Thank you all for your feedback. Now a lot of you were raising questions about the 'other info', and all I'll say that is that they will answered in due time.

Chapter Nine:
Timely Advice

"Hi dad." Sydney opened the door wider. "Come in."

"Is Vaughn here?" Jack asked as he stepped inside Weiss's apartment.

Sydney shook her head as she led him to the couch. "It's Weiss's day off. I think the two of them headed down to the hockey rink." She forced a smile. "Vaughn has been desperate to get onto the ice. He was devastated when he found out that Australians didn't quite share his passion for the game."

"Sydney." Jack said as the two of them sat down. "Kendall called me."

"Oh." Sydney paused. "Do you want a coffee? I can get you a coffee. Or maybe something to eat? There's plenty in the fridge, though I don't recommend the casserole—"

"Sydney." Jack cut her off. "I don't want anything. I dropped by so that I could talk to you."

Sydney stared down at her hands. "What do you want me to say, dad?" she asked, quietly.

"Whatever you want."

"Whatever I want?" Sydney muttered. "Whatever I want?" she repeated, her voice louder. "How do I know that I'm saying what I want? How do I know that it's not written on some bit of paper somewhere that on this exact date, at this exact time I would be speaking these exact words?"

"No," Jack shook his head. "I don't think Rambaldi would be that specific."

Sydney eyed him. "Ok dad, now is not the time for you to display your comedic side. Seriously." She paused. "If you want to know how I am, the truth is I don't know."

Jack nodded. "What about Vaughn? What does he think about all of this?"

"We haven't exactly spoken about it," Sydney admitted.

"You haven't?" Jack queried, feeling slightly surprised.

"Well, yesterday morning we established that we had stuff to…figure out," Sydney said. "But since then, nothing else has been said."

Jack looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean by 'figure out'?"

"Dad," Sydney said straightforwardly. "Our entire relationship has just been turned upside down and I'm not exactly sure where we stand anymore."

"Sydney," Jack shifted in his seat. "You are not making any sense."

"Dad, I am making perfect sense. I've been rejecting the notion of Rambaldi ever since I heard his name uttered and now apparently Vaughn is related to the guy. And I thought that being with Vaughn was a decision that I made- not something that was predicted over 500 years ago." Sydney faltered. "I'm not sure that we can move past this. We've already been through so much."

"Exactly." Jack said, ingenuously.

"Pardon?"

"You have been through so much and yet here you are still standing side by side…well, not exactly at this point, but I'm sure you understand my point."

"I'm not sure that I do, dad."

"Look Sydney, I may not have always though very highly of Vaughn…"

Sydney couldn't help but snort softly, getting a small smile in response from Jack. Talk about the understatement of the year…decade…century.

"…but I have to admit that he's made you happy. And you have to hold onto that Sydney. More so now than ever."

"But dad, everything is different now."

"Yes, it may be, but so what?" Jack shot back. "When you married Vaughn, you promised to love him for better and for worse. Granted this is not one of the better times. Some marital problems cannot be fixed," he paused for a loaded second. "But this one can. Just talk to Vaughn."

Sydney sat there, completely bewildered. First the discovery of Ana, then the revelations from Kendall, and now she was sitting here, getting relationship advice from Jack Bristow.

Could anything be stranger than that?

"Ok, the way I see it is that you guys have got two options," Weiss said, after Vaughn had fired off a puck dangerously close to his head.

"And what might they be?" Vaughn asked, lining up his next shot.

"Well, the first is to completely write off this Rambaldi stuff as mumbo-jumbo. To say that it is all just totally fictional and ride off into the sunset- or Australian outback- with Syd as if noting has happened." Weiss said.

Vaughn gave him a disdainful look as he sent the puck flying in his direction.

"But given the existence of Ana, that option is a bit difficult."

Vaughn straightened up. "So? What is the other option?"

"You accept what you've been told and you do all you can to see the silver lining of the situation."

"What silver lining? Could there even be silver lining to what we were told?"

"Uh, yes there can." Weiss replied.

