Safe Haven - Part 6
Jan. 10th, 2008 12:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
diandrahollmanTitle: Safe Haven
E-Mail: diandrahollman@yahoo.com
Website: http://diandrahollman.tripod.com/index.h
Rating: PG-13 to R for language and violence.
Keywords: Crossover, Alias/X-Files/Lost, slash, Vaughn/Mulder, Jack, hurt/comfort, angst
Spoilers: Only if you never watched season 5 of Alias or any season of Lost.
Disclaimer: All characters from The X-Files belong to Chris Carter and 1013. All other non-original characters belong to JJ Abrams and Bad Robot. I will put most of them back when I'm done with them, but I can't make any promises about Vaughn. The nurse is mine; any resemblance to the coroner on CSI: Miami is purely coincidental.
Author's Notes: See first chapter.
Previously
(Twenty minutes later)
"Would somebody explain what the hell is going on here," Jack demanded as he stepped into an abandoned room off of a less-trafficked hallway.
Sydney put her finger to her lips and shook her head silently. Then she pushed him in the direction of the bathroom. I followed them inside and shut the door.
"I have other patients," Jack said impatiently.
Sydney gave him a no-nonsense look and proceeded to turn on the sink and shower faucets while he bristled.
"I'm sorry about this Dr. Shephard," she began in a low voice. "But it'll only take a minute. I need to know what Michael told you."
Jack shook his head. "Not until you give me some answers."
Sydney tensed and I figured I should speak up before she decided to rip his head off.
"What happened back there," I asked, deflecting her attention momentarily.
She sighed and turned to me, glaring at Jack from the corner of her eye. "He asked for water. I stepped from the room for a few seconds to get it for him and when I got back a male nurse I didn't recognize was injecting something in Michael's IV. I asked him what he was doing and he panicked and fled. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. Michael ripped out his IV when he realized what the man was doing, but..."
"Did you see how much he injected," Jack asked.
"No, but he didn't finish. There were about 30 milligrams left in the syringe when I interrupted him."
"Did you get the syringe," I asked.
"No. He took it with him," she replied with a tone of disgust.
"You people are not really FBI, are you," Jack asked.
"Actually, I am," I corrected.
Sydney put a hand on my arm, cutting me off before I said anything further. "We need your assurance that you will not relate any part of this conversation or anything Michael may have told you to anyone."
Jack sighed. "Even if I wasn't bound by patient confidentiality, there's nobody for me to tell."
Sydney searched his face for a long minute before finally giving in. "He works for the CIA."
"What's his name," Jack pressed.
She flustered. "That is not relevant."
"Somebody just tried to kill one of my patients," he snapped. "I can't help if I don't know who my patient is or why somebody would want him dead."
Sydney fumed in silence.
"His name is Michael Vaughn," I said quietly, moving closer in case I needed to keep Sydney from throttling Jack. I doubted I would be able to do much to stop her, but hurting Jack wouldn't get us anywhere. "Everything else I told you is true. I met him for drinks at a bar and a man slipped GHB in his drink. I confronted him but he wouldn't tell me who he was working for or why he was ordered to kill Vaughn. That's why we need your help. If he has any idea who might be behind this and he told you then we need to know what he said."
Jack searched my eyes for a couple moments before sighing, his posture seeming to relax slightly. "He said 'Prophet Five'."
My eyes met Sydney's. "Does that mean anything to you?"
She shook her head, her previous anger dialed down to a low boil. "No, but we'll look into it," she said firmly. "We need to make sure his room is guarded at all times in case they try again. You," she wheeled on Jack, pointing her finger almost accusingly. "You cannot breathe a word of this to anyone. Not only for Vaughn's safety, but for your own. If these people are brave enough to attempt assassinating a government officer in public there's no telling what they're capable of."
'More likely if he says anything Sydney will kill him and make it look like an accident,' I thought.
Jack nodded soberly.
She hugged me. "I'll contact you when I find something," she promised.
"Okay."
She kissed my cheek and left me alone with the younger Dr. Shephard.
"I'm sorry we had to lie to you, but we didn't have a choice," I said softly.
He just looked at his watch. "I have to be in surgery in fifteen minutes," he muttered, brushing past me out the door.
I sighed and reached over to turn off the faucet in the sink.
