Wonderful Journey
Author: Janet (SkyGirl5)
Genre: S/V, AU
Summary: Michael Vaughn works for the CIA. While on assignment, he runs into Sydney Bristow and she is mistaken for his partner but she is just a recent college grad trying to make her way through Europe on her way to meet her fiance. Suddenly they're both in danger and these two strangers will have to trust each other to survive.
Disclaimer: Sydney, Vaughn, etc are properties of JJ Abrams and ABC.
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Chapters 1-12 // Afterward //
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Chapter 1
Michael Vaughn gently banged his head back and forth against the headrest of his train seat. The woman next to him was trying to entice him into a conversation and she was being damned annoying about it.
“Oh I’m just so excited you know? I mean that was my first time in Italy and now we’re going to France!! I love that! I can practice the French I took in college. Well I mean I only took one year of it but still!” She giggled. Then she continued to ramble on and on.
Does she think I care or something? Michael asked himself. He looked over at her. She was attractive with brown hair that was clipped back out of her face and large, warm brown eyes. Her skin was a creamy shade of ivory and her lips a pinkish rose color. Unfortunately she wouldn’t stop talking which took her down a few notches on the hot meter. Michael leaned his head against the window and glanced out at the passing country side. We might be in France by now…, he thought wishfully.
“Oh excuse me madam!” a man said.
“It’s ok.” The woman groaned. Michael’s eyes darted sideways when this happened. He saw it; no one knew he saw it, but he did. “What was your name again?” the woman asked.
“Michael.” He grunted, figuring that if he didn’t tell her she’d just badger him some more.
“I’m Sydney, Sydney Bristow,” she said.
“Charmed,” he said quietly.
“Anyway so have you ever been to London? That’s where I’m going. I’m going to meet my fiancé Danny,” she said and then continued to talk at a rapid pace.
Suddenly as if from no where a gun shot rang out through the train. Everyone screamed; Michael became immediately alert, his eyes darting around the train car.
“What was that?” Sydney whispered.
A few large men stomped down the center of the train altering their conversation between commands in French and chatter and planning in Russian. Michael understood every word. Very quickly he put all the puzzle pieces together and tried to formulate a plan.
He looked over at the scared girl beside him who was gulping at the sight of the men’s raised guns. He glanced down at the bag in her lap and then up at her. He mentally groaned at the thought of what he was about to do but he had no other choice. He leaned his head closer to hers and whispered. “Get up slowly, walk to the back of the car, pretend you’re going to the bathroom and take your bag with you.”
She looked at him as if he was insane. Then she saw something, something very serious, so for some reason, she didn’t know quite why, she did as he asked. A minute later he followed her and after making sure the large men hadn’t noticed he pulled her out of their car and into the next.
“What the hell is going on?” She demanded.
“Just keep quiet and I’ll explain later.” Michael hissed as they made their way through the next car and into the one after that. Finally they arrived in the baggage car and Michael began to dig through different boxes and crates until he found what he was looking for.
The train jolted quickly and they both flew backwards into the opposite wall. “OUCH!” Sydney groaned, rubbing her head.
“HEY! Who are you?!” a man demanded as he walked towards them. Michael, thinking quickly, grabbed the nearest heavy object and used it as a weapon, knocking the man out. Sydney screamed.
“What the hell was that?!”
“I don’t have time to explain just come with me,” he said holding out his hand.
“You’re insane and you just killed that man,” she said with horror.
“I didn’t kill him but he would have killed us now come on!”
“No,” she said as she turned and walked back in the direction they had come from. She stopped when she saw one of the large foreign men blocking the door. He said a few words in a different language she didn’t understand. Then the train jolted again, this time it appeared to be slowing down.
A gun shot was fired and the foreign man fell to the ground. Behind her she heard the door to the car slide open. She spun around to see Michael leaning out of the train, pistol in hand.
“Who the hell are you?” Sydney asked in terror.
“Come on we have to jump,” he said.
“No way in hell,” she said.
“If you value your life then you will come with me,” he said.
“Never.”
“Fine have it your way.” He groaned as he walked over to her and picked her up firmly.
“Put me down!” She screeched.
“This is for your own good,” Michael said as he grabbed a bag that was beside him and jumped from the train.
Chapter 2
They landed with a soft thud on the grassy earth and rolled to a stop as the train sped off.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You psycho!” Sydney screeched. “You just jumped from a moving train!”
“I’m sorry but… what are you doing?” he asked as she got up and began to walk towards the train.
“Ahh it’s going too fast.” She moaned.
“Would you get down!” He shouted as he dove on top of her and pulled her to the ground. “They’ll see you.”
