here's the long awaited chapter....sorry it took so stinking long.
<span style='font-size:10pt;line-height:100%'>Chapter 4</span>
The sound of a door closing and footsteps coming toward them didn’t even penetrate. All they could hear was their hearts wildly beating, and the blood pounding in their ears. They had found their own world and they were fully intent on exploring every surface. Everything outside of them had been momentarily forgotten. But the voice that broke through the barriers they had built to the outside world had no intentions of letting them forget.
“What are you doing up here? There is no reason for the two of you to be up here, it is a restricted area.”
They slowly broke away, their hesitance giving a clear message. Feeling so full, she feared she would burst; Sydney had to remind herself to breathe. Refusing to make eye contact or answer the man’s question, Sydney kept her head down and looked only at the floor. Vaughn lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes.
As he started in again, the man cleared his throat and asked his question again. Sydney’s eyes grew round with desperation and fear, begging Vaughn without words to do something to save them.
“You’ll be fine,” he barely whispered as he took her hand in his.
“I will only ask you once more. What are you doing up here?” the man demanded.
“Well, I’m Jared Sommers. I just flew in to escort Miss Chase to the party. It’s a little crowded down there, and we needed a bit of privacy if you know what I mean,” he gave a sly grin and a wink.
With Vaughn’s retort, Sydney found herself flushing crimson. She didn’t have the slightest idea as to what had gotten into him. Here she was scared beyond reason, and he was cracking jokes. Tightly, she squeezed his hand and received a gentle, reassuring squeeze in return as well as that brilliant smile she loved seeing.
“We’ll just go back downstairs now,” Vaughn began, pulling Sydney gently to follow him away from the man.
The unexpected gunshot rang out through the hallway, buzzing in Sydney’s ears and knocking them both to the floor. Knocking Vaughn to the floor, anyways. Sydney was drug down with him. Full of confusion, she glanced over at him. All she saw was the blood.
“Jared! Oh, Jared!” She cried as she scrambled over to his side, frantically trying to locate the wound.
The guard looked down at her, “Give up the act, Bristow,” he snarled. “Sloane wants you dead. I have a job to do.”
The man gave an eerie smile as the gun was raised, aimed fixed on Sydney. Sydney heard Vaughn whisper something.
Thinking fast, she replied, "Quoi? Avez-vous des idées?"*
"Donnez un coup de pied...ses jambes. Le faire, Syd."*
With one, swift movement, the man was thrown off balance and began to fall. But not before his finger hit the trigger. His aim was not exactly where he wanted it, but the bullet still found its mark. Searing pain ran through Sydney’s side and knocked her from her sitting position to being almost flat on the floor.
The blood seemed to be flowing steadily. Puddles of it condensed on the carpet, staining it crimson. The pain tearing her apart, Sydney struggled to sit back up. Silent tears streamed down her face as she grimaced and let out a soft moan. Finally, in an upright position, she looked full into the eyes of the man threatening her life. Her head was swimming and she didn’t think she would last much longer. There was only one thing left that she had to do.
“Michael,” she managed to grit out. “I love you.”
“Syd,” she heard him sigh.
All she knew then was painless dark as she subconsciously heard a last gunshot. Then it was black nothingness.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The mechanic beeping enveloped Sydney’s ears as she regained her senses. With her fuzzy vision, it took a few moments for her to realize what her surroundings were. Then all the evening’s events came rushing back to her. She began looking wildly around the room, only then noticing the sleeping form sitting in a chair next to her bed.
Her throat was raw, and it took a few attempts to finally manage a weak whisper.
“Vaughn?” she hoped.
The figure stirred and sat up quickly. “Sydney, are you okay?”
“Dad? What are you doing here? What happened? How did you know to come?”
“When Vaughn realized it was a trap and that you were right--“
“How did he find out by the way?”
“He…talked to your mother. She informed him that it was faulty intel, that those files have no purpose for SD-6. They both concluded that it was a set up. So he contacted me and we came up with a plan to extract you.”
“So what was the plan?”
“Vaughn was suppose to come in, pretend to be Jared Sommers and catch up to you until I could get here. I was going to come, act as your father, break the two of you up and get you to a CIA safe house,” Jack informed her. “Sydney, I’m sorry I was too late.”
