The Other Side of the Story~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Total Vaughn Lover
A/N: Just wanted to say thanks for sticking with this for so long! I'm going to give you some Vaughn action in this chapter! (YAY!) And really, just please leave me a review if you think I should continue because if not, I don't' know who's reading!
Thanks, lots of love for ya, Kris
And now I give you~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Season 1 (Part XI)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Syd, are you still crying?" Ethan inquired of Sydney as he guided her to the patient's room.
"Yes~~~HURT! Oh my god! Doesn't he know the word, "anesthetic?" she demanded as she fought back the urge to sock calm looking Camden in the face.
"He does. It's just that there's no form of anesthetic that has been approved for that procedure. The only way they know they got into the right gland is literally by the patient's squealing," he apologized.
Sydney gave him a very distasteful expression and Camden felt the
mechanism in his body that produced guilt was working over time "Syd, I'm sorry I should have told you."
"Yeah, you should have," she agreed, holding her abdomen in excruciating pain.
"But I couldn't. I was sworn to secrecy. You do know why we pulled you over here."
"Yeah, to kill Lansing and to get stabbed by huge metal objects!" she shrieked. Sworn to secrecy? She'd heard that so many times that it just sounded like a cop out for CIA agents to hide things from the people they trusted.
"No. That's now why. What's weird Syd is that this outbreak of tumors, it didn't get so serious until a few months after you disappeared. In other words, we think this epidemic among Project Christmas candidates is somehow linked to the reason you were kidnapped that evening. That's also why we wanted to make sure whatever we find lands in your hands, and the safest way to do that is to have you here to take it yourself."
Sydney couldn't' help it. She began laughing. Everything was so disgustingly depressing. "This life of mine, it's really become a nightmare, huh? It's like I was destined for terrible things. My career in the CIA has been one life-threatening hassle after another."
"D~don't' say that. That's not true, though I agree, I can't think of anything that happened in my life that would top that but, it'll turn out better. You said you're married to the guy you love," he reminded her with a gentle smile, exercising his psychiatric skills.
"Yeah, but it took me three months of heartbreak to get there," she stammered. She saw Camden's expression turn uncomfortable and bit her lip. "I guess you didn't know."
"No, I think you failed to mention that."
"But I guess your being in the Rapture and losing your brother for ten years is also worse. At least if I cooperate with you guys, maybe I can find a reasonable explanation to this mess and somehow put this all behind me," she taunted herself, trying desperately to sound confident.
"That's the spirit!" Ethan cried out, a little too enthusiastically. They walked alone the hallway for a few more moments, avoiding the gazes of the passer by's and then finally they came to a stop. Ethan pointed to the door before them. "We're here, room 612, David Lansing."
Sydney didn't know why but she felt the temperature around her drop a few degrees and she suddenly had the urge to hyperventilate, her heart even began racing.
"I'm going to leave you now and go meet up with the others. If you need to contact me, you've got a walkie talkie," Camden shrugged, looking even more uncomfortable.
"Yeah, thanks~~~I know." She made to turn into the room then paused and gave Camden a steady look. "Have you given enough thought to my proposal?"
Camden averted his gaze and stared at the floor as a way of evading the question. "Oh uh~~~I~~~I told you, I'll tell you when we get back on the van~~~"
Sydney cut him off right there. She really wasn't in the mood to listen to his rambling. She just wanted a one word answer, not a full- fledged explanation. "Fine, I'll give you till we get back to the field office, and then if you still don't have an answer, I'll go back to the hotel. I think I need the rest and it'll give me a chance to check my mail. Vaughn might have written me."
"I~I'll see you later then."
Sydney nodded but she stopped when she didn't hear Camden's footsteps. She flipped around to see that the handsome agent was still standing there. She folded her arms at him expectantly.
"Just wanted to tell you to be careful while you're in there, he's not contagious or anything but I've been in there. It's a terrible sight. Just~~~try not to get too emotionally attached okay. It'll keep you sane."
"I'll keep that in mind," she finally exhaled.
Finally Ethan went on his way and Sydney went into the room. It was very musky, the mixture of clean sweat and natural body odor pleasantly attacked her nostrils. And then of course there was the faint stench of disinfectant.
She smoothed out her shirt then went up to the curtain and pulled it back.
She dropped her hands when she saw what was behind it. It made her feel sick, but not because the man lying there was in any way revolting. Quite the contrary. He was sleeping very peacefully, and it was as if his body had stopped aging. He didn't look a day older than twenty. His eyes were open but they weren't rimmed with red from lack of sleep, in fact, they were a very calming moss green.
"David?" she whispered as she slowly inched toward his body. "David Lansing, do you mind if I sit here with you for a while?"
She tentatively took a seat on the vacant stood and stared at him for a long moment, not sure what she was waiting for. Then she finally gathered up the strength to stand up and took hold of his hand that was surprisingly warm. "Hey Dave, I'm Dr. Dawn Schroeder." Then she corrected herself after realizing she didn't have to lie to him, he probably couldn't hear her anyway. "No. I'm not going to lie to you~~~I'm Sydney A. Bristow of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. But really, I'm the exact same as you. My parents made up the decision on what my destiny would be, a Project Christmas candidate bred to be a spy~~~only unfortunately, I made it."
She then gently touched his face and ran a hand through his sweat- drenched hair. She then found her eyes looking at every bit of skin that was revealed beyond his light blue hospital-issued p.j's.
She wasn't sure what she was looking for but she studied him intensively nonetheless. She knew in her heart when she found it, she would know. She'd tried hard to deny it when she'd been in Camden and Ruhter's company but the truth was she agreed with the doctors. She didn't think it was normal either for her test results to be conclusively negative. She was sure something was going on, only with her luck, she knew she wasn't going to find out about it until it was too late.
David suddenly winced below her fingers. Oh. Maybe his brain wasn't as puddled as everyone thought. She gazed down at her fingers and saw what they'd brushed again. It was a huge red abscess pulsing on the side of his neck.
It kind of looked like the thing Dr. Ruhter had been prodding inside her scar. He'd given her the treat of seeing a video image of the painful treatment.
She heard a soft cry. A whimper. Did she just hear a whimper?
She stared at David. He didn't seem so "dead," after all. He was actually feeling physical and emotional pain under whatever process his body was going through to make him appear as a vegetable. In fact his eyes began filling with water and sweat started to appear on his forehead. She laid her palm again his cheek. The skin beneath her hand was heating up , evidence that he was running a fever. That had to mean his sore was running an infection.
"Hey, don't cry, David," she pleaded, talking to him like he was a young child when in reality he was probably a few years older than her. A low sob continued to erupt from his throat. Sydney's next priority became to take him out of his misery.
She searched around the room and finally found a package of gauze sitting underneath his bedside table. She bent down to pick it up, ripped it open then pulled out a sheet of it and gently dabbed at the pus and juice that was running from the wound. "It'll be okay David, I'll get you some help," she promised as she continued to wipe away the foul-smelling secretions.