“What the hell? Get off of me you freak!” She shouted as she began to beat him with her bag.
“Stop that!” He moaned as he wrenched the bag from her grasp. He put the gun that he had been holding down on the ground next to him.
“Who the hell are you?” she asked in horror as she stared at the gun.
“Michael Vaughn, CIA,” he said as he began to go through the pockets of the bag.
“CIA? Like spy? What are you doing?!” she asked him.
“Looking for this,” he said as he pulled a small, square, black object from inside her bag.
“What’s that?”
“That man who bumped into you slipped it in your bag. He must have thought you were my partner.” Michael sighed. “Those men on the train were after it.”
“Wait, what?! Start over,” she said as she tried to grasp her head around the information.
“I can’t tell you any more than that; it’s classified,” Michael said.
“Classified? Oh ok, I see….,” she said. Then she smacked him across the face and took her bag back violently. “Sick perverted freak.”
“Stop it,” he said. “Look you have to stick with me and you’re going to have to trust me.”
“Trust you?! TRUST YOU?! Trust the man who threw me out of a moving train? Yeah I’ll get right on that.” She rolled her eyes at him. Then she grabbed her bag and began to walk.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to follow the track until another train comes by,” she said.
“Then what were you planning on doing?” Michael asked impatiently.
“I… I don’t know.”
“Do you speak French?” he asked.
“No I told you already I only took one French class in college. I can only say a few words.”
“Well then how do you expect to get on the train?” he asked in French.
“Jackass,” she said in French.
“Well at least that college class was educational.” He sighed. “Just hold on.” He said as he began to dig through his own bag he had jumped off the train with. He pulled out a satellite phone and dialed a number. “This is Boyscout… yes I have the package but I have… something else too. I need to speak with Director Kendall.”
Sydney watched him curiously.
“This is Kendall”
“Hello Sir well you see the thing is… when we were on the train the man made a dead drop but to a woman he thought was my partner.”
“Who is this woman?”
“A civilian. And then these men hijacked the train looking for the package and now they think she’s my partner… she’s in danger,” he said into the phone as he turned his back from Sydney so she couldn’t hear.
“Where is your location?”
Michael looked on his watch and found the coordinates to their location.
“There is a safe house 4 miles due north from there. Take her there and wait.” Kendall said.
“Yes sir,” Michael said as he hung up the phone. “Ok here’s the deal,” Michael said as he turned back around to face Sydney. “I’m taking you to a safe house but it’s a four mile walk.”
Sydney looked at him curiously and took a few steps toward him. “You either really do work for the CIA or you have escaped from some asylum.”
Michael laughed slightly. “I assure you I did not escape from an asylum. Come on; you’ll be safe with me I promise,” he said. Then he picked up his gun and his bag and began to walk off through the country side. He turned back to see she hadn’t moved. “What now?!” He groaned.
“Nothing.” She sighed as she began to follow him.
This is going to be the longest four miles of my life, Michael thought.
Chapter 3
Twenty minutes into their walking Michael thought he heard Sydney humming softly.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m bored so I’m singing to myself,” she said.
“Oh I thought I just heard you spell the word banana.”
“I did,” she said.
“What the hell song spells the word banana?!”
“Gwen Stefani,” Sydney said. Then she began to sing, “Let me hear you say the shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S, The shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.”
Michael burst out laughing. “Very nice but I wouldn’t quit your day job.”
“Are you insulting my singing ability?” she asked. He just shrugged. Then she trilled her voice and hit a high note that would have impressed even Simon Cowell.
“Whoa! Where’d you learn how to do that?!” He gasped.
“I’m just special.” She smiled proudly.
“Wow… so is that your day job?”
“No,” She laughed.
“What do you do then?”
“Nothing at the moment. I just graduated from college and I’m vacationing through Europe.”
“Oh fun. Are you doing that alone?” he asked.
“No I’m meeting my fiancé in London and then we’re going together.”
“Ohh fiancé. How long have you two been engaged?”
“Only a few months.” She told him.
“That’s nice.”
“Yeah well I mean we’ve been dating for almost two years so.” She sighed.
“I see. How old are you?” Michael asked.
“I just turned 22,” she said. “Ok it’s my turn to ask questions. How old are you?”
“Twenty six.” He said.
“Girlfriend? Wife? Fiancée?”
“None of the above.” He laughed. “No I’m not sure that I’d ever get married.”
“Why?” Sydney asked.
“A few reasons really. First my parent’s marriage wasn’t so great. They fought all the time until they went through a bitter divorce when I was like 8… Second my job always keeps me moving and it wouldn’t be fair to be away from a family so…”
“So you’ll just be a bachelor having one night stands for the rest of your life?” she asked harshly.
