LittleNicky
Cadet
I've been behind the last few days, but I have to say, what great updates! It was so great to get to read three updates today. I can't wait for the baby to come!
Running for Freedom
- Thread starter derevkointraining
- Start date
apofieldagentnadiasantos
Cadet
Poor Sydney
Jolie was so cute how she took it, if it was me, i would probably not say anything, because i didn't when i broke my arm, and it healed fine, well both of em actually,
I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART!!!!
Nadia
Time is Precious-Romance Fiction
Jolie was so cute how she took it, if it was me, i would probably not say anything, because i didn't when i broke my arm, and it healed fine, well both of em actually,
I CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT PART!!!!
Nadia
Time is Precious-Romance Fiction
farliieansds225
Cadet
hope isabelle is ok
poor syd and jolie
awesome update
loved it
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
poor syd and jolie
awesome update
loved it
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
derevkointraining
Cadet
here we go guys...Recap:
She continued to rant for another few minutes while her family stared at her in disbelief. In addition, towards the end of her rant, the fetal monitor machine she was hooked up to began to beep fiercely and a nurse rushed into the room immediately and checked the machine. The doctor followed a split second later.
Chapter 13:
“The baby is in distress, we need to bring you to delivery now and perform a C-section!”
“What? Distress? Is my baby okay?” Sydney started to get teary while Vaughn handed Jolie to Nadia and took his wife’s hand.
“The baby should be fine, we can get it out in less than a minute. Let’s go,” the doctor said to his team, who had prepared the bed for travel. Jolie squirmed out of her aunt’s arms and quickly ran to the bed before they took her mom away.
“I’m okay, Mommy, I promise. Just take care of my sister. I love you.” She managed to place a quick kiss on her mom’s cheek before her parents disappeared with the doctor and nurses.
She looked back at her aunt and walked over to hug her. “I’m scared.”
Nadia put her hand on the little girl’s head. “Everything will be okay, sweetie. Let’s go wait outside the delivery room, okay?” She picked Jolie up again and they walked down the hall. “Uh, did you say you were having a sister?”
Jolie blushed. “Oops…yeah. Mommy found out it’s a girl. I wasn’t supposed to tell but I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
Nadia chuckled. “Well, I’m sure she’ll be just fine.” They waited a few tense minutes before Vaughn came into the hallway.
“She’s okay. She’s so small! Well, she’s almost eight pounds, which Sydney said is much bigger than Jolie was, but that’s tiny to me.”
“Whom does she look like, Daddy?”
“Well, her facial features are a lot like yours, princess. But it looks like her hair will be lighter brown.”
Jolie smiled. “How is Mommy?”
“She’s much more calm than she was a few minutes ago.”
“Uh, how about the important question…” Nadia broke in. “What’s my niece’s name?”
“Isabelle. Isabelle Bristow Vaughn. Just like me!” Jolie said proudly. “Can we see her, Daddy?”
“Yeah, come on.” He took Jolie out of Nadia’s arms and the three of them quietly walked into the room where Sydney and the baby were.
Sydney looked up and smiled. “Hey, sweetie. Come meet your little sister.” Vaughn placed her on the bed next to her mother and Jolie took one finger and gently touched her sister.
“Wow. Was I this little?” She asked, looking up at her mom.
“You were smaller.”
“Wow. Hi, Izzie. I’m your big sister,” she cooed at the little baby. Nadia came over to look and asked if there was a camera around so she could take the new family’s picture. Sydney said there was one in her bag.
“Okay, the four of you need to gather on the bed, somehow.” Vaughn picked up Jolie and sat in her spot next to Sydney, placing the little girl on his lap. Nadia was about to snap the picture when Sydney told her to wait.
“I think Jo should be holding the baby in the picture.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you.” Sydney smiled down at her. “Okay, let Daddy show you how to position your arms and you have to be VERY careful with her head, all right?” Jolie nodded and her parents carefully put her sister in her arms. “Got her, sweetie?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, then smile!” Nadia cried, snapping a picture. As the flash went off, Isabelle began to cry and struggle and Jolie looked a little nervous but kept a firm grip on her sister.
“Shhh…don’t cry, Iz. It’s just a picture. We won’t let anything hurt you.” Miraculously, her words seemed to soothe the baby and she calmed down and shut her eyes. Jolie looked up at her mom in wonder. “Did you see that, Mommy?” She asked in a whisper. “She went to sleep!”
“I see. Very good, sweetie. Let Daddy take her from you now.” Jolie sat very still as Vaughn took the baby out of her arms. When he had her, she threw her arms around her mom and hugged her tightly. Sydney and Vaughn exchanged a smile.
“Hey, Jo, come on. We need to go get more ice for your hand.” Nadia said, sensing the fact that her sister needed some time alone with Vaughn and the baby. “We’ll come back soon, okay?” Jolie reluctantly agreed and they left the room.
“Well, she seems to like her so far,” Vaughn said, gazing down at the newborn in his arms.
“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Sydney said and yawned. A nurse came over and took the baby from Vaughn to bring her to the nursery.
“Mrs. Vaughn, you should try and rest for a while,” the nurse said before leaving with Isabelle.
“Yeah, honey, try to get some sleep. I’ll tell Nadia to take Jolie home and I’ll be with you all night. You have to stay a few days because of the C-section.”
“No, I want Jolie to stay too. You both can run home in the morning. Please?” Sydney looked up hopefully.
Vaughn smiled and gazed down at his wife, whose cheeks were still slightly flushed from the excitement. “Of course we’ll stay,” he said, leaning down to kiss her. They talked softly until Nadia came back with Jolie. Leaving her in her father’s arms, Nadia said goodnight to everyone and promised to come back in the morning. Vaughn tucked Jolie in next to Sydney and they watched as she slowly drifted to sleep.
Vaughn made himself as comfortable as possible in the chair next to the bed and held Sydney’s hand as they too drifted to sleep, completely exhausted. Around four thirty in the morning, a nurse came into the room with a fussy Isabelle, who appeared to be hungry.
“My, my, what a full house we have in here tonight,” the nurse commented softly upon seeing the entire family.
“Yeah, I wanted them to stay,” Sydney replied, reaching for Isabelle and beginning to feed her.
“Well, I’ll be back for her in a little while.” Sydney smiled and gazed down at her newborn. As she fed her, memories of the few precious moments she had with Jolie as a baby flashed into her mind.
Six and a half years earlier
Her mind cloudy with all sorts of drugs, the whole birthing process was over before she knew it and a small wailing baby was placed in her arms. Someone left a blank birth certificate next to her, some blankets, diapers, and clothes for the baby, who was currently swaddled in a yellow blanket. Once alone, Sydney gazed down at the screaming infant.
“Hush little one. I know our living situation is less than ideal, but we have each other.” As she spoke, the baby calmed down at the sound of her voice and was finally silent. Sydney smiled and realized she didn’t even know if she was holding a boy or girl. Gently, she peeled away the blanket to discover that she had a little girl. After securing the diaper, she put the tiny clothes on the baby and wrapped the blanket around her once more. The baby became fussy so Sydney decided to try and rub her back, which seemed to be what she wanted.
“There ya go. Now I need to think of a name for you, sweetheart.” Looking at the table next to her, she noticed a sheet full of information; how much the baby weighed (barely five pounds as she was born two months early) and the status of her health (perfect, considering her premature status). “Well, you’re my little miracle, aren’t you?” Sydney asked, gently rocking the baby and falling deeper in love with her each passing minute. “You’re such a pretty little girl,” she murmured softly. As the baby drifted to sleep, Sydney couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed with excitement, love and the need to nurture. The baby was so peaceful and beautiful in her arms. Suddenly, the perfect name flashed into her head.
