Ashes to Ashes

Vaughn was in his room packing for his romantic weekend away, when his phone rang without even looking at the caller id he answered it
"syd, i'll pick you up at 7:00, i know your excited but inless you want me to be naked the whole weekend i kinda need to pack, but even than i cant guarantee that i will be clothed the whole weekend" said vaughn
"EW! Dude! how many times do i have to tell you...look at caller id before you answer!" Said weiss
"eric...i thought you were sydney...obviously" said vaughn
"Yeah i got that...i just called to tell you i can feed your dog" said weiss
"thats great...but only half a can!" said vaughn
"i'll try but he gives this oliver look that begs me for more" said weiss
vaughn looked at the clock
"i better get going...i'm picking syd up in 15 minutes" said vaughn
"ok just dont do anything i wouldnt do" said weiss
"wow...is there anything you wouldn't do?" asked vaughn
"no not really" laughed weiss "ok have a good weekend"
"thanks" said vaughn before hanging up
vaughn walked out to the kitchen and scribbled a note for weiss
Eric
thanks for feeding donovon for me. only half a can! i don't want to come home to a fat dog like last time!
Vaughn

vaughn pet donovon on the head before leaving

vaughn smiled to himself as he drove towards sydney appartment, when the smell of smoke filled his nostrils, vaughn turned the corner to see that sydney's appartment was on fire, vaughn parked the car, yanked his keys out of the ignition and ran toward the house
"sydney!!!" he screamed "Will! Francie! SYDNEY!!!"
vaughn grabbed out his phone and dialled 911
"hello whats your emergency?" said the recording
"there's a fire, my girlfriend and her two flat mates are inside" said vaughn
"whats the address?" asked the recording
vaughn gave the address and hang up before calling jack
"bristow airplane parts" said jack
"jack its vaughn" said vaughn
"Vaughn this better be important, this line isn't secure" snapped jack
"Jack...fire...sydney...santa barbara" said vaughn
"wait slow down" said jack
"i was coming to pick up sydney for santa barbara, her appartment is on fire...she's inside, i dont know if francie and will are home...fire brigade on their way" said vaughn
"i'll be there in 10 minutes" said jack before hanging up
vaughn looked at fire helplessly before pulling his jacket over his head and running into the fire
"SYDNEY! FRANCIE! WILL! SYD!!" he screamed, vaughn ran through the appartment that was burning around him, sydney's bedrrom was blocked by debris
"SYD!!!" screamed vaughn
"help" came a tiny voice
"SYD?" asked vaughn
"will" came the voice
"WIlL? WHERE ARE YOU MAN?" asked vaughn
"bath"
vaughn ran into through the fire into the bathroom to find will bleeding from the stomach, vaughn carried him out and lay him on the ground
"Where's syd?" asked vaughn
"francie, she's the double, i left message on syds phone, francie stabbed me, i heard fighting" said will
jack came running up the drive way
"where is she?" he demanded
"i looked i couldnt find her, the door way to her room has caved in" said vaughn "will got stabbed by francie she's the double"
just then the fire brigade arrved and the ambulance arrived taking will away

2 hours later the fire was out and they had got into sydneys room when the fire cheif came out to vaughn and jack
"i'm sorry but we found to victims, dna text will confirm" said the cheif
"no..she can't be dead" sobbed vaughn
vaughn ran into sydneys black appartment there was nothiing but ash, coal, charred remains of the house and water
the cheif went to stop vaughn but jack stopped him
"he needs this" said jack
vaughn ran into sydney's room, where they were putting one body into a body bag and the other was near a burnt smashed mirror, on instinct vaughn walked over to that body and cried, it didnt feel like sydney, he felt no closure, he couldn't smell her, he couldn't see her beautiful face...he wanted to know that this was sydney and that she had moved on to a better place, but deep in the pit of his stomach he had his doubts. then vaughn relised that this had to be sydney, if she had found out francie was a double the first thing she would have done was go to her room to get her gun from under her bed...they mus t have fought it out...maybe knocking over a candle or something...reality sank in and he burst into tears as the flood gate gave way to his emotions and he relised the love of his life was dead


next chapter is the funeral, then maybe vaughn talking to sydney when she's dead, then vaughn finding out sydney's alive, in my story he never gets together with lauren but e does get back with alice
 
2 days later vaughn was sitting in the dark in his room staring into space when someone knocked on the door
"Michael...open up...its eric...of course you know that coz your siting there...come on man let me in" said weiss
weiss sighed before getting his spare key that he had for when he had to feed the dog and let himself in
"man come on sydney would not want this..." said weiss "when was the last time, you ate or showered?"
"how the hell do you know what sydney would want? were you in love with her? no i didnt think so!" said vaughn "that key was for emergencies, leave it on the table before you leave"
"i came to tell you the DNA Results are in" said weiss
"Was it sydney?" whispered vaughn
"yes...i'm so sorry" said weiss
"i need you to leave" choked vaughn
"ok but if you need to talk..." whispered weiss before leaving
as soon as the door closed vaughn begun to cry
vaughn picked up a picture of him and sydney off the coffee table, a picture that had been taken just 2 weeks ago at the hockey rink, when sydney fell into his arms laughing, weiss had been hiding and taken the picture as a joke...vaughn loved tat picture, he loved the memory but he loved sydney more, and he would trade every memory he had of her for just one more hour with her, so he could tell her how he felt...but he would never get a chance to tell sydney that he loved her.
vaughn picked up his phone to call weiss to tell him to come over...to tell him he was ready to talk when he noticed a tiny green envelope on the corner of the screen of his mobile, he opened it to read that he had one voicemail
sniffingback the tears vaughn called the voice mail
"you have one message...monday at 5:38pm" came the recording then came sydney's voice
"Hey vaughn....i know your probaly packing...don't worry i'm not calling to cancel...i really want to come...i'm looking forward to it...no teroists...no slone...no aliance...no mum...no cia just you and me for a whole weekend...i just called to tell you i love you...i know i've never said it before...but i've tried so many times...i can never find the words to tell you how much you mean to me...so here goes nothing...I love you so much...your my best friend...your the one person i can talk to about the cia missions, when danny died...you helped me...you are the reason why i wake up in the morning...you give me the strength to get through the day...if it hadn't been for you i'd never had been able to take down sd6 ...i wish i could shout from the roof tops that i love you and tell everyone that we are together...i wish we didnt have to sneak around...michael, see i do call you michael, you are the best thing thats ever happened to me...if this weekend goes well, i'd like you to move in with me...anyway i just called to tell you that i love you and your it for me...your the one thats makes my heart slow down and speed up at the same time...i'll see you soon"
vaughn pressed save and listened to the message over and over
 
the next day vaughn woke up feeling numb, when his father had died he had heard his mother telling his grandmother that part of her had known his father was dead before she knew, and that it felt like a part of her had died with him. vaughn didn't feel like that. on some degree he kept thinking she would call or something but he didn't feel like she was gone forever
vaughn's phone beeped telling him he had a text message
vaughn went to open it when he got a message saying his inbox was full. vaughn went into his inbox to delete some messages and came across mostly txt message from sydney, vaughn opened them all up one by one
"hey babe dinner=gr8 idea pick me up @ 7?"
"haha the kings lost again! wanna come over and drink away ur sorrows?"
"can we meet up...had another argument with dad bout mum"
"I miss you already see ya when i get back from trip"
"francie is cooking wanna come over?"
"oh well maybe we can catch up afta ur meeting?"
"i do not suck @ hockey!"
"can't girls night out with francie"
"okay next mission ur wearing the wig"
"ud look good in a red wig"
"ur lucky ur so cute or else i'd kick ur ass for that comment!"

