Guess what day it is! It's update day! YEAH! -throws confetti into air only to have it land in eye-

Summary is written within the chapter for those who had to skip over the last part of the last chapter. Don't worry, you didn't miss much! . Thanks for the reviews and more are appreciated. Reviews equals Chapters!

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Chapter Three: Breathe, Just Breathe.

The plane ride was hell and Vaughn knew coming home would be worse. All he wanted to do was go and apologize to Sydney, to beg for forgiveness for everything. But instead he had to go home; to a wife he was sure he had never really loved. She had been a replacement, a distraction. He had fooled himself into thinking he loved her, into believing he could make himself love her, but had failed. He had loved only one woman in his entire life, and Vaughn was quite sure that woman couldn't stand the sight of him anymore.

Lauren was making dinner when he got home, a rarity. She never was the Martha Stewart type. She seemed a little surprised to see him.

"You didn't call." She said pointedly.

Vaughn knew he should give her a kiss, but after the mission, he didn't have the strength too. He felt a little guilty for not giving her his heart, but it wasn't his fault it belonged to someone else. Lauren wasn't a bad person, just a little moody and mysterious, but not evil.

"We got done early." He finally replied, realizing she was waiting for an answer.

"What did you find out?" She was always so eager to know every last detail of

his missions, acting concerned, but really just being nosy. He hated it.

"Dixon's going to brief us tomorrow. I'm going out again"

"Where?"

"Weiss's. We are going to watch the King's game we missed." And maybe persuade Sydney to forgive me, he thought in his head.

"Can't you do that here?" she whined. Sydney never whined, he thought. He hated it when Lauren whined, it grated on his nerves.

"No."

"You're not going to Weiss's are you?"

He said nothing, knowing she might be able to figure out his true mission.

"You're going to see her aren't you?"

Ten points for the blonde bimbo, he thought bitterly. He was getting fed up with her suspicions, her guilt trips, and her general non- Sydney ness.

"And what if I am, Lauren? Why shouldn't I be able to go see her?"

"Because I'm your wife." She yelled.

"And she is a friend and right now I think that friend is in trouble. I am not going to sit around and watch her drown in this trouble." He yelled right back. Two can play that game, as Lauren looked at him completely outraged.

"You married ME!"

"Just because I am married to you, doesn't mean I don't have feelings for Sydney. I still care for her; I still want her to be safe."

"What about ME Michael?" You never spend so much time on ME!"

"Because life does not revolve around you! Sorry to burst that little bubble you obviously live in!"

"Your life should revolve around ME! I AM YOUR WIFE!"

"Does YOUR life revolve around ME, Lauren? I AM YOUR HUSBAND!"

"Do you still love her?"

"What?" That question came out of left field. Vaughn paused for a minute and tried to asses that best way to handle the question.

"Do you still love her Michael?" To hell with it. Lauren was asking for the truth and who was he to lie to his loving wife.

"YES, I still freaking love her. I always have and I always will. You can't change that. I'm leaving now."

"Fine, see if I care! Spend the night with your whore."

"SHE IS NOT A WHORE!" But Lauren had already stomped up the stairs, her blonde ponytail swinging behind her.

Vaughn grabbed his keys and left, heading towards Sydney's house. He fumed in the car. It wasn't the first fight him and Lauren and but the worst one so far. Vaughn considered heading to Weiss's instead to calm down before he saw Syd but he was in a pissy mood and only one person could get him out of it. Sydney.

He tried to call her several times on both her house phone and her cell, but neither was ringing. He was now more worried than angry when he reached her front door, knocking frantically. When she didn't answer his worry grew into outright terror, as he feared that they had gotten to her again, that they had taken her away. He tried the door, surprised to find it unlocked and he let himself in. From his viewpoint, he could see her, lying unconscious on the floor, in a pool of blood. She was half in the bathroom and he could hear water running. Vaughn ran to her, turning her over. She was covered in blood flowing from her wrists and he grabbed towels from the bathroom door, clumsily bandaging her wrists. He could see her blood all in the tub, down the side of the tub, on the floor, on the rug, and now on him. Vaughn lifted her into his and carried her to his car, whispering words of comfort in both English and French.

Buckling her in, he tightened the makeshift bandages, vaguely aware of the blood on him and the upholstery of the car. HE sped off towards the hospital, bloody fingers dialing Jack's cell phone.

"Bristow."

"Jack, its Vaughn. I need you to meet me at Los Angeles General. I'm taking Sydney over there now. She—she slit her wrists Jack."

"I'm on my way. Do not leave until I get there Agent Vaughn."

