Title: A Case Of You
Author: S@nd
Feedback: sydneyvaughnmailbox@yahoo.fr
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to J.J, Bad Robot, ABC… blablabla (you know). OK, OK, I don't own anything.
Summary: In the previous chapters, Fran & Will played detectives as Sydney made one of her many visits to 'Joey's Pizza'. They discovered Vaughn...and Fran wanted to meet him! Vaughn and Sydney accepted to have dinner altogether at Sydney's... Fran was pleased to meet Vaughn, Will was jealous, and both Syd and Vaughn were tense, but not as much as they were when Jack just arrived and stood in front of them…!
A/N: Hi, this is the ninth chapter, 'Crazy for you', aka 'Dinner part 3'. I'm sure you can't wait to find out what is to happen so just read, and please don't forget to review! Thanks. S@nd.
* - * - *
CHAPTER 9 – CRAZY FOR YOUPreviously:
Sydney leaned back in her chair, dumbfounded.
Vaughn felt ill at ease, and wished he could disappear.
Jack came nearer and caught sight of him. He couldn't believe his eyes. Vaughn here! That was so incredible.
"What the hell are you doing here, Vau…?!"
"Daddy!" Sydney interrupted, trying to prevent her father from saying Vaughn's name. "Why do you come here that late, do you have a problem?". She felt a shiver run down her spine, as she wondered what could have happened and how he would react to Vaughn's presence.
"I think we should talk, Sydney…" he said, coldly.
Sydney and Vaughn glanced at each other, both worried. Sydney stood up, and waved Jack to follow her. They headed to her room and went in. She closed the door behind them and turned to face her father.
"What's up?" she asked, intrigued.
"I was to ask you the same question, Sydney! What the hell is Vaughn doing here, are you both crazy? You can't have him, you, not to mention Francie and Will killed! What are you thinking about, Sydney? Have you taken leave of your senses!?" he almost shouted.
"Shhh! Keep your voice down!…"
Sydney sighed, feeling uncomfortable. "It's a pretty long story, I'll tell you about it later…"
"No, no dice, Sydney, I want explanations, and I want them now!"
"I'm sure you didn't come here to talk about that, I think what you wanted to tell me was rather urgent, otherwise you wouldn't have come that late. So, let's stick to the point, please. What happened? Did something happen to Dixon? Any news?"
"Okay…Sark contacted us. He said he would call us tomorrow, and wanted me to tell you to get ready to go…"
"Where will I have to go? What's the plan?" she interrupted.
"He just didn't tell us…"
"I don't like it, Dad…" she sighed.
"Me neither, and above all, I don't like Vaughn's being here! Will you finally explain me how come he's having dinner here with you? Do you really want to blow your cover, Sydney!"
"It's just because we wanted to avoid Fran and Will's questions that he accepted to come" she shouted. "Fran and Will were about to find out, they followed us as I was meeting him and they thought we have a crush on each other! I told them he was just a colleague of mine, and that there was nothing between us, but Fran insisted on us having dinner altogether! I couldn't take the risk to have her following me to the Credit Dauphine, after all! So I gave up, and told her we were okay… What else could I do?"
Jack didn't answer immediately. He just stared at her dumbly. Even if he still didn't like it, he had to admit that she seemed to be right, there was no other choice. But he was sure it was not a good idea, though.
He sighed. "Okay, okay, Sydney, but…"
"We better go back in the dining room, they must be wondering what we're doing… Don't you want to stay and have dinner with us?" she suggested.
"No, thank you. I have plenty of things to do… You know, work…"
"As always." She murmured to herself. She sighed. "When will I be able to live a normal life?!"
They went out of her bedroom, and she showed him out.
"Sydney, be careful" he said before leaving.
"As always. You too."
She looked at him going away, and closed the front door, a bit sad.
* - * MeanWhiLe – In tHe DinniNg RooM * - *
Vaughn watched Sydney leave the room with her father, worried. He was wondering how Jack would react and what he wanted to tell Sydney.
"If you don't mind, I'll go and prepare the dessert, could you help me, Will? Could you clear the table with me?" Fran asked.
"Okay, Fran" Will accepted, a bit reluctantly.
Fran grabbed the plates Will was handing her, and headed to the kitchen.
"Jack didn't seem to be pleased to see you in here…" Will commented.
Vaughn was still wondering what Sydney could be telling her father to explain his presence.
