A/N: sorry I've taken so long… I think I'm brain dead. But hey, at least I got some of my college applications done right? Hehe. 3 more to go. :D and I'm heading to Monterey tomorrow… so… it's not likely you guys will be getting a new chapter anytime soon. Blame my boss, then blame my parents.
thank you to demon for betaing! she's the best.
Thank you to:
valley-girl2: hehe.. I wish I have coffee right now… I still have 2 more hours to go for the countdown. Ugh. Boring. lol. Just get everything washed… and then pack up again for school right? I hate the process myself. Lol… you haven't put away… okay.. so you hopefully have by now… considering… it's almost 10 days after… whatever the EX is? Hehe… whatever… not whoever? Interesting way of putting it. Yeah… it was renee, I just totally forgot I dropped it in that chapter. It's been way too long. I don't even remember what this chapter is about. :) I'm glad you like Liana. She's such a sweet little girl. And not at all.. err… spoiled like other kids are. (I hope you guys read it as such). You love and hate the flashback? Really. That's the first I've heard… other people liked the flashback (the sugary sweetness of it). Lol… Vaughn will suffer for one more chapter. I'm trying to conclude this fic as fast as I can… which means re-plotting things. Hehe. Thanks for reading and for these awesome replies.
Glittering Pegasus: okay… you're sandpiper right? ::cringes:: sorry if I was completely wrong… I'm glad you like this fic! Hehe… I'm not particularly fond of some season 3 fics… the ones that go overboard and resolve things way to fast… those I can't stomach. Hehe. Thanks for reading
Brynne: no… Sydney found someone because she realized that she needed to stop hoping and to start moving on… She doesn't want to be attached to Vaughn anymore because he needs to be the one to make the first move. It'll be explained later. Thanks for reading
alias4ever: I'm glad you like Liana. Thanks for reading
follow-ur-dreams: of course this will be S/V. It can't possibly be anything else! I'm a huge S/V shipper. I can't stand it when syd is with someone else or if vaughn is with someone else. Thanks for reading
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE may all your wishes and dreams come true. Best of luck! :D
Chapter 2—Broken Glass
He had caught a glance at the man who had taken Sydney away from him. It had been a month since she had told him about her date. He had been going for an afternoon run while Liana was at the babysitter's. Since the JTF center was located near the park, he'd thought it was the perfect opportunity to work off some of his boredom.
Sydney had just opened a car door and was about to sit in the passenger seat when the other man had pulled her in by her hip for a quick kiss.
The man had dark brown hair and was roughly the same height as himself. As the man turned around, Vaughn soon discovered that the man had piercing blue eyes and a growing belly, obviously from not exercising enough.
Vaughn felt his blood start racing and his heart drop to his stomach. An overwhelming rush for queasiness overcame him. He already knew that this other man was not good enough for her. No one was, not even himself. She was too perfect. But why was she going out with someone that was in no way a match for her?
And he loved her so much. Didn't she know that?
His thoughts threw him back to the two years she had been missing, when he searched night and day, nameless country after nameless country. He traveled the world trying to find her.
And he had failed.
["Sydney!"
He awoke with a start. The tingling sensation at his lips told him that he had been the one to yell her name with such force.
He looked at his digital alarm clock. 47:47.
What?
He blinked again.
47:47
He stared at it, a minute rolling away.
Blink.
4:48 AM.]
He felt like a voyeur, watching the woman he loved sit in another man's car and drive off to the west. He stayed there, contemplating the spot where the car had disappeared in the distance, the shadows around him growing in length.
[He sat up in bed, the sheets around him drenched in cold sweat. He reached up to flick on the bedside drawer lamp.
"Merde!"
He felt the warm sticky liquid drip down his finger.
Using the other hand, he switched the light on.
There was glass on his bedside drawer. He started looking for a different origin than the one he suspected. He already had a feeling he knew where it was from the moment he cut his finger. But he wanted to stay in denial for a little while longer.
The photograph frame, the same one he had given to Sydney as her Christmas present.
He had placed a picture of himself and Sydney in there, the only picture they had ever taken together.
The shattered glass was centered around Sydney's face.
"Sydney," he had gasped, choking back tears of sorrow.]
The sound of a distant dog bark woke him up from his trance and brought him back to his surroundings.
