"Are you all right?" He commented quickly underneath his breath. She
hesitated, something she never did. He knew her too well for that.
"I'm fine." She replied and never let her body falter again. She was standing in front of him and followed in line behind a few other people. First class were the last seats to board. She carefully scanned three rows of seats before coming to 1A and 1B. CIA had sprung for first class seats. It went with their aliases. "Here are our seats." She tried to seem cheerful. She collapsed into her seat next to the window and Vaughn right next to her. Her hand pilfered through her bag until she found a bottle of sleeping pills. For the second time that day, she popped a pill in her mouth and swallowed down on it, splashing some water from a water bottle in her mouth to help it down. She let her bag tumble to the ground, lying at her feet. Her hand then rested against her forehead and her arm against the armrest. "I'm just tired." *Or at least I will be tired in about two minutes.* "I'm just in shock, I guess."
"Yeah, that's true." He was in shock himself. "But you're safe. We're almost home free. To Madrid." Madrid was one of the true foreign places in the world to him. It was funny. He had been to Paris, Moscow, Tai Pai but he had never been to Madrid and Madrid was a staple of the European tour.
She watched him file into the seat next to hers, on the right hand side of the plane, window seat. It was comfortable, sure but she would have preferred to have been in her own bed or eating Francie's breakfast. Her hands were cold as she ran them over her face, resting over her mouth as her thoughts drifted back to the breakfast that was probably burning on the counter. "This isn't happening." She finally spoke, her voice getting caught up in her throat for a moment. "This just isn't happening."
His body collapsed down next to her and he let his body flop for a moment. "Hey." His hands touched her wrist and his voice was so gentle, "It did." The phrase was supposed to be soothing but it just sounded harsh. "Here." He moved the armrest between them up and opened his arms. "Relax, stretch out. It's okay, come on. You look like you need to unwind. C'mon."
An unintentional gasp escaped her lips. No, it wasn't really a gasp as much as it was a sharp inhale on her part. She was so hesitant. But, hey, what was she afraid of? Of getting caught? Too late, that had already happened and there wasn't a blessed thing that she could do about it. They had already been seen in public..on that date in Paris, complete with that disaster. Sydney smiled softly and nodded. She turned her back on him and rested her head on his chest. He smelled the same as before and comforting. "How did this happen?"
His chin rested atop her head and he tried to match his breathing to hers. "I wish I knew." And his arms wrapped around her tightly. There were so many nights that he dreamed of holding her like this. It was a dream within a nightmare.
Her eyes fluttered as she fought off sleep, "I hate to sound selfish, but I'm really glad that you're here." They fluttered faster and faster until they stayed shut. She was still alert but the pills worked quickly. She couldn't believe what had happened..to her home or the fact that she was in Vaughn's arms. There were too many nights that she lay awake in envy of Alice simply because she was in his arms.
"I'm glad that I'm here too." His voice dropped the accent and dropped let his voice drop so low, it was husky and sexy.
"I feel so bad about leaving them. I wish they could have come." Anyone walking by would have assumed that this was just a depressed mother talking about her children staying home while she on vacation. Francie, "She is probably following apart."
"Yeah, I know. But they're better off with Chayse. I know you know that." He lied. Francie and Will were better off being with Sydney and explaining what had happened. Francie was probably in session with Barnet, who could never really understand what was going on and Will was probably with Jack, attempting to reflect what happened. And Kendal and Devlin were probably bouncing off the walls with worry or agitation of Sydney's discovery.
"They really are. She'll take good care of them while we're away." She quickly responded, her eyes still shut. "There are some sleeping pills in my bag, if you want."
"Oh, okay. Thanks."
"Anytime."
Silence filled the two of them again as the last few passengers began to file in to the long, direct flight to Madrid. They received some glances from people, gazing carelessly at the other passengers. Vaughn couldn't help but smile a little. They were people watching, just like he had this morning.
"So tell me, how did you find out?" She began, unsure as to where the conversation was going to go and glad again that she couldn't see his eyes. She wrestled with herself for a moment until she found a comfortable position. Vaughn reacted by stretching his legs out and angled them towards Sydney's seat.
It was time to tell the truth. "I was in the park, running with Donovan and I heard these men talking in Russian about the bluebird falling and her being disloyal. I assumed it was you, ran home and you know the rest." He barely said aloud.
She licked her lips and nodded against his chest. "That's," a yawn came unexpected, "what I figured happened. You sounded so nervous."
"I was nervous." He admitted, scarcely uttering the words out loud.
She knew he got nervous but for some strange reason, she didn't think he got scared. Could it be he actually got scared, for her? "I was more nervous because you were."
