Against All Odds
Chapter 6
It had taken them almost an hour.
An hour.
An hour to burn almost every one of his fingers, use every expletive known to man, and eventually get a fire going.
*My God that's over half a hockey game......it's twice the time it takes me to get to work in the morning. It even beats the length of time it took me to try and decipher one of Will's drawings in our one and only Pictionary game, and wow was that long.
When I think back to how easily I almost burned down Syd's house by knocking that damn candle over, how on earth could it have taken so long? Hell, we are CIA agents, we are professionals. *
"They make it look so easy on TV." He heard Sydney mumble irritably, echoing his feelings entirely. "You get the wood, light the match, and whoosh.one adequately burning inferno to provide heat, light, and visual stimulation. But when we try, do we get that? Nooooo." She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Why did it take us so long to get it going? We lit the kindle, blew on it to get it going and then piled on the wood. Am I missing anything?"
"Maybe you were blowing too hard at the start?" Vaughn suggested innocently, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face.
Sydney clenched her jaw and pursed her lips together in mock anger as she turned to face him, hand on hips.
"I didn't see you doing any better Mr I-only-need-one-match-to-light-this- ow-why-does-my-finger-hurt? And besides, my blowing too hard has never created a problem before." She smirked and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at him. "From my experience most fires begin that way."
"Touché." He grinned affectionately and took her hand so he could pull her down next to him on the ground. Leaning against the log he carefully placed his good arm around her shoulders and pulled her gently in to him. He was relieved for the chance to relax for a moment and as he closed his eyes he surrendered to the weariness that was attempting to consume him.
As she leaned into his embrace Sydney took a quick glance at Vaughn's arm to see if the bandage needed changing. Vaughn had been favouring his other arm all afternoon and she once again wished she could do more to help him than wave a first aid box in front of him. She could practically see the exhaustion radiating from every part of him and as she gently stroked his cheek she was surprised for it to be cool underneath her touch. Sweat was visible on his face and she had assumed that he would be warm like herself from the physical activity. She quickly leaned forward and grabbed the blanket from her rucksack before placing the greater part gently around his body. Once she had ensured that he was completely covered, Sydney then snuggled under the blanket and resumed her position next to him, placing her hand in his and kissing it gently.
"At least we got the fire going in the end. I didn't fancy sharing our one and only blanket with you." She punched him lightly on his arm. "You can be such a duvet hogger you know."
"Ouch!" He exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. "You know, I should feel insulted at that comment but if I remember correctly it was me last week who ended up with the lovely black eye in the morning after I tried to claim the quilt off you."
Sydney opened her mouth to argue but was quickly cut off.
"And don't try to deny it. All I did was try and pry a little corner of the duvet out from around you so I wouldn't freeze to death when all of a sudden wham, an elbow in the eye. You can imagine the comments that circulated around the office that morning, especially from Eric." Vaughn lowered his voice for imitation and waved his index finger at her.
"Mikey you have to remember, no means no"
Vaughn sighed and rubbed his hand across his eyes in frustration. "God, I swear I wanted to punch him that day."
Sydney chuckled at the memory. "He does have a way about him doesn't he? His sense of humour ranges from oh my God Eric stop you are killing me, to oh my God Eric stop I'm going to kill you. It's quite an interesting combination, especially the way he can jump from one to another in an instant."
"Yep that's our Eric, the human enigma. You know I still haven't got him back for that little joke but considering our recent chain of events I think I can let it slide." He paused and unconsciously rubbed his neck in contemplation. "It's amazing the things that were so important a day ago but now seem so insignificant. Your life can change before your eyes in an instant and it makes you realise what is important." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently before leaning in and kissing her softly, hoping to convey without words just what exactly was important to him.
Sydney returned the kiss deeply, ensuring that Vaughn knew that the feelings were mutual. As she rested her head on his shoulder she stared wistfully at the burning embers in front of her, contemplating what he had said. She had been thinking about that also, wondering if she would be able to see her father again or get the chance to be with her friends once more.