“Well when you put it like that it sounds awful.” He sighed. “I don’t know maybe… maybe if I found the right person I’d have a reason to change my mind.”
“Uh huh,” she said suspiciously. “So you’re a spy huh?”
“I prefer secret agent – it sounds cooler.” He teased.
“Right…,” She rolled her eyes. “So that means you travel all over the world right?”
“Yes.”
“So where’s your favorite place?” she asked.
“You mean like a country or a specific place?”
“Specific place.” She clarified.
“Well… wow its so hard to choose but… well I always feel at home in France, especially in Paris because after my parents divorce my mom who was from here originally moved to Paris and I would always spend summers with her and I loved it. But my favorite place would be the place where the Champs-Elysées leads to the Pont Alexandre III. I love to just stand there and look out at the Seine or watch the people shopping…. I dunno it just feels like home,” he said with a small smile.
“That sounds nice. I’d love to got to Paris some day and go through the Lourve and go to the top of the Eiffel tower and look out or just… shop.” She giggled.
“You should go.” He told her.
“Maybe I will.” She smiled. “So how much further?”
“We’ve only gone about a mile.”
“That really sucks.” She groaned.
“Getting tired are we?”
“Yes.” She sighed. “And my feet hurt.”
“Sorry.” He grimaced as he looked at her sandal covered feet that were turning red. “If I had shoes I’d give them to you.”
“It’s ok.” She sighed.
Chapter 4
“It’s getting hot,” Sydney said as she took off her sweater and tied it around her waist, revealing her tank top underneath.
“Yeah… it’s probably around noon,” Michael said.
“No wonder I’m starving.” She sighed. Then she began to dig through her bag.
“What are you doing?”
“Looking for food,” she said. Then she pulled a small pastry bag out and took out a muffin. “Want some?”
“No thanks,” he said.
“Sorry about before,” she said in between bites of muffin.
“It’s ok you were upset,” Michael said.
“Well yeah that tends to happen when you’re in mortal peril.” She sighed.
“Mortal peril? What are you an English major?”
“Yes actually.” She laughed.
“Fun,” he said sarcastically.
“Hey I like English!” she said.
“So what are you going to do with that?”
“Be a teacher.” She smiled.
“Cool,” he said.
“Where are you from? Like in America that is?” she asked.
“Around the Washington D.C. area… why?”
“You’re kidding?” she gasped. “I went to George Washington!”
“Huh that’s funny.” He laughed slightly.
“Yes.” She laughed.
“So is that where you’re family is from?” he asked.
“Kinda. They live in northern Virginia so…”
“Oh ok I see,” he said.
“Where does your family live?” she asked.
“All over the place. My mom’s relatives are scattered throughout France and my dad’s are all over the US. My dad currently lives up in Boston though.”
“And your mom?”
Michael sighed heavily. “She passed away about five years ago.”
“Oh god I’m so sorry!” She cringed.
“No it’s ok; you didn’t know,” he said.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes.
“Ok this is really boring,” she said.
“Oh I’m touched that I’m such fascinating company.” He laughed.
“No that’s not what I… never mind. Let’s play a game,” she said.
“What kind of game?”
“I dunno like license plate bingo,” she said.
“Because there are so many cars around,” he said sarcastically as he looked around the open field and saw nothing but grass and trees.
Sydney laughed. “Ok well… how about I spy then.”
“What are you going to spy? A tree? A piece of grass?” Michael laughed.
Sydney stopped walking and froze in position. “Gun.”
“What?!” Michael asked, half laughing. Then he stopped too. “Oh no…”
Chapter 5
“Oh no!” Michael gasped as he stared out into the distance and saw a black figure with a machine gun pointed at them. “Get down!” He hissed.
Sydney fell to her knees immediately and began to crawl through the high grass towards a large tree that was only a few feet away. “What are we –“ she began but Michael cut her off.
“Shhh!” he said quietly. He crouched down beside her and readied his weapon. The armed figure was walking closer and closer to them. Then another person came out of the woods and began talking to the first man.
“Lay flat on the ground.” Michael told Sydney. She looked at him curiously but then he glared at her. She did as she was told.
Michael knew he only had one chance because once he fired his gun their location would be revealed. So he released the safety and aimed. Two shots were fired; only one man fell. The second began to shoot directly at them. Michael took cover behind the tree and he heard Sydney whimpering on the ground beside him as they were showered in gunfire. Taking an opportunity, Michael fired two more shots. The second man fell.
“It’s ok you can get up now,” he said to Sydney.
