Vaughn was going crazy. Clearly anyone who could read his expression would
either run away or send him to a room with padded walls. He was surprised
that none of his fellow coworkers and friends was staring at him because
his mind felt about ready to explode. There was no way that Sydney could be
dead, there had to be some sort of law against such an injustice, it broke
the rules, no one was supposed to be able to take his angel away from
him...yet here he was about to spread her ashes in the ocean. His stomach
took a sharp dive for his feet and he just wanted the earth to swallow him
whole.
This was not happening, he thought. "I'm just taking a short trip to the
beach before I pick up Syd for our trip to Santa Barbara, gotta make sure
the weather looks decent." Can't have something so trivial ruin what he
hoped would be the greatest weekend of his life. He had the ring, he had
the plan on how it was going to get to her finger, now all he needed was
her. "You'd have her if you didn't leave her alone in that house with that
murderous bitch," his mind screamed at him. God, even his subconscious
wasn't on his side since she'd been gone. He just couldn't win today.
Vaughn was torn from the little war he had going on in his head by the quiet weeping of Marshall. Poor guy had been surprisingly strong through the service, but he didn't think he could take it if Marshall started sobbing. He looked over at Jack hoping to draw strength from the man with the iron jaw, as he was sometimes known around the office, but all he saw gazing back at him was the shell of a broken man, a father who had lost his only link to sanity. He wasn't crying, but his eyes told of the beating his soul had taken.
"God Syd, can't you see what's happened since you've been gone, can't you see how hard your loss has been on all of us, why did you have to leave us? Why did you have to leave me? I loved.......love you so much it hurts. My heart has shattered. I can't even seem to function without you. I know you never meant to go away, but all you have to do is come back to me to stop this pain. So easy, just walk onto the beach right now and I'll forgive you for making me live a nightmare for the past few days."
He longingly gazed at the parking lot, searching for that hair, that stride, that essence that was Sydney, but all he saw was that damned van with the surfboards. How could anyone be enjoying themselves right now, it couldn't be done. If possible, the agonizing silence that had spread throughout his body had gotten even more intense. Vaughn realized that everyone was staring at him expectantly and his stomach turned again. It was time. All that was left of his soul mate was what could fit in a gaudy urn that didn't fit Sydney's personality at all. The waves just barely licked at his feet as he got closer to his final separation from her. His knuckles had turned white as he clutched the urn and he was shaking almost uncontrollable, the weather had nothing to do with it.
"Damn it all to hell! I can't do this, I can't!" Damn injustices of the world had to take her away from him, where the hell was his God, cause this wasn't the way it should be! Vaughn wanted nothing more than to collapse and let the sea slowly drag him out towards oblivion, but he had to be strong, he had to do it for Syd. Her life needed closure, a proper ending and if that was what could come from this awful day, then it was worth something.
The tears slid unheeded down his face as he watched the wind carry his Syd away from him to be a part of the water. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, whatever the heck that's supposed to mean.........I love you Syd, always and forever.....God I love you."
Vaughn couldn't remember how the hell his feet had gotten him to his car, but he was glad it was over. Now all he had was the rest of his life to torture himself with the "what ifs." His hand had started shaking again as he searched for his keys and then tried to put them in the door lock when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder that startled him so much that his keys slid under that damned van as he whipped around to face Weiss. Not even his best bud could lift his spirits, Vaughn was miserable, so they settled for a brotherly hug before Vaughn dejectedly got down on his hands and knees to find his keys on the ground. He moved his hand around blindly under the car, cause there was no way he could see clearly through a blur of tears.
About 10 seconds went by and Vaughn was getting frustrated. He just wanted to get out of this place. He was about to give up and just walk home when a small red light caught his eye. "What in the heck?" Panic set in when he realized it could've been a bomb, "only Sloane could stoop to something so low at Sydney's funeral for Heaven's sake!" Only when Vaughn tried to get a closer look did he realize he was not looking at an explosive device, but rather a small video camera. Taken by surprise he got up to see if Weiss had left yet. Finding he hadn't, he called him over. He took in the entire car while he waited for Weiss to jog over and noticed that there was another identical camera hidden by one of the surfboards. "Why was there surveillance on them?"
