A/N: WOW! I made it all the way to 110! NEW RECORD! NEW RECORD! I love you all! And last night's ep?! How incredibly sweet was the bath tub scene? Zamboni! I love the Zamboni's too! (Though if I had Michael Vartan coming home with me afterwards that would be my fav. part too!) And do you think they killed Caplan?! Cuz the preliminary test…and we never did see Caplan again…so that's MY theory. AND! AND! When that crazy Taliban guy came in with torture materials…I was totally ready to see the CRAZY ASIAN DENTIST walk in and say his patent "Hello." (Because we all know I am obsessed with him!)
WHOO!! Sorry, needed to vent just a touch! O man that was good.
BUT we're talking final chapter here! OK. So I am writing this now. As in ZERO pre-written (I've never done this before. I've always had at least SOME pre-written) but I am trying. So if it's not as good as the last ones…let me know and I'll re-vamp. But I wanted to get this out today because I know you all were so great in giving me reviews. I felt so proud getting into triple digits. I only wished I could be one of those people who almost get into 4 digits (I.E. Rhonda – who is awesome! and Jennifer – who we all know I love.)
But here is the last chapter. I am going to be writing that 4th-quel because you all seemed to want it so badly. That makes me soo happy.
DEDICATION TIME! (Why? because it's FUN!)
1). To EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO HAS EVER REVIEWED! (Yeah that's you!) – You guys have all been so great through this whole story and I feel my writing has really evolved because of your kind words.
2). Kritsal – Who threatened to come kick my ass if I didn't get typing! And who wanted to know what I was on….still not too sure (but I think I might have taken more this morning!!! HEHE!)
3). Mrs. Swearingen – You should post it! I'll read it and review like mad! (After all it's only fair)
And last but most certainly not least (yeah you all know who it is since it's in EVERY chapter)
4). JENNIFER! – You wrote like the longest review ever! I saw the K's in my email and I was like WHO WROTE THIS? And it was YOU! And don't give up on AUS if not for anything else, just for me because I'm obsessed!
Ok. There. That is out of my system. So here's the final chapter!
CHAPTER 11 - RESOLUTION
She stepped out of the shower feeling refreshed and new. She looked at herself through the fogged mirror and gave herself a small, uncertain smile. She brushed her hand along the mirror, leaving a cleaner path and pulled out the hair dryer. She clicked it on and began working the heat through her long tresses. When she had finished she looked at herself in the mirror again and noticed the look in her eyes. Inside the eyes of a woman in her early 30's was a scared 6 year old, who had just lost her mother.
She went to look at her watch to check the time when she realized she had left her watch in the bedroom. She was about to go and retrieve it when there was a knock on the door. "Yeah?" She called softly.
The door opened to reveal Vaughn, a small smile on his face. He always loved to see her straight out of the shower; she had a freshness about her that he couldn't repel though the smile didn't reach her eyes. "Hey. Your dad's downstairs."
"Ok."
"You feeling better?" He walked over to her and looked into her eyes, trying to read the emotions flashing through them. One could get lost in the sea of confusing rushing through her eyes.
"Yeah, yeah I am." She smiled at him.
"You can tell me the truth you know. I know when you're lying."
"I'm sorry. I just don't want you to worry." She looked down at the counter top.
Vaughn sighed deeply and pulled Sydney into his arms. "I know, baby. I know." He soothed her as he ran his hand up and down her back. "Why don't you finish up here and then come downstairs and talk to your dad."
She nodded. "Ok." He turned to leave when she reached out and grabbed his hand. "Thank you." She whispered as she pulled him back to her and kissed him lightly.
"I'll meet you downstairs." He smiled as he pushed a strand of hair behind her ear before he turned and left.
When he arrived downstairs, he found Jack exactly as he had left him, sitting in the big chair, Danny in his lap, smiling down at the young boy. Vaughn walked into the room and sat down on the couch facing his father-in-law and son. "She'll be down in a few minutes, she's just finishing up."
Jack nodded, his eyes never leaving his grandson. "So what happened after I talked to you yesterday?"