“You killed them,” She said, sounding horrified.
“They were going to kill us,” he said bluntly. He walked over to the now dead men and she followed him.
“Who are they?” she asked cautiously.
“Bad people,” he said.
“What are you doing?” she asked as Michael began rummaging through the men’s belongings.
“I’m taking their bullet proof vests. They’re clearly after us or if they weren’t before they will be now so we need protection.” Michael told her. He removed one of the men’s vests and tossed it to her. “Put it on.” He commanded. She did as she was told.
Michael took the other vest for himself and grabbed one of their machine guns and an extra round. Then he began walking again. Sydney jogged to catch up with him.
“Are they after that… thing that was in my purse?” She asked. Michael just nodded. “What is it?” She asked.
“I can’t tell you.” He said.
“Come on!” She groaned. “There are people shooting at me; I’m walking four miles to a safe house in the beating sun wearing a bullet proof vest the least you could do is tell me what this is all about!”
“There is very valuable information on it.” He told her.
“What is it? A computer chip?”
“Yes. Now stop asking questions; I need to think,” He said.
They walked the next half hour in silence.
“We’re almost there now,” Michael said finally.
“Good.” She sighed. “So what happens when we get there?”
“I’m not sure yet.” Michael said. “Hopefully there will be further instructions when we get there.”
“Oh alright,” she said. “Well I guess… I need to thank you for… saving me.” She laughed slightly.
“No problem.” He smiled.
“Hey at least I now have a story to tell my fiancé right? Well assuming he’ll believe me….”
“He should; I mean he is your fiancé.”
“Well yeah but he always says I have an overactive imagination.” She sighed.
“Ah,” Michael said.
They continued to walk for another ten minutes before Sydney asked, “Oh is that it?” as she pointed in this distance.
“Yep,” he said.
“It’s kinda small,” she said.
“It’s just a safe house.” He laughed. “They’re nothing extravagant,” he said. But as he neared closer he sensed something was wrong. He put out an arm to stop her. She wasn’t paying attention and walked right into it.
“What’s going on?” she asked.
“Shh.” He said as he pulled out one of the guns he had. He pointed to a large tree twenty feet to their left. “Wait there.”
He crept towards the safe house, gun readied. He found the door open and cautiously crept inside. He found two of his fellow agents dead.
“Oh god…” Sydney sighed from the doorway.
“JESUS!” Michael practically jumped. “I told you to wait.”
She just shrugged. “What happened?”
“Someone got here before us.” He sighed. “But they’re gone now.” He sighed as he took out his satellite phone again. It wouldn’t work. “Damn it,” he said under his breath.
“Now what?” Sydney asked.
Michael began frantically going through the things in the safe house. He found boots and different clothes and tossed them at her. “Put these on.”
“What? Why?”
“So they don’t recognize your clothes,” he said as he began to change himself. Sydney found herself staring at his toned muscular figure for a moment. It was only when he took off his pants so that he was down to just his boxers did she decide to avert her eyes.
“Why aren’t you changing?” he asked her.
“Well um…” She stammered.
“Come on we don’t have time for this!” He shouted.
“Fine.” She groaned as she tried to change her clothes without him getting any look at her at all. But then she noticed he wasn’t even paying attention because he was reading a map. She rolled her eyes and finished changing her clothes. “Who wore this stuff last? A hooker?”
“What?” He asked as he looked up at her. His jaw fell. The pants were skin tight and hung dangerously low on her hips. The shirt, also skin tight, fell right above her belly button with a large scooping neckline. “I um… I dunno,” he said trying to force himself to look away.
“I have a fiancé,” she said as she crossed her arms over her practically exposed chest.
“I know that.” He croaked. Then he began grabbing more supplies.
“So what’s the plan Boyscout?” She asked as she put her sweater back on. He looked up at her in surprise. “I heard you on the phone….”
“Well the plan is we try to get to the next safe house alive.”
“Comforting,” She said sarcastically.
“Let’s go,” He said as he walked out the door. She followed him.
Chapter 6
“So how far is the next safe house?” Sydney asked as she kept her sweater wrapped tightly around her.
“Take off that sweater; they’ll recognize it,” Michael said.
“What if I’m cold?”
“Are you cold?” He asked.
She grunted at him. “You’re getting some sort of sick pleasure out of this aren’t you?” She asked as she took off her sweater and crammed it in her bag.
“Out of keeping you alive? No,” He said with a smirk.
“So how far is it?”
“Thirty miles.” He said.
“THIRTY MILES!?” She gasped loudly.
“SHH! Keep your voice down.” He hissed.
“Sorry but thirty miles?! We cannot walk that far.” She said quieter.
