One Night Love Affair

That was fantastic!!! :D
Now we just need Syd to realise that she should be relying on Vaughn for comfort and support, not pushing him away!!!! :smiley:
So..... Bring on the SV fluffiness!!!!! :love:
Can't wait for more!!! :jump:

MJ :P :angelnot: 🏒 :hug:
 
Chapter 26

After his meeting with Brill, Vaughn decided to call it a day. He was hungry and tired; he was troubled and uncertain about the way to go. He headed for his hotel room, trying to concentrate on the road rather then on what he had just learned.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, he took of his shoes, jacket and tie and grabbed the phone to order some food. Anything, he didn’t care. He settled for beer and pizza, and that made him miss Eric and his old life in Miami. Back when his life could be summarized as work, pool, beer and hockey.

Vaughn turned on the TV and was lucky enough to find a hockey game on. He sat down, his feet on the coffee table, and tried to relax. When an hotel employee knocked on the door a few minutes later with his food, the man saw the game was on and asked about the score. That’s when Vaughn realized that he hadn’t been following the game at all, because he had absolutely no idea.

He better face the situation.

Michael sat back down in his chair, opened his beer and tried to sum things up.

First of all, his dad was a follower of Rambaldi.

What, his own dad was involved in this madness? He had given his life to protect the Passenger, Sydney’s half-sister? He would never have thought… Suddenly, Vaughn almost choked on his beer. He had just realized something.

He was eight years old when his father had died. Sydney was six when her mother got pregnant with Sloane’s child. Sydney and he had more than a two years age difference… that meant… that meant maybe he hadn’t died when they had thought he had. Maybe… he wasn’t even dead. Remembering what he had learnt about how some burnt body had been identified as Sydney’s when she had been abducted, Vaughn began to question the results of his father’s autopsy. Could his dental records have been falsified?

Maybe Irina didn’t have William Vaughn’s blood on her hands after all. And if she really did… What was her reason? Was it because his dad had taken her daughter away from her and her employer, the KGB?

Feeling like his head was spinning, Vaughn forced himself to breathe deeply. If he had a daughter and someone had taken her away, even under the pretence of protecting her, how would HE react?

What was the whole story?

That thought brought Vaughn back to his fight with Sydney and the reasons behind it. He realised that it was time for him to really take the decision, as he had an answer to give to Dixon. If he stayed here with Sydney, he had to be totally okay with the fact that she was Irina Derevko’s daughter. That meant that if he wanted to be with Sydney, if he wanted to be totally opened with her, with no dark clouds hanging over their heads… he should accept that Irina was Sydney’s mother and that she may love her in a way. That she may need to talk about that with him.

He needed to accept that his life in LA would be more complicated than the one he had in Miami. Better, but more complicated. Sighing, he took a bite of pizza. He knew full well that his old life wouldn’t have lasted forever anyway. His friends would get married, they would have kids. The nights of hockey and beer would be fewer and fewer. And he would be left alone with his resentment for love.

Staying here with Sydney would be like finally growing up. He loved her like he didn’t think was possible. Of course her life, their life, would be nothing but simple, but he was ready for it. He was ready to take a chance on them.

Yes, he was, and no Derevko was to stop him. He had to make understand that to Sydney. Than he would tell Dixon he was staying.

Invigorated by his decision, Vaughn briefly wondered if he should immediately call Sydney on her cell phone, but quickly decided against it.

He would see her tomorrow, face to face.

Heart to heart.

****

Sydney Bristow was on a plane. Again. It seemed to her like she spent most of her life into the sky. She had been through so many time zones in the last weeks her body didn’t even know when it was time to rest or eat anymore.

She was tired, both physically and mentally. Her meeting with Sloane had taken a more important toll on her than most of her more “physical” missions.

She had a sister.

Her sister was the Passenger.

She, Sydney Bristow, was a danger to the Passenger.

She sighed. She felt the urge to call Vaughn and tell him all about her new findings. He was the only one who would know how to make her feel better.

But she couldn’t. She had been so unpleasant with him earlier… She would be lucky if he would just be nice enough to say goodbye to her before heading back to Florida…

Angry with herself, Sydney tried to forget about the whole “Vaughn situation”. For once, she needed to clear her head and relax. Facing Vaughn would come soon enough.

