Title: Just Feel

Author: Mango

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, keep it up!

He stared at her, almost in disbelief. Had he known she'd be so happy to receive a folder he would have given it to her much earlier. He couldn't help the smile that was creeping across his lips and cursed the joy that she brought him.

He was snapped out of his gaze when she quickly shut the folder and threw it back onto his desk. She sat back in her chair staring at it as if she were battling as to whether or not pick it back up again. "I can't do it." She said, shocking him. Although, he has grown to know not to be shocked, this woman was totally unpredictable. Which in turn made her that much more appealing.

"Do what?" He asked in confusion. Sometimes he wished that he could read her mind. His mind quickly flashed to What Women Want and took it back.

"I can't read it. I feel like I'm invading." She said, still eying the folder. Talk about so close but so far away.

"At least you're feeling." He muttered beneath his breath. When she asked him to repeat himself he ignored her and instead said "But I'm letting you, you shouldn't feel like you're invading if you have my permission."

"Maybe I shouldn't, but I do." She said, half pouting. He could see her lower lip start to droop and he shook his head in frustration.

"And how does one go about pleasing you, Bristow?" He asked teasing her.

"Wouldn't you like to know." She quipped before collapsing with laughter. He cursed his cheeks for growing red and cursed her for knowing how to get to him. "Oh come on, Vaughn, it wouldn't kill you to joke right now, for goodness sakes, look at us! We're stuck here for God knows how long …"

"You're the one who's sulking." He said, trying to get under her skin. He always did like to know his power over her.

"You're the one that got us here in the first place. You're the one who placed the call." She said, getting more serious with each word. It didn't take a genius to pick up that she wasn't talking about the power-outage. Again, he resorted to turning red.

"Maybe, but you're the one pressuring me to give you something I can't give." He said, picking up the folder.

"But you gave it to me anyway …" She said, the sadness growing in her voice made his heart ache. He did this to her.

"No, I gave you a part of it, and you decided you didn't want it, couldn't handle it. So you threw it back on my desk." He said, wishing for her to understand. Again, he was wishing he could read her mind. Most of the time he could, just by looking in her eyes, but she was avoiding his gaze.

"Maybe that's because you were so reluctant to give it to me to begin with that when you finally did I didn't feel right about it."

"Well, then isn't that your mistake? Maybe I wanted you to have the folder." Please, he silently begged her. Take the folder, take it all.

"Then why did it take so long? Three months, Michael, it was too late." Too late. His heart sank.

"There were other factors." Urging her to understand.

"Factors I wouldn't understand, I imagine." He deserved that, he admitted to himself, he did. Why did it hurt so much?

"Syd…"

"It was my mother, wasn't it?" Confusion flashed across his eyes. Her mother? No, no, no …

"What? Your mother? No, Syd …"

"Because that's the only thing I can think of, Michael, unless I repulse you."

He got out of his chair and within three strides he went to her. He kneeled down in front of her and put a hand to her cheek, stroking it tenderly. "You don't repulse me, Syd. You never could. God, just look at you."

She turned her face away leaving his hand empty and cold, her eyes were brimming with tears. "Don't. I won't let you. You can't do this to me again."

"Syd, please, let me explain. Or at least try to." He was still kneeling in front of her, pleading, but she refused to look at him, and continued staring out the window.

"Can we just … can we not talk about this?" She asked. She looked him directly in the eye this time, so he agreed. He got up and returned to the seat behind his desk.

"One day, Syd, we're going to have to talk about it." He said, staring at her while she tried to find the page that she was on.

"It might take forever." She said, concentrating on her book.

"I'll wait."