CATEGORY: S/V
RATING: PG
CONTENT WARNING: mild language
SPOILERS: Small ones for 'The Box', 'The Prophecy' and 'The Coup'.
SUMMARY: Just where is Michael Vaughn?
DISCLAIMER: All publicly recognizable characters and places are the property of ABC, Touchstone, JJ Abrams and Bad Robot Productions. This piece of fan fiction was created for entertainment not monetary purposes and no infringement on copyrights or trademarks was intended. Previously unrecognized characters and places, and this story, are copyrighted to the author. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
AUTHORS NOTES: This is my first Alias fic. A huge thanks must go to GG, beta extraordinaire. Thanks hon!
FEEDBACK: Yes Please! I love to know what you think.
Copyright � Jez, August 2024.
Sydney hurried to the warehouse, checking her watch with a grimace. Will had been in a particularly bad mood and it had taken longer than normal to get out of the house for her scheduled meeting. She looked up as she entered the warehouse, ready to apologize for her tardiness, only to stop as she caught sight of the person waiting.
"Nice of you to finally make it, Agent Bristow," the man greeted. "My name is Agent Haladki, perhaps we can get started?"
"Where's Vaughn?" she asked immediately.
"I've taken over as your handler," he replied, a smug grin on his face.
She gave him a piercing look. "Where is Vaughn?" she reiterated, her voice getting sharper.
"Agent Bristow, I do not believe that is your concern. Now, shall we get onto your counter-mission? I do believe you have a plane to catch."
Sydney felt like punching the guy, but knew that she wouldn't get the counter-mission if she broke his jaw. Besides, she could tell Haladki was trying to rile her; she'd just have to find another way to find out what was going on. She listened with growing agitation as Haladki gave her the counter-mission, taking the CIA issue camera and heading straight for the door, as soon as he'd finished.
"I look forward to debriefing you when you return," he called after her.
She turned, ready to ask him again where Vaughn was, but could see in his eyes he was just daring her to ask. Suddenly she understood; he was the one hassling Vaughn about their 'relationship'. The last thing she wanted was to add fuel to the fire.
She turned and left the warehouse, getting out her cell phone and dialing Vaughn's number as she got into her SUV. She cursed as she got his voice mail, knowing that she couldn't leave a message. Hanging up, she thought for a moment before dialing her father's number.
"Hello?" he answered gruffly.
"Dad? It's Sydney. Can you talk?"
He cleared his throat. "Not right now, I'm in a meeting. Can it wait?"
She sighed. "I guess. I'll talk to you when I get back from London."
"Bye." He hung up, without so much as a good luck.
She closed her eyes against the sudden heaviness in her heart. Why couldn't she have a normal relationship with her father? Was it so much to ask that he show her a little affection? She felt like calling Vaughn to talk, then remembered that he was unreachable. It was the first time that she hadn't been able to contact him and it was a scary feeling. Where could he be?
*****
Sydney cursed herself for the thousandth time as she headed to the warehouse four days later. The mission had almost ended in total disaster, thanks to her inability to get Michael Vaughn out of her head. She was worried about him and the more she thought about it, the worse the scenarios became. What if they'd decided that they were getting too close and had him transferred? What if SD-6 had seen him and had him killed? She shook her head, determined to get some answers this time.
"I want to know where he is," she demanded, as she strode into the warehouse.
Haladki looked up, his face a picture of innocence. "You'd like to know where who is, Agent Bristow?"
"Agent Vaughn. I think I deserve some answers as to why my handler has suddenly changed."
"If they feel that you need to know, I'm sure you'll be informed. Now this will be a quick debriefing. We got the pictures..."
"Don't you dare dismiss me!" she shouted.
"Agent Bristow, I don't like your attitude. I am here as your handler. Now I realize that you're not used to these meetings being conducted in a professional manner, but this is how it should be carried out. You give your report, I tell you anything that I feel you need to know and then we go our separate ways. Is that understood?"
Sydney got close to him, her face inches from his. "Are you enjoying your little power trip, Haladki? Does it make you feel like a man?"
"You may be the CIA's number one double agent, but don't think that means your above reproach, Bristow."
Sydney stayed in his face, seeing his eyes flicker and knowing she was intimidating him. "Do you have any idea what I could do to you? It really isn't a good idea to piss off someone who is trained to kill anyone who gets in her way."
Haladki swallowed hard. "Are you... are you threatening me?"
Sydney grinned, hearing the tremor in his voice. He was scared, but she could also see that he wasn't going to tell her about Vaughn. "Bite me, Haladki," she muttered, turning and heading out of the warehouse. She heard him calling her back, demanding she debrief, but she continued walking and got into her car.