"She never woke up. Slept straight through the night. I was afraid to wake her so I stayed in the guest room. I think she needed the sleep." Vaughn kept his voice low, his eyes down. The real reason he hadn't spent the night by her side was he was afraid. The way she had been acting the past few days had frightened him. He prayed every free moment he had that she could find it in her to forgive him for this. It's not that she had been distant the past few days, though she had, but she had also looked to him for comfort. He was just afraid that after this was over, and she didn't need that comfort anymore, she would remember why she was angry in the first place and they wouldn't be able to move past this. He knew his love for her was stronger than that, he just hoped she knew it too.
"She'll forgive you." Jack spoke, reading the younger man's eyes. "The one thing about Sydney that has never failed over the years has been her uncanny ability to forgive."
"She still hasn't forgiven her mother." Vaughn said pointedly.
"Yes she has." Jack spoke quietly. Vaughn's eyes shot up and locked with Jack's. "That's why she's so upset. Had she not forgiven her mother she wouldn't have acted this way. She acted this way because she had forgiven her mother and she was too afraid to admit it. I do not pretend to know my daughter's every action, nor do I know her nearly as well as you do." Jack took a moment to glance at his smiling grandson a moment before continuing. "But what I do know is that of all things, she loves her mother and is just searching for a way to tell her without loosing her strength." Jack looked back at Vaughn, who sat quietly observing the older man.
"She's the strongest person I know. But you're right. She hates to admit that she has a weakness."
"That weakness, at this moment, is her mother. I think somewhere in the back of her mind her mother has always been her weakness." Jack's tone lowered. In his mind he knew that his lack of skills as a father caused her to be so guarded with her parents. She and him had been working to extremes to bring their relationship to a better place, and now he risked it all because he was trying to protect her, just like he had in the past, only this time, he was protecting her from herself.
Sydney walked down the stairs to find her father and husband watching over her son as they talked quietly. She slipped into the room and wandered over to Vaughn and took a seat next to him. "Hi." She spoke quietly.
"Hello, Sydney. How are you feeling?" Jack asked slowly as he shifted his grandson so that he could see his mother.
"Betrayed." She stated simply watching her father's face fall. "I'm sorry Dad that was overly harsh."
"No, no." Jack reassured her. "I deserve that. I shouldn't have ever asked Mike to keep that from you. I hope you understand why I did it and that I feel horrible for doing so." Sydney simply nodded her head and took hold of Vaughn's hand, drawing support from it. "I'm sure you have questions."
"No." She shook her head. "I just wanted to see you." She smiled at him. "Actually, I do have one question." She stated after a moment of contemplation.
"Anything." Jack stated before his grandson began to squirm in his arms. He quickly stood and handed the boy to his mother before taking his seat again.
Sydney gratefully took her son and held him close as she looked at her father. "There are so many things in my life that I have questioned in this past week, things I'm not proud of questioning." Her eyes glanced over her son and husband. Vaughn gripped her hand tightly, letting her know he didn't blame her and that they would be ok. "But the one thing that I really want to know, the one thing I need to know, did you ever regret it? Marrying Mom, the whole deal?"
Jack looked at her in surprise. "Never for a moment. There are a lot of things in my life that I regret but meeting your mother, falling in love, never that. She gave me you. You are the one thing in my life I can honestly say I will never regret and had I never met her, I wouldn't have you."
Sydney smiled at her father. "Thank you." Vaughn reached over and took his son from Sydney who smiled at him quickly before going over and embracing her father. "Thank you Daddy." She laughed slightly as she pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I have been crying an awful lot lately." She smiled at the two men in front of her and the tiny little boy in one of their laps.
"Sydney, about your mother…" Jack began but she cut him off.
"I love her. I don't want to but I do. And for some of the things she's done, I forgive her. I forgive her for leaving. I think I forgave her along time ago." She looked down at her hands for a moment. "There are still some things that I can't forgive her for." She glanced over at Vaughn. "But for the rest, I do. I just wish I had admitted this before when I had the opportunity to let her know."
