Oh Wow! What a response! I guess there are a lot of S/V shippers out there!
Just wanted to say thank you for all your support, it's nice to know there
are people reading! I love you guys so much! Thanks, for everything! And
this could be the end so stay tuned to every juicy detail! Lots of love for
ya!!!!!
Leo's l'il sista
"The Other Side of the Story" Part XVI "Conclusion?"
"Va~Vaughn!" Sydney repeated, gun still pointed in Michael's direction.
He stared at her, hands in his pockets, a lazy expression spread on his handsome face that made her heartache knowing this could be her last moments with Vaughn, and if she'd known, she would have chosen it to be another way.
"Vaughn, how did you get in here?! Who told you I'd be here!" Sydney demanded, shaking terribly and Vaughn's silence only infuriated her. "Vaughn, say something!"
"Or you'll what? Shoot me?"
Sydney couldn't believe how cold Michael was and could barely keep from convincing herself that he wasn't Michael.
The next move Michael made scared her. He walked over to her, pulling out his gun. "Put that away or I'll pull mine out," he threatened, "and I just might not hesitate pulling the trigger on you."
Sydney evaluated the situation. Okay, Michael didn't seem to be joking.
She carefully lowered her hand and threw her gun on the floor. It bothered her that Michael still hadn't moved.
"Michael, are you going to answer me now?"
"I don't think there's any needs for words. My presence has confused you more than any words ever could," he shrugged and she could feel his cool breath on her cheek, it almost hypnotized her.
"Okay, that's true. But I'm still trying to figure out how you found me," Sydney protested, scared out of her wits. "The only person I told was ~~~
"Will?" Vaughn finished for her, advancing on her, forcing her against the door.
Now this was kind of seductive but Sydney was too frightened to notice it. "I'll take your silence as a "yes."
"H~he told you?"
Michael's serious stare answered the question. She felt her knees buckle and she give way, clutching onto a table to keep from falling completely to the ground. Now it made sense, Will had been late because he'd been with Michael, busy making her life miserable and at the same time, harder to leave.
"What did he tell you?" Sydney inquired in a barely audible voice as sweat began to pour down her face.
Michael leaned his face close to her as though he was going to kiss her and replied, "everything."
Sydney closed her eyes as though willing Michael to kiss her, assuming that was all he'd wanted and then he would leave. But she couldn't bring herself to do it, show her vulnerability, not to this man who had moved on with somebody and lost faith in what they'd had.
"I see you don't seem very pained. Monotone, like the first time we met when I got back in that safehouse in Hong Kong," Sydney quipped, trying not to let Michael see her fear. "Maybe my assumptions of you having feelings for me was wrong, maybe you really do love that bitch of a wife of yours."
Michael didn't even look hard at her, he didn't even look shocked. "Oh no Syd. What will told you last night was true~~~I do love you."
Sydney was sure her heart had stopped, or doubted the organ even existed.
"And the shock of hearing what Will told me this evening was harder than anything I've felt since you got back. I couldn't stop crying after he told me what you're doing~~~but now I'm all cried out and I'm just~~~angry."
"Like I couldn't tell," Sydney though to herself, but Michael's talking to her was an improvement.
"Sydney, why are you doing this? Why didn't you come to me first?" Michael shouted at her, his anger replaced by the pain she'd expected to see in the first place.
"I told you Michael, it's my life~~~my decision~~~"
"It may be, but this has got to be the stupidest decision you've ever made!"
"Excuse me but I thought it was the ring thing to do?" Sydney shot back, pushing Michael away. "Wouldn't you agree? Then you can go and be happy with Ms. Silicone and I could finally be rid of you!"
"But I love you!" Michael cried angrily.
"No, you don't! You love Jess and I'm fine with that!"
"Liar! If you were, why are you being a chicken and bolting the country? Why the hell do you want to go down in the CIA as missing in action?" Michael retorted and shoved Sydney over to the couch and forced her down.
"I don't have to explain myself to you," she stated, stubbornly folding her arms.
"You know you want to hold me and kiss me and be like we were two years ago," Michael insisted, grabbing hold of the arms she was using as a concealer for her real feelings. "Admit it, Syd. I'm giving you a chance!"
"Vaughn, I don't want your freaking charity!"
"Don't change the damn subject, Sydney! Stop lying to me, stop lying to yourself," he scolded her.
"I'm not."
Sydney expected Michael to falter back out of shock, realizing he'd been reading her all wrong.but he didn't. Instead he grabbed her chin and forced her to stare into his eyes. Oh, how she wanted to get out of his grip, but that would include her popping her neck and hurting her jaw.
"Then tell me Syd, look straight at my face and say that you don't love me," he commanded her. "I know why you're going to transfer, it's because I'm married and you think you have to give up on me!"
"N~no, that's not~~~"
"Be a woman, Syd. Say it to my face! You want me here, just as much as I want you!"
"V~vaughn, please~~~"
"Say it, because I'm not leaving until I get an answer out of you. I'm not going to let you evade my questions or let you avoid my wanting to talk to you for another minute!"
"Vaughn, you're hurting me~~~"
"ANSWER ME!"
Sydney stared at Michael, trembling like she'd never done before, to include life-threatening moments on her missions and having her mother shoot at her. She saw Michael's frown stay a hard line but his green eyes seemed to soften.
"I~I don't~~~" she murmured but then she sobbed and took hold of Michael's hand. "I do love you~~~I do love you, Vaughn! And I never stopped."
