Title: Road Trippin'
Author: Annie
Rating: PG- not even. Just being safe.
Timeline: Kind of AU. Pretend Phase One happened and everything else happened, but Francie's still.. well herself.
Summary: Not a song fic. Sort of a semi-sequel to Notification Posted
Disclaimer: I seriously own nothing. Like seriously. You wouldn't believe.
Distribution: I'd be more than honored to have this anywhere. Just drop me a note.
Feedback: I have a bunch of this story done... please tell me if I should continue. It' s just a break from the angsty-ness.
Genre: just fun
Author's Note: Okay not much of a note for this one. It might take me a few days to update this story, but it's not like a great, suspenseful story anyway. As I've been saying, just something shallow, meaningless fun that we all deserve to not DRIVE OURSELVES CRAZY in wating for the season three premiere. Anyway, have fun reading this (I hope), and as always... reviews would be sweeter than candy (but not as sweet as MV).
"Alice?"
"Michael?"
Splash.
Vaughn, broken leg, plaster cast and bandaged wrist was in the pool. And I'm sure the expression on his face matched mine perfectly.
***********
"Sir are you okay?" a bellboy rushed forward, followed by several others. They proceeded to haul Vaughn out of the pool. He was scarlet red, but hadn't taken his eyes off Alice or lifted his jaw off the ground. I turned to look at the woman I once thought had come between Vaughn and I. She looked much better than the two times I had seen her. Granted, I hadn't seen her in eight months and the first I saw her, we thought Vaughn was dying and the second time her father had died, but she looked good now. Her hair was grown out and reached her shoulders where it curled perfectly. She was wearing a beautiful summer dress that brought her eyes and accentuated her petiteness. God, she was tiny. She was making me feel like an elephant. Like a tall elephant. She was looking at me... well she was looking me like she had just figured out that her boyfriend had an affair. Which is technically not true.
That boyfriend had finally come out of the pool, so now he stood right in the middle of the ten feet that seperated Alice and I. And he was staring like I was.
"Wow. I didn't think I'd see you here," he said, croakily. He shook his head slightly, causing drops of water to fall. I let myself, for a moment, appreciate how good he looked, soaked to the bone. His shirt was clinging to his back and abdomen, outlining the lean muscle that was under it. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing, causing it to stick up in all odd directions, making him look even sexier... oops. Getting carried away Sydney. "Never in a million years and all possibilities did I think I'd see you here." He offered her a lopsided smile and she returned it. She looked at me and then back at him.
"So... you're here. With Rita," she said, looking from me back to him.
"Um, yeah. I'm here. With Rita. Uh Alice, this seems like.." Vaughn began.
"It doesn't seem like anything, Michael," she cut him off, but she didn't look angry. "I trust you and you told me everything when we broke up. I'm just assuming... Rita is her." Vaughn told Alice everything? About me?
"Vaughn's mentioned me?" I squeaked. Vaughn shot me a warning look and two seconds later I realized why.
"Vaughn?" Alice said, wrinkling her nose God she was like a rabbit. And I was an elephant. Not fat, not uglier... but just bigger. God she was tiny. Damn her and her rabbity-ness. "You call Michael, 'Vaughn'?"
"Er... it's just a work thing, Al. Lots of people at work call me Vaughn," he said. The nose stayed wrinkled and I, as a woman I suppose, understood why. How many women call their boyfriends-- fiances, not that "Al" would be informed of that-- by their last name?
"Yeah, it's a force of habit. He's asked to call him Michael-" Vaughn's mouth turned upwards when I mentioned that "but I haven't been able to break the habit. It's hard you know... I mean you know some one as something. It's not like he ever had to adjust, I was just always Sydney or Syd..."
I'm a big idiot. A big, big, big idiot.
"Sydney? I thought your name was Rita," she asked. Vaughn turned his head in my direction quickly, spraying water everywhere, before doing it once again, turning back to Alice. Urgh. Uh oh. Crap. Dammit. Take your pick of deprecating word. If anyone wanted me to botch a mission, they should bring me to Vegas because obviously all my abilities went out the window the minute I got here.
