Baby Bristow
Disclaimer: I now own the baby as well as Amanda. But the rest of it doesn't belong to me.
A/N: Okay, it's the world's worst title, but if you can think of a better one I'd be glad to hear it. I'm open to suggestions. _____________________________________________________________________________________
Sydney sits silently on the cold metal examining table while CIA doctors poke and prod and run this test and that test.
It is only hours after her session with Barnett ended badly. She fainted when the idea of having a child she couldn't remember sank in. she was brought here and awoke on the same table she is on now. Vaughn was there; he begged, *pleaded*, to stay with her when she insisted they run the test immediately.
He has a right to know, she thinks, but not to be here with me. Not anymore.
A doctor walks up to her.
"You can go now, Agent Bristow. We'll have the results in 24 to 48 hours," he explains.
"Please be sure to notify me immediately," she requests curtly.
"One more thing," he says as she walks past him.
She turns to face him slowly.
"What?"
"Agent Vaughn has requested that he be notified of the results as well. This information is only released to agents of his status if you sign off on it. Do you give your permission?" he asks.
Sydney remains quiet for a long moment. Then she shakes her head slowly.
"No, I'll tell him myself," she whispers.
******************************************************************************************
Vaughn sits on a bench beside a once familiar path in the park. Their voices still ring in his ears…
"No. No, Vaughn."
"Syd, I have a right…"
"Not to be here. Not anymore."
"Sydney, I don't want to leave you here alone!"
"Go, please, just go."
Her mouth quivered in an effort to hold back what she *wanted* to say.
He asked Kendall for the afternoon off and, for once, he got it. He drove to all of their old haunts. He ended up in the park.
It's after 4:00. High school kids walk down the path hand in hand, so caught up in each other that none of them notice him there all alone. He remembers when he and Sydney walked down this path, acting just like these kids. And it hurts. God, it hurts, he realizes.
He thinks the results of the tests will be reached at around 3:00 tomorrow. If they don't call me by 4:00, I'll find Sydney, he promises himself.
******************************************************************************************
Sydney can't sleep. She looks at the clock beside her bed and sees it's after 3 am. With a sigh she climbs out of bed and pulls out the picture album. She sits on her bed and starts flipping through the album. She smiles at all the goofy pictures where they're so obviously in love. When she gets toward the back she realizes that the center of all the back pages has been cut out. In its place is a small black box. She rakes it out and opens it carefully. Inside is a teardrop shaped diamond on a thin gold band. She slips the delicate ring onto her left ring finger and her heart drums painfully in her ears.
The ring fits her perfectly.
She had *thought* Vaughn had put the box with her positions. Now she *knows* he did. Had he planned to ask her in Santa Barbara?
At 3:45 the next day Sydney still has not slept. She hopes the doctor will call soon. Will had to work and she is in his apartment alone. She is about to drive herself crazy. Knowing for sure one way or the other has to be better than not knowing anything. She paces back and forth in front of the phone, willing it to ring.
Finally, at 4:30, it does.
"Hello?" Sydney says, snatching the phone up before the sound of the first ring has cleared the air.
"Sydney Bristow?" the voice inquires.
"Yes, yes. What did you find?" she prompts impatiently.
"Miss Bristow, I would prefer if you came in to talk about the results…"
"TELL ME!" Sydney yells, though she already knows the answer.
The man sighs.
"Miss Bristow, our tests concluded that you were pregnant, and you delivered a child by way of a c-section. *But that does not mean the child lived or was even to term*," he stresses.
Sydney is stunned even though this is what she expected to hear.
"Thank you, doctor," she says softly, tonelessly.
She hangs up and sits heavily in the oversized armchair in Will's den.
She doesn't realize she is crying until she feels the warm tears spill down her cheeks.
A sharp knock on the door makes her jump. She wipes the tears roughly from her cheeks and looks through the peephole. She s tempted not to answer it.
"Syd, I know you're here! I talked to Will! Come on, we have to talk!" Vaughn insists loudly.
Sydney reluctantly opens the door. Vaughn comes charging in.
"You know, don't you? You told them not to tell me, didn't you?" he accuses angrily. But it isn't the same violent anger he directed toward Amanda.
He watches Sydney seem to shrink into herself.
"Syd?" he asks, his tone instantly gentler.
"Vaughn, I…I wanted to…to tell you myself. I thought, whatever it was, you deserved to hear it from me, not some cold, impersonal doctor. That's all, I promise I was going to tell you. I *just* hung up with him," she tells him softly.
