TITLE: Dissonance - Chapter 7
AUTHOR: Lillian
RATING: PG for language mostly
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.
Chapter 7
Vaughn crept stealthily along, his gun held at his side. Jack had tracked Sydney to this small building in a remote area of Guatemala just outside of El Remate. The darkness of the night was complete, the inky blackness that only happens out in the country. Vaughn reached up with his left hand to adjust the night vision goggles. They were the only thing allowing him to see where he was going.
The building was featureless, windowless, and to an untrained eye, about to collapse. Sloane had hired some talented people to build this place, Vaughn thought as he dropped silently to his belly and slid up to the corner. He carefully looked and was relieved there wasn't a guard at the door. He got back on his feet and pressing his back to the wall, continued making his way to the only door in the building. Fear threatened to slide through his veins but he forced himself to be calm and focused. This was the most important mission of his life, he couldn't afford to screw this up.
From the intel Jack had given him, Vaughn knew there was an electronic keypad at the door. He entered the stolen code and, removing his night vision goggles, was relieved to see the red light turn to green. He was trusting Jack to have already switched the feed from the security cameras to an endless loop of film that didn't feature Vaughn as its star. He slipped inside the door, closing it quietly behind him.
When he wasn't immediately attacked, Vaughn stole down the hallway, cautiously turning left then right as Jack had told him. He could hear a loud thrumming coming from one of the doors at the far end of the hall. It didn't take a genius to figure out which door he needed.
Vaughn was hoping for a window in the door and was intensely relieved when he found there was one. He was on his own for this, the CIA had refused to allocate any resources to find Sydney. Jack had been his only ally and once Jack had found out where Sydney was, together they had devised a plan for saving her.
Vaughn looked cautiously through the window and was immediately furious when he saw Sydney lying unconscious on some kind of table, with wires attached to her body. It was almost more than he could bear, red clouded his vision as he struggled to regain control.
"Easy there Vaughn, wouldn't do to have you blowing it all now."
Vaughn raised his gun and was squeezing the trigger when he turned and saw Dixon pressed against the wall next to him. Dixon had grabbed Vaughn's gun hand and was exerting just enough pressure to keep the gun aimed in a less lethal direction.
"Dixon, what the f***?" Vaughn whispered roughly. "I nearly shot you." And you nearly gave me a heart attack, Vaughn added silently to himself. He slowed his breathing and couldn't help but grin as he relaxed his arm. Dixon released Vaughn's wrist and grinned in response.
"I couldn't let you rescue Sydney all by yourself. Jack asked me to come down and help you." Dixon whispered, careful not to speak too loudly. "What are we up against in there?"
"I was trying to figure that out when you snuck up on me." Vaughn whispered back. He risked peering through the window again. "It's a small room, Sydney's out cold on a table, two guards. No Sloane."
"Ok, let's do it." Dixon duck-walked under the window to the other side of the door. "Kick in the door and I'll be right behind you."
Vaughn nodded his agreement. He took a deep breath and gripping his gun, landed a hard kick at the door lock. It gave with a loud crack and they entered the room, guns' firing at the two henchmen. The fight was short and ended with both of Sloane's guards dead.
Vaughn was wary of the fact that there weren't more people for him to shoot at. It was with a sense of unease that Vaughn hurried over to Sydney as Dixon watched the door. Vaughn felt for a pulse and was relieved to the point of tears when he felt Sydney's heart beating. He disconnected the wires and removed the intravenous line from her arm. He noticed a machine of some sort causing the loud noise but was more concerned at that moment with getting Sydney out of there.
Vaughn was about to gather Sydney into his arms when something made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked over at Dixon who also seemed unsettled.
"Do you feel that?" Vaughn asked, looking around the room.
"Yeah, I don't like it either." Dixon replied as he leaned into the hallway. "There's nothing out here." As he began to pull himself back into the room, his right shoulder whipped around and he screamed "Vaughn" as he fell to the floor.
