AN- Yeah, it took me a while. Sarkney is coming up next chapter, but I had to get a story going. I won't leave you hanging! Thank you so much for all of your reviews, and Beth, I loved how she puked on him too. And to think I used to be SVaughn. Oh well, how times change. Keep those reviews coming, I definitely love them!
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam
We're All Alone in This
Shielding her eyes from the bright light shining in, she walked out. It took a moment to adjust her eyes to the outside world, having been on an airplane for the past few hours. From her perch above the runway, she could make out several cars speeding towards the plane. They stopped, randomly spread out like homes in the country, and people jumped out. They ran toward the plane as she walked down.
Suddenly arms were flying, and she felt like she was being dragged down onto the ground by an assault of people. Her father, her mother, Will, and others that she couldn't see had wrapped their arms around her. She could hear sobs and feel tears, but whether they were her own or others, she couldn't tell.
They stepped back in unison, just as suddenly as they had grasped her, and all took a second to stare in wonderment. Her mother, however, did not give her as much room, but stood contentedly by her shoulder, running her fingers through her hair.
Sydney looked down shyly, "Hi." She didn't know what to say to them, for in her mind she had seen them only days ago.
At this her mother broke down and started to cry in her shoulder. She hadn't known her mother to be the emotional type. Sure, she had seen her cry, but that had been more for effect than emotion. But this time she could feel the raw emotion in her violently shaking body.
"I've missed you, baby… you're finally back… you're alive… oh baby, I've missed you," she whispered into her shoulder.
"It's okay, Mommy," she soothed, instantly reverting to the pet name. She hadn't said mommy in years, but she felt the need to today. She felt that if she called her mommy, she'd still be able to kiss her pain away.
Her mother choked a few times, then stopped sobbing and pulled back. She gave Sydney a soft smile and said, "We've all missed you so much, baby."
To this Will, Weiss, Marshall, and Dixon nodded. "We're so glad that you're back, and unharmed," Jack spoke up.
Sydney looked down at the ground, "I wish I could say that I missed you too."
"What do you mean?" both Will and Dixon asked at the same time.
She had picked out a very nice piece of gravel and tried to melt it with her eyes. She couldn't meet anyone else's eyes, she was too afraid she would have another breakdown again. Her mother gave her a soft squeeze on the shoulder, and she felt the strength to tell them. "I can't remember anything. Well, not the last two years at least. The last thing I remember is shooting the double. Nothing else."
"Oh baby," her mother wailed into her arms again.
"I'm fine, Mom," she said. "It'll just take some getting used to, but I'll be okay."
"You won't have to get used to it, Sydney," her father addressed her. Smiling slightly at her, he continued, "We're taking you to the Joint Task Force, and we'll book you an immediate appointment with a psychologist."
"Don't worry about it. I've been gone for two years and can't remember it, what are another few days?" Sydney tried to joke. Her reply, however, made the group even more somber.
"In fact, we should probably be heading there now, shouldn't we Jack?" Will questioned, and the latter mentioned, nodding.
"Sydney, you can ride with me," Vaughn said from behind her.
She nodded, it would be nice to ride to the building without someone crying over her. It wasn't that she didn't care; it was that she felt so bad for causing their pain. She didn't want to sit and feel hollow, indifferent while they were in so much turmoil.
Will hugged Sydney before he walked to his car with Dixon and Marshall. "I'm so glad you're back," he whispered in her ear. "Don't go disappear on us again, okay?"
Sydney kissed the side of his head, "I won't. I promise."
The rest said their goodbyes, and promised to see her at the task force. She then waited for Vaughn to gather up his suitcase and followed him to his car.
"Miiiike!" a woman's voice shouted in front of her.
Vaughn's head shot up and he smiled slightly. "That would be Elaina," he said to her.
Sydney stared at the woman who was walking towards them. She had light brown hair that fell down her back in soft waves, and she had olive skin. She wasn't particularly tall, maybe five feet five or so, and she was smiling brightly.
"You must be Sydney," she said excitedly. "I'm Elaina, Michael's wife! I'm so excited to meet you; I've heard such amazing things about you."
Suddenly Sydney was pulled into a tight hug. "I'm so glad you're back."
Sydney stood stiffly. True, she had accepted that Vaughn had a wife. But accepting his wife and being hugged by his wife were two completely different things. Elaina pulled back and smiled at her again. It doesn't matter, Sydney thought.
"What are you doing here, Laina?" Vaughn questioned.
Elaina turned and smiled at him, "I called Will in the morning after you left, and he told me that you had gone to find her. He called me and told me that you'd be here today, so I drove out to see you."
Vaughn looked at Sydney for a second. "I don't think Syd's in a social mood right now. I have to take her back down to the office so she can be debriefed, why don't you go home?"
"You should bring her over for dinner!" Elaina squealed.
"Honey, she's probably going to have to stay in medical services or something for a while. But I'm sure after that she can come over."
It doesn't matter that he just called her honey. It doesn't matter. It does not matter. I do not care.
"Does that sound good, Sydney?" Elaina asked.
Sydney gave a polite smile, "Yeah, great."
Sydney was rewarded with another hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Perfect!" Elaina cried. "It's was so great to meet you, Sydney!"
With that Elaina walked off to her car, and Sydney breathed a silent sigh of relief. She wasn't sure how much more perkiness she could stand.
"Sorry. She's wanted to meet you ever since she started hearing about you. She's not always this… hyper," Vaughn said with a smile.
"That's good to know."
"Anyway, my car is this way," he said, pulling lightly on her arm to lead her in the proper direction. Sydney was surprised to find that his car was not the standard, black sedan that almost every CIA agent had. Instead, it was a Nissan Pathfinder, with a blood red, maroon-ish exterior.
"So, what all is going to happen when I get to the task force building?" Sydney asked.
"I honestly don't know the exact plan, because I wasn't here recently. What I do know is that you will be debriefed, you'll have to be extensively examined by medical services, you'll see a CIA psychologist, undergo drug-induced regression, and you'll be interrogated. You'll probably be held there for a few days, just to make sure that everything you say is true. And then you'll be free to go and get on with your life."
"It'll be weird to go back there," Sydney voiced, stating the obvious.
"In the beginning I'm sure it will be. Everything has changed, but you'll get used to it."
Besides, she thought, t doesn't matter.
"What are the major things that have changed?" Sydney asked. "Just so I'm not completely unfamiliar with everything."
"Well, every once in a while Sark comes in to help us with something. That's obviously something big. Kendall has less of a roll in giving us missions. Now he mainly sits in his oversized office and barks orders to those unfortunate secretaries of his. Weiss actually does his work, which is probably the most shocking change of all," Vaughn said, winking at her.
Sydney let out a small laugh, "I don't know if I'll be able to handle it."
By now they had made the short trip from the airfield to the task force building, and Vaughn rolled down his window to flash his ID at the guard.
Sydney was escorted in the building by Vaughn, who hung close by her side. They walked into the rotunda, and Sydney suddenly felt the urge to crawl into his arms and never come out. She could feel all the eyes on her as she walked across the tile floor. She swore she could hear mice crawling around, it was so silent.
Please don't let it matter, Sydney thought.
Review please, it will make me a happy camper! I'll try to have a new chapter up pretty soon, with a sweet Sark/Syd scene, and an answer to some of those lingering questions from the finale ::coughthescarcough:: ;)
