It was an amazing dream.
Vaughn had come back after the debriefing, hurriedly picked up Sydney, and then they had been on their way to Santa Barbara. The sun was magnificent there, the weather could not have been more perfect for their weekend alone, but the way Vaughn had planned it, the two of them were going to take the entire week off, it was only Sunday, and there was no way he was going back to work tomorrow.
The breeze on the beach was beautiful; the water was a sheer blue that brought out the streaks in Sydney's shimmering hair. He looked over to find her dozing off on her lounge chair. She looked so gorgeous. She seemed so innocent and vulnerable; completely unaware of the dangers of the world as a gentle wind grazed her cheek. The light was hitting her face with a soft glow that totally embodied the angel he thought she was. He loved everything about this woman, her warm brown eyes, her soft lips, strong jaw, graceful arms, enchanting smile...the list could go on for days, but Vaughn was just so enraptured in this moment of bliss that he didn't want to be lost in thought.
He couldn't help himself from being drawn to her beauty, so as quietly as possible he hoisted himself out of his chair and closed the minimal distance between them. He knelt down inches from her face and proceeded to place a few chaste kisses on her forehead, nose, and lips. He drew back to gaze at the woman who had captured his heart, but was startled out of this blissful reverie, by a quiet, calm voice.
"Getting greedy are we? How dare you wake me with a kiss when I was clearly pretending to sleep." Sydney sighed contentedly and turned her body towards Vaughn.
"I should've known you couldn't sleep with such a gorgeous man beside you. I think the sun is affecting my intuition."
"I think I owe you another kiss. This trip was an amazing idea."
Sydney wrapped her arms around Vaughn's neck and kissed him hungrily. She had never felt as close to Danny as she did to the man beside her right now. She knew that this was where her life belonged, with him.........always.
"This place is beautiful...I can't believe I've never been here before. I'm glad you let me in on the secret."
"Maybe we should make this our new tradition, you and me in Santa Barbara?"
"Sounds too good to be true, but I'll take that over our reality any day." She smiled as she stared tenderly at Vaughn. The dimples were out in full force.
"God Syd, you're so beautiful. I'm the luckiest man alive." He paused as a thought came to him, he had waited so long for it, but he knew this was the right moment. "Syd," she looked up shyly, she knew what was coming, " I...love you." He sighed in relief, that wasn't so hard, and it had felt so right. Sydney made sure she had his gaze before she cupped his cheek and responded.
"Vaughn, I love you."
"Vaughn, I love you, please wake up for me!"
Vaughn was vaguely aware that Sydney was talking to him. He registered a throbbing pain at his temple, but could not seem to remember how it had gotten there. His vision was gradually clearing and he was able to see his surroundings without a foggy blur. Once again, he heard Sydney's pleading voice.
"I love you, please, please, please wake up." Vaughn found himself laying in Sydney's lap as she cradled his head and ran her fingers along the side of his face affectionately. However the pain in her eyes was clearly visible. He became distressed by the tears he had caused in her eyes and reached up to wipe them away.
"Shhhhh, Syd, it's okay, I'm okay."
She let out what sounded like a relieved gasp when he had spoken and bent over him to place small kisses on his cheek. "Thank God you're okay. Lauren hit you so hard I was afraid you'd never wake up." Her breathing had evened out and her tears had dried and only then did Vaughn bitterly remember what had happened once they were escorted out of the van at an obviously undisclosed location.
Without the oxygen mask aiding her breathing, Sydney was looking paler as they stood outside of the ambulance. Vaughn tried to support her weight as they were forced out of the car, but before he knew it several masked men, yes he knew it sounded cliché, had roughly separated them and he could see that Sydney was struggling to remain standing.
What scared Vaughn more was the fact that she was shaking. It struck him that she probably hadn't had any food or water for days and this was not helping matters. The fire in her eyes was still burning, but he didn't think she would remain conscious for much longer.
It was then that Lauren decided to speak. "I trust you two are most likely a bit confused right now, but allow me to set the record straight. As I have said already, my name is Lauren Reed and I was sent to this country for one purpose, to become close to a Mr. Michael Vaughn." She flashed him a smug grin. "With time, you were to marry me and then I would be privy to all the dirty little secrets of the CIA. It would've been easy when my target was a man with such a weak spine. You probably would've drunken yourself into a stupor by the time I was to come along." Vaughn was glaring daggers at this woman. There was no way he would ever replace Sydney, especial with this bitch. As soon as that thought had crossed his mind, he heard a shaky response from Sydney.
