And Forever 1


“Thank you, Agent Vaughn. You’re free to go.” The guard told Sydney, as she flashed him her badge. She walked into the ops center and automatically saw her husband sitting at a computer, looking very much as if he was going to fall asleep. She smiled. Last night, her and Vaughn and gone out with Eric and Will. They had been out really late, and she heard Michael complain about it when he got up at 6 this morning. He had had to go in early, leaving her alone in bed.

She walked up to him, as he was about to doze off.



“Hey there Agent Vaughn, no falling asleep on the job,” She whispered in his ear, laughing when he jumped.



“Geez, Syd. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?” he asked, then settling himself in his seat, leaned forward to kiss her.



“No,” she said once she broke away. “But if that’s the greeting I get every time I scare the crap out of you, then I’m going to do it more often.”



He rolled his eyes. “Why did I marry you, again?” he asked playfully.



She pretended to think it over. “Hmm, I don’t know. You love me?” she said innocently.



“Oh that must be it,” He teased.



At that point, Eric and Will walked over to them.



“Hey Syd. We were wondering how long it would take you to get here and wake Mike over here up.” Will said.



Vaughn rolled his eyes again. “What is this? ‘Pick on Vaughn’ day today?”



The other three just laughed. “Oh, don’t worry honey. We still love you.” Sydney said, kissing his cheek.



“Yeah, don’t worry, Mike. We still love you,” Eric said mockingly.



“Eric, are you always such a pain in the ass?” Sydney asked.



Eric shrugged. “Yeah I am.”



Before she could respond though, Jack walked up to them. “We all need to talk. Now.” He said. They all moved to follow him into an empty conference room. They all sat down and Jack turned to address them.



“Irena Derevko has turned herself in again.”



“WHAT!?” they all asked simultaneously.



“Yes. She walked right in here.”



“What could she possibly have to gain from turning herself in?” Vaughn asked, taking Sydney’s hand to calm her.



Jack just shook his head. “I assume that since Sark is in out custody and Sloane is dead, she has nothing left to do.”



Sydney found her voice. “But ‘The Telling’ is still out there somewhere.”



“Yes it is. But, since Sloane is dead, we don’t know where he had it hidden.” Jack replied. “Sydney, Vaughn, she wants to talk to the two of you.”



Vaughn ducked his head for a second, and then looked up to see his wife’s eyes on him. She knew how hard it was to speak to her mother, even after all these years. He squeezed her hand.



“Ok. We’ll talk to her.” Vaughn replied.



TBC

 

And Forever 2


“Michael, are you sure you want to do this?” Sydney asked, as they walked to the holding cells together.



“Haven’t we been over this already? Yes, Syd. I’ll be fine.”



Sydney sighed. “Ok.”



After a few minutes they got down to the cell Irina Derevko was being held in. She was just standing there, giving Sydney the impression that she had been waiting for them.



“Sydney, Mr. Vaughn.” She said, nodding towards them.



“What are you doing here, mom?’



“With Sloane dead, Sydney and Sark in your custody, I have nothing left to do.”



“What about the telling, Irina? Do you know where that is?” Vaughn asked coldly.



Irena looked over at him and almost smiled.



“No, Mr. Vaughn. I don’t.”



“Is that all, Mom?” Sydney asked.



Irina nodded sadly. And Vaughn and Sydney walked out of the holding cells.



“Do you believe her? About what she said about not having anything left to do?” Vaughn asked, as they walked into the ops center.



Sydney looked over at Vaughn. “Not for a second. I have a doctor’s appointment I have to get to though, so I’ll meet you at home later.”



“A doctor’s appointment for what?”



“Just checkup every month or so to make sure that the affects of ‘The Telling’ are totally out of my system,” She explained.



“Oh, ok. See you tonight.” He said, kissing her goodbye.

****

“I’m home!” she yelled, as she walked into the house later that night.



“Hey,” Vaughn said, walking out of the kitchen. “I ordered pizza for dinner; since it is too late too cook something.



She walked over and kissed him.



“How was your doctor’s appointment?” Vaughn asked, after they had broken away.



“Good. Nothing wrong. Did you tell my dad what my mother said?”

“Oh, um yeah. He doesn’t believe her either.”



“Yeah, there is something about it all that doesn’t make sense.”



“Syd, what do you say we not talk about work, and we sit in front of the TV with this pizza?”



She just smiled at him, grabbing his hand. “I have a better idea.” She said.



He smirked. “Oh yeah, and what’s that?”



“I think that we should forget about dinner and not watch TV.” She said leading him to the bedroom.

****

The next morning, Sydney woke up to the alarm, and leaned over to turn it off. She was also aware of the sleeping man beside her, who had his left arm thrown haphazardly over her waist, and his right one under his head as he slept on his stomach. She loved it when she could just lay there and watch him. After a few minutes, she was startled when she heard his voice.



“You’re staring,” he teased sleepily.



She just smiled as he opened his eyes.



“We have to go to work.” She whispered.



Vaughn just groaned. “You know what I think we should do? I think we should call in sick and just lay in bed all day.”



Sydney laughed sitting up. “I don’t think that would go over with Kendall very well. Plus, we save the world, what could be more important than that?”



“Syd, I have been ‘saving the world’ non-stop for over ten years, you have been longer. I think that we deserve a day alone at home.”



“Well, my dear husband, as right as you are, I am going to get in the shower. Are you going to join me?”



“Yeah, I’ll be right there.”



“Ok.” She said, before walking into the bathroom.



As Vaughn got out of bed to join her, the phone rang.



“Hello,” he answered.



“Uh yes, is Sydney Vaughn there please?”



“This is her husband.”



“Oh ok, Mr. Vaughn. This is Saint Mercy Hospital. We have the results of your wife’s pregnancy test. Congratulations, Mr. Vaughn. Your wife is pregnant.”

And Forever 3

Vaughn put the phone down, he couldn’t believe this. Sydney was pregnant. He also couldn’t believe how happy he was becoming. He quickly crossed the bedroom, opening the bathroom door and slipping in.



“Who was on the phone?” Sydney asked from the shower.



Vaughn struggled to keep his voice even as he slipped his shirt off. “The hospital,” he said.



Sydney froze. Oh, no. She had completely forgotten to tell him of the pregnancy test. She was pretty sure that that was what the hospital had been calling about.



Suddenly she felt a body behind her in the shower. He slipped his arms around her waist, and leaned close to her ear.



“It was positive, Syd.” He whispered. “We’re going to have a baby.”



Sydney quickly turned around in his arms and kissed him passionately.



“Oh, my god,” she said. “We are going to have a baby,”



The smile on Vaughn’s face got bigger, if that’s possible, and he said, “Yup, we are. God, Syd. Why didn’t you tell me about the pregnancy test sooner?”



“I’m sorry; I guess it just slipped out of my mind. You’re happy about it though, right?” she asked uncertainly.



“Oh, Syd. You have NO IDEA how deliriously happy I am right now.” He said, bending down to kiss her neck.



She smiled at the feel of his lips on her neck. As his lips moved down to her shoulder, she couldn’t fight the moan.



“Michael, we’re going to be late for work.” She whispered.



He just pushed her back against the shower wall.



“Under the circumstances, Syd, I think they’ll understand.” He said.



She smiled at him. “Vaughn, do you know how much I love you?” she asked.



“Well, I am guessing it’s about as much as I love you.”



“Well, just for future reference, I love you, Michael Vaughn.”



Vaughn smiled, at put his hand on her stomach. “I love you, too.” He whispered.

*****

Sydney and Vaughn walked into the ops center hand-in-hand and immediately ran into Eric.

“You two are late, again.” he said exasperatedly.



Sydney just smiled. “Sorry Eric. We were held up.”



Eric just looked at the two. “I’m sure you were.”



Then he walked towards the lounge, and Sydney and Vaughn followed him.

He went straight for the coffee and donuts.



“Hey you guys, want some coffee?” Eric asked.



“Um, no thanks Eric.” Sydney said, glancing over at Vaughn.



“Sydney, Queen of All Coffee Addicts doesn’t want coffee?” he joked. Then he noticed different about her, and Mike, too.



“Ok, what’s up? You guys are smiling like idiots and Sydney doesn’t want coffee.”



“You tell him, Michael, He’s your best friend.”



“Tell him what?” Will asked, walking into the lounge.



“Um, ok you guys, you might want to sit down.” Vaughn said.



“Just spit it out, Mike” Eric said.



“Fine. Sydney’s pregnant.” Vaughn said, getting himself some coffee.



“WHAT?!” both Eric and Will asked simultaneously.



“We. Are. Having. A. baby.” Sydney said, slowly.



Will rolled his eyes. “Thanks Syd. I got that part. Wow. The two of you are going to have a baby. That’s fantastic! Congratulations!” he said, hugging Sydney.



“Yeah that’s great!” Eric said, shaking Vaughn’s hand. “Now I know why you two are always late.”



Vaughn and Sydney rolled their eyes. “Shut up Eric.” Vaughn said.







After Eric and Will had left the lounge, Vaughn kissed Sydney goodbye.



“I love you, Syd.” He said. Putting his hand on her stomach.



She put her hand over his, and leaned in to kiss him lightly.



“I love you, too. But you better go to your meeting before Kendall has a coronary.”



“OK. Be careful.” He said, turning to leave



“Vaughn, you aren’t going to be one of those overprotective husbands, are you?” she teased.

He turned around to look at her. “Damn straight, I will.” He winked at her and left.



Sydney walked out of the lounge and to her desk. As she got there, she was suddenly intercepted by her father.



“Sydney, can I talk to you for a minute?” he asked.



“Yeah, sure dad.” She walked over to him. “What is it?”



“I just wanted to tell you congratulations.” He said, catching her totally off guard.



“Wait, how did you…” she stopped. “Alright, dad. Which one told you? Eric or Will?”



Jack suddenly smiled. “Will. That and I saw Vaughn on his way to Kendall’s office, smiling. No one smiles when they are off to Kendall’s office. Congratulations, sweetheart,” He said.



“Thanks, dad. I honestly have to tell you, this isn’t quite the reaction I expected from the man that wasn’t exactly excited about my marriage to Vaughn.”



“Yeah, I know. I also know that Vaughn loves you. And by the way that you look when you talk about him, you love him, too. And I’m going to be a grandfather.”



Sydney smiled and hugged her father. “Thank you, daddy. I love you.”



“I love you, too, Sweetheart.”



TBC

 

And Forever 4

After talking to her father, Sydney made her way over to her desk. She sat down, thinking about her mother. She wasn’t sure if she should tell her mother or not. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that her mother didn’t deserve to know and she also wasn’t sure how Vaughn would feel about it. She was startled out of her thoughts by a whisper in her ear.

“Hey there, gorgeous,” he whispered, before kissing her on the cheek lightly.

Sydney looked over at her husband, who already had taken his jacket off, and had the sleeves of his shirt rolled up.

“What?” Vaughn asked when he caught her staring.

Sydney just smiled. “Nothing.”

“Are you feeling, ok?” he asked. “I saw that intense look of concentration on your face.”

“Yeah, I’m ok.” She said which caused him to look at her skeptically. “Ok. Actually I was thinking about whether we should...” she stopped.

“Syd,” he said, urging her to continue.

“Whether we should tell my mother about the baby,” She finished.

Vaughn looked down for a second. “Sydney, you know my feelings about your mother. But if you want to tell her that’s your decision.” He said softly.

“No. It’s not just my decision, Michael. But I also realized that she still hasn’t earned the right to know anything about my life.”

Vaughn nodded.

“You know what?” Sydney asked.

“No, what?” Vaughn teased.

“I think that we should take the rest of the day off, and go to the park because I have a major craving for ice cream.”

Vaughn laughed lightly. “Ok. That sounds great.”
***
They walked through the park hand in hand carrying ice cream.

“Michael, do you remember that day, we were in this same park, when I told you about Dixon?”

“Yeah” he said, squeezing her hand.

“That was the day that I knew that we would be ok. That we would be able to get through anything that Sloane, or my mother threw at us.” She paused for a second.

“I fell more in love with you that day.” She said quietly.
“And look at us three years later, in that same park, married, and pregnant.” Vaughn said.

Sydney laughed. “Vaughn.” she said exasperatedly. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I.” He said, stopping and turning to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist.

“I love you, Michael.” Sydney whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“I love you, too.” He said, then lowered his mouth to hers.

After they broke away, they started walking again.

“I have a doctor’s appointment tonight. Can you get off early to come?” Sydney asked.

“Are you kidding me? Of course I will.” Vaughn said, taking her hand again.

“Well, at least we don’t have to worry about telling anybody.” Sydney said suddenly.

“What do you mean?” Vaughn said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“I got like a million congratulations just while I was sitting at my desk.” Sydney said.

Vaughn laughed. “You should have known that telling Eric and Will first was a bad idea.”

Sydney laughed with him. “Yeah, well. I just never imagined that my life could be so good so soon.” She said.

“Syd,” Vaughn started, but Sydney interrupted.

“No. Let me say this. Vaughn, three years ago, my life was still out of control. But, no matter what, you were there for me. You always put my feelings ahead of yours. And I love you for that. So I guess I’m just trying to say thank you.”

“What in the hell for?” Vaughn said, confused.

“Thank you for...for putting my feelings ahead of yours. For marrying me, for not giving up on me those two years I was missing...for...” but she couldn’t continue, because Vaughn’s lips were on hers, stopping the words cold.

“Your welcome, Thank you and I love you.” He whispered after they broke away.

She smiled and started walking again taking his hand in hers, thankful that he was hers.


TBC

 

And Forever 5

The lack of warmth beside him at 4:30 that morning was what woke Vaughn up. He sat up quickly scanning the room for his wife, before noticing that the bathroom light was on. He quietly got up and grabbed his boxers from the floor where they had landed last night in the rush to ‘celebrate’ the doctor’s visit that afternoon. He opened the bathroom door and was greeted with a sight.

His wife was seated by the toilet, in only his discarded t-shirt, looking positively miserable.

“Oh Syd,” He said, as she heaved over the toilet again. He quickly rushed to her side, pulling her hair back off of her face. “Baby, how long have you been in here?”

She shook her head, and leaned back from the toilet to look at him. She noticed the forehead wrinkles had made an appearance. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Honey, you should have woken me up.” He said, as he rubbed her back.

“Are you done?” he asked as she stood up. She nodded, quickly grabbing the sink in order to keep herself steady.

“Whoa, you’re ok.” Vaughn said, wrapping an arm around her waist. She leaned on him gratefully as her guided her to their bedroom.

He sat her down on the bed and kneeled in front of her.

“Any better? Do you want anything?” he asked.

“Water?” she whispered sleepily.

“Ok.” He whispered, standing up and retreating to the kitchen. He came back and was greeted by the site of his wife sound asleep, snuggled under the covers. He smiled slightly, setting the water down on the night stand on her side of the bed. He walked over to his side and slipped in, putting his hand on her hip. She felt him do this and reached up to grab his hand, pulling it around her body. He leaned over and kissed her shoulder, then nuzzled his nose into her hair.

“I love you, Michael.” She whispered, so quietly that he wasn’t sure he had heard her.

“I love, you too Syd.”

And they both fell into a contented sleep.
****
Sydney woke up the next morning feeling a hell of a lot better than she had 3 hours ago. She turned over and looked her husband who was sleeping on his back with his left arm thrown over her waist and his right one thrown over the edge of the bed. She knew that in a few minutes she was going to have to wake him. He was so sweet to her last night and she regretted not waking him up sooner. She looked back at Vaughn noticing that he was still fast asleep. She knew just how to wake him up. She quietly leaned up and placed soft kisses on his chest. She felt him stir a little and kept placing kisses down to his stomach.

“You keep continuing that, and we’re going to be REALLY late for work.” He rasped out. She looked up to see his green eyes still closed. She laughed quietly and traveled back up to the head of the bed, placing her head next to his on his pillow. She saw him open his eyes and look at her.

“Hey gorgeous,” he whispered. “Are you feeling any better?”

She nodded. “Much. Thank you for last night.”

He angled his head so he could look at her better. “You don’t have to thank me, Syd.”

She smiled at him. God, she loved him. “Well, you’re the best.”

He shrugged. “I know.” He teased.

She laughed, and hit him in the arm.

“I can’t wait till we get to hold our baby,” she whispered quietly.

