Nocturne's Shadows

A

Avdotya

Cadet
Disclaimer: Alias and its characters are not mine. blah blah.
Summary: Sydney was supposed to be okay after they cured her from the Nocturne. But that wasn’t how things turned out.
Rated: PG-13
Genre: Drama/Angst
Setting: Post-Nocturne in Season 4
A/N:
- To warn you, this is a dark fic.
- This will fic will be several chapters long. I have quite a few done so I will probably post every couple days.

nocturnesshadows.jpg


Nocturne’s Shadows

By Lindsey Webster (Avdotya)
Copyright © 2006


Chapter 1


Shadows lay over the ally. Sydney could hear the rats scurrying as the smell of the dumpster took over her nose, transcending the air like a thick smog of stench. She was used to it though. Missions like these. She waited next to the row of silver garbage cans where the ally bridged onto another one, like the meet protocol instructed. She was here to meet a Russian nationalist for information about a Rambaldi artifact. It had recently been stolen from the DSR, making the CIA nervous. Sydney could feel her gun as she heard the crunching sounds of a candy wrapper being stepped on. She breathed hard and turned around fast to see a man standing in the shadows.

“Dima Polyakov” she spoke plainly. He smiled with a seething look in his eyes. She found him creepy immediately, but kept the task in mind and continued. “What do you know about the stolen artifact?”

“First,” he prompted, waiting for some sort of reward. Sydney swiftly grabbed his arm and twisted it around his back.

“I don’t work like that. Information or injury. Your choice.”

“You know I like a tough woman,” Sydney twisted tighter, “okay, okay! I’ll give you the information. It was stolen for a man named Korsakov. He works for an underground organization, that’s all I know!”

“Come on,” Sydney said forcing his arm into an unnatural position.

“I swear!” She believed him. She knew a coward like him would give up anything he knew at a pinch of pain. Sydney let him go and he immediately scattered a few yards from her into the darkest shadows. He whispered something to her, but she couldn't hear what he had said. She stared at him, realizing there was something different about the setting, as if it was darker than it had been and the lights had grown crimson in colour.

“Nocturne...” he whispered again and suddenly something warm began trickling down her face. She touched her finger tips to her forehead and realized she was bleeding, fast and heavy. His eyes flashed red at her as they ensnared her in his sharp glare. She stopped breathing. The air wouldn't go into her lungs anymore - he was choking her.

Aghastedly, Sydney woke up choking for air as the dark ally faded into her bedroom. She sighed and immediately flopped back down on her bed, glancing over at her night table. The alarm clock read 5:39am with its ruby glow. She swore it had been 5:39am for hours now. The time just wouldn't move.

Discouraged, Sydney got up and moved towards the kitchen. Tea would be comforting, she thought. She was growing tired of the nightly routine she had acquired since she had recovered from the drug, Nocturne. Even when she didn’t have the nightmares, she couldn’t sleep, or she’d constantly wake up. Too many times the alarm clock would seem to read the same time for hours.

The shrill sound of the kettle coming to a boil snapped Sydney out of her foggy state. She absently began to pour the hot liquid into her mug, but as she did, some of it spilled onto her hand.

“Damn it!” She yelled as it burned her hand. She felt like screaming out of frustration as she immediately ran her hand under luke-warm water. The annoyance of every night was beginning to fizzle her down. Supposedly she was cured of the drug, but it wouldn’t leave her alone. She let out a hard sigh as she gave up on tea and flopped down on the couch. Staring at mindless television all night was better than watching her alarm-clock slowly pass each minute like an eternity.

***
"Hey," Vaughn said warmly as Sydney passed his desk. She flashed him a smile - one that was covering up the insecurities she'd felt since she had been affected by the drug. What she did to him, what she did to her father, made her stomach churn. "Syd, I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you," he said leading her towards a secluded corner of APO.

"What is it?" She asked with slight concern.

"Its you. Are you okay? You've been acting..." he searched for the right words, "distant lately."

"I'm fine," she replied trying to feign coolness.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about,” he replied indicatively, “you’ve been closed off lately, like your being right now.”

“Vaughn, I am not being closed off. There is nothing wrong. How can I tell you there is something wrong when there isn’t?!” she exclaimed with frustration as she tried to keep her voice down.

“You’ve been acting this way since what happened with Nocturne. I know you feel bad about what you did, but you were drugged, Sydney, it wasn't your fault” he replied with determination. She stared hard at him and he calmed his voice. The last thing he wanted to do was upset her more, push her farther away. “Syd, I can tell when you’re not okay. And you can tell me. You can talk to me.”

Sydney was about to look down in defeat as she noticed her father coming towards them.

“There is a meeting in the briefing room now,” Jack reported with haste before heading away from them to tell the others.

Sydney sighed and walked towards the briefing room, not looking once at Vaughn, who seated himself next to her in the briefing room as Sloane stood in front of the screen, which featured surveillance footage of a man neither of them recognized.

"Luri Vlachko," Sloane stated with significance. "He's known to have ties with various Russian nationalist organizations - all of which deal in arms claiming to fight for the good of their country.

"Are these the same groups that orchestrated the bombings in Stalingrad in 2000?” Dixon enquired.

Sloane replied with a simple nod and continued, “more recently he has been linked to The Guildiya, a terrorist organization that has recently emerged. They are suspected of being responsible for a bombing in Moscow last night. An important diplomat was killed. Langley has asked us to look into it...”

Sydney’s mind wandered as Sloane went on. She vaguely remembered her dream from last night. Even though the man in the photo was not the man in her dream, there was nonetheless something that seemed to echo off her dream. Sydney’s eyes glazed over as her mind boggled over this. All of a sudden, she saw a pool of crimson forming on the table in front of her. She eyed it as it grew, each droplet of blood falling from her face. She was bleeding. She was bleeding! she thought in a panic as she pressed her hand to her forehead wound. Blood was everywhere

“Sydney?” Sloane inquired with elements of concern tracing through his voice.

She immediately looked at him, stared at him with wide eyes. All of a sudden, she felt an arm brace her shoulder, her head whipping around towards it. It was Vaughn, he was saying something to her but she couldn’t hear it. She was having a nightmare, she knew it must be that, but she couldn’t wake up. Abruptly, she fell to the floor, and Vaughn dashed to her side, as everyone else in the room crowded around with fear for her.

“Syd!” Vaughn yelled, trying to wake her. “Get a medic!”

1/?
 
Thanks AgentNadiaSantos

Chapter 2

Sydney was rushed to the APO infirmary where Dr. Jain immediately began checking her vital signs.

“What’s wrong with her?” Jack insisted on knowing as he pushed his way towards his daughter’s side, followed by Vaughn and Nadia.

“I don’t know yet. You need to give me some space.” Dr. Jain replied with a calm urgency as he had Sydney hooked up to the monitors. They could hear the machine beep rapidly as Sydney’s heart propelled into a tachycardia. The nurse that worked for APO quickly shooed them out of the room as they eyed her with a worried frustration. All of them crowded the windowed door to the room watching as the doctor and nurse rushed around attending to Sydney.

“She’s seizing!” Vaughn could hear through the door, “...15mg of Dilantin...” They watched as the nurse injected a liquid into the vein in Sydney’s forearm. She continued convulsing as the doctor and nurse worked rapidly on trying to stabilize her. Vaughn felt useless as he, Jack and Nadia continued to stand there, their eyes wide with worry, too dumbfounded to even talk to each other.

After what seemed like a relentless amount of time, they saw as the doctor walked towards them.

