Title: "That's What Friends Are For"
Author: Eat Sleep Alias
Rating: G
Summary: Weiss POV - Weiss reflects on love, his friendship with Vaughn, and his role in Sydney and Vaughn's relationship.
Love is great. Love is magical. Love lifts us up where we belong. Or so I've heard. For me, this is all hypothetical since I've never, in fact, experienced love. I'm always the bystander, the guy giving out advice and listening to stories about a subject that he has no firsthand experience with. I've become just a little too comfortable with my position.
One time, Vaughn and I were at the CIA Operations Centre working on the Caplan case. This is what our friendship had been reduced to: hellos while passing each other in the hallways, brief chats before debriefings, and the occasional phone call. It was good to spend some time with him for a change, even if it was while working on a case. We didn't get to hang out or even work together much since Sydney came into the picture, and after he told me that she had given him a drawer at her place, it didn't seem as if she would be going anywhere anytime soon.
"She gave you a drawer, huh?" I wasn't surprised. I wouldn't have been surprised if those two had eloped in Vegas over the weekend and had already put a down-payment on a house in the suburbs.
"It was a gesture of convenience," Vaughn said, smiling to himself, and it was plainly obvious that he was ecstatic.
There is nothing worse than listening to your best friend go on and on about his gorgeous girlfriend when you don't have one or even any prospects. That disaster with Agent Phillips didn't make my love life seem particularly promising. But hey, I could always live vicariously through Vaughn. "And, uh, what did you put in it?"
"Why do you care?" he asked defensively, as if it was none of my business.
"What do you mean, why do I care? Do you know how spoiled you are?" I just glared at his smiling face. "I wish I had a girlfriend to say 'Hey, do you want a drawer?'" Alright, so maybe I was a little jealous of him, but so were all the guys in our office. Ever since he started dating Sydney, he wasn't just "balls of steel" anymore. Vaughn was considered "the man" around the office.
"I'll give you a drawer at my place."
The last thing I needed was his pity. "I don't want a drawer at your place."
Just last year, he was the pathetic, lovesick idiot who need help from me. That whole unrequited love thing really drove him insane. I can still remember how he'd become a complete wreck before every debriefing he had with Sydney. I would always glance across the hall and see him nervously pacing in his office, and it would crack me up. He would get this look on his face - I called it the "Sydney look." I was hardly surprised that Haladki suspected something was going on between those two. Hell, the whole office knew there was something more to Vaughn and Sydney's relationship that just handler and agent. I think Vaughn was the only one who couldn't see it. Never underestimate the power of denial.
Craig and I had made a small wager to see how long they could manage to keep off each other. Craig estimated they'd last about two months, but I bet one year. And of course, I was right. Good old "balls of steel" stuck it out until the Alliance was history, and then he wasted no time making his move on Sydney. The guys around the office still joke about their never- ending kiss amidst the wreckage of SD-6.
Don't get me wrong; I'm happy that my friend is in love. After all, I'm the one who convinced Vaughn to ask Sydney out, and I'm the one who covered for him the countless times he broke protocol for her. But there has to be a limit. I understand that love can make a guy do stupid things, but I think that Vaughn has definitely done more than his share. I mean, how many times does he have risk his job for this girl? And it's never just his job. He always has to put my job on the line too. At least he gets sex. What do I get? Nothing. But hey, that's what friends are for. Who am I to stand in the way of true love?
Author: Eat Sleep Alias
Rating: G
Summary: Weiss POV - Weiss reflects on love, his friendship with Vaughn, and his role in Sydney and Vaughn's relationship.
Love is great. Love is magical. Love lifts us up where we belong. Or so I've heard. For me, this is all hypothetical since I've never, in fact, experienced love. I'm always the bystander, the guy giving out advice and listening to stories about a subject that he has no firsthand experience with. I've become just a little too comfortable with my position.
One time, Vaughn and I were at the CIA Operations Centre working on the Caplan case. This is what our friendship had been reduced to: hellos while passing each other in the hallways, brief chats before debriefings, and the occasional phone call. It was good to spend some time with him for a change, even if it was while working on a case. We didn't get to hang out or even work together much since Sydney came into the picture, and after he told me that she had given him a drawer at her place, it didn't seem as if she would be going anywhere anytime soon.
"She gave you a drawer, huh?" I wasn't surprised. I wouldn't have been surprised if those two had eloped in Vegas over the weekend and had already put a down-payment on a house in the suburbs.
"It was a gesture of convenience," Vaughn said, smiling to himself, and it was plainly obvious that he was ecstatic.
There is nothing worse than listening to your best friend go on and on about his gorgeous girlfriend when you don't have one or even any prospects. That disaster with Agent Phillips didn't make my love life seem particularly promising. But hey, I could always live vicariously through Vaughn. "And, uh, what did you put in it?"
"Why do you care?" he asked defensively, as if it was none of my business.
"What do you mean, why do I care? Do you know how spoiled you are?" I just glared at his smiling face. "I wish I had a girlfriend to say 'Hey, do you want a drawer?'" Alright, so maybe I was a little jealous of him, but so were all the guys in our office. Ever since he started dating Sydney, he wasn't just "balls of steel" anymore. Vaughn was considered "the man" around the office.
"I'll give you a drawer at my place."
The last thing I needed was his pity. "I don't want a drawer at your place."
Just last year, he was the pathetic, lovesick idiot who need help from me. That whole unrequited love thing really drove him insane. I can still remember how he'd become a complete wreck before every debriefing he had with Sydney. I would always glance across the hall and see him nervously pacing in his office, and it would crack me up. He would get this look on his face - I called it the "Sydney look." I was hardly surprised that Haladki suspected something was going on between those two. Hell, the whole office knew there was something more to Vaughn and Sydney's relationship that just handler and agent. I think Vaughn was the only one who couldn't see it. Never underestimate the power of denial.
Craig and I had made a small wager to see how long they could manage to keep off each other. Craig estimated they'd last about two months, but I bet one year. And of course, I was right. Good old "balls of steel" stuck it out until the Alliance was history, and then he wasted no time making his move on Sydney. The guys around the office still joke about their never- ending kiss amidst the wreckage of SD-6.
Don't get me wrong; I'm happy that my friend is in love. After all, I'm the one who convinced Vaughn to ask Sydney out, and I'm the one who covered for him the countless times he broke protocol for her. But there has to be a limit. I understand that love can make a guy do stupid things, but I think that Vaughn has definitely done more than his share. I mean, how many times does he have risk his job for this girl? And it's never just his job. He always has to put my job on the line too. At least he gets sex. What do I get? Nothing. But hey, that's what friends are for. Who am I to stand in the way of true love?