with gauze. "There, all done."
Sydney rolled her eyes.
"You shouldn't do that" he chided her as he disposed of the needle. "One of these days your eyes might get stuck that way."
Sydney had to stifle her giggle. It sounded so weird to hear Ethan sound so~~~smart.
"All right, all right, settle down. I know I gave you quite a few injections but I didn't expect them to make you laugh," he sighed as he wrote down on her clipboard. "Think you've had enough?"
"Enough?" she choked out. "You drew three things of blood from me, gave me eight shots, not to mention I had to pull most of my clothes off."
She was currently sitting in nothing but a bra and underwear.
"And strictly for medical reasons," Ethan reminded her, a bit offended. "I'm a doctor, Sydney. It's the only reason I had you do that."
"But did you have to be so good looking?" she pondered "Did you have to remind me so strongly of Vaughn?"
"And what you went through was nothing," he gloated as he gently motioned for Sydney to lay down on a table he'd just covered with a towel. " I had to go through twice those many shots and tests run all over my body before I could be cleared to assume your case."
"What? Did they think I'm a virus? That I'm contagious?" she stammered, very hut. "You've seen my records. I'm clean. There's nothing wrong with me."
Ethan moved her gown away from her abdomen and then paused before he moved forward.
He took the opportunity to gaze at Sydney who's face had closed.
"Sydney, we don't' think you're dangerous. It's just CIA protocol, you know that. That's the reason I had to give you those shots. You're going into a foreign vicinity and we don't want you to be infected with anything. It's just a precautionary measure, Sydney. I, in no means meant to offend you," he lamented and Sydney saw he was staring directly at her, obviously waiting for some kind of reaction.
"Uh~~~I guess I over reacted," she mumbled, blushing red. "It's this atmosphere, this disinfectant that's getting to me."
Ethan finally smiled, looking satisfied.
"Okay, well, I'm going to start the procedure on you now, so try to relax," he cautioned her as he laid a green sheet over her abdomen He then very gently injected the local anesthetic.
She shifted on the table ever so slightly.
"Sorry Syd. I should have told you it would sting a little," he apologized as he rubbed a numbing cream into the numbed area. He waited about five minutes then poked her with a sterile needle. "How does that feel?"
"Uh~~~weird."
"No pain?"
Sydney shook her head.
"Great, let's move on with the procedure then. You'll feel a few tugs."
Sydney took a composing breath then squeezed her eyes shut, her method of pain management.
Next she didn't feel any tugging, instead she heard Ethan's hearty laugh. Curiously Sydney opened one eye and focused it on her doctor who was chuckling, shaking his head.
"You don't have to do that. I'm not going to yank anything out of you," Ethan assured her then showed her the metal forceps she didn't recognize. "I'm just going to undo the stitches. It doesn't say anywhere that they used biodegradable ones."
He then gently slipped a probe under the stitch to lift it away from her skin, snipped both ends with a pair of scissors and then pulled the string out of her body.
"See? That wasn't so bad," he teased her as he continued to undo the other three stitches. Sydney didn't cringe once. She caught herself watching Ethan's serious face that made him look so handsome as he continued what he was doing.
She felt his gloved hand on her abdomen and for once, she didn't jerk away in pain. Seemed like the lidocaine was working
"I'm going to poke you with the needle again. Tell me if it hurts at all. I'm going to cut it open now and I want to keep you our of much pain as possible," he explained as he wiped the needle the inserted it in certain areas of her abdomen, a little deeper than previously.
"Ah~~~that hurts," she complained when he hit a certain spot.
"Okay, just let me poke three more places then I'll give you more medicine okay," he assured her and Sydney nodded.
"Great. It seems that's the only part that was tender, no biggie, I'll give you this and you shouldn't feel a thing. Just a little weird," he cheered than pulled another needle of anesthetic from the tray and gave it to her.
She braced herself as the doctor made the first cut but all she felt was her skin splitting and warm liquid rush to the surface.
"Good girl, let me just do some suction and wipe this stuff away, okay?"
Ethan proceeded with the suction which didn't hurt but she couldn't say she liked the sensation of her insides being sucked out.
"Well, this is a welcome surprise," he praised, grinning as he stuck two gloved fingers into the wound. "I've read your hospital records and the notes from your previous providers and I was sure you're be a much harder patient to handle. But you haven't made a single peep. Is it because you think I'm cute?" he teased her.
Sydney felt her cheeks get hot but she shrugged it off saying. "Maybe you're just good with giving the lidocaine, I haven't felt a thing."
"Man, I would like to believe I was good with the lidocaine, especially since I know how it feels not to be numbed the right way," he laughed as he began pulling skin from the wound. "Yeah, being treated by fellow med students is an episode of my life I wish my brain would let me forget," he blurted out before he realized how offensive it could sound to someone who wanted to remember absolutely anything. "But you're still being good about it," he added trying to lighten the mood.
"I think you should reward me.'
Ethan dabbed gauze to the site he was working on but cocked an eyebrow to indicate he was listening. "Yeah? What, having a gorgeous provider wasn't enough for ya?" he complained, looking offended.
"You're cute, I'll admit that, okay? So will you do something for me now? I promise I'll be a golden patient."
"You're going to have to be," he chided her, " if you not you're going to be late, which is fine with me. I'm paid around the clock."
"Please?"
Ethan was getting ready to pull the samples but paused to give her an uncomfortable look. "Okay, what can I do to possibly please you today?"
After he'd said that, he wished he hadn't asked.
"You keep talking about Vaughn like you knew him really well," Sydney pointed out with a smile. "But he's never mentioned you. And I know him better than anyone."
"I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before you asked me about him," he exhaled as he got ready for the next step. "And it doesn't surprise me that he wouldn't mention me. I'm not sure he knows I exist."
"You two have never met?" Sydney inquired, saddened by the sad look on the doctor's cute face.
"Oh, we've met. Just~~~by a different alias. I uh~~~I used to be an informant of the now defunct terrorist group, "The Rapture." It was one of Vaughn's first assignments when he entered the CIA and became a qualified field agent. I went by Alex Gorzo. We had quite a few interesting conversations~~~"
His voice trailed off and his face closed.
"Y~You two seemed to have been pretty good friends," Sydney remarked gently. "Why wouldn't he remember you?"
"I think he's tried to erase me from his memory," Ethan shrugged as he pulled the last sample. "And I haven't contacted him in years, at least ten."
"Why not?"
"I wanted to find something about him, to see if my search was over, but I think smart Vaughn picked up on it and he sent me an anonymous note that I was no longer to see him, or contact him and that I would change my name and life if I knew what was good for me. I think he assumed I was deeper in the Rapture than he realized and he no longer wanted anything to do with me," the doctor concluded, the light from his face had diminished completely. "I never got a chance to explain to him who I was and why I'd been searching for him ever since I found a copy of a birth certificate with a note written by my father."
"W~Why have you been looking for him?" Sydney pushed as he stitched up her scar, her curiousity mounting.
Ethan gave her another exasperated sigh, it was evident to her that she might have gone deeper into him than he or she would have liked to.
"You're not going to believe this and I'm certainly not going to blame you~~~I'm Michael C. Vaughn's fraternal twin. We were separated at birth."
Sydney couldn't speak. God! No wonder she saw Vaughn everytime she looked at him, he was his other half.
"Well you're~~~" he was saying when there was a knock on the door. The intruder walked into the office before he could get out a, "come in."
It was Leighton, looking quite smug.
"Is she done, because there's some things I've got to discuss with her before the mission tonight."
"Um yeah, Agent Cowell. We're through. I think you can give her five minutes for her to get into more appropriate attire," Dr. Camden spit as he wrote on her clipboard.