“Me neither.” He said. “Who the hell would have thought we’d get married. For the last few days, I have been thinking about how we sure messed with each others heads.”

“Yes, we did. But I knew we’d get married.” Sydney replied.

He looked down at her in confusion. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Well, events that happened pretty much told me we’d get married.”

“Like what?”

“Well, our first kiss, our first night together, that night in Berlin after we blackmailed Jurgens.” She looked at him seductively.

“Hey, had to put that red leather to good use.”

She laughed. “That we did, Vaughn that we did. Ok, but seriously though, you took care of me. Kept me safe.”

“I’ll always take care of you, Syd.” He whispered in her ear as he turned her over so he could wrap his arms around her waist from behind.

“I know. You know the reverse is true, right?”

He kissed her neck. “I know.”
****
They walked into the Ops center together an hour later and were bombarded by Eric and Will.

“It’s about time you two rabbits got here. Kendall’s going nuts.” Eric said.

“What’s wrong?” Sydney asked.

“Eric’s over-exaggerating.” Will said. “He’s just on a rampage because idiot over here-” he said, motioning to Eric. “-told him you guys were having a baby.”

“You mean he didn’t know already?” Vaughn asked, surprised.

Eric shook his head. “Apparently not. After I…..let it slip, he stalked out of here.”

“Wait a minute. You ‘let it slip’ on purpose didn’t you?” Sydney said, raising an eyebrow.

Eric smiled slyly. “Why, Mrs. Vaughn, I would never do that.”

Sydney rolled her eyes. Then something occurred to her. “Wait. What if he transfers one of us?” She said, turning to Vaughn. “With all of the rules we’ve broken I wouldn’t put it past him.”

At that point Jack walked up. “He can’t do that, Sydney. You and Vaughn are the best we have. He wouldn’t transfer you.”

Sydney looked at her father and smiled. “You threatened him, didn’t you dad?”

“No, I didn’t threaten him; I just told him that if he transferred my daughter and son-in-law, that he would regret it later.”

They all laughed. “Thanks, Jack.” Vaughn said appreciatively.

“You're welcome. Just make sure that you take care of my daughter and grandchild.”

“You know I will, Jack.” He answered, looking at his wife.

Jack caught this and smiled. “I know.” He said before walking off.

Eric and Will watched this exchange in awe.

“Ok, who the hell was that and what did they do with Jack Bristow?” Will asked.

They just laughed.

TBC

 

And Forever 6

Soon they were all in a meeting with Kendall discussing who-knew-what. Sydney was currently trying to pay attention to Kendall when she suddenly started feeling nauseous. Suddenly Kendall addressed her.

“Agent Vaughn…” he started, but she had bolted up from her chair, running out of the room quickly. Everybody turned to look at Vaughn.

“Excuse me,” he said, getting up from his chair. He had seen the look on Sydney’s face knew that she was going to be sick. He went to the nearest woman’s restroom and waited outside of the door. A few minutes later she walked out, looking pale and shivering. He shrugged his jacket off of his shoulders and put it on hers. She walked straight into his arms.

“Come on, baby.” He said, guiding her into an empty office. He sat her down on the chair. “I’ll be right back.” He said, kissing her forehead. A few minutes later he walked back in with a glass of water. “Here, honey.” He said, kneeling in front of her.

After a few sips, she handed the cup back to him. “Better?” he asked.

She nodded. “Okay. Well, why don’t you go home?” He said.

“No. Vaughn. Kendall wanted me to do something.” She said, getting up.

“Whoa, Whoa, Whoa. Hang on a second.” He said, sitting her back down. “He wanted you to talk to your mom. I talked to your dad. He is covering for you. You, my dear, are going home. And don’t fight me on this, because you now how stubborn I can be.” He smiled at her.

When he gave her that smile, she knew that she was going to give in.

“Ok.” She sighed.
****
Hours later, Vaughn was staring at his computer screen, trying to figure out if the report he was reading made any sense when his cell phone rang.

“Vaughn here,” he answered absentmindedly without looking at the caller ID.

“Vaughn here,” said a playful voice on the other end. “You sound like you could use a distraction.”

He smiled at the sound of his wife’s playful voice. “Your right I could. How are you feeling?”

“Better since a certain pushy, domineering husband practically shoved me out of the Ops center.”

“This pushy, domineering husband loves you and didn’t want you to burn yourself out.”

She sighed. “I hate when you say things like that. It makes it hard for me to stay mad at you.”

He laughed. “Well, how can I make it up to you?” he asked.

She was silent for a minute. “You can stop for Chinese and ice cream on the way home.”

“Chinese and Ice cream? Together?”

“Yup,” she said brightly.

“Ok.” He sighed “I’ll bring you Chinese and ice cream.”

“Ah, you’re the best.”

“Yeah Yeah Yeah.”

“So what was that about talking to my mother?” she asked.

“Kendall wants you to talk to your mother about ‘The Telling’.”

Sydney frowned. “But when we talked to her before she said that she didn’t know.”

“I know. But something makes him think that she is lying. Your father agrees.”

She sighed. “I’ll talk to her tomorrow.”

“Ok.” He said.

“Are you ok, Michael? You seem very distracted.”

“Well, there is this report that I have been analyzing. And something about it doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“Some of the details of certain missions or debriefing just don’t add up.” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“What do you think that could mean?”

He thought about it for a second. “I think that there could be a mole at the CIA.”

TBC

 

And Forever 7

“Do you know who it could be?” she asked in mild shock.

“No idea. The changes are subtle. Anyone who wasn’t paying close attention to the report wouldn’t see them.”

“What makes you think details have been changed?”

“Because I have read this report before. Only the details aren’t the same in both.”

Sydney sighed. “Dammit.” She cursed.

“Yeah. I’ll talk to your dad. See if he thinks I’m right.”

“Ok. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

After hanging up with us wife, Vaughn grabbed the report he was reading and went to find Jack.
He found him in his office.

“Jack, I think we have a problem.”
****
Two hours later, Vaughn walked tiredly through his door. And was bombarded with a kiss.

“Mmm.” He moaned into her mouth. “Where the hell did that come from?” he asked.

She smiled at the figure he represented. His tie was loosened to the point of falling off of his shoulders. His sleeves were rolled up and his hair looked like he had combed his fingers through it a thousand times. He looked ready to drop.

“You sounded so tired and dejected on the phone after talking to Kendall and my dad that I wanted to cheer you up.” She said.

“Well, you my dear achieved your goal. Though, just looking at you would have cheered me up.” He said, bending down to kiss her neck.

She smiled. Then backed away. He looked at her in confusion at the loss of contact.

“Where’s my Chinese and ice cream?” she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“Oh crap.” He said, bringing his hand to his face.

“Baby, I am so sorry. I completely...” he was cut off from another kiss from his wife.

“I was just teasing you.” She said, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.

He sighed. “What has got you in such a good mood?” he asked.

“Well, I’m married to this fantastic guy who takes great care of me. And, I’m pregnant with his baby. Nothing could get any better than that.” She said, kissing him on the neck.

“This guy you’re married too,” he whispered. “He sounds like a damn lucky guy.”

“Oh he is.” She teased. He laughed.

They spent the next few moments just kissing until Sydney broke away and took his hand.

“What did my father and Kendall have to say?” she asked, leading him to their bedroom.

“Your father agrees with me. But Kendall...” he trailed off, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Kendall what?” she prompted.

“I don’t know. Maybe it was just my imagination.” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. Sydney crawled on the bed behind him and started to massage his shoulders.

“Mmmm,” he moaned. “Syd, that feels fantastic.”

She smiled. “I love you, Michael.”

He stood up and turned around. “I love it when you call me Michael.”

“I know.” She leaned up and kissed him again.

****
Jack walked up to Irina’s cell and looked in.

“Vaughn has discovered that there could be a mole in the CIA.”

Irina looked at him for a second before answering. “Well, good for him, but what does that have to do with me?” she asked.

“It strikes me as odd the he would discover a mole just days after you turn yourself in.” Jack looked at her face and as usual it gave away nothing.

“A coincidence, Jack,” She said nonchalantly.

“I find this hard to believe. Why are you here? The excuse that you gave Michael and Sydney doesn’t make sense.”

“Excuse, Jack?” she said, raising her eyebrows. “You of all people should know about excuses.”

“Don’t turn this around on me. I will find out why you are really here. And when I do, you’ll regret coming back.”

TBC

 

And Forever 8

Sydney and Vaughn walked into the ops center the next morning. They kissed each other goodbye, and Sydney went to search for her father. She found him in his office talking to another agent and waited patiently by the door until he was done. The agent walked out with a nodded greeting to Sydney and she knocked on her father’s door.

He looked up and smiled. “Sydney,” he said, walking over to embrace her. “How are you feeling, sweetheart? Are you feeling ok?”

Sydney smiled at her father. “Dad, you sound like Vaughn,” she laughed.

“I’m sure I do. You still didn’t answer my question.” He said, pointing to a chair in front of his desk as he took his own seat.

“Well, besides the morning sickness, I’m great.” She said.

Jack look closely at his daughter and again thanked whoever was responsible for making his little girl happy again.

“How far along are you?” he asked.

“Almost seven weeks,” She said, Jack nodded.

“So did you need anything?” he asked.

“Well actually, I was wondering what you thought of Vaughn’s theory about there being a mole.”

“I think he’s right. The details of those reports don’t sound correct.”

“Any idea who the mole could be?” she asked.

Jack shook his head. “No. Since Sloane’s death, and the fact that we have had Sark in our custody for the last three years, I am not sure why there would even be a mole.”

Sydney sighed. “But you think there is one.” She stated.

Jack nodded. “I went to talk to Derevko.” He said.

Sydney looked at him in surprise. “Why?”

“To see what she might know about our mole.”

“You mean the fact that just days after she turns herself in, we find out about a leak.”

“Yes. She says that the reason she gave you and Michael is the only reason.”

“But you don’t believe her.” Sydney stated.

“No,” Jack said. “I don’t.”

Sydney nodded and for the next few minutes they just talked about everything but her mother and the possibility of a mole.

“Maybe You, Vaughn and I could all have dinner sometime.” Jack asked and Sydney noticed a note of uncertainty in his voice. Sydney smiled.

“Yeah, dad. That would be nice.” She answered, before walking out of his office. She went to her husband’s desk to see him, Eric and Will all in animated conversation.

“Whatcha talkin’ about?” She said, taking the chair next to Vaughn’s desk.

“Eric thinks that if we have a boy we should name him after him.” Vaughn explained to his wife.

“Hey, I deserve it. With all the times that I covered for the two of you,” he said, gesturing to Sydney and Vaughn. “Need I remind you of Russia?”

“Why? What happened in Russia?” Will asked.

“That would be the mission in which Sydney disobeyed the CIA and Vaughn went with her.”

Will nodded. “Wait. Is that the mission where you rescued Neil Caplan by yourselves?” he asked.

Sydney nodded.

“And Eric takes great pride in reminding me of that.” Vaughn said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s because we almost went to jail.”

“Eric, seeing as how we are standing in the Ops center arguing about the name of a baby that Vaughn and I just found out about three years after that incident, we obviously didn’t go to jail.” Sydney said.

“She’s got a point there, man.” Vaughn said.

“Mike, you’re only agreeing with her because she can kick your ass.” Eric said.

“Exactly.” He answered, going back to his report.

“My husband is very smart man who knows when to keep his mouth shut.” Sydney said, going over to kiss Vaughn on the cheek.

“No, your husband is a very whipped man, who you have wrapped tightly around your finger.” Will said matter-of-factly.

“Damn straight.” She said.

“Hear that, Mike. Your wife is proud of the fact that she has you wrapped around her finger.” Eric said.

“She’s had me wrapped around her finger for the last five years.” He said, looking adoringly at his wife.

“You people are impossible,” Will said dejectedly.

Eric put his hand on Will’s shoulder guiding him away from Vaughn’s desk.

Sydney laughed at the two, and then turned back to Vaughn, who was again wrapped up in his report.

“Hey,” she said, sitting at the edge of his desk. “Is that another doctored report?” she asked.

He nodded. “Yes. It’s the second one I’ve found.”

“Why the hell would there be a mole now?” she wondered.

Vaughn shook his head. “I don’t know.” He said. Then turned all of his attention to her.

“Did you find your dad?” he asked, putting his hand on her thigh.

She nodded. “Yeah. He doesn’t understand why there is a leak now.”

“He’s right. It doesn’t make sense. Unless….” He trailed off.

“’Unless’ what?” she said.

“Unless it has to do with your mother,” He finished.

Sydney sighed. “Michael, you know that whatever happens with my mother, nothing will change with us, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah, Syd. I know.”

“And you also know that you have me as tightly wrapped around your finger, as I do with you.” She stated, already knowing the answer.

He smiled at her, the smile that always made her weak in the knees. The one that she knew he saved just for her.

“I know.” He said. She leaned him to kiss him lightly.

“So what are we going to do about that mole?” she said after they broke away, realizing that they were still at work.

He sighed. “There isn’t an awful lot we can do. Since we have no idea who it is.”

“Want some help?” she asked referring to the stack of reports that was on his desk.

He smiled appreciatively at her. “Yeah, that would be great.” He said.

She took a seat at his desk next to him and got to work.

TBC

 

And Forever 9

“How many of these reports have you found?” Jack inquired.

“There’s only three. Whoever the mole is, he‘s careful.” Sydney answered.

Jack nodded. “Should we go to Kendall about this?” Vaughn asked.

“No.” Jack said. “We don’t know who to trust. Kendall included.”

Jack looked at Vaughn pointedly.

“You want me to investigate through the contacts that I used when I investigated Derevko three years ago, don’t you?” Vaughn asked.

“Yes.”

“Wait. Wait a minute. Michael, you were caught when you did that.” Sydney said.

“Syd, The only illegal thing I really did was downloading Xenon.” Vaughn answered.

“If the CIA does get suspicious, I can cover for him.” Jack said.

“Fine, Then I’m doing this too,” Sydney said.

Vaughn and Jack weren’t surprised.

“Ok.” Vaughn said.

“Now. You will need to investigate everything. Derevko’s reappearance, all the agents at the CIA...” Jack went on.

“But what about Eric and Will? Should we let them in on this too?” Sydney asked.

“No. We should just keep this between the three of us.” Jack answered.

Sydney didn’t miss that tone in his voice. “Dad, you don’t seriously think that Eric and Will could be in on this whole mess, do you?”

“Sydney, there is no way to tell. You of all people know how appearances can be deceiving.”

Sydney sighed. She and Vaughn walked out of Jack’s office and went to Vaughn’s desk.

“What wrong, Syd?” Vaughn asked gently sitting her on the seat at his desk and kneeling in front of her.

“This was supposed to be over, Vaughn.” She whispered. “We shouldn’t be investigating our colleagues and friends to see if they’re betraying the CIA.” She was surprised to feel tears pouring down her cheeks.

“Hey,” Vaughn whispered taking her into his arms. “Honey, it’ll be ok. We’ll be ok, I promise.” He said as he rubbed her back.

After she was done crying, she lifted her head from his shoulder.

“Look at me getting all emotional.” She said, wiping the tears off of her face. “Three years ago, I would have been pissed not upset.”

“Yes, but three years ago, we weren’t married, and you weren’t pregnant. Things change, hon.”

She smiled at him. “I love you, so much, Michael. I don’t know what I would do without you.” She whispered, taking him into a tight embrace.

“You’ll never have to find out, Syd.” He said, kissing her forehead.

“Ok. So do you still know how to contact your informants?” she asked.

He nodded getting off the floor. “Yeah. I’ll call him. I still have that old phone I used to use when I needed to contact him.”

Sydney was confused. “I thought the CIA would have confiscated that?” she asked.

He smiled at her slyly. “Vaughn, you didn’t turn it in?” she asked.

“Syd, I would hope you would have a little more faith in me than that. I switched phones every month.”

“Yes I know that. You gave them all but one of them didn’t you?”

He smiled at her again. “I gave them 5 of them and the sixth one was an old CIA cell.”

Sydney smiled and shook her head.

“What?” he said. “You didn’t think I would have learned anything from my kick-ass girlfriend?” he winked at her.

Sydney laughed. “Now, I know why I married you. You’re damn smart.” She whispered in his ear.

“I thought that I might need it.” He said, shrugging.

