Chapter 93: The Talk
"It is always the best policy to speak the truth--unless, of course, you are an exceptionally good liar." – Jerome K. Jerome
"The truth is rarely pure and never simple." – Oscar Wilde
"The truth is more important than the facts." – Frank Lloyd Wright
Francie walked slowly into the room, trying to gather her thoughts before entering.
When she entered, Sydney smiled at her as he looked up, "Thanks Fran."
"Will made it," Francie admitted, shifting nervously.
Sydney started to eat the sandwich, looking at Francie strangely, "You wanna sit?" she asked through her mouthful, gesturing to the chair.
Francie sat wordlessly and then said, "I want to apologize for the way I handled this whole situation tonight."
"What do you mean?" Sydney asked.
"I just froze…I don't know how you do it…seeing him like that…so much pain…" Francie shook her head.
Sydney looked down at him, "I know it's hard, really, you don't need to apologize. You don't need to "handle" anything – that's my job."
"If I'm here and I want to help, then I need to able to take whatever comes in stride…"
"Well…that's nice of you to say, but Vaughn is my responsibility."
"Hello? Support Group? That's what we're here for!"
"That's right!" Will said, coming in with a glass of milk, "We want to help – that's why she's apologizing."
Sydney smiled, "Thanks guys."
They talked a few more minutes before Sydney said, "Will you should really get some sleep if you wanna do this."
"I do…I'm going…" he said, kissing Sydney on the forehead, "You comin'?" he asked Francie.
She smiled, "I think I'll stay up a while with Syd."
"Ok," Will said, kissing her and going out.
Sydney smiled, "You don't have to stay up."
"I want to…we cant talk…we haven't done that in a while…"
Sydney smiled, "No, we haven't…I'm been kinda busy."
"Me too," Francie said, not letting Sydney shoulder all of the blame.
"What should we talk about?" Sydney asked as she set her plate on the nightstand and then downed the milk in one continuous gulp. Then she went back to playing with Vaughn's hair.
"I think we can talk about plenty…" Francie said.
Sydney smiled again, "Yeah…that's true too…"
"I have to ask you a few things," Francie said slowly and unsurely.
"Ok…" Sydney said, eyeing her apprehensively.
Francie started slowly, "I'm not stupid…I know you keep things from me."
Sydney was about to say something but Francie stopped her, "No, let me finish…I'm not saying that's all bad – there's things I don't tell you either, but…this whole thing with Michael – the whole kidnap for ransom while working for a bank, it just doesn't hold water. This is not a "Proof of Life" situation…it doesn't make sense…why would someone pick Michael to take? I don't care what bank it is…And all these trips you take? No bank – even an international one would never send an employee on that many overseas trips."
Sydney smiled softly.
"I don't know why you want to hide your work from me, but Will's been acting really weird too since he OD'd and got that new writing job."
Sydney looked over at her, uncertainty in her eyes. If she told her, that would be it…there would be no going back…she took a deep breath, "We work for the CIA – I couldn't tell you before because it was too dangerous…but…well…it's not gone, but the threat…some of the danger is gone now…so…"
Francie broke out in to a smile, "You're kidding right? This is a joke."
"No joke – think about it – doesn't it all make sense? All those spontaneous trips – those were missions, Francie. Will's an analyst, not a travel magazine writer."
Francie shook her head, "This is all too much," she got up and started to pace, "And Michael?"
"He was taken but an enemy of the CIA, one who was pissed at me because his wife died. This," she said pointing to Vaughn, "was payback."
Francie shook her head again, "Well…that makes more sense than kidnap for ransom." She looked at Sydney, "I feel…I don't know how I feel…angry, confused, sad…betrayed?"
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you…I couldn't! Not before…" she paused looking at the bandages on Vaughn's back and then said quietly, "I told Danny…and he was killed…I did it to protect you…I thought lying to you was better than you being murdered too because of me…"
Francie's eyes widened in horror, "The CIA killed Danny?"
"NO. The same man that did this to Vaughn killed Danny."
Francie sat down again, "Wow…how is this guy still around?"
Sydney smiled sadly, "He's very powerful…we've been trying to catch him for a very long time."