Michael's expression finally softened and his hard edges began melting. His eyes were filled with wonder as he released his hold on her face. As much as he'd believed in Sydney's feelings, hearing those words hadn't been something he'd been emotionally prepared for.
"Oh Syd," he crooned as he pulled her into his arms. "Oh baby, why did you lie to me?"
"I felt I had to and even saying this now, it doesn't change anything, I'm still going," Sydney confirmed, clearly regretting what she'd just said. "But I've loved you and hearing you were married tore me into bits and after all the CIA has put me through, I didn't think I could let that happen to me. But it was a fact I knew I had to accept and it didn't take me long to figure out that was impossible. So the only thing I could do was lie to you and convince you to lose hope in ever being with me again. But that turned out to be harder than I ever thought. So when I found out my next mission could take me away from being her, I jumped at the chance. I'm tired of being in here where it's a 24/7 nightmare and I wanted to go to a place where there would be hope of a new day."
"So, you were never okay~~~"
"No, I was never okay!" Sydney cried infuriated. "How could I be! To you, two years had passed! To me, it was waking up after the night of Francine's murder and finding out in one night, nothing was the same!" she roared, her tears plopping down onto his shoulder. "And the reason I couldn't tell you was because I knew you'd stop me and tell me that I didn't have to leave, but I was tired of hoping, I just wanted out, Vaughn."
"But that's changed now, right? I mean, you know now, nothing has changed, I love you and you said so yourself that you love me. There's no reason you have to leave."
"Because what? Because you just ditched your wife? Wanted time to reflect? You're still married to her Vaughn, and you two have spent a two years we didn't."
"Syd, I left her because we got into a fight."
"You couldn't have expected your relationship to be that perfect."
"No, she was talking crazy. She wouldn't get off of blaming you for that night at the pier. She kept pushing me to believe that you raised a gun at her and it was clear she was jealous and you know what, I could no longer lie to her. I loved you, I~~~I took your side, and I left."
"But it's true," Sydney broke in and let Vaughn out of her grasp. "I did raise my gun at her."
"W~what?" Michael gasped, not sure what emotion he was feeling. He stared at Sydney's expression and didn't need words to have his feelings confirmed. "But Syd, you saved her life~~~the papers, the police report~~~"
"And lucky I did, if not I might be in jail right now," she replied, a bit cocky and too calm for Michael's taste.
Michael backed up from Sydney, in disbelief. He could barely stand to look at her. "You tried to kill my wife?"
Sydney nodded. She was sure she'd lost him now.
"No~~~I don't believe you! The Sydney I love would never do that, no matter how desperate or hurt she was!" Michael argued, at a loss, torn between his duty to report it and his want to have Sydney by his side and not spend the next years talking to her a glass wall.
"I guess I'm not the Sydney you think I am anymore~~~"
"Syd, if the CIA got wind of this~~~"
"I'll admit it," Sydney replied, clasping her hands together, staring down at the carpet. "These two years have affected me, though I'm not insane, my human instincts come into play the moment I feel my territory is being invaded. The old Sydney would have complied and worked with any hanger assigned to her, but I asked Cowell to be assigned to somebody else because his ability to get me to admit my emotions scared me so much!"
"Syd, I~~~I don't' know what to do."
"I know it was wrong and had I used my head I wouldn't have done what I did or tell Will my plans. But you don't know what it's like to feel like you don't belong in your own existence, everybody in sync with their life while you can't help but feel you've been cheated."
"But Syd~~~you do belong somewhere," Michael assured her, wiping the tears from her eyes, flashing her a gentle smile, for a moment, forgetting the shocking revelation Sydney had given him. "As long as I'm on this earth, you'll belong with me, married or not."
"You did so much for me," she whimpered, placing her hand against his cheek. "You showed me what happiness was and what it was like to be loved. But now I can't live without that so I'm wondering if it would have been better that I had not known this feeling that coursed through my body whenever I was near you. I know I can't even match what you've given me but I wanted to do the same for you. I wanted to make you happy."
"But you did, Syd. Everyday you were in my life it was perfect. Being with Jess cannot top that. Nobody comes close to you, Syd."
A moment later, Michael realized he'd opened himself up for a few sensitive questions.
"Then why did you marry her?"
Michael's face collapsed at the sound of that question and it was obvious he had to dig into a part of him he'd hid from everybody the moment Sydney had "died."
"Syd, after you disappeared~~~"
"I know, I know. You looked for me, using up all the CIA resources, and then when the organization gave up on me, you went on a search by foot, taking indefinite leave from the CIA, I know that. But that doesn't tell me anything."
Michael looked worse as he tried to gather his thoughts into words that would make Sydney understand..
"I searched so hard and it was excruciating. Everytime I cleared a place and moved on to another, I kept thinking I'd missed something, that you might be there now. But I fought those feelings and kept believing that you were only a mile away, in the next lab, just around the corner. But I couldn't find you! Then one day, I was on my last stop, and that as the plane back to L.A."
"Will told me you got really sick from drinking, and that the only way he found out you were even back in the U.S was because he got a phonecall from the hospital," she added, trying to be calmer.
"I wasn't supposed to be found in a hospital," he replied bluntly. "I drank that night because I wanted to kill myself. I drank knowing I could die, but by that time I was out, dreaming of that moment where I wouldn't have to deal with the fact you were gone or waking up after making incredible love to you then realizing I was in a nightmare, my life, when I see that my bed was empty. I guess the bar guy or some bum on the road called 911 that night."