"Sure I can, and you can come with me, no wait, you're already seen every inch of her so you two much have no secrets," Leighton boomed and he watched Camden adopt an uncomfortable expression.
Sydney realized those words hit to the bone and walked up to Cowell. "Actually there's something~~~medical, I've got to discuss with Dr. Camden. Can you give me five minutes? I'll meet you right outside."
Cowell shot Camden a look of disgust but he couldn't deny Sydney her simple request.
"Fine," he finally huffed. "Just know who you're dealing with. You can't trust this guy."
Sydney waited for Leighton to exit the room and then stood with her back to Camden who spoke up first.
"Sydney, I know you think~~~"
"Let me go first," she interrupted as she turned around. "I don't know you at all. So I don't know if I should trust one word of what you've said to me, but I've known Cowell and I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. I, however, have absolutely no reason not to believe you~~~I kept seeing Michael when I looked at you and~~~now I know why."
"You have no idea what that means to me," he cried, wiping a stray tear away from his eye.
"Look, I know you and Vaughn didn't hit if off after you separated from the Rapture, but I think he should give you another chance to find out and appreciate you as a brother," Sydney proposed and was shocked when Ethan frowned.
"You don't' know what it would mean to me if Vaughn and I can be brothers, it's what I want most in the world, he's all I've got left since both of my parents are dead," Ethan exclaimed. "But I can't. I don't think Vaughn is going to react too well knowing that he's related to a man who was once part of a group that were threats to the world."
Sydney debated on whether she should push this and decided not to. "Just think about it I'm going to be in England for a while so when you want to talk to me, I'll be here. And then when I go back to the U.S, I'd like it if you were the plan with me. He needs family, I know he does."
She scribbled down two numbers onto a sheet of paper and handed it to him, knowing Vaughn would probably "kill," her if he found out. "That's my hotel number and I've had it so it can't be tapped. And that's Michael's cell number, for if you ever get the guts to call him up."
Ethan stared at the paper in his hand. "You don't need to do this. I don't think I'll ever be ready to do this."
"You never know," she told him and held him his hands for a moment. "Thanks for the check up, doc. See you later."
Ethan watched her leave. Then he clicked the lock on the door and leaned against the wall. He had to hear his voice, his brother's voice.
He retrieved his cell from his pocket with trembling hands then dialed the area code to get connected to the U.S. he was greeted by a message informing him to dial the area code followed by the seven-digit #. He punched them in before he lost his nerve then raised the phone to his ear.
He heard half a ring and then a voice came on the line.
"This is Vaughn, hello?"
It was his brother. Ethan couldn't believe it. Hot tears slid down his cheeks as his mind raced with memories of his conversations with Vaughn, reminiscing the moment when it had hit him his search was over.
"Hello? Is anybody there?"
"M~Michael," Camden whimpered before he realized what he'd said.
There was a pause on the line.
"Alex?" he whispered back. "Is this Alex Gorzo?"
Ethan couldn't reply. He just began sobbing quietly to himself.
"Is this some kind of joke because if you haven't noticed, I am Agent Vaughn of the CIA and I can your call traced~~~"
Ethan clicked off. He couldn't bear to hear him so angry.
He'd done it.
And as he'd feared, Michael hadn't been happy to hear from him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack gave a wistful sigh as he checked in for his shift that evening, a graveyard shift he was required to take on occasion but he didn't care. He had slept all day, not having a thing to do except fight his attraction toward Irena which was ridiculous considering he'd woken up with her in bed next to him.
It felt so weird to not see Sydney here when everybody else seemed to be present. He wished he knew what was going on.
Correction: Kendall had allowed him and (ugh!) Agent Vaughn access to the project Sydney was undertaking, indirectly, only neither he or Vaughn seemed to have the guts to take the advantage of what had been given to them. Ever since the incident had happened with Sydney disappearing they were afraid, afraid to see something else had happened to her.
Another day, another dollar. He slowly made his way to his desk. What would the CIA cook up this time? A terror attack, a bad Russian planting biological weapons into life-saving serums? Jack didn't really care what it was, he just wanted to get through today and get home so he could be with Irena, the only person that he had close to a comfort zone at the present time.
"So, they tied the knot?" Carrie gushed as Jack passed by the three people group of Agent Weiss, Marshall and his girlfriend. "I knew it would only be a matter of time before those two made it back together."
"Yup, I knew brought Vaughn up the right way," Weiss cheered, looking quite smug and alert for two o'clock in the morning.
"Vaughn," Jack stopped in his tracks and decided to listen to more. Was it possible that he had gotten married to another someone and it not being Sydney?
"Technically they can't be married. Unless he's broke off his relationship with his wife and even then it takes a couple of days, a week at the least to finalize divorce papers," Marshall put in, his mind immediately calculating the situation by the law standards.
"Who cares about the law? I bet we're breaking a good number of them doing our job and I'm positive hacking and creating gizmos to deceive and be a snitch on other groups hasn't been legalized by the U.S government," Carrie crooned.
Marshall's expression turned to that of surprise as though the thought hadn't crossed his mind.
"Lighten up, Marshall, at least you're not part of SD-6, you're now breaking rules with the good crowd, and I guarantee you something has been passed to allow the CIA agents to commit illegal acts as long as it's listed in the document about our mission," Weiss assured him, talking like he was a wise officer, as he reached over to smack Marshall on his worried shoulder.
"And besides, it's romantic. And we should be happy for them. I'm sure Sydney is ecstatic," Carrie argued, looking dreamily, laying her head against her hyperventilating boyfriend's shoulder.
"Believe me, you have no idea," Weiss chimed in, looking very pleased. "The only problem is Vaughn is going through that phase where he can't sleep at night and he become a workaholic. I mean he does have a wife at home, I wonder what she thinks about all this?"
"Isn't his cover up Bristow Electronics?" Carrie reminded them. "And certainly no one in their right mind would think an electronics company would work so hard, whether they want money or not."
"I guess he's just a dedicated employee," Weiss shrugged then snapped back into work-made when he got a phonecall. Marshall and Carrie shared a kiss before they also went there separate ways, before Jack could ask any questions.
"Well, guess I'm going to go have a chat with Agent Vaughn," Jack grinned, though having a conversation with his daughter's lovesick boyfriend was the last thing he wanted to do two o'clock in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good morning, Agent Vaughn," Kendall greeted sarcastically as he approached Michael who was just getting settled in for the morning. "Early today, aren't you? About," he glanced at his wristwatch, "three hours."
"I~~~I have some paperwork to get through," Michael explained to his boss as he logged into his computer.
"Well, why didn't you stay after last night?"
"I~I was tired," he yawned and immediately regretted the action.
"I didn't notice," Kendall said dryly. "Agent Vaughn, I know what's going on. Somehow you found out that Agent Bristow has gone on the mission and since staying home is driving you crazy, you've decided to spend every waking hour at the Agency until Sydney Bristow is back on the U. S mainland."
Vaughn was impressed, his boss knew him better than he thought. But that made him wonder had he always been this obvious?
"Did I hit it on the mark, Agent Vaughn?"
"Y~Yes sir, I~I guess I should grab my things," Vaughn sighed, defeated then with another sigh, he stacked up his papers and began putting them back in his briefcase.
"I suppose I can let it slide, afterall, the rumors your co-workers have been spreading around the agency hint that you have returned to seeing your former asset."
"How did you?" he began then cut himself short. He didn't want to know. "T~Thank you, sir."
"Do not mention it. But I don't want you working on any reports until it is time for you to be at work, understood?"
"Yes sir, but~~~what would you like me to do in the mean time?" Michael asked, careful not to put an edge on his voice.
"Write a novel," he quipped, "I have no problem with you coming in early, Agent Vaughn, but if you need to finish up something, stay over time. Don't leave off till tomorrow what you can today, right, boy scout?"
