Room Service
Part II
A/N: Hey, remember this? Don't worry, I had to read the first part over too. Well, I finally decided to write more; I hope you enjoy it.
The flight was long; she was stuck in between Dixon and a man who immediately opened a book as soon as he sat down, so that he wouldn't have to talk to her. Dixon fell asleep almost as soon as the plane took off. Sydney tried to, but she couldn't.
The man reading the book was hogging the armrest, seriously invading her personal space. A pair of twins sat behind her. They had bounced onto the plane complete with matching red overalls, curly blonde hair, and blue eyes magnified by thick, round glasses.
The two not only argued for the entire flight, but the boy constantly kicked at Sydney's seat, even after she had turned around for the fifth time and very politely asked him to stop. His name was Kevin (Kevin Andrew Donaldson to be exact), and his sister's name was Kara Louise. Sydney knew this because their mother was constantly reminding them, very loudly, that they were supposed to be quiet on the plane.
The plane hit turbulence crossing the Atlantic Ocean and a baby started crying. The turbulence lasted for over an hour; the baby cried the entire time. All the bumping and jostling made Kara sick, and she unfortunately was not able to reach her paper bag in time.
Kevin thought this was hysterical, and began cackling gleefully as he attempted to identify exactly what Kara had had for lunch. The flight attendants quickly cleaned up the mess, but they were unable to rid the cabin of the distinct and unpleasant odor of vomit.
Sydney finally put on her headphones and closed her eyes, letting the sweet notes of Bach lull her into a fitful slumber…
She was in the hotel again and there was a knock at her door. She opened it, and Vaughn was there. She beckoned for him, and he started to walk inside.
Suddenly, the walls collapsed and everything became black. An eerie light came from somewhere, and a strong wind pulled at Sydney, forcing her away from Vaughn and to the ground. She reached out to him, helpless; the howling wind pinning her to the ground, whipping her hair dangerously around her face. Vaughn fell forward, trying to reach her.
She heard a sound above the shrieking of the wind; cackling, evil laughter that increased in volume until it reached a feverish, screaming pitch. Two little children appeared, a boy and a girl, almost invisible in the dark. They were dressed in matching black overalls, raven curls dancing in the wind, red eyes gleaming dangerously. The spawn of the devil. They ran around the room, chasing each other in a crazy design of loops and circles in a psychotic game of tag.
Suddenly they stopped and stared at Sydney. Their eyes were glowing a fiery red, their cherry lips curled into malicious grins. They ran over to Vaughn, still sneering.
It became completely dark; she could only see their glowing eyes. There was a flash of lightning and she saw two little hands dart out to touch Vaughn's leg.
"You're it!" screamed a shrill voice.
The room exploded with light as Vaughn burst into flame. The devil children began their cackling laughter again. Vaughn stared at her sadly; he didn't even scream…
Sydney woke with a start. The music had stopped and she could still hear the laughter. Her heart was pounding in her chest, threatening to break her ribs.
But it was only Kara and Kevin having a giggling contest behind her. Dixon was finally awake and was glancing at her curiously. She gave him a small smile and shrunk back into her seat. She closed her eyes again, but sleep would not come.
The flight lasted for almost twelve hours. Now, she had been on planes for longer periods of time, but this definitely felt like the longest flight Sydney had ever taken. The twins tried to zoom by her on their way off the plane and one of them managed to smack her arm, while the other ran straight into her leg.
Sydney had been attempting to ignore the pain, but now it hit her full force. She gasped and squeezed her eyes shut, but couldn't stop a tear from escaping. The twins were standing up, brushing themselves off. Kara put her hands on her hips and stuck her tongue out at Sydney. Kevin noticed the tears and started to laugh.
"You're such a baby!" he chirped. "A big baby!"
Their mother only sighed and shook her head, following the twins as they skipped off the plane. Sydney took a deep breath and closed her eyes. They couldn't see the bruises; they didn't know what it was like to constantly feel pain. They wouldn't be able to take it.
Her arm and leg were throbbing and her head felt like someone was trying to split it open with an axe. She had just unpacked her bag and was lounging on the couch, waiting for the painkillers to kick in, when the phone rang.
Joey's Pizza. Never had two little words held so much promise and meaning.
