Chapter 8
" Vaughn?" Sydney couldn't believe her eyes. Why on earth would he be here while she's on a mission? Did she get hit so hard that she is seeing things? She gives her head a little shake to snap herself out of it, but it doesn't help.
He sees her confusion and his steps quicken to help her up.
" What . . .what are you . . ." Sydney stutters.
" Um, I was sent here by Sloane." That's half the truth at least. He puts one arm under her elbow and the other on her lower back to give her support. Once she is up from the floor, she quickly shrugs him off. She has been independent most of her life and thinks she doesn't need others to help her with anything.
" Why would he do that?" she asks clearly frustrated. It isn't anger that takes over, but simple bewilderment. "When he sent me here to retrieve the disk . . .Why would he send you too? . . .Why have two agents come . . .not telling them . . ." her voice drifts away as she realizes the answer to her own questions. In a disappointed tone, she says, " He didn't think I could do it by myself . . ." She searches his face for confirmation. He just stands there with a sympathetic look. She tries to swallow down a hard lump that has formed in her throat.
" I think we got to get out of here soon. When I came down, security was starting to get suspicious." He says heading towards the door. Her body moves along as he guides her out, but her mind isn't aware. All she can think about was how she had failed. She failed, and Sloane knew she would.
* * * * * * *
They rush out of the mansion to the extraction point where a plane was waiting for them. Neither one had time to think about everything that had happened in the last hour while they ran. They are the only two people in the back of the plane. They sit facing each other, but neither dare to look at the another. They sit with their heads down reflecting on their own thoughts. Vaughn finally looks up and his eyes go directly toward her shoulder. It is hard to tell that she is bleeding because her jacket is such a dark color. The blood just blends into the fabric that clings tightly to her body. An overwhelming flood of guilt passes through his system.
" Your shoulder . . .um . . .it . . ." his soft voice breaks her out of her trance. She had been too busy recounting the night's events over and over in her head that she was momentarily unaware of his presence. She almost forgot about her wound too. When she looks down, the blood is so well blended that for a second, she thinks that it had disappeared. Her left hand moves up to cover the gash just to see if it was still there. When she feels the dampness of the shirt, she gives herself a little chuckle.
" I wasn't expecting that one." her eyebrows raise and she gives him an embarrassed smile. He couldn't bring himself to look at her when she finally looks at him.
His head turns away like a reflex. " Bastard . . ." he curses at himself. He didn't realize that he had said it out-loud and immediately hopes that she didn't hear. She is really surprised by his reaction. For some reason she feels the need to ease his quiet outburst.
" It's not that bad. He didn't cut me that deep . . .I was just caught off guard," when she sees that he isn't responding, she adds in a light tone, " I've handled worse. This is nothing." The more she tries to make light of the situation, the more he just wants someone to hit him. Hard.
" Um . . .maybe you should . . .I'll get the first aid box" He gets up and walks to the wall where the box is hidden. When he returns, he sets the box down in front of her and moves his seat closer than before.
" Thanks. Yeah . . ." She tries to remove the jacket slowly, but it is not easily taken off. With the soaking of blood, it clung to her skin even tighter. His hand instinctively goes to help her ease out of her jacket. Once the jacket is removed, her bare shoulder is fully exposed and the degree of her wound suddenly becomes more aware to both of them. He feels sick that he was responsible. She notices his discomfort and wishes she could cover herself.
" Are you okay? You don't have to help. I can do this by myself," she says reassuringly.
" No . . .I . . ." he never thought this would affect him so much. Whenever he fought on missions before, he would always try to leave weapons out. He tried to knock people out and then move on. When he did wound others, he never returned to see how badly he hurt had them. He realize that this is the first time that he has hurt someone and is actually witnessing what he has done. He swallows hard.
" I didn't take you to be the squeamish type," she teases him.
" I'm fine. I want to help." He says reaching for the box. The first thing he does is clean off all the blood. He moves cautiously and gently, careful not to break her. His touch makes contact with her skin as his hand grazes her bare shoulder and she stiffens. Seeing her tense up and jerk slightly, he quickly takes back his hand. He feels how cold his hands are, and turns away from her immediately. While his back is to her, he blows on his hands and rubs them feverishly together. She watches on with a confused expression.
" What are you doing?"
"Uh . . .warming my hands so they don't make you cold,"
She couldn't help but let out a giggle of amusement. " You don't have to do that."
" It's already done." He turns around to show her his hands. He then moves in close and the second time he touches her, she doesn't tense up at all. When he presses down to hold the blood flow, she sucks in her breath quickly. Whenever she winces in pain, he feels his stomach jump up with her. He attributes the feeling to his sense of guilt. With one hand pressing down on the cut, the other moves down her slender arms. He lifts her arm up and down gently as he wraps the bandage around and around.