Sighing again, Sydney closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep, but the thought of Michael Vaughn was always coming back to haunt her. Maybe she could listen to some music? In her travel bag she still had the CDs Marshall had made for her when she had returned from her two years as Julia Thorne. He had put together the most important songs of those lost years. She hadn’t listened to them yet, but had put them in her travel bag, knowing a plane was the place where she would most likely have the opportunity to do so.

Looking through the CDs, she noticed one with the mention “Carrie’s favourites”. Marshall had probably put it there by mistake, unless he thought she would like the same song his wife did?

Deciding for this one, Sydney put it in her portable CD-player and settled in her seat. She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind. The melancholic voice she heard was Aretha Franklin’s…

Ain't no way for me to love you
If you won't let me
It ain't no way for me to give you all you need
If you won't let me give all of me
I know that a woman's duty
Is to help and love the man
And that's the way it was for me

Oh but how can I, how can I, how can I
Give you all the things I can
If you're tying both of my hands
It ain't no way
It ain't no way
It just ain’t no way babe
For you me to love you
If you won’t let me

Stop trying to be someone you’re not
A hard, cold and crude is a man
Who paid too much for what he got
And if you need me, to love you
Say, say you do
I’ll be waiting, please, please
Don’t you know that I need you

Oh it ain’t no way
I tell you that it ain’t no way
It ain’t no way, it ain’t no way baby
It ain’t no way for me to love you
If you won’t let me


Listening to it, she felt tears sting her eyes. Some of the lyrics of this song just felt too close to home. Was it the way Vaughn felt about her? She knew he wanted to love her… in fact she knew that he loved her. But she had tried to push him away, not being able to surrender to him, to his love.
She had built so many walls around her heart over the years; she was so used to shut down her emotions… It was just so hard now to accept to be vulnerable with someone… to stop protecting herself.

But maybe Michael Vaughn was the one good thing God had sent her way. She couldn’t waste it, she knew it. She would never be able to forgive herself if she did.

She knew it would take time and understanding for her to totally open herself to him. But she also knew that she loved him and that having him in her life made her feel better than she had in many, many years.

She finally took her decision. She would jump in and try to love him as much as he did love her. If it wasn’t too late.

Crushed at the idea that she might have successfully pushed him away, Sydney grabbed her cell phone, and began dialling Vaughn’s number until she realised it was 1:00 AM in Los Angeles. Sighing once again, she hung up.

She would see him in a few hours, at the CIA office.

*******

Vaughn was working at his desk, absorbed in the reading of a file marked with the CIA logo. He didn’t know that, from the opposite side of the room, Sydney was observing him, trying to find the courage to walk up to him. What if he turned her down? What if she had missed her chance with him?

«Come on Syd, you can do this.», she tried to encourage herself. Walking fast to avoid changing her mind, she headed to Vaughn’s desk.

«Can I take you to lunch?», she asked without warning.

He almost spilled the sip of coffee he had just taken, surprised. Having regained his composure, he looked up at her with his deep green eyes. Sydney was standing next to his desk, trying to look casual, but her eyes saying how extremely nervous she really was.

«Sydney, I didn’t know you were back…», he said softly, adding immediately:

«Of course I’ll go to lunch with you, but I warn you, I’m really hungry. It’ll cost you.», he said with the half-smile she had always found so charming.

Relieved, Sydney smiled too.

«I don’t mind.»

*****

Not wanting to be sitting in front of him in some crowded restaurant, Sydney suggested they bought some sandwiches and went to sit in the park. Vaughn agreed, he too worried about the conversation to come between them.

So a few minutes later, they found themselves sitting at the bottom of a big tree, absently observing a bunch of kids playing Frisbee a few feet away from them.

Finally, Sydney found the guts to break the silence. Avoiding his gaze, she focused on her sandwich and said:

«Vaughn… I’m so sorry for the way I treated you yesterday. You didn’t deserve it at all. It’s just that… I’m a mess. My whole life is a mess.»

She looked briefly at him and, sensing he wanted to speak, she stopped him with her raised hand.

«You said… you said you loved me but… I’ve been so used to shutting down my feelings… I… I could never love you the way you deserve to be. I know it could never work between us for that reason. And if you add my mother to all of this…»

Gently, Vaughn put a strand of hair back behind her ear.