"I know what you mean. When we were hiking earlier I kept thinking about this stupid fight Will and I had this morning. I was mad at him for using the last of the milk and putting the empty container back in the fridge. Sure it's annoying but it's not as though it's life or death or anything." Sydney shook her head, cursing herself for such pettiness. "What if I never see him again? The last thing I said to him was..and when I say said I mean yelled like a wild women.. it doesn't take an expert in fridge mechanics to know that a fridge does not magically refill the milk container once it's empty, so start using the grey matter Will, get off your ass, and put the container in the bin. What a great memory he will have of me."
Vaughn chuckled, imagining the scene. "Well it's not that bad Syd, and I'm sure Will doesn't hold it against you or anything."
"Did I mention that afterwards I threw the milk container at him?" At Vaughn's surprised shake of the head Sydney sighed in dismay. "Ok that makes me a bad person doesn't it?" She quickly buried her head into his shoulder in shame.
Vaughn laughed at her concern. "Syd, it doesn't make a you a bad person, it just means that you need to learn that violence towards friends is only acceptable in the most exceptional of circumstances. And that they only occur when best friends get you exceedingly drunk, lock you outside your own apartment in the pouring rain, and then refuse to let you back in until you sing all the words to It's Rainin' Men. Believe me only that justifies violence."
Sydney raised her head and stared at Vaughn in shock for a moment before struggling hard not to laugh at the situation. But seeing the displeased look on Vaughn's face, she just couldn't hold it in any longer and a flood of mild hysteria came rushing out of her.
"It's not funny." Vaughn demanded. "For the next month every time my neighbour saw me she asked how the weather was."
"Oh Vaughn stop.my sides..pain." Sydney spluttered out trying to calm herself down. Quickly sitting up, she grabbed at her sides as if in agony, unknowingly elbowing Vaughn hard in the side.
The pain etched on Vaughn's face brought Sydney shooting back to reality and there was sudden silence between them as she realised what had happened.
"Oh my God I'm so sorry Vaughn, are you ok?" Sydney quickly bent down and with shaking hands started to undo his shirt when he suddenly grabbed her hands and stopped her.
"Syd it's ok, it just winded me that's all." Vaughn took a deep breath and quickly rubbed his side, trying to ease the pain shooting down his chest before lying gingerly back down against the log.
"Are you sure?" Sydney asked, unconvinced.
"I'm sure. You just gotta watch that elbow though, ok?"
As he grinned up at her Sydney tried her best to reciprocate but all she could manage was the briefest of smiles before the concern quickly returned to her face. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow and she didn't want to add to his injuries.
"Syd, stop staring at me like I'm going to break at any moment and come back next to me under the blanket."
Sydney decided to comply for now but she knew she was definitely going to have a look at his chest later on. She slowly bent down and slid along him but was careful not to press on him too hard.
The two agents lay there for a while in peaceful silence, both lost in quiet contemplation. As Vaughn kept his gaze on the bright flames in front of him, Sydney raised her gaze to the sky and took in the sight before her.
"I can't believe how beautiful the stars are. It has been such a long time since I have actually taken the time to just sit and look." Sydney paused in deliberation then shook her head. "Ok I take that back. It's been so long since I have had the time to just sit and look. I suppose living where we do doesn't help. I don't think I have ever seen a night sky so clear and visible in LA. It takes my breath away just looking at them."
"I know. When I get chance to visit my family in France, it always surprises me how different life is in the country. When I was a kid my grandfather and I used to sit outside at night and he would teach me about the night sky, where the constellations were, and the history of them. I loved just sitting there with him in such beautiful surroundings, listening to him talk."
"I don't know much really about the night sky but I always liked how Daniel Day Lewis described it in "Last of the Mohicans. Have you ever seen the movie?" Vaughn shook his head. "God Francie and I must have seen that movie a thousand times in college, we ended up knowing all the lines off by heart." She chuckled at the memory.
"If.. she quickly corrected herself. "..when we get back to LA, you are going to have to watch it. There's this one scene where Daniel Day Lewis is telling Madeleine Stowe about his tribe's beliefs on the creation of the stars." She returned her gaze to the sky as she recited the lines. "It was something like..at the birth of the sun and of his brother the moon their mother died. So the sun gave to the earth her body from which was to spring all life. And he drew from her chest the stars, stars he threw into the night sky to remind him of her soul..I think I liked it because as a kid I used to believe that every time a person died a new star was created. So when my mother died I used to spend hours gazing up at the night sky, trying to find one star that was shining just a little brighter." Sydney lowered her head and her voice became a whisper as the emotions started to build up inside of her. "Shining just for me. I read once that people used to use the stars to find their way so naturally I believed that if I could find my mother's she would somehow convey to me what my path was. Stupid I know. I mean look at me now. I followed my mum's path straight into the world of international espionage."