"Yeah~~~right," he murmured, and Kendall left him to be, very satisfied with himself. Vaughn laid back in his seat, then pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. He viewed the history of his calls then highlighted the number to the last call he'd received.
It was a number from out of the country.
He wondered for a second if it could have been Syd, but why would she be crying? Unless she was in danger, again.
But then, why had Alex Gorzo popped into his head, an informant of his he hadn't been in contact with for at least ten years? Did it mean something? Should he be on his guard?
"Agent Vaughn, I didn't expect to see you here."
Vaughn raised his head and tried not to groan. Jack Bristow was the last person he wanted to see at three o'clock in the morning.
"I was under the impression you didn't have to come in till~~~seven, Mr. Vaughn," he snarled, scrutinizing him with his beady eyes. "Is there an emergency in existence that I don't' know about?"
"No, but I've already been cleared by the Director, just in case you wanted to get me written up," Vaughn put in evenly, rising from his seat so he was at Jack's eye level.
And Jack smiled, of all the reactions he could have chosen to give.
"No, I'm actually glad that you've decided to drag yourself out of bed and check in. It'll save me the trouble or trying to find you later. Do you have a few minutes to come with me? I've got something to discuss with you."
"We have nothing to discuss as long as that restraint is still in order," Michael shot back, getting up in his face.
Vaughn half-expected Jack to back up but he was not the least bit intimidated by him. Jack grinned and said instead, "you'll come with me now if you ever want to have that document destroyed," in a very oily voice.
His look said he already knew something and Vaughn decided not to push it.
"F~Fine," Vaughn huffed and followed him to a vacated briefing office.
Jack closed the door behind them then faced Vaughn, arms folded. "I cam into some very interesting information about ten minutes ago."
Vaughn tired to look surprised and curious, though his heart had plummeted to the pit of his stomach at the mention of those words.
"Seems that you married my daughter. Now can you tell me how that's possible if you're still not divorced from your first wife?"
Crap. He did know.
"Um~~~Jack."
"Yes?"
"This is~~~is not the way we preferred that you find out about this~~~" Vaughn protested, trying to look genuine and confident of what he was saying, at the same time promising himself to behead Weiss the first moment he saw his best friend.
"Don't you mean you didn't want me to find out for as long as possible since we both know I don't approve of you," Jack boomed, silencing Vaughn. "I gave you strict~~~guidelines to stay away from my daughter. What kind of sick joke are you trying to pull, marrying yourself to her?!"
Vaughn wasn't going to sit and listen to this for very much longer.
"Sick joke? But I'm not puling anything!" Vaughn retorted, clearly offended , sweat was breaking on his forehead.
"Don't you think you've caused enough damage already?" Jack scowled, his face turning eight shades of purple, his veins bulging in his neck as his anger mounted. "Don't you understand why she took on that mission?! It's because you made your choice to stay with your wife and she doesn't want to deal with it. And now you must suffer the consequences."
Vaughn had planned to take things into stride and just let Jack rage on and on but he refused to be put down by this man any longer, on a issue that not of his concern.
"Agent Bristow," Vaughn began severely and it was clear Jack hadn't expected this edge. "I understand you love your daughter and like any father, you actually want the best for her." He paused for a moment then continued. "But I think you're crossing your boundaries as a parent. In case you haven't noticed, Sydney is thirty-one years old, and she's old enough to make her own decisions and unless she comes to consult you for your advice, you're not to make any final say on her life. And what happened between Sydney and me last night is one of them."
"Well perhaps if some thirty-five year olds didn't act like eighteen year old brats and proved that they can exercise their judgement in a mature fashion, us parents wouldn't have to worry about our daughters," Jack admonished him, coming on hard. "You are the one who hurt her and therefore, you've made it my business."
"Jack, I know you and I have our differences but that gives you absolutely no right to belittle me," Vaughn grumbled, his anger growing.
"Of course it does."
This comment made Vaughn furious with Jack even more. "You obviously seem to think that humans are perfect but we're not~~~we do make mistakes, you should know that yourself."
"Damn right!" Jack agreed, wearing an uncharacteristic "DUH!" expression. "And what a big one you made this time. I knew you were stupid, Michael Vaughn, but I never knew how much."
"Now wait a second, why don't you hear me out first before you pass judgement on me," Michael demanded in as monotone a tone as possible.
But it was as if Jack didn't even hear him. "I know Sydney is an intelligent person who can make intelligent decisions except where you're concerned and so I don't want to know what you staged to get my daughter to consent to this ludicrous marriage!"
Vaughn couldn't believe how torn he was by Jack's words. It felt as though he had finally gained a father, and was completely disapproved of by him. It wasn't like it surprised him, Jack and Vaughn's dislike for each other was mutual, but he guessed he should chock it up to the fact that maybe he expected Jack's feelings to at least slightly change for the better, to at least slightly change for the better, at least for his daughter's sake and to maybe pretend that he approved of the marriage.
"Jack, you obviously hate me~~~"
"No I detest you beyond reason."
"Right, but anyway, we're happy, Mr. Bristow. Why can't you be happy for us?" Michael whined at his wit's end. Then after a beat he asked, "what would make you happy?"
Jack looked at Vaughn as though he wasn't speaking English. "What would make me happy, Mr. Vaughn? You sure you want to hear this?"
"Yes."
He let out a heaving sight then sat down at the table, looking almost innocent. "Just for my daughter to be happy. And the truth Vaughn, the truth about your feelings toward Sydney is all I ask," then he added. "It's all I've ever asked."
Vaughn stared at Jack and was positively shocked. This man was genuinely concerned for his daughter and he thought it was possible that his love for her was greater than his own.
"You couldn't deliver before, and since you're married, I'm seriously counting on you to deliver now, that your feelings are not haphazard."
Vaughn took a composing breath, then sat down before his father-in- law, looking quite different, and maybe a bit older than five minutes ago. Jack's words had obviously shook him. He clasped his hands together on the table then leaned forward, looking the most mature Jack had ever seen him.
Jack had to admit, this scared him.
"You want to hear the truth?" Michael inquired softly. "Okay, the truth is~~~I love your daughter, I never stopped loving her. I know that I shouldn't have married Jessica if I still felt this way, but to me, she was dead. It was either moving on or being bitter for the rest of my life. And if I hadn't found Jessica, I might not be around today. You know how messed up I was."
"Y~Yes, I do. And you had good reason to be."
Michael couldn't bear to see the look in Jack's eyes, it was as though he were reliving his daughter's death and he wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I got messed up and Jess was there for me. But in no means do I want you to get the impression that I'm just stringing Sydney along because of my inability to choose. I married Syd because she is the only woman for me. And~~~I think that Jess knows what goes on~~~but of course I'm going to tell her," he added quickly when he saw the color increase in Jack's skin "I want nothing more than to be with Syd. I mean, I came in three hours early even though I know that no one is going to give me any direct information on Sydney."
"Well, that's about to stop."
Michael looked at Jack with questionable eyes. "What?"
He then witnessed Sydney's father pull a formal looking document from his pocket and tear it into shreds.
"W~What did you just do?" Vaughn whispered, staring at the shredded papers on the table, daring to hope.
"Did away with that stupid restraining order," Jack replied simply, grinning like the chesire cat. "I knew you would make a move if I threw you something like that and you did. You've proved that you do love my daughter."
"I~I don't' know what to say~~~other than~~~thank you. Thank you very much."
Jack gave him another one of his "sarcastic looking but that's my natural smile," smile then slammed the table with his hand twice to alert Vaughn and then stood. "Well come on Agent Vaughn, we've got so much to do and so little time."
"Do?" Vaughn thought as he followed his father in law. "Agent Bristow, what exactly do we have to do? I'm not on for another three hours," he asked when they got into the hallway.