there were even more txt messages like these...nothing overly meaningful but meaningful none the less...vaughn couldn't delete any of them. vaughn didn'thave any of her jewelry or clothes and barely any photos to remember her by. he just had a jacket of hers she left in his car, the contents of her locker, her cia file, some photos, some emails, a few voice mails, and those txt messages. vaughn sighed deleted all the text messages weiss, the cia and the team had sent him and opened up the new message
"vaughn call me we need to discuss funeral arrangements for sydney...i trust that you would want a say" vaughn scoffed at the thought of jack even knowing how to txt then smiled when he relised sydney probaly taught him how
 
vaughn sighed dialing jack's number
"jack Bristow" answered jack
"Jack its me, vaughn...i got your message when do you want to meet up?" asked vaughn
"Now" said jack hanging up
vaughn sighed and then heard some one knock on the door
vaughn got up and opened the door
"michael...you look horrible" said jack causing vaughn to scoff
"since when do you care?" asked vaughn
"i dont believe me...but sydney would not want to see you like this" said jack
"how the hell would you know?" asked vaughn
"can i come in?" asked jack
"and if i say no you'll probaly just push me out of the way" said vaughn
"probaly" said jack walking in "can we sit down?"
"suit yourself" said vaughn sitting down
"ok...we have 3 choices...a big cia funeral, a small funeral or just a cremation" said jack
"sydney would hate the CIA funeral option, i think she'd like a small ceremony with just some close friends scattering her ashes" said vaughn
"where would she have liked her ashes scattered?" asked jack
"Santa barbara" said vaughn
"santa barbara? why santa barabara? she's never been to santa barbara...has she?" asked jack
"no..but she always wanted to...to go see the giraffe with the crooked neck... we were actually going this weekend...we were ment to be there now" said vaughn
"oh i see" said jack "so you want us to scatter her ashes in front of the giraffe?"
"no...how about over a cliff overlooking the sea?" asked vaughn with tears in his eyes "it was where i had planned to propose"
"you were going to ask sydney to marry you?" asked jack
"yes" said vaughn "um her favourite flowers were birds of paradises expescially the ones emily grew"
"i know, emily gave laura i mean irina and i a pot plant of birds of paradises as a house warming present...sydney watered it every day... we can use those" said jack "the cia hasn't made her death public at the fear that her past with sd-6 will be discovered"
vaughn nodded
"Michael there's something syd wanted me to give to you incase she didnt come home from a mission" said jack handing vaughn a box "I know i never thought you were good enough for sydney but sydney was right you are a good man and im sorry i never gave you a chance" said jack
vaughn nodded
"I loved sydney...i dont care what people say is good for me or what sydney would want, i ama never going to get over sydney or love any one as much as i loved her" said vaughn
jack nodded
"Vaughn she was my daughter, i loved her too and i'll never get over that... so if you ever need anyone to talk to...you know how to reach barnette" said jack
"wait what you want me to talk to a shrink?" asked vaughn
"yes i plan to...what you thought i'd start liking you? grow up vaughn" said jack
"what times the funeral?" asked vaughn
"11:00 tomorrow morning" said jack before leaving
vaughn sighed and opened up the box to reveal the ticket stubs from the hockey games, a recipt from dinner, the key that mysteriously ended up on their table, the picture frame he had given her, a business card for joey's pizza vaughn smiled turning it over to read "Vaughn its a real pizza place!! Sydney" and a letter from sydney vaughn foughtt back the tears and opened it...
 
2 days later vaughn was sitting in the dark in his room staring into space when someone knocked on the door"Michael...open up...its eric...of course you know that coz your siting there...come on man let me in" said weissweiss sighed before getting his spare key that he had for when he had to feed the dog and let himself in"man come on sydney would not want this..." said weiss "when was the last time, you ate or showered?""how the hell do you know what sydney would want? were you in love with her? no i didnt think so!" said vaughn "that key was for emergencies, leave it on the table before you leave""i came to tell you the DNA Results are in" said weiss"Was it sydney?" whispered vaughn"yes...i'm so sorry" said weiss"i need you to leave" choked vaughn"ok but if you need to talk..." whispered weiss before leavingas soon as the door closed vaughn begun to cryvaughn picked up a picture of him and sydney off the coffee table, a picture that had been taken just 2 weeks ago at the hockey rink, when sydney fell into his arms laughing, weiss had been hiding and taken the picture as a joke...vaughn loved tat picture, he loved the memory but he loved sydney more, and he would trade every memory he had of her for just one more hour with her, so he could tell her how he felt...but he would never get a chance to tell sydney that he loved her. vaughn picked up his phone to call weiss to tell him to come over...to tell him he was ready to talk when he noticed a tiny green envelope on the corner of the screen of his mobile, he opened it to read that he had one voicemailsniffingback the tears vaughn called the voice mail"you have one message...monday at 5:38pm" came the recording then came sydney's voice"Hey vaughn....i know your probaly packing...don't worry i'm not calling to cancel...i really want to come...i'm looking forward to it...no teroists...no slone...no aliance...no mum...no cia just you and me for a whole weekend...i just called to tell you i love you...i know i've never said it before...but i've tried so many times...i can never find the words to tell you how much you mean to me...so here goes nothing...I love you so much...your my best friend...your the one person i can talk to about the cia missions, when danny died...you helped me...you are the reason why i wake up in the morning...you give me the strength to get through the day...if it hadn't been for you i'd never had been able to take down sd6 ...i wish i could shout from the roof tops that i love you and tell everyone that we are together...i wish we didnt have to sneak around...michael, see i do call you michael, you are the best thing thats ever happened to me...if this weekend goes well, i'd like you to move in with me...anyway i just called to tell you that i love you and your it for me...your the one thats makes my heart slow down and speed up at the same time...i'll see you soon"vaughn pressed save and listened to the message over and over
good story so far I intend to read more.....
 
Dear Michael,
If you are reading this then i have died, whether at the hand of sloane, my mother, sark or by a bomb or a bullet...it doesn't matter...no matter what happened it wasn't your fault. i am writing this the morning after giving you the middle draw, i was so happy last night, whenever i'm with you i'm happy...whether its palying hockey, lying in bed or kicking ass. i relised something last night though, this isn't just some random fling or a meaningless affair, this is real...at times i feel like its moving so fast then other times it feels like its moving to slow... after over a year of flirting over to the forbidion line, excess baggage and my double agent status we are finally moving ahead with our life...i really can imagine my future with you...walking down the park with two brown hair kids with green eyes conning us into buy them more junk food...marrying you...i mean who knows, by the time you read this letter i may have retired from the agency, been married to you for 50 years and died peacefully in my sleep and your left with a lifetime of memories 12 kids and 24 grandkids...i really hope that is the case and you arent left with only a few memories...whatever the case..its felt like a lifetime. I love you so much and whatever had happened and will happen i want you to move on with your life...you will resist but vaughn this is what i want...your such a nice guy, with a great heart and any woman would be lucky to have you...in this box is things that we have collected over the time, gifts from you, souveniers from our dates. i left it at dad's so that francie wouldn't stumble across it and ask questions since i collected things before we dated like the pen you made weiss hand me when i was writing my statement. vaughn i love you, but yo need to greve then move on. you are the love of my life... i will wait for you but dont wait for me...remember when i dragged you to see titanic and jack tells rose to live life? You're going to get out of this... you're going to go on and you're going to make babies and watch them grow and you're going to die an old lady, but obviously you'll die an old man, warm in your bed. You must do me this honor... promise me you will survive... that you will never give up... no matter what happens... no matter how hopeless... promise me now, and never let go of that promise. vaughn you will find love again, you'll meet a great lady and fall head over heels in love, and thats ok, as long as your happy i will be happy, i know you'll never forget me. rember what you said to me on the peir? "Okay, listen to me. There's something You need to know. When You first walked into My office with that stupid Bozo hair, I thought You were crazy. I thought You might actually be a crazy person. But I watched You, and I read Your statement, and I've seen... I've seen how You think, I've seen how You work, I've seen how You are in this job. In this job, You see darkness. You see the worst in people and though the jobs are different and the missions change, and the enemies have a thousand names, the one crucial thing, the one real responsibility You have is to not let Your rage, and Your resentment, and Your disgust, darken You. When You're at Your absolute lowest, at Your most depressed, just remember that You can always... You know. You got My number" vaughn don't let your rage, your resentment, your disgust or you grief darken you. vaughn i love you dont ever forget that
yours forever sydney
 
