Title: A Day at the Zoo
Summary: Sydney and Vaughn go to Santa Barbara and have a day at the zoo. Written for the July-August SD-1 Fanfic challenge. (Fic must include: mustard stain, heat wave, both a kiss and a slap in the face between the same characters, and a character using an alias.)
Rated: PG-13, nothing you can't see on TV lately.
Ship: S/V
…
"We're just going away for the weekend, Syd, did you pack enough stuff?" Vaughn grunted as he hefted yet another bag into the trunk of the blue Suburban rental.
She just giggled from the front seat with her feet propped up on the dash, a magazine clutched in both hands as she flipped distractedly from page to page.
"You don't actually read those, do you?" he asked, jumping into the driver's seat and pulling the car out onto the road.
"Nah, just skim. Sometimes I buy something if it's really cute," she paused, grinning when she came to a particular page, "like this. This is cute, don't you think?"
Twisting in her seat and buckling the belt, she pulled her feet down from the dash and waited until they were got to the stop sign at the end of her street to show him the item of clothing she'd been eyeing.
The two-piece bathing suit was a dark red but it was barely enough fabric to be considered wearable and his jaw almost hit the floor. The car behind them blared the horn, shocking Michael's attention back to the road just in time to see the light turn yellow. Sinking lower in his seat he flipped his turn signal on as the man behind him sent two obscene hand gestures through his window, Michael ignoring him and turning onto the side street to take the small detour.
He shook his head as she retreated back to her seat with another laugh, dimples in full force. "It's good to see those again," he commented.
"To see what?"
"Your dimples," he flashed her a grin as they jumped onto the highway. "I thought maybe you'd lost them on a mission or something."
"Hey, this is vacation time. We've got an entire weekend at our disposal and I don't want to talk about my mother, Sloane, Rambaldi, or anything remotely CIA related."
As soon as he'd mentioned their troubling times, the smile and bright eyes were gone. Most of the ride was silent, and Vaughn looked over to check on her, as well as apologize, but found her asleep with her head resting on the armrest. Flashing a smile he reached out to set his hand against her knee as he continued toward Santa Barbara.
"Well, that's the last of it, have a nice stay." Tipping the young man generously as he propped up the last of their bags in the foyer, Vaughn turned to see Sydney standing out on the veranda of their hotel room.
"You spent way too much on this, Vaughn," she turned, fixing him with a sheepish smile.
"Nah, we've had this vacation coming for a very long time. I've saved money away for it," he promised as he joined her outside, the hot air hitting him full force. "Wow, it's hot out here," he grumbled, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Yeah, but it's kinda nice, don't you think?"
"Being in Santa Barbara does make the heat wave bearable," he acquiesced while pulling her back against his chest. "Though I'd much rather spend the time inside the hotel room," his lips found her neck, sucking lightly, and he was surprised when she moved out of his grasp.
"Come on, I wanna go see everything," she pleaded, looking up at him with big, doe-like brown eyes and a slight pout to her full lips.
He sighed as he watched her beg, knowing full well he couldn't really ever say no to anything she asked, and agreed with a slight nod.
After changing his clothes into something less constrictive and sweltering in the heat of mid-day, he waited on the large bed for Sydney to get out of the shower. Fiddling with a string hanging off the edge of his khakis and adjusting his white and green striped button-up shirt, he pondered the situation he was in.
Almost six months ago this would have been impossible. SD-6 and the Alliance made their relationship scandalous and clandestine, but now that the bad guys were mostly out of the picture, Sydney was his. He'd prayed for this day millions of times since he'd felt her trembling hand grasp his solid one at the pier over a year ago.
And who the hell would have thought that their first kiss would take place in the middle of Sloane's offices? He sure hadn't, and yet that seemed a perfect place to begin their new relationship.
"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked lightly, leaning against the frame of the bathroom door in nothing but a black lace bra and panty set, toweling her hair dry while watching him with curious eyes.