Sydney’s playful side of this dissolved again as she realized why he would need another phone.

“We’ll have to be careful, Vaughn.” She said.

“I know, Syd. When we get home tonight, I’ll call him on that phone.” He reassured her.

She nodded.

“We’ll be ok, Syd. We always are.” He whispered.

“I hope so, Michael. I hope so.”

TBC

 

And Forever 10

Vaughn got off of the phone with the informant, sighing heavily.

“What did he say?” Sydney asked, as he came over a sat on the couch heavily.

“He can get us the information we need. He’ll call us with instructions on payment and when to meet him in a few days.”

Sydney nodded. “How are you feeling?” he asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

“I’m feeling great.” She said as she laid her head on his lap. She could sense something wrong and called him on it.

“What’s the matter?” she said. He looked down at her.

“I’m just…Like you said. This is supposed to be over.”

Sydney sighed. “Yes, and like you said, we’re going to be okay. I was thinking that maybe when this whole thing is over, maybe I could quit the CIA.” She said quietly.

“If that’s what you really want to do, Then I’m behind you one hundred percent.”

She turned her head on his lap so she could look at his face.

“What would you do, if I quit, would you quit too?” she asked. Vaughn sighed.

“I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t thought about it, Syd. But I have been doing this for almost fifteen years. I’m 37 years old, Syd. I think it’s a little late for me to find a new career.” He chuckled. “But you’re only 30. If you want to quit and, I don’t know, teach or something, you still have that option.”

Sydney smiled at him, so glad that he was so understanding. “I’ll think about it.” She said.

“You do that. Whatever you decide to do, I’m behind you.”

****

After he hung up with Michael Vaughn, he dialed another number.

“You told me to tell you if they contacted me. You were right. They did.” He said into the phone.

The man smiled. “I knew they would. You know what to do.” He said.

“Yes sir.”

TBC

 

And Forever 11

Over the course of the next few months, they still didn’t know who the mole was. Whoever it was knew how to cover their tracks. Sydney had just entered her eighth month of pregnancy and she was as frustrated with the situation as ever.

“Vaughn, seven months! Seven months.” She paced, actually it was really more like waddled, around the living room.

“Hon--” He tried to interrupt, but she kept on like he hadn’t even spoken.

“I mean, I’m pregnant with my first child and yet I’m sitting in my living room with my husband trying to find a mole in the CIA!”

Vaughn got up and gently grabbed his wife by the arms and guided her over to the couch. “Sit down, Syd. I’m pretty sure all that pacing isn’t doing the baby any good. He then knelt in front of her.

“Honey, I promise, we are going to get this guy. We just have to be patient.”

She looked at him with love and gratitude in her eyes.

“You’re so good to me,” she said lovingly.

He smiled. “That’s what I’m here for. Now why don’t we look over some more of these reports, because knowing you the way that I do, no matter what I say you’re going to still want to go over them. Am I right?”

She smiled. God, he did know her.

“I’m taking that as a yes.” He stood up and sat towards the end of the couch. He pulled her into his arms so that her back was pressed against his chest. Vaughn leaned over to get the papers that they had been working on and he propped them on her belly so they could both see them.

“I knew that my beach ball belly would be good for something,” She said as she snuggling against his chest with her head nestled comfortably under his chin.

He chuckled in to her hair. After a few minutes, Sydney began to notice something.

“Oh no…” She whispered.

“What?” Vaughn asked.

“Michael, will you hand me that file over there?” she said, ignoring his question.

He reached over and handed it to her. She noticed it there, too. She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Syd? What’s wrong? What do you see?”

She handed him the files, pointing to the information she saw.

“Vaughn, if you read these….”

He realized what she was saying.

“Oh god.”

She nodded shortly. “Whoever this mole is, he has been leaking information on Project Helix.”

TBC

 

And Forever 12

Vaughn leaned forward and gently scooted out from under Sydney.

“Where are you going?” She asked.

He came out of their bedroom, shrugging his leather jacket onto his shoulders.

“Your dad needs to know this. He had said he was working late tonight. I’ll just go to the Ops center.”

Sydney struggled to get up from the couch. “Well, I’m going with you.” She saw that he was about to contradict her.

“Vaughn. No. I’m going. Remember Michael, pregnant or not, I can still kick your ass.”

He sighed dejectedly. “Ok.”

* * * *
“Dad, we have a problem,” Sydney said. Jack Bristow looked up to see his son-in-law guiding his very pregnant daughter into the room.

“What are you talking about Sydney?” Jack asked as Vaughn tried to get Sydney to sit on the couch. Sydney gave a look but Vaughn shot her the same look. Sydney sank down on the couch. Jack watched this exchange in amusement. Sydney had finally met someone, other than Jack himself, who was just as, if not more, stubborn as she was. He rose and went over to the two.

Vaughn leaned forward with the papers in his hand. He explained what they found.

“Dammit,” Jack muttered.

Sydney nodded solemnly. “What makes this worse is that the date on that paper is September 2003…”

“That’s almost three years ago.” Jack said coming to a fast realization.

Vaughn nodded. “Now we don’t know how long it takes to completely transform someone but...”

“Three years is plenty of time to at least build a prototype and copy someone.” Jack finished.

Vaughn and Sydney nodded grimly.

* * * *
“Procrovski gave them information he shouldn’t have.” He snapped.

“Michael Vaughn’s informant? Procrovski’s loyalties were flexible.”

“Don’t talk to me like you don’t care. They know about project Helix. This could ruin things for me if they find out more too soon.”

“Who are you to talk to me like that? And it doesn’t matter. He’s already dead.”

There was a momentary pause.

“When do I get into place?”

“Not until I tell you too.”

“Understood.”

 

And Forever 13

Vaughn glanced sideways at his sleeping wife. He took one hand off of the wheel to put it on her thigh and as he pulled into the driveway, he shook her awake.

“Baby, wake up we’re home,”

She sighed slightly, but remained asleep. He smiled, got out of the car and went to her side. He opened the door and put one arm under her neck and one under knees to lift her up. He strained only slightly under the weight and was suddenly grateful that in their haste to get to the ops center, they left the front door unlocked. He carefully carried her in their room, laying her on the bed. He pulled her shoes off, then stood up and changed himself. He quietly got into bed and throwing his arm on her waist, hand on her stomach he fell asleep.

* * * *
She woke up the next morning to the familiar feeling of an arm on her waist. She looked down at herself and noticed that she was still in her clothes from yesterday and the memories and the weight of what they found out came rushing back to her. This couldn’t be happening again, she thought. Francie died because of a damn double. What if the next person who died was Vaughn? He was the person closest to her. She couldn’t stand it if anything happened to him or their baby. They were her life.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Vaughn whispered groggily. She was startled to see that were streaming down her face, tears that had soaked her pillow.

“Nothing,” She said, a little too quickly. Vaughn leaned over to see her face.

She sighed. Damn him for knowing her so well.

“I was thinking of this double. Vaughn, Francie died because if this whole mess. What happens if you do too?” she whispered tearfully.

Vaughn slipped out of bed and went to her side. He knelt down so he could look into her eyes.

“Syd. Do you have any idea how totally and completely in love with you I am? I would never willingly leave you. NEVER. I am not going to die, you aren’t going to die, and our daughter isn’t going to die. We ARE going to get through this.”

She reached up and brought her hand to the back of his neck, bringing his lips to hers.

“I love you, baby. Promise me you’ll be careful” She whispered against his lips.

He smiled. “I love you, too. And I promise.”

She suddenly broke out into a huge smile. “Don’t think I didn’t catch that ‘our daughter’ comment, Vaughn.”

He laughed. “I’m telling you, Syd. It’s going to be a girl.”

“What makes you think that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Just a hunch.”

She smiled again. “Well, I personally hope it’s a boy.”

He smiled. “I am going to get into the shower, ok?”

She nodded, knowing that he realized that she needed a few minutes to herself.

A few minutes later, she heard the shower running and she couldn’t help but think. Usually her husband’s reassurances and kisses helped her as they did now.

But they couldn’t stop the dread that soon, something was going to go terribly wrong.

Stop it. She thought. She couldn’t keep doing this to herself. As Vaughn told her so many years before, if she kept blaming herself she would drive herself crazy. She shook all thoughts of this entire mess out of her head and focused on the fact that her husband had just got out of the shower and was standing in front of the mirror with a towel around his waist. Just as she was starting to think of the possibilities and walk in there, the phone rang.

“Hello?” She answered, catching Vaughn’s eye long enough to wink at him suggestively.

“Hello, Sweetheart. How are you feeling?” asked her father’s voice from the other line.

“Well, with what we found last night...”

“No.” Jack interrupted. “How are my daughter and unborn grandchild? Are you resting? Feeling ok? You’re what? Eight months now?”

Sydney smiled. He asked her these same questions everyday and she loved this side if her father. Especially since he had disapproved of her relationship with Vaughn in the start. Things had most definitely changed.

“Geez dad. You sound an awful lot like my extremely overprotective husband. You guys plan this?" She teased.

Jack chuckled. “No. Just worried about you guys.”

“Well there’s no need to worry about us dad. We’re fine.”

“Good. Now I do need to talk to your overprotective husband.”

“Ok.” She covered the mouth piece to direct her attention to Vaughn who already had his pants and undershirt on, figuring he was being called in.

“Hey handsome, phone for you.”

He smiled at her as she handed him the phone.

“Hey, Jack. Yeah, I know I heard that comment.” He said, winking at Sydney.

“Actually Michael, I was hoping you’d do me a favor.”

He had a sneaking suspicion he wasn’t going to like this very much. “Ok...”

“I need you to talk to Irina Derevko.”

He nearly dropped the phone and Sydney looked at him strangely, knowing something was wrong.

“Jack, I...”

“Michael, I know how hard it is for you. But we need information and she won’t talk to me.”

Vaughn sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “What makes you think that she would tell me anything?"

“Honestly, Vaughn? I don’t know. But I’m hoping you will try.”

“Yeah, Jack. I’ll do it. I’ll be in soon.”

“Ok.” Jack said, before hanging up.

Vaughn set the phone down and reached for his dress shirt.

“Baby? What’s wrong?”

“Your dad wants me to talk to your mother.” He hesitated before continuing.

“I mean, I don’t know why I’m still so weary about talking to her. I guess I’m still pissed about what she put you through.”

Sydney sighed and walked over to tie his tie for him.

“I understand and I love you for it. I love you for putting your feelings about her aside when you married me.” She could see him open his mouth to say something and she held up her hand to stop him.

“And before you tell me that I’m not my mother, I am just trying to tell you that I’m here for you. When you need me.”

He smiled that smile. Oh god, that smile. She almost melted on the spot. “I love you.” He whispered.

“Me too.” She kissed him lightly. “Now go.” She said, finishing with his tie.

He kissed her again and left.

* * * *


He walked down the hallway towards her cell. When he got there, she seemed almost pleased to see him.

“Michael. How is Sydney?” she asked.

“I’m not here to talk about Sydney. I want to know the real reason you’re here.” He said, holding her gaze fiercely.

She smiled almost approvingly. “Jack sent you didn’t he?”

He ignored her question. “We found evidence that information about ‘Project Helix’ has been leaked.”

“Yes, Jack told me about the mole. Do you know who it is yet?”

“Do you?” Vaughn countered.

Irina blinked in apparent surprise. “What makes you think that I know anything about this?”

“Dammit, Irina. Don’t play with me.” Vaughn spat out startling Irina again.
She had to stop underestimating this man.

“Mr. Vaughn. I assure you I don’t know who the mole is.”

Vaughn looked into her eyes again and believed she was telling the truth.

“And about project Helix?”

“Sloane was building a proto-type.” She answered.

“How long ago?”

Irina seemed to hesitate before answering. “Three years.”

Vaughn sighed. He still wasn’t sure if he could believe her but it matched up with the information they had found.

“You knew that already didn’t you?” Irina asked.

“I needed to make sure it was true. Do you know who he was planning on doubling?”

“After Ms. Doren died? No. I don’t.”

He seemed to believe this and turned to leave but she called him back.

“Michael,” he turned around.

“Protect your family, Mr. Vaughn.”

He looked at her wondering what that comment had some hidden meaning. Then he left.

* * * *
A half an hour later, after he had relayed the information to Jack, he was sitting at his desk staring at the photo next to this computer. It was one taken a few months ago, after Sydney had started showing. Sydney was sitting on his lap, his hands on her stomach, and her arms around his neck. Will had taken the picture when they had invited him, Jack and Eric for dinner one night. He was startled out of his thoughts suddenly by his phone.

“Hello?” he answered absently.

“Let’s see, by your tone of voice, I’m guessing you’re currently sitting at your desk, staring at that picture and twirling your wedding band on your finger. Am I right?”

He smiled, looking at the gold band he had in fact been twirling around his finger.

“You know me far too well, Syd.

She laughed warmly. “How did it go?”

He sighed then told her everything Irina had told him.

She was silent for a second. “Do you believe her?” she asked.

“Honestly? I don’t know. I mean the woman is a professional liar.” He paused, realizing whom he was talking to.

“Oh geez Syd, I wasn’t even thinking...”

“Vaughn,” she started. “I told you I was here for you when you needed to vent. I did for years to you and you never complained. I’m just returning the favor.”

He smiled. My god, he thought. What the hell did he do to deserve this woman?

“I’m not sure what to think. Part of me wants to believe her...”

“And part of you wants to stay as far away from her as you can get.” Sydney finished intuitively.

“Ok, Syd. You’re starting to scare me.”

She laughed. “You know, I don’t know if you ever realized this, but you are the exactly the same way with me.”

“I am?” he asked.

“Oh yeah. It’s really kind of weird.”

“I know. But I love it.”

“Me too. When will you be home?” she asked.

“Soon. I just want to look things over. Don’t you dare start cooking. You are laying down, right?”

“And in comes my overprotective Michael. I was wondering where you were.” She teased.

“I just want to make sure you and the baby are safe.” He said softly.

She melted. “We are, Michael. Don’t worry.”

“You know that’s not going to happen. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Right before she hangs up, though, he says, “Hey Syd?”

“Yeah baby?”

“About returning that favor of listening to you vent over the years?”

She smiled. “Yeah?”

“You returned that favor three years ago when you married me.”

 

And Forever 14

Irina Derevko paced her cell. She was telling the truth on not knowing who the mole was or Sloane’s double but there was something she did know that Sydney and Michael obviously didn’t.

For the last five years (give or a take a few days) she witnessed their relationship blossom. Those two have an amazing bond.

But it has become more than that. The emotional bond the two share has grown into something more, especially in the last two years.

She smiled. They would figure it out soon enough.

* * * *
Something Sydney had noticed over the last five years she had known Vaughn was that he had the ability to sense when something was wrong or if she needed to talk, or simply to be held. It had scared her at first. She had been lost and was simply too pissed off at the world to care about anyone else, but Vaughn broke through her barriers and a friendship grew. His ability to care about her no matter what was something she always cherished.

But the last three years had some how been different. Definitely a good different, but different all the same.

“Are you thinking again?” a playful voice whispered in her ear.

“Jesus, Vaughn.” She jumped. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry,” he said, kissing her on the forehead and walking over to the end of the couch to lift her feet up and settle them into his lap. “I see you finally decided to listen to me and rest.”

She shrugged. “I thought that I would listen to you, my father and the doctor just this once.” She teased.

“How very gracious of you. What were you thinking about?”

“Nothing much.”

He got the sense that she didn’t want to talk about it.

“What are you reading?” He said, gesturing to the book propped up on her stomach.

“Oh, um... It’s a baby names book.”

He smiled. “Where did you get a baby names book?”

“I got it a few weeks after I found out I was pregnant. But with all of this stuff that’s going on, it was kind of shoved out of the way and we haven’t even talked about names for the baby.” She sad this last part a little dejectedly.

“Oh honey,” Vaughn pulled her into his arms. “I think it’s great. So did you find anything?”

“Um…Well since we decided to be surprised about the gender, I figured we should have names for both ready.”

“Okay...any ideas?” he asked as she made herself comfortable with her head in his lap.

“Vaughn what about the invest...” she started, trying to sit up again, but he quieted her and guided her head back to his lap.

“Baby, we should take a break. Your right we haven’t talked about this. Ideas?”

She smiled and made herself comfortable again.

