Thank-you all for taking the time to respond. The last chapter was one of my favourites and I was so glad you all enjoyed it. It was great to see some new reviewers.

Mizzle fo' Rizzle: Yeah Craig appeared in a later episode. I'm not completely sure which one. I think it was A Higher Echelon- anyway he was in the van with Vaughn when Jack was meeting with Ariana Kane and there was the big debacle with the mobile phone sim card.

Serendipity9: Glad I could brighten your day a little. I hope things get better for you.

dandan2300: Yeah, Craig is played by James Lesure, the same guy who plays Mike on Las Vegas.

LilAussieAliasChick: I love Weiss too- he's awesome. 9 sleeps! I so cannot wait! I just bought TV Week magazine and there was small interview with Jennifer Garner, and a little bit about season 4. I have no idea how I am going to make it to next Thursday without bursting- I mean how long have we been waiting for this day?

"Here you go. Home sweet home." Sydney announced, pulling up outside Vaughn's apartment Sunday afternoon.

"Thank-you for this weekend." Vaughn said, leaning across and giving her a kiss. "I had an awesome time."

"I'm glad."

"Why don't you come back here later tonight and I'll cook us some dinner." Vaughn suggested as he got out of the car.

"That sounds great." Sydney smiled.

"Hey Syd." Francie and Will greeted her as she walked through the front door.

"Hey guys. What's this?" she asked, pointing to a brown paper package on the kitchen bench.

"It was on the front step when we got here. There's an envelope with your name on it."

Intrigued Sydney picked it up and carried it to her bedroom. It must have been hand-delivered, as there was no address on it- just a white envelope with Sydney Bristow written on it. She settled on her bed to read what was inside.

Dear Sydney,

I wanted to give you something of Emily's- something that was special

to her. It was apparent to everyone that you and her shared a bond,

and I know that Emily would have wanted for you to inherit this

item.

Forgive me for not handing this to you personally, but I felt that it

would be easier to do things this way.

Arvin Sloane

Sydney read through the letter twice, almost too scared to open the package. The camping trip had enabled Sydney to somewhat forget what had happened. Not to actually forget Emily, but to let slip from her mind that she was gone.

And now, reality was smacking her in the face again. For about ten minutes she sat with the parcel in her hands. Finally, opening it, she saw that Arvin had given her Emily's seed box. A beautiful antique wooden box, still filled with the seeds that Emily had been intending to plant.

"Oh Emily," she whispered, tracing the engravings on the box with her index finger. This box epitomised Emilty- her garden was everything to her. Sydney was both shocked and grateful that Arvin had chosen to give this to her. Both of them knew how special it was.

It wasn't until she saw a tear land on the box that Sydney realized she was crying.

"Are you ok Syd? You've been really quiet all night."

Later that night Vaughn and Sydney were curled up on his couch after eating dinner. He was worried. Sydney had barely spoken ten words since getting to his place.

"I'm fine. I'm just really tired after this weekend. We were up so late last night."

"Ah, yes we were, Little Miss Snot Bubble." He waited for a sarcastic remark about his musical experience, but there was no response. Whether she was tired or not, something was definately wrong. "Syd, are you sure that nothing is wrong?"

"Yes, Vaughn. I am sure." She looked up at him and smiled as if trying to prove everything was ok. However Vaughn could see right through it. "I'm tired. So let's finish watching this show and then go to bed."

"Ok then." If Sydney didn't want to talk then he wasn't going to push it.

Sydney walked towards the tombstone, a bunch of flowers in her right hand. Daisies- they were Emily's favourite. She used to say that their simple beauty was underappreciated. When she reached the gravesite,Sydney knelt down and placed a hand on the smooth, cold stone.

Emily Sloane

Looking around she saw that she was the only person at the cemetary. Totally alone, except for rows of stone, indicating loved ones lost. As she looked to her right, a name on another tombstone caught her eye.

Jonathan (Jack) Bristow

She blinked and stared. That wasn't right. Her father was alive. Then she noticed the names on the rest of the tombstones down that row.

William Tippin...Francine Calfo...Eric Weiss...

Michael Vaughn.

They were all dead.

"Sydney, Sydney. Wake up sweetie." Vaughn said, shaking her gently.

Sydney's eyes flew open as she sat bolt upright, her breath ragged and her skin clammy. "What?"

"I think you were having a nightmare. Are you ok?" Vaughn asked, stroking her hair.

Sydney closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The image of all those tombstones with her loved ones names was still in her mind. She shook her head, both answering Vaughn's question and attempting to rid her thoughts of the dream.

"What were you dreaming about?" Vaughn inquired gently.

"I was at Emily's grave and I saw all these tombstones. Everyone was dead. Dad, Francie, Will...you." She sagged against Vaughn's chest. "Everyone I loved was gone."

"Oh Syd." Vaughn held her tight and she could feel his breath on her hair. It was reassuring. "It's just a dream. We're all still here."

"Emily's not." she whispered.

Vaughn paused for a second and went over what Sydney had just said before speaking. "Syd, in the dream, you said that you were at Emily's grave."

"Hmmm."

"Well have you actually been there since the funeral?"

"Vaughn, it was only a week ago."

"I know that. And you've spent this past week planning a surprise camping trip."

"So?"

"So you've been putting all your focus into one thing- allowing you to detach yourself from everything else."

Vaghnn was right. Sydney had been using his birthday as an excuse to escape Emily's death.

"I just can't do it Vaughn. I tried to be strong and accept this, but I can't. I don't want to say good-bye. This past week I could shift my focus from Emily without feeling guilty- I had you to think about. I'd been walking around in denial, but then when I got home this afternoon..."

"What happened?"

"Arvin had left me something of Emily's- her seed box. That box was so special to her and the fact that I now own it, means only one thing. She's dead- gone forever."

"Syd, you shouldn't bottle that sort of stuff up. Why didn't you tell me you were feeling that way?"

"It was your birthday! You didn't deserve to have a depressed girlfriend ruining your day."

"Sydney!" He turned her so he could look into her eyes. "I will have a birthday every year for the rest of my life. You willhave all those days to celebrate."

"The rest of your life, hey?"

"For the rest of my life." he said, determindly.

"Well I hope you don't expect a celebration like this weekend every year."

"Ah, Sydney Bristow, getting straight to the point. Perhaps I should have kept my mouth shut about you keeping your mouth shut."

"Ok, Vaughn. It's the middle of the night, I've just woken from a horrible dream. What you just said went zip." Sydney made the gesture of her hand going across the top of her head.

"I'm sorry." He smiled and then kissed her softly. "Just promise me that you will talk to someone- anyone. It's going to be a shit of time, especially with Christmas coming up, so don't bottle up. You'll only be making things worse for yourself."

"Ok, ok. I promise. No more trying to be Wonder Woman."

"Trying? What are you talking about- you are Wonder Woman." Vaughn said, nuzzling her neck. "It's just that at the moment you're Wonder Woman going through a tough time."

"Wonder Woman in a tough time. That's a pretty good spin, Vaughn."

"I know." He said, pulling down, wrapped in his arms. "Now, I think it's time we got some sleep."

"There's one more thing I have to talk to you about."

"What?"

"Next time we have a movie night, do you think we could hire Little Shop of Horrors?"