A/N: Syd's POV. Reviews would be greatly appreciated!
The Future
* * * *
A knock at the door turns my nervous anticipation into giddy excitement. 'It's him,' I know, but I decide to tease him a little.
"Who is it?" I ask innocently, my hands placed on the door - the only barrier to my future, the key to which is standing outside.
"It's me," responds a voice that I would know anywhere, a voice that adds more meaning to words than they would otherwise have.
I open the door to greet Vaughn who is grinning from ear to ear, eyes gleaming. His smile only grows wider and eyes brighter when he asks, "Are you ready?"
My dimples dip ever further into my cheeks as I answer, "Yeah. Come on in while I grab my stuff."
When I come back to him, suitcase in hand, Vaughn is looking around the livingroom in wonder. "I like your new couch," he says.
"Thanks," I smile. "I checked the forecast for tomorrow. The weather's beautiful in Santa Barbra."
"You're beautiful," he says sincerely, the fire in his eyes showing me that while the words may seem trivial after being spoken so many times, the feelings behind them are as strong as ever.
I drop the suitcase filled with accessories for our three-night escape from the all-too-real world. The case is unnecessary; he is all that I will ever need.
His hands come to rest on my waist as I reach mine around his neck and thread my fingers in his hair. Our kiss is initially sweet and light, but it quickly becomes passionate and devouring, like tasting a forbidden fruit for the first time every time. When I feel his hands begin to sink lower, my mind and heart pull me in different directions, the former telling me we need to leave now or we never will, the latter not caring to ever leave this embrace.
"Vaughn," I murmur, "We...should...go. Santa Barbra."
"We'll go tommorow," he breathes just as heavily.
He lifts me suddenly, one arm under my legs, the other around my back, my head tucked into his neck, and he leads the way to my room down the hall. There is a knock at my door, but we ignore it. Whoever is outside, though, doesn't seem to get the hint as the sound continues...
* * * *
A loud knocking at my door jolts me awake. I turn on my side to face the clock beside my bed. '1:34' the red numbers glare back at me. Who would be pounding on my door in the middle of the night? It can't be Weiss drunkenly coming to tell me about his latest horrible blind date - he's at a conference in London. I throw on a robe and grab my gun for good measure, although certainly anyone trying to kill me or take me hostage would make less noise than that continuous racket.
"Who is it?" I ask cautiously as I reach the door.
"It's me," a tired, unmistakable voice answers. *'I would know that voice anywhere...'*
I open the door, and sure enough, Vaughn is before me, leaning against the door jamb.
"Vaughn, what are you doing here?" I ask, squinting as my eyes adjust to the light I switched on. Has time once again decided to play yo-yo with my sanity and thrown me back into the past?
"I *had* to see you," he sighs. The smell of alcohol spilling forth from his breath abruptly answers my second question, *'No.'*
Ignoring my self-preservational instincts screaming at me "DEFENSE SYSTEMS ALERT," I let him in.
He stumbles forward through the entryway until he supports himself by bracing his arms against the back of my couch.
"Vaughn, did you drive here?" I ask worriedly, knowing that if he did in his current state, he would have taken out a couple of mailboxes on the way.
"No, no, I took a cab. My car's in the shop," he pauses as he takes in a deep breath. "That's why I'm here."
"What?" I ask, confused, unable to decipher his words.
"Lauren...she, she was taking my car to be fixed...and she found it. God, I swear I didn't know it was still in there until tonight! She didn't believe me. My own wife doesn't believe me!" His body is sagging against the couch, defeated.
*'His wife,'* the words pierce me. I push the thought quickly away and turn my attention back to Vaughn. "What are you talking about?" I ask calmly, slowly.
"She found *this*," he says as he pulls a small photo out of his pocket and hands it to me. "Do you remember, Syd? Do you remember that evening..."
* * * *
The sun was setting on the lake, casting shimmering yellow onto the deep blue. The sky was a myriad of oranges and pinks, the few clouds catching the fading sunlight and changing its hue into a spectacular show of color. A few other people were still on dock along with Vaughn and me, quietly witnessing the coming of night.