the next day vaughn woke up to the sound of his radio alarm clock
"Good morning LA! it's 9:30 on this beautiful sunny day, the sun is shining the sky is blue, not a cloud in the sky. if you have work today skip it. play in the park with your kids...today is gonna be a good day" said the cheery voice
vaughn fumbled aound turning it off
*FLASHBACK*
"So I just ran by the park and there were, like, millions of people. People just playing Frisbee, having picnics." said sydney smiling
"I know, what are people doing in the middle of the work day?" smirked vaughn
"Right. Just in the middle of the day, hanging out?" said sydney
*END FLASHBACK*
Vaughn sat up relising today was the day he was scattering the ashes of sydney, the love of his life, vaughn choked on the tears relising there were so many things they hadn't done together and would never get the chance, they had never played in the park, gone to santa barbara, moved in together, exchanged "i love you", gotten married, had a family, grown old. vaughn was interupted from his thoughts by a knocking at the door, vaughn sighed getting up to answer it, vaughn opened the door to find his mother on the other side
"Mum?" asked vaughn "what are you doing here?"
"you forgot that your own mother was coming down from france to stay with you for a week?" asked his mother "michael, we planned it months ago...and besides i want to meet sydney...well can i come in?"
"mum" begun vaughn before hugging her and bursting into tears
"whats wrong?" asked his mother
"come in, sit down" said vaughn wipping his tears
issabelle followed vaughn and sat down
"whats happened?" asked Issabelle
"its sydney....she died a few d-days ago...in a house fire" whispered vaughn
"Oh my god" whispered Issabelle "wait i dont understand last time i spoke to you, you said you and sydney were going to santa barbara and that you were going to ask her to marry you"
"i was, i was on my way to pick her up" sobbed vaughn "i dropped her off...i told her i needed to pack and she said to me 'we dont need clothes we have credit cards' but insisted on packing...if we had just gone she would still be alive right now"
"michael, this is not your fault...was it a gas leak? arson? do they know what caused the fire?" asked his mother
"um mum i dont work for the state department bureau of arms control" said vaughn "i work for the cia"
vaughn paused waiting for his mother to react
"i know" she whispered
"what? how?" asked vaughn
"i knew you would...your so much like your father...is that how you met sydney?" asked issabelle
"Yes, she was working for this place called SD-6 which claimed to be a black ops of the CIA, when really it was a cell of the alliance, anyway her fiance danny proposed so sydney told him the truth and sd-6 had him killed, her father jack bristow told her the truth and she became a double agent for the cia, and i was her handler, we destroyed sd-6 a few months ago, we started dating and we were investigating this thing called double helix where someone could be doubled to look and sound like another person, we knew there were two doubles and we had identified one but we didnt know wh the other one was, we thought her room mate will may have been but it turned out to be her other room mate francie, we didnt know until after the fire, sydney and francie fought it out and some how set the house on fire, both sydney and the double died...will made it, i just no arvin sloanes behind it, he kill our collegue dixon's wife because dixone shot and killed sloane's wife by acident he was aiming for sloane, sloane knew that the only way to get to jack was to kill sydney..." sobbed vaughn "i loved her mum, but i never told her"
issabelle hugged her son tight
"she knew" she whispered "i am so sorry michael"
"i don't know how i'm going to live without her mum" cried vaughn "how is it that one week ago i was asking you to bring my grandmother's wedding ring so i could spend the rest of my life with sydney and today i'm burying the love of my life?"
"whens the funeral?" asked issabelle
"today...we are scattering h-her ashes off santa barbara today" chocked vaughn
"do you mind if i come?" asked issabelle
"could you?" whispered vaughn
"of course" smiled issabelle "michael, don't take this the wrong way, but you need a shower, and a shave"
vaughn nodded

1 hour later vaughn and issabelle met in the lounge room
"you ready?" asked issabelle
"apearence wise...yes, emotionally and physically...no" answered vaughn honestly "i can't do this, because if i do this...it will mean sydney's never coming back...i miss her so much...i miss her smile, her dimple, her eyes, her laugh, her smell, her voice...i just miss her. mum, how can i just let her go? i always thought that if she died, i'd know...i'd sense it...but i feel like she's still alive and that anyminute she's going to walk through that door"
"i was the same when your father died, and the fact that i couldn't id his body and had to rely on dna didn't help...is sydney's mother going to be there...because i don't think i could face her" said issabelle
"Irina was in CIA Custody but she escaped, betrayed the cia...so no...jack said that if she turns up the sniper has shoot and kill orders" said vaughn
"ok...do you need to take anything...to be scattered with her?" asked issabelle
"i put in a heart charm that was engraved 'S.B+M.V' that i had engraaved for her, actually the real one i kept bt i got weiss to get another one made" said vaughn pulling out a gold chain from around his neck that had a ST.Christopher pendent his mother had given him for his 21st birthday and the charm
"ok, we really need to get going" said issabelle
vaughn nodded
 
Vaughn and isabelle pulled up at the cliff and got out of the car. vaughn was met by Marshal, Dixion, Jack, Will, weiss, and kendal
Weiss hugged vaughn
"how you going man?" he asked
"better, thanks. look i'm sorry i snapped at you" said vaughn
"forget about it man" said weiss
"will, how you feeling?" asked vaughn hugging will
"Like i've been stabbed and like my whole worlds be pulled out from beneth me" said will
"isabelle, its been a long time" said jack huggin vaughn's mother
"oh right. Mum, this is Marshall the tech guy, Marcus Dixion, Kendal our director, Sydney's best friend and flat mate Will, this ugly guy you know...is weiss and it seems you already know jack" said vaughn
kendal walked over to vaughn
"agent vaughn take as much time as you need" said Kendal
Marshal threw his arms around vaughn and burst into tears
"I feel like i've lost a sister. If you need to talk anytime, day or night just call me, if i dont answer the home phone, call my mobile, if i dont answer that, page me, message me...what ever" cried marshal
"i will" said vaughn begging weiss with his eyes to get marshal off him
"marshal, let the guy breathe" said weiss
"oh right sorry" said marshal letting go of vaughn
"I know i havent known you for long, but you supported me with diane's death and i always said i'd return the favor but unfortantly the times come to soon, but if you need anything, just call...i am so sorry" said dixion
"thanks dixion" said vaughn
"her ashes are in here" said jack pointing to an urn "i think it only appropriate for you and will to scatter her ashes"
vaughn nodded accepting the ashes, vaughn looked at will before they walked up to the cliffs edge
"Syd, you were my oldest friend, i dont know how im going to go through life's journey without sharing it with you...you were the best friend anyone could ask for...i'm honored to have known you for as long as i did...i love you and i will never forget you" said will fighting the tears
"Syd, you were the best agent i have ever met, you fought for what was right, i am so blessed to have had you in my life, even if it was for a short time...you were my best friend, the love of my life, i was your guardian angel and now you are mine, I love you so much, i was planning on asking you to marry me, so we could spend eternity together...but i know you would want me to live and love again...and when i do end my journey on this earth, i know you will be waiting for me in heaven... I am going to miss you so much...Your dimples, your smell, your laugh, your voice, your eyes, your smile, holding you...i'm going to miss it all...but i know your with me everyday...i love you...goodbye syd" choked vaughn scattering her ashes
Vaughn and will hugged as they watched their beloved sydney come one with the sea beneath them.
vaughn could have sworn he heard sydney's voice in the wind whisper "i love you too"
everyone walked back to their cars in a numb silenced, vaughn walked past an orange kombi and looked over his shoulder, like he was being watched...vaughn shook the feeling off and hugged his mother.