“Well I don’t see many other choices do you?”
“Driving.”
“Oh let me just take out my car keys to the convertible I keep in my pocket then.” He said sarcastically.
“Jeez sorry,” Sydney groaned at his hostile attitude.
“I’m sorry.” He said a few minutes later. “I’m just…”
“We’re in real danger aren’t we?” She asked.
“Yeah kinda.” He sighed.
“Well… let’s tell funny stories to lighten the mood ok?” Sydney asked. Michael didn’t respond. “Ok so last year my best friend Francie had her 21st birthday and we all started drinking at like 10 am right? So then we got really bored and she was pretty smashed I was only moderately tipsy though. So we were like driving around and we go to Great Falls Park, do you know where that is?”
“Yes.” He nodded.
“Ok well so we’re there and you know how they have park rangers on horses? Well when Francie is drunk she apparently really likes horses so she stumbles over to this one park ranger and starts petting his horse. Of course the park ranger doesn’t like this and he goes excuse me ma’am can you please not touch my horse. And so Francie screams ‘Holy shit guys it’s a talking horse!’ So we’re all laughing and the park ranger is trying to explain to her that the horse isn’t talking but she’s totally convinced it is the horse that’s talking. Finally the ranger gets down off the horse and he’s about to arrest her and she starts running away but of course she’s drunk right? So she falls right over this guy’s dog that’s peeing on the grass and we had to like carry her to the car.” Sydney said, barely able to speak through hysterical laughter.
“But oh my god this is the best part.” Sydney said as she held onto Michael’s arm to support her. “When we’re driving out past the booth of park rangers Francie whips up her shirt to flash them and screams ‘Call me!’” Sydney said a she gasped for breath. “Isn’t that funny?!”
Michael looked over at her. She had the biggest dimpled smile on her face and tears were streaming down her cheeks from laughter. His heart skipped a beat. “I guess you had to be there.”
“Oh man it was great.” She said as she wiped the corners of her eyes.
“I can see that.” He laughed slightly.
“Ok, ok your turn. Funny story, come on.” She said as she shoved his arm lightly.
“Alright.” He sighed. “Ok so at the Agency my best friend and partner is Eric Weiss. And it was one hot summer night, we had just had a really rough mission and so we decided to get trashed, like totally drunk out of our minds. We started at LuLu’s and then went to Dream and then Tom Tom’s I think. Anyway so by this time Weiss can barely stand because he was drinking like there’s no tomorrow but he’s all man I’m so hungry we gotta get some pizza. So we go to this pizza place across the street and order some slices and the whole time Weiss is screaming the craziest most random stuff and the workers are looking at us like we’re mad. So then we’re walking down the street and Weiss cannot walk in a straight line to save his life and this cop sees us. So the cop comes over and is about to charge Weiss with public drunkenness when suddenly I got smart and pulled out my CIA badge and said we were undercover. The best part was she believed us and just let us go!”
“That’s funny.” She laughed. “So do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Nope I’m an only child.” He said. “What about you?”
“I have a younger sister, Nadia.” She said.
“Oh yeah? Do you two get along?”
“For the most part yes.” Sydney sighed. “Actually I kinda miss her at the moment well wait… never mind.”
“What? Why?”
“Well she’d mock me endlessly for getting myself into a ridiculous situation.” Sydney sighed.
“Oh right.” He laughed slightly.
They walked, talked and learned more about each other until the sun began to fall over the horizon.
“Michael I’m tired.” Sydney yawned.
“Yeah I know me too.” He sighed.
“We’ve been walking all day. We have to stop.” She sighed.
Michael shook his head. “Can’t stop.”
“Then you’ll have to carry me because I cannot go on.” She sighed as she leaned against a tree.
“Ok we can stop for a little while.” He sighed as he set his bag down on the ground and sat down next to Sydney. “Here.” He said as he handed her a water bottle.
“Thanks.” She said as she took it and drank willingly. Then she handed it back to him and he drank as well. “I’m just gonna shut my eyes for a few minutes.” She sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder.
“Me too.” He sighed. Soon they were both asleep.
Chapter 7
“Sydney wake up,” Michael said as he shook her gently. “Wake up Syd.”
“No mommy I don’t want to ride the pony, it smells.” She groaned sleepily.
Michael practically choked from laughter. “Syd get up.” He said as he shoved her up off his shoulder.
“What?!” She woke. “What’s going on… why is it dark outside?”
“Because it’s nearly midnight.” Michael said.
“Then why the hell did you wake me up?” She groaned.
“Because we have to keep walking.”
“In the dark?! We’ll get lost!” She said.
