She stared at the small stick sitting on the bathroom counter for a long time. In fact she didn't know how long she stared at it. How could this small stick change her life?

She hadn't seen him the past week. He had completely submerged himself into work. He was trying to find out everything he could about Rambaldi. Rambaldi didn't seem very important to her right now.

It seemed ridiculous that it hadn't been him. All the time that they had been together it wasn't him. She wasn't sure if it was a relief. It certainly wasn't a relieving feeling now. The man she had been with, the man she had slept with, the man she had shared secrets with, the man she had trusted, it was always Sark.

She heaved again and grasped the toilet bowl for support. She slid into a crumpled heap of tears on the floor of the bathroom. She sobbed because this child inside of her wasn't Michael Vaughn's.

-

"Bristow."

"Agent Bristow, this is Jean Agnew from the Lennoxville Police Department."

"Yes, Mr.Agnew. How may I help you?"

"I need to see you in person."

"I'm not following you, sir."

"Well, I'm in the local hospital there's a man here. He claims he's an agent with the CIA and he wants to speak to you."

-

Michael Vaughn sped through the red light. She was going to know soon. He needed to make it home before they called. He pulled out his cell phone and flipped it open.

"Hello Arvin."

"Mr. Sark, I believe your cover has been blown." Sloane replied with a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Yes, thank you for letting me in on that piece of information."

"Now tell me how it's possible for this to happen when you had them so convinced."

"Your good friend, Jack Bristow."

"Well, Sydney is needed immediately. I'm willing to go along with your new deal. Double the original asking price, she is well worth it."

"It should be no problem."

He threw the cell phone on the passenger side and continued to speed toward her apartment.

-

He pulled the door open quickly. He called out hoping that Francie and Will weren't around. They would certainly complicate things. He smiled, there was no response. He heard the familiar ring of her cell phone. It vibrated on the kitchen counter. He walked over to it opening it gingerly and turning it off.

"Sydney?" he called. The apartment was dark.

"Vaughn. I'm in here." She cried out to him.

Did she know? He asked himself as he strode towards her bedroom.

She was perched on the side of the bed. There weren't any lights on but the moon shone brightly through the large window. She looked terrible. Her eyes were puffy and the tears that slid down her cheeks shone in the moonlight. He rushed over to her; he could still play this game.

"What's wrong?" He took her hand in his. She didn't answer him.

"Sydney? Tell me what's wrong." He sat down beside her on the bed pulling her closer to him.

She didn't answer him. She just stared. "Was Sloane here?" She shook her head slowly.

"Sydney, talk to me." She sobbed quietly in his arms. What the hell is going on?

"I-I…" she stammered in between sobs. "I'm…pregnant." She choked out the last word and erupted into hysterics.

He stood up quickly smiling. She stared at him. "Don't you understand?"

He laughed quietly. "I do understand, Sydney. It's my baby."

She shook her head violently. "NO, IT'S NOT!" She screamed.

"I don't think you understand, Sydney. That baby is mine."

She leaned back and closed her eyes. She had been an idiot to not realize it sooner. Everything slowly fell into place; how they escaped from the warehouse, why he had stayed away from her, why Kendall had called her 10 times in the last 15 minutes.

"Why?" she choked. She jumped up from the bed and began banging on his chest.

"Sydney, I simply needed more money. It was simply for business, love." He grabbed her by the shoulders shaking her. He kneed her hard in the stomach. She fell to the floor beside his feet. "Now that I have what I need, I need to finish my end of the deal. I'm an honest man." He laughed.

"Come on, Sydney. You could always put a better fight." He kicked her.

She stood up slowly regaining her balance. She shook her head, "I'm not going to let you win."

"You've got to be kidding me."

She felt another blow to her stomach first. She doubled over in pain.

"I thought you weren't going to let me win." He whispered in her ear jerking her head back to meet his gaze.

The rest was a blur. She could feel the pain, the searing pain overtaking her whole body. She fell into a heap in the corner of the room. She saw him walk out wiping her blood of his hands. She could hardly see out of her swelling eye and her head was spinning. She felt herself letting go. Maybe this was the end? That's when she heard Weiss.

-

Jack Bristow didn't waste any time as he sped down the road towards Sydney's apartment.

"Agent Bristow, thank you for coming so quickly." Officer Agnew spoke with a light French accent. The young man showed Jack through the door.

"Thank you for calling me."

Jack walked briskly down the white corridor of the hospital.

"I can imagine you're wondering how Agent Vaughn got to this hospital." Jack nodded.

"I can explain, I'm the one who found him. Lennoxville is a pretty small place as you can see. I was on duty and it was a Saturday night, I remember."