“What’s happening?” Vaughn interjected immediately, as his forehead crinkled with worry lines.

“Sydney went into convulsions which we eventually were able to stop with medication. We need to run some tests on her to understand why this happened. But for now she is stable,” the doctor explained with a warming calmness about him.

“She’s unconscious still?” Nadia inquired, as she looked past the doctor at Sydney, who was lying motionless in the bed.

“Yes. But as I said, she is stable for now. Blood work is being run and she is about to go for a CT scan.”

“Thank you,” Jack replied as the doctor walked back into the room, shutting the door behind him, leaving them there to give each other a mutual look of worried relief.

***
Sloane gently pushed open the door to Sydney’s room in the infirmary to find Vaughn devotedly sitting by her side, her hand in his.

“Its been a long night. You should get some rest,” Sloane insisted.

“I’m not leaving her side.” Vaughn stated plainly without looking away from Sydney.

“I had to task Jack and Nadia to a reconnaissance mission, along with Agent Weiss and Dixon. It was my intent to send you, but I thought it counterintuitive given the situation” Vaughn wasn’t sure what Sloane was doing down here, but his eyes were fixated on his girlfriend lying there unconscious. He cared little about missions right now. “I talked to the doctor. He said she is improving,” Sloane started again.

Vaughn nodded his head lightly, “Yeah.”

“Why don’t you get some coffee at least.” Vaughn looked at him and then back at Sydney. He stared at her for a moment and then decided coffee would help him stay alert by her side.

“I’ll be back a few minutes,” Vaughn said, walking out of the room. Sloane made his way to the chair next to her bed. He grazed his hand over her hair lightly.

“Vau...” Sydney faintly called out as she started to wake up. The light was bright on her eyes as she slowly opened them. Her head ached with a piercing pain. “Vaughn?” she asked as she saw a dark blurry figure beside her. She blinked hard and opened her eyes to find her sight more clear.

“Sloane?” she said hard and cold, sitting up abruptly.

“Sydney,” he said, resting his hand gently on her shoulder, “How are you feeling?”

Sydney glared at him ardently for a moment but loosened up. He was on their side, she reminded herself, as hard as it was to fathom sometimes.

“Where’s Vaughn?” she asked, peering towards to door.

“He’s not here right now. Sydney lie down. You’ve had quite the ordeal,” he urged with an utter calmness in his voice.

“Where is he then?”

“Shhh....” Sloane said trying to soothe her, as his hand glided over her back. She felt shivers down her spine and her stomach crawled with disgust.

“Don’t touch me,” she told him with an harsh look in her eyes.

“Why don’t you get some rest,” he spoke softly, a gentle smile on his face. Then he got up and quietly left the room, as Sydney eyed him with intense bother. After he disappeared through the door, she lay back down and quickly fell into a drowsy state.

After a few moments of light sleep, Sydney began to feel queasy. Her head was spinning like a top that wasn’t quite steady. She closed her eyes tightly for a few minutes, or maybe longer. When she opened them, the room was dark. She didn’t know if she had fallen asleep for awhile or not.

She got out of bed - slowly though, as the dizziness set in quickly. She took one step at a time as she tried to steady herself. She noticed she was only in a hospital gown as her body felt the cold, and her bare feet touched the cool floor. After a few steps, she noticed the floor felt wet on her feet. She couldn’t tell what it was by the darkness of the room, so she stumbled around looking for the light switch.

Before she could find it, she banged into some sort of equipment that had a long metal rod sticking out. It scratched her arm, and as she held it up the thin strip of light coming from the door, she noticed a trickle of blood. She stared at it as it began to flow heavier out of the pallid skin on her arm. She felt entranced by it and she couldn’t break away eye contact. Her eyes were ensnaring her in the scarlet blood.

But after a moment, she realized it wasn’t hers, it was dripping onto her arm from the ceiling. She suddenly felt shaky and tumbled to the floor which smelled of blood. Sydney rolled over onto her back, her long hair spread out across the puddle of blood. She reached up her hand towards the light as it began to grow. The door was opening and all of a sudden a man was standing over her.

“Nocturne...” he whispered.

The room went black and ice cold.
 
Thanks :smiley:

Chapter 3

"Agent Bristow," the nurse said as she saw Sydney starting to wake up, "You fell out of bed while you were asleep so I put up the bedrails. There's bruising on your hips, but otherwise you're fine."

Sydney looked around the room confused. The ceiling wasn't leaking and the floor was dry. Perhaps it should have been obvious that it was another nightmare, but it was exceptionally vivid that even now it made her stomach turn in knots.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Jain asked as he walked into the room.

"Fine. I want to go home." Sydney replied adamantly.

"We've finished with the test results. They've indicated nothing is wrong with you. My assumption is that what happened was a reaction to the medications you were taking as part of your recovery from Nocturne. I've discontinued the meds as Nocturne no longer appears to be in your system."

"So-"

"Yes, you can go home. But I feel it is necessary for you to rest for a few days before coming back to work." Sydney nodded and proceeded to get dressed and out of there. She hated passively lying in a hospital bed while the world around her continued to need her help.

***

Sydney walked into her apartment for the first time in a couple days. Nadia was still at work, so the place was empty. She really would much rather have just gone into work but her father wouldn't allow that to happen. She fought with him for a few minutes over it, but gave in as his stubbornness surpassed her own on this occasion.

Walking towards her bedroom, Sydney realized how much she missed her own bed as she flopped down on it. Sighing deeply, she noted how tired she was. In fact she was a little dizzy too, the room slowly rotating as she lay on her back in the comfortable bed. Sydney curled up in it, kicking off her shoes and pulling the comforter over her body and up to her shoulders. Her mind slowly drifted off into a dozing state, but she couldn't quite fall asleep. Instead she stared at the wall, though her eyes blurred and her lids heavy.

After an hour, Sydney was shaken out of her drowsy state by the sharp ringing of the phone. She quickly grabbed the black cordless phone by her bed, not even getting up.

"Hello?" she asked, a slight fatigue in her voice.

"Syd, its me," Nadia said, her voice bright, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. Tired." Sydney said, her own voice dull in comparison to Nadia's.

"Do you want me to bring you anything to eat?"

"No, I really have no appetite right now," Sydney said feeling bland.

"Are you sure you're okay? I can come home if -"

"Seriously, I'm fine," Sydney insisted.

"Alright. I'll see you when I get home then," Nadia said, believing Sydney, who was always quite strong and resilient.

Sydney quickly hung up the phone and got out of bed. She figured a shower might be refreshing, so she stripped off her clothing and turned on the water. The water was hot as she got in, soothing the aching in her body as she stood against the stream. She didn't know why she was so tired or achy. Perhaps she still wasn't well from what happened.

Leaning against the tiled wall of the shower, she took a deep breath. A few tears came out. She was baffled by them. She just felt so... she didn't even know. It was like everything had gone dark after she was infected with Nocturne. Her father and Vaughn insisted they didn't blame her for almost killing them, but it still shook her deep to the bone - the idea of what she did, how psychotic she had become. She wished she couldn't remember it but everything played back vividly in her mind everyday.

Sydney turned the water on hotter letting her skin feel the intense but soothing heat. She stood there for awhile, just letting herself feel the hot water as it drowned out her thoughts.

Finally Sydney got out of the shower and wrapped herself up in a warm and cozy housecoat. As she walked to the living room, the room spinned a little. As the dizziness got worse, she found her way to the couch and lay down. She closed her eyes quickly, letting the dizziness spin itself out. Sydney soon fell asleep.

