It might have been the sun streaming in through the curtains they didn't close the night before that brought Sydney out of her sleep but it was something else that woke her.
A warm something that was breathing.
Blinking a couple times and licking her dry lips, she picked up her head and looked around. It was morning, obviously. But that wasn't what bothered her. Whatever was lying beneath her hand –and head before she picked it up- shocked her.
It was him.
Vaughn.
And his arm was around her waist.
"What the hell?" She screeched, wrenching away from his grasp.
Combine that with her screech and that made him jolt awake. "Wha…?" He wondered, blinking sleep out of his eyes.
"You moved!" She accused grabbing the sheet and pulling it around her. It gave her a weird sense of security and she wasn't about to fight it.
Then it hit him why she had screeched and was freaking out. He wasn't on his side of the bed, and he supposed that he'd been near her. But as he looked around something else became clear to him.
He wasn't the only one who'd moved.
"So did you," He shot back.
"Me?" She repeated scandalized. "Your arm was around me!"
"And you were in the middle of the bed," He countered. "So unless I dragged you, which I highly doubt, you move in your sleep too, princess."
Oh shit, she cursed. Glaring at him, she pulled the sheet around her closer. "I'm going for a run," She said finally, yanking the sheet off the bed and taking it with her as she went for her suitcase.
He sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering a few things under his breath as he climbed out of the bed as well.
"What are you doing?" She demanded, one hand on her hip, the other holding her running clothes.
"Going for a run," He answered not even bothering to look at her.
"But I'm going for a run," She felt the need to remind him.
"You think it's going to look good if you go for a run by yourself and then I go five minutes later?" He pointed out.
Throwing him a glare, she sighed. "I hate being married to you."
"I return the sentiment," He answered.
She was too busy stealing glances to the bathroom –which he was closer to- to glare at him again. When he's finally caught up with what she was looking at, she'd beaten him to the bathroom making sure to slam and lock the door behind her.
"Insufferable wench," He muttered.
"I heard that!" She yelled causing him to jump.
"That was kind of the point," He yelled back grabbing his clothes.
"Go to hell."
"Oh yes, we're the perfect happy couple," He sighed, rolling his eyes for what felt like the thousandth time.
Fifteen minutes later, they emerged from their hotel room, hands clasped and fake smiles plastered on their faces. It was early so not that many people were up and about yet if you didn't count the staff. The less people they had to put on a show for, they decided, the better.
Because he came along for the run, she couldn't bring her radio and without music to listen to while she ran, she tended to get irritable. More so than before.
"I want to go around the lake," She growled at him refusing to budge from the spot. If she was going to be the nice wife for the rest of the day, she needed to work out her anger. Therefore, more running.
"We'll be late for breakfast if you do that," He pointed out. Thanks to the CIA, they had the entire two weeks planned out, full of breakfasts and luncheons and spa visits.
"Who gives a shit," She shot back. "They live to serve us here, I don't think they'll mind if we're ten minutes late."
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see people giving them strange looks. "Come on, Mel," He said in his sweetest voice. "We can go for another run tonight."
Thankfully she caught the look he was sending her. Sighing loudly, for show mostly, she smiled at him. "Oh alright," She relented. "You swear that we'll go tonight?"
"Anything you want, darling," He replied dutifully.
She gave him another smile. "Let's walk back, James."
"You read my mind." Mirroring her smile, he offered her his arm which she took inwardly cringing.
"I've never seen anyone fight like them," A middle aged woman commented to her friend as the couple passed them. If Sydney didn't know any better, they were the same two women from the elevator last night.
"Me and my Richard used to fight like that," The woman's friend answered. "And we were married for fifty years."
"He probably died to get away from her," Vaughn whispered in her ear.
Sydney giggled, both at the sarcasm and it looked good to giggle. "Or he couldn't stand her gossiping with her friend anymore and left her," She whispered back
"Lucky old bastard," He commented causing her to giggle again. She could do this, she decided then, as long as he was nice like this for the next two weeks.
Vaughn didn't know what was wrong with him. Here he was, walking arm in arm with a woman he could barely stand and he was making jokes with her and enjoying making her laugh. This Sydney was agreeable and to put it nicely, not a bitch. What happened to the woman from last night or from this morning before their run for that matter? God, she had to be bipolar or something.
She claimed the bathroom first which to save himself from another argument, he let happen. What surprised him was that she gave him a genuine smile for once when he agreed. Damn woman, she was confusing him now.
