Title: Welcome to Normal
Author: Steph (ILUVNYYANK@aol.com)
Category: Romance/Humor
Pairings: Syd/Vaughn, Vaughn/Weiss friendship
Spoilers: "The Frame", "Unveiled", "Hourglass"
Rating: PG (with a strong PG-13 for an upcoming chapter)
Archive: Sure, just let me know where.
Disclaimer: Alias and its characters do not belong to me. I do this out of
a love for the show and no infringement is intended.
Summary: Vaughn gets a taste of the normal life he craves.
Notes: I'm really glad you guys enjoyed the first part. You may have caught onto "The Family Man" similarities. I love that movie and this definitely inspired it. I was actually going to mention that in the first part notes, but I forgot. Good catch!
Also, you'll notice that this story now have 5 parts, instead of 4. Well, that's what happens when something sits on your computer. You tinker! It was technically done, but I tinkered, added a scene here and there...and, voila, now it's 5 parts!
Okay, now a warning: I felt a need for a little warning about this story so that you don't all end up disappointed. Like I said, I'm not going for originality. I was inspired and wanted to touch on a couple of things from 'Hourglass'. Vaughn's 'journey' (so to speak), will lead up to one of those things. So, those of you expecting a really creative explanation for what's going on here, aren't going to get it. It's probably exactly what you're thinking it is and it'll probably become clearer as the story progresses. What's going on isn't important and wasn't my reason for writing this, what it leads to is. With that said, I think (okay, hope), you won't be disappointed with how it all turns out.
All right, I'll shut up now! (But there will be a quiz on the notes at the end of this part, so I sure hope you read them!) Enjoy and please let me know what you thought! ~Steph
* * * * Welcome to Normal: Part 2/5 * * * *
Less than an hour later, Vaughn was dressed and completing a tour of the house. He could hear Sydney and the kids in the kitchen as he moved from room to room. The house was a Ranch-style. It was decorated in soft earth tones and furnished with comfortable, durable furniture. It was fairly neat, but the presence of children was obvious, evidenced by various toys lying here and there.
Vaughn walked into the kitchen, finding the children sitting at the table eating cereal and Sydney standing at the sink. He came up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. She closed her eyes and bent her head back, a little moan escaping from her mouth in the form of his name.
"Michael."
He smiled to himself, realizing that was the first time he'd ever heard her say his first name. He loved how it sounded coming out of her mouth. Lauren was the only one who called him that and he'd never liked how she said it...something about her accent. And, now, he could barely stand hearing her utter his name at all.
'This,' he thought, 'is so much better.'
Vaughn chuckled in her ear, as she let out another little moan. "Careful, there are children in the room."
Sydney smiled and opened her eyes. She then gestured to the sink, which was filled to the brim with dirty dishes. "Are you going to fix this tomorrow? You said you and Eric would give it a try."
Vaughn's eyes widened, as he recalled his conversation with Weiss. The kitchen sink needed to be fixed...and apparently he was going to try to do it.
"Yeah, sure. We'll try to fix it."
"Are you sure?" she asked, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't want a repeat performance of 'The Washing Machine Incident' last year or the 'Dishwasher Debacle' of the year before."
Vaughn laughed, acting as if he recalled those events. He guessed from their less than flattering titles that the results hadn't been positive.
He shook his head. "Don't worry. We can handle it."
Sydney nodded in an 'okay-we'll-see-manner' and then they joined their children at the kitchen table.
Lindsay smiled widely at Vaughn, revealing a gaping hole where a tooth had once been. "Look, Daddy! I lost a tooth! I'm going to put it under my pillow for the tooth fairy tonight."
Vaughn leaned forward to examine her mouth. "Wow, you still have a lot of teeth left to lose. You're going to be really rich."
Lindsay laughed and then continued to eat her cereal, purposely slurping the milk through the empty space.
Sydney spoke to the kids as she buttered her toast. "So, tonight's Family Fun Friday. It's your choice this week, Billy. What do you want to do?"
'Family Fun 'Friday?' Vaughn thought with a smile, 'That's so normal and, truthfully, pretty corny, it could be an episode of The Brady Bunch!'
Billy looked at Vaughn with wide eyes. "Hockey!"
Vaughn couldn't help but break out in a grin. He clapped his hands together. "Then hockey it is!"
"You always pick hockey," Lindsay groaned.
"It's my turn. I can pick whatever I want!" he replied.
A moment later, Lindsay jumped out of her seat and hurriedly gathered her backpack and jacket, realizing the bus would be there soon. She then kissed Sydney on the cheek and walked over to Vaughn, giving him a butterfly kiss on the nose.
She smiled and whispered, "A butterfly landed on your nose."
