One Last Chance

Author: Janet (SkyGirl5)

Genre: S/V, AU

Summary: Suddenly, Vaughn's world is flipped upside down. Would things be different if he could turn turn back time and do it all again?

A/N: This idea was 'borrowed' from Katy, who originally 'borrowed' the idea - or at least, was inspired for the idea, from the ABC Family Channel Movie, Three Days.

Disclaimer: Sydney, Vaughn, etc are properties of JJ Abrams and ABC.

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Chapters 1-10 + Epilogue

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Chapter 1

His lone figure stood out prominently among the charred rubble. Even at only six-foot-one, his frame was easily the tallest structure in the burnt ruins of the once warm home. The surrounding air was thick with smoke and despair. In that tragic fire, someone had died too young; Sydney Bristow had died too young.

As he waded through the ash, his nostrils burned painfully from the overwhelming scent of the charred ruins. A few pieces of wood still smoldered here and there, but, for the most part, the fire was out. He walked that familiar path down the hallway, past what used to be the kitchen, and finally coming to rest at the edge of her bedroom. That’s where she had been, they told him. Her body was found in the bedroom. Standing there, all he could wonder was why?

Four hours earlier he had kissed her and let her go with the promise of his return and the start of the most romantic three days of their life. It was supposed to be perfect; it was supposed to be their weekend. To her, it was a spur of the moment getaway decision, but, in reality, it was the culmination of weeks of meticulous planning. All hopes of a perfect weekend had been dashed with one fateful phone call, though. Instead of spending his weekend admiring her perfectly tanned figure lying on a sandy beach, he’d be planning a funeral.

He’d been standing there about half an hour before the true gravity of his loss hit him. Not only would their romantic weekend never take place, but he’d miss everything else as well. Never would he have another morning where he’d wake up to the soft sounds of her breathing and the gentle weight of her arm across his chest. Never again would he be able to stare into her soft brown eyes, which were pools of hidden, suppressed pain on some days but yet, when she looked at him, they were filled with a long deserved happiness. They’d never kiss again; never make love. They’d never be able to secretly play ‘footsie’ under the table during a debrief. They’d never spend a lazy Sunday in bed talking about what they wanted after they were finished with that life. More than anything, they’d never be able to exchange those three precious words so full of meaning.

Standing there, as the tears of loneliness setting in flowed down his cheeks, Michael Vaughn became angry at Sydney Bristow, the one and true love of his life. How could she have died so easily?! A fire? A FIRE?! Sydney had escaped burning and exploding buildings countless times during her career as a spy. How was it even possible that an ordinary house fire had taken her life when years of fighting bullet barrages among other things did not? To Vaughn, this was incomprehensible.

“Tragic, isn’t it?” a soft male voice filtered across the ruins.

Vaughn didn’t even bother responding to this. What was there to say? How could that situation have been anything but tragic? How could anyone be thrilled that Sydney Bristow and her best friend, Francie Calfo were dead? It was impossible.

Footsteps crunching across the ashes caused Vaughn to tentatively turn his head to the left. He had asked Dixon to give him some time alone there in the rubble and Dixon had complied along with the firemen. Dixon understood that Vaughn needed to mourn the loss of his beloved Sydney and he had promised to keep everyone away until Vaughn had a chance to do just that. Keeping that in mind, Vaughn wondered who, exactly, this person was beside him.

“Tragic, just tragic,” the stranger said as he shook his head.

“If you don’t mind,” Vaughn croaked with a slight sniff, rubbing his long nose with the back of his hand, “I’d like to be alone.”

“Of course, of course,” the stranger said in an overly compassionate tone that only succeeded in causing Vaughn’s anger to rise. The two men stood there in silence for another few minutes before the stranger added softly, “It was a tragedy.”

“You can stop saying that,” Vaughn snapped. The stranger looked at him, slightly taken aback. “Jesus, I just lost my girlfriend here. Can’t I get a minute alone?! I loved her and-” his voice cut off sharply at that heart wrenching revelation. He, of course, had known his love for Sydney for quite some time, practically even before their very first kiss. Unfortunately, in all their time together, he never uttered his feelings aloud. His reason for this was twofold. Firstly, Sydney wasn’t exactly the heart-on-her-sleeve type of person. She was very tight-lipped and strong to the point of stubborn about her emotions, especially in the beginning stages of their relationship. He didn’t want a heartfelt admission to scare her prematurely. Secondly, he himself was scared, for he had never loved anyone as much as he loved her.

“And I never got to tell her…,” he continued, his voice hoarse with tears. Vaughn turned his back on the stranger behind him as he covered his face in his hands and let a few more tears slip out.

For a moment, neither of them moved. Then, slowly, the stranger walked around to face Vaughn as he said, “I know that Michael and that’s why I’m here.”

At the sound of his name, Vaughn’s head snapped up and he quickly brushed his tears away, backing away from this now suspicious stranger. “Ho-how do you know my name?!” he asked rather horrified. “Wh-who are you?”

“I’m here to bestow a gift – a very rare and precious gift Michael. You must understand that this gift is only because of the unique and rare circumstance you and Sydney had. After all, not everyone finds their soul mate in life,” the stranger said with a knowing smile.

Vaughn was too confused and borderline scared to even process what he had said. “Who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Jonah and-”

Vaughn cut him off before he could utter another word. “Look, Jonah, seriously – I don’t care,” he said, enunciating each word. “I just want to be left alone, alright?!”

“You don’t want the gift?” Jonah asked, surprised.

“What gift?!” Vaughn’s voice rose along with his frustration.

“A second chance to spend three days with Sydney,” Jonah told him.

“What?! Sydney’s dead, she’s dead!” he exclaimed, the words breaking his shattered heart into even more pieces.

“That is why this is a rare gift,” Jonah said, maintaining the calm in his voice. “You were never able to tell Sydney how you feel about her and I’m giving you this chance. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, it won’t be Saturday. It will be Wednesday and you’ll be able to relive the last three days with Sydney. You may do whatever you wish in that time as long as you know that on Friday night, the events will play out just like they had and Sydney will die again in the same way.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Vaughn muttered under his breath, only half listening to what Jonah was saying. Obviously, this pale skinned man beside him was out of his mind. Time could no sooner reverse than he could spread his arms, flap them and begin to fly. Jonah was only trying to aggravate him.

“Remember, you only have three days; use them well Michael,” Jonah said, his voice dissipating into an echo. Thankful that the irritating stranger was finally gone, Vaughn squeezed his eyes shut tightly and breathed deeply, trying to memorize every inch of the space that once surrounded him, imprinting it in his mind as his forever memory of Sydney.

Dixon’s voice pulled Vaughn from his haven only a moment later. He hung his head and went to leave the rubble, but he stopped at the sight of two pure white feathers, each about five inches long, resting on the ground by his feet, screaming out at him because of the contrast of everything black around him. Shaking his head, Vaughn turned to leave. Those were just a peculiar hallucination; they meant nothing.



Chapter 2

When Vaughn arrived home that Friday evening, all he wanted to do was go to bed and never wake up. Unfortunately, before he could put his plans into action, he was intercepted by a somber yet, at the same time, irritatingly chipper Weiss. “Mike, buddy,” he grinned, when Vaughn opened the door to his home. “So, there’s a Godfather marathon on TV that you and I totally need to check out.”

“Eric,” Vaughn began with a desperate sigh. “I’m really, really just not in the mood.”

“Of course you’re not – which is why you should watch anyway,” Eric smiled at him.

“No, Eric,” Vaughn rubbed his wrinkled brow, “I just want to be alone… go to bed… mourn.”

Eric sighed, approached his friend, and put an arm around his shoulder. “I know, man, I know and I am so sorry. I mean, Syd was… Syd, but... you know, I just…I didn’t want you to be alone,” he said with a slight shrug.

“Eric… do you have me on suicide watch?!” Vaughn asked in disbelief. Eric gave a slight shrug and sheepish grin. In return, Vaughn gave him an ‘I’m stupid, but I’m not that stupid’ look.

“Fine, fine,” Eric sighed as he began to walk through the door. “But if you need anything – anything at all…”

“I know; thanks man,” Vaughn gave him a soft smile; at that point, it was all he could manage. Once Eric was gone, Vaughn slowly made his way back to his bedroom. He pulled off his dress pants and shirt before flopping down onto his bed, not even bothering to crawl under the covers. In his exhausted both emotionally and physically state, it only took him minutes to fall asleep, but he drifted off knowing that, from the next day on, nothing in his life would ever be the same.

