Chapter Four

The next few days were hell for Michael Vaughn. Everywhere he looked he was reminded of Lauren and of what he did. She wouldn't leave him. He could barely look at Sydney without breaking down and hardly spoke a word to her. Sydney was growing more suspicious by the day. Finally she confronted him.

"Michael, what's going on?" She asked quietly over breakfast.

"Nothing." He mumbled, not even looking up. He pushed around a piece of bacon, dreading what was going to happen next.

"Don't tell me that nothing is going on. Something is happening Michael. You won't even look at me." Sydney said, raising her voice, frustrated. When he didn't speak she added softly. "Don't push me away."

Michael slowly took his eyes off of the scrambled eggs and met his wife's intense gaze. "I just… I… I don't know… I don't know if I'll make a good father." He lied quietly. He held his breath, hoping that Sydney would buy his lie. She could usually tell whenever he wasn't telling the truth. But this time, her expression softened. She got up and moved closer to him, laying her arm gently on his shoulder.

"You're going to be an amazing father." Sydney said softly. "You don't have anything to worry about Michael. You're the one that had a great father in your life as a role model. I don't know if I can be a mom… it's not like I can look to my mother for advice on being a good parent." She said the last part bitterly.

"Syd, don't think like that." Vaughn said. "It doesn't matter who your mother was or what your mother did… what matters is you. And you're going to be an amazing mother."

"How do you always know exactly what to say?" She asked, kissing him, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "But you do want this right?" She asked, her expression becoming more serious.

"The truth?" Vaughn asked, looking up into her eyes.

"Of course."

"What we do, the things we see everyday… honestly… I thought we'd wait until things were safe… or at least safer… maybe when we weren't with the agency anymore… but looking at you… all I can think about is what our kid is going to be like… and I'm not worried about the world… I just can't wait to meet this new little person."

"Really?"

"Yeah… it's pretty great, right." Michael said, a real smile gracing his face.

Sydney's smile grew wider and he could see her adorable dimples. He leaned over and kissed her gently. They kissed for a few more minutes before the doorbell interrupted them. "That's probably Nadia. I better go." She said, pulling away slowly.

"Ok." Vaughn nodded, standing up. "I'll clean up here. Have a fun time shopping." He said, kissing her once more.

"I will." She said, opening the door and greeting Nadia.

"And don't spend all of our money." Michael shouted, walking to the door as well. "Hey Nadia."

"Hey Vaughn." Nadia said with a smile.

"Michael, am I the type of person that would do something like that?" Sydney asked, putting her hands on her hips, acting insulted by his words.

"Yes." Michael said with a laugh. "Who was the one that spent all that money getting a customized 5 foot tall giraffe from France??"

"Hey, I have a right to spoil our child." Sydney pouted. "Besides, it was only $1,000"

"Yeah, no kid needs a stuffed giraffe that's worth a thousand dollars." Vaughn retorted playfully.

"Yeah, yeah, ok maybe I went a little bit overboard with that… but honestly… that was the day I was craving those spicy cheetos with peanut butter… it wasn't my fault… it was the peanut butter's." Sydney said seriously.

Vaughn let out another laugh. "Don't even remind me of that day." He had gone out to the store at around 9 in the evening and brought home a large bag of spicy cheetos and a large jar of peanut butter. He had watched Sydney dip the cheetos in the peanut butter until midnight, when she had finished the whole thing.

"Can't blame a girl for her cravings." She said, shrugging.

"Ok, ok." Michael said, smiling. "Just make sure this one doesn't get out of hand." He said to Nadia, gently nudging his wife, laughing slightly at her indignant face.

"I'll try. But you and I both know that she can still kick my butt." Nadia said.

"Exactly… so let's stop talking and get to the shopping." Sydney kissed Michael one last time. "Bye honey." Then Nadia and her were out the door and headed to the mall.

After he had finished washing the dishes, Michael went into the living room to watch some hockey. He let out a relieved sigh. Things were finally starting to get back to normal between him and Sydney.

Then the phone rang.

He didn't recognize the number but picked it up anyway.

"Hello?"

"Michael?" Her voice whispered into the phone.

"What the hell are you doing, calling my house?!" Michael shouted angrily.

"Michael… this is important…" Lauren said. She actually sounded scared. Michael's heart rate started increasing. "Someone knows."

"What?" He felt his heart stop.

"Someone has a tape." Lauren said.

Michael felt like his life had been once again destroyed. Someone has a tape of him and Lauren… oh god, what if Sydney found out?

"How? Who?" He asked, sitting down on the couch, feeling dizzy.

"I don't… I don't know… but they want to talk to you." Lauren said.

"What do they want?" He asked.

"I'm not sure and even if I knew, I wouldn't be able to say. It's not safe. Meet me at the last place we were together." She said quickly. Before he could protest, she hung up.

He wrote a note for Sydney, telling her that he went to the rink to skate around, grabbed his keys, and ran to his car. He sped through downtown L.A. before finally reaching the old hotel. As he parked his car, a flood of sounds, sights, and smells invaded his mind, reminding him of what had happened when he was last here. He felt like he wanted to vomit as the memories came rushing back.

Then another thought hit him. Was this a trap? He was so worried about Sydney finding out that he hadn't even considered this being a set up. Did Lauren just want him here so she could seduce him again? But the bigger question was; did he have the ability to resist her?

It took him a few moments to clear his mind and calm himself before he stepped out of the car. He walked slowly up to the fourth floor. He stopped right outside her door, took a deep breath, and knocked.

The door opened slowly and Lauren pulled him in, glancing around carefully before closing the door. Her face was pale and she looked like she hadn't slept in weeks. She led him silently into the bed room.

One lone figure was waiting for them in the corner of the dark hotel room.

"Hello Mr. Vaughn."