A/N: Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed! This chapter is in Sydney's POV. It took only about five re-reads of the last chapter to realize that I did not mention that it was in Vaughn's POV. I don't mean to insult your intelligence or anything because I think it became clear whose POV it was, but I hate when I forget to include details like that. Please enjoy and keep reviewing! Reviews are a very good, hearty fuel for my writing hand...
Chapter 1: A Long Journey
A few phone calls, another reassignment, and an hour of hasty packing later, Vaughn and I find ourselves on a plane bound for the home from which I never should have fled. I'm lucky enough that my apartment in L.A. has not yet been rented out again, so I can move in immediately, but I'm even luckier that Vaughn has refused to let go of my hand ever since we left D.C. I'm sure that we have drawn more attention to ourselves than necessary, but Vaughn hasn't seemed to notice, and I don't think I would let him drop my hand if he tried.
We have slipped into a comfortable, understanding silence – a silence that only two days ago would have been full of awkwardness, barriers keeping Truth prisoner, and longing thoughts of how the past was stolen from us. But now, the silence holds all of our hope for the future now that we have pushed the past behind us. It's a silence that says more about how we feel than spoken words ever could. It is only when I feel Vaughn's hand grip mine tighter that I dare break it.
I glance up and see his brow furrowed as he stares out of the window. "Vaughn? What is it?"
"Hm?" he questions as if being drawn out of deep thought. "Oh, I was just thinking..." He trails off, and I feel the need to return this morning's favor.
"I could see that," I say smiling, teasing. "If you expect me to be up front with you, I would expect nothing less from you, Vaughn." 'Why is it exactly that we still feel the need to figure out everything by ourselves?' I wonder. 'I guess that we each have been dealing with our problems independently for so long that it's hard to break the habit even when we want to.'
"I know, Syd," he sighs. "It's just...I...we..."
"Please, Vaughn," I encourage him, gripping his hand back. "You know you can tell me anything."
He finally looks at me with an air of assurance, but I can see some uncertainty hiding within his attentive gaze. "I was just thinking that...maybe – if it's all right with you – we should try to keep our relationship as...um...inconspicuous as possible – I mean, only at work. I mean, we'll still be working with Lauren and..." His speech changes in a heartbeat from slow and careful to unhesitant and rushed, his words streaming out as if each thought is racing the others for the privilege of being spoken first. "...And you know I love you, but I don't want to hurt her because she was my wife and I did love her – you know that, too – and, well, it's going to be hard enough to get along after everything that we've all been through...but I know that the last thing you would want to do is lie about us, and I'm not asking you to lie because I don't want to do that either, but—"
"Whoa, Vaughn, take a breath. It's all right," I say placing a gentle hand on his arm to calm him. He stops and smiles at me sheepishly.
"Sorry, Syd. I didn't mean to—"
"Wait, Vaughn. It's my turn now," I interrupt before he can get carried away again. Encouraged by his silence, I continue, also slowly, carefully.
"Vaughn, I understand. I love you, and I understand. I know you care about Lauren, and I know that you feel guilty about leaving her, whether you should or not, but I wasn't exactly the innocent in this ridiculous situation—"
"It wasn't your fault, Syd."
"I know, Vaughn. Part of me knows that without question. But, like you, whether I should or not, I feel guilty, and it's not something that I can just stop feeling—"
"Me, too."
"—But if we don't find a way to get past it, then where are we? No better off than when SD-6 was still around."
"So," he begins, his eyes glancing down, "you're saying that you don't want to keep our relationship a secret."
"No, Vaughn. That's not what I said. And from what you said before, our relationship wouldn't be a secret, per se. We would just be acting professionally at work, and I don't have a problem with that. But we – you, Lauren, and I – need to find some way to work together without tension or guilt standing forever between us. I know that it won't happen right away, but we should try to make it happen as soon as possible."
"Yeah, we should," he says, brushing a kiss along my cheek that leaves me blushing more than I would have expected.
"So I spent the last two hours worrying for nothing, huh?" he chuckles.
"You were only doing what you do best, Vaughn," I tease.
"Hey! Sometimes I have plenty of reason to worry. And it's usually all your fault," he grins back.
I smack his arm lightly in response. "Trying to put more guilt on me, are you Agent Vaughn? Well, it won't work. You never had to worry because you know that I can take care of myself."
"I know. But now you won't have to," he whispers, sending a warmth that radiates from my spine through every part of me.
"Vaughn..." I mumble as I feel his hand finally leave mine and travel to my thigh. "We are on a commercial plane," I warn, but more to myself than to him.
"I know," he smirks playfully, which reassures me that he has let his worrying fade from his mind for now. "I'm just giving you something to think about. We are landing in only about three hours," he smiles as I groan.
"I'm going to make you pay for this," I half-seriously vow as my hand finds its way back to his.