"That's what I figured." Vaughn felt the blush flood his face. "Are you doing okay?" He couldn't help but wonder if she was really in his arms. Maybe he was just dreaming but no, he felt her breath against his chest. She was really lying against him, her trust entirely in him.
"I will be." She replied taking time for each full breath to expand her lungs. *My father would kill us if he saw me laying across my seat and into your lap. No, he would kill you for letting me do this. But I don't care. It's okay. I'm safe and so far, so are you.* "Do you think we made it?"
"We've made it, Porsche." A nickname had already been adopted. She maybe have been Portia to the world at that moment but he shortened it, taking the last "a" off of her name. It was like Sydney to Syd.
You are beautiful In every single way Words can't bring you down No You are beautiful No matter what they say Words can't bring us down.
"Thank you for everything Peter." She replied, letting her body collapse on top of his with a heavy sigh. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her and fell in love with her scent. It was of lavender, pancakes, and Vaughn opened his mouth to say something but his words were lost on her.her eyes had shut and she had fallen asleep. But it didn't matter. He could have watched her sleep for the full fourteen hour flight but as the plane landed, he realized that he had fallen asleep, Sydney still cradled in his arms. She had awoken but didn't want to disturb him.
"Hey." She breathed as he opened his eyes and began to stir.
"Hey." He drowsily mumbled back as he let his arms relax around her, allowing her to sit up. Her back began to spasm as her position changed.
"My back." She murmured to herself.
"Did we land yet?"
She smiled back at him, rubbing her lower back and sitting up just so straight, "We're about to. You woke up just in time."
"How long was I sleeping?"
"Well, I woke up around once eight-ish and you were just drifting off and it's midnight now." She smiled at him and grabbed her bag. It was a great knock off Prada black backpack. "Aren't sleeping pills wonderful?"
"Yeah, I grabbed one about an hour into the flight. I haven't felt this rested since, well, since this morning." He returned the smile and leaned deeply into his chair. Sighing was about the only thing he felt like he could do. There was no good topic of conversation that didn't involve their CIA lives. "You aren't the easies thing to move once you're sleeping. You sleep like a rock."
"Don't you just love sleeping pills?" she asked as Portia, not Sydney the girl who hated taking medication.
There was nothing to talk about between them. There was but she didn't want to bring it up. Okay, it was killing her to ask that one question but she couldn't. She wouldn't. She moistened her lips and opened her mouth to ask the one question that she had been thinking about for four hours. She looked at him and started.
"What are you going to do about Alice?" She finally asked.
"She'll have to understand, sweetie." He enforced his accent.
"But-" And she did hers.
"No buts. If she can't handle me-"
"Are you sure? I mean you're...you're going to..You're going to be with me for who knows how long-"
"She'll have to understand." He pressed his lips together into a straight line and answered her firmly. "If not, then it'll be over."
The plane started its descent and with it rapid acceleration down to the ground, the acceleration of their new lives, for at least the time being.
"And what about your dog?"
"Our dog." He firmly corrected, playing with the wedding band on his finger. Midway through the flight, he had remembered a box that Anne Marie had slipped into his pocket. In it, there was a plain gold band and a diamond ring. He had slipped Sydney's ring onto her delicate left hand and he had put his band on his. "Donovan will understand. Eric will look out for him."
Sydney smiled but quickly looked down at her hand. There wasn't a ring on there a few hours ago. She opened her mouth to say something but promptly decided against it. Her eyes were cast down and rested on her hand. She brought her hand towards her body and rested it on her chest. There hadn't been a ring on that finger since Danny died.
He watched her examine her ring for a moment and leaned over towards her, "I found them in my pocket. Anne Marie must've slipped them into my pocket when I wasn't paying attention."
"Oh. It's beautiful." She looked back and forth between Vaughn and the ring, which was a diamond solitaire set in the tradition Tiffany setting.
"It's engraved." He pushed her a little, with his eyes begging her to removed the ring and look inside.
She did and squinted to see the tiny engraving. An involuntary gasp, followed by a smile, and then her eyes filling with tears was the reaction.
"Mine says almost same thing inside." Vaughn replied, acknowledging her reaction.
"To my love, your guardian angel." Sydney recited, a single tear escaping her honey brown eyes.
"Mine says to my guardian angel, your love."
There was no hitch at the airport. The exit was flawless from the airplane. Anyone who passed them would have guessed that they were happily married and very much in love. It was mushy and fluffy. The last agent that they needed to meet was met without problems and were quickly ushered into a black limo. They arrived at the hotel and went straight up the desk. "Names?" the hotel clerk asked. Vaughn's hand never left part of her body and took a moment every now and then to pull her closer and whisper into her ear. She in turned, smiled and pressed her cheek against his.