later everyone met at the local pub to toast sydney
weiss picked up his glass
"i remember when i first met sydney...that chick could right alot, she went through 4 pens...what i remember the most was her welcoming me back after i got shot...she and vaughn were talking and she dropped vaughn like yesterdays news and hugged me and welcomed me back" said weiss
"I remember, the day after danny propsed, sydney came into the office, and instead of telling us her big knews and why she was glowing she denied it and helped me with my ear peice...and then when i thought she was a double agent she begged me to trust her, but i didn't...i wish i did...she was always helping...asking me how my kids were...she was one of my best friends" said dixion
"i once asked some people around the office if they could take pictures of their foreign adventures like scenery and stuff so i could show my mother, because my cover was well, that I ran global IT services for the bank, so i asked her if she could take some photo's so i could composite myself into photographs. and sydney despite runing late was the only one who listened to me and said they'd do it...she was great like that" said marshal
"my greatest memory of sydney was playing mini golf with her and francie and we were both winning and at the end she purposfully missed so that i won...she let me win so that i wouldn't have to cook that night joking about how she didn't want me to kill them all" laughed will
"the best memory i have of sydney was probaly when she was six...in her thanksgiving play...she was a turkey the only turkey that wasn't to be eaten and back stage a girl was crying because she didn't want to be eaten and sydney swapped places with her...which confused everyone on which turkey was not to be eaten and they ended up falling over each other and knocking things over...it was quite amusing" said jack
"I remember... when sydney was 5 she and jack came over so jack and bill could talk shop in the back room...and i was watching sydney and little michael came down and saw sydney sitting on the couch and walked over to me and said 'mum there is a GIRL sitting on my couch' and i asked him why that was such a problem and he replied 'She's a GIRL! she has cooties' i told vaughn to sit next to her and then sydney came up to me and said 'Michael keeps itching does he have cooties?' she said it loud enough for michael to hear and michael ran around the lounge screaming that he had cooties while sydney and i laughed" said isabelle
everyone laughed
"my best memory of sydney was when i was staying over...and she laughed at me...telling me my backpack of spare clothes was getting old...and she gave me a drawer...weiss gave us hell for it...but that was the best memory...it ment we were moving forward...I loved her so much" whispered vaughn. issabelle rubbed her sons back as he was over come by emotion
"to sydney" said will raising his glass
"to sydney" repeated everyone
"excuse me...i'm just gonna go get some water" said vaughn standing up
"could you get me a white wine?" asked isabelle
vaughn nodded
"what can i get you?" asked the barman
"uh can i get a jug of water with 7 glasses and a white wine?" asked vaughn
the barman nodded
"michael?" asked a voice
vaughn turned around knowing the voice sounded familiar
"alice?" asked vaughn
"yeah...wow fancy seeing you here" said alice hugging vaughn
"How have you been?" asked vaughn
"good, i just moved up here" said alice "so what brings you to santa barbara?"
"Um a collegue died" said vaughn
"oh i'm sorry to here that" said alice
"yeah we were just toasting her" said vaughn
"so do you still work with Rita at the state department?" asked alice
"uh yes but rita died" said vaughn "well actually her real name was sydney"
"i don't understand" begun alice
"Rita was a childhood name because she liked to eat the crackers (In australia there are crackers call Rita), but no her names sydney" explained vaughn
"oh ok..." said alice "so how have you been part from that?"
"um ok...i guess" said vaughn
"so how long are you in santa barbara for?" asked alice
"just til tomorrow" said vaughn
"well if you feel like company here's my number...we can catch up" said alice handing him a napkin
"i'm not ready quite yet...Sydney and i were dating...i was planning on asking her to marry me...we were coming up here...but she died in a house fire" said vaughn
"Oh...god...i'm so sorry...god i'm so stupid...i always knew you to would get together...i should have guessed you and her had been together...i knew she had feelings for you when you were in hospital..she was crying and told me your condition and seemed generally hurt when i told her we were dating" said alice "michael keep my number...if your ever in the area just give me a call"
vaughn nodded
"same if your ever in LA" said vaughn
alice smiled before leaving
"what kind of insensitive asshole are you?" someone demanded
vaughn turned around to see will
"we just scatter sydney's ashes...your girlfriend...the person you claimed to love and five minutes lateryour flirting with some chick!" snapped will
"will calm down...thats alice...my ex-girlfriend...you met her with sydney at that bar...she lives here and she gave me her number to talk...i'm not going to call her...we are just old friends" said vaughn " you couldn't see my face...but i was uncomfortable...i felt like i was betraying sydney..."
"Oh...sorry" said will
"its okay...look its been a long day i think i'm gonna go" said vaughn
"thats why i came to get you...we are all leaving right now" said will
"Oh ok" said vaughn following will

"Michael if you need anything i'm just in the room next to you" said issabelle hugging her son
"i know mum" said vaughn hugging her back
"i love you" she whispered
"i love you too" he smiled before walking into his room
vaughn looked around the room to see that there were his and hers towels, two sets of tolietries, two chocolates on the pillows and a large hamper on the bench, confused vaughn walked over to it and opened up the card
'Mr Vaughn and Ms Bristow
compliments of the hotel, hope you enjoy your stay'

vaughn walked over to the bed and called reception
"Santa Barbara Hotel how may i help you room 47?" said reception
"this is michael vaughn, their seems to be a mistake, this is the room i booked to stay with my girlfriend, and i booked another room, canceling this one...but i'm in the same room" said vaughn
"and whats the problem with that?" asked the receptionist impatiently
"Uh lets see, i cancelled this room because my girlfriend died, and then booked another room along with her family and friends so that we could scatter her ashes up here...and there are constant reminders of the planned weekend, his and hers towels, two times the amount of everything, champange i had ordered, her favourite flowers oh and a giant hamper full of her favourite food!" snapped vaughn
"oh god...um there seems to have been a mistake, we cancelled room 34 for you instead" said reception "i am so sorry...would you like some one to come and remove the items?"
"Leave it...i like it like this...you went to so much trouble" came sydney's voice again this time in barely a whisper
"mr vaughn are you there?" asked the receptionist
"uh no...its ok...i just thought i'd tell you about the mistake" said vaughn
"Ok...again we are sorry both for the mistake and your loss...this room and your friend's rooms are all on the house" said the receptionist
"thankyou" said vaughn hanging up
vaughn looked around the room, he could feel sydney's presence but he felt so alone
"how can i live with out you..." whispered vaughn
"I'm still with you" came sydney's voice
 
vaughn walked into his appartment to find a very excited donovon
"hey donovon, did you miss me?" asked vaughn pating the dog
vaughn looked over to the answering machine to see the light flashing, vaughn went over to the machine and pressed play
"you have two new messages" said the machine "message received today 10:30 am
"hey michael, it's alice, i just wanted to call to appoligise for being so forward last night, i hope i didn't seem to insensitive, look i'm coming back to LA for a wedding next weekend and i have a few of your things that you left at my house that i keep forgetting to send to you, there at mum's, so give me a call and i'll drop them off."
the machine beeped
"message recieved today at 11:45am" said the machine
"Michael its your mother, i'm just calling to tell you, i will be home soon, i'm just at jacks catching up...i'll be home later" said his mum "ok bye"
vaughn was tossing and turning weather or not to call alice when he was interupted from his thoughts by someone knocking at the door, vaughn walked over and answered it to reveal a puffy eyed will
"Will..." begun vaughn
"can i come in?" asked will
"sure" said vaughn letting him in "are you okay?"
"Uh i sent the taxi to my house and he looked at me like i was insane when we pulled up outside the burnt frame and then i relised i dont have a house anymore, seeing it made it seem so real...then it hit me. francie and sydney are dead, so i went to my sisters but remembered that her and my parents are away and then it me...i have nothing...so i was just wondering if maybe i could stay here for a few days?" asked will
"of course, but do you mind sleeping on the couch for 3 nights? then once my mother leaves you can sleep in the guest room... and you can stay here for as long as you'd like...i think syd would like us to watch out for each other" said vaughn
"yeah she would, the couch is fine" said will
"Ok, uh you need clothes and tolietries" said vaughn
"yeah i do, and i can't acess my bank account til monday coz my bank card was in my wallet which burnt in the fire" said will
"you can borrow some money off me" said vaughn "we look the same size, you can borrow some of my clothes and there's a spare toothbrush in the bathroom cabnet"
will nodded
"its weird isn't it?" asked will
"yeah, i keep expecting her to walk in...it must be weird for you with francie" said vaughn
"yeah when i hear that name, part of me wants to throw up, the other wants to cry, i feel like i lost her twice...she was buried by the police yesterday, they wouldn't let me go..." said will
 
