Caught Up In Reality
Stranded

Sydney looked out into the ocean from the deck. Picking up a pair of binoculars, she lifted them up to her eyes and searched the horizon. Finally she saw it.

Through the morning mist, there it was. The island. The key to taking down the Alliance could be there. This was the mission she'd been waiting for.

Vaughn watched her from a distance. As much as he wanted to go with her on this op, he knew he couldn't. They only had enough equipment for one person to go, and even if they had enough, Vaughn knew he wouldn't. This was Sydney's op, one that she'd been working for and waiting on for years. He wasn't about to take that from her.

Still, he was going to do whatever it took to make sure this mission went right.

An hour later, Sydney reached out from the recess of the cabin door and grabbed the passing guard, pulling him into the shadows. After swiftly knocking him senseless, she stripped him of his uniform and changed into it. Stepping back onto the warm deck, she began walking purposely down towards the engine room. She kept her head down, shielding her eyes with the brim of the cap she had taken.

Ducking into the area restricted for the crew, she continued to walk down the hallways, calling into her mind the map of the ship that she had memorized an hour before while prepping for the mission. Turning around a corner, she was met by another member of the crew.

"Hey." He said, stopping her by catching her arm in passing. She was forced to look up. "I don't remember you, let's see some identification." Sydney silently thanked her lucky stars. She had had a fake ID made for her, even though she had doubted that she would need one. She handed it over and watched his facial expression.

She had to fight to keep in the sigh of relief when he handed her the card back and walked off in the opposite direction. She continued towards the engine room, located at the back of the ship. Finally seeing the door she needed, she cautiously opened it. It was empty except for a few technicians. After disposing a stun bomb amongst them, she headed over to the sealed door that would lead to her way out of the ship. Unscrewing the large round handle, she swung it open to reveal a small room, bare except for the matching door on the opposite side. Sydney pulled a sub-aquatic breathing device from the belt she had attached to the uniform, stepped through the door, and closed it behind her, making sure it was sealed tightly to keep water out of the ship. Stepping back out of the uniform and hanging it back up, she stood in her black wetsuit. Opening the other door, she was met by a flood of seawater. Empowering the jet, she raced off towards the island that quite possibly held the key to destroying the Alliance.
Irina was looking out of the window next to her bedside. When she spotted Sydney's blurry dark form under the water, she notified Jack and Vaughn that Sydney had gotten out of the ship safely.

Jack was visibly relieved, and went down to the restaurant to get some lunch. Vaughn was left alone with Irina.

"I've been thinking about what you said. About Sydney and I." He said, trying to keep his voice level. Irina looked at him, but gave no other response. "You said that she loves me. I want to know how you know this."

"I'm her mother." Irina stated simply. "I can't see why you haven't told her how you feel yet. I'm surprised. Your father wouldn't have hesitated."

"And what do you know about what my father would or would not have done?" Vaughn snapped, now angry.

Irina shrugged and turned away, which was fine with Vaughn, who wished the subject had never come up.
Sydney stood in the shallow water and walked to shore. The island was bigger than the first one, but otherwise it was almost the same. Something nagged at the back of her mind, but she took it as nerves and walked on.

Spotting a solitary rock in the distance, she stepped cautiously towards it. As she neared it, she could see the symbols etched in the granite surface. Kneeling down next to it, she removed the crowbar she had packed. Just as she was wrenching the rock open, she heard the footsteps in the sand. But she heard to late, she felt the pain on the side of her
Vaughn was getting worried. Sydney had been gone for over two hours, and she hadn't called in to transfer the data. He was beginning to pace when he decided to take some action. Knowing Jack would never let him go out after her, Vaughn sought the help of Irina. He walked out to the deck where she was looking out into the ocean, leaning on the rail as she did so.

"You're worried." She stated without turning towards him. "Sydney hasn't made contact, has she?"

"No. She hasn't."

"Let me guess, you want to look for her." She continued to stare out to sea.

"Yes. But Ja-"

"Forget about Jack. I'll take care of him. Sometimes he just doesn't know when to step down. You go. Now." She said, her voice taking on some emotion, her accent becoming more apparent.