"I don't know if they're under your name or mine, darling. Try mine first, Portia DeMarco." Sydney smiled and rested her arms against the gold brushed counter top. She gladly furnished her newly applied fake nails. The gold nail polish caught the candlelight from the countertop.
"If not, attempt Mr. Peter DeMarco." Vaughn filled in, stepping up to stand next to his "wife."
"Ah yes. You'll be paying in advance, Mr. DeMarco?" The clerk looked up and began to smile brightly at him. She took her hand and placed it near her jaw line. Sydney couldn't help but feel a ping in the bottom of her stomach..was this Spanish girl flirting with her Vau- Vaughn. Not her Vaughn, just Vaughn in general. She didn't own him or belonged to him. Why shouldn't she want to flirt with him? Vaughn was cute, sexy, sweet, and Sydney snapped to attention. She needed to focus on what was at hand. And that matter was fooling everyone at the hotel that she and Vaughn were more than happily married.
"Yes, of course." Vaughn sighed and opened his wallet. Someone had put a picture of three children in-computer generated to look like them. He glanced nervously at Sydney, who tipped her head towards the hotel clerk and scowled.
"How adorable, what are their names?" The clerk noticed the photo.
"Aiden, Laura. And Iris."
"Beautiful names." The clerk remarked.
"Oh thank you." Sydney smiled sweetly and watched intently the exchange of money when her cell rang. She smiled brightly and reached into her purse and pulled it out. "Hello?"
"Hello Mrs. DeMarco. I'm just calling to tell you that the children are fine."
"Porsche, who is it?" Vaughn placed his hand lovingly on her arm.
"Oh, it's the nanny." She shook him off a little bit.
"How is my little boy doing? Oh, is Laura traumatized by my leaving, Chayse?"
"No, Francie's fine." Jack sighed.
Sydney took the phone away from her ear and smiled brightly. "Please excuse me for a moment." She glanced quickly from Vaughn to the clerk and back again.
"Of course." Vaughn nodded at her and turned back to paying with the new credit cards.
Her phone was brought back to her ear and turned to pace to the lobby complete with fountains, chandeliers, and large bouquets of flowers. Everything was white and gold with just a splash of red every now and then. Her black heels clicked in time with classical music that played throughout the lobby. "I'm sorry, Chayse, I'm back."
"Good. Everything went well, I'm assuming?" Jack continued.
"Yes, very well and we're just checking in now." Her accent was so delicate.
"I spoke to your mother."
"Oh?"
"She wrote you a letter. It's being sent and should arrive by tomorrow."
"That's wonderful." She exclaimed with false enthusiasm.
"How many sleeping pills do you take?"
"One."
"And him?"
"And of course!" Sydney replied, letting her head rise up and looked at the gilded ceiling. It was all handcrafted and elegant.
Jack sighed in disgust over the phone, "You both need to get to sleep as soon as possible. Those pills work for twelve hours but stay in your system for up to eighteen. You're not used to them and will have a profound effect on both you and him."
"Yes, I know and please, tell them I love them too and I'll talk to them very, very soon." Sydney replied, registering the information quickly. He was right, things were becoming a little fuzzy again and she felt the desperate need to sleep.
"Darling, we're ready!" Vaughn called as he walked away from the counter towards Sydney.
"I'm sorry I have to go. I shall call you later?" '
"When you get settled." Jack replied.
"Give the children my love. Bu-bye." Sydney clicked her phone off and put it in bag, slung over her shoulder. She reached over and picked up her suitcase and it was at that moment that she started to feel every heart beat in her head and every breath in her chest.
"Let's go." Vaughn ushered her towards the elevator. His hand were on the small of her back again and his other hand pulled his luggage and she pulled her black case as well. "Everything all right?"
"Just fine, everyone's settling in."
"That's good, that's good." Vaughn attempted to sound like he knew what he was doing and what was going on. The elevator doors shut and they were the only ones in there. Vaughn immediately relaxed and leaned against the back of the way, still facing forward. Sydney smirked at Vaughn's relaxation and stayed straight, watching the doors with an unreadable face. His eyes watched her intently and finally he spoke, "What are you thinking about?"
"How much I love hotels." Sydney smiled, tipped her head at the gilded doors. She never dropped character once. "I love travel."
"Since when? In all the years I've known you, you've hated to fly, hated to sleep in any bed that wasn't your own." He stayed in character too, painfully aware of the security camera pointed at him.
"Since this trip, darling." She turned her body away from the camera, her too aware of its presence. Luckily, there was only one. She started to talk again but mouthed her words, "Talked to my mother."