~*~

“…Good morning LA! It’s a beautiful Wednesday in southern California. Not a cloud in the sky out there!...”

Vaughn groaned loudly at the sound of the radio alarm clock. He hadn’t set it before crashing into his sheets the night before so what the hell was it doing going off? Instead of turning it off, though, he simply buried his face into his pillow. Until, that was, he heard another groan – a female groan.

His eyes snapped open and, to his utter shock, he came face to face with a mass of brown hair and Sydney’s blue tank top clad shoulder. He stared for almost a full minute, convinced he was having some strange depression induced hallucination until a foot collided with his underneath the covers. Vaughn was so shocked by this contact on his skin that he nearly catapulted himself out of bed. He sat up, his heart racing and his mind spinning. Slowly, Sydney’s bedroom came into focus with its cream colored walls and girly decorations much, much different than his own bedroom where he thought he had fallen asleep. The radio…it said Wednesday and Sydney…she was there.

“Holy shit,” he exhaled under his breath. Could it all have been some terrible nightmare? Yes, yes of course – that was it! It was the most realistic nightmare Vaughn had ever felt but a nightmare it was.

His heart soaring from pure happiness, Vaughn rolled over atop Sydney, giving her the tightest hug he had ever given anyone before beginning to kiss her face all over. “Vaughn,” Sydney giggled at his sudden weight and fascination with kissing her. “What are you-” but Sydney was cut off by Vaughn’s lips crashing into hers and giving her a searing kiss.

~*~

“Well,” Sydney said with a heavy sigh as she reached for her tank top, which had been tossed atop her bedside lamp in their fervor, “that was one hell of a way to wake up Vaughn.”

Vaughn reached over and gave her a long kiss while stroking her cheek with his thumb. “I know,” he said with a wicked grin after breaking their kiss.

“So,” she sighed, combing her left hand through his perfectly bed-tussled hair, “any particular reason for it?”

A soft smile crossed his face as he contemplated whether to give her the long, complicated answer or a short sweet one. His smile grew larger as he thought of the perfect happy-medium answer. “Because you’re beautiful,” he said before leaning in to press a gentle kiss on the tip of her nose. “And I love you,” he said softly. His eyes were still shut tight, but, somehow, he knew hers were as wide as saucers. As those words rolled off his tongue, a weight lifted off his shoulders. They were out there and he was relieved because he’d never again have to live with the regret of not saying them when he had the chance to.

When Sydney leaned forward and captured his lips in hers, Vaughn’s eyes opened out of pure surprise. Sydney kiss was brief and, when she pulled back, she was wearing the largest dimpled grin Vaughn had ever seen from her. “I love you too,” she said.

Vaughn let out a short, relieved laugh before hugging her tightly. “Mm okay I’m gonna shower,” Sydney said. She brushed her lips against Vaughn’s forehead before she slid out of bed and sauntered into the bathroom, giving Vaughn a very pleasant view of her backside on the way.

Sighing, Vaughn placed his hands behind his head and flopped back against his pillow. Life was grand and even grander now that it seemed the horrific nightmare of Sydney dying seemed to be just that – a horrific nightmare, nothing more. Vaughn shut his eyes and tried to catch a quick nap while being lulled to sleep by the faint sounds of the shower water running.

“Feel’s good, doesn’t it?” a strangely familiar voice filled the room causing Vaughn to jump practically twenty feet. When he opened his eyes and saw Jonah at the foot of his bed, his heart sank all the way to the floor.

“You,” he grumbled.

“And here I was expecting a ‘thank you,’” Jonah said with a soft smile.

“I thought you were just a dream,” Vaughn said in a very defeated tone.

“’fraid not,” Jonah sighed. “You accepted your gift and now you must live with the consequences.”

“Consequences?”

“Yes,” Jonah said with a single nod. “You and Sydney have these three days to live any way you choose, but once Friday night comes along, Sydney will meet her fate just the same. She will go to her house and die in the fire.”

“NO!” Vaughn exclaimed with anger. “Why does she have to die?! I don’t understand – she’s here right now. Why does she have to go!?”

“It’s her destiny,” Jonah told him. Vaughn scoffed and muttered under his breath. “Michael, listen to me, you can’t change destiny; it just doesn’t happen. You did what you wanted; you told Sydney how you feel and you still have almost three days. Live them wisely,” Jonah encouraged him.

Vaughn lowered his eyes down to his lap. Ridiculous, he thought. “But what….,” his voice trailed off, for, when he looked back up, Jonah was gone.



Chapter 3

“Vaughn?” Sydney’s sweet voice emanated from inside the bathroom. She appeared in the doorframe wearing just a towel, her wet hair dangling down around her shoulders. “Did you say something to me?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head.

“Oh… I thought I heard you talking…”

“TV,” Vaughn said quickly. “I was just checking to see if it was going to rain today,” he explained. Sydney nodded slowly before disappearing back into the bathroom and cranking her hairdryer up to full blast.

Vaughn covered his face with his hands as he sighed a long, painful sigh. If Jonah was right, and Vaughn had to believe that he was considering Sydney was actually in the next room, Sydney was going to die in three days and there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like to have to let her go once more and knowing it was coming certainly wouldn’t make it any easier. In fact, it would probably make it worse.

He was faced with two large dilemmas. First, how could he live the next three days to the fullest, knowing that Sydney was going to die in a matter of hours, really? Second, how could he let her go, especially after spending what he planned to be three utterly perfect and blissful days with her. He wasn’t sure he could let her go if they had thirty more years together, let alone three days. She was… everything to him.

Since their first kiss in the wreckage of SD-6, only four months had passed. They had been the best four months of Vaughn’s life but still, only four months with Sydney when he desired a lifetime seemed like a sick joke allowing him to have what he truly craved but only for a very short period of time.

In his mind flashed bits and pieces of their sixteen weeks together. Their first kiss, though not exactly as romantic as Vaughn would have hoped (the guns, smell of blood and gunpowder in the air and utility vests really detracted from any romance), was very fitting for them. Their first night of passion in those sheets on which he sat and the many subsequent nights after that. His first encounter with Jack Bristow after he had ‘bed’ his daughter. Jack, unfortunately, had been informed of their lip lock at SD-6 and had offered up a very threatening speech to Vaughn about his intentions with his one and only daughter. Vaughn had never been so terrified in his life, especially during the two times he was convinced Jack was reaching for a gun or weapon of another sort.

The most recent and one of the fonder moments Vaughn recalled was Sydney’s birthday a few weeks earlier. Vaughn had gone all out in his extensive preparations for her twenty eight year milestone. First, he had arranged for a party at the CIA ops center with Marshall, Dixon, and all their other CIA associates. Then, he’d taken her to a Kings game and had ‘Happy Birthday Sydney’ displayed on the jumbo screens during the game. While Sydney reacted positively to this, Vaughn knew immediately it was merely an act and she hadn’t liked it as much as he would have hoped. To make up for this, though, he gave her an extra long back rub that evening, which she insisted completed her birthday perfectly and made it the best she ever had.

Sitting there, he knew there was no way he was going to lose her again; he couldn’t. He slid off the bed and pulled on his boxers as he slowly walked over to the bathroom door. He leaned his shoulder up against the doorframe and watched as Sydney meticulously dried every strand of her hair. After a few minutes, she noticed him standing there and switched off her hairdryer. “You know, if you don’t leave now you’re going to be late,” she informed him in a warning tone.

“What if… what if we don’t go in today?” he suggested. The wheels of his brain were turning and a brilliant idea was forming.

“What?” Sydney asked, slightly unsure.

“Yeah, let’s not go in today. Let’s… let’s go somewhere – anywhere. Paris, Rome, Cairo – I don’t care let’s just go somewhere!”

“Vaughn, we can’t do that,” she told him. Her tone made it seem as though he was suggesting they rob a bank and not play hooky.

“Yes, yes we can. The CIA can live without us for a day or so; the world will continue to revolve. Come on let’s go … come onnn,” he groaned at the very hesitant look on her face. “When was the last time you did anything spontaneous?!” he asked rather rhetorically, knowing that Sydney Bristow was not a spontaneous person.