“Jolie. I’m going to call you Jolie, pretty girl.”
Present time
“Syd?” A voice broke into her thoughts. “What are ya thinking about, honey?”
She turned her head to her right and smiled. “I was remembering my first few minutes with Jolie,” she whispered back in order not to disturb the little girl sleeping next to her.
“Will you tell me about them?”
Sydney smiled again and began to relay her memories softly as Isabelle finished eating and closed her eyes. As she finished, she noticed Vaughn smiling wistfully as he watched his two little girls sleeping peacefully against their mother.
“Look at our family,” he whispered softly.
“I know. I feel so…complete. Here, why don’t you hold her?” Sydney gently passed the baby to Vaughn and he accepted her into his arms with a big smile.
“Why’re you up?” A sleepy voice mumbled from beside Sydney.
“Oh, sweetheart, go back to sleep. We were just feeding Isabelle.” Sydney put an arm around Jolie to pull her closer.
“Mmmkay,” the little girl mumbled and buried her face into Sydney’s side. Minutes later the nurse came and took Isabelle back to the nursery and the little family slept until morning.
~~~
“Wake up, princess, it’s time to go back home.” Vaughn gently shook Jolie’s shoulder. She sat up slowly.
“Where’s Mommy?”
“She’s in the nursery with your sister. Come on, we have to go home and change our clothes. But we’ll come back later and you don’t have school today. How does your hand feel?” Jolie shrugged. “Okay, then, we’ll have it checked out later when we come back here. Come on.” Vaughn picked her up and headed to the nursery area. They saw Sydney through the window and waved, indicating they’d be back soon.
As they were walking out, they were stopped by the doctor who treated Jolie’s hand the night before. “Good morning, Jolie. How is your hand?”
“Okay, I guess.”
“Let me take this bandage off. Do you feel any pain?” Jolie wiggled her fingers a few times and said that there was only a dull ache. “Okay, that should go away in another day and the bruise will heal soon. I would recommend keeping this bandage on until tonight.”
“Okay, thank you, Doctor,” Vaughn said, hugging his daughter close to him. The doctor replaced the bandage and they set off home.
><><><
The extended family gathered in Sydney’s room later that morning with everyone cooing over the new baby. Jolie sat quietly in the corner as everyone took their turn holding her sister and mumbling about how cute she was. She kept telling herself that Isabelle was just born, so everyone would naturally fawn over her and it would pass. She was desperately trying not to be jealous and hateful again.
Sydney noticed her older daughter sitting alone and made a whistling noise to capture her attention. Jolie looked up and saw her mother signaling for her to come over. The little girl climbed off the floor and made her way to Sydney’s side.
“Come on, sweetie. Climb up with me.” She patted the space on the bed next to her. Jolie smiled and climbed onto the bed, tucking herself into her mother’s embrace. “Does your hand hurt?” Jolie shook her head no. “Good.” Sydney kissed her temple and leaned closer to her ear. “You’re being a very good girl. I know this must be so boring for you. How about we ask Daddy to go get us some ice cream and we can have an ice cream date later, just you and me. We’ll kick everyone else out of here. Does that sound good?”
“Yeah! Can we really do that?” Sydney nodded and kissed her little girl again. “I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too. And I want you to know I didn’t forget what I promised you. As soon as I can get out of here and go back to work, we’ll going to end this Prophet Five thing so we can have a normal life.”
“I know, Mommy. You’ve never broken a promise to me.” They smiled at each other and sat back to watch everyone pass the baby around.
~~~
After a few more hours of visitors filtering in and out of the room and Isabelle being fed, Sydney summoned Vaughn to her side. “I have an important errand for you.” He gave her a curious look. “I need you to go get a pint of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream and two spoons.” She smiled wickedly.
“Uh, sure, honey. I’ll get right on that…” Sydney laughed at Vaughn’s confusion.
“Jolie and I are having an ice cream date later. No one allowed in the room except us.”
“Aahh, I see. That’s nice. I am sure she’ll like that. I’ll be back soon.” With a quick kiss, he left his wife and promised to return quickly with Jolie, who was currently playing in her aunt’s office at APO down the hall.
It took a little over an hour, but Vaughn finally came back with Jolie and the ice cream. Anxiously taking the bag from her husband, Sydney quickly ushered him out of the room and motioned for Jolie to climb up onto the bed. Once the little girl was situated, Sydney handed her a spoon and the two ate in silence for a few minutes.
“So it’s just us?” Jolie mumbled with a mouthful of ice cream.
“Just us.”
“What about Izzie? Don’t you need to feed her?” Sydney smiled and shook her head.
“Nope. I told you. It’s just us. Daddy is taking care of Isabelle. There’s a bottle for him to feed her with all ready for him. The nurses have it. This is Mommy-Jolie time. So what do you want to do? Do you want to watch a movie? Read out loud? Talk? Play a game? I know that we’ve been so busy in the past month trying to sort through the Prophet Five research and get ready for the baby that we haven’t had as much time together as I would have liked.”
“That’s okay, Mom. I understand. Besides, once Prophet Five is gone we’re done with this life so I can wait till I have you then.” Mother and daughter smiled at each other. “I dunno, Mommy. I just want to be with you. I don’t care what we do. I guess we can just talk.”
“That sounds good. Why don’t you tell me about your tae kwon do and ceramics classes? Or, how is ice skating going?”
Jolie brightened. “Oh yeah! I did a single lutz!” The little girl launched into a vivid recantation of her first full jump on the ice and scrambled off the bed to try and demonstrate. Sydney laughed and happily listened to her daughter chatter away and before they knew it, an hour and a half had passed and there was a knock on the door.
“Ladies,” Vaughn said, sticking his head inside. “Is it safe for me and Isabelle to come in yet?” They were given permission and Sydney took the baby from Vaughn.
“Oohh…hi Iz,” Jolie cooed to her sister, gently rubbing a finger on her stomach. The baby gurgled and kicked in response.
“She likes you, princess,” Vaughn said, standing behind Jolie and rubbing her shoulders. She grinned up at her dad.
“That’s cause she knows I’m her cool big sister.” Sydney and Vaughn chuckled.
“Oh, Syd. You can go home tomorrow. They said you are doing remarkably well.”
“Oh, great! I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“I’ll help you clean tonight and get ready for the baby, Daddy,” Jolie chimed in.
“Thank you, sweetheart. I appreciate that.” After spending some more time with Sydney and Isabelle, Vaughn and Jolie said goodnight and left to prepare for their homecoming.
><><><
The next few weeks passed quickly. Vaughn would go to APO with Jolie in tow for her lessons with Irina while Sydney struggled to learn how to care for a newborn, something she never did with Jolie.
While she’d only had two full days with her older daughter, she remembered the little girl to be quite calm. Isabelle, however, was turning into a little handful as she cried through her first two weeks, especially at night.
“DADDYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!” Sydney and Vaughn heard through Isabelle’s screams around eleven one night. They glanced at each other and sighed, knowing how little sleep all three of them had gotten in tthree weeks due to the newborn.
“I’ll go…” Sydney started to say but Vaughn stopped her.
“It’s okay, I’ve got her.”
