A/N: Sorry peoples, this going to be a short chapter of Angst, but the next chapter I promise will pick up and things are about to get a whole lot more interesting. I absolutely love all the reviews! I love them so much that I'm going to post their names so everyone can see what good little reviewers they are! Thanks again!
Special Thanks to: Stephi (x2), Kiki (x2), Jinet (x2), jennycraig10, serendipity112233 (x2), Immortally****Alias, sunnE1, Maggie, Agent Katy, Spinach, Star16, anonymous, Mary Kate 113, midnightqueen6, donnatellaMarks, Leo's li'l sista, and speedy.
Chapter 3
"Ms. Reed, may I have a word with you?" Lauren turned and faced the familiar expressionless eyes of Jack Bristow.
"Of course," Lauren relented, but inwardly groaned because she knew what this discussion was going to be about. He opened the door of the nearest conference room for her and she walked in. He followed her inside and closed the door behind him.
"I don't know what problems you have with my daughter," he began, "and in all actuality I don't care. The fact of the matter is, Sydney is an assent to this agency and there is no reason for her to be transferred."
"You don't think blackmailing the NSC for your release is a good of enough reason? Or stabbing a fellow agent?" Lauren demanded. "I believe Sydney got off easy under the circumstances."
"Sydney's dealings with the NSC are none of your concern," Jack argued. "If the NSC didn't see it fit to prosecute her, it's not your duty to judge. About the stabbing of your husband, if you had any training as a field agent you'd understand if she or Agent Vaughn were to have any chance at all, it was for Sydney to execute the intended murder."
"None the less," Lauren said, feeling a bit flustered in front of this narrow-minded man. "Your daughter has a history of defiance and rule-breaking that went unpunished--"
"Unpunished?" Jack growled. "My daughter lost two years of her life and you're talking about going unpunished? She has had to live every waking moment knowing that her life has changed forever and she doesn't even know why."
Lauren was quiet for a moment as she gave Jack Bristow a chance to calm down. "I am sorry for what Sydney has suffered through, I really am, but everything must not go her way. As you have stated, her life has changed, and so has time. Good day, Agent Bristow," she said heading for the door.
"Mrs. Reed," Jack said as Lauren's hand rested on the door. "Might I suggest that you take your own advice and consider the idea of getting your own way? You took Sydney away from her friends and family, to get your own way. Ask yourself if you were trying to better the agency or your own odds. You made a big decision without so much as your husband's approval, because as you're well aware, your decision is going to affect his life, as well. I'd be careful if I were you," Jack warned.
"Are you threatening me?" Lauren asked turning around.
"Think of it as you like, Mrs. Reed," Jack said curtly. "Just don't expect any congratulations for your decision." Lauren met Jack's eyes stiffly for a moment before turning around and walking out.
* * *
Sydney lay on her bed looking out her sliding door that lead to the worn path she and Vaughn had walked mere hours before. She had been surprised to find that he wasn't aware of his wife's decision, but he wouldn't put it past her. Vaughn apparently saw something in her that Sydney didn't and that was fine with her. Vaughn had decided to move on and she was less fine with it than she would admit.
How could she say it was fine when she found out that her true love had married in an amount of time that felt like only a day? How could she say it was fine that Vaughn's wife worked with the CIA? How could she say it was fine when Vaughn said he didn't regret moving on, that he'd buried her, and his love for her, two years ago? The glistening tears on her checks revealed just how fine she was.
She was hoping that when she sensed him walking towards her on the beach, that he was coming to tell her that everything would be okay. That she was the one he loved and Lauren Reed was non-existent. If not to deliver her of her fantasy, she was hoping at least for him to say that he was on her side. That he would support her and help convince Lauren to nullify the transfer, but he gave her no such assurance. He turned her back on her just as he had two years ago. Sydney Bristow once again was alone.
"Sydney?" She heard a voice at the door. It was Weiss, she recognized. "Sydney, I know you're there. Open up. Come on, I have Chinese." Sydney willed herself out of bed knowing that Weiss wouldn't go away until she open the door. She was in no mood to eat or talk, but she knew Weiss wouldn't be satisfied until she'd done both.
She wiped her eyes on the way to the door and pulled it open. Weiss was dressed in casual cloths holding up two fragrant bags of Chinese Food.
"You may want to consider a butler, service around here is slow," Weiss cracked. Sydney gave him a small, but hardly satisfactory smile. "Kung Po?"