"About that." Jack looked at her, forcing her eyes to meet his. "I talked to Devlin yesterday. He and I came to a solution. Your mother will be going to Virginia to complete the tasks that she is needed for and then she will be returning here, where she will live out the remainder of her life in a safe house, heavily monitored, of course."
"What?" Sydney gasped. "How is that possible?"
"I have this uncanny ability to prove people wrong and make them see things my way." A smile hinted at Jack's features. "I made Devlin see her importance to the agency. We never know when we could need her extensive knowledge of a certain place or artifact or anything for that matter. That and I reminded him how he himself is a family man, and how he thinks his children would feel if there mother was being ripped away from them."
"And that worked? He just agreed?" Sydney was skeptical and she had every right to be. As badly as she wanted this news and this happiness, from everything in her life she knew that it was never this easy. Everything good in her life that she had, she had worked for.
"Of course not. It took me a very long time and a very extensive conversation with both him and Kendall to allow this to happen." A very smug look appeared on Jack's face. He knew he had finally done something right in his daughter's life.
Sydney's smile grew as she turned to face Vaughn. "Is this real? I mean I did really wake up this morning right?" She looked at him pleadingly. "Please tell me this isn't a dream."
Vaughn took her in his arms. "No, this isn't a dream."
Sydney smiled at him and turned to face her father. "I know it must have been hard for you to do that. But thank you so much for doing so. I don't know what I can do to make this up to you."
"You never have to do a thing. It's about damn time I started doing the things that fathers do, including making sure that their children can be with their mothers. I should have been doing these things all along." Jack stood and pulled his daughter into another hug. "I'm just sorry it took me so long."
At 4:00 Francie and Will showed up and the 5 of them had a great evening. Sydney felt truly loved by the time they all announced that they should probably be getting back to LA. As she walked them to the door and gave them all a hug good bye, she felt her entire self become calm and relaxed. With every minute of conversation the 5 had that evening, she felt her anger and fear drip away. By the time they were leaving, she was left only with peace, calm and serenity.
Her father was the last the leave through the doors. She smiled as she pulled him into the millionth hug of the day. "Thank you for everything."
"Your mother will be in LA for 2 more days before going to Langley for 4 months. After that she'll be back here for the duration of her life." Jack stated as he shrugged on his coat.
"Ok. I'll talk to you later Dad." She hugged him again quickly. "Bye."
"Bye." He called as he turned and entered his car.
Sydney shut the door and turned to find Vaughn coming down the stairs. He had just put their son down and placed the monitor on the table. She walked over to him and pulled him to her, capturing his lips with her own. She kissed him long and hard letting him know she wasn't angry anymore. When she finally pulled away they were both out of breath and she felt like they had just started dating instead of having been married for the past year and a half.
"My guess is you're better now?" He smiled at her.
"Uh-huh." She kissed him again, as she reached down and grabbed the monitor from the table. "Come to bed with me." She smiled as he laughed lightly.
"Wow. Talk about mood swing."
"Yeah, well." She shrugged. "I was upset and angry but you having them come here reminded me of how great my life is and how lucky I am to have you and Danny. So come on." She grabbed his hand and led him to the stairs. "I want to show you how much I love you."
"Can't complain." Vaughn smiled as they descended the stairs and made their way into the bedroom. He shut the door behind him and turned to her. She began to pull him to her again when he stopped her. "I need you to know something before we do this."
She immediately stopped and looked at him. "What?"
"I called the school. You're still not feeling well and whatever you have you gave to me. We have tomorrow off." She smiled up at him from her position on the end of the bed. "I figured you might want to take a ride into LA and have another talk with your mom before she leaves."
"Ok, seriously? Greatest husband in the world!" She smiled as she pulled him down to the bed with her. "I need you to prove that right about now, though." He laughed as they melted into each other.
She woke up happy. It was the first time she had done so in a week and it was a wonderful feeling. She curled up tighter to the man lying next to her and breathed in his scent. She glanced over at the clock, 8:45, and then at the monitor. At a little over 3 months old she was surprised her son was sleeping through the nights, but her father had told her she had been the same way as a child. She smiled at her son's sleeping form, knowing he would be up soon.