"Um…probably because he perfectly knows we aren't supposed to meet up and that we shouldn't have non professional relationships. The bank disapproves of it… " Vaughn replied.
"And so does CIA" he thought. Of course he was lying to Will, but not completely. He was sure Jack Bristow wouldn't like it, and he was right.
"Err…I know I shouldn't tell you that, but I will, though. I want to clarify something." Will paused. "Don't. Make. Trouble. For her! Okay! I know who you are…and…" he threatened.
Vaughn almost fell off his chair. "What?! What could he know? And how?"
He tried to maintain his composure and to reply calmly. "What do you mean?" he asked, worried.
"I know who you are. You're the guy who offered her that Christmas gift, that antique on her bedside table. You're the one she's been having a crush on even earlier than that Christmas. And the rules at your stupid bank… and your…secret love affair….forced her to lie to us, and I don't like it! She's my friend, and she never had secrets from me before you came in her life! I don't want that to happen again! You better leave her alone!"
Vaughn was mixed-up. In a few seconds, he had felt worried, afraid and guilty. And at the same time, flattered, proud and happy. At first, he had feared Will could have found out, but it just turned out he hadn't. He was far from imagining what the whole truth was, fortunately.
Vaughn wanted to smile as Will was misunderstanding about him. He felt so relieved to understand that Will didn't know he was CIA he almost burst into laugh.
And he almost blushed as he realized Will just told him Sydney had a crush on him. That couldn't be possible! She would have told him if it were true. She was such a courageous woman she would have told him!
She had nothing to be afraid of when she was with him, of course she must be aware of that. Sometimes he was sure it was plain to see how deep in love with her he was, it was certainly so obvious she couldn't miss it. And he was feeling ashamed to let his feelings show when she didn't feel that way too.
Now that Will just told him she did, he couldn't help thinking Will was probably mistaking again. Will knew nothing about them, but he certainly believed he and Sydney had an affair because Fran was thinking he was Sydney's kind of boyfriend. But who knows why… he had the feeling something sounded true in Will's speech. He had said Sydney seemed to have feelings for him before he gave her the gift, and if Will noticed that, it was certainly true, or partly true.
He just didn't know what to think. The only thing he knew right now was that he just wanted to find out. And even if he didn't like Will's jealous behavior, he just wanted to thank him for unintentionally telling him such a secret, true or not. It made him smile.
"Okay, I've been shown up! I was the one who offered her that antique frame, you're right, but I don't think I'm Sydney's crush, no! We just became friends, that's all! We have no love affair together!" he said. "And I'm sure she didn't tell you about that because there's just nothing to talk about!" Vaughn replied.
"Okay, okay…I just…wanted to clarify your intentions. I wanted to make sure you respect her and that you don't mean to hurt her! She doesn't deserve it"
"Hey, what are you guys talking about" Fran asked, back in the room.
"Oh…investments, Fran. Business, you know, nothing really funny…" Will pretended.
"Where's Sydney, still in her room with her father?" she asked.
"No, he just left" Sydney replied, standing at the doorframe.
"Didn't you invite him to have some cake with us, Syd?" Fran wondered.
"I did, but he had to go, so…" she said, in a dying voice.
"Work, always work. Um, speaking of which, why did he came for? Something wrong at the bank?"
"He told me I'll have to go and visit a client in Europe in a day or two. He'll probably call me tomorrow to make arrangements" she replied, winking at Vaughn.
"Oh, no. Not again, Syd, we were supposed to go to that concert together, don't you remember? You promised, Syd!"
"I know…I'm sorry, Fran, but you know it's part of my job, too" she sighed.
Vaughn looked down, realizing how painful it was for her to lie to her friends once again. She had tears in her eyes, and hopefully he was the only one to notice.
"I'm going to make some coffee, do you want a cup of coffee, Michael?" Fran asked.
"Yes, please, Francie" he said with a smile.
"Not for me, thanks" Will said, grumbling. Fran had interrupted his conversation with Vaughn, and now that Sydney was back, he didn't know how to tell Vaughn what he wanted to tell him.
"I need some fresh air, I'll be in the backyard, Fran!" Sydney told her. She waved Vaughn to follow her. They came out and she closed the door behind them.
She didn't know where to start, and it was plain to see.
"Sydney, what did your father tell you? Is something wrong? Tell me!" Vaughn asked, noticing how confused she was.
