a/n
Hey guys, I was supposed to post sooner... I know, but the whole political fude in my country Autonomy.... not autonomy.... got me distracted... 
sorry... you don't care about that... anyway I am posting the new chapter and then I am going to pray that I can send some pm's...
There is an entire part that is written in spanish and then translated to english... It might be a little harder to read, but I really wanted to do it in spanish to keep it more real.... anyway the translations are in pharenthesis.... Next chapter to this one is the chapter I am really looking foward to getting... so this is sort of a transition chapter.... there are many things that needed to be said... plus there is a big revelation at the end.... so read and review
RECAP
Sydney left to talk with Nicole, while Jack is about to interrogate Francie about her missing years
CHAPTER 39: EN OTRA VIDA (In other life)
“I am glad you are alive” Jack told Francie surprising her for that uncharacteristically remark.
“Thank you Mr. Bristow” she said… “I am glad you think…”
“That does not mean I trust you…. I will not trust you, until I figure out exactly what happened”
Francie nodded noticing how Sydney’s father was just like she remembered him.
“Tell me how you got to Argentina…” he started menacingly.
“I don’t remember….”
“Tell me…” he started shouting again when the door flung open.
“Your team is back from Argentina” the man at the door told him.
Jack hesitated for a while.
“I can handle this. The man told him.”
Jack looked at him uncertain, but finally stood up and left.
Francie sat still with an expression of horror in her face.
“Don’t worry” the man told her “I am not half as scary as Jack”
She smiled “Thank you. I don’t think I could have handled any more time with him”
“I understand. I am Agent Vaughn… now, how about you tell me everything you remember, Francie” he told her soothingly. There was something about that man that made her feel at ease.
* * * *
“We investigated her thoroughly, sir” the agent told Jack “She arrived to Buenos Aires. She got a job at a coffee shop and she pretty much worked there for the 7 years. Nothing unusual ever happened. She was your regular woman living and working at the city. We questioned some of her acquaintances. She made a lot of friends there. None of them had anything unusual to report and she told all of them the same story flawlessly. She was an inmigrant from the states. She went to Argentina looking for adventure when she was younger and liked it so much she decided to stay there”
“That’s it?” Jack asked.
“A week before she contacted Sydney she showed up at work. Suddenly she went out after a customer that forgot her wallet and never came back…”
* * * *
“I remember being at my restaurant…. I was closing down…” Francie told Vaughn
FLASHBACK
FRANCIE: We did, like, 80 dinners. We’re like a huge success! (pause. She thinks she hears something…turns around. There’s nothing there. Calling out to the empty restaurant.) Hello? (Turns back around) Mom, I’m gonna have to put you on hold for just a second, okay?
(Allison walks up behind Francie. Francie puts the call on hold and turns around, looking at Allison in complete shock. Allison points a gun at Francie’s face.)
FRANCIE: (shocked and frightened): What…?
ALLISON: Move into the kitchen.
(Francie backs up slowly as Allison inches forward. Francie can’t believe what she’s seeing.)
FRANCIE(in soft, shocked voice): You’re me!
ALLISON: I am now.
END OF FLASHBACK
“What happened then?” Vaughn asked her.
“She was about to shoot me but she stopped. It was like she was debating on whether to shoot me or not. Finally she didn’t. She told me there were things I needed to know. She kept aiming the gun at me and forced me to look into some papers she gave me.
“What was on the papers?” he asked
“It was all sorts of files…. About Sydney, her father… SD-6 and the CIA. She made sure I went through all of them… and she told some other things. She wanted me to know all that”
“And then?”
“Then she hit me on the head. Next thing I remember is waking up in a foreign country…That’s all I remember….” She said apologetically.
“That’s ok Francie, you have been very helpfull”
“Thank you…. You have been really nice to me…. I wish I could remember more… I am really sorry Mr. Vaughn”
“Don’t worry… and you can call me Michael…”
“Michael…it’s you…. You are Michael from the bank” she told him.
“There is not really a bank, you know?” he said smiling “But I guess I am Michael from the bank”
“Sydney really likes you, you know…” she told him “Well…. She did 7 years ago….”
Vaughn smiled like a teenager “She told you that?”
“Yes. She told me she had a crush on you… It was the first time I saw her smile… since Danny”
“So she told you she liked me… I guess I am aware of that now” he said.
“Really. I am so glad for her…. I can see what she sees on you…”
“Thank you”
“You take good care of her ok. She’s been though a lot…”
“Tell me about it…. You don’t have to worry about Sydney, Francie…. I truly love her..” And then he told her something he couldn’t believe he was telling anyone “I am going to ask her to marry me…. You know… I can’t believe I just told you that….”
Francie smiled at him brightly “You know Michael…. That is the first good thing I have heard all day…. So… thank you for telling me”
“You are welcome”
* * * * *
“What is taking her so long?” Nicole asked Weiss. She was pacing nervously across her room.
“It’s a pretty long drive… Sydney may be super-spy, but she ain’t flash…” Weiss told her joking. She looked at him upset.
“Sorry… not funny” he told her.
Michelle appeared at the door of Nicole’s room. “Is everything ok?” she asked her “I heard some noises….”
“No, nothing is ok…” Nicole said upset.
“If you wanna talk about….” Michelle started
“No!” Weiss said “She is not allowed to talk to you. Go to sleep agent Scott” “What the hell were you thinking, Jack?” he muttered upset.
