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Disclaimer: I don't own Alias :)
Previously on Why Can't I...
Mrs Vaughn hung up and smiled at Michael. "Mate, it's your lucky day. We better head off, because Sydney is going to be at the park in about ten minutes or so I was told."
"We?" Michael asked.
"Yes, we... You didn't think that I'd let you walk to the park by yourself did you? You're knee!"
"Yeah... but Mum! You said you'd let me go!" Michael pouted.
"No, not the famous Vaughn pout – I'm a sucker for it! Aw, you got me! Ok then, how about I drive you, and I'll wait in the car. At least then you won't have me tagging along, and I'll have piece of mind that you aren't stuffing up your leg." Mrs Vaughn chuckled at her son.
"It's a deal. C'mon then mum! Let's go." Michael jumped off the bench and headed for the door.
"Stop mum! Stop." Michael reached for the door handle and pushed open the door as soon as the car stopped moving.
"Oi! Wait mate!" Mrs Vaughn reached over and pressed a kiss into his head.
"Aw, mum!" Michael said, fixing his hair into place.
Mrs Vaughn laughed into her hand. "It's just to let you know I care."
Michael sent a death stare her way and bundled himself out of the car. He paused for a moment when he spied a girl juggling an oversized book in one hand and a lead attached to a playful looking pup in the other. Drawing a deep breath, Michael hobbled his way over to the girl.
"Hi…" he said, "I'm Michael."
The girl looked up, and pulled the earphones of her iPod out of her ears. "Sydney, hi!"
Michael looked away, unsure of what to do or say and caught sight of a figure in the distance that seemed to be intently watching them. "Is that your dad?"
Sydney turned around and spied the person that Michael was talking about. "No."
"Brother?" Michael asked. The figure wore a long coat and a baseball cap pulled low over his face, making Michael's chances of identifying the age quite difficult.
"No, afraid not. I'm an only child," Sydney said, still staring at the figure who seemed fixated on them. "Do you know them?"
"Uh no, I thought you did."
"Not at all," she said, becoming uneasy. "He's kinda freaking me out."
'I know. Do you think it's necessary to wear that coat? I mean, it's summer and 35 degrees!"
"Yeah, he looks a bit out of place."
Vaughn shifted his weight on his feet, and looked back at where his mum was waiting. He saw his mum climbing out of the car and instead of feeling angry at her for breaking their promise, a wave of relief flooded him. "That's my mum up there," he said pointing her out to Sydney.
"Really?" Sydney asked. She wavedand laughed when she got a wild wave in return. "She seems nice."
"Yeah, she is. She had it tough after dad died. But she seems happy enough now." Michael said, smiling proudlyat his ma.
"That's good then." Sydney looked over her shoulder again to check on the 'scary' figure and was alarmed when she saw that he had moved closer to them. "Crap! The guy's on the move."
"Oh gosh!"
Sydney shuddered. "At least you came with someone," she said indicating to his mum. "I have to walk home by myself."
"Good point." Vaughn said. "You have your dog though."
"A dog?" Sydney asked in amazement. "You call this a dog? He's a puppy! The onlyharm he does is licking. He would lick someone to death if he could!"
"Well that's not very helpful, is it?"
"Not particularly."
"Um, not to alarm you anymore, but he's coming even closer." Vaughn said, looking past Sydney.
"What do we do?"
"Um, well myma's just over there." Vaughn suggested. "On the count of three we go over to her?"
"How about on the count of one." Sydney said, becoming increasingly worried.
"Deal." Vaughn shook his head emphatically in agreement.
"ONE!" They both said, causing each other to laugh at the unplanned synchronisation of their panic. Calmly, they turned their backs on the figure and began walking over to Mrs Vaughn.
"Sydney!"
Sydney stopped and turned around at the sound of her name. "How does he know my name?"
Michael grabbed her arm, encouraging her to keep on moving. "I'm not sure whether I trust this guy Sydney. Let's just keep walking."
"But he knows my name!" Sydney said, walking sideways in order to keep sight of the figure and to keep up with Michael.
"He might have just overheard us talking. There has to be some kind of explanation." Michael wisely said.
"I suppose……" Sydney said, turning her back once again on the stranger.
"Sydney. Sydney Bristow!"
Sydney stopped full stop and grabbed hold of Michael's hand. "You can't explain that. We didn't even mention my last name. He knows me somehow."
"I can't explain that. Hey, how about we just get to mum and then we can talk to him." Vaughn held tight to her hand and pulled Sydney into a jog with him. "Don't turn around if he calls out again except when we get there."
"Ok." Sydney said, breathing in sharp breaths.
"Sydney! Stop! I'm friend's with your parents. With your mum and dad." The stranger called out.
Sydney and Vaughn kept their focused their attention on reaching Mrs Vaughn, and ignored the stranger's plea for them to stop.
"Mum! Ma!" Vaughn called.
Mrs Vaughn looked up and was alarmed at the sight of her panic stricken son. "What's up my boy?"
"Don't look up or anything, but there's a man over there who's following us and calling out toSydney." Vaughn explained, catching his breath back.
"What do you mean?" Mrs Vaughn asked, seemingly distressed. "Do you know him at all Sydney?"
"No!" Sydney said, turning back around to look at the strange man. "But he said that he knows my parents."
"Your parents? I thought that Michael said your mother had died?" Mrs Vaughn said, placing a hand on Sydney's shoulder in an attempt to calm the girl.
"She did." Sydney whispered.
A reassuring squeeze of her hand made her realise that she was still clutching tightly at Michael's, and she gratefully looked up at him and then back to his mum.
"What do I do?" she asked...
A/N: Thanks heaps to everyone who's reviewed. Seriously, I can't stress how good it is when someone writes and tells you that they like what you're doing. It's awesome - thanks heaps. In saying that, feel free to tell me your thoughts on the story(lol) and yourthoughts on who you think the stranger might be. I hope you liked the latest chapter - I know it's not much, but there's something that I have up my sleeve that'll be revealed within the next few chapters...So watch this space:)
Next time: Uh Oh! Who's the stranger...?