We were in Brittany, France after a successful meeting with someone who could provide the CIA with intel on the whereabouts of my mother. Once the mission was completed, Vaughn had insisted that we drive to this lake. I didn't argue; I would have followed him anywhere.
We were standing together, my back against him so that both of us were facing the water, his arms draped over my shoulders holding me close. He broke the relative silence after several minutes.
"I'm so glad that meeting ended early. I didn't want to miss the chance of watching the sunset with you here," Vaughn whispered into my ear. "You know, my parents took me here one summer when I was a kid. We were staying in a cottage just little ways north, and every morning, my father and I would come down to this lake to fish. We would come back down with my mother at night, and all three of us would sit at the end of this dock and watch the setting sun. Then my mother would sing about the stars as I fell asleep in her arms. It was wonderful."
I turned around in his arms to face him as I said, "Vaughn, I'm so sorry about your family. My mother, she --"
"No, Syd," he interrupted. "Don't be sorry. Don't ever be sorry for her. Don't let what happened then taint what we have now. That's why I brought you here, Syd, to show you that we can always make our future better than our past."
"Thank you, Vaughn. Thank you for showing me the real you."
We were smiling into each other as our lips met. All of my unfounded guilt melted away in the heat of our union. After a blissful breathless moment that felt like it had neither beginning nor end, our lips parted, but our hearts did not, and we rested our foreheads together, neither one of us breaking our smiles.
Vaughn suddenly turned his head to the last person left on the dock besides us. "Excusez-moi, monsieur. Pouvez-vous prendre notre photo, s'il vous plait?" he asked pulling out a disposable camera from his pocket.
"Bien, sur," the man answered as he took the camera.
Vaughn turned his gaze back to me, replacing his forehead against mine. "I haven't thought about this place much since my parents and I left at the end of that summer, but it has always been buried in the back of my mind. We never took any pictures, but I have never forgotten. I want to take one now so I will always remember. I want what I'm feeling now, what you are making me feel, always present, fresh in my mind," he whispers as I hear the camera's shutter click.
* * * *
A/N: Next chapter, back to the present.
The Future
* * * *
A knock at the door turns my nervous anticipation into giddy excitement. 'It's him,' I know, but I decide to tease him a little.
"Who is it?" I ask innocently, my hands placed on the door - the only barrier to my future, the key to which is standing outside.
"It's me," responds a voice that I would know anywhere, a voice that adds more meaning to words than they would otherwise have.
I open the door to greet Vaughn who is grinning from ear to ear, eyes gleaming. His smile only grows wider and eyes brighter when he asks, "Are you ready?"
My dimples dip ever further into my cheeks as I answer, "Yeah. Come on in while I grab my stuff."
When I come back to him, suitcase in hand, Vaughn is looking around the livingroom in wonder. "I like your new couch," he says.
"Thanks," I smile. "I checked the forecast for tomorrow. The weather's beautiful in Santa Barbra."
"You're beautiful," he says sincerely, the fire in his eyes showing me that while the words may seem trivial after being spoken so many times, the feelings behind them are as strong as ever.
I drop the suitcase filled with accessories for our three-night escape from the all-too-real world. The case is unnecessary; he is all that I will ever need.
His hands come to rest on my waist as I reach mine around his neck and thread my fingers in his hair. Our kiss is initially sweet and light, but it quickly becomes passionate and devouring, like tasting a forbidden fruit for the first time every time. When I feel his hands begin to sink lower, my mind and heart pull me in different directions, the former telling me we need to leave now or we never will, the latter not caring to ever leave this embrace.
"Vaughn," I murmur, "We...should...go. Santa Barbra."
"We'll go tommorow," he breathes just as heavily.
He lifts me suddenly, one arm under my legs, the other around my back, my head tucked into his neck, and he leads the way to my room down the hall. There is a knock at my door, but we ignore it. Whoever is outside, though, doesn't seem to get the hint as the sound continues...
