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Chapter Fourteen:
Looking Forward?
"What the hell is up? Are you guys attempting to start a new trend of not answering your phones? Meet the new yuppie…" Weiss trailed off as his eyes fell on the lounge. Vaughn seemed to have aged about ten years and Sydney looked as if she had been crying. "What is going on?"
Vaughn shook his head. "Nothing."
"Yeah right." Weiss scoffed. "Tell me."
"Seriously, it's nothing." Sydney said, forcing a smile. "What were saying? About our phones?"
Weiss looked as if he didn't believe them for a second, but seemed to let it go. "I have been calling you for hours."
Sydney sat up straight. "Ana?"
Weiss nodded. "They found her, Syd. The team extracted her successfully and they are currently en route back to Los Angeles."
Sydney stood abruptly and headed to the kitchen bench for her bag. "What time are they expected back? I want to be waiting for her when they arrive."
"Syd," Weiss came up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm afraid you can't."
"What do you mean I can't?"
"They are taking Ana straight to Project Black Hole." Weiss replied.
"Why?"
"Security reasons, and obviously they are going to want to run some tests," he explained.
"Tests?" Sydney said, alarmed. "What kind of tests. They can't. I won't let them hurt her."
"Hey, hey, hey," Weiss said calmly as Vaughn came up to them. "They will just be conducting basic examinations to ensure that she is healthy."
"Oh," Sydney had no other response.
"So what do they want us to do?" Vaughn asked.
"Just hang here." Weiss instructed. "Look, I've got to get back to operations. I'll keep you updated- if you two can find it in you to actually answer your phone."
Sydney sat in the darkened living room, curled up on her couch and hugging a cushion. The only sound was the ticking of the clock, sounding as if it were slowing down as time went by. The stillness was broken was a sharp knock on the door. Almost robotically Sydney rose and opened it. It was Jack on the other side.
"Hi dad."
"Can I come in?"
Sydney nodded and stepped aside, letting Jack enter the apartment.
"I thought you might want to talk," Jack suggested tentatively.
"I just can't believe it, dad." Sydney said. "I mean, we were all working side by side with her and not one suspicion was raised."
"Pardon?" Jack blinked.
"Lauren, dad. It's just so unbelievable that she is Covenant. She would be the last person I would expect." She looked at Jack. "Has anybody heard from Vaughn?"
"Sydney, I didn't come here to talk about Lauren." Jack said.
"Then what?"
"Sydney, about Patagonia…"
Sydney stiffened. "What about it?"
"Well, have you spoken about it to anybody?"
"There is nothing to say." Sydney said bluntly. "Now what is the CIA planning to do with Lauren?"
"Sydney—"
"Has she made any statements? Attempted to cut any deals? And is anybody actually out there looking for Vaughn?"
"Sydney, stop it!"
"Stop what?"
"Stop using the Lauren situation as an excuse to detach from what happened in Patagonia. You need to deal with it."
"I have dealt with it."
"Sydney…"
"No! Don't Sydney me, dad. We failed, the Covenant succeeded and there is nothing that we can do about it, but accept it and move on. But what we can do something about is Lauren." Sydney said, her tone forceful. "So why don't we focus on that situation, instead of worrying about what cannot be changed."
Jack sighed. There would be no reasoning with Sydney while she was in such a state of mind. After all, she was his daughter.
"Here," Vaughn handed Sydney a mug of tea before sitting next to her on the couch. Gratefully she wrapped her hands around the mug and took a mouthful.
"Ok," she sighed. "Next time somebody says they have to tell us something, we run."
"Agreed." Vaughn sighed as he leaned back into the cushions.
"What are we going to do, Vaughn?"
"What do you mean?"
"What my father just told us. All my logic and common sense is just screaming at me, telling me that it is ridiculous and complete nonsense and that we should just laugh it off and continue with our life…"
"But?" Vaughn raised his own mug to his lips.
"But as much as I've tried to reject the idea of Rambaldi, I can't deny the fact…I can't deny that there is the possibility that he and all his ideas could be real. I mean, I have accepted Ana as my daughter. Does that mean I have accepted Rambaldi?" She looked at Vaughn, her eyes pleading.
"I can't answer that, Syd." Vaughn replied.
"And if we acknowledge what dad just said, then what does that mean for our future? That we'll spend years raising two children, loving them and caring for them only to have one of them kill the other? Oh god!" She smacked her forehead. "What am I saying? We don't even know what is going on with Ana and here I am talking about our future."
