Chapter 12

The plane taxied onto the runway, and Vaughn braced himself as it accelerated and lifted off the ground. Once they had reached cruising altitude, Vaughn turned on his laptop and put in the disk. Seeing his father's name, he clicked on the file. Vaughn couldn't believe his eyes when he saw what the file showed. "No f way," he blurted out.

Irina hated having revealed the fact that either Sydney or Vaughn was going to die, but she knew she wouldn't get anywhere by holding back the majority of the information. However, Irina didn't want to tell Sydney the rest of the prophecy because she feared what it would do to Sydney.

"In that day, The Chosen One and he who she has pledged her heart to, will bring forth life. Their son will be endowed with unforeseen gifts. Though their lives will be frought with peril, the union shall persevere until the untimely demise of one member of the family. At this time, the true power of the child will be revealed.

When the child reveals his ultimate gift, I shall return to the earth, and life in that day will change."

Sark remembered when Irina had first taken him under her wing. She had been like a mother to him. In his efforts to please her, he remembered her ordering him to kill Julian Sark, his best friend. She handed him the gun. He had taken it. They had agreed to meet at the park later that day. Everything seemed like it would go over so well, but then… Sark's thoughts trailed off as Bald-Headed-Man came in. With guards in tow, Sark was taken off for questioning again.

Weiss looked down at his list. Eggs, Lettuce, and Bread, he thought. Walking forward, lost in thought, Weiss didn't see that his cart was headed straight for another cart. The impact startled him.

"I'm so sorry," he said looking up.

"It's perfectly fine," the amazingly-beautiful woman said to him with a smile.

"I wasn't looking where I was going."

"I said it's fine."

"You know, I've haven't done this much before, but I was wondering if you were busy tonight. I noticed you don't have anything on your finger. I did however notice that there's a light band there, which makes me think you recently ended it with someone."

"You got all of that from us crashing our carts together?"

"I'm observant."

"You know, I can't believe I'm doing this, but yes, I'll go out with you."

"Are you free tonight?"

"Actually I am."

"Good."

The lady eventually gave her name and number to Weiss. As they walked away, Weiss looked at the slip of paper. The lady's name was Sally Benson.

Vaughn saw the picture of his dad, older and gray-haired, but his dad all the same. Shaking his head, he knew what Irina had said was true. His dad had been KGB. His dad had been ordered to infiltrate the CIA. Worst of all, Vaughn knew, his dad had been ordered to fabricate a life, just like Irina had. Vaughn realized that his birth was most likely an unpleasant fact for his father. Realizing all of this, Vaughn gained a renewed appreciation for how strong Sydney had been when she had been forced to confront her mother. He admired Sydney's restraint more than ever now because Vaughn realized should the situation arise that he was ever face-to-face with his father, Vaughn didn't know if he could keep himself from shooting the jerk.

Vaughn continued reading down the page. He saw an address. Though they had been ordered to report right back to Los Angeles, Vaughn talked to the pilot, and the plane suddenly changed course.

Allison looked over at Anna. How's my family doing. Looking away, Anna shook her head. "What? What is it?"

"Your dad. He has cancer."

Arvin Clone looked at Allison's report. Calling Lauren, Arvin Clone called in a favor.

Lauren looked both ways, and then hacked into the CIA database. Accessing the file on Dr. Markovich, she downloaded all the schematics for Project: Helix and burned them on a disk. She had just one more thing to do: get a sample of the DNA that would be used to create the double. Accessing the NSC file, she searched for the name she was given. Writing it down, she exited the file and erased the history of her actions.

Putting the disk and the address in an envelope, Lauren called her mother and set up a lunch appointment.

Alice opened the door for Jim later that night. "Oh my gosh," she said when she saw that her living room had been ransacked. Dialing 9-1-1, she requested the police.

Looking through her stuff, the only thing she could find that was missing was her toothbrush and hairbrush.

Olivia Reed sealed up the bag with the tooth and hair brush in it, and enclosed the disk Lauren had given her at lunch. Giving them to the taxi driver that picked her up to go to the supper with her husband, the envelope began the long trip to Arvin Clone.

Weiss smiled at Sally as they ate their supper. "So what do you like to do in your spare time," he asked.

"I make ships in bottles."

"I have always wondered how people do that.

"Tell you what," Sally began, "I'll show you when we get back to my place."

Weiss realized that Sally had just invited him to go back home with her. Smiling, he responded, "Okay."

Vaughn kicked in the door at the address given in the file. Gun drawn, Vaughn checked the whole house only to find that no one was in it.

On his way out, he noticed a picture in a picture frame on the table. It was an old picture from when he was a kid. On it was written, "I luv you, Daddy. Mike."

In the midst of the nostalgia, Vaughn had to smile.

"Did you find anything?" Dixon said coming in.

"No, nothing," Vaughn said, taking the picture with him as they left and returned to Los Angeles.

…TBC…