As she drove off, she once again called her father. "We need to meet," she told him as soon as he answered. He gave her a place and a time and she hung up. She'd tried Vaughn's number as soon as she'd got back from her mission, but once again she'd reached voice mail. She hit the steering wheel. Where in the hell was he? It wasn't like Vaughn to just disappear without telling her. He wasn't like that and he knew she'd be worried about him.
She got to the caf� where she was to meet her father, ordering herself a cup of coffee while she waited. She looked up, spotting her father heading towards her. She waved to alert him and he was soon sitting down opposite her. "What did you want to see me about?" he asked.
"I want to know what's going on," she told him, taking a sip of her coffee to hide her nervousness.
"What do you mean?"
"Where's Vaughn? Why has he been replaced as my handler?"
Jack gave her a surprised look. "I didn't know he had been. I've been out of town on SD-6 business for the last two days."
She looked over at him, her eyes tearing up. "Dad, I'm worried something's happened to him. I can't reach him on his phone and Haladki won't tell me what's going on..."
"Get a hold of yourself, Sydney. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation. I know Devlin was... concerned with Agent Vaughn's sometimes rash behavior. Perhaps he had him removed."
Sydney shook her head. "If that were the case, then Vaughn would have told me and he'd still be answering his phone. You don't think that SD-6..."
"I haven't heard anything, but I'll check it out." He looked at his daughter for a long minute. "Sydney, I'm concerned that you and Agent Vaughn have gotten too close."
"Dad..."
"It's dangerous, for both of you."
"Dad, for the first time since I started this, I have someone that I can tell everything to. Do you have any idea what that's like, to not have to bottle everything up inside?"
Jack looked at his daughter and realized that he couldn't deny her this. He wasn't the kind of father who could openly show his feelings to his child. He wasn't the kind of father who she could turn to when she needed a shoulder to cry on. How could he deny her the one person who she felt safe to be herself around? "I'll check out what's going on and get back to you," he told her, getting to his feet.
"Thanks, Dad," she told him, her voice sincere.
"Now, I have to go. I've got a meeting with Sloane in half an hour." He said a quick goodbye and headed off.
*****
Two hours later, Sydney was sitting at home, waiting by the phone. Of course, to the casual observer she was researching a paper for school. She sighed, looking at the cordless phone that sat at her elbow. As if on queue, it rang, making her jump. She picked it up and willed herself to stop shaking. "Hello?"
"Sydney, it's your father. That favor you asked? I'm sorry but I'm not going to be able to get to it for a few a days. I've got to go out of the country straight away."
She swallowed. "How can I find out?"
"Just leave it until I get back. I'll find out, just be patient." He paused. "Don't do anything stupid, Sydney."
"I'll see you later, Dad," she replied, before hanging up.
She sat there for a moment, unsure what to do. Her mind agreed with her father. She should wait until he came back and found out what was going on. But her heart... her heart was screaming for her to get off her butt and find the man that had come to mean so much to her.
In the end, her heart won out and she rose to her feet. "Francie?! I'm going out for a while!"
Francie walked into the room. "Where are you going?" she asked.
Sydney shrugged, feigning indifference. "I might go to the pier or something. I just need some air."
"Be careful," Francie told her, giving her a hug.
"Always," Sydney assured.
*****
This hadn't been what she'd had in mind when she'd discovered his home address. It had been shortly after she had started working for the CIA; before Vaughn had become her most trusted confidant. She had wanted to check out who this man was that would be involved in possibly sending her to her death. She'd done some checking and had memorized his address. That way, she knew how to find him should he turn out to be against her. She shook her head as she got out of her SUV. It was ironic that she was now using that address because she was worried someone else had harmed him.
She'd been careful, she'd checked for tails, but she took one more glance around as she walked up the steps to the front door. She slipped in the door behind a young couple, too wrapped up in each other to be concerned about her. A quick glance at the mail boxes told her he was on the third floor, apartment 308.
She took the stairs, not wanting to be in the elevator with the two lovebirds. Once she got to the right floor, she stopped, questioning what she was doing. This could get her killed. This could get him killed. It could jeopardize everything they had worked for. She still found herself outside his door, knocking gently.
She held her breath as she heard footsteps, getting the sudden idea that maybe he didn't live there anymore and they just hadn't changed the names on the mailboxes. That thought was pushed firmly from her mind as the door opened and Eric Weiss gaped at her.
"What in the hell do you think you're doing here?!" he hissed, dragging her inside. He looked quickly up and down the hall. "What if you were followed? You want to risk everything for a bedside visit?"
"I wasn't followed," she told him. "I just want to know what's going on."
"What do you mean 'what's going on?'" he asked, walking back into the living room.