She thought she heard him give a sigh of relief.
Sydney sat back down and squeezed David's hand with one hand then with her other hand she pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed a number.
"This is Ethan Camden."
"Agent Camden. Hi, this is "mountaineer," Sydney whispered.
"Syd! What's up?" Camden inquired with a soothing voice that still had an edge from worry. He knew she would only call him if she was in trouble and given the until recent two year disappearance situation, hearing her voice on this frequency made him very testy. "Are you okay?"
"Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine. It's just that David Lansing is running a fever and I just found a sore the size of a golf ball. I think he's running an infection, it's on his neck and his skin is streaked with these red marks," she reported briskly.
"Oh, okay~~~we'll send Dr. Ruhter to take care of that," Camden replied quickly, his voice getting hard and mechanical, a spouting of facts. "Is he still breathing? How are his vitals?"
"They're~~~"Sydney paused until she made it over to the beeping monitor. "Good. And I think his nerves are functioning quite well. He actually began crying a few minutes ago."
"Really?" There was undeniable surprise in his voice. "Okay, well, you sit tight. "Ruhter," is on his way."
"Okay, thank you." She turned the device off a slipped it back into her pocket then she clasped her other hand over David's trembling one. "Just hang in there, Dave, just hang in there."
Dr. Ruhter came through the door, back to being his old experienced self. Agent Camden came in after him about twenty minutes later. By that time David was shaking convulsively as he clung to Sydney for dear life. His mentality seemed to be that of a six year old, with serious doctor phobia.
"Bout time you got here," she grimaced when she'd dislodged his body away from her far enough to breathe.
"Sorry, I had a ~~~let's just say it was hard to get away from it," Dr. Ruhter said dryly as he walked up to the patient. 'How is he doing?"
"How is he doing?" she almost screamed. Wasn't it kind of obvious? He was lying there sweating like all his water was disappearing and he was having trouble trying to catch him breath.
Frank heard the unsaid sarcasm and instead proceeded to listening to David's chest and then took his temperature. Then he carefully lifted David's head away from Sydney and reached toward the pulsing red infection festering on his neck.
"I think it's time to a little testing and a little draining," he sighed as he patted the area with gauze and Sydney actually felt David squeeze her arm and her hand squeezed reassuringly over his. Then Ruhter left the room to put a call into his nurse to bring his equipment. Camden took advantage of the doctor's leave and came forward to sit down.
"Syd. Hey. How are you doing?"
"G~Good," she stammered, glancing at the handsome agent. She was surprised when she saw how concerned he was.
"I~I got scared when you called me, the first thing I thought was that I couldn't let something happen to you, I couldn't' let Michael lose you again."
Sydney smiled through her tears and put her hand on top of his. "Don't worry. I'm not going to go anywhere. My guard is so high that I'm going to make damn sure it's a hassle before I'm kidnapped again. Thanks for the thought, though."
They shared an uncomfortable glance, uncomfortable in the sense that they both felt they were getting to close for a brother in law and the brother's wife.
Dr. Ruhter returned with a nurse who was pushing a cart of objects that were too familiar for comfort when Sydney laid her eyes on them. The only positive that happened from his return was the tension between Sydney and Ethan disappeared in that instant.
"Okay Syd, if you can move back so I can get in there," Dr. Ruhter requested as he pulled on his gloves.
At that moment David gave off a frightened whine as though he could really understand the words being said around him.
"None of that, Mr. Lansing," he coaxed his unwilling patient as he and his nurse pulled him back from Sydney's body then laid him against the bed. David didn't oblige to any of the doctor's orders and began thrashing about.
"Sydney is right, you sure are acting more alive than usual," he chirruped as he pulled David's arms into restraints.
Sydney moved back, biting her lip. Tears emerged from his eyes as she watched David struggle. According to how much brain activity the man had left, she didn't doubt Lansing couldn't understand what was going on."
"Nurse, why don't you hold his arm while I shoot him with some Halodol." The nurse obliged and held him still enough so the doctor could inject the medicine into him.
David finally stopped thrashing and took comfort on the nurse's lap. Sydney watched as the doctor cleansed the abscess, placed towels all around it before he picked up the deceptive silver probe that was still causing her painful effects.
"Oh god," Sydney groaned. She felt Camden put his hand on her shoulder and squeeze it reassuringly. "Does he have to do that?"
Camden didn't reply, instead he turned her body with his gentle hands and urged her out of the room, just in time to escape David's yelp.
Once they were outside, Sydney turned away from her companion, feeling so bad for the innocent, "vegetable," that was going through exactly what she'd gone through only hours ago.
"Syd, don't dwell on it. That's how we treat those things. I know it's not a very enjoyable procedure but he will appreciate it when the swelling goes down, so will you."
Sydney gave him an approximation of a smile.
"S~So, about that dinner offer. I was going to~~~"
"There you two are~" shouted the all too familiar voice of Leighton Cowell. "What happened to our meeting plan?"
"The procedure on Sydney took longer than proposed and David's condition took an interesting turn," Camden reported to his fellow agents who gave him an understanding smile, with the exception of Cowell who stood there complaining and accusing him of unprofessionalism.
"Well I guess we're done here," Agent Loren concluded, giving their leader Hill a glance.
"Great. Landor will be pleased. Let's head back. The director might give us the rest of the night off."
Loren and Hill began flirting with each other as they exited the building followed by Cowell who was trying nonchalantly to get Sydney to admit what was really going on between her and Camden.
"Nothing~~~we were just talking," Sydney explained for the umpteenth time, thought her thoughts were on the lonely agent walking behind them.
"Right, well, just remember what I said, Camden can't be trusted but if you want to jeapordize your life, I certainly can't stop you."
Sydney thanked him for his concern then paused in her tracks until Camden caught up to her.
"Syd~~~I really have to admit, my dislike for Cowell is mounting," Camden said with a grin. He frowned when he didn't get one in return. "Syd, is something wrong?"
"N~No."
"Okay, then how about dinner tonight? I know a great place where they serve French."
"Um~~~actually, I~I think I'm going to take a raincheck on that. I~I just can't think about food right now," she apologized.
Ethan didn't bother hiding his disappointment.
"I~It's not you, Agent Camden," she put in hastily. "I just~~~I'm exhausted and just seeing David, it was a pretty overwhelming day."
"That's exactly why we should go out. You can vent to me about David and maybe you can help me with Michael," he suggested, desperation present in his eyes.
"Ethan, like I said I think I've had all the emotional drama to last me a week," she complained again, trying not to feel guilt-tripped.
"Then we can just talk about~~~dogs. My favorite color. We can spend tonight getting to know each other," Ethan insisted. He saw Sydney's lamentful expression and squeezed her hand. "Please Syd?"
