On My Own
Sydney prepared herself for the day ahead. She got to the doctor’s office that she had contacted around 8 am. She was supposed to arrive around nine, but she wanted to be ready. The time passed quickly and suddenly the big, white doors were opening and the doctor was coming to get her. She was wheeled into the operating room. All the people were running around, trying to prepare, and that was the last thing Sydney remembered as she drifted off to sleep.
She was lying in an alley when she woke up. Sydney looked around her surroundings, she was in Hong Kong. Why was she there? The last thing she remembered was Francie’s clone slamming her up against the mirror in her room. How did she get here? The first thing that she did was call Kendall. He sounded strange, he told her to go to the safe house.
Kendall had only received her tape the day before. He was angry with her for not getting him the cube. They had been searching for it for a long time. He knew that reprimanding her would not work because she would remember nothing. He had to admit that she had a pretty good plan. He did not want the Covenant to get their hands on it as much as she did. It just bugged him that he would not have another addition to his collection, Project Black hole. Now she was back and had to fit back into her old life, if she wanted to. Kendall knew that she would have a difficult time accepting Vaughn’s new life.
Sydney arrived at the safe house and a man lead her to a room. She had so many questions. The door slowly opened and someone walked into the room.
“Vaughn”
She jumped up and ran to him. Sydney threw her arms around him. He seemed relived to see her, but his eyes would not meet hers.
“They doubled Francie.”
“I know”
“Will, is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’s alright. He’s in the witness protection program.”
“What? Why?”
“After what the double did to him and what happened to you, it wasn’t safe for him to stick around. He had to disappear.”
“What do mean ‘what happened to me’?”
“Sydney, sit down”
Again, Vaughn’s eyes would not look into her’s. He looked everywhere else except those beautiful, brown eyes. Vaughn did not know how he could do this. He did not want to have to lie to her, but he had too. She was not ready for the whole truth yet. He did not know if she ever would be. She had told him not to tell her, but she deserved to know the real reasons why.
“Vaughn” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Everyone thought you were dead.”
Her obvious confusion showed that this was news to her. It really had worked. The memories were gone and she had no idea what he was talking about.
“They asked me to come back to explain.”
“Come back?’
“I left the agency after you died. I knew that you had always wanted to be a teacher, so I decided to try it out. I teach French at the community college.”
Sydney was having trouble taking all of this in. How could people have believed that she was dead? Vaughn’s not with the CIA anymore. Little did she know that soon her world would be completely standing on its head.
“Do you remember that night, the night that we were going to Santa Barbra?”
Sydney nodded.
“I was on my way to pick you up when I saw fire trucks at your street. I prayed that it was not you house, but deep inside my heart, I knew it was. All that was left was the charred exterior. Will somehow survived, but you, you were not so lucky. They found remains and the DNA was a match. So Sydney Anne Bristow was dead. You were dead.”
Vaughn let that sink in for a while before he continued, “Since that night, you have been missing for almost two years.”
Sydney just stared at him. How could all of this be true? It felt like her fight with the double was yesterday, not two years ago.
Sydney looked so distraught. Vaughn wanted to comfort her, but he could not. He was not allowed to anymore. He placed his hand on top of hers. It was then that she felt the hard, cold bite of metal. He eyes flew down to his hand and then back to his face. How could she have overlooked this?
“Vaughn, why are you wearing that ring?”
“Sydney, you were gone for two years, that’s a long time.”
“So you got married.”
“Yes”
As soon as the word escaped his mouth, she broke eye contact with him. What she did not know was that one word hurt him as much as it did her. A lone tear trailed down her cheek. He longed to brush it away, to touch her cheek. But he knew he would not be able to stop himself there. His Sydney Bristow was back and he wanted her.
He slowly drew his hand away from hers. Sydney’s hand felt cold and numb like the ring. Vaughn got married. Her Vaughn. Her Vaughn now belonged to another woman.
“How could you do this to me?”
Then Sydney got up and ran. Vaughn started to follow her. He stopped at the safe house door because he knew that he would never catch her. So he just stood there and watched her disappear in to the distance for the second time. He knew he would not be able to take a third. Again, she took a piece of his heart with her.
To her barely visible figure, he whispered the answer to her pained question, “you told me to.”