Weiss approached and Vaughn showed him what he had found. It was mutually decided that they were going to try to break into the vehicle and find any information on the car and its owner. They had no idea what lie on the other side of the metal door.
Sydney could see anything but the back of the van. She couldn't turn her neck, couldn't cry out for Vaughn though she desperately wanted to. He was lost from her range of vision after walking from the beach, but Sydney knew he was close, she could always sense him. She would give anything just to be able to let him know she was ok. She shifted her vision to the right, trying to see where Oleg had moved in the van. From what she could glimpse, he was looking down at some file, probably hers, and writing in it. He had no idea how much she wanted to kick his ass right now. Sure, she was scared to death of what the hell was going on, but she was still thinking clearly. She couldn't take it, Syd closed her eyes and prayed to whoever was listening just to let Vaughn find her, he had to, or else she didn't think she'd want to find out what this psychotic bastard had in store for her.
Vaughn and Weiss ducked below the windows of the car again, realizing that they could easily be seen by whoever was inside. As of now their plan consisted of breaking the window, unlocking the door, and asking questions later, which seemed rather thorough to Vaughn considering the state his mind was in right now. Nonetheless the two were prepared. They had let the rest of the group know what was going on and asked them to keep their distance until it was over because they had no idea what they'd be faced with. Most likely some kind of immediate explosion, but to Vaughn that sounded pretty good right about now.
As Weiss stayed semi-crouched to the ground, Vaughn brought his elbow back and prepared to ram it at the window full-force. He counted to three and made contact. The glass shattered willing and Vaughn immediately clawed his way around the door for the lock on the other side. He came across a small lever and quickly flipped it up and retracted his arm from the jagged glass that was left. Weiss instantly grabbed the door handle and yanked the car open. In his brain he quickly identified a white-haired man whipping towards the door with a glint of metal in his hand so Weiss wasted no time in shooting him directly through the heart. The man fell back against the other side of the car and sunk against the wall, dead, with no resistance.
Weiss quickly scanned the rest of the car and only then did he realize what the hell they had just stumbled upon. He turned to Vaughn who was gingerly clutching his elbow and was only able to get out a desperate, "Vaughn." He walked back towards the car and looked inside and nearly died when his brain finally registered what else Weiss had said. "It's Syd."
Vaughn was torn from the little war he had going on in his head by the quiet weeping of Marshall. Poor guy had been surprisingly strong through the service, but he didn't think he could take it if Marshall started sobbing. He looked over at Jack hoping to draw strength from the man with the iron jaw, as he was sometimes known around the office, but all he saw gazing back at him was the shell of a broken man, a father who had lost his only link to sanity. He wasn't crying, but his eyes told of the beating his soul had taken.
"God Syd, can't you see what's happened since you've been gone, can't you see how hard your loss has been on all of us, why did you have to leave us? Why did you have to leave me? I loved.......love you so much it hurts. My heart has shattered. I can't even seem to function without you. I know you never meant to go away, but all you have to do is come back to me to stop this pain. So easy, just walk onto the beach right now and I'll forgive you for making me live a nightmare for the past few days."
He longingly gazed at the parking lot, searching for that hair, that stride, that essence that was Sydney, but all he saw was that damned van with the surfboards. How could anyone be enjoying themselves right now, it couldn't be done. If possible, the agonizing silence that had spread throughout his body had gotten even more intense. Vaughn realized that everyone was staring at him expectantly and his stomach turned again. It was time. All that was left of his soul mate was what could fit in a gaudy urn that didn't fit Sydney's personality at all. The waves just barely licked at his feet as he got closer to his final separation from her. His knuckles had turned white as he clutched the urn and he was shaking almost uncontrollable, the weather had nothing to do with it.