"You were lucky."
"Maybe, maybe not. I mean, when I opened my eyes and found myself in a hospital bed, I convinced myself that losing you had just been a nightmare and that sometime between meeting you and that moment I had been in a coma. I believed that the doctor would call you, waiting right outside and I could tell you everything was going to be all right~~~"
Michael paused and Sydney was at a loss.
"It was literally like being burned alive when Will came in and told me he'd gotten a call the CIA had filed your case as presumed dead," Michael continued. "I tried drinking and dying in my sleep a few more time but Will kept a watchful eyes on me and soon I just became bitter, cold and a man who no longer had anything feeling to give or receive."
"So you didn't just move on?"
"No! I tried dying a lot more time than trying to find a replacement for you! And I know this is going to sound really wrong but meeting Jessica probably saved my life. I mean, when I first met her, it was during my search and she on a family vacation. Believe me, it really turned me off when I found her smiling. I thought the world should be grieving, going through the pain I was."
Sydney was touched, this part hadn't sounded too painful.
"But the second time, she came near me, even though I was unshaven, wearing the same shirt from two night before and undoubtedly reeked of alcohol. She overlooked all that and began talking to me. It was the first conversation I'd had that didn't push your supposed death in my face, and the first time I could tell someone about you and not close up, sticking to minor details. And she took care of me, we became friends. And even though we both knew that she wanted more, she didn't push me, just made sure I wasn't wrecking my life and made it to work okay."
Sydney nodded, this was getting harder to listen to but she did, with an open mind. After all, she needed to know.
"Then one day Will asked me how it was going with Jess and I told him that we were friends. Then he asked me how I felt about her, and I realized I'd never thought of that. It wasn't love, I'd never kissed her, taken her out on a date~~~nothing. We were strictly phone-buddies. But then Will asked me if it was because I was waiting for you. And the truth was yes but like you said, I got tired of hoping Syd, so I told myself, if you didn't appear at the anniversary of your disappearance, I would ask Jessica to be my wife."
This was the hardest part for Sydney to take in, but she managed to keep her bearings and ask, "But you didn't love her?"
"No," Michael sighed. "I guess, I thought our understanding for each other could gradually turn into more. And it did. I learned to like her company. It was nice to open my eyes and see her there, she didn't even complain when some days I Would call her, Syd. She was pretty amazing."
Michael looked up at Sydney and found that she was no longer listening. She'd gotten up and stood by the window.
"You told me that you didn't find a body and that the gravestone stood not for my death but so I wouldn't be forgotten. You told me there were no dates~~~"
"That's true~~~"
"Then why didn't you wait for me? Did you really or was that stone a fancy way of saying goodbye to me so you wouldn't regret getting married to somebody else?" Sydney screamed, breaking down onto the floor. "You didn't find a body, Vaughn. Why didn't you wait for me? Why!"
"Syd, I tried, I did! But my love for you was destroying me," Vaughn murmured. "I never told you this but on your stone it says, "to be Mrs. Michael Vaughn," I made your status as my fiancee."
Sydney looked at Michael with a mixture of shock and wonder as he pulled a blue velvet box from his pocket and opened it.
Before her eyes was the most beautiful diamond ring she'd ever seen.
"V~vaughn."
"Truth it, I was going to propose to you when we got to Santa Barbara, in our room on the top level of the hotel La Superica with its' luxurious bed and crystal dome ceiling, I was going to ask you to be my wife."
"Oh My GOD!"
"Do you believe me now, Syd? I was that much in love with you."
This was surreal, Sydney couldn't believe it! She'd been cheated just moments from being Michael Vaughn's wife?
"So I'm going to get down on one knee and do this right, before fate steps in and take the chance away from me again."
Michael got down on one bent knee and assumed the traditional position for proposing.
"Michael, what are you doing?"
"Doing what I was cheated our of doing two years ago," he replied simply.
"But you're married Vaughn," she complained, not wanting to state the obvious but somebody had to.
"I don't care," Michael said firmly and her breath caught at how boyish he looked. "And I'm doing this assuming you're going to say yes."
Sydney knew he was trying to relieve the tension but she was positive nothing could to that for her.
"Ms. Sydney A. Bristow, if we had made it to Santa Barbara, and if I had gotten the chance to ask for your hand in marriage~~~would you have said yes?" he demanded, trying desperately to keep his voice from shaking but it was hard. Never had he imagined he would have gotten the chance to say these words to Sydney, had he known somehow he would have never asked Jessica to be his wife.
Sydney stared at him, blinked once to clear her eyes of all the water that was accumulating and then in a barely audible whisper she answered, " in a heartbeat."
"What about now, Syd? I know I screwed up and I've betrayed you in the worst say by losing faith but Sydney, would you marry me now, if I asked you?"
Sydney stared into Michael's beautiful green eyes and wanted to jump into Michael's fantasy world where he obviously believed that he could technically be married yet marry her because he loved her and then whisk her off to whatever followed in his version of "Michael and Syd." And she had to admit it touched her that Michael had kept her ring and not proposed with it to Jessica. Of course that shouldn't have come as a surprise after all Michael was a very classy guy. But classy or not she couldn't believe what Michael could, she'd lost that ability after her rude awakening of losing a part of her life
"Sydney, sweetheart?"
