The warm air seeped over her as she lay sleeping in her bed. Her
back was expose to the air and as she woke, she felt goose bumps raise from
her scantily clad body. Her eyes fluttered open and she started to look
around, realizing the bed was empty beside her. Sydney pulled her body out
of the empty bed lazily and searched for a piece of discarded clothing.
Finding success, she pulled on one of his white button down shirts and
found a pair of her heavy socks to cover her chilled feet. Slowly, she
pulled the shirt over her frail tank top and her boyfriend's boxer shorts
and buttoned a few buttons down the center. The cuffs were undone and
revealed the gauze that had been carefully wrapped along her forearms. She
found a hair tie and pulled her sleep tasseled hair away from her red
blotchy face. It had been a long, emotional trip back home. They had come
home in the middle of the night from the office. They had all been through
extensive debriefing and they had all gone through so much paperwork in so
little time. It had been nothing less of an emotional roller coaster for
any of them. But there were only four, not five agents that returned.
Claire was not well enough to travel back to the states. She had received
the worst torture out of all them. After all, she had been there since
early that morning. But in all honestly, she didn't want to come back.
@@@@@
"How can I go to the states when I work in the UK?" She raised her eyebrows in anticipation of the expected answer. "You know I can't come with you." She ran her hand along her left arm to dull the painful sensation that overpowered her. Agent Eaves had sat her down on the couch next to Isabelle or more likely, where Isabelle had resided for a few moments.
It was still the night before they were destined to leave. Vaughn was still sitting in the living room after Isabelle and Jeanette had their little heart to heart or butted heads or whatever you honestly want to call it. The two women had left about ten minutes prior to Vaughn popping this fateful question, "I wish that you would leave the agency." He sighed heavily, looking for some reassurance in Sydney.
"You know I can't. That's like asking you to leave your agency. Look, you didn't even leave when you were diagnosed with cancer! You have a life threatening disease and you're still putting your life on the line on a daily basis! You even went out on an op when you were sick. You of all people should know that I can't leave."
Vaughn thought about this for a long moment. "Oh Claire" was all he could whisper. His brow wrinkled in pain-more emotional than anything else. "I never wanted you to have this life."
"But I do have this life and after everything we've been through, I have to say, that I love it. I am going to make a difference in this world, come hell or high water. I am here because Samuel gave his life protecting his country. I won't work for the CIA because of Dad but damn it, Michael, I need to make a difference and-and do something! I need to make it so that other little girls don't grow up without their father just because he's trying to keep his country safe." Her voice cracked with passion.
"What happens to the men you kill?" Vaughn managed to utter barely above a whisper.
She thought about this for a long time and started to study the bruise coursing down her exposed ankle. "If I can keep one person safe in my life, then my life is fulfilled."
@@@@@
Sydney's eyes glanced in the mirror and she immediately saw the jet lag apparent on her face. She was quickly grateful that she had enough composure to remove some of her make-up before sliding into bed. The appearance of worn black mascara along her age lines would not have been the most beautiful thing in the world. Bright violet bruises were forming around her eyes and her face was swollen from the torture. Her hands quickly found a nearby light switch as she padded towards her kitchen. She saw the bright kitchen light on and wanted to see what was going on. She forgot how much she loved her apartment. It had been a little over ten days since she had been home and she loved the organic ginger smell that her apartment basically reeked of. She missed its bright, clean cut lines of her Eastern inspired furniture. Her hands glided along the edges of her black dressing table as she made her way towards the desired room. All the while, she thought of poor Jeanette, sitting in a cold room in the Joint Task Force Operations, waiting for her debriefing.
@@@@@
Weiss listened to Claire and Vaughn exchange but chose to ignore it for the better part. He crossed quietly out of the room and started to look in all the adjoining rooms for the very much alive agent. He didn't find her downstairs but promptly found her standing outside of Maisie's room, starring at the little girl play with her dolls. "Agent Salve?"
She looked away from her daughter for a moment, shocked at the sound of a voice behind her. She acknowledged him and smiled lightly. "She's beautiful, isn't she? Isabelle did such a wonderful job."
Weiss smiled in agreement and walked towards her to gaze into the room, "She's absolutely perfect."