Sydney was deep into her own problem. Here he was, being agreeable and kind and polite and nice and she couldn't bring herself to think even for a moment that he was being sincere about it. And that pissed her off. It was like pity in her mind and she hated pity.
What she wouldn't give to have another woman to talk to right about now.
"Bathroom's all yours," She told him, walking out while running a brush through her still damp hair. Blow dryers were avoided at all costs. Her hair was damaged enough as it was.
"Thanks," He said a little too agreeably for her taste.
"We have ten minutes," She called to him looking over their schedule for the day. Breakfast, sight seeing, and… oh crap, horseback riding. She hated horseback riding. Ever since she had been thrown off as a little girl she hated it.
Frowning slightly, she went over to the door and knocked on it. "Did you know that we were going horseback riding?"
Silence.
And then, "We're what?"
"Horseback riding," She repeated. "Thanks to the schedule the CIA provided us with."
A couple seconds later the water shut off. She assumed he was done with his shower and God was she glad that the door was closed. "Um… I'm not really a big fan of horses." When he was younger, one of his uncle's horses had bitten him. Since then, he'd lost his taste for the animal.
"You're not?" She squeaked. This was unfair. The more she got to know him, the more she found that she had more in common with him than met the eye. She didn't want to have anything in common with him.
"No," He replied taken aback by her squeak. Here he thought that he had offended her or something. "Is that a problem?"
"No," She gushed immediately. "It's not. I… don't like horses much either."
He froze. Oh, she did not just say that. "You don't?"
She shook her head. "No, I haven't for years." She paused before adding. "I was thrown off as a little girl and I've never brought myself to get back on one."
"I was bitten by one," He admitted. A few minutes later, the door opened –thank God he was dressed- and he looked at her, drying his hair with a towel. "So… what are we going to do?"
"I don't know," She sighed. "The CIA made this reservation under our names. We can't just back out at the last second." Somehow, the CIA had found out that Sark and Reed were going to be going horseback riding and added it to the agents' schedule. They were there to watch the other couple, not have fun.
He nodded, slight worry lines appearing on his forehead. "You up to attempting horseback riding again?"
She bit her lip and almost shook her head (screw the mission, she thought). "We don't really have a choice do we?"
He shook his head, obviously not pleased with the idea either. "No, I don't believe we do."
"Then I guess we're going horseback riding."
-break-
Breakfast was a… odd affair. And that was putting it nicely. It wasn't that they were fighting over every little thing that made it different. It was that they weren't fighting.
At all.
"Can you pass me the sports section?" Vaughn asked.
"If you give me the entertainment," Sydney responded.
"Here," They swamped sections of the newspaper. And there was no fighting about it what so ever. She was starting to wonder if there was something in their food.
"Is it just me or are these eggs undercooked?" She asked, poking at her eggs testily with her fork.
He grabbed his own fork and sampled a bit of her eggs. "They're undercooked," He agreed.
And there was still no fighting.
"Do you think they put different flowers on the tables for every meal?" She mused aloud.
"I'd bet on it," He replied. "Five star hotels are like that."
She nodded, having experience with a lot of five star hotels in her time. "It's a waste of money that would be better put towards charities."
"I couldn't agree more."
And yet still no fighting. Worse, they were agreeing now. What was the world coming to? It had to be a sign of the apocalypse, they were both sure of it.
"We should get going," He said just as she'd finished her coffee. "Or we're going to be late." One thing he never understood about stables in the mountains was that you had to make an appointment to ride one of the damn horses. Seriously, who thought up that shit?
"Alright," She replied getting to her feet.
This wasn't show anymore. They really were getting along and it was the strangest thing either one had felt.
Naturally it all went downhill from there.
They got the corral easily enough. But when one of ranch hands whistled lewdly (and made a few rude gestures) at Sydney as she walked past, Vaughn did something neither one of them expected. He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her as close as he could, sending a glare to the ranch hand over her head. Everything he did screamed 'My girl! Back or I'll kill you!'
She could read people easily and what bothered her the most was that the look in his eyes wasn't pretend. He really did want to kill that guy and just because he had whistled at her.
"What are you doing?" She hissed. If this was one of his machoist things, then he had another thing coming.
"Huh?" He blinked. "What are you talking about? That guy…" How could she be so calm about some stranger doing the things that guy did? This girl is not normal by any means, he thought.