He slowly started to jog back to the JTF center.
~*~*~
Once he had changed out of his jogging gear and into his professional suit and tie, he went back to the paperwork pile that was starting to grow on his desk. Most of it was related to the mission Sydney had just gotten back from earlier this morning. She had gone to Afghanistan to retrieve some information that the CIA needed, something to do with terrorism, again.
Afghanistan, another country he had gone to search for her when she had been missing. When he had tried to keep his role as her guardian angel. When he had failed once again.
[He picked up his father's watch, already knowing what he would find.
It was ticking again.
What the hell was happening?]
"Agent Vaughn," Jack's voice boomed through his thoughts which had once again meandered from work. "We have an emergency meeting. Debrief again. You might want to tell the babysitter that you're going to be late again."
Jack had warmed up to Vaughn during the two years Sydney went missing. After countless nights of seeing Vaughn in pain and grief, he had gone as far as to encourage Vaughn to move on. When Vaughn had gotten to the point where he thought he had moved on, and found Renee as a replacement, he had practically asked Jack to allow him to move on and tell him that it was all right to get married.
Jack felt much of the burden of guilt when his daughter had come home to find the man she loved married to someone else.
"I can't. She said she had a class tonight at eight."
Jack stayed silent, wondering if he should even approach the idea growing in his mind. He decided to try. "Can you call Sydney?"
"Jack, you know I can't." The pain in the younger agent's eyes told Jack all he needed to know.
"Why don't you go to the meeting? Tell Kendall I'll be there in a few minutes." Without waiting for a reply, Jack left towards his office.
~*~*~
Jack arrived a few minutes late to the meeting, claiming the empty seat next to Vaughn.
He leaned over and told Vaughn, "Don't worry. Sydney's looking after Liana."
Vaughn pulled back, his eyes wide and full of amazement. Sydney was looking after Liana. What if Liana does something Sydney doesn't like? What if Liana calls her mom?
But he knew deep in his heart that Liana should have been Sydney's anyway. Sydney would take care of her, like she did before… before she found a boyfriend. Before he lost her, before he lost his chance.
[He looked up at the calendar.
October 1st.
He should have known.
First the clock, the picture frame, his father's watch, the date.
What did it all mean though? Did it mean that she was… gone? Was she no longer… alive?
She died when he was sleeping. She died when he was sleeping. She died when he was sleeping. How could he?
She was probably enduring so much pain, suffering. She had lasted so long. Maybe giving up was her only way out of this cold life.
She died when he was sleeping. He had failed her.]
~*~*~
He walked into his house, too late at night for his liking.
It was eerily silent, a sure sign that Sydney had gotten Liana to sleep with the same ritual as before.
He wished he had been there to see her face when it was Sydney that had gone to pick her up from the babysitter's. She had been crying for Sydney for so many nights that sometimes he didn't know what to do. He couldn't exactly call Sydney and ask her to go over to his house every single night just to tuck his daughter into bed.
Her eyes probably had shimmered with happiness. He could imagine her running to Sydney and Sydney scooping her up into the safety of her arms.
Just because he and Sydney were not very comfortable around each other once again did not mean that she and Liana had to feel disconnected.
He saw Sydney's shoes still placed next to the door. She was still here.
His heart started racing, nervousness was running through his system.
He didn't see her in the outer portion of the house so he figured that she was still in Liana's room waiting for him to relieve her of her babysitting duty. Although Liana's bedroom door was open, he softly knocked on it. He didn't want to startle any of them.
However, when he didn't receive an answer of any sort, he peeked his head in. Both Sydney and Liana were on Liana's bed, both asleep. Liana was lying on top of Sydney, grabbing onto both her hair and clothes, not letting her go even in sleep. As he approached both of them, he noticed that they were not covered up in a blanket.
He went to his bedroom to retrieve an extra blanket.
As he placed the blanket on his two angels, he noticed a dark bruise forming on Sydney's shoulder.
He sighed deeply before lightly brushing the bruise with his fingers and a soft kiss. Sydney stirred a little but did not wake up. The movement caused Liana to clutch on even tighter to Sydney. Sydney's arms automatically encircled the baby.
He had failed her again. As her handler, he was supposed to keep her safe. But she hadn't been safe once again. She'd been hurt on the mission. He had failed.
~tbc~