Author: Bookworm
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Missing scenes from S3 ep.18 and on

AN: I always think there is a lot left unsaid between the end of S3 and the beginning of S4 ... there are changes in characters (especially in Syd & Vaughn and the way they relate) left to be explored and explained. I know that has a lot to do with changes in the show's creative direction and I am not fully satisfied by the development. I am a huge SV shipper so continuity in their character and relationship development are very important to me. I've been re-watching the entire series and couldn't help the itch to fill in some gaps. This fic will pave the way for more S4 SV missing scenes.

I wrote the first 4 chapters years ago and decided to finish it. This story will finish with Chapter 5 and if there are still SV fic readers, I will post new stories.

Chapter 1 - Inferno

I haven't been very honest to myself lately.
I have been acting emotionally lately.
I wonder if that has to do with my heart beginning to awaken lately.

Starting from when we found out Lauren was the mole, I had been doing battles with myself. Up on that roof when Vaughn told us what he found out, I had to fight every fibre in my body not to gather him into my arms to tell him he would be okay and we would get through it together. Despite his stoic expression, his pained look broke my heart. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard my father send him back to play Lauren. I went against my better judgement and kept silent because part of me had been bitter, whether I wanted to admit it or not.

All hell broke loose on my plane ride back to LA after Sloane got away with Nadia in Chechnya. Ten minutes after the plane took off, my dad sat me down to deliver the "news".

"Sydney, there's something you need to know …" he paused and I saw a hint of guilt in my father's eyes which sent chill down my spine … what could be so bad?

"Lauren and Sark took Vaughn … he's been missing since 2 p.m. this afternoon." All of a sudden, my rage against Sloane's yet another betrayal became secondary.

"But Lauren and Sark just came after us in Chechnya … how could they have …" my mind couldn't comprehend what had happened as it was quickly filled with fear.
"You knew about this back in the safe house, didn't you?" I could feel my anger rise as I slowly put the pieces together. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"There is nothing you could've done, Sydney ... The CIA have put all their resources behind looking for Vaughn." As if that should comfort me right now.

"I would've made Lauren and Sark talk..." Even though my father and I barely escaped, I was so sure I would've stopped at nothing to find out what they had done to Vaughn.

"I need a phone." I didn't let my distaste go unnoticed in my tone.

My father handed me the sat phone and I was connected to Dixon right away. "Have you found him?" I could feel my heart in my throat when I asked.

"Syd? No, I'm very sorry but, Sydney, you have my word that all available resources have been and will be tasked to locate Vaughn."

"Dixon, you don't understand, if Lauren and Sark took him, and they are Covenant, they could've handed him over already... we may never find him or get to know whether he is alive or dead ..."I heard my voice tremble. My greatest fear was that Vaughn would suffer my fate and after everything we'd been through, I was sure I would not be strong enough to lose him all over again.

"Sydney, we will find him ... I will call you as soon as we have any leads." Dixon's determination did little to calm me.

"Ok ... thank you." I said flatly as a growing void took over ...

The next few hours were excruciating ... I had not felt this helpless since my flight back to LA after handing Sloane over to Sark in Tokyo ... I spent 14 hours worry sick if I got the antidote to Vaughn in time to save his life... Four years later I found myself in the same dire situation. I silently prayed over and over again, in French. Somehow I let myself believe that would get me a stronger connection to Vaughn.

When my father approached to offer me water, I decided to let him know what was on my mind. "You should never have asked Vaughn to go back to Lauren after he found out ... I don't care how useful you thought he was!"

"She was his problem and he needed to be part of the solution."

"No, he didn't." I had no patience left for any more warped logic and I got up to sit by the window hoping I could see the lights of LA soon.

"Vaughn! Are you okay?" I answered without thinking when the sat phone finally rang.

"Syd ... it's Weiss. We found him ... about an hour ago ..." NO! Eric's tone was one he always used whenever he tried to calm me... What was he not telling me?
"Syd, Syd ... I need you to listen to me closely and not freak out. Can you do that?" NO ... I wanted to scream but I had no voice. Eric took my silence as affirmative and continued, "We found him in an abandoned warehouse. Sark and Lauren were gone. But they had given him the Inferno Protocol before they took off."

"What? They put him through the Inferno ..." I struggled to make sense of what I just heard ...

"I'm not going to lie to you, Syd, it was touch-and-go for a little while but the ER doc thinks they had stabled him marginally." Just tell me if he's okay ... please! Eric paused briefly to construct his next sentence. "The thing is, Sydney, the doctor is a bit concerned about his neurological response and that makes regulating his heart more difficult. But here's where you can help. Your name was the only word the doctors could make out when Vaughn went in and out of consciousness. They think you can help 'clear the fog' in his mind if he can hear your voice".

"But, Eric, I am at least two hours away from landing."

"I know it's not perfect but I can put the phone by his ear and you can speak to him. Just keep talking for awhile so he can hear your voice. Soon as you land, I will have a chopper waiting to take you to Standford. Syd, you ready? The doctors think we need to give this a try now before they give him more drastic counter-measure drugs that could cause problems with other organs."

"Ok, Weiss, put him on." I heard Weiss mumble to convince the doctors to give me a chance, "I got Sydney on the phone. Give this a try ... believe me ... if Vaughn is going to respond to anything, it will be Sydney." "Alright, she'll have 15 – 20 minutes max before we start the drip." I was scared out of my mind to hear what the doctor just said. But I was also determined. Vaughn needed me and I would get through to him. I always did.