“Well, I was thinking with the...umcomfortable relationship with my mother we don’t want to put Laura or Irina in there...”

“Syd,”

“No, Michael. It’s ok.”

“Are you sure?” He asked quietly.

“Yes. So if it’s a boy, I was thinking that his name could be William.”

He smiled softly “Thanks.” He said quietly. “And the Middle name?”

“I don’t know yet.” She admitted.

“Ok. Names for a girl?”

“I was thinking Annette.”

“Why Annette?”

“ Well, my middle name is Ann, and it’s French, so it has a little of you and me mixed in.”

“Ok,” he agreed. “Middle name?”

“Um…I was thinking Francine. You know, after Francie.” She said quietly.

“Sounds great, Syd.”

She smiled at him.

* * * *
Will Tippin had been suspicious of Mike and Sydney for the last few days. They had both been acting slightly different. They were both good at what they did though, so anyone that didn’t know the two like he did wouldn’t have seen the difference in their recent behavior.

Now this latest development. There had been a call made to an ex-KGB assassin from in the CIA. Over the last few years, any calls made to dangerous informants of the CIA, like Procrovski, could be traced. Marshall had come up with the equipment to do just that. With Vaughn and Syd’s behavior, he had asked Marshall to keep an eye on those lines for him and Marshall had told of him of the latest call.

He felt terrible to have to spy like this on his best friends, but apparently he had good reason. He quickly got up to go to another office.

“Hey man,” Eric greeted. “Hey, you ok?” he asked upon seeing Will’s face.

Will shook his head. “We need to have a talk with Sydney and Vaughn.”

 

And Forever 15

They were interrupted by a phone call and Sydney sat up slightly so Vaughn could get up and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Mike?”

“Hey Eric. What’s up?”

“Uh could Will and I stop by for a few minutes?”

Sydney saw her husband’s sudden frown and mouth, “What’s wrong?” to him.

He shook his head. “Everything okay?”

“We need to talk.”

“Ok. Sure.”

“Alright. See you in a few.”

Vaughn hung up and turned to his wife.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. Will and Eric are going to stop by.”

Fifteen minutes later, Eric, Will and Sydney were gathered in the living room.

“What’s going on?” Sydney asked.

“Do you guys remember when Marshall developed the technology to track calls to CIA sources that were made inside the CIA?” Will asked.

“Yes...” Vaughn answered slowly, having the sickening idea of where they were going with this.

“Well, we got intel on a call made to Procrovski from inside the CIA.”

“What makes think that it was me who made the calls?” Vaughn asked calmly.

“Dammit Mike!” Eric said, louder than he really meant to. “This is us you’re talking to. Besides, you two have been acting weird these last few days.”

Vaughn and Sydney locked eyes briefly.

“First of all, do you really think I would be stupid enough to call Procrovksi inside the CIA?”

Eric caught that ‘inside the CIA’ comment. “But you have called him.” It wasn’t a question.

Vaughn nodded slowly.

“What the hell were you thinking?!” Will said. “Didn’t you get arrested for that the first time?”

“We have reasons.” Sydney said.

“Yeah? So what are they?” Will asked. “And don’t give me the ‘We can’t’ speech, ok? We’re your best friends. We deserve to know what’s going on.”

They were silent until Vaughn nodded, glancing at Sydney.

“You’re right. You deserve to know.”

They told them everything from finding the corrupted files to the new development on Project Helix.

“Wait. I’ve analyzed those files. I never saw anything out of the ordinary.”

“Will, they were scattered. Whoever the mole is was careful.” Sydney answered.

“How long have you been running this investigation?” Eric asked quietly.

Sydney answered reluctantly. “Almost eight months.”

Will let out a slow breath. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Jack told us not to.” Vaughn answered.

“Jack’s in on this too? Wait, when have you two ever listened to what Jack told you to do?” Eric asked wryly.

“Look,” Sydney said, ignoring his question and grabbing Vaughn’s hand so she could sit up on the couch. “The only thing we should be worried about is this double. Whoever this double is could be anyone. Same with the mole.”

“That’s why you didn’t tell us,” Will realized. “You thought that we were the double or the mole.”

Vaughn sighed. “It was just a precaution.”

“Ok. Wait.” Will suddenly realized something else. “You didn’t make any calls to Procrovski from inside the Ops center?” he asked.

Vaughn shook his head, coming to the realization too. “The mole must have.”

“Why would someone who was so careful to only doctor a couple of files make a phone call inside the Ops center that could be traced?” Eric asked.

“I don’t know. That device that Marshall uses is only a few months old.” Sydney answered.

“We’ll have to find out who hasn’t been around in that time. Meanwhile, we have to keep a close eye. We can’t let this leak to ANYONE. Let’s just keep it between us and Jack.” Vaughn stressed.

Everybody nodded their understanding.


And Forever 16

As Sydney entered her ninth month of pregnancy and the eighth month of their investigation; things had slowed down, but barely. They had found that no other doctored reports had been discovered and the only truly unusual thing that had happened was the reports of Procrovski murder, which had scared Sydney to no end. They had now assumed that they were close in discovering who the mole was, and had a couple of ideas. One was a lower level agent that hadn’t been around when Marshall had developed the phone call tracking device to know it was there. The other person they had a hard time believing it could be him.

Kendall.

Kendall had been in and out of the country for the last few months since 2003 and hadn’t been around much since Vaughn told him his suspicion of the mole.

“Look, we are going to have to VERY careful” Jack stressed to Eric, Will, Sydney and Vaughn who were all gathered in the living room that night at the Vaughn house. A month ago, when Eric and Will had come to them for answers, Jack had been less than enthusiastic about bringing them into the investigation, but what was done was done. “Kendall is a high ranking official. We can’t afford to have him discover that we think it’s him.”

“But you do think it’s him, don’t you dad?” Sydney asked softly from her place in Vaughn’s arms. Vaughn hadn’t let her out of his site for the last few months, but he had become even more protective of her since she had entered her last month of pregnancy. She had stopped trying to get him to stop a long time ago.

Jack nodded. “Yes I do. It makes sense.”

Jack was interrupted by a sudden phone call and Vaughn got up to get it.

A few seconds later, he hung up the phone in frustration and they could all tell he was being called in.

“Kendall?” Sydney asked her angry husband, who nodded.

“Yes. I’ve got to go in.” he said, then looked to Eric and Will. “He wants you guys too.”

They got up and Vaughn went over to kiss Syd on the head.

“Love you.” He said.

She smiled. “Love you too. Call me to let me know what’s going on.”

He nodded and the three men left the house.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Sydney asked. “To let them go by themselves like that when Kendall could the man we’re looking for?”

Jack looked at his daughter and could see she was worried. “There's not an awful lot we can do about it, sweetheart. If Vaughn didn’t go in, Kendall might become suspicious.”


That night, Vaughn still hadn’t returned home, so Jack decided to stay over until he had. He made himself comfortable on the couch in the living room after checking to see that his daughter was sleeping comfortably in her room.

He had just managed to dose off when he heard a sudden cry from the next room. Jack shot up from the couch and raced into Sydney’s room to see her sitting up in bed, her hand on her very very pregnant stomach.

He knew instantly what was going on.

“Daddy,” she choked out. “We need to get to the hospital.”

 

And Forever 17

Jack quickly rushed to get Sydney to the hospital. On the way out the door, he grabbed the nearest cell phone by the front door and rushed his daughter to his car.
*****

Vaughn was mad. Even more than Vaughn being mad was that his wife was going to be pissed. He would have killed Kendall had it not been the fact that he really didn't want to spend the rest of his life in prison. Even if the guy he wanted to murder was an idiot.

His masochistic thoughts were interrupted by the shrill ringing of his cell phone and seeing his
Wife’s cell phone number on the screen, he winced.

"Honey, I'm on my...” he started, but was interrupted by a voice he was surprised to hear.

"Michael, it's Jack."

"Jack? Is something wrong? Why are you calling on Syd's cell?" he asked frantically and Eric and Will looked at him in confusion.

"Calm down, Michael. There is nothing wrong. But you might want to get down to the hospital." Jack said.

"The hospital? Wh..." But he stopped. He felt...something suddenly. "Oh crap. Sydney's in labor isn't she?"

Eric and Will looked at him in surprise, and after promising Jack he would be there ASAP, Will asked, "How the heck can she be in labor? Doesn't she still have a month or so
to go?"

Vaughn nodded, too distracted by the sudden feeling he got, his wife in labor and the meeting with Kendall.

*****
"Ah!!" she screamed as another painful contraction hit her body.

After the pain had passed, she looked sideways to her father. "Daddy, this baby can't come yet. I just entered my ninth month."

Jack planted a kiss on his daughter's sweaty forehead, but before he could respond, the door burst open and his son-in-law burst in.

"I'm here! I'm here!" he said breathlessly, rushing over and taking Jack's place at Sydney's side.

"Yeah," Eric said, coming into the room after him. "After breaking EVERY freakin’ traffic law in the state of California."

"Yeah man. I think you've been married to Syd to long. You've inherited her driving skills." Will said, but backed down when Sydney and Vaughn shot them looks of death.

"Michael," she said, squeezing his hand so hard that he was sure that his wedding band had cut into his middle finger.

"I'm here, sweetie." he said, kissing her forehead.

She seemed to sense something else.

"Michael, what's wrong?" she breathed.

"Honey...” he hesitated and looked at Eric and Will.

"Syd, Kendall's sending me to get on a mission to get 'The Telling'."

And Forever 18

“WHAT?!” Sydney screamed, and waited for the contraction to finish before talking again.

“Why the hell does he have to send you?”

“He said I had to go. Will is going to be on comms here in LA; Eric will be in Hong Kong with me.” He answered softly. “Your dad can’t go because he hasn’t been on field duty for over three years.”

“I know that.” She answered, before squeezing his hand again as another contraction hit.

Suddenly the door opened again.

“Agent Michael Vaughn?” An agent, that must been have fresh out of CST training, asked.

“Yes that’s me.” Vaughn answered without moving from his spot next to his wife.

“Sir, Agent Kendall says he wants to you and Agent Weiss on a plane to Hong Kong now.”

“Does he know that my wife is in labor?!” Vaughn demanded.

“Yes, sir he does.”

“Michael, go.” Jack said. “You’re one of the best. If anyone should do this it's you.”

“Baby, he’s right. Go. Dad will stay with me.” Sydney breathed out.

Vaughn seemed hesitant. Then he glanced down at his left hand his wife held tightly in hers. He carefully guided his hand out of hers and pulled his wedding band off. Sydney seemed to understand what he was doing, and opened her palm so that he could his place the ring there, and folding her hand back up so that she held it tightly in her palm.

“If I can’t be here then at least that part of me will.” He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. He kissed her softly and intertwined their hands on her stomach. He broke the kiss, got up looked at Eric and without another word, he walked out of the room.

“Good luck, Syd.” Will said as he came over and kissed her cheek before walking out of the room himself.

“I’ll take good care of him Syd, Don’t worry. He’ll be back.” Eric kissed her cheek and left.

Jack took his daughter’s hand as the doctor walked into the room.

“We’re almost there, Mrs. Vaughn.”
*****
A half hour later, Eric, Vaughn and a team of five other agents were on a plane to Hong Kong.

“Ok, when I get in there, Agent Weiss will be outside with the teams until I can get the security systems off. Agent Tippin will guide us from the Ops center in Los Angeles.” Vaughn explained, and then turned to Eric.

“When Agent Vaughn gets the security systems turned off and gets to ‘The Telling’, he will let us know and we will be in after him.”

“Any questions?” Vaughn inquired.

There weren’t any.

“Alright, dismissed.”

The agents spread out around the plane and Vaughn collapsed tiredly in a chair.

“Hey, man,” Eric said, trying to comfort his friend. “Everything will be fine.”

Vaughn looked at Eric wryly. “Oh yeah Eric, everything is going to be great, considering I just left my wife in labor while I’m flying off to Hong Kong.”

“Look, Mike, First Jack Bristow is there and you, more than anyone, knows that he will kick the ass of any nurse or doctor that even looks at Sydney the wrong way. And second, they were right when they said you were the best one to lead this team.”

Vaughn shook his head. “Something doesn’t feel right Eric.”

“Would it feel better if we called Jack to see how she’s doing?’

Vaughn smiled. “She’s ok, Eric. Despite the fact that she’s in labor, she’s ok.”

Eric frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I can just feel it. What I’m really worried about is this mission.”

Eric nodded and sat back, realizing that Vaughn just needed to be left alone.
*****
Ten hours later, Will walked into the Sydney’s room where Sydney seemed to be sleeping restlessly and Jack just sat there watching her.

“Is she ok?” Will asked softly.

Jack nodded. “Yes. She managed to fall asleep after her last contraction. Is something wrong?”

“No,” Will whispered. “Their still on the way to Hong Kong. They only had a couple of hours left on their flight when I last checked in.”

“How’s Vaughn?” Jack asked knowingly.

Will chuckled. “According to Eric, he’s a wreck. But he managed to fall asleep. I told Eric I would call with the any news.”

Jack nodded and when Sydney woke up with another contraction, and the doctor walked in.

“Well, Mrs. Vaughn, Are you ready to deliver this baby?”
*****
Eric shook Vaughn awake and he awoke with a start.

“What? Are we there?” Vaughn asked.

“No,” Eric shook his head, trying to keep his face neutral. “We only have about an hour left, you slept for eight hours. But your wife is on the phone.”

Realization appeared on his face.

Eric’s face lit into a wide smile and handed Vaughn the phone.

*****
Will couldn’t stop smiling as he dialed Eric’s cell phone then handed it to a very tired, but elated looking Sydney.

“Hello?” She heard.

“Michael? Guess what?” she looked down at the baby in her arms.

“Come on, Syd” he whined and she could help but smile.

“Baby, you better stay safe and get your ass back here so you can meet your daughter.”

 

And Forever 19

Eric Weiss watched as Vaughn’s smile got wider. The agents that had been hanging around the compartment had gathered around when they heard the about Sydney calling.

“So Annette Francine?” Vaughn asked.

“Annette Francine.” Sydney confirmed. “So Please Michael. Just be careful, Ok? I love you so much, Vaughn.”

“You love me so much? I would have thought that you would be mad that I left.”

“Well, I understand what you have to do. You’re the best. Well, besides me of course.” She teased.

“Ok. Well, I have to go, Syd. J’taime, ma cherie.”

Sydney smiled. “J’taime, Michel.”

“Give my love to the baby too. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“I will, honey. Be safe.”

“I will.” He hung up and looked to the agents around him smiling giddily.

“I have a daughter.”
*****
Jack and Will looked at the elated woman in front of them.

“Congratulations Syd,” Will said softly.

Sydney smiled tiredly. “Thank you. You should probably go. I think they were almost in Hong Kong.”

Will nodded and kissed her on the cheek, but before he could leave, Sydney grabbed his wrist.

“Will, please make sure my husband comes back.”

Will once again nodded and left the room.

Sydney looked down at her daughter. She was beautiful. Her soft brown eyes were closed as the little girl slept peacefully. She had the small cleft in her chin, just like her father, and Sydney also knew that she was going to have giant dimples and little wisps of blonde-brown hair were on her head.

“She’s you and Michael from head to toe.”

Sydney almost jumped. Being so wrapped up in her little girl, she had almost forgotten her father was there.

“Sorry,” she smiled sheepishly.

Jack smiled. “It’s ok Sydney.”
“Do you want to hold her?”

Jack actually looked surprised. “Can I?”

Sydney laughed. “Of course, dad. She is your granddaughter.”

Jack leaned over to grab the baby. She woke up briefly at the exchange before cuddling against her grandfather’s chest. Sydney smiled.

“She is so beautiful, Sydney. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks dad.” Sydney managed before yawning softly.

“Sleep sweetheart. I’ll watch this beautiful girl for you.” Jack looked over at his daughter as he finished his sentence and smiled.

She was sound asleep.
*****
“Base Ops, Receiver I am in position.” Vaughn whispered.

“Copy that, Boy Scout,” Will said and He heard Eric’s affirmation in his ear also.

“Oh Hey Congrats Mike. One beautiful little girl you got over here.” Will said.

“They both are.” Vaughn smiled.

“Oh and Sydney also told me I better get you back safe.” Will said.

