Title: Her Ring
Author: LilyoftheValley
Summary: Michael Vaughn and Sydney Bristow were planning on taking a wonderful trip to Santa Barabara when something goes horribly wrong. Told completely from Vaughn's POV.
A/N: I know you all are probably tired of reading stories about "The Telling," but I still wanted to write this story, so you all have the option of reading it. I hope you enjoy it and please review!
Her Ring
Michael Vaughn smiled at Sydney. They were only a few hours away from their trip to Santa Barbara and Vaughn was in a state of complete bliss.
"I'll pick you up after the debrief, okay?" Vaughn asked her.
Sydney smiled and nodded. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss and left the car. Vaughn watched her walk up to the door and waited until she was safely inside before driving away. He wished that Kendall hadn't scheduled this debrief at the last minute. After all, his vacation time should have been in affect at five o'clock today, but an agent's job was never done he supposed.
He parked in front of the CIA office and glanced at his watch. The hands indicated it was eight o'clock. He was running a little late, but he didn't mind. The less of the meeting he missed the better. He walked into the CIA office and headed towards conference room A. He opened the door and stepped in, surprised to find it empty. Vaughn closed the door and looked around the office and spied Agent Kendall talking to Agent Banks. He walked briskly towards the two men.
Kendall glanced up at him as he approached but ignored him. Vaughn waited impatiently for them to finish their conversation. As soon as Agent Banks had left, Kendall turned around to face him.
"Why weren't you at the debrief, Agent Vaughn?" Kendall asked while starting to walk down the line desks. Vaughn walked along side with him.
"I was only a little late. I didn't think the meeting would be over in five minutes," Vaughn said with a hint of sarcasm.
"A little late?" Kendall asked stopping to look at Vaughn. "The meeting was at seven-thirty."
Vaughn's brow furrowed. "No one told me the meeting was at seven-thirty. I was told it was at eight."
Kendall glared at him. "Someone should have called you. Have you checked your messages, Agent Vaughn?" Vaughn shook his head. "I suggest that you do. As an agent consider your phone almost like your bible. It's the best way for you to keep in touch with what's going on. Don't miss another meeting again, Agent Vaughn." Kendall walked us, leaving Vaughn in a still somewhat calm mood. He was angry about the way Kendall had treated him. Vaughn carried his phone everywhere. In fact, he was carrying it right now.
He looked at the screen on his phone and was surprised to find that he did have one new message. That was odd. He had had his phone on all day and he didn't understand why he hadn't heard it ring. He decided to figure out why later. He was happy, he was going to be seeing Sydney even sooner than he had expected and they were going to go to Santa Barbara for a weekend together. Not even Kendall's berating could spoil his good mood.
Agent Vaughn hopped back into his car and backed out of the CIA parking lot. He just had to stop by his apartment to pick up his suitcase, and then he would go and pick-up Sydney. He smiled, in less than two hours, they'd be on the plane to a place with nothing but romantic walks on the beach, candle light dinners, and each other.
Vaughn parked his car in the spot designated by his apartment number and headed to the front door. An overly excited Donovan instantly greeted him.
"Wow! Okay, down boy, down," Vaughn said laughing. Donovan however, continued to give him kisses as Vaughn attempted to reach for his suitcase. Vaughn finally stood up, suitcase in hand, and reached back for the door. Donovan instantly sat staring calmly at his leash that hung on a hook by the door.
"No, sorry boy. We don't have time to go for a walk," Vaughn said, but the word "walk" was all Donovan wanted to hear. The minute Vaughn turned back towards the door, Donovan broke into a fit of barking.
"Okay, okay. We'll go for a walk. A quick walk," Vaughn said smiling at his dog's persistence. Vaughn set the suitcase down and reached for Donovan's leash. Donovan instantly sat waiting patiently for his master to put the leash on. The minute the leash clicked on however, Donovan was rushing for the door.
Vaughn reached for the doorknob as Donovan finally permitted it to be open. Donovan dragged Vaughn down the steps and out into the night. The sun was just starting to set as the summer days continuously became longer than the previous spring days.
Vaughn quickly planned the fastest route around the neighborhood in his head, but it later turned out that it was not the fastest route being that Donovan was determined to stop at every bush, tree, and pole to sniff for other dogs. The whole walk ended up placing Vaughn ten minutes behind his intended schedule.
When they arrived at the house, Vaughn quickly placed a now happy Donovan inside and reached for his suitcase. Donovan settled on his doggy bed and was asleep before Vaughn had even closed the door. Vaughn threw his suitcase in the trunk and headed towards Sydney's. In actuality, he wasn't really late. He had just figured that he would have been at Sydney's a little earlier than it already was.
He pulled his car into the driveway headed to the front door. He rang the doorbell once, and waited. When no one came, he rang it again. He listened for any sounds coming from inside, be he didn't hear anything. Vaughn glanced at the driveway and verified the presence of Sydney's car. It was there all right. This began to worry him.
Vaughn knocked on the door, and called out Sydney's name, but again, there was no response. He reached for the doorknob. It turned easily in his hands. He stepped inside cautiously and the site that greeted him made his heart pound. The living room and the kitchen were a mess. It looked like some sort of fight had occurred.
Vaughn instantly went for his gun, but found it wasn't there. He had forgotten that he hadn't brought it with him. He didn't really plan on finding trouble in Santa Barbara.
"Sydney?" Vaughn called, but only his own voice echoed through the house. This worried him more, and he began to move quickly towards her bedroom when he heard a moan come from the bathroom. Vaughn instantly changed his course. He prepared himself for an attack and threw the door to the bathroom open.
Vaughn almost immediately backed out again at the sight in the bathroom. Will Tippin lay unconscious in the tub, but as he got closer, he could make out the sound of Will whispering something.
"Francie…why Francie…Sydney…" Vaughn reeled back at the sound of Sydney's name. He knew Will was badly hurt, but he also knew Sydney could be too. It was most likely that Sydney had been involved in this attack and he had to find her. He left the bathroom and continued his travels towards the bedroom. The door was partly open, but he couldn't see anything until pushed it all the way open.
The first thing he saw was Francie lying dead on the floor. Bullet wounds covered her body seeming to be the obvious cause of death. After finding both Will and Francie in such horrid conditions, Vaughn looked anxiously around the room for Sydney. A mirror lay broken on the opposite wall of Sydney's room. In places it too was covered in blood, and a gun lay not far from a somewhat lard shard of glass.
Vaughn knew without even analyzing the characteristics of the gun that it didn't belong to Sydney, nor was it CIA issue. Vaughn's heart was now beating furiously. The clue to what happened to Sydney, he knew was obviously right in front of him. He knew that Francie hadn't made it any farther from the spot in which she had been shot. That had to mean that someone else had been in the room. Someone else would have had to fallen on the mirror. Someone else had to have fired the gun, and that someone had to be…He gulped…Sydney.