Sydney sits there and lets him move her anyway he needs to help her get cleaned up. Whenever his head moves in close enough, she tries to make out his scent. She suddenly realizes that she has stopped thinking about how the mission went. At that realization, her thoughts immediately return to her failure and the masked stranger.
" I guess he was right to send you." Vaughn's ears perk up as she breaks the silence and he lets out a held breath. He was so intent and focused on bandaging her without causing too much pain that he had been holding his breath without knowing it.
" But the disk is still lost," she continues. He listens to her talk and looks at her profile through the corner of his eyes while still working on wrapping.
" It was all my fault. He was down, but I had to find out who he was." At the mention of the other man, his whole body freezes.
" It's weird. He could be KGB, or another organization for that matter. He didn't deny he was Anna's partner, but never said he was. In fact, he didn't even say anything. It's strange. Another thing, except for this . . ." she tilts her head to indicate her cut, " he was acting like he didn't want to fight." Her mind tries to recall what the man looked like, but the room was so dark and he was completely covered that he remains a mystery. Once she gives up trying to remember the guy, she notices that Vaughn has stopped moving.
" Are you done?"
" Uh . . .yeah . . ." he says as he moves away to examine her.
" Thanks." She gives him a smile and he tries to return it, but it comes out forced.
" I guess Sloane was right," she says sadly. " I always thought I could do it by myself," He wanted to tell her that she could, and if he hadn't been assigned to make her fail, she would have succeeded the mission. It would so much easier if he could just tell her everything; but he can't.
" I guess I do need a partner," she stops and changes her words." I mean . . .I think I am ready to have a new partner." She nods to herself because she is satisfied with her decision. He, on the other hand, after the occurrences of the mission, doesn't know if he is ready for what this new job entails. Little did he know that someone else would have the same uncertain feelings.
* * * * * * * *
Kristine watches through the monitor at all that transpires on her plane ride back to LA. Vaughn had forgotten to turn off the camera on his shirt once they boarded the plane. She is both glad and disappointed at seeing the interaction on the plane. Her head is telling her, " This is good. Mission is completed. Vaughn and Sydney will be partners. This is just what the CIA needs." Another part is worried for Vaughn.
" I think you need to have a little talk with him," Weiss' voice startles her. She quickly turns around unaware that she wasn't the only one watching the monitor.
" I know what you're going to say," she holds up her hand. " But let's just see where this goes first."
" Vaughn?" Sydney couldn't believe her eyes. Why on earth would he be here while she's on a mission? Did she get hit so hard that she is seeing things? She gives her head a little shake to snap herself out of it, but it doesn't help.
He sees her confusion and his steps quicken to help her up.
" What . . .what are you . . ." Sydney stutters.
" Um, I was sent here by Sloane." That's half the truth at least. He puts one arm under her elbow and the other on her lower back to give her support. Once she is up from the floor, she quickly shrugs him off. She has been independent most of her life and thinks she doesn't need others to help her with anything.
" Why would he do that?" she asks clearly frustrated. It isn't anger that takes over, but simple bewilderment. "When he sent me here to retrieve the disk . . .Why would he send you too? . . .Why have two agents come . . .not telling them . . ." her voice drifts away as she realizes the answer to her own questions. In a disappointed tone, she says, " He didn't think I could do it by myself . . ." She searches his face for confirmation. He just stands there with a sympathetic look. She tries to swallow down a hard lump that has formed in her throat.
" I think we got to get out of here soon. When I came down, security was starting to get suspicious." He says heading towards the door. Her body moves along as he guides her out, but her mind isn't aware. All she can think about was how she had failed. She failed, and Sloane knew she would.
* * * * * * *
They rush out of the mansion to the extraction point where a plane was waiting for them. Neither one had time to think about everything that had happened in the last hour while they ran. They are the only two people in the back of the plane. They sit facing each other, but neither dare to look at the another. They sit with their heads down reflecting on their own thoughts. Vaughn finally looks up and his eyes go directly toward her shoulder. It is hard to tell that she is bleeding because her jacket is such a dark color. The blood just blends into the fabric that clings tightly to her body. An overwhelming flood of guilt passes through his system.
" Your shoulder . . .um . . .it . . ." his soft voice breaks her out of her trance. She had been too busy recounting the night's events over and over in her head that she was momentarily unaware of his presence. She almost forgot about her wound too. When she looks down, the blood is so well blended that for a second, she thinks that it had disappeared. Her left hand moves up to cover the gash just to see if it was still there. When she feels the dampness of the shirt, she gives herself a little chuckle.
" I wasn't expecting that one." her eyebrows raise and she gives him an embarrassed smile. He couldn't bring himself to look at her when she finally looks at him.