"Damn it all to hell! I can't do this, I can't!" Damn injustices of the world had to take her away from him, where the hell was his God, cause this wasn't the way it should be! Vaughn wanted nothing more than to collapse and let the sea slowly drag him out towards oblivion, but he had to be strong, he had to do it for Syd. Her life needed closure, a proper ending and if that was what could come from this awful day, then it was worth something.
The tears slid unheeded down his face as he watched the wind carry his Syd away from him to be a part of the water. "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, whatever the heck that's supposed to mean.........I love you Syd, always and forever.....God I love you."
Vaughn couldn't remember how the hell his feet had gotten him to his car, but he was glad it was over. Now all he had was the rest of his life to torture himself with the "what ifs." His hand had started shaking again as he searched for his keys and then tried to put them in the door lock when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder that startled him so much that his keys slid under that damned van as he whipped around to face Weiss. Not even his best bud could lift his spirits, Vaughn was miserable, so they settled for a brotherly hug before Vaughn dejectedly got down on his hands and knees to find his keys on the ground. He moved his hand around blindly under the car, cause there was no way he could see clearly through a blur of tears.
About 10 seconds went by and Vaughn was getting frustrated. He just wanted to get out of this place. He was about to give up and just walk home when a small red light caught his eye. "What in the heck?" Panic set in when he realized it could've been a bomb, "only Sloane could stoop to something so low at Sydney's funeral for Heaven's sake!" Only when Vaughn tried to get a closer look did he realize he was not looking at an explosive device, but rather a small video camera. Taken by surprise he got up to see if Weiss had left yet. Finding he hadn't, he called him over. He took in the entire car while he waited for Weiss to jog over and noticed that there was another identical camera hidden by one of the surfboards. "Why was there surveillance on them?"
Weiss approached and Vaughn showed him what he had found. It was mutually decided that they were going to try to break into the vehicle and find any information on the car and its owner. They had no idea what lie on the other side of the metal door.
Sydney could see anything but the back of the van. She couldn't turn her neck, couldn't cry out for Vaughn though she desperately wanted to. He was lost from her range of vision after walking from the beach, but Sydney knew he was close, she could always sense him. She would give anything just to be able to let him know she was ok. She shifted her vision to the right, trying to see where Oleg had moved in the van. From what she could glimpse, he was looking down at some file, probably hers, and writing in it. He had no idea how much she wanted to kick his ass right now. Sure, she was scared to death of what the hell was going on, but she was still thinking clearly. She couldn't take it, Syd closed her eyes and prayed to whoever was listening just to let Vaughn find her, he had to, or else she didn't think she'd want to find out what this psychotic bastard had in store for her.
Vaughn and Weiss ducked below the windows of the car again, realizing that they could easily be seen by whoever was inside. As of now their plan consisted of breaking the window, unlocking the door, and asking questions later, which seemed rather thorough to Vaughn considering the state his mind was in right now. Nonetheless the two were prepared. They had let the rest of the group know what was going on and asked them to keep their distance until it was over because they had no idea what they'd be faced with. Most likely some kind of immediate explosion, but to Vaughn that sounded pretty good right about now.
As Weiss stayed semi-crouched to the ground, Vaughn brought his elbow back and prepared to ram it at the window full-force. He counted to three and made contact. The glass shattered willing and Vaughn immediately clawed his way around the door for the lock on the other side. He came across a small lever and quickly flipped it up and retracted his arm from the jagged glass that was left. Weiss instantly grabbed the door handle and yanked the car open. In his brain he quickly identified a white-haired man whipping towards the door with a glint of metal in his hand so Weiss wasted no time in shooting him directly through the heart. The man fell back against the other side of the car and sunk against the wall, dead, with no resistance.
Weiss quickly scanned the rest of the car and only then did he realize what the hell they had just stumbled upon. He turned to Vaughn who was gingerly clutching his elbow and was only able to get out a desperate, "Vaughn." He walked back towards the car and looked inside and nearly died when his brain finally registered what else Weiss had said. "It's Syd."
