Chapter 3: A Call and a Cry in the Night

Ring………ring………ring………ring. Click, "You've reached the House of Weiss. Sing me a song at the beep." Beeeeeeeep.

"Weiss! This is the fourth time I've called you tonight! You were suppose to call me back after you went to see Syd! So help me God…if you got plastered and passed out on the couch…..ugh!!! Anyway, it is now 1:30 a.m. Call me AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS MESSAGE!!!!"

Vaughn stops his pacing and clicks the "off" button on the cordless phone, but he doesn't put the phone down. Lauren had gone to bed hours ago, but he is wide awake and renews his pacing of the living room floor, the late night Sportscenter loop playing softly on the TV in the background, and waits for Eric to call.

"Screw this. I'm calling his cell," he says to himself.

Ring……ring……ring.

"Hello?" A very sleepy and slurred voice answers.

"WEISS! Where the hell are you? I've been calling your house repeatedly! You were suppose to call me when you got back from seeing Syd."

"Mike…dude…chill…and please, talk softer. I haven't left Sydney's yet."

Vaughn stops pacing. "What? What do you mean you haven't left yet – it's 1:30 in the morning! [pause] Wait…I'm not 'interrupting' anything…am I?" A slow and steady boil begins to rise up Vaughn's torso as images of Naked!Sydney and Naked!Will flash through his head briefly, which are then replaced with Naked!Sydney and Naked!Weiss. A wave of nausea flows over him. His right hand balls into a fist as his left grips the phone tighter.

Weiss, hearing his friend's jagged breathing, chuckles for a moment and sits up on the couch. "Hey now, back off tiger! I'm not that kind of friend and Sydney's not that kind of crazy. If that had been a risk, you wouldn't have sent me over here in the first place."

Loosening his grip, his breathing slows and a crooked grin appears on his face. "Good point." He waits a moment as the nausea subsides, then asks, "So…why are you still there? She's okay, isn't she?"

Weiss rakes a hand through his hair and lets out a sigh. "She will be, though God knows how since she's essentially been through all of Dante's levels of hell and purgatory. But she's Syd…she's Wonder Woman, Buffy and James Bond all rolled up in one."

"So, does that mean that she talked to you? You know, about stuff?"

"Smooth, Romeo. I'm sticking with my original disclaimer, which, by the way, I gave to Sydney as well. I'll be your Dr. Phil, Oprah, Barnett…whatever, but consider everything said to be under the Weiss/Patient Confidentiality Clause. I will say this though – you two HAVE GOT to talk. There is more going on than we ever imagined…I can't get any more specific, so just trust me on this."

"That bad, huh?"

"Listen, I only got half the story before I made her stop and put her to bed. I didn't feel right leaving her alone after all that gut-spilling, so I'm crashing on the couch. Dixon gave her a couple of days off and I'm calling in tomorrow so I can stay with her. She needs to get this all out…"

Just then, a blood-curdling scream comes from Sydney's bedroom, followed by the sounds of thrashing and crying. Weiss jumps up and rushes towards her room, while still talking to Vaughn. "Shit! Mike, I gotta go…"

"Weiss! What's happening? Was that Syd? Weiss…don't hang up! Please, let me speak to her!!"

Weiss busts through Sydney's door to find her thrashing violently from side to side in her bed. Her eyes are still closed, but tears are streaming down her face and she is screaming and crying at the same time.

"WEISS! What's going on? Is she okay? Damn it, let me talk to her!"

Vaughn's voice was rising, which causes the other occupant of his apartment to wake up. Lauren hears Vaughn's agitated yelling, so she quietly slips out of bed and walks over to their bedroom door. She slowly opens it just wide enough to see Vaughn periodically walk into view as he paces back and forth in the living room. Hmmm, something must be going on with Sydney. Nothing else gets Michael riled up like that. Fearful that he might notice the open door, she hurries over to her briefcase and opens it. Inside, she lifts the various files and pulls back the bottom lining to reveal a small, flat pouch sewn into the bottom. Inside the pouch she pulls out a long thin cord with a mic on one end and a plug on the other. She closes up her briefcase, then retrieves a receiver unit from her purse, along with an earpiece with a wire. After putting them all together, she goes back to the door and shuts it gently, then kneels down on the floor and pushes the mic end of the cord underneath the door and aims it towards the living room. She puts in the earpiece and turns on the receiver. Now we'll see what has my dear, devoted husband all in a tizzy.