Vaughn smiled, realizing this was a morning ritual of theirs, and then watched her go. He finally understood what parents meant when they talked about love at first sight with their children. He'd fallen the moment he saw those two.
Sydney stood up, stuffing the last bit of toast in her mouth. "Come on, Billy, we've got to go. I have to drop you off at pre-school and then Mommy needs to get to her class on time."
Billy nodded and lifted his cereal bowl to his mouth so he could drink the last of the milk. Sydney handed Vaughn a piece of paper. "Since your first class isn't until nine, I thought you could run a few errands for me. It's all there on the list." She then added, "I know, busy day…as usual!"
Vaughn looked at the list: Deposit checks in bank, pick up dry cleaning, get milk at supermarket. He swallowed hard, realizing those were the exact errands he had mentioned to Weiss.
'This is busy,' he thought. 'This is normal busy.'
Sydney smiled and then bent down, placing a lingering kiss on his lips. "See you later."
Vaughn watched her and Billy leave. He then realized that his wife and children (he was starting to get used to those terms) had left their dirty breakfast dishes all over the table. He proceeded to pick them up and pile them in the already full sink.
* * * *
Weiss opened the door to the classroom and walked in, taking only a few steps before stopping and leaning against the wall. He smiled, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Remember, papers due on Monday. No excuses," Vaughn said to his class.
It hadn't taken him long to fall back into the routine of teaching. Of course, someone asking him about the paper due on Monday sure helped.
As he turned, he caught sight of Weiss standing by the door and offered him a close-mouthed smile. He was relieved to see his best friend. Maybe he would have some answers.
Weiss's gaze scanned the rows of seats filled with students. Curiously, the first few seats of each row were comprised entirely of beautiful, young women, who were staring intently at Vaughn. Weiss suppressed the urge to laugh.
A moment later, the students gathered their belongings and began to file out of the classroom. Many of the young women that Weiss had noticed before made their way up to Vaughn as he packed up his things.
"Um, Professor Vaughn, what are your office hours today? I, like, really need help with my paper," a pretty blonde, wearing a skirt that was too short and shirt that was too tight, asked.
"Me too," a red-head piped up.
"Yeah, me too," a brunette added, in between popping her bubble gum.
Weiss couldn't help but chuckle. Not a male in the bunch.
Vaughn looked up from his things and smiled at the women, as he cocked his left eyebrow, "I've got office hours from 3 to 5 today, which you'd know if you bothered to check your syllabus." At least, that's how he'd found out.
The girls giggled and then offered him good-byes. They passed by Weiss as if he weren't even there.
"Do you really need help with your paper?" the red-head asked the blonde.
"Are you kidding? I finished it three days ago. Easy 'A'." She smiled widely, flashing pearly whites, "But he doesn't need to know that." She paused and looked at the red-head and brunette. "How about you guys?"
"Finished it yesterday. No problem," the red-head replied.
"Done two days ago. I wrote it in my sleep," the brunette answered.
All three girls laughed and exited the classroom, as Weiss shook his head in amusement.
He approached Vaughn, who was still packing up, and gestured in the direction of the door. "Those girls don't need help with their papers. They just want a little office time with Professor Vaughn. What exactly goes on in that office of yours?"
Vaughn looked up and smiled, "They do this every time I assign a paper." He had no way of really knowing that, but he figured it was a pretty good guess.
"Hmm, I wonder why? Those girls adore you. Seriously, you're like Harrison Ford in 'Indiana Jones'. I was looking for the girl with the stuff written on her eyelids."
Vaughn simply shrugged and shoved a folder into his bag, "What can I say? I'm irresistible."
"Yeah, you have a beautiful wife and you still have a bunch of gorgeous 20-year olds drooling all over you. I've got nothing and they walk by me like I'm The Invisible Man."
Vaughn picked up his bag and patted Weiss on the arm, as they began to walk, "I don't think anyone could mistake you for The Invisible Man."
"Was that a fat joke? 'Cause that hurt, especially since I lost 25 pounds...again. Do you realize I haven't had a donut in three months?"
"Impressive," Vaughn replied, as he pushed the door open and walked outside.
"So, where do you want to go to lunch?" Weiss asked.
Vaughn looked at his watch. "Some place close."
"How about 'DeFranco's? It's right across the street."
Vaughn nodded and they crossed the street. Three minutes later, they were seated with menus.
Vaughn couldn't concentrate on his menu. He couldn't stop thinking about the last conversation he remembered having with Weiss. He kept looking down at his menu, then looking up at Weiss. He repeated this several times until Weiss finally dropped his menu in annoyance.
"What are you doing? I feel like you're trying to flirt with me."