"So?" She growled low enough so no one else heard her. "I'm used to it." One thing she had learned growing up in L.A. and then entering a business where men liked to leer at her was to build a resistance to it and ignore the bastards. It really didn't bother her anymore.
"You shouldn't have to get used to it," He argued.
"Why is it even any of your business?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.
"We're supposed to be married," He reminded her.
He was lying, she could tell. Lying to her face made her cranky. "Well as my husband," She sneered, "respect my decision to just ignore the prick."
"Whatever you want, darling," He hissed back. Oh and now he was being a sarcastic bastard again. Two could play at this game.
She gave him a dirty look, "Go to hell."
"You've already told me to do that, today," He reminded her.
Just as she was about to retort something, a man approached them. "You wouldn't happen to be the Adams would you?"
"We are," Sydney replied testily.
The man's face broke into a smile. "Welcome to Elk Mountain Stables. Name's Rider and I'll be getting you acquainted with your horses today."
Sydney gave him a smile. "Nice to meet you, Rider."
Vaughn gave Rider a skeptical look. Something irked him about him. What was it with ranch hands and leering at married women? Idiots. "So, horses."
Rider jumped and nodded as though he had just been reminded that he worked at a stable. "Right, this way." He beckoned them towards the barn. "How much experience have you had with horses, Mrs. Adams?" There the man just said it himself. She was married –or supposed to be- and he kept giving her looks like she wasn't anyway!
"Little," Sydney answered. "I'm not really an outdoors kind of girl."
"Then you can try Lady," Rider told her, nodding towards a chestnut colored mare. "She's the mildest tempered horse I've ever met."
"Thanks," Sydney gave him another smile and stepped off to go pet the horse on the nose.
Rider turned to Vaughn, "And you, Mr. Adams? Any experience with horses?"
Except for the fact that he'd been bitten by one, he had experience and he could ride well enough. "Enough," He answered gruffly.
Rider gave him a half skeptical half annoyed look. "Think you're up to trying Lightning?"
Wow, he really didn't like the sound of that horse's name. Lightning meant speed and speed meant one hell of a headache if he fell off. That convinced him; Rider was out to kill him. "Definitely," Vaughn replied, his jaw set with determination.
Sydney raised an eyebrow, having heard the entire conversation. "Are you sure James?" She asked.
"Positive, Melissa," Vaughn replied firmly.
Sydney shrugged and put her foot in the stirrup, swinging herself onto the back of Lady. Rider had been right, she was the most mild tempered horse she had ever met. Hopefully that would mean she wouldn't be thrown.
Vaughn on the other hand… it looked to be a definite that he would be thrown. Rider led a black stallion (who was fighting the man's lead tooth and nail) over to Vaughn who was silently starting to rethink his decision.
"I'll hold him still while you get on," Rider informed Vaughn as he stared the horse.
"Um, okay," Vaughn answered approaching the horse very cautiously. Lightning was giving him the creeps. Was it just him or did the horse have blood lust in his eyes? Rider was definitely out to kill him. Moving as guardedly as he could, he finally managed to get on top of the horse a full five minutes later.
"If you're nervous, we can get you another horse," Rider said as he handed Vaughn the reigns.
Something about the look in the man's eye made Vaughn set his jaw again and shake his head. "I think I can handle it."
Rider shrugged. "Suit yourself. If you follow the path there, it'll take you towards the ski resort. Scenery's great this time of year."
"Thanks," Sydney said giving the man yet another smile. She gave Lady a light tap to the flanks with her heel and the mare starting walking.
When Vaughn did the same to Lightning, however, the horse spooked. With a scared sort of noise, it took off galloping at a fast pace out of the barn. It certainly earned its name.
"Should've told him not to kick Lightning," Rider mused aloud, sounding amused.
Sydney gave him a sharp look. "You mean—"
Her sentence was cut off by the sound of a horse rearing and a loud thud from the direction of Vaughn and Lightning. When Sydney dared herself to look, she gasped and barely kept herself from yelling out 'Vaughn!' That would have ruined everything.
"James!" She cried, dismounting Lady immediately and running for her supposed husband where he lay unmoving in the dirt. Sensing that his "error" had more disastrous results, Rider followed. "James, are you okay?" She whispered, taking his head in her lap.
Vaughn opened his eyes with a great struggle and nodded slightly. "Yeah… I just got thrown from a horse, that's all."
