Sorry this chapter took so long! My computer crashed and I had to wipe my hard drive! Okay, without further ado....

"Madison?" Kilmer continued to call as he left the sanctity of the bathroom. His feet treaded lightly against the cheap wood. His mind was a jumble of thoughts and he was sure that he was making the best decision. It would be best for all parties involved and would probably make him happiest. This is what he truly wanted...at the pit of his stomach. This what every night lying awake for for. It was for this moment. He turned the corner to the living room, after checking all of the rooms for Madison. "Madison?" Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks. He couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't be. There was the woman who had just rejected him in the arms of another man. His arm was snaked around her waist and she was obviously upset about something, probably this entire situation. She was gazing lovingly into his eyes and had her hand pressed into his. Kilmer's voice felt lost and his chest felt tight. He didn't call out anymore. All he could do was just stare there and feel lost...and rejected...and just all and all terrible.

Sydney felt so comfortable in the embrace that kept her so warm. Her brown eyes scanned away from Vaughn and to the doorway of the living room. "Kilmer." She managed to speak, finding her voice insanely raspy. She held onto Vaughn's hand tightly and felt her own fingertips go numb from the loss of circulation. "Kilmer, come and sit."

Kilmer was still standing straight in the doorway. His face looked torn and his body broken. However, he obeyed silently, unable to say anything. He walked slowly, feeling the heavy weight of his feet drag against the old wooden floor. This wasn't the way things were suppose to work. One of the women he loved should not have bee embraced so tightly with another man. He should have been that man holding her so tightly. Silently, he sat down in the overstuffed chair and starred at Sydney and Vaughn. His body sunk down slightly and he reclined against the back of it.

"What's going on, Kilmer?" Sydney spoke again, finding her voice a little stronger this time. Her body slowly untwined from Vaughn's and she found her body straightening. She looked at him with clearer eyes and felt a professional type of attitude seep back into her veins. All of the emotions that were locked away were finally coming into the light. Things were finally making sense. Everything that he had said before...how he acted towards her when she was sick...everything made sense.

"I've had better days, sweet-pea." Kilmer hid his eyes with the palm of his hands.

Vaughn shifted his weight slightly and found that Sydney was gripped her own hands tightly...even tighter as Kilmer called her that old pet name. He snaked his other arm around her waist and found the sensitive spot just by her floating ribs. She shot him a deathly glare. The last thing she wanted was Kilmer to feel uncomfortable about her decision.

"I need to talk to all of you." Kilmer spoke again, removing his hands and looking hard at Sydney and Vaughn, "Where's Madison?"

Madison had been standing in the kitchen, fixing a rather early meal for Layla when she heard her name being mentioned. She had just hung up the phone with Langley and felt thoroughly drained. It was a long and emotional night for her and she felt as though her body was going to break into two at any moment. The only thing that was keeping her sane was the little girl desperately trying to get free from her mother's grasp. Madison gripped her daughter a little tighter as she was told the ramifications of her actions. It was a lot more than she realized. There were things that she never thought would happen. Her heart was heavy as she rounded the corner and came into plain sight, "What is it, Robbie?" Madison spoke loudly over the loud wails of her daughter. She turned her attention towards and made shushing noises.

Kilmer turned to look at her and found he was without his voice again, "Maddie..." And just like, he was a beggar on his knees. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean-I don't want-Madison, I'm sorry." He said at last and all in one breath. It took him a long moment of awkward silence and shaky nerves. He stood up and crossed to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and starring into her eyes. "I don't care what it is but Maddie, I can't lose you. I love you." He realized how horrible his original decision was. The woman he hadn't picked hadn't returned his sentiment. He had to move on. In real life, he would have had time to mourn over losing her but this wasn't real life. Life moved faster in the intelligence community.

She took a small step back, losing the feeling of his hands on her and looked at him with hurt eyes. She realized in a heartbeat and her emotions were so tired that she didn't know what to think. "Would you have gone with Sydney if she weren't going with Agent Vaughn?" She replied brusquely. Hurt, she crossed, unable to look at him anymore and placed Layla down on the carpeting, letting her play and walk about.

His mouth dropped open and he was unable to speak for a moment. "I-I was upset, Madison. I didn't know how to react to finding out that Layla wasn't mine." He answered back, fighting to control his temper. He extended his hands out towards her, "Let's just stop all of this. Please baby."

"None of this would have happened if you hadn't stayed to attend Sydney after Lauren and Jonathan escape! You were too pig-headed to look after your love than to do your job! Why the bloody hell didn't you think? Why didn't you do your job and why couldn't you stay loyal to me?" She screamed, feeling a final release of emotions take hold. She stood up and faced him abruptly, placing her hands on her hips defensively.

"I did that because...I don't know why I did it." He looked away and tried the best that he could to cover his tracks. The veteran always failed at this. He could never lie to the woman that he loved. Not after what happened with Sydney. It was just impractical and nearly impossible. Nevertheless, he gritted his teeth down hard, "Is that what you want to hear from me, Maddie? I don't know why I did it and I'm not proud of myself. If I could take it back, I would have already!" He softened his tone slightly, "I'm asking you, baby, please don't do this to me. Don't say no." He brushed his hand against her cheek and watched her painfully as she winced at his touch, "We've been so happy for so long."

Her tone was noticeably softer. "And then this entire community has managed to screw us over. Karma knew what the bloody hell it was doing when it wreaked havoc on our lives." She said, finding her tone a little softer. She was breaking and it was apparent. It would only be a few moments before she would crash into his arms and it would all be over with.