"Gotta go fill out some paper work so we can get you back as her handler," Jack shrugged, in procedural tone. "Wouldn't that be a fine surprise for Syd to hear your voice the next time she checks in which should be in the next few days. Maybe Kendall will send you to England to be with her. Wouldn't that be amusing?"
Vaughn just stared at Jack with large green eyes, trying to take in everything and register it into his brain, despite his current episode of shock.
"Coming, son?"
"Son?" Vaughn asked himself, not knowing how to react. Never had he thought he'd have that word directed to him from a man and actually meant for the context of the word.
"Vaughn?"
"Oh~~~right, I'm coming," Vaughn sputtered and jogged up to join Jack, his new father."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
Okay! Welcome to a new year and I've decided to continue it for at least the time being!!! But if I don't' get some kind of feedback~~~really folks, please!!! Tell me if you like this or not~~~ because this is my first ever fan fic and it would really mean a lot to me!!!
Things are about to heat up for the better or worse? You choose!!!
Review Review Review!!!
Lataz, Total V. Lover
Lots and lots of love for ya
The Other Side of the Story Season 2 Part II Total Vaughn Lover
"Morning Sydney," greeted one of the agents she'd met yesterday. Sydney was so startled at being addressed informally that she didn't know what to reply.
Leighton jabbed her in the side and Sydney cringed.
"Cowell, what did you do that for?" she seethed through gritted teeth.
"Nervous much?" he teased her instead. "That nice little agent just greeted you and you couldn't fathom a response. Is it possible that you are tongue-tied?"
"Maybe, what is it to you?" she retorted as they made their way to his desk.
"It just amazes me that you don't have anything to say when on your homeland, spitting out insults and striking my nerves seemed to have been child's play," Leighton shrugged, laying his briefcase on the table.
"I was just shocked. I didn't expect your former employees to call me on a first name basis my first real day here. I'm surprised she knew my name. I~~~I don't' remember hers," Sydney admitted, smiling at the agent then turned away before she was forced into conversation.
"Well, I told you England is wonderful, but I do believe they know who you are because the majority of their last two years was about finding you," Agent Cowell proposed. "I bet not even alzheimer could make them forget."
"Nice to know I was so traumatic that I've been eternally burned into their minds," Sydney exhaled, rolling her eyes as she planted herself in Cowell's chair. "So, handler of mine, what's the agenda for today?"
"We're due in for a briefing. Director Landor is supposed to come in here and summon us for the briefing. I assume our job for the day would come clear during that," Leighton assured her and took her hand into his which made Sydney feel uncomfortable. Whatever had happened yesterday no longer lingered. The only man she wanted to caress her hand was her real handler Michael Vaughn.
She pulled her hand back without Leighton giving any resistance. But the pain was clear in his expression. It seemed he also realized Sydney was back to scrutinizing him and that their handler-asset relationship had dissipated.
She tried not to look at her partner who was doing his best to act like he hadn't felt rejected and or insulted by the gesture.
"Y~You think the briefing will be about David Lansing?" she put in, breaking the awkward silence. She half thought he would not hear or choose to ignore her.
He glanced at her and smiled. "I don't know~~~but let us hope so, so that we can get this mission over with before you are overcome with homesickness for the loved ones you left in the U.S, mainly one."
She felt her heart pound faster. Michael's green eyes forming in her mind's eye, his husky voice feeding her inner ear with words only she could hear. She felt awashed with warmth, no~~~submerged in his love and she felt as though she were spinning completely out of control.
She felt a tap on her head and turned around.
There he was. With his beautiful eyes, sumptuous lips, a bit of six o'clock shadow covering his skin, making it look darker~~~sexier."
"Michael," she crooned and then put her hands on the side of his chiseled cheeks and pulled him to her till his lips could touch hers.
Only his lips abruptly stopped responding.
She opened her eyes and gasped! It wasn't Michael. It was Ethan Camden, looking picturesquely embarrassed.
"Good morning to you too, Agent Bristow."
She cringed. No! This couldn't be happening! She couldn't possibly have made a fool of herself the first day. She hadn't even made it to the debrief.
"A~Agent Camden, I~I'm so sorry. You've got to excuse me. I thought you were~~~M~Michael."
"Don't' worry about it. I wasn't offended. I'm a doctor so I know your mind is still adjusting to being in a different country which has to harder after the trauma you've suffered," he consoled her. "Besides, you're a great kisser. It'll give my co-workers something to speculate for a few days."
Ethan winked at her to try and calm her nerves but unfortunately it did the complete opposite. She wished she could form into a puddle at his feet.
Camden, however no longer had his attention on her but on the agent that had left for two years and now returned. "And should I ask if you're feeling at home?"
"Well that's very nice of you to ask, Ethan," Leighton chittered, taking his eyes off what he was doing to look at his former companion. "And I appreciate you vacating my former desk so that I can use it during my stay."
"Don't thank me, Cowell. I only did it on the orders of Landor. If it were up to me, I'd have you interrogated so we can find out just where you have been these last two years," Ethan spit, glaring at Leighton, disgusted by the innocence present in his expression.
"Are you trying to suggest something, Agent Camden? Because for the life of me, I can never really tell what goes on in that mind of yours," Leighton told him, his eyes wide.
"Funny, I would have said the same about you," Ethan countered then added. "I wouldn't get too comfortable here if I were you, because I guarantee you wont' be here or part of any agency when I'm through with you. You'll rot in a jail cell right where you belong."
"W~wait Camden, what is going on with you and Cowell?" Sydney cut in, a bit curious.
"Unfinished business," Ethan shot back which scared her more than anything. The gentle and teasing doctor was gone from him now. "I'll make a call to the U.S and ask your fellow agents what they think of you. Personally I'm interested in how you became Vaughn's replacement. You're a doctor, if that Leighton, not an officer of operations."
Leighton felt Sydney's unasked questions and decided to take a stand as Michael probably would. "Agent Camden, it's obvious you don't' like me and I'm not going to waste my time trying to figure out why, but the fact that I'm here wont' change so I hope you can put aside your anger and help me get my asset through her mission so she can be returned to where she belongs," Leighton pleaded, his voice becoming stronger. "She doesn't deserve to be in the middle of our rivalry."
Ethan's eyes were narrowed and his hunger to get Leighton back for what only he knew was growing steadily within his stare. Sydney was sure he was going to punch Leighton.
But Ethan lowered his tensing fists and the anger within his body slowly simmered down. He looked over at Sydney and grinned. "Leighton is right for once. I'm sorry you had to in that position. You shouldn't have had to see that."
"I~It's okay," she stammered, though all she could think was how much it had frightened her to see him so angry.
She was glad when she saw Director Landor had finally appeared in the room, their cue to go to the briefing.
"Come on Leighton, let's go," she whispered to her partner who nodded to her, then smirked at Ethan.
"Not joining us, Dr. Camden?" he taunted when he saw Ethan was heading in the other direction.
"N~no, I have to get to the examination room and set up for Agent Bristow's procedure," he informed Cowell, loathing in his stare. "Hopefully it's not too late to get out the poison you've obviously infected her body with."
Cowell retained his composure but Sydney couldn't. She paused in her tracks and turned to face Ethan who looked surprised to see her hostility.
"Okay, that's enough. You two are adults, respected doctor with Ph. D's! You two need to get over yourselves," she admonished them. "And Ethan, I don't' know exactly what your deal is but Leighton asked you to put aside your differences for my sake, I don't think that's too much to ask."
Camden bit his lip, obviously started and Leighton's face displayed the same expression.
Even Sydney was shocked. She didn't know why she was defending him but she'd felt she had to. From her point of view, Ethan was bullying him and just itching for a fight and to rekindle their formal rivalry, while Leighton didn't. And truth be told, Cowell was the only one she had in this foreign place.
