A/N: First of all, thanks so much to Alatriel97, Arodloverus, Lil Aussie Alias Chick, Claire, Scary-Girly, Samantha14, irionelissa, victoria-king, omg, Sydney, sapita, raye, and everyone else who's reviewed my story. If any of you write on here, you know how much it means to receive helpful reviews. So keep 'em coming! Secondly, Alatriel97, I have no concrete plans for putting Sark in the story yet, but I have a feeling he may make an appearance. The main man in this one (and in my heart) will always be Vaughn though. Thirdly, I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but honestly, I just became really lazy for a few weeks. But hopefully that's behind me now! Also, you should be happy, because this is the longest chapter yet! Finally, I'm a little worried that this chapter might be kind of confusing. If you find it confusing, please let me know, and I'll post a brief explanation in my next update. LEAVE ME REVIEWS! Reviews are the food of life. Thank you.
Chapter 5
"Vaughn! Hello! Vaughn! Michael Vaughn! Over here!" cried Francie.
A tall man with sandy brown hair gripping several shopping bags turned around at the sound of his name.
"Oh, hey Francie," he said with a genuine smile. "What are you doing here?"
"Duh, shopping. Sydney's birthday is next week, you know. It's crazy, I feel like I've known the girl forever, but I have absolutely no clue what to get her."
"So…you purchased everything in the mall?" Vaughn asked amusedly, eyeing the five or six heavily loaded shopping bags Francie had just dumped on the ground.
"No, this is all for me actually. I know!" she said in response to the surprised look on Vaughn's face. "I'm a terrible friend. I come shopping for Sydney and end up spending my entire paycheck on myself. Don't worry though, I'll find her something awesome. Anyway, what are you doing here?"
"I was just – "
"Uh, why do you have a Victoria Secret's bag?"
A look of tension spread across Vaughn's face for a moment.
"Oh my God!" Francie exclaimed. "That's not for Syd is it? Look, let me tell you a little something about Sydney. She digs you, but she's a classy gal, and buying her lingerie when you've only known her a few weeks isn't gonna go over well. Take my word," she said with a wink.
"Actually – " Vaughn started to say, but was cut off, as an attractive woman with short blonde hair had just approached them
"Oh, thank God, there you are Michael," the woman said, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him on the lips. "It's a complete zoo here today – I thought I'd never find you. Oooh, a Victoria's Secret bag! You naughty boy!"
Vaughn was too embarrassed and guilt-ridden to say anything.
"Who's your friend?" the woman asked.
Francie opened her mouth to introduce herself, but the words wouldn't come out. She was too shocked. Vaughn had a girlfriend! Of all the insensitive bastards…after flirting so shamelessly with Sydney! Sydney had had more male-related tragedy in her young life than many people endure in a lifetime…and now this! It had been two years since Danny's death, and Vaughn was the first person (out of numerous potentials) that Sydney had actually allowed herself to trust, to open up to, and now, she'd have to find out that he'd had a girlfriend the whole time and never said a word about it. It was inexcusable.
"This is Francie Calfo," said Vaughn to Alice with feigned cheerfulness. "Francie, this is Alice. My girlfriend."
Alice held out her hand to shake with Francie, but Francie shook her head, muttering some incoherent apology, grabbed her bags, and ran off in the other direction.
"Thank goodness you're home!" Sydney said happily as Francie walked into the apartment, heaving the five or six bags onto the table. "I was afraid I wouldn't see you before I left."
"You're going away again?" Francie asked with surprise.
"Yes, and I'm sooo sorry, I know we were supposed to go to that new restaurant tomorrow night, but this trip came up at the last minute – it's a bankruptcy case – I can't get out of it."
Francie didn't say anything. She was too busy thinking of how to break the news to Sydney to pay attention to her apology.
"I know, I suck. Seriously. I never thought I'd be traveling so much when I took the job at the bank, I swear…but what can I do? It pays the bills. Fran…are you ok?" Sydney asked, noticing the strange expression on her friend's face. "Are you mad at me? You have every right to be mad at me. I'd be mad at me if I were you – I mean two weeks ago I totally bailed on you for movie night, and now this…"
"No, Syd, it's not that," said Francie finally. "I understand you have to work. I'm not mad at all."
"You're the best. It sucks that they gave me such little notice though, right? I would have liked to at least say bye to Vaughn. Did I tell you we talked on the phone for like two hours last night?"
"Vaughn has a girlfriend," Francie blurted.
"What?" Sydney asked, her voice oddly flat.
"Vaughn has a girlfriend," she repeated. "I saw them both today at the mall. He introduced me to her. Syd, I'm so sorry…"
Sydney shook her head slightly, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "Fran, what are you talking about?"