He stepped an inch closer and found his arms around her waist line again, "But we can do all we can fight, can't we?" She only struggled a little bit, whining beneath herself.

She nodded her head softly and felt like she was going to break. The tears were already starting to form and she felt like her heart was going to drop from her chest. She suppressed another whining groan. She took a slow inhale and realized what was happening. "No. I won't take you back just like this. No." She back away from him slowly and started to shake her head back and forth. "It can't happen like this. I'm leaving the CIA."

He had been so upset with her and now she was equally upset with him. They were at a classic impasse. Neither of them wanted to move from their position and both wanted the other to crumble into their arms. Her gray eyes stung as she fought to maintain her ground. His touch was making her weak. His face looked so tired and it looked as though every expression was a lot more work than it really should be. "Don't. You're such a wonderful agent."

"I have to. For Layla's sake."

"Then where will you go? What will you do?"

She snapped again, "What do you care?"

This was going to get very ugly, very fast. Sydney tapped Vaughn's leg softly and motioned for them to disappear into their bedroom. Both felt uncomfortable at this intimate display of emotions and decided through little taps and pointed looks that it would be best to leave. Their hands were tightly joined and their bodies were melded tightly as they moved unnoticed out of the room.

"I care at the fact that you're going to waste all of your talent because you're afraid! You cannot let fear run your life, Madison! That's not how we work!" Kilmer retorted tartly.

"It's not your decision, Robbie. It's mine and mine alone. This is my decision!" Madison screamed back.

"We need to pack anyway." Sydney justified as Vaughn closed and locked the door, drowning out the noise of Kilmer and Madison's argument. She walked into the room and surveyed it, keeping her back to him. Somewhere in this entrance, she lost contact with his body, immediately feeling the cold of being alone. There was an awkward silence and Sydney thought desperately on how to break it. "This is a nice little place." Desperately, she refused to talk about the situation about the other agents. Instead, she focused on small little things.

"If you like safe house." Vaughn countered coming up behind and wrapped his arms around her waist. He kissed the back of her neck and swayed with her softly. "As long as I'm with you, I don't care where we are." He laughed softly and continued to cradle her body in his.

Sydney burrowed her brow as she placed her hands over his. "This is hard, isn't it?" She tipped her head back, resting on his shoulder. This was an open invitation for him to continue to kiss the back of her neck, following down her jugular vein and onto her collarbone. She quickly gasped and giggled, pulling it away, only to be pulled back into his arms. She felt so guilty laughing but it tickled. "Stop." She turned and looked into his eyes, "Stop." Her hands gripped his again, hanging by their waists.

"Alright." He relented after a moment of intense stares. "Yes, it is hard." He knew he had to relent to what she was saying if he wanted to make her happy. He was happy just at the fact that she "chosen" him. That was all he needed. He had the girl he loved again.

"What do you think is going to happen with them now?" She asked softly, her thoughts running a thousand miles at a time. She starred down at their combined hands and sighed.

"I hope that they can be happy." Vaughn said slowly, obviously choosing his words carefully. "They'll make the right decision."

"Kilmer has never done anything the easy way." Sydney warned slightly as she pulled herself into his arms and buried her head into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and just held her like that for a long time.

"Have you?" He joked softly, feeling her smile into his chest and nod in agreement. "Well," he continued with certainty, "then I'm sure that everything will work out." He took a moment. "It did with us."

She pulled back and looked into his green eyes, "It did, didn't it?" The grin was spreading over her face. Finally, she was beginning to see a future that was going to be alright. She wouldn't have to wakeup in her apartment, alone, hysterically crying.

"Yes." Vaughn repeated again, feeling more confident with his answer. He squeezed her tightly and shared a smile. Leaning in, he captured her lips with his. It was just a sweet, simple kiss that sent her head over heels. "I love you." He whispered as they parted.

For the first time in over two years, she could honestly whisper, "I love you." And just like that, she felt so naked and so exposed after uttering those few words. It was like she had been stripped down as her mouth opened. She sunk deeply into his arms and just tried to inhale as deeply as possible.

Vaughn peered down and attempted to catch her eye, "What is it, baby?"

She groaned and held on even tighter. "It's been such a long time since someone has held me. It's a basic principle, isn't it? I haven't felt like this in such a long time."

He smiled and gripped her even tighter, "It's been a while since I've held someone that I've loved. And I missed it. I miss having you in my arms."

"I missed being in your arms." She admitted, taking a slow inhale. "Promise me something?"

"Anything, baby." He found his voice getting husky and his heart swelling of absolute love and joy. He leaned back to look deep into her eyes and to brush a piece of hair out of her face.

"Promise me you won't ever say good-bye to me. That you won't leave me." She knew it was a jump in the conversation but these thoughts had been bubbling, had been brewing inside of her heart for a long time and now seemed as good as time as ever to express them.

"I promise I will never leave you. I'm yours." He spoke honestly and fluently. "I promise." He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers, not kissing her but just pressed there. It was a nice moment, accompanied only by the sound of their own heartbeats and the gentle puffs of air from their lips.

So forget your past my Goodbye Girl

'Cause now you're home at last

Author's Note:

Okay, one more chapter and then I think this will be done! It's been a lot of fun writing this and hopefully you enjoyed it! I'm starting to go through different ideas for a new story but all of them are works in progress.