I want to give a huge, huge, huge apology for the massive gap in between my updates. I have been having major issues with our computer- it has been put into be fixed twice now. That, coupled with teaching rounds (including a week away on year 8 camp where computers were non-existent) is the reason why I have taken so long.
So again, I am so sorry for the wait and hopefully from now on, I will be able to keep up with the frequent updates.
agent belle, Valoriahn & seeley's sweetheart: Thank you all so much for your feedback.
Disclaimer: The title of this chapter comes from the song 'Change (in the House of Flies)' by Deftones.
I Watched A Change In You, It's Like You Never Had Wings
"No, dad! I know what sort of person you really are. I know about Sydney, too. What the two of you are capable of. And I am sorry, dad, but I am not the one who is in trouble here. I am not the enemy here."
"Summer, where on Earth is all of this coming from?"
"The walls are closing in, dad. I know who you really work for and it's time that you knew who I worked—"
"Oh Summer. I told you never to say anything."
The Earth shifted under Vaughn's feet when he saw who had spoken. When his eyes connected with eyes that were so cold they looked dead. Eyes that belonged to someone who was supposed to be dead.
"Lauren," he managed to utter. "You're…"
"Didn't think that you could finish me off that easily, did you Michael?" she replied with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Mum," Summer spoke up and Vaughn felt as if he would be sick. To hear his daughter refer to that woman as 'mum'. It was so, so wrong. "I'm sorry. But he—"
"No," Lauren snapped. "No excuses, Summer. I gave you specific instructions and you have disobeyed them. And for that," she paused as she pulled a gun from her back pocket. "You will both have to pay…how does it feel to be on the opposite foot, Michael?" she asked with a smile, before firing off two perfectly aimed shots.
Vaughn crouched down to the level of his four-tear-old daughter. "Summer, did your break the vase?"
Summer stared back at him through wide green eyes. "No," she shook her head. "It was Liam."
Vaughn had to bite back a smile. "Hate to break it to you, Sum," he said, scooping her up into his arms, "but Liam is a month old. You're going to have wait a while before you can use that one."
"Am I in trouble, daddy?"
He brushed a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "Are you going to tell me the truth?"
Summer hesitated. "I did it," she replied, her voice quiet.
"Was it an accident?"
Summer nodded.
"Then you are not in trouble- as long as you promise never to lie to me again."
"I promise, daddy."
Groggily, Summer opened her eyes, remnants of the dream still playing on her mind. Stretching out on the bare mattress, she felt confused. Where were her blankets? Her head felt as if it were filled with cotton wool and no matter how hard she tried, she could not think straight.
Rolling over, Summer's eyes fell upon her father, sitting on the only chair in the bare room and everything hit her like a tonne of bricks.
She sat up abruptly. "Where are we?"
Vaughn shook his head, his expression weary. "I have no idea- I only came to about 20 minutes ago."
"Came to?" Summer murmured. "She…she shot us?"
"Yes. But they were just tranquillisers," Vaughn replied.
"But," Summer's eyes pricked with tears. "Why would she do that to me?"
"Because, that is the sort of person she is," Vaughn said, his voice gentle.
"No," Summer shook her head. "She's not."
"What did she tell you?"
"She said it was the truth," Summer whispered. "She had proof…what else was I supposed to believe?"
"What did Lauren tell you?" Vaughn repeated.
"That you really didn't work for the CIA…and that she did," Summer said. "That V.O.J was a cover business…she told me that I working for the CIA."
Vaughn was shaking his head sadly. "Summer, sweetheart, she was lying."
"How I am supposed to believe anything- you lied to me as well."
"Summer, I am an employee of the United States Government and—"
"You shot her!" Summer yelled.
Vaughn stopped short. "What?"
"I know, dad. And when I asked you, you told me point blank that it was a car accident. But I've seen the hospital records. I have seen her scars."
"Oh Summer," Vaughn sighed. "I never wanted for you to have to hear this."
"You mean, you never wanted me to find out what you were really like?"
"No, I never wanted you to know the truth about your mother."
"But—"
"Yes. I did shoot her," Vaughn interjected. "I shot her before she could kill Sydney or I."
"I don't…" Summer had no idea what to think. "No, mum would never do that."
"Summer, she just shot us. She has abducted us. That woman is capable of anything."
"But mum—"
"Your mother worked for a terrorist organization. She was ordered to marry me, to infiltrate the NSC and CIA. She was an enemy of this country, Summer. On the Most Wanted list."
Summer was staring at him. "I can't…I don't want to believe this."
"Summer, I know that this is hard to hear. There was a time when this information was new to me also. A time when I had to learn and accept that the woman I had married was a sociopathic criminal."