"She's her father."
"She's you." Weiss confessed. It was true. Maisie had all of the wonderful characteristics that Jeanette had. But it was still undiscovered whether or not she had her mother's resilient temper. "We both know that you're tough and that little girl, she has a mind of her own. I honestly don't think she got that from her father." He laughed lightly at his own joke. "Now, Agent Salve-"
Jeanette smiled even brighter, "After all these years, Eric, you don't have to call me so formal. Cut the agent crap. Jeanette, please."
Weiss nodded his head in agreement, "Fine. Jeanette, we're going back in a few hours. Jack Bristow has ordered a plane to pick us up. The only thing is that you're going to be taken into custody as soon as we get into US territory. Per orders of-"
"Kendall's still a son of a bitch, isn't he?" Jeanette smiled, nodding her head in understanding. She rested her head on her hand. "It's been five years since I've walked through those hallways. I can't say I'm eager to get back." She smirked ruefully at that last remark.
Weiss shared a private smile with her, "I'm gonna go and check on Isabelle."
"You two finally hooked up?" She called after him after he started to rise. He quickly turned back, his eyes fairly wide with shock. "Oh come off it, Eric. Everyone saw those looks that the two of you shared as soon as Maisie was born. Grant it, I think you were pining after her a hell of a lot longer than she was you. And now that her marriage is over, you two are free to be together. It's about time." She looked after him and watched him nod in silence. He was dumbfounded by her remarkable capability to be so blunt. She still had her edge. Even after all of this time.
She nodded at him slightly and made her way into the bedroom, "Hi Maisie!"
@@@@@
So, Sydney continued to walk to the kitchen, now hearing the sounds of Vaughn's voice talking to an invisible being.
"Uh-huh. Uh-huh. No, can we make it three? Three's better for me. There are a few things I need to get down before we do this again. Yeah, I know. No, if this doesn't work, then I'm done. I don't want-no, I understand that it will mean-no, I do understand. Yes, yes of course. I'll see you at three, then. Good-bye." He clicked the phone off and starred at it in his hand for a long moment.
She reached the kitchen and saw Vaughn sitting on one of her chairs with her phone pressed to his ear. His back was to her but she could see that he had showered and changed into fresh clean clothes he had found that he had left in the apartment. He was in a gray fitting t-shirt with a pair of black sweatpants. His bruises were turning from violent black and purple to a less color. "Vaughn." Every time she said his name, a small smile played on her lips. She had no clue how much he meant to her. She felt it in her heart when he left her but now that he was back in his life, she could feel it swelling in her chest more than anything else in the world.
He turned around and saw her standing there, "Hey baby," and placed the phone gingerly down on the table. "What are you doing up? I thought you would sleep until noon."
She rubbed her face out of exhaustion, "What time is it?"
He smiled a little and turned his head to look at the clock, "It's a 11:53."
"Seven minutes ahead of schedule? Hmm..." She walked more into the kitchen and found an empty coffee mug and quickly poured herself a cup of freshly made coffee. "It's strange having you back in the house."
"I love being back." He smiled broadly at her, "You don't know how much I missed you." He opened his arms to her and she quickly found a place nestled in his arms, residing on his lap. He kissed her neck and wrapped his arms securely around her waist.
"Oh, I have a feeling." She laughed smugly. "Who were you on the phone with?" She inquired, lacing her fingertips with his and playing with their interlocked limbs.
He groaned softly as he tried to yawn but felt the pressure in his lung too great.
"What did they find on the portable ultra sound they did on the plane? Hmmm?" She turned and kissed his forehead against and waited her reply.
@@@@@
He lay, shirtless against the cool cot in the airport as they waited to take off. He had complained of having trouble breathing and Sydney had noticed a slight wheezing that had taken place of his normal breathing. The medic applied the cool gel to his tightly toned chest. Sydney watched from her seat at near his shoulders as he sharply inhaled from the coolness against his skin. His icy emerald eyes were focused on the fuzzy little monitory and as the doctor glided the ultrasound over his chest, both their eyes narrowed at certain areas. The doctor leaned forward and whispered something in Vaughn's ear and he just shook his head in return.
"Get on the phone with my doctor. Tell her what you saw and we'll deal with it then." He managed to sigh.
