A/N: Yay, another new chapter before an ep! Whoo!
Seven
Misconceptions
Sydney got a ride home from Weiss who invited himself in and offered to get takeout and keep her company. Weiss grabbed the phone book and plopped on Sydney's couch and Sydney joined him looking over his shoulder.
Her cell phone rang and she and Weiss exchanged confused looks before Sydney dug it out of her pocket and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Julia, it's Simon."
Sydney gulped. She hadn't expected a new job to come up so soon. She glanced at Weiss who had resumed flipping pages in the phone book. Weiss caught her gaze and she mouthed "Simon" and stood up.
"What's up?" she asked casually as she walked to her room.
"I want to see you," he answered.
"Oh," Sydney mumbled, and hoped she didn't sound disappointed.
Simon was silent for a moment, and Sydney felt bad. "That's all right, isn't it?"
"Of course, of course," she said quickly, "Absolutely." When Simon didn't say anything, she asked, "Where should we meet?"
"I have a safehouse in Las Vegas that I flew to earlier today. If you can catch a flight—"
"Yeah," Sydney told him, "I can. When I get there, I'll call you, and you can direct me to it."
"Good," Simon replied, and paused a moment before he said, "I'll see you soon."
"Yeah."
Simon hung up.
Sark chuckled to himself, and took off his headset where he had been listening to Sydney and Simon's conversation courtesy of the bug he had placed on the latter's coat.
He was going to Las Vegas.
Sydney sighed and shook her head slightly. She nearly jumped at the sound of Weiss' voice.
"Everything okay?" he asked, and popped a chip into his mouth from the bag he was holding.
"Yup," Sydney said, and plastered a smile on her face. Weiss raised an eyebrow at her.
"What's going on?" He popped another chip into his mouth.
"I'm going to see him." Weiss just stared at her. "What?"
"You're going to see him?" Weiss questioned, his tone incredulous.
"Yeah," Sydney said, nodding. Weiss stared again. "Look, I don't know what your problem is, but—"
"It's nothing," Weiss assured her. "I'm just surprised that you're going to see him again. Especially considering how the last meeting turned out."
"This is an opportunity," Sydney declared. "I could find out more information about my two years, which is something I'm really looking forward to."
Weiss muttered under his breath, "Among other things."
Sydney sucked in a breath. She wondered if he was suggesting what she thought he was suggesting. How would he have known, anyway? Then she remembered—he and Vaughn might have listened to the exchange after Vaughn's fake criminal record had been uploaded. She tucked her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand.
"Weiss, I'm going to ask you something, and I need you to tell me the truth." Weiss nodded. "Did you listen after Simon saw Vaughn's phony record?"
"No."
Sydney let out a sigh of relief.
"But Vaughn did." He stuffed several chips in his mouth.
Sydney swallowed hard, bit down on her trembling lower lip. She spoke in a whisper-quiet voice, "W-why did he listen?"
"Because he—"
"More importantly," Sydney interrupted, "why didn't you stop him from listening?"
"Syd, I told him not to, I even ripped off his headset." Weiss shrugged. "He just didn't listen to me."
Sydney narrowed her eyes. "Why didn't you take his headset away altogether?"
Weiss rolled his eyes. "Jesus Syd, he's not five. What was I going to do? Play hide and seek with it? I tore it off the first time, told him to get a cup of coffee and ignore what you guys were doing, and then I took a nap. He obviously didn't listen to my advice."
"Whatever," Sydney said after a few moments, exasperated. "I don't care."
"In Vaughn's defense, there shouldn't have been anything to tempt him," Weiss said, crunching down on another chip.
Sydney stared at him in a stunned silence. Weiss just stared back at her. "What right do you have to tell me what I can and cannot do? It's not my fault that you people have absolutely *no* decency whatsoever."
"Syd, your mission was to get info from an informant, not to get laid by said informant." He popped more food into his mouth and Sydney snatched the bag away, irritated with his behavior.
"Look, this is ridiculous. I have to get going." Sydney grabbed her already packed suitcase and shoved past Weiss as she left her room. Sydney shoved the bag of chips into the pantry and went to the front door.
"What do you want me to tell your dad if he calls asking where you went?" Weiss asked.
Sydney looked up at the ceiling, pretended to think for a moment. "Tell him Simon is fucking my brains out. He'll love that." She opened the front door when Weiss shook his head and sighed. "I'll be back in a day or two." She slammed the door.
An hour later, Sydney was well on her way to Las Vegas. She had called on her way to airport and was able to book a last-minute flight, although she paid through the nose to get the ticket. She had also managed to rent a car for driving to the safehouse.
