A/N: Hey everyone! Remember waaaaay back in winter 2002 when I wrote a little holiday fic I like to call "It's a Wonderful Double Life"? Well I decided to write a sequel, complete with everyone's favorite sharp-tongued angel. She'll be around next chap. :-)

You don't really have to have read the first fic to follow this one, but I'd suggest it cause there's multiple references to it throughout this fic.

This is semi-AU. Since I wrote the first fic last year, S/V weren't together in the show yet but they got together in the fic. So just imagine that they got together about a month before they really did in the show, k? :-)

Disclaimer: Alias doesn't belong to me, nor does It's A Wonderful Life.

Link to First Fic:

It's a Wonderful Triangular Life

Part One- Vaughn's POV

There's a smile plastered on Sydney's face as she lifts the metallic purple ball out of the cracking orange crate. It's fake, I can tell. She thinks no one notices. She thinks I've forgotten how to read her emotions. She's wrong.

I knew this was a bad idea the moment Lauren suggested it, but there wasn't much of a way I could protest and still keep myself out of hot water, a chance I've been treading the fine line of for weeks.

But what could I have said? "No, Lauren. Sydney can't come over to have Christmas Eve dinner with us. I'm still in love with her and I'm afraid the festive air will foment me to act on it."  

Yeah, right. So I smiled a little and nodded. "Alright, Honey, that's a nice idea." And it was. It was a nice thought, a generous offer to a person who needed all the friends she could get this Christmas. An especially nice thought considering that she certainly isn't number one on Lauren's list.

But I guess that's why she had the idea. The fact is, we all have to deal with each other. This situation we've all been tangled up in is going to last for who knows how much longer. Instead of avoiding it, we have to try to face it. And maybe, after lots of effort and baby steps, we can begin to stop just 'dealing' with it and start to accept it as just another normalcy.

Easier said than done. Especially when I look up at the two women decorating the slowly brightening pine tree and I see a glowing, breathtaking, goddess on earth... and... my wife. How does that become 'just another normalcy'?

"Lauren...Syd... I'm gonna go into my room for a little bit. I think there's a box of ornaments in there from a few years ago," I lie, my head starting to spin.

They turn to me and stare. Lauren with surprise and concern, Sydney with suspicion and concern. Neither of them believe me. Hell, it was a lame excuse. I probably wouldn't have believed me. Either way, they don't pry. "...Alright," Lauren answers. And they turn back to their decorating work, attempting to see each other through the titles of 'ex' and 'wife' once again.

I stand and walk slowly to my room, shutting the door behind me. Not knowing what provokes me to do so, I open my closet door and begin to rummage through the boxes and bags at the bottom. Finally, I pull out what I've been looking for. A faded red wrapped box, the paper duller but still igniting the slightest shine.

I reach into the box and pull out two items. The first is a simple red card, neat and sharp words scrawled through the inside. The second is a childish plastic disco ball, the cord a bit thinned out. Gingerly, I touch the colored spots. Suddenly everything comes rushing back....

 "Thanks," Sydney says truthfully after taking my gift. She reaches into her own bag and hands me a red-wrapped gift.

"No you didn't, Syd." I hold up a hand.

"Just take it, Vaughn."

I oblige. Then I point to the other boxes lying in the now opened black carrier. "Francie and Will?"

"No," she shakes her head. "They got theirs. Those are for my parents."

I can feel a surprised expression cross my face.  

"I know," she agrees, comprehending what the look is about. "I was actually debating for a while whether or not I should give them to them. But lately I've been realizing... they are my parents and I wouldn't be here without them. And regardless of everything, I know they care about me."

I nod, accepting what she's saying but not entirely sure of what brought the change about. I decide not to wonder about it and change the subject instead. There's something I have to get out.  "Look, Syd, I know I don't really need to explain and you keep stopping me anyway. But I feel like I know so much about your personal life and I owe you that same knowledge. Alice and I... after we met at that party, we decided to just see if there was anything left. We went back to the way things were for a little while to see how it went.

"I knew there was nothing left, so I planned on ending it a couple of months after it started. But then her father got sick, and I couldn't bring myself to cause her any more pain. But she turned out to be the one to do it, right after I got out of the hospital. When you saw us at the bar, we were there as friends."

"Why'd she end it?"

I shrug. "She knew we just weren't right together. She also said..." I stop suddenly, not sure if I should tell her the entire truth about Alice's suspicions.

"What?"

"...Nothing. Just that 'Rita' must really care about me."

She smiles and places a hand on my arm. It tingles. "She was right."

I grin a little back, then remember the present. "So, aren't you going to open your gift?"

"Yes, and you?"

We reach for our gifts. She reads my card first and I swear I see tears glistening in her eyes. I pray it's because she likes it. As she takes the gifts out of the bag, I reach for the card that's with my gift. She looks up at me.

"Read it later," she requests.

I'm not sure why she wants that but I obey anyway and lift the top off the box. I pick out the two thin pieces of shiny paper from the top. Looking at them, I chuckle. "Coupons for Slush-Os?"

