Hey everyone- here's chapter 8. Sorry if this is just terribly mushy. I'm in quite the happy, romantic mood since my friend's wedding on Saturday. HUM. I don't know where to go from here, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. Of course, I'm always open to suggestions, so read and review, or email me at adele1013@email.com! Enjoy!
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Chapter 8
I didn't make it in to CIA headquarters until almost five the next day. Sloane had kept me busy with post-mission debriefs the entire day, and I felt more exhausted now than I had while actually on the mission.
There was actually no reason for me to be at the CIA. The information I had gathered for the CIA countermission had been taken care of on a dead drop this morning. The truth was, I needed to see him. I wanted to tell him thank you—for the flowers, and for being the one person who could understand how I felt when I returned from a mission.
Five days was way too long to be separated from Michael Vaughn.
I was addicted.
As I entered the main offices of the CIA, I glanced around, hoping to see Vaughn at his desk, but he wasn't there.
I did see Weiss, typing busily on his computer, and decided to head over and say hi.
"Weiss—" I said, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Oh. Hey Syd," he said, turning in his chair to face me. "What're you doing here? Didn't you just get back?"
I nodded. "Last night."
"So why aren't you home sleeping?"
I shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Just wanted to come in and make sure everything was going ok."
"So you're a workaholic…tell me something I don't know."
I smiled. "Yep. You know me. Can't stay away." I laughed nervously, and Weiss's eyes suddenly became suspicious.
"Wait." He said. "There's something else." He looked at me, trying to read my expression. I blushed.
Suddenly, Weiss broke into a grin. "Oh…I know what it is," he said, discreetly glancing in the direction of Vaughn's empty desk. He turned back, nodding. "Yep. Just as I thought. You just couldn't wait another second to see—"
"Weiss!" I hissed, cutting him off. "Shut up!"
"Come on," he said, pretending to be offended. "You can tell me," he said. "It's not like I don't already know," he muttered.
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"Yeah," he said, leaning forward in his chair. "Vaughn told me."
"He told you?" I said, my voice coming out louder than expected. "I'm gonna kill him…" I muttered beneath my breath.
"No you're not," Weiss said. "You love him."
"Weiss—" I snapped, glaring at him. "Shut up."
"Syd, seriously. Even if he hadn't told me, I already knew. You guys are so obvious. Vaughn isn't the best at hiding his feelings about anything—especially you. And you aren't exactly the best at it either, for someone who's supposed to be such a world class intelligence agent—"
Weiss's voice trailed off as I continued to glare at him. "Where is he?" I asked finally, realizing that there was no point in denying what Weiss obviously already knew.
"In a meeting with Kendall," Weiss replied. "Should be done soon."
I nodded, looking at him seriously. "Please keep this to yourself?" I asked. Weiss's face turned serious as well.
"Syd, you mean the world to him. I realized that about a week after he met you. I'd never do anything to endanger that."
I smiled, relieved. "Thanks."
"Speaking of Loverboy," Weiss muttered, his grin returning. He nodded towards the conference room. I shot him a final glare before glancing in the direction that he had indicated. I smiled, seeing Vaughn, his back to me, finishing a conversation with Kendall.
Without another word, I headed towards Vaughn, ignoring Weiss's disgusted muttering behind me.
"Agent Bristow," Kendall said when he saw me approaching. I smiled as Vaughn turned around, his eyebrows rising slightly when he saw that it was me. He had obviously been expecting my father, and I couldn't help the swell of pleasure I felt as his eyes lit up when he realized that it was me. Our eyes connected for a moment, before I returned my attention to Kendall.
"Good work in Australia, Bristow," Kendall said, smiling tightly. "I'm surprised to see you here. The jet lag must be terrible." I laughed to myself. Like he would know. He spent all of his time sending me on the missions, while he sat here, safe in his office, offering his opinions on what I was doing wrong.
I shrugged, looking from him to Vaughn and back. "I guess I'm used to it." I paused, glancing around the room, hoping that Kendall would take the hint and leave. He didn't, though, and I continued. "I just wanted to check in on a few things here…" I cast a glance at Vaughn, trying not to laugh as he concealed a grin. He and I both knew that the only reason I was here was to see him. "And then I'm headed home," I concluded.
"Good," Kendall said. "You deserve the rest." He turned to Vaughn. "We're done here, Agent Vaughn." He nodded curtly at me before walking briskly away.
"Hey," Vaughn said after Kendall disappeared around the corner. "I'm glad you're back."
"Me too. I wanted to see you before I headed home." He grinned. "The flowers were beautiful."
"I'm glad you liked them," he said, glancing away. "I wanted to be there in person…but I did what I could."
I had to force myself not to reach out and take his hand—to pull him into an embrace right there in the middle of CIA headquarters.