Vaughn had his gun ready and was standing protectively in front of Sydney when Sloane began to enter the room. Sloane was raising his gun to shoot at Vaughn but Vaughn had the advantage. Sloane hadn't completely made his way inside when Vaughn aimed for Sloane's head and fired. Sloane's head exploded in a spray of blood and thicker things. Vaughn didn't take any chances and fired twice more into Sloane's chest. Sloane's body collapsed on top of Dixon.
Vaughn walked over and kicked Sloane out of the way. He would have checked his pulse to make sure he was dead, but there wasn't much left above Sloane's shoulders.
"Sorry man" Vaughn apologized to Dixon as he knelt down and inspected Dixon's shoulder wound.
"No problem, I only wish I'd done it myself." Dixon winced with the pain as he pulled himself up to a standing position. "I'll be ok, it's not a bad hit. I'm surprised he didn't kill me."
Vaughn walked back across the room to Sydney. "I don't think he had a good enough shot at first," Vaughn replied. He didn't waste any more time in lifting Sydney and following Dixon out of the room.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Two days later.
Sydney heard a voice speaking softly to her, pulling her out of the blackness. At first, she thought it was her father. She'd been talking to him last, hadn't she? It was hard to remember details.
"And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!"*
The voice broke off and she heard the sound of a page turning. She blinked open her eyes and saw Vaughn, sitting at her bedside and getting ready to read another poem. He looks tired, she thought. She lifted her hand to reach for him. He saw the movement in his peripheral vision and turned his head. Their eyes met and she could swear he'd been crying.
"Sydney." That one word held everything he felt at that moment. Relief, joy, and most of all, love.
Sydney gave Vaughn a weak smile and again she reached for his hand. Her fingers brushed off his right hand that was closer to hers and she picked up his left hand and held it. She looked down with trepidation in her eyes as she felt for his ring finger.
There was no ring.
* "She Walks in Beauty" by George Gordon, Lord Byron
AUTHOR: Lillian
RATING: PG for language mostly
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.
Chapter 7
Vaughn crept stealthily along, his gun held at his side. Jack had tracked Sydney to this small building in a remote area of Guatemala just outside of El Remate. The darkness of the night was complete, the inky blackness that only happens out in the country. Vaughn reached up with his left hand to adjust the night vision goggles. They were the only thing allowing him to see where he was going.
The building was featureless, windowless, and to an untrained eye, about to collapse. Sloane had hired some talented people to build this place, Vaughn thought as he dropped silently to his belly and slid up to the corner. He carefully looked and was relieved there wasn't a guard at the door. He got back on his feet and pressing his back to the wall, continued making his way to the only door in the building. Fear threatened to slide through his veins but he forced himself to be calm and focused. This was the most important mission of his life, he couldn't afford to screw this up.
From the intel Jack had given him, Vaughn knew there was an electronic keypad at the door. He entered the stolen code and, removing his night vision goggles, was relieved to see the red light turn to green. He was trusting Jack to have already switched the feed from the security cameras to an endless loop of film that didn't feature Vaughn as its star. He slipped inside the door, closing it quietly behind him.
When he wasn't immediately attacked, Vaughn stole down the hallway, cautiously turning left then right as Jack had told him. He could hear a loud thrumming coming from one of the doors at the far end of the hall. It didn't take a genius to figure out which door he needed.
Vaughn was hoping for a window in the door and was intensely relieved when he found there was one. He was on his own for this, the CIA had refused to allocate any resources to find Sydney. Jack had been his only ally and once Jack had found out where Sydney was, together they had devised a plan for saving her.
Vaughn looked cautiously through the window and was immediately furious when he saw Sydney lying unconscious on some kind of table, with wires attached to her body. It was almost more than he could bear, red clouded his vision as he struggled to regain control.
"Easy there Vaughn, wouldn't do to have you blowing it all now."