"And how are the children doing?" Vaughn picked up on her game quickly, standing up a little straighter. It wasn't the most intelligent response but it was the only thing he could think of. His mind wasn't working right. Something was seriously off.
"Chayse said that they were doing well. Why, are you still worried?" She played with the ring on her finger as she waited for Vaughn to reply. He didn't understand exactly what Irinia had to say. Maybe she knew something about the discovery. It could be possible that Sloane didn't find out
"Yeah." He replied as the elevator stopped moving and the doors opened. They revealed a beautiful gold table with mirror above it. On either side of the table were two red overstuffed chair and a hallway leading left and right. They exited out, careful to carry all of their stuff out. A bellboy had been refused simply because of security matters. They turned left down the hallway and followed the yellow, gold, and red carpet to room 4358. Vaughn took the initiative and slide the key into the door. It opened with a squeak. Inside was a hallway with a bathroom on the left and a mirrored closet directly across from it. There was a large king sized bed in the room with a TV in a walnut casing. Attached to the stand was an L shape desk with a phone, computer, and fax machine. At the very edge of the room was a large bay window with gold and white sheer drapes. Everything was done with gold or yellow or rust colored.
Sydney entered the room and threw her stuff down. Her brain barely focused on what the room looked like. Everything was becoming fuzzy. She dropped her bags near the desk. Her hands subconsciously tucked a stray piece behind her ear, "Bug killers?" She walked to the bed and collapsed down onto it.
"I'm way ahead of you." He had already started to rummage through his suitcase and pulled out random objects; a tube of lipstick, a paper clip, a hanger, a shampoo bottle. One was placed in each corner of the room, including the bathroom and closet.
"Looks like we made it." She said softly. "I'm home free for now."
He returned, leaning against the wall and let out a long sigh. His forehead was creased with worry and his eyes were clouded over. Everything was still a little fuzzy to him. He hadn't even heard her speak. His mind was clouded over as well. "I don't know about you but those pills were..they were-"
"Yeah, I know. They stay in your system for like forever. I hate taking them but I knew I needed to sleep." She replied, not bothering to turn around to face him. Her eyes were focused out onto the balcony that overlooked the beautiful gardens and tiled pool. It was dusk and the sun was just barely out of the sky. Her eyes scanned the horizon and her thoughts becoming clouded over by the medication. No thoughts were being processed clearly. "I can't go to sleep."
Vaughn walked towards her and sat down behind her. "Why?"
The dreams..death, destruction, blood. "I just can't."
He pressed on, "Sydney, why can't you go to sleep?"
Things were to fuzzy. Maybe if she closed her eyes, and the medication was still in her system, that dream wouldn't come. "How do you want to do the sleeping arrangements?" She finally asked, rising to her feet and looking back to him, sitting there just as exhausted as she was.
"Well," He began taking his time with each breath, "we could just sleep in the same bed."
Fuzzy, dizzy..there was no way that she could have a conversation or an argument or something right now. "I think I need to lie down." The adrenaline from being someone else had completely run out..it was out of her system and she finally crashed. No more pretending to be someone else, no looking over her shoulder. This was raw and real. She was alone in a hotel room with Vaughn after the most evil man she knew tried to kill her and her family. It was time to let the tears come. "But I want to talk but later." She walked towards her suitcase and began to pilfer through it, looking for pajamas or a t-shirt or something to change into. Her hands took a lot longer with everything. "Dad says that the medication works for twelve hours but stays in your system for eighteen hours. He wanted both of us to get to sleep...sleep..as soon as possible. Said that the medication would work quickly." It took her a few minutes to find a pair of blue silk pajamas but when she did, it took her no more than a few steps to jump into the bathroom and changed, removing her wig but leaving her make-up. It wasn't worth taking off only to reapply it. Honestly, she didn't have enough energy to remove it all. She should have figured out when she could wake up, non-drowsy from the pill but even that was impossible. The door was pulled open painfully slow and started to walk towards the bed. Vaughn had already collapsed near the bed and started to pull himself under the covers. He had thrown the blinds shut and changed into a t-shirt but whoever had packed his case forgot pajama pants or sweatpants. He had to sleep in his boxers. With what energy he had remaining, he silently prayed that she wouldn't notice and just get into bed, without conversation. He watched her with silent green eyes make her painfully slow way to the bed to which she collapsed down on top of it. It had become a combined effort for both of them to pull their haggard bodies beneath the covers. Her muscles were tense and fatigued. She managed to pull her body to her left side and she had barely taken a breath when she had fallen asleep. Vaughn felt a similar fate and pulled his body over to his right side and fell into a hopefully dreamless sleep.
