Chapter Twenty-Six: Keep Playing the Game

Sydney stood in front of the full length mirror, smiling as she adjusted the shoulder strap of her sleek black bathing suit. Michael loved her in this bathing suit. She loved the way he looked at her when she wore it.

It had been more than a year since Sydney's father had held a gun on her. More than a year since she and Michael had been given their island.

The hardest part had been getting her father to trust them, getting him to put the damned gun down. For one wild moment, Sydney had considered knocking it out of his hand and holding it on him, letting him beg her for mercy for once. Sydney wasn't a particularly evil person; she knew that, deep down. But she adored power, loved to be in control. If she were honest with herself, she would admit that was really why she had joined the Organization. To regain some of the power she'd lost so long ago. To take control of her mother's empire, build it up, and then crush it, crushing, along with it, the one woman who had never been out of control for a moment in her life.

In the end, it was her father who helped her do that. He had taken her and Michael to a CIA safe house and taken their statement, listened for hours with a tape recorder as they detailed everything they knew about the Organization. And then they'd waited while Jack and the CIA had infiltrated Organization headquarters, arresting dozens of agents for their crimes against the United States.

They hadn't arrested Brooke Banning. In spite of the fact that she'd been telling Irina about her meetings with Jack, the information she had given him had been enough to lead him to Sydney and Michael. For that, she was spared.

And they hadn't arrested Irina Derevko. They hadn't been able to find her.

After the Organization had been taken down, Jack had done what he'd promised. Done his best for Michael and Sydney. He'd set the two of them and the children up on a remote island, just like they'd wanted, on the condition that they did not leave without the consent of the United States government.

Honestly, they don't mind. They are happy there, managing a tiny little restaurant called, quite simply, Paradise. It's not the fanciest little place, but the food is amazing. And if you come there on your honeymoon, the band will play till dawn.

Things are mostly blissful for the Vaughn family. But Sydney still worries.

Worries because there is no hospital on the island. Oh, there's a clinic, and Emily has been getting along beautifully lately, anyway. But Sydney is still so protective of her precious little girl. Old habits die hard.

She worries about little Jack, too. Even though he's had more than a year to deal with the changes in his life, he is still not himself. The teachers at his new school, the island's tiny little school, don't call Sydney and Michael to tell them that he's been acting up, that he's brilliant but unruly. They call because he's so quiet, so moody. He lashes out at the other kids when they try to make friends. He spends lunches and recesses by himself. At home, he spends a lot of time alone in his room, though Emily lures him out from time to time. And he loves the ocean. In the evenings, after the dinner crowd has left the restaurant-- there's never much of a crowd, anyway-- Michael comes home to collect his son, and the two of them take long swims while Sydney and Emily watch from the beach. Sydney worries about them going too far out. But she tries not to let it bother her, because when they come back to shore, Jack has a smile on his face, and for a minute or two, Sydney doesn't worry.

Until she thinks about the fact that SD-6 is still alive and well, and that after everything, she will not have a part in taking it down. It's someone else's battle to fight now. She tries not to think about that too much, because it's a thought that makes her ache in all the worst ways.

The thing that worries her the most, though, of course, is the idea that her mother is still alive somewhere, just waiting to make her move. There is no doubt in Sydney's mind that she will find them one day and destroy their fragile little paradise. She tries not to think about that too much, either. Tries to fill her days with more than waiting for the other shoe to drop.

There is an angel that shares her bed with her at night, and he makes it a little easier for her to do this. He has sandy brown hair, green eyes, and a way of looking at her that makes all of her worries disappear. He looks at her like that now as she approaches him in the afternoon sun, lowering his sunglasses to admire the way she looks in the black swimsuit she wears just for him. The kids are at school, and the restaurant is closed till evening.

"We should make margaritas," she suggests. She starts for the beach chair next to his, but he will have none of that. He pulls her down to his lap, and she breaks into the wide, dimpled grin that only he can bring to her face.

"You are so beautiful," he murmurs, giving her a long, luxurious kiss.

She smiles, smoothing back his hair. He wears it a little longer these days. "So you don't want margaritas?"

"I want you," he responds, drawing her in for another kiss.

"Good," she whispers. She rests her head against his chest, feeling the way she always feels when she's near him.

Safe. Protected. Loved.

And he makes all of her worries and fears go away, lets her know that for all of the wrong choices she's made in her life, she will never regret her choice to spend her life with him.

He makes everything worth it.

Makes her want to keep playing the game.

The End