Disclaimer: I don't own this. If you recognize this, I didn't create it.

Hey guys. New chapter. Finally. Sorry for the wait. :)

Chapter 3

Nearly two hours later, Michael stirred, his forehead creasing as he started to wake up. His hands came down to push himself up, but he fell forward again as the pain waylaid him once again. "Oh God." He muttered, slipping into his native French, swearing silently as he forced his hurting body to sit up against the back of the seat.

There was immediately a pair of well-remembered hands and a soft voice in his ear. "Easy, Michael, just take it easy. You are gravely injured and all of the moving around that you are doing cannot be helping you any."

"Sydney?" was his first thought as I gently helped him turn over, propped up on a seemingly gigantic mountain of pillows.

"She's safe. She's had a rather trying ordeal and so she's sleeping. Her father is keeping an eye on her."

Michael nodded, dropping his head back as I began to unwrap the bandage. Michael looked down at it, speaking quietly. "How bad is it, Ceci?"

I touched his cheek gently in comfort. "It could have been much worse." I answered, pealing the pad away from the oozing mess. "I'm going to stitch it and then I'm going to give you some morphine so that you can sleep for awhile longer. You need all of the rest you can get so that you can recover properly. Do you want anything to bite on?"

He shook his head side to side in an exaggerated motion. "No. Just stitch it up, Ceci."

I nodded, threading the needle and stitching the wound closed with precision and accuracy. Soon the disgusting looking gash was no more than a red line with at least 4 little black knots symbolizing where the injury had been stitched. As the last knot was tied off, Michael let out the breath he'd been holding during the ordeal. "Thanks Ceci." He murmured.

"You're welcome, Michael. Here's that morphine I promised." I whispered, sticking him in the arm with the hypodermic needle.

I eased the liquid into his arm, watching as the medicine inserted itself into his bloodstream. He closed his eyes and smiled in my general direction. "Where are we going, Ceci?"

"We're going to see Nathan in Nepal. He says that he's made plans for us and our son. You'll be in a hospital soon, with plenty of doctors to take care of you."

Michael shook his head. "No."

I looked at him skeptically before nodding, resting one tiny hand on his forehead. "All right, Mike. I'll arrange for you to be taken care of wherever we end up. I won't leave you behind. I promise."

He smiled contentedly and then allowed the morphine to work its magic. Soon he was breathing the deep rhythm of one who was deeply asleep. I continued to crouch at his side, completely neglecting anyone or anything else. Michael's health was all that mattered to me. He was my husband's best friend. Nothing could happen to him or I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Little did I know that I was being watched.

Michael slept until we touched down in Nepal. After we had been parked for nearly three hours, his eyes fluttered and his body flinched in reaction to a gentle hand on his face. His eyes started to open, but he immediately groaned, snapping them shut again as the light pierced his eyes. "Welcome back to the world Sleeping Ugly." Came the low, cheerful and teasing voice of a Spaniard. And he knew exactly who that Spaniard was. Damn Angelo Connolly to hell for being so cheerful.

"Angel." Michael responded, groaning as he felt quick, diminutive hands check the bandage and then tighten it. "And that had to be Ceci."

"Good guess man. Come on, we gotta get outta here. It's not safe for any of us here." Angelo said, bending over to lift his friend from the couch.

"Where's Syd?"

Angelo rolled his eyes, tucking Michael's lolling head under his chin so that he could better stabilize himself. "Mike, is she all you ever think about? She's fine. She's in the car, waiting for your snoring butt."

Michael laughed lowly at the imagery his friend presented there. He felt the hands from earlier wrap his shivering form in a blanket. His forehead furrowed. He hadn't even been aware that his body was shivering or that he was cold until that moment. "I'm cold, Angel."

"I know man, the fever's got you pretty good. But Cecily told me about the promise she made you. Nathan is going to kick my ass when he finds out, but hey, all in the service of my country, right?"

"Right." Michael answered, yawning and falling asleep once again, his arms dropping to his side in exhaustion.

"Good grief. He's dead weight when he's asleep." He complained, following me from the airplane.

I smiled as I guided Angelo down the stairs, keeping one hand on Michael's head so that he didn't hit anything. Angelo carried him to the car, passing him in to Dixon and Weiss. Sydney stretched him out on the seat, her petite hands framing his face. Angelo passed me into the interior of the car and then followed me in. He moved to the front and then rapped on the window twice sharply. As the car started to get underway, Weiss turned to look at Angelo. "Why didn't Nate come to get us?"

"It was decided that it would be too dangerous for Nathan to venture out until he's been completely remade. He wanted to see Cecily in his original state before they get their makeovers."

Weiss nodded, keeping one eye on Michael and the other on Sydney. Fortunately for him, my brother-in-law was keeping a close eye on me. We drove for nearly an hour and then we pulled up in front of an attractive little villa. Angelo stood, opening the door for me. "Go on, Cecily. He's waiting for you."

Matthew looked up at me as I kissed his forehead. "Be good. I'm going to go find Papa."

He nodded and watched as I climbed from the car. I stood for a moment, watching the house for a moment before taking steps forward. I stopped in my tracks as the door opened. My eyes were glued to the darkness just inside the door and I visibly started as someone materialized from the emptiness.