A vivid dream began to spark through her mind. She was walking down the same alley as before. It was well shadowed as rats grew into gigantic figures of darkness against the light on the red brick wall. She continued to make her way over to the row of silver garbage cans, careful of each step.

Suddenly a black figure appeared behind her. She spun around quickly, her gun drawn. He pushed her down and her head splashed hard against a dirty puddle. Looking at him as she held her down, she could see the violent sparks in his eyes. It was Vlachko, the man from their briefing the other day. She struggled but soon stopped as he began to speak.

“You know the truth,” he spoke in a low reverberating tone. She eyed him widely. “You know.”

“What do I know?” Sydney yelled at him as his grasp pained her shoulder.

“You know its him.”

“Who?”

“Him...” the man pointed to someone standing under the orange light that partially illuminated the alley. She recognized him.

The phone rang, waking her up abruptly. She answered it quickly only to find dead air on the other end. Annoyed she flopped back down on the couch. Her thoughts quickly drifted to the dream she had. As crazy as she knew it was, she felt like it was telling her something. She however pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as the door opened to reveal Nadia.

“Hey Syd, I brought dinner,” she said cheerfully, as Eric followed her in, "Its from that Japanese place on the corner."

Sydney smiled, "I'll grab some plates. So how was work? Did you guys get any more intel on Vlachko?"

"Yeah," Eric started.

"But," Nadia said cutting in with a smile, "You're supposed to be resting."

"You sound like Vaughn," Sydney replied rolling her eyes. The three of them continued to eat their food, whilst talking and laughing, for the rest of the evening.

"I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go to bed." Sydney said as the clock on the microwave read 9:36pm with its green glow.

"I guess I should get going," Weiss said as Nadia kissed him on the cheek goodbye.

"Night" Sydney waved. She went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. As she rest her head on the pillow, her mind started to buzz with images of Vaughn and her gun pointed at him.

"You need to give me the gun, all right?" Vaughn negotiated.

"I said stop!" Sydney desperately yelled in return.

"Just give me the gun... Sydney, don't do this."

Sydney's mind was relentless. She could vividly remember everything that night. Her father unconscious. Vaughn trying to get her to give up the gun. The words she said to him. She thought he was lying. She couldn't believe what he was saying, see that he was real, genuine, not there to betray her. Her mind was a mess that night and it would continue to haunt her.

"Sydney don't do this... No!"

He took out the bullets. Her father took out the bullets. She would have killed him. She pulled the trigger and shot at him. If there were bullets... her mind continued to remind her, if there would bullets... He'd be dead.

Sydney's eyes opened wide as a tear slid down her cheek.

He'd be dead.
 
Thanks guys :smiley:

Chapter 3

"Agent Bristow," the nurse said as she saw Sydney starting to wake up, "You fell out of bed while you were asleep so I put up the bedrails. There's bruising on your hips, but otherwise you're fine."

Sydney looked around the room confused. The ceiling wasn't leaking and the floor was dry. Perhaps it should have been obvious that it was another nightmare, but it was exceptionally vivid that even now it made her stomach turn in knots.

"How are you feeling?" Dr. Jain asked as he walked into the room.

"Fine. I want to go home." Sydney replied adamantly.

"We've finished with the test results. They've indicated nothing is wrong with you. My assumption is that what happened was a reaction to the medications you were taking as part of your recovery from Nocturne. I've discontinued the meds as Nocturne no longer appears to be in your system."

"So-"

"Yes, you can go home. But I feel it is necessary for you to rest for a few days before coming back to work." Sydney nodded and proceeded to get dressed and out of there. She hated passively lying in a hospital bed while the world around her continued to need her help.

***

Sydney walked into her apartment for the first time in a couple days. Nadia was still at work, so the place was empty. She really would much rather have just gone into work but her father wouldn't allow that to happen. She fought with him for a few minutes over it, but gave in as his stubbornness surpassed her own on this occasion.

Walking towards her bedroom, Sydney realized how much she missed her own bed as she flopped down on it. Sighing deeply, she noted how tired she was. In fact she was a little dizzy too, the room slowly rotating as she lay on her back in the comfortable bed. Sydney curled up in it, kicking off her shoes and pulling the comforter over her body and up to her shoulders. Her mind slowly drifted off into a dozing state, but she couldn't quite fall asleep. Instead she stared at the wall, though her eyes blurred and her lids heavy.

After an hour, Sydney was shaken out of her drowsy state by the sharp ringing of the phone. She quickly grabbed the black cordless phone by her bed, not even getting up.

"Hello?" she asked, a slight fatigue in her voice.

"Syd, its me," Nadia said, her voice bright, "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright. Tired." Sydney said, her own voice dull in comparison to Nadia's.

"Do you want me to bring you anything to eat?"

"No, I really have no appetite right now," Sydney said feeling bland.

"Are you sure you're okay? I can come home if -"

"Seriously, I'm fine," Sydney insisted.

"Alright. I'll see you when I get home then," Nadia said, believing Sydney, who was always quite strong and resilient.

Sydney quickly hung up the phone and got out of bed. She figured a shower might be refreshing, so she stripped off her clothing and turned on the water. The water was hot as she got in, soothing the aching in her body as she stood against the stream. She didn't know why she was so tired or achy. Perhaps she still wasn't well from what happened.

Leaning against the tiled wall of the shower, she took a deep breath. A few tears came out. She was baffled by them. She just felt so... she didn't even know. It was like everything had gone dark after she was infected with Nocturne. Her father and Vaughn insisted they didn't blame her for almost killing them, but it still shook her deep to the bone - the idea of what she did, how psychotic she had become. She wished she couldn't remember it but everything played back vividly in her mind everyday.

Sydney turned the water on hotter letting her skin feel the intense but soothing heat. She stood there for awhile, just letting herself feel the hot water as it drowned out her thoughts.

Finally Sydney got out of the shower and wrapped herself up in a warm and cozy housecoat. As she walked to the living room, the room spinned a little. As the dizziness got worse, she found her way to the couch and lay down. She closed her eyes quickly, letting the dizziness spin itself out. Sydney soon fell asleep.

A vivid dream began to spark through her mind. She was walking down the same alley as before. It was well shadowed as rats grew into gigantic figures of darkness against the light on the red brick wall. She continued to make her way over to the row of silver garbage cans, careful of each step.

Suddenly a black figure appeared behind her. She spun around quickly, her gun drawn. He pushed her down and her head splashed hard against a dirty puddle. Looking at him as she held her down, she could see the violent sparks in his eyes. It was Vlachko, the man from their briefing the other day. She struggled but soon stopped as he began to speak.

“You know the truth,” he spoke in a low reverberating tone. She eyed him widely. “You know.”

“What do I know?” Sydney yelled at him as his grasp pained her shoulder.

“You know its him.”

“Who?”

“Him...” the man pointed to someone standing under the orange light that partially illuminated the alley. She recognized him.

The phone rang, waking her up abruptly. She answered it quickly only to find dead air on the other end. Annoyed she flopped back down on the couch. Her thoughts quickly drifted to the dream she had. As crazy as she knew it was, she felt like it was telling her something. She however pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as the door opened to reveal Nadia.

“Hey Syd, I brought dinner,” she said cheerfully, as Eric followed her in, "Its from that Japanese place on the corner."

Sydney smiled, "I'll grab some plates. So how was work? Did you guys get any more intel on Vlachko?"

"Yeah," Eric started.

"But," Nadia said cutting in with a smile, "You're supposed to be resting."