Or it could have been the minute Vaughn closed the door to our room last night and... uh oh. Getting carried away. I suddenly had the intense desire to return to the conversation Vaughn and I were having before Alice showed up, but somehow have it orchestrated so that Vaughn had still fallen in that pool. Despite the fact that he was in a LOT of trouble for getting his cast wet. Focus, Syd, focus. Luckily, Vaughn still proved the Agency proud.
"Her middle name is Sydney. Everyone at the office just calls her Rita if we're formally at a meeting or something," Vaughn- Michael said quickly. Alice nodded, taking it all in.
"Umm okay," Alice said. She smiled quickly, and I thought I saw Vaughn relax. He offered once of his warmest smiles-- the ones I always recieved. Was it wrong for me to get a little worried about the knee-weakening smiles my boyfriend- fiance!- was giving his ex-girlfriend? Most definitely a legitimate source of worry.
"We should spend some time together, Al," Vaughn said. Whoa. Where did that come from? "Are you here with someone?" What?!
"Yeah I am," she sad, fidgetting slightly. "I'm getting married Michael. In three weeks." Whoa. Did Alice have something on the side while she was with Vaughn... god that's cheap... I mean really, why would you do that when you have a guy like Vaughn... never mind. I didn't say anything. And I'm not thinking of Noah. Vaughn, however, was smiling from ear to ear. He went forward to hug her but stopped when she backed away, looking at his soaked clothing warily. They both shared a laugh.
"That's great, Al, that's just amazing," he said genuinely. "If he's here, as I said... we should spend some time together. The four of us, out to dinner. Actually it'd be the six of us, Syd-- uh Rita uh, and I are here with friends." Alice grinned back at him.
"We're leaving in about half an hour actually. But there's an invitation in the mail, Mike. You'll bring Rita-- sorry Sydney, won't you?" she said, shooting me a warm smile. He nodded enthusiastically. She made a move to leave, but then stopped. "What the hell." With that, she launched herself into "Mike" 's arms. He grinned, hugged her back. Both of them laughed as the front of her dress got wet too.
"Hey that's what you get for making me fall," he said.
"I hardly made you fall. You obviously have lost your motor skills," she said, eyeing the cast and bandage. Vaughn blushed.
"Hazards of the job," he muttered. Alice smiled, understanding something I couldn't, and she pulled out of the hug and walking away.
"It was nice meeting you, erm... Sydney. I hope you guys are really happy," she said, giving me a genuine smile. She clasped my hand to squeeze it, looked down at the metal that was touching her skin. Her eyes widened. "Are you engaged? To Mike?" My face must have froze in shock, but I managed to recover.
"Yeah. I am," I said, meekly. Alice's smile widened.
"You guys didn't say anything? Oh my god, you should have said something! When is the wedding?" she aked, excitedly.
"August," he said, eyes twinkling. Alice's smile widened, as mine did, seeing Vaughn as happy as he looked then. I pushed that out of my mind, however, for more suspicious- for the lack of a better word- thoughts of how Vaughn and Alice could be so comfortable with each other. "And we haven't mailed out invitations, but you will definitely get one. And you'll have to bring--"
"Patrick. Patrick Keller," she said. He grinned.
"Well, now I'll know to make the invitation out to Mr. and Mrs. Alice and Patrick Keller," he said, with a glib smile. Alice nodded.
"I really do have to go, Patrick's waiting for me. I'll see you guys in three weeks," she said. She turned to me. "Congratulations. Keep him happy"-- she turned and shot Vaughn a look-- "and try and not let him drive you crazy." I smiled back, a little dazed and amazed at how genuine Alice was at seeing her old boyfriend and his new girlfriend- fiance! Dammit I have to get used to calling us that. She turned around. "I'll see you at the wedding, Mikey." He grinned and blushed at the nickname.
"Wow..." Vaughn began, but for some reason I didn't want to rehash what had really been a very pleasant visit from Alice.
"We better get your cast checked up. Let's go get Will and Francie," I said. Vaughn frowned momentarily, but brushed aside his thoughts and grabbed my hand as we went to find them.