The man next to her began to stir and she shifted to look at his face as his eyes slowly opened. "Morning." His voice was raspy with sleep and deep.
"Morning." She whispered as she reached up to kiss his neck. He couldn't believe this was the same woman who he was afraid to sleep next to just the previous night. She amazed him in everyway imaginable, even after all the times he had woken up next to her in the past 2 years.
"So you still want to go to LA today?"
"Yeah." She yawned as she sat up and threw on his t-shirt. "I want to talk to her before she leaves. Just because…you never know."
"I know. I know." He smiled at her as the cries of a very awake and very hungry child rang out. "The little prince is up and demanding the attention of his mother." Vaughn joked as they both rose and walked into nursery.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Joke all you want. You get to potty train him, teach him how to drive, give him "the talk", teach him how to shave…" She rattled off as she picked up her son and began to feed him.
"How is that fair?" He asked as he ran a hand over his son's head as he ate.
"Because! I carried him around for 9 months then have to do this for the first year or so, I think its pretty damn fair!" She smiled as her son finished up. She handed him to Vaughn to be burped so she could readjust her shirt.
"Oh, I see how it is."
"Do you?" She asked as they moved out of the nursery and down the stairs.
"Yeah. You take the first two years and then after that dump him on me."
"Basically." She smiled as she poured coffee and Vaughn placed Danny in the swing.
"Women." He scoffed to his son quietly.
"I heard that!" She laughed as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it? Huh?" He prodded as she neared him.
"This." She whispered before kissing him deeply.
"Gee if that's how you're going to react every time I insult your kind, I might have to do it more often." He smiled as she rolled her eyes.
"Men."
They arrived at Headquarters and Sydney went straight into Vaughn's office. Carrying Danny in his carrier, Vaughn followed, not understanding what she was doing. "Syd?" He called after her as he shut his door behind them.
She paced the office breathing deeply. "How am I going to do this? What the hell was I thinking? I mean, I've barely said two civil words to this woman in the past 3 years and I want to go and tell her how much she means to me? God I'm insane!"
"Syd…" Vaughn tried to calm her as she moved back and forth between the wall and his desk. "Syd…Sydney…AGENT BRISTOW." He bellowed, catching her off guard. "Babe, you have got to calm down. You're going to break down!"
She took a deep breath and turned to him. "I know, I know." She shook her entire self, trying to bring herself clarity. "Whoo." She let out a long breath. "Ok. Ok. I can do this. I can talk to her; I can tell her what I need to tell her. I mean, it's just my mom right? Right." Vaughn smiled as he watched her walk around and crack her neck, loosening her muscles as she answered her own questions.
"You know you surpassed the need for another person to create a conversation with a couple of minutes ago." Vaughn smiled as she stopped pacing and walked to him.
"Yeah, yeah. You know you like it when I talk to myself." She smiled as she kissed him lightly.
"Ok, yeah I do. But that's beside the point." She laughed at his attempted joke.
"Ok, I'm going to go."
"Do you want me to go with you?"
"No, no. Stay here with Danny. I need to do this alone."
"You'll come right back here the second you're done?" He asked, worry showing through.
She leaned over and kissed him again, this time longer. "I promise. I will come flying back here."
"Ok, good luck."
"Why do I feel like I'm back on a mission?" He smiled and laughed. "Hmm. Mission: Mom." She smiled at him. "What am I getting myself into?"
"You'll be fine." He smiled encouragingly.
She walked through the gates, apprehension surging through her veins. She reached her mother's cell and faced the glass, looking up at her mother, dead on. "You asked me to believe that you haven't lied to me. You asked me to believe that you've been telling me the truth. The fact is; I've believed that from day one." Irena looked up at her daughter is surprise. "I was scared. As much as I forgave you for some of the things you've done, I was scared that the second I allowed myself to tell you, the second I let my guard down, you'd betray me again." Sydney took a deep breath and looked at the floor for a moment before looking up at her mother. "I'm sorry I never gave you the opportunity to explain before. I'm sorry I've kept you from your grandson." Tears began to stream down her face as she looked at her mother. "But mainly I'm sorry that I never got to know who my mother was."