As soon as she got the call, she jumped into her car and drove as far over the speed limit as she could without really breaking the law. Images from her dream burned before her eyes. She could feel his touch, his hands, his lips; she yearned for it. She could also see his sad eyes, engulfed in flames.
Her car swerved dangerously on the road. Another driver shook his fist at her and yelled something obscene. She didn't care; she had been called a whore in more languages than she dared to count.
Somehow, she made her way to the warehouse without killing herself or anyone else. She parked the car, unbuckled her seatbelt and got out.
Sydney stood outside her car, unsure of what to do. She could not march into the warehouse and throw herself at her Vaughn, no matter how much she wanted to.
Could she even face him? Could she look at him without blushing? Should she even go in there at all? Maybe she could pretend that she hadn't received the call, and go back home. Maybe she could…No, she had to go in there. If they were ever going to take down SD-6 she had to meet with him…eventually.
But she wanted to meet with him; she wanted to talk to him; she wanted to look at him. She also wanted to touch him, kiss him, love him…but that would definitely be against protocol.
Sydney took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She was a grown woman; she could do this. She would just walk in there, pretend like nothing had ever changed, tell Vaughn about the mission, hand him the Rambaldi book, and get the hell out of there without doing anything stupid. She could handle it.
Handle. Handler. Vaughn had been given the appropriate title. He could definitely handle her; he had done it so deliciously well …Dammit! Sydney snapped her eyes open and shook her head, forcing every picture, every thought, every essence of her dream out of her head. She took a deep breath and slowly walked into the warehouse.
He was there when she arrived; she had known that he would be, he almost always was. She paused when she saw him. He had taken off his jacket, his shirtsleeves were rolled up, and his tie was loosened.
As she got closer she could see that his top buttons were unbuttoned, exposing enough of his chest to give her an idea of what he really looked like, while leaving just enough to her imagination. She swallowed.
It suddenly seemed to become hotter and without thinking, Sydney took off her sweater. Vaughn looked up as she approached, and smiled. Damn, he looked good when he smiled. Well, he looked good all the time, but when he smiled…She wanted to melt, and it wasn't because of the oppressive heat.
The gate was open, and Sydney walked inside and put her sweater and purse down on a crate. Vaughn was across the room. He seemed so far away, but Sydney thought it would probably be a good idea if he stayed there.
"Hey," he said, still smiling.
"Hi," Sydney answered, without grinning back. There was a long and awkward pause. Sydney decided that it would be better if she kept her mouth shut, lest she give word to the thoughts that were running through her head.
"So," Vaughn began, after a moment, "How was the mission?"
"Alright." She could feel the perspiration dripping down her back, and she shifted uncomfortably, trying to ignore the heat.
"Anything happen out of the ordinary? Any problems?"
Sydney closed her eyes. She could picture herself being flung down the stairs, bumping and jolting down each and every cold concrete step. God it had hurt like hell…
"No. Nothing."
"Okay…" Vaughn ran his hand through his hair and she could tell that he was confused. She had never acted this way toward him before.
"Did you get to speak French?" He asked after a moment, deciding to try and change the subject.
"Yes," Sydney answered mechanically.
His voice whispering in her ear, telling her in his native tongue how much he loved her. She closed her eyes as two words repeated over and over in her head, echoing softly and seeming to drift further and further away. Room service, room service, room service…
She opened her eyes again; he was frowning, and she decided she had better elaborate a little. "With a German accent of course. It was…interesting."
She offered him a smile, showing pearly white teeth and dimples, hoping he couldn't tell the smile was her fake one. Francie and Will hadn't discovered that yet, and she had been using it on them for years.
But Vaughn frowned again. He wasn't buying it; he knew something was wrong, and that thought made Sydney's heart leap with joy and break in half at the same time. This man knew so much about her; and he was probably the one man she could not have.
"Sydney?" Vaughn asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Short answers again, voice clipped and unnatural.
"Nothing?"
"Nothing. I'm just tired." She even yawned for effect and stretched a little, trying not to wince with the pain it caused her.
"Okay…Are you sure?"
Why did he have to be so concerned? He was making this much more difficult.
"Uh huh," Sydney nodded. "It was a long flight." She reached a hand up mechanically and began twirling and twisting her hair between her fingers.