"You~ you know I would, in a perfect world, with me in a perfect wedding dress and in a perfect ceremony but it's not going to happen Michael, you're married."
"Will you forget that for one moment and listen to what I'm saying? What I'm really saying?" Michael cajoled her. "I want to marry you."
"Vaughn, like I said earlier, I don't' want your charity. I'm okay, if this is out of pity for me, I~~~"
Michael pulled her to him and kissed her and Sydney melted within the familiar warmth that bathed her body as it had always done, reopening the door she'd spent three months closing.
"This is no charity, Syd. I love you, it's the only truth about me worth admitting. And damn it, Syd. I want to marry you, right now, in this room. So say yes, make me the happiest man in the world," Vaughn ordered her, half confident and half at his wit's end.
Sydney watched Michael to see if he was fibbing then shook her head.
"You're impossible."
"Nothing is impossible. You came back to me. So say yes, Sydney Bristow and tell me you'll be my wife and we can prove everything is possible, one impossible encounter at a time."
Sydney could barely keep from laughing. This was crazy yet she wasn't going to fight it. She wanted to Mrs. Michael Vaughn and she didn't care if that wouldn't be legal. The only person who needed to know what was going on was Michael.
"Y~yes, Michael Vaughn. I will marry you, right now. I will be your wife."
Michael grinned that unsure grin, looking unsure yet radiated happiness as she slid the ring onto her left finger. Sydney couldn't breathe. This was the happiest moment of her life, even if tomorrow it could be gone.
"Sydney~~~"
Sydney raised her head and smiled despite how wrong she felt.
"When you disappeared, you seemed to have taken a part of me with you, the part that always loves you and will you keep you safe, and now that you've returned, that part of me has returned too and I have nothing holding me back, and so on this day before you and God as my witness, I pledge my everlasting love to you, Sydney~~~you are now my wife."
Wife? So that was a vow? She was Michael's wife?
Michael didn't hesitate, truly in wonderland and slid her another box , contained inside was his wedding ring.
"Oh my God, Michael~~~"
"Go on, make me your husband," he urged her, squeezing her knee reassuringly.
She slowly pulled the ring from its' protective case, feeling as though she were disturbing a sacred tomb and brought it to her lips, wondering how insane she must be, still not sure about what she was doing.
She looked at Vaughn who nodded to her, looking so gentle and anxious.
She closed her eyes, gathered her thoughts and then took hold of Michael's hand.
"Michael Vaughn, no one knows me as well as you do. No one has loved me as you have. I kept thinking I should tell you about my transfer but I didn't want to burden you any longer, you'd done enough~~~"
Michael nodded with understanding, willing her to go on.
"Yet, my dream, selfish as it may be was to have you here, telling me that I belonged here and that you do love me~~~but I think it's safe to say you went way beyond that."
Michael smiled and laughed the cued laugh.
"Michael, you are my best friend, my crying shoulder, my hope for the future~~~my soulmate," Sydney pronounced, "and now I pledge before you my eternal love and leave you with the strength of our faith to overcome any obstacles that may be thrown our way. With God as my witness, Michael, I make you~~~you~~~" Sydney sobbed as she slid the ring onto Michael's finger and felt moisture hit the top of her hand. It was then that she realized Michael's eyes were as wet as hers.
"So uh~~~do we agree we have a great friend in Will/" Michael whispered, prompting a laughing, sobbing Sydney to reply, "Yeah, weren't it for him I would have made the biggest mistake of leaving you."
Then they kissed, a long a soft kiss, blocking out any doubt or fear they had of the future. Right now they were just two humans who belonged to each other and dared the world to take that away from them.
They were Mr. And Mrs. Michael Vaughn.
Michael gently bit her lip and pulled back, staring intently at Sydney and her heart beat faster, knowing what would happen next, or at least what Michael wanted to happen next.
He stood up, taking Sydney's hands as he did and pulled her up. Then he undid his belt buckle, slipped the belt out of its' loops and threw it on the ground.
Sydney just stared, watching him undo his tie, then unbutton his shirt and also threw it aside. He then shook of his shoes, pulled his socks off and then folded his muscular arms across his bare glistening chest and stared at Sydney with expectant-filled green eyes, surprised to see she was clothed.
"What are you waiting for Syd?"
"I~" she had so many protests in her many reasons why she believed what they were doing was wrong. But none of them came out. "Help me," she said instead in a pouty way.
Michael didn't wait a moment and undid her shirt, pulled the elastic from her ponytail, allowing her soft brown hair to freely drape her shoulders and caress her worry-filled face. He worked off her skirt then gently picked her up and laid her down on the bed after brushing the comforter out of the way.
He gazed down at her, her face glistened with sweat, her eyes huge in her delicate face and though it was evident she'd been crying, he was sure she'd never looked more beautiful, she was literally glowing.
"Is this okay?" he inquired in a husky tone that dared her to say no. "because for a moment it didn't seem like this was what you wanted?"
"It is," she assured him, putting her arms around his neck and pulled her to him. "There's nothing else I'd want more."
After Sydney uttered those magic words, Michael gave up all resistance and began kissing her forehead, her earlobe , below her chin, and worked his way down, tasting the sugar and salt of her skin.
Sydney closed her eyes, relishing in the heat and beauty of it as she and Michael consumated their marriage, both willing to believe morning was far away~~~so far away.
