Shattered Paradise
Chapter 13: Her Guardian Angel
They stepped inside. Another day, another building, and most likely another failure. All was quiet. Nothing seemed out of place, nothing seemed any different.
Vaughn quietly surveyed his surroundings, prayers running through his head. The French Hail Mary had become his mantra now. Like a incantation, something to keep his mind of the task at hand, the thought that he was still looking for her, hadn't found her yet.
It had worked at first, but the glamour was quickly wearing off. He now recited the words without thinking, keeping them always in his mind.
"We should split up," Jack whispered.
Under normal circumstances, on any other mission, Vaughn would have disagreed with him, would have commented on the danger of it, and how there is strength in numbers. But he simply nodded, and the two men went their separate ways.
There was no need for further explanation, to differentiate who would take which floors, or when to use the radios. Everything was implied, everything understood. They had become good at this on the third infiltration, like old partners. By the eighth one, everything had become habit.
Vaughn made his way up the stairs. He would begin at the top of the building and work his way down. One flight, two flights, three, then four.
He knew somehow, that this would be the one, that this would be where he will find her. But, of course, that's what he had thought the last time, and the time before that. That's what he had thought every time. He had had an instinct, a hunch.
And every time, he had been proven wrong. He no longer trusted his instincts. He still followed the song of his heart, but it wasn't the same. It wasn't with the same amount of vigor and enthusiasm.
It was almost as if he were going through the motions, following his instincts because that's what he's supposed to do, not because he thought that they'd be right. There was no more hope; he'd given up on that.
Silence followed him, seeming to taunt him. It was when he was on his way up the fifth flight of stairs that he heard a noise. Boots and whispering. The click of one gun, and then another.
So it was different this time. There were guards; two of them. And they were ready, prepared for action. It wasn't like all the times before, when he would find some old, half-crazy hermit left in the building, someone who had some piece of information that would lead him on, but no real clues.
Maybe there was some hope after all…
Footsteps, coming closer and closer. And then he saw them. He no longer waited to see if they would tell him anything, if they had any data to offer. He no longer counted to ten.
Instead he counted the bullets. Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix… They had been dead on the first shot. Two, maybe, for the second one, because he had had a chance to move.
But still Vaughn unloaded all ten. Every time. That was all he ever counted anymore, watching as the blood oozed out of the bullet holes, trying to remember that that blood wasn't hers…
He followed the stairs to the top and stepped out into the hall, began looking in one door after another down one side of the hallway. He was quickly coming to the end, and tried to remind himself that he still had the other half of the hallway, still had all the other floors of the building…
Those reminders don't work, and his search became more frantic, tearing in and out of the rooms, forgetting stealth and silence, thinking only of her…
The crackling of the radio broke his concentration, and Jack's voice came through the static.
"…c…in…nee…stance…mediately…fa…here…"
Silence, dead and eerie. Vaughn suddenly pulled himself together, preparing to turn, preparing to run, find Jack, and get him out of there.
But then he heard it. A small scream. Barely audible, but there.
It could have been anyone. It could have been anything. But he knew that it wasn't. Whether talking, laughing, crying, whispering, shouting…
It was her. He knew it.
He raced in the direction of the sound, opening door after door. The last room in the hall was dark, he'd begun to doubt that he actually heard the scream. He thought that he saw a shape huddled on the floor, but he could have just been imagining that too.
And then he saw the red glistening in the moonlight. No, no, no, no…
"Vaughn…"
~~
"You called me Vaughn…"
"I call you Vaughn sometimes."
"This was different, Syd. It was like we were back there, in the hospital after…after it happened. I don't want to end up like that again…I'm not taking any chances…"
~~
Oh God, Sydney…
"Vaughn…"
He could hardly hear her voice; it is just the barest of whispers. Her body was hunched over and she was lying on the ground. Without wasting another second, he had her in his arms.
"Syd?" Open your eyes, please Syd, open your eyes…
She did, thank God she did. He put his arms tighter around her, afraid to let her go. But instead of her returning his embrace, she struggled against him, trying to get away.
"No, no, no…"
"Shh, Syd. Everything's gonna be all…"
She finally succeeded in pushing him away. He let her pull back a little, but kept his hands on her shoulders. He used this chance to take a good look at her, at the wife he had been searching for, the wife he had missed and had thought he would never find again…
Her cheeks were thin and painted a fiery red, her cheekbones and collarbone protruding from her body. But that wasn't even the worst. Her eyes, once bright and sparkling, were feverish and haunted. She no longer maintained that healthy glow. He had found her. Finally, he had found her, but had it been in time…
Sydney still tried to push further away from him, genuinely frightened. Suddenly she stopped, and he thought, for just a minute, that maybe she finally understood, knew it was him, that he wouldn't hurt her, would never hurt her…
But she gasped and doubled over, bringing a hand to her stomach and the little baby that was there.
