Chapter 12: Encore

A/n: I'm going to cry. It's the last chapter of this fic! I can't believe it. It's so strange for it to be ending, I've worked on it for so long. But you just want the last chappie, don't you? And therefore, I give a major thank-you to all of you who have read this, reviewed this, and glanced at it once and thought 'that's nice.' I really really thank you all. I'm working on something new right now and hopefully I can get it up this summer.

I agree, end the flippin' author's note and gimme the final act!

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After reaching the airport, many of the agents split into separate directions. Dixon, Jack, and Lauren stayed behind to make sure all the arrested Omega members were taken care of, in particular Sark, Desmond, and Kerri. Marshall opted to stay with his wife and son awhile longer, waiting until the baby was ready for the long journey to Los Angeles. Weiss, Vaughn, and Sydney, however, immediately boarded a CIA issued jet. There, they re-hydrated Sydney and prepared themselves for the briefing of a lifetime.

Sydney took everything in as she boarded the plane. She had wanted to arrest Kerri and Desmond herself so badly; she wanted to run away and battle them now, just to show them how strong she truly was. But she had heard that Vaughn beat Desmond up badly, and that knowledge helped her feel better.

Also, she had a quick chat with Vaughn before boarding the plane. She needed to know about his divorce. Remembering back to the conversation in the hospital, he said he and Lauren were "working things out." Now he told her that he didn't want Sydney to know what was truly going on; that if he gave her too much hope and the divorce did not go through, he couldn't have forgiven himself. He waited, keeping the divorce a secret from her until it was finalized, which happened to be Finale night.

They all took their seats as the plane took off, but once it flew safely above the clouds they huddled together to talk. Vaughn held Sydney's hand firmly as Weiss eyed them suspiciously. "Okay, is there something I missed?"

Vaughn shrugged as Sydney sipped her water. "I kind of got a divorce."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I told you when I filed it."

"No you didn't!"

"Boys!" Sydney interrupted. She needed to piece together everything. Rambaldi, Sloane, her mother, the CIA's late arrival… She didn't need their petty arguing. "What took you so long to find me?"

"We had no leads. But can we start from the beginning? What happened to you once you got to Desmond's dressing room?"

"He said something about a drink, getting a Black Russian, that's when I knew. I had my gun pulled ready to catch him, but someone nailed me from behind on the head. I'm assuming it was Kerri… Can you believe she was a part of Omega?" Her mind fumed at the thought of that woman.

Both men shook their heads; no. "We found her name on Desmond's computer after you were gone," Weiss told her. "Kerri Bian, stage name Kerri Jenison. It turns out there was a lot more information on Desmond's computer than what Jack first discovered. Great job planting that tracker on his lap top. How did you manage that anyway?"

"Um…" Sydney glanced over at Vaughn, his expression suddenly limp. "It's a long story. Anyway, when I woke up, I was tied to the chair in that room. It had only been a few hours after the show–"

"A few hours?" Weiss asked. "Syd, it's been two years since the final show."

Vaughn shot daggers at his friend. "Really not funny."

"Sorry."

"Yes, a few hours later, and Desmond and Kerri were there. They told me I was going to meet their boss, and find out about my missing years. When they left, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, Sark fed me breakfast."

"Fed you?"

"Fed me. So then… I met the boss."

"Sloane."

"No," Sydney corrected. "Irina. It turns out Omega took me during those two years. And Sloane… It was because of Rambaldi. Sloane had translated his manuscripts, and they needed my blood for something, because I was the Prophecy. But it turned out they mistranslated something. They needed my body instead.

"They left me alone for most of today. Then Sloane and my mother returned. He was going to inject me with this… This Rambaldi liquid. And when the heart arrived, they were going to give me a transplant. Sloane planned to use it, and me, to gain power."

"The Di Regno heart was how we found you. We spent most of the night looking for leads, any contact who might know anything. And we had nothing. So we looked through Desmond's files again and found more intel. Weiss was actually the one who heard about the heart being transferred. Luckily, we were able to locate its destination to that facility in New York where we found you. Who knows what might have happened had the heart actually gotten to Sark."

"I would have been dead," she stated bluntly. "That liquid was fatal, and my mother stabbed Sloane with it. He was unaware it would kill me, and she… She saved my life. I was 'prevented, at vulgar cost' because of her. And then she escaped."

The agents sat for a moment, each deeply pondering the recent turn of events. Sydney finally stood from her chair and lay down on the couch behind where they previously sat. She claimed that after being forced to sit for nearly twenty-four hours, all she wanted to do was lie down. Vaughn moved to sit on the couch's edge, his hand finding its way to her cheek to stroke it.

"You didn't catch my mother," she stated rather than asked.

Vaughn remained still for a moment, then shook his head. "We got Desmond, Kerri, and Sark. They're all that matter. Punching Desmond… It felt so good."

"And Kerri; I don't even…" She sighed, too distraught for words. "So how were things at Sardi's?"

"They got all of them. I was amazed."

"Not Becca Green?" she asked with a faint hint of smile.

"No. Turns out she was just pregnant. All those times she disappeared between rehearsals she had morning sickness. She didn't want anyone to find out."

Interesting. But Sydney didn't care about the members arrested at Sardi's. Her interests belonged to other higher ranking members. "Vaughn, what all did you find on Desmond's lap top?"