She was grateful that the plane wasn't packed and that she wasn't stuck wedged between anyone. She was even lucky enough to get a window seat, and she spent the majority of the ride staring out the small glass fixture.
She wondered what Simon had meant when he said he wanted to see her. Did that mean another job had come up and he was too giddy about it to tell her over the phone? Or did it simply mean that he wanted to see her just to see her?
Sydney crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her seat, closing her eyes. She was determined to get a nap in before the plane landed, even though her mind wouldn't stop operating at the current rate of a mile a minute.
She thought about Vaughn, about him listening to her sexcapades with Simon. She wanted to know what right he thought he had to pry into that part of her life. Granted, she knew she probably shouldn't have done anything knowing that Vaughn and Weiss could hear, but nonetheless—Vaughn should have known to respect her privacy.
Plus, Vaughn was married. What business did he think he had listening to his ex-love fucking someone else? Whether his curiosity had launched out of control or he was just a sick pervert, one thing was certain—Vaughn had no idea what it meant to be married.
Sydney sighed, rubbed her forehead with her hand, then raked her fingers through her hair. She finally propped her elbow against the bit of window sill and nervously chewed on her thumbnail. She glanced around the nearly empty cabin, and leaned back again, falling asleep almost instantly.
It was a while later, and the plane had finally landed. Sydney had picked up her rental car and had called Simon for directions. She was hoping that it would be simple, drive until she hit a particular landmark, then turn and it would be nearby—hidden, naturally—but unfortunately, the instructions made her head hurt.
There were small patches where she was able to just drive for a while, but the majority of her trip consisted of constant turning at different points, left and right, and Sydney found herself sighing heavily into the phone while she soothed her throbbing temples with her fingers.
"Last one." Simon's smooth accent floated through the phone.
"About time," Sydney muttered.
Simon chuckled. "I think it was worth it, though—don't you?"
"I don't know yet," Sydney told him, "I'm still driving." She turned at the next available opportunity and smiled a bit when she saw the safehouse off in the distance. "I see it."
"Good. I'll talk to you inside."
Sydney tossed her phone onto the passenger's seat after turning it off, and floored it the rest of the way. She parked in front, got out, and grabbed her suitcase. She walked up to the safehouse, suitcase in tow, and found Simon already waiting for her. He was leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.
Giving him a coy smile, Sydney strode right past him into the building. She heard his disbelieving laugh.
"No kiss hello?" he asked, walking towards her. "You surprise me, Julia."
Sydney set down her suitcase and turned around to face him. "What fun would there be if I didn't?" She grinned at him, then walked over to the table in the small space that served as a dining room. She hopped up on it, leaned back so that her palms were resting behind her, supporting her weight.
Simon went over to the table, sat down in a chair near where Sydney resided, and looked up at her. "Chair's not good enough for you, eh?"
Sydney tilted her head to one side. "Would you prefer for me to sit in a chair?" Simon shook his head slowly. "All right, then. I'll stay right here."
Simon turned up one corner of his mouth in a cute smile. "Your decision."
Sydney smiled back. "So," she began, leaning back a bit further, "why did you want to see me?"
Simon stood up and went to her, nudged her legs apart with his hand, stepped between them. "Do we have to discuss this right now?" he asked, as he bent forward to kiss Sydney's neck.
"I would prefer to," Sydney said, moving out of reach. Simon looked up at her, disappointed. Sydney ignored his expression. "Is there another job?"
"No."
Sydney swallowed hard. She wondered if he had discovered her betrayal and had asked her to come here so he could kill her. She regretted not informing her father and Dixon that she was leaving, but she knew they would have both said no to her going. She needed to find out more information if she could, and if her life was going to be at risk, then so be it, because she had to know.
Simon was nibbling on her neck now, slowly moving upwards, letting his mouth dance over her jaw line. Sydney tried to move away, but Simon had trapped her with his hands flat on the table on either side of her legs. She considered pushing him away, but decided against it, worried that that might make him angry.
"Look, Simon," she began, "I know you'd rather tell me later, but I'd prefer to know now."
Simon backed away then, scratching the back of his neck and frowning at her. "Julia, I just wanted to see you. Is that so horrible?"
Sydney shook her head. "No, it's not, but it's just that—"
"You used to tell me how upset it made you when I wouldn't pay much attention to you except when I called you for jobs."
Sydney just looked at him, hoping that she didn't appear as startled as she was.
"Have things changed in such a short amount of time, Julia?" Simon asked. "Do you no longer feel the same way you did?"
Sydney opened her mouth to speak, to try and say something, but Simon interrupted again.
"Oh come on! Don't tell me you don't remember!" He locked eyes with her, spoke quietly, "You said it to me once. You said the words."