"You sound like Vaughn," Sydney replied rolling her eyes. The three of them continued to eat their food, whilst talking and laughing, for the rest of the evening.

"I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go to bed." Sydney said as the clock on the microwave read 9:36pm with its green glow.

"I guess I should get going," Weiss said as Nadia kissed him on the cheek goodbye.

"Night" Sydney waved. She went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her. As she rest her head on the pillow, her mind started to buzz with images of Vaughn and her gun pointed at him.

"You need to give me the gun, all right?" Vaughn negotiated.

"I said stop!" Sydney desperately yelled in return.

"Just give me the gun... Sydney, don't do this."

Sydney's mind was relentless. She could vividly remember everything that night. Her father unconscious. Vaughn trying to get her to give up the gun. The words she said to him. She thought he was lying. She couldn't believe what he was saying, see that he was real, genuine, not there to betray her. Her mind was a mess that night and it would continue to haunt her.

"Sydney don't do this... No!"

He took out the bullets. Her father took out the bullets. She would have killed him. She pulled the trigger and shot at him. If there were bullets... her mind continued to remind her, if there would bullets... He'd be dead.

Sydney's eyes opened wide as a tear slid down her cheek.

He'd be dead.
 
hey lindsey its elle SydnVaughn4eva 2 ova at sd-1 yeah im still in the process of getting my nmae changed admin here still havent replied to my pm

anyways ive already read this ova at sd-1 but still you're doing a great job. oh and dont worry bout the lacl of readers new membrs arent usually given a fair go which isnt really fair i knw but it will get better im talking from experience but the responses to myy fics re getting hugely better.

:throb: always
~elle


hey lindsey its elle SydnVaughn4eva 2 ova at sd-1 yeah im still in the process of getting my nmae changed admin here still havent replied to my pm

anyways ive already read this ova at sd-1 but still you're doing a great job. oh and dont worry bout the lacl of readers new membrs arent usually given a fair go which isnt really fair i knw but it will get better im talking from experience but the responses to myy fics re getting hugely better.

:throb: always
~elle
 
I've fallen a bit behind on my updates so here's 2 chapters to make up for it

Chapter 4

Sydney opened her eyes, her head pounding with a dull pain in the left side. The clock glowed 9:39am in crimson numbers. She struggled to get out of bed, her sheets twisted around her after a night of tossing and turning.

She could hear her cell phone starting to ring, so immediately she got up and grabbed it off her dresser. It was Vaughn.

Sydney answered it with a weary smile on her face, hoping that he wasn't phoning just to express his worry over her health.

"Hey," she said brightly.

"Syd, hey," Vaughn greeted her, a warm smile on his face. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I feel fine. I really should come back to work."

"Syd, the doctor told you to rest for a few-"

"Vaughn," she interrupted, "I really just need to come back to work. You have no idea how boring it is around the house." It was entirely the truth, she thought.

"Jack is not going to be happy if you show up for work," Vaughn stated seriously. Jack had already instructed Vaughn to make sure Sydney stayed home.

"When has that ever stopped me?" Sydney replied with a smile. "I'll see you soon."

"Syd-" Vaughn tried to interject, but she hung up before he could speak.

Sydney decided to screw sitting around and letting her thought control her day. She quickly had a shower and got ready for work. Besides, she wanted to know more about this case they were working on. Something about it seemed striking to her even though she didn't quite know what yet.

***

Walking into APO after being away for several days was a refreshing breath for her. This was exactly what she needed, Sydney thought. She saw that everyone was in the briefing room so she quietly went in and took a seat at the end of the table, everyone glancing over at her with their surprised looks. Jack had a displeased expression on his face, and after looking at her briefly, he quickly moved his eyes over to Vaughn with a glaring look. Catching his glance, Vaughn immediately looked away and met Sydney's eyes with a warm smile.

"Sydney," Sloane started with a radiant smile on his face, "How nice of you to join us." Sydney simply nodded in return. Sloane flashed her a smile and continued, "We were just discussing the intel on The Guildiya. It seems that Vlachko has orchestrated an arms deal between them and another terrorist faction. The deal is to go down in 39 hours at a warehouse in Moscow."

"Do we know more about the leader of this organization?" Sydney asked. She felt like there was something they weren't telling her. Something more she had to know.

"No. We haven't managed to get any intel on their leader yet. Our only link to them is Luri Vlachko," Jack stated factually.

“Well there has to be more intel than that. We need to learn more about their leader,” Sydney said impassionedly.

“What do you want me to say? There is no intel at the moment,” Jack replied with a callousness to his voice.

“Well, I just think its something we need to look into more,” Sydney stubbornly asserted.

“Sydney-” Jack started with a hard irritation in his voice.

“We’ll get what info we can,” Sloane continued, cutting off Sydney and Jack. “Dixon, you’ll head up the team to Moscow. This is a reconnaissance mission only. We need to gather as much info as we can on The Guildiya before we make our move. Vaughn, Weiss, Nadia, go with Dixon to Moscow. The jet leaves in an hour.”

“I’m going with them,” Sydney spoke adamantly.

“Sydney, you’re not going on any missions until Dr. Jain approves your field status,” Sloane informed.

“Then I’ll get his approval right now,” Sydney replied wilfully as she quickly got up and headed for the infirmary before anyone could protest. However, Jack quickly followed her, catching up with her at the elevator.

“Sydney, this is not a good idea.” Jack stated inexorably.

“Dad, I’m going.”

“Why is this so important to you. You haven’t even been around while we’ve been investigating The Guildiya.”

“It just is,” she replied with a hard tone.

“That’s not an explanation,” Jack replied with insistent irritation, not understanding why it was so important to her.

“Dad, you can’t control me. I’m going as soon as I get Dr. Jain’s approval.” It was important to her, only she didn’t know why. But she wasn’t going to let anyone stop her. It was ridiculous to even assert that she was incapable of this mission, Sydney thought.

“Sydney-”

“Dad, no! I’m going.” She stated unbreakably in a harsh tone. There was just something about this. She kept having recurring dreams about it, about the leader of The Guildiya. Her mind was telling her there was something more to it, something she herself had to find out. She couldn’t trust anyone else to do it for her.

The second the elevator opened she got on. Jack caught the door and pushed his way onto the elevator, his eyes filled with an intense relentlessness. Sydney sighed as he stood next to her, glaring forward. His eyes didn’t even need to meet hers for her to know exactly the look they held.

“You’re not going to stop me.” She stated plainly, her face unyielding.

“I hardly think the doctor is going to approve your field status.” Jack replied confidently. They both fell silent with great tension. There was nothing left to say until they saw Dr. Jain.

As soon as the elevator opened, Sydney swiftly made her way out of it, walking briskly towards the doctor’s office. Jack followed her adamantly as the tension of the elevator followed them.

Sydney knocked on the door as Jack hovered behind her, a glare in his eyes. Dr. Jain opened to door with a warm smile on his face, completely unaware of the tension that ensued between his two guests.

"Agents Bristow, how can I help you?" He asked.

"I need you to approve me for field duty," Sydney politely stated.

"Agent Bristow, I really think its unwise of you to go back in the field this soon."

"I agree," Jack said stubbornly.

"I'm fine, really," Sydney said, continuing her politeness, as she ignored her father.

"Agent Bristow, I'm sorry. I really can't do that," the doctor replied

"But I-" Sydney started.

"You've only been out of the infirmary a day. I still need you to come in in a few days for a check up to make sure you're alright. Until then, I cannot approve you for active duty," The doctor smiled regretfully at Sydney.