Sydney followed him, wondering what he'd meant by a 'bedside visit.' She entered the room and stopped dead in her tracks at the sight. There he was, Michael Vaughn. He was lying on the sofa, covered by a blanket to his waist and sound asleep. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest and couldn't contain the tears that welled as she realized he was okay.
"Sydney?" she heard Weiss question, his voice concerned.
"I thought for sure he was..." She paused then, looking at Vaughn closely. He was pale and she could see the tell-tale red mark from where an IV had been inserted in the back of his left hand. She turned to Weiss, eyes wide. "What happened? Was it SD-6?"
Weiss stared back at her. "SD-6? Sydney, weren't you told anything?"
She shook her head. "No. Haladki wouldn't tell me anything and Dad hadn't heard. I know I shouldn't have come here, but no one would tell me anything and I was worried something had happened to him."
"Well, something did happen to him, but unless SD-6 has some new weapon that gives a person acute appendicitis, then I think we can rule them out." He grinned, trying to lighten the mood.
"Appendicitis?" she asked, incredulous. "I had so many scenarios running through my head, but none of them included him coming down with appendicitis."
Weiss nodded. "Yeah, it shocked us as well. It was a pretty close by all accounts." He nodded towards the kitchen. "Come and get some coffee. You look like you could use it."
She gave Vaughn one last lingering look before she followed Weiss into the kitchen. "Tell me what happened," she said, as he went about making coffee.
"He said he wasn't feeling well, but he knew SD-6 was briefing you for that mission, so he shrugged it off. He really didn't look good and we tried to tell him to get himself checked out, but he wouldn't listen. Then, just after we got your drop, he doubled over in pain. I took him to the hospital and they took him straight into surgery. The doctor thinks if we'd waited another hour, his appendix would have burst."
Sydney shook her head in disbelief, looking back into the living room to reassure herself that he was okay. "All because he wanted to be there for me," she murmured to herself. She was struck by the selflessness of the man she had come to depend on so much. "Why wouldn't Haladki tell me?" she asked, turning back to Weiss as he handed her a mug of coffee.
"That little weasel was probably trying to get some more dirt on Vaughn," Weiss spat.
Sydney looked up at him. "Is he really that vindictive?"
Shaking his head, he started pacing. "That little shit has been out to get Vaughn since he was promoted. He has no idea! Look at what happened because he never told you! I swear this guy..."
"Turn down the volume, Weiss!" they heard a weak shout from the living room.
Sydney's heart jumped at hearing his voice. She walked slowly out of the kitchen, seeing him lying there. She watched as he grimaced, obviously trying to move into a more comfortable position. "You should be in bed," she told him quietly.
He jumped at the sound of her voice, letting out a groan as his tender stomach protested. "Sydney?" he asked, hardly believing his own eyes.
"Hi," she answered, her voice barely above a whisper. She just looked at him for a long moment, before slowly moving over to the sofa.
"What are you doing here?" His fuzzy brain was trying hard to process that she was in fact in his apartment.
"I was worried about you," she replied, moving to kneel beside him. "Haladki wouldn't tell me why he was my handler and I didn't know what was going on."
"Son of a bitch!" he cried, moving to sit up. He immediately regretted it as pain swept through his lower abdomen.
"Lay still, Mike," Weiss admonished, bringing him some pills and a glass of water.
Vaughn took them gratefully and then lay back. "You know, Eric, you're gonna make a good mother one day," he quipped.
"Yeah, well if you'd have just stayed in the hospital like they wanted you to, then I wouldn't have to baby-sit."
"You're still supposed to be in the hospital?" Sydney asked, her voice full of concern.
Vaughn shot his friend a glare while muttering, "I'm fine." He looked back at her, seeing the concern in her expressive brown eyes. "I'm fine," he repeated, his tone gentle and reassuring. "You shouldn't have come here, Sydney. You shouldn't have taken that risk because you were worried about me."
"You do the same for me everyday," she pointed out. "You always take risks for me. It's about time I did the same for you."
"It's my job," he tried to explain.
"No, it isn't," she interrupted. "What you do for me is above and beyond the call of duty for a handler." She looked back at Weiss, "which you're not going to tell Devlin about, are you?"
Weiss held up his hands in defense. "If I wanted to rat on the two of you, I would have done it already. I'm not the one you've got to worry about."
Sydney grinned at that. "I think I almost made Haladki pee his pants," she admitted.
Both men laughed, although Vaughn's ended in an agonized groan. Sydney sobered at the noise, looking back at him with concern. "You really need to be in bed, Vaughn."
"Mmm," he replied, as the painkillers started kicking.
"Come on, Mike, before you fall asleep again."
They eventually got him into his bed and Weiss stepped back as Sydney started fussing with the covers. "You just rest and get better soon, okay? I don't think Haladki's going to live for much longer if he stays on as my handler."