"Nothin'," he smiled in reply as he fought the urge to toss her on the bed and have his way with her.
"You seemed pretty far away," she commented, walking over to her suitcase and pulling out a pair of cream-colored capris and a light blue, spaghetti strapped tank top. Pulling the pants up over her hips, he waited until they were buttoned and zipped before pulling her between his thighs, her stomach against his chest.
"I was just thinking about us finally getting to take a vacation," he smiled.
"Really? It looked a bit deeper than that," she smiled back and ran her fingers through his hair, feeling his lips brush below the front clasp of her bra.
He shrugged, inhaling her clean, floral scent as she continued to massage his skull.
"Vaughn, if you really just want to stay in the hotel, that's fine. I won't push you into going out if you don't feel like it," she dropped the tank over her head before plopping on the bed beside him.
"Truthfully, it really isn't at all a bad idea."
"C'mon, let's go to the zoo," he grinned lopsidedly as he pushed up from the bed and held his hand out to her.
"The zoo?" she exclaimed, light in her eyes as her dimples shone full-force.
"Yeah, the zoo. On the hottest day of the year, we're gonna go to the zoo. Besides, I'm a little intrigued by this crooked-necked giraffe," he replied.
She laughed and ran to the bathroom to put on a touch of makeup, ignoring Vaughn's comment that she didn't really need any, pulling up her hair into a high ponytail and slipping her flip-flops on before announcing herself ready to go.
...
"My GOD, it is so hot!" she groaned, flopping down at the food court as Vaughn collapsed next to her.
He merely nodded and took a drink from their community water bottle, looked across the large courtyard full of plastic tables and chairs as his eyes spotted the giraffe house.
"Okay," he mumbled, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the four page fold-out map, "what have we seen?" clicking his pen he crossed off the bird house, the lion, the bears, the penguins and the polar bears in the arctic display before hearing Sydney laughing over at him.
"Are you actually keeping track on the map?"
"Yeah, why?" he looked up from the pamphlet to her shining eyes and sweaty face. His eyes followed a particular bead as it rolled down the side of her neck into the fabric of the blue shirt as he resisted the want to follow the trail with his tongue and fingers.
"No reason, just wondering. Did you cross off the reptile house?" she asked, seeing him check it, "Good job, Boy Scout," she praised.
"Shut up," he laughed, setting the pen and map onto the table as he stood. "I'm gonna run to the bathroom, you sit and relax. Grab us another bottle of water," he smiled and leaned down, placing a wet kiss to her lips before turning and walking toward the small building of bathrooms.
Looking over and making sure her focus was somewhere else, he jogged into the large entrance of the giraffe house. He spotted a few families smiling, laughing and pointing up at the awkward giraffe as one of the keepers stepped into the pen with a shovel, the group leaving through the other entrance.
"Excuse me, I have a question," Vaughn asked, making sure no one was around. The older man smiled over at him, walking up to the edge of the bars.
"Sure, go ahead," the man said cheerfully.
"Well, my name is Josh Gates, and my wife and I are in town on vacation. She adores giraffes, and I was wondering if maybe she'd be able to feed one of them," Vaughn slipped into agent mode, silently praying that this story would work on the keeper.
"Well, we usually don't-"
"I'll pay handsomely," he reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, keeping his CIA identification out of sight as well as any IDs that sported the name Michael Vaughn. "Hundred bucks?"
"Well, what the hell. Sure. I'll just be in here takin' care of things; you go ahead and bring her in. We usually set up the closed sign in a few minutes anyway to give the animals time to recoup after all the people from the morning." He explained, Vaughn handing him the hundred-dollar bill through the bars, shaking his hand with a broad smile.
"Thank you so much, what is your name?"
"Rich, Rich Warren. Go ahead and come on in and I'll get everything set up," he replied.
"Thanks," he called again, looking out the windows, searching the food court and finding Sydney in the exact place he'd left her. Her head was tilted back with her eyes closed, and Vaughn used this momentary distraction to jump out of the giraffe complex and make his way back over to her.