Instead, I settled for teasing him. "Well," I said. "I seem to remember something about a twelfth rose…" I said, my voice trailing off.
Vaughn chuckled. "Right." He paused, and I stared at him curiously. "Check your desk," he said finally. "And I'll see you later."
Abruptly, he turned and walked away, leaving me with a perplexed look on my face. I turned around, still confused, my eyes falling on Weiss, who was watching me with a goofy grin on his face.
No doubt he was in on whatever was going on. I shot him another look as I walked to my desk, and he raised his hands in the air defensively.
I sat down at my desk, my eyes falling immediately on a flash of red. Shielded from view behind one of my never-ending piles of paperwork, lay a single red rose.
I smiled to myself, wondering how Vaughn had managed to get the flower to my desk without drawing all kinds of attention. But then, Vaughn had his ways.
It wasn't until I picked up the rose, smelling it absently, that I saw the note beneath it.
Glancing around nervously, I slipped the unmarked envelope open, pulling out the folded piece of paper inside, and reading it slowly.
'Syd-
You're twelfth rose as promised. You said before you left for Australia that the note I left you wasn't what you had been hoping for. Well, it wasn't what I had wanted to write, either. So I'm making up for it now.
Syd—you are my life. My world. My everything. You make me happy whenever I see you, whenever I talk to you, and when you're gone, I die inside. I can't eat. I can't sleep. And the only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that you'll be back soon.
I love you, Syd, more than I will ever be able to say or to show you. And I wish that we could be together now, and that you could leave this life behind. But since that isn't possible, just know that it will all end someday, and when it does, I'll be waiting there for you.
All my love- V.
p.s. Warehouse. Tonight. 7pm.'
I paused, breathing deeply, and brushing away the streaks of tears that had run down my cheeks, finding myself grateful—so grateful that, despite all the seemingly endless pain in my life, I had something so…beautiful. And in that moment, I loved him more than ever.
After allowing my eyes enough time to recover from the obvious signs that I had been crying, I looked up, hoping to catch Vaughn before he left for the day.
I was startled by Weiss's voice behind me.
"He just left." I turned to look at him, disappointed.
"Did you know about this?" I asked, holding up the note.
Weiss nodded. "I told you. You mean the world to him."
* * * * *
Well? Good, or too mushy. I can never tell. My mushiness meter is off the charts-- to me, all mushiness is good mushiness. But who knows. I could be totally wrong! At any rate, let me know what you think!
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Chapter 8
I didn't make it in to CIA headquarters until almost five the next day. Sloane had kept me busy with post-mission debriefs the entire day, and I felt more exhausted now than I had while actually on the mission.
There was actually no reason for me to be at the CIA. The information I had gathered for the CIA countermission had been taken care of on a dead drop this morning. The truth was, I needed to see him. I wanted to tell him thank you—for the flowers, and for being the one person who could understand how I felt when I returned from a mission.
Five days was way too long to be separated from Michael Vaughn.
I was addicted.
As I entered the main offices of the CIA, I glanced around, hoping to see Vaughn at his desk, but he wasn't there.
I did see Weiss, typing busily on his computer, and decided to head over and say hi.
"Weiss—" I said, tapping him on the shoulder.
"Oh. Hey Syd," he said, turning in his chair to face me. "What're you doing here? Didn't you just get back?"
I nodded. "Last night."
"So why aren't you home sleeping?"
I shrugged, grinning sheepishly. "Just wanted to come in and make sure everything was going ok."
"So you're a workaholic…tell me something I don't know."
I smiled. "Yep. You know me. Can't stay away." I laughed nervously, and Weiss's eyes suddenly became suspicious.
"Wait." He said. "There's something else." He looked at me, trying to read my expression. I blushed.
Suddenly, Weiss broke into a grin. "Oh…I know what it is," he said, discreetly glancing in the direction of Vaughn's empty desk. He turned back, nodding. "Yep. Just as I thought. You just couldn't wait another second to see—"
"Weiss!" I hissed, cutting him off. "Shut up!"
"Come on," he said, pretending to be offended. "You can tell me," he said. "It's not like I don't already know," he muttered.
"What?" I asked, shocked.
"Yeah," he said, leaning forward in his chair. "Vaughn told me."
"He told you?" I said, my voice coming out louder than expected. "I'm gonna kill him…" I muttered beneath my breath.
"No you're not," Weiss said. "You love him."
"Weiss—" I snapped, glaring at him. "Shut up."
"Syd, seriously. Even if he hadn't told me, I already knew. You guys are so obvious. Vaughn isn't the best at hiding his feelings about anything—especially you. And you aren't exactly the best at it either, for someone who's supposed to be such a world class intelligence agent—"
Weiss's voice trailed off as I continued to glare at him. "Where is he?" I asked finally, realizing that there was no point in denying what Weiss obviously already knew.