"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" she exhaled, rolling her beautiful brown eyes.
"All I'm going to say if this. I will be at the French Restaurant, "La Petite Maison d'Fromage," at eight. If you show up, we'll talk. If you don't~~~I guess I'll have to dine by myself."
Sydney shook her head then gave him a serious stare. "Guilt tripping is not going to get you anywhere with me, Dr. Camden," she informed him. "Ask Michael."
"I would if I could," he almost blurted out and Sydney seemed to have noticed her blurb. Ethan didn't want to hear her apologies so decided to smooth it over instead, "Just think about it, Syd. I think you'll realize this will be good for both of us."
"F~Fine," she stammered at last.
Ethan stared at her for a bit longer, looking mildly satisfied then finally hurried to the van with Sydney on his heels.
And once they boarded the car, the only thing Sydney could think about was Camden and whether it was okay to go to dinner with Michael's long lost brother?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And Back in the good o'l U.S.
"Hey Michael," To be Mrs. Tippin greeted warmly with surprise when she opened the door, dressed in an apron on top of her every day dress, one hand holding a plate of steaming bacon that teased Michael Vaughn's empty stomach.
"Hey Jane, are you off today?" Michael asked with surprise, dressed for the brisk damp summer morning in a pair of sweats, a matching pull over over a white-t-shirt. "I thought your shift started at seven."
"You're right, Michael. I had my friend take my shift so I can stay home and watch Sydney while you two go for that job," she chuckled. The moment she'd seen Michael in his gear, it had come to her why Will's former enemy, turned friend had shown up on her doorstep that morning.
Michael smiled. "You certainly are a kind-hearted young woman. I hope Will knows just how lucky he is."
"I try," she said with a pleasant smile.
Michael took the plate of bacon from her and then went into the dining room without instruction and set it on the table next to the eggs and huge pile of freshly made french toast. "Is this okay?"
"Yeah," she replied, flustered. "Michael, you sure are in a good mood."
"Thank you. I haven't felt this good in days," he admitted as he took the glass of orange juice Jane had poured for him.
"I have to assume it's Sydney," she giggled. "What's up?"
"N~nothing. I~I guess I just can't wait to get out there and run. There's nothing like knowing you are working out to make you feel extremely good and proud of yourself. Not to mention it will allow me the time to binge on that delicious looking french toast when I get back," he said with a grin, shrugging his shoulders that still looked noticeably built beneath his pull over.
"Sure you didn't just make up with the girl my daughter is named after?" Jane teased, and Michael blushed in response.
"Well, would you like to have some breakfast?" Jane said then when she got a satisfactory answer. "Sorry but it doesn't seem that Will remembers that you were coming this morning. He's still in bed."
"I can wait," he shrugged as he sat down onto the couch and bent forward on his knees. "You going to go wake him up for me?"
"Yeah, it'll be an ordeal but hopefully it'll be only a few minutes."
"Well~~~why don't you let me see my god-daughter?" Michael said with a smile, in the process of pulling off his pullover that matched the beautiful green of his eyes. "Is she awake?"
"Yeah! She's sitting in that play-pen right there," she beamed, pointing to the colorful netted object where little Sydney was giggling as she studied the assorted animals that decorated the floor. "I think Sydney will really like that."
Michael watched Jane hurry up the stairs. Then he wiped his hands on his thighs as he approached the play pen. He then bent over and carefully lifted the baby girl into his arms and sat back down comfortably on the couch.
"Hi Sydney," he cooed, kissing her on the cheek. "It's your god- father, Michael. Remember me?"
Sydney turned her head, gave an adorable laugh and patted his cheek with her small little hand. Michael grinned, overwhelmed with happiness and became fiercely jealous of Will who was the father of this precious little angel.
Ok. His mind was made up. As soon as Sydney returned from wherever she'd gone and they got some alone time, he was going to make her pregnant. He saw Will's blond hair and Jane's vibrant brown eyes in their daughter Sydney and couldn't help wondering what his children would like. Mother nature totally amazed him.
Would she have Sydney's brown locks and his green eyes? Or would his hair be light and have her gorgeous amber irises? He just hoped their children would be blessed with her heart-stopping smile and that they would have enough time to be with their children since both of them had missed out on their parents' and knew what it was like to not have that time.
"Mike!" Will panted as he reached the bottom step, still pulling on his t-shirt.
"Hey Will, have a good sleep?" Michael joked, holding Sydney against his shoulder and gently rubbed her back.
"Ha! Funny! I can't believe I forgot," Will grumbled. But his frown melted the instant he looked at his daughter. "And how is my little angel this morning?" he crooned, taking his daughter into his own arms, his eyes shone with fatherly pride.
"Will, Michael's been waiting for you. You should go and take that run, you need it. Sydney and I will be sitting at home with breakfast ready when you return," Jane scolded him playfully, pulling Sydney into her embrace.
Will let out a heaving sigh then glanced t Michael who was all but grinning from ear to ear. "Ready to go?"
"Have been," he chuckled as he slung the strap to his sports bag over his shoulder. "See you later Sydney," he called to the little girl who actually looked quite shy as she waved at her handsome god-father.
"We'll be home in an hour or two. Keep that French toast warm, okay, honey?" Will said as he followed Michael out the door. Jane watched them leave and let out a sigh. Wow, this was turning out to be a wonderful morning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Told you you'd eat my dust, Tippin!" Vaughn boomed as he made it around the outside race track of the community gym for the sixth time, making it a mile and a half in under thirty minutes.
Will came panting to the finish line about thirty-five seconds after him. He stared disgusted at Vaughn who was chugging his water, not even a bit exhausted.
"Yup, Jane was right, Will did need to work out," Vaughn thought with a smirk.
"Eat my dust? Man Vaughn, I couldn't try to beat you today if I tried. You just ran a mile and a half and your breathing hasn't even sped up!" Will pointed out, squatting on the floor, still trying to catch his breath before he even went for his water bottle.
"That only proves you're out of shape," Michael boasted, stretching out his muscular legs. Then he smiled at Will, his face glistened with a healthy looking sheen of sweat. "You ready for another go?"
Will's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"
"Nah, six more laps, come on. I want to work up an appetite, especially since Jane went through the trouble to make that delicious breakfast. I want to make sure I can binge and not regret it later," he told him as he put his hands on his toned hips.
Will just stared at him with tired eyes.
"What?"
"Mike, something has got to be up with you this morning," Will commented, folding his arms. Then he became a bit lamentful. "How are you doing? I know that Sydney left," he added in an even more regretful tone.
"Yeah~~~I know. And it's hard," Michael admitted, his expression becoming just a bit morose. "I am losing sleep over it."
"I don't doubt it."
"But Sydney is a smart woman. I know she can take care of herself, probably more now than before," Michael beamed with longing in his voice. "I just can't wait till I have her back on mainland. Because then I'm going to definitely talk to Sydney about bearing a few rugrats of our own."
