Disclaimer: Not mine, never have been.
The first thing she does after receiving the order is throw away every picture of them together. That is the best way to deal with the unpleasant situation. Wedding pictures, a candid from their Cancun honeymoon, even the one she couldn't stop looking at the last time she tried this. That was the problem with that op: she couldn't let go. Now her life depends on this job. She did warn him that she wouldn't let him interfere with her work.
So he really should have seen this coming. Not her fault at all.
She goes through her weapon collection and found the silencer and soft-nosed bullets that open up on impact. That would make it quicker, less chance for someone to come and find him alive, better chance for the mission to be successful. When she was assigned to this detail over a year ago, she knew how it would end. She hates long, drawn out endings. Short and sweet is definitely the way to go.
Her bag is beside the front door, containing only essential items. Everything else is pointless, part of a façade she was all to eager to maintain. She scolds herself for that, but she can at least rationalize that it made her cover all the more believable, so she was in all actuality doing her job to the best of her ability. Love is silly, a four-letter word that gets thrown around carelessly. He didn't mean it the way she thought—why should her vows mean anymore than his? Suddenly she hears the key in the door, and quickly dials Julian's number on her cell phone.
"Everything's in place, then?" he questions casually. His voice is cold, and she wills her voice to be the same, like steel.
"I'll be there soon," she replies, and Julian knows that he has to arrive in front of the apartment building in exactly three minutes for her extraction. She'll have his head if he fails, but she knows he won't. She hangs up the phone and smiles at her assignment.
"Going already?" he asks. He puts his coat on the rack, without looking her in the eye. He hasn't since North Korea, and that makes her think that he did something with Sydney. The unexpected anger that flares inside her makes it easier as she pulls the trigger. The bullet hits him square in the chest, and his eyes go wide in shock as he slides down the wall. She walks over to him, kneels down (careful to avoid the growing pool of blood), and looks him in the eye.
"It's a good thing you never really loved me, or I couldn't have done my job. But I did love you—more than you'll ever know." She kisses him then, knowing that it takes precious air from his lungs.
"I…" he chokes, but he cannot finish the phrase. His eyes are dull with pain, not the fire and warmth she is used to. A pang of guilt echoes in her stomach, and she checks her watch. Another minute before Julian will arrive. It is enough time to issue him a slight reprieve, she thinks, and pulls the cell phone from his coat. She dials the number quickly, and checks her watch. Forty-five more seconds.
"Hello?" Sydney answers.
"Say goodbye while you still can." She doesn't wait for an answer, just sets the phone next to his ear so he can hear her voice. Sydney Bristow is demanding answers, and she can hear the panic in the other woman's voice rise as she hears the raspy breathing.
"Vaughn? Where are you? What?" Sydney is talking so loud, she almost ruins the moment for her. Perhaps this wasn't the best idea, and there are only seventeen seconds left…
"Syd?" he croaks out, and for the first time she can see what his eyes look like filled with love. It is radiant and wonderful, and all she ever really wanted. And he's looking at her even if it's not meant for her, but she finally got what she deserved.
Such a shame it had to be this way, she thinks. She doesn't glance at him again, for there is no need. She got what she wanted, and what the Covenant demanded. She picks up her bag, and walks out the door.