“No, really. Let me. I spend all day with Isabelle. Maybe she’ll stop crying for YOU.” Sydney stood and handed the baby to Vaughn. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to face the wrath of her six-year old as she walked down the hallway.
“What’s wrong, peanut?” Sydney asked, opening Jolie’s bedroom door and gently sitting on her bed.
“Why won’t she just SHUT UP? Mommy…I’m TIRED. And Grandma is testing me tomorrow on history. And she said if I fall asleep during one more of her lessons, then I have to miss two classes of ice-skating! It’s not fair. This is Isabelle’s fault.” Jolie gave her mother a pathetically tired look as tears filled her eyes.
TBC...
apofieldagentnadiasantos
Cadet
aww...poor Jolie! She's just really pitiful and just wants a night of sleep! Thanks for the PM and update soon
Nadia
Time is Precious-Romance Fiction
Nadia
Time is Precious-Romance Fiction
undercover_spy
Cadet
Aw, that was the cutest chapter. They're like the perfect, little family . Hopefully, Jolie doesn't get all hateful again. I liked seeing her as the caring, older sister. It's cute. Baby's cry, that's life, Jolie (well, she is only six...). Anway, that was an awesome update. I love how you update so often, lol. Tomorrow, maybe?
. Hopefully, Jolie doesn't get all hateful again. I liked seeing her as the caring, older sister. It's cute. Baby's cry, that's life, Jolie (well, she is only six...). Anway, that was an awesome update. I love how you update so often, lol. Tomorrow, maybe?Michael_Vartan_Hottie
Cadet
Okay last chap: I can't believe sydney almost broke her daughter's hand!!!
This Chap: Falling asleep in class and no ice skating. That was really cute
Thank's for the PM"S
This Chap: Falling asleep in class and no ice skating. That was really cute
Thank's for the PM"S
Nicky_Bristow
Cadet
Poor Jolie I understand she's tired but Isabelle's just a baby, but I still hope she can get some sleep
°°NiCkY°°
°°NiCkY°°
farliieansds225
Cadet
awwww so cute
so glad isabelles ok
poor jolie
hope isabelle calms down soon
awesome update
loved it
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
so glad isabelles ok
poor jolie
hope isabelle calms down soon
awesome update
loved it
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
sydneymicheal
Cadet
I'm glad that Izzie is alright and that for the most part Jolie is doing ok with her...
I think it's great that Syd did a "mommy and Jolie" icecream date. I wonder if they should let Jo try to calm her down or have Jo stay with her grandparents or aunt and uncle so she can sleep. thanks for the pm.
Can't wait for more.
I think it's great that Syd did a "mommy and Jolie" icecream date. I wonder if they should let Jo try to calm her down or have Jo stay with her grandparents or aunt and uncle so she can sleep. thanks for the pm.
Can't wait for more.
LittleNicky
Cadet
Screaming babies are definitely the worst! Loved the update and the cuteness of the family time. Can't wait for tomorrow!
derevkointraining
Cadet
Thanks for the R&R guys. Enjoy the next part!!
Recap:
“Why won’t she just SHUT UP? Mommy…I’m TIRED. And Grandma is testing me tomorrow on history. And she said if I fall asleep during one more of her lessons, then I have to miss two classes of ice-skating! It’s not fair. This is Isabelle’s fault.” Jolie gave her mother a pathetically tired look as tears filled her eyes.
Chapter 14:
Sydney sighed and cupped Jolie’s chin in her hand. She knew her daughter was suffering as much as her and Vaughn were, and she was right. It wasn’t fair to her. “Okay, sweetie. Do you want to go sleep at Grandma’s tonight?” Jolie nodded. “All right. Let’s pack up some things.” She stood and gathered the few necessities her daughter would need for tomorrow as well as her school bag. Bringing those down to the door, she came back upstairs and picked up the sleepy child.
“Vaughn!” She called and he appeared in the hallway holding the baby, who had finally calmed down slightly. “I’m taking Jolie to my mom’s. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” He nodded and went back into his bedroom with Isabelle.
As they were driving to the apartment, Jolie kept nodding off. Sydney watched her through the rearview mirror and felt really bad. While stopped at a light, she noticed Jolie’s eyes were open. “Sweetie, I’m taking Isabelle to the doctor tomorrow for a check-up. Hopefully he’ll be able to teach me some tricks on how to get her to sleep, okay? It’ll be better soon.”
“Mmmkay,” the little girl replied, half asleep.
~~~
Irina had the door open by the time Sydney arrived at the apartment carrying Jolie. “Oh, she’s exhausted…” Irina commented upon seeing her drowsy granddaughter.
“Yeah, cause I’m not, Mom,” Sydney said, rolling her eyes. “Honestly…did Jolie cry THIS much? I feel like Isabelle never stops. I know it’s a terrible thought, but…” she continued, sinking onto the couch. “I really wish she would just be quiet! I can’t handle much more of this!”
“Oh, sweetheart. It’ll work itself out. And if you need a break, we’ll be happy to baby sit Isabelle.”
“I know, thanks.” Sydney sighed. “I should get going…let me go tuck Jolie into the guest bed. She disappeared down the hall and made sure her daughter was all snuggled into bed before kissing her goodnight. “I love you, sweetie. I know it’s been tough for you, but I’m very proud of how you’ve handled it.” Kissing her forehead one last time, she returned to the living room and said goodnight to her mother before heading back to the land of screaming babies.
><><><
Before anyone knew it, a few more weeks had gone by. Isabelle had started sleeping more a few days after Sydney had brought Jolie to her parent’s for the night. Sydney returned to APO part time and plans to take down Prophet Five were well under way.
APO had begun to reconstruct the board of information that had been in Renee and Vaughn’s fathers’ bunker. It needed to be updated so the gang was busy jetting off around the world collecting photos of the twelve members.
“Daddy…where are you going?” Jolie asked as she passed by her parents’ room and saw Vaughn putting clothes in a duffle bag.
“London.”
“Why?”
“I need to get a picture of one of the Prophet Five members.”
Jolie looked horrified. “NO! You can’t go. Daddy, if they see you, they’ll try to kill you again.” She ran up behind him and latched her arms around his waist.
“Shhh…princess, it’s okay. I promise, one hundred percent promise that it’s safe for me to go to London. All I have to do is watch one man and take a picture of him. You don’t have to worry. AND, you’re going with Grandpa to Washington, DC to help him stake out his person! You’ve never been to DC, so that will be fun.”
“I am?”
“Yep.
“Oh that is so cool!” The little girl exclaimed, jumping onto the bed. “Is Mommy going somewhere too?”
“Not this time, sweetie. Mommy is going to stay here for Isabelle. But in a few days the two of us are going somewhere together.”
“But what about me and Izzie?”
“You two will either stay with Grandma or Aunt Nadia.”
“Oh…okay. Will you and Mommy be safe? We don’t want to lose both of you at one time.”
Vaughn stopped packing and stared into his little girl’s eyes. Gently taking her in his arms, he walked them over to the window. He hadn’t realized just how nervous she had become about losing her parents and felt terribly guilty for causing her to be this way. As they stood there, she put her head on his shoulder and he kissed her forehead. “Princess…we’re not leaving you again. This will all be over soon. That’s what we’re working so hard on. You know that.”
Jolie nodded. “I know. I just love you guys so much.”
Vaughn felt his heart melting. “We love you too. Always.”
><><><
Jack held Jolie by the hand as he led her up the steps of the US Capitol. The Washington Monument was in the background as they stood there, waiting for Jack’s target. Finally he spotted him coming and directed Jolie to go stand in a certain spot. As his target was passing behind his granddaughter, he snapped the picture.