********
The hotel medic had just left our room, giving Vaughn the assurance that his cast would be fine, granted that he didn't give it anymore chlorine baths. When the doctor had asked how Vaughn had gotten it wet, he'd blushed furiously and said, "Let's just say, I scare easy." He and the doctor had shared a laugh over that, and I had feigned amusement.
But inside, our encounter with Alice had still left me... unsettled. It wasn't that I didn't want Vaughn to see her again. In fact, I thought it was great. It was evident that whatever happened, they had a strong friendship-- something that Vaughn and I, too, had before our involvement as well-- that had survived, and I was overjoyed at the interaction. Those feelings that I had during that encounter, those ill feelings that were still there, weren't jealousy, not even a little bit. I could never doubt Vaughn's devotion to me. But there... was just something. I didn't know what it was.
I felt better-- let's call it temporary relievance-- two seconds later. But it could have something to do with a pair of sexy, half-French lips that were tracing the crook of her neck.
"What have you been thinking about this whole time, Syd?" he murmured softly. I pulled away suddenly, regretting that move two miliseconds later, shocked at how well he knew me.
"What do you mean?" I asked. He shot me a wry look, before nuzzling my neck again and slipping his arms around me.
"You barely said a word to the doctor. You were sitting in silence, giving fake smiles or forced laughs. Is something wrong?" he asked. I shrugged, not wanting to make him feel bad about such a great reunion, but knowing that he'd force it out of me eventually.
"I just... I don't know. Alice. She kind of shook me up, I guess," I admitted. He frowned.
"You're not... jealous, Syd," he said. He started the statement confidently, pronounced 'jealous' like a question, and then returned to his previous tone. "You can't be jealous." he said it firmly, which made me wonder whether he just saw me as perfect or if he had some secret knowledge. At my inquiring expression, he went on. "Sydney, I've not even thought about another woman since... I don't know how long. There's no way you actually doubt that I would actually think of Alice as..."
I shook my head.
"No, it's not that. But seeing you and Alice so friendly... I'm glad you're getting to reclaim your old relationship with her. That you haven't lost someone because of me. I know we've given up a lot, risked a lot for each other, and it's all worth it, but it's nice to know that..." I trailed off, not knowing how to put into words. He nodded, understanding.
"We gave up a lot. And there are so many ways that things could have gone down differently," he said. I nodded, wondering where he was going. "When you see someone or reconnect with something from the past, and it goes well... it re-establishes that you've made the right decisions, even more that this is the way things were supposed to be." I nodded, realizing that we both shared the same doubts and assurances in being together.
"Yeah. And Alice... I mean, doesn't it make you feel better? Knowing that Alice moved on and that she's okay-- maybe better--- after all?" I asked. He tightened his embrace around me, and murmured a 'yes'. "And it makes me happy, knowing that I wasn't a reason she would wind up being miserable... that she's moved on after you, you know? So why am I feeling like this?" He pulled away from my neck, and rested his chin on my shoulder, as he talked.
"We ran into Alice today. And the potential to run into Alice, for her to be happy for us is great. But you'll never know how Danny feels, and I think seeing Alice, getting her approval of us, highlighted that," he said, gently and quietly as if he was gauging my reaction as he spoke each word.
I, on the other hand, sat there stunned. Vaughn had always been the person who'd known me better than anyone else around me. He'd always understood, overall, everything. I never imagined that, once the barriers presented by the few things he couldn't know-- such as how I felt for him-- were removed, that he would know me better than myself. Because, he had hit the nail on the head. I'd never regretted meeting Vaughn even before we were together, and I never would. But sometimes, I wondered what Danny would think... and somehow Vaughn knew that. I smiled at him.
"You're amazing, you know that?" I said, twisting taround so I could kiss him on the cheek, as he blushed furiously. "And this right here. It's all the assurance I need that Danny would absolutely approve, because you make me so happy..." I trailed off as I twisted to kiss him deeper. He kissed me back, hard, and I purred my appreciation for this man.
Vaughn was right... I'd rather break some bones than go swimming any day.
