A/N: OK! NOW! HEHEHHE SINCE THIS IS THE 147TH CHAPTER, I IN MY INSANE-NESS DIVISED A LITTLE ALIAS COVERT SPY MISSION!

SOMEWHERE IN THIS CHAPTER IS A CLUE...I'M NOT SAYING WHERE IT IS OR WHO SAYS IT...BUT IT'S A CODE (THINK VAUGHN - DRAWER EP) THAT'S ALL THE HINTS I'M GIVING...HEHEHEHEHEHEH THIS LITTERALLY TOOK MY LIKE AN HOUR TO DO...AND IT'S FAIRLY OBVIOUS IF YOU LOOK HARD ENOUGH (THE PHRASE THAT IS)

NOW! HERE IS THE REALLY REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT PART - IF YOU FIGURE IT OUT OR EVEN JUST WANNA GUESS DO NOT DO IT IN THE REVIEWS - EMAIL ME OR INSTANT MESSAGE ME INDIVIDUALLY, CAUSE THAT WOULD JUST SUCK TO RUIN MY WHOLE GAME BY ONE PERSON FIGURING IT OUT...SO...PLEASE PLEASE DON'T POST GUESSES OR ANYTHING OF THE LIKE IN THE REVIEW SECTION (OR IN THE THREADS AGAIN FOR SD-1 PEOPLE)...OR I WON'T DO IT AGAIN - AND PERSONALLY, I THINK IT'S A KINDA FUN, INVENTIVE THING...SO...THERE, I'M DONE.


Chapter 147: Dream a Little Dream of Me

"Dreaming permits each and every one of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives." – William Dement

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." – Robert H. Goddard

"Keep true to the dreams of thy youth." – Friedrich von Schiller

"Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits, and
Are melted into air, into thin air:
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on; and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep." – William Shakespeare

"To all, to each, a fair good night, And pleasing dreams, and slumbers light." – Sir Walter Scott


Sydney walked back to the living room, her father offering her a warm smile as she sat down next to him on the couch.

"Michael sleeping alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, he was really tired today…"

"Why is that?" Jack asked.

Sydney fumbled, "Uh…well…just busy day…"

Jack smiled, "I see…"

"Do you want a drink dad?"

"Sure…"

Francie walked back into the living room as Sydney was getting up, "We're gonna go to bed…all the flowers…yeah, I'm about ready to drop."

Sydney chuckled, "Ok, night Fran, tell Will I say goodnight too."

"Night Francie," Jack said from the couch.

"Night Jack, stop by again soon," she said in reply.

Jack smiled and got up, coming to the kitchen to watch Sydney.

"Scotch?" she asked.

"That will be fine," he replied as he smiled at his daughter. He waited until she handed him the drink and they walked back to the couch.

"Did you like the movie?" she asked.

"Yes, it was good…a little unrealistic, but it was good."

Sydney giggled.

"What?"

"I knew you'd say that…"

He smiled bashfully, "Well…yes, I guess I am rather easy to pin down that way…"

"It's too bad Vaughn fell asleep, he really likes that movie…"

Jack smiled, "Is he really alright? The therapy I mean?"

"Yeah, he's better…he was really scared and hurt at first, but he's doing better now. We talked all yesterday, literally, all day. He opened up a lot more than he has in the last few weeks. I think it was good for him."

"And what about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"How are you handling it all? It must be rather strange to be Barnett's therapy tool."

"Well, I mean I understand – I would have done the same thing if Barnett pushed me using him. I don't like that she used me, but she was correct that there wasn't really anything else that would have gotten him to that point."

Jack nodded and they shared a moment of silence. He took a sip of the scotch, "Did you have a chance to make any progress with the files that Will compiled?"

"Well, yeah we did earlier this week, but the last few days have been rather hectic…"

"Mmm, of course," Jack said, thinking, "If I should acquire pertinent records to explain new intel, validate new leads, elucidate something or send emails," he stopped, "whatever it is, let me know."

"Thanks dad…"

"You're welcome." He finished the scotch and smiled at Sydney, "I should get going…it's getting late."

He walked the glass back to the kitchen as Sydney got up to accompany him to the door.

"We should do this more often dad, if you have the time…dinner and stuff."

"I would love to, should I call you?"

"Sure, call me later this week, we'll figure out a time."

"Ok, you call if you find anything…" Jack said as he opened the door.

Sydney moved to give him a hug in the doorway and he returned it, "I love you sweetheart."

"I love you too dad."

"I'll talk to you soon," he said as he smiled and walked back to his car.

Sydney waved and watched him pull out of the driveway and then closed the door quietly and turned off the remaining lights from the living room. She got herself ready for bed and then went to the bedroom, smiling at the exhausted form of her lover. He hadn't moved at all from the spot where they'd placed him. She pulled down the covers on her side of the bed and slid between the soft, cotton sheets, leaning her head on her hand as she watched him for a few minutes.

He'd have more therapy tomorrow, and she knew he was nervous about it. At least he'd have the security of her being in the house again for this one. Perhaps that would make it somewhat less scary.

She reached a hand out to smooth back his hair, the ruffled bed head even more pronounced from his time on the couch. She brought the same hand down to trace his cheek, the stubble lightly scratchy on her hand.