“Beautiful, sweetheart,” he said and she smiled.
“Did we get it?”
“We sure did. And we have a few hours before our flight. Is there anything you want to do?”
The little girl nodded her head vigorously. “I wanna go to the International Spy Museum!!”
Jack looked dumbfounded. “The…what?”
“The International Spy Museum! They opened it in 2002. It’s the ONLY museum dedicated to international espionage!! Please, Grandpa?? I wanna see it!!”
Jack’s curiosity was peaked and he agreed. For the remainder of the afternoon, they poured over old school spy toys displayed on the walls of the museum and journeyed through the secret history of history. There was a room where guests of the museum could play games to test their spy ability and to no one’s surprise, both Jack and Jolie aced each game.
“Grandpa, when you were Daddy’s age or younger, did you use some of those things we saw on the walls in the other room?” Jolie asked innocently as they looked around the gift shop for gag gifts to bring the rest of the family.
“Actually, sweetheart, there were a few things in there I recognized.”
“That is SO cool.” She sighed. “Maybe one day the Bristow name will be part of history in here,” she continued in a dreamy tone. Jack just chuckled.
After buying identical t-shirts in Jolie and Isabelle’s respective sizes that said “Deny Everything,” and some funny office notepads for the rest of the family that said “This Message Will Self Destruct in 30 Seconds,” Jack and Jolie caught their flight back to Los Angeles and called Sydney from the plane.
“Hi, Mommy!” Jolie chirped into the phone.
“Hi, sweetheart. Did you have a good time with Grandpa?”
“Yes. Everything went well. And after, we went to the International Spy Museum!” Jolie proceeded to tell her mother all about the museum and everything in it. “Of course, today’s methods are much more effective but I guess for the old days, the spies made due with what they had.” Sydney burst out laughing while Jack hastily grabbed the phone from his granddaughter before she caused any of the other passengers of the plane to wonder about why she knew so much about spy-related issues.
“Grandpa! I wasn’t finished talking to Mommy!”
“Sorry, Jolie, I just needed to tell her something.”
“Well, it was rude!” Jack just held up his hand as he had a small conversation with his daughter, who was highly amused at their interaction. Finally, he handed the phone back to the impatient little girl next to him.
“How’s Isabelle, Mommy?”
“She misses her sister.”
“Mommyyyy…she’s only seven weeks old. She doesn’t know I exist!”
“Oh, yes she does, sweetie. She is waiting for you to come back and talk to her. You are much more interesting because she always fusses when I talk to her.”
Jolie giggled and Jack signaled that she had to hang up. “Grandpa says I hafta go now.”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon, sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you too, and Izzie.” They hung up and Jack handed his granddaughter a novel that she was supposed to be reading for Irina’s lessons. Jolie groaned and tried to give it back.
“You have to read this, sweetheart. It’s your homework.”
“But it is BORING. Why did Grandma pick such a crappy book?” Jack studied the book. The Grapes of Wrath.
“Jolie, it is a classic.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want to read it.”
“It’s your choice. But if you don’t read it, I’ll tell Grandma to do an entire lesson while speaking in Thai and then test you on what she taught.”
“You can’t do that! I only know like five words in Thai!” Jack just shrugged and handed the book back to his granddaughter. Grumbling, she grabbed it and pouted as she sunk back in her seat for the five remaining hours of the flight.
Two and a half hours later, she had completed the book but had fallen asleep due to how dull the content had been. Jack smiled as he gently took the book out of her hands, put his suit jacket over her small form and used the phone to check his messages. He learned that Vaughn’s flight from London was landing within minutes of his own flight and had been given a spot to meet him in the airport.
Finally the plane landed and Jack forced Jolie to wake up because he couldn’t carry her and their bags. Putting her backpack on her back, she followed Jack through the airport and only became animated once she saw her father waiting for them.
“Daddy!” She screamed, rushing toward the man leaning against the wall. He smiled and swept her up, kissing her cheek.
“Hi, princess! How are you doing?”
“I’m tired,” she replied, putting her head on his shoulder. “I don’t like flying across the country to fly back mere hours later.”
He laughed, knowing all too well how exhausting “spying” could be. Jack broke in and the two men had a brief conversation about their missions. Vaughn handed Jack the chip from his digital camera and picked up his bag with his free arm since the other held a sleepy little girl.
“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, Jack,” Vaughn said, reminding him that he’d be at work late. Jack nodded and they parted ways, both anxious to sleep in their own beds.
~~~
As Vaughn and Jolie walked into their house, they noticed one thing: it was completely silent.
“Anyone here?” Vaughn called and immediately Sydney rushed into the hall telling him to keep it down.
“Isabelle’s been sleeping for a while. Let’s keep it that way,” she said quietly and then kissed her husband hello. Noticing that her daughter was practically sleeping while standing up, Sydney walked over and gently lifted her onto her hip. “Hi, babydoll. I missed you. Are you hungry at all?”
Jolie shook her head and put it on Sydney’s shoulder. “Tired,” she mumbled.
“Okay. I’ll go tuck you in.” Turning, she slowly walked up the stairs and into Jolie’s room. After tucking her into bed, Sydney began to tip-toe out of the room but stopped when Jolie asked her if it was almost over. Turning around, she perched on the edge of her daughter’s bed.
“Almost. Now that we have the pictures of the 12 members, we can track their movements and figure out how to get everyone in one location at one time. We’re also closer to knowing what those coordinates mean and once we do, we’ll go after whatever is located there. And sometime within the next week, Daddy and I are going to stake out the head of Prophet Five and watch how he operates and try to get into his office and search around if we can.”
Jolie sighed. “Just hurry. I want my mommy,” she said softly into her pillow. Sydney heard her and decided to lie down next to her.
Pulling her daughter close, she pressed a kiss onto her forehead. “You have your mommy. I’m always here for you. I may be a little preoccupied but you always have me.”
“And me,” a voice said from the door as Vaughn walked inside the room and leaned over to kiss his little girl good night. “Come on, Mrs. Vaughn, it’s bedtime for us too,” he said, lifting his wife in his arms. “Go to sleep, princess,” he called over his shoulder. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
~~~
The next afternoon, Vaughn arrived at APO alone. Irina had given Jolie a day off from school to rest and Sydney decided to stay home with the girls and work from there. It was that day that the team discovered they had a solid lead on their research into Prophet Five.
“We have successfully identified all twelve members of this organization,” Jack said to his team in one of the conference rooms. “Sydney, Vaughn and Renee are going on a recon mission in a few days to Gordon Dean’s office. We’ve confirmed that he’s the leader of Prophet Five and we are optimistic that we will be able to discover what they are after once Dean is observed. Marshall is 80% finished with decoding those coordinates and I am confident that we should be able to end this within a few more weeks.” A silence fell over the group as everyone realized how close they were.
After Jack dismissed the team, Vaughn and Renee sat down and held a conference call with Sydney to discuss logistics for their upcoming mission. Halfway through the call, it seemed as though hell broke out in the Vaughn household. First Vaughn and Renee heard a crash, then the sound of Jolie screaming her head off followed by Isabelle’s wailing. Sydney abruptly cut off the call, leaving Vaughn and Renee stunned.
“What could have happened?” Renee questioned, looking at Vaughn, who appeared to be trying not to panic.
“I don’t know…I have to go. I’ll call you later.” He stood and rushed to his office, grabbed a few files and left APO quickly.