Author: Annie
Rating: PG- not even. Just being safe.
Timeline: Kind of AU. Pretend Phase One happened and everything else happened, but Francie's still.. well herself.
Summary: Not a song fic. Sort of a semi-sequel to Notification Posted
Disclaimer: I seriously own nothing. Like seriously. You wouldn't believe.
Distribution: I'd be more than honored to have this anywhere. Just drop me a note.
Feedback: I have a bunch of this story done... please tell me if I should continue. It' s just a break from the angsty-ness.
Genre: just fun
Author's Note: Okay not much of a note for this one. It might take me a few days to update this story, but it's not like a great, suspenseful story anyway. As I've been saying, just something shallow, meaningless fun that we all deserve to not DRIVE OURSELVES CRAZY in wating for the season three premiere. Anyway, have fun reading this (I hope), and as always... reviews would be sweeter than candy (but not as sweet as MV).
"Alice?"
"Michael?"
Splash.
Vaughn, broken leg, plaster cast and bandaged wrist was in the pool. And I'm sure the expression on his face matched mine perfectly.
***********
"Sir are you okay?" a bellboy rushed forward, followed by several others. They proceeded to haul Vaughn out of the pool. He was scarlet red, but hadn't taken his eyes off Alice or lifted his jaw off the ground. I turned to look at the woman I once thought had come between Vaughn and I. She looked much better than the two times I had seen her. Granted, I hadn't seen her in eight months and the first I saw her, we thought Vaughn was dying and the second time her father had died, but she looked good now. Her hair was grown out and reached her shoulders where it curled perfectly. She was wearing a beautiful summer dress that brought her eyes and accentuated her petiteness. God, she was tiny. She was making me feel like an elephant. Like a tall elephant. She was looking at me... well she was looking me like she had just figured out that her boyfriend had an affair. Which is technically not true.
That boyfriend had finally come out of the pool, so now he stood right in the middle of the ten feet that seperated Alice and I. And he was staring like I was.
"Wow. I didn't think I'd see you here," he said, croakily. He shook his head slightly, causing drops of water to fall. I let myself, for a moment, appreciate how good he looked, soaked to the bone. His shirt was clinging to his back and abdomen, outlining the lean muscle that was under it. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing, causing it to stick up in all odd directions, making him look even sexier... oops. Getting carried away Sydney. "Never in a million years and all possibilities did I think I'd see you here." He offered her a lopsided smile and she returned it. She looked at me and then back at him.
"So... you're here. With Rita," she said, looking from me back to him.
"Um, yeah. I'm here. With Rita. Uh Alice, this seems like.." Vaughn began.
"It doesn't seem like anything, Michael," she cut him off, but she didn't look angry. "I trust you and you told me everything when we broke up. I'm just assuming... Rita is her." Vaughn told Alice everything? About me?
"Vaughn's mentioned me?" I squeaked. Vaughn shot me a warning look and two seconds later I realized why.
"Vaughn?" Alice said, wrinkling her nose God she was like a rabbit. And I was an elephant. Not fat, not uglier... but just bigger. God she was tiny. Damn her and her rabbity-ness. "You call Michael, 'Vaughn'?"
"Er... it's just a work thing, Al. Lots of people at work call me Vaughn," he said. The nose stayed wrinkled and I, as a woman I suppose, understood why. How many women call their boyfriends-- fiances, not that "Al" would be informed of that-- by their last name?
"Yeah, it's a force of habit. He's asked to call him Michael-" Vaughn's mouth turned upwards when I mentioned that "but I haven't been able to break the habit. It's hard you know... I mean you know some one as something. It's not like he ever had to adjust, I was just always Sydney or Syd..."
I'm a big idiot. A big, big, big idiot.
"Sydney? I thought your name was Rita," she asked. Vaughn turned his head in my direction quickly, spraying water everywhere, before doing it once again, turning back to Alice. Urgh. Uh oh. Crap. Dammit. Take your pick of deprecating word. If anyone wanted me to botch a mission, they should bring me to Vegas because obviously all my abilities went out the window the minute I got here.