“No we won’t.” He said as he pulled her to her feet. “We just have to keep walking north.”
“Michael we walked all day yesterday, three hours of sleep is not enough.” Sydney said.
“I know. We’ll just walk for another few hours and then sleep some more ok?”
“Fine.” She groaned. “So what’s your favorite Christmas memory?” Michael looked at her strangely. “I’m just trying to make conversation… If you want me to shut up I can just go back to reading books in my head.”
“Reading books in your head?!” He asked in disbelief.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Which book?”
“Harry Potter.”
Michael laughed. “The English major is reading Harry Potter?!”
“Well yeah; they’re good books. They suck you in.”
“Alright.”
“Ok so favorite memory?”
“Umm I don’t know I can’t think of any.” He shrugged.
“Too many good ones?” She asked.
“Too many bad.”
“Oh I’m sorry.” She sighed.
“Well there is one good one I remember. It was the first Christmas after my parents divorce and I was spending it with my dad and I guess he was trying to buy my love or something so we went to like three hockey games and he got me all this stuff. It was great.” Michael smiled.
Sydney laughed. “Good.”
“What about you?”
“Ummm probably the Christmas my sister broke my arm.”
“What?!” Michael gasped. “First how can that be your favorite and second how did she break your arm?”
“Well I was seven or eight I think and Nadia was five and I was walking down the steps and she came running into me and knocked me over and my arm got caught in the banister and… yeah it was bad.”
“Ouch… but wait, how is that your favorite Christmas?”
“Well my parents felt so bad that I had to spend half of Christmas day in the hospital that they bought me a ton of gifts and let me eat ice cream for a week!”
“Nice,” he smiled.
“Yep.”
For the next hour they talked about their favorite birthdays and other assorted holidays. Finally Michael had decided that they were both too tired to continue on so they sat down against another tree and fell asleep.
~*~
“Syd get up.” Michael said as he pulled her to a standing position.
“What?” She groaned.
“I got us a ride.” He smiled.
“REALLY?!” She asked excitedly.
“Yes.” He laughed as he pointed to the truck that was idling by the side of the road.
“My feet love you.” She sighed as she picked up her bag and walked towards the truck where they both climbed in the truck bed.
“This is good.” Sydney sighed as the wind blew through her hair.
“Yeah.” Michael sighed. He watched her comb her fingers through her hair as the wind blew through it and her head was titled back with her eyes shut. In that moment his attraction to her grew immensely and he had to force himself to look away and remember that she was engaged.
Sydney caught him looking at her from the corner of her eye; she smiled slightly. There was something about him, something mysterious, something intriguing, something sexy that she was drawn too. But there was Danny. She loved Danny. Didn’t she?
Sure she loved Danny. Questioning their love was absurd. She loved Danny. She LOVED Danny. And Michael? She had barely known him for 24 hours and hated him for 5 of those hours….
Ok stop thinking about her. Michael told himself. She’s your assignment. You need to protect her not bed her. Besides she’s engaged. Off limits.
“So after this guy drops us off we should be really close.” Michael said finally.
“Alright that sounds good.” Sydney smiled at him.
Chapter 8
“Alright so only like another mile.” He said as they climbed out of the back of the truck.
Sydney stopped dead. “A mile!? What the hell happened to close?!”
“Well relative to the 34 plus miles it took us to get here that is close.”
“Whatever.” She groaned. They began to walk down a narrow dirt path as a warm breeze began to pick up around them.
Michael watched as Sydney would dash 50 feet ahead of him, stop, wait for him to catch up and then dash off again. By the third time she did it he had to ask. “Ok what on earth are you doing?”
“I’m bored out of my mind and crazed from lack of sleep; I have no idea.” She said.
Michael laughed. “Ok just checking.”
“Come on join me!”
“Uh no thanks.” He said.
“COME ON! I dare you!” She said.
“Dare me to what?”
“Skip”
“Skip? Uh no skipping is for school girls with long braids not for CIA agents with guns.” Michael said.
Sydney laughed. “Chicken eh?”
“Never.”
“Do it.”
“No.”
Sydney started clucking at him. Michael skipped a few steps to appease her. She fell down with laughter. “Oh my god! Do it AGAIN!” She said, practically in tears.
“NO!” He said, trying not to laugh himself.
“That was awesome. Damn it why didn’t I have a camera.”
“Yeah, yeah you can stop now.” He groaned. “Or I might have to dare you.”
“Dare me!” She challenged.
“Alright…. I dare you to…. Flash me.” He said with a smirk. She glared at him. “I was kidding!”
“Uh huh. Come on Michael!” She whined. “Dare me to do something!!!”