Sighing, Sydney replied "fine," and walked away.

"Thank you," Jack said to Dr. Jain, then following Sydney back to the elevator, he began to speak, "I think he's right, Sydney."

"No doubt you think that," she shot back at him. Jack sighed, and silence ensued. As soon as the elevator opened at APO's main floor, Sydney jetted out of it and towards her desk to grab her purse.

"Leaving?" Jack asked.

"I might as well. You won't let me do anything here, as if I'm some kind of child."

"Sydney-"

"Save it," she said walking past him to the door. He stood there and watched her leave. He couldn't help but feel at least a little satisfaction in succeeding to keep her off the mission, but at the same time, he didn't want to anger her so much. She was stubborn though. It wasn't hard to cross her path if you went against something she wanted.

Sydney walked towards her car, pressing the button on her key chain to unlock it. As soon as she sat down at the steering wheel, she immediately regretted how harsh she'd been with her father. He deserved better than her, she thought. For a moment she just stared straight ahead, not sure how to feel, except to feel guilty.

Suddenly she saw someone staring at her from the far corner of the parkade. Her heart pounded as her eyes focused in on him. His figure was blurry though, she couldn’t make it out. Out of no where, he disappeared.

Sydney ran out of the car after the man, who had been in a corner with no exits. She searched the area and kept an eye on the only exits in the parkade. But he was gone. Vanished.

Chapter 5

Sydney quickly made her way back up to APO. She found her father in his office.

“Dad,” Sydney started, out of breath, “There was someone in the parkade.”

“Who?” He asked unworried.

“I don’t know, but I saw someone there, he, or she maybe, was in the corner and suddenly gone.” Sydney felt confused. She still didn’t know how the person had escaped from her search.

“Sydney, any one of our employees could have been down there. What makes you think it was an intruder, especially with all our security measures?” Jack asked, unsure of Sydney’s concerns.

“Dad, I just,” she started, not really knowing what to say. “I don’t think it was one of our own.”

“Fine, I’ll have Marshall go through the security footage. Alert Sloane immediately. If someone is here, we’ll have to go in lockdown.” Jack commanded his daughter. They both quickly went into action and Sloane ordered an immediate lockdown of the facilities.

***

“Marshall, have you found anything?” Jack inquired after 30 minutes of searching.

“So far, I’ve gone over everything and um, nada. Oh, uh, that means nothing in Español,” Marshall replied, emphasizing Español. Jack gave him the look.

“Check it again,” Jack ordered, and briskly walked towards Sydney. “Are you sure you saw someone? There’s nothing on the surveillance footage, and we’ve searched the premises.”

“Dad, I saw someone. Maybe they looped the feed,” Sydney replied adamantly.

“Sydney, Marshall has already checked for that. There’s no one there.”

“You asked him to check it again. Obviously you believe there is something to be found.”

“I merely did that as a precaution. But honestly, I don’t think there is anything on that footage.” Jack paused for a moment, softening his tone, “Sydney, you’re tired. You need some rest. Go home as soon as lockdown has been lifted and get some rest.”

“Dad, there’s something there. I’m not crazy,” she replied desperately.

“I never said you were. You’re tired. I can see it in your eyes.” Jack put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. Sydney took a deep breath and walked towards Marshall.

“Nothing?” She asked him in disbelief.

“Syd, if there was something here, I would have found it. Marshall’s your man, I wouldn’t let you down,” Marshall answered, his apologetic eyes sympathetic to her plight. Her eyes met the floor in defeat and she walked towards her desk, sitting down with exhaustion.

“Syd,” Vaughn said, resting his hands on her shoulders, “Sloane’s lifting the lockdown. Do you want me to give you a ride home. I could ask for the rest of the day off and we could just go hang out at your apartment.” Sydney remained silent. “In bed perhaps,” Vaughn said in an attempt to make her smile. She looked at him, her eyes sad and tired.

“I saw something and no one believes me, not even you, Vaughn.”

“Syd, I don’t know what to say. I want to believe you, but there is insurmountable evidence going against what you claim. You’re tired. Maybe your mind was playing tricks on you.”

“Maybe,” she said in defeat, looking and the floor. “Let’s go home.”

***

Sydney sat up in bed with the case file they were currently working on laid out in front of her. She held up the picture of Vlachko, eyeing it carefully for anything remarkable. There really wasn't anything in that picture to be found, but Sydney remained stubborn in her pursuit of the smallest useable detail.

Vaughn walked into the room briskly, looking around, "Have you seen my cell phone?" he asked, "I thought I left it on the kitchen table."

"On the dresser. I moved it when I was cleaning up," Sydney unemotionally replied without moving her eyes from the work in front of her.

"Syd, what are you hoping to find on this case?" Vaughn asked with a weary curiosity.

"I don't know. I just think we're missing something," she eyed the picture closer. "Look, what do you make this out to be?" She pointed to a dark figure in the far corner of the picture.

"Syd, its a blurred figure in the background of a picture. We can't be sure its anything. It could be a random person walking down the street." Vaughn replied with skepticism. Sydney sighed and put down the photo. She sifted through the pile of papers to find another photo, this time of Luri Vlachko and another man whose back was turned to the camera.

“If only we could figure out who this man was,” she said discouraged.

“Syd, there is no way to ID the man in that photo. Look, why don’t you get some rest. Its been a long day.”

“Just let me do this Vaughn,” She said with irritation.

“Syd, you’re being irrational here. There is nothing more to be found in that case file that we don’t already know,” he said with great frustration. She gave him a cold look of fury.

“I know,” she started with emphasis, “there is something here.”

“Sydney, its late. I want to go to bed. You can work on this tomorrow.”

Her tone of voice went onerous, “This is important Vaughn. And yet again, you don’t even believe me. Just like today.”

“Sydney, that’s not fair,” he exclaimed “How can you expect me to believe you when there is so much evidence against you? I tried to, I really did. But there was nothing to support your claim.”

“Its called faith, Vaughn,” she replied in a harsh low tone, “This is just... not even surprising.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” he yelled.

“You not having faith in me. It wouldn’t be the first time!”

“How have I not had faith in you before?!”

“Lauren,” she said, her tone of voice going dead.

“Sydney, I thought you were dead. I had to move on. I thought we were past this,” he pleaded to her with frustration.

“Its just...” she started as she forced the tears to stay away, “I’m just waiting for the betrayal.”

“Sydney,” Vaughn paused taking in a gasp and slowly letting it out. He went and move towards the bed, sitting on the edge of it next to her. “What you said before when you were under the influence of Nocturne, you said you didn’t mean it. Are you saying that was a lie?”

Sydney immediately looked down, not wanting to meet eye contact with those green eyes that were staring at her with love and anger. Meeting those eyes would be too painful, she thought.

“Sydney?”

She took in a long deep breath and held it in momentarily. She felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t like it there, she shied away from it.

“Sydney, what is it?” he asked as she moved away from his touch, “Are you angry with me?” His eyes stared straight at her with loving concern. But she continued to avert him. “Talk to me, please.”

“Its late. Why don’t we just go to bed,” she said finally with a gapingly tired tone, her face reading the hurt and pain and confusion in her eyes.

Vaughn stared at her for a moment, her own eyes staring past him towards the floor. He sighed and gave in.

“Alright.”

***

It was like climbing up a mountain, she thought as she made her way up the unlit staircase that ascended up the side of the apartment building. Finally, as she laboured heavy for her breath, she made it up the fire escape to the roof. The moon cast an eerie glow on the top of the six story apartment building.