The End? Hmmm~~~well I've decided to put in an epilogue so you will get something next week! Just make sure you review okay! Thanks, I really appreciated the feedback so keep it coming! Thanks, and looking forward to hearing from ya!
Lata, Kris
Leo's l'il sista
"The Other Side of the Story" Part XVI "Conclusion?"
"Va~Vaughn!" Sydney repeated, gun still pointed in Michael's direction.
He stared at her, hands in his pockets, a lazy expression spread on his handsome face that made her heartache knowing this could be her last moments with Vaughn, and if she'd known, she would have chosen it to be another way.
"Vaughn, how did you get in here?! Who told you I'd be here!" Sydney demanded, shaking terribly and Vaughn's silence only infuriated her. "Vaughn, say something!"
"Or you'll what? Shoot me?"
Sydney couldn't believe how cold Michael was and could barely keep from convincing herself that he wasn't Michael.
The next move Michael made scared her. He walked over to her, pulling out his gun. "Put that away or I'll pull mine out," he threatened, "and I just might not hesitate pulling the trigger on you."
Sydney evaluated the situation. Okay, Michael didn't seem to be joking.
She carefully lowered her hand and threw her gun on the floor. It bothered her that Michael still hadn't moved.
"Michael, are you going to answer me now?"
"I don't think there's any needs for words. My presence has confused you more than any words ever could," he shrugged and she could feel his cool breath on her cheek, it almost hypnotized her.
"Okay, that's true. But I'm still trying to figure out how you found me," Sydney protested, scared out of her wits. "The only person I told was ~~~
"Will?" Vaughn finished for her, advancing on her, forcing her against the door.
Now this was kind of seductive but Sydney was too frightened to notice it. "I'll take your silence as a "yes."
"H~he told you?"
Michael's serious stare answered the question. She felt her knees buckle and she give way, clutching onto a table to keep from falling completely to the ground. Now it made sense, Will had been late because he'd been with Michael, busy making her life miserable and at the same time, harder to leave.
"What did he tell you?" Sydney inquired in a barely audible voice as sweat began to pour down her face.
Michael leaned his face close to her as though he was going to kiss her and replied, "everything."
Sydney closed her eyes as though willing Michael to kiss her, assuming that was all he'd wanted and then he would leave. But she couldn't bring herself to do it, show her vulnerability, not to this man who had moved on with somebody and lost faith in what they'd had.
"I see you don't seem very pained. Monotone, like the first time we met when I got back in that safehouse in Hong Kong," Sydney quipped, trying not to let Michael see her fear. "Maybe my assumptions of you having feelings for me was wrong, maybe you really do love that bitch of a wife of yours."
Michael didn't even look hard at her, he didn't even look shocked. "Oh no Syd. What will told you last night was true~~~I do love you."
Sydney was sure her heart had stopped, or doubted the organ even existed.
"And the shock of hearing what Will told me this evening was harder than anything I've felt since you got back. I couldn't stop crying after he told me what you're doing~~~but now I'm all cried out and I'm just~~~angry."
"Like I couldn't tell," Sydney though to herself, but Michael's talking to her was an improvement.
"Sydney, why are you doing this? Why didn't you come to me first?" Michael shouted at her, his anger replaced by the pain she'd expected to see in the first place.
"I told you Michael, it's my life~~~my decision~~~"
"It may be, but this has got to be the stupidest decision you've ever made!"
"Excuse me but I thought it was the ring thing to do?" Sydney shot back, pushing Michael away. "Wouldn't you agree? Then you can go and be happy with Ms. Silicone and I could finally be rid of you!"
"But I love you!" Michael cried angrily.
"No, you don't! You love Jess and I'm fine with that!"
"Liar! If you were, why are you being a chicken and bolting the country? Why the hell do you want to go down in the CIA as missing in action?" Michael retorted and shoved Sydney over to the couch and forced her down.
"I don't have to explain myself to you," she stated, stubbornly folding her arms.
"You know you want to hold me and kiss me and be like we were two years ago," Michael insisted, grabbing hold of the arms she was using as a concealer for her real feelings. "Admit it, Syd. I'm giving you a chance!"
"Vaughn, I don't want your freaking charity!"
"Don't change the damn subject, Sydney! Stop lying to me, stop lying to yourself," he scolded her.
"I'm not."
Sydney expected Michael to falter back out of shock, realizing he'd been reading her all wrong.but he didn't. Instead he grabbed her chin and forced her to stare into his eyes. Oh, how she wanted to get out of his grip, but that would include her popping her neck and hurting her jaw.
"Then tell me Syd, look straight at my face and say that you don't love me," he commanded her. "I know why you're going to transfer, it's because I'm married and you think you have to give up on me!"
"N~no, that's not~~~"
"Be a woman, Syd. Say it to my face! You want me here, just as much as I want you!"
"V~vaughn, please~~~"
"Say it, because I'm not leaving until I get an answer out of you. I'm not going to let you evade my questions or let you avoid my wanting to talk to you for another minute!"
"Vaughn, you're hurting me~~~"
"ANSWER ME!"
Sydney stared at Michael, trembling like she'd never done before, to include life-threatening moments on her missions and having her mother shoot at her. She saw Michael's frown stay a hard line but his green eyes seemed to soften.
"I~I don't~~~" she murmured but then she sobbed and took hold of Michael's hand. "I do love you~~~I do love you, Vaughn! And I never stopped."