Francie leaned over and hugged Sydney tightly. "Oh honey, I'm so, so sorry. Her name is Alice. She looked like a huge bitch, if it's any comfort."
Sydney gently detached herself from Francie's embrace.
"I just…I need to be alone for a minute, ok?" she said with a forced smile. Francie nodded understandingly as Sydney stood up and went into her room. Five minutes later she emerged, looking perfectly composed.
"Honey, are you ok?" Francie asked concernedly.
Sydney smiled. "I'm fine. I really am. It was stupid to assume that he was single. I mean what was I thinking? He's cute, really nice, and (seemingly) straight. How could he possibly be single?"
"You weren't stupid, Syd. He never mentioned he had a girlfriend."
"Well, I haven't known him very long. He must just not have remembered to mention her yet."
"Bullshit," said Francie. "It didn't come up because he has a thing for you and didn't want you to know about Alice."
"He doesn't have a thing for me," said Sydney adamantly. "Anyway, I'm not gonna be sad about it. It's not like anything happened between us – it was just a silly crush."
Francie raised her eyebrows, evidently not satisfied with Sydney's claim of indifference.
"Francie, I'm fine. I promise. Look, I've gotta go or I'll miss my plane. I'll see you when I get back."
She smiled convincingly, kissed Francie goodbye, and headed out the door.
"Dude, are you gonna tell me what's up, or are you just gonna continue burning a hole in the floor?" Weiss asked, as Vaughn paced furiously back and forth in their apartment.
"The hole burning plan is working just fine," Vaughn replied.
Weiss rolled his eyes and turned back to his video game. But after five minutes, when Vaughn was still pacing, he decided to take drastic action.
"Ok man, here's the deal. You tell me what's up right now, or I'm gonna get your Aunt Trish on the phone and tell her you're going through a crisis."
Vaughn stopped in his tracks and let out a groan.
"Yeah, you know what that means…she'll be here first thing tomorrow morning with some kind of voodoo therapy to help you through it. Is that what you want?"
"I ran into Francie Calfo when I was at the mall with Alice earlier today," said Vaughn quickly. "She knows about me and Alice."
Weiss stared blankly. "So?"
"So it's only a matter of time before she tells Sydney."
"Ah, there's the rub," said Weiss. "I feel you man. I really do."
"Oh shut up."
"No, I'm serious. I mean Sydney is definitely hotter than Alice. Which, by the way, is saying something. And she's also friendlier. But then there are the obvious drawbacks…"
"This isn't helping – "
"Sydney's hot, but she's probably evil," Weiss continued, ignoring Vaughn's protests. "Also, even on the off-chance that she's not evil, she's working for a terrorist organization, which, in a way, kind of makes her evil on it's own. Although, in her defense, she thinks she's working for the good guys. But, even if we ignore both of those two rather significant points, there's something else…"
"Yeah, I know, what do you think I've stayed awake thinking about until the wee hours of the morning every single night for the last two weeks?" Vaughn asked, his voice trembling slightly. "Do you think I lie awake worrying that Sydney is the girl in the prophecy? No! I couldn't give a rat's ass about that stupid prophecy. And I don't care that she's working for SD-6. What kills me is the knowledge that I'm lying to her. If she found out that our whole relationship is a lie, a setup – and she's bound to find out eventually – she'd never forgive me."
Weiss nodded understandingly. "Yeah, that pretty much blows."
On the flight to Spain, Sydney was making an effort to be especially friendly to Noah. She could tell he was still hurt from their last conversation, even though he was trying to hide it. After they sufficiently reviewed the mission, they played a few games of chess and Sydney even let him win once. She kept up a steady flow of chatter the whole time. In addition to making Noah happy, she wanted to keep her own thoughts away from Vaughn. The fact that he had a girlfriend had been a heavy blow. She was furious with herself for having allowed herself to open up to him so much. How could she have been so stupid? While she wasn't exactly angry with Vaughn – he had as much right to a girlfriend as anyone – she felt like he had somehow betrayed her trust. If he continued pursuing a friendship with her when she returned to LA, she told herself she would gently brush him off. She knew herself pretty well, and being "just friends" with a man like Michael Vaughn was not something she could do without a strenuous effort. And between her classes and her work at SD-6, she didn't have that effort to spare. Even if she did, men who flirted shamelessly with women who were not their girlfriends weren't worth it.
"Checkmate!" she said triumphantly as she moved her queen in front of Noah's knight.
"Shut up!" said Noah in disbelief. "You totally cheated."
"I did not!"
"You definitely did. I swear my king was two spaces over before. You must have moved him when I got up to get coffee."
"Hey, if you can't bear to lose, maybe you just shouldn't bother playing me anymore," said Sydney with a grin.