Or it could have been the minute Vaughn closed the door to our room last night and... uh oh. Getting carried away. I suddenly had the intense desire to return to the conversation Vaughn and I were having before Alice showed up, but somehow have it orchestrated so that Vaughn had still fallen in that pool. Despite the fact that he was in a LOT of trouble for getting his cast wet. Focus, Syd, focus. Luckily, Vaughn still proved the Agency proud.
"Her middle name is Sydney. Everyone at the office just calls her Rita if we're formally at a meeting or something," Vaughn- Michael said quickly. Alice nodded, taking it all in.
"Umm okay," Alice said. She smiled quickly, and I thought I saw Vaughn relax. He offered once of his warmest smiles-- the ones I always recieved. Was it wrong for me to get a little worried about the knee-weakening smiles my boyfriend- fiance!- was giving his ex-girlfriend? Most definitely a legitimate source of worry.
"We should spend some time together, Al," Vaughn said. Whoa. Where did that come from? "Are you here with someone?" What?!
"Yeah I am," she sad, fidgetting slightly. "I'm getting married Michael. In three weeks." Whoa. Did Alice have something on the side while she was with Vaughn... god that's cheap... I mean really, why would you do that when you have a guy like Vaughn... never mind. I didn't say anything. And I'm not thinking of Noah. Vaughn, however, was smiling from ear to ear. He went forward to hug her but stopped when she backed away, looking at his soaked clothing warily. They both shared a laugh.
"That's great, Al, that's just amazing," he said genuinely. "If he's here, as I said... we should spend some time together. The four of us, out to dinner. Actually it'd be the six of us, Syd-- uh Rita uh, and I are here with friends." Alice grinned back at him.
"We're leaving in about half an hour actually. But there's an invitation in the mail, Mike. You'll bring Rita-- sorry Sydney, won't you?" she said, shooting me a warm smile. He nodded enthusiastically. She made a move to leave, but then stopped. "What the hell." With that, she launched herself into "Mike" 's arms. He grinned, hugged her back. Both of them laughed as the front of her dress got wet too.
"Hey that's what you get for making me fall," he said.
"I hardly made you fall. You obviously have lost your motor skills," she said, eyeing the cast and bandage. Vaughn blushed.
"Hazards of the job," he muttered. Alice smiled, understanding something I couldn't, and she pulled out of the hug and walking away.
"It was nice meeting you, erm... Sydney. I hope you guys are really happy," she said, giving me a genuine smile. She clasped my hand to squeeze it, looked down at the metal that was touching her skin. Her eyes widened. "Are you engaged? To Mike?" My face must have froze in shock, but I managed to recover.
"Yeah. I am," I said, meekly. Alice's smile widened.
"You guys didn't say anything? Oh my god, you should have said something! When is the wedding?" she aked, excitedly.
"August," he said, eyes twinkling. Alice's smile widened, as mine did, seeing Vaughn as happy as he looked then. I pushed that out of my mind, however, for more suspicious- for the lack of a better word- thoughts of how Vaughn and Alice could be so comfortable with each other. "And we haven't mailed out invitations, but you will definitely get one. And you'll have to bring--"
"Patrick. Patrick Keller," she said. He grinned.
"Well, now I'll know to make the invitation out to Mr. and Mrs. Alice and Patrick Keller," he said, with a glib smile. Alice nodded.
"I really do have to go, Patrick's waiting for me. I'll see you guys in three weeks," she said. She turned to me. "Congratulations. Keep him happy"-- she turned and shot Vaughn a look-- "and try and not let him drive you crazy." I smiled back, a little dazed and amazed at how genuine Alice was at seeing her old boyfriend and his new girlfriend- fiance! Dammit I have to get used to calling us that. She turned around. "I'll see you at the wedding, Mikey." He grinned and blushed at the nickname.
"Wow..." Vaughn began, but for some reason I didn't want to rehash what had really been a very pleasant visit from Alice.
"We better get your cast checked up. Let's go get Will and Francie," I said. Vaughn frowned momentarily, but brushed aside his thoughts and grabbed my hand as we went to find them.