"Stay down," She ordered when he tried to sit up. "Does anything hurt?" She was too concerned about his health to stop and think that she wasn't pretending anymore.
"Only my pride," He replied gloomily.
Her face broke into a weak smile. "Come on, we're going back to the hotel."
"Mrs. Adams, Mr. Adams, I can't even begin to apologize for Lightning's behavior," Rider put in, looking worried that he might have a law suit against him. He'd been so distracted by Mrs. Adams to have them sign the release forms.
"You can start by calling a cab for us," Sydney retorted giving him a glare. "And we just might not sue you."
"Certainly," Rider answered immediately. He turned to one of the ranch hands and said in a low tone, "Tell the Sarks that I'll be right with them" before striding off.
At the mention of the Sarks, Sydney snapped back to reality. They had come to the stables to spy on Reed and Sark. Well, screw the mission for today. An agent's health mattered more.
She still hadn't realized that her worrying was genuine.
-break-
"Get in the bed and shut up," Sydney ordered after they stumbled into the hotel room.
"Yes ma'am," Vaughn replied darkly as he sat down on the edge of the bed, clutching an ice pack to his head. Despite his insistence that he was fine, she wouldn't hear any of it. The hotel doctor said rest and that was what he was going to do.
"Take these," She commanded, thrusting a couple of aspirin and a glass of water into his hands.
He took the aspirin dutifully, taking a large gulp of water. "Can we go to dinner now?" They had reservations at some fancy restaurant that evening. Again thanks to the CIA and it's determination to match their schedules to Sark and Reed's as much as possible.
"No," She answered firmly. "We're ordering room service tonight."
"We can't do the mission if we're locked up in our hotel room," He pointed out.
"We can't do the mission if you're in the hospital for over working yourself after getting a concussion," She countered. "We're staying in tonight."
"If you insist," He replied caving.
"What made you decide to ride that damn horse anyway?" She demanded. "I thought you hated them."
"I never said I hated them," He countered.
"Fine, you're not a fan of them," She corrected. "I repeat my question, what made you decide to ride that damn horse?"
He shrugged. "I thought I could handle it," He replied. "I guess I was wrong." Like he was going to tell her that he really decided to ride the horse because he wanted to prove to Rider that he was the better man and therefore deserved to be with the woman he was with. Stupid he knew, considering he wasn't technically with her. But still, that Goddamn ranch hand had pissed him off.
"Very wrong," She added.
"Alright, very wrong and stupid, that suit you?"
She flashed him a triumphant smile. "Now, what do you want for dinner?"
"Whatever you feel like ordering," He answered with a dismissive wave of his hand.
"I heard the shrimp pasta was good," She thought aloud. "Sound good?"
"You gonna get some Chardonnay with that?"
She gave him a sarcastic smile. "Of course," She answered. "It might help with your bad mood." She left him to that thought as she crossed the room to the phone to order their food.
Yeah, he was only in a bad mood because Rider had given him a psychotic horse that spooked if you tapped it with your heels. When she had told him Rider had said during the cab ride back to the hotel that had only convinced him more that Rider had been out to get him.
She called him paranoid.
"When do we have to check in with Kendall?" He asked when she hung up the phone.
"Nine AM tomorrow," She replied picking up their schedule for the next day. "Right before our Mineral scrub and bath and then massages," She added frowning slightly. "You don't think we have to take that bath together do you?"
He laughed at her disgusted expression. "I'd bet on it."
"Bring a suit," Sydney ordered.
"As long as you do," Vaughn replied.
"Deal."
Funny thing was she still had yet to realize that her worry about him was genuine. Or that she hadn't gotten that second run promised to her. And that she didn't care for that matter.
SSB's note: Yeah, it was a bit cliched and expected to have them wake up together but you know what, I like it the way it is and it's a-staying. Oh and expect the love/hate thing to stick around for a while longer because love at first sight bothers me and this is so much more entertaining.
Thanks to: soccerfreeek324, ALIASobsessed89, Allegra Moon, livingArtemis, Oreata, dolphingurl1, Lara783, TimeIsOnYourSide, vaughn is hot, alias-sydney93001, Natalie, ArodLoverus2001, Serindipity9, SoApQueEn, Ginnie, Nacy O, chickieedee, SuperDuck123, angelonwings, lec, AliasDoll, Lil Aussie Alias Chick,and justadrawer for reviewing.
Love yas!
Next chapter: Of spas and cranky Sydneys.