“You’re insane,” she laughed. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing,” he said, trying his best to play innocent. He walked into the bathroom, wrapped his arms around her waist as he stood behind her and pressed a kiss into the back of her head. “I just think we should do something to get away,” he said. She gave him a still hesitant look, but Vaughn knew he was winning her over slowly. “Come on,” he enticed sweetly. “Anywhere you want.”

“Anywhere?” she questioned.

“Yes, anywhere in the entire world,” he said, excitement growing in his voice.

Sydney turned around in his arms and looked up at him very seriously. “I want to go and meet your mother,” she told him. Not expecting this, Vaughn let out a loud groan. “Hey, you said I could pick.”

“I know, I know,” he groaned again, rubbing his brow that time. “You could have picked Paris – the Rivera and you picked my mother?!” he asked, utterly confused. Sydney nodded. Vaughn hesitated for another moment or so before Sydney finally stuck out her bottom lip, pouting at him.

Vaughn groaned, submitting. “You’re sure that’s what you want?”

“I’m sure,” she smiled.

“Fine,” he sighed. “We’ll go and see my mother… but for the record, I think you’re insane.”

“Well for the record I think you are too,” she said with a slight giggle. He rolled his eyes. Sydney kissed Vaughn briefly before instructing him to go home and pack a bag and then come back to pick her up so they could go to his mother’s. Vaughn agreed to this plan, saying he’d be back within an hour before leaving, wondering what exactly the next three days would bring them, especially if his mother was involved.



Chapter 4

After almost exactly an hour, Vaughn returned to Sydney’s house, bag of clothes in hand, ready to go to his mother’s house, but not entirely ready for what that would mean. He had, however, called ahead and warned his mother about their impending arrival, knowing how much she hated surprise houseguests.

“I’ll be ready in a second,” Sydney said when she opened the door to her house. She then disappeared back down the hall leaving Vaughn standing by the kitchen. “I’m still finalizing my packing… where does your mother even live by the way?”

“Santa Barbara,” Vaughn responded automatically.

With his answer, Sydney poked her head out of her bedroom. “Santa Barbara?! Really?!” she asked in surprise. Vaughn nodded once with a slight shrug. “Is… that why you said we suggested we go there last time we played hockey?” she asked sounding slightly suspicious. At her tone, Vaughn avoided eye contact and gave a non-committal grumble. “Vaughn,” Sydney said in a warning tone.

“Okay, okay - yeah, I was going to take you to meet her, but that wasn’t the sole purpose of our visit,” he admitted. Really, that three day getaway he had planned to Santa Barbara had many, many events planned. In addition to relaxing in their suite at the Biltmore and on the beach, of course, they were going to visit his mother, the zoo Sydney mentioned, and of course dinner at La Superica, among other things. Since they only had three days though, all those things didn’t seem good enough. They could have gone to Santa Barbara anytime, plus it was just Santa Barbara, it could never hold a candle to Paris or Rome.

Sydney left her bedroom door frame, walked over to Vaughn and planted a sweet kiss on his right cheek. “I’ll be ready in five minutes,” she told him before returning to her bedroom.

Vaughn sighed and slid into one of the chairs at the kitchen counter in Sydney’s apartment, absent mindedly tracing the edge of the countertop. “Did you tell Francie you’re going, or are you just gonna vanish?” Vaughn called to Sydney.

“Left her a voicemail. She’s used to me vanishing, so it’s no biggie,” Sydney told him. “Besides, if no one knows where we went, no one can come looking for us, right?”

“Ah, so we’re going on the lam?” he asked in a playful voice. He heard Sydney laugh loudly at this. “Could be fun…”

“Yeah, but doesn’t going on the lam imply you’ve committed some sort of crime?”

“I guess,” he sighed.

“Hey, uh, Vaughn?” Sydney asked cautiously when she came out of her bedroom, jacket in hand and bag over he shoulder. “Does, um, your mom know about… about what my mother did?” she asked with a slight gulp, dreading any answer positive or negative to that question.

Vaughn lowered his eyes to the ground, trying not to flinch. The absolute last thing he needed to be reminded of in those three precious days was Irina Derekvo. “No, she doesn’t and she doesn’t need to either,” he told her. Then, with a deep breath he looked back up to her, “Let’s go, okay?” Sydney gave him a soft smile and nod before following him out to his car.

About twenty minutes into their drive, Vaughn noticed Sydney fidgeting with her fingernails. This subtle yet noticeable by him action was something she frequently did when waiting for a meeting with Barnett or Kendall and Vaughn knew it to be her symbol for nervousness. “Syd, you’re not nervous about meeting my mom, are you?” he asked, glancing over to her for a second.

“Well…,” Sydney hesitated for a moment. “I mean, I don’t know… do you think she’ll like me?”

“What are you kidding?” he couldn’t help but laugh at such an absurd question. Sydney was hands down the most likeable person he had ever met in his life. “How could she not? She’s going to love you.”

Sydney smiled softly as she looked out at the road. “Tell me a bit about her. You never really talk about her – how come?”

Vaughn shrugged. There really was no reason for it. He didn’t have a poor relationship with his mother; she just wasn’t a frequent conversation topic in his life, especially not around Sydney. He shied away from bringing up his mother in conversation because it inevitably turned the conversation to his father, a subject he did not want to discuss. “She’s a high school teacher – French. She was born in France and lived over there until she met my father and married him. Her parents owned a vineyard; her brother owns it now. We used to spend summers over there when I was younger. That’s… about it,” he laughed slightly.

“Mm,” Sydney nodded slightly. The only thing she knew about Vaughn’s mother was that she was from France, and that she had heard from Weiss. She knew that the probable reason for Vaughn’s hesitance to share family details with her was because of the tension on that subject caused by her family. That was something she knew she’d always feel guilty for throughout their relationship, but there was really nothing she could do to fix or change it. “So… what did you tell her about me?” Sydney asked him.

“Tryin’ to get all my secrets, Bristow?” Vaughn asked in a playful tone. Sydney laughed softly and shrugged. “No, no I told her about you. I told her that your name is Sydney… and you’re really kinda ugly and pathetic and, really, I’m only with you because I pity you immensely and- HEY!” Vaughn moaned when Sydney smacked him painfully on the arm.

“You are horrible,” she told him, though she was laughing slightly.

“Me? Never,” he smiled innocently.

“Horrible,” she repeated, shaking her head.

“I only tease because I love,” he grinned. She rolled her eyes slightly. “Okay, okay seriously I told her… I dunno, I told her how great you were and how crazy it was with SD-6 and-”

“You told her about SD-6?!” Sydney asked in surprise.

“Um, yeah… I tell her everything, which, of course, the CIA would kill me for, but she knows what it’s all about; she’s not a security risk,” he said.

“I see,” Sydney nodded. “Well, I can’t wait to meet her,” she smiled.

“Good,” Vaughn smiled back.



Chapter 5

After a two hour long drive, Vaughn pulled his black sedan up in front of his mother’s Mediterranean style beach house along the Santa Barbara coastline. Vaughn grabbed both his and Sydney’s bag from the back seat of the car while Sydney climbed out of the passenger seat slowly, admiring the home in front of her. “This is gorgeous,” she sighed to Vaughn.

“Oh I know; it’s like an oasis or something. I seriously want to steal this house from her someday,” Vaughn said in a serious tone. Sydney laughed softly at this, but her smile faded when she noticed the bags in Vaughn’s hands. When she questioned him he responded, “No, we’re staying here – trust me, my mom will insist upon it. That’s not a problem, is it?”

“No, no,” Sydney said quickly. “I just didn’t want to put your mom out or anything.”

“Don’t worry,” Vaughn smiled. “We won’t be.” He slung one of the bags over his right shoulder and held the other in his right hand so that he could take Sydney’s hand with his left and pull her towards the house. Once at the front door, Sydney rang the doorbell since Vaughn’s hands were both occupied at the moment. It only took about a minute for the door to swing open as a blonde, medium height, thin woman appeared in the doorway.

“Michael, chere, I’m so glad to finally see you after, what has it been? Three months now?” she asked, her voice chipper but with a slightly annoyed undertone.

“Maman, please,” Vaughn laughed nervously through gritted teeth. “This is Sydney; Sydney, this is my mother.”

“It’s wonderful to finally meet you, Mrs. Vaughn,” Sydney said, extending her right hand as she tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear with her left.