Sydney walked towards the other end seeing her contact waiting for her there. His face was lit up by the light of the moon. His expression was cold, his eyes piercing.

He spoke in low tones. “Sydney Bristow.”

“Why did you call me here. You know I can’t have the CIA know I am meeting you,” she replied seriously.

“Believe me, you’ll find this worth your while. Do you have what I asked for?”

Sydney quickly handed him a suitcase. He opened it as his eyes grew wide with excitement at the sight. He smiled with a creepy grin and breathed in the allure of it. After a moment he closed it and looked at her, his face returning back to its cold posture.

He handed her a large envelope. She quickly opened it with curiosity and found pictures inside. Taking them out, she noticed that one of them was of Vlachko and the man with his back towards the camera. She quickly flipped to the next photo, the same one at a different angle. The man was clearly shown. She realized she knew him. Her eyes grew wide with fury at the sight. She looked back at her contact and he smiled.

“I told you it would be worth it. Of course, when he sent me here, he told me you could never leave knowing the truth.”

“What are you talking about. Who sent you here?” Sydney asked with confusion.

“The man in the photos, the man you knew, the man you never quite trusted, the man that goes by the alias Korsakov”

“The head of The Guildiya,” Sydney said, her eyes growing wide. Suddenly she heard a loud bang and fell to the ground. She had been shot. Blood was pooling all around her. She started gasping for breath.

“I told you. You couldn’t leave here knowing the truth.”

Everything went black as she suffered for her last breath. Suddenly her eyes opened again, this time to find the darkness of her own bedroom with a contrasting glow of red coming from her alarm clock. 5:56am. Sydney sighed hard, tears forming in her eyes. Another nightmare to beat down on her.
 
thanks guys :smiley:

Another couple of chapters. Don't expect updates this plentiful forever tho.

Chapter 6

Sydney lay awake as the clock slowly changed from 5:56am to 6:30am. Her mind had grown dull and her eyes simply stared ahead at the wall. It was a numbness that grew alongside her early morning sleeplessness. It was finally at half past six that she gave up and got up, careful not to wake Vaughn who slept peacefully in the bed next to her.

Her body was stiff as she arose, each muscle drained as the fatigue grew more evident with each step. She wasn't quite sure why she felt so tired. The sleeping problems alone, which she'd had before, didn't seem like enough to cause her body such exhaustion.

Sydney walked to the kitchen slowly, turning on the lights as she went. Caffeine. It was something she could use right now. She quickly prepared some coffee and sat at the counter waiting for it to be ready. She gently tapped her finger nails on the hard surface during the agonizing wait for her morning pick-me-up to come. She stared at it drip by drip until it was finally done a few minutes later. A few minutes when your tired feels like a lot longer, she thought, as she wished she could be fast asleep in her warm cozy bed.

After fifteen minutes of downing a couple cups of coffee, Sydney heard footsteps walking towards her. She turned around to see Nadia gasping in a big yawn.

"Hey," Nadia said walking straight for the coffee. After getting herself a cup, she sat on a stool next to Sydney.

"Morning," Sydney replied with a faint fatiguing smile.

"You're up early. You couldn't sleep again?" Nadia asked, her eyes growing brighter with each sip of coffee.

"No, I couldn't," Sydney said in a dead tone. A moment passed and Sydney turned to Nadia, "So why are you up so early?"

"I told Eric I'd meet him for breakfast on our way to work," Nadia answered, flashing a smile. Her warm feelings for Eric were evident as she spoke.

"You're going on a date in the early morning. You must really be crazy about him," Sydney replied with a grin.

"I am." Nadia said with a sparkle in her eyes, "I need to get ready." Nadia got up off the stool as she brushed her hand past Sydney's shoulder, "I'll see you at work." They both exchanged smiles.

Sydney continued sitting there, staring at the wall with dead eyes and a hot cup of coffee in her hands, as she felt Vaughn's hands grace her shoulders. She turned around and smiled at him. It was a tired smile though. It lacked the warmth of the smiles she gave Nadia. She was still annoyed about last night.

"Morning," Vaughn said with a bright smile as she kissed her cheek.

"Morning," she said in return, her voice filled with apathy. Vaughn grabbed a box of cereal from the cupboard and two bowls. He passed Sydney a bowl of frosted mini wheats as he seated himself next to her. "Thanks" she said.

Sydney took her spoon and swirled it around the cereal. She wasn't really hungry. Wasting it didn't seem like an acceptable option so she took a spoon full and forced it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it reluctantly. She continued to do that with each bite.

"Do you want to ride into work together?" Vaughn asked. Sydney hesitated for a moment and then nodded, again forcing another mouthful down. Vaughn seemed oblivious to her breakfast plight as he entertained each bite of his frosted mini wheats.

Sydney felt like the morning was moving entirely slow as she pushed in the last bite and made her way over the sink.

“We should get ready to go,” she said breaking the silent peace that had ensued for the last few minutes. Vaughn nodded and they both got ready.

***

She leaned back onto the headrest as Vaughn drove the car towards APO. The traffic out the window blurred as her mind fell into a daze. Her thoughts went stale and she drifted off briefly. After a moment she opened her eyes, realizing she was falling asleep. She quickly sat up straight and took a sip of her coffee.

As the car glided into a stop at a red light, Sydney noticed a man wearing a black hoody. He was staring at her. She focused her eyes on him trying to make out who he was. He started to approach the car, she panicked.

“Vaughn!” she exclaimed pointing towards the man.

“What?” he asked in confusion.

“There, that man, he’s coming towards us!” She said in a blaring voice.

“What? Sydney, there is nothing but cars out the window,” Vaughn replied looking at her with perplexion. Sydney looked out the window again. He was gone. She immediately rushed out of the car as the light went green and cars sped past her.

“Sydney!” Vaughn yelled as she stood there, turning her head all around the car. Vaughn leaned over and grabbed onto her arm, pulling her back into the car.

“What are you doing!” he exclaimed as she resisted his pulling.

“Vaughn, there was someone there!” She exclaimed, yanking her arm away.

“Get back in the car! You’re gonna get yourself killed!” Sydney took one final look at sat back down, her eyes rattled.

“Vaughn, I swear someone was there,” she said as she heard the honking behind them. Vaughn proceeded to drive, his own eyes filled with bafflement.

“I didn’t see anyone, Syd.”

“You don’t believe me? Again?!” She yelled shaking her head.

“Look, when we get to work, we can pull the traffic cams and see what we find, okay?” he replied, trying to reconcile her. She simply nodded, staring forward with anger.

***
“Marshall, have you finished with the footage from the traffic cams?” Vaughn asked with insistence.

“Yeah, there’s nothing on them. I know, I know, you want me to check again. I triple checked. And from every angle. There’s definitely no one there. The thing with traffic cameras is-” Marshall explained.

“Thanks,” Vaughn said, interrupting him. He walked towards Sydney who was sitting at her desk staring at a picture of the dark blurry figure.

“Syd, there’s nothing on the camera footage.” Vaughn stated, standing over her as he rested his hands on her shoulders.

“You don’t believe me.” She stated in a matter-of-fact way, her tone of voice dead.

“Syd, I want to, but there’s no one there. You’re seeing someone who isn’t there.” Vaughn explained insistently.

“Fine.” She said as she gathered up the case file and walked away. After a moment she turned to face him. “There’s a meeting in the briefing room.”

The two of them walked into the briefing room, seating themselves next to each other as everyone else made their way to their seats. Sloane took the floor, speaking in a matter of fact tone.

