Vaughn took Alice's hand and began to make his way out of the sunroom. He felt his heart was up in his throat and he wasn't entirely sure if he was breathing. His palms were as sweaty as an adolescent boy on his date. They made their way into the living room, where Weiss was still sitting on the couch, head in his hands. Vaughn was careful not to make eye contact with Weiss. He could barely live with himself as is: he didn't know if he could stand Weiss's conscious glare. His face could express anything that Vaughn was thinking…without the social consequences of course. And right now, Weiss had this look of shock and irritation on his face, masked only a little by his half-hearted attempt to be polite.

"Is she really that sick?" Alice pulled herself closer to him, feeling a territorial need to have his arms around her. As soon as she spoke, she knew it was a stupid question. Of course she had to be that sick…she was desperate enough to accept help from an ex-boyfriend.

Vaughn obliged and put his arm around her neck and planted a chaste kiss against her temple, "Yeah baby…she's really sick." His heart of hearts wished she would just remain silent until they reached the bedroom. He gritted his teeth down and felt frustrating bubbling in his chest. He had nothing to be really frustrated about after all. Alice was asking a valid question and had a valid request. She wanted to see who was sleeping in her bed and wanted to know how sick she was. Any sane person would have asked them. Maybe Vaughn had just hoped she wouldn't see the obvious.

"Will's in there, man. Just a head's up." Weiss piped up suddenly, before reaching over to grab a magazine. He was in an odd situation. He had always gotten along with Alice and considered her an acquaintance. They could sit and have a nice conversation over a drink and Weiss honestly didn't want to see Alice hurt or have the end of their cozy relationship.

Vaughn nodded, "Alice wants to meet Sydney." He replied and felt so insanely stupid doing so. It just seemed so…asinine. Things weren't making sense anymore and they probably never would. It would have made life so much easier if she hadn't of come home…if Alice hadn't come home. She was making a complicated situation even more difficult than it needed to be. No, no he couldn't be thinking this. This was his girlfriend. This was the girl that he loved. This was the girl whom he promised he would marry one day.

"Why don't you make sure that Sydney is up and feeling up to visitors? She wasn't doing so well a few minutes ago. Would probably be a good idea." Weiss suggested before turning back to his magazine of choice, trying to be as nonchalant as humanly possible. It really wasn't too much of an option. He knew Vaughn wouldn't be thinking properly…not that Weiss could entirely blame him. If he were in this situation right now, he would be on his way to LAX to get on the next flight to Malaysia. Run far. Run fast. Run now.

Vaughn held his breath for a moment as he looked towards his bedroom door. He was sure his heart had stopped. This was going to be one of those defining moments in his life. The woman who he treasured…the woman he loved…the woman he shared his bed with…was about to meet the woman he would give his life for. "Good idea, Weiss." He turned back to Alice, "Sweetie, let me just make sure she's okay before you go in there." He stroked her hair lovingly before pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. He let his fingertips remain on her body a second more before pulling away, feeling a new pain rip through his chest.

Alice silently agreed, sharing a sad smile with Vaughn before turning towards the couch. She sat down a little ways from Weiss, feeling thoroughly sick to her stomach. She didn't know what to feel or what to think. Not that it mattered at this point anyway. Everything that was going on was totally and completely out of her control.

Vaughn made his way back over to the door, twisting the knob slowly and easing into the semi-darkness of the room. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the hazy light, shutting the door firmly behind him. He could distinctly make out two figures. One was standing near the edge of the bed, stroking the other's hair in bed. He snapped to attention upon hearing the door squeak.

"Hey." Will replied, getting to his feet. He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. The few tears that had fallen had already dried and the blotchiness that once covered his face was once again gone. He just looked undoubtedly upset.

"How's she doing? Any better?"

Will turned his back to him, hands on his hips. "She's been restless." Beat "There's nothing we can do for her anymore, is there? We just have to wait this out."

Vaughn crossed over to the other side of the bed and disconnected her from the IV. "We just have to wait this out. Let's try to get her off this and maybe a little bit more coherent. The meds should be working by now."

"Hopefully." Will interjected as he watched Vaughn carefully unscrew the IV cap and remove the needle from Sydney's arm.

"She'll feel better with this out of her." He placed the things down on the nightstand….Alice's nightstand and sighed heavily. "Things are going to start to get better. I can give you my word on that one." Vaughn straightened the bedspread out of nerves. There was a slight strand of obsessive compulsive running through his veins.

Suddenly, a dark thought coated over Will. He felt cynical and unappreciative, "Why are you doing this?" Everything set in. All of the pressure and the anxiety of her not doing well sank in. Right now he wanted to punch someone and Vaughn seemed to be his target. He was going to throw him up against the wall and punch him, hard.

Vaughn looked up from what he was doing, gently caressing Sydney's milky white skin in between his fingertips. "Because she's my responsibility." He didn't notice the irritation in Will's voice or the fiery nature that seemed to have consumed him.