Vaughn’s mother took her hand with a grin and used it to pull Sydney into the house. “It’s wonderful to meet you too, chere, but please, call me Amelia. I feel old enough having a thirty-two year old son without having ‘Mrs.’ tacked onto my name,” she said with a pointed look over her shoulder towards her son.

“Hey, it’s not my fault; blame time,” Vaughn said innocently.

“Michael, be a dear and take those bags to the guestroom so that Sydney and I can have a little chat,” Amelia smiled at him. Vaughn gave Sydney a cautioning look before disappearing down the hallway to their left. “So, Sydney, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?” Amelia asked. She led Sydney by her hand into an adjoining porch-like sitting area. The furniture was all in soft tones of yellow and pink and, with the windows open, a cool breeze with a hint of the sea air filtered through.

“Well, we just decided that we weren’t going to go into work today and Va-Michael,” Sydney corrected herself quickly, “asked what I wanted to do and I said this,” she smiled.

~

Vaughn quickly walked down the hall towards the guest room, not wanting to leave Sydney alone too long with his mother, especially since they had met only thirty seconds prior. His mother could be overbearing, especially when speaking to his girlfriends. As a matter of fact, Vaughn couldn’t think of one girlfriend of his whom she’d met that she really, truly liked as much as he. She always found flaws in them and never thought they were good enough. Upon that realization, Vaughn grew slightly more nervous about their impending time together.

He entered the guestroom quickly and was just about to toss their bags down onto the bed when he spotted Jonah beside it and nearly had a coronary. “Jesus what are you doing?!” Vaughn gasped, clutching his chest slightly.

“I’m just here as a reminder,” Jonah told him in an innocent tone.

“Yeah well I don’t need it,” he muttered. Vaughn roughly tossed their bags down onto the bed before quickly exiting and heading back towards the other side of the house. Once he was out in the hall he could hear his mother’s voice

“…oh well that’s wonderful. I’ve been wanting to meet you for quite some time but you two are always so busy flying here and there saving the world,” Amelia said with a chuckle.

“Saving the world?” Vaughn asked as he walked into the sitting room. “Oh you guys are talking about me, how nice,” he grinned a cheeky grin as he sat down beside Sydney on the couch across from his mother’s chair. Sydney elbowed him lightly and shook her head at him.

“You are too much, you know that?” Amelia told her son. He shrugged. Before they fell into any deep conversation, Amelia offered her guests something to drink, but they both declined. “So you two are playing hooky, hmm?” Amelia asked with a smile, settling back into her chair in a more comfortable position. “Have your cell phones started ringing non-stop yet?”

“We turned them off,” Sydney said with a slight giggle.

“Smart plan,” Amelia winked at her.

“Well, it’s kind of hard to relax when you fear that within moments Director Kendall’s irritated tone is going to come blasting through your cell phone,” Vaughn chuckled before he and Sydney exchanged knowing looks. They had been on the receiving end of Kendall’s blasting far too often, especially in the recent months, when their fascination with each other’s lips (among other body parts) caused them trouble on various occasions.

“That man,” Amelia muttered in an obviously annoyed tone. “I’d like to give him a piece of my mind if I could…what was that the last time I called you? He was shouting something in your ear about a closet or something. What would you be doing in a closet anyway?! Out of his mind…”

“Um yeah, anyway,” Vaughn cleared his throat loudly to distract attention from Sydney, who was turning pink all the way back to her ears. “At least we don’t have to deal with him today or tomorrow….or Friday…”

“Vaughn,” Sydney said in a quiet yet warning tone. “We can’t stay here that long.”

“Of course you can!” Amelia interjected before Vaughn could respond.

“Well Maman actually-”

“Nonsense,” Amelia said with a casual wave of her hand. “You need to visit me more often Michael Christian – you are my only son.”

Vaughn grumbled slightly at his mother’s tone, dripping with guilt. He knew that if he and Sydney left to spend a romantic night together he’d never hear the end of it from her, ever. Cautiously, he looked towards Sydney, who was smiling at him with a ‘well, if you wanna, it’s okay with me’ look. “Okay Maman, we’d be happy to stay,” he sighed.

“Wonderful! I’ll just go ahead and get started on lunch then. Why don’t you two go for a quick walk on the beach?!” she suggested with a grin before disappearing out of the room.



Chapter 6

“So…,” Vaughn began casually. They were walking down to the shoreline from his mother’s house, their shoes in hand as their toes squished down into the warm sand.

“I love her; she’s just like I thought she’d be,” Sydney told him with a smile.

“I’m glad… but, are you sure you don’t mind staying a few days here? I mean, if you really wanted to go I could-”

“No, no I want to stay,” Sydney smiled at him. She linked her free arm through his and rested her head against his shoulder as they walked. “I love the beach… I don’t get to go nearly enough though. You know what I’d love to have eventually? A nice house along the beach like your mom’s where I could just go out and read a book in the sand or… something.”

“Yeah,” Vaughn sighed. He tried his best not to wince at her comment. After all, she’d never have an ‘eventually’ in her life. Though she didn’t know it, she only had a little more than forty-eight hours left on earth. He wished though, more than anything he’d be able to give her the ‘…ever after’ she so desperately deserved.

“Can we come out here after lunch and walk some more or… I dunno, build a sand castle?” she asked with child-like excitement in her tone.

“Absolutely,” he said, pressing a gentle kiss onto her forehead. They walked along the beach for a few more minutes before returning to Michael’s mother’s house for their lunch.

During lunch, their conversation pleasantly bounced between general topics, like the weather and the Kings, and more specific topics about Sydney or her relationship with Vaughn. After they ate, Sydney volunteered to help Amelia clean up, but she refused. “Of course not – Michael can do that,” she told him with a sweet smile.

“Greeeeeat,” Vaughn groaned slightly as Sydney giggled.

“This one, he’s so lazy,” Amelia said to Sydney while jabbing in Vaughn’s direction with a knife. “When he was younger I had the hardest time getting him to shower or take a bath – even when he stunk to high heaven.”

Sydney snorted loudly before quickly clasping her hand over her mouth, trying to stifle her giggles. Vaughn turned slightly pink and muttered something to his mother under his breath in French. “What?” Amelia smiled innocently. “It’s true!”

“Michael Vaughn the dirty, smelly boy… now there’s a sight,” Sydney sighed, trying desperately to keep a straight face. Vaughn gave her an unappreciative glare. With this, Sydney couldn’t help but giggle slightly, which resulted in Vaughn accidentally-on-purpose hitting her in the back of the head with his elbow. “Hey!” she groaned.

Amelia hit her son with a dishtowel. “Don’t hit a woman Michael! Honestly… what have I taught you?” she clicked her tongue in disgust while Vaughn recoiled.

“She was making fun of me!” he defended in a childish manner.

“No she wasn’t,” Amelia said factually. “You really were a dirty smelly boy.”

“Wonderful…,” Vaughn sighed.

“I’m going to go change into my bathing suit,” Sydney said, wishing to get out of the way of a potential family squabble. She made a quick escape down the hall and, once she was gone, Vaughn turned to his mother with a questioning look in his eyes, trying to determine if she hated Sydney, accepted her, or loved her.

From his mother, Vaughn received an approving nod and a soft smile, which meant, at the very least, Amelia was accepting Sydney. Smiling at this himself, Vaughn finished clearing their lunch from the table before slipping down the hallway to change into his own bathing suit. He found the guestroom door closed, but opened it anyway. Inside, he was met by Sydney shrieking loudly.

“Jesus it’s just me,” Vaughn told her. “Nothin’ I haven’t seen before,” he winked. Sydney rolled her eyes dramatically at this comment before continuing to change into her red bikini. Once changed, she walked over to the large mirror on the inside of the closet door to check out her reflection.

“Can you see this?” she asked, referring to a large bruise down her side that was beginning to fade but, to her, screaming a sick color of green.

“Nah,” Vaughn said, barely even looking at it. “Not as much as you can see this,” he pointed to the fresh, pink colored scrape along his side where he had an unfortunate encounter with a switch blade the previous week.

“Or this,” Sydney said with a slight laugh, pointing to the circular and permanent scar on her shoulder where her mother had shot her earlier that year.

“We’re just a buncha freaks aren’t we?” he laughed. Sydney nodded in agreement.

After he changed, Vaughn walked with Sydney out to his mother’s beachy back yard, where she was gathering lawn chairs for them to tote down to the shoreline. “Hey Maman, you don’t happen to have a bucket or shovel, do you?”