"I believe you, Syd. I shouldn't have gotten mad, or doubted that you'd tell me. What did they say?" He is scared, and he wants answers.
"Oh, God," she says softly as she reaches for a table to steady herself.
Vaughn sees her move, though she tries to hide it, and reaches out to grab her elbow.
"Come on, sit down a minute, then you can talk. It'll be okay, somehow," he promises, trying to convince himself as much as her.
Seated beside him on the couch, Sydney tries to repeat what the doctor told her. He already knows, but she feels she has to say it.
"I was pregnant." Her voice is mostly a squeak. "I did deliver a baby, but they made sure to tell me it might not have been to term," she adds bitterly.
"Oh, Syd," Vaughn says, putting his arms around her.
Sydney returns the embrace as they mourn the loss of her child. *Their* child.
"Vaughn," Sydney says, pulling back. Something in her voice makes him look closely at her. "I want to find my baby." Her complete determination is evident on her face.
"Our baby. The CIA will never go for this," he warns.
"I don't care. I'll do it alone."
"No you won't. I'm going to help." Vaughn hopes he sounds definite enough that she won't argue. If she tells him to go away, leave her alone, he will. He can't argue with her.
To his relief, she nods. But what she says surprises him, though he can't believe he didn't think of it.
"If we find my baby, we may find my dad."
Sydney thinks he looks confused.
"What if Sloane convinced him I was dead but promised him my baby if he helped him?"
Vaughn nods.
"It's possible. It would explain why he appeared to go willingly. There was no sign of a fight, nothing amiss. Even if he went without a fight but unwillingly, he'd have made sure *something* was wrong."
"Vaughn?"
"Yeah?"
"What would we have named it?"
He smiles sadly.
"I don't know. I always thought I'd have kids, eventually, but I guess I never thought of *actually* having them," he says.
"Me neither. I just knew I wanted to someday." She pauses and inhales and exhales slowly. "One more thing."
Somehow he knows it has nothing to do with the child.
"What?"
Sydney moves her left hand where he can see it for the first time since he arrived.
"Will you tell me about this?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Oooh, how will Vaughn react? What *was* he doing with the ring? What is Irina up to during all this? What about Sloane?
Disclaimer: I now own the baby as well as Amanda. But the rest of it doesn't belong to me.
A/N: Okay, it's the world's worst title, but if you can think of a better one I'd be glad to hear it. I'm open to suggestions. _____________________________________________________________________________________
Sydney sits silently on the cold metal examining table while CIA doctors poke and prod and run this test and that test.
It is only hours after her session with Barnett ended badly. She fainted when the idea of having a child she couldn't remember sank in. she was brought here and awoke on the same table she is on now. Vaughn was there; he begged, *pleaded*, to stay with her when she insisted they run the test immediately.
He has a right to know, she thinks, but not to be here with me. Not anymore.
A doctor walks up to her.
"You can go now, Agent Bristow. We'll have the results in 24 to 48 hours," he explains.
"Please be sure to notify me immediately," she requests curtly.
"One more thing," he says as she walks past him.
She turns to face him slowly.
"What?"
"Agent Vaughn has requested that he be notified of the results as well. This information is only released to agents of his status if you sign off on it. Do you give your permission?" he asks.
Sydney remains quiet for a long moment. Then she shakes her head slowly.
"No, I'll tell him myself," she whispers.
******************************************************************************************
Vaughn sits on a bench beside a once familiar path in the park. Their voices still ring in his ears…
"No. No, Vaughn."
"Syd, I have a right…"
"Not to be here. Not anymore."
"Sydney, I don't want to leave you here alone!"
"Go, please, just go."
Her mouth quivered in an effort to hold back what she *wanted* to say.
He asked Kendall for the afternoon off and, for once, he got it. He drove to all of their old haunts. He ended up in the park.
It's after 4:00. High school kids walk down the path hand in hand, so caught up in each other that none of them notice him there all alone. He remembers when he and Sydney walked down this path, acting just like these kids. And it hurts. God, it hurts, he realizes.
He thinks the results of the tests will be reached at around 3:00 tomorrow. If they don't call me by 4:00, I'll find Sydney, he promises himself.
