Chapter 136: Lazy Saturday

"Every man's memory is his private literature." – Aldous Huxley

"Memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose." –The Wonder Years

"The greatest healing therapy is friendship and love." – Hubert Humphrey

"Life isn't a matter or milestones, but of moments." – Rose Kennedy

"Sooner or later we all discover that the important moments in life are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the great goals achieved. The real milestones are less prepossessing. They come to the door of memory unannounced, stray dogs that amble in, sniff about a bit, and simply never leave. Our lives are measured by these." – Susan B. Anthony


Soft morning light poured into Sydney's bedroom as Saturday morning dawned. Vaughn woke to the feel of Sydney's arms holding him tightly, warmth and light filled the room.

He turned his head to look at her and she smiled down at him softly, "Hey," she said quietly.

"Hi," he said with an equally soft voice. She moved down to kiss him, a soft, inviting kiss that deepened to exhibit the profundity of their love.

"How are you this morning?" Sydney asked as she ran her hand over his cheek.

"Mmm…I'm sore…" he said honestly, his voice still slightly strained, still hoarse from the previous days' ordeal.

"Why don't I get your medication…and something to eat…ok?"

"Mmm…meds are a good thing…I'm not really hungry."

"You need to eat something Vaughn."

"Ok," he relented, not wanting to get into an argument over something like that.

She smiled and gently moved him off of her. She smiled again when she looked down at herself, and looked over to survey him as well; they both were still wearing yesterday's clothes.

"And when we're done, we can change…" she told him with a smile.

"What else are we going to do today?" he asked looking up at her.

"Nothing…"

"What do you mean?" he said confused.

"We aren't going to do anything today Vaughn…except eat…perhaps…" she suggested with a raised eyebrow.

He smiled, "We're just gonna spend all day in bed?"

"Yup," Sydney said proudly, "I will occasionally get up to get medication and food…that's the only reason I'll be leaving the bed." She smiled and then turned.

He nodded and watched her as she walked out of the room, opening and closing the door behind her.

He looked over to the window at the soft light that was pouring in – it fit with the mood that Sydney had just set up for the day, but it was such a contrast to all the feelings that were welled up inside him.

Sydney yawned as she walked to the kitchen. It was still early; earlier than they normally got up; but they'd gotten to bed so much earlier the previous night, it made perfect sense. She had slept, that much was true, but she found that she had woken up more than other nights; almost as though she had an internal clock that forced her to wake and check to make sure Vaughn was all right. She had been pleased to see that he had slept through the night, though she was sure it was due more to exhaustion than anything else.

Sydney was somewhat surprised that Amélie and Will and Francie were all awake, but there they sat in the kitchen, halfway through a breakfast meal that consisted of eggs and French toast.

"Hi," Will said happily smiling at her.

"Hi guys," Sydney said with a yawn.

"You ok?" Will added.

"Yeah, I'm fine…"

"Did you guys get any sleep?"

"Um…yeah…like all night long – he was exhausted…slept the whole night through."

"Good," Will said with a nod, "You want some breakfast?" he asked.

"I can make some more," Francie said, already getting up.

"Um…yeah, ok…can you do me a favor?" Sydney asked.

"Sure, of course," Francie affirmed.

"Can you make some bacon?" Sydney asked.

Francie smiled, "Yeah, I can do that…"

Sydney looked at Amélie, "How are you?"

"I think I'm slowly coming out of my state of shock…" she said with a small smile.

Sydney offered her a sympathetic smile, "I know that was difficult…and I'm sorry that you had to witness it…"

"I'm not…it made me realize what Michael has really been through…and it's not even close to being over…in fact it's just begun…"

Sydney smiled sadly, "That's true…but that's also why we're here…"

Amélie nodded as Francie handed her the plate a few minutes later, "There ya go, eggs, French toast, and special bacon…"

"Thanks," Sydney said, accepting the plate and stuffing the various pill bottles into her pockets. She grabbed a fork and a glass of juice and was about to head back to the bedroom.

"Guys…um…I think it's best if he just kinda…chills out today…like no stress at all…so…I hate to ask, but can you be kinda quiet? I already told him he's not leaving the bed…"

They all smiled, "We'll be quiet…we'll figure something out," Will said.

Sydney smiled in response and walked back to the bedroom.

"So…what do you think we should do?" Francie asked Will and Amélie.

Will thought a moment, "You have a garden, right Amélie?"

"Yes I do…"

Will looked at Francie, "We should go to Descanso…"

"Ooo, good idea Will…Have you been there Amélie?" Francie asked.

"Maybe once…but not in ages…I'd love to see it again…"

"Great…then it's settled…let's get ready, we'll leave in a little while," Will suggested as he took his plate to the dishwasher.

The other two followed suit, and they all dispersed to get ready.

Vaughn was looking out the window when she came back, and didn't look over at her, didn't seem to notice her presence until she closed the door. Then he looked over at her and smiled slightly.

"Francie made you bacon…"

"That was nice," he said quietly.

She sat the plate down on the nightstand and helped him sit up and then took her place next to him on the bed. She gave him a bite of eggs and handed him a strip of bacon. She waited until he had a few bites down and then handed him his array of pills. He took all of them, not questioning the dosages. She made him eat a few more bites of egg and French toast before relenting and just letting him finish the bacon.

There was a soft knock on the door and Sydney said, "Yeah?"

Will pushed the door open, "Hey…"

"Hi Will," Sydney said.

"Hi," Vaughn added.

Will smiled at the two. Although he had a ton of questions, he knew that it wasn't the time to ask them, "Francie and I are gonna take Amélie to Descanso…not sure how long we'll be gone, but it'll be at least till this afternoon…that ok?"

Sydney smiled, "Sounds fine Will, have fun."