And then he understood the new gravity of the situation. Knew that this wasn't just about him and Sydney anymore, it was about their little baby too. Oh God, their little baby. It was too soon, too soon…
"Vaughn…" she whimpered, still trying to pull further away. And he knew that she was wishing for him to be there, that she didn't know that he already was. If only he could make her understand, make her realize that everything would be okay now, that she didn't have to worry anymore.
The tears were trickling down her cheeks, a mixture of fear and pain and no doubt anger.
He brought his hand to her face, gently caressing it and wiping away the tears in a gesture so sweet, so tender, that she had to know…
She froze, didn't pull away. He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers in the slightest whisper of a kiss, slowly pulling back.
He saw something flash through her eyes: realization, understanding.
"Vaguhn." It was still a whisper. And he was still Vaughn. But it was better than nothing, and he would take all he could get.
"Yes, baby, I'm here," he murmured, bringing her into his arms again and relishing in the fact that this time, she hugged him back.
"My guardian angel," he heard her whimper through her tears. "You found me, Vaughn, you found me…"
"Oh, Sydney, I would never stop looking for you. Never. Not in a million years."
He kissed her cheek, felt her fiery skin against his. God, she was burning up. He tried to pull away, to help her to her feet and get her out of there, but she wasn't ready to let him go just yet.
"I love you, Vaughn. I love you."
"I love you too, Syd, with all my heart. God, I've missed you so much."
He held her for awhile, rocking her back and forth gently, giving her back some strength, some hope, waiting for her to regain what she had lost, hoping that he could find some way to help for resurrect her spirit, her soul, praying that not all had been lost…
Vaughn turned toward her and took her lips with his. Slowly, sweetly, gently. He could feel the fever even there, and that was the only thing that kept him from ravishing her, that made him keep it sweet and slow, not allowing her to try to speed it up.
This kiss wasn't for passion and longing. It wasn't to try make up for all the days that he hadn't been able to kiss her, that she couldn't kiss him. There would be time for that later. Now was for reassurance, for hope, for…
Sydney's teeth came crashing together on his bottom lip and she whimpered. He could taste the blood, but held back a yell. She had pulled away from him and was hunched over again, gasping for breath and squeezing his hand tightly.
"I'm…sorry…Michael…" she managed to gasp.
Michael. Thank God he was Michael, but…
"Don't say you're sorry, Syd. Don't ever say you're sorry."
How many times had he said that to her? How many times had he thought it? She never needed to apologize to him. Ever…
She nodded and squeezed his hand even tighter. "Oh God, Michael…"
That's when he began to get nervous, began to get scared. He knew that this was normal, that there was a good amount of pain associated with pregnancy and childbirth. But he also knew that their little baby wasn't due for another three weeks (or God, was it four? He had lost track of the days long ago…) and that Sydney looked like she could barely hold herself up, forget survive labor…
But, he had to remain strong. For Sydney. For their little baby. He had missed out on a lot of time with them in the past weeks, but he was here now, and that's all that mattered. He would do what he could.
"Come on, Syd. We have to get you out of here."
She nodded again, but didn't move. Vaughn raised her hand to his lips, planting a gentle kiss on her knuckles.
"Sweetie, I'm here now. And I…"
He didn't want to say it, didn't want to make another promise that he knew he might not be able to keep. But he knew that she needed reassurance, needed whatever promises she could get. And he would just as soon as kiss Fahim before he would let himself break this promise to her…
"…I promise you that everything will be alr…"
But he didn't get to finish. Perhaps it was fate. Someone, somewhere knew that he wouldn't be able to keep this promise, wouldn't be able to assure her of that, and so kept him from giving her false hope.
He was interrupted by a groan and a voice from the doorway. "Michael, Sydney's here… Find her… Get her…out of…here…"
It was Jack, crawling across the floor towards the room. He stopped in the doorway, breathing heavily, and rested his head on his hands.
"Daddy?" Sydney whispered.
"Jack, I…" Vaughn began, keeping a hand on Sydney's shoulder, but moving closer to the door, unsure of whether to take care of his wife or his father-in-law.
"Agent Vaughn," Jack managed to get out. "Get my daughter out of here…That…is…an order…"
Vaughn nodded and reached down to his waist, pulling the radio out, changing the frequency and bringing it up to his mouth.