Will stayed silent, sure he had to of heard his love-sick friend wrong. "B~but~~~~she's not coming back, Vaughn. She left, that means that what you said didn't work and she's made her decision to break it off," Will reminded him, feeling terrible that he had to break these news to him again. It had been heartbreaking enough the first time.
"Of course she is," Vaughn argued, looking at his friend with a chiding expression. "She told me so herself."
Will studied Michael and tried not to belittle him or be condescending. "V~Vaughn, you~you were dreaming, man. Syd specifically told me if she was to leave~~~she wasn't going to come back, and she's~~~she's not here."
"But Will~~~" Vaughn began then paused in his sentence as the reason for Will's protests dawned on him. "Wait a minute. You don't know do you? I completely forgot, Sydney left before she could say anything."
"Yeah," Will agreed then folded his arms formidably. "And what is it that you didn't tell me?"
"That Sydney is in fact coming back. I guess I never got around to telling you, my schedule has been hectic with just worrying about Sydney and I've been doing a bit of drinking again. Not to mention that I probably never said anything because she swore me to secrecy. But I'm going to tell you anyway~~~since, really, without your help, sydney would really have left and I wouldn't have had a chance to ask her to stay."
Will didn't have to ask him if Michael was just pulling his leg. And he knew without a second thought that his friend was not just in denial.
"I'm assuming this conversation is the reason you wanted to see me so early in the morning," Will countered as he sat down on the bench then let out a composing breath. "Okay, I'm listening. Tell me all about it. What happened after you went to go see her?"
Michael sat down next to him and then immediately began to spill his guts, beginning with how he'd confronted his ex to the moment he'd surprised Sydney with a marriage proposal he'd wanted to give her a long time before. It was like the dam had been broken to his feelings and now they were just pouring out without his consent, but somehow he managed not to give too many intimate details.
Will listened and just took it all in without making a comment. When Michael finished and finally came back up for air, Will put a hand on his friend's knee and gave him his two cents.
"So, you did it huh, Mike?"
"Yeah, I guess I did," Michael said with an embarrassed smile. Having Will's hand on his knee didn't help the tension any.
"So let's see it!" Will chirruped suddenly. "What does the ring look like?"
Michael pulled down the hem of his t-shirt and then pulled out the silver chain that was dangling around his neck. He rolled the ring around the chain until he could hold it between two fingers. Will put down his water bottle and studied it with owl-sized eyes.
"That's~~~that's a band of diamonds!" Will gasped. "And not just any diamond, a canary diamond!"
"Yeah, it is," Vaughn agreed. "I purchased these rings right after I scheduled Santa Barbara when I was more serious about my job and before I'd gotten a serious demotion due to the hiatus I took to go find Sydney," Michael reminded him.
There was a beat as Will remembered that incident. "So~the other half~~~is with Sydney?"
"I~I would hope so, since I did give to her," Michael chuckled, trying not to look alarm. "She did accept my proposal so I don't' know why she wouldn't have wanted to keep it near her."
Will looked happy, but uncomfortable at the same time. 'Of course I remember these. I guess I was just shocked for a moment, the déjà vu. I thought you'd given them back after Sydney disappeared."
"I almost did," Vaughn replied, now so glad that he hadn't thrown them away. "I got engaged to Jess and I thought she deserved her own ring, plus I didn't want to part with it because I was in denial. I never was able to bring myself to believe that Sydney was really gone. So I shelled out as much overtime as I possibly could and bought the ring, and hid my other one in the pocket of one of my old suits."
"Dan Michael," Will groaned, overwhelmed by his friend's devotion for his best friend.
"I also got a reward for working so hard. The CIA regained their trust in me and gave me back my old position and my former pay," Vaughn explained, "which was probably half because they felt I would need money to financially support my new wife."
Will shook his head, not able to believe how much luck Vaughn had obtained during such a sad time in his life. "Man~~~If that's not true love, I don't know what is."
Michael grinned at him. "Thanks Will, and I only pray you wont' ever have to go through the experience I had to go through."
"Yeah, me and Jane have had our share of luck. We're just so happy with each other and that just grew with the arrival with our new bundle of joy," Will beamed, and Vaughn could swear the sun was shining out of him. He pulled off his sweaty t-shirt and pulled a clean one out of his bag and tugged it on. "I guess then the only dilemma you have is that you're still married to Jessica."
"Uh~~~yeah," Michael groaned, placing his elbows on his knees then placed his head that suddenly felt heavy in his hands.
"Do you have any idea what you're going to do? Or have you just not had the time to think about it?" Will jabbed, shooting a suddenly exhausted looking Vaughn a tired glance.
"Well~~~you're not going to believe this, Syd told me that she wants me to give Jessica a real chance and then give her my decision when she returns," Michael revealed.
This touched a nerve in his Will's body that made his whole body shake with anger. "Mike, I'm not going to watch you string her along if that's what you're thinking of doing. That's not why I helped you."
"I know, Will, but if you'll let me finish~~~"
"You've got to give me something definite, tell me you've thought about that much. Maybe Syd will wait because her love for you goes beyond the grave~~~but I won't. Give me a time frame right now or I'm going to spontaneously combust!"
"Will, I never said I was going to string her along," Michael complained, feeling that Will had said had been too nasty. "I just~~~I've been put in a predicament and I need to think about this."
"I know and I understand that. My main concern is that I helped you get to this point. If it doesn't work out and Sydney gets hurt, I'm going to blame myself for making her go through an eternity of unhappiness~~~and I'll never forgive myself for believing you actually do have the feelings you say you do."
"I do though~~~"Michael grumbles, his eyes narrowing to hint to Will he was getting dangerously close to pissing him off. "You know that."
Will did. The only thing he wanted Michael to understand was now that he'd said that, there was not turning back, whether Syd wanted Michael to make up his wifey or not, it wasn't going to happen, not on Will Tippin's watch.
"So, you want to go for a few more laps?" Will said then and Michael lifted his weary head and nodded wordlessly. And despite how out of energy he looked, it was the thirty-four year old CIA agent that hit the track first. He even sped off into a even sprint before Will had a chance to retie the shoelace to his worn running shoes.
"Hey, Mike! I know you like running but, wait up!"
But Michael didn't hear anything but the wind as he sliced through it effortlessly and his sneakers as the pounded against the ground.
What Will had said had been so alarming he was even considering jogging allt he way back to the apartment building where Jane and his god-daughter were waiting. He needed to digest it all before he tackled any of Jane's good cooking.
Michael frowned as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Maybe talking to Will hadn't been as refreshing as he'd thought it would be.
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So what do you think ya'll? Hope you're enjoying this as much as I have enjoyed writing it! So come on, hit that purple button on the corner and tell me what ya'll think!!!! Thanks, and check out my other-post- telling fics! Thanks
Total Vaughn Lover
A/N: Just wanted to say thanks for sticking with this for so long! I'm going to give you some Vaughn action in this chapter! (YAY!) And really, just please leave me a review if you think I should continue because if not, I don't' know who's reading!