"Having fun?" he asked, seeing her crack her eyes open with a wide smile.
"Took you long enough. You spend more time in the bathroom than I do," she allowed him to pull her up, handing him the new ice cold water bottle.
"C'mere, I have a surprise for you," he coaxed.
"Really?" she asked, and Michael swore that if she had ears like a puppy they'd be perked up by his new revelation.
"Yeah, but there's a story we need to follow. I'm Josh Gates and you're my wife. Just go with it," he whispered, ushering her into the Giraffe pen and refusing to answer any of her questioning glances.
"Ah, Josh, come on in. You must be his lovely lady," the zoo worker greeted her.
"Yes, I'm Emily," she elbowed Michael at his stifled chuckle. "My husband hasn't actually told me anything of what he has planned, but I think I'm gonna like it," she grinned seeing the animal keeper open up the gate, welcoming them into the empty area next to the famous giraffe.
"I set up a feeding time for you, since I know how much you love this guy," Vaughn grinned down at her wide eyes, seeing tears well up as she leaned up to kiss him lightly, Rick watching with a smile.
"Thank you so much," she whispered against his mouth, giving him one last small kiss as she looked up at the animal towering over her.
The giraffe must have noticed that it was feeding time and leaned his head down over the tall fence, his nose sniffing at the newcomers.
"He's harmless, a bigger push-over than a teddy bear. Here's what you do," lifting up a branch he demonstrated while talking. "You take the end of the branch in your hand and hold on tight. They've got incredibly long tongues and use them to strip the leaves from the ends, so he's gonna be pullin' at it while he eats," he smiled, handing the branch over to Sydney as she took a firm hold of the end, Michael getting one too as another, smaller giraffe stepped up and stuck his head over the fence.
The happy couple fed the animals for about fifteen minutes, petting their soft muzzles while they munched until Rick announced that he was going to have to re-open the exhibit.
"Thank you so much, it was perfect. She absolutely loved it," Michael gave him an extra twenty dollars as Sydney stroked the crooked neck one last time before he went back to his business in the other cage.
Stepping back out into the sweltering heat of the afternoon, Sydney threw her arms around her boyfriend.
"Thank you so much," she whispered, placing a kiss to his neck as he blushed, pulling back a few moments later. "I don't think anyone's ever done anything like that for me before and it means so much," she leaned up, setting a lingering kiss to her lips as a group of children rushed by the couple, breaking them apart as they laughed, watching the five-year olds charge into the giraffe house with a yell, the tired parents trudging after as they talked and pushed the strollers.
"Let's grab something to eat and head back to the hotel. The swimming pool sounds pretty good right about now," he smiled while brushing another kiss to her mouth, wrapping his arm around her waist, Sydney doing the same with him, as they strolled out of the zoo and back to the car.
"Where do you want to go?"
"I don't care, anything will be perfect," she smiled over at him, rolling the windows down in the sauna of a car to try and expel some of the heat assaulting them.
"Well, I know this place that has the best hot dogs in the world, if you're interested," he smiled, seeing her cock an eyebrow at him with a grin.
"Hot dogs sound great." she leaned over and pressed a kiss to his cheek, thanking him once more for taking her to the zoo, and she smiled when he blushed and nodded, pulling into the small Mom and Pop-like restaurant.
They walked in hand in hand, each still grinning as they noticed a middle-aged woman wiping the counter with a slightly stained washcloth. She looked up taking a double take before tossing the rag down and scuttling around the counter as she shouted for her husband.
"Michael Christopher Vaughn, it's been far too long since you've been in here!" she growled, her small arms wrapping around his middle in a tight squeeze, making him grunt.
"It's good to see you too Charlotte," he winked over at Sydney seeing her surprised smile as the two separated. "Charlotte, this is Sydney. Sydney, this is my aunt. Though she's been more of a surrogate mother-" he was cut off as his aunt interrupted him indignantly.
