Title: Consequences

Summary: 'One shot was fired…of the two other people there was one dead, one wounded.'

Disclaimer: Sadly I own neither Alias nor any of the characters.

Spoilers: Set after 3.17 'The Frame', but AU after that.

Rating: PG-13

A/N: This is the last chapter, but I'm tempted to write a prequel to it detailing Sydney and Lauren's relationship during her missing two years.

Chapter Twelve

Thedebrief that Lauren and Jack encountered was long and tiring, and from the debrief it was learnt that Lauren was not NSA, she was CIA, with as much field experience as Sydney or Vaughn and she had been assigned her husband by the Covenant, she had slept with Julian Sark to obey orders, but as she broke down in tears it became clear that Lauren had not been assigned Sydney, or ordered to love her. She simply had of her own free will.

Jack's debrief brought out one two key facts. One shot was fired on the mission and of the two people involved there was one dead, one wounded.

Vaughn had been informed of everything about Lauren, from her double agent status in the Covenant to her forced relationship with Sark. He went to her after being informed and asked if she still wanted to be his wife, but both knew that it was over, it had never been a real marriage based on love and commitment, it was founded on deceit and lies and both husband and wife would rather have spend the rest of their lives with Sydney Bristow than each other.

The marriage was annulled a few hours later due to Kendall's influence. Both Michael Vaughn and Lauren Reed were no longer attached; neither was stuck in a marriage with someone they no longer, or in Lauren's case never, loved.

Lauren stood by the grave of her ex lover and sighed. Why was she even there? It didn't change anything. It didn't magically make everything ok just because she no longer had them in her life. Things were far from ok. She had been revealed in the Covenant and the CIA, her status, as a double agent was gone. Lauren had spent most of her life in deep cover missions, or special situations in which Kendall requested her for a mission for project black hole. She had never been just another CIA agent. She was an elite agent, her marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat was impeccable. Her training as a CIA operative had come from an early age and she had spent her life obeying orders, and this was where that path had left her.

Standing by the grave of an ex lover, without a husband and without the woman she loved. "Goodbye." She muttered to the grave and the body buried deep beneath the earth. "I know you never loved me, and I never loved you either, just like with Michael you settled for second best because you couldn't have first prize…" She laughed bitterly. "Well I did Julian."

Sitting by the hospital bed Jack Bristow had never left his daughter's side since he had arrived after his debrief. After finding Sark standing over her Lauren had acted without hesitation and fired a shot, Sark had dropped instantly with a bullet to the skull; Lauren had been merciful to him. She'd spared him the pain he'd deserved.

Sydney had stopped breathing as the shot was fired from her injuries and for hours Jack and Lauren had sat silently in the relatives room waiting to hear of her fate. Her injuries were critical, she was in a weak condition and the doctors had found she was bleeding internally; they'd given her very little chance of recovering.

After hearing this Lauren had sat beside Jack and placed an arm around him, whispering 'she's a survivor' into his ear. The pair had comforted each other until the doctor had returned. Lauren had been correct, Sydney had fought to survive and although she wasn't fully out of the woods she had survived surgery and if she made it through the night her chances would increase.

That was two nights ago and Sydney Bristow still held on strong. When Lauren entered the room Jack acknowledged her with a small smile. The two had grown close over the days and he stood up to allow her to sit beside his daughter.

"I need to freshen up." He explained as he picked up his coat. "I wouldn't leave her alone with anyone else Lauren. I respect the love you have for my daughter." Lauren's eyes filled with tears as she shook her head.

"Mine and Vaughn's marriage was annulled today. He's no longer a married man. She can be with him again. Why would she chose me over having him back?"

"I want what is best for my daughter. I want her to be happy. If that means she has to be with Vaughn I can tolerate that fact, but in my opinion agent Vaughn is not worthy of having my daughter's affection. He's weak, if he really loved her he'd have left you when Sydney came back."

"He has values." Lauren replied. "He would never abandon his wife for someone else, no matter how much he loved them." Jack nodded.

"If he truly loved her then those values would be insignificant. It takes guts to truly love someone Lauren. They go first in your life and no matter what the consequences you always seek to be with them, because settling for second best will never be good enough. It's worse than abandoning a wife, it is living a lie and taking the coward's way out."

Lauren sat beside Sydney taking her hand in her own. "I know you're going to be alright Sydney. You're a fighter. Michael Vaughn is no longer my husband, which means you can be with him. You can be happy and have your guardian angel back. Because your father is right, it takes guts to be in love, to put one person before your needs and desires. Love is a sacrifice and sometimes that sacrifice entails doing what is best for the one you love, even if it kills you. Giving up the person you love is the hardest sacrifice that can be done, and it tears you apart, but sometimes it's necessary so that the one you love can be happy. I want you to be happy Sydney."

"Do I get a choice in the matter?" Sydney asked, surprising Lauren. The blonde's eyes were teary and her cheeks were flushed.

"You're awake?" Sydney nodded slowly. "You were awake when Jack was here, that's why he left." A mischievous grin spread over Sydney's lips.

"I woke up last night, a little after you'd left." She explained. "Lauren…did you mean what you said? About loving me enough to let me be with Vaughn?"

Lauren nodded her reply; her voice would have betrayed that Sydney had squashed her last hopes that the two could be together. "I love you." Lauren's gaze darted from the pattern on the hospital blanket she was staring at to Sydney's face. "I don't want to be with Vaughn. He's part of the past. A past that I've learnt I can't just fit back into. Things are different now. I remember things…when we were together…our first kiss…our first date, I spilt champagne all down your top, I was so nervous." Lauren laughed remembering the night clearly. "If you want to make me happy then you'll stay with me."

"Always." Lauren promised as she gently kissed her forehead. Sydney's eyes widened as she noticed Vaughn standing at the door. Lauren followed her gaze and found a scowling Vaughn.

"You're giving up what we had for her?" He spat, red in the face. "I love you Sydney! We can finally be happy together and you chose her!"

Sydney shook her head and held Lauren's hand tighter as she went to pull away. "We could have been together from the second I got back, but you didn't have the guts to follow your heart."

"I had a duty to that slut who faked our wedding vows!" Vaughn snapped.

"Get out!" Sydney snapped. "If you really loved me then you'd give me up to let me be happy."

"I can't just let you go off and ruin your life because you had a fling with that whore when you weren't in your right mind!"

"Then I guess you don't love me enough."

Sydney's words stung and Vaughn stormed out, unable to deal with losing Sydney once again, this time to his ex-wife. "I love you Sydney." Lauren held her hand reassuringly. "We're going to be happy again, just like we were."

Sydney smiled and cuddled into her girlfriend, who was the ex-wife of her ex-boyfriend and theforced lover of her dead enemy; her relationships were never simple and they often ended in tragedy, but Sydney had a feeling she and Lauren could be happy together, even her father liked Lauren, that was a good enough sign for Sydney.

But even without her father's blessing, or Kendall and Dixon's understanding and evenwith Vaughn's anger and hate towards them Sydney was determined to make their relationship work, because love is a risk and Lauren was worth it.

The End.