Keeping The Faith
Disclaimer: I do not own Alias, nor am I in any way associated with any member of the crew or cast of the show, or rep of ABC.
Spoilers: If you have not seen "The Indicator," you may or may not be spoiled.
"Hey, Syd," Will said, walking through the front door.
Sydney looked up and smiled. "Oh, hey, Will! What's up?"
"Not much," he replied, sitting down. "We got a new member in NA."
"Oh, yeah? Anyone I know?" she joked.
"I don't know...do you know anyone who's used crystal meth?"
Sydney raised an eyebrow. "I don't think so, no."
"You know what the real kicker about that is?"
"What's that?"
"Her name's Crystal."
Sydney widened her eyes. "Liar!"
"I swear! I think I was the only one at the meeting who found that amusing, though. When I laughed, people stared."
Sydney chuckled. "Well, Will, you're just going to have to be more careful."
Will rolled his eyes. "No need to remind me about that."
Sydney laughed again. "Probably not." She paused, biting her lip. She took a breath and started, "Listen, Will--"
The sound of Sydney's beeper interrupted her. She groaned and picked it up. She looked at Will and gave him a small smile.
Will nodded at the beeper. "Good guys or bad guys?"
"It's Vaughn," she replied.
"Ah," Will nodded. "Well, we'll talk later."
"Alright, great. Bye, hon!" She leaned over, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and ran out.
"...take the pictures, send them to me...you know the deal," Vaughn said, finishing up telling Sydney her counter mission
"Right," she replied.
There was an awkward pause for a moment until Vaughn stood up.
"I'm going to go," he said, turning.
"Wait!" Sydney called.
He stopped, his back still to her.
"I get that you were upset when you said those things about my father, okay?"
Vaughn furrowed his brow.
"I don't want to fight anymore. So can we just move on from this thing?"
Vaughn looked at her. "Sydney, there's nothing I want more than to move on from this 'thing.' But this isn't just a thing. It's an issue, and a big one at that."
Sydney sighed. "Vaughn, why are being so persistent about this? There's no way my father would put our lives at risk like that."
Vaughn thought for a moment, then moved closer to Sydney. He took a seat in the chair he had left and said, "Sydney, I don't want to believe this any more than you do. But you're father isn't exactly the Pope."
Sydney rolled her eyes. "I know that, Vaughn, but--"
"But...Sydney, you have to trust me on this. I know it isn't easy, but you have to try. I'm telling you the truth."
Sydney stubbornly shook her head. "No! No, Vaughn, it's not true, okay? I talked to my father this morning!"
"So did I."
Sydney blinked. "What?"
"I talked to him this morning, too."
"Wh...what did you say? What did he say?"
Vaughn lowered his head. "That's, uh...that's not relevant right now."
Sydney bit her lip.
"But he did it, Sydney. He blew up that building, and I know it."
Now, Sydney stood up. She let out a deep breath. "Look, I wanted to settle things right here, right now, but obviously, you still feel like you have to carry on with this nonsense. All this crap about spy schools, and my father blowing up buildings...you do realize you're practically defending Irina Derevko, don't you?"
"Don't say that..."
"Vaughn, please! Why are you doing this?"
"Because it's the truth, Sydney!" he exploded. "The truth. Why can't you understand that I would never lie to you! Think about your father. All these years, he hasn't been around. He wasn't there for you when he should have been. How can you just forget all of that? I have been there for you time and again, and I care about you. I do. You have to get it through your head that I would never let you get hurt. Not by anyone. I would do anything to protect you!"
Sydney's bottom lip trembled at Vaughn's outburst. "I...I..."
Vaughn looked at Sydney's fearful expression and he mentally kicked himself. "Sydney," he said quietly, "you have to believe me."
"No, Vaughn, I don't," she replied, tears beginning to spill from the ducts in her eyes, "and I'm going to choose not to."
Vaughn closed his eyes in defeat.
"I'm leaving."
As he listened to the click of her heels, he cursed. He had failed. Again.
She lay on her bed, sniffling, trying to keep her tears from falling. She had been crying for an hour already, and she couldn't stop. There was a knock at her bedroom door. Before she could say anything, Will walked in, shutting the door behind him. He took one look at her face and rushed over to sit on the side of her bed.
"Syd, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
Sydney shook her head. "I don't want to bother you with this, Will."
"Sydney, it's alright. I live to be bothered."
She gave a small, wheezing laugh. She reached over to her friend and pulled him into a big hug. "Thank you, Will," she sobbed.
"For what?" he whispered.
"For being here for me."
"Syd...you're my best friend. I'll always be here for you."
She pulled away from him and wiped the tears from her face.
"Now, what's wrong?"
"I don't even know where to start."
"The beginning's a good place."
Sydney gave him a half-smile. "Well...it's like this..."
Two hours later, Sydney was lying down with her head in Will's lap.
"...and that's what this is about."
"Uh...wow. Spy schools, huh?"
Sydney rolled her eyes at him. "Is that the only thing you can say?"
"I don't even know if there's anything to say."
"You can say Vaughn is wrong." When she didn't get a reply, she sat up. She gave Will a look. "You don't actually agree with him, do you?"
Will shrugged. "I don't know, Syd, I mean...most of the experiences I've had with the guy haven't been so fun. But he's not a bad guy."
Sydney bit her lip. "I don't know what to do, Will. Ever since Iri--my mom's been back...I don't know, it just seems like my dad and I are getting along so well. I don't want to give that up."
"I don't think anybody would want to give that up, Syd," Will said gently. "But sometimes, life just isn't fair. Listen, I'm not saying you're dad did any of that stuff. But I'm not saying he didn't, either. What you need to do is find something that proves what he did or didn't do. You know?"
Sydney looked at him slyly. He raised his eyebrows and shook his head.
"Oh, no, you're not bringing me into this mess."
"It's too late for that."
"Syd, come on, no..."
"Hey, you're the one who asked about this."
"I didn't know it was about this!"
"Please, Will?" she asked with a pout. "For me?"
She tried not to giggle at his torn expression. Finally, he drooped his head.
"Fine. I'll do some research for you."
She threw her arms around him. "Thank you, Will! I knew I could count on you!"
"Yeah, yeah...Sydney, I really think you should try to work things out with Vaughn. He seems like a really great guy."
She parted from her friend and her lips raised slightly into a smile. "He is a great guy."
"Well, good...talk to him again. Your dad, too."
She nodded. "I'll think about it. Thanks, Will. Really."
"Don't worry about it, Syd. Anything for you."