Weiss stands next to Sydney's bed, fearful of waking her…but really he's more afraid that if he touches her she's going to clock him. He whispers to her, "Sydney…Sydney wake up. You're dreaming, Syd. Wake up!"

On the other end of the phone, Vaughn is holding his breath as he listens to the screaming and thrashing in the background, while Weiss tries to gently wake her. He starts to sweat and he runs his fingers through his hair repeatedly, wishing he was there instead of Weiss.

Weiss speaks a little louder to her now, "Sydney, come on…wake up. You're scaring the Weiss-Man, and I don't scare easy."

Sydney stops thrashing, then sits up suddenly with her eyes wide open and she cries out, "Vaughn? Oh my God, Vaughn!"

Vaughn stops pacing. "Weiss, tell her I'm on the phone. Ask her if she wants to speak to me."

Weiss kneels down by her bedside and Sydney looks over at him, breathing heavily with tears still streaming down her face and a confused expression. Weiss points at the phone and gently says, "Syd, I've got Vaughn on the phone. Do you want to speak to him?"

She nods vigorously. Weiss hands her the phone, then stands up and walks out of her room, softly closing the door behind him. She clutches the phone to her chest and takes a few deep breaths, then puts the phone to her ear. "Vaughn?" Her voice is barely above a whisper.

"Yeah, baby…it's me. Sounds like you're having a rough night." His voice is gentle and soothing. Lauren's eyes narrow and she crosses her arms, a slow anger building inside of her as she listens.

Sydney sniffs and wipes away at the tears streaming down her face. His voice is like a warm and safe cocoon being wrapped around her. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Did…did Weiss call you?" Her voice is raspy and weak.

"Actually, I had called him to…uh…" I guess there's no point in lying now, not when she's in this state. "I was calling him to see if he had been to see you. I wanted to know how you were doing."

Sydney glances over at the clock, which now reads "1:57" – she shakes her head back and forth a few times. "Vaughn, it's almost 2 o'clock in the morning. You couldn't wait until morning to talk to Eric?" Her voice is getting stronger and she leans back against her headboard, slowly reclaiming her sanity and her strength.

Vaughn rubs his hand across his forehead a few times then down his face to his stubbly chin. Busted! "Well, I'm just…I was just worried about you."

"That's not your job anymore."

The words drive through Vaughn's heart like a serrated knife. "Syd, please…tell me what's going on. Were you having a nightmare? Were you having a…memory?" Lauren's ears perk up at that last question. She wonders if she could pick up the bedroom phone without detection, but knows that is too great of a risk.

Vaughn listens to the silence on the other end, his heart sinking further with each passing second. "Syd…please. I need to know that you're okay. I want to help you!"

Sydney lets out a deep sigh. I want so much to tell you, Vaughn, to make you understand. I want you to know everything and I want you to console me and hold me and…kiss me. But now is not the time. It may never be that time. "I can't let you do that, Vaughn. You have other…responsibilities. You can't fill that role in my life anymore."

Vaughn jumps to his feet, his own anger starting to build. "Dammit Sydney, don't shut me out again! You know that drives me crazy!"

"Vaughn, calm down! I'm not shutting you out permanently…I just can't talk to you about this right now. Please…respect that. You need to let me deal with this…ON MY OWN."

Vaughn begins pacing again. "No…I don't accept that. We're partners now, Syd. I need to know what's going on with you, because it may be something that could affect you in the field." He knew that was lame, but he is desperate for her to talk to him.

Sydney smirks at his pathetic reasoning, but he has made her realize what she needs to do now. "I'm going to go see Dixon tomorrow…and I'm going to ask that he not send us out on missions together anymore." Sydney holds her breath, waiting for the explosion.

Vaughn stops…stunned that she would even consider that. "WHAT?!!? Are you insane? No…no, no, no. You are NOT going to talk to Dixon about any such thing! Do you hear me?"

"Good night, Vaughn." Click.