Chapter Two

"It's a women, a women we all know, in fact, some are rather...familiar with her." Jack said. The glance that Vaughn received from him wasn't very reassuring. He flipped a switch and her face came blown up on the screen. Vaughn felt his jaw drop in pure shock.

"I… I killed her…" Vaughn whispered, never tearing his eyes off the screen.

"Obviously, Agent Vaughn, you didn't do a very good job." Jack shot back.

The emotions that coursed threw Vaughn's body left him confused as he stared at the all too familiar face. At first he felt hatred, disgust, anger and confusion. Those emotions were expected. What he wasn't prepared for was the lust and longing that overtook his body. He glanced away briefly, afraid of the emotions that he had been feeling. His gaze fell upon his Sydney. Her hand lay on her belly, protecting their unborn child. Their eyes met and she knew that there was something wrong. He looked away, afraid that she would discover the truth.

After his breathing had slowed, he finally looked back at his ex-wife's picture.

Lauren Reed's hazel eyes met his. Her blond hair was haphazardly pulled up in a ponytail. It had been a little over a year since Vaughn had seen her face and he was taken aback by how breath taking she was.

"No, you need to stop thinking like this." He thought, cursing himself. How could that woman have this sort of effect on him, after everything she had done? She had lied and betrayed him and yet he felt something for her. Was is love? No. It couldn't be that. He refused to love a woman like Lauren Reed.

Jack cleared his throat, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"We were able to pull this surveillance footage off a camera Sloane had hidden in one of the lamp posts near the shooting." Jack said.

"Paranoid creep." Weiss whispered to Vaughn, trying to lighten up the mood. His efforts failed and the gloomy mood remained in the conference room. Vaughn ran his hands through his hair as they all watched the footage.

Everyone watched silently as Sloane and Nadia walked slowly along the beach. They stopped and for a few moments everything was peaceful. Then a figure dressed in all black crawled closer to the pair, hiding behind a large tree. The woman looked around, her blond hair swishing with the motion. They were able to get a good look at her face. It was definitely Lauren Reed. She pulled out a gun, took aim, and fired half a dozen bullets at Sloane. She moved her hand slightly to the right and shot at Nadia. Before Nadia had even hit the ground, Lauren took off running.

Jack pressed another button and the video stopped.

"At the moment we have no idea where Lauren went, who she's working for, and how the hell she's still alive." Jack said. "Marshall was able to pull footage of her flying into L.A. in a disguise and under and alias."

"Jack… uh… sir… I was wondering, you know… how are Sloane and Nadia? I mean… are they ok?" Marshall interrupted.

Jack sighed. "Nadia is in surgery. From a preliminary look, she looks stable. Sloane… wasn't as lucky. He died about 5 minutes before Sydney and Vaughn got here."

"Now the only question is whether that's a good or bad thing." Weiss muttered.

Jack turned and glared at him. "At the moment, it's a very bad thing. Despite his past, Sloane had many contacts that we could have used to find Lauren. Those assets are now lost."

Jack continued to talk and tasked each of the agents before dismissing them.

"Agent Vaughn, my office." Jack said, walking out of the room.

Vaughn got up and followed him.

Jack waited to speak until the doors closed behind him.

"I will tell you the same thing I told you back then; you need to be the one to kill Lauren." Jack said, coldly. "I saw the expression on your face when you saw her picture. A part of you still cares about her. And that cannot be allowed. Not when you're married to my daughter. You know where my bunker is. Go there and take whatever you need. I've grown to tolerate you, Agent Vaughn. I'm beginning to think that you aren't as worthless as I thought. Don't make me have to change that assessment."

Vaughn nodded and slowly walked out of Jack's office.

He sat back down at his desk and put his head in his hands, trying to sort out his thoughts.

Sydney walked over to him and sat down in the empty chair. She took one of his hands and held it lovingly in hers.

"How are you holding up?" She asked quietly.

"Honestly Syd… I don't know… I just never expected to see her again… I just… I don't know." Vaughn said honestly.

Sydney watched him a little longer, not knowing what to say. It wasn't everyday your husband's ex-wife comes back to life. She stood up. "You know that you can talk to me ok." She said, kissing him quickly before waddling to her desk.

Watching Sydney waddle to her desk made Vaughn smile. He wanted to laugh. He felt so stupid, thinking that he had feelings for Lauren when he had such an amazing person like Sydney in his life.

No, there was no way he was letting Lauren Reed come between him and Sydney ever again.