"I~I'm sorry Agent Bristow," he concluded, then shuffled away, still reeling from the shock of her assertiveness.
She felt Leighton's hand on her shoulder and turned.
"Sydney, you just defended me," he cried in awe. "You certainly didn't have to do that. T~thank you."
"You really want to thank me? Tell me why Camden doesn't like you and why he knows Vaughn," Sydney retorted, a bit annoyed by the stupidness she'd just witnessed.
"I will~~~" Leighton promised. "Later."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"David Lansing, 32, blond hair, green eyes, about six feet three inches. He's a vegetable in St. Mary Joseph's hospital, just twenty miles from here," Director Landor proclaimed, pointing his remote in the direction of the screen.
Sydney shuddered. The handsome picture of the man had now been replaced by a close-up picture of him in his present state. Eyes opened and red, a tube in his throat. Sydney couldn't help but see herself there.
"Agent Bristow. I'm sure you've been pretty much debriefed in this matter. And I think you'll be glad to know that this isn't going to include any plugging out guards or breach of security."
Sydney tried to smile. It was nice that for once she wouldn't have to worry about getting shot, but she'd grown so used to it and perhaps a little of her actually enjoyed the adrenaline rush.
At least Vaughn could sleep tonight.
If only the CIA would let him in on it.
"Agent Bristow, your mission today is for you to visit David Lansing and get used to the rounds. We need a window of five minutes to put in the double so we can extract Lansing and take him down to our surgery unit, and you're going to have to get that info."
All agents turned to look at Sydney who had stood up.
"Okay, but I'm confused. I thought this hospital was affiliated with the CIA, isn't his surgery scheduled?"
"No Agent Bristow," Agent Sorbeck interrupted, which shocked Sydney, especially when the director sat down without calling on it. "We have agent in the hospital but the regular staff are just convinced that he's a vegetable and that what he's got is a tumor. Though it's not risky in the danger for your life sense, this is a procedure we do not want the doctor of St. Mary Joseph to know about."
"O~oh," she stammered and sat back down.
"Thank you for that, Agent Sorbeck," Landor replied as calmly as possible "He's absolutely correct. Though this is a procedure that can help us gain information on how to combat these mysterious growths we've had on certain Project Christmas individuals, the~~~the world will probably think what we're doing is inhuman and torturous."
Sydney bit her lip and nodded.
"Agent Hill, Agent Loren," Director Landor said then and both agents straightened up in there seats, eerily robotic. "You will make sure Bristow gets to the hospital and then introduce her to the team."
"Right," they confirmed in unision.
"That is all then, agents. I will call a meeting at 0800 tomorrow morning to see the progress," he concluded.
The agents in the room shut down their computers, gathered their paperwork, and left the room, filled with a new sense of purpose.
"See you later, Sydney," Loren sang and Hill waved at her as they left the room.
She grinned and waved back.
Leighton was talking with Landor and receiving paperwork from him. She tapped her foot, anxious for the conversation to be over.
She had a question to ask.
"Very well then Cowell, you do know where to take Agent Bristow?"
Leighton nodded.
"Good, well, I must be getting back. I must check back in with the team overseeing Scotland yard's team that is protecting our queen."
Leighton moved out of the way and let the Director pass by, only to be stopped by Sydney.
"Director Landor."
"Yes, Agent Bristow?"
She was warmed by the warmth within his voice that she actually felt he could see the actual person behind the agent's badge.
"Um, I~~~I just wanted to know just why I was chosen to do this job. I mean extracting flesh? I've done much more dangerous things in my lifetime. You have seen my history?" she blurted out, then wince. She hoped she sound rude.
"I have and very impressive. You and Agent Vaughn seem to have been quite a team."
"T~Thank you," was what she should have said but what ended up coming out was, "does this have anything to do with because my father was part of Project Christmas?"
Landor chuckled, leaving Sydney wondering what could possibly be funny about the situation. "Agent Bristow, your father is not in any trouble and quite honestly, I think the reason your director assigned the mission to you was because for one, you were gone for two years and they want to slowly get you back in the run of things. And two, you were part of Project Christmas and this could happen to you," he put in as unalarmingly as possible.
"M~My father may have been married to a terrorist but he~~~he's my dad. He wouldn't' do this to me. He wouldn't do this to anybody," Sydney shrieked and Leighton rushed to her side.
"We don't even think your father had anything to do with his. But somebody's responsible and our job is to find out who it is and not let him win by finding a cure. Then maybe David won't die in vain."
Right. Sydney remembered she was required to kill this guy as well.
And she thought life couldn't' get worse.
"Don't worry so much, Sydney. You are just doing the job the government has asked you to do and then you can go back for the US and get your high maintenance cases.
Only that was the least of her worries.
Landor squeezed her shoulder firmly and then left the room, leaving Sydney and Leighton alone.
She found herself leaning against Leighton's chest and he put his arms around her, uncomfortable as he felt. Her eyes began watering and soaked Cowell's shirt but it didn't bother him. He just pulled her closer.
But a second later, Sydney realized what she was doing and pulled back.
"S~Sorry."
"Don't be," he told her, wanting to hold her again.
"So what was it that Landor was giving you?" she inquired, wiping her eyes.
Leighton extended his handkerchief to her. "Just paperwork on your new identity. And a bit about how I'm supposed to write a report on your mission and its' outcomes."
Sydney giggled. Leighton looked attractively deflated by those news. How many times had she seen Vaughn wearing that exact same expression?
"It's not so bad. Besides this mission is a cinch, and you're a doctor. I'm sure you've been submitting reports all your life."
"True, but not one to the CIA bureau," Leighton grimaced. "I mean you're going to kill Lansing. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to state that."
Sydney gulped. She wished he didn't have to write about it.
Then she wouldn't have to do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Don't' tense up," Dr. Camden coaxed her as he dabbed her arm with an alcohol pad. "Then I might miss and that could really hurt."
Sydney closed her eyes and tried to think warm fuzzy Vaughn thoughts but her mind was drawing a blank. She gripped the table till her knuckles turned white. Then she made the mistake of looking at the needle in Ethan's gloved hands.
"Oh God!" she groaned. It was the gun type, the one where the doctor pulled the trigger and injected a two-inch stainless needle into the patient's arm.
"We're going to do this on three okay? One~~~two~~~"
Pop!
"Ow!" she cried out as the metal went into her body. "I thought you said three?" she grumbled, glaring at the doctor who was teasing her
"True, but then you'd expect it. I've found from years of giving this shot that the moment you expect it is when you're most tense." He dabbed the sit with gauze. "There, all done."
Sydney rolled her eyes.
"You shouldn't do that" he chided her as he disposed of the needle. "One of these days your eyes might get stuck that way."
Sydney had to stifle her giggle. It sounded so weird to hear Ethan sound so~~~smart.
"All right, all right, settle down. I know I gave you quite a few injections but I didn't expect them to make you laugh," he sighed as he wrote down on her clipboard. "Think you've had enough?"
"Enough?" she choked out. "You drew three things of blood from me, gave me eight shots, not to mention I had to pull most of my clothes off."
She was currently sitting in nothing but a bra and underwear.
"And strictly for medical reasons," Ethan reminded her, a bit offended. "I'm a doctor, Sydney. It's the only reason I had you do that."
"But did you have to be so good looking?" she pondered "Did you have to remind me so strongly of Vaughn?"
"And what you went through was nothing," he gloated as he gently motioned for Sydney to lay down on a table he'd just covered with a towel. " I had to go through twice those many shots and tests run all over my body before I could be cleared to assume your case."