Thanks, lots of love for ya, Kris
And now I give you~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Season 1 (Part XI)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Syd, are you still crying?" Ethan inquired of Sydney as he guided her to the patient's room.
"Yes~~~HURT! Oh my god! Doesn't he know the word, "anesthetic?" she demanded as she fought back the urge to sock calm looking Camden in the face.
"He does. It's just that there's no form of anesthetic that has been approved for that procedure. The only way they know they got into the right gland is literally by the patient's squealing," he apologized.
Sydney gave him a very distasteful expression and Camden felt the
mechanism in his body that produced guilt was working over time "Syd, I'm sorry I should have told you."
"Yeah, you should have," she agreed, holding her abdomen in excruciating pain.
"But I couldn't. I was sworn to secrecy. You do know why we pulled you over here."
"Yeah, to kill Lansing and to get stabbed by huge metal objects!" she shrieked. Sworn to secrecy? She'd heard that so many times that it just sounded like a cop out for CIA agents to hide things from the people they trusted.
"No. That's now why. What's weird Syd is that this outbreak of tumors, it didn't get so serious until a few months after you disappeared. In other words, we think this epidemic among Project Christmas candidates is somehow linked to the reason you were kidnapped that evening. That's also why we wanted to make sure whatever we find lands in your hands, and the safest way to do that is to have you here to take it yourself."
Sydney couldn't' help it. She began laughing. Everything was so disgustingly depressing. "This life of mine, it's really become a nightmare, huh? It's like I was destined for terrible things. My career in the CIA has been one life-threatening hassle after another."
"D~don't' say that. That's not true, though I agree, I can't think of anything that happened in my life that would top that but, it'll turn out better. You said you're married to the guy you love," he reminded her with a gentle smile, exercising his psychiatric skills.
"Yeah, but it took me three months of heartbreak to get there," she stammered. She saw Camden's expression turn uncomfortable and bit her lip. "I guess you didn't know."
"No, I think you failed to mention that."
"But I guess your being in the Rapture and losing your brother for ten years is also worse. At least if I cooperate with you guys, maybe I can find a reasonable explanation to this mess and somehow put this all behind me," she taunted herself, trying desperately to sound confident.
"That's the spirit!" Ethan cried out, a little too enthusiastically. They walked alone the hallway for a few more moments, avoiding the gazes of the passer by's and then finally they came to a stop. Ethan pointed to the door before them. "We're here, room 612, David Lansing."
Sydney didn't know why but she felt the temperature around her drop a few degrees and she suddenly had the urge to hyperventilate, her heart even began racing.
"I'm going to leave you now and go meet up with the others. If you need to contact me, you've got a walkie talkie," Camden shrugged, looking even more uncomfortable.
"Yeah, thanks~~~I know." She made to turn into the room then paused and gave Camden a steady look. "Have you given enough thought to my proposal?"
Camden averted his gaze and stared at the floor as a way of evading the question. "Oh uh~~~I~~~I told you, I'll tell you when we get back on the van~~~"
Sydney cut him off right there. She really wasn't in the mood to listen to his rambling. She just wanted a one word answer, not a full- fledged explanation. "Fine, I'll give you till we get back to the field office, and then if you still don't have an answer, I'll go back to the hotel. I think I need the rest and it'll give me a chance to check my mail. Vaughn might have written me."
"I~I'll see you later then."
Sydney nodded but she stopped when she didn't hear Camden's footsteps. She flipped around to see that the handsome agent was still standing there. She folded her arms at him expectantly.
"Just wanted to tell you to be careful while you're in there, he's not contagious or anything but I've been in there. It's a terrible sight. Just~~~try not to get too emotionally attached okay. It'll keep you sane."
"I'll keep that in mind," she finally exhaled.
Finally Ethan went on his way and Sydney went into the room. It was very musky, the mixture of clean sweat and natural body odor pleasantly attacked her nostrils. And then of course there was the faint stench of disinfectant.
She smoothed out her shirt then went up to the curtain and pulled it back.
She dropped her hands when she saw what was behind it. It made her feel sick, but not because the man lying there was in any way revolting. Quite the contrary. He was sleeping very peacefully, and it was as if his body had stopped aging. He didn't look a day older than twenty. His eyes were open but they weren't rimmed with red from lack of sleep, in fact, they were a very calming moss green.
"David?" she whispered as she slowly inched toward his body. "David Lansing, do you mind if I sit here with you for a while?"
She tentatively took a seat on the vacant stood and stared at him for a long moment, not sure what she was waiting for. Then she finally gathered up the strength to stand up and took hold of his hand that was surprisingly warm. "Hey Dave, I'm Dr. Dawn Schroeder." Then she corrected herself after realizing she didn't have to lie to him, he probably couldn't hear her anyway. "No. I'm not going to lie to you~~~I'm Sydney A. Bristow of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. But really, I'm the exact same as you. My parents made up the decision on what my destiny would be, a Project Christmas candidate bred to be a spy~~~only unfortunately, I made it."
She then gently touched his face and ran a hand through his sweat- drenched hair. She then found her eyes looking at every bit of skin that was revealed beyond his light blue hospital-issued p.j's.
She wasn't sure what she was looking for but she studied him intensively nonetheless. She knew in her heart when she found it, she would know. She'd tried hard to deny it when she'd been in Camden and Ruhter's company but the truth was she agreed with the doctors. She didn't think it was normal either for her test results to be conclusively negative. She was sure something was going on, only with her luck, she knew she wasn't going to find out about it until it was too late.
David suddenly winced below her fingers. Oh. Maybe his brain wasn't as puddled as everyone thought. She gazed down at her fingers and saw what they'd brushed again. It was a huge red abscess pulsing on the side of his neck.
It kind of looked like the thing Dr. Ruhter had been prodding inside her scar. He'd given her the treat of seeing a video image of the painful treatment.
She heard a soft cry. A whimper. Did she just hear a whimper?
She stared at David. He didn't seem so "dead," after all. He was actually feeling physical and emotional pain under whatever process his body was going through to make him appear as a vegetable. In fact his eyes began filling with water and sweat started to appear on his forehead. She laid her palm again his cheek. The skin beneath her hand was heating up , evidence that he was running a fever. That had to mean his sore was running an infection.
"Hey, don't cry, David," she pleaded, talking to him like he was a young child when in reality he was probably a few years older than her. A low sob continued to erupt from his throat. Sydney's next priority became to take him out of his misery.
She searched around the room and finally found a package of gauze sitting underneath his bedside table. She bent down to pick it up, ripped it open then pulled out a sheet of it and gently dabbed at the pus and juice that was running from the wound. "It'll be okay David, I'll get you some help," she promised as she continued to wipe away the foul-smelling secretions.