******
(That night)
The good news was that although the second assassin had tried to kill Vaughn using a lethal amount of morphine he had not had time to administer the full dose before Sydney had interrupted him. The bad news was that probably meant "Prophet Five", whoever they were, was becoming increasingly less concerned with drawing attention to themselves.
Christian Shephard had assured me several hours ago that Vaughn would be fine. I hadn't seen Jack since Sydney and I had talked to him.
I was getting ready to settle in for a long night on watch duty when there was a knock at the door. Because of the special circumstances surrounding Vaughn's case I had been able to get him moved into a private room with a door that could be locked. I peaked through the window to see Jack Shephard standing in the hall, his hospital clothing exchanged for slacks and a blue button-down shirt. He was holding two large cardboard paper coffee cups.
I opened the door and wordlessly stepped aside, allowing him in.
"I thought you could use some company," he said, offering me one of the cups.
I took it after a moment of stunned hesitation. "You don't have to do that," I protested.
"You have to sleep sometime," he pointed out, his eyes scanning the equipment monitoring Vaughn's vitals.
"I don't sleep much," I said as I moved back to the chair beside Vaughn's bed.
He laughed and grabbed the chair by the door, bringing it over to set beside mine. "Neither do I." He slumped into the chair wearily.
I regarded him silently for a moment as I realized that he really was volunteering to stand guard all night. "Your wife must be very understanding."
He flinched. "I'm not married."
I held back a groan as I glanced down and realized for the first time that he didn't have a ring. "Sorry. I assumed that the picture in your office..."
"We're divorced," he said, his tone making it clear that this was a sore subject. Judging by the faint line around his ring finger I guessed it must have happened recently.
"I'm sorry," I repeated.
He grunted and sipped at his coffee. "What about you?"
I eyed him warily. "What about me?"
He nodded at Vaughn. "He really your boyfriend?"
"Yes," I replied easily without hesitation.
"How long?"
I didn't have to ask what he meant. "Almost two years."
He nodded thoughtfully and went silent for several long moments. "Isn't it dangerous for him to stay here now that they know where he is?"
"Actually here is the safest place for him to be right now. They've lost the element of surprise. They'll assume we'll be more vigilant now - harder to fool. Unless they've got somebody on the inside already it's unlikely they'll try again. But that's why I have to be careful about who I let around him. If these people are powerful enough they could get to anyone."
"What makes you think they haven't gotten to me," he asked.
"Instinct. That and if you really were working for them Michael would be dead by now. You had plenty of opportunities."
He nodded thoughtfully.
The ensuing silence was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. Jack instinctively checked the phone clipped to his belt and shook his head. "It must be yours."
I blinked at him stupidly. My phone didn't ring like that... I pulled the phone from my pocket. Sure enough, it was ringing. It also wasn't my phone. It looked very similar, but it was missing the small crack that had formed in the plastic when I dropped it a few months back. "Mulder," I answered warily.
"It's me," Sydney greeted. "Is the line secure?"
'You mean has anybody else had access to my phone since you apparently switched it for an untraceable one?' I thought. "Hey, Kate," I said. "Yeah, everything's fine."
Sydney hesitated, likely thrown by my contradictory message. "Is somebody there with you?"
"Yeah, Jack is helping me keep watch." I grabbed the remote from near the bed and flipped on the television in the corner, handing Jack the remote. 'Bugs,' I mouthed.
He hesitated for a moment and mercifully took the cue, switching to a sports channel and turning the volume up.
"What do you have," I asked in a low voice.
She sighed. "Not much. Whoever these people are they've managed to stay under the radar. We think Vaughn has been conducting his own investigation of Prophet 5. He's been in contact with a woman named Renee Rienne. Does that name mean anything to you?"
I frowned, straining to remember anything that could be significant. "No."
"We contacted her but she's refusing to talk to anyone but Vaughn."
I ground my teeth. "We have to put him in witness protection."
Sydney sighed. "You know as well as I do that Vaughn would never go for that. He's been investigating Prophet 5 for years and it looks like his father is involved somehow. He won't just walk away from this. Besides, he and Rienne know more than anybody."
I stared at Vaughn's sleeping form, gripping the phone so tightly I heard the plastic creak slightly. I knew she was right. He would never go into hiding as long as he was capable of fighting these people. "So what do we do?"