Vaughn complied instantly with her orders, returning to the cabin for his gun. It wasn't much in the way of equipment, but it would have to do.
Sydney woke up, her head reeling and spinning. She blinked a couple times and found herself looking at the sandy ground. She was kneeling, her hands tied behind her back and her ankles strung together. She tested the knots. They were strong.

Sydney brought her head back up to better judge her surroundings. Her crowbar lay on the ground where it had fallen after she had been knocked out, the rock was still intact. There was no sign of anyone on the island, except for a burlap cloth that was flung aside to uncover a single ditch, much like the ones she had found on the first island. Shuffling over to the ditch, she peered inside. It was empty. Whoever had knocked her out was no longer an inhabitant of the island. They had apparently abandoned her.

The island yielded no way to break the bonds that tied hand and foot. The sand was fine and free of any large rocks, save the Rambaldi Stone, the most promising of any other alternatives. Moving closer to the miniature boulder, she tried to sever the ties, but it was too smooth to be of any help. Her water jet lay by the shore, too far away for her to use.

As far as she could see, there was just sand, surrounded by water. The cruise ship was behind her, sailing away. If she didn't get off the island fast, she would be stranded, without food or freshwater, for days on end. She would die.
Irina entered her cabin to find Jack sitting near his phone, waiting for Sydney to call.

"If she doesn't call in ten minutes, I swear I'm going out there."

Irina smiled at this, knowing that he would do no such thing.

"That won't be necessary." She said, her remark met by a confused glance. She began to explain.
Once the deck was clear, Vaughn jumped overboard. It was risky, if he was seen their cover would be blown, and his hopes of finding Sydney would vanish. But Vaughn didn't care. All he could think about was Sydney, the things he had said to her, and more importantly, the things he had yet to say. A surge of adrenaline powered Vaughn's arms as he swam to the island, to Sydney.

A half hour later, Vaughn was halfway to the island. Stopping for the first time to take a break, he examined his location and looked for any possible signs of Sydney. Nothing. Getting his second wind, he struck off with more vigor than he had the first time. Twenty minutes later, he was standing up in the waist high water. Spotting two dark shapes near the center of the island, he sprinted towards them, taking his gun out of the holster he had put it in while he was swimming.

About twenty feet from the shapes, he could make out Sydney as one of them. She wasn't moving, her back was facing him. He held his breath as he approached, slowing to a walk.

"Sydney?"

No response.

"Syd?" He walked around to her front. Squatting beside her, he took her pulse, glad that she was alive.

At Vaughn's soft touch on her neck, Sydney slowly regained consciousness.

"Vaughn?" She groaned, her eyes remaining closed.

"I'm here. What happened?"

"Don't know. Someone knocked me out while I was opening the rock, when I woke up they were gone. I tried to get the ropes off, but I couldn't. The disk is still in the rock. We'll get it before we go."

Vaughn finished taking her pulse and carefully untied her hands, followed by her feet. Sydney stretched and rolled her joints, getting the kinks out.

"Do you think you can stand?" Vaughn asked, still worried.

"Yeah. I'm just a little sore, that's all. You have any water?"

"Sorry, all I brought was this." He motioned to his gun, then re- holstered it and helped Sydney to her feet, supporting her with his arm.

"How are we going to get back to the ship?" He asked. There was no way they were going to make it in time, with Vaughn swimming and Sydney hanging on. The ship would easily overtake them. Sydney motioned to the jet, then started to walk towards it. Vaughn's hand gently but firmly brought her back to stand in front of him.

"I'm so glad you're okay. You have no idea... When you didn't make contact I didn't know what to do. And while I waited by the phone, I thought about... Well I thought about a lot of things. The point is, I don't know what I would do without you." Vaughn took a breath. "Ever since I met you, with your bozo hair and swollen lip," She smiled at this. "I had this feeling about you. I didn't know what was until recently. Sydney," He lifted her chin to meet her eyes. "Sydney, I love you."

Whew! The long awaited cliffhanger/feelings revealed chapter! Hope you all liked it. Let the fluff begin!

This chapter was a little longer, I don't know if you all noticed or not...

Ch7- Should be up Sat/Sun. Possibly sooner, you never know!