“Yeah,” Eric agreed, “Only when she told me that, she threatened to kick my ass if I didn’t. I would have said it was the result of being in labor if she wasn’t like that ALL the time...”

Vaughn smiled. “Just make sure she rests until I get back.”

Eric and Will scoffed. “Mike, I don’t think Syd knows the meaning of rest.” Eric said.

“Good Point.” Vaughn agreed.

During this entire exchange, Vaughn had traveled to the room that was relayed in the Intel.

“Will, why are there no guards here? Is there anything on your end?”

Will looked at the layout of the building on the computer screen.

“No. If you were going to get ‘The Telling’ where are the guards?”

Vaughn’s nervous-ness came back like a punch in the stomach. Something was very wrong here.

“Unless,” Eric started.

“This is a trap.” Vaughn finished.

“Exactly.” Will agreed.

“Alright man. You better go radio silent, just to make sure that if there are guards, you aren’t discovered.”

“OK. Boyscout out.”

Vaughn turned off his Comm. link. He turned the knob on the door and, just as he expected, he found it locked. Putting the bag he was carrying on the ground, he quickly rummaged through it for the password cracker. He found it, attached it to the door and when it was finished he opened the door.

Looking in the room he shouldn’t have been surprised at what he saw.

There was nothing there.
*****
She woke up with a gasp, waking up her father, whom had fallen asleep in the chair after a nurse had come back to take Annette to the nursery.

“Sydney? Are you okay?” Jack asked, seeing the look of panic on his daughter’s face.

Sydney shook her head.

“Something’s wrong dad. Can you go check on Vaughn, please? Something isn’t right.” She repeated.

Jack nodded.
*****
He reached up to turn his comm. Link on, but before he could, he heard a click by his head.

“Don’t.” the voice said. It sounded vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

“Take it out of your ear and toss it on the ground.” The person demanded.

Vaughn reached up and pulled the link out of his ear, tossing it on the ground.

“Put your hands behind your head and turn around slowly.”

Hands locked behind his head, he turned around. “Son of a...” he trailed off. Now he knew why the voice had sounded familiar.

He was staring into his own face. The voice behind him was his own.

“Hi,” The man said and Vaughn’s world went black.
*****
Sydney was panicked. Something definitely wasn’t right. She felt a sudden panic that wasn’t her own.

Now she was panicked.

****
He picked up the Comm link on the floor and smiled at the unconscious figure of Michael Vaughn at his feet. He turned the link on and managed not to flinch at the loud voices in his ear.

“MIKE! ARE YOU THERE?”
He recognized that voice as Eric Weiss’.

“Eric. I’m fine. There isn’t anything here.”

“What?!” Eric and a new voice that he recognized as Will Tippin’s in his ear.

“Maybe This building was evacuated or something. I don’t know.”

Will’s cell phone suddenly rang as he heard Eric tell Vaughn to meet him at the extraction point.

“Hello?”

“Will, Is everything alright? Sydney asked me to call. She was worried.”

Will sighed. “Jack, Vaughn just checked in. There is nothing in that building.”

Jack sighed. “Dammit.” He swore.

‘Yeah. Mike and Eric are on their way home now.”

“Ok, I’ll tell Sydney.”
*****
He turned off the Comm. link after telling Weiss he’d meet him at the extraction point. He knew just how to act. Three years was a lot of time to get to know the person you’ve copied.

He looked down at Michael Vaughn once more.

“Don’t worry.” He whispered menacingly. “I’ll take good care of your wife and child, Mr. Vaughn.”

And Forever 20

He hadn’t had any contact with his boss in the last five hours. He had known that Sydney Vaughn had gone into labor, but he didn’t know what the name of the child was, or even the gender for that matter. He looked at the sleeping Eric Weiss next to him.

He would have to be careful.
*****
Sydney looked up from her daughter as the door to her room opened, and her husband walked in. She smiled at him softly and he smiled back.

“Michael.” She whispered, beckoning him over to her.

“Hey. How are you feeling?” he asked tenderly.

“Tired and a little sore. And this,” she said, gesturing to the baby in her arms, “Is our daughter, Annette Francine.”

She watched as a look of surprise came over his face, thinking nothing of it she watched as he took the baby in his arms.

“She’s beautiful,” he whispered.
*****
His head hurt.

Like hell.

He had woken tied to a chair, his wrists and ankles bound tightly to it. So not only did his head hurt, it felt like circulation was being cut off from his arms and legs.

He was also trying to grasp the fact that he had been the one that had been doubled. It hurt even just to think at the moment, but he had a sneaking suspicion as to why they would need to double him. The worry he felt toward his wife and daughter was also a giant presence in his head.

Daughter. He smiled at the thought. He had a daughter. A baby who, he knew even without even seeing her yet, that she was as beautiful as her mother. His smile faded when he remembered that he might not see his beautiful wife and new daughter. Someone else had replaced him. Someone else would be holding his new daughter.

His head dropped down so that his chin was on his chest. It took him minutes to realize that he couldn’t do it.

He couldn’t hold back the tears.
*****
A few days later, Sydney and Annette were allowed to go home.

Somehow, in all the madness of the last nine months, she and Vaughn had been able to get a nursery set up. Sydney took the baby inside, and tucked her into the nursery before going to join her husband, who was on the couch, twisting his wedding band on his finger.

“Hey,” she said, sitting down next to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” He smiled at her and wrapped his arm around he shoulder.

As she made herself comfortable, she was suddenly overcome with sadness. A sadness, she was sure, wasn’t hers. She had been getting these….emotions (That was the only word she could think of to describe them) more and more over the last few days. She knew that her happiness over her daughter’s birth was overshadowed by her frustration over the mole, but this felt…different. She sat up suddenly, startling Vaughn beside her.

“Syd? What’s wrong?”

“Vaughn, I was thinking that maybe we should take Annette to meet my mother.”

No. he thought. That wouldn’t be a good idea. Sydney seemed to sense his hesitation as something else and made the decision for him.

“Michael, don’t worry. You don’t have to go. I’ll be back in a couple of hours, ok?”

He nodded and a few moments later, he was alone in the house. He reached into his pocket, grabbing the cell phone and dialing the designated number.

“He’s still in Hong Kong. One of the guards there took care of him. I didn’t have time.” He said once that line on the other end was answered.

“Fine,” came the curt answer. “I’ll make my way there. Make sure you get the job done, Mr. Cameron. You’re there to get rid of Sydney Vaughn. I couldn’t get close enough and now you are.”

“Yes sir.”
*****
With her daughter in her arms, she made her way to her mother’s cell. Irina’s eyes lit up when she saw them.

“Your father told me you had the baby.” She said. He wasn’t exactly happy about giving the information up, but she didn’t tell Sydney that.

“She’s beautiful, Sydney.”

“Thank you.” She answered softly.

“What is her name?”

Sydney seemed to light up at this. “Annette Francine Vaughn.”

“Beautiful.” She saw the same look come over Sydney face that she had on when she came in.
“What’s wrong, Sydney? Though, I appreciate the chance to meet my granddaughter, I am assuming by the look on your face that there is something more to your visit.”

“Mom,” she hesitated, continuing after a look down at her baby girl. “You know something? Don’t you? I should be happy, mom. I just gave birth to a beautiful little girl and my husband made it back safely from a dangerous mission, but things are still so messed up.” She held back the tears in her eyes before continuing. “I can’t seem to forget about this mole and on top of that, I keep getting these….bursts of emotion, and before you contribute that to just having a baby, this is different. I don’t think these emotions are mine. So if you know anything ….”

Sydney trailed off and Irina looked at her daughter and she decided it was time to tell her.

“Sydney, these emotions…Can you tell me when they first started?”

“I don’t know. I guess about 2 ½ years ago…” she stopped, realizing the time frame. “’The Telling’” she whispered.

Irina nodded. “When Arvin” she spit his name out like a swear word, “hooked you up to that machine, I knew about some…side effects that he didn’t know about.”

Sydney placed the sleeping baby in the carrier she had brought and set it on the floor with a confused look on her face.

“I can read people’s emotions?”

Irina shook her head. “No. Not people. One person. Those emotions your feeling are Michael’s.”

Sydney looked at her mother as though she had suddenly grown another head. “Mom, that’s...”

“Insane?” Irina interrupted. “Yes. I suppose to any ordinary person it would be. But you are not ‘any ordinary person’, Sydney. Think about it. Those emotions aren’t yours. They’re Michael’s.

Sydney thought about this. “It makes sense.” She admitted. “Can he feel my emotions?”

“He should. Though not quite as strongly as you can read his since you were the one hooked up to ‘The Telling.’

“Why is it that I can only read Vaughn’s emotions and vice-versa?”

“Your bond, Sydney. Surely you have noticed that you two can be very instinctive about each other.”

Sydney nodded. “Even more so in the last two in a half years.”

She was quiet as she let it all process, then she bent down to pick up her daughter’s carrier.

“Thanks for telling me, Mom. Goodbye.”

“Of course, Sydney. Goodbye.”

Sydney walked out of the holding cell area and immediately bumped into Eric and Will.

“Hey, there, Syd. We walked by the monitors and saw you talking to your mom. We thought we’d come and say hi.” Will said.

“Jesus,” Eric said, peeking into the carrier. “She is you and Mike from head to toe. She’s adorable.”

At this, the little girl opened her eyes. “And I have a strange feeling she’s going to have her daddy wrapped around her finger with those eyes, just like her mother does.” Will said with a wink.

“Speaking of, where is Mike?” Eric wondered.

“Oh, he’s at home.”

Eric and Will noticed that her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“Everything okay, Syd?” Will asked.

“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. I’ll see you guys later.”

A few minutes later, she had buckled her daughter in and was buckling her own seatbelt. Before turning on the ignition, though, she turned to look at Annette.

“Well, sweetheart, now all we got to do is find out why daddy’s so sad.”

 

And Forever 21

Something was still bothering her though, she was sure that there was some small detail somewhere that she was missing that was important. By the time she got to her driveway, she still couldn’t figure out what it was. She got out of her car, gathered Annette from the back seat and went inside.

“Hey,” A voice from the living room welcomes her. “How did it go?”

Vaughn gets up from the couch and walks over to her and kisses the baby on the head.

“Fine. It went fine.”

She wasn’t quite sure why she doesn’t tell him what her mother told her.

Her instincts tell her not to.
*****
Four days.

That’s how long he had been sitting in this damn chair. He was only able to keep track of the days because he knew that his daughter would be four days old.

Four days of sitting in the dark. No one had come into the room since he had woken up the first day. That he knew of, anyway. He has been drifting in and out of consciousness from the blood loss on from the wound on his head.

Suddenly for the first time in days, the door opens. Wincing from the sudden flash of light from the outside, he can’t see who walked in the door.

“Mr. Vaughn.” A voice he knows very well said loudly behind him.

“You bastard,” Vaughn gasps out, cringing at the weakness in his voice.

The man laughed. “Well, I suppose I deserve that. But I had to double you, Vaughn. That was the only way to get close enough to your wife.”

“You touch her and I swear…”

He laughs again. “You swear what, Vaughn? You’re chained to a chair.” A sudden resounding snap echoes through out the room as he wrenches Vaughn’s hand back, breaking his wrist.

Unprepared, he screams.

He turns back to door, leaving it open longer than necessary as light glares into the room.

“Goodbye, Vaughn.”

*****
She doubled over as pain shot through her head like a bolt of lightning.

“Syd?” Vaughn rushed over to her. “What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

The pain suddenly went away as abruptly as it came and with Vaughn’s help, she stood up and he guided her to the couch. He sat down first and pulled her so she could sit right next to him, wrapping his right arm around her. She looked absently down at his lap and sees the glint of gold on his left hand.

That’s when  she realized exactly what had been bothering her before.

The memories of the day at the hospital come to her. The day that Vaughn left on the mission.

Vaughn seemed hesitant. Then he glanced down at his left hand his wife held tightly in hers. He carefully guided his hand out of hers and pulled his wedding band off. Sydney seemed to understand what he was doing, and opened her palm so that he could his place the ring there, and folding her hand back up so that she held it tightly in her palm.

“If I can’t be here then at least that part of me will.” He whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. He kissed her softly and intertwined their hands on her stomach. He broke the kiss, got up looked at Eric and without another word, he walked out of the room.

Vaughn had given her his wedding band before he left. So where had he gotten this one?

Her instincts told her not to say anything just as her instincts told her not to tell him what her mother had told her.

“Just a really bad headache. I’m going to go get some aspirin. I’ll be right back.”

He nodded and she went to the bathroom, discreetly grabbing her phone that was lying on a counter by the kitchen. Going into the bathroom, she closed the door quietly and turned on the sink to mask her voice on the phone.

She dialed her father and waited eagerly for him to answer.

“Hello?”

“Dad!” Sydney rushed. “In about 30 seconds, I need you to page me.”

“What? Sydney are you—“

“Please, dad. I’ll explain everything, promise. Just call me, ok?”

“Ok, Sydney. Thirty seconds when you hang up.”

“Thanks.” She said, before hanging up the phone and leaving the bathroom.

“Everything okay?” Vaughn asked from the couch.

“Yeah,” she said softly, moving to the couch, setting her phone back on the counter on the way.

“Ok,” but before he could say anything more, her phone rang.

Vaughn frowned as Sydney went to answer it. “This late? Who would be calling this late?”

She sighed. “Don’t know. Probably Kendall. Hello?” she answered.

“Ok, Sydney. What is this about?”

“Oh hey dad.” She said, looking toward Vaughn.

“Sydney?”

“You want to see Annette?” she asked pointedly.

Jack seemed to get the point. “Bring her to Ops.”

“Ok. I’ll be right there.” She hung up the phone.

“Syd, it's ten o’clock at night. Why can’t he wait until morning?”

Sydney frowned, her suspicions growing. “He says that he is working late and could use a pick-me-up. I’ll be back soon, okay?” she said already heading towards her daughter’s room.

“Do you want me to come?” he asked, following her.

“No, Michael. It’s late. You have been working pretty hard. You should just rest. I’ll be back soon.”

And she was out the door.

*****
Panic.

He had fallen unconscious again after his ‘visitor’ and woken up to panic. A panic that wasn’t his. Because he wasn’t panicked, he was down right terrified and pissed off all at once.

He had never felt anything so strong before. He didn’t have long to deal with it though, because his world, once again, went black.

*****
“Sydney what is going on?” Jack asked as she rushed into the office with a carrier holding his sleeping granddaughter.

“Dad.” She seemed to struggle with it for a second. “I th—think.” she couldn’t say it.

Jack grabbed the carrier, put it gently on his desk and guided his panicked daughter to a chair. “Sydney, calm down sweetheart, calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

“Dad, I think that Vaughn is the double.”

 

And Forever 22

All Jack could do was stare at his near-hysterical daughter incredulously.

“Don’t look at me like that, dad.” She snapped. “Do you remember the day Vaughn left for the mission to Hong Kong?”

Jack just nodded.

“You remember that Vaughn gave me his wedding band before he left?” Jack nodded again. “Well, earlier, after I came back from seeing my mother, something was bothering me. Like there was something that I was missing. Then I saw the wedding band on Vaughn’s finger. But how could he have been wearing a wedding band when he left his with me. Between Vaughn leaving and giving birth to Annette, I forgot all about the ring. I must have dropped it or something.”

“Ok, but Sydney, that is hardly concrete proof that he is the double.” Jack reminded her softly.

“I know.” She admitted. “But when I came to talk to mom before I left, she told me something about ‘The Telling’…”

Jack cut her off. “That you and Vaughn can feel each other’s emotions. Yes I know.”

Now it was Sydney’s turn to stare at her father incredulously. “You know? How the hell do you know?”

“Your mother told me. I went to see her to. I knew that she was hiding something, but the only way that she would tell me what it was, was if I updated her on your pregnancy.”

Sydney sighed. “Well, anyway, before the ‘wedding ring’ detail clicked, a pain shot through my head, dad. So far I have only been able to feel emotions but what if Vaughn’s emotions were so high, that he was in pain and I felt it?” She was starting to cry again and Jack went around his desk to comfort her.

“Ok, honey. If this is true, we’ll find him. But first, we should go to the hospital and see if maybe they found Vaughn’s ring. Just to be sure. Do you want to take Annette with us?”

Sydney shook her head. “No, I’ll call Will and see if she can stay there for the night. I don’t want her anywhere near that house if he is the double.”

