***Last chapter! I hope y'all like it! Thanks for everyone for reading my little story, and another special thanks to everyone who reviewed!

The thunder of a gunshot was the last sound to reach his ears before he opened his eyes, only to find the body of Nadia Salvko lying in front of him in a lifeless heap. He immediately looked up, spotting his rescuer.

She was bloodied, holding herself up on the railing, hanging on with all of her strength. After seeing the woman fall, she dropped the gun, now seeming so heavy in her hand. She took a deep breath as she collapsed to the floor, content that Vaughn was safe. She felt a peace come over her as she closed her heavy eyelids.

            "Sydney!" Vaughn cried out. He struggled to free himself from the chair, the course rope tearing at his skin but he ignored it, his only thoughts being on her. He forced his weight to tip the chair over, as he was able to reach the knife that lay next to Nadia's body. Vaughn quickly cut through the ropes and darted up the metal stairs, desperately calling her name.

            He gasped when he caught a full glimpse of her. He ran to her side and cradled her head in his lap. "Syd, come on stay with me. Syd can you hear me? Come on, open your eyes baby." He rambled, as he surveyed her wounds, she was shot twice, once in the shoulder, and another right below her collar bone. A deep gash streaked across her once perfect face, leading from her lip to her temple. Blood had saturated her shirt just right of her abdomen from a stab wound. "You can't leave me now," He spoke, "Hang on Syd."

Vaughn felt his eyes well up with tears at the sound of the faintest whisper, "Vaughn."

 Sydney stirred ever so slightly in his arms, as she struggled to open her eyes for the shortest second before letting her body go limp. A surge of hope ran throughout Vaughn as he laughed in relief, tears of anguish in his eyes.

He carefully picked up the almost lifeless woman, grasping her tightly headed down the stairs, talking to her all the while as he whisked her off to safety, pleading to every god to spare her life.

***3 Weeks Later***

            Vaughn stood alone in the warehouse, it was raining. Rising mist from the pouring rain filled the doorway, billowing up in clouds, creating a mystical effect. Vaughn took a deep breath- he hated being in the warehouse without her.  He hated being anywhere without her.

            He shut his eyes tightly, hiding his vivid green orbs from the world. He swallowed back the lump in his throat as he thought back over the last couple of weeks. His heart jumped when he saw the figure in the doorway. Her figure was silhouetted, the mist giving the scene a fantastical aura.

            The woman walked towards him, the light from the overhanging lamp finally reaching her face. She looked up at him with her dark brown eyes as he fought hard to suppress the grin that spread across his face.

            "Hey." She spoke quietly, a soft smile playing on her face as well.

            "Hey." Vaughn replied, stepping closer to her while tucking a strand of stray hair behind her ear. She nestled closer to his touch as he lowered his hand to her jaw before bringing his own lips to hers. He gently took her in, relishing each moment with her. She eagerly participated, stepping closer and wrapping her arms around his strong shoulders, her hands playing with his hair, as his roamed over her back, bring her closer.

            Their oxygen supply soon exhausted, the two pulled apart, looking into each other's eyes. Vaughn's eyes strayed as he quickly surveyed her body, inspecting her wounds.

            A fading scar lined her face from her lip to cheekbone, her wrist in a cast. Having sustained to gunshot wounds- one in the shoulder, the other to her chest, she was still bandaged. The stab wound to her side was healing nicely, as it hadn't gone too deep. A look of concern crossed his face as he spoke, "Syd, are you alright?"

            She looked down at the floor, "Vaughn I'm fine." She spoke quickly. Not convinced, he shot her a stern look. "Stop worrying about me. I'm fine." She stated again. "Really."

            He pursed his lips, forming a straight line while the worry lines on his forehead seemed to multiply. He said nothing, creating a silence that blanketed the air. His heart ached over her pain, a guilty conscience plaguing his mind.

           

            ***Flashback***

"We need to set up for a chest tube right away." A nurse called out while wheeling the woman down the white hallway. 


            "Pulse is ready. Get her on 10 liters blood mass." 

The voices registered in Vaughn's mind as he briskly walked next to the stretcher, but he couldn't process the words. His mind racing, in denial, in disbelief that this could actually be happening.


            "Get a trauma panel, U.A., type and cross for four."


            "Two large bore I.V.s, squeeze in a saline. Prep the chest."  

"B.P.'s 80 Palp, pulse 110."

A chorus of voices bombarded his brain, until one particular one caught his attention. "Vaughn!"  He turned and saw Jack Bristow facing him. Vaughn opened his mouth to speak but no words came out, finally he started frantically mumbling incoherently. Jack interrupted him.

"Vaughn, I'm sorry but you can't be here." He ignored his voice and pressed on further.


            He watched as they wheeled her into the operating room, a nurse stepped in front of him, forbidding him to follow as the glass door swung shut. He stepped forward, straining to hear the doctors that hovered over her body.


            "One percent lidocaine." One of them called out. 


            "Pulse ox 92 on 10 liters."


          "We need to intubate. Six and a half..."


            Jack's worried face shown through his usual stoic manner, momentarily distracted by the doctors' rapid orders. 


          "Chest tube output is 1200ccs. All right, let's prep for right-sided thoracotomy" He vaguely heard through the closed doors.