the next day vaughn woke up to the smell of breakfast, vaughn sat up regonising the smell of bacon, eggs, pancakes, french toast and coffee
"sydney" whispered vaughn getting up relieved that the past few days had been a horrible nightmare
"that smells great syd" said vaughn walking into the kitchen only to see will cooking breakfast and his mother folding washing
"will" said vaughn relising that syd was still in fact dead "i smelt breakfast and thought it was syd"
"Oh...no she taught me how to make it though" said will relising that vaughn had thought syd was still alive "i'm so sorry"
"no its okay" said vaughn "maybe you could teach me some time"
will nodded
issabelle kissed her sons head handing him coffee
"it'll get easier" she whispered
vaughn nodded sipping her coffee
"what are you wearing?" vaughn asked will, noticing will's shirt
"oh, uh it was in the washing basket" said will
"take it off" said vaughn
will looked at vaughn confused
"Michael! will has nothing to wear!" said his mother
"he can wear any shirt, just not that one" said vaughn "sydney gave it to me"
"oh" said will taking it off and handing it to vaughn "sorry"
vaughn accepted the shirt and nodded
"uh, theres also a dark blue tie with my initals and a kings mug...and a pink mug sydney used" said vaughn
issabelle looked at the mug she was holding
"i'll get another one" she said
"I'm sorry if it looks like i'm grasping at these materalistic things, its just i dont have much that reminds me of sydney" said vaughn
both will and issabelle nodded
issabelle held up a tie
"what about this tie?" she asked
"burn it, throw it out, give it away i don't care" said vaughn "i never want to see it again"
"Vaughn! Francie gave you that tie!" said will
"No her double did, its probaly bugged, she bugged your whole appartment remember? not only is she the reason sydney died, and the real francie but because of her and her 'survelience' a tape of me and syd making love was seen by syd's father and all of the cia! do you remember when she gave me that tie? syd asked francie about an old boyfriend and francie couldnt remember that should have been our first hint that she was a double! That double killed dianne dixion, francie used you, francie framed you, francie stabbed you, francie killed sydney!" yelled vaughn
"Stop it! Francie did none of those things, francie was a good person, who was a great cook, owned a restraunt, hated coffee ice-cream and hated killing lobsters! the person you said did all those things was not francie, it was allison! i betrayed francie, by sleeping with the double, not noticing the difference, i betrayed sydney. i know all this! but don't you dare used francie's name like that!" cried will "i lost both of my friends and i could have stopped it"
"i doubt you could have stopped it, from what i've heard about this fran...i mean alison person...it seems see covered her tracks...if you had found out she just would have reacted earlier, probaly with the same outcome, you weren;'t to know the person you were dating wasn't francie...francie wouldn't hold it against you...i didn't know francie or syd but they don't sound like the sort of people who'd blame you" said issabelle suddenly
vaughn and will looked at issabelle
"and neither of them would want you fighting like this" said issabelle
"i'm sorry" said will and vaughn together
vaughn suddenly thought of something
"mum, you know how when i was a kid you would take photos of everything....coz tdad was away a lot...uh did youby anychance take a picture of me and sydney together when were young?" asked vaughn
"yeah i did, i actually brought them with me to show you and sydney, there's a few, two of you and sydney together that day, one of sydney at our house also on that day, the two of you plaing frisbee in the park, one of you getting hit in the face by the frisbee and sydney laughing and few others" said issabelle getting up
"syd and i played frisbee?" asked vaughn tears in his eyes, issabelle nodded "she came to work one day telling me that she saw people playing frisbee in the park in the middle of the day, she was envious of them, she kept nagging me to skip work with her and play frisbee, but i never did"
"you did when you were younger" said issabelle "come sit down, you too will"
will and vaughn sat down either side of issabelle as issabelle showed them the photos
"heres on of michael sitting on the couch with sydney and one of michael relising he was sitting next to a girl, one of sydney laughing, you two playing frisbee, you getting hit in the face and sydney laughing, michael helping sydney pick up her crayons when she dropped them, and michael kneeling next to sydney when sydney broke a frame of her mother, michael sliding the frame under the couch like jack wouldn't noticed and sydney kissing michaels cheek and another of michael looking disgusted that a girl was kissing him!" said issabelle
will laughed
"i didnt know sydney came over that frequently, i didnt even know i knew sydney when i was a kid" said vaughn holding the picture of sydney kissing his cheek "mum, can i keep these?"
"of course, i may have more at home...but yeah of course you can keep them!" said issabelle
vaughn reached over to the double picture frame that was on the coffee table, one side held a picture of donovon the other held a picture of sydney kissing his cheek, vaughn took out donovon's picture and put in the one of the younger syd kissing his cheek, donovon whined as vaughn put donovon's picture on the coffee table, vaughn smiled
"these are great, i left a message on my mum's answering machine about sydney and francie, and after yelling at me about how i told her what happened, she told me she was going to get me all the pictures of sydney and francie she could find, maybe i should get francie's mum to do the same, and give you copies of the ones of sydney?" suggested will, vaughn nodded "Oh My God! i haven't told francies family!"
will stood up
"can i use your phone? no maybe i should go see them? but what do i say?" said will
"will calm down, jack told me yesterday that he had police go and tell them that francie and sydney had died in a house fire and that you had survived, they also told them that because francie's body couldnt be identified and they had relied on dna and that francie was to be cremated and that they would be sent the remains" said issabelle
"oh good" said will
 
6 months later vaughn was daydreaming on the chair when will came out of his bedroom
"are you going to work today?" asked will
"no" said vaughn
"are you hungry?"
"no, i'll never be hungry again" said vaughn's mind
"do you need anything?"
"yes sydney" vaughns mind screamed
"ok...do you want me to get you anything at the store?" asked will
vaughn said nothing
"ok, look michael this is not what sydney would want, this will not bring sydney brack, she's gone, she's dead, she's not coming back. look man, i know your hurting...but vaughn you have to get on with your life" said will
"frack off" said vaughn
will left without saying anything and came back with a bucketful of water which he threw on vaughn, making vaughn jump out of his chair
"what the hell is wrong with you?" demanded vaughn
"i have tried being sympathetic, i have tried letting you waste your life away, i have left you alone, i have been nice...but i'm done! grow up vaughn!" yelled will
"dont call me vaughn, only syd called me vaughn" said vaughn
"fine grow the hell up MICHAEL" said will
"you know what no one asked you to stay here" said vaughn
"actually you did" said will
"well clearly i didnt relise what a bloody pain you'd be!" said vaughn
will slapped vaughn
"LOOK AT YOURSELF! YOUR DRINKING WAY TOO MUCH, YOU HAVENT SLEPT IN GOD KNOW'S HOW LONG! WEISS HAD TO TAKE CARE OF DONOVON BECAUSE YOU CAN'T EVEN TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! YOU PUSHED YOUR MOTHER AWAY! YOU HAVEN'T SHOWERED FOR AGES! YOU STINK! YOU HAVE 2 OPTIONS: 1) YOU CAN GROW UP AND ACCEPT SYDNEY'S GONE AND MOVE ON 2) YOU CAN CONTINUE DOWN THIS PATH UNTIL YOU HAVE PUSHED EVERYONE AWAY AND END UP KILLING YOURSELF! BUT DO YOU KNOW WHAT NONE OF THESE OPTIONS BRING SYDNEY BACK. AND IF YOUR THINKING THAT IF YOU KILL YOURSELF YOU'LL BE WITH SYDNEY IN HEAVEN OR WHATEVER WELL DO YOU REALLY THINK SYDNEY WOULD WANT YOU?" Yelled will "GROW UP!!! IT WOULD BREAK SYDNEY'S HEART TO SEE YOU THIS WAY! AND IT'S ONLY BECAUSE I LOVED SYDNEY THAT I AM STILL HERE!"
"fine its not what syd would want, but do you know what? your right...she's not coming back! she would want me to greive, rather then moving on and sleeping with some random person" said vaughn
"i never said that you do that...but michael...she would want you to date eventually, live life, find love, start a family, watch your family grow...and die of old age peacefully in your sleep" said will
"who the hell are you to read that?" demanded vaughn
"read what?" asked will
"Syd wrote me a letter that she gave to jack in case she died and in said that she wanted me to find love, live life, start a family and die peacefully in my sleep so i could spend eternity with her in the after life" said vaughn
"i swear i didn't read it" said will
"I believe you" said vaughn softly "i am glad that you are here will"
"well good coz im not going anywhere" said will
"so how are you coping?" asked vaughn
"it's hit me but it hasn't hit me" said will "you know what i mean?"
"yeah i do" said vaughn
suddenly there was a knock on the door
vaughn stood up and went and answered it to reveal Weiss
"Hey michael...why are you wet?" asked weiss
"Will made me come to my senses" said vaughn
"ok..." said weiss "anyway, i'm not here on a social call, Kendal wanted me to give you this, it's the contents of sydney's locker and desk"
"Oh..." sighed vaughn "um come in"
weiss nodded coming in before handing the box to vaughn
"uh there's a print out of all personal email's, none of which were read, her journals, i think they were kept at work because they have cia references but kendal said you can have them, a few photo's one of which will should probaly have, her mug and a few other things" explained weiss "look i have to go, kendal wanted me to ask if you guys are coming back"
"I dont know if i am yet" said vaughn
"Neither do i" said will
"ok anyway i'll see you guys later" said weiss
"wait weiss, do you think you could bring donovan back?" asked vaughn
weiss looked at will who nodded
"sure i'll bring him back after work" said weiss
"thanks" said vaughn
"Your welcome cya" said weiss before leaving
vaughn opened up the blinds and put away some rubbish
"i'm going to have a shower and a shave, and when i come back we'll look at the box" said vaughn
will nodded