"Hey, that's not stupid at all." Vaughn shifted slightly to face her and cupped her chin, lifting it so they were eye to eye. "Syd look at me. My father used to tell me that to succeed we need only to pick our star and follow it. And you did pick one Syd, an amazing one; you chose to become a teacher. Now sure, you may think you chose that career only because of your mother, but even after you found out the truth about her you have still held on to that dream, she hasn't taken it away from you meaning that it is your star, your dream you are following, not hers."
Sydney chucked bitterly. "So how can you explain SD-6? That's hardly a stepping stone to a career in education."
"Well not to overdo the symbolic overtones but no path is straight. Over the past two years Syd I have seen this part of you that Sloane hadn't been able to touch. It's right here." He placed his hand lightly on her chest. "And it is brimming with integrity, decency and kindness. And when you step in front of that class it is going to reach out and touch every one of them kids. What you have experienced in life has strengthened that part of you. It has tested it and challenged it and just like a muscle it has only gotten stronger as a result. Nothing can take that away from you and nothing can taint it. If anything it has reaffirmed your footing on that path.
You are an exceptional woman Syd, you are going to make a wonderful teacher. I know you wish you never made that phone call Syd but look at what you have accomplished by making it. You played an enormous part in the destruction of a despicable covert organisation and have helped so many people in the process. I am grateful every day that you chose that star and that path because my life is so much the better for it. Don't ever regret it."
Sydney smiled, teary eyed at him, amazed at the variety of emotions that were running through her. God how she loved this man. Why was it that he always knew what to say to make her feel better? She was the fortunate one having him in her life.
"Thank you Vaughn." She whispered, placing a light kiss on his lips before leaning into his embrace.
"For what?"
"For reminding me that I no longer need to look to the sky for my path, I only need to look at you and I find it."
Chapter 6
It had taken them almost an hour.
An hour.
An hour to burn almost every one of his fingers, use every expletive known to man, and eventually get a fire going.
*My God that's over half a hockey game......it's twice the time it takes me to get to work in the morning. It even beats the length of time it took me to try and decipher one of Will's drawings in our one and only Pictionary game, and wow was that long.
When I think back to how easily I almost burned down Syd's house by knocking that damn candle over, how on earth could it have taken so long? Hell, we are CIA agents, we are professionals. *
"They make it look so easy on TV." He heard Sydney mumble irritably, echoing his feelings entirely. "You get the wood, light the match, and whoosh.one adequately burning inferno to provide heat, light, and visual stimulation. But when we try, do we get that? Nooooo." She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Why did it take us so long to get it going? We lit the kindle, blew on it to get it going and then piled on the wood. Am I missing anything?"
"Maybe you were blowing too hard at the start?" Vaughn suggested innocently, trying unsuccessfully to keep a straight face.
Sydney clenched her jaw and pursed her lips together in mock anger as she turned to face him, hand on hips.
"I didn't see you doing any better Mr I-only-need-one-match-to-light-this- ow-why-does-my-finger-hurt? And besides, my blowing too hard has never created a problem before." She smirked and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at him. "From my experience most fires begin that way."
"Touché." He grinned affectionately and took her hand so he could pull her down next to him on the ground. Leaning against the log he carefully placed his good arm around her shoulders and pulled her gently in to him. He was relieved for the chance to relax for a moment and as he closed his eyes he surrendered to the weariness that was attempting to consume him.
As she leaned into his embrace Sydney took a quick glance at Vaughn's arm to see if the bandage needed changing. Vaughn had been favouring his other arm all afternoon and she once again wished she could do more to help him than wave a first aid box in front of him. She could practically see the exhaustion radiating from every part of him and as she gently stroked his cheek she was surprised for it to be cool underneath her touch. Sweat was visible on his face and she had assumed that he would be warm like herself from the physical activity. She quickly leaned forward and grabbed the blanket from her rucksack before placing the greater part gently around his body. Once she had ensured that he was completely covered, Sydney then snuggled under the blanket and resumed her position next to him, placing her hand in his and kissing it gently.