Sydney prepared herself for the day ahead. She got to the doctor’s office that she had contacted around 8 am. She was supposed to arrive around nine, but she wanted to be ready. The time passed quickly and suddenly the big, white doors were opening and the doctor was coming to get her. She was wheeled into the operating room. All the people were running around, trying to prepare, and that was the last thing Sydney remembered as she drifted off to sleep.
She was lying in an alley when she woke up. Sydney looked around her surroundings, she was in Hong Kong. Why was she there? The last thing she remembered was Francie’s clone slamming her up against the mirror in her room. How did she get here? The first thing that she did was call Kendall. He sounded strange, he told her to go to the safe house.
Kendall had only received her tape the day before. He was angry with her for not getting him the cube. They had been searching for it for a long time. He knew that reprimanding her would not work because she would remember nothing. He had to admit that she had a pretty good plan. He did not want the Covenant to get their hands on it as much as she did. It just bugged him that he would not have another addition to his collection, Project Black hole. Now she was back and had to fit back into her old life, if she wanted to. Kendall knew that she would have a difficult time accepting Vaughn’s new life.
Sydney arrived at the safe house and a man lead her to a room. She had so many questions. The door slowly opened and someone walked into the room.
“Vaughn”
She jumped up and ran to him. Sydney threw her arms around him. He seemed relived to see her, but his eyes would not meet hers.
“They doubled Francie.”
“I know”
“Will, is he okay?”
“Yeah, he’s alright. He’s in the witness protection program.”
“What? Why?”
“After what the double did to him and what happened to you, it wasn’t safe for him to stick around. He had to disappear.”
“What do mean ‘what happened to me’?”
“Sydney, sit down”
Again, Vaughn’s eyes would not look into her’s. He looked everywhere else except those beautiful, brown eyes. Vaughn did not know how he could do this. He did not want to have to lie to her, but he had too. She was not ready for the whole truth yet. He did not know if she ever would be. She had told him not to tell her, but she deserved to know the real reasons why.
“Vaughn” she said, interrupting his thoughts.
“Everyone thought you were dead.”
Her obvious confusion showed that this was news to her. It really had worked. The memories were gone and she had no idea what he was talking about.
“They asked me to come back to explain.”
“Come back?’
“I left the agency after you died. I knew that you had always wanted to be a teacher, so I decided to try it out. I teach French at the community college.”
Sydney was having trouble taking all of this in. How could people have believed that she was dead? Vaughn’s not with the CIA anymore. Little did she know that soon her world would be completely standing on its head.
“Do you remember that night, the night that we were going to Santa Barbra?”
Sydney nodded.
“I was on my way to pick you up when I saw fire trucks at your street. I prayed that it was not you house, but deep inside my heart, I knew it was. All that was left was the charred exterior. Will somehow survived, but you, you were not so lucky. They found remains and the DNA was a match. So Sydney Anne Bristow was dead. You were dead.”
Vaughn let that sink in for a while before he continued, “Since that night, you have been missing for almost two years.”
Sydney just stared at him. How could all of this be true? It felt like her fight with the double was yesterday, not two years ago.
Sydney looked so distraught. Vaughn wanted to comfort her, but he could not. He was not allowed to anymore. He placed his hand on top of hers. It was then that she felt the hard, cold bite of metal. He eyes flew down to his hand and then back to his face. How could she have overlooked this?
“Vaughn, why are you wearing that ring?”
“Sydney, you were gone for two years, that’s a long time.”
“So you got married.”
“Yes”
As soon as the word escaped his mouth, she broke eye contact with him. What she did not know was that one word hurt him as much as it did her. A lone tear trailed down her cheek. He longed to brush it away, to touch her cheek. But he knew he would not be able to stop himself there. His Sydney Bristow was back and he wanted her.
He slowly drew his hand away from hers. Sydney’s hand felt cold and numb like the ring. Vaughn got married. Her Vaughn. Her Vaughn now belonged to another woman.
“How could you do this to me?”
Then Sydney got up and ran. Vaughn started to follow her. He stopped at the safe house door because he knew that he would never catch her. So he just stood there and watched her disappear in to the distance for the second time. He knew he would not be able to take a third. Again, she took a piece of his heart with her.
To her barely visible figure, he whispered the answer to her pained question, “you told me to.”