20 minutes later vaughn came out again this time his sweat pants and under shirt replaced by a crisp clean short sleeve button up blue shirt and jeans.
"ok" said vaughn "lets have a look"
vaughn opened the box to reveal a few framed pictures, several leather bound journals, a stack of emails printed out, a mug, a few pens, a toy figurine that had sat on her desk and a bottle of perfume
vaughn took out the framed pictures, there was one of him and sydney at the hockey game they had gone to, one of sydney, will and francie and a framed picture of danny and sydney and a framed picture of sydney and her dad when she was a little girl
"you should have this one" said vaughn handing will the picture of him, sydney and francie
will nodded accepting it, tears in his eyes
"i should probaly give this one to jack" said vaughn pointing to the one of sydney and jack "and i'll keep these two"
vaughn put the picture of him and sydney on the table and the picture of danny and sydney back in the box
vaughn picked up the toy and showed it to will
"i cant believe she still has that, when i first got my job at the paper and she got the job at the bank i mean sd-6 we went shopping and she suggested we by each other something to put on our desks and she brought me a superman action figurine because superman worked at the daily planet and i brought her that, it was a joke buying her a figurine of one of the bond girls, little did i know she was an agent" said will holding it
"keep it" said vaughn
"you sure?" asked will
vaughn nodded
vaughn picked up a mug and smiled it was red and had a painting on it done by a aaron caplan it read "thankyou sydney for saving my mum and my dad and me" with a picture of sydney with a cape
"thats cute" said will
"yeah, this kid his mum and him were kidnapped by sark and his father neil was held captive, we managed to rescue elsa and aaron, but neil was held for a about a month, then we found out elsa was a russian spy and that neil was going to die, sydney trusted elsa and believed her but jack refused, so me and sydney went against orders and followed elsa's intel and ended up saving neil's life, their son aaron, made a mug for me and sydney, mine's blue" said vaughn puting the mug back in the box
vaughn picked up the journals and the emails and flipped through them
"why dont you go and read them in your room?" asked will
"I will thanks" said vaughn

Vaughn went and put the photo of him and sydney back in the box along with the journals and emails andcarried them into his room
vaughn shut the door behind him and sat on the bed he took out the box sydney had given jack and put the mug and pens inside it, he then put the frame of hims ydney at the hockey on his bedside table next to the double photo frame of him ands sydney, and the frame of them at the hockey rink and the picture frame he had given her which had a photo of sydney as a little girl. he then put the picture of danny and sydney in the box jack had given him. the shirt, tie and mug sydney had given him along with her pink mug were in that box as well. vaughn then sat against his bed head and begun to read the emails syd had sent and been sent, vaughn smiled when he relised that out of the 250 emails about 90% of them were addressed to him or from him
vaughn picked up the perfume and sprayed it, it smelt like sydney smelt when she walked past you, but if you smelt her closely the scent was completly different, vaughn put the perfume next to the frames and unpacked everything from the boxes , he wanted to see it all again before puting it away and moving on, there was a knock on the door, vaughn went to get it when he heard will get it, moments later will knocked on his bedroom door
"come in" said vaughn
"uh mike theres a alice here" said will
"alice?" asked vaughn "um she come in here"
will looked at him strangly but nodded
moments later alce appeared
"uh hi michael" she said nervously
"hi" said vaughn getting up
"how are you going?" she asked
"um i have my good and bad days" said vaughn honestly
vaughn looked at the box alice was holding
"oh um this is the stuff you left at my place" said alice
"oh ok" said vaughn accepting them
"i was going to come a while ago, but i thought i'd give you space" said alice
"How was your sister's wedding?" asked vaughn
"lauren's wedding was great she married this grea guy named Jullian" said alice "Mum made you a cassrole"
"tell her thanks for me" smiled vaughn putting the box and casserole on the floor "sorry about the mess, i was just putting some things away"
"are they rita...i mean sydney's things?" asked alice
"Yeah, just her belongings from work, pictures i had, picturers from friends...there's not much coz it was all destroyd in the fire....i'm sorry this must be weird talking about my dead girlfriend" said vaughn
"its okay" said alice walking around "still a fan of the kings huh?"
"yeah i'm a loyal fan" smiled vaughn
alice picked up a picture of sydney and smiled
"she was realy beautiful" said alice
"yeah she was" smiled vaughn
alice than saw a ring box and opened it
"wow" she sighed
"yeah that was supposed to be her engagement ring" said vaughn
alice read the enscritption
"Joey's Pizza?" she asked
"it was where we met" lied vaughn
alice put the ring back and walked back over to vaughn
"so how long are you in LA for?" asked vaughn
"um just a few days" said alice "look i better go"
"Thanks for coming" said vaughn
"your welcome" said alice hugging vaughn
she went to leave when vaughn stopped her
"Do you want to have a coffee with me?" asked vaughn
"Sure" smiled alice
"ok give me a minute to put all this away" said vaughn
alice nodded giving him privacy
vaughn put all of sydney's things back in the boxes and kissed the fram
"i lvoe you syd i do, and this is just inocent coffee between friends" he whispered
"Have fun" said sydney's voice
 
Alice and Vaughn walked into the local cafe and were seated at a table next to a window
"1st things first" said vaughn "I'm sorry with how things ended with us, i mean i'm not sorry we broke up...that sounds really mean...i mean if we hadn't broken up then i never would have got together with syd, i'm just sorry with how i ended it so suddenly, im sorry if i hurt you. I broke up with you, because the day before at work we had had this huge victory on this deal we had been working on, and in the celebrations, sydney and i kissed, it was then that i relised how much i loved her and it wasn't fair for you"
"michael relax, it was months ago" said alice
"Have you been with anyone else since?" asked vaughn
"no, i was really busy at work, working on getting that promoton, and then i got it and moved away...and now i'm moving back here, i asked to be transferred so i could be closer to my family" said alice
"fair enough" said vaughn
they sat in an awkward silence until a waitress came over with their coffees
"so um do you come her often?" asked alice
vaughn laughed
"i've been here once with eric" said vaughn "and once with uh sydney"
alice nodded
"its close to work" said vaughn
"do you still play hockey?" asked alice
"I havent played for a few months but before that yeah" said vaughn "Do you still have that fluffball you call a dog?"
"unfortantly i couldn't take daisy with me to santa barbara, so i left her with mum and dad, but when i move back here she'll live with me again. do you still have donovon?" asked alice
"after syd died, i wasnt really able to care for him, so eric, is taking care of him, but he's bringing him back tonight" said vaughn
"who was that guy that answered the door?" asked alice
"Thats will, he was sydney's flatmate and best friend, there other best flatmate and best friend, his girlfriend, francie also died in the fire so he lost everything so i said he could move in with me" said vaughn
"that was nice of you" alice replied
"Its was the least i could do" said vaughn "so when are you moving back here?"
"next week" said alice "to be honest i made this trip just to see you and tell you and also to tell you that i'd like to try us again"
"what do you mean? you want us to date again?" asked vaughn
"yes, i've been thinking about this, before i found out about sydney, vaughn i love you, and i dont think we gave our relationship enough time, i think the sparks still there, i know you need time to greive and i know i can never replace syd, and that she was the love of your life, but do you think there's any future for us?" asked alice
vaughn sighed
"I dont know, i want to move on, syd would want me to move on, everyone want me to move on...but i dont know if i'm ready. when i saw you in santa barbara, i felt hope, alice can i have time? when your settled into your appartment here, give me a call, if i'm ready then yes, but if im not, i dont want you wasting your life waiting for me. if i am ready we will have to take it slow" said vaughn "I just cant comit to anything right now...im sorry if this isnt what you wanted to hear"
alice grabbed vaughns hand and squeezed it
"I'll give you all the time you need" she smiled
vaughn smiled back
"um i should get going" said alice "i have to see the real estate agent"
"ok, i'll walk you to your car" said vaughn
 