She gazed around them, to make sure nobody was listening and finally replied.
"It was about Dixon…"
"Dixon! What happened?"
"Nothing, I hope. Sark contacted SD-6 and he left a message for me. I have to get ready to leave at any time, and we don't know where he wants me to go…"
"I don't like it, Sydney. It strikes me we'd do better to say no. It can be a trap. No, it's probably a trap. He could kill both you and Dixon …"
"I know that, but I want Dixon back safely, and I'll do anything I can to help him."
Vaughn sighed. He perfectly knew she would, but he was afraid for her though.
"What about you? I had the feeling there was some kind of tension in the dinning room when I came back, what happened?" she asked him.
"Well, err…I had a conversation with Will. Well, a confrontation with him…in fact. I must say I was not prepared to face your friend's jealousy…but…I think it's okay now." he acknowledged.
"What?! What happened? What did Will tell you?" Sydney asked, worried.
"Don't worry, Sydney, don't worry! He thought he knew the story, and for a second I feared he did, but he was wrong. Completely wrong. He knew nothing at all, but I didn't tell him, of course. He thought I was at a disadvantage when he threatened me, but I'm a trained agent, you know, so I confused the issues without any problem…" he joked.
"What? Stop kidding, Vaughn, what did he tell you?"
He sighed. "He told me he knew who I was…but he was just believing I'm your boyfriend…nothing more" he explained, a bit disappointed. "'Will believes I'm your boyfriend, Sydney, which I'm not…If only I could…" he thought.
"Oh, it's Fran's fault! No, it's my fault! I should have been more careful!"
"Sydney, it's not your fault, it's mine!"
"What, what do you mean? Your fault?"
"Will thinks I'm your boyfriend because I gave you a gift, the gift on your bedside table…"
"Oh!" she said, blushing. "So Will is convinced you and I have a love affair ever since…Oh my God! I'm so sorry, Vaughn! I didn't want to involve you in…"
"Don't be, Sydney" he interrupted. "I must say… it's nice to play your boyfriend…after all" he said with a large smile.
Sydney looked down, blushing. She didn't know whether to tell him she was glad to be with him, playing his 'girlfriend' too, or not. "It's not the best thing to do" she thought. "Your life is so complicated, you don't need that. No, after all, you probably need that, but it would be too dangerous to…"
She came back to reality as she noticed the lights had suddenly been turned off in the kitchen, but something was moving inside. Not something, all things considered, some…people!
"Vaughn, they're spying on us" she whispered.
"Who?" Vaughn asked, worried, gazing around.
"Fran and Will! They're looking through the window…They're watching us!"
He almost sighed of relief. It was just Sydney's friends. "That was to expect…" he whispered.
She sighed. "So what now…what can we do now?" she asked, a bit upset.
"Let's just give them what they want!" he said, caressing her cheek.
"Vaughn, no…!"
He wrapped his right arm around her and pulled her to him, his left hand still rubbing her face.
Swaying room as the music starts
Strangers making the most of the darkTwo by two their bodies become one
"Vaughn, we shouldn't…!" she said, looking at him straight in the eyes, almost pleading.
He looked at her straight in the eye too and gently leaned to kiss her.
"We're going to get into an emotional tangle, Vaughn, please, I'm not sure we…"
She couldn't finish as he softly brushed her lips with his, and slowly kissed her.
Sydney suddenly got butterflies in her stomach. She felt her heart jump. She didn't know where she was anymore. Everything had turned upside down. She had the feeling she was flying, or that there was a firework display inside her body.
For a second she wondered whether he was such a good professional he was doing his best not to blow her cover, to save her from her friends' suspicion, attempting the impossible to protect his best agent. Or if he was just expressing his feelings.
She knew they shouldn't do that, but she was feeling so well she couldn't turn him away. She had been tense since he had accepted the dinner, and she knew why now. She had feared to have to face that situation, and she knew from the start she wouldn't know how to react if that happened. She knew they had to play lovers, but she was sure she wouldn't be able to resist him if they had to be as close as they were right now. She thought she would be even more tense, but she wasn't. On the contrary, her face relaxed into a smile, she closed her eyes and she let herself go in his arms.
I see you through the smokey air
Can't you feel the weight of my stare
You're so close but still a world away
What I'm dying to say, is that
Strange to say, she realized nothing was better than to be wrapped in his arms. He was holding her so tight, not the way he was comforting her when she was feeling down. He was holding her as if it was the only thing he had longed to do since he had come tonight. And she realized how badly she wanted him to hold her in his arms the way he was holding her right now.