"There is an abandoned warehouse set off the road not too far from the hospital. I was driving by just to make sure there were no kids around there when I heard gun shots. I drove up as quickly as I could but by the time I got there it looked like it had been abandoned again."

"I really had no idea what was going on. I called back up. We were searching the building. I didn't think we would come up with anything and that's when I found Agent Vaughn. He was passed out, white as a ghost. I thought for sure he was dead when I saw the pool of blood he was lying in. The paramedics came up right away."

"We have some of the best doctors here in Lennoxville. They saved his life."

"You saved his life, if you hadn't of found him when you did I can't imagine what would have happened."

The young officer smiled broadly. "Well thank you, sir. This is his room here. He's doing much better."

Jack Bristow stepped out of the hallway into the hospital room. Michael Vaughn stared at him from the bed. "Where's Sydney?"

-

"Sydney? Vaughn?" His voice echoed off the empty walls. "Are you guys still here?"

Eric Weiss headed towards the kitchen and deposited two huge bags of Chinese food on the dining table.

"Guys? I brought Chinese if you guys are hungry."

Weiss…

He heard a small voice and headed towards the master bedroom at the end of the dark hall.

"Sydney?"

Weiss…

He knocked on the door. "Are you guys okay in there?"

Weiss, help me.

"Sydney, is that you?" He tried the door and it was locked. "Sydney, it's locked. Is Vaughn in there with you? Are you guys okay?"

He got no reply. "You guys better not be screwing with me." He cringed as he remembered the time he walked in on Sydney and Vaughn in a rather compromising situation. "You guys better have clothes on when I walk in."

Weiss quickly picked the lock and pushed the door open. He shielded his eyes expecting some kind of practical joke. He looked up when he didn't hear anything. "Alright, what's the problem?"

A cold breeze blew through the room, he shivered. He couldn't see anything. He walked towards the bed and he slipped falling to the floor with a thud. "What the hell?" He looked to his right and saw a pool of blood.

He jumped to his feet. "VAUGHN? SYDNEY?"

Weiss.

He heard the small voice again. "Sydney? Where are you?" He spun around in the room searching. He saw her huddled in the corner. She was shaking, and he hardly recognized her.

He didn't recognize her face. Her eye was swollen shut, her lip was sliced open and there was a large gash on her left cheek.

He rushed to her side. She was wrapped in a blood soaked sheet, trembling, staring blankly in front of her.

"Sydney, what happened? Where's Vaughn?"

She looked at him quizzically. "Vaughn?" She pushed him away, "Get away from me."

"No, Sydney, it's me, it's Weiss."

She smiled at his calming voice. "Weiss, you heard me."

"Of course, I did. Sydney, I need to get you some help. Can you move?"

"No, everything hurts."

"Well, I'm going to carry you over to the bed and help you change."

He lifted her effortlessly and put her on the bed. He unwrapped her from the sheet and gasped. She was dressed in a small tank top and underwear. Her whole body was covered in cuts and bruises. Large welts and gashes seeped blood. He ran to the bathroom grabbing antiseptic, bandages, and towels anything he could get his hands on. She was slipping away from him, gasping for air. "I'm going to take you to the hospital, Syd. Just stay with me a little longer."

She started thrashing around in the bed. "Stay away from me! Please don't hurt me anymore!"

He stared at her, who had been hurting her so much? He frowned at the thought. He enveloped her in a blanket and pulled her into his arms.

He started through the dark hallway, clutching Sydney close to his body.

He heard a voice as he was opening the door and spun around on his heel.

"Drop her."

"Who is that? Stay the hell away from us."

Sydney stirred in his arms and put her arms around Weiss' neck. "He's back…"

"Come on out, let me see who you are, you asshole," Weiss spat.

Weiss' stared where the voice had come from and a familiar face emerged from the shadows.

"Drop her, or I'll shoot you both. Although dyingmight be better for her." He laughed.

"What the hell are you talking about man? She was attacked. We need to take her to the hospital."

"I'm serious, drop her right now."

"And I'm serious, if I drop her, another blow like that, it might kill her."

"Then you leave me no choice, Agent Weiss."

He lifted his gun; a lone shot rang through the quiet apartment.

Weiss braced himself for the blow. He could feel Sydney struggling for a breath in his arms. He felt her small form go limp as the man in front of him dropped his gun.

Blood spilled from Vaughn's chest as he fell to his knees in front of them. Another bullet sped through the back of his head. He fell face first to the floor with a booming thud.

Jack Bristow stood behind him a smoking gun in his hand.

I cannot make a single sound as you scream

it can't be that cold, the ground is still warm to touch

this place is so quiet, sensing that storm