“I have no idea.” He laughed.
“UGH! You’re boring.” She groaned.
“You could always flash me.” He shrugged.
She groaned and started ignoring him. Then all of a sudden, she wasn’t sure whether it was because of her lack of sleep, insane amount of stress or general hysterics but she said, “Michael.” And when he looked at her she lifted her shirt briefly.
Of course she was still wearing her bra but she laughed at the stunned look on his face.
“Ok then.” He said as he shook his head back and forth.
Just then there was a loud rumble over head.
“Oh please tell me that wasn’t….” But Sydney was cut off by a soaking rain shower pouring down around them with no warning. “Well that’s just fan-friggin-tastic.”
“Come on just keep walking.” Michael said as he began to quicken his pace.
“As opposed to standing still.” She groaned as she began to speed walk.
“Ok there it is.” Michael said. They both began to run towards the house. By the time they got inside they were both soaked through.
“God I’m freezing!” Sydney shivered.
“Yeah me too. I’ll find some blankets.” Michael said. He began to dig through the drawers in the tiny cabin and finally found two blankets.
“Thanks.” Sydney said through chattering teeth. Then she made her way to the tiny bathroom and stripped off her soaked clothes. While she was in there Michael did the same until he was only wearing his boxers, wrapped up in the blanket.
“There’s no shower in there.” Sydney said. Michael looked up at her. She too was just wearing the blanket and he suspected nothing more but he begged his brain not to dwell on that.
“Uh no, sorry.” He said.
“God I’d kill for a shower… or a toothbrush.” She groaned as she sat down on one of the wooden chairs at the table. It was only then she observed her surroundings. The small safe house was divided into two main areas. One part of it had a few rustic cabinets and a worn table and chairs. The other part and a simple double bed with an end table and chair beside the bed. The floors were hard wood with some musty, dusty area rugs. That was all.
“So what now?” Sydney asked.
“Well its raining like hell outside and my phone still won’t work so I guess we’re stuck until morning. We’ll be safe here though.” He said.
“That’s what you thought about the last place.” Sydney sighed.
“Well that was a fluke.” Michael said.
“Uh huh.” She said unsurely. “Well I don’t know about you but I’m sufficiently exhausted out of my mind, so I’m going to sleep.”
“Sounds like a good plan to me.” He sighed.
Sydney walked over and crawled under the bed sheets and Michael pulled the chair close to the bed and propped his feet up on the bed as he sat down.
“What are you doing?” Sydney asked.
“I’m sleeping.” He said mater-of-factly.
“Why are you not in the bed?”
“You have a fiancé.” He said.
“Oooh scary.” She said. He just shrugged. “Get in this bed.”
“But…”
“Michael.”
“Fine.” He sighed as he crawled under the sheets.
~*~
Hours later Michael awoke to torrents of rain pounding down upon the roof of the safe house. He tried to roll over but he found that he was weighted down by something. Upon closer examination he saw that Sydney had her arm across his chest and her face buried in his arm as she slept soundly.
Lying here with you
Listening to the rain
Smiling just to see the smile upon your face
Michael reached his arm over and gently brushed some hair out of her eyes. She sighed contently. He kissed her forehead gently.
These are the moments I thank God that I’m alive
These are the moments I’ll remember all my life
Michael had never in his life felt that way before. He hadn’t felt that way about anyone, ever, let alone a woman he had known for barely 48 hours. At first he hated her and found her annoying (partly because she was beating him with her purse at the time) but now, now he didn’t want to move an inch. He never wanted to leave that bed.
Everything you are is everything to me
These are the moments I know heaven must exist
She stirred slightly and snuggled up closer to him. It seemed she didn’t even realize that the man in bed beside her wasn’t the man she was engaged too. Or maybe she realized but she just didn’t care. Could it be that she had similar feelings for him as he did for her?
Looking in your eyes
Seeing all I need
Every prayer has been answered
Every dream has come true
Right here in this moment
Right where I’m meant to be
Here with you here with me
Michael put an arm around her and hugged her tightly as he tried to fall back asleep. Michael was in love; and that broke his heart.
These are the moments I thank God that I’m alive
These are the moments I’ll remember all my life
I’ve found all I’ve waited for
And I could not ask for more
Lyrics: “I Could Not Ask For More,” Edwin McCain
Chapter 9
The next morning the sun was shining brightly through the blinds of the window. Michael awoke and found the other half of the bed cold and empty.
“Syd?” He asked groggily. He slowly slid out of bed and put on his clothes that had finally dried. He noticed that she wasn’t in the bathroom or the rest of the safe house. That’s when he began to panic.
