TITLE: Dissonance - Chapter 6
AUTHOR: Lillian
RATING: G
SUMMARY: The Telling aftermath
SPOILERS: All the way through season two, post-episode for The Telling.
DISCLAIMER: The characters all belong to JJ, in whom I trust until September. If I owned them, I wouldn't be working a 2nd job.
A/N: A friend wrote a fic post Telling and it inspired my own bit of madness. This is my first non-humorous fan fiction that I've written all by myself. More Vaughn is its own animal. If you feel strongly about Syd and Vaughn, remove all breakable objects from your vicinity before you reach the end of this short chapter. Just remember, I'm a strong SV shipper too. Trust me.
Chapter 6
Sydney heard her father's car pull up in front of the safe house. She leapt up from the living room couch and opened the door. Jack nodded to the agent standing guard in the shadows at the side of the house as he made his way up the front walk. Sydney's mouth was set in a hard line and she glared at her father as he entered the living room. She was irritated with him for making her wait until he could come back to the safe house. While the spy part of her understood why he would rather talk about an apparently sensitive subject in person, the female part of her needed answers now.
"Dad, where's Vaughn?"
"Hello to you too, Sydney. It's been so long since I last saw you."
Sydney's eyes grew wide at her father's teasing. Not only because this was the last thing she needed, but because her father never teased her.
Jack chuckled at Sydney's obvious discomfiture. "Come on Sydney, let's sit down." Jack motioned Sydney over to the couch as he pulled a pen from his jacket's inner pocket. He twisted the cap and set it on the table.
"Now, Michael Vaughn. Most of what I'm about to tell you is classified and while I can't tell you everything, I think it will be enough information to make you feel better."
Sydney sat with her hands clasped together in her lap. Her eyes were red rimmed and swollen, her face still blotchy from crying earlier. Her head was beginning to hurt but she wasn't about to take any aspirin, not when answers were so close at hand.
"Vaughn went crazy when he went back to your apartment and saw everything in a shambles. He looked for you, but by then you were gone. He did, however, find Will still alive in the bathtub and called me. He saved Will's life."
Sydney wanted to ask about Will but knew it could wait, would have to wait because while Will was her friend, finding out about Vaughn was more important right now.
"After I arrived and took charge of Will, Vaughn searched the apartment trying to find some evidence of where you might be. When he couldn't find any leads, he did everything he could to find out where you were. He never stopped Sydney, not even to eat or sleep. He was becoming a shadow of himself." Jack paused, seeming to remember what that time had been like. "I was trying to find you as well. Vaughn eventually resigned from the CIA, he couldn't balance the work with his search for you. I stayed on and helped him through official, and unofficial, channels."
Sydney wasn't surprised at any of this. It was what she would have done if Vaughn had disappeared under the same circumstances. She felt bad for Vaughn, having worried and pushed himself so hard because of her. Honestly, though, she expected that of him. She expected it of herself. That was how much their love had meant, how strong it had been.
Jack waited for Sydney to process what he had told her so far. Jack's eyes showed his concern for his only daughter. He didn't want to tell her the next part but understood her need to know.
"While Vaughn was going through all of this, he needed someone to lean on, someone to talk to. At first he confided in Agent Weiss but after a little over a year of searching, Vaughn withdrew from everyone at the CIA except for me. At that point, the CIA believed you had been killed."
Sydney's stomach was churning as she waited for her father to continue. She had a dreadful sense of foreboding as he resumed the story.
"Not long after the CIA discontinued their official investigation into your disappearance, Vaughn began spending some time with his ex-girlfriend Alice."
At those words, everything fell into place, like a dark shroud falling over her heart. "Vaughn is married to Alice." Sydney's words sounded hollow and felt like they echoed in her head. The headache that had begun as a dull throbbing flared painfully behind her eyes. Sydney's vision was becoming blurry. Her body couldn't handle any more stress, any more surprises. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she fell over and everything went black.