He turned to him rapidly. "Vaughn, you HAVE to leave. SD-6 security will be in here in a matter of seconds. We cannot blow her cover." He looked back at the forlorn woman lying on the stretcher. Jack forcefully grabbed a hold of his shoulders, preventing him to go any further. Vaughn frantically stared into the elder Bristow's eyes, his turbulent emotions momentarily subsided and he was able to think clearly. He swallowed and nodded, turning away.

"I'll call you with any news." Jack spoke to the man.

            It was killing him, not being able to be there. He listlessly paced around the Ops Center all day. Finally, Eric approached him again.

            "Look man," He started, "She's going to be fine, it's been a week." Vaughn looked up at his friend.

            "I know that, it shouldn't have been a week, it shouldn't have been anything." He said in frustration.

            "Vaughn this is not your fault." Weiss stated firmly. "Sydney's still in the hospital because of Nadia Salvko, not because of you."

            Vaughn shook his head a little, saying nothing. He collapsed into his chair, Weiss taking a seat on his desk while studying him intently. He looked around, trying to find something to cheer him up a little.

            "Hey, I hear she's being released tomorrow." He offered.

            Vaughn nodded, "Yeah, she's been ordered to rest for another week. SD-6 gave her time off." He concluded, his thoughts somewhere else.

            Weiss stood up and patted his shoulder encouragingly, "She's going to be fine." He stated again.

***Present***

            She looked up at his worried face, and once again brought her lips to his. All thoughts flew out the window as they delved deeper into the kiss, igniting passion, and exhilaration that coursed through their bodies.

            He took her hand and smiled at her somewhat nervously. Her brow furrowed, noticing his anxiety, "What's wrong?" She spoke concernedly.

            "Nothing." He smiled at her, "Come on, I want to show you something." He said, beckoning her to follow him as he slightly tugged on her hand.

            She gave him a slightly confused look as he led her through out the dimly lit warehouse. "Vaughn, where are we going?" She asked with amusement.

            "Shhhh, just wait." He said softly.  They approached a tall heavy door, leading to a place in the warehouse that Sydney hadn't even known existed. "Okay now, close your eyes." He commanded gently.

"Vau…"

"Just do it." He interrupted, excitement in his voice.

She complied with a grin, Vaughn smiled at the sight of her. Sydney felt a slight draft flow over her as he opened the door. She immediately noticed that the rain became considerably louder as it beat upon the roof. He led her a few more steps, taking both her hands in his.

"Okay." He said tenderly, "Open your eyes."

A chill ran through her entire body at the sight that met her eyes. Hundreds of tiny white candles scattered the room, their dancing flames creating a delicate light. She looked overhead, her breath caught in her chest as she discovered a tall glass ceiling, the falling rain streaming down the sides of the arched skylights. But her entire body froze when she saw what was before her. Michael Vaughn, down on one knee. Her heart stopped beating as goose bumps covered her body, as she started to shake. 

She looked down into his eyes, filled with love as he smiled and gave a short laugh as he grabbed her arms to steady her. "Come on, you can't be more nervous than me." He joked slightly. A tear rolled down her cheek as she let out a tiny laugh, amazed at how she was still standing, given the current state of her weak knees. Vaughn took a deep breath, his mind racing as he started to speak.

"Sydney, you mean the world to me. Actually you mean more than that. I love you. I love you so much it hurts." He started to ramble, deviating from the speech he had carefully planned out in his head.  She sank to her knees on the floor in front of him, tears now streaming down her face.

"I can't stand to be without you, and every minute that you're not with me I feel incomplete. You hold my heart. I know that now our lives are crazy and we can't be together, but when this is all over," He paused, taking a black velvet box out of his suit pocket, opening it to reveal a glistening diamond, "Sydney Anne Bristow, will you marry me?"

            Before another second passed she found her lips once again on his, this time full of so much love she thought she would burst. Finally their lips parted, she rested her forehead on his and shut her eyes, now thoroughly sated with tears. "Yes." She said breathlessly. She took his face in her hands, as her eyes met his, " I love you so much." She said as the rain quietly pounded above them.

            A huge smile spread across his face and was soon mirrored by hers. He swallowed and reached down for the velvet box. Sydney's eyes took to the dazzling diamond ring, a diamond set in the center, offset by two sparkling smaller stones on each side. He reached in his pocket again as he began to speak, "Now I know, for obvious reasons," he stated, "That you can't go around displaying this. Yet."

            "It's so beautiful." She breathed almost silently.

 He pulled out a delicate gold chain necklace and took the ring in his hand, "But from now on, you can always be wearing it." He said taking the gorgeous ring and lacing it on to the necklace. "Until then." He concluded as he brushed her dark hair back, slipping the necklace around her, and clasping it in back.

            She smiled broadly but couldn't stop the tears as she collapsed into his arms. He held her close, reveling at her presence.  

            Neither knew how much time passed, both kneeling on the hard cement floor of the warehouse, the flickering candles dancing in the background, completely enveloped in each other before he finally spoke.

"Promise me," He started, a shadow playing across his face, "Promise me, I'll never lose you." He implored as she grasped the ring to her chest, the rain gently beating overhead.

"I promise." Sydney spoke as she let herself get lost in his eyes, all the while holding the ring close to her heart.

FIN

Well I hope y'all enjoyed this story! I had fun writing it, so drop me a line and tell me what you think. Hopefully it didn't get too mushy (is that a word?) at the end for y'all. Thanks for reading!