"At least we got the fire going in the end. I didn't fancy sharing our one and only blanket with you." She punched him lightly on his arm. "You can be such a duvet hogger you know."
"Ouch!" He exclaimed, pretending to be shocked. "You know, I should feel insulted at that comment but if I remember correctly it was me last week who ended up with the lovely black eye in the morning after I tried to claim the quilt off you."
Sydney opened her mouth to argue but was quickly cut off.
"And don't try to deny it. All I did was try and pry a little corner of the duvet out from around you so I wouldn't freeze to death when all of a sudden wham, an elbow in the eye. You can imagine the comments that circulated around the office that morning, especially from Eric." Vaughn lowered his voice for imitation and waved his index finger at her.
"Mikey you have to remember, no means no"
Vaughn sighed and rubbed his hand across his eyes in frustration. "God, I swear I wanted to punch him that day."
Sydney chuckled at the memory. "He does have a way about him doesn't he? His sense of humour ranges from oh my God Eric stop you are killing me, to oh my God Eric stop I'm going to kill you. It's quite an interesting combination, especially the way he can jump from one to another in an instant."
"Yep that's our Eric, the human enigma. You know I still haven't got him back for that little joke but considering our recent chain of events I think I can let it slide." He paused and unconsciously rubbed his neck in contemplation. "It's amazing the things that were so important a day ago but now seem so insignificant. Your life can change before your eyes in an instant and it makes you realise what is important." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently before leaning in and kissing her softly, hoping to convey without words just what exactly was important to him.
Sydney returned the kiss deeply, ensuring that Vaughn knew that the feelings were mutual. As she rested her head on his shoulder she stared wistfully at the burning embers in front of her, contemplating what he had said. She had been thinking about that also, wondering if she would be able to see her father again or get the chance to be with her friends once more.
"I know what you mean. When we were hiking earlier I kept thinking about this stupid fight Will and I had this morning. I was mad at him for using the last of the milk and putting the empty container back in the fridge. Sure it's annoying but it's not as though it's life or death or anything." Sydney shook her head, cursing herself for such pettiness. "What if I never see him again? The last thing I said to him was..and when I say said I mean yelled like a wild women.. it doesn't take an expert in fridge mechanics to know that a fridge does not magically refill the milk container once it's empty, so start using the grey matter Will, get off your ass, and put the container in the bin. What a great memory he will have of me."
Vaughn chuckled, imagining the scene. "Well it's not that bad Syd, and I'm sure Will doesn't hold it against you or anything."
"Did I mention that afterwards I threw the milk container at him?" At Vaughn's surprised shake of the head Sydney sighed in dismay. "Ok that makes me a bad person doesn't it?" She quickly buried her head into his shoulder in shame.
Vaughn laughed at her concern. "Syd, it doesn't make a you a bad person, it just means that you need to learn that violence towards friends is only acceptable in the most exceptional of circumstances. And that they only occur when best friends get you exceedingly drunk, lock you outside your own apartment in the pouring rain, and then refuse to let you back in until you sing all the words to It's Rainin' Men. Believe me only that justifies violence."
Sydney raised her head and stared at Vaughn in shock for a moment before struggling hard not to laugh at the situation. But seeing the displeased look on Vaughn's face, she just couldn't hold it in any longer and a flood of mild hysteria came rushing out of her.
"It's not funny." Vaughn demanded. "For the next month every time my neighbour saw me she asked how the weather was."
"Oh Vaughn stop.my sides..pain." Sydney spluttered out trying to calm herself down. Quickly sitting up, she grabbed at her sides as if in agony, unknowingly elbowing Vaughn hard in the side.
The pain etched on Vaughn's face brought Sydney shooting back to reality and there was sudden silence between them as she realised what had happened.
"Oh my God I'm so sorry Vaughn, are you ok?" Sydney quickly bent down and with shaking hands started to undo his shirt when he suddenly grabbed her hands and stopped her.
"Syd it's ok, it just winded me that's all." Vaughn took a deep breath and quickly rubbed his side, trying to ease the pain shooting down his chest before lying gingerly back down against the log.
"Are you sure?" Sydney asked, unconvinced.
"I'm sure. You just gotta watch that elbow though, ok?"