“What are you, four?” Sydney asked with a slight laugh.

“No, I just thought it might be fun to bury you in the sand,” he smiled at her. She made a face at him as his mother laughed,

“I am sorry Michael – no shovel or bucket.”

“That’s okay,” he told her. Then, he picked up the two chairs she lent them and headed down towards the beach with Sydney.

After gingerly dipping one of her toes into the chilly water, Sydney decided it would be best to bask in the sunshine in a lounge chair rather than waste her time freezing herself in the water. She settled down in the chair beside Vaughn and shut her eyes tightly, enjoying the warming feeling of the sun across every inch of her exposed skin.

Instead of relaxing himself, Vaughn watched Sydney. He took in every inch of her, from the way a few hairs on her head danced in the light breeze to the gentle rise and fall of her chest to the way her skin smelled when he leaned over and kissed her shoulder. He took in all of it knowing that in forty-eight hours, he’d never get the chance again.

~*~

After their beach time, Sydney and Vaughn returned to Amelia’s and talked with her while helping prepare their dinner. They ate and laughed together, sipping on some of the wine from Amelia’s family vineyard, which Sydney deemed to be the best wine she had ever tasted. After dinner was cleaned up they chatted some more before Vaughn finally announced he was going to bed, since, for him, it had been a very trying twenty-four hours.

After brushing his teeth, Vaughn returned to the guest bedroom to find Sydney looking rather twitchy. “What’s with you?” he asked her.

“Well, it’s just…,” she began with a slight squeak. “Your mother knows we’re in here… together…”

“…and…,” Vaughn said slowly, failing to see the problem in what she was saying.

“Well,” Sydney groaned. “You know… we’re… sharing a bed and…”

“Oh,” Vaughn laughed softly, finally realizing what she was concerned about. “Syd, I’m thirty-two and I’m pretty sure my mother knows I’m not a virgin.”

“I know, buuut,” she whined slightly.

Vaughn walked over to her and gave her a long kiss that left her entirely hazy. “It’s fine,” he said in a soft tone, stroking her cheeks with his thumbs.

“Okay,” she squeaked. Vaughn laughed softly at her expression before giving her another, quicker kiss and climbing into bed. When Sydney joined him a minute later, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, spooning himself around her body. If he only had two nights left with her, he was going to make the most of it, or as much as he could with his mother sleeping down the hall.



Chapter 7

The next morning Vaughn awoke in his favorite manner with Sydney’s head nestled underneath his, resting on his shoulder. He placed a gentle kiss atop her head and inhaled the faint scent of her shampoo mixed with the smell of the salty beach air from the previous day. A few minutes later, Sydney began to stir and stretch. When she did so, all of her toes cracked and Vaughn couldn’t help but laugh; it happened every morning.

Sydney groaned slightly and lifted her head enough to lock eyes with him. “Morning,” she managed before letting her head flop back down onto his chest.

“Sleep well?” he asked, knowing that he hadn’t sleep all that well. His insomnia stemmed not only from the fact that, within thirty six hours Sydney would be leaving him forever, but also because the old mattress on his mother’s guestroom bed wasn’t the most comfortable in the world.

“Kinda…,” she sighed, stretching once more.

“Yeah this mattress sucks,” he laughed slightly. He then slid out of bed while Sydney groaned loudly since her pillow had disappeared. Vaughn playfully smacked Sydney’s back with his pillow before making his side of the bed. Sydney reluctantly dragged herself from bed and did the same before following him down to the kitchen, where Amelia was cooking breakfast.

“Smells great Maman,” Vaughn said as he walked to the cabinet to retrieve two cups for coffee.

“It really does, but you didn’t have to…,” Sydney told Amelia.

“Nonsense. I always make myself breakfast, so I simply made a bit more for the two of you,” she said.

“’strue,” Vaughn mumbled through a yawn. “She always says breakfast is the most important meal and she means it too. Which is why she isn’t going to like you anymore,” Vaughn said to a blushing Sydney while handing her a filled coffee cup.

“Michael! Why would you say such a thing?!” his mother gasped.

“Because Sydney hates breakfast,” he laughed. Sydney shrugged slightly with a guilty expression before sipping her coffee.

“You hate breakfast?!” Amelia asked.

Sydney scrunched her nose and nodded. “Sorry. I just can’t eat this early in the morning.”

“Yeah, but she’ll eat eggs and pancakes and stuff for dinner – the little freak,” Vaughn said playfully while ruffling Sydney’s hair. She gave him an unappreciative look.

“Well that’s perfectly alright dear,” Amelia assured her.

Vaughn made himself a large plate of eggs along with a few pieces of toast while Sydney was finishing up her cup of coffee. Once done, she excused herself so that she was able to shower and get ready for the day. After she was gone, Amelia hit her son on the back of the head causing him to gape at her indignantly. “Honestly, you are terrible. I don’t know why such a nice girl stays with you,” Amelia told him.

“Because she loves me,” Vaughn said proudly. His mother gave him a skeptical look. “She does! Besides, I only tease those I love.”

“Well at least that explains your behavior towards me,” Amelia muttered into her coffee cup. Vaughn grinned.

After Sydney was out of the shower, Vaughn took his turn while she was drying her hair and getting ready for the day. When Vaughn got out of the shower, he noticed that Sydney was missing from the guest room, but he heard her voice echoing from down the hall and assumed she was talking with his mother. Using the hand towel resting on the edge of the sink, Vaughn wiped the mirror clean of fog and, when he looked back in it, he jumped at the sight of Jonah behind him. “JESUS would you quit doing that?!” Vaughn growled at him, wrapping the towel a bit tighter around his waist.

“Sorry,” Jonah said simply. “I’m merely here to remind you that-”

“Yeah, yeah, one day down,” Vaughn cut him off with a grumble.

“Gee, Michael, you don’t seem to be appreciating this time you have, perhaps I was wrong in giving it to you…,” Jonah said with a sigh.

Vaughn gave him a hard look. “You weren’t wrong and I am appreciating this time I have with Sydney. I just wish… I wish I had more time,” he sighed, lowering his eyes.

“We all wish that Michael, but, unfortunately, we only get a set amount of time on earth and, for Sydney, that time is up tomorrow night,” Jonah said. Then, with a blink, he vanished.

Vaughn turned around to face the mirror, grumbling and grunting under his breath as he reached for a razor. He held it tentatively in his hand, but then put it back down on the counter; it was his vacation too and he wasn’t going to shave. He left the bathroom and dressed quickly before going to find Sydney and his mother, who were sitting on the porch, each with their second cup of coffee for that morning. Vaughn leaned down and brushed his lips gently against Sydney’s cheek before flopping down in the chair beside her to find that she had a grimace on her face. “What?”

“You didn’t shave,” she said factually. Her nose was scrunched indicating her disgust, but it was unnecessary; Vaughn already knew how much she disliked his rough stubble scratching against her porcelain flesh.

“No, I’ll do it later,” he said.

“Why don’t you do it now?” his mother suggested. “And, after that, be a dear and run to the grocery store for me. There’s a list on the refrigerator with a few items I need. While you’re gone Sydney and I are going to have a little girl talk,” she said in a sweet tone.

“Maman I-”

“It’s okay, you can go,” Sydney encouraged.

“Fine,” he sighed. “I’ll be back in a while…”

~*~

After being gone almost an hour due to traffic, Vaughn returned with his arms full of groceries. He struggled to carry them into the kitchen without dropping them while listening to the sounds of soft voices emanating from the porch. Once the bags were safely on the counter, Vaughn went outside to find Sydney and his mother embracing each other. “Oh…kay…,” he said slowly at the strange and unexpected sight.

“Oh Michael you’re home,” Amelia said quickly. It was obvious she was trying to compose herself as she wiped her cheeks free of tears while Sydney was doing the same.

“Um… what’s going on?” he asked even slower, his eyes shifting in between the two women in front of him.

“Oh, nothing, nothing,” Amelia said casually. “Sydney and I were just talking about her mother an-”

“Really,” Vaughn said sharply, his eyes darting towards Sydney, who took a step backwards under his hard look. “Really? Were you and Sydney talking about her mother well isn’t that just… perfect,” he grumbled while taking a step forward. He grabbed Sydney’s arm saying, “Could I have a word, Sydney?” and dragging her off the porch and onto the sand.

“Stop! You’re hurting me Michael!” Sydney said, using his first name sharply. Though using his first name instead of his last was still very foreign for her, she felt it was necessary at that point in time. “What are you doing?!” she hissed at him.

