Story: Beyond
Author: Steph (stephanie406@juno.com)
Disclaimer: Don't own Alias, or any characters thus portrayed. It all belongs to JJ Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, ABC, etc.
Rating: PG-13 (for now)
Spoilers: post "After Thirty Years"
Updated Note: Okay, a wonderfully attentive reader drew my attention to something wrong in this chapter, so it's been fixed. Thanks much!
It seemed like an eternity since her mother had left. Scratch that. It had seemed like an eternity since that woman had left.
But, realistically, it had only probably been an hour or so. She couldn't twist to read her watch. No matter. At least her father and Will should be safely on their way home by now.
Home. Sydney sighed. What she wouldn't give right now for a hot bubble bath and a glass of wine… even just for a glass of water.
Sydney closed her eyes. Maybe visualization would help.
She pictured herself on the beach, tanning. Suddenly a bottle of cold water appeared in front of her face. Her eyes gazed at the hand that held it, trailed up the muscular tan arm that the hand belonged to, raked her eyes across a broad, bare chest, and up to his face. Vaughn.
Real life Sydney swallowed hard, furiously blinking away another wave of tears that threatened to consume her soul.
Damn it! Why wouldn't Vaughn's face stop haunting her? Every look he'd ever given her had been dredged from her memory and paraded in front of her eyes.
Life wasn't fair. Sydney knew this. Her whole life since her mother's disappearance had been all about being unfair.
This memory taunting was just plain cruel though. This time, she had no one other than herself to blame.
Sydney sighed again, and was just about to indulge in another round of self-pity, when noise on the other side of the door alerted her to the presence of someone.
The door handle turned and the door pushed inward. Khasinau. Bearing yet another tray of food.
"She insists that you eat this time," he said in that soft-spoken way, taking a seat across from her.
Sydney looked down at the tray he balanced across his lap. Another bowl of some kind of meat and potatoes style stew. And a nice tall refreshing glass of ice water.
Well, God must still hear her at any rate.
Sydney cooperated this time, allowing him to spoon-feed her the stew. He'd chuckled amusedly as she'd quickly gulped down the water after the stew was gone.
Sydney eyed him curiously as he set the cup back on the tray, and then set the tray on a nearby table.
"What made you do it?" she asked.
"Do what exactly? I have done many things."
'Must be the standard stock response to vague questions' she thought. Strange, how similar their answers had been.
"Join the KGB," she answered. "Pretend to be 'the Man' when it was really her all along? And how in the world can you still be living this life and even be remotely happy doing it?"
Khasinau looked at her for a moment, digesting her questions. "I loved her," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "Your mother" he clarified at her confused look.
Sydney felt horrified… and she also felt pity. This man too had fallen under the spell of that damned woman. He, too, still suffered the consequences.
But Sydney could certainly empathize when it came to unrequited love, of sorts. Not that Vaughn hadn't loved her, or she him, just that neither had been able to do a thing about it. In the end, it had killed him.
Certainly made for life to be a living hell.
Sydney sighed. It was becoming a habit of sorts. "I'm sorry" she told him, truly sorry for the pain this man had also felt at the hand of that woman.
He nodded in acknowledgement. They held gazes for a moment, reading the depth of each other's pain, evaluating it.
And then he stood, gathered the tray, and left, telling her he'd be back in the morning with breakfast. And for her to try and get some rest. And that 'she' had asked him to tell Sydney she'd also be by in the morning.
'Joy' she thought sarcastically. 'I just can't wait!' Gag me.
AN: Okay, that's it for tonight. Scout's honor that I'll try very hard to get more chapters typed up and uploaded soon… Although I don't really think I'm doing too bad at the moment! *grin* Ah well… leave me lots of feedback! *mwah*