Vaughn raised his gun and was squeezing the trigger when he turned and saw Dixon pressed against the wall next to him. Dixon had grabbed Vaughn's gun hand and was exerting just enough pressure to keep the gun aimed in a less lethal direction.
"Dixon, what the f***?" Vaughn whispered roughly. "I nearly shot you." And you nearly gave me a heart attack, Vaughn added silently to himself. He slowed his breathing and couldn't help but grin as he relaxed his arm. Dixon released Vaughn's wrist and grinned in response.
"I couldn't let you rescue Sydney all by yourself. Jack asked me to come down and help you." Dixon whispered, careful not to speak too loudly. "What are we up against in there?"
"I was trying to figure that out when you snuck up on me." Vaughn whispered back. He risked peering through the window again. "It's a small room, Sydney's out cold on a table, two guards. No Sloane."
"Ok, let's do it." Dixon duck-walked under the window to the other side of the door. "Kick in the door and I'll be right behind you."
Vaughn nodded his agreement. He took a deep breath and gripping his gun, landed a hard kick at the door lock. It gave with a loud crack and they entered the room, guns' firing at the two henchmen. The fight was short and ended with both of Sloane's guards dead.
Vaughn was wary of the fact that there weren't more people for him to shoot at. It was with a sense of unease that Vaughn hurried over to Sydney as Dixon watched the door. Vaughn felt for a pulse and was relieved to the point of tears when he felt Sydney's heart beating. He disconnected the wires and removed the intravenous line from her arm. He noticed a machine of some sort causing the loud noise but was more concerned at that moment with getting Sydney out of there.
Vaughn was about to gather Sydney into his arms when something made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked over at Dixon who also seemed unsettled.
"Do you feel that?" Vaughn asked, looking around the room.
"Yeah, I don't like it either." Dixon replied as he leaned into the hallway. "There's nothing out here." As he began to pull himself back into the room, his right shoulder whipped around and he screamed "Vaughn" as he fell to the floor.
Vaughn had his gun ready and was standing protectively in front of Sydney when Sloane began to enter the room. Sloane was raising his gun to shoot at Vaughn but Vaughn had the advantage. Sloane hadn't completely made his way inside when Vaughn aimed for Sloane's head and fired. Sloane's head exploded in a spray of blood and thicker things. Vaughn didn't take any chances and fired twice more into Sloane's chest. Sloane's body collapsed on top of Dixon.
Vaughn walked over and kicked Sloane out of the way. He would have checked his pulse to make sure he was dead, but there wasn't much left above Sloane's shoulders.
"Sorry man" Vaughn apologized to Dixon as he knelt down and inspected Dixon's shoulder wound.
"No problem, I only wish I'd done it myself." Dixon winced with the pain as he pulled himself up to a standing position. "I'll be ok, it's not a bad hit. I'm surprised he didn't kill me."
Vaughn walked back across the room to Sydney. "I don't think he had a good enough shot at first," Vaughn replied. He didn't waste any more time in lifting Sydney and following Dixon out of the room.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Two days later.
Sydney heard a voice speaking softly to her, pulling her out of the blackness. At first, she thought it was her father. She'd been talking to him last, hadn't she? It was hard to remember details.
"And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!"*
The voice broke off and she heard the sound of a page turning. She blinked open her eyes and saw Vaughn, sitting at her bedside and getting ready to read another poem. He looks tired, she thought. She lifted her hand to reach for him. He saw the movement in his peripheral vision and turned his head. Their eyes met and she could swear he'd been crying.
"Sydney." That one word held everything he felt at that moment. Relief, joy, and most of all, love.
Sydney gave Vaughn a weak smile and again she reached for his hand. Her fingers brushed off his right hand that was closer to hers and she picked up his left hand and held it. She looked down with trepidation in her eyes as she felt for his ring finger.
There was no ring.
* "She Walks in Beauty" by George Gordon, Lord Byron