The doctor nodded his head and took a towel to remove the gel.
"What was that about?"
He didn't want to worry her with the information that he had gotten. "It's not important." He choked, the tears started to build up in his eyes. He couldn't help this feeling, this total despair. The chemo hadn't been working and the tumor had not shrunk in the least. All of those nights of feeling so sick, feeling like he was dying and now, he actually was. He sat up slowly and retrieved his shirt and threw it on haphazardly. Without words, he reached forward and felt Sydney wrap her arms around him as he began to cry, unable to say anything.
"Whatever it is, we'll get through it. I promise you. We're going to get through this. Look at everything we've been through. We can get through this. We're going to get through this. There's no way something like this will defeat you. I won't let you give up. We're going to get through this. I swear to you." Sydney whispered into his ear as she kissed his cheek softly. She held him tightly and rocked back and forth, whispering more reassuring phrases softly.
He collapsed further and rested his head in her lap, concentrating on the empty seat in front of him. His breath hitched slightly in his chest, "Oh Syd." He managed to sigh.
"I know, baby." She cooed back, running her fingers along his shoulder.
@@@@@
"I have another treatment today at three."
She nodded at this and rested her head in his chest, "I wish we could hide from the world for a little bit. You've been through so much. I think you need a vacation." She felt her brow wrinkle in concern as she thought about everything.
He smiled and ran his fingers along her worry lines. "You're picking that habit from me." The smile quickly faded from his face, "You're going to get worry lines."
Sydney shrugged as if it didn't really matter and honestly, it didn't. "And you've just discovered why G-d created make-up, sweetie!"
There was a lack of light shining from his eyes, "You still so bruised." He stated flatly.
"Thanks for that one." She rolled her eyes and glared at him in a mocking way. "Remind me to remember that later."
"They weren't that bad at the estate."
"And once again, we've discovered why G-d created make-up. Your sisters have already learned it very well. And Jeanette has mastered it." She laughed lightly.
@@@@@@
The little girl's breath tickled her face slightly as the young brown eyes met the older similar colored ones. Her hand reached up and let her finger trail along an ancient scar that was cut across her pale skin. "What's that?" The precocious four, almost five, year old asked. Her cool fingers continued to go over it and rested at the edge of it, near her jaw line.
Jeanette placed her hand on Maisie's wrist, "A very bad person did that to me."
"Oh." Maisie thought about this for a long time and drew her hand away. Her brow knitted just like her father's. "Why?"
She didn't know how to answer her daughter's question, "Sometimes bad things happen to good people."
"So, you're good people?" She asked innocently, not knowing the background of the woman sitting in front of her.
.
@@@@@
"How can I go to the states when I work in the UK?" She raised her eyebrows in anticipation of the expected answer. "You know I can't come with you." She ran her hand along her left arm to dull the painful sensation that overpowered her. Agent Eaves had sat her down on the couch next to Isabelle or more likely, where Isabelle had resided for a few moments.
It was still the night before they were destined to leave. Vaughn was still sitting in the living room after Isabelle and Jeanette had their little heart to heart or butted heads or whatever you honestly want to call it. The two women had left about ten minutes prior to Vaughn popping this fateful question, "I wish that you would leave the agency." He sighed heavily, looking for some reassurance in Sydney.
"You know I can't. That's like asking you to leave your agency. Look, you didn't even leave when you were diagnosed with cancer! You have a life threatening disease and you're still putting your life on the line on a daily basis! You even went out on an op when you were sick. You of all people should know that I can't leave."
Vaughn thought about this for a long moment. "Oh Claire" was all he could whisper. His brow wrinkled in pain-more emotional than anything else. "I never wanted you to have this life."
"But I do have this life and after everything we've been through, I have to say, that I love it. I am going to make a difference in this world, come hell or high water. I am here because Samuel gave his life protecting his country. I won't work for the CIA because of Dad but damn it, Michael, I need to make a difference and-and do something! I need to make it so that other little girls don't grow up without their father just because he's trying to keep his country safe." Her voice cracked with passion.
"What happens to the men you kill?" Vaughn managed to utter barely above a whisper.