“What does that mean? Dad, I’m out-safe. Yes, it will take a little bit for be to be 100% again, but I’ll be fine. And Vaughn is-“
Sydney stopped short at the look on her father’s face. She felt utterly numb. “No,” she whispered. “Tell me he’s alright.”
He just sat there and looked at her. “No. No, Daddy,” she shook her head. “Tell me.”
“Sydney, I’m sorry.”
“No, no, no!” She cried, pressing her hands to her ears, trying to believe that if she didn’t hear it, it wouldn’t be true. It was the only thing she had left to hold onto.
“Sydney, I’m sorry,” Jack repeated. “I followed the guard up, but I didn’t move fast enough. I was too cautious, too afraid that if I did anything rash, you would be killed. I couldn’t wait any longer when I heard the first gunshot. I didn’t know who it was directed to, but I wasn’t going to risk it being one of you. I waited though, until I saw you kick him. Then I came in and shot him from behind. When I got to you, you were unconscious, as was Vaughn-but he was alive. I managed to get you both here, to the hospital. But Sydney…”
“Just tell me. I need to hear it. I don’t want to believe any of this is happening--I can’t believe it!”
The tears were swiftly flowing down her face. No more words were able to come as she helplessly searched her father’s face, looking for the truth. Jack saw there was no alternative to telling her what she needed to know.
“Sydney, Vaughn died last night. That gunshot wound was too extensive. He almost bled to death before I could get the two of you here.”
“Did he say anything?” She managed to croak.
“No, he never regained consciousness. He…” Jack’s words faltered for a moment, “he died with a smile on his face. I believe he was thinking about you. That maybe the angels told him you would be okay when he got to Heaven. He saved your life, Sydney.”
That only managed to increase her guilt. Another man she loved died for her-because of her. Her tears were no longer silent, but were now body racking, unstoppable.
“Daddy,” she cried.
That’s the only words that she needed to say, the only words Jack needed to hear. He stood, and stat down on the edge of the bed beside her. As he cradled her in his arms, she laid her head on his shoulder and wept into it. Rubbing small, reassuring circles in her back, he tried to calm her.
“Shh, Sweetie, it’s okay,” he whispered, trying to soothe her with words that seemed empty.
“It is not…okay! It can’t be okay! He didn’t deserve to die…not for me especially. I’m sick of people dying for me. What makes me more deserving of life then them? I’ve done more evil things in the past year then any of them had done in their entire life. I’ve told countless lies, murdered people, stolen, even betrayed my own country at one time. They died, but I’m still here. Why am I still here? I can’t live with out him, Daddy.” She looked up at him, with red eyes that were still streaming salty tears, searching for an answer. He had none to offer.
Life wasn’t fair, no one had ever said it was. If anyone knew that, certainly Jack Bristow did. Wasn’t he the same person who was asking the exact same questions twenty years ago? He never had found the answers he needed, the answers that satisfied his curiosity. Nothing made sense, and it all got worse when Irina resurfaced.
“I don’t know Sydney,” he truthfully responded after gazing into her watery, brown eyes, so full of hurt. “I wish I could tell you.”
With no conclusions, and everything becoming harder to think about, Sydney laid her head back on Jack’s shoulder. “I love you Daddy,” she said as she closed her sore eyes that ached from crying. She had a strong feeling that it wouldn’t be the last time she would be crying.
“I love you too, Sydney. Remember that I’m always here.”
She raised her head and gave a weak smile. “Thanks. I will.”
Becoming uncomfortable with the emotion that was thick in the room, he returned her sad smile and climbed off the bed. “You need to get some rest. When you’re better, I can take you home.”
“Okay,” she agreed.
With that he left the room, and left her with her haunted thoughts and dreams…of him.
~*~*~Translations as follow in order (FThugs to my friend Rin for these translations):
"What? Do you have any ideas?” (Syd)
”Kick…his legs. Do it, Syd.” (Vaughn; & I learned that there isn't a French verb for kick...so that's just the closest we could get)~*~
Anyways, this stuff is easy for once...I think I can do it on my own. You better run, I'm coming! 