A half hour later, after she had dropped Annette of at Will’s house, assuring him that they would explain everything later, her and Jack walked up to the receptionist's desk.

“Hello. I’m Sydney Vaughn. I just gave birth to my daughter a few days ago and my husband lost his wedding band. I was wondering if it was found here.”

The woman looked between her and Jack. “This is my father, not my husband.” Sydney snapped. “Did some one find the ring? It had an inscription in it.”

The woman had the grace to blush at her mistake. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Vaughn. I’ll go check.”

“Thank you.”

A few minutes later she walked back in with something closed in her palm.

“Is this it?” she asked, holding the object out to Sydney. She took it and looked at the inside for the inscription.

She instantly found it. “S.A.B to M.C.V Oct. 1 ’03 Always” she whispered.

“Are you, ok, Mrs. Vaughn?” The nurse asked her, seeing her face pale.

She managed a tight smile “Yes. I’m fine. Thank you.”

Her and Jack turned around and left the hospital.

“I’ll have a full security team at your house as soon as I can.” Jack said. “Be careful, Sydney.”

Sydney nodded and got into her car.

She walked into the door fifteen minutes later and set her keys on the counter.

“Hey. Where’s Annette?” Vaughn asked coming up to kiss her lightly. She managed not to cringe when she kissing him back.

“I decided to leave her with my dad for the night. I thought we could use the night alone.” She whispered, going around him to the bedroom.

He smiled. “Hmm. Sounds good. But,” A sudden click behind her head made her freeze. “Don’t you think that you should tell Will that? When he called earlier, to ask what was going on, He seemed to think he was supposed to have Annette for the night.”

“Where the hell is my husband?” she demanded.

He laughed. “I don’t think that you’re in any position to demand anything. But I do want to know how you found out.”

“The wedding ring.” She said. She had to keep him talking long enough for the tactical team to get here, “Vaughn left his wedding ring with me before he left.”

He scoffed. “I did panic when I didn’t see it on his finger. I should have known that it would be what got me caught.

“No sudden moves, Mrs. Vaughn. You wouldn’t want your daughter to live without both of her parents, now would you?”

“You have every intention of killing me any way.” It wasn’t a question.

“You’re right. I do.”

A shot went off.

*****
More Panic.

He couldn’t handle it anymore.

But then, a sudden feeling of relief spread over him. It wasn’t strong, but it was there.

He smiled tightly through his blurry vision. He knew he had a concussion and had tried to stay awake, though he had fallen in and out of consciousness for the last few days. She’s ok. He thought, before he lost consciousness again.

*****
A strangled cry from behind her made her open her eyes. In front of her stood Eric Weiss and a team of ten men behind him.

She turned around and looked down at her feet to see the double on the floor holding his left hand.

“Syd!” Eric rushed over. “Are you ok?”

Sydney nodded in a daze.

“Eric, Can you hand me your gun?”

Eric looked at her puzzled, but handed her the gun, and was startled when Sydney slammed the butt of it into the double’s hand.

“AH!” he screamed.

“Who the hell are you?”

He looked up at her but didn’t answer.

She slammed the gun down again.

“Answer me, dammit!”

When he didn’t, the gun slammed into his head and he was unconscious.

Eric looked at her. “So he is the double?” He asked quietly.

Sydney nodded. “Get him out of here,” She said to the men behind him.

“Sydney, you need to get some sleep. Don’t take this personally, but you look like hell.”

Sydney shook her head, briefly catching the clock in the microwave to see that it was 2:30 in the morning.

“No, Eric. He has been around for at least four days. Almost five. We need to find Vaughn.”

Eric nodded. “Okay.”

*****
Sydney had been dozing on and off at Vaughn’s desk for the last hour when Will walked in with Annette.

“Syd, Eric explained everything when he called. Do you know where Mike is yet?”

Sydney shook her head. “No, but my dad is with the double at the moment.” She said, taking Annette from her carrier and holding her close.

Will got the hint and shuddered, imaging all the things Jack was doing to the double to get him to talk.

Sydney looked down at her daughter as the little girls eyes opened.

“Hey Annie. Hey, baby girl.” She cooed softly.

Will smiled at the site.

“What is that smile for?” Sydney asked.

Will shook his head. “It’s great to see you like this Sydney; it’s great to see you so happy.”

Sydney smile faltered a little bit.

“I’ll be even happier,” she said, looking down at her little girl. “When I have my husband back where he belongs.”

 

And Forever 23

He was still gone.

She had been sitting at his desk for…well she wasn’t quite sure how long. Eric and Will had both dropped by periodically over the last hour but both could tell she wanted to be alone. Will had eventually just taken Annette home with him because Sydney refused to leave to ops center, just in case they had news.

It was finally starting to sink in that he was gone. That he had been gone for the last five days. Even Worse: She hadn’t known it until a few hours ago. He hadn’t even met his daughter yet.

That was when the tears started. Abruptly, someone grabbed her arm, gently stood her up, steered her to any empty conference room and embraced her.

Once her sobs had subsided, she looked into her father’s sympathetic but seemingly satisfied face.

“He told you, didn’t he dad? Where is Michael?”

“He’s still in Hong Kong, Sydney. A team has already been dispatched.”

“I want to be on the team.” The sadness had now been over-ridden by defiance.

“Sydney...”

“Dad, don’t you dare tell me that I can’t be on the team that brings him back. I felt him in pain, dad. You can’t know what its like to know that the person you love is in pain, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”

Jack shook his head. “You're right about one thing, Sydney. No one can I ever have the connection that you and Michael do. On more than one level. But I had a wife once and I still have my daughter. This is why you need to stay in Los Angeles, Sydney. Your daughter needs you here . We’ll get him back. I promise.”

Tears gathered in Sydney’s eyes once more. “Dad, in the last hour or so, there has been nothing. I haven’t felt any emotions from him at all . He could be unconscious or…” she couldn’t, no, wouldn’t say the word. “So please, hurry and bring him back.”

“I will Sydney. I’ll call you the minute we get into LA.”

*****
It had been eight hours. She had gotten Annette from Will’s house and had gone home to lie up against the head board on Vaughn’s side of the bed, Annette securely in her arms. She hadn’t been able to sleep. It was ten o ‘clock in the morning and she had been up all night. Just thinking and talking to Annette. Telling her just what an amazing man her father was.

She jumped suddenly at the sound of the phone next to her. She snapped it up before the first ring even stopped.

“Is he home?” she asked frantically.

“Yeah, Syd.” She heard Eric’s voice over the line. “Bring Annette to the Naval Hospital. It’s about damn time Vaughn met his new little girl.”
*****
It was normally a ten minute drive to the Naval Hospital from their house.

She made it in five.

She jumped out of the car, unbuckled Annette from the backseat and rushed inside to the receptionist’s desk.

“Hi, I’m Sydney Vau...”

“Syd!” she heard behind her. Eric was waving over to her while he stood next to Jack and Will.

“In here!” He motioned to the room they were standing outside of.

Without a word to the three men in the hallway, she rushed into the room.

IVs had been inserted in his arms, his head was bandaged and there was a splint on his left wrist. But he was alive she thought.

“Are you Sydney Vaughn?” a doctor asked. Sydney hadn’t noticed her in the room.

“Yes. I’m sorry.” She said sheepishly, holding her free hand out to the woman.

The doctor, Kathleen Harmon, she saw from the nametag, took her hand and smiled. “Perfectly understandable, Mrs. Vaughn.”

“Oh, Sydney please.” She wasn’t sure why, but she had taken an instant liking to this woman. “Is he ok?”

She nodded. “He lost a lot of blood so we’re transfusing it.” She gestured to one the IV bags. “He also had a broken wrist. The break will take a longer time to heal, because, according to his chart, he broke the same arm a while ago.” Sydney nodded absently. “He was also mal-nourished from not having anything to eat or drink the last five days, but you’re husband will be just fine, Mrs. Vau...Sydney.”

Sydney smiled tightly. “Will he wake up soon?”

She smiled. “He should in the next few hours. Your daughter only looks a few days old. I’m assuming he hasn’t met her, yet?” she asked, gesturing to the baby in the carrier.

Sydney nodded. “She’s five days old. He left when I was in labor with her.”

“Well, he’ll wake up, soon. I imagine he wants to meet his new daughter.” She smiled kindly.

“Thank you, Doctor Harmon,” Sydney whispered her eyes back on Vaughn.

“Kathleen, please. If you need anything, let me know.”

Sydney nodded again and Kathleen left the room. Sydney sat in the chair next to his bed and sat the baby carrier on the floor next to her. She leaned over and took his right hand tightly in her own and glanced at the left hand with the splint on the wrist. She noted the absence of his wedding band and pulled it out of her pocket and slipped in on his finger, being careful not to jar his wrist.

She brought his hand to her lips and kissed it before laying her head down next to him and falling into a restless sleep.

And Forever 24

“Is that her?” he rasped painfully. His throat was so dry.

Sydney looked up sharply from the baby and saw the beautiful green eyes she loved so much.

She smiled and nodded, standing up. “Yes. Michael Vaughn, meet Annette Francine Vaughn. Your daughter.” She said softly, putting the baby in his arms.

“I was right.” He whispered, looking down at her. Sydney looked at him confusedly.

“She’s just as beautiful as her mother.” Sydney smiled widely and leaned down to kiss him.

They were still kissing a few moments later, so they didn’t hear the door open.

“Geez, you guys. Did you figure that since you have traumatized everyone at Ops that you now have to traumatize your poor daughter, too?” Eric teased.

They broke apart, smiling.

“Just kidding.” He said, walking in with Will behind him.

“How are you, man?” Will asked.

Vaughn looked between his wife and daughter and despite the pain in his throat, he managed to say, “I’m great,” with a smile.

“Well, we just wanted to check and see if you were awake yet and see how you were. And to make sure that you didn’t go at it right in front of Annette.” Eric teased.

Sydney rolled her eyes. “Eric, can you give us a break. Geez. Give him some time to re-adjust to your clever sense of humor.” She said sarcastically.

“Yeah, Eric. What the hell kind of friend are you?” Vaughn said with a smile.

“Well, well, well. We have ourselves a couple of regular comedian’s right here, don’t we?” Eric said playfully. “Do you want us to take Annette so you guys can have some time alone?”

“No.” Vaughn said quickly. “She can stay.”

Will nodded knowingly. “Ok. We’ll come by later. See you guys. Oh and try not to traumatize Annette.” He said, knowingly leaving before objects were thrown.
Sydney looked at Vaughn and noticed that he was still swallowing painfully.

“Do you want me to go get you some water?”

He nodded and smiled at her.

“K, You and Annette get to know each other.”

He smiled widely at her and she leaned down to kiss him.

“I love you.” She whispered against his lips. He leaned his face to hers once more, kissing her.

“Me too.” He rasped.

“I’ll be right back with your water.”

He nodded and she turned to the door.

Once she was gone, he looked down at the baby in his arms.

“Hey, sweetie.” He whispered. “Daddy missed you, honey.” He continued talking to her despite the pain in his throat.

Sydney had opened the door by this point, but he hadn’t noticed, so she left it open just enough so she could see and hear into the room as he continued.

“And whatever mommy told you about me while I was gone is completely not true.”

She laughed lightly at this before she could stop herself.

“I think that mommy’s spying on us, Annie.” He said playfully.

She walked in and handed him his water. He drank it gratefully, his throat feeling much better.

“For your information, Mr. Vaughn,” She said with mock hurt in her voice and sitting on the edge of his bed. “I told her that I love you and her more than anything. And…That I missed you.” She said, the playfulness in her voice had disappeared and she looked at him with all the love in her eyes that she could muster.

He didn’t take his eyes off of hers as he answered. “I missed you, too, Syd. Can I ask you something?”

“Of course. Anything.”

He hesitated before asking. “How did you know it wasn’t me?”

She sighed. “Your wedding ring. He was wearing one and I remembered that you had left yours with me.” She said, gesturing to his left hand, where his ring was securely on his finger.

He nodded, but was surprised at what she said next.

“It took me too long, Vaughn.” She whispered tearfully.

He looked at her in disbelief. “Sydney, don’t you dare blame yourself.”

“Vaughn, he was here for five days. Five days that you weren’t there and I didn’t even know it…”

“Stop. Just stop. Come here.” He said and she helped him scoot over so she could lie next to him. “Sydney, it was because of you that I’m back. Five days. That’s all. It could have been a hell of a lot longer. So please. I’m back. Don’t blame yourself for not figuring it out sooner.”

“There’s something you need to know.” She explained everything about ‘The Telling.’

He shook his head when she was done. “Man, our lives sound like a bad Sci-fi movie.”

“I wouldn’t change a thing.” She said, leaning up to kiss him.

“Me neither.” He said when they had broken away.

“So what happened exactly? How did you get caught?”

“The double. He ambushed me in the room where ‘The Telling’ was supposed to be. Nothing was there. He was behind me, knocked me out. But after that, I don’t remember an awful lot, Syd. I was unconscious most of the time. Except…” he stopped, something was looming in the back of his mind.

“What?” she asked softly.

He shook his head, instantly regretting that move as white hot pain shot through it. He gasped and closed his eyes and Annette was removed from his arms and Sydney’s arms were suddenly around him.

“Hey, it’s ok. Just take it easy.” Sydney whispered, holding him until the pain abated.

“I’m ok,” he gasped, opening his eyes. “Where’s Annette?” he asked.

“She’s in her carrier on the chair, Michael.”

She laid him back, ignoring the sudden pain in her head too. “Are you alright?”

He smiled. “I can feel that.”

She frowned. “What?”

“Your concern. And...relief.”

Sydney shook her head, smiling.

“Hey, Do ya think maybe I could hold Annette some more, I have five days to make up for.”

“Of course.” She said, gathering the baby and putting her back in Vaughn’s arms.

“She’s gorgeous, Syd. I’m sorry that I wasn’t…..”

“Vaughn.” She interrupted sternly. “Don’t you dare start blaming yourself for this. I think Eric and Will are right; we’ve been married too long. You’ve picked up my ‘self-guilt’ trait.”

Vaughn looked at her inquisitively.

“I mean that in the nicest way, honey.” She said sweetly.

He smiled, refraining from shaking his head. “I love you.” He whispered.

“I love you, too.” She said. She kissed him once more and laid gently on his shoulder, listening as Vaughn started talking softly to Annette once more.

Listening to her husband’s patient voice, she was soon asleep.

And this time, it wasn’t restless.

 

And Forever 25

Jack walked in softly to a great sight. Vaughn was holding Annette in his arms, talking to her and Sydney was sound asleep against his shoulder.

“You’re good with her,” Jack whispered, sitting in the chair next to the bed.

“Thanks,” he smiled softly at his father-in-law before turning back his daughter.

“I’m surprised that you’re not asleep too.” Jack said, motioning to Sydney.

Vaughn smiled again. “Me too. But I wanted to stay up with Annette. I know that five days might not seem that long, but...”

“Actually, Michael. I know that five days without seeing the people you love most is an eternity.”

Vaughn nodded knowingly. “Yeah. I told Sydney that five days wasn’t that long and knowing me like she does, she would have known that I was lying, but those five days…. What was worse was that I knew that there was someone here that shouldn’t be, knowing that someone replaced me for five days and not being able to do a damn thing about it.”

Jack smiled softly and shook his head. “That is exactly what Sydney said about you. She said something to the effect of knowing that you were in pain, but not being able to do a damn thing about it.”

Vaughn looked confused.

“Did she tell you what her mother told her about The Telling?” Jack asked in response to his look.

“Yeah. But she didn’t tell me she could feel my pain, too.”

“I don’t think it was that she could feel you’re pain. She thought that maybe your emotions were so high and that you were in so much pain at the time that she felt it.”

Before he could respond to that, though, Sydney stirred.

“Hey beautiful.” Vaughn said.

She smiled sleepily at him “Hey. How are you feeling?”

“I’m ok.”

She looked at him skeptically, knowing that wasn’t true.

He chuckled. “Ok, ok. My head hurts, so does my wrist for that matter.”

“The doctor said that you’re wrist would take longer to heal because you broke it before.” She said, and then she looked down at Annette.

“Hey, there, baby girl.” She cooed. “What’s daddy been telling you ‘bout me? Huh?”

“Nothing you haven’t told her about me.” Vaughn answered playfully.