She thought about this for a long time and started to study the bruise coursing down her exposed ankle. "If I can keep one person safe in my life, then my life is fulfilled."
@@@@@
Sydney's eyes glanced in the mirror and she immediately saw the jet lag apparent on her face. She was quickly grateful that she had enough composure to remove some of her make-up before sliding into bed. The appearance of worn black mascara along her age lines would not have been the most beautiful thing in the world. Bright violet bruises were forming around her eyes and her face was swollen from the torture. Her hands quickly found a nearby light switch as she padded towards her kitchen. She saw the bright kitchen light on and wanted to see what was going on. She forgot how much she loved her apartment. It had been a little over ten days since she had been home and she loved the organic ginger smell that her apartment basically reeked of. She missed its bright, clean cut lines of her Eastern inspired furniture. Her hands glided along the edges of her black dressing table as she made her way towards the desired room. All the while, she thought of poor Jeanette, sitting in a cold room in the Joint Task Force Operations, waiting for her debriefing.
@@@@@
Weiss listened to Claire and Vaughn exchange but chose to ignore it for the better part. He crossed quietly out of the room and started to look in all the adjoining rooms for the very much alive agent. He didn't find her downstairs but promptly found her standing outside of Maisie's room, starring at the little girl play with her dolls. "Agent Salve?"
She looked away from her daughter for a moment, shocked at the sound of a voice behind her. She acknowledged him and smiled lightly. "She's beautiful, isn't she? Isabelle did such a wonderful job."
Weiss smiled in agreement and walked towards her to gaze into the room, "She's absolutely perfect."
"She's her father."
"She's you." Weiss confessed. It was true. Maisie had all of the wonderful characteristics that Jeanette had. But it was still undiscovered whether or not she had her mother's resilient temper. "We both know that you're tough and that little girl, she has a mind of her own. I honestly don't think she got that from her father." He laughed lightly at his own joke. "Now, Agent Salve-"
Jeanette smiled even brighter, "After all these years, Eric, you don't have to call me so formal. Cut the agent crap. Jeanette, please."
Weiss nodded his head in agreement, "Fine. Jeanette, we're going back in a few hours. Jack Bristow has ordered a plane to pick us up. The only thing is that you're going to be taken into custody as soon as we get into US territory. Per orders of-"
"Kendall's still a son of a bitch, isn't he?" Jeanette smiled, nodding her head in understanding. She rested her head on her hand. "It's been five years since I've walked through those hallways. I can't say I'm eager to get back." She smirked ruefully at that last remark.
Weiss shared a private smile with her, "I'm gonna go and check on Isabelle."
"You two finally hooked up?" She called after him after he started to rise. He quickly turned back, his eyes fairly wide with shock. "Oh come off it, Eric. Everyone saw those looks that the two of you shared as soon as Maisie was born. Grant it, I think you were pining after her a hell of a lot longer than she was you. And now that her marriage is over, you two are free to be together. It's about time." She looked after him and watched him nod in silence. He was dumbfounded by her remarkable capability to be so blunt. She still had her edge. Even after all of this time.
She nodded at him slightly and made her way into the bedroom, "Hi Maisie!"
@@@@@
So, Sydney continued to walk to the kitchen, now hearing the sounds of Vaughn's voice talking to an invisible being.
"Uh-huh. Uh-huh. No, can we make it three? Three's better for me. There are a few things I need to get down before we do this again. Yeah, I know. No, if this doesn't work, then I'm done. I don't want-no, I understand that it will mean-no, I do understand. Yes, yes of course. I'll see you at three, then. Good-bye." He clicked the phone off and starred at it in his hand for a long moment.
She reached the kitchen and saw Vaughn sitting on one of her chairs with her phone pressed to his ear. His back was to her but she could see that he had showered and changed into fresh clean clothes he had found that he had left in the apartment. He was in a gray fitting t-shirt with a pair of black sweatpants. His bruises were turning from violent black and purple to a less color. "Vaughn." Every time she said his name, a small smile played on her lips. She had no clue how much he meant to her. She felt it in her heart when he left her but now that he was back in his life, she could feel it swelling in her chest more than anything else in the world.
He turned around and saw her standing there, "Hey baby," and placed the phone gingerly down on the table. "What are you doing up? I thought you would sleep until noon."