Michael's expression finally softened and his hard edges began melting. His eyes were filled with wonder as he released his hold on her face. As much as he'd believed in Sydney's feelings, hearing those words hadn't been something he'd been emotionally prepared for.
"Oh Syd," he crooned as he pulled her into his arms. "Oh baby, why did you lie to me?"
"I felt I had to and even saying this now, it doesn't change anything, I'm still going," Sydney confirmed, clearly regretting what she'd just said. "But I've loved you and hearing you were married tore me into bits and after all the CIA has put me through, I didn't think I could let that happen to me. But it was a fact I knew I had to accept and it didn't take me long to figure out that was impossible. So the only thing I could do was lie to you and convince you to lose hope in ever being with me again. But that turned out to be harder than I ever thought. So when I found out my next mission could take me away from being her, I jumped at the chance. I'm tired of being in here where it's a 24/7 nightmare and I wanted to go to a place where there would be hope of a new day."
"So, you were never okay~~~"
"No, I was never okay!" Sydney cried infuriated. "How could I be! To you, two years had passed! To me, it was waking up after the night of Francine's murder and finding out in one night, nothing was the same!" she roared, her tears plopping down onto his shoulder. "And the reason I couldn't tell you was because I knew you'd stop me and tell me that I didn't have to leave, but I was tired of hoping, I just wanted out, Vaughn."
"But that's changed now, right? I mean, you know now, nothing has changed, I love you and you said so yourself that you love me. There's no reason you have to leave."
"Because what? Because you just ditched your wife? Wanted time to reflect? You're still married to her Vaughn, and you two have spent a two years we didn't."
"Syd, I left her because we got into a fight."
"You couldn't have expected your relationship to be that perfect."
"No, she was talking crazy. She wouldn't get off of blaming you for that night at the pier. She kept pushing me to believe that you raised a gun at her and it was clear she was jealous and you know what, I could no longer lie to her. I loved you, I~~~I took your side, and I left."
"But it's true," Sydney broke in and let Vaughn out of her grasp. "I did raise my gun at her."
"W~what?" Michael gasped, not sure what emotion he was feeling. He stared at Sydney's expression and didn't need words to have his feelings confirmed. "But Syd, you saved her life~~~the papers, the police report~~~"
"And lucky I did, if not I might be in jail right now," she replied, a bit cocky and too calm for Michael's taste.
Michael backed up from Sydney, in disbelief. He could barely stand to look at her. "You tried to kill my wife?"
Sydney nodded. She was sure she'd lost him now.
"No~~~I don't believe you! The Sydney I love would never do that, no matter how desperate or hurt she was!" Michael argued, at a loss, torn between his duty to report it and his want to have Sydney by his side and not spend the next years talking to her a glass wall.
"I guess I'm not the Sydney you think I am anymore~~~"
"Syd, if the CIA got wind of this~~~"
"I'll admit it," Sydney replied, clasping her hands together, staring down at the carpet. "These two years have affected me, though I'm not insane, my human instincts come into play the moment I feel my territory is being invaded. The old Sydney would have complied and worked with any hanger assigned to her, but I asked Cowell to be assigned to somebody else because his ability to get me to admit my emotions scared me so much!"
"Syd, I~~~I don't' know what to do."
"I know it was wrong and had I used my head I wouldn't have done what I did or tell Will my plans. But you don't know what it's like to feel like you don't belong in your own existence, everybody in sync with their life while you can't help but feel you've been cheated."
"But Syd~~~you do belong somewhere," Michael assured her, wiping the tears from her eyes, flashing her a gentle smile, for a moment, forgetting the shocking revelation Sydney had given him. "As long as I'm on this earth, you'll belong with me, married or not."
"You did so much for me," she whimpered, placing her hand against his cheek. "You showed me what happiness was and what it was like to be loved. But now I can't live without that so I'm wondering if it would have been better that I had not known this feeling that coursed through my body whenever I was near you. I know I can't even match what you've given me but I wanted to do the same for you. I wanted to make you happy."
"But you did, Syd. Everyday you were in my life it was perfect. Being with Jess cannot top that. Nobody comes close to you, Syd."
A moment later, Michael realized he'd opened himself up for a few sensitive questions.
"Then why did you marry her?"
Michael's face collapsed at the sound of that question and it was obvious he had to dig into a part of him he'd hid from everybody the moment Sydney had "died."
"Syd, after you disappeared~~~"
"I know, I know. You looked for me, using up all the CIA resources, and then when the organization gave up on me, you went on a search by foot, taking indefinite leave from the CIA, I know that. But that doesn't tell me anything."
Michael looked worse as he tried to gather his thoughts into words that would make Sydney understand..
"I searched so hard and it was excruciating. Everytime I cleared a place and moved on to another, I kept thinking I'd missed something, that you might be there now. But I fought those feelings and kept believing that you were only a mile away, in the next lab, just around the corner. But I couldn't find you! Then one day, I was on my last stop, and that as the plane back to L.A."
"Will told me you got really sick from drinking, and that the only way he found out you were even back in the U.S was because he got a phonecall from the hospital," she added, trying to be calmer.
"I wasn't supposed to be found in a hospital," he replied bluntly. "I drank that night because I wanted to kill myself. I drank knowing I could die, but by that time I was out, dreaming of that moment where I wouldn't have to deal with the fact you were gone or waking up after making incredible love to you then realizing I was in a nightmare, my life, when I see that my bed was empty. I guess the bar guy or some bum on the road called 911 that night."
"You were lucky."
