Chapter 8 – With the Trust of a Child

"She's dead." Weiss whispered. "Vaughn, Sydney's dead."

Vaughn tensed in the small hospital bed. He shook his head not believing the words that he had just heard.

"No, Weiss. They told me last night she's going to be fine."

"Through the night, there were complications, internal bleeding." Weiss stumbled through his words choking back his tears.

Vaughn just stared. He didn't respond to his best friend's muffled cries or his explanations of her death. He just stared.

He laid down turning his back to his worried friend and whispered quietly to himself.

This is all my fault, this is all my fault, this is all my fault…

-

"Sydney?" Jack whispered clutching his daughter's hand.

"Dad." She smiled through the pain.

Jack Bristow hardly recognized his daughter. She looked better than she had last night. She had deep cuts stitched close on her face from jagged pieces of glass from a broken mirror. She had bruises all over her small frame from being thrown around the room. Her lip was sliced open and she couldn't see out of her right eye.

He returned her smile and then turned serious. "Sydney, I don't know if it's the best time but I know you wouldn't want me to keep secrets from you."

"What?"

"Sydney… Vaughn, your Vaughn. He's dead."

Sydney stared. She just stared She didn't respond with heaving sobs or tears. She just stared. She didn't listen to his explanations of his death. She just stared.

She laid down turning her back to her worried father and whispered quietly to herself.

This is all my fault, this is all my fault, this is all my fault…

-

Jack emerged from Sydney's room minutes later to find a panicked Eric Weiss anxiously waiting.

"I think it's for the best." Jack mumbled the words quickly leaving Weiss behind standing in the long white corridor.

-

Six Months Later

Sydney Bristow's life had slipped into some sort of normalcy. The normal life that she had craved and wanted was hers. The truth was she hated it. She hated a routine and knowing what every day was going to bring. She craved another mission, a new reason to save the world. Her life after the CIA, after Vaughn was not the life she wanted.

-

Michael Vaughn's life had slipped into a deep depression. He rarely left his apartment and he hadn't worked in months. Weiss tried to keep him going tried to get him to come back to the CIA but he never did. The CIA was just a reminder of her. It was a cruel reminder of his life before, his life with her.

-

The night was dark, there were no stars in the sky and no moon to stare at. He sat in the darkness of his room. He felt the cool steel in his hand. He loved the feeling of a gun in his hand.

He had been over this scenario many times. It seemed like the best option. He had written the note, it was simple. He called Eric, saying his goodbyes. He didn't have much to say. He didn't have anything to live for.

He brought the gun up and braced himself as his finger slid onto the trigger.

-

Weiss barged into the room. He had never run so fast in his entire life. He pushed the gun out of Vaughn's grasp and sat down on the bed.

"She's alive." He gasped. "She was never dead." Weiss explained his betrayal.

There had been too much trauma and betrayal for their relationship to continue. That was the explanation that Weiss and Jack had decided on. They couldn't still be together. They could never see each other again because it would be too hard on them. It could never be the same.

Vaughn listened intently to his friend's explanation. He stood up when he was finished and punched him swiftly in the face.

Weiss fell to the ground but stood up quickly.

"What the hell are you waiting for?" He asked and threw Vaughn his car keys. "She still lives in the same apartment."

-

Sydney grabbed the ice cream out of the fridge and nestled into her corner on the couch. She turned on the television and sat back enjoying the quiet evening.

The door bell chimed and she rushed to the door. She pulled the door open and almost fell backwards. She had never seen a ghost before but here he was. Michael Vaughn stared at her his green eyes meeting hers.

She shoved the door closed and screamed. "Go away. I'm going to call the CIA. They know about Project Helix. They know it could have been developed again."

The man on the other side of the door didn't reply. She peered out the small peephole. She could see the tears streaming down his dirty face. She punched the door, she knew it was really him.

She yanked open the door and stepped towards him. She put her hands up to his face tracing all the wrinkles, marks and scars. "I thought you were dead. My dad told me you were dead." She whispered.

He did the same tracing the deep scars on her face stroking her cheek gently. "Weiss told me you were dead. Tonight he told me everything. He told me you were alive."

She started backing away from him. "I can't do this. This is crazy. You're dead. At least you're dead to me." She said quietly closing the door.

"Sydney!" He yelled. "You know it's me. You know it's really me."

"But the things that happened, Vaughn. You can't expect me to just… to just understand everything and be okay with all of this."

"No, it was never me though."

"It was always you."

"Please, Sydney." He walked towards the door pushing it open.

"I can't do this again."

"You don't have to do this again. It's over. I love you."

She looked at him her eyes welling with tears. "I can't…"

"We can do this together."

She shook her head. "I can't. I'm sorry."

She slammed the door and left the broken man on her front step. She slid down to the floor curling into a tight ball letting the sobs wrack her body.

Vaughn banged on the door and soon realized his efforts were futile. He slid to the cold concrete and curled up sobbing.

Sydney stood up; she didn't know how long it had been. She opened the door and there he was. He was sitting on the step shivering.

She sat down beside him. He turned to her surprised. "I didn't think I would ever see you again."

"You're beautiful." He stared at her.

"I look like a monster." She sighed touching the scars on her face.

"No you don't. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

She couldn't help but smile. "I don't know why but I think I always knew you were alive. It just didn't seem possible."

"You never looked for me."

"I didn't think I could see you again."

"All I wanted to do was see you again."

"We have a lot to talk about." She stated because she knew she could do this. She knew now that he was here that she could this.

He smiled. "I love you."

She leaned against his strong body, he wrapped his arm around her and she wasn't scared anymore. She knew that thing were going to be hard but she knew things would get better, things were going to get a lot better.

"I know."

The End

Or is it?

Arvin Sloane was a stubborn man. He was driven and he never gave up. His pursuit of Sydney Bristow wasn't any different. He had decided to leave Sydney alone for a few months. He wanted her to feel a false sense of security. Maybe she would think he wasn't going to come back. She would have been wrong. Sydney was the last piece of his puzzle. His puzzle could wait.

He watched from a parked van. He watched as Michael Vaughn climbed out of his car and made his way up the steps, Vaughn thought he was doing the right thing going back to Sydney, it was going to cost him his life. He watched as Sydney let him back in.

He spoke quietly into his cell phone. He watched as the men emerged from the bushes. He watched as the men exited the small apartment minutes later. He watched as the man slung Sydney's small unconscious form over his shoulder.

He smiled as he pushed the small button. He laughed when he heard the explosion and grinned when he looked back at the mass of flames that had been Sydney Bristow's life.

The End

Three words will never be together in my writing. Happy, Satisfying, Ending. ) I hope you enjoyed the story and I hope you will check out the sequel which will be around much sooner than later.

Erica