An Undefinable Sweetness

My new tradition: Dedications~

To:             cvcarlson (you are too sweet...thank you for your kind words)

            Breezy Walsh (wow... You sacrificed your break to read my story? I'm honored ;) )

            snowangel (love your enthusiasm for every chapter)

            Kimmers (You read EVERYTHING and then you review it too...)

Colly E. (love your reviews...especially that one time when you sent me 11 of the same one ;) )

23.

Kendall was getting impatient. "Agent Bristow? Do you plan on having an answer for us any time soon? I realize that you are undergoing personal problems right now but we really need to verify this information."

Sydney slowly dragged herself up and placed her hands on the table, leaning towards Kendall until their faces were mere inches apart.

"Don't trivialize my problems just because they aren't yours. I'm sorry if I'm not acting the way you want me too but you're right. I am undergoing personal problems. And the term, I assure you is not being used lightly. It's not like I lost a pair of underwear or my dog died. My dead fiancé showed up on my doorstep today, Agent Kendall."

He hesitated but then looked down at his paper. "So he was at your apartment. On your doorstep, correct?"

Sydney looked at him, unsure of the words that were about to come out of her mouth.

"I-"

Her pager went off.

Turning from them, she looked at the name.

Sloane - 911

She didn't remember the last time she had felt so happy to be paged. By Sloane, of all people.

"I have to go. It's Sloane. 911."

Kendall looked at her strangely but then nodded his assent and watched her leave.

~:~

Michael twiddled his thumbs. Yes, he twiddled them. That's how uncomfortable he was sitting between Jack Bristow and Kendall.

He had to admit that he had been relieved that Sydney had been paged. He had never felt more uncomfortable in his life and he hadn't even been the one that was questioned.

Suddenly, he had a thought. Standing up, he walked towards the door. "Excuse me," he said as he left.

Getting into his car, he turned on the ignition and drove home.

The door was closed. And locked. And despite himself, he started to feel a little doubt.

No.

He wouldn't let himself doubt Sydney's word. Why the hell would she make up seeing Danny? It didn't make sense.

Everything in the room was fine; nothing was undisturbed. And roses were everywhere.

He smiled a little, not believing that the roses had arrived just this morning.

When everything had still been perfect.

A cursory glance showed that nothing was amiss but he knew that he had to look closer. So that he could believe Sydney and so that he could erase any evidence.

And that's when he saw it.

Roses, at least ten of them, had been ripped, cut, slashed to pieces, the scissors still lying next to the pile. And next to it, he saw white.

Squatting to the ground, Vaughn picked up the piece of paper merely labeled, Sydney.

Should he read it? He hesitated and then put it in his pocket. He could give it to her later.

But he felt it lying there, growing heavier by the minute, never letting him forget what he held in his possession. A letter to Sydney. From her former fiancé. He had died... did Sydney still love him?

And so, out of fear, he found himself opening it.

Sydney,

I'm sorry I scared you. Well I wasn't sorry at the time but I am now. When I came to and I saw that you had left, I didn't know what to think.

And then I grew angry and I took it out on these roses. Roses from the man you claim would do anything for you. The man you claim loves you more than anything.

And then I realized how stupid I was being.

I wasn't lying when I said I loved you. I'm sorry that I died and that you found someone new to share your life with but I have to ask you one more time.

Did you really stop loving me? And do you really love him more?

Would he sing for you?

Would he die for you?

I would.

I did.

And I still love you.

Danny.

Vaughn had to admit that the letter was beautiful. But it was only beautiful in a slightly creepy way. It was scary to receive letters from people telling you about their undying love but even scarier to read that they had died for you and then had been resurrected.

Yes, he did feel sorry for him. But he was still more frightened that maybe, Sydney would too. And that maybe, she would be torn about her decision to marry Vaughn. After all, she had only been officially his for 2 days.

She had dated Danny for 2 years. And had been still technically engaged to him for much longer.

That's why he found himself slowly crumpling the letter. He didn't want it to be seen. He wanted it to disappear.

~:~

Sydney walked into Sloane's office, looking slightly haggard but otherwise her usual self.

Sloane looked at her kindly, giving her a grandfatherly smile that Sydney was sure he practiced at home. "I heard what happened."

She didn't have to fake the tears that fell. "I-"

"I-thought you killed him."

Sloane looked away. "I wanted you to believe that there were... certain consequences for your behavior. But I couldn't kill Mr. Hecht."

"Why not?" Sydney was surprised at the rage in her voice. It was almost as if she was angry that he was not dead. And in a way, she was. She had made her peace years ago. She had moved on. And now, the link to her past was back again and was trying to take her back.

"The reason does not concern you."

She looked at him directly, her eyes hardening. "Bull."

"Excuse me?"

"Bull. Shit. How dare you say that the reason you didn't kill my fiancé doesn't concern me? You ruined my life, made me build it back up from the shattered pieces, and just when everything fits again, my dead boyfriend shows up at my door."

"At your door?"

Sydney stiffened. Had she walked away from one interrogation to walk into another?

"Yes." She said slowly. "My door."

"Agent Bristow, I never intended you to find out that Mr. Hecht was not dead."

"But I did and I want to know why he was spared."

"And yet the only thing you want to know, I cannot give."

Sydney had to bite her tongue to stop the words that settled on the tip of her tongue. "Go to hell" seemed to be the most lenient of them.

Sloane got up and sat at the edge of his desk. "Now Miss Bristow, I have a question of my own."

Sydney looked at him warily. "And what would that be?"

"I would think that, after getting over the initial shock of seeing Danny, you would be happy that he was alive."

She didn't answer; merely sat there with her crossed hands in her lap, looking at Sloane without saying a word. Waiting for him to continue.

"And I have to wonder, why is that? Could it be that you don't love him anymore? And if that is the case, the new question is why? And I believe that the answer to that is that you've found someone else."

Sydney looked up at him sharply. Whatever she had been expecting, she hadn't been expecting that. Did he know about Vaughn?

She felt her heart constrict within her chest. God no. Please no. Leave Michael alone. Please.

"Someone else?" She feigned innocence. She was good at that.

Sloane clenched his teeth for a moment before speaking again. Remain the comforting figure. Do not let her sense anger or resentment. She is fragile. Worm the information out of her slowly. She will crack.

"So there isn't anyone else?" He gave another kindly smile.

"No."

"Pray tell, where were you this morning Sydney?"

She measured her words carefully. "Why do you want to know?"

Sloane couldn't take it anymore. He needed a direct answer so he would obviously have to ask a direct question.

"Sydney, who is Michael Vaughn?"

TBC...

AND? Tell me what you think... what should I fix, change, do...

Review review review

(see, i can rhyme too ;) )

Wow... The chapters just keep getting longer and longer... Which is probably why I felt the need to write a lot of really short fics all of the sudden. (Hope you guys didn't mind the barrage of stories that took place of the AUS updates...)

~Jenn