* * * *
Francie waited for Vaughn. He had gone out a while ago. Finally he returned to the room.
“The team from Argentina returned” he told her “They went to the place you lived in for the last 7 years….you had a nice apartment, apparently”
She shook her head…. “How can I have forgotten all of that”
“It could be worse, Francie… You went missing… but you didn’t have to endure torture or anything awful…. You just went away to lead a perfectly nice life…. Believe me it could have been worse….” He said thinking of Sydney.
“I guess you are right”
“I’ll be taking you to a safehouse so you spend the night…. I think you will be able to go home in a few days” he told her. She nodded unsure of where was home.
“One last thing” he told her “Do you speak Spanish, Francie?”
“I took some at highschool… but I don’t…. I guess I do since I’ve been living in Argentina for almost a decade” she said bitterly.
Vaughn handed her a piece of paper with some words written in Spanish.
“EL MEJOR ESCONDITE ES AQUEL QUE ES EL MAS OBVIO”
“The best hidden place is the most obvious one” Vaughn told her.
“I understand” she said “I just don’t know…..”
“You left that behind the day you disappeared in Argentina…”
Suddenly the memories came to her mind.
FLASHBACK
“El mejor escondite es aquel que es el más obvio” A man read the piece of paper she was writing from behind her shoulder.
“Qué se supone que quiere decir eso?” (what is that supposed to mean?”)he asked
“Nada” (Nothing)Francie told him
“No le hagas caso, Pablo…y…. esta mujer esta loca…. No Gaby? Cuando viajamos a Salta, compartimos un cuarto y ella despertó murmurando cosas raras en ingles….qué fue lo que dijiste, Gabriela?”(Don’t listen to her, Pablo. This woman is crazy. Once we went to Salta and we shared a room…she woke up muttering strange things in English…. What did you say? Gabrielle?)The woman said.
“Puras boberías…. No le hagas caso…”(Non-sense. Don’t listen to her)Francie replied.
“Ya me acuerdo dijiste: ‘Protect the passenger, project the passenger’ que p*tas querrá decir eso? No se…. Pero la mujer esta loca, te digo”(I remember! You said ‘protect the passenger, protect her’ What the f*ck is that supposed to mean? I don’t know, but I tell you the woman is crazy!)
Francie looked down and tried to ignore her. A young new waiter entered the coffee shop.
“Diego” the woman told the newbie “Gaby te mostrará lo que tienes que hacer. Sé buena, es su primer día” (Gaby will show you around. Be nice, it’s his first day)
“Claro”(Of course) Francie told her. “Tú atiendes a la proxima persona que venga”(you take the next customer
A young woman entered the shop. She approached the new guy and simply told him.
“Lo mismo de siempre”(The usual) then she sat at a table near the window and took out a book she was reading.
The new guy looked lost not knowing what to give her.
“Un café y una empanada”(coffee and an empanada) Francie told him.
“Gracias”(Thank you) he told her and then served the woman what she wanted.
“Quién es ella?”(Who is she?) Diego asked Francie.
“Es la dama de las 5. Todos los dias viene a la misma hora y toma lo mismo. Nadie sabe nada de ella, nadie la conoce y nadie tiene idea de que hace por estos lados. Es todo un misterio”(She’s the 5 o’clock lady. Every day she comes at the same time and has the same food. Nobody knows anything about her, nobody knows her and nobody knows what she does. She’s a mistery) Francie told him.
At that moment the woman approached Francie to pay.
“Cincuenta pesos”(50 pesos)
“Aquí esta…..you are American?” the woman asked Francie.
“Yes… what gave me away?"
“The accent of course. How is Argentina treating you?”
“Wonderfull. I’ve never been happier…” Francie told her.
“I am glad to hear that…. I am Nadia”
“Gabrielle”
“Nice to meet you, Gabrielle” Francie shook her hand and stayed looking at her for a moment.
“Is everything alright?” Nadia asked.
“Yes, it’s just that you look so familiar…. You remind me of someone…”
“I do? Have we met before?”
“No, I don’t think so….”
“Perhaps in another lifetime, then….” Nadia said smiling and then left the coffee shop.
Francie watched her leave… something really strange had just happened.
“Por lo menos ya sabemos su nombre”(At least we know her name now) Diego told Francie bringing her back to reality. She looked at the table Nadia was sitting before and she realized she left something behind.
“She forgot her wallet!” Francie said and ran out to catch her.
“She qué?”
When Francie was out on the streets Nadia was nowhere to be found. She was about to go back in but somehow she decided to look a little farther. She walked for about a block until she reached an alley. She was shocked to find Nadia pinned to the wall by a man holding a knife to her neck. She froze for a second unsure of what to do …. ‘Protect her….’ A voice sounded inside her head. She ran without thinking towards the man and pulled him away from Nadia.
“Run!” Nadia told Francie and they started running away from the man that was running behind them.
Nadia ran much faster than her and she gained distance until she was nowhere to be seen. Francie continued running. She looked back and the man was gone so she stopped to catch her breath. But suddenly someone caught her from behind.
“Who are you?” the man asked her. She was surprised that he was talking to her in English.
“You are going to regret what you did…” he told her and everything went black.
END OF FLASHBACK
Francie looked at Vaughn terrified.
“I remember now” she simply told him.
TBC