"No, I mean are you sure you're okay?" He was trying to hide it; but she could see that he was worried. His forehead was crinkled, his eyes dripped with concern.
"Yeah. I'm just tired and I have a lot on my mind. I'm sorry that I'm…"
"What's bothering you?" Vaughn interrupted her.
"Oh, nothing really. I'm just thinking about…well, just stuff. You know, the mission, the flight, a dream I had. All kinds of stuff."
"Was it good?"
"What, the flight? No, not really." It was the flight from hell.
"No, the dream."
Sydney looked at him quickly, her eyes questioning. Then she looked away; she could feel the blood rising to her face, and was glad it was dark in the warehouse. At this distance, it prevented him from seeing that her already rosy cheeks were turning a very unladylike fire engine red. "Yeah…no…well, kind of…"
She could see images flashing before her eyes, like fireworks and lightning; flashing and threatening, mixing her dreams, the one that could never happen and the one that she never wanted to, turning them into a vicious nightmare.
"Why are you asking me this?" She asked, giving words to the little voice in the back of her head.
"I'm just concerned. And we never really get to talk…"
And we never will, that's just he way it goes. Damn fate. Damn destiny. Damn fairy tales, there is no happily ever after.
"Is it warm in here, or is it just me?" She asked, quickly changing the subject.
"It is kind of hot in here," Vaughn answered, pushing his sleeves up even more.
Sydney shifted uncomfortably in her seat, her eyes trained on her feet. "I…I got the documents, the book, I mean." She reached into her purse and held it up.
"Good," Vaughn responded, and then held out his hand. "I'll give it to Devlin."
She walked over to him and reached out to hand him the book. "Here, I…"
"God, Syd!" Vaughn interrupted her. "What happened to your arm?" He took the book with one hand and placed it on the crate behind him. He reached out to take her elbow with the other, but she quickly backed away, holding her arm behind her.
She almost tripped as she backed away, but stopped before she fell over. Her arm still held behind her back, she stared down at her shoes, feeling like a little kid who had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.
Dammit, the bruise. She shouldn't have taken off the sweater. That's why she'd worn it in the first place.
"Oh that," She glanced casually at her arm. "Some guy threw me down the stairs."
Vaughn's eyes flashed with anger. "I thought you said you didn't have any problems!" He clenched his fists tightly, turning his knuckles white.
If she had a different handler, would they be this upset when she got hurt?
She shrugged. "It wasn't a problem…really. I took care of him."
"You should have told me."
"Why?" She asked, almost adding, "Could you have prevented it? Would you have been able to make it better?"
But she didn't. Instead she bit her bottom lip and kept her mouth shut, occupying herself by digging the toe of her shoe into a crack on the floor.
"I don't know. It's important to me to know about you," he answered, and added quickly, "And to the CIA of course.
Sydney didn't respond. She didn't know what to say.
Vaughn motioned to her and patted the space on the crate beside him. "Come here. I want to make sure you're okay."
Sydney shook her head. "I'm fine…"
"Did he hurt you anywhere else? Did you hit your head?"
"No. I'm okay, I promise…"
"Just come here," Vaughn commanded, sighing. When Sydney didn't move, he stood up and walked over to her.
She didn't back away this time. She didn't want to, hadn't wanted to the first time.
He gently took her arm and she shivered at his touch. It took her breath away and she struggled to get it back without making it obvious.
Vaughn seemed oblivious to her rapid breathing and fluttering heartbeat. His fingers were still resting on her arm. "This is a really nasty bruise. Did you put ice on it?"
She shook her head. It was all she could do to answer him.
"You should have…I bet it really hurts."
"There are some things that hurt worse, " Sydney thought. She closed her eyes, trying to keep the tears from spilling over.
Vaughn was running his fingers lightly up and down her arm, outlining the bruise, and giving her goosebumps.
God, it was déjà vu. It wasn't real…It couldn't be…
"Vaughn…" Sydney finally managed to whisper. "Pinch me."
"What?…" He laughed softly, and moved closer to her. "Why?"
Sydney shook her head and looked away. She couldn't…
Vaughn took her face in his hands, tilting her head up so her eyes met his. She gasped when she saw it. The passion, the love, the desire, burning in his eyes. Oh God…
"I have a better idea," he whispered, as he lowered his head to hers.