"For now we need to worry about getting him out of that hospital safely."
"How?"
"How much do you trust Jack?"
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He was watching the television disinterestedly, pretending not to listen. "Enough."
"I hope your instincts are good because we're going to need him on this." She gave me as much information as she could safely, detailing Vaughn's extraction plan. "You realize that he's going to have to go under deep cover until the threat is neutralized," she added. "We will do everything we can to catch these guys but it could take months...even years."
I closed my eyes, as if childishly believing that that alone would make the problem go away, and took a deep breath. "I understand." I could live with not seeing Vaughn - not being able to support him - as long as it meant he would be safe. I smiled pathetically. "I'll still have you right?"
I could hear the smile in her voice. "Yeah. We'll try to find some way for you to contact each other. I'm sorry. I wish there was another way."
"No, it's okay," I cut in. "As long as he's all right."
"Okay...I'll contact you when we're ready for extraction. Now let me talk to Jack."
I held the phone out to him. "She wants to talk to you."
Jack looked startled but he didn't ask questions. He just cautiously took the phone from me. "Yeah?" He frowned slightly. "Okay...yes." He gave me an indecipherable look. "Yes...what do you need me to do?"
I felt my shoulders sag with relief and hoped I had made the right decision.
"I don't know, maybe," he continued. "I've never tried to..." He went silent for several long moments. Then he sighed and looked toward the ceiling, seemingly trying to reign in a possible outburst. "Yes...just one that I know of...no...no... but..." His eyes widened and he glanced at Vaughn warily. "Yes." His expression went gradually from shock to confusion. "What?" He listened for a few moments and took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay. I understand...Yeah." He turned off the phone and handed it back to me, the look on his face suggesting that he suspected he might be in over his head.
"If you don't think you can do this it's not too late to back out," I offered, my voice low, barely audible.
He blew out a breath and ran a hand over his closely shaven hair. "No, I can do it."
"Are you sure," I pressed warily. "If anything goes wrong..."
"I know." His eyes met mine and I saw both uncertainty and determination. In that moment I decided that we couldn't have found a better candidate for this job. He would do everything he could to ensure Vaughn made it out of the hospital. He probably saw it as his obligation - either because Vaughn was under his care or because Vaughn had brought him into it, trusting him to do the right thing.
I nodded. "Thank you."
He nodded. The room was silent but for the blare of the television for several long minutes. I reached out to take Vaughn's hand, squeezing it lightly and staring at his still features, committing them to memory, not knowing when I would ever see him again.
Next chapter
"Would somebody explain what the hell is going on here," Jack demanded as he stepped into an abandoned room off of a less-trafficked hallway.
Sydney put her finger to her lips and shook her head silently. Then she pushed him in the direction of the bathroom. I followed them inside and shut the door.
"I have other patients," Jack said impatiently.
Sydney gave him a no-nonsense look and proceeded to turn on the sink and shower faucets while he bristled.
"I'm sorry about this Dr. Shephard," she began in a low voice. "But it'll only take a minute. I need to know what Michael told you."
Jack shook his head. "Not until you give me some answers."
Sydney tensed and I figured I should speak up before she decided to rip his head off.
"What happened back there," I asked, deflecting her attention momentarily.
She sighed and turned to me, glaring at Jack from the corner of her eye. "He asked for water. I stepped from the room for a few seconds to get it for him and when I got back a male nurse I didn't recognize was injecting something in Michael's IV. I asked him what he was doing and he panicked and fled. I tried to stop him, but I couldn't. Michael ripped out his IV when he realized what the man was doing, but..."
"Did you see how much he injected," Jack asked.
"No, but he didn't finish. There were about 30 milligrams left in the syringe when I interrupted him."
"Did you get the syringe," I asked.
"No. He took it with him," she replied with a tone of disgust.
"You people are not really FBI, are you," Jack asked.
"Actually, I am," I corrected.
Sydney put a hand on my arm, cutting me off before I said anything further. "We need your assurance that you will not relate any part of this conversation or anything Michael may have told you to anyone."
Jack sighed. "Even if I wasn't bound by patient confidentiality, there's nobody for me to tell."
Sydney searched his face for a long minute before finally giving in. "He works for the CIA."
"What's his name," Jack pressed.
She flustered. "That is not relevant."