He hung up without even a good bye and Vaughn threw his phone next to him. Thankfully, there was little traffic and no cops as Vaughn made it to the hospital in record time. He lifted Sydney from the car and barged into the Emergency Room, yelling for a doctor. Two nurses brought him a bed, as he placed Syd's form on it and several doctors appeared, one started to rapidly fire off questions.

"I'm Dr. Forte, what happened."

"I don't know. I came home and she was lying in the bathroom. Her wrists were slit and she was covered in blood."

"Was it self-inflicted?"

"I think so."

"Was she drinking?"

"What?"

"Was she under the influence of alcohol or drugs?"

"Umm. I think so." Now that he mentioned it she had smelled strongly of wine.

"What's her name, and do you know her blood type?"

"It's Sydney Bristow and she's O negative."

"Are you sure she's O neg?"

"I'm positive." He wanted to add that he had been required to know her blood type when she was his asset, but didn't.

"Okay. Nurse Gret is going to take some more information from you." Dr. Forte said as he wheeled Sydney away. The nurse turned to him with a clipboard full of papers.

"Okay Mr.?"

"Vaughn."

"Mr. Vaughn. Are you related to Ms. Bristow? Her fiancé? Or boyfriend?"

"No to all three. We're just—friends."

"Does she have any living relatives?"

"Yes her father. He's on his way now. I called him already." And she also has a mother, an international terrorist of a mother. But I really don't think you need to know that, Vaughn thought.

"Do you happen to know if she's allergic to any medicines?"

"No." Something else I was required to know when she was my asset.

"Is there any reason you can think of that she would want to kill herself?"

"Umm." Let me think, oh yeah she just came back from being "dead" for two years with no memories, her best friend dead, her other best friend in witness protection, her boyfriend married to another woman. Did I mention that she's a spy? "No."

"Okay. And you quite sure her next of kin is coming in?"

"Yes." In fact I'm surprised his not here already with a gun cocked at the back of my head.

"Thank you Mr. Vaughn. When he arrives we'll talk to him. I don't know how much longer the doctors will be but Ms. Bristow will receive the finest care here."

The words no sooner left her mouth when Jack Bristow came bursting into the ER, with a look that would frighten the devil.

"Where is she?" he yelled, Vaughn flinching slightly.

"That would be her next of kin, nurse" Vaughn said, internally enjoying the look of fear on Nurse Gret's face.

"Mr. Bristow. My name is Nurse Gret. The doctors are with Ms. Bristow now. If you just wait and answer some questions for me, they should be out soon.

"Ms. Gret, I won't be answering questions, I want to see my daughter."

"Mr. Bristow, that is not possible until the doctors finish working with her. Your daughter's injuries are very severe. She lost a lot of blood."

"Jack, we should just wait for them." Vaughn said, not caring about the consequences of his words.

"Don't you have a wife to get home to Mr. Vaughn? I can handle anything my daughter needs from here on out."

"I'm not leaving Jack."

"Look—"

But the threat remained open as Dr. Forte reappeared and headed over to them. Nurse Gret introduced the men before handing over the clipboard and scurrying fearfully away.

"Well Mr. Bristow, Mr. Vaughn, Sydney is stabled. We are giving her blood transfusions and we stitched up her wrists. Her BAC was extremely high and we also noticed scarring from what appeared to be previous slashes. We believe she slits her wrist just enough to bled, but the alcohol clouded her judgment and she accidentally cut a little deeper. But to more serious matters, because these wounds were self-inflicted and life-threatening, she has to complete twelve sessions of counseling before she can leave the hospital, it's state mandated. We have an excellent psyche department on hand, I would be more than happy to—"

"Unfortunately doctor, Sydney can't complete the counseling with your hospital. Because of her line of work, we have to bring in a specially sanctioned psychiatrist." Jack replied

"I see. What does Ms. Bristow do may I ask?"

"She works for the government and that's all we can tell you. I can have her department send over a psychiatrist one who has worked with Sydney before. I'm sure you will find her quite satisfactory to her needs." Jack said.

"That's fine Mr. Bristow. We'll just have to check this outside source credentials."

"When can we see her?" Vaughn interrupted.

"As soon as I'm finished talking with you. She is sedated though, so she's fast asleep. But gentlemen, I have one more question. Do you know what could have driven her to do this?"

"No." Jack and Vaughn replied at the same time.

"Okay. She's in Room 147. I gave her a private room."

"Thank you Doctor." Jack waited for him to walk away before he turned to Vaughn. "I think you should go home."

"And I think I should stay here. I'm not leaving Jack."

"Goddamitt. Stop hurting her. We both know why Syd did this. It is because of you. Leave her alone." Jack spit out before turning to find Sydney's room.

Vaughn followed until they were outside room 147. As Jack went in, Vaughn plopped in one of the chairs outside of the room. He had no intention of leaving the hospital until Sydney did.

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