~~~
“What is going on?” Sydney yelled above the noise as she descended the stairs to the living room where she had left her daughters peacefully watching a video twenty minutes earlier. “Jolie Vaughn, I asked you to remain quiet for just a little while! Was that really so much to…” Sydney trailed off as she saw shards of glass lying on the living room floor. Her eyes traveled upwards and noticed that one of the living room windows had been shattered. Jolie was huddled on the couch, thankfully nowhere near the glass, and Isabelle was still safe, but frightened, in her baby swing. Rushing over to the girls, she quickly picked up Isabelle and then joined her older daughter on the couch. “Sweetie, what happened?”
TBC...
Enjoy the next part!!Recap:
“Why won’t she just SHUT UP? Mommy…I’m TIRED. And Grandma is testing me tomorrow on history. And she said if I fall asleep during one more of her lessons, then I have to miss two classes of ice-skating! It’s not fair. This is Isabelle’s fault.” Jolie gave her mother a pathetically tired look as tears filled her eyes.
Chapter 14:
Sydney sighed and cupped Jolie’s chin in her hand. She knew her daughter was suffering as much as her and Vaughn were, and she was right. It wasn’t fair to her. “Okay, sweetie. Do you want to go sleep at Grandma’s tonight?” Jolie nodded. “All right. Let’s pack up some things.” She stood and gathered the few necessities her daughter would need for tomorrow as well as her school bag. Bringing those down to the door, she came back upstairs and picked up the sleepy child.
“Vaughn!” She called and he appeared in the hallway holding the baby, who had finally calmed down slightly. “I’m taking Jolie to my mom’s. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.” He nodded and went back into his bedroom with Isabelle.
As they were driving to the apartment, Jolie kept nodding off. Sydney watched her through the rearview mirror and felt really bad. While stopped at a light, she noticed Jolie’s eyes were open. “Sweetie, I’m taking Isabelle to the doctor tomorrow for a check-up. Hopefully he’ll be able to teach me some tricks on how to get her to sleep, okay? It’ll be better soon.”
“Mmmkay,” the little girl replied, half asleep.
~~~
Irina had the door open by the time Sydney arrived at the apartment carrying Jolie. “Oh, she’s exhausted…” Irina commented upon seeing her drowsy granddaughter.
“Yeah, cause I’m not, Mom,” Sydney said, rolling her eyes. “Honestly…did Jolie cry THIS much? I feel like Isabelle never stops. I know it’s a terrible thought, but…” she continued, sinking onto the couch. “I really wish she would just be quiet! I can’t handle much more of this!”
“Oh, sweetheart. It’ll work itself out. And if you need a break, we’ll be happy to baby sit Isabelle.”
“I know, thanks.” Sydney sighed. “I should get going…let me go tuck Jolie into the guest bed. She disappeared down the hall and made sure her daughter was all snuggled into bed before kissing her goodnight. “I love you, sweetie. I know it’s been tough for you, but I’m very proud of how you’ve handled it.” Kissing her forehead one last time, she returned to the living room and said goodnight to her mother before heading back to the land of screaming babies.
><><><
Before anyone knew it, a few more weeks had gone by. Isabelle had started sleeping more a few days after Sydney had brought Jolie to her parent’s for the night. Sydney returned to APO part time and plans to take down Prophet Five were well under way.
APO had begun to reconstruct the board of information that had been in Renee and Vaughn’s fathers’ bunker. It needed to be updated so the gang was busy jetting off around the world collecting photos of the twelve members.
“Daddy…where are you going?” Jolie asked as she passed by her parents’ room and saw Vaughn putting clothes in a duffle bag.
“London.”
“Why?”
“I need to get a picture of one of the Prophet Five members.”
Jolie looked horrified. “NO! You can’t go. Daddy, if they see you, they’ll try to kill you again.” She ran up behind him and latched her arms around his waist.
“Shhh…princess, it’s okay. I promise, one hundred percent promise that it’s safe for me to go to London. All I have to do is watch one man and take a picture of him. You don’t have to worry. AND, you’re going with Grandpa to Washington, DC to help him stake out his person! You’ve never been to DC, so that will be fun.”
“I am?”
“Yep.
“Oh that is so cool!” The little girl exclaimed, jumping onto the bed. “Is Mommy going somewhere too?”
“Not this time, sweetie. Mommy is going to stay here for Isabelle. But in a few days the two of us are going somewhere together.”
“But what about me and Izzie?”
“You two will either stay with Grandma or Aunt Nadia.”
“Oh…okay. Will you and Mommy be safe? We don’t want to lose both of you at one time.”
Vaughn stopped packing and stared into his little girl’s eyes. Gently taking her in his arms, he walked them over to the window. He hadn’t realized just how nervous she had become about losing her parents and felt terribly guilty for causing her to be this way. As they stood there, she put her head on his shoulder and he kissed her forehead. “Princess…we’re not leaving you again. This will all be over soon. That’s what we’re working so hard on. You know that.”
Jolie nodded. “I know. I just love you guys so much.”
Vaughn felt his heart melting. “We love you too. Always.”
><><><
Jack held Jolie by the hand as he led her up the steps of the US Capitol. The Washington Monument was in the background as they stood there, waiting for Jack’s target. Finally he spotted him coming and directed Jolie to go stand in a certain spot. As his target was passing behind his granddaughter, he snapped the picture.
“Beautiful, sweetheart,” he said and she smiled.
“Did we get it?”
“We sure did. And we have a few hours before our flight. Is there anything you want to do?”
The little girl nodded her head vigorously. “I wanna go to the International Spy Museum!!”
Jack looked dumbfounded. “The…what?”
“The International Spy Museum! They opened it in 2002. It’s the ONLY museum dedicated to international espionage!! Please, Grandpa?? I wanna see it!!”
Jack’s curiosity was peaked and he agreed. For the remainder of the afternoon, they poured over old school spy toys displayed on the walls of the museum and journeyed through the secret history of history. There was a room where guests of the museum could play games to test their spy ability and to no one’s surprise, both Jack and Jolie aced each game.
“Grandpa, when you were Daddy’s age or younger, did you use some of those things we saw on the walls in the other room?” Jolie asked innocently as they looked around the gift shop for gag gifts to bring the rest of the family.
“Actually, sweetheart, there were a few things in there I recognized.”
“That is SO cool.” She sighed. “Maybe one day the Bristow name will be part of history in here,” she continued in a dreamy tone. Jack just chuckled.
After buying identical t-shirts in Jolie and Isabelle’s respective sizes that said “Deny Everything,” and some funny office notepads for the rest of the family that said “This Message Will Self Destruct in 30 Seconds,” Jack and Jolie caught their flight back to Los Angeles and called Sydney from the plane.
“Hi, Mommy!” Jolie chirped into the phone.
“Hi, sweetheart. Did you have a good time with Grandpa?”
“Yes. Everything went well. And after, we went to the International Spy Museum!” Jolie proceeded to tell her mother all about the museum and everything in it. “Of course, today’s methods are much more effective but I guess for the old days, the spies made due with what they had.” Sydney burst out laughing while Jack hastily grabbed the phone from his granddaughter before she caused any of the other passengers of the plane to wonder about why she knew so much about spy-related issues.
“Grandpa! I wasn’t finished talking to Mommy!”
“Sorry, Jolie, I just needed to tell her something.”
