A/n: So, I got one review. This is definitely a change for me as I used to have quite a few readers but to that one, you have made me feel that I have to continue this because at least one person is reading it and that means the world to me. Thank you and here is the long-awaited chapter.

The Other Side of the Story

Total Vartan Lover

Season 2

Part VII (Part IV)

Vaughn splashed his face with water then gazed at himself in the bathroom mirror.

He smacked himself, it hurt. So this couldn't be a dream. He was once again a field-rated agent and more importantly, he would be right where he'd always belonged, he'd be right next to Sydney.

That of course had it's pro's and cons.

The pros of course was that he would actually be allowed to be in the presence of his second wife, the one he should have been allowed to make the promise to in the first place. And just being near her, listening to her make suggestions and dare him to go against her was almost as good as having her in bed.

And who was to say that they couldn't do that after their "work," was done for the day?

But then there were the cons and the symptoms of "worried for Sydney," Syndrome were already making their physical appearance. During the briefing he had stained his pants from the sweat on his hands. He had also made an outburst always regarding confirmation of Sydney's safety several times and when Kendall and Jack gave him irritated expressions, he found himself playing with his jacket or biting his lip.

The information he had found out on Sydney's current missions was more than terrifying. He'd expected the mission was to remove the sample, plug some guards, put David Lansing out of his misery then get out. But he hadn't expected to hear the people behind Sydney's disappearance were possibly trying to sabotage the mission to cover up their tracks.

The base of the Op still remained the same but whoever was trying to compromise the missions had made a phone call to basically indicate the Operation was a set up. And the team may be CIA but the disclosure of that information would be disclosing why they were in England and what was going on in the hospital.

In other words, till they could sort it out and get authorization from Langley, Sydney and the rest of the team would be treated like criminals.

That alone made Vaughn want to hurl his guts.

"Sir, I don't understand why Langley has authorized the team to proceed with this Operation when there is tangible proof to indicate there is not only a mole in the Agency but a plan to take our best agents into custody!" Michael had expressed quite colorfully. He also had added they hadn't even started to search for the mole and that the Operation should be delayed till they had a better idea of who in the group was trying to compromise Sydney and her team.

The answer he had received was the same one Kendall had given to him from day one, this was not his decision to make.

The only reason he hadn't made a threat to go to Langley was because he knew he was walking on thin ice, and because they'd allowed him to get everything he could get his hands on in reference to the situation: recordings, sightings, possible suspects, ect.

His first instinct was Jason Gorzo and ever since he'd received that phone call from his so-called lost twin, he'd been debating on whether to report it. And now he wouldn't have to provide any dismissable hunches. If Jason Gorzo was the man behind this and Sydney's two year disappearance, he would make sure to find out.

Vaughn was back to thinking happy thoughts of Sydney by the time he returned to the JTF. First thing he did was stuff the confidential file into his briefcase, then logged onto the network and downloaded the top ten restaurants in England.

Oh of course he was going to take Sydney to Trattori D'Nardi if their schedules would let up but he always believed in a back up plan.

After all that, he logged off the network. His watch read 8:00. It was already tow hours later than when he'd told Jess he'd be heading home.

But he had one more stop to make before he left for the night. He nonchalantly waltzed up to Weiss' desk where his best friend seemed to be monitoring a possible bomb threat.

But when he noticed Vaughn, he hit record on his computer and removed his headphones. "So the Vaughnster survived the meeting with Jack Bristow and Director Kendall. Kudos to you man. I can't believe it went so well that you're smiling."

Vaughn didn't realize he was grinning till Weiss made that comment. He pulled the swivel chair of another agent's desk and sat down. "Well that's because it was more than a meeting, Weiss. It was my first briefing for an op in over a year."

Weiss blinked.

"Yup! Seems my paperwork days are done!"

Weiss blinked again, not sure he'd heard it right. "Wait, are you trying to say that you're a field-rated agent again?" When Vaughn nodded, smirking Weiss slapped him a high-five. "Congrats man! When you leave and what do they have you doing this time?"