"Somebody just tried to kill one of my patients," he snapped. "I can't help if I don't know who my patient is or why somebody would want him dead."
Sydney fumed in silence.
"His name is Michael Vaughn," I said quietly, moving closer in case I needed to keep Sydney from throttling Jack. I doubted I would be able to do much to stop her, but hurting Jack wouldn't get us anywhere. "Everything else I told you is true. I met him for drinks at a bar and a man slipped GHB in his drink. I confronted him but he wouldn't tell me who he was working for or why he was ordered to kill Vaughn. That's why we need your help. If he has any idea who might be behind this and he told you then we need to know what he said."
Jack searched my eyes for a couple moments before sighing, his posture seeming to relax slightly. "He said 'Prophet Five'."
My eyes met Sydney's. "Does that mean anything to you?"
She shook her head, her previous anger dialed down to a low boil. "No, but we'll look into it," she said firmly. "We need to make sure his room is guarded at all times in case they try again. You," she wheeled on Jack, pointing her finger almost accusingly. "You cannot breathe a word of this to anyone. Not only for Vaughn's safety, but for your own. If these people are brave enough to attempt assassinating a government officer in public there's no telling what they're capable of."
'More likely if he says anything Sydney will kill him and make it look like an accident,' I thought.
Jack nodded soberly.
She hugged me. "I'll contact you when I find something," she promised.
"Okay."
She kissed my cheek and left me alone with the younger Dr. Shephard.
"I'm sorry we had to lie to you, but we didn't have a choice," I said softly.
He just looked at his watch. "I have to be in surgery in fifteen minutes," he muttered, brushing past me out the door.
I sighed and reached over to turn off the faucet in the sink.
******
(That night)
The good news was that although the second assassin had tried to kill Vaughn using a lethal amount of morphine he had not had time to administer the full dose before Sydney had interrupted him. The bad news was that probably meant "Prophet Five", whoever they were, was becoming increasingly less concerned with drawing attention to themselves.
Christian Shephard had assured me several hours ago that Vaughn would be fine. I hadn't seen Jack since Sydney and I had talked to him.
I was getting ready to settle in for a long night on watch duty when there was a knock at the door. Because of the special circumstances surrounding Vaughn's case I had been able to get him moved into a private room with a door that could be locked. I peaked through the window to see Jack Shephard standing in the hall, his hospital clothing exchanged for slacks and a blue button-down shirt. He was holding two large cardboard paper coffee cups.
I opened the door and wordlessly stepped aside, allowing him in.
"I thought you could use some company," he said, offering me one of the cups.
I took it after a moment of stunned hesitation. "You don't have to do that," I protested.
"You have to sleep sometime," he pointed out, his eyes scanning the equipment monitoring Vaughn's vitals.
"I don't sleep much," I said as I moved back to the chair beside Vaughn's bed.
He laughed and grabbed the chair by the door, bringing it over to set beside mine. "Neither do I." He slumped into the chair wearily.
I regarded him silently for a moment as I realized that he really was volunteering to stand guard all night. "Your wife must be very understanding."
He flinched. "I'm not married."
I held back a groan as I glanced down and realized for the first time that he didn't have a ring. "Sorry. I assumed that the picture in your office..."
"We're divorced," he said, his tone making it clear that this was a sore subject. Judging by the faint line around his ring finger I guessed it must have happened recently.
"I'm sorry," I repeated.
He grunted and sipped at his coffee. "What about you?"
I eyed him warily. "What about me?"
He nodded at Vaughn. "He really your boyfriend?"
"Yes," I replied easily without hesitation.
"How long?"
I didn't have to ask what he meant. "Almost two years."
He nodded thoughtfully and went silent for several long moments. "Isn't it dangerous for him to stay here now that they know where he is?"
"Actually here is the safest place for him to be right now. They've lost the element of surprise. They'll assume we'll be more vigilant now - harder to fool. Unless they've got somebody on the inside already it's unlikely they'll try again. But that's why I have to be careful about who I let around him. If these people are powerful enough they could get to anyone."
"What makes you think they haven't gotten to me," he asked.
"Instinct. That and if you really were working for them Michael would be dead by now. You had plenty of opportunities."
He nodded thoughtfully.