vaughn got home to see will waiting for him
"so? how did it go?" asked will
"it was good we caught up, and she wants to try us again, and i asked for time" said vaughn
will was about to say something when they were interupted by the phone
vaughn sighed picking it up
"Michael Vaughn speaking" he answered
"Vaughn?" came a whisper
vaughn's face drained as he grabbed hold of the wall for balance
"who is this?" he asked
"Vaughn, you have to help me" said the whispered
"Syd?" asked vaughn in disbelief, will's head shot up
"Vaughn...what happened?" asked sydney
"syd? where are you?" asked vaughn
"I'm in Hong Kong, i dont know how i got here" said sydney
"go to the safe house" said vaughn "i'm on my way"
"Vaughn?" asked sydney
"yeah?" he replied not really believing that he and sydney were having this conversation
"i love you" whispered sydney
vaughn's heart sang
"i love you too" he smiled before hanging up
"Vaughn what the hell?" asked will
"i need you to pinch me" said vaughn
"what why?" asked will
"I dont think i could handle it if this was all a dream" said vaughn
"vaughn was that syd?" asked will "she's alive?"
"Yes that was syd" said vaughn smiling for the first time in months
"wait how do we know its not a double and that its not a trap?" asked will
"she called me vaughn and told me she loved me" said vaughn
"how can she be alive?" asked will
"i dont know, shes in hong kong, i'm going there now, i need you to call jack, the cia everyone" said vaughn "i know you want to come, but i think i should go and tell her whats happened" said vaughn
will nodded before hugging vaughn
"shes alive" said will happily
"i know" said vaughn

vaughn was on the plane to hong kong when he got a phone call from jack
"Vaughn?" he asked
"yeah its vaughn" said vaughn
"was it really sydney?" asked jack, "tippin just came in telling us you got a call from sydney"
"I did, she's in hong kong, im on my way" said vaughn
"okay ill see you at the rotunda in a few minutes then" said jack
"no im on my way to hong kong" said vaughn
"Agent vaughn! you were not cleared to go to hong kong, what if sydney attacks you thinking your a double?" demanded jack
"i have a dart gun" said vaughn "no offence jack, but i'm pretty sure it would be easier for sydney to hear the news from me, and besides i have something to ask her"
"oh...you have my permission to ask her" said jack
"thanks for your permission, but i dont think i asked for it" said vaughn
"well i've seen you greiving for my daughter the last 6 months and i no longer doubt that you are in love with her, so you have my permision to marry her" said jack
vaughn smiled
"growing soft on me are you jack?" joked vaughn
"but if you dare hurt her, i will break your neck" said jack
"and there's the threat" said vaughn smiling "look i better go"
"Vaughn, tell her i love her, and i always had my doubts about her death" said jack
"i will" said vaughn before hanging up
vaughn tried to sleep but couldn't, he couldn't wait to see sydney
 
vaughn walked into the safe house at hong kong and walked into the room to see sydney with her back towards him, vaughn's heart beat faster like it always did whe he was in the same room as her
"syd?" he called
sydney spun around, saw who it was and her face lit up
"Syd, before you come any closer, what is my dogs name?" asked vaughn
"donovon" smiled sydney "he's a bull dog who looks mean but is as sweet as his owner"
vaughn smiled
"what did i give you last christmas?" asked vaughn
"an antique picture frame, i was looking at flowers and you gave it to me" said sydney
"what colour is the wall in the hall way behind the coat rack?" asked vaughn
"your whole house is cream, except for your room which has a purple wall and you dont have a coat rack" said sydney
vaughn smiled running over to sydney and hugging her
"Just checking to see that your you" smiled vaughn
"whats going on?" asked sydney "they doubled franice"
"I know." said vaughn
"What happened to Will? To Francie? Are they dead?" asked sydney
"wills fine,hes been living with me" said vaughn
"What? How?" asked sydney
"You... Sit down." said vaughnleading her to the two chairs they both sat down vaughn never letting go of her hand
"what is he last thing you remember?" asked vaughn
"um i was fighting francie, she's a double and i shot her three times and i fell against a mirror and then i must have lost conciousness and i woke up here" said sydney
"I dropped you off at your house, so i could go pack, i came back to pick you up and the appartment was on fire, i ran in there to save you, there were so many flames, i found will in the bathroom, i went to go to your room, but the roof caved in, i kept thinking that i heard you crying out my name" said vaughn fighting back the tears "it was so sureal, i got told that they had found two bodies, i ran in there once the fire was distinquished, i had to see for my self, both bodies were so burnt we couldnt id them, we had to rely on DNA and the results said it was you but well obviously it wasnt, but the dna text said that it was you and francie, we thought you were dead"
"how long?" asked sydney
"its been 6 months" said vaughn crying "we went through hell"
sydney hugged vaughn as he cried
"im here im okay" she whispered
vaughn looked up at sydney
"I love you" whispered vaughn
sydney smiled cupping his face
"I love you too" said sydney
"i got yor message that you left on my phone and you telling me how much you loved me, thats what got me though the says and the letter you gave your dad to give to me. every day there was something that i found that was like a message from you, i should have taken it as a sign that you were still alive. when i got home from the fire, it was the message on my phone, the next day i was going through my txt messages and reread them all, then when we were at santa barbara scattering your ashes, we were staying at the same hotel we were going to stay at, and instead of canceling the room i had booked for us, the hotel accidently canceled my other room, and there were your favourite flowers in the room, his and hers towels, champange and food for our romantic weekend away and i swear i heard your voice tell me not to get the stuff moved, then your dad gave me the letter, then i heard your voice in my head every now and then and god i never want to let go of you again, i'm so scared that this is all a dream" said vaughn
sydney smiled
"I am so sorry you had to go through all that" said sydney "what have i missed? Hows Dixion after diane's death and steven and robin? Hows marshal? Hows carrie? hows Will? did they ever find the real francie? is she okay? Hows kendal is he still a jerk? Hows dad? any news on mum?"
"dixions coping, Robin just turned 16 and ahs a boyfriend, weiss had to talk dixion out of getting the poor boy followed, Steven just turned 14 and just begun playing hockey, he wants me to teach him, but i wasnt really in the mood, marshal and carrie are still dating and uh carries pregnant, complete mistake but marshals thrilled, Wills fine, well i mean he lost you and francie and all his stuff but part from that...he's been living with me, weiss took donovon because i wasnt coping but i plan to get him back as soon as we get home, they never found francie, and im sorry syd, but the chances of her being alive...as for kendal i have no idea...i havent been to work for 6 months and your dads been a wreck trying to find sloane and i havent heard anything about your mum" said vaughn "syd i have to tell you something"
"what?" asked sydney "you just told me i was dead, francie's dead and that its been 6 months...i dont think you could shock me anymore"
"up til yesterday i was sitting in the dark, in sweats with a beard drinking, but will got me out of it and encouraged me to move on, then alice came by to drop some things off and we decided to go out for coffee, syd we were talking about dating again, each other and then when i walked her to her car she kissed me and i kissed her back" said vaughn
"Its okay." said sydney "You thought i was dead, if i had been dead i would have wanted you to move on" said sydney
"as soon as we get back to LA im going to tell her the truth" said vaughn
sydney smiled
"Syd, when it happened i felt so guilty, the whole time we were talking i was talking about you" said vaughn "the whole time all i could think about was how much i missed you and how much i wished that you were sitting opposite me instead of alice"
sydney kissed vaughn passionatly
"and now you have me" whispered sydney
"syd we have to go back to LA Soon but i need to ask you something first, something i had planned to ask 6 months ago, but better late then never right?" joked vaughn "sydney anne bristow will you marry me?"
 