"Ah, that is classified, not Omega 17 or anything but the agency wants to keep this on a need to know basis," Vaughn relied apologetically, knowing he owed Weiss a lot. Hadn't it been for him and Will, he would never have found out Sydney had accepted the mission in the first place. "I don't know if I should even say this but there's a mole, so the less people in the Agency who know about it, the better."

Weiss studied Vaughn's expression then gave him an offended glance. "Vaughn, I took actions that not only compromised my position but your marriage. You know I'm not the mole."

"Of course," Vaughn said in his friendly laid-back tone. "Of course I know that. You've made several sacrifices to keep me from being removed as Bristow's handler when we were still taking down SD-6."

"But?"

Vaughn looked around the room to make sure no one was listening then looked squarely at his best friend. "Okay…not only am I field-rated…my operation is to join Bristow."

Weiss was silent for a moment then grabbed Vaughn's face. "Bristow? As in Sydney Bristow? You're saying Kendall, after taking considerable steps to make sure you know nothing about her operation is not allowing you to co-partner in her mission?"

"Ye..Yes," Vaughn stammered as he pulled Weiss' hands off his face. "And that means 72 hours before I can finally rejoin the woman I want to be with most."

"So…Syd must be ecstatic huh?"

"Actually…she doesn't know. I want her to report for work one day and see her mouth drop when she hears my voice in the background," Vaughn beamed and lifted his face toward the ceiling. "This is going to be like a vacation!"

"I just hope she's not going to expect you to say you finalized things with Jess," Eric pointed out as he check an urgent looking e-mail. "Speaking of Mrs. Vaughn, what are you planning to tell her? I take it you still haven't told her you're CIA."

"And I never told Alice either," Vaughn argued, trying to ignore Weiss' implication. "And my cover story is simple. Jack Bristow has not taken no for an answer regarding the CEO position and jus to feel me out, he's sending me to Algeria to supervise the new structure and help get it on it's feet."

Vaughn then sat down, smiling, feeling like a total genius.

"Well, I don't know about you but I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my wife in the U.S while I'm on a business trip for that long," Weiss admitted. "How long is this "job," supposed to last?"

Vaughn sat up and rested his elbows on his knees. "I'm not sure," Michael admitted thoughtfully. "Kendall didn't give me an eta but I'm not thinking it'll be more than a few days, which brings up a favor I need you to do for me."

Weiss looked away and began typing, so sure this was something he didn't want to do.

"Eric, you know how I asked you to watch over my dog, Donnovan?"

Weiss managed a nod.

"Well you remember I left you with specific instructions because I didn't want to come home to a fat dog? You did marvelously on that…and that's why, I need you to watch over my wife."

Weiss didn't even look at Vaughn this time.

"Eric, I trusted my dog with you. There's no one else I can rely on," Vaughn pleaded in that, "man help me, I'm desperate," tone that Weiss had a tendency to cave on. "I know that this is not an opportune time to leave her, especially since we're just becoming friends again. But I have a duty to this Agency and this job…and just maybe, I'll be able to find out what really happened to Sydney while she was gone." Vaughn saw Weiss' expression had morphed from stern to unsure.

"Eric, I just want you to call her and make sure she's taking care of herself. I don't want to come home to a wife that's starving herself…please."

Eric leaned back and sighed. Damn, Vaughn knew that he wouldn't say no, that he would immediately jump to support Michael in his time of need.

"Okay Mike, suppose I say yes and I do make these courtesy calls to your wife. She knows we're friends, what am I supposed to say if she starts questioning your feelings towards her?"

Michael bit his lip and stared at the ground.

"I'm not going to be here so I can't tell you what to say or not. I don't think I have a right to request anything of you if you do this for me so…tell her about Sydney if you feel you need to. When I get back, I'll be forced to break the heart of one of these women anyway."