“Well, it was rude!” Jack just held up his hand as he had a small conversation with his daughter, who was highly amused at their interaction. Finally, he handed the phone back to the impatient little girl next to him.
“How’s Isabelle, Mommy?”
“She misses her sister.”
“Mommyyyy…she’s only seven weeks old. She doesn’t know I exist!”
“Oh, yes she does, sweetie. She is waiting for you to come back and talk to her. You are much more interesting because she always fusses when I talk to her.”
Jolie giggled and Jack signaled that she had to hang up. “Grandpa says I hafta go now.”
“Okay. I’ll see you soon, sweetie. I love you.”
“Love you too, and Izzie.” They hung up and Jack handed his granddaughter a novel that she was supposed to be reading for Irina’s lessons. Jolie groaned and tried to give it back.
“You have to read this, sweetheart. It’s your homework.”
“But it is BORING. Why did Grandma pick such a crappy book?” Jack studied the book. The Grapes of Wrath.
“Jolie, it is a classic.”
“I don’t care. I don’t want to read it.”
“It’s your choice. But if you don’t read it, I’ll tell Grandma to do an entire lesson while speaking in Thai and then test you on what she taught.”
“You can’t do that! I only know like five words in Thai!” Jack just shrugged and handed the book back to his granddaughter. Grumbling, she grabbed it and pouted as she sunk back in her seat for the five remaining hours of the flight.
Two and a half hours later, she had completed the book but had fallen asleep due to how dull the content had been. Jack smiled as he gently took the book out of her hands, put his suit jacket over her small form and used the phone to check his messages. He learned that Vaughn’s flight from London was landing within minutes of his own flight and had been given a spot to meet him in the airport.
Finally the plane landed and Jack forced Jolie to wake up because he couldn’t carry her and their bags. Putting her backpack on her back, she followed Jack through the airport and only became animated once she saw her father waiting for them.
“Daddy!” She screamed, rushing toward the man leaning against the wall. He smiled and swept her up, kissing her cheek.
“Hi, princess! How are you doing?”
“I’m tired,” she replied, putting her head on his shoulder. “I don’t like flying across the country to fly back mere hours later.”
He laughed, knowing all too well how exhausting “spying” could be. Jack broke in and the two men had a brief conversation about their missions. Vaughn handed Jack the chip from his digital camera and picked up his bag with his free arm since the other held a sleepy little girl.
“I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon, Jack,” Vaughn said, reminding him that he’d be at work late. Jack nodded and they parted ways, both anxious to sleep in their own beds.
~~~
As Vaughn and Jolie walked into their house, they noticed one thing: it was completely silent.
“Anyone here?” Vaughn called and immediately Sydney rushed into the hall telling him to keep it down.
“Isabelle’s been sleeping for a while. Let’s keep it that way,” she said quietly and then kissed her husband hello. Noticing that her daughter was practically sleeping while standing up, Sydney walked over and gently lifted her onto her hip. “Hi, babydoll. I missed you. Are you hungry at all?”
Jolie shook her head and put it on Sydney’s shoulder. “Tired,” she mumbled.
“Okay. I’ll go tuck you in.” Turning, she slowly walked up the stairs and into Jolie’s room. After tucking her into bed, Sydney began to tip-toe out of the room but stopped when Jolie asked her if it was almost over. Turning around, she perched on the edge of her daughter’s bed.
“Almost. Now that we have the pictures of the 12 members, we can track their movements and figure out how to get everyone in one location at one time. We’re also closer to knowing what those coordinates mean and once we do, we’ll go after whatever is located there. And sometime within the next week, Daddy and I are going to stake out the head of Prophet Five and watch how he operates and try to get into his office and search around if we can.”
Jolie sighed. “Just hurry. I want my mommy,” she said softly into her pillow. Sydney heard her and decided to lie down next to her.
Pulling her daughter close, she pressed a kiss onto her forehead. “You have your mommy. I’m always here for you. I may be a little preoccupied but you always have me.”
“And me,” a voice said from the door as Vaughn walked inside the room and leaned over to kiss his little girl good night. “Come on, Mrs. Vaughn, it’s bedtime for us too,” he said, lifting his wife in his arms. “Go to sleep, princess,” he called over his shoulder. “We’ll see you in the morning.”
~~~
The next afternoon, Vaughn arrived at APO alone. Irina had given Jolie a day off from school to rest and Sydney decided to stay home with the girls and work from there. It was that day that the team discovered they had a solid lead on their research into Prophet Five.
“We have successfully identified all twelve members of this organization,” Jack said to his team in one of the conference rooms. “Sydney, Vaughn and Renee are going on a recon mission in a few days to Gordon Dean’s office. We’ve confirmed that he’s the leader of Prophet Five and we are optimistic that we will be able to discover what they are after once Dean is observed. Marshall is 80% finished with decoding those coordinates and I am confident that we should be able to end this within a few more weeks.” A silence fell over the group as everyone realized how close they were.
After Jack dismissed the team, Vaughn and Renee sat down and held a conference call with Sydney to discuss logistics for their upcoming mission. Halfway through the call, it seemed as though hell broke out in the Vaughn household. First Vaughn and Renee heard a crash, then the sound of Jolie screaming her head off followed by Isabelle’s wailing. Sydney abruptly cut off the call, leaving Vaughn and Renee stunned.
“What could have happened?” Renee questioned, looking at Vaughn, who appeared to be trying not to panic.
“I don’t know…I have to go. I’ll call you later.” He stood and rushed to his office, grabbed a few files and left APO quickly.
~~~
“What is going on?” Sydney yelled above the noise as she descended the stairs to the living room where she had left her daughters peacefully watching a video twenty minutes earlier. “Jolie Vaughn, I asked you to remain quiet for just a little while! Was that really so much to…” Sydney trailed off as she saw shards of glass lying on the living room floor. Her eyes traveled upwards and noticed that one of the living room windows had been shattered. Jolie was huddled on the couch, thankfully nowhere near the glass, and Isabelle was still safe, but frightened, in her baby swing. Rushing over to the girls, she quickly picked up Isabelle and then joined her older daughter on the couch. “Sweetie, what happened?”
TBC...
Michael_Vartan_Hottie
Cadet
hey I'm first yippie!!
Uh oh hurry with an update!!!
Uh oh hurry with an update!!!
6helterskelter6
Cadet
Oh my gosh! What happened?!?!
farliieansds225
Cadet
ahhhh omg what happened???!!!!!
hope everyones ok!!
loved the spy museum part hahaha
and jolie reading grapes of wrath so cute
awesome update
loved it
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
hope everyones ok!!
loved the spy museum part hahaha
and jolie reading grapes of wrath so cute
awesome update
loved it
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
derevkointraining
Cadet
LOL
we're almost at the exciting conclusion, guys. STAY TUNED!
we're almost at the exciting conclusion, guys. STAY TUNED!
sydneymicheal
Cadet
Need. To. Know. What. Happened.
I can't believe you left it there...
I've been to the International Spy museum and I loved it....
Thanks for the pm...
I can't believe you left it there...
I've been to the International Spy museum and I loved it....
Thanks for the pm...
derevkointraining
Cadet
Here's the update.... don't want to keep y'all in suspense too long!! Loved your reactions though!!
Recap:
Rushing over to the girls, she quickly picked up Isabelle and then joined her older daughter on the couch. “Sweetie, what happened?”
Chapter 15:
“I dunno, Mommy. We were just sitting here and then something hit the window and made a loud noise and then it shattered! I think someone is trying to kill me!” Now that her mother was next to her, she clung to her and finally broke down in tears.