"Contrary to pop...ular belief......men of his stature...don't go for whores like you." Vaughn smiled inwardly, she may have been drained, but she always had some fight left in her. Though his heart was surging with pride, he realized Lauren looked ready to kill. She hastily walked towards Sydney and pistol-whipped her across the cheek before she even knew what was coming. Sydney immediately crumpled to the floor like a rag doll and all Vaughn could remember was rushing toward her before he saw stars. That brought him back to this moment as he lay in Sydney's embrace. Gradually he was able to sit himself up with out the room spinning and then he turned to face Sydney. He took in her appearance and assessed the damage that this Lauren had caused. That name now made him sick to his stomach. God how could she think he would ever fall for such a horrible person. If he had truly lost Sydney, he would rather die than see himself with such a witch.
There was now a deep cut on Sydney's cheek that marred her beauty and Vaughn vowed that this woman would pay dearly for causing his baby anymore pain. "Hmmm, baby," he thought, "that sounds so right."
"Vaughn, are you sure you're alright? You've been out of it for almost 3 hours." There was a moment of silence as he nodded slowly. Sydney let out a pained sigh. "I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you. I just got you back." She paused to collect herself, her composure was dwindling. "I can't even imagine another minute being without you...I felt like I couldn't breathe when I woke up to find you unconscious and I'm just so afraid that this woman is going to take you away from me. I can't go through that again, not after Taipei, not after the past few days, I can't! I couldn't live with myself if I'd lost you without telling you how much I love you. You've been the only constant thing in my life for so long and all I've done is brought chaos to yours, yet you're still here protecting me. I've never felt so strongly for someone as I do for you and I....I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose you!"
Sydney had broken down into sobs by now and all Vaughn could do was hold her as she poured her heart out to him. He truly didn't know what to say, because she had expressed every feeling and emotion he had been thinking at that moment. What if she really was dead? What would he have done? He shuddered at the mere thought. A life without Sydney, to him, was no life at all. He wanted nothing more than to break down right along with her and tell her how afraid he was that this was all some sick dream, but right Sydney was in pain, both mentally and physically, and she needed him to be strong. Vaughn carefully scooped Sydney up in his arms as small spasms wracked her entire body. He walked to the corner farthest away from what he thought was a door and slowly sat down with Sydney still cradled in his embrace. The room looked rather blurry and he realized that he too was crying. Vaughn whispered warm words of love in Sydney's ear as he felt her relax and fall into a restless sleep...at least it was something. He looked down to find her clutching the fabric of his dress-shirt, close to his heart, and slowly began to close his eyes with an unspoken prayer that she would still be in his arms when they awoke. "I love you Syd."
Vaughn had come back after the debriefing, hurriedly picked up Sydney, and then they had been on their way to Santa Barbara. The sun was magnificent there, the weather could not have been more perfect for their weekend alone, but the way Vaughn had planned it, the two of them were going to take the entire week off, it was only Sunday, and there was no way he was going back to work tomorrow.
The breeze on the beach was beautiful; the water was a sheer blue that brought out the streaks in Sydney's shimmering hair. He looked over to find her dozing off on her lounge chair. She looked so gorgeous. She seemed so innocent and vulnerable; completely unaware of the dangers of the world as a gentle wind grazed her cheek. The light was hitting her face with a soft glow that totally embodied the angel he thought she was. He loved everything about this woman, her warm brown eyes, her soft lips, strong jaw, graceful arms, enchanting smile...the list could go on for days, but Vaughn was just so enraptured in this moment of bliss that he didn't want to be lost in thought.
He couldn't help himself from being drawn to her beauty, so as quietly as possible he hoisted himself out of his chair and closed the minimal distance between them. He knelt down inches from her face and proceeded to place a few chaste kisses on her forehead, nose, and lips. He drew back to gaze at the woman who had captured his heart, but was startled out of this blissful reverie, by a quiet, calm voice.
"Getting greedy are we? How dare you wake me with a kiss when I was clearly pretending to sleep." Sydney sighed contentedly and turned her body towards Vaughn.
"I should've known you couldn't sleep with such a gorgeous man beside you. I think the sun is affecting my intuition."
"I think I owe you another kiss. This trip was an amazing idea."
Sydney wrapped her arms around Vaughn's neck and kissed him hungrily. She had never felt as close to Danny as she did to the man beside her right now. She knew that this was where her life belonged, with him.........always.
"This place is beautiful...I can't believe I've never been here before. I'm glad you let me in on the secret."
"Maybe we should make this our new tradition, you and me in Santa Barbara?"
"Sounds too good to be true, but I'll take that over our reality any day." She smiled as she stared tenderly at Vaughn. The dimples were out in full force.
"God Syd, you're so beautiful. I'm the luckiest man alive." He paused as a thought came to him, he had waited so long for it, but he knew this was the right moment. "Syd," she looked up shyly, she knew what was coming, " I...love you." He sighed in relief, that wasn't so hard, and it had felt so right. Sydney made sure she had his gaze before she cupped his cheek and responded.
