Title: Collide
Author: Abby O. (abbyo3hotmail.com
Spoilers: "Resurrection"
Category: S/V
Summary: Vaughn helps Sydney deal after her trip to Wittenberg.
Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine; I just like to play with them. Especially Vaughn. Er...nevermind.
Rating: A very mild R
Author's Note: This story starts out angsty but will gradually become more and more fluffy until the plot runs away from me. :) God knows I'm not much of a writer but I figured the seven month wait would be a good time to cook something up. I'd love to hear what you guys think!

Chapter 1

"Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find
You and I collide"

- Howie Day, "Collide"

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the alarm clock on Sydney's bedside table. It was nearly one o'clock in the morning and he knew he should be resting according to her instructions. However, he had been on bed rest for three days and despite the overwhelming joy he felt from being in her intimate company again, he was getting antsy. His recovery was fast but the fact that Sydney had gone on a mission to Wittenberg the day before was not helping his mood. She told him that they had received another lead on Nadia's whereabouts and Dixon had ordered for him to stay behind. Despite his protests, she had managed to reassure him of her safe and quick return with one dimpled smile and an impassioned kiss before she went to the airport.

Now, he was left waiting.

Since the day he met her, his internal clock refused to let him sleep whenever she was on a mission. Four years later, he was starting to lose hope that it would ever change.

Suddenly, he saw a pair of headlights shine against the bedroom wall and up to the ceiling, indicating that a car had pulled up to the driveway. He let out a sigh of relief, unaware that he had been holding his breath for god knows how long. In an instant, he was up, out of bed, and padding down the hallway towards the front door. Upon entering the living room, he saw her come in, dressed in her usual business suit but looking unusually defeated.

"Syd?" he called out, his voice tinged with concern.

Her eyes met his within the soft glow of the living room lamp as she threw her keys on the table and his heart immediately fell. Her eyes were red, no doubt from crying, and more tears had begun to well up. He took her into his embrace as she completely fell apart in his arms, uncontrollable sobs racking her body.

"Hey...what's wrong?" She was barely holding herself up as he led her to the couch. The tears soaked through his gray t-shirt as she cried into his chest. "Syd, please," he begged, tucking errant strands of hair behind her ear and away from her face. "You're scaring me," he whispered.

After a few minutes, the sobs had subsided and he was still holding her, fearing that she would shatter like glass if he dared to let her go. His apprehension was reaching new heights as each minute passed with nothing but silence. He hated feeling helpless. Even more so, he hated feeling helpless when he didn't know what he was feeling helpless about. All he understood at that moment was that she needed to be held, to be consoled, from whatever demons that haunted her. He fought the urge to press her for answers, knowing that she would give it to him when she was ready.

After a while, he was almost convinced that she had fallen asleep, curled up in his embrace. She made no movements, no signs that she was awake. He finally met her eyes and the emptiness he saw frightened and angered him at the same time. Who or whatever was responsible for ripping away the glimmer of hope he saw in her the night they kissed in Palermo was going to pay. Vaughn knew he had hurt her more than enough for one lifetime, and he reaffirmed a promise he made to himself years ago. Nobody would ever hurt her again.

"Syd?" he called out timidly. "Let's get you into bed, okay?"

He wasn't really expecting a response but was relieved when she gave him a small nod. In a few minutes, he had helped her remove her shoes and suit jacket, tossing it haphazardly on a chair. He found a tank top and a pair of pink pajama bottoms in one of her bedroom drawers and he urged her to change. She wordlessly did as she was told as Vaughn went to turn off the light in the living room. Upon his return, she had finished putting her pajamas on and was curled up on her side of the bed. He shut off the dim lamp on the nightstand as he climbed under the covers himself, not knowing if he should say anything. Thankfully, she had adjusted herself so that she was now facing him. The glow of the moonlight outside the window had made it possible for him to still see her face.

After a few minutes of more silence, she finally spoke. "I didn't go to Wittenberg because of my sister."

"Then why did you go?"