Vaughn released her arm sharply and neared his face close to hers as he hissed as well, “I told you not to say anything to her about that.”

Sydney leaned her face even closer to his, challenging him. “It’s my life, Vaughn; my family. She has a right to know about everything.”

“I told you not to say anything!” he said, his voice raising slightly.

“You’re not my keeper Vaughn,” Sydney retorted.

“You don’t… you just…,” Vaughn growled, hardly able to speak. “You don’t know anything about my life-”

“Because you won’t tell me!” Sydney shouted back at him.

“Because I don’t want it to lead to a conversation about your god damn mother!” he yelled. Then, the two of them fumed at each other for a few minutes before Sydney stalked off down the beach, leaving Vaughn standing at the foot of the steps, seething.



Chapter 8

“Michael, what in heaven’s name was that about?” his mother demanded when she approached him after a full five minutes of him standing silently, breathing heavily.

“Nothing,” he grumbled trying to make his way back into the house, but his mother stood in the way.

“That wasn’t nothing and you’re going to explain yourself right here and right now young man,” she said in a warning tone that only a mother could use. Vaughn did nothing but stare at her neck for a solid few minutes before his mother spoke again. “This is about her isn’t it?” Amelia said, referring not to Sydney, but to Sydney’s mother who she had discovered the truth about only half an hour earlier. Again, Vaughn didn’t respond. “Sit,” Amelia commanded her son, gesturing towards the steps beside them.

It took another full minute to Vaughn to move, but, when he did, he slowly sat down on the step his mother was pointing at. She sat down beside him and in a calm tone asked, “Why are you so upset about this Michael? I’m not.”

“Because you didn’t have to look at her!” he shouted. Then he was silent for a few moments before continuing, “You didn’t have to stare into her eyes and she who she is and what she is… you didn’t have to help her into a helicopter when all you wanted to do was push her right back out,” he sighed as he lowered her head into his hands.

At his words, Amelia sighed heavily and rested a gentle hand on his back. “No, I haven’t,” she said quietly. “Maybe if I had I would feel differently, but no matter what this is not Sydney’s fault. She did not choose her parents and therefore she is not responsible for the fact that one of them did something as terrible as this.”

“I know that,” Vaughn sighed. “I just… I don’t know what to think or do or… I don’t know,” he sighed again. “On one hand I want so badly to see justice done to her… and not just because of what she did to Dad, because of what she did to Sydney – what she keeps doing to Sydney but… at the same time… she’s Sydney’s mother… I dunno,” he groaned, standing up.

He slowly walked back into the house and back to the guestroom, not even sure what he was doing, where he was going, or why he was going there. When he arrived, though, he wasn’t even surprised to see Jonah sitting on the bed. “Well, that went well,” Jonah said, sarcasm obvious in his voice.

“You know, I really don’t need you right now, alright? Can’t you just go away? Don’t you have souls to confiscate or something?” Vaughn asked rather harshly.

“I’m simply here to remind you that you might not want to spend your time fighting – but then again,” Jonah said with a slight shrug, “who am I to judge.”

With that, he disappeared and Vaughn fell face first onto the bed, groaning. Begrudgingly he admitted to himself that Jonah was right. Vaughn didn’t want to fight with Sydney during their time together and that was the exact reason why he didn’t want her mother to be brought up at all during that weekend. Yet, at the same time, their argument further cemented a point in his mind. He could not constantly avoid the subject of Irina Derekvo simply because it was uncomfortable for both parties involved.

He had known ever since the first day Sydney found out about what her mother did to his father that Sydney felt guilty for it constantly. He hated that. He didn’t blame Sydney, nor could he ever. She was feeling guilty for no reason at all and he needed to remedy that then and there along with a few other mistakes he made along the way.

Quickly, he got off the bed and headed towards the door, but stopped himself short. He turned around and pulled out his phone, calling La Superica and making reservations for that evening. Then, after he hung up, he raced off towards the beach prepared to grovel.

After ten minutes of walking, he found Sydney sitting down on the beach with her arms locked around her knees, hugging her legs tightly to her body. Vaughn slipped off his shoes so as not to fill them with even more sand, before approaching her slowly and sitting down beside her. She glanced briefly in his direction, acknowledging his presence, but said nothing.

“I’m sorry,” Vaughn sighed. “I shouldn’t have yelled at you. I understand why you felt like you needed to tell my mother the truth and… I shouldn’t have stopped you. Sydney… hey,” he said softly, coaxing her to look at him. When she finally did, he continued, “This whole mess isn’t your fault, you know? You don’t need to feel guilty for her and what she did.”

“But-” Sydney began, but Vaughn pressed a gentle finger to her lips, silencing her.

“No buts. This isn’t your fault. I know we never talk about it and… I really don’t know what to say except it is what it is and we can’t change it or do anything about it so we should just move past it, okay?” he asked, removing his finger from her lips.

“Okay,” she said softly. “But you still don’t share much about your family with me…”

“I know, and I’ll try to start sharing as long as you try to stop beating yourself up over this,” he told her.

She cracked a small smile and agreed. Vaughn leaned over and kissed her lips softly and then her forehead before putting an arm around her. “How about you and I go out to dinner tonight, special at La Superica?”

“Okay,” she agreed. “You can tell me about your family while we eat.”

~*~

During their dinner, Vaughn actually discovered that once he started talking about his crazy (in his view) family, it was difficult to stop. Sydney was laughing and begging him for more stories about his Uncle Pierre, his mother’s brother who owned the vineyard. In the end, their dinner was perfect and, when they arrived home and were getting ready for bed, Vaughn tried to make their evening even more perfect. As Sydney was unzipping her dress, Vaughn approached her from behind and assisted her with it, kissing the back of her neck as he did so.

“Vaughn,” Sydney giggled, though her tone was warning.

“What?” he breathed in her ear while nipping at it slightly.

“Stop Vaughn,” Sydney said very seriously. He furrowed his brow at her and she looked at him as though he was insane. “We cannot have sex in your mother’s house,” she insisted firmly.

“What?!” he practically screeched. “Why the hell not?”

“Becaaaaaause,” she groaned. “We can’t.”

“WHY?!”

“Because we just can’t, that’s why. That’s… wrong,” she said with a slight shiver. “Besides, she’s right down the hall.”

“SO?!” he asked in disbelieving horror.

“No,” Sydney told him firmly before disappearing into the bathroom. Vaughn flopped down and let a frustrated groan out into his pillow; it was going to be another long night.



Chapter 9

When Vaughn awoke on Friday morning, for one brief, fleeting second, he was almost happy with life. Then, he remembered. Friday. It was Friday. Friday was the day Sydney Bristow died, or, in this case, would die. With this realization, Vaughn’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach.

Looking down at the beautiful angel sleeping beside him, Vaughn wasn’t sure how he was going to deal with losing her, even when he knew it was coming. He watched her sleeping for half an hour, taking in all her beauty, knowing it would be the last time, before he slipped from bed without waking her.

When he shuffled his way into the kitchen to make coffee, he found that his mother was already awake and it appeared she was waiting for him. “Michael I…,” she let her voice drift off when she caught sight of the expression her son was wearing so early that morning. “What’s the matter sweetheart? You look so… sad,” she said sounding slightly confused as to why this was so.

“Nah, just tired Maman,” he shook it off as he headed towards the brewing coffee pot.

“Is Sydney still asleep?”

“Yes,” Vaughn responded through a yawn.

“Good, good, that’s good. Michael have a seat, I need to give you something,” Amelia told him.

“Give me something?” Vaughn asked with confusion. He sat across from her at the small round table in the kitchen and looked at her with a furrowed brow. A broad smile crossed Amelia’s face as she pulled a small box from her robe pocket and pushed it across the table towards her son, encouraging him to open it. He took it slowly and opened it to find a white gold ring that suspiciously resembled an engagement ring. Glancing up at his mother, he saw her smile, and his heart shattered. “Maman, are you proposing to me?” he said in attempt to lessen the pain in his chest.

“No of course not,” she laughed. “That ring belong to my mother. My father gave it to her and they had forty wonderful years together before they passed. She always told me that ring was her good luck charm and now I’m giving it to you, but under one condition,” she said. Vaughn raised an eyebrow at her and she continued, “You must give that ring to Sydney.”