"Hey," Vaughn rubbed a hand up and down her back. "You're just going over our options."
Sydney nodded. "I suppose." She took another mouthful of tea. "So, what do you think?"
"Syd, at this point I am as confused as you. But at least we're talking and not shutting each other out. Hopefully, we can figure this out together."
Sydney found that going through the motions each day was not all that hard. Through her vehement claims to everybody else that she was fine, it was almost as if she had deluded herself into believing it. She got up, went to work, came home and then went to bed. Avoidance at this point was more easier than confronting her demons, and as days passed she found that she was spending more time at the JTF than at home.
xxxxx
"Syd."
She looked up to see Weiss approaching her desk. "Yeah?"
"Have you heard?"
"Heard what?"
"Lauren. There's not going to be a trial. She plead guilty to all charges and was sentenced this morning."
"What did she get?"
"Life imprisonment. They were considering the death penalty, but decided to look at this from a strategic point of view. She is one of our few links to the Covenant and should be kept alive."
Sydney took a few seconds to digest this. "How is Vaughn taking this?"
Weiss shrugged. "Vaughn is a mess, as he has been since Lauren was arrested. I just don't know what to do."
Sydney sighed. "There has to be some way we can help."
"I don't know if there is. Not at this point," Weiss replied, shaking his head sadly. "But speaking of help, if you need anything…"
"Like what?" Sydney asked, cocking her head.
"Like somebody to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on. You know," Weiss gave her a friendly smile.
"And why would I need that?" Sydney's tone had taken on a much sharper edge.
"Well…because of what happened. In Patagonia," Weiss replied, suddenly uncomfortable.
"Why does everybody keep expressing their need for me to talk?" Sydney demanded, standing up abruptly. "Can't they see that I am fine? There is nothing to talk about. Everybody should just let this go and get on with their lives because there is nothing wrong with me. I am fine." Exhaling exasperatedly she walked off.
"Yeah," Weiss muttered to himself. "Cos you really sound fine."
Kendall scanned the sheet of paper that was in front of him and then looked up. "So, she's ok?"
The doctor nodded. "Perfectly healthy. A little shaken over her ordeal and still pretty scared, but other than that, she's just a regular little girl, physically and emotionally."
Kendall let out a small chuckle. "Regular is not a word I would use to describe this child." He glanced back at the paper. "Is there anything else that I need to know?"
"There's nothing else…oh, expect that she has been asking for someone."
"Who?"
"A Mrs Vaughn."
Kendall's eyes shot up. "Excuse me?"
"Her teacher, Mrs Vaughn."
Kendall nodded. "Ok, thank you. I'll want regular updates- and immediate notification if she so much as gets a scratch."
"Ok sir." The doctor turned and left as Kendall picked up his phone.
It was a non- eventful day when Sydney finally broke down. Work had been routine and the only thing out of the ordinary was the cat jumping out in front of her car when she was driving home.
It was just like all the other days, yet when Sydney was changing out of her suit and caught sight of her reflection, namely her scar, in the mirror, something snapped. A fierce flood of emotions seared through her body, and as she struggled to hold back the tears, she picked up the phone and called the only person she could think of.
xxxxx
"Dad," Sydney's lower lip trembled as she let him into the apartment. "I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, but…"
"Sydney, what is it?" Jack knew damn well what the problem was, but it wasn't him who needed to voice it. Sydney did.
"It's…it's… how could I fail on this dad? Why did I have to stuff up on that task?"
"Sydney, you can't blame yourself," Jack said.
"Then who?" Sydney choked back a sob. "How am I supposed to move on from this?"
"I don't know, sweetheart." Jack said softly, wrapping Sydney in his arms. "But what I do know is that you don't have to do this alone."
"Syd, Vaughn." Weiss walked into his apartment, calling out their names.
"What is it?" Sydney asked, from the couch, as Vaughn appeared from the guest bedroom.
"I've got a car here to take you back to the JTF." Weiss explained. "There's a chopper waiting for you there."
"Where are we going?" Vaughn asked.
"The two of you have been granted special access to Project Black Hole. They want you in Nevada as soon as possible."
Sydney walked to the kitchen bench and grabbed her bag. "Ana?"
Weiss nodded. "Kendall has approved a face to face interaction between the two of you." He opened the front door. "You're going to see Ana, Syd. Today."
A/N: Three more chaps to go...