* * * *
A loud knocking at my door jolts me awake. I turn on my side to face the clock beside my bed. '1:34' the red numbers glare back at me. Who would be pounding on my door in the middle of the night? It can't be Weiss drunkenly coming to tell me about his latest horrible blind date - he's at a conference in London. I throw on a robe and grab my gun for good measure, although certainly anyone trying to kill me or take me hostage would make less noise than that continuous racket.
"Who is it?" I ask cautiously as I reach the door.
"It's me," a tired, unmistakable voice answers. *'I would know that voice anywhere...'*
I open the door, and sure enough, Vaughn is before me, leaning against the door jamb.
"Vaughn, what are you doing here?" I ask, squinting as my eyes adjust to the light I switched on. Has time once again decided to play yo-yo with my sanity and thrown me back into the past?
"I *had* to see you," he sighs. The smell of alcohol spilling forth from his breath abruptly answers my second question, *'No.'*
Ignoring my self-preservational instincts screaming at me "DEFENSE SYSTEMS ALERT," I let him in.
He stumbles forward through the entryway until he supports himself by bracing his arms against the back of my couch.
"Vaughn, did you drive here?" I ask worriedly, knowing that if he did in his current state, he would have taken out a couple of mailboxes on the way.
"No, no, I took a cab. My car's in the shop," he pauses as he takes in a deep breath. "That's why I'm here."
"What?" I ask, confused, unable to decipher his words.
"Lauren...she, she was taking my car to be fixed...and she found it. God, I swear I didn't know it was still in there until tonight! She didn't believe me. My own wife doesn't believe me!" His body is sagging against the couch, defeated.
*'His wife,'* the words pierce me. I push the thought quickly away and turn my attention back to Vaughn. "What are you talking about?" I ask calmly, slowly.
"She found *this*," he says as he pulls a small photo out of his pocket and hands it to me. "Do you remember, Syd? Do you remember that evening..."
* * * *
The sun was setting on the lake, casting shimmering yellow onto the deep blue. The sky was a myriad of oranges and pinks, the few clouds catching the fading sunlight and changing its hue into a spectacular show of color. A few other people were still on dock along with Vaughn and me, quietly witnessing the coming of night.
We were in Brittany, France after a successful meeting with someone who could provide the CIA with intel on the whereabouts of my mother. Once the mission was completed, Vaughn had insisted that we drive to this lake. I didn't argue; I would have followed him anywhere.
We were standing together, my back against him so that both of us were facing the water, his arms draped over my shoulders holding me close. He broke the relative silence after several minutes.
"I'm so glad that meeting ended early. I didn't want to miss the chance of watching the sunset with you here," Vaughn whispered into my ear. "You know, my parents took me here one summer when I was a kid. We were staying in a cottage just little ways north, and every morning, my father and I would come down to this lake to fish. We would come back down with my mother at night, and all three of us would sit at the end of this dock and watch the setting sun. Then my mother would sing about the stars as I fell asleep in her arms. It was wonderful."
I turned around in his arms to face him as I said, "Vaughn, I'm so sorry about your family. My mother, she --"
"No, Syd," he interrupted. "Don't be sorry. Don't ever be sorry for her. Don't let what happened then taint what we have now. That's why I brought you here, Syd, to show you that we can always make our future better than our past."
"Thank you, Vaughn. Thank you for showing me the real you."
We were smiling into each other as our lips met. All of my unfounded guilt melted away in the heat of our union. After a blissful breathless moment that felt like it had neither beginning nor end, our lips parted, but our hearts did not, and we rested our foreheads together, neither one of us breaking our smiles.
Vaughn suddenly turned his head to the last person left on the dock besides us. "Excusez-moi, monsieur. Pouvez-vous prendre notre photo, s'il vous plait?" he asked pulling out a disposable camera from his pocket.
"Bien, sur," the man answered as he took the camera.
Vaughn turned his gaze back to me, replacing his forehead against mine. "I haven't thought about this place much since my parents and I left at the end of that summer, but it has always been buried in the back of my mind. We never took any pictures, but I have never forgotten. I want to take one now so I will always remember. I want what I'm feeling now, what you are making me feel, always present, fresh in my mind," he whispers as I hear the camera's shutter click.
* * * *
A/N: Next chapter, back to the present.