As he grinned up at her Sydney tried her best to reciprocate but all she could manage was the briefest of smiles before the concern quickly returned to her face. They had a long day ahead of them tomorrow and she didn't want to add to his injuries.
"Syd, stop staring at me like I'm going to break at any moment and come back next to me under the blanket."
Sydney decided to comply for now but she knew she was definitely going to have a look at his chest later on. She slowly bent down and slid along him but was careful not to press on him too hard.
The two agents lay there for a while in peaceful silence, both lost in quiet contemplation. As Vaughn kept his gaze on the bright flames in front of him, Sydney raised her gaze to the sky and took in the sight before her.
"I can't believe how beautiful the stars are. It has been such a long time since I have actually taken the time to just sit and look." Sydney paused in deliberation then shook her head. "Ok I take that back. It's been so long since I have had the time to just sit and look. I suppose living where we do doesn't help. I don't think I have ever seen a night sky so clear and visible in LA. It takes my breath away just looking at them."
"I know. When I get chance to visit my family in France, it always surprises me how different life is in the country. When I was a kid my grandfather and I used to sit outside at night and he would teach me about the night sky, where the constellations were, and the history of them. I loved just sitting there with him in such beautiful surroundings, listening to him talk."
"I don't know much really about the night sky but I always liked how Daniel Day Lewis described it in "Last of the Mohicans. Have you ever seen the movie?" Vaughn shook his head. "God Francie and I must have seen that movie a thousand times in college, we ended up knowing all the lines off by heart." She chuckled at the memory.
"If.. she quickly corrected herself. "..when we get back to LA, you are going to have to watch it. There's this one scene where Daniel Day Lewis is telling Madeleine Stowe about his tribe's beliefs on the creation of the stars." She returned her gaze to the sky as she recited the lines. "It was something like..at the birth of the sun and of his brother the moon their mother died. So the sun gave to the earth her body from which was to spring all life. And he drew from her chest the stars, stars he threw into the night sky to remind him of her soul..I think I liked it because as a kid I used to believe that every time a person died a new star was created. So when my mother died I used to spend hours gazing up at the night sky, trying to find one star that was shining just a little brighter." Sydney lowered her head and her voice became a whisper as the emotions started to build up inside of her. "Shining just for me. I read once that people used to use the stars to find their way so naturally I believed that if I could find my mother's she would somehow convey to me what my path was. Stupid I know. I mean look at me now. I followed my mum's path straight into the world of international espionage."
"Hey, that's not stupid at all." Vaughn shifted slightly to face her and cupped her chin, lifting it so they were eye to eye. "Syd look at me. My father used to tell me that to succeed we need only to pick our star and follow it. And you did pick one Syd, an amazing one; you chose to become a teacher. Now sure, you may think you chose that career only because of your mother, but even after you found out the truth about her you have still held on to that dream, she hasn't taken it away from you meaning that it is your star, your dream you are following, not hers."
Sydney chucked bitterly. "So how can you explain SD-6? That's hardly a stepping stone to a career in education."
"Well not to overdo the symbolic overtones but no path is straight. Over the past two years Syd I have seen this part of you that Sloane hadn't been able to touch. It's right here." He placed his hand lightly on her chest. "And it is brimming with integrity, decency and kindness. And when you step in front of that class it is going to reach out and touch every one of them kids. What you have experienced in life has strengthened that part of you. It has tested it and challenged it and just like a muscle it has only gotten stronger as a result. Nothing can take that away from you and nothing can taint it. If anything it has reaffirmed your footing on that path.
You are an exceptional woman Syd, you are going to make a wonderful teacher. I know you wish you never made that phone call Syd but look at what you have accomplished by making it. You played an enormous part in the destruction of a despicable covert organisation and have helped so many people in the process. I am grateful every day that you chose that star and that path because my life is so much the better for it. Don't ever regret it."
Sydney smiled, teary eyed at him, amazed at the variety of emotions that were running through her. God how she loved this man. Why was it that he always knew what to say to make her feel better? She was the fortunate one having him in her life.
"Thank you Vaughn." She whispered, placing a light kiss on his lips before leaning into his embrace.
"For what?"
"For reminding me that I no longer need to look to the sky for my path, I only need to look at you and I find it."