She thought she heard him give a sigh of relief.
Sydney sat back down and squeezed David's hand with one hand then with her other hand she pulled out her cell phone and speed-dialed a number.
"This is Ethan Camden."
"Agent Camden. Hi, this is "mountaineer," Sydney whispered.
"Syd! What's up?" Camden inquired with a soothing voice that still had an edge from worry. He knew she would only call him if she was in trouble and given the until recent two year disappearance situation, hearing her voice on this frequency made him very testy. "Are you okay?"
"Me? Oh yeah, I'm fine. It's just that David Lansing is running a fever and I just found a sore the size of a golf ball. I think he's running an infection, it's on his neck and his skin is streaked with these red marks," she reported briskly.
"Oh, okay~~~we'll send Dr. Ruhter to take care of that," Camden replied quickly, his voice getting hard and mechanical, a spouting of facts. "Is he still breathing? How are his vitals?"
"They're~~~"Sydney paused until she made it over to the beeping monitor. "Good. And I think his nerves are functioning quite well. He actually began crying a few minutes ago."
"Really?" There was undeniable surprise in his voice. "Okay, well, you sit tight. "Ruhter," is on his way."
"Okay, thank you." She turned the device off a slipped it back into her pocket then she clasped her other hand over David's trembling one. "Just hang in there, Dave, just hang in there."
Dr. Ruhter came through the door, back to being his old experienced self. Agent Camden came in after him about twenty minutes later. By that time David was shaking convulsively as he clung to Sydney for dear life. His mentality seemed to be that of a six year old, with serious doctor phobia.
"Bout time you got here," she grimaced when she'd dislodged his body away from her far enough to breathe.
"Sorry, I had a ~~~let's just say it was hard to get away from it," Dr. Ruhter said dryly as he walked up to the patient. 'How is he doing?"
"How is he doing?" she almost screamed. Wasn't it kind of obvious? He was lying there sweating like all his water was disappearing and he was having trouble trying to catch him breath.
Frank heard the unsaid sarcasm and instead proceeded to listening to David's chest and then took his temperature. Then he carefully lifted David's head away from Sydney and reached toward the pulsing red infection festering on his neck.
"I think it's time to a little testing and a little draining," he sighed as he patted the area with gauze and Sydney actually felt David squeeze her arm and her hand squeezed reassuringly over his. Then Ruhter left the room to put a call into his nurse to bring his equipment. Camden took advantage of the doctor's leave and came forward to sit down.
"Syd. Hey. How are you doing?"
"G~Good," she stammered, glancing at the handsome agent. She was surprised when she saw how concerned he was.
"I~I got scared when you called me, the first thing I thought was that I couldn't let something happen to you, I couldn't' let Michael lose you again."
Sydney smiled through her tears and put her hand on top of his. "Don't worry. I'm not going to go anywhere. My guard is so high that I'm going to make damn sure it's a hassle before I'm kidnapped again. Thanks for the thought, though."
They shared an uncomfortable glance, uncomfortable in the sense that they both felt they were getting to close for a brother in law and the brother's wife.
Dr. Ruhter returned with a nurse who was pushing a cart of objects that were too familiar for comfort when Sydney laid her eyes on them. The only positive that happened from his return was the tension between Sydney and Ethan disappeared in that instant.
"Okay Syd, if you can move back so I can get in there," Dr. Ruhter requested as he pulled on his gloves.
At that moment David gave off a frightened whine as though he could really understand the words being said around him.
"None of that, Mr. Lansing," he coaxed his unwilling patient as he and his nurse pulled him back from Sydney's body then laid him against the bed. David didn't oblige to any of the doctor's orders and began thrashing about.
"Sydney is right, you sure are acting more alive than usual," he chirruped as he pulled David's arms into restraints.
Sydney moved back, biting her lip. Tears emerged from his eyes as she watched David struggle. According to how much brain activity the man had left, she didn't doubt Lansing couldn't understand what was going on."
"Nurse, why don't you hold his arm while I shoot him with some Halodol." The nurse obliged and held him still enough so the doctor could inject the medicine into him.
David finally stopped thrashing and took comfort on the nurse's lap. Sydney watched as the doctor cleansed the abscess, placed towels all around it before he picked up the deceptive silver probe that was still causing her painful effects.
"Oh god," Sydney groaned. She felt Camden put his hand on her shoulder and squeeze it reassuringly. "Does he have to do that?"
Camden didn't reply, instead he turned her body with his gentle hands and urged her out of the room, just in time to escape David's yelp.
Once they were outside, Sydney turned away from her companion, feeling so bad for the innocent, "vegetable," that was going through exactly what she'd gone through only hours ago.
"Syd, don't dwell on it. That's how we treat those things. I know it's not a very enjoyable procedure but he will appreciate it when the swelling goes down, so will you."
Sydney gave him an approximation of a smile.
"S~So, about that dinner offer. I was going to~~~"
"There you two are~" shouted the all too familiar voice of Leighton Cowell. "What happened to our meeting plan?"
"The procedure on Sydney took longer than proposed and David's condition took an interesting turn," Camden reported to his fellow agents who gave him an understanding smile, with the exception of Cowell who stood there complaining and accusing him of unprofessionalism.
"Well I guess we're done here," Agent Loren concluded, giving their leader Hill a glance.
"Great. Landor will be pleased. Let's head back. The director might give us the rest of the night off."
Loren and Hill began flirting with each other as they exited the building followed by Cowell who was trying nonchalantly to get Sydney to admit what was really going on between her and Camden.
"Nothing~~~we were just talking," Sydney explained for the umpteenth time, thought her thoughts were on the lonely agent walking behind them.
"Right, well, just remember what I said, Camden can't be trusted but if you want to jeapordize your life, I certainly can't stop you."
Sydney thanked him for his concern then paused in her tracks until Camden caught up to her.
"Syd~~~I really have to admit, my dislike for Cowell is mounting," Camden said with a grin. He frowned when he didn't get one in return. "Syd, is something wrong?"
"N~No."
"Okay, then how about dinner tonight? I know a great place where they serve French."
"Um~~~actually, I~I think I'm going to take a raincheck on that. I~I just can't think about food right now," she apologized.
Ethan didn't bother hiding his disappointment.
"I~It's not you, Agent Camden," she put in hastily. "I just~~~I'm exhausted and just seeing David, it was a pretty overwhelming day."
"That's exactly why we should go out. You can vent to me about David and maybe you can help me with Michael," he suggested, desperation present in his eyes.
"Ethan, like I said I think I've had all the emotional drama to last me a week," she complained again, trying not to feel guilt-tripped.
"Then we can just talk about~~~dogs. My favorite color. We can spend tonight getting to know each other," Ethan insisted. He saw Sydney's lamentful expression and squeezed her hand. "Please Syd?"