"In a meeting with Kendall," Weiss replied. "Should be done soon."
I nodded, looking at him seriously. "Please keep this to yourself?" I asked. Weiss's face turned serious as well.
"Syd, you mean the world to him. I realized that about a week after he met you. I'd never do anything to endanger that."
I smiled, relieved. "Thanks."
"Speaking of Loverboy," Weiss muttered, his grin returning. He nodded towards the conference room. I shot him a final glare before glancing in the direction that he had indicated. I smiled, seeing Vaughn, his back to me, finishing a conversation with Kendall.
Without another word, I headed towards Vaughn, ignoring Weiss's disgusted muttering behind me.
"Agent Bristow," Kendall said when he saw me approaching. I smiled as Vaughn turned around, his eyebrows rising slightly when he saw that it was me. He had obviously been expecting my father, and I couldn't help the swell of pleasure I felt as his eyes lit up when he realized that it was me. Our eyes connected for a moment, before I returned my attention to Kendall.
"Good work in Australia, Bristow," Kendall said, smiling tightly. "I'm surprised to see you here. The jet lag must be terrible." I laughed to myself. Like he would know. He spent all of his time sending me on the missions, while he sat here, safe in his office, offering his opinions on what I was doing wrong.
I shrugged, looking from him to Vaughn and back. "I guess I'm used to it." I paused, glancing around the room, hoping that Kendall would take the hint and leave. He didn't, though, and I continued. "I just wanted to check in on a few things here…" I cast a glance at Vaughn, trying not to laugh as he concealed a grin. He and I both knew that the only reason I was here was to see him. "And then I'm headed home," I concluded.
"Good," Kendall said. "You deserve the rest." He turned to Vaughn. "We're done here, Agent Vaughn." He nodded curtly at me before walking briskly away.
"Hey," Vaughn said after Kendall disappeared around the corner. "I'm glad you're back."
"Me too. I wanted to see you before I headed home." He grinned. "The flowers were beautiful."
"I'm glad you liked them," he said, glancing away. "I wanted to be there in person…but I did what I could."
I had to force myself not to reach out and take his hand—to pull him into an embrace right there in the middle of CIA headquarters.
Instead, I settled for teasing him. "Well," I said. "I seem to remember something about a twelfth rose…" I said, my voice trailing off.
Vaughn chuckled. "Right." He paused, and I stared at him curiously. "Check your desk," he said finally. "And I'll see you later."
Abruptly, he turned and walked away, leaving me with a perplexed look on my face. I turned around, still confused, my eyes falling on Weiss, who was watching me with a goofy grin on his face.
No doubt he was in on whatever was going on. I shot him another look as I walked to my desk, and he raised his hands in the air defensively.
I sat down at my desk, my eyes falling immediately on a flash of red. Shielded from view behind one of my never-ending piles of paperwork, lay a single red rose.
I smiled to myself, wondering how Vaughn had managed to get the flower to my desk without drawing all kinds of attention. But then, Vaughn had his ways.
It wasn't until I picked up the rose, smelling it absently, that I saw the note beneath it.
Glancing around nervously, I slipped the unmarked envelope open, pulling out the folded piece of paper inside, and reading it slowly.
'Syd-
You're twelfth rose as promised. You said before you left for Australia that the note I left you wasn't what you had been hoping for. Well, it wasn't what I had wanted to write, either. So I'm making up for it now.
Syd—you are my life. My world. My everything. You make me happy whenever I see you, whenever I talk to you, and when you're gone, I die inside. I can't eat. I can't sleep. And the only thing that keeps me sane is knowing that you'll be back soon.
I love you, Syd, more than I will ever be able to say or to show you. And I wish that we could be together now, and that you could leave this life behind. But since that isn't possible, just know that it will all end someday, and when it does, I'll be waiting there for you.
All my love- V.
p.s. Warehouse. Tonight. 7pm.'
I paused, breathing deeply, and brushing away the streaks of tears that had run down my cheeks, finding myself grateful—so grateful that, despite all the seemingly endless pain in my life, I had something so…beautiful. And in that moment, I loved him more than ever.
After allowing my eyes enough time to recover from the obvious signs that I had been crying, I looked up, hoping to catch Vaughn before he left for the day.
I was startled by Weiss's voice behind me.
"He just left." I turned to look at him, disappointed.
"Did you know about this?" I asked, holding up the note.
Weiss nodded. "I told you. You mean the world to him."
* * * * *
Well? Good, or too mushy. I can never tell. My mushiness meter is off the charts-- to me, all mushiness is good mushiness. But who knows. I could be totally wrong! At any rate, let me know what you think!