********
The hotel medic had just left our room, giving Vaughn the assurance that his cast would be fine, granted that he didn't give it anymore chlorine baths. When the doctor had asked how Vaughn had gotten it wet, he'd blushed furiously and said, "Let's just say, I scare easy." He and the doctor had shared a laugh over that, and I had feigned amusement.
But inside, our encounter with Alice had still left me... unsettled. It wasn't that I didn't want Vaughn to see her again. In fact, I thought it was great. It was evident that whatever happened, they had a strong friendship-- something that Vaughn and I, too, had before our involvement as well-- that had survived, and I was overjoyed at the interaction. Those feelings that I had during that encounter, those ill feelings that were still there, weren't jealousy, not even a little bit. I could never doubt Vaughn's devotion to me. But there... was just something. I didn't know what it was.
I felt better-- let's call it temporary relievance-- two seconds later. But it could have something to do with a pair of sexy, half-French lips that were tracing the crook of her neck.
"What have you been thinking about this whole time, Syd?" he murmured softly. I pulled away suddenly, regretting that move two miliseconds later, shocked at how well he knew me.
"What do you mean?" I asked. He shot me a wry look, before nuzzling my neck again and slipping his arms around me.
"You barely said a word to the doctor. You were sitting in silence, giving fake smiles or forced laughs. Is something wrong?" he asked. I shrugged, not wanting to make him feel bad about such a great reunion, but knowing that he'd force it out of me eventually.
"I just... I don't know. Alice. She kind of shook me up, I guess," I admitted. He frowned.
"You're not... jealous, Syd," he said. He started the statement confidently, pronounced 'jealous' like a question, and then returned to his previous tone. "You can't be jealous." he said it firmly, which made me wonder whether he just saw me as perfect or if he had some secret knowledge. At my inquiring expression, he went on. "Sydney, I've not even thought about another woman since... I don't know how long. There's no way you actually doubt that I would actually think of Alice as..."
I shook my head.
"No, it's not that. But seeing you and Alice so friendly... I'm glad you're getting to reclaim your old relationship with her. That you haven't lost someone because of me. I know we've given up a lot, risked a lot for each other, and it's all worth it, but it's nice to know that..." I trailed off, not knowing how to put into words. He nodded, understanding.
"We gave up a lot. And there are so many ways that things could have gone down differently," he said. I nodded, wondering where he was going. "When you see someone or reconnect with something from the past, and it goes well... it re-establishes that you've made the right decisions, even more that this is the way things were supposed to be." I nodded, realizing that we both shared the same doubts and assurances in being together.
"Yeah. And Alice... I mean, doesn't it make you feel better? Knowing that Alice moved on and that she's okay-- maybe better--- after all?" I asked. He tightened his embrace around me, and murmured a 'yes'. "And it makes me happy, knowing that I wasn't a reason she would wind up being miserable... that she's moved on after you, you know? So why am I feeling like this?" He pulled away from my neck, and rested his chin on my shoulder, as he talked.
"We ran into Alice today. And the potential to run into Alice, for her to be happy for us is great. But you'll never know how Danny feels, and I think seeing Alice, getting her approval of us, highlighted that," he said, gently and quietly as if he was gauging my reaction as he spoke each word.
I, on the other hand, sat there stunned. Vaughn had always been the person who'd known me better than anyone else around me. He'd always understood, overall, everything. I never imagined that, once the barriers presented by the few things he couldn't know-- such as how I felt for him-- were removed, that he would know me better than myself. Because, he had hit the nail on the head. I'd never regretted meeting Vaughn even before we were together, and I never would. But sometimes, I wondered what Danny would think... and somehow Vaughn knew that. I smiled at him.
"You're amazing, you know that?" I said, twisting taround so I could kiss him on the cheek, as he blushed furiously. "And this right here. It's all the assurance I need that Danny would absolutely approve, because you make me so happy..." I trailed off as I twisted to kiss him deeper. He kissed me back, hard, and I purred my appreciation for this man.
Vaughn was right... I'd rather break some bones than go swimming any day.