Chapter 2 - A Talk or Two

Vaughn followed Jack Bristow to a quiet spot in the hallway outside the conference room, unsure of just how much of his terror Jack was able to read.

"Sydney seemed pretty upset at dinner last night," he said. "I was wondering if you knew why."

This was going to require at least some portion of the truth, Vaughn realized. Just not the part that had ended with them making up and making love.

"She, um, had a lot on her mind," Vaughn said. "Namely Danny." It was not exactly a graceful way to tell it, but he got the point across.

"Oh." Jack needed no other words; the look on his face was more than enough communication for Vaughn. Hurt my daughter, and I'll kill you. Will might have wanted to rip his guts out, Vaughn thought, but he had no doubt that Jack could — and would — actually do it.

He tried to be reassuring without going into Weiss' sordid details. "She seemed better last night. This has been a, uh, real emotional week for her."

"Yes." That, apparently, was the end of the conversation, because Jack turned back toward the conference room. Vaughn followed him in.

Weiss waited until no one but Vaughn was looking at him to mouth, "holy shit." Vaughn shook his head and sat down as Devlin asked for everyone's attention.

"I called this meeting to discuss the fallout from SD-4," he said. "But first I'd like to congratulate our new Deputy Director here at the Los Angeles branch, Jack Bristow. Most of you already know him, but let me be the first to say how happy we are to have him a little closer to home."

Jack nodded and gave the room a firm — if slight — smile.

"That said, we received confirmation last night that the raid on SD-4 was as problematic as we had originally suspected," Devlin said. "While all of their central leadership was, in fact, taken into custody, as you all know, SD-4 operated under more of a distributed network than most of the other alliance cells. Roberts?"

Devlin looked to another agent, who stood and began to speak. "At this point, we believe about half of the SD-4 operatives and a good portion of their mid-level leadership are still out there, which is obviously a large enough group to cause concern. We've also got some intelligence that these remnants of SD-4 and the leftovers from the rest of the alliance factions have combined with some freelance groups to create a new organization."

"It just never stops, does it?" complained one agent.

"It's supply and demand," Jack Bristow said. Vaughn wasn't sure if the man actually oozed wisdom, or had just perfected the art of sounding like he did. "The sudden absence of the alliance has created a large void. It's only a matter of time until somebody fills it."

Agent Roberts continued with a critique of the SD-4 raid and a lengthy intelligence update on the whereabouts of members the CIA thought were threats, but Vaughn found it difficult to concentrate. There was one question on his mind — what about Sydney?

Thankfully, when Roberts finally called for questions, Weiss got to it first. "What about our doubles and the people we've identified as potential alliance targets?"

"We'll obviously keep a close eye on them," Roberts said. "But we believe this new group is still in the formative process."

Vaughn glanced at Jack, reassured by the look on his face that at least Sydney wasn't going to fall through the cracks. If they had one thing in common, it was that she was the number one priority for both of them.

Devlin closed the meeting after Roberts answered a few more questions. "I think that's all, everyone." Vaughn stood to leave. "Oh, and Agent Vaughn, if you could, please stick around. I need to talk with you."

So far, Vaughn thought, the only redeeming quality of the entire day was the fact that he had started it in the same bed as Sydney Bristow. He waited as the other agents filed out, Weiss flashing him the "oh, shit" look as he left.

Devlin made a nice show of organizing the stack of papers in front of him before he spoke.

"I don't think I really had a chance to thank you for your work on the SD-6 case," Devlin said. "Most of it was outstanding." The part not encased in the "most" was the seven times he'd nearly been suspended, and the two times there had been no nearly.

"Thank you, sir." Vaughn tried not to make his relief too apparent. He knew the next question before Devlin asked.

"I was also wondering if you had a chance to speak to Ms. Bristow regarding our job offer," he said.

Vaughn didn't mention the location of the conversation, or the nudity of the people conversing. "I did, sir," he said. "She's very adamant about not coming back. I know that's a loss for us, but certainly you can understand her position."

Devlin nodded. "Actually, this saves me a lot of grief from my new second-in-command. So maybe it's for the best." He paused, carefully selecting his next words. "Michael, I've known you since you were a kid. And I'm going to be honest with you."

Vaughn unconsciously clenched his fist around the pen in his hand as Devlin continued.

"A lot of people wanted to pull you off of her case three years ago, myself included. Jack convinced us that Sydney was a unique agent, one that required a more...unorthodox handler."

Vaughn barely kept his hand from dropping the pen. Devlin picked up the stack of papers and moved toward the door, but he turned to look at Vaughn before he left.

"You did what you had to do," Devlin said. "And, yes, that should make you free to do whatever you want now. But there are people at the Agency who will be watching you closely now. That is a warning. Take from it what you will."