******************************************************************************************
Sydney can't sleep. She looks at the clock beside her bed and sees it's after 3 am. With a sigh she climbs out of bed and pulls out the picture album. She sits on her bed and starts flipping through the album. She smiles at all the goofy pictures where they're so obviously in love. When she gets toward the back she realizes that the center of all the back pages has been cut out. In its place is a small black box. She rakes it out and opens it carefully. Inside is a teardrop shaped diamond on a thin gold band. She slips the delicate ring onto her left ring finger and her heart drums painfully in her ears.
The ring fits her perfectly.
She had *thought* Vaughn had put the box with her positions. Now she *knows* he did. Had he planned to ask her in Santa Barbara?
At 3:45 the next day Sydney still has not slept. She hopes the doctor will call soon. Will had to work and she is in his apartment alone. She is about to drive herself crazy. Knowing for sure one way or the other has to be better than not knowing anything. She paces back and forth in front of the phone, willing it to ring.
Finally, at 4:30, it does.
"Hello?" Sydney says, snatching the phone up before the sound of the first ring has cleared the air.
"Sydney Bristow?" the voice inquires.
"Yes, yes. What did you find?" she prompts impatiently.
"Miss Bristow, I would prefer if you came in to talk about the results…"
"TELL ME!" Sydney yells, though she already knows the answer.
The man sighs.
"Miss Bristow, our tests concluded that you were pregnant, and you delivered a child by way of a c-section. *But that does not mean the child lived or was even to term*," he stresses.
Sydney is stunned even though this is what she expected to hear.
"Thank you, doctor," she says softly, tonelessly.
She hangs up and sits heavily in the oversized armchair in Will's den.
She doesn't realize she is crying until she feels the warm tears spill down her cheeks.
A sharp knock on the door makes her jump. She wipes the tears roughly from her cheeks and looks through the peephole. She s tempted not to answer it.
"Syd, I know you're here! I talked to Will! Come on, we have to talk!" Vaughn insists loudly.
Sydney reluctantly opens the door. Vaughn comes charging in.
"You know, don't you? You told them not to tell me, didn't you?" he accuses angrily. But it isn't the same violent anger he directed toward Amanda.
He watches Sydney seem to shrink into herself.
"Syd?" he asks, his tone instantly gentler.
"Vaughn, I…I wanted to…to tell you myself. I thought, whatever it was, you deserved to hear it from me, not some cold, impersonal doctor. That's all, I promise I was going to tell you. I *just* hung up with him," she tells him softly.
"I believe you, Syd. I shouldn't have gotten mad, or doubted that you'd tell me. What did they say?" He is scared, and he wants answers.
"Oh, God," she says softly as she reaches for a table to steady herself.
Vaughn sees her move, though she tries to hide it, and reaches out to grab her elbow.
"Come on, sit down a minute, then you can talk. It'll be okay, somehow," he promises, trying to convince himself as much as her.
Seated beside him on the couch, Sydney tries to repeat what the doctor told her. He already knows, but she feels she has to say it.
"I was pregnant." Her voice is mostly a squeak. "I did deliver a baby, but they made sure to tell me it might not have been to term," she adds bitterly.
"Oh, Syd," Vaughn says, putting his arms around her.
Sydney returns the embrace as they mourn the loss of her child. *Their* child.
"Vaughn," Sydney says, pulling back. Something in her voice makes him look closely at her. "I want to find my baby." Her complete determination is evident on her face.
"Our baby. The CIA will never go for this," he warns.
"I don't care. I'll do it alone."
"No you won't. I'm going to help." Vaughn hopes he sounds definite enough that she won't argue. If she tells him to go away, leave her alone, he will. He can't argue with her.
To his relief, she nods. But what she says surprises him, though he can't believe he didn't think of it.
"If we find my baby, we may find my dad."
Sydney thinks he looks confused.
"What if Sloane convinced him I was dead but promised him my baby if he helped him?"
Vaughn nods.
"It's possible. It would explain why he appeared to go willingly. There was no sign of a fight, nothing amiss. Even if he went without a fight but unwillingly, he'd have made sure *something* was wrong."
"Vaughn?"
"Yeah?"
"What would we have named it?"
He smiles sadly.
"I don't know. I always thought I'd have kids, eventually, but I guess I never thought of *actually* having them," he says.
"Me neither. I just knew I wanted to someday." She pauses and inhales and exhales slowly. "One more thing."
Somehow he knows it has nothing to do with the child.
"What?"
Sydney moves her left hand where he can see it for the first time since he arrived.
"Will you tell me about this?"
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Oooh, how will Vaughn react? What *was* he doing with the ring? What is Irina up to during all this? What about Sloane?
