Chapter 10: Finale, Part I

A/n: Mwahahaha, yes, I'm pulling out the two parter.

,i.Let me give you the low down: I'm k-ra-zy for you! When it comes to a showdown– I'm k-ra-zy for you./i.

Sydney paced in her dressing room, her nerves unsettled. Forcing herself to sit down, she wrung her hands over her lap. Finale night; it modeled the feeling of opening night. Yet Sydney's nerves jumbled for a different reason than a nervous atmosphere. Tonight she felt anxious. Impatience stirred the butterflies in her stomach.

She could no longer maintain a seated position; she stood. Her pacing resumed immediately. She tried reminding herself to concentrate on the play. Go over the dance steps, hum the songs, rehearse the lines… Her mind replayed the meeting held this afternoon, however.

Flashback

All the agents filed in conveniently within a ten minute timeframe to their usual meeting room. Sydney took a seat in the far corner, next to Weiss, and watched Dixon as he waited calmly for everyone to take their seats.

Finale night, Sydney repeated silently to herself. She knew why this meeting had been called. As the night came to a close, the CIA needed to capture those involved with Omega. Tonight was the night they had been waiting for throughout the entire mission. It was the most important part of the mission. It meant everything.

Studying Dixon further, she saw contained excitement. He too was eager to bring the group to justice. Sydney scanned the rest of the group as they entered, and it became apparent they all held the same penned energy.

She watched as Marshall was the last to arrive one agent short. Carrie. Home with the baby, no doubt. Dixon stood and cleared his throat, a flash of a smile escaping his lips. He stepped forward slowly, anticipation building in everyone. As he stopped, her eyes settled on the figure of Jack Bristow on Dixon's opposite side. She recalled his conversation, warning her to stay careful around Desmond. She had asked him what happened during her missing years.

A new realization hit her: had Omega possibly taken her? Before her return, she had never heard of them. But at her return, they had established themselves as a well known terrorist group. It was quite possible they had taken her.

Rage steamed her insides, yearning to escape. She glanced at the other agents again. No one had the same psyche as her, not the same vengeance. She was positive they had taken her. And as she looked at her father, something told her he knew.

"Well," Dixon began, taking a moment to catch everyone's eye, "we've been in New York for three months. We've planted microphones, and we've monitored behavior. We've collected names. But we have had to wait for the opportunity to strike without disturbing the public.

"Tonight is the final show of the musical. We will make our arrests shortly following the curtain's last drop. Are you all aware of the reception Mr. Bruggman is throwing after the show?"

"The shindig at Sardi's," Weiss answered.

"Correct. Mr. Bruggman has rented the back room for the evening. We have a team from the local CIA branch assisting. A few will linger around the front and back entrances, and others will be planted inside the facility." He returned to his seat and picked up a folder, pulling out a stack of papers. "This is the list of names we now have. There are fourteen." He passed out the list to each agents. "If any manage to pass through the doors, I encourage you to lead them to our team."

Dixon let out a slow breath. "With that said, actors: break a leg. And agents: good luck."

Sydney darted to her father as everyone left. "I need a word with you," she demanded as calmly as she could.

"As do I." She raised her eyebrow as she followed him into the next room, the one he had warned her in before.

What could he have to say to her? She didn't care. As soon as he turned to face her she exploded. "You know what happened to me those two years, don't you? You have this while time! I was with Omega, admit it," she spat harshly.

He paused as she gave him the deadly Bristow glare. "You are partly correct yet partly wrong. And I suggest you listen to me before you continue to make assumptions." She breathed heavily for a moment, reaping in his words. Finally she gave a nod of consent. "Dixon told me you planted the device on Desmond's laptop; I offered to oversee the project. There hadn't been any recent developments of interest, that is, until early this morning.

"Sydney, I assure you, I did not know of your location during your disappearance. I had speculations of Omega, but there was no way to know for sure. However, the intel this morning confirmed that Omega had taken you hostage."

"So if Desmond's computer knew, that means…" Sydney couldn't complete the statement.

"It means that Desmond Tamas is part of the terrorist group."

Sydney stood in utter silence, the room's atmosphere caused her to shiver. She had suspected his involvement for a while, they all had, but knowing it for sure? It still came as a shock somehow. But now that she had sipped the from the bittersweet chalice of knowledge, she grew thirsty for more. "Dad, what else did we receive?"

"There was no further details of why they took you," he replied as if reading her thoughts. "Only indications that they possessed you for a significant amount of time." He snarled at the word "possessed," and Sydney took note of his anger. He wanted to take Omega just as badly as she did. She wanted to catch Desmond, to see him at his defeat, to gaze upon his cowering form with a smile to her lips. Jack continued, "I also came across a file that listed at least six others involved with the organization. I have yet to tell Dixon."

"Why haven't you? If there are people the CIA doesn't know about, then Dixon needs to be informed–"

"I plan to," he cut her off. "But I chose to tell you first and foremost because I was sure you'd want to be the one to capture Desmond." You're damn right, Sydney thought. "I've come up with a plan, but you won't be able to do it alone."