After an awkward pause Eric reached out and squeezed Vaughn's shoulder and did so harder till Michael met his gaze. "I appreciate your honesty. Nobody deserves to be in the position you are. I can only imagine what you're going through." Weiss paused before he added, "and if keeping tabs on your wife, making sure she eats more than chicken both is going to make life a little easier, I'm here for you Vaughn."

Michael instantly gave his life-saver a genuine smile. "Thank you Weiss, you have no idea how much weight you just lifted off my shoulders."

"No problem."

Eric held his hand out and Michael reached to complete the handshake before he lifted his coat and briefcase off the floor.

"Oh and Vaughn."

Vaughn paused a good thirty feet away and turned his head.

"I won't mention anything about Sydney. You're a good person. I know you will tell her when the time is…right."

Michael almost ran over and gave Weiss a hug. He didn't deserve a friend like Weiss but he was there. And he knew he would always be there. "I'll see you when I get back."

Weiss nodded and waived as Vaughn exited the doors to the JTF.

"Go ahead and take care of Syd, Vaughn," he said in a barely audible tone as he sat back down to get back to work. "I'll make sure things are in order till you get home."

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Three more strides and Vaughn would reach the exit to the CIA field office, another five to the car then he'd be heading home.

Only ever since he'd made that impromptu wedding promise to Sydney in her hotel room, home didn't feel like a real home. In fact, he saw Jessica as more of someone he had to take care of unless he wanted to carry the guilt if she hurt herself.

What he felt for her was not love. He wondered if he'd actually ever fallen in love with her. What he felt for her was the way a doctor or caretaker felt towards a poor girl suffering under an eating disorder.

And honestly, it felt like he'd jumped from being strangers to acquaintances then he'd learned to enjoy her company as she's insisted on watching over him and making sure he wasn't hurting himself. Just like he was doing now.

Was that love?

Vaughn suddenly remembered a scene from a pretty recent chick flick, "The Wedding Planner," where the father had told Jennifer Lopez's character that he'd been married under an arrangement between her grandparents, that her parents had initially not liked each other, but when he'd gotten sick and her mother had taken care of him, they'd grown to care, to like and then finally fallen in love with each other.

Was that what he'd been destined to do with Jess?

No, of course not! Where had that random thought come from? He loved Syd, he'd broken up with sweet innocent Alice because his feelings for Sydney were uncomparable.

So why was he making this out to be something completely different? Was it because there was a promise to God involved, did telling Jessica's father that he'd take care of her for life really the reason he felt obligated to fullfill his promise?

But then what was he to do with Syd? His feelings were never going to go away. He'd thought they'd disappeared, but the moment their eyes had met, all of the pain and sadness and joy at having her in his life had come flooding back, as though it were yesterday. And for a minute he'd prayed with his whole being that it had been.

He'd seen the pain in her eyes when she'd first realized she'd lost him to his wife. And she'd been so hurt, but not wanting him to see it, she'd tried to flee the country and never look back.

And he'd run to her place and begged her not to cut him out of her life. He had no right in the first place to do that so there was no way he could take back his promise to her. Even if she'd written that letter, saying they should evaluate what they'd wanted, he's instilled hope in her, hope that she thought had died.

So there was nothing else to do but deal with Jess.

And of course, he promised himself that he would do that when he got back. Make a decision. For now, he would focus only on looking forward to spending time around Sydney on and off work.

Vaughn finally reached his car and was unlocking it when he heard rapid footsteps behind him. He paused and put a hand to the gun in its' holster, hoping he didn't have to use it. Security was tight but you never knew. Even that idiot McKeena had somehow slipped into SD-6 undetected till he had the agents and the Director of the agency right where he wanted.

"Agent Vaughn!"

Michael turned around at the sound of the high but straight female voice. It was Vicky, dressed in her professional best, but her short red hair was hanging out in odd angles, making her look like she'd been electrocuted.

"I'm off duty, I don't report back for 72 hours," Michael replied half-apologetically, half annoyed.