"Because Lauren gave me information concerning my disappearance, about who was responsible—"

He looked down at the mention of his traitorous ex-wife's name. Lauren was a walking catastrophe and nothing she has said carried any legitimate weight. "Sydney..."

"No, Vaughn. Listen to me," she said quietly. "The numbers she called out before her death, they were numbers to a safety deposit box at a bank in Wittenberg. I went there on an unauthorized mission to figure out if it had any connection to what happened to me."

"What did you find?"

He could see her visibly trying to hold her tears back once more, but failing miserably. He sought out her hand between the pillows, lacing his fingers through hers as they had done so many times before.

"Sydney?"

"I found top secret documents from the CIA," she choked out, tears streaming silently down her cheeks. "And they said that my life was planned...by my father."

All he could do was stare at her in disbelief.

"I was, am, part of a black ops project whose objective was to create the perfect agent...almost everything in my life was supposed to happen because it was all part of some sick plan that my father approved. Project Christmas, my recruitment to SD-6...it's all a lie. I wouldn't be surprised if my conception was planned, if the only reason I was born was to become a part of this assignment," she whispered. "And my mother, she was part of it too. The only reason I'm here is because they needed me to reach their own sick endgame."

"Oh god, Syd...I'm so sorry..."

"When I was in Wittenberg, my father showed up and told me that I was never supposed to find out, that I wouldn't understand. He told me that he had put everything he had worked for at risk by coming there to see me and that he would let me go if I kept the information to myself...but I couldn't keep this from you."

He reached out to brush her cheeks clean of the moisture with the pad of his thumb, still reeling from the implications that her discovery would make. He couldn't imagine how horrible she must be feeling and it ached to see her in pain, which seemed to be constantly these days, thanks to him. How the hell could Jack Bristow do this to her? The idea that her very existence was planned from the beginning was unfathomable. And if the CIA was involved, who else knew? Everyone that Sydney has ever known had the possibility of being a complete lie.

"We're gonna figure this out, Sydney," he promised, gathering her into his arms. He felt her warm breath on the crook of his neck as her arm slipped across his waist. She closed her eyes, listening to the soothing sound of his voice. "I know that right now, it seems like your world is crumbling and you think that everyone around you has betrayed you...especially your father. But I want you to know that if you're questioning the reason of why you were put here on this earth, it's because somebody up there knew that I needed someone to look out for me, take care of me...love me like you love me. I know that may not do much to make you feel any less hopeless right now, but you need to know that you're not alone in this and I'm going to do everything I can to help you get through it."

Her eyes glistened with tears that had stopped falling as she gazed up into his. She placed a kiss on his lips, slowly and full of love. They pulled apart, catching each other's gaze once again. "I love you," she whispered.

He couldn't help but give her a full-blown smile and he suddenly couldn't remember the last time he had smiled and really meant it. He knew that she loved him, but to hear her utter the words that he had longed to hear was overwhelming, to say the least. He would be content hearing those words come from her everyday for the rest of his life. "I love you back," he smiled.

She rested her head against his chest as he tightened his hold on her. It wasn't long until he could feel her breathing slow down and even out, signifying that she was finally asleep after an exhausting day. He placed a chaste kiss upon her forehead, thankful to the being responsible for bringing them together, even in the face of immense adversity. Her recent discovery would not be easy to deal with and he knew that it was going to get worse before it got better. However, he liked to think that because they were together, the problems they encountered would be a little easier to deal with. He hoped it would be.

"Vaughn?"

"Hmm?"

"It didn't cross my mind once."

"What didn't?"

"That you had any part of this," she replied simply.

"I know, Syd."

"You're the one thing in my life that's real," she said quietly, closing her eyes and listening to his heartbeat.

"And I always will be."

He looked at the alarm clock, its annoying red glow showing that it was nearly three in the morning. He smiled inwardly, knowing that he would have no trouble falling asleep. For once, he didn't care about what late hour he was still doing awake. Sydney Bristow was in his arms, where they both belonged, and as far as he was concerned, their love was timeless.