A Healing Heart
© Daphne Miles
*LOS ANGELES*
Sydney stood outside the door of the fake utility van on school campus, trying to get up the courage to go inside.
*How can I face him?* *I can't go in there* *five innocent men died because I didn't do anything to stop Dixon*
Sydney put her hand on the door knob and stepped inside. Vaughn was sitting on the counter, he looked up when he heard the door open. Their eyes met for a few seconds, making Sydney's heart jump. Sydney was the first to look away. She couldn't bear to let him see so deeply into her soul when she was partially to blame for the death of his friends. Sydney sat on a chair across from him, still avoiding his gaze. She looked down, tears already forming in her eyes, she couldn't just sit there, she had to say something.
"Vaughn…I…I am so sorry, I didn't know how to stop Dixon! I didn't..." Vaughn stood up and tried to cut her off. "Sydney…" "I didn't know what to do! I didn't know how to make him stop without exposing the CIA, and...and..." Sydney was rambling, trying to convince herself more than Vaughn. "Sydney stop!" Vaughn grabbed her shaking hands in his. He crouched down so he would be face to face with her. Sydney slowly raised her eyes to his. "Sydney, Listen to me. It is NOT your fault. There was nothing you could have done. You did exactly what you were told to do. We had no way of knowing that Dixon had put in a secondary detonator. This is in no way your fault, ok?" Sydney, just looked at him for a minute, he smiled compassionately at her. "Okay…" Sydney still felt a twinge of guilt, but tried to shove it down deep inside, where so many other feelings lay like a volcano waiting to erupt. She gathered her thoughts as he let her hands go and stood up. "What is my counter mission?" the question had become so routine that she was able to say it with little emotion behind it. Vaughn looked at her for a moment, trying to get his thoughts on the job. "You will get the files as planned. On the plane, you will do a switch off. We will copy the files and get them back to you." Sydney nodded. She stood and reached for her bag. Vaughn reached out and very gently took her arm. She raised her eyes to his. "Be careful Sydney." He looked at her with concern in his eyes. Sydney's lips curved into an appreciative smile. "Thank you, I will." Vaughn watched her leave, after Badenweiler, he had learned to fully appreciate the people he cared for.
Sydney sat on a plane headed for Melbourne, Australia. She was working on her make-up work for one of her classes. Dixon looked up from his laptop. "Hey, are you ok?" Sydney looked up and gave him a fake smile. "Yea, I'm fine." Dixon nodded. He still sensed something was wrong, but figured he should not pursue it.
*MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA*
Sydney pinned the sandy blonde wig in place. She slid on the pair of thin black framed glasses, and stood up. She inspected the sleek navy blue evening gown she was wearing. Sydney clicked her earpiece on. "Dixon, I'm going in." "Copy that." Dixon sat at a table inside the party, he checked his watch, it was almost time to carry out their assignment. Sydney breezed in elegantly through the double doors of the room. She nodded and smiled to a few people as she made her way through the crowd, stopping to speak to some people and exchange pleasantries. She mumbled to Dixon through the earpiece. "Dixon I have a visual." A man dressed in a black suit made his way to the back of the room towards the back door. "I'm going after him." Sydney followed him as he got into an elevator headed for the top floor. Sydney took her shoes up and made her way up the stairs as fast as she could. Once up, she put her shoes back on and made her way down the hall. She peeked her head around the corner just in time to see the man completing the eye scan. Sydney ran up silently behind him, and without a word left him unconscious on the floor. She took the gold access card from his coat pocket and went inside the Vault.
Once inside, she pushed the access card into the slot. "Dixon I have access to the files." A small part of wall popped out after verifying the access card. Sydney reached inside and took out three files, each with about fifteen pages inside. She put the files in her bag. "Dixon I have the files, I'm coming out. "Copy that, I'll have the car waiting." Sydney reached into the slot and pulled out the access card, forgetting to hit the code in first. As she pulled the access card, she triggered the silent alarm, sending a red light flashing and the steel doors closing. Sydney slid a chair to the closing door as she made her way towards it. She dove through the door, doing a somersault type flip to land safely. She heard footsteps at the stairs 2 flights down. As she ran by, she dropped the access card on the still unconscious man. She ran the opposite way to the second set of stairs. She slid down the banister, cutting her time in half. Once downstairs, she walked coolly through the double glass doors and out to the car waiting for her. Her heart was beating so fast as she handed the files to Dixon to review. "Good work." Sydney nodded once and leaned her head against the seat.
