Blaming not yourself, said the fault lies somewhere else
Repeated when the feelings high

Vaughn allowed himself a small chuckle before stopping short. The look on Sydney's face. It scared him. "Sydney, what is it?"

"My interview yesterday."

"What about it?"

"It was conducted by a member of SD-6 that I had never met. A woman, who apparently has a lot of authority in the office." Sydney paused.

"And?" Vaughn prompted.

"And her name is Alice Williams."

Vaughn's face paled at the sound of his girlfriend's name. How did Sydney know her name? He'd only mentioned the name Alice just before. And how would Sydney know what she looked like? How could she even connect this woman to him? Sydney had never even seen Alice.

"I don't understand," he muttered, more to himself than Sydney. He looked up at her, his expression hard. "How can you say something like that? You-you-you don't even know Alice! You don't even know what she looks like!"

Sydney wasn't the slightest bit offeneded by Vaughn's anger. If she were him, she'd be reacting the same way.

"I recognized her from the photograph."

Vaughn's heart sank. He'd forgotten all about that. It had only been days ago that the photograph of himself and Alice had been the topic of discussion between him and Sydney.

"What wife? I have no wife."

"No? There was a picture in your office. You and that woman. I thought you were married."

"No. She and I are not remotely m- You thought I was married this whole time?"

"I guess so. What's the big deal?"

Silence descended upon Sydney and Vaughn. She knew the difficulty he must be experiening in trying to process this news.

Vaughn wanted more than anythingnot tobelieve Sydney. To fob off what she just told him as a riduculous fabrication. But he couldn't. Sydney would never lie to him, especially about something of this magnitude. It had to be true. Alice, his partner, his lover, his confidant, was an enemy of the United States.

But what if she wasn't aware of whom she was working for? Up until recently Sydney, quite possibly the most intelligent and savvy person Vaughn had ever met, had thought that she was being employed by the Central Intelligence Agency.

When Vaughn finally looked up and met Sydney's eyes, hope was written all over his face. Sydney knew exactly what he was thinking and shook her head slowly.

"She knows Vaughn. Everything."

Vaughn's shoulders visibly sagged. He had to get out of there. He needed air. He needed to think. He needed to be alone.

"Sydney, you should go. I have to..." he trailed off.

Sydney nodded with understanding and left without a word. She had already said enoughthat day.

Vaughn had met Alice two years ago. The attraction hadn't been instantaneous. There was no initial 'spark'. In fact, it was only at the insistance of their friends that they had agreed to go out.

They had eventually grown to love each other and it was the most fulfilling relationship that Vaughn had ever been in. He and Alice just worked so well together. To put it simply, they clicked.

Though lately things had been feeling strained. They were arguing more frequently, and over the smallest of issues. Vaughn thought that this was his fault things were deteriorating between himself and Alice. He'd been so distracted by work lately.

Well, work and a certain asset named Sydney Bristow.

But now, everything had changed. The blame couldn't be placed entirely upon him. He wasn't the only person in this relationship leading a duplicitous life. It amazed him that he and Alice had lasted this long in a union based around lies.

After her meeting with Vaughn, Sydney headed towards SD-6. She needed to make an appearance, to keep going as if nothing had happened.

The first thing she saw was Alice exiting Sloane's office. Unexpectedly Sydney felt the urge to laugh. What would Sloane and Alice do if they ever discovered that she had been living with a CIA officer all this time and had no idea about it?

'Probably torutre Vaughn for information and then kill him,' a voice in Sydney's head said. The urge to laugh disappeared.

Sydney suddenly realized just how dangerous this situation was. Her handler was involved with an Alliance operative. An operative who was trying to ascertain if anybody had been disloyal to the organization.

If they were going to get out of this alive, there was only one course of action. This thought running through her head, Sydney slumped at her desk.

Just how exactly do you turn in the person you love?

Vaughn stalled as long as he could before going home that night. He need to compose himself and make sure that he could face Alice as if it were just any other normal day.

Unfortunately he knew that days would not be normal for him for a long time.

The small of lasagne assaulted his senses as he wlked through the front door. Alice's speciality. Placing his briefcase by the door, Vaughn took a deep breath.

"Here we go," he muttered and then walked slowly towards the kitchen.

"Michael, is that you?" Her voice rang down the hallway. The voice that could be soft, sweet, harsh and sharp. The voice that reported to Arvin Sloane.

"Yeah, it's me." He entered the kitchen and the first thing he saw was Alice's smiling face.

"Hey you." Her brow furrowed with concern. "Are you ok? You looked wiped."

"Long day." Vaughn replied truthfully. "But I'll be fine. What about you? How was your day?"

"Oh, you don't want to hear about work." Alice said vaguely, with a slight wave of her hand.

"Sure I do." Vaughn pressed. He had never noticed Alice's reluctance to discuss her job. Until now. And now he was interested in what story she would create. "What did you get up to?"

Alice smiled and then approached him. She leaned up and softly pressed her lips into his. After a few seconds she broke away. "Did you want a salad with dinner?"

Vaughn's stomach churned as he shook his head. He never realized the power of a kiss before. A simple expression of love being used as a distraction, a silencer. How often had Alice done something like this?

"Michael," Alice's voice broke through his thoughts. "I was thinking that maybe we should get away for a few days."

"Why?"

"We need a break. Things have been so tense lately. If we could just disappear and spend some quality time together, I think it would do us the world of good."

Vaughn nodded. "When?" Would he be able to go away with Alice? At home, if his beahviour around her was off he could always blame it on work. But away, with just the two of them, Vaughn would have no reason.

And would Alice still be there to go away with?

"Next weekend, or maybe the one after."

"I'll see." Vaughn answered in a non-committing tone.

Alice looked up at him. "Good. I just want things to between us to be good again. I love you so much, Michael." Her clear blue eyes stared innocently into his own.

Those blue eyes that were connected to so many happy memories...and some not so happy ones. Eyes that Vaughn thought he knew so well.

Alice had said that she loved him and Vaughn had to face facts. He loved her too. The news he recieved that day had changed everything, but not the way he felt. He wanted to only feel hate towards Alice, but he just couldn't. The emotional connection he shared with her just couldn's simply be switched off.

And that was only going to make what he had to do even harder.