"What? Did they think I'm a virus? That I'm contagious?" she stammered, very hut. "You've seen my records. I'm clean. There's nothing wrong with me."
Ethan moved her gown away from her abdomen and then paused before he moved forward.
He took the opportunity to gaze at Sydney who's face had closed.
"Sydney, we don't' think you're dangerous. It's just CIA protocol, you know that. That's the reason I had to give you those shots. You're going into a foreign vicinity and we don't want you to be infected with anything. It's just a precautionary measure, Sydney. I, in no means meant to offend you," he lamented and Sydney saw he was staring directly at her, obviously waiting for some kind of reaction.
"Uh~~~I guess I over reacted," she mumbled, blushing red. "It's this atmosphere, this disinfectant that's getting to me."
Ethan finally smiled, looking satisfied.
"Okay, well, I'm going to start the procedure on you now, so try to relax," he cautioned her as he laid a green sheet over her abdomen He then very gently injected the local anesthetic.
She shifted on the table ever so slightly.
"Sorry Syd. I should have told you it would sting a little," he apologized as he rubbed a numbing cream into the numbed area. He waited about five minutes then poked her with a sterile needle. "How does that feel?"
"Uh~~~weird."
"No pain?"
Sydney shook her head.
"Great, let's move on with the procedure then. You'll feel a few tugs."
Sydney took a composing breath then squeezed her eyes shut, her method of pain management.
Next she didn't feel any tugging, instead she heard Ethan's hearty laugh. Curiously Sydney opened one eye and focused it on her doctor who was chuckling, shaking his head.
"You don't have to do that. I'm not going to yank anything out of you," Ethan assured her then showed her the metal forceps she didn't recognize. "I'm just going to undo the stitches. It doesn't say anywhere that they used biodegradable ones."
He then gently slipped a probe under the stitch to lift it away from her skin, snipped both ends with a pair of scissors and then pulled the string out of her body.
"See? That wasn't so bad," he teased her as he continued to undo the other three stitches. Sydney didn't cringe once. She caught herself watching Ethan's serious face that made him look so handsome as he continued what he was doing.
She felt his gloved hand on her abdomen and for once, she didn't jerk away in pain. Seemed like the lidocaine was working
"I'm going to poke you with the needle again. Tell me if it hurts at all. I'm going to cut it open now and I want to keep you our of much pain as possible," he explained as he wiped the needle the inserted it in certain areas of her abdomen, a little deeper than previously.
"Ah~~~that hurts," she complained when he hit a certain spot.
"Okay, just let me poke three more places then I'll give you more medicine okay," he assured her and Sydney nodded.
"Great. It seems that's the only part that was tender, no biggie, I'll give you this and you shouldn't feel a thing. Just a little weird," he cheered than pulled another needle of anesthetic from the tray and gave it to her.
She braced herself as the doctor made the first cut but all she felt was her skin splitting and warm liquid rush to the surface.
"Good girl, let me just do some suction and wipe this stuff away, okay?"
Ethan proceeded with the suction which didn't hurt but she couldn't say she liked the sensation of her insides being sucked out.
"Well, this is a welcome surprise," he praised, grinning as he stuck two gloved fingers into the wound. "I've read your hospital records and the notes from your previous providers and I was sure you're be a much harder patient to handle. But you haven't made a single peep. Is it because you think I'm cute?" he teased her.
Sydney felt her cheeks get hot but she shrugged it off saying. "Maybe you're just good with giving the lidocaine, I haven't felt a thing."
"Man, I would like to believe I was good with the lidocaine, especially since I know how it feels not to be numbed the right way," he laughed as he began pulling skin from the wound. "Yeah, being treated by fellow med students is an episode of my life I wish my brain would let me forget," he blurted out before he realized how offensive it could sound to someone who wanted to remember absolutely anything. "But you're still being good about it," he added trying to lighten the mood.
"I think you should reward me.'
Ethan dabbed gauze to the site he was working on but cocked an eyebrow to indicate he was listening. "Yeah? What, having a gorgeous provider wasn't enough for ya?" he complained, looking offended.
"You're cute, I'll admit that, okay? So will you do something for me now? I promise I'll be a golden patient."
"You're going to have to be," he chided her, " if you not you're going to be late, which is fine with me. I'm paid around the clock."
"Please?"
Ethan was getting ready to pull the samples but paused to give her an uncomfortable look. "Okay, what can I do to possibly please you today?"
After he'd said that, he wished he hadn't asked.
"You keep talking about Vaughn like you knew him really well," Sydney pointed out with a smile. "But he's never mentioned you. And I know him better than anyone."
"I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before you asked me about him," he exhaled as he got ready for the next step. "And it doesn't surprise me that he wouldn't mention me. I'm not sure he knows I exist."
"You two have never met?" Sydney inquired, saddened by the sad look on the doctor's cute face.
"Oh, we've met. Just~~~by a different alias. I uh~~~I used to be an informant of the now defunct terrorist group, "The Rapture." It was one of Vaughn's first assignments when he entered the CIA and became a qualified field agent. I went by Alex Gorzo. We had quite a few interesting conversations~~~"
His voice trailed off and his face closed.
"Y~You two seemed to have been pretty good friends," Sydney remarked gently. "Why wouldn't he remember you?"
"I think he's tried to erase me from his memory," Ethan shrugged as he pulled the last sample. "And I haven't contacted him in years, at least ten."
"Why not?"
"I wanted to find something about him, to see if my search was over, but I think smart Vaughn picked up on it and he sent me an anonymous note that I was no longer to see him, or contact him and that I would change my name and life if I knew what was good for me. I think he assumed I was deeper in the Rapture than he realized and he no longer wanted anything to do with me," the doctor concluded, the light from his face had diminished completely. "I never got a chance to explain to him who I was and why I'd been searching for him ever since I found a copy of a birth certificate with a note written by my father."
"W~Why have you been looking for him?" Sydney pushed as he stitched up her scar, her curiousity mounting.
Ethan gave her another exasperated sigh, it was evident to her that she might have gone deeper into him than he or she would have liked to.
"You're not going to believe this and I'm certainly not going to blame you~~~I'm Michael C. Vaughn's fraternal twin. We were separated at birth."
Sydney couldn't speak. God! No wonder she saw Vaughn everytime she looked at him, he was his other half.
"Well you're~~~" he was saying when there was a knock on the door. The intruder walked into the office before he could get out a, "come in."
It was Leighton, looking quite smug.
"Is she done, because there's some things I've got to discuss with her before the mission tonight."
"Um yeah, Agent Cowell. We're through. I think you can give her five minutes for her to get into more appropriate attire," Dr. Camden spit as he wrote on her clipboard.
"Sure I can, and you can come with me, no wait, you're already seen every inch of her so you two much have no secrets," Leighton boomed and he watched Camden adopt an uncomfortable expression.
Sydney realized those words hit to the bone and walked up to Cowell. "Actually there's something~~~medical, I've got to discuss with Dr. Camden. Can you give me five minutes? I'll meet you right outside."
Cowell shot Camden a look of disgust but he couldn't deny Sydney her simple request.
"Fine," he finally huffed. "Just know who you're dealing with. You can't trust this guy."
Sydney waited for Leighton to exit the room and then stood with her back to Camden who spoke up first.
"Sydney, I know you think~~~"
"Let me go first," she interrupted as she turned around. "I don't know you at all. So I don't know if I should trust one word of what you've said to me, but I've known Cowell and I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. I, however, have absolutely no reason not to believe you~~~I kept seeing Michael when I looked at you and~~~now I know why."
"You have no idea what that means to me," he cried, wiping a stray tear away from his eye.
"Look, I know you and Vaughn didn't hit if off after you separated from the Rapture, but I think he should give you another chance to find out and appreciate you as a brother," Sydney proposed and was shocked when Ethan frowned.