"Vaughn, Vaughn ... I know you can hear me ... I promise I will be with you very soon but I need you to do something for me. I need you to follow my voice and come back to me."

"Vaughn, remember – we'll always find each other ... we always do. Now, you need to find me. I know you can ... just try ..."

"I've missed you so much, Vaughn but I think we're gonna make it ... just don't give up!"

"There's so much I want to tell you ... and you're the only person I want to talk to about this ... I did find my sister but Sloane betrayed us again and took her ... sorry, you don't need to know this right now ... we can talk about this later ... I need you to get better first ... can you do that?"

"If you want me to, I will totally tell my dad off for making you go back to Lauren ... you always find it amusing whenever I tried to piss my father off on purpose ... you always get a kick out of it ... I don't blame you ..."

"Vaughn ... I really missed you and this flight is just insanely long. I can't wait to see you. Promise me, when I get there, I'll get to see you smile ... actually, a hug would be nice too ... if you're up to it ..." I couldn't help a soft laugh ... somehow, being able to say all this to Vaughn was surprisingly therapeutic. I felt connected to him, and even though I was still anxious, I was more hopeful.

I was not sure how long I talked on the phone – it could not be any more than 30 minutes – when I heard Weiss on the other end again. "Syd, it worked. His neurological pattern is returning to normal and they will keep monitoring his organ functions. I need to take the phone off so they can work on him a bit more. Just concentrate on getting here safely, Syd." With that the phone went off and I returned to the abyss of what seemed like eternal waiting...

During the whole time I was talking to Vaughn, my father discretely stayed up front near the cockpit to allow me privacy. When he realized I was no longer on the phone, he came bearing a peace offering.

"Sydney, I've spoken to our pilot and charted a course that would cut at least 30 minutes from our flight time. I needed to get military clearance but we're on course now. You should be back in LA just under an hour."

For that, I was grateful, "Thanks, Dad. That's great" I said forcing a small smile.

When we landed, I practically jumped from the cargo plane onto the awaiting chopper. "Agent Bristow, I will notify Agent Weiss that your ETA will be 20 minutes."

Weiss was already waiting when my feet touched the landing pad. The look on his face concerned me. Once we approached the inside of the hospital, he came clean with what I really did not want to hear.

"Syd, we thought he was stable but it only lasted about an hour. His neurological patterns went all over the place again and his heartbeat became too irregular. He actually arrested but the doctors were able to get him back. They think some of the Inferno drugs are having delayed effects on his brain and organs. They're still working on him so I want you to be prepared... Syd?" His voice sounded so hollow – I could hear every word he said but I just couldn't comprehend ... I must have looked ghostly as Eric grabbed onto my elbow and shook me a little.

"I just need to be inside ... take me to where he is." I felt extremely lightheaded but I made my feet move as quickly as I could.

I didn't really know how I made it into the ER where Vaughn laid – with tubes and IVs hooked up all around him and an oxygen mask to his face.

"This is Sydney ... she might be able to get him back." I heard Eric announce to the medical team.

I was at Vaughn's side – at last – grabbing onto his hand. But would this be enough to save him?

"Vaughn ... I'm here now. Please don't do this to me..."

"Just follow my voice and feel my touch. I know you can find your way back to me..."

"We got you now, Vaughn, there's nothing Sark or Lauren or the Covenant can do to you any more ... I won't let that happen. They took you away from me for 2 years and I won't let them do that again."

"Vaughn, I'm not gonna lose you twice either ... just stay with me."

I didn't even realize the medical team had left the room until they came back in. I only noticed the massive amount of tears on my face when I turned around to face the doctor approaching me.

"Sydney ... I'm Dr. Stanley ..." He introduced himself while handing me a Kleenex. "We've been watching Agent Vaughn's vitals outside and I think you got through to him again. His neurological function, his heartbeat and his vitals are approaching normal range. Now that you're here, we are quite confident that we'll be able to stabilize him."

"So, he's okay?" I asked needing to cut through the medical jargons.

"Not yet but we think he will be." Dr. Stanley gave me a reassuring smile. "Normally we don't want other people around when we're working on a patient ... but seeing that you really do help Agent Vaughn pull through, it will be a good idea for you to stay. The next 24 hours will be critical to his chances of a full recovery."

"I am not going anywhere."

Vaughn was out of the ER soon enough as his vitals and other functions continued to improve. They gave me a much more comfortable chair to sit on as I stayed stuck to his side in the ICU. I only let go of his hand whenever the medical team interfered.

I kept on talking to him, trusting that my voice would keep his mind anchored and his heart still. When the medical team hovered around, I spoke to him in French so I wouldn't share my thoughts with the rest of the hospital. I had always loved the sound of us speaking in French – another special bond that Vaughn and I shared – a bond that made me secretly proud, something I knew neither Alice nor Lauren had with him.

He seemed to be sleeping so peacefully now. I could only hope that demons from the Inferno protocol and from Lauren's betrayal would go far away from him.

For brief moments, I allowed my mind to drift – to a place where Vaughn and I looked happy together, just like the way we had always been, before my missing two years, before our world cruelly turned upside down. But I quickly pulled myself back to the present ... I was too scared to dream about a future with Vaughn. There was so much hurt, so much betrayal, so much love between us that I didn't know how we could work through all that baggage.

Somehow, I also knew we would. We would find a way to figure things out. We were both too stubborn and too in love with each other to ever really let go.
For now, sitting in this hospital room with him was enough.

My exhaustion finally caught up to me and I fell into a content slumber atop Michael Vaughn's lap...