Wrapping a free arm around her daughter, she leaned over and gently kissed her head. “Jolie, sweetheart, no one is trying to kill you. I’m sure this was just an accident. Okay? Let’s calm down. We all need to calm down. Let’s go into the kitchen. I want to make sure neither of you were hit by the glass.”
Upon closer scrutiny, she found both girls were completely unharmed and gave Jolie a few cookies while giving Isabelle a bottle. The three of them sat quietly in the kitchen until Vaughn rushed into the house ten minutes later.
“Sydney? Jolie? Hello?” He called frantically, upon seeing the shattered glass.
“In the kitchen, Vaughn,” Sydney called back. He rushed into the room with questioning looks in his eyes. She shrugged, and told him exactly what Jolie had told her.
Vaughn knew it was no accident but stayed calm for his daughters’ sake. “Sydney, why don’t we put the girls upstairs and clean up the living room?” He asked slowly, hoping she’d understand that he wanted to talk to her alone. She smiled and agreed.
Picking up Jolie, Vaughn followed Sydney and Isabelle upstairs and put both girls where they knew they felt safest - in their parent’s bedroom. “Jolie, I want you to be a big girl right now and watch over Isabelle while we go clean the glass, okay?” She nodded and asked for the book that was sitting on her bed. Sydney retrieved it and after, she followed Vaughn back downstairs.
“Syd…this was no accident,” he said quietly.
“I know. I just couldn’t say anything in front of Jolie. I didn’t touch anything…let’s see if we can figure out what caused the window to shatter.” Carefully picking through the glass, Vaughn finally discovered a small silver canister, slightly shaped like a bullet.
“Syd,” he said softly, pointing to it. “I bet this was shot into the window. Go get some gloves to pick it up so we can dust for fingerprints, though I doubt there will be any.” Once they had the canister, they slowly opened it to find a note inside. “Drop the investigation into Prophet Five or you’ll be sorry," it read.
“We’re close. This proves it,” Sydney stated firmly. “But we’re not dropping it. This was meant to scare us. I don’t care. We are finishing this.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want, honey? I mean, I’d like to end this too, but the girls could have gotten hurt today.”
“I don’t think whoever did this was out to hurt the girls. They shot it through the far window, away from the couch. If they wanted to hurt the kids to get to us, they would have shattered the window directly behind the couch. Jolie was clearly visible from outside and whoever did this was no novice. They couldn’t have missed the target by four windows. This was simply a warning.”
Vaughn nodded. “I’m going to go bring this into APO,” he said, holding the canister and note. “Do you want to come, or will you be okay here with the girls?”
“I think I should stay here. I’ll clean up the glass, board the window and make some calls to get it repaired. Just call me and tell me what Dad says.” She paused. “What should we tell Jolie?”
“Let’s just tell her a rock got thrown at the window, probably by some teenagers being a menace. I honestly doubt she’ll believe us but let’s try.” He stood. “I’m going to say goodbye to them and get going. You sure you are okay?”
Sydney nodded and kissed his cheek. “I’m fine. Go on, I’ll see you for dinner.” Vaughn walked upstairs and into his room.
“Did you find out what broke the window, Daddy?” Jolie asked, barely glancing up from her book.
“It looks like a rock was thrown at the window, honey. I’m sure it was just some kids from the neighborhood being bad. There’s nothing to worry about. Mommy is boarding up the window and will call to get it fixed, okay?” Jolie looked up and gave her father a wary look.
“Sure, whatever, Dad. A rock.” She shook her head. “Do you honestly think I am THAT stupid?” He gave her an incredulous look. “I know this was no accident, Daddy. Nothing in our lives ever is.” Vaughn sighed and went to sit next to his daughter.
“Oh, kiddo. I really wish you didn’t have to know about this world.” She sat up and crawled into his lap.
“It’s okay. Just don’t lie to me. They want you to stop looking into the Prophet Five stuff by going after me, right?”
“Well, yes and no. Whoever did this wants us to stop, but they weren’t trying to hurt you. This was just a warning, I promise. Their goal is not to hurt you because if they wanted to, they would have.”
She regarded him for a minute and finally nodded. “Okay. Are you going back to work?”
“Yeah, for a few hours. I’ll be home for dinner.”
“’Kay. Love you,” she said, giving him a small hug.
“I love you too.” Kissing her forehead, he stood up and gently tickled Isabelle’s stomach until she gurgled. “And I love you too, Miss Isabelle.” Smiling at his girls, he left the room and went to go show Jack what was shot through their window.
><><><
Five Days Later
Everyone at APO had agreed they were going to continue with the investigation and after settling the girls at Weiss and Nadia’s house, Sydney, Vaughn and Renee all set off for Zurich, where Dean’s office was located.
Renee was going to watch the outside of the office to see if any of the Prophet Five members came in or out, as well as bug the phone lines. Sydney and Vaughn were going to break into Dean’s office to search for whatever information they could find.
“Phoenix, Shotgun, I’ve patched into the phone lines. All systems go.”
“Okay Corbeau, we’re in the office. Going radio silent.” Vaughn and Sydney silently began pawing through Dean’s office and taking snapshots of things that looked important. After about five minutes, Sydney found exactly what they were looking for.
“Shotgun, these files talk about the Horizon.” Vaughn came over to look at them.
“Okay, you photograph the papers inside the files and I’ll keep looking to make sure there is nothing else we need here.”
“Copy. Don’t forget to check the hard drive.”
“I’m on it. I’ve already patched Merlin through.” Ten minutes later the office was thoroughly searched. Both Marshall and Vaughn had copies of the hard drive and Sydney had photographed everything within the files. They concealed their cameras in their pockets and began to make their way out of the building.
“Well, well. Fancy seeing you here, Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn,” a snarky British voice said from their right. “Especially you, Mr. Vaughn, as I had heard you were killed. Obviously an untrue fact, as you are standing in front of me.”
Sydney and Vaughn slowly turned and saw Sark leaning against the wall. “You…” Sydney said angrily. “I should have known you were mixed up with this Prophet Five stuff. You seem to follow the largest paycheck.”
“Actually, I’m not working with them. I was here for the same purpose you are, to learn more about Gordon Dean. But you showing up disrupts my affairs and I can’t afford to have you interfering with my business.”
“Too bad,” Sydney shot back.
Sark smiled cheekily. “I wouldn’t be so cocky, Sydney. I have my ways of stopping your work.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I suppose there is no harm in telling you now, as it won’t matter in about five minutes anyway.”
“What are you talking about, Sark?” Vaughn yelled.
“You might want to check on your little friends at APO before it no longer exists…” He slightly nodded his head. “Bye now.” With that, he disappeared through a seemingly invisible door in the wall.
Sydney and Vaughn turned to each other fearfully. “The girls…” Sydney dared to breathe and fumbled to grab her cell phone. “What do you think will happen?”
“Well, not that I want to point this out but he gave a time frame of five minutes so I’m guessing…”
“A bomb,” Sydney said quietly. “I’m going to call my dad…” With Vaughn holding her tightly against him, she shakily dialed the number to her father’s cell phone and prayed they weren’t too late and that she’d see her daughters again.
TBC....
So.. what do y'all think???
Only 3 more chapters plus an epilogue after this!! Thanks for reading and please review!
Recap:
Rushing over to the girls, she quickly picked up Isabelle and then joined her older daughter on the couch. “Sweetie, what happened?”