sydney smiled
"Of course i'll marry you" she whispered wrapping her arms around his neck, sitting on his lap and kissing him passionately, vaughn kissed her back, only when breathing became an issue did they part
"even if you had said no i still would have been happy" smiled vaughn
"why?" asked sydney
"because your alive, your breathing, your talking to me and i have you in my arms" said vaughn
sydney smiled as vaughn stroked her cheek
"Syd, i know you want to know what happened to you, but i want us to retire from the cia, travel, see the world, get married, settle down and start a family...i dont care if we have to change our names, i never want to lose you again" said vaughn
sydney nodded
"are you okay? did they hurt you in anyway?" asked vaughn
"I dont know, i cant remember" said sydney
"get up for a minute" said vaughn
sydney got off vaughn and stood up, vaughn stood up and walked to the door and locked it he walked back to the chair and sat down in front of sydney
"get undressed" he whispered
"vaughn, i know we havent made love in a while, but we are not making love in aseedy safe house" said sydney
vaughn laughed
"I want you, trust me but not here. i want to see if they hurt you" said vaughn
sydney nodded, she lent down and kissed vaughn before stripping off her clothes, vaughn couldnt help but notice how things she was, he traced his fingers along he clearly visable ribs, their were bruises on her shoulders, wrists and back, there was a huge bruise on her hip and a scar on her right hand side of her stomach
"whats that?" asked sydney with tears in her eyes "what did they do to me?"
vaughn felt his rage boil as he traced the scar with his finger, he tore his eyes away from the scar and check to see the best of sydney was okay, he looked up at sydney to see that she was crying, without saying anything he dressed her and held her in his arms as she curled up and cried
"What did they do to me? why cant i remember?" she sobbed
vaughn kissed her back
"we'll find out" said vaughn all thoughts of retirement escaping his mind

the next day sydney carried a weak and sobbing sydney off the plane to see jack, will and dixion all waiting for them
vaughn walked over to them, jack looked at sydney and stroked her hair
"hi daddy" she whispered
"Hey sweetheart" smiled jack kissing her forehead
sydney wiped at her eyes
"syd?" chocked will
sydney looked over to where the voice was coming from and burst into tears
"Will?" She sobbed "vaughn put me down"
vaughn nodded, sydney's eyes were all red and puffy as were his from a night of crying, neither had got any sleep, sydney hadn't eaten coz she hadnt been able to hold anything down, she was still very weak and pale
Vaughn stood sydney up and will threw his arms around sydney holding her tight as he cried, sydney hugged him back and cried while vaughn spoke to jack
"i've missed you so much" he sobbed
"I was so scared when i saw you in the bath tub, it reminded me of danny, all i could think was that two of the most important men in my life were dead" cried sydney
"i'm okay, just a really cool scar" joked will weakly
"i can't believe francie's dead" cried sydney
"but your not, thats the main thing" said will
sydney's knees buckled and she was about to fall in a heap on the floor when vaughnwalked over and caught her just in time
"Lets get you to the hospital" said jack

2 hours later once sydney was in hospital asleep vaughn went to go and see alice
he dialed her number
"Hello?""
"alice its michael, um we need to meet" said vaughn
"ok, do you want to meet at the peir in 10 minutes?" said alice

vaughn walked down the pier to see alice waiting for him
"I lied to you alice" said vaughn
"what?" asked alice
"i dont work for the state department, i work for the cia, i was sydney's handler, there was no rita, sydney did die, but some how she wurvived, i got a call from her after i came home from the cafe, shes alive, she's been in hong kong held captive by people, bad people" said vaughn
"I dont understand" said alice "do you really expect me to believe you?"
"probaly not, but its true, my dad was an agent, and died on a mission, i wanted answers so i became an agent, sydney worked for a black ops devision of the cia but when they killed her fiance she found out they were the enemy and became a double agent for the cia, a terriost group set fire to sydneys house faking her death and holding her captive. i am breaking a hundred federal laws here by telling you this" said vaughn "You cant tell anyone, whether you believe me or not"
"I believe you, i have to go, thankyou for telling me and im glad sydneys okay" said alice kissing vaughns cheek "goodbye michal
"goodbye alice" said vaughn
vaughn was looking at the ocean when this phone rang
"Vaughn speaking" he answered
"Vaughn you need to come here right now" said weiss
"What? whats wrong? is sydney ok?" asked vaughn already running to his car
"She's fine, but she wouldnt leave me alone until i tld you, no sorry ordered you to bring her a burger, lots of fries and a really big chocolate thickshake" said weiss "seriously she's driving me insane, im glad shes alive, but i got in there and she accused me of eating junk food and not bringing her any"
vaughn laughed
"i'll Bring her the junk food as long as she eats the salad i buy as well" said vaughn
vaughn heard weiss relay this back to sydney and sydney complain
"she says deals as long as you bring her ring" said weiss
vaughn smiled
"so you asked her?" said weiss
"yep" said vaughn "and as for the ring its in my pocket, tell syd i'll be there in 15 minutes"











I dont think anyone is reading this, so im just finishing it, its rushed but oh well, theres more to come, but only about five more posts
 
Vaughn walked into sydney's room holding flowers and a bag of take out and some thickshakes, to see Sydney sitting up and looking out the window, she still looked thin, bruised and tired but she was less pale
"hey" said vaughn walking over to her
sydney looked at vaughn and smiled as vaughn handed her the flowers
"hey your self" she smiled
"How are you feeling?" asked vaughn kissing her forehead
"tired, confused and frustrated" said sydney honestly "but also happy"
"well i got you take out as requested, 4 thick shakes, 4 burgers and 4 servings of fries...i thought eric and will may be here" said vaughn puting it all on the table "and a salad for you"
sydney ate some fries and smiled
"thanks" she said
"your welcome, i'm just glad your alive" said vaughn kissing her hand, vaughn then trailed kisses along sydneys jaw whil she tried to eat
"vaughn" she laughed "stop it im eating"
"I dont care i'm just relieved that i can kiss you again" said vaughn
"so i woke up and you were gone, where did you go?" asked sydney
"um, i went to go see alice, to tell her the truth and end it" said vaughn
"did she believe you?" asked sydney
"she said she did, but i'm not sure...anyway she said she wont tell anyone and that she was happy for me...i guess thats one less person to invite to the wedding" said vaughn
sydney nodded as vaughn watched her eat
"what?" laughed sydney
"nothing its just good to see you, i can't believe your here" said vaughn
"when was the last time you ate?" asked sydney
"On the plane" said vaughn
"no you didnt" said sydney
"yeah i did on the plane to hong kong" said vaughn
"Vaughn! that was over 2 days ago" said sydney "Eat a burger"
vaughn smiled accepting the burger she offered him
they both sat in a comfortable silence eating until all that was left was rubbish
"i'm so full" said sydney
vaughn tried to make himself comfortable in the hard plastic chair which was impossible, when sydney patted the bed next to her
"lie with me" she whispered
vaughn sliped off his shoes, moved the table away from the bed and lay down next to sydney, carfull not to get in the way of her drip or wires, and wrapped his arm around sydney protectively
"where am i going to live?" asked sydney suddenly "you said by appartment was destroyed...what am i going to do for clothes and where am i going to live?"
"i want you to live with me" said vaughn "if you want to. and we can go and buy you new clothes"
"you want me to move in with you?" asked sydney looking up at him
"yes, i want you to move in with me" said vaughn
"but is there any room?" asked sydney "you said will's living with you, so i assume he's in the guest room, so where would i sleep?" asked sydney
"With me" said vaughn stating the obvious
"Yes i will move in with you" said sydney kissing vaughn
vaughn smiled, before fumbling in his pocket for something
"Syd, i know you already said yes, but now that you have had some time to think about it and sleep on it you may have changed your mind, Sydney will you marry me?" asked vaughn presenting sydney with a Gold engagement ring with a big white diamond and two smaller emerald's on eaither side
sydney gasped when she saw it
"It was my grandmothers engagement ring" said vaughn "inside are the initals of my grandmother and grandfather Christopher William Vaughn and Mary Jane Vaughn; C.W.V + M.J.V and the initals of my mother and father William Christopher Vaughn and Isabelle Brigid Vaughn; W.C.V + I.B.V and the initals of us Michael Christopher Vaughn and Sydney Anne Vaughn; M.C.V + S.A.V and i got Joey's pizza engraved inside as well"
sydney looked at vaughn with tears in her eyes and whispered "yes i will marry you"
vaughn smiled slipping it on her finger
"its beautiful Vaughn" whispered sydney
vaughn smiled
"as is the wearer" said vaughn "its a good omen in our family, My grandparents were together for 75 years married for 70, My mum and Dad were togehter for 20 years married for 10 and i know we will be together forever"
sydney smiled stroking vaughns face
"i am so lucky to have you" she whispered
"no i'm the lucky one" said vaughn stroking her face, vaughn leaned in and kissed sydney passionately sydney was about to respond when they were interupted
 
Back
Top