But she then started hesitating. She was trying to decide whether to put herself before her job, or not. She didn't want to hurt Vaughn, to have him killed, but it was so good to be in his arms she couldn't get out of his embrace. Now that she knew what it was to be kissed by him, she couldn't help wanting to kiss him back. She was just a woman, and he was the man who just forgot the rules of handler to kiss her. She was still shocked, hardly realizing he had just kissed her for real.
I'm crazy for you
Touch me once and you'll know it's true
I never wanted anyone like this
It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss
I'm crazy for you, crazy for youNow she just wanted to know if he had true feelings for her or not. She sank against him, and softly kissed his lips. Vaughn felt a shiver run down his spine, and came back to reality for a second.
"Sydney, I think they're gone…" he mumbled.
She didn't answer immediately and started kissing him passionately. "I know" she just whispered, capturing his lips with hers.
Trying hard to control my heart
I walk over to where you are
Eye to eye we need no words at allVaughn was taken aback. He couldn't believe she was there in his arms, kissing him. It seemed so right. She had nothing to hide, nothing to prove, nothing to pretend. It seemed as if she was just telling him something she had longed to say. Perhaps she loved him eventually, perhaps she just wanted someone to comfort her, he didn't know. But he loved the way she had found to make herself understood. She couldn't imagine how long he had wanted that to happen, and now it was for real. He then pulled her tighter, and kissed her deeply. "I must be dreaming" he thought, making the most of it.
Slowly now we begin to move
Every breath I'm deeper into you
Soon we two are standing still in time
If you read my mind, you'll seeFor a minute time froze. Sydney just wrapped her arms around him, her fingers on his waist, to cling to him as much as possible. She didn't want to let him go. She had taken the risk to show him how she was feeling, and she didn't want that magic moment to end. She lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck, toying with his hair. She had dreamt of such a moment, but it was by far better than in her dreams.
It's all brand new, I'm crazy for you
And you know it's true
I'm crazy, crazy for youThey finally broke the kiss, gasping for hair. They looked at each other, confused…
TO BE CONTINUED… END OF CHAPTER 9 Madonna "Crazy For You"Swaying room as the music starts
Strangers making the most of the dark
Two by two their bodies become one
I see you through the smokey air
Can't you feel the weight of my stare
You're so close but still a world away
What I'm dying to say, is that
[Chorus:]
I'm crazy for you
Touch me once and you'll know it's true
I never wanted anyone like this
It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss
I'm crazy for you, crazy for you
Trying hard to control my heart
I walk over to where you are
Eye to eye we need no words at all
Slowly now we begin to move
Every breath I'm deeper into you
Soon we two are standing still in time
If you read my mind, you'll see
[chorus]
It's all brand new, I'm crazy for you
And you know it's true
I'm crazy, crazy for youA/N: OK, you wanted it, you really wanted it, then you got it! But how long will it last, uh….? Don't say I'm evil again, you'll see…
So what is to happen next…? I must say I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEAS for CHAP 10!!!! I mean it! So it's up to you to give me ideas…or else, I'll stop there, and you'll never know what's still in my mind. So you have just one thing to do: REVIEW!
Thanks again for supporting me, my wonderful reviewers. Nice to meet you, bubbles (you should know now I can't write any chapter without a cliffhanger…), serendipity (I hope you got butterflies with this chapter too!), Adel (I hope you're satisfied now, and you loved the ending of that chapter once again, lol. And I feel so honored to write one of your best ever fic! THANK YOU SO MUCH!), Ilovemypenguin (I feel better now, thanks, glad you liked Jack's appearance, I often have great ideas like that ;-)), Lor (if you were the one who told Egyptian Kat about your stupid teacher, I must say that I happen to be a teacher too, but I'm not that stupid, I'm pretty sure you'd like me to teach you now that you know ;-))). You know, some teachers can be nice! lol!), Sarklover (Glad I'm one of your favorites, even if it was not a Sark fiction (yet?!), just be patient, Sark will be back soon, if I keep writing!), and Star16 (you're still my #1 fan, after my wonderful beta, I hope you liked that S/V fluff!)
Happy new year, everyone! I wish you the best!
* -* - *
Stay tuned for CHAPTER 10...if you give me good ideas!