«Syd, it’s okay. I understand. And I still want to be with you.»

She shut him an astonish look.

«You do?»

He nodded.

«Yes. You know… You have to know that you can talk to me about her.»

«But why? I can’t ask that of you.»

«Sydney, while you were gone… I got new info on my father and… Well, he wasn’t who I thought he was. Maybe… Maybe he’s not even dead.»

«What???»

«Yesterday, I got a call from a man named Thomas Brill, who claimed to have been with my dad on his final mission. He says my dad was a follower of Rambaldi.»

«What?», she repeated, stunned. «Are you okay?»

«Yeah.»

She put her hand on his shoulder until their eyes connected and she removed it, feeling uneasy. Vaughn cringed at the lost of contact but continued:

«I don’t know if I can trust this man, but that’s what he says. He also pretends that my father was killed because he had taken the Passenger away from the KGB to bring her to safety.»

«Oh, my god…», was only able to say Sydney, her mind already working on finding all the implications this revelation had.

«Syd, it just doesn’t add up. I think my father didn’t die when I was eight; maybe he’s even still alive. We don’t know the whole story yet. We don’t even know if your mother really killed him, or what were her reasons.»

Sydney shook her head.

«Vaughn, this is… hard to believe. As far as we are concerned, we have to face the real possibility that Derevko as indeed killed him.»

«Syd, even if she did… I thought about it a lot last night and… I accept the fact that Irina Derevko is your mother and that… you may love her in a way. You can talk to me about those feelings. It’s okay.»

«Vaughn… no… I can’t ask that of you. Forget it.»

«I can’t forget it. I can’t forget you. Give me the chance to love you.»

«Don’t you understand? You’ll never have an easy life with me. Just run away while you still can.»

«I won’t run. I can’t run. I’m already a part of your life and you’re a part of mine.»

Suddenly she didn’t have the strength or the will to fight him anymore. She just fell into his arms.

«Oh, Vaughn…»

He tenderly kissed the top of her head and they stayed that way for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of being together.

But Vaughn had more to say.

«Sydney… Brill also told me that the prophecy said that the Passenger and the Chosen One would battle and that… that neither of them would survive. So I beg you: don’t go after the Hourglass.»

Sydney’s expression immediately hardened and she pulled back.

«I have to. I can’t live like this; I need it to end, good or bad. I will find the hourglass, whether you or my dad like it or not.»

Vaughn sighed. He knew she would react that way. That was the way the woman he loved was; if he wanted to keep her, he had to accept that she was going to make some decisions that he might not approve of. That sometimes she would put her life at risk, making him worried sick. Making him unable to sleep at night.

«I knew you’d say that. I hate it, but I understand. I would do the same thing. For the record, as the man who loves you… I really hate it. But I won’t stop you. I will help you. We will find Katya. We’ll stop the Covenant and get this Rambaldi thing over with. From now on we’re a team.»

Tears invaded her eyes as she looked at him. He seemed so sincere… She couldn’t help herself: she leant in to kiss him. Their lips touched softly as their hands came to rest on each other. They were both so relieved to still have one another, as they had at last found the one person that understood them completely.

Vaughn was tempted to deepen the kiss to make her feel just how much he loved her, but a blue Frisbee landing at his feet brought him back to reality. They pulled apart and smiled at each other.

Without a word, smiling widely the whole time, they finished their lunch.

******

;)
 
Sorr I haven't replied in the last few chaps, RL has been wicked busy. Yippee! They finally talked, and Syd isn't mad at Vaughn anymore, and they're both happy. :smiley: Hmm, is Vaughn's dad seriously still alive though? That could be interesting, we'll just have to wait and see. Thanks for all the PMs, keep up the good work.

- Meg
 
Aww.... That was just too freakin cute!!!!! I'm glad they're gonna try and make things work, and how Vaughn's so supportive of her, and arrrrgh! It's just too cute!! :love:

And Vaughn's dad might be alive... Hmm.. :Ponder: I don't get it, lol. My mind just cant grasp onto that concept that he could actually be ALIVE after a bajillion years... :P

Anywho, I'll just wait to see how it all turns out... It'll make sense eventually, with Vaughn's dad and everything... Thanks for the pm!

Cai
x
 
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