Sydney shook her head as Weiss went riffling through her cabinets for some plates; Sydney was silent during the process.
"We all miss you down at the office," Weiss said while placing heaping pools of Kung Po grease onto his plate.
"Everyone?" Sydney asked bitterly.
"Alright maybe not everyone," Weiss relented. "But Vaughn does."
Sydney felt her heart lighten at those words, but she didn't show it. "He has Lauren now," she said dully.
"As his wife," Weiss said and Sydney glared, "but you're still his friend."
"I am his friend," Sydney whispered, "but in my heart, he's still more than that."
Weiss put down his fork and watched her. "Syd, there is nothing I can say to make your pain go away. But you have to realize he still loves you, he'll always love you, but the time has come for you to move on, just as he has. It's going to take slow agonizing time, but it will go away, and as much as I hate to admit it, this transfer is a good way to start."
Sydney nodded mechanically. Great, I have a way to get over, Vaughn, she thought, but what happens when I don't want to?
* * *
Lauren walked into the foyer and placed her keys into the bowl that sat on a small square table by the door. She removed her coat and placed it on a hanger. Her high-heels clinked against the wooden floor as she made her way through her house. All the lights were off except one that seemed to be coming from the den.
"Michael? Are you here?" She called.
"In the den," he called back.
She smiled at him as she entered the room He was sitting in his recliner watching the news with the sound turned off. He however, did not look happy to see her. She watched as his jaw visibly tensed at her presence.
"How was your day?" She asked trying to encourage him to talk to her.
"I don't know, Lauren, why don't you tell me?" Vaughn asked suddenly facing her, anger burning in his eyes.
"What?' she asked in a small voice.
"How is it that my wife can use her power to remove people she doesn't like?" Vaughn demanded.
Lauren filled with dread. Jack Bristow had been right. Michael Vaughn was not reacting well. "I was not abusing my power, Michael," Lauren defended herself. "Sydney Bristow has been a loose cannon ever since she stepped into that office, whether it be a month ago, or five years ago."
"So you felt that it was your duty to see to it that she was removed?" Vaughn asked. "Jesus, Lauren, I mean all I asked was for you to try and see where she was coming from. She's been through an unknown hell for two years only to meet up with harsh reality within the last month!"
Lauren took a deep breath to try and control her temper. "I did try and see it from her point of view, but she has a harsh job and a harsh life, Michael, you of all people should know that as well."
"That's beyond the point, Lauren. You made a drastic change to her life that wasn't necessary. I want you to revoke the transfer," Vaughn concluded.
"No," Lauren said firmly. "I believe what I did was right. Agent Bristow's concerns for herself makes her a danger to others within the agency. Besides that, I have produced enough evidence for the NSC to approve this transfer. They stand behind me one-hundred percent, and I am not about to revoke a claim I firmly believe in." For one horrible minute there was complete silence between them.
"I'm going for a drive," Vaughn said getting up from the chair and heading for the door.
"Michael, wait," Lauren protested. "We should talk about this."
"Talk about it?" Vaughn snarled as he put on is coat. "I think we've made our opinions clear. You're jealous of Sydney, I understand that," he lowered his voice. "Lauren I love you," he stated firmly. "But I love Sydney too." Vaughn let the words linger in the air, unable to believe that he had just said those words out loud. He had not said that he loved Sydney once to her since he got back. But you love her as a friend, right? His mind asked.
"I'll be back in a few hours," Vaughn said as he left the house and headed towards his car.
Vaughn drove. He didn't know where he was going, or what he intended to see or do. He just let his mind wander. He soon found that it took him to a familiar meetinghouse that was not so familiar anymore.
The old abandoned warehouse where he'd stopped to debrief Sydney on her latest mission, or just to talk in her time of need now had a glowing red sign at the top of the building that now read: Adidas.
It was then that he realized how much Vaughn's past had changed as well. It seemed that during Sydney's disappearance, not only had Sydney herself disappeared, but so had the many places that had reminded him of her. The old antique shop where he had bought her the frame for Christmas had been turned into a coffee house. The frame itself had been lost when Sydney's house had been set ablaze. Somehow time had erased ever memory of Sydney's existence from his memory, and now upon her return, they all came flooding back, except the antique store was still a coffee house, the warehouse, still a shoe store. When Sydney leaves can I forget her again?