Vaughn nodded, his reply lost in a yawn. His eyes tried to close, but he fought with them. "You be careful," he told her. "No more unnecessary risks..."
"Shh," she hushed him. "I don't want you worry about anything. Just get well soon, okay?"
He sighed, feeling her fingers stroke the hair from his forehead as his eyes finally won the battle and closed. He heard her whisper "goodnight," and was sure he must have been dreaming when he felt her lips brush his cheek. That was his last thought before sleep took him.
*****
Sydney followed Weiss back into the living room, watching as he started cleaning up. "He's lucky to have a friend like you," she told him.
He paused, looking over his shoulder at her. "I couldn't just leave him to fend for himself until his mother got here."
Sydney started at that. "She's coming here?"
He nodded. "We need to make sure you're gone before she gets here."
"When is she due to arrive?"
Weiss looked at his watch. "In about an hour." He sighed, turning to look at her fully. "You really shouldn't have come here."
She glared at him. "I know, but it was either this or walk into the CIA and demand answers. I thought this was a little more low-key. I had to find out. If you want to report me for that, go ahead!"
"Look, Sydney, you've got to know that while I don't really approve of whatever it is that's going on between the two of you, Mike is like a brother to me. I'll do anything I can to protect him."
Sydney smiled at him, but said nothing.
"We've got to get you out of here," he said, looking out the window and down onto the street below.
"I am sorry, Weiss. I wasn't trying to cause trouble. It's just... Vaughn's been the one person that I can always rely on. It worried me when I couldn't reach him."
"Here," he said, after a pause. He moved over to the coffee table, picking up a pen and paper. He wrote something down before handing her the pad.
She gave him a questioning glance, looking at the paper and noticing he'd written down a cell phone number. "What's this?"
"It's my number, just in case you get worried again."
She smiled. "Thank you."
He nodded. "Let's get you out of here."
"What's the plan?" she asked.
"Easy. Vaughn's next door neighbor is your regular mister nice guy. We ask him to escort you to your car, because I don't want to leave Vaughn by himself. He's squeaky clean so if you're spotted they'll just assume that he's a friend of yours."
She nodded, taking one last look towards Vaughn's bedroom before following Weiss out the door. Once Vaughn's neighbor, who introduced himself as Ted, had walked her to her car and she'd started on her way home, Sydney suddenly found herself shaking. She'd been so sure that something horrible had happened to him; that she'd lost him as well. The relief was making her weak and she pulled over onto the side of the road and allowed herself to cry.
It was another five minutes before she felt in control enough to finish the journey home. When she arrived, Francie was sitting in front of the fire, reading.
"Hey!" she greeted. "I was about to send out a search party."
Sydney smiled, hoping she didn't look as bad as she felt. "Sorry. It was just such a nice night, I lost track of time."
"Do you feel better now?" Francie asked, moving her legs so her friend could sit down beside her.
Sydney smiled. "Yeah, much better," she replied, honestly.
*******
Epilogue
*******
Sydney drove to the warehouse, deliberately being ten minutes late just because she knew it would annoy the hell out of Haladki. She had to admit that she had been rather horrible to him over the last couple of weeks. She doubted that he'd said anything to Devlin though, because Haladki was the kind of man who wouldn't like to admit that he was intimidated by anyone, let alone a woman.
"Can we get this over with," she said as she walked into the warehouse, not even looking his way. "I've got better things to do."
"Well," a familiar voice said. "Nice to know I'm appreciated."
Sydney started, looking up into the amused face of Michael Vaughn. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you weren't back until next week."
He shrugged. "I heard a rumor that my agent was being a little hard to handle, so I thought I'd better come back before she got herself into trouble."
She grinned sheepishly. "You heard about that, huh?"
"I heard. Weiss has been calling me every time Haladki goes back to the office with his tail between his legs."
She laughed, overjoyed at seeing him again. He looked much better than he had that night she'd gone to his apartment. He'd lost the wan coloring and his face no longer looked drawn. "Looks like your mom's been looking after you," she informed him.
He laughed. "Driving me crazy, more like it. I can no longer find anything in my apartment, my dog needs to go on a diet and I feel like I do as well!"
She felt as though her cheeks would split if she smiled any harder. "It's so good to have you back, Vaughn," she told him honestly.
His smile softened. "It's good to be back," he replied.
She looked at him for a long moment. "Are you sure you're well enough to be back though?" she asked, the concern clear in her voice. She didn't want him overdoing it just to make her happy.
"Don't ask me to break into the Vatican or come rescue you from SD-6 and I'll be fine."
She grinned again. "Well then, what's my counter?"
He grinned back at her and started detailing the plan. She sighed as she listened to his voice, finally feeling that things were back to normal. Well, as normal as her life got anyway.
The End.