She smiled and moved closer to him, snuggling her head on his shoulder as his moved to rest against hers. She fell asleep quickly, much like he had, the day's exertions catching up with her as well.

She was crying, the tears streaming as her knee throbbed in pain. She was scared at the sight of even the small amount of blood. It seemed there were people everywhere, it was a family picnic after all, but no one seemed to notice her plight. She couldn't see her parents anywhere and so she just sat, crying.

Suddenly, a shadow was standing over her, and when she looked up, a boy was standing in front of her; the golden sunrays framing his head, making him glow. He had fierce yet compassionate and determined green eyes.

He smiled at her, "Are you ok?" he asked softly.

She continued to cry, not knowing the boy or what he wanted. She looked wildly around for her parents.

"It's ok…" he said, "I'm not going to hurt you…your knee is bleeding…can I help you?"

She looked at him as he knelt down in front of her and she got a good look at him. He was about 10 years old, with a soft smile and dimples. When he smiled at her, she had to smile back and she realized that she had stopped crying.

"What happened?" he asked as he used a wipe to get the dirt off of her knee.

"I falled down…" she replied.

He smiled, "Were you running?"

"Yeah."

"It happens," he said as he dried off the area around the small cut. "I doesn't look too bad, a band-aid should do it…" he produced a band-aid from his pocket and gently placed it over the cut.

She spent the time looking between his determined face and his gentle hands as he repaired her injury.

When he was done, he flashed her a grin, "Good as new…I bet if you find your mom and dad, they'll buy you ice cream if you tell them you fell."

She smiled, "K…fank you…" and leaned to kiss him on the cheek.

He grinned back, "You're welcome."

She stood up and hobbled slightly as she got used to the feel of the band-aid on her knee. He watched as she walked away, finding her parents. Her father picked her up and both parents looked at the band-aid. He saw her point to him and say something and her father waved, while her mother smiled at him. Her smile faded slightly however when she seemed to recognize him, and while he found it strange, he just shrugged, waved one last time and walked away.

Sydney woke in the morning with a huge grin on her face, remembering the dream vividly as though she was reliving it. She could see his smile, his piercing green eyes; feel his gentle hands as they took care of her knee. A Vaughn-in-miniature. She looked up at him, still sleeping, and realized that she could see that little boy every time she looked at him if she wanted to see him.

She eased out of him embrace and the bed, and padded out into the kitchen. She thought about the dream, the end; her mother…how awkward that must have been for her to see him, the spitting image of his father, helping her own daughter.

She grabbed two glasses from the cupboard and went to the refrigerator, but stopped when she saw the calendar on the door.

'Hmm…that's weird…' she thought, and counted the days. She shook her head, 'that can't be right.' She counted again, and a third time. "shit," she said out loud. She placed the glasses back on the counter and walked quickly to the bathroom, threw open the cabinet door, and grabbed the box marked E.P.T.…

She waited nervously and somewhat excitedly in the bathroom while the minutes edged by. Slowly, two purple lines appeared in the windows, "Holy shit." She sat down on the edge of the bathtub, just holding the stick. Thoughts raced through her mind, she had to tell Vaughn. She ran back to the kitchen and poured two glasses of orange juice and brought them back to the bedroom. She sat on the bed softly and set one of the glasses on the nightstand.

"Vaughn…" she said, gently shaking him, "Vaughn."

He stirred and looked at her sleepily, "Hey beautiful."

"Hey…" she said.

She must have looked strange because he said, "What's wrong?" in the next breath.

She smiled shakily, "Well…I was getting juice…and I looked at the calendar…"

"Yeah…"

"And well…I hadn't noticed really…"

"Noticed what?"

"How late I am…so I…took a test…"

"Took a te–" he stopped and looked at her wide-eyed, "Jesus Christ."

"Michael…I'm pregnant."

His mouth fell open but no sound came out at first. Finally he said, "I…I…wow…"

She looked at him with raised eyebrows.

He smiled at her, looking at the beautiful woman that was currently carrying their child, "That's great," he said, and pulled her down to him, their lips meeting in a soft kiss.

She smiled at him, "So you're happy about this then?"

"I couldn't be any happier," he said in response.

She smiled, "I'm happy too," she squealed and then bent down again to kiss him.

Sydney bolted up in bed, "What the hell?" she said out loud.

Vaughn felt her move and woke with her, "Syd?" he asked sleepily.

She looked back at him, "Jesus…"

"What? What happened? Are you ok?"

"I'm fine…I just…" she leaned back into him, "I just had the most bizarre dream."

"What was it?"

"First I dreamt about when you fixed up my knee…that was a great dream…now, I just had a dream…I was pregnant."

"You were what?" he asked.

"Yeah, exactly."

"Syd…"

"Yeah?"

"Um, this isn't some round about way to tell me…"

She giggled, "No Vaughn, I'm not pregnant…I think it's just because we were talking about it…and I'm sure the baby pictures didn't help any."

"Well…if you were…I mean it would be ok…I'd be happy…"

She smiled at him, "That's pretty much what you said in the dream, after you picked your jaw up off the floor."

He chuckled, "Well how could I not be happy about something like that?"

She tilted her head up to look at him, "I love you."

"I love you too…you wanna go back to sleep now?"

"Yeah, let's do that," Sydney said, snuggling into him once again, drifting off soundlessly.