A/N: thank you so much to demon and rin for betaing! thank you thank you thank you! and more thank yous to demon and angelbleu for making wps for this fic.

and this chapter is dedicated to a classmate of mine in elementary school, Jaerin. Hope you're having fun in heaven.

Lor: good thing you put the English next to that phrase… it would have taken me at least a minute to understand what you were saying! (yes… it's been that long since I've taken French…)

valley-girl2: lol… seriously… how can someone be mad at weiss? He's such a teddy bear!! :) hehe… the code wasn't that hard was it? Hehe.. glad for you! The end of the semester is always good… my finals are next week :( hehe… I really should get studying. I hope you have a safe trip back home!

total vaughn lover: hehe… I love the new name!

'sally': a lot of stuff is going on… which will be all reveiled in the epilogue… hehe.. I'm still chatnoir on sd-1. :)

Brynne: well.. he had to stay hidden from Weiss! Hehe… he has reasons. Very very teary reunion. ;)

Gah… late for class again! I have a calc test too… wish me luck! :) I really need an A…




Chapter 13

August 17, 2005
Los Angeles, California
Sydney's and Vaughn's House
2:35 PM

The shades of grays melted against the shadows of the furniture. He was watching for Sydney. He had come two hours before he knew she'd be home from her half day of work at the Joint Task Force to find a hiding place. He heard a car coming up the driveway, alerting him to the fact that she was home.

The sound of the key scratching the key hole, the lock twisting and dropping, and the turning of the doorknob. She was in the house, dropping her keys in a plate meant for decoration as she passed.

Her steps echoed as she walked toward her bedroom. Closing the door behind her, he waited a few minutes before changing positions so he could hear what she was doing. The rainfall of the shower penetrated the walls. He also heard gasping and hiccuping of air. His eyes widened as he realized that she was crying. The moaning of a woman angry at the world for taking away her love.

After a few minutes, the water was shut off. He left his position in front of her bedroom door in search of a better hiding place.

He watched as she left the room wearing a man's shirt with the Kings' logo on the front. She was thin. The close encounter with death had left a mark on her. Her eyes were deep red pits in her skull. She was killing herself again… it was obvious. Maybe not consciously, but she was. The already too big shirt was hanging on her gaunt frame.

A diamond ring was shimmering on her ring finger.

"Damn it. He never told me he'd asked her," he swore under his breath.

She stopped by a picture frame. From what he could see in this angle, it was a silver antique. She shifted her weight from one foot to the next and he saw a picture of them together. They had their arms around one another and they radiated with a glow that only true lovers had. She was crying again.

She sat the picture frame down and moved to the kitchen.

He watched her grab a bottle of whiskey, already three fourths empty, and a shot glass. I sure picked a hell of a day to visit her. Good thing she doesn't do this everyday. If she did, her father would definitely know, especially if she went to work late, had a hangover, and reeked with alcohol. He would have knocked some sense into her. Either he or Weiss.

He knew that she wasn't planning on killing herself again, only trying to drench out her sorrows. Should I stop her?

She was already pouring her second cup. But instead of throwing it back like she did the first and letting its fire course through her body, she nursed this one.

At least she still shows some semblance of self control.

She started staring off into space, smiling at some memory that had popped in her thoughts. He couldn't stand watching the emotions pass through her face anymore. It was getting too sappy for him.

"Sydney, I believe your father would be highly… shall we say… disappointed right now if he were to see you sitting there drinking," I said, coming out of the shades of gray.

She stiffened visibly and her breathing became erratic. Her eyes were trained on the barrel of his gun. He was standing only four feet away. She was immobilized. She wasn't armed. He had her at her most vulnerable state of mind too.

"You're supposed to be dead," her said just above a whisper, her voice tight with fear.

"Verisimilitude Sydney. You should know that."

"It might seem true, but I know I'm dreaming. You're dead. So many people saw you die."

"But when does anything ever appear as it seems. A death is so easy to fake."

"Stop it! Stop it! Gloating yourself by making my mind spin will get you no where," she was holding her head in her hands. Memories were clashing with one another, creating a waterfall of thoughts to flow.

There was a silence before he started again.

"He misses you," he spoke quietly, and surprisingly with a degree of awe.

"Who?"

"You know who. He talks about you incessantly. He refuses to let me sleep at night. He watches over you even when you don't think he's there."

"I know he does. I can feel him sometimes. He's my guardian angel."

How can I be having a civil conversation with him? And especially about Vaughn. This is so weird. This is wrong, Sydney thought.

"Truth takes time, Sydney. I believe your mother told you that once, a long time ago?"

Beat.

"How did you know my mother told me that?"

"I just know."

Beat.

"You're still supposed to be dead."

"To you, I am dead. But to others, I'm a figment of their imagination. How wonderful is that? Just like your baby wasn't real."

"What are you talking about?" she was trembling. Confused beyond regular confusion, scared to be talking to a supposed ghost.

"You'll understand some day. But the baby wasn't real. It was something we had to do to make you forget certain events in your head."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you can't keep on like this. I may have been your worst enemy at some point, especially when you first met me, but I promised Agent Vaughn I would take care of you while he was gone."

She laughed a sarcastic laugh. "Vaughn made you promise him? I highly doubt that. He would kill you first. And he's dead." Water came to her eyes again at the thought of him.

"Just take care of yourself. Vaughn would be displeased if he sees you like this. He can't work if you're like this."

Silence. All the information was being absorbed too fast. Her head was spinning with too much information. So many things changing. Reality was colliding with what she was dreaming… or what she thought she was dreaming.

"Tell me. How do you know all this?"

"That's what the afterlife is like Sydney. Get used to more frequent visits from us."

"So you are dead."

"Like I said before, Sydney, only to those who don't understand what we are doing."

"Stop messing with my head. Leave already."

"Take care of yourself."

"Go away Sark," she spoke it was vehemence.

"I prefer Aiden now," his British accent was clipped but calm.

She closed her eyes, trying to remember why that name sounded so familiar. When she opened them, he was gone.

All that was left was a note written on standard brown packaging paper.

Mon ange,

Je t'aime. I miss you.

~Vaughn

~tbc~