What are Agent Vaughn's goals on General Hospital?

On General Hospital, Agent Vaughn (Bryce Durfee) has revealed very little about himself to the audience, while he has been training Josslyn Jacks (Eden McCoy) to be a World Security Bureau (WSB) agent under the supervision of Jack Brennan (Chris McKenna). So far, we don’t even know his full name.

Vaughn has been helping Josslyn as they investigate Professor Henry Dalton (Daniel Goddard) and get information on his research to give to Brennan. He has discussed other cases with his supervisor, Brennan.

As part of the Dalton mission, Vaughn has pretended to work as a janitor at Port Charles University, and recently, he and Joss shared a kiss when they were discovered in Dalton’s office by Emma Scorpio-Drake (Braedyn Bruner). They pretended to be a couple to explain his presence in Dalton’s office.

Agent Vaughn is a mystery on General Hospital

Vaughn and Joss on General Hospital | Image: ABC

During the July 2 episode of General Hospital, in the aftermath of the fire at Charlie’s Pub, Vaughn showed up to talk to Joss in the staging area, and they kissed again. For real this time.

It was an abrupt surprise for many reasons. Joss is still mourning Dex Heller (Evan Hofer), and honoring him was one of the reasons that she chose to take Brennan’s offer to join the WSB. On July 2, she told Vaughn she also wants to take down Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard). Vaughn responded by telling her that taking down Sonny was a worthy goal, and that he was an agent because he had goals of his own. She asked what they were, and he said he might tell her someday after they get to know each other better. Then he leaned in for a kiss, and she returned it.

With new romance becoming a possibility, we still know nothing about Josslyn’s handler or his goals in the three months he has been on General Hospital.

Their sudden kiss could be kicking off an homage to Alias, the ABC TV show that aired from 2001-2006. In that popular series, Jennifer Garner played a college student who was recruited to be a CIA agent and eventually fell in love with her handler, also named Vaughn (Michael Vartan).

But who is General Hospital's Agent Vaughn? What are his goals? With Joss and numerous other characters wanting to take down Sonny, it’s possible that Vaughn is secretly trying to help make that happen. It could be as simple as wanting to defeat the biggest mobster on the Eastern seaboard and take a big step in his career. But as with so many of Sonny’s enemies, there could be a personal vendetta.

One possibility is John “Jagger” Cates (Adam Harrington), the FBI agent who Sonny murdered on the Quartermaine property last year. Durfee has a strong resemblance to Harrington, and Vaughn’s personality seems a lot like Jagger’s, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if there was a family connection. Jagger Cates is the brother of Stone Cates and has a sister named Gina (Stephanie Dicker) who hasn’t been seen on the canvas in nearly 30 years. Jagger left behind a son with severe autism, also named Stone, and it’s not clear who his mother is. Jagger had a vendetta against Sonny because his wife, Karen Wexler, died of an overdose 30 years ago, caused by Sonny. Vaughn could easily be a nephew or cousin of Jagger’s, or have some other connection with the women in his life.

Could Vaughn have a connection to John Cates (left) or Dex Heller? | Image: ABC

Could Vaughn be related to Dex?

Vaughn could be related to Dex. The deceased police officer had two older brothers who have never been named. All we know about them is that they frequently beat him up and put him in the hospital multiple times, and that Dex joined the military to get away from them. Durfee and Hofer have a resemblance, too.

Vaughn knows about her relationship with Dex, so if he is one of those brothers, he is hiding that fact from Joss. If this is the case, it would give him incentive to protect her and honor his fallen brother, whom he regrets losing.

But could Vaughn be a double agent? Brennan has been keeping an eye on Jenz Sidwell (Carlo Rota) after bombing his mining complex in Somalia to save Anna (Finola Hughes) and Jason (Steve Burton). We just found out that Sidwell and Selina Wu (Lydia Look) had a business relationship, with Sidwell seeming to drive her out of Port Charles on the General Hospital episode of July 2.

We also know that Sidwell and Dalton know each other. What if Vaughn is working with Sidwell on the side? Sidwell could want Vaughn to help him take down Sonny, or to keep an eye on Dalton, or both. Sidwell may want to get his hands on Dalton’s final research before the WSB or anyone else does, and maybe he doesn’t trust Dalton enough. We haven’t seen enough of them together to guess.

Either way, it’s easy to see a future plot on General Hospital where Joss, Emma or Gio (Giovanni Mazza) get themselves in danger from Dalton or Sidwell, and Vaughn has to risk exposing his identity to save them, testing his loyalties along the way.