Sometimes she's Diana Prince
AKA Gem's Birthday Fic
by Tanya Reed
November 15th is Gem's birthday. Yay! I wrote this little ficlet just for her. It didn't turn out exactly how I wanted, and Sydney might over react just a tad, but I always felt that Sydney has a strong fear of letting Nigel down. (As a matter of fact, there is a story in the works about that, if I ever get around to it.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy Gem's Birthday Fic (especially you, Gem!).
Disclaimer: I do not own Relic Hunter, and I make no financial claims on any of its aspects. Fireworks owns all rights, and I am just doing this for fun and not profit.
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As Sydney banged through her pots and pans, trying to decide what to make, she wondered what had possessed her to invite Nigel to dinner. In the little over two years they'd known each other, she could count the times he'd been in her home on one hand. Usually, if the two of them were together outside of work, they went out to things that satisfied both of their interests. Offering to cook for him was completely unlike her and yet, here she was, searching through her cupboards trying to find something that she could make that Nigel would like. She was the first to admit that cooking wasn't her strong suit, though luckily no one had died from eating something she'd made. Usually, it was palatable, and most times that was enough. But not tonight. Tonight, she was cooking for Nigel, and she wanted it to be really nice.
This brought Sydney back to her original question. Why exactly had she impulsively asked him if he'd like to have dinner with her? She supposed the decision had to do with a lot of things. Not least among them was the fact that she knew he'd been a little homesick lately. The biggest reason, though, was probably the look on his face that morning when he'd admitted that Lynette had left him. The two of them had been dating for over a month and even a blind person could see how much Nigel liked Lynette. Sydney felt a pang of sympathy even now, sitting on her floor, rifling through her cupboards. She hated seeing Nigel sad. It made her want to go out and hurt whatever made him that way. Since slapping Lynette in the back of the head for her stupidity was out, the next best thing was to cheer Nigel up. For some reason, at the time, Sydney had believed a home cooked meal would do that. Now, she was having some doubts.
It was a few more minutes before Sydney decided on lasagna. Her father had made it many times while she was growing up, and it had been one of her favorite dishes. It didn't hurt that it was one of the very few things she could probably make with her eyes closed.
Having made the decision, Sydney felt better. She diligently got to work, chopping and shredding and boiling. As she worked, she hummed "La Vie en Rose" and hoped that Nigel would like her meal. By the time she had popped her casserole dish in the oven and cleaned up the dishes, she was in a cheery mood. It was nice to know that her meal might help to take some out of the pain out of the Nigel's eyes.
Wiping her hands after the dishes, she noticed she had tomato sauce on her shirt and frowned.
"Crap," she said and headed towards the bedroom to change.
She only got about halfway when the phone rang, and she had to hurry the rest of the way to the room. Throwing herself across her bed, she snatched the receiver from the bedside table.
"Hello?" she said a little breathlessly.
"Sydney?" The voice on the other end was high and squeaky and full of warmth and affection.
"Claudia?" It had been three months since Sydney had heard from her former secretary, and she was surprised at how much she missed her. The office sometimes even seemed dull without Claudia's girlish antics.
"Hey, Syd! How are you doing?"
"Not too bad. Been busy—as usual."
Claudia chuckled. "Lots of priceless relics to dig up, huh?"
Sydney rolled over on her back, prepared for a long talk. "You could say that. I saw Derek Lloyd a little while ago. He asked about you."
"Oh! Secret Agent Man! Did you..."
"I was actually on a date with someone else."
"Too bad. I like him."
Sydney rolled her eyes. "You would."
"What?"
"I said, me too, most of the time. Did you call for a reason, Claudia?"
"Do I have to have a reason?" Sydney could hear the pout in the tiny blond's voice.
"Of course not. I just figured you'd be busy."
"Oh, I am. And I love my job...but sometimes, well, sometimes, I miss you."
"We miss you too, Claudia."
"Really? You don't like my replacement better?"
Sydney felt herself grinning, though Claudia couldn't see it. "There's only one of you."
"Is that a compliment?"
"I think it might be."
"Thank you, Syd...How's Nigel?"
"About the same."
"Has he found a woman yet?"
That brought to mind her friend's earlier pain. Sydney's voice was subdued as she said, "He thought he had...but they recently broke up."
"My poor honeybun. One of these days, someone's going to see how much he's worth."
"Well, besides us," Sydney agreed.
"Speaking of men," Claudia quickly changed the subject, "I think I've found the man of my dreams."
"You have?" Sydney said, feigning surprise at the familiar words.
"Yes! I wish you could meet him. I know you'd love him. Not like I love him, of course, but you'd love him."
"Would I?" she asked, closing her eyes and letting Claudia's words wash over her. Encouraged, Claudia began raving about her new conquest—what he looked like, how they met, all his quirks—in great detail. Sydney held back a groan and let her friend talk. When Claudia got into a topic she could talk more and faster than anyone else Sydney knew.
Sydney's mind was so numb by the barrage of words that it was quite some time before she realized she smelled smoke. Her eyes popped open and she sat up quickly.
Cutting Claudia off in mid-sentence, she said, "I've got to go, Claudia. My dinner's burning. I'll call you later."
Without waiting for Claudia's reply, Sydney hung up and jumped to her feet. As she did so, the doorbell rang.
Nigel!
She hurried down the hall towards the kitchen, more worried about the burning than the unanswered door. It didn't matter anyway because she heard the door open and Nigel's panicked, "Sydney!" before she even reached her destination.
"It's all right, Nigel," she called.
"I smell smoke."
"Yeah, me too," she grumbled, turning off the oven and kneeling to peer in the window. Without even turning the light on, she could see her perfect lasagna was now a charred and blackened mess.