"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?" she exhaled, rolling her beautiful brown eyes.
"All I'm going to say if this. I will be at the French Restaurant, "La Petite Maison d'Fromage," at eight. If you show up, we'll talk. If you don't~~~I guess I'll have to dine by myself."
Sydney shook her head then gave him a serious stare. "Guilt tripping is not going to get you anywhere with me, Dr. Camden," she informed him. "Ask Michael."
"I would if I could," he almost blurted out and Sydney seemed to have noticed her blurb. Ethan didn't want to hear her apologies so decided to smooth it over instead, "Just think about it, Syd. I think you'll realize this will be good for both of us."
"F~Fine," she stammered at last.
Ethan stared at her for a bit longer, looking mildly satisfied then finally hurried to the van with Sydney on his heels.
And once they boarded the car, the only thing Sydney could think about was Camden and whether it was okay to go to dinner with Michael's long lost brother?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And Back in the good o'l U.S.
"Hey Michael," To be Mrs. Tippin greeted warmly with surprise when she opened the door, dressed in an apron on top of her every day dress, one hand holding a plate of steaming bacon that teased Michael Vaughn's empty stomach.
"Hey Jane, are you off today?" Michael asked with surprise, dressed for the brisk damp summer morning in a pair of sweats, a matching pull over over a white-t-shirt. "I thought your shift started at seven."
"You're right, Michael. I had my friend take my shift so I can stay home and watch Sydney while you two go for that job," she chuckled. The moment she'd seen Michael in his gear, it had come to her why Will's former enemy, turned friend had shown up on her doorstep that morning.
Michael smiled. "You certainly are a kind-hearted young woman. I hope Will knows just how lucky he is."
"I try," she said with a pleasant smile.
Michael took the plate of bacon from her and then went into the dining room without instruction and set it on the table next to the eggs and huge pile of freshly made french toast. "Is this okay?"
"Yeah," she replied, flustered. "Michael, you sure are in a good mood."
"Thank you. I haven't felt this good in days," he admitted as he took the glass of orange juice Jane had poured for him.
"I have to assume it's Sydney," she giggled. "What's up?"
"N~nothing. I~I guess I just can't wait to get out there and run. There's nothing like knowing you are working out to make you feel extremely good and proud of yourself. Not to mention it will allow me the time to binge on that delicious looking french toast when I get back," he said with a grin, shrugging his shoulders that still looked noticeably built beneath his pull over.
"Sure you didn't just make up with the girl my daughter is named after?" Jane teased, and Michael blushed in response.
"Well, would you like to have some breakfast?" Jane said then when she got a satisfactory answer. "Sorry but it doesn't seem that Will remembers that you were coming this morning. He's still in bed."
"I can wait," he shrugged as he sat down onto the couch and bent forward on his knees. "You going to go wake him up for me?"
"Yeah, it'll be an ordeal but hopefully it'll be only a few minutes."
"Well~~~why don't you let me see my god-daughter?" Michael said with a smile, in the process of pulling off his pullover that matched the beautiful green of his eyes. "Is she awake?"
"Yeah! She's sitting in that play-pen right there," she beamed, pointing to the colorful netted object where little Sydney was giggling as she studied the assorted animals that decorated the floor. "I think Sydney will really like that."
Michael watched Jane hurry up the stairs. Then he wiped his hands on his thighs as he approached the play pen. He then bent over and carefully lifted the baby girl into his arms and sat back down comfortably on the couch.
"Hi Sydney," he cooed, kissing her on the cheek. "It's your god- father, Michael. Remember me?"
Sydney turned her head, gave an adorable laugh and patted his cheek with her small little hand. Michael grinned, overwhelmed with happiness and became fiercely jealous of Will who was the father of this precious little angel.
Ok. His mind was made up. As soon as Sydney returned from wherever she'd gone and they got some alone time, he was going to make her pregnant. He saw Will's blond hair and Jane's vibrant brown eyes in their daughter Sydney and couldn't help wondering what his children would like. Mother nature totally amazed him.
Would she have Sydney's brown locks and his green eyes? Or would his hair be light and have her gorgeous amber irises? He just hoped their children would be blessed with her heart-stopping smile and that they would have enough time to be with their children since both of them had missed out on their parents' and knew what it was like to not have that time.
"Mike!" Will panted as he reached the bottom step, still pulling on his t-shirt.
"Hey Will, have a good sleep?" Michael joked, holding Sydney against his shoulder and gently rubbed her back.
"Ha! Funny! I can't believe I forgot," Will grumbled. But his frown melted the instant he looked at his daughter. "And how is my little angel this morning?" he crooned, taking his daughter into his own arms, his eyes shone with fatherly pride.
"Will, Michael's been waiting for you. You should go and take that run, you need it. Sydney and I will be sitting at home with breakfast ready when you return," Jane scolded him playfully, pulling Sydney into her embrace.
Will let out a heaving sigh then glanced t Michael who was all but grinning from ear to ear. "Ready to go?"
"Have been," he chuckled as he slung the strap to his sports bag over his shoulder. "See you later Sydney," he called to the little girl who actually looked quite shy as she waved at her handsome god-father.
"We'll be home in an hour or two. Keep that French toast warm, okay, honey?" Will said as he followed Michael out the door. Jane watched them leave and let out a sigh. Wow, this was turning out to be a wonderful morning. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Told you you'd eat my dust, Tippin!" Vaughn boomed as he made it around the outside race track of the community gym for the sixth time, making it a mile and a half in under thirty minutes.
Will came panting to the finish line about thirty-five seconds after him. He stared disgusted at Vaughn who was chugging his water, not even a bit exhausted.
"Yup, Jane was right, Will did need to work out," Vaughn thought with a smirk.
"Eat my dust? Man Vaughn, I couldn't try to beat you today if I tried. You just ran a mile and a half and your breathing hasn't even sped up!" Will pointed out, squatting on the floor, still trying to catch his breath before he even went for his water bottle.
"That only proves you're out of shape," Michael boasted, stretching out his muscular legs. Then he smiled at Will, his face glistened with a healthy looking sheen of sweat. "You ready for another go?"
Will's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you kidding me?"
"Nah, six more laps, come on. I want to work up an appetite, especially since Jane went through the trouble to make that delicious breakfast. I want to make sure I can binge and not regret it later," he told him as he put his hands on his toned hips.
Will just stared at him with tired eyes.
"What?"
"Mike, something has got to be up with you this morning," Will commented, folding his arms. Then he became a bit lamentful. "How are you doing? I know that Sydney left," he added in an even more regretful tone.
"Yeah~~~I know. And it's hard," Michael admitted, his expression becoming just a bit morose. "I am losing sleep over it."
"I don't doubt it."
"But Sydney is a smart woman. I know she can take care of herself, probably more now than before," Michael beamed with longing in his voice. "I just can't wait till I have her back on mainland. Because then I'm going to definitely talk to Sydney about bearing a few rugrats of our own."