A week ago such a saucy statement combined with one of Sydney's famous smiles would have compelled Noah to put his arm around her – on many occasions it had all but compelled him to kiss her on the spot – but in light of their "talk" the other day, he decided to content himself with punching her lightly on the shoulder. Sydney's smile grew and she punched him back playfully. Here was the Noah she used to like. Why couldn't he always be this way? Why were boys so different when they were drunk?
Vaughn isn't. He must have had at least five beers at the hockey game the other night, and he didn't change at all, aside from becoming more funny. But he's a bastard with a girlfriend, she reminded herself with a sigh.
Fortunately she didn't have much time to devote to that sad train of thought, for just then the plane began its descent into the Madrid airport. As soon as they landed and made their way through customs, Sydney ducked into a restroom to change. Five minutes later she emerged wearing a spiky purple wig, an ultra-short black leather skirt, and a highly revealing hot pink nylon tank top. She had several earrings in each ear, one in her bellybutton, and one in her nose. Her lips were covered in a dark, purplish blue lip gloss and her eyelashes coated with purple mascara and lined thickly in black. But most provocative were the five inch heel black leather boots that came up to her thighs. Like nearly all the clubs SD-6 sent her to, this one was a little on the kinky side.
"Jesus Christ," Noah exclaimed as she flounced over to him. "Is that you, Syd?"
"Quién es 'Syd?' Mi llamo Esperanza Marquéz," she replied with a perfect Madridian accent.
"Mi gusta mucho Esperanza Marquéz," Noah said, gaping at her.
They hailed a taxi and were off to the club.
Seven hours earlier…
"What do you mean Kendall's not going to do anything about this!" Jack screamed at Vaughn. The two were meeting at the usual dingy fenced in area.
"I mean he's not going to do anything about it," Vaughn replied with a slight smirk. It always amused him a little when Jack displayed any emotion.
Jack nodded, his eyebrows hunching together. "Well then we've got to take matters into our own hands."
"Look, Jack, I'm sorry," said Vaughn. "But after you nearly put a bullet in my head last week – yes, I know it was you in the backseat of my car; I have a bug in my car that recorded the whole conversation and I did a voice analogy and yours was a match – I'm not extremely eager to risk my entire career for you."
"Would you risk it for my daughter?"
Vaughn raised his head abruptly and looked intently into Jack's eyes, trying to read his enigmatic expression.
"What does Sydney have to do with this?" he asked after a moment, making an unsuccessful attempt to hide the fear in his voice.
"Sydney is the agent SD-6 has sent to retrieve the information from Young Lee. After he tells her it is the CIA that is in possession of the Rambaldi artifact, it will only be a matter of time before she begins putting the pieces together. She'll soon discover that SD-6 has nothing to do with the CIA."
"But maybe that's a good thing," said Vaughn. "She needs to learn the truth eventually. I hate that she's working for those bastards and has no clue about it…I want to tell her the truth every time I see her."
"Then you're an idiot," Jack replied simply. "The truth would kill her at this point. Literally. Arvin Sloane is uncannily perceptive, and he already suspects her of disloyalty to SD-6 because of her friendship with you. One ill-timed hesitation on Sydney's part during a conversation, one blush, one frown, and he will know she has learned the truth. He will not hesitate to have her murdered."
Vaughn frowned. He was beginning to understand where Jack was going with all this.
"No, our best bet is for her to remain in ignorance," Jack continued. "She has enough stress in her life without having to deceive Arvin Sloane. For her own safety, she must not learn the truth. Not now."
"Then what is your plan?" Vaughn asked, though he already had a pretty good idea of what it would probably be.
"Young Lee must be eliminated," Jack said. "Before he talks to Sydney."
"So you're going to Madrid?"
"No. That's where you come in," said Jack, smiling slightly for the first time in the conversation.
"I have business here in L.A. with Sloane that I can't miss," Jack continued. "You'll need to go to Madrid and kill Young Lee yourself."
"And what makes you think I'd willingly venture out on a rogue operation – at your request, of all people?" Vaughn asked angrily. Though he knew in his heart he'd do it of course.
Jack let out a bitter laugh. "Agent Vaughn, there are two reasons why I know you'll be on that plane to Madrid in 20 minutes. I won't patronize you by explaining the first one. As for the second, I hardly think it would be beneficial to the CIA for Sydney Bristow to be killed. If she dies before they have a chance to test her, they will never know whether she was the woman in the prophecy. Surely that would not reflect extremely well on you, as her case handler, would it?"
Vaughn glared at Jack, avoiding the question. But as he boarded the plane 20 minutes later, all thoughts of resentment against Jack Bristow quickly fled from his mind. He had more important matters to attend to. Like how he was going to get into that club and kill Young Lee, without being recognized by Sydney. And how he was going to break it to Alice that he was falling for someone else. He picked up his phone and began to dial her number.