"Nonsense, Michael; if your mother heard you say that…" Charlotte trailed off with a warning.
"I was only kidding, Char, I swear." Vaughn held his hands up in defense as an older man walked out of the kitchen, wiping greasy hands on his apron.
"Well, if it isn't Little Bill," he grinned, embracing the young man in a loving hug before turning to look at Sydney as she stood by with curious eyes. "Who is this young lady?"
"Tony, this is Sydney," he reached out and set his hand at the small of her back, pulling her into the group.
"Wife?" Char asked, a hint of obvious excitement in her voice as she took Sydney's hand, giving it a friendly clasp.
"Not yet," Sydney murmured, ignoring Vaughn's sudden look in her direction.
"Well, since you're the first young lady Michael has brought to meet us, I have to say it's a pleasure. Have a seat," she smiled, gesturing to a near-by vacant booth. "Want your usual, Michael? Or do you want some menus?"
"Ummm, I'll just have my usual. Syd? You want a menu?"
"Nah, I trust you," she smiled, sliding in across from Vaughn as Charlotte scurried off, pushing Tony into the kitchen to fix the meal as she poured two sodas.
Vaughn tossed his arm over the back of the booth, his other hand across the table over Sydney's. "I thought you said you knew of a great place, she teased him."
"I did," he replied.
"But you didn't tell me your family owns it," she smiled, organizing the salt and pepper shakers as well as the ketchup, mustard and sugar packets at the end of the table.
"Is there a question in there somewhere, Bristow?"
"Not really, I guess I'm just realizing that I really don't know anything about you." She averted her eyes to the table, taking the rolled silverware out of the cloth napkin and placing it on her lap.
"Syd, you know more about me than any woman I've ever dated," he tried to answer.
"Including Alice?" she asked, her eyes meeting his for a moment before seeing his smirk turn into a frown. "I'm sorry, I don't want to ruin our day," she tossed him a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes before looking back into her lap.
"Syd, there's something you need to understand about me. I haven't seriously dated very many girls. After my high school girlfriend, Alice was the first actual relationship that lasted. Well…until I met you," he smiled, linking his fingers through hers as Charlotte stepped from the kitchen with two sodas in hand. She spotted the tender moment, setting their drinks down quietly and retreating back to the kitchen so as not to intrude on the conversation.
"Do you blame me for your break-up?" she asked, wincing at his remark, seeing the instant regret in Vaughn's eyes. "You do…"
"No. Not once have I regretted wanting you in my life," he swore, reaching out and tilting her face up by cupping her chin. "What do you want to know?"
Flashing a small smile, she shook her head lightly as two very large hot dogs were placed in front of them. Charlotte smiled, setting a kiss to the top of Vaughn's head before going back to the counter and finishing her abandoned cleaning.
"Can you pass the mustard, please?" Vaughn asked quietly, Sydney nodding and handing it over as they began their meal.
"These are really good," she spoke quietly, seeing Vaughn take a big bite, a drop of mustard gathering at the corner of his bottom lip. She grinned, picking up her napkin and reaching out to catch it. Unfortunately she was too late, and the mustard landed with a plop on his thigh.
"Dammit," he growled, taking Syd's offered napkin and trying to absorb the dollop that would probably end up staining his trousers.
"Okay, I have a question," she started, seeing Vaughn nod to let her know he'd heard her while concentrating on the removal of the spot.
"Is Charlotte related on your mother's side, or your father's?"
"Charlotte married into the family," he stated cryptically.
"I'm not asking Agent Vaughn, I'm asking you, Michael, my boyfriend," she ordered, seeing him look up and toss the napkin on the table while looking over to make sure they were alone.
"What if I don't want to answer the question?"
"Why not?" she demanded as she propped her elbows up on the table, fixing him with curious and angry eyes, the simple question more of a statement.
He sighed, "Sydney, I don't want to answer it because you're gonna beat yourself up after I do."