"You don't' know what it would mean to me if Vaughn and I can be brothers, it's what I want most in the world, he's all I've got left since both of my parents are dead," Ethan exclaimed. "But I can't. I don't think Vaughn is going to react too well knowing that he's related to a man who was once part of a group that were threats to the world."
Sydney debated on whether she should push this and decided not to. "Just think about it I'm going to be in England for a while so when you want to talk to me, I'll be here. And then when I go back to the U.S, I'd like it if you were the plan with me. He needs family, I know he does."
She scribbled down two numbers onto a sheet of paper and handed it to him, knowing Vaughn would probably "kill," her if he found out. "That's my hotel number and I've had it so it can't be tapped. And that's Michael's cell number, for if you ever get the guts to call him up."
Ethan stared at the paper in his hand. "You don't need to do this. I don't think I'll ever be ready to do this."
"You never know," she told him and held him his hands for a moment. "Thanks for the check up, doc. See you later."
Ethan watched her leave. Then he clicked the lock on the door and leaned against the wall. He had to hear his voice, his brother's voice.
He retrieved his cell from his pocket with trembling hands then dialed the area code to get connected to the U.S. he was greeted by a message informing him to dial the area code followed by the seven-digit #. He punched them in before he lost his nerve then raised the phone to his ear.
He heard half a ring and then a voice came on the line.
"This is Vaughn, hello?"
It was his brother. Ethan couldn't believe it. Hot tears slid down his cheeks as his mind raced with memories of his conversations with Vaughn, reminiscing the moment when it had hit him his search was over.
"Hello? Is anybody there?"
"M~Michael," Camden whimpered before he realized what he'd said.
There was a pause on the line.
"Alex?" he whispered back. "Is this Alex Gorzo?"
Ethan couldn't reply. He just began sobbing quietly to himself.
"Is this some kind of joke because if you haven't noticed, I am Agent Vaughn of the CIA and I can your call traced~~~"
Ethan clicked off. He couldn't bear to hear him so angry.
He'd done it.
And as he'd feared, Michael hadn't been happy to hear from him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack gave a wistful sigh as he checked in for his shift that evening, a graveyard shift he was required to take on occasion but he didn't care. He had slept all day, not having a thing to do except fight his attraction toward Irena which was ridiculous considering he'd woken up with her in bed next to him.
It felt so weird to not see Sydney here when everybody else seemed to be present. He wished he knew what was going on.
Correction: Kendall had allowed him and (ugh!) Agent Vaughn access to the project Sydney was undertaking, indirectly, only neither he or Vaughn seemed to have the guts to take the advantage of what had been given to them. Ever since the incident had happened with Sydney disappearing they were afraid, afraid to see something else had happened to her.
Another day, another dollar. He slowly made his way to his desk. What would the CIA cook up this time? A terror attack, a bad Russian planting biological weapons into life-saving serums? Jack didn't really care what it was, he just wanted to get through today and get home so he could be with Irena, the only person that he had close to a comfort zone at the present time.
"So, they tied the knot?" Carrie gushed as Jack passed by the three people group of Agent Weiss, Marshall and his girlfriend. "I knew it would only be a matter of time before those two made it back together."
"Yup, I knew brought Vaughn up the right way," Weiss cheered, looking quite smug and alert for two o'clock in the morning.
"Vaughn," Jack stopped in his tracks and decided to listen to more. Was it possible that he had gotten married to another someone and it not being Sydney?
"Technically they can't be married. Unless he's broke off his relationship with his wife and even then it takes a couple of days, a week at the least to finalize divorce papers," Marshall put in, his mind immediately calculating the situation by the law standards.
"Who cares about the law? I bet we're breaking a good number of them doing our job and I'm positive hacking and creating gizmos to deceive and be a snitch on other groups hasn't been legalized by the U.S government," Carrie crooned.
Marshall's expression turned to that of surprise as though the thought hadn't crossed his mind.
"Lighten up, Marshall, at least you're not part of SD-6, you're now breaking rules with the good crowd, and I guarantee you something has been passed to allow the CIA agents to commit illegal acts as long as it's listed in the document about our mission," Weiss assured him, talking like he was a wise officer, as he reached over to smack Marshall on his worried shoulder.
"And besides, it's romantic. And we should be happy for them. I'm sure Sydney is ecstatic," Carrie argued, looking dreamily, laying her head against her hyperventilating boyfriend's shoulder.
"Believe me, you have no idea," Weiss chimed in, looking very pleased. "The only problem is Vaughn is going through that phase where he can't sleep at night and he become a workaholic. I mean he does have a wife at home, I wonder what she thinks about all this?"
"Isn't his cover up Bristow Electronics?" Carrie reminded them. "And certainly no one in their right mind would think an electronics company would work so hard, whether they want money or not."
"I guess he's just a dedicated employee," Weiss shrugged then snapped back into work-made when he got a phonecall. Marshall and Carrie shared a kiss before they also went there separate ways, before Jack could ask any questions.
"Well, guess I'm going to go have a chat with Agent Vaughn," Jack grinned, though having a conversation with his daughter's lovesick boyfriend was the last thing he wanted to do two o'clock in the morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Good morning, Agent Vaughn," Kendall greeted sarcastically as he approached Michael who was just getting settled in for the morning. "Early today, aren't you? About," he glanced at his wristwatch, "three hours."
"I~~~I have some paperwork to get through," Michael explained to his boss as he logged into his computer.
"Well, why didn't you stay after last night?"
"I~I was tired," he yawned and immediately regretted the action.
"I didn't notice," Kendall said dryly. "Agent Vaughn, I know what's going on. Somehow you found out that Agent Bristow has gone on the mission and since staying home is driving you crazy, you've decided to spend every waking hour at the Agency until Sydney Bristow is back on the U. S mainland."
Vaughn was impressed, his boss knew him better than he thought. But that made him wonder had he always been this obvious?
"Did I hit it on the mark, Agent Vaughn?"
"Y~Yes sir, I~I guess I should grab my things," Vaughn sighed, defeated then with another sigh, he stacked up his papers and began putting them back in his briefcase.
"I suppose I can let it slide, afterall, the rumors your co-workers have been spreading around the agency hint that you have returned to seeing your former asset."
"How did you?" he began then cut himself short. He didn't want to know. "T~Thank you, sir."
"Do not mention it. But I don't want you working on any reports until it is time for you to be at work, understood?"
"Yes sir, but~~~what would you like me to do in the mean time?" Michael asked, careful not to put an edge on his voice.
"Write a novel," he quipped, "I have no problem with you coming in early, Agent Vaughn, but if you need to finish up something, stay over time. Don't leave off till tomorrow what you can today, right, boy scout?"
"Yeah~~~right," he murmured, and Kendall left him to be, very satisfied with himself. Vaughn laid back in his seat, then pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. He viewed the history of his calls then highlighted the number to the last call he'd received.
It was a number from out of the country.
He wondered for a second if it could have been Syd, but why would she be crying? Unless she was in danger, again.
But then, why had Alex Gorzo popped into his head, an informant of his he hadn't been in contact with for at least ten years? Did it mean something? Should he be on his guard?
"Agent Vaughn, I didn't expect to see you here."
Vaughn raised his head and tried not to groan. Jack Bristow was the last person he wanted to see at three o'clock in the morning.
"I was under the impression you didn't have to come in till~~~seven, Mr. Vaughn," he snarled, scrutinizing him with his beady eyes. "Is there an emergency in existence that I don't' know about?"
"No, but I've already been cleared by the Director, just in case you wanted to get me written up," Vaughn put in evenly, rising from his seat so he was at Jack's eye level.
And Jack smiled, of all the reactions he could have chosen to give.