"I'll do anything."

End Flashback

How much longer until show time? It felt like she had gotten dressed and applied her make-up eons ago. The sooner they could begin, the more quickly the Finale would come. And then, she couldn't help but smile, they would arrest that lying, seducing bastard…

A knock on the door startled her out of her entranced state of fury. She noticed her clenched fists and released them as she opened the door. Weiss stood impatiently in her doorway, letting himself inside the room quickly. Sydney shut the door and looked at him expectantly. "He'll do it," he finally revealed, sending a wave of relief through Sydney. "Now, will someone please tell me, who is 'he' and what is 'it?'"

Sydney smiled, this time of happiness and not of twisted delight. After the conversation with her father, Jack had gone to talk with Dixon. Dixon had thankfully sanctioned the plan for Sydney to get Desmond, and Jack was conveying the message through Weiss. "You'll see," she answered him with a wink.

"Whatever, Bristow," he answered, scratching his head. His hand paused abruptly on the back of his head as his eyes squinted in confusion. His lips parted slowly as realization dawned on him. "I forgot my cowboy hat, shit!" he said, racing toward the door. Jerking out into the hall and around the corner, he hollered, "See you, Soph!"

She shook her hands loosely in the air and cleared her throat. Checking her reflection one last time in the mirror, she adjusted her freshly curled and dyed hair and strutted across the hallway backstage. She struggled to keep herself calm; an enormous jittery feeling sweeping through her body. She couldn't help but smile as the curtain's separated and the magic all began. It was difficult to take in, it was really their last night.

The scenes passed slowly, sometimes to Sydney's delight but also to her dismay. She wanted the acting to never end, she wanted to sing and dance on that stage without any worries. Everything had become so natural and comfortable: lines came easily like everyday dialogue, and dance steps felt like a summer's stroll. She knew she would never forget the feeling of losing herself in the acting.

But she also felt a fervent urge for the Finale to dazzle one last time. She couldn't wait to arrest everyone and go home…

She tried and succeeded in forgetting her feelings, allowing herself to escape to another world where she was Polly. But when the "Embraceable You" scene came around, Sydney couldn't help but notice a difference. She felt herself relaxing more against Vaughn as they danced, his hold on her more secure and strong than before.

She thought about it through the remainder of the first act, hurrying to her dressing room after the end of "I Got Rhythm." She sighed as she reached it: no more first acts.

After quickly changing and fixing her hair and makeup, she heard a knock on her door. She was reflecting on the first act, thinking she noticed some underlying hostility between Vaughn and Lauren. "Come in," she said loudly, waiting for the door to open. She was rather surprised to see Vaughn's head sneak in through a crack, followed by his muscular body before he closed the door behind him. Speak of the devil, er, guardian angel. "Hey," she greeted him, unsure of his intentions.

"I want you to know that I'm going to help you after the show… To get Desmond." He stayed leaning against the door, his eyes wandering around the room. They hesitated to rest on Sydney.

"Really?" she asked in disbelief. "Did Dixon ask you?"

He finally met her gaze. A warmth exuded inside her, yet she resisted. She reminded herself that she was getting over him; when back in LA she'd do it once and for all. "No, actually, your father did."

My father? "Oh… Well, thank-you. It means a lot to me that you're willing to help." Their eyes locked for a moment, and Vaughn finally gained balance and took a step forward. "We better get back out there soon."

"Yeah," he vaguely agreed, stepping forward some more. He smiled faintly, and she smiled back in reply. Sydney in turn stepped closer to him, though moving towards the door. "Wait," he said, his fingers pressing into her shoulder as she passed him. "Before we go out there, there's something I have to do. Two and half years ago, I lost you. And I never thought I'd get you back. I mean, you died. But you're Sydney Bristow, after all, you even escaped death.

"I can't begin to imagine how hard it must have been for you when you came back; everything you knew was gone or different. It was different for me too. There were things I couldn't do that I've wanted to for two and a half years, but that's about to change.

"Sydney, I need you to know that…" he shrugged at a loss of words. "I'm crazy for you!" he exclaimed with a light chuckle.

"Vaughn–"

"You need to know that I still love you. And that I've missed you, I've missed you so much." He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek, simply staring at each detail on her face. She closed her eyes for a moment against him. What was going on? Why was he doing this? He was married! What did he mean things were about to change?

Suddenly his lips were closing in on hers, and she felt the soft tips of his fingers slide down her skin and around to the back of her neck. Just as his lips had barely swept over hers she pulled away to the door.

"No, no," she shook her head, breathing heavily, her heart racing, "you're married! We can't do this, I can't do this!"

He smiled in response. Smiled! The mouth that could give her such pleasure could torment her so! "You don't understand–"

"That's right, I don't."

He opened his mouth to speak again, but she twisted the doorknob behind her back and flung open the door, exposing them to nearly the entire cast, backstage or on their way. He stood with his shoulders slumped staring at Sydney under furrowed brow. And that was how she left him, still standing in her dressing room, as she backed away to the stage.