Sydney finally found something to say without faltering, "Yeah." She could only guess what he was talking about, but it was a pretty safe bet, so she decided to go with it.
"I didn't say it back," he continued.
Sydney looked down, continued to act like she knew what he was talking about. "I know."
"And you left."
Sydney's first instinct was to look up in surprise, but she resisted, and instead just nodded. "I did."
"I made a mistake," Simon admitted. "I should have said it."
Sydney shook her head. "You shouldn't say something if you don't truly mean it."
"I *do* mean it," Simon insisted. "That's why I was glad when you came back. I took it as a second chance." Sydney still didn't look up. "I do love you, Julia."
Sydney looked up at him. He was in love with her—Julia, at least—and she was in love with him. She hadn't expected it. Given how raw their interaction had been just a couple days before, she never would have guessed that—as Julia—she and Simon were in love.
Her voice was a whisper, "Why didn't you say it before?"
Simon nearly rolled his eyes at her. "You *know* why, Julia."
Sydney sighed, decided to press it further. She looked far into his eyes. "Tell me."
Simon kept his gaze locked on hers. "Based on our circumstances, considering how dangerous our work is, I decided it would be best not to get attached. But, I did get attached, and then I failed to tell you that I had." He licked his dry lips. "The truth is, Julia, I love you, and not telling you before was the biggest mistake of my life."
Sydney bit down on her trembling lower lip and simply nodded. The strange thing was, despite the fact that she didn't remember her two years, the feeling she obtained from being with Simon and especially hearing his confession was familiar. She felt like she remembered being vulnerable with him, and finding a bit of vulnerability in him, even if he wouldn't admit it.
She knew what she was getting into, but she didn't care. She couldn't turn her back on Simon, not when he was doing something that he was obviously not accustomed to doing. His feelings for Julia obviously ran deep and Julia clearly felt the same way.
Without a second thought, she let the words roll off her tongue, "I love you, too."
Simon reached Sydney in a second, capturing her lips in a simultaneously rough and gentle kiss. He cupped the back of her head with his hands, and she framed his face with hers. After a moment, Simon began unbuttoning her shirt, and Sydney returned the favor. Sydney was about to take off her shirt when he lifted her up and carried her to his bedroom.
He lay her down on the bed gently, climbed on top of her, and kissed his way down her body as he unzipped and removed her pants. Sydney sat up, kissed his bare chest as she helped him take off his pants. She wrapped her hands around him through his boxers, listened to his groan of pleasure, then assisted him in taking those off as well.
Simon reached around to unhook Sydney's bra, then slipped off her panties. He looked at her for a good long moment, studying her face, then moving forward to claim her mouth and lean her back on the mattress as he settled on top of her.
He moved down her body again, kissing, nipping, licking, spreading her legs apart so he could explore. He kissed the inside of her thighs, moving steadily to her center, where he pressed a kiss to her and ventured inside with his tongue.
Sydney moaned deeply, closing her eyes to take in all the sensations coursing through her. Simon was alternating between swirling his tongue around inside and flicking her nub back and forth. She cried out when she went over the edge, and Simon looked up to note and file away the expression on her face when he emerged from his post.
He started to move back into place on top of her when she surprised him by flipping him over and beginning to suckle his tender flesh. He watched her, hands by his sides, resisting the urge to touch her hair. She looked up at him, her eyes looking almost innocent, and Simon twisted a few strands of her chestnut locks around his fingers.
When he got too close, Simon stopped her, and Sydney released him. She glided up his body, kissed his mouth, and poised herself above him before slowly lowering herself down. Her moist heat enveloped him and she started to move slowly. She took his hands in hers, laced their fingers together, and moved a bit faster, drawing close again and knowing that Simon wasn't that far away.
She arched her spine and tilted her head back when she climaxed, and Simon brought her against him as he exploded inside her, thrusting a bit before lifting her chin up and pressing his lips against hers gently.
Sydney pulled back and lay on her side beside Simon who turned towards her, smiling. She touched his face and he held her wrist with his fingers, kissing her skin. Sydney looked into his eyes as she said, "You meant what you said earlier?"
Simon nodded. "Yes, I meant what I said."
Sydney sighed a bit. "Okay." She snuggled closer, placed her head on his chest.
Simon draped an arm over her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "'Night."
"'Night."
A/N: Hmm.. Syd's kinda hosed. She's got a hothotHOT mystery guy who simply adores her. Wait, what am I saying.. she's not hosed—she's the luckiest. girl. EVER.
About tonight's ep.. I looked at Alias-Media's caps, and I must say, some of that shit FREAKED ME OUT. Y'all will seriously cringe.
*shudders*
~E