The ensuing silence was broken by the sound of a phone ringing. Jack instinctively checked the phone clipped to his belt and shook his head. "It must be yours."
I blinked at him stupidly. My phone didn't ring like that... I pulled the phone from my pocket. Sure enough, it was ringing. It also wasn't my phone. It looked very similar, but it was missing the small crack that had formed in the plastic when I dropped it a few months back. "Mulder," I answered warily.
"It's me," Sydney greeted. "Is the line secure?"
'You mean has anybody else had access to my phone since you apparently switched it for an untraceable one?' I thought. "Hey, Kate," I said. "Yeah, everything's fine."
Sydney hesitated, likely thrown by my contradictory message. "Is somebody there with you?"
"Yeah, Jack is helping me keep watch." I grabbed the remote from near the bed and flipped on the television in the corner, handing Jack the remote. 'Bugs,' I mouthed.
He hesitated for a moment and mercifully took the cue, switching to a sports channel and turning the volume up.
"What do you have," I asked in a low voice.
She sighed. "Not much. Whoever these people are they've managed to stay under the radar. We think Vaughn has been conducting his own investigation of Prophet 5. He's been in contact with a woman named Renee Rienne. Does that name mean anything to you?"
I frowned, straining to remember anything that could be significant. "No."
"We contacted her but she's refusing to talk to anyone but Vaughn."
I ground my teeth. "We have to put him in witness protection."
Sydney sighed. "You know as well as I do that Vaughn would never go for that. He's been investigating Prophet 5 for years and it looks like his father is involved somehow. He won't just walk away from this. Besides, he and Rienne know more than anybody."
I stared at Vaughn's sleeping form, gripping the phone so tightly I heard the plastic creak slightly. I knew she was right. He would never go into hiding as long as he was capable of fighting these people. "So what do we do?"
"For now we need to worry about getting him out of that hospital safely."
"How?"
"How much do you trust Jack?"
I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He was watching the television disinterestedly, pretending not to listen. "Enough."
"I hope your instincts are good because we're going to need him on this." She gave me as much information as she could safely, detailing Vaughn's extraction plan. "You realize that he's going to have to go under deep cover until the threat is neutralized," she added. "We will do everything we can to catch these guys but it could take months...even years."
I closed my eyes, as if childishly believing that that alone would make the problem go away, and took a deep breath. "I understand." I could live with not seeing Vaughn - not being able to support him - as long as it meant he would be safe. I smiled pathetically. "I'll still have you right?"
I could hear the smile in her voice. "Yeah. We'll try to find some way for you to contact each other. I'm sorry. I wish there was another way."
"No, it's okay," I cut in. "As long as he's all right."
"Okay...I'll contact you when we're ready for extraction. Now let me talk to Jack."
I held the phone out to him. "She wants to talk to you."
Jack looked startled but he didn't ask questions. He just cautiously took the phone from me. "Yeah?" He frowned slightly. "Okay...yes." He gave me an indecipherable look. "Yes...what do you need me to do?"
I felt my shoulders sag with relief and hoped I had made the right decision.
"I don't know, maybe," he continued. "I've never tried to..." He went silent for several long moments. Then he sighed and looked toward the ceiling, seemingly trying to reign in a possible outburst. "Yes...just one that I know of...no...no... but..." His eyes widened and he glanced at Vaughn warily. "Yes." His expression went gradually from shock to confusion. "What?" He listened for a few moments and took a deep breath. "Yeah, okay. I understand...Yeah." He turned off the phone and handed it back to me, the look on his face suggesting that he suspected he might be in over his head.
"If you don't think you can do this it's not too late to back out," I offered, my voice low, barely audible.
He blew out a breath and ran a hand over his closely shaven hair. "No, I can do it."
"Are you sure," I pressed warily. "If anything goes wrong..."
"I know." His eyes met mine and I saw both uncertainty and determination. In that moment I decided that we couldn't have found a better candidate for this job. He would do everything he could to ensure Vaughn made it out of the hospital. He probably saw it as his obligation - either because Vaughn was under his care or because Vaughn had brought him into it, trusting him to do the right thing.
I nodded. "Thank you."
He nodded. The room was silent but for the blare of the television for several long minutes. I reached out to take Vaughn's hand, squeezing it lightly and staring at his still features, committing them to memory, not knowing when I would ever see him again.
Next chapter