An immense lump formed in Vaughn’s throat and he swallowed hard. “Maman…”

“Don’t ‘Maman’ me, Michael. You’d be a fool not to marry that girl. You love her very much, she loves you and I love her too. Hearing you speak of her with such a look of devotion in your eyes for all these years I could hardly imagine the person I was going to meet… but no matter what I dreamed up, it paled in comparison to the real thing. She’s good for you Michael, don’t let her get away,” Amelia told him with a smile.

Vaughn looked down at the ring box in his hand and fought harder than he’d ever fought in his life to keep a tear from falling down his cheek. “Thank you Maman,” he managed to croak out.

“What’s the matter Michael? Don’t you want to marry Sydney?” she asked, utterly confused.

With a slight sniff, Vaughn looked up and managed to spread a smile across his face. “No, no I do Maman. I really, really do,” he said, speaking with more honesty than he had ever spoken with in his life. His mother gave him a smile as she slid out of her chair, walked around the table and pressed a gentle kiss onto his forehead.

“I need to run into work today, Michael. Not all of us have as much liberty with our schedules as you do,” she told him with a wink. “I should be back by one, though.”

“Alright…,” he sighed. With one last sip of his coffee, he slid out of his chair. Instead of walking back to the guestroom, he walked out on the back porch, bound for the beach. He needed a walk, a long walk, for he feared that if he sat in that kitchen a moment longer, he’d break down entirely. On the way to the shoreline, he passed Jonah and, before Jonah could open is mouth, Vaughn silenced him with a sharp, “Don’t!” and then went on his way.

Vaughn only walked about ten minutes before the tears began to flow steadily down his cheeks while he clutched the ring box tighter and tighter in his hand. His heart was so broken in that moment, he wasn’t even sure he could take another step. He loved Sydney with every fiber of his body and yet, there was nothing he could do to stop her death… was there? He loved her, but it didn’t matter, because she was still going to die. In fact, those three days had been nothing but a sick, twisted joke, giving him a taste of what he craved desperately, but yet could never have.

He walked until his tears stopped flowing. At that point, he flopped down on the sand and stared out at the waves rolling into the shore. Watching them, he was lulled into a trance and he started to become numb. Maybe, if he just sat there it would all go away; it would stop hurting. Somehow, though, he knew, he was just at the very beginning of all the pain that was going to befall him that day.

He wasn’t exactly sure how much time had passed before he heard his name being shouted distantly. Looking towards the sound, he saw that Sydney was jogging up the shoreline towards him. Her hair was in a ponytail, flowing out behind her in the wind. She was wearing a yellow tank top that, in the breeze, flapped up now and then, giving him a peek at her toned and now tanned stomach. “Vaughn!” she called out. He stood, brushing off the sand from his pants, acknowledging her shouting.

“Vaughn,” she said, slightly breathless as she drew closer to him. “What are you doing out here? I woke up and I couldn’t find you… or your mother for that matter.”

“Sorry I… I just felt like going for a walk,” he told her truthfully.

“Okay, well, let’s go,” she said, taking his hand. “We can run to the store and get a bucket and shovel and make a sandcastle! Come oonnn,” she laughed, practically dragging him by the arm to get him to move. “Don’t you want to?”

“Actually…,” he said slowly as a brilliant idea began forming in his mind. If Sydney only had eight hours left to live he was going to make those hours the best of her life. “Actually, I have something to ask you.”

She stopped walking and turned around, her eyes squinting in the sun. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” he said as he got down in one knee in front of her. Sydney dropped her hand from his and clapped both of her hands over her mouth as she gasped,

“Vaughn what are you doing?!”

Vaughn fumbled for a moment with the ring box in his hand before he was able to open it and display it to her. “Sydney, I love you; I love you so much. I…I want to marry you – I want us to get married and…,” he sighed. He would have thrown kids into that wish but he knew that would only break his heart even more. “…and I want to be with you until the day I die. Will you marry me?”

“Vaughn,” Sydney managed, her voice slightly strained by the tears in her eyes. “You… you don’t mean this… do you?” she asked in a hopeful tone.

“Of course I mean this,” he said, standing up slowly. Using his right hand, which was free, he reached out and stroked her face gently. “Sydney I mean this more than I’ve meant anything in my life.”

A single tear rolled down Sydney’s cheek and bumped into Vaughn’s finger tips. He brushed it away just as the biggest, most beautiful smile he had ever seen crossed Sydney’s face. His heart leapt into his throat as she leapt into his arms, showering his lips with kisses in between yeses. “Oh my god, Vaughn this is so… I don’t even know!! You’re so perfect you know that?! So, so, so perfect,” she said, kissing him in between each ‘so’.

“Nah, you are,” he responded as he fumbled with the ring box once more so that he could slide the ring onto her left hand. Once it was safely on her finger, Sydney sniffed and rubbed her cheeks before looking up at him with an immense grin.

“I love you so much,” she told him.

“I love you too,” Vaughn said before kissing her fully. He broke their kiss, nuzzling his face up against hers, knowing in that moment that he would do everything in his power to keep her there with him forever.



Chapter 10

As they walked back to Amelia’s house hand in hand, Sydney couldn’t tear her eyes away from her new engagement ring while the wheels in Vaughn’s brain were turning. He was convinced that if he could just keep Sydney away from her house that night, she’d be able to survive, as simple as that. Whatever it took, he was going to keep her at his mother’s house until the following day and then the curse would be broken – so to speak.

Once they reached the steps to Amelia’s house, Sydney pulled Vaughn in for another kiss, but didn’t linger very long on his lips. “Vaughn,” she grimaced slightly. “If we’re going to keep doing this you need to shave.”

He grumbled at her. “Woman why must you be so sensitive about my stubble?”

“Because it hurts and don’t call me woman,” she said in a warning tone.

“Fine,” he sighed. Then a sly grin crossed his face. “How about I shower instead… and you come with me.”

“Vaughn!” Sydney said in a hushing manner. “Your mother…”

“Is at work,” Vaughn informed her. She gave him a questioning look and he nodded in confirmation. With this, a grin spread across her face and she pulled him into the house.

~*~

After celebrating their engagement in the shower and then again on the bathroom floor, Sydney was finally beginning to dress once more, when she noticed her cell phone blinking. “Hey,” Vaughn warned her when she reached for it. “No cell phones – we made a deal.”

“I’m just going to check the message on it – chill,” she told him. Then, she ignored his grumbling protests as she flipped open her phone and dialed her voicemail. She only had to listen to the first three words of it before she gasped loudly, and her hand shot to her mouth.

“What is-” Vaughn was unable to finish his question because Sydney silenced him by clamping her hand over his mouth so that she could listen to the rest of the message.

“My dad’s in the hospital!” she wailed when the message had finished playing.

“What?!” Vaughn gasped.

“Sloane got him…,” Sydney said while heading directly to her suitcase. “He tortured him or shot him or something but he’s in the hospital and I have to go.”

“NO, NO, NO, NO!” Vaughn said loudly. Sydney looked up at him utterly stunned. “I mean…,” Vaughn tried to backtrack quickly and casually. “He’s probably fine – I mean it’s Jack; he’ll be fine. You don’t need to rush in there…”

“Vaughn, don’t be ridiculous. I have to go – Dixon told me to go,” Sydney said simply as she continued packing her bag.

“She’s right Michael,” Jonah said from his position in the bathroom door. “She has to go.”

“NO SHE DOESN’T!” Vaughn spat at him.

“What?” Sydney asked, sounding shocked.

“I mean… no, you don’t have to go,” Vaughn said as casually as possible. “Just… hold on a second,” he said. He quickly reached into his own bag and pulled out his cell phone. Ignoring the forty-seven voice mail messages on it he dialed the number of Eric Weiss.

“Dude!!! Where the FREAKING HELL have you been?!?!” Weiss demanded immediately, not even bothering with a ‘hello’. “It’s been like three days!! We thought you and Sydney died or something.”

“Eric, we’re in Santa Barbara visiting my mother. What’s going on with Jack?” he asked.

“Oh he’s messed up pretty bad man. I’ve never seen Jack this way – it’s scary,” Eric said solemnly.

“Really?” Vaughn gulped.