"Not anymore," Director Kendall boomed, making his entrance so quietly that it seemed that he'd appeared out of thin air. "We have a situation and we need your assistance, Agent Vaughn."

Vaughn huffed. They had to be joking. "And what if I object."

Kendall didn't even blink, the man had no sense of humor.

"All right, I'm coming. Just let me get my briefcase."

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Vaughn could barely stand still as he listened and examined the videos presented to him. He thought he'd seen everything his CIA career had to offer. Nothing could have prepared him for what he was being told now.

"This is what happened two minutes before the patient died," Kendall informed him and directed his and Jack's attention to the same video screen, only now instead of showing the progression of the cancer taking over the victim's body, it was showing him, minutes before he took his last breath.

The patient on the table, connected to tubes and medical equipment began convulsing as though he'd been possessed by the devil. Then something burst and guts and body fluid ejected from every opening it could escape out of. When it was completed, nothing seemed to be intact expect for the head. Everything else just looked like a pile of dead skin.

Vaughn could not imagine dying like that. This was too horrible, something that should be allowed only within the pages of a sci-fi novel.

He was only thankful he didn't know the poor guy's name.

"Disgusting isn't it? The poor man's name was Alexander Banks, of course like Sydney Bristow, he was considered top of his class but instead of looking for recruitment in the CIA, he went to the NSC, imagine that?"

Vaughn could take the suspense no longer and neither could his stomach. He had places to go, things to do. "Director Kendall, excuse my bluntness but…why is this any business of mine?"

Kendall looked sympathetically at the brash agent then glanced at Jack. "Agent Bristow, can you tell Mr. Vaughn why we called him in here and why his is relevant to his mission in England?"

Jack looked more like he preferred to deck Kendall than do anything he asked but business came 2nd, his daughter's health was no question in his mind, a priority. "I'll be glad to do so."

Vaughn was disappointed when he didn't head, "I'd be glad to kiss your ass," as well. Finally Bristow looked uneasily but with attitude at his supposed son-in-law. "Agent Vaughn, do you happen to recall the scare that my daughter was found with when we sent you to retrieve her?"

"Oh yeah," Vaughn thought. "Since I was married and Sydney didn't want to be anywhere near me after I betrayed her."

"You had to be aware, but in case you really don't know, I'll make the story short. She was found with a mysterious scar in her left abdomen and no," he paused, knowing the question Vaughn wanted to ask. "It wasn't because they wanted her appendix. We had her go through medical eval, all body organs are in tact."

"So what then? Did they cut her, stab her? Did they torture her?" Vaughn demanded, hoping it wasn't. He remembered being kidnapped by that crazy Russian doctor who had planned on cutting him open with some new torturous surgical tool he'd devised.

"No, we've done the research and according to the way it's been left, it wasn't inflicted by any torture method we know of," Marshall stammered, popping out of nowhere.

Vaughn had to do a double take. "Marshall? Where'd he popped in from?

"Yes, hi everyone. I know I haven't been here the last day or two but I needed to time to pull myself together, got a little messed up when Sydney got back, like seeing a ghost. But we can talk about that later," he added quickly.

Vaughn couldn't believe it, no ranting?

"So…if it's not surgery and it's not torture, what do you think it is?" Vaughn inquired but when he saw the look on Jack's face, he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"An infection of some sort, but no virus that we know about," Jack sighed. "We've been subjecting Sydney to weekly biopsies to study any change but every time we do it, we have found nothing but causing her meaningless pain."

"Wait, then do you think it's some kind of biological weapon?" Vaughn demanded then, his blood boiling. How dare they use his love as a petri dish!

"If it is, we're in trouble but before I tell you of any speculations we have, I need everyone in this group to know that I engineered that Project Christmas to make sure that those with innate qualities to serve as an exceptional agent had those abilities recognized not only by us but by themselves as well."

Vaughn closed his eyes and turned away. "Jack, you better not be about to say that your secret project, "Project Christmas," is the reason why Sydney was kidnapped."