"Stop trying to protect me," she insisted. "Remember that it didn't go in your favor the last time you sheltered me," she warned, seeing the wrinkles pop out on his forehead for the first time since they'd left L.A.
"Tony's my dad's brother," he stated, propping an arm on the table and seeing Sydney absorb this new information. "See? You're doing it already!"
"We're gonna have to talk about it some time. You pretend that it doesn't affect you at all when I know it does. Why do you hide these things from me?" she growled, keeping her voice at a low, harsh whisper.
"Because I know exactly how you're going to react, Sydney," he began before she interrupted yet again.
"Do you?" she countered, and Vaughn knew that if she were standing she'd have her hand on her hip.
"Don't start this Sydney; I don't want to talk about it right now, especially here," he tried to delay their inevitable argument.
"Why? Why not? Does he know who I am?"
"You just met," Vaughn was getting frustrated. He was trying to be a nice guy and it wasn't getting him anywhere but into deeper and deeper trouble.
"That's not what I mean, Vaughn and you know it. Does he know who my mother is? Has he heard the name Irina Derevko before?"
"Sydney," Vaughn's low warning was enough to tell her to back off, but she'd never been good at concealing her emotions - especially when the moment demanded that she kept quiet.
"Vaughn, what are you so afraid of?" she exclaimed.
"I think that if I actually tell you what I feel about your mother that you'll leave me," he admitted.
"Why would I leave you, Vaughn, I hate her almost as much as you do," she replied, furious at her boyfriend, her mother, herself, her situation.
He stopped her with a flash of green fire from his eyes, "No, you don't. You have no idea how much I despise that woman," he paused, looking down before continuing. "Sydney, she took everything from me. My mother was always there, even through her grief, but she wasn't the same. She loved my father so much that when he died she wasn't who she was before, and that affected me. Now I've told you a million times that I don't hold you responsible for what that woman did, but the fact that you and your father willingly trusted Irina Derevko to walk out of CIA custody-" his sentence was cut short as her hand flew across the table and straight across his cheek.
The slap filled the silence of the restaurant as she jumped up from the booth, leaving the diner in a rush.
Vaughn sighed, cursing his quick temper as Tony opened the kitchen door, walking over and sitting across from his nephew.
"Michael, you know that you're never going to find another girl like that, right?" the older man started.
"Tony, not now please," Michael begged.
"Michael, I knew Jack and Laura Bristow, and she's the spitting image of her mother. Your dad's death wasn't anyone's fault, especially Sydney's – despite what her mother did," Tony finished quietly.
Vaughn's head snapped up, staring at his uncle with wide eyes. "Don't let her get away, Michael. Char and I have always thought of you as the son we never had."
"I know," Michael answered quietly.
"And I'd hate to see you lose Sydney because of that damn Vaughn temper," he grinned, seeing Michael smile and reach into his back pocket. "Don't even try it, keep your money in your pocket where it belongs" he growled the order, pointing for the young man to put his wallet back as a group of kids walked into the diner.
After Tony said a brief farewell, Vaughn slid into his wallet and set down a fifty, sliding it under the plate of his half-eaten hot dog before exiting and shouting that he'd be back later in the weekend.
He walked out into the cooling evening air of Santa Barbara, looking around for Sydney and he crossed the short distance to the car, still seeing nothing of his runaway girlfriend. Looking around desperately for a clue that would lead him to where she had gone, he noticed a small pathway leading to Charlotte and Tony's beach house, and beyond that, the edge of the water. It always calmed him down before, and it was probably a good idea to let Sydney cool down alone before attempting to talk to her, for fear of getting his ass kicked.
He opted for the less violent approach and made his way out to the water to relax, hoping Sydney would return some time soon. He walked out to the private beach and spotted a familiar figure sitting near the surf. Part of him was happy that he'd found her, but another part wanted to run across the distance separating them to pull her into his arms and apologize for losing his temper.
He leaned against one of the tall posts that supported the house, content to just watch her sit and sort out her thoughts.