In the airplane, everything went as planned. Sydney got up, telling Dixon she was going to the rest room, where she handed the files to a CIA personnel dressed as a flight attendant. The CIA agent then copied the files and slipped them back into Sydney's half-open bag on the floor.
*LOS ANGELES*
Sydney opened the door to her apartment and rolled her suitcase into her bedroom. Just as she was changing, her phone rang. She picked up the phone, "Hello?" "Hey, Joey's Pizza?" Sydney's brow narrowed, She had not dropped off the coordinates for another mission, she had just gotten back from one. "Um, sorry, wrong number." She hung up, and picked up her jacket. She was a little nervous, but went without question out the door. She reached for her car door handle, when she realized she had no idea where she was going. A car pulled up behind her, she turned and came face to face with Agent Vaughn. "Sydney, sorry to call you like that." She smiled. "No, its ok, what's up?" Vaughn looked down, almost blushing, like he was embarrassed. "Sydney, I called…" He looked at her, "I needed a friend." Sydney looked at him and her heart skipped a beat. She smiled and got into his car without another question.
No words were spoken until they got to the top of the hill. Sydney was very familiar with the spot. It was where she told Danny all about SD-6, and where she had met with her father. She had never been there at night though. She stepped from the car and looked up at the beautiful stars. "Wow, you don't see this many stars from the city huh?" Vaughn smiled at her and then looked up. "No you don't." Sydney gave him a look, signaling him that she was ready to listen. "Ok, well, I mean, its nothing big or anything, I just kind of needed someone who I could talk with freely, and not have to lie to." Sydney smiled, "I understand." Vaughn looked at her and smiled "I knew you would. Y'know, my uh…girlfriend, Alice, she and I broke up last week." Sydney felt a small bubble of excitement inside herself, but held it down, needing to be there for her friend, "I'm so sorry." "No, it's ok. It just got to the point where I just thought, 'what am I still doing with her?' I mean, that sounds really mean, but, I didn't love her anymore." Sydney looked down, then back up at him. "I'm sorry…how did she take it?" "She was pretty much ok." He looked up at the stars then back down to Sydney, his eyes getting caught in her gaze. "She…she asked me if there was someone else." Sydney blushed and looked away for a moment, but her eyes went back to his like there was a magnetic force pulling her towards him. "Is there?" Vaughn took a step towards her, his heart beating rapidly. Everything in his head was telling him to stop, not to get too close, but everything in his heard told him that he loved her, a deeper love than anything he had ever felt before. He reached out and put his hand gently on her on her cheek, cupping her chin. "Yes." He leaned in and gently kissed her. Sydney let herself get wrapped up in the long awaited kiss. She slowly wrapped her arms around him, as he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him and deepening their loving kiss.
Vaughn was the first to break the kiss. He was torn between his emotions but he had something to say. He held on tightly to Sydney, afraid to let her go. Sydney looked up at him, gazing into his soul full eyes. When he had kissed her, he seemed to make every problem and fear go away. "Sydney…I have been watching you, and its not just how you work, it is who you are…" Sydney gave him a semi-puzzled look, she didn't know what it was exactly that he was trying to say. "Sydney, I know we have only known each other for a few months, but if I don't say this now I may never say it." Sydney's breath caught in her chest, she almost knew what it was even before he spoke. "I love you Sydney. I know its early, but…I love you." Sydney looked down, trying to sort out everything she was feeling. She looked up and instantly got drawn in by his eyes. She leaned up and kissed him, with every emotion bottled up inside her. It was then, that it became clear to her, that she loved him too.