Will stayed silent, sure he had to of heard his love-sick friend wrong. "B~but~~~~she's not coming back, Vaughn. She left, that means that what you said didn't work and she's made her decision to break it off," Will reminded him, feeling terrible that he had to break these news to him again. It had been heartbreaking enough the first time.
"Of course she is," Vaughn argued, looking at his friend with a chiding expression. "She told me so herself."
Will studied Michael and tried not to belittle him or be condescending. "V~Vaughn, you~you were dreaming, man. Syd specifically told me if she was to leave~~~she wasn't going to come back, and she's~~~she's not here."
"But Will~~~" Vaughn began then paused in his sentence as the reason for Will's protests dawned on him. "Wait a minute. You don't know do you? I completely forgot, Sydney left before she could say anything."
"Yeah," Will agreed then folded his arms formidably. "And what is it that you didn't tell me?"
"That Sydney is in fact coming back. I guess I never got around to telling you, my schedule has been hectic with just worrying about Sydney and I've been doing a bit of drinking again. Not to mention that I probably never said anything because she swore me to secrecy. But I'm going to tell you anyway~~~since, really, without your help, sydney would really have left and I wouldn't have had a chance to ask her to stay."
Will didn't have to ask him if Michael was just pulling his leg. And he knew without a second thought that his friend was not just in denial.
"I'm assuming this conversation is the reason you wanted to see me so early in the morning," Will countered as he sat down on the bench then let out a composing breath. "Okay, I'm listening. Tell me all about it. What happened after you went to go see her?"
Michael sat down next to him and then immediately began to spill his guts, beginning with how he'd confronted his ex to the moment he'd surprised Sydney with a marriage proposal he'd wanted to give her a long time before. It was like the dam had been broken to his feelings and now they were just pouring out without his consent, but somehow he managed not to give too many intimate details.
Will listened and just took it all in without making a comment. When Michael finished and finally came back up for air, Will put a hand on his friend's knee and gave him his two cents.
"So, you did it huh, Mike?"
"Yeah, I guess I did," Michael said with an embarrassed smile. Having Will's hand on his knee didn't help the tension any.
"So let's see it!" Will chirruped suddenly. "What does the ring look like?"
Michael pulled down the hem of his t-shirt and then pulled out the silver chain that was dangling around his neck. He rolled the ring around the chain until he could hold it between two fingers. Will put down his water bottle and studied it with owl-sized eyes.
"That's~~~that's a band of diamonds!" Will gasped. "And not just any diamond, a canary diamond!"
"Yeah, it is," Vaughn agreed. "I purchased these rings right after I scheduled Santa Barbara when I was more serious about my job and before I'd gotten a serious demotion due to the hiatus I took to go find Sydney," Michael reminded him.
There was a beat as Will remembered that incident. "So~the other half~~~is with Sydney?"
"I~I would hope so, since I did give to her," Michael chuckled, trying not to look alarm. "She did accept my proposal so I don't' know why she wouldn't have wanted to keep it near her."
Will looked happy, but uncomfortable at the same time. 'Of course I remember these. I guess I was just shocked for a moment, the déjà vu. I thought you'd given them back after Sydney disappeared."
"I almost did," Vaughn replied, now so glad that he hadn't thrown them away. "I got engaged to Jess and I thought she deserved her own ring, plus I didn't want to part with it because I was in denial. I never was able to bring myself to believe that Sydney was really gone. So I shelled out as much overtime as I possibly could and bought the ring, and hid my other one in the pocket of one of my old suits."
"Dan Michael," Will groaned, overwhelmed by his friend's devotion for his best friend.
"I also got a reward for working so hard. The CIA regained their trust in me and gave me back my old position and my former pay," Vaughn explained, "which was probably half because they felt I would need money to financially support my new wife."
Will shook his head, not able to believe how much luck Vaughn had obtained during such a sad time in his life. "Man~~~If that's not true love, I don't know what is."
Michael grinned at him. "Thanks Will, and I only pray you wont' ever have to go through the experience I had to go through."
"Yeah, me and Jane have had our share of luck. We're just so happy with each other and that just grew with the arrival with our new bundle of joy," Will beamed, and Vaughn could swear the sun was shining out of him. He pulled off his sweaty t-shirt and pulled a clean one out of his bag and tugged it on. "I guess then the only dilemma you have is that you're still married to Jessica."
"Uh~~~yeah," Michael groaned, placing his elbows on his knees then placed his head that suddenly felt heavy in his hands.
"Do you have any idea what you're going to do? Or have you just not had the time to think about it?" Will jabbed, shooting a suddenly exhausted looking Vaughn a tired glance.
"Well~~~you're not going to believe this, Syd told me that she wants me to give Jessica a real chance and then give her my decision when she returns," Michael revealed.
This touched a nerve in his Will's body that made his whole body shake with anger. "Mike, I'm not going to watch you string her along if that's what you're thinking of doing. That's not why I helped you."
"I know, Will, but if you'll let me finish~~~"
"You've got to give me something definite, tell me you've thought about that much. Maybe Syd will wait because her love for you goes beyond the grave~~~but I won't. Give me a time frame right now or I'm going to spontaneously combust!"
"Will, I never said I was going to string her along," Michael complained, feeling that Will had said had been too nasty. "I just~~~I've been put in a predicament and I need to think about this."
"I know and I understand that. My main concern is that I helped you get to this point. If it doesn't work out and Sydney gets hurt, I'm going to blame myself for making her go through an eternity of unhappiness~~~and I'll never forgive myself for believing you actually do have the feelings you say you do."
"I do though~~~"Michael grumbles, his eyes narrowing to hint to Will he was getting dangerously close to pissing him off. "You know that."
Will did. The only thing he wanted Michael to understand was now that he'd said that, there was not turning back, whether Syd wanted Michael to make up his wifey or not, it wasn't going to happen, not on Will Tippin's watch.
"So, you want to go for a few more laps?" Will said then and Michael lifted his weary head and nodded wordlessly. And despite how out of energy he looked, it was the thirty-four year old CIA agent that hit the track first. He even sped off into a even sprint before Will had a chance to retie the shoelace to his worn running shoes.
"Hey, Mike! I know you like running but, wait up!"
But Michael didn't hear anything but the wind as he sliced through it effortlessly and his sneakers as the pounded against the ground.
What Will had said had been so alarming he was even considering jogging allt he way back to the apartment building where Jane and his god-daughter were waiting. He needed to digest it all before he tackled any of Jane's good cooking.
Michael frowned as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. Maybe talking to Will hadn't been as refreshing as he'd thought it would be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So what do you think ya'll? Hope you're enjoying this as much as I have enjoyed writing it! So come on, hit that purple button on the corner and tell me what ya'll think!!!! Thanks, and check out my other-post- telling fics! Thanks
Total Vaughn Lover