He cast a glance to Weiss, who then decided to head to the front of the cabin to begin writing reports. "We found information about your missing years. Details of their intentions, dates, numbers…" He hesitated before softly adding, "pictures." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it firmly. "Do you want to see?"

"No, I really don't. It's funny, all this time I've wondered about those years, and now that we're aware of that information, I don't want to know. I just want to forget they ever happened."

"If I had known you were alive…"

"I know." She smiled at him, what felt like for the first time in eons. And he smiled back. "So where do we go from here?"

He sighed. "I honestly don't know." She nodded, closing her eyes. She felt him kiss her hand before releasing it at her side. He covered her with a blanket and waited for her to drift off to sleep.

– – – – – – –

Upon returning to Los Angeles, Sydney resettled in her apartment next door to Weiss's, the home that wasn't exactly her home. Home had been with Francie, then home had been in New York City, but now home was oddly here. Vaughn gathered a few belongings from the house he shared with Lauren, but ultimately crashed at Weiss's place. Jack, Dixon, and Lauren arrived the next day, and work resumed as usual.

One would think, or at least Sydney did, that after a long term undercover mission, the participants would receive a hefty vacation break. However, the officers at the Agency were cold, cruel people with black hearts, and they forced them to sit at their desks and write lengthy reports and attend boring debriefs. The main joy of Sydney's days came at dinner, when she joined Weiss and Vaughn.

These dinners consisted mainly of conversations between Sydney and Vaughn with an occasional smart-ass comment from Weiss, but this allowed Sydney to ease back into their relationship. They weren't back where they used to be, but they were moving in a favorable direction. Quite favorable.

One quiet evening two months after their return, he and Sydney were sorting through boxes that had just arrived from New York City. The CIA had taken the liberty of sending Sydney her things back to her. Slowly.

"Vaughn, look! It's all my winter stuff!" She pulled out a fuzzy hat and plopped it on her head at a tilt. "Don't you miss the cold, and the snow, and the slush?"

"No."

"Now even a little?" she asked playfully.

"Because frostbite is so much fun," he countered back with sarcasm. He stared with uncertainty at a box full of clothing, then glanced at Sydney as she piled the winter coats, gloves, and scarves into her closet. "Can't we do this later?"

"What, unpack?" He nodded. She kicked her now empty box aside, staring at the many still full as she grabbed his hand and pulled him to the living room. "I suppose we can. Thank you so very much for all your hard work."

"Hey, I carried I few of them inside," he laughed, falling with her onto the couch. She turned her body and pressed against his chest, kissing him hard on the lips. When she pulled away, she leaned her forehead against his. She still couldn't believe Vaughn was back in her life. How impossible did she think it was months ago? It no longer mattered what had happened since she disappeared that night, at least it didn't to her. Everything that Omega did, everything from New York was forgotten completely. Neither Sydney nor Vaughn could forget Lauren, but she was transferring to Washington DC within a few days, and things would be less tense at work. But she understood the struggle he faced with her return, and he understood her feelings of confused anger and love.

She rolled over and lay sprawled across Vaughn's lap, and he tapped the winter cap that she still wore with a smile. "I'm thirsty," she declared. "Let's go get some tea."

She yanked him off the couch and nearly skipped to the kitchen, pouring them both tall glasses of tea. He, however, dragged her back to the couch while they drank. He watched her under her tilted hat as she slurped her tea through a pink straw; he smiled at the irony. He began to sing, "The way you wear your hat / the way you sip your tea/" Sydney lowered her glass, a smiling growing on her face as she set the tea onto the coffee table and snuggled against him. "/ The memory of all that / No, no! They can't take that away from me/"

He brought his fingers to her chin, turning her head so she could stare into his eyes as he continued to sing. "/The way your smile just beams/" He smiled himself. "/The way you sing off-key/"

"I do not!" she interjected, playfully smacking his shoulder.

"/The way you haunt my dreams / No, no! They can't take that away from me/ We may never, never meet again / on the bumpy road to love / Still I'll always, always keep the memory of…/" She gazed up at his eyes, the green pools staring back at her with such love. She settled back into his shoulder, a small smile still formed on her lips. His voice was like a whisper now, a serenade only for her to hear. "/The way you hold your knife / the way we danced 'til three / the way you changed my life­ / No, no! They can't take that away from me/ No, they can't take that away from me!"

He kissed her temple and hummed a few familiar tunes, simply enjoying cuddling with her. And still, Sydney couldn't contain her smile. She had missed him so much– and he likewise– and now that they were together again, she knew she would never, ever let him go. Now Rose's last message to Sydney became clearer than ever. Everything had changed so much in the course of the last three years, some for the better, some for the worse, but she managed to find a way to make the changes suitable for her. And while they still had a few issues to work out, new things were as good as they used to be. "Stay the night with me," she insisted.

"Absolutely," he whispered back, kissing her temple again, followed by her cheek and lips.

Her life had taken an incredible turn. She and Vaughn were together again, they were content, healthy, and communicative, her mother had saved her life and future from Sloane, and she found a noticeable upgrade of respect from fellow agents (and directors) at work. She squeezed Vaughn harder in her delight, following along his hummed tune in her head.

I got rhythm /

I got music /

I got my man /

Who could ask for anything more?

Fin

A/n: Aw, it's over! Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, not to mention the whole fic. As I said before, there will be no sequel. Please leave me a last review!