"Oh Sydney…" Irena ached to hold her daughter, to wipe away the tears.
Sydney took a deep breath. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a set of keys. She slowly walked over to the cell's door and slipped the appropriate key inside. She slowly turned it until she heard the faint *click*. Swinging open the door, Sydney stepped tentatively inside the cell. "Can you ever forgive me?"
Irena rushed to her daughter and embraced her in a strong, deep hug. "My baby." Irena whispered through tears as she held her daughter close. "I never blamed you for a thing." She rocked Sydney back in forth, the way she used to when Sydney was a child and had scraped her knee or dropped a plate. "I never in a million years ever held it against you."
Sydney sobbed harder as her mother held her and stroked her hair. "I've missed you so much."
"Oh, my precious girl." Irena spoke softly as Sydney moved out of her arms to wipe away the tears in her eyes. "Thank you."
"For what?" Sydney questioned softly.
"For believing in me." Sydney smiled.
"Any time." She quickly embraced her mother again. "I have to go though. I am only allowed to be in here for a few moments." Irena nodded understandingly. "But I will see you when you get back from Virginia."
"What?" Irena questioned. She didn't expect to be coming back from Virginia; she had suspected that Virginia was the last stop for her.
"Its been arranged so that after you've helped in Virginia, you are going to come back here and live in a safe house type environment in which you will be under heavily surveillance, but basically free." Sydney smiled at her mother's shocked expression.
"Who arranged that?"
"Dad." Sydney stated simply, reveling in the look that passed over her mother's face.
"Oh." Was all she could say in reply.
Sydney walked back up to Vaughn's office, a weight having been lifted off her shoulders. She entered to find him sitting in his big leather chair, Danny in his lap. She walked over and before he could say a word, lifted Danny from him and placed the infant back in his carrier, placing a small kiss on the boy's forehead before turning back to Vaughn and kissing him deeply.
He responded right away and pulled her down to sit in his lap as he moaned against her mouth. When they pulled away, Sydney was smiling like a child on Christmas morning. "So I'm guessing you worried for nothing?" He questioned lightly as she leaned her forehead against his.
"I do that a lot, don't I?" She laughed lightly.
"Yeah. But that's why I love you." He smiled before capturing her lips with his.
"You know, the two of you should never be left alone in this office. Danny may have a sibling sooner than we all expected." A voice dripping with humor pulled them away from each other.
Sydney shifted on Vaughn's lap so that she could look at the owner of the voice. "And exactly what would be wrong with that?"
"Nothing." Weiss called as he entered the office fully and walked over to sit in the chair opposite Vaughn's desk, a gigantic smile playing across his lips. "Of course if you have another boy, the sibling rivalry will be huge."
"Shut up!" Vaughn called good naturedly. "We won't have another kid for at least another year or so." Vaughn smiled at his wife.
"Yeah, one kid is all we can handle for the moment." Sydney agreed as she smiled at her son.
"Who knows, maybe the next big event we have will be a wedding!" Weiss smiled as he stood. "Ok, I'm off."
"WAIT!" Sydney called as both she and Vaughn stood. "Who's wedding?"
"No ones, yet." Weiss smiled as he made his way to the door.
"Not so fast!" Vaughn called as he and Sydney closed in on Weiss. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"
"I have a lunch thing."
"A lunch thing?" Sydney raised her eyebrows. "You mean a lunch date? Eric who are you dating?"
"Just this great girl I met a while back. We've been seeing each other for oh, 2, 3 months now?" Weiss smiled at their shocked expressions. "Well don't look too shocked. I do date you know." He laughed.
"What's her name?" Vaughn prodded.
"Where did you meet her?" Sydney chimed in.
"Whoa! Vaughn double team. How glad am I the other Vaughn can't speak yet!" Weiss joked, skirting around their questions.