"You two take it easy," Will said with a happy grin. He closed the door quietly and the faint sounds of the three leaving could be heard.

"Looks like a nice day for the garden…" Vaughn said quietly as Sydney sat the plate on the nightstand.

She looked over at him, "Yeah it does…"

He was quiet for a few minutes and then added, "I miss being outside…"

"I know baby…why don't we talk about where you wanna go when you're well enough to walk around…where's the first place you wanna go?"

It took him all of a second to say, "The beach. I wanna go to the beach, see the ocean…can we walk on the pier?" he asked.

She smiled, "Of course. It'll be our first stop."

"Just don't bring your beeper, cause I'm not jumping in to get it," he added.

It took her a minute to catch that one, then she smiled and started to giggle, "Well as long as Kendall or someone else doesn't beep me while we're there, I think we'll be fine."

He smiled, "That was funny…"

She looked over at him again, "You were great to me that night…I didn't know who else to call, there wasn't anyone else I could call…"

"I was glad you called, that you trusted me…after our first meeting, I wasn't so sure."

She smiled, "Can you show me what a paper bag looks like again?"

He smiled, "I wasn't trying to be condescending."

"I know…I was just…that was such a hard time for me…I'm giving you the plan," she started to giggle, "God was I confident."

He smiled, "I love that about you."

She leaned over and kissed him, "That was also the first time I was introduced to Agent Vaughn's holster…"

His eyebrow rose as she leaned over and kissed him again, "What is it exactly about that holster?"

"Mmm…you look so sexy when you wear it baby," she moved down to kiss his cheek, "Maybe it's the big…gun…" she bit along his jaw line.

He turned his head to meet her mouth.

"You cannot imagine how many times I wanted to grab that holster and…like…shove you against the fence in the warehouse."

"Rawr…" he said with a smile.

She smiled, "You have no clue what the combination of the holster, a nice blue, button-up shirt, top button undone, white tee peeking out, tie loosened, can do to a woman."

"I had that same idea…up against the fence, on those goddamn crates, every time I saw you…I would just wait for you to call…or when I made the call…it would take you forever to get there. I used to hate having to sit there, sit at work when I knew you were out there on the brink of death…"

"When I found out you didn't sleep when I was away…"

He turned to her, "Yeah?"

"Was that when you knew?"

"Knew what?"

"Was that when you started having feelings for me?"

He chuckled, "I think the moment I laid eyes on you I knew I had feelings for you in some capacity…are you asking me when I fell in love with you?"

She smiled, "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Do you remember that time we met at the car wash and you asked me about my wife?"

"That was when?"

"No – do you remember that?"

"Of course."

"I thought a lot about you after that…like I wondered how things would have been different if you'd known from the beginning…And I was so jealous that night you took Will a your date to Sloane's."

Sydney chuckled, "You were kind of obvious."

"You looked gorgeous, how could I not?"

She smiled, "I wanted to take you…"

He smiled, "Really?"

"Yeah."

"When did you know?"

"I don't think we've gotten to when you did, Mr. Vaughn."

He smiled, "Sydney, I don't think I can pin it down to one moment. It was a series of moments, every time I saw you…I cared about you from day one, but that ONE moment," he shook his head, "I'll have to think about it…" he looked over at her, "I've loved you for a long time."

She blushed and leaned over, kissing him.

"What about you?" he asked.

She thought for a moment, "When I really knew that I loved you…after Cole. You risked things before…but that time…you risked your career, your reputation, your life, everything…for me…I was starting to fall then…"

He smiled, "It's built for a long time…"

Sydney started to giggle.

"What?"

"The 'Functional Imaging Test' – are you romantically interested in anyone…you ass…"

He grinned, "Well, I told you…it built for a long time…I think I was in love with you then already…"

She smiled, "It did build…still is…"

"Always."

She leaned over and kissed him deeply, trying to get their souls to merge. When they broke, they were both breathless. They sat silently for a few minutes.

"We should change…ok?" Sydney suggested.

He nodded, "Ok."

She got up and began to dig through her dresser, pulling out a few items and laying them on the bed. Then she moved to the bags on the floor, "I'm hanging these up today Vaughn," she informed them both.

He smiled, "If you say so baby, but what about the whole day in bed thing?"

She turned, "True…tomorrow then."

He chuckled and watched her for a few minutes as she fished out clothes for him.

"When I thought you were gonna die in that silo…when Hassan set you up…that's when I knew…" he blurted out.

She turned around to face him, "That's when you knew you loved me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I thought I lost you…and that thought terrified me…I took the stairs two at a time…I totally interrupted Devlin…and demanded that he sign that protection order."

"You did?" she asked smiling.

He nodded, "Yes."

She felt the need to say, "I love you…"

He grinned, "I love you too…"

She went back to the clothes but turned when he was chuckling.

"What?"

"We're really gonna move in together…our own place…when I'm better?" he asked, but his tone was serious, needing affirmation.

She smiled and moved back to him, sitting by his side on the bed. She could tell he was worried, worried that perhaps the events of yesterday would change her mind, change her opinion of him. She smiled, "I would really like that, if you still want to."

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Yeah…I want to."

She leaned down and kissed him, "Good, settled then." She got up and continued riffling.

"You know…Tom…"

She looked at him when he didn't continue his thought, "What about Tom?"

He smiled bashfully, "Kaia and Tom…they…well, I mean, they're moving fast, but…"

"What you think it's too fast?"

"Not at all…I think they're perfect for each other. I've never seen Tom so happy, it's just…got me thinking…"

"Thinking about what?" Sydney asked, approaching the bed again.

"About us."

"What about us Vaughn?"

"Well…I mean…if we move in together…I just…well…" he stopped thinking, "Later…will you…" he looked away.

"Vaughn? Are you asking what I think you're asking?"