"What then?"

"Vaughn, your relationship with Sydney was written about over five hundred years ago. Think about that and just how special it makes what the two of you have. Look at it from that angle, Vaughn. The bond that you two share is so strong that it was evident over half a century ago." He paused, skating up to Vaughn. "How many couples can say that they were truly destined to be together?"

Vaughn's eyes narrowed as his scrutinized his friend. "Just where do you come up with this stuff?"

"Why?"

"Cause it's good." Vaughn said. "Like really good."

Weiss laughed. "Just one of my charms," he replied, patting Vaughn on the shoulder. "Come on, I think it's your turn to play goalie for a while."

After Jack left, Sydney ducked out to run some errands. There were some bits and pieces that she needed, and also getting out of the apartment gave her a chance to reflect. Jack was, of course, right. The bottom line was that she loved Vaughn. She felt sickened that she had even doubted that love for a second.

When she got back, Weiss was headed out the front door, decked out in a suit.

"Hi," he waved as he opened his car door. "Bye."

"Where are you off too?" Sydney asked.

"I just got called in. You know how it is."

"Unfortunately, yes." Sydney smiled. "Is Vaughn inside?"

Weiss nodded. "Yup. I'll see you guys later tonight, ok?"

"Yeah, see you."

Waving Weiss off, Sydney then head inside. "Vaughn?" she called.

"In the bedroom."

Entering the bedroom, she guessed that Vaughn had just gotten out of the shower; given his wet hair and that he was only wearing a pair of trackies.

"What is it?" he asked, seeing her expression.

'Vaughn." Sydney rushed over and threw her arms around him. "I am so sorry."

"Whoa," he murmured into her ear. "What is all this about?"

"The way I have been behaving these last couple of days. I shouldn't have shut you out like that."

"Hang on a second," Vaughn said gently, as he took a step back. "You weren't the only one doing the shutting out. We both reacted in foolish, but totally understandable ways."

Sydney smiled. "I had a talk with my dad today. Can you believe it was he who made me see some sense?"

Vaughn chuckled softly. "Only is you can believe that Weiss did the same for me."

Sydney brought a hand up to his cheek. "I realized something after our chat. It occurred to me that I don't care. I don't care, even if you were Rambaldi himself…and that is saying something," she smiled. "I love you. I fell in love with you. And when I married you, I promised that I always would. No matter what life throws in our direction, there is no way I would turn my back on those promises."

"Syd," Vaughn leant down and pressed his lips into hers in a slow, soft and lingering kiss. "I'm sorry too. I just let myself get angry and resentful again. Angry at the fact that it seemed as if our lives were being dictated to us. I got so worked up about this whole scenario that I was blinded to what was in front of me." He ran a hand down her cheek. "You, and us. And I know now that we can work past this, because we are just you and I. And I am more than willing to stay this way forever."

Sydney smiled. "Me too," she agreed as she pulled Vaughn down to meet her lips once more. The kiss grew more and more intense as they shuffled across and fell back onto the bed, the tensions of the past few days dissolving as they allowed themselves to relax into each other's touch.

When Sydney opened her eyes the following morning, there was that ever-familiar rolling feel in her stomach.

"Good morning," Vaughn said, as she groaned slightly. He pressed his lips into hers. "How about—"

"Excuse me!" Sydney pushed him back as she jumped out of the bed and dashed into the bathroom across the hall. Concerned, Vaughn followed and found her, once again, hunched over the toilet.

"Well," he said, coming up and rubbing her back, soothingly. "I can honestly say that I've never got a reaction like that from a good morning kiss before."

"Shut up," Sydney said, her voice weak as she leaned back against the bathtub.

"Now, you didn't go and eat those casserole left overs, did you? Because it's bad enough eating it when it's been freshly cooked. After a day in the fridge it's absolutely lethal."

Sydney shook her head. "Vaughn, I'm not sick. This isn't food poisoning."

"Then what…" he trailed off, as understanding dawned upon his face. "Are you saying…"

Sydney nodded. "I think I might be pregnant."