TITLE: Unfinished Business

AUTHOR: Abby O. (abbyo3@hotmail.com)

RATING: PG-13

SPOILERS: Everything including spoilers for Season 3, Episode 12, "Crossings."

SUMMARY: My version of what happens in the scene from the previews. This also includes other various episode spoilers, so you are warned!

DISCLAIMER: All belongs to JJ Abrams.

A/N: I was bored one night and I rarely ever write stories (LOL, you'll see why), but I needed to just get this scene off of my chest. Enjoy and feedback is appreciated!

* * * * * * *

You remind me of the times
When I knew who I was
But still the second hand will catch us
Like it always does

We'll make the same mistakes
I'll take the fall for you
I hope you need this now
'Cause I know I still do

                        -"Until the Day I Die," Story of the Year

All it took was a fraction of a second. In a heartbeat, they were surrounded by a dozen North Korean soldiers in tan uniforms with their guns trained steadily on them. Their feet were frozen in place as they heard the rhythmic clicks of their guns. They had been in this situation before, but this time, there weren't two armed men in an alley in the back of a restaurant. They weren't in France and they certainly were not on a date. Instead, a group of pissed off soldiers encircled them, each looking for any reason to pull the trigger.

"Drop your weapons and put your hands up," one of the men commanded, his accent thick.

Sydney and Vaughn looked at one another and he gave her a slight nod. They complied and did as they were told. The man walked closer to them, standing toe-to-toe with Vaughn before moving on to Sydney, whom he stared at a little too long for either one's liking.

"Americans," he spat. "Who are you working for?"

They provided him with nothing but a stony silence.

The man, a general, they assumed, nodded in the direction of one of the soldiers and he quickly hurried over to Sydney. Vaughn's jaw clenched as the man patted her down for identification and it was all he could do not to snap his neck with his bare hands. The young soldier searched him next after finding nothing on Sydney, only to recover nothing from Vaughn as well.

"That's a shame, really" the general said nonchalantly, placing his palm on Sydney's cheek as she flinched. Her self-control wavered as she fought the urge to rip off his hands. "It'd be nice to put a name to such a pretty face," he whispered as his face inched closer to hers, his presence repulsing her beyond belief.

"You son of a bitch!" Vaughn yelled as he threw a punch that landed squarely on the general's cheek. Almost immediately, voices erupted and Vaughn was thrown on the ground and handcuffed. The soldiers proceeded to kick him repeatedly in the stomach.

"Stop it! Stop hurting him, PLEASE!" Sydney cried out as she was pulled away from the scene. "Vaughn!" No matter how hard she struggled, the restraints and the men holding on to her were too much for her to overcome. The last thing she saw was the man she loved being beaten mercilessly on the dirt.

* * * * * * *

When she awoke, the first thing she felt was the cold cement against her back until a pounding headache decided to make its presence known. She groaned and opened her eyes slowly, trying to focus on her surroundings. Sunlight streamed through the steel bars of what seemed to be a tiny jail cell that she was placed in. She was slouched against the wall and every muscle in her body screamed in protest as she sat up. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't alone. She turned her head and her eyes fell on the slumbering figure of her partner.

"Vaughn..." she called out, her voice raspy. There were cuts and gashes across his face, and he was huddled on the ground facing her direction. "Vaughn, please wake up," she pleaded, gently trying to shake him awake.

Finally, his eyes slowly fluttered open and he almost wished he hadn't woken up because the pain in his abdomen made itself abundantly clear. However, it was worth seeing that Sydney looked relatively unharmed save for a few cuts across her face. "Hey," he greeted, trying to smile as best he could.

"Hey yourself," she replied, fighting back tears from seeing him in this condition and gently stroking his hair. Her gaze washed over him and her heart broke at his weak state. "How could they do this to you..."

"I'll be okay," he whispered, his eyes never leaving hers. "Did they hurt you?"

"No, not too badly. I'll be fine," she assured him weakly.

He nodded and closed his eyes, trying not to show the amount of pain he was in. He attempted to focus on the soothing motion of her hand in his hair as he remembered just how safe he felt whenever she was with him.

Even though everything's changed. Some things don't.

"I'm gonna try to get up..."

"No, Vaughn, you're gonna aggravate your injur--"

"I'll be okay, Syd," he said gently as he tried to push himself up. He winced as pain shot through his entire midsection but with Sydney's help, he managed to sit up across the concrete wall next to her. After a few minutes, he finally caught his breath.

"They're gonna kill us," she said shakily.

He remained speechless, not wanting to aknowledge what he knew to be true. This was it. Their lives were sure to end in a few hours' time. He was in disbelief that this was the way things would end; with everything in disarray and so many things left unsaid. Ever since Sydney's return, his life had been turned upsidedown as he was sure hers was. He put her through an unbelievable amount of pain all the while questioning what the hell he was doing in the disaster that he and Lauren called a marriage. During the past few weeks, he had treated Sydney with such coldness that it made him hate himself at the end of every day. But he knew Jack was right, that his kindness was tearing her apart, and that was why he continued regardless of how much it hurt him.

However, at that moment, there was no Jack. There was no Lauren. There were no missing two years and the Covenant didn't exist. The only thing that he knew was that he was about to die and he had to somehow undo his mistakes and correct the things in his life that had just been so *wrong.* It was likely that he would never get another chance, and he refused to leave this world without telling his one true soulmate what he should've told her even before her disappearance.

I'm not gonna lose you twice...

"Syd..."

She turned her teary gaze towards him.

"I'm so sorry," he began with an uncharacteristic desperation in his tone.

"Sorry for what?"

"I'm sorry...for everything...for not waiting, for not doing more to find you when you were missing...for treating you the way I have been these past few weeks..."

"Vaughn--" she said, turning her head away from him.

He reached out to push an errant strand of hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trail along her cheek as he gently made her look at him. "No, let me finish...there's something I need you to know." His eyes burned into hers and they were her windows to the soul of a man who could no longer deny the love that burned only for her, a man who had made mistakes but was determined to die with no regrets. "I never stopped loving you," he whispered as tears fell freely down her cheeks. "There wasn't a single day where I didn't think about you, about what we had...what we could've had. And I'm so sorry that I can't give you that now...it's too late..."

"Don't say that," she cried quietly, resting her forehead against his and letting her tears fall. He shut his eyes, reveling in the feeling of having her so close and thinking about why he had let himself be without her for so long. He could feel her warm palm against his face, her thumb stroking his cheek gently. After a few moments, she pulled away just enough to look at him. "We'll find each other," she told him gently. "We ALWAYS find each other."

What it comes down to is faith.

He nodded as her face tentatively inched towards his. Their lips touched with an agonizing lack of speed and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, they felt that they were right where they were supposed to be. Time stood still as their mouths molded into each other, the fit still as perfect as it was once before. They teased and tasted with deliberate slowness, memorizing the contours and texture of each other's mouths. The passion and desperation of the kiss began to increase greatly as they urgently tried to re-discover the magic that they had been deprived of for so long.

"I love you," she breathed when they broke apart.

"I love you, too, Syd," he whispered, wrapping his arms around her in an embrace. He held onto her with as much strength as he could muster and he could feel her tears soaking through his sweater. "More than you'll ever know."

The steel bars of the cell opened.

THE END.