"I'm fine." She replied and never let her body falter again. She was standing in front of him and followed in line behind a few other people. First class were the last seats to board. She carefully scanned three rows of seats before coming to 1A and 1B. CIA had sprung for first class seats. It went with their aliases. "Here are our seats." She tried to seem cheerful. She collapsed into her seat next to the window and Vaughn right next to her. Her hand pilfered through her bag until she found a bottle of sleeping pills. For the second time that day, she popped a pill in her mouth and swallowed down on it, splashing some water from a water bottle in her mouth to help it down. She let her bag tumble to the ground, lying at her feet. Her hand then rested against her forehead and her arm against the armrest. "I'm just tired." *Or at least I will be tired in about two minutes.* "I'm just in shock, I guess."
"Yeah, that's true." He was in shock himself. "But you're safe. We're almost home free. To Madrid." Madrid was one of the true foreign places in the world to him. It was funny. He had been to Paris, Moscow, Tai Pai but he had never been to Madrid and Madrid was a staple of the European tour.
She watched him file into the seat next to hers, on the right hand side of the plane, window seat. It was comfortable, sure but she would have preferred to have been in her own bed or eating Francie's breakfast. Her hands were cold as she ran them over her face, resting over her mouth as her thoughts drifted back to the breakfast that was probably burning on the counter. "This isn't happening." She finally spoke, her voice getting caught up in her throat for a moment. "This just isn't happening."
His body collapsed down next to her and he let his body flop for a moment. "Hey." His hands touched her wrist and his voice was so gentle, "It did." The phrase was supposed to be soothing but it just sounded harsh. "Here." He moved the armrest between them up and opened his arms. "Relax, stretch out. It's okay, come on. You look like you need to unwind. C'mon."
An unintentional gasp escaped her lips. No, it wasn't really a gasp as much as it was a sharp inhale on her part. She was so hesitant. But, hey, what was she afraid of? Of getting caught? Too late, that had already happened and there wasn't a blessed thing that she could do about it. They had already been seen in public..on that date in Paris, complete with that disaster. Sydney smiled softly and nodded. She turned her back on him and rested her head on his chest. He smelled the same as before and comforting. "How did this happen?"
His chin rested atop her head and he tried to match his breathing to hers. "I wish I knew." And his arms wrapped around her tightly. There were so many nights that he dreamed of holding her like this. It was a dream within a nightmare.
Her eyes fluttered as she fought off sleep, "I hate to sound selfish, but I'm really glad that you're here." They fluttered faster and faster until they stayed shut. She was still alert but the pills worked quickly. She couldn't believe what had happened..to her home or the fact that she was in Vaughn's arms. There were too many nights that she lay awake in envy of Alice simply because she was in his arms.
"I'm glad that I'm here too." His voice dropped the accent and dropped let his voice drop so low, it was husky and sexy.
"I feel so bad about leaving them. I wish they could have come." Anyone walking by would have assumed that this was just a depressed mother talking about her children staying home while she on vacation. Francie, "She is probably following apart."
"Yeah, I know. But they're better off with Chayse. I know you know that." He lied. Francie and Will were better off being with Sydney and explaining what had happened. Francie was probably in session with Barnet, who could never really understand what was going on and Will was probably with Jack, attempting to reflect what happened. And Kendal and Devlin were probably bouncing off the walls with worry or agitation of Sydney's discovery.
"They really are. She'll take good care of them while we're away." She quickly responded, her eyes still shut. "There are some sleeping pills in my bag, if you want."
"Oh, okay. Thanks."
"Anytime."
Silence filled the two of them again as the last few passengers began to file in to the long, direct flight to Madrid. They received some glances from people, gazing carelessly at the other passengers. Vaughn couldn't help but smile a little. They were people watching, just like he had this morning.
"So tell me, how did you find out?" She began, unsure as to where the conversation was going to go and glad again that she couldn't see his eyes. She wrestled with herself for a moment until she found a comfortable position. Vaughn reacted by stretching his legs out and angled them towards Sydney's seat.
It was time to tell the truth. "I was in the park, running with Donovan and I heard these men talking in Russian about the bluebird falling and her being disloyal. I assumed it was you, ran home and you know the rest." He barely said aloud.
She licked her lips and nodded against his chest. "That's," a yawn came unexpected, "what I figured happened. You sounded so nervous."
"I was nervous." He admitted, scarcely uttering the words out loud.
She knew he got nervous but for some strange reason, she didn't think he got scared. Could it be he actually got scared, for her? "I was more nervous because you were."