She rubbed her face out of exhaustion, "What time is it?"
He smiled a little and turned his head to look at the clock, "It's a 11:53."
"Seven minutes ahead of schedule? Hmm..." She walked more into the kitchen and found an empty coffee mug and quickly poured herself a cup of freshly made coffee. "It's strange having you back in the house."
"I love being back." He smiled broadly at her, "You don't know how much I missed you." He opened his arms to her and she quickly found a place nestled in his arms, residing on his lap. He kissed her neck and wrapped his arms securely around her waist.
"Oh, I have a feeling." She laughed smugly. "Who were you on the phone with?" She inquired, lacing her fingertips with his and playing with their interlocked limbs.
He groaned softly as he tried to yawn but felt the pressure in his lung too great.
"What did they find on the portable ultra sound they did on the plane? Hmmm?" She turned and kissed his forehead against and waited her reply.
@@@@@
He lay, shirtless against the cool cot in the airport as they waited to take off. He had complained of having trouble breathing and Sydney had noticed a slight wheezing that had taken place of his normal breathing. The medic applied the cool gel to his tightly toned chest. Sydney watched from her seat at near his shoulders as he sharply inhaled from the coolness against his skin. His icy emerald eyes were focused on the fuzzy little monitory and as the doctor glided the ultrasound over his chest, both their eyes narrowed at certain areas. The doctor leaned forward and whispered something in Vaughn's ear and he just shook his head in return.
"Get on the phone with my doctor. Tell her what you saw and we'll deal with it then." He managed to sigh.
The doctor nodded his head and took a towel to remove the gel.
"What was that about?"
He didn't want to worry her with the information that he had gotten. "It's not important." He choked, the tears started to build up in his eyes. He couldn't help this feeling, this total despair. The chemo hadn't been working and the tumor had not shrunk in the least. All of those nights of feeling so sick, feeling like he was dying and now, he actually was. He sat up slowly and retrieved his shirt and threw it on haphazardly. Without words, he reached forward and felt Sydney wrap her arms around him as he began to cry, unable to say anything.
"Whatever it is, we'll get through it. I promise you. We're going to get through this. Look at everything we've been through. We can get through this. We're going to get through this. There's no way something like this will defeat you. I won't let you give up. We're going to get through this. I swear to you." Sydney whispered into his ear as she kissed his cheek softly. She held him tightly and rocked back and forth, whispering more reassuring phrases softly.
He collapsed further and rested his head in her lap, concentrating on the empty seat in front of him. His breath hitched slightly in his chest, "Oh Syd." He managed to sigh.
"I know, baby." She cooed back, running her fingers along his shoulder.
@@@@@
"I have another treatment today at three."
She nodded at this and rested her head in his chest, "I wish we could hide from the world for a little bit. You've been through so much. I think you need a vacation." She felt her brow wrinkle in concern as she thought about everything.
He smiled and ran his fingers along her worry lines. "You're picking that habit from me." The smile quickly faded from his face, "You're going to get worry lines."
Sydney shrugged as if it didn't really matter and honestly, it didn't. "And you've just discovered why G-d created make-up, sweetie!"
There was a lack of light shining from his eyes, "You still so bruised." He stated flatly.
"Thanks for that one." She rolled her eyes and glared at him in a mocking way. "Remind me to remember that later."
"They weren't that bad at the estate."
"And once again, we've discovered why G-d created make-up. Your sisters have already learned it very well. And Jeanette has mastered it." She laughed lightly.
@@@@@@
The little girl's breath tickled her face slightly as the young brown eyes met the older similar colored ones. Her hand reached up and let her finger trail along an ancient scar that was cut across her pale skin. "What's that?" The precocious four, almost five, year old asked. Her cool fingers continued to go over it and rested at the edge of it, near her jaw line.
Jeanette placed her hand on Maisie's wrist, "A very bad person did that to me."
"Oh." Maisie thought about this for a long time and drew her hand away. Her brow knitted just like her father's. "Why?"
She didn't know how to answer her daughter's question, "Sometimes bad things happen to good people."
"So, you're good people?" She asked innocently, not knowing the background of the woman sitting in front of her.
.