"Come on Eric!" Vaughn urged. After all the grief he had given Vaughn about being with Sydney, it was time for a little pay back. "Don't make me get Sydney to revert to Agent Bristow."
"Hey!" Sydney called as she smacked Vaughn lightly on the arm. He gave her a look and she smiled. "Good point. I might just do that." She turned back to Weiss. "Spill." She smiled.
Weiss sighed in defeat. "FINE! She's really pretty, we've been seeing each other for around 2 months and we met at a Halloween party."
"Francie's Halloween party?" Sydney asked.
"Yes."
"Wait a minute." Vaughn held up a hand, remembering the night. "The only women you talked to that night were the ones you talked to when you were with me. Sydney, Francie and that bartender who was married." Vaughn noted.
"Oh my God! You're seeing FRANCIE?!" Sydney exclaimed.
"What makes you think that?!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Because, you aren't dating Francie's bartender who is married. Or me. So that leaves Francie. Come to think of it, she mentioned she was seeing this great guy." Weiss blushed. "HA! See! That's all the proof I need! Why did you tell us?"
"Well…"
"Don't tell me you pick now to get some humility." Vaughn joked as Weiss ducked his head. Sydney smacked him on the arm again. "OW! Syd! That hurts!"
"Then knock it off!" She smiled at him. "We're happy for you guys!" She spoke to Weiss before embracing him. "You could have said something earlier though!" She kidded as Vaughn shook his hand.
"Yeah, well we wanted to keep things quiet. If it didn't work out we didn't want you all being weird around us. Of all people I think you should understand being sneaky."
Sydney and Vaughn both laughed. "Yeah I think we know what that feels like, right Syd?"
"I'm sorry I have no idea." She smiled. "You two are coming over for dinner, by the way." She smiled at Weiss.
"Is there any way we can get out of that?" Weiss asked Vaughn.
"No chance in hell." Vaughn smiled. "When a Bristow makes up their mind, there is no changing it."
"You're damn right!" Sydney laughed.
"Ok, now I'm going to be late." Weiss called as he turned to leave. "I'll talk to you soon!"
"Bye!" Vaughn and Sydney called to his retreating form.
"Wow!" Sydney collapsed into one of the chairs. "Who would have guessed? Francie and Weiss. Crazy." She smiled as Vaughn sat down next to her.
"You said it."
"Now the only single on is Will. Who can we set him up with?"
"Oh, Syd." Vaughn groaned at the mischievous twinkle in her eye.
"I'm serious. I've got my family straightened out. I'm getting back on track with my mom; I want everyone to be as happy as I am."
"You are a hopeless romantic." Vaughn laughed as he leaned over to place a small kiss on her lips. "What do you say we get out of here and go home?"
"Yeah." She smiled as she stood and Vaughn looped his arm around her waist, his other hand picking up Danny in his carrier. "Let's go home."
They walked through the hallways, arm in arm, Danny swinging at Vaughn's side. Sydney couldn't erase the smile on her face if she tried.
"What about Lucy?"
"Your dad's secretary? What about her."
"For Will! Duh!"
"Syd, give it up!"
"Wait what about your cousin, Elaine? Didn't your aunt say she was still single?" Vaughn merely rolled his eyes and continued walking towards their car.
"I'm not setting Will up with my cousin!"
"Why not?"
"Because!"
"That is not a reason, Mike."
"It's a good enough reason!"
"Is not! You need a real val..." Vaughn cut her off by claiming her lips.
"Shh." He smiled as they entered their car and made their way home.
A/N: How did it end up there?! I have no clue, seriously! Wow! Well I hoped you enjoyed this story. I am thinking about the 4th-quel…the thoughts are forming right at this moment! I would love a great response to this (as it's the final chapter!) Let me know what you think and let me know about what you all want in the 4th-quel. Keep in mind we'll be jumping ahead a few years. (I'm thinking so that Danny is 9 or 10, what do you think?) Let me know! Send love! – Secret Agent Girl