She felt him watching her offstage during Weiss's song, opening Act Two. What was going on? Vaughn was a loyal husband, and she… She respected his marriage, albeit her hatred for it. She couldn't imagine being the other woman in an affair, she couldn't even imagine Vaughn having an affair.

Please, would someone tell her what was happening?

"They Can't Take That Away From Me" came too soon for Sydney. Normally, this was her favorite scene of the whole musical, but now, she dreaded it. Vaughn was probably mad at her for reacting as she had, and the emotions would feel forced and ruined.

However, she as wrong. Vaughn sang with more emotion than he ever had; his voice real, and heartfelt. She realized he wasn't Bobby singing to Polly. He wasn't Chris singing to Sophia. He was just Michael Vaughn pouring his heart out to Sydney, and it brought tears to her eyes. They glistened as the stage darkened and she sang "But Not For Me."

She felt dark and depressed for the following scenes. How she had the strength to reject Vaughn, she didn't know. She supposed that meant she had moved on. And that thought alone made her want to cry.

The Finale scene finally arrived, yet somehow Sydney lacked her prior excitement. When she heard Kerri begin to sing, she escaped into her dressing room for a record-breaking costume change. Since opening night, she had become Super Sydney: able to change clothes faster than a speeding bullet. She now had time to spare before her cue.

"Syd, please, you have to hear me out," Vaughn whispered to her backstage. She remained silent. "I was stupid, I should have made it clear from when I walked in there… Lauren and I are officially divorced."

"What?"

She almost forgot to keep her voice down. "Sh, sh." He glanced briefly on stage, since the darkness hindered his view of Sydney's facial expression. "We're on in a second, I have to go around to the other side." He turned to look at her as he walked away. "Just… you know how I feel."

Sydney stood speechless until she heaved herself on the stage. "'You wanna dance, Bobby?'"

"'Who could ask for anything more?'"

He wrapped her arms around her, checking her gaze before moving in to kiss her. She gave him a slight nod as she moved in, hungry for his taste. All their other kisses from other nights didn't matter, they were nothing, petty stage kisses. This was more real than any of them. They held nothing back and let themselves get lost in each other, finally free to be themselves, how they used to be together.

Sydney danced and sang for the last time, all while trying to make sense of everything in her head. When did they get divorced? Did Vaughn really think she wouldn't go back to him? Would she go back to him? Yes! She wanted to! It was true, things would be different between them, but essentially, she'd be with him. And that was all she needed.

And finally, she stood between Vaughn and Desmond, squeezing Vaughn's hand at her right and holding Desmond's limply at her left. They looked out to standing audience before them and bowed. Sydney couldn't help but smile.

When the curtain closed for good, Sydney reluctantly gave Desmond a half hug– never letting go of Vaughn's hand –and told him she'd meet him in his dressing room. She made sure he walked off stage before turning to Vaughn to hug him, congratulating him on tonight's performance. Others still chatted on the stage, unable to believe it was the last night.

"So," Vaughn began, "we're… You and I…"

Sydney simply nodded. "Yeah," she answered, feeling the same nervous happiness as he felt. They turned to slowly make their way to their dressing rooms. "But we can't just pick up where we left off… I'm not going to pretend like Lauren never happened."

"I know. We'll figure it out."

They parted paths at Sydney's dressing room, but she knew they'd meet again shortly. Sydney changed quickly and headed over to Desmond's dressing room, going over the plan in her head. As soon as Desmond was ready, they'd walk through the empty halls to the back parking lot, where she would strike and Vaughn would help her whisk him away and into prison.

She slipped into his room. "Desmond?" she called.

"I'm just changing, I'll be out soon."

Sydney sat down on his couch and looked around. How come his dressing room was bigger than hers? "So are you excited for Sardi's tonight?" she asked, hoping conversation would make this seem faster.

"Oh yeah, I'm ready for a drink."

"Me too."

"Actually, I could really go for a… Black Russian."

Sydney remembered back on Sophia's birthday, right after Dixon called with news of Omega's new leader, Weiss talked about how it was also the name of a drink. Her head slowly turned to look at the walk-in closet door, where he was changing inside. Suddenly, she couldn't hear any rustling of clothes.

And then she froze on the couch. He knows…

She needed a new plan. She didn't have time to lead him out to the parking lot. Silently, she stood up, slowly drawing the gun concealed in her purse. She held it out in front of her, ready to kick the door open and take him by surprise.

She leaned her eye against the slight opening between the door and the frame, scanning for his figure. She lifted her foot to kick the door, but a solid object collided with her head from behind, and her gun bounced off the door and to the ground. Sydney collapsed, narrowly missing a table, and saw Desmond walk calmly out of the closet to stand over her weakened body. She couldn't catch a glimpse of who had struck her, but she did see Desmond's smirking face before everything went black.

A/n: Mwahahahaha.

I am evil. And I love it. Please review!