“For the past week, we’ve been looking into Luri Vlachko, someone with a confirmed link to The Guildiya. This morning his body was found in Moscow, a single gunshot wound to the head,” Sloane explained.

“What’s our mission?” Sydney eagerly jumped in.

“He was found in an abandoned warehouse. Vaughn, Dixon, you’ll go there and gather any evidence you can find. Perhaps we’ll find something to lead us to The Guildiya. That is all.” Sydney was about to respond but Sloane cut her off, “Sydney, I know you want to go, but Dr. Jain has refused to approve you for field duty for at least another week.”

Sydney frowned with bitterness as she looked at the floor. She felt too tired to fight. Rubbing her fatigued eyes, Sydney turned to Vaughn.

“I guess I’ll see you when you get back,” she spoke with a mock smile. He smiled warmly as he bent down to kiss her goodbye. He took her hand in his as their kiss lingered on a moment. Vaughn squeezed her hand gently and let it go.

“I’ll see you.” He said, walking towards Dixon. She watched him leave with unhappy eyes. After a moment, she sighed and went back to work.

***

Sydney flopped down on the couch as soon as she returned home. Nadia was still at work, she assumed. Sydney lay back on the couch to relax. The fatigue she had been feeling lately was getting to her. She blamed it on her crappy sleep.

She started to drift off slowly, her mind quietly going blacker and blacker, as the sounds of the world turned off. It was obvious how eager her body was for sleep, as she soon fell deeply into it. Her breathes were slow and steady as her chest rose and fell. Her arm fell to the side of the couch as her muscles relaxed.

The phone rang. Shrill rings breaking her peaceful sleep. She quickly got up and grabbed it.

"Hello?" she asked groggily. No one answered, but she could hear the sound of breathing. "Hello?!" she asked with frustration. It must have been a prank call. As she began to hang up, a voice came over the receiver.

"Nocturne..."