"Agent Vaughn, we are aware you are upset about this whole situation but that doesn't mean your insubordinance will be excused," Kendall said severely then continued. "Agent Vaughn it seems that you are not away that Jack here wasn't the only one who'd cohorsed to create that elaborate plan and if you can believe it, Sydney's father isn't the bad seed here. His co-partners, a husband and wife team, both died mysteriously after the project went under, at least we think."

"There's no record that we have saying they had any kids but there's someone finishing mom and dad's work," Marshall chimed in again.

"And of course, you have proof of this," Vaughn chuckled, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"This is the only thing we can go on," Jack stated firmly. "Now your mission which you will accept, will be to go to the naval hospital and visit Gehring Jennison, actually secret service Marine Corp but records indicate he participated in something like Project Christmas."

"But I'm slated to go to England," Vaughn reminded them all, getting more irritated by the minute. It still seemed to him that they weren't telling him everything, they were leaving out something vital.

Jack pulled Vaughn by the collar and drew him aside while everyone watched. Vaughn was relieved when the older man let him go. Weren't they in a government building he would have taught Jack that he was not match for a young well-built guy like himself. But he cooled it to a, "this better be good since you just pulled me over like an immature bully."

"I know pulling you away from your mission to England would take some persuasion so I'm not disappointed," Jack said dryly. "Just chill for a second Boy Scout, I wouldn't delay your reunion with Sydney if I didn't have a sufficient reason."

Vaughn frowned and folded his arms, his wrinkles grew deeper in his forehead the way they did when something didn't seem right. Jack pulled out a file identified as, "fate." From it Jack removed five personnel files and laid them on the table. Jack didn't have to beckon him for Vaughn to lean forward with curiousity.

"Alexander Banks, the one who just exploded," he spouted, pointing at the picture. "Janet Groban, diagnosed with brain tumor as cause of death, didn't pour out of the body, but soaked through her brain."

Vaughn shuddered. He remembered her. She'd been the first on the CIA had thought was Sydney when she'd been discovered two months after her disappearance

" And David Lansing, the vegetable that Sydney has been ordered to handle," Jack coughed out

He then paused which made Vaughn feel overcome with fear. "Jack, what is it? What do these three people have to do with Sydney?"

"We didn't know at the time they were isolated, NSA classified them as victims of some small epidemic."

"Yeah, I remember," Vaughn groaned. The exposees had been brought to their facility and because he'd been absent for six months, they'd been afraid he'd contracted the virus and when they'd determined that he didn't have it, he'd been forced into a series of vaccinations. And even Balls of Steel Vaughn didn't particularly like shots.

"After Sydney came in and we found that she had that mysterious scar, we went and re-researched the death files of the those three, we…we realized there were some similarities. All three of them had the same kind of scar and all three of them had gone through variations of my Project Christmas. The only thing we've realized is that David was the only one who didn't make it into a secret service or international agency. And with him he developed the tumor then he got the scar."

Vaughn didn't like that looked incompetent but this was all blowing his mind. He wondered how Jack was able to keep it all straight in his head. "Okay, continue please."

"With Syd, the girl, the one who just died, and the one we still have left, it seems something was inflicted on them. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to show up until it's too late and we've determined the more of this mysterious substance is put into the body, the faster it deteriorates."

Vaughn now knew where he was going with this and he certainly didn't want Sydney to be number four in this sick murderous game. "So you want to me to go and get this active piece of tissue since at this stage we should be able to find out what is causing these mysterious growths and we can figure out how to save Sydney. And hopefully it will allow us to cure it in its' early stages. Is that what this is all about, that these events must all somehow be connected?"

"Yes that's precisely it," Jack agreed, glad that he'd come to his sense. "We learned about this too late with the first two victims so Gehring is our last chance. You know how destructive this disease is. It will completely make it as though the body never existed, yet it won't leave any indication it was there. Alex is our last chance, Agent Vaughn."

Pressure, that was the least of all the tortured agent needed. He had a life-risking wife at home and because he was married, he technically was not allowed to feel these emotions. Technically.