Jack watched this entire exchange in amusement. “You guys make one handsome looking family.” He said.

“Oh, hey, dad.” Sydney said sheepishly. “I didn’t realize you were there.”

Jack smiled. “That’s ok, sweetheart. I love seeing you so happy.”

Before Sydney could respond to this, the door opened.

“Ah, Mr. Vaughn, It’s about time you wake up and meet you’re beautiful little daughter there.” He said to Vaughn before turning to Sydney. “Hello, Sydney.” She said kindly.

“Hello, Kathleen,” she smiled and Kathleen walked over to Vaughn’s IVs.

“So, How are you feeling, Mr. Vaughn?” she asked.

“Well, since you and my lovely wife seem to be on a first name basis, please call me Michael.”

“Ok, Michael, You can call me Kathleen.”

“Kathleen, this is my father Jack Bristow.” Sydney said. Once introductions were done, Kathleen turned to Vaughn once more.

“So, Michael, How are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

She nodded and adjusted one of the IVs in his arms.

He sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Now if you take it easy, and stay off of that wrist for the next six weeks, you can go home tonight.” She said. “Make sure that you eat too. We re-hydrated you by IV, but you’ll need real food.”

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll go get your prescription filled out for your pain medication. See you all later.”

“Bye.” The three of them said simultaneously and she left the room.

There was a comfortable silence in the room before Vaughn spoke up.

“Did you guys find out who…um…doubled me?”

Sydney looked at her father. “I don’t know. Dad was the one who ‘interrogated’ him.

“Well, he refused to tell me who he was working for, but he gave up Vaughn’s location and his name.”

“So,” Sydney asked. “Who is he?”

“His name is Jonathon Cameron.

“Cameron….”Vaughn whispered. “Sydney, does that sound familiar too you?”

“A little bit.” She admitted.

“Jack, could you call Eric and have him bring me a file with my father’s name on it? He knows where it is.”

“Sure.”

Fifteen minutes later, Eric walked in with a file in his arms.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“We are looking up a man’s name. Jonathon Cameron.”

“In your dad’s file?” Eric asked, confused.

Vaughn nodded as Eric handed the file to Sydney since Vaughn was holding Annette. She leaned the file over so he could read it too.

“Oh man...” he said.

“What?” Eric asked.

“I put the list off all of the men Irina Derevko killed in my father’s file…” Vaughn started.

“There’s a man in here. Named Nathaniel Cameron. He left behind his wife and son.” Sydney finished.

“Let me guess.” Eric said. “His son’s name is Jonathon.”

“Exactly.” Vaughn sighed and shifted Annette in his arms. He looked at Jack. “Is he still alive?”

“Yes. Barely, but he is alive.”

“I want to talk to him.” Vaughn said automatically.

“Vaughn...” Sydney said, knowing it was futile. She could feel his defiance.

“No. Sydney, I want to talk to the bastard that separated me from my wife and daughter for five days.”

She sighed. “Ok.”

“You can do it tonight. After you get out of the hospital.” Jack said.

“Alright. I’ll let Will know what’s going on.” Eric said, standing up.

“K, bye Eric.” Sydney said.

“Bye All.” And he was gone.

Sydney looked sideways at Vaughn to see him shift Annette again.

“Your arms asleep, isn’t it?” She asked with a smile on her face.

He looked at her sheepishly. “Yeah.”

Jack smiled. “I’ll take her for a few minutes.”

“Um, ok.” Vaughn said uncertainly, handing the baby off to Jack. Sydney smiled at his tone and ran a hand through his hair.

Sydney looked at her husband adoringly. “I love you.”

He smiled at took her hand.

“I love you too.”

 

And Forever 26

At six o ‘clock that evening, the doctor’s released him and he and Jack had driven to the ops center. Sydney had insisted on going with them, but Vaughn had pleaded with her to take Annette home and she had given in. Once they were at the ops center, Jack lead him to the room Cameron had been locked up in.

“Knock on the door when you’re done,” he said. “Oh and here.” He handed Vaughn his gun. “Be careful.”

Vaughn nodded and walked into the room, stopping momentarily. It was really bizarre to see yourself strapped to a table.

“Well, Well.” Cameron said snidely. “It looks like you survived.”

Vaughn recovered and looked the man over. He would never want to be on Jack Bristow’s bad side.

“You don’t look too much better.” Vaughn said, matching his tone. “Who are you working for?”

Cameron laughed. “I have to give you points for getting right to the point, but if I’m not going to tell Jack Bristow, then I sure as hell am not going to tell you.”

Vaughn walked over to him, taking one of the fingers on his right hand which, amazingly, wasn’t broken and snapped it back, causing Cameron to scream.

“You're right. I’m not Jack Bristow, but you know what he is capable of, and judging by your bandaged hand, my wife had a hand in that when she found out that you weren’t me. How would you like to go against both of them?” Vaughn asked, still keeping a hold on the finger he’d just broken.

He watched as Cameron’s eyes widened at the prospect, before he covered his….uneasiness.

“Go ahead.” He whispered.

Vaughn shook his head. “See, Jonathon, Can I call you that?” He asked, but kept going before he could answer. “What doesn’t make sense to me is how you would give up my location and your name, but not give up the name of your employer.”

Cameron stayed silent and Vaughn patted an obviously broken shoulder, causing him to wince.

“Well, why don’t you sleep on it,” He slammed the butt of his gun into Cameron’s head just enough for him to pass out.

He turned around and knocked on the door.

*****
Sydney could sense his frustration, so when she heard his car pull up in the driveway; she met him at the door.

“Hey baby,” she greeted, kissing him.

He was disoriented for not even a second before kissing her back. “Hi. Wow. What a greeting.”

Sydney took his hand, leading him to the living room.

“I could tell how frustrated you were; I thought you could use it.” She said, sitting down on the couch as he sat next to her. “I take it didn’t go well?”

He shook his head. “Nope. I broke one of his fingers and threatened to have you and your dad in the same room with him and he still wouldn’t give it up.”

“I mean,” he stood up to pace. “Why would he tell us where I am, then not tell us who he’s working for? Besides the fact that I can’t remember who it was that was in the room with me in Hong Kong.”

He stopped and turned around when he sensed her confusion. “What?” he asked.

“What do you mean ‘who it was that was in the room with me’?”

Now it was his turn to be confused.

“You said, ‘besides the fact that I can’t remember who was in the room with me in Hong Kong.’”

He shook his head. “I…don’t know. I…Oh god, Syd.” He sat dejectedly on the couch with his head in his hands.

“Hey,” she whispered tenderly, making him look at her. “It’s ok. Can you remember who it was that was in the room with you?”

“No. But I think, that was when my wrist was broken.”

“Ok.” She nodded. “Well, why don’t we go to bed. You need sleep.”

She got up and led him to their room. They changed and slipped into bed with Sydney’s head on his chest. She looked up at him. “Are you ok?” she asked.

He nodded and wrapped his arms tighter around her. “Yeah, Syd. I’m ok.”

She nodded and fell asleep in his arms.

*****
Her daughter’s cries woke her up at around 3 AM. Sydney disentangled herself from her husband, and slipped out of her room and into Annette’s.

“Hey, baby girl,” she whispered, scooping her up. “You gotta quiet down, honey, or you’re going to wake daddy up. What’s wrong? Huh? What’s the matter?”

The little girl quieted down in Sydney’s arms. “There you, go. Shh. You’re ok...” She looked adoringly at her daughter. “You know what, sweetie?” she asked. “Daddy’s right. You are so beautiful.”

“I told you how amazing your daddy is, right? Because your daddy is the best person I know. See, me and daddy have a bit of a crazy job, and sometimes I wonder how he could fall in love with me in this kind of world we live in.”

She was startled by a voice behind her. “This. This is why I fell in love with you.”

He walked into the room. “Because in this crazy job, you let me see you .”

Love. She could feel it simply emanating from him. She could only hope that it was coming just as strongly from her.

“Yes, Sydney. I can feel it, too” he walked in and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She smiled up at him with tears in her eyes.

“God. I love you, Michael.”

“I love you too, Syd.”

They both looked at their daughter, who had fallen asleep on Sydney’s chest, and kissed her on the forehead, settling her in her crib. Vaughn stood behind Sydney, his arms wrapped around her waist; her arms wrapped her arms around his. They just stood and watched their daughter.

“This’ll all be over soon.” He whispered in her ear. She turned her head so she could kiss him.

“I know.”

 

And Forever 27

Sydney was laying in bed waiting for her husband to bring Annette in, when the phone rang.

“Hello?” she answered groggily.

“Sydney, you and Michael need to come to the Ops Center.”

Sydney sat up at the urgency in her father’s voice. “What? Dad, what’s wrong?”

“Just get down here. Bring Annette if you have to.”

“Ok. We’ll be right there.” Sydney hung up the phone just as Vaughn walked in with Annette in his arms.

“What’s wrong? Who was on the phone?”

“My dad. He needs us to come in.” she said, getting out of bed.

“What about Annette?”

“We’ll bring her with us.”

*****
“Dad!” Sydney and Vaughn rushed over to him.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

Jack turned to Vaughn.

“Michael, what happened with Cameron last night?”

“Jack, I told you. What is this about?”

“Just humor me.”

“Ok, I tried to get information out of him. When he wouldn’t tell me anything, I broke one of his fingers and I might have hurt one of his shoulders too, and then knocked him unconscious with my gun.” Vaughn explained.

“So he was alive when you left that room?”

“Yes. What is this about?” he asked again.

“You know that Cameron was injured and chained tightly to that table.” Vaughn nodded and he continued. “Because of this, we only had one guard at his door. Well, last night, sometime after you left, the guard told me that he got a call and was away from his post.”

“Wait...” Sydney interrupted. “Are you saying he escaped?”

Jack shook his head. “No Sydney. Cameron is dead.”

“What?!” That asked in unison.

“How in the hell did that happen? Because I know that he was alive when I left.”

“I assume that the call the guard got was a distraction so the killer could get in. It was a single gunshot wound to the head.”

Vaughn sighed. “Dammit. Though killing the bastard would have put a smile on my face, we just lost our source of information.”

“Not necessarily. He was, of course, smart enough to put the cameras on a feedback loop, but we need to know who was here and who had access at the time.”

Sydney sighed. “This is never going to end.”

Vaughn wrapped his arm around her shoulder.

“You guys go home. You need rest. I’ll call you with information.”

They both nodded and turned to go home.

*****

That evening, besides periodic phone calls from Jack, was uneventful. Sydney noticed that Vaughn was really tired, so she made him lay on the couch while she made dinner and Annette lay in the playpen across the room.

“Hey Syd? Can you come here?” he called.

She rushed into the living room. “What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

“I should be asking you the same thing.” He stated, sitting up and patting the spot beside him. “I can feel it, Syd. You’re worried. I can also tell you’re trying to hide it. So what’s wrong?”

She smiled sadly. “This thing of feeling each other’s emotions is getting weird.”

“Getting weird?” he asked. “It’s been…” he stopped, realizing what she was doing. “Ah nice try, Syd.”

She sighed and leaned against him. “Vaughn, we just had a baby. You weren’t even there for her birth...” She saw his mouth open to say something, and felt the hurt. “Oh god, Vaughn. No. I don't blame you for that. I’m just saying that we just had a baby, you were kidnapped doubled and found all in a five day period.”

He nodded knowingly. “You’re not the only one that is overwhelmed, honey. I am too. But this all end. We just have to keep telling ourselves that.”

Sydney couldn’t voice her answer to that because the phone rang.

Vaughn frowned. “Didn’t your dad just call?”

Sydney nodded. “They must have found something. Hello?”

He listened to her end of the conversation and could tell it was important.

“Ok. I’ll be right in.” She hung up the phone and went for her jacket.

“Hey, where are you going?” he asked, getting up to follow her.

“That was Eric. My dad found something.”

“Ok. I’ll come with you.”

“No, Michael. You stay with Annie. You need rest any way. You just got back.”

“Yeah and you just had a baby..”

“Five days ago. I’m fine. But you look tired.” She stopped when she sensed the worry. “If it will make you feel better, I’ll call you when I get there.”

He smiled softly. “We are going to have to go to Barnett or something and see if she can teach us to control that.”

“Deal. I’ll see you later.” She put her jacket on, leaned up to place a lingering kiss on his lips and left.

He went to the playpen that held his daughter and smiled down at her. “Well, sweetheart, I guess it’s just you and me.”

*****
She pulled into the Ops parking garage and smiled. She had been dead-on when she said he was tired. She could feel his exhaustion.

She climbed out of her car and turned around sharply when she heard something. Seeing nothing, but still feeling as if some thing was there, she leaned back into the car and quietly grabbed the gun they kept in the glove compartment.

“You won’t be needing that.” She heard, hearing a click behind her head.

“Put it down on the seat. Slowly.”

Thinking it would be good to respond, she set the gun on the seat.

“Very good. Now turn around.”

She turned around slowly, gasping as she caught a glimpse of her attacker’s face.

Then everything went black.

 

And Forever 28

Suddenly for the first time in days, the door opened. Wincing from the sudden flash of light from the outside, he couldn’t see who walked in the door.

“Mr. Vaughn.” A voice he knew very well said loudly from behind him.

“You bastard.” Vaughn gasped out, cringing at the weakness in his voice.

The man laughed. “Well, I suppose I deserve that. But I had to double you, Vaughn. That was the only way to get close enough to your wife.”

“You touch her and I swear…”

He laughs again. “You swear what, Vaughn? You’re chained to a chair.” A sudden resounding snap echoes through out the room as he wrenches Vaughn’s hand back, breaking his wrist.

Unprepared, he screams.

He turns back to door, leaving it open longer than necessary as light glares into the room.

“Goodbye, Vaughn.”

He woke up with a start.

“Oh god.” He whispered to himself.

He jumped up from the couch and reached for the phone, dialing his friend’s cell phone number.

“Weiss.”

“Eric! Are you still at work?” he asked urgently.

“Yeah. Some debrief for Kendall.” he answered confused. “Why?”

He closed his eyes tightly. “Did you call here?” He looked at his watch, seeing that he had to have been sleeping for at least a half an hour.

“No. Mike, what’s wrong?”

“I’ll explain later. Is Kendall around any where?”

He sighed, frustrated. “No. He told me that I could have this stupid thing in tomorrow morning, but then told me that he was leaving early and by the time he got back, it better be on his desk.”

“Don’t bother Eric. I have a strange feeling that between kidnapping my wife and making our lives hell, he won’t be back.”

“WHAT?! What do you mean he kidnapped Sydney?”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes. Can you call Will for me and have him meet us at the Ops center?” he said, ignoring the question.

“Yeah. I can do that. Get here soon.”

Vaughn hung up and rushed to Annette’s playpen, where she was sleeping soundly.

“Come on, sweetheart.” He said, lifting her carefully. “We have to go figure out how to get mommy back.”

*****

She had woken up by herself a few minutes ago, her hands and feet chained to a chair. Her lip was split open and bleeding from having the gun slammed across her face, but other than that she was fine.

More than fine actually. She could tell that he knew that she was gone and she also knew who the mole was.

“Hello, Sydney.”

Speak of the devil, she thought wryly.

“Kendall.” She said, coolly.

“I’m so sorry about this, Agent Vaughn.” He said, not sounding the least bit apologetic.

“I’m sure you are. You couldn’t get your double to kill my husband, so now you kidnap me? I am assuming that you killed that double.”

He laughed. “He was willing to do the job because he was the son of one of the men your mother killed. Ironic that you married the son of another man your mother killed. Yes. I did kill him. He was already giving away too much information.”

“He refused to tell us who he worked for.”

He waved her comment away. “Yes, I know that. But Jack already got enough from him. You knew where Vaughn was and his name. Sooner or later, he would tell you who the mole was.

“But Sydney, You were wrong about one thing. This was never about killing your husband. We doubled him so we could get close enough to kill you.

*****
“Are you ok, man? You look like you’re on the verge of a mental breakdown.” Will asked a haggard looking Vaughn with Annette in his arms.

Vaughn looked at Eric. “You didn’t tell him?”

“I didn’t know anything!” he said exasperatedly. “Oh and Jack’s on his way, too.”

I’m right here. Michael, I think I should take her. You look like your going to collapse.

Vaughn handed the baby to Jack and collapsed into the chair.