"That's what I figured." Vaughn felt the blush flood his face. "Are you doing okay?" He couldn't help but wonder if she was really in his arms. Maybe he was just dreaming but no, he felt her breath against his chest. She was really lying against him, her trust entirely in him.
"I will be." She replied taking time for each full breath to expand her lungs. *My father would kill us if he saw me laying across my seat and into your lap. No, he would kill you for letting me do this. But I don't care. It's okay. I'm safe and so far, so are you.* "Do you think we made it?"
"We've made it, Porsche." A nickname had already been adopted. She maybe have been Portia to the world at that moment but he shortened it, taking the last "a" off of her name. It was like Sydney to Syd.
You are beautiful In every single way Words can't bring you down No You are beautiful No matter what they say Words can't bring us down.
"Thank you for everything Peter." She replied, letting her body collapse on top of his with a heavy sigh. He, in turn, wrapped his arms around her and fell in love with her scent. It was of lavender, pancakes, and Vaughn opened his mouth to say something but his words were lost on her.her eyes had shut and she had fallen asleep. But it didn't matter. He could have watched her sleep for the full fourteen hour flight but as the plane landed, he realized that he had fallen asleep, Sydney still cradled in his arms. She had awoken but didn't want to disturb him.
"Hey." She breathed as he opened his eyes and began to stir.
"Hey." He drowsily mumbled back as he let his arms relax around her, allowing her to sit up. Her back began to spasm as her position changed.
"My back." She murmured to herself.
"Did we land yet?"
She smiled back at him, rubbing her lower back and sitting up just so straight, "We're about to. You woke up just in time."
"How long was I sleeping?"
"Well, I woke up around once eight-ish and you were just drifting off and it's midnight now." She smiled at him and grabbed her bag. It was a great knock off Prada black backpack. "Aren't sleeping pills wonderful?"
"Yeah, I grabbed one about an hour into the flight. I haven't felt this rested since, well, since this morning." He returned the smile and leaned deeply into his chair. Sighing was about the only thing he felt like he could do. There was no good topic of conversation that didn't involve their CIA lives. "You aren't the easies thing to move once you're sleeping. You sleep like a rock."
"Don't you just love sleeping pills?" she asked as Portia, not Sydney the girl who hated taking medication.
There was nothing to talk about between them. There was but she didn't want to bring it up. Okay, it was killing her to ask that one question but she couldn't. She wouldn't. She moistened her lips and opened her mouth to ask the one question that she had been thinking about for four hours. She looked at him and started.
"What are you going to do about Alice?" She finally asked.
"She'll have to understand, sweetie." He enforced his accent.
"But-" And she did hers.
"No buts. If she can't handle me-"
"Are you sure? I mean you're...you're going to..You're going to be with me for who knows how long-"
"She'll have to understand." He pressed his lips together into a straight line and answered her firmly. "If not, then it'll be over."
The plane started its descent and with it rapid acceleration down to the ground, the acceleration of their new lives, for at least the time being.
"And what about your dog?"
"Our dog." He firmly corrected, playing with the wedding band on his finger. Midway through the flight, he had remembered a box that Anne Marie had slipped into his pocket. In it, there was a plain gold band and a diamond ring. He had slipped Sydney's ring onto her delicate left hand and he had put his band on his. "Donovan will understand. Eric will look out for him."
Sydney smiled but quickly looked down at her hand. There wasn't a ring on there a few hours ago. She opened her mouth to say something but promptly decided against it. Her eyes were cast down and rested on her hand. She brought her hand towards her body and rested it on her chest. There hadn't been a ring on that finger since Danny died.
He watched her examine her ring for a moment and leaned over towards her, "I found them in my pocket. Anne Marie must've slipped them into my pocket when I wasn't paying attention."
"Oh. It's beautiful." She looked back and forth between Vaughn and the ring, which was a diamond solitaire set in the tradition Tiffany setting.
"It's engraved." He pushed her a little, with his eyes begging her to removed the ring and look inside.
She did and squinted to see the tiny engraving. An involuntary gasp, followed by a smile, and then her eyes filling with tears was the reaction.
"Mine says almost same thing inside." Vaughn replied, acknowledging her reaction.
"To my love, your guardian angel." Sydney recited, a single tear escaping her honey brown eyes.
"Mine says to my guardian angel, your love."
There was no hitch at the airport. The exit was flawless from the airplane. Anyone who passed them would have guessed that they were happily married and very much in love. It was mushy and fluffy. The last agent that they needed to meet was met without problems and were quickly ushered into a black limo. They arrived at the hotel and went straight up the desk. "Names?" the hotel clerk asked. Vaughn's hand never left part of her body and took a moment every now and then to pull her closer and whisper into her ear. She in turned, smiled and pressed her cheek against his.