"But what about Sydney. She's going to get something out of Lansing, right? Isn't that her job? And we know how good she is at that," he boasted confidently, thinking of just how confident she let on by being an almost insufferable brat when they'd first started working together.

"You heard the briefing, you know the threats, whoever is running this operation is trying really hard to cover up their tracks by bringing in Scotland Yard, not to mention this PROPER is trying to finish whatever he or his boss started," Jack reminded him. He then picked up the folder containing the new mission and handed it to him. "Vaughn, please, once again, my daughter's life is your hands. Help me keep her from being another casualty in this nightmare."

It was not like Jack to beg of him. It wasn't like Jack to ask anyone of anything, he usually took it upon himself and did something about it.

Vaughn did the right thing and remained completely professional about it. He held his hands out to the father and took the manila folder then he smiled and walked back over to the team that was still waiting. Kendall glared at him as though wondering why Vaughn felt he was allowed in his presence.

"I apologize, that video, it just…" he cleared his throat and got directly to business. "I've gotten the mission folder."

"So you've finally decided to do it."

"Yes," Vaughn nodded.

Marshall suddenly started doing a happy dance and Kendall let a little grin show through his hard expression until he ended up glaring at the enthusiastic techie. Marshall realized two minutes later he was being glared at and looked sheepish. Vaughn gave him an, "its okay, I have moment like that too," expression.

"Agent Vaughn, your mission is simple. Go to the naval hospital, you'll rendez-vous with the doctor assigned to his case, Dr. Doughterty, he also took care of the last two deceased patients. He'll let you in to see Gehring. You'll probably be wearing a doctor alias as he's located in a restricted section."

Yes! Uniforms! Vaughn loved to act like different people which was a requirement on field operations. If only the operation wasn't life-altering, he'd feel more pleased that he was being allowed to restretch his wings before he flew full fledge into England for his first Operation in an year and a half. "Yes sir."

"Good. Go visit medical services. Some immunizations are in order as we don't want you to catch anything. We can never be too careful. Vicky can guide you if you don't remember where it is."

Vaughn smiled grimly. He really was starting to dislike medical services.

"Dr. Doughtery has advised us that Gehring Jennison can die this week, possibly two or three nights which means that you will be leaving right after the medical services are done with you. If you need to get your suitcase from home, have Weiss get it for you. The bomb is ticking, Boy Scout."

"I understand."

Kendall looked satisfied as he was going to get and then left. Jack had already gone to do whatever it was that he did.

Vaughn picked up his jacket and was just getting ready to head to medical services when an exciting half-hyperventilating voice called out to him.

"Mr. Vaughn."

Michael held a finger out to the red head and turned to acknowledge the bumbling inventor. "Yes, Marshall."

"I just wanted to say congrats, it's really great to see you smile…not that you're not always smiling anyway but I mean you just…it's nice to see you as the old Michael Vaughn."

Back to the stuttering. It sounded pleasant to Michael today, pleasantly familiar, not irritating as he would have said two years ago. "Thanks, Marshall. It's really good to have you back to being you too. This has definitely been an experience for both of us."

"Uh…thanks Mr. Vaughn, I mean Agent or do you prefer…"

"Michael's fine," Vaughn cut in gently. "Oh and Marshall, can you let Weiss know I need him to get my suitcase. He knows which one it is. It's the one I always keep pre-packed."

Marshall grinned and gave a salute. "Of course…Michael."

"Thanks Marshal," the agent thanked, looking very pleased. He stood for another second then turned to join Vicky and she began leading him again.

"Uh…Good luck Mr. Vaughn!"

Michael didn't turn around this time but did flash him a thumbs up. He knew he was going to need it to get through the needles and to get to the naval hospital it time before Gehring took his last break, the last shred of hope to save Sydney.

And lately luck hadn't been on his side.

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Hey, thanks for reading this far! yall are awesome. Remember, please review if you would like to see another chapter. I appreciate it alot!

Total Vartan Lover