Em: No worries, Resurgam isn't abandoned, I just haven't had time to work on that lately. In the midst of 3 different fic challenges right now, so hopefully when those are done, I can resume updates on other stuff…
Chapter 2
Don't try to fix me…
I'm not broken, hello.
~Evanescence, Hello
Sydney was running down the dark hallway, trying to elude her pursuer. The harder she ran, the faster he seemed to get… and there was no escape in sight. She was preparing herself to turn around, face whomever was after her, when something caught her eye. A dark savior, clad in black, had appeared to light her way. He took her hand and steered her down a hall she hadn't previously noticed, soon leading her to freedom.
"Thank you," Sydney said hesitantly. As he turned to face her, Sydney gasped.
"You'll know," Sark said, repeating the words he'd said to her last night.
"Know what?" she pleaded. He gave her a sad smile.
"Seven months." He placed her hand over his heart, holding it there for a moment, before closing his eyes and disappearing into the mist. She still heard the man chasing her, but knew he was no longer a threat to her well-being.
Sark had saved her.
Sydney sat straight up in bed, looking around wildly before realizing- it was only a dream. She sighed to herself, and glanced to the clock to find it was 4:07. She rubbed her eyes, but decided to try for a few more hours of sleep. She settled back down, trying to coax herself into sleep, but with her mind racing through the possibilities. Nothing was clear anymore… but had it ever truly been to begin with? She fell asleep, her mind locked on dream-Sark's pained smile.
Early the next morning, Sydney walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She'd just sat down and started drinking when the door opened and Will walked in, shirt in hand. He paused as he caught sight of her.
"Morning."
"Hey. I take it you went for a run?" he nodded. "Should've gotten me up; I would've gone with you."
"Thought you might need your rest. Tomorrow, ok?" he suggested with a smile.
"Ok." Looking concerned, Will moved over and sat across from her.
"Syd… are you all right?" She sighed.
"Uh… no. Not really."
"Do you want to talk?"
"It's just… something happened last night, and I can't understand it."
"Something happened? Like… a bad dream, or…" Sydney shaking her head caused him to stop.
"No… nothing that simple." With another sigh, she proceeded to tell him about Sark's visit, but left out all details of her dream. When she'd finished, Will was left staring down at the table, idly twiddling his thumbs. After an enduring silence, Sydney spoke again.
"I'm sorry Will, I shouldn't have told you. I-"
"No, no, I asked you to tell me. What now?"
"I'm not sure. He must know something about what happened while I was… gone. I've got to find some way to get him to tell me." Will looked at her nervously.
"Be careful Syd. You know better than I what this guy is capable of." She nodded slowly.
"I know… but last night, there was nothing threatening about him. He was just so…"
"Syd… don't fall into some kind of trap here. I'm not trying to downplay your instincts, I'm just saying- be careful." She smiled at him as she finished her coffee and stood.
"I'll be very careful, I promise. Thanks Will." She leaned over to give him a quick hug, and then headed back to her room to change. When she walked back out a short time later, Will was in the kitchen, working on breakfast.
"Have you become a master chef?" she asked teasingly.
"Hardly. Just figured that since I didn't have anyone around to feed me anymore, I'd better learn to do it myself." Despite the joking tone, Sydney heard the underlying pain in his voice, and it reminded her that there were still a lot of things they needed to talk about.
"Hey," she said softly. He turned to face her, and she enveloped him in a hug. He was surprised, but returned the gesture.
"What's this for?" he whispered.
"Everything," she replied. "I'm so sorry for everything. I think we should talk when I get back."
"When you get back? Where are you going?" She gave him a look, and held up her cell phone.
"The CIA beckons."
"What? You just got home last night, and they already want you back in?" Sydney nodded.
"It's not like they're sending me off to Germany on some insane mission. It's just… more debriefing. And there are things they still haven't told me- about Vaughn, my father… I just don't know what's going on."
"All right then, I guess I'll see you when I see you," Will replied, resuming his aborted attempt at breakfast. Sydney turned to leave, then thought of something and slowly faced him again.
"Will?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you… still working for the CIA?" He grew still, staring down at his French toast. A moment later, he continued what he was doing, but still didn't look at her.
"No."
"What happened?" Will finally glanced up at her, a faint flicker of amusement playing in his eyes.
"Syd… didn't they call you in?" Sydney rolled her eyes.
"Screw the CIA… they can wait." He gave her a thankful smile.
"Ok then… I quit. I hadn't even been in that long, or that deep, and yet that life had taken everything from me. Because of it, I lost Francie, I lost you, I lost my normalcy… I almost lost my life. I tried to hang in, but I just… I couldn't. I couldn't stick around there with the full knowledge of all it had cost. So I resigned, and they helped me get a job at a magazine- a real magazine."
"The CIA helped you?" Sydney repeated dubiously. He dropped his eyes back to his cooking, but looked up at her again a moment later. Sydney nodded slowly.
"Vaughn helped you."
"He turned in his own resignation the next day."
"Have you kept in touch with him?" Will shook his head.
"Nah… I see him around, every so often, but that's it." Sydney was about to reply when her cell phone went off again.
"Ah… the joys of technology," she sighed. "I guess I'd better go in before they send a search team after me or something." Will gave her a blank look, and she smiled apologetically.
"Sorry… guess that wasn't very funny." He shook his head.
"No, 'fraid not."
"Sorry," she repeated.
"See you when you get home, all right?"
"Yeah… home." Sydney walked out to her car, which Will had also taken good care of in her absence, and was about to unlock the door when something caught her attention. There, on the drivers seat, sat a white envelope, her name on the front. Baffled, Sydney inspected the car. All doors were locked, all windows rolled up, and yet there it was. She looked around quickly, not sure what she was expecting to find, then unlocked the car and picked up the envelope. Sitting down, she tore it open and pulled out a single piece of paper. It was a poem, which she read over carefully.
Take this kiss upon the brow
And, in parting from you now,
This much let me avow--
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone ?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand--
How few! yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep--while I weep!
O God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?
~Edgar Allen Poe~
She recognized the handwriting; it was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She flipped the paper over, and found two sentences on the back, and proceeded to read them aloud.
"The canicular heat of Italy… the cool rains of Switzerland. You'll know."