“Good.” Jack said. “Now explain.”

Vaughn looked at them.

“Kendall is the mole. He kidnapped Sydney and if we don’t get there soon, he’ll kill her.”

*****
She wasn’t sure who was panicking more right now, her or Vaughn. She managed to hide hers as she regarded Kendall with disgust.

“Oh yes. You. I could never get close enough to you without raising suspicion to do it myself. I already knew that Sloane had started rebuilding Markovic’s device before your mother killed him.”

“You were working for Sloane.” she realized. Pieces were starting to fall into place. “That’s how he got to my apartment before Vaughn did 2 ½ years ago. You knew that that Francie was the double. That’s why you were so adamant about sending Will to Camp Harris.”

“Well done, Sydney.” He sneered, leaning in close to her face. “But again, you are wrong about one little detail.”

“What?” she spat out.

“I wasn’t working for Sloane, Sydney. Sloane was working for me.”

 

And Forever 29

She stared at him incredulously for a second…before bursting into laughter, serious body shaking laughter.

Kendall just stood there until she composed herself.

“Why in the hell would Arvin Sloane be working for you?” she said, still trying to hold more laughs in.

“You see, Agent Vaughn, We planned the takedown of the alliance together.”

Sydney suddenly turned serious. “Why?”

“I was just as fascinated with Rambaldi as Sloane was. We knew that the Alliance was in our way. We used you and Jack to take them down, put Ms. Doren in place. Then we would insure that she framed Mr. Tippin to make sure that no one would get catch on the she was the double, not Tippin”

“But Sark intercepted Will on his way to Camp Harris.”

“As Sark himself said, His loyalties were flexible. Which is why he's still in prison. That way, I could make sure that he didn’t get in my way. Before Vaughn found the doctored documents, I couldn’t kill Sark. He was the one that led us to Mexico City and to Sloane.”

“But why would you go after….unless…Sloane double crossed you didn’t he?” she realized. “That’s why he kidnapped me.”

“Yes. I didn’t have any intention of kidnapping you. I wanted to kill you, but once Allison knew that you knew Tippin was the double, I figured that she would take care of that for me. Obviously, I overestimated her talents.” He sneered.

“Why did Sloane kidnap me, then?”

He looked at her. “Like you said. He double crossed me. He had wanted someone to use ‘The Telling’ on and he wanted that person to be you.”

“Why me?” she asked quizzically.

“Because he knew that if he could get you and erase your memory, then he might have a chance to get his goals accomplished without you to know anything from the time you find out about SD-6.”

Sydney was confused. “That doesn’t make any sense. He told me that it could be done selectively. That he could erase any part of my memory he wanted. If he needed me to forget the two years I was a double, then why did he only erase the two years that he held me for?”

Kendall shook his head. “Sorry, Agent Vaughn. I’ve already told you too much.”

“What does it matter?” she stated matter-of- factly, “You’re going to kill me anyway.”

“You’re right. I am. Sydney, didn’t you find it co-incidental that he erased two years of your life when he kidnapped you…” he left it off to finish herself.

“Two years was how long I was a double.” She looked at Kendall. “He couldn’t use it correctly, could he?”

Kendall shook his head. “No. He wasn’t supposed to be able to. He knew he had too erase four years of your life because he told you too much about his plans. But he couldn’t use it to its whole potential, so two years of your life were erased, but not the two years that really mattered...”

“His plans weren’t even true. We had every one of them checked out when I could remember everything.”

Kendall waved the question away. “I know that, Sydney. I made sure I assigned you to do that. He double crossed me when he took you to test ‘The Telling’ and then hid the damn thing. I thought that Allison had killed you.”

“But when Vaughn came to my house and reported me ‘missing’ and Allison dead...”

“Yes. I was hoping that Sloane was simply going to use ‘The Telling’ on you and then kill you.”

Then she realized something. She had never thought before how it was that she got to that alley in Hong Kong. She had a sneaking suspicion how she got there now.

“Well, I’ll leave you here to let all of this new information sink in. I’ll be back soon.” And with that he was gone.

As much as she was loathe to, she took the man's advice and thought about the information she was given. It was apparent that he didn’t know about the side-affects of ‘The Telling’. She’d have to find a way to let that work to her advantage.

*****
Eric, Will and Jack looked at Vaughn. “Mike,” Eric started.

“No! Think about it, you guys. Who sent me on that mission that got me captured? Who had the access that Kendall had to get into Cameron’s room unnoticed to kill him?” He turned to Jack.

“Jack, I remember him being in Hong Kong in that room with me. He was the one that broke my wrist.”

Jack nodded. “He was gone for a couple of days. But if we checked flight records we couldn’t prove that he had even left the country.”

Vaughn nodded grimly. “I know. He told me something about getting close to Sydney to kill her. I just can’t figure out why he needs to kill her.”

“There’s also no way that we could know where she is. Kendall must be out of the country by now.” Will said.

Jack nodded. “Yes. Vaughn...” he stopped when he looked at his son-in-laws face. Eric followed Jack’s line of site and noticed it too. His face was devoid of emotion.

“Mike?” he questioned waving hand in front of his face. “Are you ok?”

He was unresponsive.

“Michael?!” Jack bellowed and Vaughn seemed to snap out of it

“Hey man. Are you ok?” Eric asked.

Vaughn shook his head, still in a daze. “Sydney is still in LA.”

“What?!” Eric and Will said in surprise.

“How could you know that?” Will asked.

Vaughn seemed to have to snap out of his daze a little more. “Jack, can you explain to them what Derevko told Sydney? I need to go talk to her myself.” He said, ignoring Will’s question.

Jack seemed to have a small understanding about what was going on. “Yes. Meet us here when you’re done.”

Vaughn nodded and walked toward the cells where Irina was held.

 

And Forever 30

“Michael,” Irina said. “Sydney said that they’d gotten you back.”

Vaughn got right to the point. “Sydney’s gone.”

Irina’s eyes widened in surprise. “Who took her?”

He hesitated. “Kendall.”

She sighed. “Do you know where she is?”

“I think she’s still in LA, but we don’t know where specifically.”

“ You think?”

Vaughn nodded. “That’s what I came to talk to you about. Sydney told me what you told her. That we could feel each other’s emotions. Is it possible for me to see…” he searched for the right word. “Images?”

“Images? Like what?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure.” He admitted. “It just kind of...came into my head. I’m not sure how to describe it. It wasn’t much more than a flash.

“I suppose it’s possible.” She said thoughtfully. “But, obviously, Since Sydney was the one subjected to ‘The Telling’ that it is stronger in her than you. It would have only come in a flash because your mind wasn’t able to get the whole thing.”

“But could I send her images or a message?”

“Maybe. Sydney would have to be concentrating to, for it to work.”

“How do I do it?”

“Michael, this isn’t a good idea right now. You have no idea how your mind might react.”

“I know that. But I have to try.”

She nodded, impressed by his resolve. “Close your eyes.”

He did and she continued. “Concentrate only on Sydney. Block out everything else around you…”

He could feel her. Just a little but farther…

Michael? It wasn’t Irina.

“Syd?” He asked disbelievingly.

“Yeah. Strange, huh?”

“Uh yeah. That’s a bit of an understatement, honey. Your mom wasn’t even sure I could do this.”

“I know.”

“Are you ok?”

“Yeah. I’m all right. The mole is...”

“Kendall. Yeah I know.”

“You remembered.” She stated knowingly.

Suddenly he could feel her slipping, his head was suddenly pounding. Sydney felt it too.

“Vaughn, I don’t think your mind can handle this! I’m…”

Irina watched as Vaughn suddenly broke out into a sweat. She looked behind him and was startled to see Jack coming up to the cell. Irina brought her finger to her lips to quiet him. To her surprise, he nodded and turned to Vaughn.

They watched as he let out a grunt of pain and dropped to the floor.

*****
Sydney opened her eyes with a gasp. She wasn’t sure if he had understood her when she told him her location. It had taken forever to send the first image and she couldn’t sense any emotions from him right now, so she assumed it had been too much for his mind to take and he had passed out.

All she could do now was hope he was ok and that he would come for her.

 

And Forever 31

“SYDNEY!” Vaughn bolted upright on the bed.

“Mike, Hey, your fine.” Eric tried to comfort him.

“Eric, I’m not fine! Wait, where’s Jack?” He looked around the room to see he was in medical services. “How did I get here?”

“Mike, man, calm down. Jack is with Annette. He was getting her to bring her here. And we carried you here after you passed out four hours ago.”

“Four hours! I’ve been out for four hours?!”

Eric nodded. “Yeah. The doctor said you had a severe concussion. We were watching you and Derevko on the screens and got worried when you mentioned ‘contacting Sydney’. By the time Jack got down there, you were passed out on the floor.”

“Eric, I know where Sydney is.”

His eyes got wide. “You mean it worked?”

Vaughn nodded and stood up, ignoring the pain in his head. “Yes. Sydney managed to tell me before I lost consciousness. I was right, though. Kendall is the mole. He is the one that took Syd.”

They were half way down the hallway when they met with Will and Annette. Vaughn rushed over and carefully grabbed his daughter, holding her close. “Where’s Jack?”

“With Derevko. Apparently, you said something right before you passed out. Jack didn’t catch what it was and went to see if she did. He didn’t think you would remember.”

Vaughn shook his head. “Call and tell him it doesn’t matter. I do remember. I know where she is.”
*****
When she first realized where she was, it had surprised her that he would bring her here. He had left her alone since their enlightening first meeting and she was grateful for that. She could tell that Vaughn was worried, but there was relief mixed in, too.

That had to mean he knew where she was. He had caught it. She also knew that she hadn’t felt anything from him before now which meant that he was unconscious for at least 4 hours.

“Come on, Michael.” She whispered aloud. “Hurry up and get me.”

“Oh don’t worry, Mrs. Vaughn,” said a voice in front of her. She looked up. So much for being a super spy. She thought.

“They don’t even know your still in LA.”

She smiled secretively; glad it was dark enough that he wouldn’t see it.

The smile however, however was wiped off of her face by a metal coldness under her chin.

“It was great working with you, Sydney.

She could feel him. He was coming for her.

Come on, she thought. Come on.

“Was it, Agent Kendall?” she asked. “Because I found that it was a bitch to have to work with you.”

He was almost here.

“Oh come on, Sydney” Kendall’s cold voice interrupted her thoughts. He back away a little and brought the gun level with her shoulder, pulling the trigger.

*****
“AH!” Vaughn screamed, bringing his hands to head as pain shot through it suddenly. Eric, Will and him were with ten agents were in a van that was bringing them to their destination.

“Mike?” Eric and Will bent over him. “You ok?”

Vaughn shook his head. “He shot her.”

“What?!” Eric asked. “Is she...”

“No.” he answered forcefully, “No. But if we don’t get there soon, she might be.”

*****
She seethed painfully, but refused to scream.

“Sydney, don’t you think that it’s ironic that you’ll die here?” Kendall asked, bringing the gun back to its spot under her chin. “This is where you and your charming husband used to meet.”

Blood was dripping down her arm, but she could tell Vaughn was closer to her. She just had to hang on.

“You kill me, and my husband and father will make sure that you wish we had never met.” She spat out.

“Your damn right.” said a new voice. Kendall turned around.

“How did you..?” he asked.

Vaughn walked into the room. “You see, there are a few things we didn’t tell you.”

Kendall moved behind Sydney, holding the gun to the back of his head. “You can shoot me, Mr. Vaughn, but it will be just enough time to shoot your wife here.”

Sydney could feel his uncertainty, though by looking at him, you couldn’t tell it was there. She caught his eyes and nodded, knowing he would understand.

Vaughn looked back at Kendall.

“That’s a chance I’ll have to take.”

He pulled the trigger.

 

And Forever 32

Sydney swung her chair around, hitting Kendall in the knees just as Vaughn pulled the trigger, hitting Kendall in the chest.

Vaughn dropped the gun he was holding to the floor and rushed to Kendall, putting two fingers to the man’s neck for a pulse.

There was none.

Vaughn and Sydney eyes met and he rushed over to get the restraints off of her as Eric, Will and the rest of the team rushed in.

“You guys ok?” Eric asked, as the men went over to gather Kendall’s body.

They nodded wearily and held each other tightly.

It was finally over.

*****
“So Kendall was behind everything?”

Two days later, after Sydney’s shoulder had been checked out and she had been released from the hospital, Jack, Will, Eric, Vaughn and Sydney were all gathered in the Vaughn living room. Annette was held tightly in Sydney’s left arm, her right arm in a sling.

Vaughn nodded, answering Eric.

“Yes. He was, apparently, just as obsessed with Rambaldi as Sloane was. He started working with him to bring down SD-6.”

Sydney continued the story. “He was hoping that when Allison found out that we knew that Will wasn’t the double, that she would kill me. But Sloane kidnapped me and instead of just killing me, he used ‘The Telling’ on me, wanting to erase enough of my memory to make me still loyal to him. But he could use it right and erase two years of my life.”

“And because of ‘The Telling’, you two can read each other’s minds.” Will said.

“Not quite. We are going to Barnett tomorrow to learn to control it so we don’t drive each other crazy and to see if we can actually be in each other’s minds so that Vaughn doesn’t pass out again.”

“Jesus. You guys have an interesting life.” Will said.

“I think that’s understating it.” Eric teased.

“Well, I have to go,” Jack said. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow?”

Sydney nodded as Jack bent down to kiss her forehead. “Bye dad.”

An hour later, they were closing the front door after Eric and Will had left. Vaughn wrapped his arms around Sydney’s waist, looking down at Annette over her shoulder, careful not to put any pressure on it.

“I love you to damn much to let you drive me crazy.” He whispered, remembering her earlier comment.

She smiled, turning carefully in his arms. “Are you sure about that?” She asked.

Vaughn looked down at the baby nestled against Sydney’s chest and back up to his wife’s face.

“Oh yeah”

 

And Forever Epilogue

“Our daughter is going to be the most spoiled rotten kid in the world. You know that right?”

Sydney Vaughn looked up at her husband, amongst all of the birthday gifts that were piled on the table for their daughter.

“I know." she smiled. "But it’s not everyday that our daughter turns 1.”

“You’ve got a point.” Vaughn walked over to the couch and swiftly gathered Annette from her mother’s arms.

“Hey!” Sydney said, but she really didn’t care. Over the last year, one of her favorite activities was to watch this man with their daughter.

“My little girl’s turning one, huh, beautiful?” he cooed.

“Yes she is.” Sydney said, just the doorbell rang.

“Oh! That’d be Eric, Will, Dixon and my dad.” She said, running to the door.

An hour later, after enough toys and gifts were given to Annette to last a lifetime, Sydney had one more left.

“There you are.” Vaughn said, standing up with his daughter planted on his hip.

Sydney handed a small envelope to her husband. During the last year, with help from Barnett, it had been much easier to control their feelings, only letting the other feel them when they wanted them to. Though they were still working on the ability to actually read each other’s minds. They were far enough in their progress that Vaughn could receive an entire conversation before it was too much.

“Syd?” he questioned, shifting Annette in his hip. “What’s this? It isn’t my…” he trailed off, seeing what was in the envelope.

“Syd,” he said slowly. “This isn’t what I think it is, is it?”

Sydney nodded. “Yes, Michael. That’s an ultrasound. I’m pregnant.”

The room exploded and Sydney and Vaughn embraced.

“Damn Mike. Another kid we all get to corrupt.” Eric cracked.

“Yeah, because god knows you haven’t corrupted Annie enough.” Vaughn said sarcastically.

“Damn straight.” Will and Eric said at the same time.

“Congratulations, you two.” Jack said, coming over and embracing Sydney then Michael.

“Thanks Jack.” Vaughn said.

Dixon came over next and embraced Sydney. “I’m so glad you’re happy.” He said into her ear.

Sydney smiled and Dixon went to shake Vaughn’s hand.

“I’d like to thank you, Michael”

Vaughn looked at him quizzically.

“Thank you for making our girl here so happy.”

“Of course.” Vaughn said, shaking his hand.

They all settled down again.

You’re really pregnant?

She reached over and pulled Annette out of his arms and back into hers, and then she took his hand.

Yes. I love you, Michael.

Vaughn turned to her and smiled.

I love you too. Toujours.

Sydney smiled. Et à jamais

THE END