AUTHOR: Lillian
RATING: G
SUMMARY: The Telling aftermath
SPOILERS: All the way through season two, post-episode for The Telling.
DISCLAIMER: The characters all belong to JJ, in whom I trust until September. If I owned them, I wouldn't be working a 2nd job.
A/N: A friend wrote a fic post Telling and it inspired my own bit of madness. This is my first non-humorous fan fiction that I've written all by myself. More Vaughn is its own animal. If you feel strongly about Syd and Vaughn, remove all breakable objects from your vicinity before you reach the end of this short chapter. Just remember, I'm a strong SV shipper too. Trust me.
Chapter 6
Sydney heard her father's car pull up in front of the safe house. She leapt up from the living room couch and opened the door. Jack nodded to the agent standing guard in the shadows at the side of the house as he made his way up the front walk. Sydney's mouth was set in a hard line and she glared at her father as he entered the living room. She was irritated with him for making her wait until he could come back to the safe house. While the spy part of her understood why he would rather talk about an apparently sensitive subject in person, the female part of her needed answers now.
"Dad, where's Vaughn?"
"Hello to you too, Sydney. It's been so long since I last saw you."
Sydney's eyes grew wide at her father's teasing. Not only because this was the last thing she needed, but because her father never teased her.
Jack chuckled at Sydney's obvious discomfiture. "Come on Sydney, let's sit down." Jack motioned Sydney over to the couch as he pulled a pen from his jacket's inner pocket. He twisted the cap and set it on the table.
"Now, Michael Vaughn. Most of what I'm about to tell you is classified and while I can't tell you everything, I think it will be enough information to make you feel better."
Sydney sat with her hands clasped together in her lap. Her eyes were red rimmed and swollen, her face still blotchy from crying earlier. Her head was beginning to hurt but she wasn't about to take any aspirin, not when answers were so close at hand.
"Vaughn went crazy when he went back to your apartment and saw everything in a shambles. He looked for you, but by then you were gone. He did, however, find Will still alive in the bathtub and called me. He saved Will's life."
Sydney wanted to ask about Will but knew it could wait, would have to wait because while Will was her friend, finding out about Vaughn was more important right now.
"After I arrived and took charge of Will, Vaughn searched the apartment trying to find some evidence of where you might be. When he couldn't find any leads, he did everything he could to find out where you were. He never stopped Sydney, not even to eat or sleep. He was becoming a shadow of himself." Jack paused, seeming to remember what that time had been like. "I was trying to find you as well. Vaughn eventually resigned from the CIA, he couldn't balance the work with his search for you. I stayed on and helped him through official, and unofficial, channels."
Sydney wasn't surprised at any of this. It was what she would have done if Vaughn had disappeared under the same circumstances. She felt bad for Vaughn, having worried and pushed himself so hard because of her. Honestly, though, she expected that of him. She expected it of herself. That was how much their love had meant, how strong it had been.
Jack waited for Sydney to process what he had told her so far. Jack's eyes showed his concern for his only daughter. He didn't want to tell her the next part but understood her need to know.
"While Vaughn was going through all of this, he needed someone to lean on, someone to talk to. At first he confided in Agent Weiss but after a little over a year of searching, Vaughn withdrew from everyone at the CIA except for me. At that point, the CIA believed you had been killed."
Sydney's stomach was churning as she waited for her father to continue. She had a dreadful sense of foreboding as he resumed the story.
"Not long after the CIA discontinued their official investigation into your disappearance, Vaughn began spending some time with his ex-girlfriend Alice."
At those words, everything fell into place, like a dark shroud falling over her heart. "Vaughn is married to Alice." Sydney's words sounded hollow and felt like they echoed in her head. The headache that had begun as a dull throbbing flared painfully behind her eyes. Sydney's vision was becoming blurry. Her body couldn't handle any more stress, any more surprises. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she fell over and everything went black.