Vaughn placed his menu down and cleared his throat. He leaned forward a bit, keeping his voice low. "How long have I been married?"
Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What, did you forget an anniversary or something?"
"No...I mean, I don't think so."
"Well, what are you asking me for then? It's your marriage, not mine."
Vaughn sighed. "Lindsay's...six, right." He tried to make that sound like more of a statement than a question.
"Right."
"So, we've been married at least that long."
"Did you fall down and hit your head?"
Vaughn ran a hand down his face and then decided to try the truth. "Look, I don't know what's going on. Yesterday, I was unhappily married to a traitor and today...today, I'm living my dream life."
"Are you talking about Lauren? Vaughn, you divorced her 10 years ago. You and Sydney have been married over 8 years. Does October 1st ring a bell? It's your wedding anniversary."
'October 1st,' he thought. 'The day Sydney and I met. The day the watch stopped. That's our anniversary.'
Weiss leaned forward. "Are you feeling all right? It's as if you just woke up from a 10 year coma."
Vaughn shook his head. "Have you ever had a dream that seemed so real that when you woke up, you thought it had actually happened?"
"Well, there was this one time with me, three supermodels and a hot tub that seemed pretty damn real."
"No, I'm talking about real events, things that could actually happen in real life."
"Ouch, that hurt."
Vaughn sighed. "Have you ever had a dream and thought 'Am I in a dream right now?' while you were having it?"
Weiss's eyes narrowed. "I have absolutely no idea what you just said and, quite frankly, you're starting to freak me out. Can we just order? I've got to be back for a briefing with Jack in 45 minutes."
"So you still work at the CIA?"
Weiss raised his eyebrows. "Since the last time I saw you, which was yesterday? Yes, yes I do."
Vaughn nodded and then forced himself to read the menu. A few minutes later, the waitress came and they ordered.
Weiss looked at him. "So, what time do you want me to come over to help you fix the sink tomorrow?"
"I don't know. 1 o'clock maybe." He paused and then asked cautiously. "Have you ever actually fixed a sink before...or have I?"
Weiss chuckled. "You? Yeah, right. Pretty boy doesn't want to get his hands dirty. That's why you need me."
"I have no problem getting my hands dirty." He then added, "So, you have fixed a sink before?"
"Well, no, but how hard could it be? I'm a whiz at carpentry, so plumbing can't be that much harder."
"Carpentry? You couldn't even build a gingerbread house with one of those kits," Vaughn replied.
He knew one thing hadn't changed: His best friend was not a whiz at carpentry.
Weiss waved a finger at him. "Hey, that kit was defective and you know it."
Vaughn simply smiled. After a moment he asked, "So, it won't be like the dishwasher and the washing machine then, right? I mean, those did involve plumbing, too." Vaughn ventured that Weiss had assisted in those apparent fiascos.
"What, did Sydney get on you about those? Okay, dishwashers are supposed to make that sound and washing machines are supposed to shake...violently."
All Vaughn could do was shake his head, not at all encouraged.
Their food arrived a moment later and Weiss ripped into his hamburger like a lion into its prey. He spoke to him with his mouth full. "So, tonight's Family Fun Friday, right? What do you guys have planned?"
Even with his mouth full, Vaughn could tell he was mocking him.
"What's wrong with Family Fun Friday?"
Weiss shrugged. "What? I didn't say anything."
"It was in your tone."
"Can you have a tone with a mouth full of cow?"
"Apparently."
Weiss dropped his hamburger and swallowed. "Well, come on, Family Fun Friday? How corny is that?"
Vaughn felt the same about the corniness, but didn't care. He was suddenly becoming a big fan of corniness. Of course, he still felt the need to refute the accusation.
"Since when is spending time with your family corny?"
"It's not. Naming the time using alliteration is." Vaughn laughed, unable to argue with that, as Weiss went on. "I know, I know, Lindsay came up with the name."
Vaughn took a bite out of his BLT and finally answered his question, "Hockey."
Weiss smiled. "Billy's turn." He then wiped at his mouth and took a drink of his soda, as he shook his head. "You know, I don't know what happened to you and Sydney. You used to be these cool spies, traveling around the globe and kicking ass. Now you travel around town, dropping kids off at soccer practice and ballet recitals, and the only thing you're kicking is that crappy lawn mower of yours."
Vaughn shrugged his shoulders as nonchalantly as possible, thinking he had been that person less than 24 hours before, and replied, "Things change I guess."
Weiss nodded, his tone suddenly turning serious. "Yeah, they do...because this is the happiest I've ever seen you or Sydney. Normal agrees with you, man."
Vaughn smiled. "Yeah, it does.