"Maybe, maybe not. I mean, when I opened my eyes and found myself in a hospital bed, I convinced myself that losing you had just been a nightmare and that sometime between meeting you and that moment I had been in a coma. I believed that the doctor would call you, waiting right outside and I could tell you everything was going to be all right~~~"
Michael paused and Sydney was at a loss.
"It was literally like being burned alive when Will came in and told me he'd gotten a call the CIA had filed your case as presumed dead," Michael continued. "I tried drinking and dying in my sleep a few more time but Will kept a watchful eyes on me and soon I just became bitter, cold and a man who no longer had anything feeling to give or receive."
"So you didn't just move on?"
"No! I tried dying a lot more time than trying to find a replacement for you! And I know this is going to sound really wrong but meeting Jessica probably saved my life. I mean, when I first met her, it was during my search and she on a family vacation. Believe me, it really turned me off when I found her smiling. I thought the world should be grieving, going through the pain I was."
Sydney was touched, this part hadn't sounded too painful.
"But the second time, she came near me, even though I was unshaven, wearing the same shirt from two night before and undoubtedly reeked of alcohol. She overlooked all that and began talking to me. It was the first conversation I'd had that didn't push your supposed death in my face, and the first time I could tell someone about you and not close up, sticking to minor details. And she took care of me, we became friends. And even though we both knew that she wanted more, she didn't push me, just made sure I wasn't wrecking my life and made it to work okay."
Sydney nodded, this was getting harder to listen to but she did, with an open mind. After all, she needed to know.
"Then one day Will asked me how it was going with Jess and I told him that we were friends. Then he asked me how I felt about her, and I realized I'd never thought of that. It wasn't love, I'd never kissed her, taken her out on a date~~~nothing. We were strictly phone-buddies. But then Will asked me if it was because I was waiting for you. And the truth was yes but like you said, I got tired of hoping Syd, so I told myself, if you didn't appear at the anniversary of your disappearance, I would ask Jessica to be my wife."
This was the hardest part for Sydney to take in, but she managed to keep her bearings and ask, "But you didn't love her?"
"No," Michael sighed. "I guess, I thought our understanding for each other could gradually turn into more. And it did. I learned to like her company. It was nice to open my eyes and see her there, she didn't even complain when some days I Would call her, Syd. She was pretty amazing."
Michael looked up at Sydney and found that she was no longer listening. She'd gotten up and stood by the window.
"You told me that you didn't find a body and that the gravestone stood not for my death but so I wouldn't be forgotten. You told me there were no dates~~~"
"That's true~~~"
"Then why didn't you wait for me? Did you really or was that stone a fancy way of saying goodbye to me so you wouldn't regret getting married to somebody else?" Sydney screamed, breaking down onto the floor. "You didn't find a body, Vaughn. Why didn't you wait for me? Why!"
"Syd, I tried, I did! But my love for you was destroying me," Vaughn murmured. "I never told you this but on your stone it says, "to be Mrs. Michael Vaughn," I made your status as my fiancee."
Sydney looked at Michael with a mixture of shock and wonder as he pulled a blue velvet box from his pocket and opened it.
Before her eyes was the most beautiful diamond ring she'd ever seen.
"V~vaughn."
"Truth it, I was going to propose to you when we got to Santa Barbara, in our room on the top level of the hotel La Superica with its' luxurious bed and crystal dome ceiling, I was going to ask you to be my wife."
"Oh My GOD!"
"Do you believe me now, Syd? I was that much in love with you."
This was surreal, Sydney couldn't believe it! She'd been cheated just moments from being Michael Vaughn's wife?
"So I'm going to get down on one knee and do this right, before fate steps in and take the chance away from me again."
Michael got down on one bent knee and assumed the traditional position for proposing.
"Michael, what are you doing?"
"Doing what I was cheated our of doing two years ago," he replied simply.
"But you're married Vaughn," she complained, not wanting to state the obvious but somebody had to.
"I don't care," Michael said firmly and her breath caught at how boyish he looked. "And I'm doing this assuming you're going to say yes."
Sydney knew he was trying to relieve the tension but she was positive nothing could to that for her.
"Ms. Sydney A. Bristow, if we had made it to Santa Barbara, and if I had gotten the chance to ask for your hand in marriage~~~would you have said yes?" he demanded, trying desperately to keep his voice from shaking but it was hard. Never had he imagined he would have gotten the chance to say these words to Sydney, had he known somehow he would have never asked Jessica to be his wife.
Sydney stared at him, blinked once to clear her eyes of all the water that was accumulating and then in a barely audible whisper she answered, " in a heartbeat."
"What about now, Syd? I know I screwed up and I've betrayed you in the worst say by losing faith but Sydney, would you marry me now, if I asked you?"
Sydney stared into Michael's beautiful green eyes and wanted to jump into Michael's fantasy world where he obviously believed that he could technically be married yet marry her because he loved her and then whisk her off to whatever followed in his version of "Michael and Syd." And she had to admit it touched her that Michael had kept her ring and not proposed with it to Jessica. Of course that shouldn't have come as a surprise after all Michael was a very classy guy. But classy or not she couldn't believe what Michael could, she'd lost that ability after her rude awakening of losing a part of her life
"Sydney, sweetheart?"
"You~ you know I would, in a perfect world, with me in a perfect wedding dress and in a perfect ceremony but it's not going to happen Michael, you're married."