"Vaughn, I love you."
"Vaughn, I love you, please wake up for me!"
Vaughn was vaguely aware that Sydney was talking to him. He registered a throbbing pain at his temple, but could not seem to remember how it had gotten there. His vision was gradually clearing and he was able to see his surroundings without a foggy blur. Once again, he heard Sydney's pleading voice.
"I love you, please, please, please wake up." Vaughn found himself laying in Sydney's lap as she cradled his head and ran her fingers along the side of his face affectionately. However the pain in her eyes was clearly visible. He became distressed by the tears he had caused in her eyes and reached up to wipe them away.
"Shhhhh, Syd, it's okay, I'm okay."
She let out what sounded like a relieved gasp when he had spoken and bent over him to place small kisses on his cheek. "Thank God you're okay. Lauren hit you so hard I was afraid you'd never wake up." Her breathing had evened out and her tears had dried and only then did Vaughn bitterly remember what had happened once they were escorted out of the van at an obviously undisclosed location.
Without the oxygen mask aiding her breathing, Sydney was looking paler as they stood outside of the ambulance. Vaughn tried to support her weight as they were forced out of the car, but before he knew it several masked men, yes he knew it sounded cliché, had roughly separated them and he could see that Sydney was struggling to remain standing.
What scared Vaughn more was the fact that she was shaking. It struck him that she probably hadn't had any food or water for days and this was not helping matters. The fire in her eyes was still burning, but he didn't think she would remain conscious for much longer.
It was then that Lauren decided to speak. "I trust you two are most likely a bit confused right now, but allow me to set the record straight. As I have said already, my name is Lauren Reed and I was sent to this country for one purpose, to become close to a Mr. Michael Vaughn." She flashed him a smug grin. "With time, you were to marry me and then I would be privy to all the dirty little secrets of the CIA. It would've been easy when my target was a man with such a weak spine. You probably would've drunken yourself into a stupor by the time I was to come along." Vaughn was glaring daggers at this woman. There was no way he would ever replace Sydney, especial with this bitch. As soon as that thought had crossed his mind, he heard a shaky response from Sydney.
"Contrary to pop...ular belief......men of his stature...don't go for whores like you." Vaughn smiled inwardly, she may have been drained, but she always had some fight left in her. Though his heart was surging with pride, he realized Lauren looked ready to kill. She hastily walked towards Sydney and pistol-whipped her across the cheek before she even knew what was coming. Sydney immediately crumpled to the floor like a rag doll and all Vaughn could remember was rushing toward her before he saw stars. That brought him back to this moment as he lay in Sydney's embrace. Gradually he was able to sit himself up with out the room spinning and then he turned to face Sydney. He took in her appearance and assessed the damage that this Lauren had caused. That name now made him sick to his stomach. God how could she think he would ever fall for such a horrible person. If he had truly lost Sydney, he would rather die than see himself with such a witch.
There was now a deep cut on Sydney's cheek that marred her beauty and Vaughn vowed that this woman would pay dearly for causing his baby anymore pain. "Hmmm, baby," he thought, "that sounds so right."
"Vaughn, are you sure you're alright? You've been out of it for almost 3 hours." There was a moment of silence as he nodded slowly. Sydney let out a pained sigh. "I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost you. I just got you back." She paused to collect herself, her composure was dwindling. "I can't even imagine another minute being without you...I felt like I couldn't breathe when I woke up to find you unconscious and I'm just so afraid that this woman is going to take you away from me. I can't go through that again, not after Taipei, not after the past few days, I can't! I couldn't live with myself if I'd lost you without telling you how much I love you. You've been the only constant thing in my life for so long and all I've done is brought chaos to yours, yet you're still here protecting me. I've never felt so strongly for someone as I do for you and I....I don't want to lose that. I don't want to lose you!"
Sydney had broken down into sobs by now and all Vaughn could do was hold her as she poured her heart out to him. He truly didn't know what to say, because she had expressed every feeling and emotion he had been thinking at that moment. What if she really was dead? What would he have done? He shuddered at the mere thought. A life without Sydney, to him, was no life at all. He wanted nothing more than to break down right along with her and tell her how afraid he was that this was all some sick dream, but right Sydney was in pain, both mentally and physically, and she needed him to be strong. Vaughn carefully scooped Sydney up in his arms as small spasms wracked her entire body. He walked to the corner farthest away from what he thought was a door and slowly sat down with Sydney still cradled in his embrace. The room looked rather blurry and he realized that he too was crying. Vaughn whispered warm words of love in Sydney's ear as he felt her relax and fall into a restless sleep...at least it was something. He looked down to find her clutching the fabric of his dress-shirt, close to his heart, and slowly began to close his eyes with an unspoken prayer that she would still be in his arms when they awoke. "I love you Syd."