"No. Why are you doing this to her? Saying that you love her? Bringing her here? Having your pretty little girlfriend prance around here? Why do you say that you love her when you're obviously torturing her? Is this part of your sick game? You like playing with people, don't you? You enjoy manipulating their feelings, stringing them along-"His voice started to get louder and louder as he became more and more frustrated. The frustration boiled over into his blood, causing heat to rise up into his mouth and face.

Vaughn stared at him with a bewildered look, "Will, stop it."

His frustration knew no limitations, "It's true. You're a player; you string girls along like they're your own toys."

"Will, I know you're upset about Sydney but being frustrated with me isn't going to help that." Vaughn's hands went up, palms facing Will in absolute defense. He knew what he was going through and could pretty much guarantee he was feeling the same things. He felt so guilty for allowing Sydney to go on this mission and felt guiltier because she was here and in his bed because of him.

"It's your fault she's in this mess." Will finally lost it and was yelling at full volume.

Vaughn resisted the urge of jumping over the bed and strangling him at that point, "Will, you need to listen to me-"

"I don't need to do anything. You've botched this up from minute one!"

"Will!"

"I want her out of here back home-where she belongs. I want her reassigned."

"You don't get to make those decisions for her! It's her life."

"This job isn't worth her life."

"And that's not your decision to make." Vaughn was breathing just as heavily now and could hear Jack's voice reciting those words. It was true. It wasn't anyone's decisions to make. Sydney was willing to give everything for her job. She already lost everything once. It would make no difference if she lost it again. She had lost her fiancé, a man that she loved, and her entire life to a job that was suppose to give her meaning in her life.

Sydney had been listening to every word spoken between the two of them. It was really hard not to, considering how loud the two men had been yelling. Even through the haze, she could hear the two men who she loved most in life screaming at the top of their lungs, desperately trying to prove the other one wrong. Both were right to a certain extent and both were wrong to a certain extent. Granted, she couldn't decide which one was right or wrong but it didn't matter. She really didn't care at this moment. "Will the two of you please shut the hell up?" She managed to hiss out, feeling venom seep out into her words. She was hurting, more so now than ever. Her pride had been bruised beyond belief and she couldn't believe the situation she was in.

Both men stopped dead in their tracks and were at her side in an instant. Will had her hand clasped tightly to his chest and Vaughn stroked her hair lovingly, "Syd" "Sydney…" They both gasped and stroked her lovingly.

"How are you doing?" Will asked, as his eyes wide with fear at her answer.

Sydney started to cough a little before answering, "The two of you…two of you are driving me crazy." Her response was still weak and soft but the meaning of her words were still there. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here. I'm here and I'm fine."

"You're not fine, Syd." Vaughn countered, feeling his fingertips lace in her bed worn hair.

"I'm fine, Vaughn." She rolled her eyes around to face him. Another coughing fit disrupted her speech and seemed to shake every inch of her body. She was still quite sick and her eyes still revealed how much pain she was in. "I'll get over it."

"Syd…" Vaughn replied again, feeling his heart shatter at the conviction of her words. She wanted to be so strong but was so sick.

Sydney fought to sit up a little more, wanting to feel some steady ground beneath her. She failed, of course and remained flat on her back, forced to concentrate of the two men on either side of her. There was nothing she could do anymore except give into her weak body. "Listen to me…what I've been through…I'll get over it…this happens…it's being a woman in this business…"

"What are you talking about?" Will interjected but Vaughn instantly understood what she meant. His blood ran cold and he felt like he was going to vomit. He started to shake in the core of his stomach. He knew what she meant by that statement. "What is she talking about, Vaughn?"

Sydney riled in her bed, tossing her head back and forth, searching for comfort. She licked her lips softly, "I need to talk to Vaughn for a second, sweetie?"

Will didn't understand and didn't want to leave. But he respected Sydney enough to obey her wishes. He got to his feet slowly and nodded, "Of course. I'll be right outside." He backed away slowly, feeling the weight of the world down upon his shoulders. He didn't know what to do-how to breathe-what to think. He just felt so confused and so hurt by all of it.

Vaughn watched Will leave and turned back to Sydney, "You need to explain that last statement, Sydney." He wanted a strong drink and a long cigarette. He wanted to punch a hole through the wall. He wanted to kill someone. He wanted to protect Sydney. He wanted to make this all go away.

She looked at him with dulling eyes, "What do you want me to say, Vaughn?" The clarity was uncanny now. The drugs were leaving her system as fast as they entered it.

"What do you mean by it's being a woman in the business? I want you to explain it . You left something out of statements to me. Sydney, what happened in Ireland?" Vaughn pressed her hard, knowing that she wasn't doing well but needed to do it anyway. He needed to know. He didn't care Alice was waiting outside to meet with her. He didn't care that the rest of the world was turning beyond his bedroom door. He didn't care. "What did that man to do to you? What happened in Ireland?"

"He raped me."