She froze.

~~~

Chapter 7

Sydney stood there frozen, her hand still clinging to the phone as her eyes grew wide and then narrow. She withdrew into her mind, breathing shallow at first and then deep into a gasp. What the hell just happened. She hung up the phone quickly and sat back down on the couch. But immediately got up again and looked out the windows in the living room, each one scanning methodically for anyone around, anyone that could be looking in and watching her. She could see no one, nothing. She got her gun and began sweeping her house. Still no one. Suddenly the door opened. Sydney spun around and pointed the gun straight at the door.

"Sydney?!" Nadia yelled, dropping her bags and rushing towards Sydney, who immediately dropped the gun, quickly letting out the deep breath that she had been holding in relief.

"Sorry, I just... I uh..." Sydney scattered words, trying to explain herself

"Sydney, what?" Nadia asked with utter concern, as she stared at her.

"I heard something. I guess it was just you." Nadia nodded, and went back to pick up her things.

"I got us some dinner from Rosario's," Nadia said with a smile, motioning to the white cardboard containers filled with good smelling pasta smothered in a creamy tomato sauce. Sydney returned the smile and they both seated themselves at the table with their food.

"So have you heard about anymore leads on Korsakov since I left work today?" Sydney asked.

"Korsakov?" Nadia looked confused. Korsakov had never come up, except in nightmares.

Sydney stared at her briefly before catching her mistake, "Sorry, its been a long day. I mean Vlachko."

"Oh. No, no there haven't been," Nadia responded matter-of-factly. Noticing Sydney look down at her plate in disappointment, Nadia added "were you expecting something?"

"I just..." Sydney shook her head, lost for words. She gave a faux-smile. "Its nothing. Let's just eat. I'm starved."

Nadia took a bite of her food as she watched Sydney pick at hers. Despite claiming to be hungry, she wasn't really eating. Nadia could tell something was wrong, but Sydney had been so closed off lately. She had heard her fighting with Vaughn last night and figured maybe they were having problems. It pained her to think that. As the two stared at their plates, both deep in thought, silence ensued.

Suddenly the phone rang and Sydney stopped and stared straight ahead, frozen in the moment. She couldn't move to answer it. Instead, her breathing went shallow and slow. She listened for sounds. Any sound. Movement. Someone. A person, a man, Korsakov or anyone. She just waited for it to come. Meanwhile, Nadia got up to answer the phone, the whole time watching Sydney from the corner of the eye in suspicion for her behaviour.

"Hello?" Nadia answered the phone, "Hey Eric... yeah?" she smiled with a glow, "Right now, um, I don't know if I can right now." Sydney suddenly snapped out of her pseudo-trance, and motioned for Nadia to go. She didn't want Nadia to worry about her, to notice how nervous she was. Having her go out with Eric would be the perfect distraction. "Alright, I'll be there in a half hour," Nadia said as she hung up.

"Where are you guys going?" Sydney asked, trying to feign normal.

"Bowling." Nadia said with a smile. Sydney returned it. After a moment, Nadia realized Sydney might be lonely with Vaughn away on a mission. "You can come if you want?"

"No, no," Sydney said shaking her head. She didn't want to impose.

"Are you sure?" Nadia asked sympathetically.

"Really, I'm fine. I'll just catch up on some work." The truth was, Sydney didn't want to be alone. She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You should probably get ready. Don't want to keep Eric waiting."

"You're right, " Nadia replied with a smile as she walked into her bedroom, leaving Sydney to feel the aloneness of her apartment. She got up and reclined on the couch. The news would probably be on at this hour, she thought, as she flipped it to the right channel.

After a half hour, Nadia emerged from her bedroom. She was wearing a clean pair of jeans and a dark blue t-shirt. Her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, her face freshly made up lightly.

"I'll see you," Nadia said as she grabbed her purse and walked out the door. Sydney was all alone. She sighed and lay back on the couch letting herself drift off to sleep. It wasn't a restful sleep however. She continued to toss and turn for an hour, having nightmares and weird dreams, all with the same theme: The Guildiya. They were the same every time. There was someone she was supposed to know - Korsakov. But every time she woke up, she couldn't remember who it was she had seen. Nonetheless, it was wearing on her.

***

Sydney had been home from work for an hour as she sat at the counter reading the newspaper for that day. She had only been skimming the news however as her mind was completely preoccupied on the phone call she was waiting for. Vaughn. He was expected to arrive home today from Moscow. It had been 2 days since he left. She missed him. Finally her cell phone rang. Her heart jumped up with excitement as she read Vaughn's name on the call display.

"Hey," she said with a rosy excitement. A large smile grew on her face.

"Hey Syd," Vaughn replied, "I missed you." He was smiling warmly as his green eyes brightened at the sound of her voice.

"I missed you too. Did everything go alright?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, it was pretty routine -" Vaughn started.

"I'm coming over." Sydney said interrupting him, her voice filled with excitement.

"Right now?"

"Why not?"

"No, I want you to come. I'll see you when you get here."

"I love you," she said warmly.

"I love you too," he replied as she hung up the phone. Sydney quickly grabbed her car keys and headed out the door.

***
She smiled widely as he answered the door to his apartment. His face held a warm grin as he stared at her for a moment.

"Hi," he said softly, their eyes in a lingering meet.

"Hi," she replied, as she leaned into a kiss. They stood there for a moment, locked in each others arms.

"So, do you wanna order in some dinner. I don't have much in the house,” Vaughn asked as he lead her into the living room.

“I’m not really hungry right now. I have other things in mind,” she replied with a mischievous smirk on her face.

“Oh,” he replied knowingly.

Sydney gently took hold of his hand, leading him towards his bedroom.
 
wow, this is great. i just found this today and as "nocturne" is one of the best episodes i really love you`re idea of keeping on with the halluzinations.
pm please
suzy
 
Thanks :smiley:

Chapter 8

Vaughn gently cradled Sydney’s warm and soft body as they lay under a mess of sheets in his bed. The moonlight peaked into the bedroom, lighting up the sparkles in both their eyes. Sydney smiled brightly as Vaughn caressed her shoulder with a feather touch.

“Vaughn,” Sydney spoke up in a soft voice.

“Yeah?” he ask with a easy tone.

“I’m hungry.”

“Yeah, I think we worked up an appetite.” He grinned widely, “What do you want?”

“I don’t care. You get whatever you want and I’ll share it with you.”

“What if I don’t want to share?” he said smirking as he stroked his finger over her nose lightly.

“I’ll make you,” she giggled.

“Alright, I’ll go order something,” he said as he grabbed his boxer shorts from the mess of clothes strewn across the floor.

Sydney proceeded to pick up her black bra and panties of the honey-coloured wood floor of his bedroom. She dug through some of his clothing to find her dark blue jeans and taupe tank top. Finally she found her socks. After getting dressed, she made her way to the kitchen where Vaughn was on the phone, presumably with a restaurant. After a moment, he hung up.

“I ordered us some sandwiches from that place on the corner you like. They’ll be here in a half hour. Do you want some wine while you wait?” Vaughn explained to her.

“Sure”

Vaughn grabbed a bottle of red wine off the wine rack and poured it into two wine glasses. He passed Sydney hers as he took a sip of his own. She smiled.

“So, did anything happen while I was gone?” Vaughn asked. He didn’t want to say it outright, but he wanted to know if she’d seen anymore mysterious people coming after her.

“No. It was pretty quiet. Why? Where you expecting something?” She asked, slightly annoyed. She realized right away what he was getting at.

“Sydney, I just. I was a little worried about you. You kept seeing -” He said trying to say it gently.

“Say it Vaughn, seeing things that weren’t there,” she cut him off in a hard tone.

“Yes, that was what I was getting at,” He replied, still remaining gentle with his voice.

“Vaughn, I’m not crazy. There was a person, presumably the same person, there both times. And no one believes me. Moreover, you don’t believe me!” She exclaimed, ending in a yelling tone.

“Syd, its only that I am worried about you. I care.” He said trying to convince her of his concern.

“No, you simply think I’ve lost it,” She replied, her voice growing louder. “I knew it. I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you. Ever since Lauren, I’ve been waiting for this. You, this betrayal, I knew it would come-”

“That’s not fair!” Vaughn shot back. Sydney glared at him with hurt eyes. It wasn't fair, she thought. He’d hurt her, stabbed her deep into the heart and he didn’t even understand it.

“Vaughn,” she said with an angry sigh, “You don’t get it. You have no idea how hard it was seeing you with her, and here you are now,” her voice growing, “not even caring about what you did to me!”

“Sydney, that’s not true. I do care about you!” He pleaded with her.

“Then show it!” She shouted, her face going red with anger, her eyes mad with rage.

“How?!”

“You could actually believe me! Have faith in me!” She yelled, putting extra emphasis on faith. She wanted to cry, she thought. But she couldn’t. She couldn’t let him see the tears fall from her eyes.

“Sydney, I do, I do have faith in you,” he said, calming his voice as he put his arm out towards her shoulder. She quickly knocked his hand away.

“No you don’t” she growled.

“Sydney-” he tried,

“No! Just stop!” She cried out, as she turned around and headed for the door. He ran after her, meeting up with her in the hallway, and grabbed onto her shoulder to stop her.

“Sydney, wait!” She quickly turned her shoulder away from him and ran off, tears beginning to fall in her eyes. “Sydney!” He called out, but she relentlessly ran. He didn’t know what to do. Vaughn took in a deep breath and rubbed his forehead which was filled with deep wrinkles of worry. As she disappeared from his sight, all he could see was the madness in her eyes. Vaughn’s own eyes held a look of plague as he turned around and headed back into his apartment, half-slamming the door.

Sydney made her way out of his apartment building with tears streaming down her red shot face. He didn’t get it, she thought. He hurt her so bad and he didn’t even understand. Her eyes shot with anger at the thought.

Lauren.

That name made her skin crawl and madness strike in her eyes. She would always be there even if she was dead, she would always be there lingering in the shadows of their lives, never leaving them alone. It didn’t matter. It was him that mattered. He was the one that didn’t believe her. He was the one with no faith in her.

Her face glimmered with streams of tears in the moonlight as she sat in her car and cried. After about 10 minutes, she stopped and started the car, pulling away from his building without even a look towards it.

She swallowed hard as the tears choked her. She couldn’t even remember the drive home, she thought, as she pulled into her driveway. She quickly got out and made her way inside, rubbing her face dry with her hands. Nadia. She thought. She didn’t want Nadia to see her like this. Sydney headed straight to her bedroom and shut the door behind her.

“Syd?” Nadia called out as she heard a door shut, “Are you home?”

“Yeah. I’ll be out in a few minutes. I was just about to jump in the shower,” Sydney answered, trying to conceal the upset tone in her voice.

“Alright.” Nadia replied.

Sydney walked into the bathroom and sunk down on the ground against the wall. She felt defeated. She was tired and overwhelmed and a fresh set of tears began to fall.

A faint knock came to the door.

“Sydney? Are you okay?” Nadia asked softly having heard her crying. Sydney got up and opened the door. Her face was streaked with tears. "Oh, Sydney," Nadia said, pulling her into a gentle hug. After a second, Sydney pulled away, wiping her eyes.

"I'm fine, really." Sydney lied.

"No you're not," Nadia replied softly, "Why don't you come to the kitchen and I'll make you some tea." Sydney nodded and headed towards the stools at the counter. There was silence as Nadia made the tea. She didn't want to push Sydney to talk if she wasn't ready, but after a few minutes, Sydney began to speak.

"I had a fight with Vaughn," Sydney said, her voice low with sadness.

"I'm sorry. What was it about?" Nadia asked, her eyes empathetic.

"I just... he has no faith in me."

"How do you know that? He really seems to care about you."

"I don't know. I mean, sometimes I think he does," she started with a sniffle, "but then he doesn't believe me when I claim something happened to me."

"You mean the man approaching you?"

"Yeah. I mean, I don't know how to explain it, why the traffic cameras didn't show it. Why there was no evidence, but I'm not crazy." Sydney said desperately at the end.

Nadia sat down next to her and put her hand lightly on Sydney's back. "If it makes you feel any better, I believe you."

"You do?" Sydney asked with a slight and brief brightness in her eyes.

"Maybe he knew the angle of the traffic cam and managed to hide between the cars to avoid them. I mean, I don't know. Its hard to explain, but stranger things have happened and turned out to be true. The one thing I do know is that you wouldn't lie. You're a credible and intelligent and honest person." Nadia said, pulling Sydney closer to her.

"Thank you," Sydney replied. "You're the only one who believes me though. But it does make me feel a little better." Sydney wiped away the last tear as her face began to dry. She took a sip of her tea and felt the warmth glide down her throat. It was comforting. A few moments of silence past.

"I never did have dinner. Are you hungry?" Nadia asked, realizing Sydney might appreciate a change in subject.

"Yeah, I missed dinner. We could order something." Sydney replied.

"Nah, there's food in the cupboards," Nadia said as she got up and dug around in the cupboard full of cans, "What about some nice hot soup?"

"That would be nice," Sydney said with a slight smile on her face.
 
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