Alternate Termination

Sequel to Alternate Existence and Alternate Infatuation. Sydney and Michael finally had a perfect life. A real family with no lies. Friends who knew the truth. And then they lost it all.

Chapter 2: He Still Remembers

Disclaimer: No, Alias is not mine. Nor is Sydney, nor Vaughn, nor Irina, nor Jack, nor Khasinou, nor Kendall. But Jeffrey is! He's all mine! No touchy!

A/N: Natalie, if you're going to keep blatantly stateing my plot lines to those slower than you for all to see, I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Which, ya know, should really tell you how close you are!

A/N: vaughn is hot, Khasinou never died, and, while it's entirely possible that I'm wrong, I think I clearly stated (Or, will state, at least) somewhere that Irina and Khasinou escaped the CIA takedown of the New York cell of the KGB. And nobody said Irina killed them! (Sorry, that was necessary...Seriously, what has gotten into you people? Making assumptions, jumping to comclusions...one would think ya'll were avid Alias watchers...

A/N: i love vaughn and syd, I promise, more info is coming, but not as much of it in the form of flashbacks as should be because all the italics were confusing as hell...


Jeff drove through the heavy morning LA traffic, the radio blaring. He and Misty had been up most of the night with the baby. They'd known they would be; that was why they'd sent Alex to Weiss for the night. Alex loved Emily as much as any of them, but she'd been teething, and she had an ear infection, and their baby had kept them all up for three days. Alex had already been put in time-out by his-in Misty's opinion-domineering preschool teacher the day before because he'd fallen asleep during story time. The poor kid needed a break.

That was why Jeff was battling early morning traffic on zero sleep to pick him up. He only hoped the blaring rock music and three cups of coffee would keep him wired.

Alex was doing so well, really. Jeffrey smiled. He remembered when he and his new wife had taken him in. Sydney and Michael had wanted it that way, and damn it all to hell if he and Misty could go against that.

They'd been devastated when Weiss-who'd been in a pretty bad state at the time himself-had given them the news. Jeff and Misty, even though they were just dating when they moved to LA, had been close to Sydney and Michael. When Alex was born, they'd all crowded in at the maternity ward window-Jeffrey, Misty, Weiss, Vaughn, and even Jack-to see the new baby.

Then they'd all tromped into Sydney's room, and the poor nurse that was supposed to be attending Sydney hadn't been able to get to her. She and Michael had been so proud of that little red-faced baby. Alex had four big fluffy teddy bears before he could even work his little hands to grab them.

Alex had been three when his happy parents had died. Jeff had been worried about Sydney going back into the field when Alex was one, but he knew that it was practically all Sydney had ever known. She had to go back. That was just who she was.

Jeff and Misty had taken Alex in, and made him their own. Less than a month after they'd taken Alex, Misty had discovered she was pregnant. Emily had been a fluke. Misty and Jeff had discussed children, of course, and even wanted them, but in the future. Not now. They didn't plan to suddenly have a three-year-old little boy and be expecting a baby girl. But they were happy.

And Alex loved his Emmy. They were a family. Jeff and Misty and Alex and Emily.

Jeff frowned when Weiss pulled him aside after Alex ran to get the red nylon backpack he carried everywhere. He didn't like when Weiss got that guilty look in his eye.

"Man, I can't believe you refused to tell him what happened," Weiss said. "Alex is four. He knows his parents are dead, but he didn't understand. You could have told him something."

Jeffrey shook his head.

"All I know is what you told me." Jeff felt the sting all over again as he remembered Weiss telling him, half-crazed and hysterical, that Sydney and Vaughn were dead. "That wasn't fit for Alex."

"He asked me last night…" Weiss trailed off,those plaintive green eyes haunting him.

"Eric!" Jeff growled. "What did you tell him?"

"Man, I just told the kid the truth." Weiss held up a hand before Jeff could yell. "The kid needs to know what happened, okay? I didn't tell him about the job, or Khasinau, or any of that. But I told him the truth."