His head turns away like a reflex. " Bastard . . ." he curses at himself. He didn't realize that he had said it out-loud and immediately hopes that she didn't hear. She is really surprised by his reaction. For some reason she feels the need to ease his quiet outburst.
" It's not that bad. He didn't cut me that deep . . .I was just caught off guard," when she sees that he isn't responding, she adds in a light tone, " I've handled worse. This is nothing." The more she tries to make light of the situation, the more he just wants someone to hit him. Hard.
" Um . . .maybe you should . . .I'll get the first aid box" He gets up and walks to the wall where the box is hidden. When he returns, he sets the box down in front of her and moves his seat closer than before.
" Thanks. Yeah . . ." She tries to remove the jacket slowly, but it is not easily taken off. With the soaking of blood, it clung to her skin even tighter. His hand instinctively goes to help her ease out of her jacket. Once the jacket is removed, her bare shoulder is fully exposed and the degree of her wound suddenly becomes more aware to both of them. He feels sick that he was responsible. She notices his discomfort and wishes she could cover herself.
" Are you okay? You don't have to help. I can do this by myself," she says reassuringly.
" No . . .I . . ." he never thought this would affect him so much. Whenever he fought on missions before, he would always try to leave weapons out. He tried to knock people out and then move on. When he did wound others, he never returned to see how badly he hurt had them. He realize that this is the first time that he has hurt someone and is actually witnessing what he has done. He swallows hard.
" I didn't take you to be the squeamish type," she teases him.
" I'm fine. I want to help." He says reaching for the box. The first thing he does is clean off all the blood. He moves cautiously and gently, careful not to break her. His touch makes contact with her skin as his hand grazes her bare shoulder and she stiffens. Seeing her tense up and jerk slightly, he quickly takes back his hand. He feels how cold his hands are, and turns away from her immediately. While his back is to her, he blows on his hands and rubs them feverishly together. She watches on with a confused expression.
" What are you doing?"
"Uh . . .warming my hands so they don't make you cold,"
She couldn't help but let out a giggle of amusement. " You don't have to do that."
" It's already done." He turns around to show her his hands. He then moves in close and the second time he touches her, she doesn't tense up at all. When he presses down to hold the blood flow, she sucks in her breath quickly. Whenever she winces in pain, he feels his stomach jump up with her. He attributes the feeling to his sense of guilt. With one hand pressing down on the cut, the other moves down her slender arms. He lifts her arm up and down gently as he wraps the bandage around and around.
Sydney sits there and lets him move her anyway he needs to help her get cleaned up. Whenever his head moves in close enough, she tries to make out his scent. She suddenly realizes that she has stopped thinking about how the mission went. At that realization, her thoughts immediately return to her failure and the masked stranger.
" I guess he was right to send you." Vaughn's ears perk up as she breaks the silence and he lets out a held breath. He was so intent and focused on bandaging her without causing too much pain that he had been holding his breath without knowing it.
" But the disk is still lost," she continues. He listens to her talk and looks at her profile through the corner of his eyes while still working on wrapping.
" It was all my fault. He was down, but I had to find out who he was." At the mention of the other man, his whole body freezes.
" It's weird. He could be KGB, or another organization for that matter. He didn't deny he was Anna's partner, but never said he was. In fact, he didn't even say anything. It's strange. Another thing, except for this . . ." she tilts her head to indicate her cut, " he was acting like he didn't want to fight." Her mind tries to recall what the man looked like, but the room was so dark and he was completely covered that he remains a mystery. Once she gives up trying to remember the guy, she notices that Vaughn has stopped moving.
" Are you done?"
" Uh . . .yeah . . ." he says as he moves away to examine her.
" Thanks." She gives him a smile and he tries to return it, but it comes out forced.
" I guess Sloane was right," she says sadly. " I always thought I could do it by myself," He wanted to tell her that she could, and if he hadn't been assigned to make her fail, she would have succeeded the mission. It would so much easier if he could just tell her everything; but he can't.
" I guess I do need a partner," she stops and changes her words." I mean . . .I think I am ready to have a new partner." She nods to herself because she is satisfied with her decision. He, on the other hand, after the occurrences of the mission, doesn't know if he is ready for what this new job entails. Little did he know that someone else would have the same uncertain feelings.
* * * * * * * *
Kristine watches through the monitor at all that transpires on her plane ride back to LA. Vaughn had forgotten to turn off the camera on his shirt once they boarded the plane. She is both glad and disappointed at seeing the interaction on the plane. Her head is telling her, " This is good. Mission is completed. Vaughn and Sydney will be partners. This is just what the CIA needs." Another part is worried for Vaughn.
" I think you need to have a little talk with him," Weiss' voice startles her. She quickly turns around unaware that she wasn't the only one watching the monitor.
" I know what you're going to say," she holds up her hand. " But let's just see where this goes first."