Chapter Ten:
The Obvious Path

"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."

Dixon entered the conference room, his face serious. "I just got off the phone with Kendall. He's ordered for the team in Australia to return home. They have found no viable leads and it's pointless for them to continue over there." He sat down. "The chances of Ana still being in Australia are minimal."

"So where do we go from here?" One of the agents in the room asked.

"We go over every file we have that concerns the Covenant." Dixon paused, taking in the pained expressions of everyone in the room. "I know that it's a long and tedious process, but it's our only option. There is a little girl out there who is depending on us to find her."

Vaughn stared, dumbfounded, at Sydney. "You think you're pregnant?"

Sydney nodded, chewing her bottom lip uncertainly. She could quite gauge how Vaughn was receiving this news. He just looked to be in a state of shock.

Slowly he slid down onto the bathroom floor, so he was sitting next to her. Looking into her eyes, his face broke into a wide grin.

With a sigh of relief, Sydney returned the smile, as Vaughn pulled her into a hug.

"Syd, this is…this is great."

"Holdon for a second." Sydney laughed softly. "We don't know anything for sure yet."

"Well, then why don't we find out?"

Weiss threw his pen down and leaned back in his seat. It was hopeless, sitting here and reading stupid files. It was not going to help in the slightest bit.

Getting up he headed towards Dixon's office. He knocked on the door and then opened it slightly. Dixon motioned for him to come in. Entering the office, Weiss saw that Jack Bristow was already in there.

"Is there a problem Agent Weiss?" Dixon asked as he sat back down on his chair.

"Uh yes. I don't mean to be forward, but do you really think there is any purpose of having the entire facility wasting their time reading over files?"

"Of course not." Jack put in bluntly.

"Well Jack." Dixon looked at him. "Do you have another idea? If so, please enlighten us."

"In order for us to locate Ana, we need to find at least one specific area in which the Covenant operates from." He shifted his gaze between Weiss and Dixon. "Yes, I know. Stating the obvious. But perhaps it's time that the most obvious course of action be brought up."

Dixon's eyes narrowed slightly. "What?"

"Right now we have a Covenant member in our custody. Somebody who could possibly give us a lead to where they operate from."

Weiss and Dixon glanced at each other. Jack couldn't possibly…there was not a chance that she would do anything to help them. Yes, it was an obvious course of action, but it would be completely fruitless.

"Agent Dixon." Jack said. "I understand your reluctance, but things are getting desperate."

Dixon nodded shortly and then reached across to his phone.

"Yes, this is Director Dixon…could you please notify the head of security that two of my agents will be sent to speak with prisoner Reed within the hour."

Sydney and Vaughn anxiously sat side by side on the bed. Vaughn didn't even realize that he's been nervously shaking his leg until he felt Sydney put a hand on his thigh.

Looking down at Sydney, he smiled. "You know what, Syd?"

She shook her head. "What?"

"This is so…normal," he grinned. "You wanted a normal life and well, here we are."

Sydney laughed. "I suppose- if we forget about everything else that is going on at the moment."

"Ssh," Vaughn put a finger to her lips. "You're going to ruin the moment."

At that moment, the timer that had been set went off. They stared at each other before Sydney got up and walked over to the chest of drawers and tentatively picked up the white stick. It was almost as if she was too scared to look.

"Well?" Vaughn prompted gently.

Taking a deep breath, Sydney looked down. "It's positive."

"What!"

She looked up at Vaughn, her face glowing. "It's positive."

Vaughn jumped up and threw his arms around her. "You're pregnant? We're pregnant?" he said, repeating it over and over, trying to get the news to sink in.

Sydney laughed as he tightened his embrace. "Yes, we are."

"Oh, I love you so much!" He pressed his lips into her. "This is incredible. I actually feel like going and shouting this from the rooftops."

Sydney stepped back. "How about not?" she said. "I kinda want to keep this quiet. At least until we get this confirmed by a doctor and know that everything is ok and…I want this to be just about us for the moment."

Vaughn smiled as he brought a hand up and brushed a stray strand of hair off her face. "I couldn't agree more."

Sydney grinned. "There is just one problem."

"What?" Vaughn asked feeling slightly confused.

"Us." She replied. "We're going to have to wipe this smiles off our faces before Weiss gets home. Otherwise he'll know something is up for sure."

Weiss found himself swallowing hard as he and Jack headed towards Lauren's cell. He was surprised at how much anger he still felt towards her. The way she betrayed Vaughn…the way she betrayed everybody. Rotting away behind bars was not a severe enough penalty.

He glanced at Jack, seeing animosity written all over the older man's face and exhaled loudly. This was turning out to be a swell day at the office.

Lauren looked up when they approached the cell. Her stony expression didn't change as she rose up from the steel bed and headed towards the glass.

Jack got straight to the point. "We need some information."

"Typical," Lauren snorted. "Ignore the prisoner until she might actually serve some purpose."

"Cut the sarcasm, Lauren." Weiss shot back. "It really isn't becoming."

Lauren smiled icily at him. "I'm surprised that you are here, Eric. Him," she jerked her head in Jack's direction, "I can understand. We all know how gullible he can be. But you? Did you really think that I would help you?"

"Ok, we get it." Jack said, ignoring her comment. "What do you want?"

"You know, I am hurt that you would think of me as that shallow."

"Give up the act, Lauren." Weiss hissed. "Just tell us what you want in exchange for whatever information you have."

Lauren sighed. "Fine." She smiled malevolently. "Are you listening?"

Dixon looked up to his secretary standing in his doorway.

"Sir, Michael and Sydney Vaughn are here."

"Send them in," he ordered, standing up as Sydney and Vaughn entered the office.

"Hey Dixon." Sydney greeted him warmly. "What is this all about? Your secretary refused to give us any details over the phone."

"Sit down." He gestured to the couches. Only when they had settled down did he continue. "We may have a lead in finding Ana."

"What?" Sydney exclaimed. "That's fantastic. Who? Where?"

"The thing is we haven't actually got the intel…yet."

"Then how can you have a lead?" Vaughn inquired.

"Well, we know that we need to get access to a Covenant facility of some sort. One where we can gain access to their computer systems, and track their communications and what not."

"And you think that you can get a location from someone." Sydney said. "Who?"

Dixon cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. "We can only get that information from somebody who is…or was, within the Covenant." He paused. "Now as you are fully aware, we currently have a Covenant agent in our custody."

Sydney felt Vaughn tense up beside her and instinctively placed a hand on his thigh.

Dixon went on. "Since her capture, Ms Reed had refused to co-operate. However, on this occasion she has complied with our requests- on one condition."

"What condition?" Vaughn managed to ask.

"That she will only deal with one person. She has made it quite clear that she will only reveal the whereabouts to this person. She will only speak to you, Vaughn."