"No, I'm actually glad that you've decided to drag yourself out of bed and check in. It'll save me the trouble or trying to find you later. Do you have a few minutes to come with me? I've got something to discuss with you."
"We have nothing to discuss as long as that restraint is still in order," Michael shot back, getting up in his face.
Vaughn half-expected Jack to back up but he was not the least bit intimidated by him. Jack grinned and said instead, "you'll come with me now if you ever want to have that document destroyed," in a very oily voice.
His look said he already knew something and Vaughn decided not to push it.
"F~Fine," Vaughn huffed and followed him to a vacated briefing office.
Jack closed the door behind them then faced Vaughn, arms folded. "I cam into some very interesting information about ten minutes ago."
Vaughn tired to look surprised and curious, though his heart had plummeted to the pit of his stomach at the mention of those words.
"Seems that you married my daughter. Now can you tell me how that's possible if you're still not divorced from your first wife?"
Crap. He did know.
"Um~~~Jack."
"Yes?"
"This is~~~is not the way we preferred that you find out about this~~~" Vaughn protested, trying to look genuine and confident of what he was saying, at the same time promising himself to behead Weiss the first moment he saw his best friend.
"Don't you mean you didn't want me to find out for as long as possible since we both know I don't approve of you," Jack boomed, silencing Vaughn. "I gave you strict~~~guidelines to stay away from my daughter. What kind of sick joke are you trying to pull, marrying yourself to her?!"
Vaughn wasn't going to sit and listen to this for very much longer.
"Sick joke? But I'm not puling anything!" Vaughn retorted, clearly offended , sweat was breaking on his forehead.
"Don't you think you've caused enough damage already?" Jack scowled, his face turning eight shades of purple, his veins bulging in his neck as his anger mounted. "Don't you understand why she took on that mission?! It's because you made your choice to stay with your wife and she doesn't want to deal with it. And now you must suffer the consequences."
Vaughn had planned to take things into stride and just let Jack rage on and on but he refused to be put down by this man any longer, on a issue that not of his concern.
"Agent Bristow," Vaughn began severely and it was clear Jack hadn't expected this edge. "I understand you love your daughter and like any father, you actually want the best for her." He paused for a moment then continued. "But I think you're crossing your boundaries as a parent. In case you haven't noticed, Sydney is thirty-one years old, and she's old enough to make her own decisions and unless she comes to consult you for your advice, you're not to make any final say on her life. And what happened between Sydney and me last night is one of them."
"Well perhaps if some thirty-five year olds didn't act like eighteen year old brats and proved that they can exercise their judgement in a mature fashion, us parents wouldn't have to worry about our daughters," Jack admonished him, coming on hard. "You are the one who hurt her and therefore, you've made it my business."
"Jack, I know you and I have our differences but that gives you absolutely no right to belittle me," Vaughn grumbled, his anger growing.
"Of course it does."
This comment made Vaughn furious with Jack even more. "You obviously seem to think that humans are perfect but we're not~~~we do make mistakes, you should know that yourself."
"Damn right!" Jack agreed, wearing an uncharacteristic "DUH!" expression. "And what a big one you made this time. I knew you were stupid, Michael Vaughn, but I never knew how much."
"Now wait a second, why don't you hear me out first before you pass judgement on me," Michael demanded in as monotone a tone as possible.
But it was as if Jack didn't even hear him. "I know Sydney is an intelligent person who can make intelligent decisions except where you're concerned and so I don't want to know what you staged to get my daughter to consent to this ludicrous marriage!"
Vaughn couldn't believe how torn he was by Jack's words. It felt as though he had finally gained a father, and was completely disapproved of by him. It wasn't like it surprised him, Jack and Vaughn's dislike for each other was mutual, but he guessed he should chock it up to the fact that maybe he expected Jack's feelings to at least slightly change for the better, to at least slightly change for the better, at least for his daughter's sake and to maybe pretend that he approved of the marriage.
"Jack, you obviously hate me~~~"
"No I detest you beyond reason."
"Right, but anyway, we're happy, Mr. Bristow. Why can't you be happy for us?" Michael whined at his wit's end. Then after a beat he asked, "what would make you happy?"
Jack looked at Vaughn as though he wasn't speaking English. "What would make me happy, Mr. Vaughn? You sure you want to hear this?"
"Yes."
He let out a heaving sight then sat down at the table, looking almost innocent. "Just for my daughter to be happy. And the truth Vaughn, the truth about your feelings toward Sydney is all I ask," then he added. "It's all I've ever asked."
Vaughn stared at Jack and was positively shocked. This man was genuinely concerned for his daughter and he thought it was possible that his love for her was greater than his own.
"You couldn't deliver before, and since you're married, I'm seriously counting on you to deliver now, that your feelings are not haphazard."
Vaughn took a composing breath, then sat down before his father-in- law, looking quite different, and maybe a bit older than five minutes ago. Jack's words had obviously shook him. He clasped his hands together on the table then leaned forward, looking the most mature Jack had ever seen him.
Jack had to admit, this scared him.
"You want to hear the truth?" Michael inquired softly. "Okay, the truth is~~~I love your daughter, I never stopped loving her. I know that I shouldn't have married Jessica if I still felt this way, but to me, she was dead. It was either moving on or being bitter for the rest of my life. And if I hadn't found Jessica, I might not be around today. You know how messed up I was."
"Y~Yes, I do. And you had good reason to be."
Michael couldn't bear to see the look in Jack's eyes, it was as though he were reliving his daughter's death and he wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I got messed up and Jess was there for me. But in no means do I want you to get the impression that I'm just stringing Sydney along because of my inability to choose. I married Syd because she is the only woman for me. And~~~I think that Jess knows what goes on~~~but of course I'm going to tell her," he added quickly when he saw the color increase in Jack's skin "I want nothing more than to be with Syd. I mean, I came in three hours early even though I know that no one is going to give me any direct information on Sydney."
"Well, that's about to stop."
Michael looked at Jack with questionable eyes. "What?"
He then witnessed Sydney's father pull a formal looking document from his pocket and tear it into shreds.
"W~What did you just do?" Vaughn whispered, staring at the shredded papers on the table, daring to hope.
"Did away with that stupid restraining order," Jack replied simply, grinning like the chesire cat. "I knew you would make a move if I threw you something like that and you did. You've proved that you do love my daughter."
"I~I don't' know what to say~~~other than~~~thank you. Thank you very much."
Jack gave him another one of his "sarcastic looking but that's my natural smile," smile then slammed the table with his hand twice to alert Vaughn and then stood. "Well come on Agent Vaughn, we've got so much to do and so little time."
"Do?" Vaughn thought as he followed his father in law. "Agent Bristow, what exactly do we have to do? I'm not on for another three hours," he asked when they got into the hallway.
"Gotta go fill out some paper work so we can get you back as her handler," Jack shrugged, in procedural tone. "Wouldn't that be a fine surprise for Syd to hear your voice the next time she checks in which should be in the next few days. Maybe Kendall will send you to England to be with her. Wouldn't that be amusing?"
Vaughn just stared at Jack with large green eyes, trying to take in everything and register it into his brain, despite his current episode of shock.
"Coming, son?"
"Son?" Vaughn asked himself, not knowing how to react. Never had he thought he'd have that word directed to him from a man and actually meant for the context of the word.
"Vaughn?"
"Oh~~~right, I'm coming," Vaughn sputtered and jogged up to join Jack, his new father."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
Okay! Welcome to a new year and I've decided to continue it for at least the time being!!! But if I don't' get some kind of feedback~~~really folks, please!!! Tell me if you like this or not~~~ because this is my first ever fan fic and it would really mean a lot to me!!!
Things are about to heat up for the better or worse? You choose!!!
Review Review Review!!!
Lataz, Total V. Lover