She shrugs. "They're delicious."

A surge of happiness washes over me when I realize she remembered that from so long ago, and I grin. Then I pull out the second gift. A small, plastic black fist-sized disco ball covered with multi-colored lights. I'm shocked.  "What... how did you..."

She smiles but doesn't answer.

Still looking down at the slightly strange object, I speak quietly. "When I was about 10 years old, these things were so in. I always wanted one but I never told anyone. For some reason, I thought they were too girlish. Like only a girl would want a flashing rainbow ball in their room. But, I mean, I grew up with only my mom and twin sister... it was hard to be totally boyish..." I stop, embarrassed when I realize I'm rambling. "How did you know, anyway?"

She grin. "Well apparently, you did tell one person..."

He laugh, understanding. "I'm going to kill Eric Weiss."

"Oh, don't blame him. I practically had to beat it out of him. Besides, you know you still wanted one."

"Well, maybe a little..." I say honestly, smiling.

There is silence as we both try to take in the moment.

Then Sydney speaks up. "Anya."

I look up, surprised. "What?"

"Anya. That's your twin sister."

"Yes. How did you...?" I begin, then grin. "What else did Eric tell you?"

She shrugs, and somehow I get the feeling she's not telling me something. But I brush it off and stand up.

"Vaughn?" Sydney asks as she pulls on the roller skates she'd brought with her.

"Yeah?"

She stands and skates back over to where I'm standing. "Did something ever happen to you that you can't explain? Something that defies logic and reason?"

I'm about to answer, but before I can get a word out the lights suddenly snap off with a whir. The plastic disco ball illuminates and begins to turn, casting the rainbow lights all around the walls. It's not even plugged in.

Alarmed, I place it down on the floor. I look back up at her. "Yes. Yes it has." I smile despite the complete oddness of the situation and reach my hand out to her. She takes it and we skate out to the rink.

Hand in hand, saying nothing, we glide around the smooth surface, the rainbow lights dancing around us. Suddenly, a real silver mirror ball hanging on the ceiling begins to turn, the white circles bouncing around the multi-hued ones, moving gracefully across our eyes.

I notice Sydney smiling at something on the ceiling and winking a little. Maybe the lights are playing tricks on my eyes. We glide towards the very center of the rink, her leading, and stop just below the mirror ball.

She points up to something directly above our heads and laughs. My eyes follow her hand and I see the shock of green leaves and red berries. I inhale deeply then look back down and our eyes lock.

"Merry Christmas, Michael," She whispers.

"Merry Christmas, Syd," I reply just before our lips touch.

I have to clear my head... I can't stay in here much longer. The gingerbread scented candles are suddenly making me feel dizzy. I slowly return the items into the closet, back into the darkness which has engulfed the rest of my memories. I pause a moment, then pull the card out again. I don't want the words to have to be hidden again.

"Michael, are you going to come help us...?" the soft voice of my wife fills my ears. I look up to find her in the doorway, and thrust the card behind my back. She's too quick, though. "What...?

"It's nothing, Lauren."

"It's not nothing. You had that look... that look that you used to get when we first starting dating. When you were thinking of her."

I don't answer. Just put the card down slowly beside me. Lauren makes her way over and kneels before me, eyes stern. "Look, Michael... I know what she meant to you. And I can't forbid you to want to remember what you had... even if it makes me insane. But I also can't let you forget what we have now... I'm your wife, and I love you-"

"I love you too," I say honestly, but knowing it's not all she wants.

She nods. "I know. But sometimes I feel like it may not be enough... I'm not naive, Michael. I know that if that night had never happened, you wouldn't have given me a romantic thought when I met you. But that night did happen, and I don't want to lose what we have because you gained the opportunity to pretend it didn't."

"Lauren-"

"No, don't argue. I guess the point I want to make is just... please don't forget that you love me. I don't want to become 'The Other Woman' when I'm supposed to be your wife."

"You won't," I tell her, trying to convince myself as well as her that it's not an empty promise.

"Alright. Right now, though, it's Christmas Eve and I think we should just... be happy. Let's go back to Sydney in the living room and finish the tree."

I nod, then hold back. "Actually, Lauren... I think I need some time alone. Just to clear my head. Is that okay?"

She looks at me a moment, then nods. "Sure."

I smile weakly at her then leave my room, stuffing the card in my pocket. Sydney turns and looks at me as I head to the door. Our eyes meet and I swear a set of multicolored Christmas lights appear flashing before us in midair, not the tree. I blink and look down as Lauren re-enters the room as well, and the lights disappear. "Bye," I say to the two of them, and exit the apartment into the chilly hallway.

I descend the stairs, distraught thoughts swimming in my mind.

What a terrific Christmas this is. A federal agency ready to arrest me as a fugitive, a strained marriage with a frustrated and unfairly treated wife, and an extremely depressed (though she hides in well) and lonely soul mate.

It's times like these when I feel like everyone would be better off if I'd never even been born.

***

A/N: Please review! Oh, and thanks a ton, Penny! ::hugs::