To top it off, just as she put on oven mitts and opened the door, Nigel came into the kitchen. She heard him but didn't turn. Instead, she felt herself staring at the remains of her good intentions. For some reason, her chest tightened and the burning that took over her cheeks was only partly to do with the heat.
"It's ruined," she said.
"It's not so bad," he answered.
This declaration made a laugh bubble out of her despite her disappointment. She turned, feeling now as if she could face him, though her cheeks still burned with embarrassment.
"You lie."
His eyes widened and he contrived to look innocent. "I would never lie to you."
She stood fluidly, throwing the offending meal to the counter and kicking the door shut with her foot. "Then, you're blinded by friendship."
Nigel started slightly and winced, looking as if he thought she were going to explode. She was angry at herself, but she didn't feel like blowing up. Disappointment and embarrassment were drowning her anger. All she had wanted was to make a special dinner for him to show how much she cared. The thing that came from the oven made it look more as if she hated him, and that hurt.
As she stood there looking at Nigel, all she could think about was how much he believed in her and her ability to do anything she set her mind to. Her failure to do something as simple as bake a lasagna made the flush of shame stay on her face. Usually, Nigel's belief pushed her to do better in both her private and her personal life. Now, she just wanted to hide.
Sydney took a deep breath and let it out. It was foolish to get worked up over a meal. She knew with any of her other friends, she would have just laughed it off. Why did she care so much what Nigel thought?
Nigel eyed her warily and walked over to the sideboard. There, he carefully studied the black clump that was once lasagna. He picked up a knife she had forgotten to wash earlier and poked the mess experimentally.
"Maybe the black doesn't go all the way to the bottom."
Sydney knew he was just teasing, but it stung anyway. She frowned. "I can't be perfect all the time."
He turned back to her with wide eyes. "What?"
"Even Wonder Woman has to be Diana Prince sometimes." Her voice was harsher than she meant it to be, so she clamped her mouth shut. It wasn't Nigel's fault that she screwed up.
"Wonder Woman?" he asked, clearly bewildered. "Who said you were bloody Wonder Woman? It wasn't me."
Sydney sighed, forcing away her defensive anger. "I'm sorry, Nigel. It's just...I feel so stupid." Deflated, she leaned on the counter beside him and crossed her arms. "Every other time I've made that dish, it's come out per...Well, edible, anyway."
"Syd, I don't care if this glop is edible. I didn't come here to eat—not really."
"No?" She shot him a look of disbelief.
"No." He shook his head drumming his fingers on the countertop. "I came here because I was feeling low, and being with my best friend cheers me up."
Sydney smiled at that.
"Besides," he continued. "Who said you had to cook, anyway? Let's order Chinese from Wong's."
Feeling slightly better, Sydney said, "Are you sure you don't want to sample my lasagna?"
"Will it make you feel better?"
"It might."
Without another word, Nigel opened her cutlery drawer and fumbled around noisily until he came out with a fork. He was reaching for the failed lasagna when Sydney caught his arm.
"Nigel!"
"I will eat this whole thing if that's what you want."
"I wouldn't even ask Mafdet to consider eating it," she said, grabbing it from under his fork. She crossed the room to toss it in the garbage, dish and all, before taking off her oven mitts.
Nigel stood by the counter, his fork in his hand like he was ready to do battle. Maybe he was, Sydney told herself. After all, a bite of her ruined lasagna would probably make him fight an unwinnable battle with his stomach. She shook her head and went over to take the fork from him. She squeezed his hand gently in the process, letting him know she appreciated his trying to make her feel better. He gave her a cheeky smile and a wink.
"So, about that Chinese?" he asked.
"Fine," she said over the clatter of the fork hitting the sink, "but I'm buying."
"Did you think I'd argue with that?"
"Not really. But you're ordering." She picked up the kitchen receiver and handed it to him.
"No problem. What do you want?"
Sydney shrugged, passing him to go to the living room. "You know what I like."
She went straight to the couch and threw herself on the cushions. She leaned back as far as she could, bringing her legs up to cross and rest on the coffee table. This is where Nigel found her five minutes later. She was still feeling a little disgruntled about ruining dinner. It wasn't like her to be so distracted.
"You look like a storm cloud," he commented, plunking down beside her.
Suddenly, Sydney remembered she was supposed to be making him feel better. Pushing away the last of her gloom, she said, "Sorry. Just feeling a little dumb. Tell me about Lynette."
Nigel sighed and leaned back until their heads were almost touching. "Don't even ask."
She elbowed him gently. "You seemed so happy a couple of days ago."
"Yeah, but apparently Brad the wrestler is more her type."
Sydney winced. "Ouch."
"I'm sure they'll make wonderful children together."
"Well, Nigel, if it's any consolation, you're still tops with me...which is the whole reason I..."
Nigel grabbed her hand. "You're not going to go on about the dinner again, are you?"
"I..."
"Seriously, Syd." His grip turned into a gentle caress of the back of her hand. "I honestly don't care that you burned the bloody lasagna. If I were friends with you because I thought you were an incredible chef, I would have left after the whole Chalice of Truth episode. I don't expect you to be perfect. I just expect you to be you. I know you have flaws. It's all right. The person I've come to admire and like so much has those flaws, and I would never try to change you."
If anyone had ever said anything nicer to her, Sydney couldn't remember when. Warmth rushed through her, washing away the last of her embarrassment. He always knew the right thing to say. She squeezed the hand that was still holding her own.
"Thank you, Nigel."
He smiled, some of his own pain gone from his eyes. In fact, they were twinkling dangerously as he said, "Besides, what help would great cooking skills be when someone just needs a good kick to the head?"
Sydney laughed at this and reached out to bring Nigel into a crushing hug. He returned the hug with enthusiasm and, not for the first time, Sydney thanked whatever power had brought Nigel into her life.
The End.