* * * *
After his last class, Vaughn had twenty minutes to spare before his office hours began. He decided to do a little detective work. He assumed Sydney also taught at UCLA. He pulled open one of the drawers in his desk and began to dig through it. Not finding what he was looking for, he closed that drawer and moved to the next. He lifted a few folders and then smiled when he came upon a booklet: UCLA Staff Manual.
He opened it up to the table of contents and ran his finger down the page. He stopped about three quarters down: Staff Directory. Vaughn turned to page 54. The directory was divided into departments. He turned to the English department section and ran his finger down the beginning of the list. He sighed, finding no Bristow on it. His eyes narrowed after a moment, though, and he turned the page, running his finger down the rest of the names. He smiled when he came to one at the end of the list: Sydney Bristow-Vaughn.
She'd hyphenated. He didn't know why, but just the thought made him happy.
He looked at her contact information: phone number, e-mail address and office number. He then closed the book, placed it back in the drawer and exited the room.
The English department wasn't far from the Foreign Language department. His eyes scanned the numbers on each door, before stopping in front of E26. A smile crossed his lips as he read the small plaque on the wall beside it: Sydney Bristow-Vaughn. Associate Professor of English.
He looked in the window, but found the office dark and empty. He decided to walk the halls, figuring she was probably teaching a class nearby. He casually strolled down the halls, unobtrusively peaking into the classrooms as he moved along.
He finally stopped in his tracks, his gaze landing on her. Her back was turned to him and she was gesturing to something on the board. For a moment, he felt frozen in place, mesmerized by her movements and the command she radiated. He then leaned up against the wall, so that he couldn't be seen, and listened to her.
"I know, I know...I see you guys looking at the clock and squirming in your seats like five year olds. I've kept you late again. I'll let you go in a minute."
Vaughn grinned at the chorus of soft groans.
"I just wanted to remind you, nice teacher that I am, that your papers are due one week from today. Now, I know you are all busy and, having been a busy college student myself, I understand waiting until the last minute." Vaughn chuckled at that. Busy didn't begin to describe her college days. "But I have office hours starting right after class, so if you want to run something by me, feel free to stop by. I know, I'm kidding myself if I think you're really go to work on in it this weekend." They laughed in agreement and she sighed good-naturedly, waving her hands at them. "Go, get out of here. Enjoy your weekend."
They all proceeded to bolt from the room. Vaughn waited until the last student had left, before quietly entering the room. She was so engrossed in gathering her things that she didn't notice him enter or hear him quietly close the door behind him. It wasn't until he was standing next to her desk that she looked up and jumped a little, startled.
"Oh, you scared me!" she said, laughing.
He raised an eyebrow playfully. "You know, there was a time when nothing got by you."
She smiled and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, I find it best not to be in attack-mode at work. Don't you?"
He nodded and then leaned down to kiss her. "Have I ever told you how sexy you are when you're teaching?" he asked, his breath tickling her lips.
"Just about everyday," she replied.
'I'm not surprised,' he thought.
As he watched and listened to her, he knew she was born to do this. She seemed so content and at peace with her job now. He couldn't have been more proud or happier for her.
She stood then and began to erase the board. Vaughn watched her movements: how her hair swayed back and forth, how her black skirt hugged every curve as she moved. Everything about her drove him crazy with desire.
Unable to resist, he came up behind her and placed his hands on her waist, spinning her around to face him. He then pressed her gently up against the board. She laughed, as he kissed her lips and then moved to her jawline.
"You know, someone could walk in here at any moment and see us."
"Let them," he replied against her skin, marveling at how he was finally able to be with her like this again.
"I have office hours right now. And so do you," she replied, closing her eyes as he hit upon a particularly sensitive spot behind her ear.
"I know."
Sydney finally shook her head to clear it and them squeezed out from beneath him. She grinned at him. "You, Professor Vaughn, undoubtedly have a gaggle of pretty girls waiting for you in your office right now."
He smiled. "Maybe one or two."
She counted off on her fingers. "A blonde, a red-head, a brunette."
"Are you jealous?" he asked, closing the distance between them again and absentmindedly grabbing a piece of her hair to twist between his thumb and forefinger. "Because," he added, "there is only one brunette I care anything about."
She smiled and asked softly, "And the blonde and the red-head?"
"Well, a guy's gotta have some variety," he replied with a straight face.
She laughed and gently swatted his arm, before grabbing her things, giving him one last kiss and whispering in his ear, "See you at home." She then brushed past him, his eyes following her until she disappeared from view.
He could still feel her lips on his. Every time she kissed him, he wondered how he had ever gone all this time living without it.
* * * *
End of Part 2
~Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you thought. Part 3 coming soon. ~Steph