"Will you forget that for one moment and listen to what I'm saying? What I'm really saying?" Michael cajoled her. "I want to marry you."
"Vaughn, like I said earlier, I don't' want your charity. I'm okay, if this is out of pity for me, I~~~"
Michael pulled her to him and kissed her and Sydney melted within the familiar warmth that bathed her body as it had always done, reopening the door she'd spent three months closing.
"This is no charity, Syd. I love you, it's the only truth about me worth admitting. And damn it, Syd. I want to marry you, right now, in this room. So say yes, make me the happiest man in the world," Vaughn ordered her, half confident and half at his wit's end.
Sydney watched Michael to see if he was fibbing then shook her head.
"You're impossible."
"Nothing is impossible. You came back to me. So say yes, Sydney Bristow and tell me you'll be my wife and we can prove everything is possible, one impossible encounter at a time."
Sydney could barely keep from laughing. This was crazy yet she wasn't going to fight it. She wanted to Mrs. Michael Vaughn and she didn't care if that wouldn't be legal. The only person who needed to know what was going on was Michael.
"Y~yes, Michael Vaughn. I will marry you, right now. I will be your wife."
Michael grinned that unsure grin, looking unsure yet radiated happiness as she slid the ring onto her left finger. Sydney couldn't breathe. This was the happiest moment of her life, even if tomorrow it could be gone.
"Sydney~~~"
Sydney raised her head and smiled despite how wrong she felt.
"When you disappeared, you seemed to have taken a part of me with you, the part that always loves you and will you keep you safe, and now that you've returned, that part of me has returned too and I have nothing holding me back, and so on this day before you and God as my witness, I pledge my everlasting love to you, Sydney~~~you are now my wife."
Wife? So that was a vow? She was Michael's wife?
Michael didn't hesitate, truly in wonderland and slid her another box , contained inside was his wedding ring.
"Oh my God, Michael~~~"
"Go on, make me your husband," he urged her, squeezing her knee reassuringly.
She slowly pulled the ring from its' protective case, feeling as though she were disturbing a sacred tomb and brought it to her lips, wondering how insane she must be, still not sure about what she was doing.
She looked at Vaughn who nodded to her, looking so gentle and anxious.
She closed her eyes, gathered her thoughts and then took hold of Michael's hand.
"Michael Vaughn, no one knows me as well as you do. No one has loved me as you have. I kept thinking I should tell you about my transfer but I didn't want to burden you any longer, you'd done enough~~~"
Michael nodded with understanding, willing her to go on.
"Yet, my dream, selfish as it may be was to have you here, telling me that I belonged here and that you do love me~~~but I think it's safe to say you went way beyond that."
Michael smiled and laughed the cued laugh.
"Michael, you are my best friend, my crying shoulder, my hope for the future~~~my soulmate," Sydney pronounced, "and now I pledge before you my eternal love and leave you with the strength of our faith to overcome any obstacles that may be thrown our way. With God as my witness, Michael, I make you~~~you~~~" Sydney sobbed as she slid the ring onto Michael's finger and felt moisture hit the top of her hand. It was then that she realized Michael's eyes were as wet as hers.
"So uh~~~do we agree we have a great friend in Will/" Michael whispered, prompting a laughing, sobbing Sydney to reply, "Yeah, weren't it for him I would have made the biggest mistake of leaving you."
Then they kissed, a long a soft kiss, blocking out any doubt or fear they had of the future. Right now they were just two humans who belonged to each other and dared the world to take that away from them.
They were Mr. And Mrs. Michael Vaughn.
Michael gently bit her lip and pulled back, staring intently at Sydney and her heart beat faster, knowing what would happen next, or at least what Michael wanted to happen next.
He stood up, taking Sydney's hands as he did and pulled her up. Then he undid his belt buckle, slipped the belt out of its' loops and threw it on the ground.
Sydney just stared, watching him undo his tie, then unbutton his shirt and also threw it aside. He then shook of his shoes, pulled his socks off and then folded his muscular arms across his bare glistening chest and stared at Sydney with expectant-filled green eyes, surprised to see she was clothed.
"What are you waiting for Syd?"
"I~" she had so many protests in her many reasons why she believed what they were doing was wrong. But none of them came out. "Help me," she said instead in a pouty way.
Michael didn't wait a moment and undid her shirt, pulled the elastic from her ponytail, allowing her soft brown hair to freely drape her shoulders and caress her worry-filled face. He worked off her skirt then gently picked her up and laid her down on the bed after brushing the comforter out of the way.
He gazed down at her, her face glistened with sweat, her eyes huge in her delicate face and though it was evident she'd been crying, he was sure she'd never looked more beautiful, she was literally glowing.
"Is this okay?" he inquired in a husky tone that dared her to say no. "because for a moment it didn't seem like this was what you wanted?"
"It is," she assured him, putting her arms around his neck and pulled her to him. "There's nothing else I'd want more."
After Sydney uttered those magic words, Michael gave up all resistance and began kissing her forehead, her earlobe , below her chin, and worked his way down, tasting the sugar and salt of her skin.
Sydney closed her eyes, relishing in the heat and beauty of it as she and Michael consumated their marriage, both willing to believe morning was far away~~~so far away.
The End? Hmmm~~~well I've decided to put in an epilogue so you will get something next week! Just make sure you review okay! Thanks, I really appreciated the feedback so keep it coming! Thanks, and looking forward to hearing from ya!
Lata, Kris