"Wow…"
"I'm sorry Fran…do you understand though, why I didn't tell you?"
"Yeah, I know you were trying to protect me…"
"Will, of course, doesn't know I just told you…"
"No…I'm gonna KILL him. HE should have told me…"
"He couldn't Fran – he was in the same boat I was. The whole cocaine thing? That was a CIA set up so this man wouldn't kill him. He'd gotten too close to Danny's death. They would have killed him too…"
Francie's head dropped, "I understand Sydney…I know why you did it…but no matter what you tell me, our relationship, Will and my relationship, has been half lies."
"No, Fran…we only lied about work…when you take everything into consideration, work is insignificant. It's just what we do…" Then she added, "I refused to let you be a victim of that man…I couldn't watch you die too…please understand…"
Francie was silent for a long time.
Sydney feared the worst and wanted nothing more than to lose herself in Vaughn at the moment, but he was temporarily out of commission.
After what seemed like hours, Francie finally said, "I don't know how happy I am about it, but I understand."
Sydney breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at her, "Thanks…"
"This is your world huh? So, you're a spy right?"
Sydney laughed, "Yeah."
"And Michael too?"
"Yup."
"But Will's just an analyst…"
"For now…"
"Good, I can use that."
Sydney smiled again, "Thanks for understanding."
Francie returned the smile, "You're welcome."
They moved on to other topics but Sydney went back to the previous topic briefly, "You know…it'll be much easier to talk to you now that you know."
"Good," Francie said, "I'd like that."
Francie stayed up with Sydney talking like they hadn't in a long time. It seemed as though the weight that had been hanging over them had finally lifted. Francie would go get new washcloths for Sydney every three hours so Sydney could stay with Vaughn.
Sydney finally started to get tired and yawn about 2:30 am.
Francie suggested, "Should I wake the analyst for his shift?"
Sydney chucked, "Yeah…ok."
Francie smiled, got up, and went into her bedroom where Will was snoring softly.
She sat down on the bed and touched his chest, shaking softly, "Hey Will…Will…it's time to get up…your shift…"
He mumbled incoherently.
"Will…listen Mr. Analyst – if you don't get your butt out of this bed, I'm gonna kick it out!"
Will woke and looked at her, smiling, "Hey baby," he said.
"Don't 'hey baby' me!"
He sat up quickly, "What? What'd I do?"
"Well discuss that later, Mr. Analyst – right now you have a job to do."
"Mr. Analyst?" Realization hit him, "Sydney told you?" he asked with a mix of fear and surprise.
"Yes she did…"
"You really made at me?" he asked sheepishly.
She smiled softly, "Not really…Syd explained, but you're gonna need to make it up to me later."
"OK," he set getting out of bed, "I can do that!" He changed his tone, "How's he doing?"
"Same…he hasn't woken or anything."
Will nodded. They both walked back to Sydney's bedroom.
She was yawning as they both entered, "Hey Will…" she said.
"Hey…you tattle tale – got me in trouble!" he said smiling.
"I thought it was time," Sydney said.
"You're right," Will said in reply. He looked at Francie, "It's actually really good – now I can actually talk to you about work and stuff…about my day…"
She smiled, "Yes you can…"
Will looked to Sydney for instructions.
"Ok, we just changed the cloth at 1:00, so you don't have to change it until 4:00 and 7:00 if he's not up by then. And wake me if anything goes wrong. I'll be on the couch."
"Go lay in our bed Syd," Francie suggested.
"Aren't you going to go to bed too?" Sydney asked.
"Nah, I'll stay up with the Analyst here for a while," she said jerking her thumb towards Will.
Sydney smiled, "Ok," and went off to Francie's room. Even though she was worried about Vaughn, exhaustion was well set in, and she was asleep shortly after her head hit the pillow.
Will and Francie talked quietly for most of the rest of the night, keeping each other awake. Will spent some time bringing her up to speed on what exactly happened to him and Francie seemed happier that she knew. They changed the washcloth at 4:00 and were about to at around 7:00 when Vaughn moved slightly on the bed.
"I'll get Syd," Will said, walking off.