Back to the club…
Vaughn watched through the flashing disco lights as an attractive, rather scary looking woman with purple hair and dominatrix boots made her way through the crowd, her hips swaying sexily. There was something about that woman…she exuded gallons of confidence with every step she took, each roll of her eyes as she swept past the throngs of drunk, dancing Spaniards. Vaughn was so intrigued that he forgot for a moment what he was doing there. He felt a twinge of jealousy when the woman stopped in her path and allowed a tall, built man to put his arms around her and begin grinding with her. The twinge became a full-blown pang when he realized the woman was Sydney Bristow. He was able to read Sydney's lips as she whispered something into her partner's ear.
"Any sign of Lee?" she asked him.
Noah raised his eyes significantly and directed his gaze to the back right corner of the club, where a sinister looking Asian man was sitting with several blonde, buxom women. Vaughn knew he had to act quickly. It was a matter of seconds, not minutes, before Sydney approached him and got what she needed out of him.
Vaughn made his way to the middle of the dance floor, where he was surrounded by a horde of crazy dancers. He casually reached into his jacket and whipped out a shiny black gun, which he fired three times into the heart of Young Lee. As soon as he saw that the man was dead, he fled from the club, without waiting to see Sydney's reaction. He was fairly confident that no one had noticed him. It had been a clean job…Jack would be satisfied.
But mixed with the feelings of triumph over successfully completing his mission was a twinge of sorrow. He knew Sydney well enough to know that she did not take failure lightly. She would beat herself up for weeks over this one. And Sloane would give her a hard time too, probably. Still, it was better than the alternative…
A heavy-hearted Sydney, now sporting the usual shiny brown hair and sharp business attire – stepped off the plane in L.A. and made her way with Noah through the airport. She had failed. If only she'd gotten to Lee thirty seconds sooner, she would now know who had the Rambaldi artifact. She had let her country down.
"Syd," said Noah gently, sensing her frustration, "you've gotta let it go. There's nothing we could have done."
Sydney sighed. She was grateful to Noah for caring, but she didn't really feel like talking about the mission. She just wanted to go home and curl up in bed with Wuthering Heights, which she needed to finish pronto as she had to hand in a 10 page paper on it in two days. Though the story of Heathcliff and Cathy wasn't exactly uplifting, anything to take her mind off her failure in Madrid was more than welcome.
"Hey, you want to come back to my place?" Noah asked. "I'll cook you dinner…"
Sydney smiled sadly. "Thanks, Noah, but I've got a lot of homework to do. I think I'll just go home. See you tomorrow."
"Alright. Well, take care."
Noah walked off toward the parking garage. He looked back over his shoulder after taking a few steps, hoping to catch Sydney's eye one last time, but she wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were glued on something else. Noah sighed and continued on his way.
Sydney's eyes were glued on another man – one who was walking with long strides in her direction. One who looked strangely like Michael Vaughn. But what could he be doing here?
"Syd!" cried the man as he approached her, holding a bouquet of wildflowers. It was Vaughn.
"Vaughn, what are you doing here?" Sydney asked, bewildered.
"I came to meet you at the airport!" he said cheerfully, looking into her eyes. Sydney's heart flip-flopped, against her will.
"Francie told me you had to go away suddenly on a business trip for the bank. I know how grueling those can be, and it's always nice to see a friendly face at the airport when you get back. Oh, these are for you," he said, handing her the flowers.
"Vaughn, you shouldn't have done this," said Sydney, blushing.
"It's nothing, Syd. I picked them out of my sister's back yard."
"They're beautiful," she said quietly, looking up at him and smiling slightly.
Vaughn caught his breath. This woman who he'd known such a short time already had more power over him than anyone else in his life. When she looked at him with her chocolate brown eyes, everything else faded away – SD-6, the CIA, the prophecy.
"Hey, do you want to get a cup of coffee with me?" Vaughn asked after a few awkward moments.
Sydney hesitated. Yes. She did. But she must not let herself. He has a girlfriend.
"It would really mean a lot if you did," Vaughn said sincerely. "I just broke up with my girlfriend and I'd rather not be alone right now."
Sydney smiled radiantly. The voice in her head told her it was rude to smile so brightly at a man who just told her he'd broken up with his girlfriend – he was probably feeling a lot of pain right now – but she couldn't help it.
"I'd like that," she said.
A/N: Alatriel97 - just read your review, should it have been "gusta" instead of "gusto"? i'm such a moron...i haven't had a spanish class in 3 years so i guess i'm pretty rusty. was that the only problem with the spanish? well, i've changed it to gusta. i hope that's right. i'm too lazy to look it up though.