Suddenly everything seemed to click into place. The puzzle pieces known as Cecily and Nathan suddenly snapped into place. And Nathan and I were on the same wavelength once again. I could feel him again; his fretful thoughts, his covert desires, his almost animal fear in my behalf. I knew, without being able to see the person's face, that the person who had just exited the house was my Nathan. "Nathan!" I cried ecstatically, taking off at a full-speed dash.

I laughed with frantic joy as I heard his voice calling my name in return. I knew that voice and I knew that soon, I would be home once again. "Querida!" he shouted, running to meet me.

We crashed together and our lips met harshly. I inhaled him, running my fingers through his hair, pushing my lips to his desperately. His arms wrapped tightly around my waist, pressing my tiny pliant form close to his rock hard torso. I sighed against his lips, feeling for the first time in months, completely safe. Nothing could possibly touch me while I was in Nathan's arms. When we broke away, I held him close, burying my face in his chest and inhaling the familiar scent of him. He mumbled something and I looked up. "What?"

"I said I'm sorry that it's not home."

I buried my face again, speaking into his chest. "Your arms are home, Nathan. As long as I am in your arms, I am home."

Nathan's arms tightened around me, holding me even closer. "I heard about Mike. Is he okay?" he asked, the two of us separating and going toward the car.

"I think that he'll be okay. I got it stitched. The thing to worry about now is the fever. It's running pretty steady at about 103 degrees."

Nathan nodded, reaching to take Michael from Angelo as Angelo passed him from the car. Michael curled reflexively into Nathan's warmth. Nathan looked mildly startled for a moment as Sydney stepped from the car, before his poker face fell back into place. "You have some explaining to do, Querida." He muttered, carrying Michael into the house.

I nodded as I jogged after him, scrambling to keep up with his long, quick strides. "I'll try to explain as much as I can. But I'm afraid there is some that I don't even understand. When Michael is better, I'm sure that we can get the whole story out of him."

Nathan nodded, sharply, maneuvering Michael into a room. I raced ahead, pulling down the cover and letting Nathan lay him down. "Cool water and a pair of my pajama pants, Querida, quickly."

I nodded and ran from the room, watching Angelo and Weiss go in to help Nathan get Michael undressed and comfortable. After I had given Nathan everything he needed, I went into the kitchen. I paused, my eyebrows creasing for a second. Taking three steps backward, I turned my head to see what had originally caught my eye.

Sydney Bristow, the apple of Michael's eye, was staring out the window. I smiled at her. She was by rights, 31 years old. I had been hearing about her since the beginning of my friendship with Michael. But while I could remember the last 2 years of Michael's heartbreak, she couldn't remember anything after her fight with the Francie double, Alison.

I stepped into the room and she whirled, her spy senses kicking into high gear. There was fear and uncertainty in her eyes, but the most prominent look was determination. I held up my hands in surrender. "Hey, Ms. Bristow, it's just me. Cecily. I was just about to make a pot of herbal tea. Would you like some?"

She paused, looking at me uncertainly for awhile before nodding with a small, shy smile. "Yeah, I think that I'd like that. Maybe you could tell me why you and Vaughn are so close."

I nodded with a genuine smile gracing my otherwise worried features. "Yeah, I think that I can do that. I don't know how long Mike's gonna be out, but I'd wager it'll be several hours."

Sydney nodded, following me from the room and into the kitchen. She paused as she saw the bar and I turned with eyebrows raised. "What's wrong, Ms Bristow?"

"First of all, please call me Sydney."

I smiled, nodding my understanding. "All right, if you'll call me Cecily."

Sydney nodded sharply, continuing to stare at the bar. I cocked my head, but remained quiet, knowing that she would talk when she got her words all figured out. "I remember something from before I disappeared. Vaughn used to stay the nights at the house that I shared with Francie, or Alison, or whatever her name was."

I nodded, waiting for her to continue, confused by how the bar had brought this to memory. "Will told me once about the time that he came out of Francie's bedroom and found Vaughn sitting at the bar, reading the newspaper and eating a bowl of cereal."

I smiled, understanding that the bar was simply a happy memory that she was trying to figure out in her head. "I see." I said, putting the pot on and filling it with water.

Moving out of the kitchen, I gestured toward the couch. "Take a seat. The water will take awhile."

Sydney nodded, sitting on the couch and clasping her hands tightly in her lap. I sat in the armchair, watching her for a moment before speaking. "He kept the tickets to Santa Barbara."

She looked up and I could tell that I had hit on a sensitive spot. "He didn't go?"

"Nah. He told Nathan that there wasn't any point. You weren't going to be there and he wanted to show you Santa Barbara. He waited until after the funeral and then disappeared.

"I had only met him once, for maybe two minutes before he disappeared. Nathan always spoke so highly of him."

Sydney looked at me. "What happened after he disappeared?"

My forehead wrinkled for a moment. "I don't know what happened right after he disappeared first hand. That would be a question for either Weiss or Nathan."

"Why did Vaughn become your bodyguard?" Sydney asked.

I smiled just then as the kettle whistled loudly, signaling that the water was done. "Saved by the whistle. Hold on a minute and I'll try to think of a good way to explain that."

Sydney nodded, smiling at me sadly before I left the room. I poured out two cups and then dropped the tea bags in, carrying the steaming mugs into, what I assumed, was the living room. I held one out for Sydney to take, my thoughts far away from where I was. "Well I guess the best thing I can say to your question is that it saved his life."