"I don't know if they're under your name or mine, darling. Try mine first, Portia DeMarco." Sydney smiled and rested her arms against the gold brushed counter top. She gladly furnished her newly applied fake nails. The gold nail polish caught the candlelight from the countertop.
"If not, attempt Mr. Peter DeMarco." Vaughn filled in, stepping up to stand next to his "wife."
"Ah yes. You'll be paying in advance, Mr. DeMarco?" The clerk looked up and began to smile brightly at him. She took her hand and placed it near her jaw line. Sydney couldn't help but feel a ping in the bottom of her stomach..was this Spanish girl flirting with her Vau- Vaughn. Not her Vaughn, just Vaughn in general. She didn't own him or belonged to him. Why shouldn't she want to flirt with him? Vaughn was cute, sexy, sweet, and Sydney snapped to attention. She needed to focus on what was at hand. And that matter was fooling everyone at the hotel that she and Vaughn were more than happily married.
"Yes, of course." Vaughn sighed and opened his wallet. Someone had put a picture of three children in-computer generated to look like them. He glanced nervously at Sydney, who tipped her head towards the hotel clerk and scowled.
"How adorable, what are their names?" The clerk noticed the photo.
"Aiden, Laura. And Iris."
"Beautiful names." The clerk remarked.
"Oh thank you." Sydney smiled sweetly and watched intently the exchange of money when her cell rang. She smiled brightly and reached into her purse and pulled it out. "Hello?"
"Hello Mrs. DeMarco. I'm just calling to tell you that the children are fine."
"Porsche, who is it?" Vaughn placed his hand lovingly on her arm.
"Oh, it's the nanny." She shook him off a little bit.
"How is my little boy doing? Oh, is Laura traumatized by my leaving, Chayse?"
"No, Francie's fine." Jack sighed.
Sydney took the phone away from her ear and smiled brightly. "Please excuse me for a moment." She glanced quickly from Vaughn to the clerk and back again.
"Of course." Vaughn nodded at her and turned back to paying with the new credit cards.
Her phone was brought back to her ear and turned to pace to the lobby complete with fountains, chandeliers, and large bouquets of flowers. Everything was white and gold with just a splash of red every now and then. Her black heels clicked in time with classical music that played throughout the lobby. "I'm sorry, Chayse, I'm back."
"Good. Everything went well, I'm assuming?" Jack continued.
"Yes, very well and we're just checking in now." Her accent was so delicate.
"I spoke to your mother."
"Oh?"
"She wrote you a letter. It's being sent and should arrive by tomorrow."
"That's wonderful." She exclaimed with false enthusiasm.
"How many sleeping pills do you take?"
"One."
"And him?"
"And of course!" Sydney replied, letting her head rise up and looked at the gilded ceiling. It was all handcrafted and elegant.
Jack sighed in disgust over the phone, "You both need to get to sleep as soon as possible. Those pills work for twelve hours but stay in your system for up to eighteen. You're not used to them and will have a profound effect on both you and him."
"Yes, I know and please, tell them I love them too and I'll talk to them very, very soon." Sydney replied, registering the information quickly. He was right, things were becoming a little fuzzy again and she felt the desperate need to sleep.
"Darling, we're ready!" Vaughn called as he walked away from the counter towards Sydney.
"I'm sorry I have to go. I shall call you later?" '
"When you get settled." Jack replied.
"Give the children my love. Bu-bye." Sydney clicked her phone off and put it in bag, slung over her shoulder. She reached over and picked up her suitcase and it was at that moment that she started to feel every heart beat in her head and every breath in her chest.
"Let's go." Vaughn ushered her towards the elevator. His hand were on the small of her back again and his other hand pulled his luggage and she pulled her black case as well. "Everything all right?"
"Just fine, everyone's settling in."
"That's good, that's good." Vaughn attempted to sound like he knew what he was doing and what was going on. The elevator doors shut and they were the only ones in there. Vaughn immediately relaxed and leaned against the back of the way, still facing forward. Sydney smirked at Vaughn's relaxation and stayed straight, watching the doors with an unreadable face. His eyes watched her intently and finally he spoke, "What are you thinking about?"
"How much I love hotels." Sydney smiled, tipped her head at the gilded doors. She never dropped character once. "I love travel."
"Since when? In all the years I've known you, you've hated to fly, hated to sleep in any bed that wasn't your own." He stayed in character too, painfully aware of the security camera pointed at him.
"Since this trip, darling." She turned her body away from the camera, her too aware of its presence. Luckily, there was only one. She started to talk again but mouthed her words, "Talked to my mother."