"I'd expect nothing less from you, Syd."
We fall back into a peaceful quiet with a quick glance and smile shared every so often, each of us knowing that whatever worry we'll face when we return home, we'll face together.
TBC
Chapter 1: A Long Journey
A few phone calls, another reassignment, and an hour of hasty packing later, Vaughn and I find ourselves on a plane bound for the home from which I never should have fled. I'm lucky enough that my apartment in L.A. has not yet been rented out again, so I can move in immediately, but I'm even luckier that Vaughn has refused to let go of my hand ever since we left D.C. I'm sure that we have drawn more attention to ourselves than necessary, but Vaughn hasn't seemed to notice, and I don't think I would let him drop my hand if he tried.
We have slipped into a comfortable, understanding silence – a silence that only two days ago would have been full of awkwardness, barriers keeping Truth prisoner, and longing thoughts of how the past was stolen from us. But now, the silence holds all of our hope for the future now that we have pushed the past behind us. It's a silence that says more about how we feel than spoken words ever could. It is only when I feel Vaughn's hand grip mine tighter that I dare break it.
I glance up and see his brow furrowed as he stares out of the window. "Vaughn? What is it?"
"Hm?" he questions as if being drawn out of deep thought. "Oh, I was just thinking..." He trails off, and I feel the need to return this morning's favor.
"I could see that," I say smiling, teasing. "If you expect me to be up front with you, I would expect nothing less from you, Vaughn." 'Why is it exactly that we still feel the need to figure out everything by ourselves?' I wonder. 'I guess that we each have been dealing with our problems independently for so long that it's hard to break the habit even when we want to.'
"I know, Syd," he sighs. "It's just...I...we..."
"Please, Vaughn," I encourage him, gripping his hand back. "You know you can tell me anything."
He finally looks at me with an air of assurance, but I can see some uncertainty hiding within his attentive gaze. "I was just thinking that...maybe – if it's all right with you – we should try to keep our relationship as...um...inconspicuous as possible – I mean, only at work. I mean, we'll still be working with Lauren and..." His speech changes in a heartbeat from slow and careful to unhesitant and rushed, his words streaming out as if each thought is racing the others for the privilege of being spoken first. "...And you know I love you, but I don't want to hurt her because she was my wife and I did love her – you know that, too – and, well, it's going to be hard enough to get along after everything that we've all been through...but I know that the last thing you would want to do is lie about us, and I'm not asking you to lie because I don't want to do that either, but—"
"Whoa, Vaughn, take a breath. It's all right," I say placing a gentle hand on his arm to calm him. He stops and smiles at me sheepishly.
"Sorry, Syd. I didn't mean to—"
"Wait, Vaughn. It's my turn now," I interrupt before he can get carried away again. Encouraged by his silence, I continue, also slowly, carefully.
"Vaughn, I understand. I love you, and I understand. I know you care about Lauren, and I know that you feel guilty about leaving her, whether you should or not, but I wasn't exactly the innocent in this ridiculous situation—"
"It wasn't your fault, Syd."
"I know, Vaughn. Part of me knows that without question. But, like you, whether I should or not, I feel guilty, and it's not something that I can just stop feeling—"
"Me, too."
"—But if we don't find a way to get past it, then where are we? No better off than when SD-6 was still around."
"So," he begins, his eyes glancing down, "you're saying that you don't want to keep our relationship a secret."
"No, Vaughn. That's not what I said. And from what you said before, our relationship wouldn't be a secret, per se. We would just be acting professionally at work, and I don't have a problem with that. But we – you, Lauren, and I – need to find some way to work together without tension or guilt standing forever between us. I know that it won't happen right away, but we should try to make it happen as soon as possible."
"Yeah, we should," he says, brushing a kiss along my cheek that leaves me blushing more than I would have expected.
"So I spent the last two hours worrying for nothing, huh?" he chuckles.
"You were only doing what you do best, Vaughn," I tease.
"Hey! Sometimes I have plenty of reason to worry. And it's usually all your fault," he grins back.
I smack his arm lightly in response. "Trying to put more guilt on me, are you Agent Vaughn? Well, it won't work. You never had to worry because you know that I can take care of myself."
"I know. But now you won't have to," he whispers, sending a warmth that radiates from my spine through every part of me.
"Vaughn..." I mumble as I feel his hand finally leave mine and travel to my thigh. "We are on a commercial plane," I warn, but more to myself than to him.
"I know," he smirks playfully, which reassures me that he has let his worrying fade from his mind for now. "I'm just giving you something to think about. We are landing in only about three hours," he smiles as I groan.
"I'm going to make you pay for this," I half-seriously vow as my hand finds its way back to his.
"I'd expect nothing less from you, Syd."
We fall back into a peaceful quiet with a quick glance and smile shared every so often, each of us knowing that whatever worry we'll face when we return home, we'll face together.
TBC