“Yeah. Is Sydney with you? Because she should really get here ASAP…”

“Yeah…she’s here,” Vaughn managed as he looked over to Sydney who had an ‘I told you so’ look on her face. “Were… coming…”

“Thank you,” Sydney mouthed to him before disappearing into the bathroom to retrieve the remainder of her belongings. Vaughn slammed his phone shut and bashed it rather painfully into his forehead. It was definitely a setback, but they weren’t screwed; not yet.

~*~

“Uuuuggggh you’re kidding me. Not another accident. Jesus can’t people learn to drive?!” Sydney groaned loudly. They had been driving for nearly two hours and they were still a good hour away from LA due to a ridiculous number of accidents closing the freeways they were trying to navigate.

“It’ll be fine, Syd,” Vaughn assured her, though secretly he was hoping that the freeway would close and they’d be stuck there until morning.

“But my dad…,” she sighed with a slight whimper.

“Hey,” he said in a soft tone as he reached over and squeezed her hand. “He’s going to be fine, okay? Why don’t you try calling Weiss back?”

Sydney nodded and dialed Weiss’s number for the third time since they got in the car. The previous times they had called, Weiss either wasn’t at the hospital yet or didn’t have any information that Sydney so desperately desired about her father. That time, though, she received good news. While her father had been shot in the arm, he was going to make a full recovery and, according to Weiss, he was already insulting everyone around him, which was obviously a good sign.

“See, that’s great,” Vaughn gave her a reassuring smile as she sighed with relief.

“Yeah and look – traffic’s moving,” she pointed out.

“Great,” Vaughn said in a less than enthusiastic way.

“Oh Vaughn, can we stop at my house before going to the hospital I-”

“NO!” Vaughn said quickly. They were fifteen minutes from Sydney’s house; twenty-five from the hospital. There was no way he was letting her go to her house.

“Vaughn come on. I’m going to freeze in that hospital dressed like this. I just want to change-”

“NO,” Vaughn repeated loudly.

“Vaughn,” Sydney said, her tone turning annoyed. “What the hell’s the matter with you? It’ll only take five minutes.”

“No,” Vaughn repeated. He wasn’t going there, no way, no how.

“VAUGHN,” Sydney said. That time, she was angry. “Take me to my house damnit… geez… Honestly what’s with you? You’re all over the place this weekend.”

“It’s nothing,” he growled. At the next intersection, he tried to turn left, but somehow, his car went right in the direction of Sydney’s house. Turning the wheel as hard as he could, Vaughn tried to figure out what was wrong with his car until he saw it. In his rear view mirror he caught a glimpse of Jonah in his back seat.

“You can’t change it Michael,” Jonah said.

“No…,” Vaughn sighed.

“NO?!” Sydney gasped in shock. “You don’t still want to marry me?!”

“What?” Vaughn responded. He hadn’t been paying attention to her at all. “What? No, of course I want to marry you.”

“Oh… good… on Monday I’m making Barnett examine your head by the way. Honestly…,” she sighed, twisting her engagement ring on her finger.

Though he was doing nothing to control it, Vaughn’s car stopped in front of Sydney’s house and she unlatched her seatbelt. “I’m only gonna be five minutes, okay? You can just wait here,” she told him.

“Sydney no,” he said, reaching out for her hand before she could open the car door. “Sydney, no, please don’t go. Stay here with me. We’ll go to the hospital and see your dad just don’t go please,” he begged her.

“Vaughn,” she said, her brow furrowing. She looked at him as though he had completely lost his mind, which, in a way, he had. “I have to go.”

“She’s right,” Jonah echoed as Sydney popped open the car door.

“SYDNEY!” Vaughn shouted, but his cry was interrupted by the slamming of the door. Vaughn watched in horror as Sydney jogged towards the house. His hand shot towards the handle on his own door but, to his terror, he found it was locked. “NO! NO COME ON!” he shouted as he frantically tried to unlock his door, but it wouldn’t budge. He tried the passenger door as well, but it too was locked.

“You can’t change it Michael,” Jonah said.

“NO, NO, NO!” Vaughn cried. “No, please, please don’t do this you have to let me out please, please, please,” he begged hysterically. “Please let me out I’ll do anything, please, please I can’t let her die this way.”

“You can’t change fate,” Jonah said calmly.

“Fate? FATE?!” Vaughn spat. “What about the fate of Sydney and I being soul mates?! What about that fate?! Lemme out of this car dammit!”

To his shock, the next time Vaughn tried the door, it opened. He tore out of the car and raced towards Sydney’s house, nearly falling in his haste. He struggled for a moment with Sydney’s front door for it, too, was locked. He kicked it in quickly, though before bursting into the house. Inside it was deadly silent but, luckily, he knew exactly where to go.

He charged down the hall to Sydney’s bedroom and found, to his utter shock, Francie with a gun pointed directly at Sydney’s heart. At his sudden presence, Sydney gasped and looked towards him. As she did this, Francie turned the gun on him and fired a shot but Vaughn was too quick for her and the bullet missed him as he pounced on her, knocking her towards the ground.

They struggled for a few moments before he was knocked backwards by the butt of the gun coming in contact painfully with his temple. Stunned by this sharp blow, Vaughn staggered to his feet. He lunged forward just as Francie pulled the trigger on her gun. As if in slow motion, Vaughn landed on Sydney just as the bullet hit him instead of her.

When they hit the ground, Sydney reached for her previously discarded weapon and fired two shots into the chest of her former best friend, who fell to the ground, dead. It was only then that, to her horror, she noticed the blood seeping out from underneath Vaughn’s t-shirt.

“Vaughn,” Sydney croaked as she ripped off his t-shirt and began examining him for a wound. She found the bullet hole in his shoulder and pressed her hand down on it firmly while reaching for Vaughn’s phone on his belt. Her fingers trembling, she dialed Weiss’s number and informed him of the situation, requesting immediate medical assistance.

“Vaughn, you’re going to be okay Vaughn,” she told him, still keeping firm pressure on his bleeding wound.

“Sydney,” Vaughn managed to croak out, lifting his non-wounded arm to stroke her face. “You’re okay…”

“I’m fine… Vaughn, what were you doing?” Sydney choked out as tears flowed down her cheeks. “You could have killed yourself.”

“Nah… just a scratch…,” he managed to form a small smile as he said this.

Sydney laughed softly before lowering her lips to his, kissing him sweetly. “You’re going to be okay,” she whispered to him. “But you shouldn’t have done that.”

He shook his head. “I’d do anything for you Sydney, anything to save you…,” he told her.

Sydney shook her head in disbelief. “I don’t deserve you.”

“Nah…,” he sighed. She lowered her lips to his once more just as the faint sound of sirens was beginning to appear. Then she moved her lips to his shoulder and kissed a spot just beside where her hand was pressed over his wound. As she was doing this, Vaughn’s eyes drifted towards the corner of her bedroom, where he saw Jonah standing, leaning against the wall. Vaughn mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him and, in response, Jonah winked before disappearing leaving only two single white feathers behind him.



Epilogue

“…Good Morning Los Angeles! It’s a beautiful, sunny Saturday morning on-”

Vaughn groaned as he smacked off his radio alarm clock. It couldn’t have been time to get up, not yet anyway. He had just fallen asleep. Beside him, his wife groaned, “Nooo not morning yet.”

“No morning,” Vaughn mumbled, pulling her body closer to his. They had only been laying that way for another minute before a piercing wail came from the other radio (also known as a baby monitor) beside their bed, eliciting a groan from both new parents.

“Your turn,” Sydney mumbled to him.

“Uh uh, I just got up,” he mumbled back.

“Your turn,” Sydney repeated, prodding him in the ribs that time.

“Fiiiiiine,” Vaughn groaned. He slid from bed, yawning on the way, and shuffled slowly down the hall towards their three month old daughter’s bedroom. When Vaughn stopped at the edge of the crib, he was met by her huge, dark eyes staring up at him. “Well good morning Joanna,” Vaughn cooed to her as he lifted her up. “Did you sleep well?”

She cooed back at him while reaching up to his lips with her tiny hand. “Okay, okay, I’m taking you to your meal ticket right now,” he mumbled through her hand before kissing it a few times.

Back in the bedroom, Vaughn found that Sydney hadn’t moved an inch from her position. “Rise and shine Mommy,” he said to her. She groaned and slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, though her eyes were still closed. Vaughn waited until she had her PJ top unbuttoned before passing over their daughter so she could nurse. He then slid in bed beside them and pressed a kiss into the top of Sydney’s head, never being happier that they had gotten a second chance to live the life they were meant to live.

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