"And how are the children doing?" Vaughn picked up on her game quickly, standing up a little straighter. It wasn't the most intelligent response but it was the only thing he could think of. His mind wasn't working right. Something was seriously off.
"Chayse said that they were doing well. Why, are you still worried?" She played with the ring on her finger as she waited for Vaughn to reply. He didn't understand exactly what Irinia had to say. Maybe she knew something about the discovery. It could be possible that Sloane didn't find out
"Yeah." He replied as the elevator stopped moving and the doors opened. They revealed a beautiful gold table with mirror above it. On either side of the table were two red overstuffed chair and a hallway leading left and right. They exited out, careful to carry all of their stuff out. A bellboy had been refused simply because of security matters. They turned left down the hallway and followed the yellow, gold, and red carpet to room 4358. Vaughn took the initiative and slide the key into the door. It opened with a squeak. Inside was a hallway with a bathroom on the left and a mirrored closet directly across from it. There was a large king sized bed in the room with a TV in a walnut casing. Attached to the stand was an L shape desk with a phone, computer, and fax machine. At the very edge of the room was a large bay window with gold and white sheer drapes. Everything was done with gold or yellow or rust colored.
Sydney entered the room and threw her stuff down. Her brain barely focused on what the room looked like. Everything was becoming fuzzy. She dropped her bags near the desk. Her hands subconsciously tucked a stray piece behind her ear, "Bug killers?" She walked to the bed and collapsed down onto it.
"I'm way ahead of you." He had already started to rummage through his suitcase and pulled out random objects; a tube of lipstick, a paper clip, a hanger, a shampoo bottle. One was placed in each corner of the room, including the bathroom and closet.
"Looks like we made it." She said softly. "I'm home free for now."
He returned, leaning against the wall and let out a long sigh. His forehead was creased with worry and his eyes were clouded over. Everything was still a little fuzzy to him. He hadn't even heard her speak. His mind was clouded over as well. "I don't know about you but those pills were..they were-"
"Yeah, I know. They stay in your system for like forever. I hate taking them but I knew I needed to sleep." She replied, not bothering to turn around to face him. Her eyes were focused out onto the balcony that overlooked the beautiful gardens and tiled pool. It was dusk and the sun was just barely out of the sky. Her eyes scanned the horizon and her thoughts becoming clouded over by the medication. No thoughts were being processed clearly. "I can't go to sleep."
Vaughn walked towards her and sat down behind her. "Why?"
The dreams..death, destruction, blood. "I just can't."
He pressed on, "Sydney, why can't you go to sleep?"
Things were to fuzzy. Maybe if she closed her eyes, and the medication was still in her system, that dream wouldn't come. "How do you want to do the sleeping arrangements?" She finally asked, rising to her feet and looking back to him, sitting there just as exhausted as she was.
"Well," He began taking his time with each breath, "we could just sleep in the same bed."
Fuzzy, dizzy..there was no way that she could have a conversation or an argument or something right now. "I think I need to lie down." The adrenaline from being someone else had completely run out..it was out of her system and she finally crashed. No more pretending to be someone else, no looking over her shoulder. This was raw and real. She was alone in a hotel room with Vaughn after the most evil man she knew tried to kill her and her family. It was time to let the tears come. "But I want to talk but later." She walked towards her suitcase and began to pilfer through it, looking for pajamas or a t-shirt or something to change into. Her hands took a lot longer with everything. "Dad says that the medication works for twelve hours but stays in your system for eighteen hours. He wanted both of us to get to sleep...sleep..as soon as possible. Said that the medication would work quickly." It took her a few minutes to find a pair of blue silk pajamas but when she did, it took her no more than a few steps to jump into the bathroom and changed, removing her wig but leaving her make-up. It wasn't worth taking off only to reapply it. Honestly, she didn't have enough energy to remove it all. She should have figured out when she could wake up, non-drowsy from the pill but even that was impossible. The door was pulled open painfully slow and started to walk towards the bed. Vaughn had already collapsed near the bed and started to pull himself under the covers. He had thrown the blinds shut and changed into a t-shirt but whoever had packed his case forgot pajama pants or sweatpants. He had to sleep in his boxers. With what energy he had remaining, he silently prayed that she wouldn't notice and just get into bed, without conversation. He watched her with silent green eyes make her painfully slow way to the bed to which she collapsed down on top of it. It had become a combined effort for both of them to pull their haggard bodies beneath the covers. Her muscles were tense and fatigued. She managed to pull her body to her left side and she had barely taken a breath when she had fallen asleep. Vaughn felt a similar fate and pulled his body over to his right side and fell into a hopefully dreamless sleep.