Summer was shaking her head. "No, that's not it."
"Then what?" Vaughn asked, slightly confused.
"If I believe what you are telling me now, then that means you have been lying to me my entire life. Right to my face."
Vaughn gave a short nod. "That is what I have been doing."
"How could you?" Summer exclaimed.
"How could I not?" Vaughn threw up his hands. "How could I possibly tell you the truth about your biological mother? How could I let you grow up knowing the truth?" He paused, running a hand through his hair. "I wanted you to be happy, to live a carefree life. I did what I thought was best for you."
"Well, if what you are saying is true, then your lies led to me working against the CIA. How the hell is that what is best for me?"
Summer had fallen into a sullen silence, refusing to speak, no matter what Vaughn said. He couldn't blame her. It had been a day of many revelations and he could only imagine what was going on in her head.
After a couple of hours, the door to the room swung open and Lauren stepped in. clasped in her hand was a pistol- one that contained real bullets, Vaughn noted.
"Mum!" Summer jumped off the mattress. She needed to speak with Lauren. To try and make some sense of the mess of information swimming around her head.
Lauren just looked at her with disdain. "Sit down," she instructed.
Summer faltered. "But mum—"
"My name is Lauren," she cut in. "The whole mother-daughter thing, just an act, Summer. It's time for you to realize that."
Seeing the devastated expression on his daughter's face, Vaughn felt an intense anger. "You are a heartless bitch, Lauren," he spat out. "How dare you bring Summer into this. Your problem is with me, not my daughter."
"Our daughter," Lauren taunted and then motioned to the two guards standing outside the door. "Take the girl. Me and him need a little alone time."
"No!" Summer struggled as the two men grabbed her. "Daddy!"
"I'll be fine, Sum," Vaughn called out helplessly, catching one last glance at her frightened expression as the door closed.
"So…" Lauren stepped towards him. "Summer, hey? Interesting choice of name. I personally would have gone for one of the classics. Elizabeth, Victoria, Amanda…"
"How could you do this to her?" Vaughn asked, seething. "You have destroyed her life."
"There's your answer, Michael. You ruined my life, in case you have forgotten."
"Me, Lauren. Me! Not Summer."
"But what better way to destroy you than to ruin your pride and joy in the process?"
"What are you going to do to her?"
Lauren ignored the question. "You know, I lost five months of my life because of you and your trigger-happy tendencies."
"And Sydney lost two years because of your employer."
"That would be right," Lauren snapped. "It always comes back to Sydney, doesn't it?"
"Lauren," Vaughn tone dropped. "Whatever you want to do to me, then fine. But please, do not hurt my daughter. Surely you feel something for her."
"You know what, Michael? I feel absolutely nothing for her. Why should I?"
"I guess that I was just hoping that a part of you was actually human."
"Now, now," Lauren wagged a finger. "It is not wide for you to be throwing out insults in your predicament." She turned, heading towards the door. "And in regards to you and your daughter, I will do whatever the hell I want."
Summer had been taken to another empty room. As the door was slammed shut, she finally allowed herself to cry the tears that had been threatening appearance since she woke up.
Sinking to the floor, she brought her knees up to her chest, her body racking with sobs. The way that Lauren had looked at her before. Not with hatred, but completely void of emotion. Lauren had looked at her as if she meant nothing at all. It was a stark comparison to the warmth she had been exuding only days before. How was it that her mother could change so completely…if she had even changed at all.
It occurred to Summer at that point that Vaughn had always looked at her the same way. He always looked at her with a father's love and pride- even when she had done something to anger or disappoint him.
Like planting a bug on his desk at work.
Summer's tears began to fall even harder. How could she, even for a second, doubted her father?
"Weiss."
He looked up from his computer, and in Sydney's direction. "Yeah?"
"Do you know where Vaughn is?" she asked.
"No idea. He was bolting out of here when I arrived this morning. Didn't say where he was going."
Perturbed, Sydney made her way over to Vaughn's desk, hoping to find a note, or something indicating where he went. As she moved a few items, she knocked the mouse and the blank screen of the computer was replaced by the GPS navigation system. Taking a closer look, Sydney saw that Vaughn had been tracking Summer's car.
"Hey Syd," Marshall came hurrying over. "Carrie is in panic mode. I told her there was nothing to worry about, but she needs reassuring."
Sydney looked at him blankly, distracted by Vaughn's computer. Why Summer's car? "What?"
"Mitch, he stayed at your place last night, right?"
Marshall suddenly had her attention. "No, I thought Summer stayed at yours."
Marshall was shaking his head. "But…then where are they?"
"I have no idea," Sydney said, glancing at the computer. "But here's hoping that Vaughn does."
A/N: Only two more chapters to go...