"He's four, Eric. He'll have nightmares for weeks…"

"I didn't tell him like I told you, alright? I'm okay now. We both know I wasn't then. The thing is, now he knows how they died, and he needs that."

Jeffrey was quiet for a long moment.

"When Syd first got involved with the KGB," he began quietly, a pained look on his face. "They killed our friend because they thought Sydney told her. Jessie. For a couple days, nobody told me how she died. Just the she died. At first…me and Jessie always loved Syd's mom. This was before we knew what the KGB really was, and…Syd's mom was the one who finally told me what had really happened. I guess Syd knew and just assumed I did too. A lot of stuff that week isn't really clear. I was sixteen, Eric, and knowing one of my best friends was shot in the head in her own bedroom gave me nightmares for years. I was still waking up in a cold sweat my first three years of college. I won't…I didn't want Alex to go through the same thing."

Weiss shook his head.

"I'm sorry. But it's already done. He woke up in the middle of the night to ask me about it, Jeff," he added. "I think the damage was done either way."

Jeff appeared to be ready to retort, but Alex appeared tentatively with his backpack.

"Did I do something bad?" he asked, looking from one to the other.

Jeff and Weiss swapped a quick look as Jeff leaned down to give Alex a quick reassuring hug.

"No, of course not," he said, smiling. "Uncle Eric and I were just talking about how much fun you guys had last night."

"Yeah!" Alex perked up instantly. "He's so cool! Can I stay the night with Unka Eric again?" he begged.

Weiss ruffled the little boy's uncombed hair.

"We'll see, kiddo," he laughed.


Misty was standing at the door with a comb and a wet washcloth when Jeff pulled up in the driveway. Misty had insisted the previous day that Eric Weiss was incapable of getting Alex ready for school. Although Jeff had argued at the time, he realized she was probably right. The thick smear of what appeared to be chocolate ice cream on Alex's cheek proved her point.

Misty's light brown hair was piled haphazardly on top of her head and loosely pinned in place, a remnant of a night of a crying three-month-old baby. Alex let loose a mock scream when he saw the comb in her hand and darted past her through the door, clutching his backpack. Jeff laughed as the backpack went flying and Misty snatched him up with one arm, wiping at the chocolate smear with the other.

"Look at you!" Misty said delightedly. "You're a mess! I told Jeffy your Uncle Eric doesn't know anything about keeping little boys!"

Alex wriggled appropriately, laughing as he tried to pull away.

Emily started crying in her playpen in the living room and provided the distraction Alex needed to escape.

"Emmy!" he laughed, skidding to a stop to hang over the edge of the playpen to snag a slobbery pink bunny to wave for Emily. "Hey, Emmy, look at this!"

Misty stopped in the doorway, smiling. Jeffrey stepped in beside her, his arm around her waist.

"We're his family," Misty whispered wistfully.

Jeff understood what she meant. They'd all been so close to Sydney and Michael; no one wanted Alex to forget them.

"Baby, he may look at you as him mom, but he still remembers Syd." He brushed a strand of hair off of her face affectionately. "He asked Eric about them last night. He told him how they died."

"What?" Misty hissed.

"No…babe, I think Eric was right. Alex needed to know something about it. And honestly, Eric seemed better today. You know how he's been since they died. I've been scared for him ever since the CIA re-field rated him. He seems okay now, and Alex knows the truth…it'll all be okay."

Misty looked affectionately at the dark haired little boy trying so hard to get his surrogate baby sister to stop crying. She had no idea where he'd gotten such a dark shock hair.

"He's just so little," misty said, reluctantly pushing way from the doorframe and out of Jeff's embrace. "I know he can't really understand it all, but I just don't know what to tell him."


Okay, was that better? Longer, at least. Still a lot of cryptic mess, and a lot of just background stuff that I have to have in there for the whole rest of this to make any sense whatsoever. So, review please! I don't update without reviews!