"This…this is…" Remember the correct frequency, remember the code words, remember the situation, and talk fast. "Papa Bear to Base. Requesting medical assistance."
"Copy th…" Crackling and silence. Vaughn could only hope that they had understood, that they would get here in time.
He turned from Jack to Sydney. Even if he offered it, Jack wouldn't accept his help. And Jack could manage on his own. Sydney, however, was beginning to wobble. She shook her head, as if to clear out the dizziness, and held out her arm for Vaughn to steady her.
"Whoa…"
"Syd, we have to get you to the hospital."
He reached over and pulled her into his arms, surprised at how light she was, even with the baby, disgusted that he could feel her bones, his anger flaring up. That's when he noticed that the red he had seen on the floor earlier, glistening mercilessly in the moonlight was not a puddle, was not blood.
M&M's. Red M&M's.
The anger burned through his blood, threatening to incinerate him. He almost lost it right then and there, almost gave in to the anger, but Sydney's sweet voice brought him back to reality.
"But what about…?"
"Sydney. Go," Jack spat out forcefully, reverting back to his old ways. All his sympathy and kindness disappeared with the increasing gravity of the situation.
"Sydney," Vaughn murmured, kissing her forehead. It was so warm, too warm. For some reason, that scared him more than anything. But he wouldn't think about that now. About how sick Sydney had become, how close he had come to losing her. He focused his attention on her eyes, but even there, he could see their feverish glow, knew that not everything was right. God, he could still lose her, but…
"In a little while, we're going to have a beautiful little baby..."
Why did this have to be so difficult? Why couldn't he just have to worry about having to do something useful, like…boiling water or folding towels? God, he would give anything to be sitting next to Sydney in the hospital now, with her squeezing his hand so tightly that he could almost hear his fingers cracking, and telling him that if he ever did anything to put her through this hell again…
"…Syd, you're going to be a mom, and you're going to give our son or daughter the best you have…"
He heard Jack groan softly, but fought the impulse to look over at him. Eye contact. He needed to maintain eye contact. Needed to reassure her, to get her to believe him, to let her know without telling her that everything was going okay. Everything…
"…But in order for you to do that, our little baby's going to need you to be healthy, and…"
"Michael?" she interrupted softly.
She brought a hand up to caress his cheek and he looked into her deep, dark eyes.
"You're going to be a daddy."
He mirrored her bright smile. God, when was the last time either of them had smiled?
"Ah, I hate to break up this little reunion, but…"
The smiles disappeared just as quickly as the sun right before a sudden rain storm on a beautiful summer's day. That voice. Anything but that voice…
And the laugh. He swore that he felt Sydney flinch in his arms, knew that she turned her head away from the figure in the doorway, hiding her face in his shirt.
"No, no, don't let me interrupt… I find these reunions so touching. Keep going, but please, do try to speed it up…"
Sydney gasped again, biting her lip to keep from crying out. She clutched at Vaughn, and he gladly let her squeeze the air out of him. He tightened his arms around her. It's going to be all right, Syd. It's going to be all right…
"…For it looks like my child is going to be born soon…"
"This is not your child," Vaughn said slowly through clenched teeth.
"Well," Fahim began, eyes gleaming. "I believe you should rethink your decision…"
"Michael…" Sydney whimpered, tears in her eyes.
"…for it's the only way if…" He paused, his lips forming into an evil grin. He reached down underneath his jacket, slowly pulling something out…
"…you want to keep your precious baby alive."
Fire and ice and venom and poison and sin…
He pulled out a gun and aimed it at Sydney.
"You… You wouldn't dare…" Vaughn stammered, trying not to panic. His voice still cold and froze, his eyes still malicious, but he reeked with fear. He could smell it, wafting around him, threatening to give away his emotions…
"Or would I?"
Cruel, dangerous, toxic, threatening…
"Vaughn…"
Dammit! Back to yesterday, back to Vaughn… There was no mistaking the fear in her voice. The fear that he knew would be in his own, if he could find it in him to form the words.
He was supposed to be her guardian angel, supposed to be able to save her from anything, to keep her from being afraid.
What the hell kind of guardian angel am I?
But he didn't have time to consider, didn't have time to think, to plan, to find a way out of there.
A shot echoed through the room.
And all he had time to do was turn in an attempt to keep Sydney out of danger, and pray…
Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce, Le Seigneur est avec vous …
~~
Okay, um… cliffhanger anyone? Sorry… So, please review, and let me know what you think… I hope it's not that bad… I'm trying, really…