Chapter 15:
“I dunno, Mommy. We were just sitting here and then something hit the window and made a loud noise and then it shattered! I think someone is trying to kill me!” Now that her mother was next to her, she clung to her and finally broke down in tears.
Wrapping a free arm around her daughter, she leaned over and gently kissed her head. “Jolie, sweetheart, no one is trying to kill you. I’m sure this was just an accident. Okay? Let’s calm down. We all need to calm down. Let’s go into the kitchen. I want to make sure neither of you were hit by the glass.”
Upon closer scrutiny, she found both girls were completely unharmed and gave Jolie a few cookies while giving Isabelle a bottle. The three of them sat quietly in the kitchen until Vaughn rushed into the house ten minutes later.
“Sydney? Jolie? Hello?” He called frantically, upon seeing the shattered glass.
“In the kitchen, Vaughn,” Sydney called back. He rushed into the room with questioning looks in his eyes. She shrugged, and told him exactly what Jolie had told her.
Vaughn knew it was no accident but stayed calm for his daughters’ sake. “Sydney, why don’t we put the girls upstairs and clean up the living room?” He asked slowly, hoping she’d understand that he wanted to talk to her alone. She smiled and agreed.
Picking up Jolie, Vaughn followed Sydney and Isabelle upstairs and put both girls where they knew they felt safest - in their parent’s bedroom. “Jolie, I want you to be a big girl right now and watch over Isabelle while we go clean the glass, okay?” She nodded and asked for the book that was sitting on her bed. Sydney retrieved it and after, she followed Vaughn back downstairs.
“Syd…this was no accident,” he said quietly.
“I know. I just couldn’t say anything in front of Jolie. I didn’t touch anything…let’s see if we can figure out what caused the window to shatter.” Carefully picking through the glass, Vaughn finally discovered a small silver canister, slightly shaped like a bullet.
“Syd,” he said softly, pointing to it. “I bet this was shot into the window. Go get some gloves to pick it up so we can dust for fingerprints, though I doubt there will be any.” Once they had the canister, they slowly opened it to find a note inside. “Drop the investigation into Prophet Five or you’ll be sorry," it read.
“We’re close. This proves it,” Sydney stated firmly. “But we’re not dropping it. This was meant to scare us. I don’t care. We are finishing this.”
“Are you sure that’s what you want, honey? I mean, I’d like to end this too, but the girls could have gotten hurt today.”
“I don’t think whoever did this was out to hurt the girls. They shot it through the far window, away from the couch. If they wanted to hurt the kids to get to us, they would have shattered the window directly behind the couch. Jolie was clearly visible from outside and whoever did this was no novice. They couldn’t have missed the target by four windows. This was simply a warning.”
Vaughn nodded. “I’m going to go bring this into APO,” he said, holding the canister and note. “Do you want to come, or will you be okay here with the girls?”
“I think I should stay here. I’ll clean up the glass, board the window and make some calls to get it repaired. Just call me and tell me what Dad says.” She paused. “What should we tell Jolie?”
“Let’s just tell her a rock got thrown at the window, probably by some teenagers being a menace. I honestly doubt she’ll believe us but let’s try.” He stood. “I’m going to say goodbye to them and get going. You sure you are okay?”
Sydney nodded and kissed his cheek. “I’m fine. Go on, I’ll see you for dinner.” Vaughn walked upstairs and into his room.
“Did you find out what broke the window, Daddy?” Jolie asked, barely glancing up from her book.
“It looks like a rock was thrown at the window, honey. I’m sure it was just some kids from the neighborhood being bad. There’s nothing to worry about. Mommy is boarding up the window and will call to get it fixed, okay?” Jolie looked up and gave her father a wary look.
“Sure, whatever, Dad. A rock.” She shook her head. “Do you honestly think I am THAT stupid?” He gave her an incredulous look. “I know this was no accident, Daddy. Nothing in our lives ever is.” Vaughn sighed and went to sit next to his daughter.
“Oh, kiddo. I really wish you didn’t have to know about this world.” She sat up and crawled into his lap.
“It’s okay. Just don’t lie to me. They want you to stop looking into the Prophet Five stuff by going after me, right?”
“Well, yes and no. Whoever did this wants us to stop, but they weren’t trying to hurt you. This was just a warning, I promise. Their goal is not to hurt you because if they wanted to, they would have.”
She regarded him for a minute and finally nodded. “Okay. Are you going back to work?”
“Yeah, for a few hours. I’ll be home for dinner.”
“’Kay. Love you,” she said, giving him a small hug.
“I love you too.” Kissing her forehead, he stood up and gently tickled Isabelle’s stomach until she gurgled. “And I love you too, Miss Isabelle.” Smiling at his girls, he left the room and went to go show Jack what was shot through their window.
><><><
Five Days Later
Everyone at APO had agreed they were going to continue with the investigation and after settling the girls at Weiss and Nadia’s house, Sydney, Vaughn and Renee all set off for Zurich, where Dean’s office was located.
Renee was going to watch the outside of the office to see if any of the Prophet Five members came in or out, as well as bug the phone lines. Sydney and Vaughn were going to break into Dean’s office to search for whatever information they could find.
“Phoenix, Shotgun, I’ve patched into the phone lines. All systems go.”
“Okay Corbeau, we’re in the office. Going radio silent.” Vaughn and Sydney silently began pawing through Dean’s office and taking snapshots of things that looked important. After about five minutes, Sydney found exactly what they were looking for.
“Shotgun, these files talk about the Horizon.” Vaughn came over to look at them.
“Okay, you photograph the papers inside the files and I’ll keep looking to make sure there is nothing else we need here.”
“Copy. Don’t forget to check the hard drive.”
“I’m on it. I’ve already patched Merlin through.” Ten minutes later the office was thoroughly searched. Both Marshall and Vaughn had copies of the hard drive and Sydney had photographed everything within the files. They concealed their cameras in their pockets and began to make their way out of the building.
“Well, well. Fancy seeing you here, Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn,” a snarky British voice said from their right. “Especially you, Mr. Vaughn, as I had heard you were killed. Obviously an untrue fact, as you are standing in front of me.”
Sydney and Vaughn slowly turned and saw Sark leaning against the wall. “You…” Sydney said angrily. “I should have known you were mixed up with this Prophet Five stuff. You seem to follow the largest paycheck.”
“Actually, I’m not working with them. I was here for the same purpose you are, to learn more about Gordon Dean. But you showing up disrupts my affairs and I can’t afford to have you interfering with my business.”
“Too bad,” Sydney shot back.
Sark smiled cheekily. “I wouldn’t be so cocky, Sydney. I have my ways of stopping your work.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“I suppose there is no harm in telling you now, as it won’t matter in about five minutes anyway.”
“What are you talking about, Sark?” Vaughn yelled.
“You might want to check on your little friends at APO before it no longer exists…” He slightly nodded his head. “Bye now.” With that, he disappeared through a seemingly invisible door in the wall.
Sydney and Vaughn turned to each other fearfully. “The girls…” Sydney dared to breathe and fumbled to grab her cell phone. “What do you think will happen?”
“Well, not that I want to point this out but he gave a time frame of five minutes so I’m guessing…”
“A bomb,” Sydney said quietly. “I’m going to call my dad…” With Vaughn holding her tightly against him, she shakily dialed the number to her father’s cell phone and prayed they weren’t too late and that she’d see her daughters again.
TBC....
So.. what do y'all think???
Only 3 more chapters plus an epilogue after this!! Thanks for reading and please review!