"You might as well come keep me company," she called without turning her head, and he smirked before pushing away from the pole and walking slowly to her side. He settled down in the sand, seeing the streaks from tears on her cheeks.
"Sweetie, I didn't mean what I said," he started, maintaining a slight distance until she looked over at him with sad eyes.
"This is why we need to talk about things. Vaughn, you've been my one constant. You've never treated me differently from the moment you met me; the minute you started loving me; even after you learned that my mother killed your father – you never once stopped thinking of me as the same person," she stopped, leaning over and setting her head on his shoulder.
His arm instantly went around her shoulders, hugging her body close to his side after placing a kiss to her temple.
"I want to share these things with you, Syd, I just don't know how. I really don't want to burden you with something else, I mean, you've got so many problems as it is. I know, I know," he stated as he felt her move to object, "I know you hate being treated like a kid, but I can't help but want to protect you from the bad stuff as much as I can."
"I didn't mean to take anything out on you, Syd, it's just that…knowing that my father's killer had been found and sentenced, having her be your mother, it's all just given me mixed emotions, you know?" Feeling her nod, he continued.
"Sydney, you've always wanted a mother, almost as much as I've wished for a father, but I'm not gonna lie by saying that it didn't hurt when you began to trust her."
"Vaughn, I never trusted her-" she tried to explain.
"Sydney, I know you didn't fully trust her, but based on a lot of the information she'd given us, you'd placed a small amount of hope in the fact that she'd changed – that with her defection she wanted forgiveness."
"I kinda hoped she'd been willing to come back and apologize for what she'd done to my father and me," she sniffed, rubbing her cheek against his shoulder. "Maybe I was expecting too much; maybe I was naive like my dad said," she started to cry again.
Vaughn shook his head, cupping her face and pulling away to look down at her. "You're caring, Sydney - you're a very wonderful person. If someone I loved betrayed me like your mom did, I don't think I'd ever be able to forgive them. But here you are," he smiled, using the pads of his thumb to wipe away the tears from her cheeks. "The first time seeing your mother in almost thirty years and she shoots you in the shoulder. But you were still willing to see the change in her once she'd turned herself in."
"Syd, you're a better person than I could ever hope to be," he leaned in, pressing his mouth against hers as she pushed closer, molding their lips together.
His tongue searched hers, taking in her taste as well as the feel of her body up against his. Drawing back, he placed her on his lap with a small smile, his lips trailing from her mouth to her throat, nibbling his way down her neck and sucking at her pulse point.
"Let's go back to the hotel and we can talk there," he smiled, looking down at the vision Sydney Bristow made in his arms. Her eyes were shut and her cheeks were flushed a pink hue, lips swollen and chin sporting small scratches from his unshaven face.
"Just talk?" she giggled, grinding herself into his lap as he muffled a groan.
Vaughn pushed her off for a minute while standing, pulling her up and into his arms as they stood by the crashing water in each other's arms.
"Vaughn?"
"Yeah?" he mumbled in a barely audible whisper.
"I'm sorry for hitting you," she traced her finger along his red cheek as he chuckled, making her head bounce lightly against his chest.
"It's okay, baby, you hit like a girl," he grinned, feeling her push him away and pick up one of her flip-flops, hurling it at him. She missed and Vaughn attacked her, cradling her like a small child in his arms as he stalked toward the waters edge.
"No…don't - Michael Vaughn…don't you dare-" she growled, her sentence cut off as he walked out about ten feet and waited for the large incoming wave to crash into them. "Dammit, I didn't want to get wet!" she grumbled, though a genuine smile was etched on her face.
"Come on, you like it," he countered, bringing her close for a kiss and a hug as another wave washed up around their waists.
"This is the best vacation ever," she sighed, settling her mouth over his once more as the sun set behind them, their trip to Santa Barbara a small yet impressive turning point in their relationship as they came a decision to share everything – the good and the bad.
...