Part Two: Just a Day or Two

If I could turn the page
In time then I'd rearrange
Just a day or two
(Close my, close my, close my eyes)

Sydney closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Such things came upon her at unexpected times. So often she was reminded of the life she lost.

Kendall said that when she was kidnapped, she was told that "Sydney Bristow is dead." And it was very true. The Sydney Bristow that had lived and been friends with Francie was dead, her life obliterated. The Sydney Bristow that stood here, in the bathroom of a very exclusive Vienna nightclub, was a different person. She remembered the life of that other Sydney, but the life she lived now barely resembled that other life. So much was so different.

Sometimes when she was at home, alone with nothing but her thoughts and fantasies, Syd dreamed about going back in time, changing a few things. Just a few things, that's all it would take.

Maybe if that night, the night she fought Allison and then was kidnapped by the Covenant, maybe if she would've called Vaughn instead of confronting Allison by herself. The Covenant would've never captured her, Vaughn would've never suffered her death, and never married Lauren. Maybe even Will would still be in her life, instead of the Witness Protection Program.

But she would've still lost Francie. Maybe if she could change something even further back than that. If she could make it where she'd never joined SD-6. She'd have Francie and Will, and none of their lives would be in danger. That would've been before Noah, before Danny, before Vaughn. Before Vaughn. And still estranged from her father. Still thinking her mother was dead.

And ending that train of thought, Syd would conclude, like she always did, that would've beens, could've beens didn't make her feel better. No magic solution existed that would make her life the way she wanted it. She just had to play the cruel hand Fate dealt her.

Syd left the bathroom, ascended the stairs to the main level, and threaded her way through a crowd of dancers to rejoin Vaughn at the bar. She smiled at him, nodded, and wordlessly they left. As they drove back to the hotel that was their base for this mission, Sydney couldn't help but dwell on their failure.

"I can't believe the Covenant got ahead of us again." Syd sighed heavily and stared out the car window.

"I know. We made sure that Lauren didn't know what we were doing." Hearing the anger underlying his voice, Syd looked over at Vaughn, only to see the burning in his eyes. She very rarely saw him like that, and the times she had, it'd been about her, so long ago. Pushing that thought aside, another took its place.

"Maybe this was a distraction. Maybe they just sent us here to chase our tails while they're busy somewhere else."

"Yeah, maybe. But why?" Syd shook her head at Vaughn's query.

"Who knows," she replied tiredly. "We can figure it out when we get back home."

"Yeah, when we get back home," Vaughn repeated, harshly. Syd could tell he didn't look forward to it. She knew that masquerading as a happy husband, while knowing his wife worked for the Covenant, was hard on Vaughn, but it was difficult for her to muster any sympathy. He had put her through too much.

They drove in silence the rest of the way to the hotel, both of them simmering in their own dark thoughts. The silence continued as Vaughn parked the car in the hotel garage, and they strutted back to their hotel room, in character.

After entering the room, Syd plopped down in a chair, threw her head back, and closed her eyes. She listened with little interest as Vaughn telephoned their contact and relayed the information that the mission was unsuccessful. A few more moments of silence, then Vaughn said "Okay," and hung up. He came to where Syd was sitting, and she looked up at him. Many conflicting emotions swam in his eyes, but she didn't trouble herself to identify any of them.

"Base ops says to stay the night here, keeping in with our aliases in case we're being watched. A plane will be waiting to take us home tomorrow. It won't be until noon, though, and we'll have to call to confirm."

Syd nodded, not wanting to say anything.

Vaughn sat down on the corner of the bed, just a few feet from where Syd sat. He put his hands on his knees and leaned forward, sighing.