Title: Just Feel
Author: Mango
E-mail: mango_19@canada.com
Rating: G, so far.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
A/N: I'm not really sure where this is going …I'm a huge shipper though so … ideas are welcome almost as much as reviews.
"Come here, my little red lobster." her father used to say to her. And, of course, she would run to his open arms. And every time she did he would tickle her insatiably and she would cry from laughing so hard when he had finished.
Sydney smiled at the thought as she stepped into her scalding hot bathtub. She used to love to have the water so hot she could hardly stand it because it meant more time for her to play with her toys in the water. Now, years later, she still had her baths just near the brink of burning but she had no toys. She would do just about anything to be able to feel again.
Her days, to her, seemed so routine now. Day in, day out fighting bad guys, travelling the world and lying to everybody, well almost everybody. Smoothing the water over her bruised legs she smiled again at the thought of the other man in her life. Well, almost in her life.
Michael Vaughn. Just the thought of him made her shiver even in the intensely hot water. He was the highlight of her week … there meetings, although in the secret warehouse, were the most honest part of her life.
She had been working with him more closely than usual lately, working more at the CIA headquarters than she had in the past. This brought her closer to him, and closer to her father. She silently took the time think on that. The shrinking gap between her and the two most important men in her life.
As if on cue her beeper went off. Reaching out of the tub her bubble soaked arm picked up and glanced at the number. Of course. Joey's Pizza. Smiling she stepped out of the tub and wrapped herself safely in a fluffy towel and got herself ready for the inevitable.
As she dressed she let her mind wander to the one day that her and Vaughn had allowed themselves to defy protocol. It had been inside what was the SD-6 headquarters, the CIA raid had just ended and they were both surveying the damage. When their eyes met from across the room, everything else ceased. The noisy clean-up, the outside pressures and perhaps most importantly, their thought.
That was to her the most amazing part. For over seven years every move in her life had been calculated, every risk silently added up in her head before she acted. This time, when they walked toward each other, she had stopped. Instead of thinking about anything else, she allowed herself to just feel. It was incredible how they fit together, just like pieces of a puzzle. When their lips met, she felt as she never had. Fireworks, she thought back on it. It was fireworks. Then her mind wandered to how her knees buckled and how she clung to him for support. Okay, so maybe it was more than fireworks.
Dressed in a pair of jeans and a red sweater she was on her way driving to the park where she would drop a coin into the homeless man's cup. She turned her wipers on high as the storm outside her vehicle built up. It had been months since she first and last kissed him and somehow his taste was still on her tongue. He was addictive. Every time she saw him the taste intensified to a point that she thought she would do anything to taste him again. He would give her that classic look of longing but refuse to get within three feet of her.
Water pelted her as she rushed through the park and to the telephone. When she was allowed in she made her way through the offices heading directly to Vaughn's office. She knocked on the door and when it opened with her touch she leaned on the doorframe waiting for him to finish his phone call. She smiled hearing his native tongue spoken into the phone with an ease that made her salivate with envy. French was never her strong point.
Glancing up he smiled at her and returned to a hushed phone call and rushed good-bye. "Sorry," She said, only half meaning it. "I didn't mean to interrupt."
"I'm sure my mother will understand." He said smiling motioning for her to sit. She took the seat offered and proceeded to remove her raincoat.
"You're here for a mission, I mean, obviously, but …" he let the sentence trail off as he went in search of a file. The lights flickered slightly with the wind outdoors and Sydney shivered, happy to be indoors. "Cold?" He asked. She shook her head in response.
He finally found the file, without opening it is passed it across his desk to Sydney. She reached for it, and their hands brushed. Shocks of electricity shot up her arm warming her stomach just as the electricity in the building went off. Sheets of bullet-proof glass lowered around the four walls and Sydney looked at Vaughn with confusion.
"The storm must of knocked out the power. Standard protocol for a power outage with CIA is … well, this." He said motioning to their surroundings. "When the power goes back up they will unlock the premises room by room until it is certain that there have been no compromises of intel or personnel."
"How long?" She said, not knowing how long she could be in the same room as him.
"It's a big building," He said shrugging. "And we're in the back. Not to worry, though, there are rations and everything we should need for three days in the wall over there." He said pointing to the latch to the left of her.
"Three days?" She asked, sounding more than slightly annoyed.
"Just in case. I'm sure we'll be out here by the end of the day." He said reassuring her. Funny though, she didn't relax at all.
Figuring she was going to be there a while she took a look around his office and found it to be spacious with abstract prints on his walls. The office had been a congratulations for the success of the raid. It seemed almost appropriate that they would be stuck with each other for the foreseeable future.