He ran out the door, calling her name. She wasn’t anywhere. That’s when he heard a cell phone ringing. He was confused and began to search for it. Then he found it sitting on the table.
“Hello?” He answered.
“We have your partner. Deliver us the package or she’s dead.” A voice said. Then the line went dead.
Vaughn’s heart stopped beating. “Oh no oh god oh no…” He panicked for about a minute, not knowing what to do until he realized he had a working phone in his hand. He dialed the secure line.
“Agent Vaughn where the hell have you been!?” Kendall demanded.
“Making my way through France sir. The first safe house was compromised and my sat phone wasn’t working…”
“Where the hell are you now?”
“Another safe house but sir that woman, the civilian, she’s been kidnapped. They think she’s my partner.” He sighed heavily.
“Oh… that’s bad. Well she just may have to be a casualty.”
“CASUALTY!” Vaughn screamed. “No sir she cannot be a casualty…” He was interrupted by a knock at the door. He grabbed his gun and answered it.
“WEISS!” Vaughn gasped as he hung up the cell phone. “Oh shit.”
“What?” Weiss gasped.
“I just hung up on Kendall.” Vaughn cringed.
“Oops.”
“Yeah… what the hell are you doing here?”
“Kendall sent me after you.” Weiss said. “He wanted me to make sure you weren’t dead and then kill you when I found you with some chick.”
“Oh god Sydney!” Michael groaned, having momentarily forgot.
“Sydney? Who’s that?”
“This girl.” Michael sighed.
“Ok I wanna hear all about it but ill be right back.” Eric said as he disappeared in to the bathroom. “Hey Mike… these are nice but I prefer the pink ones…” Eric said as he came out of the bathroom holding a pair of black and white striped thong underwear.
“Eric!” Michel grunted.
“So she left her underwear here huh?” Eric said with a sly smile. “You dog.”
“SHE WAS KIDNAPPED!” Michael shouted.
“Without her underwear?!”
“ERIC!!!”
“Sorry you can explain now.” Eric sighed.
“Ok so I was on the train, ready for the drop right but this annoying chick was in my seat and she just kept going on about all this random crap I didn’t care about and I was ready to choke her but then the guy dropped the computer chip into her bag I guess thinking she was my partner and we ended up jumping out of the moving train to escape the thugs who were shooting at us.”
“Nice.”
“So then I was stuck with her…”
“Who?”
“Sydney.”
“Who’s Sydney?” Eric asked.
“I’m trying to tell you!”
“Oh.”
“So Sydney well she’s this college grad who’s trying to get to London to meet her fiancé and then we end up fleeing for our lives for these men who are after the chip and I don’t even know who the hell they are! And now they have her and oh god she’s not an agent but they don’t know that oh god Eric! They’re going to torture her and she’ll be so scared and…”
“Whoa buddy calm down.” Eric said. “What do you like this girl or something? Well I mean clearly….” Eric said as he began to spin the panties on one of his fingers.
“GIVE ME THOSE!” Vaughn said as he ripped them out of Eric’s hand and threw them on Sydney’s bag on the floor.
“So you slept with her.”
“NO! She has a fiancé!” Michael grunted.
“So…”
“Eric! We didn’t sleep together, well I mean we slept in the bed but… see it was raining outside and we were soaked hence the underwear.” Michael took a deep breath. “Do you believe you can be in love with someone after knowing them only 48 hours?”
“No, but clearly you do.” Eric said with a small smile.
“Yeah…” Michael sighed. “I just… I never felt like this before. And I’m not going to lose her now.” He said with determination.
“Alright chill out. Keep your panties on.” Eric said with a smirk. Michael glared at him. “What exactly happened?”
“Well I woke up and she was gone… then I heard this cell phone ringing and they said they’d kill her if we didn’t deliver the computer chip to them. Eric they think she’s my partner.” Michael sighed.
“Ok, ok we’ll get her back. Don’t worry.” Eric said as he patted his friend’s shoulder. “But first you should call Kendall back.”
“Oh shit Kendall!”
Chapter 10
After speaking with Kendall, Michael and Eric were able to meet with a local tech agent who created a duplicate chip for them so they could use that to bargain for Sydney. When the men who had her contacted again they set up a meet in a small town outside of Paris the next day.
“It’s going to be ok.” Eric said to Michael when he noticed him wringing his hands nervously on their helicopter flight.
“I know I just… I want – need her to be ok.” Michael sighed.
“Yeah.” Eric sighed. He paused for a few moments before posing his next question. “Well um… she has a fiancé right? So what are you going to do when…”
“I’d kinda just like to focus on getting her back alive Eric.” Michael sighed.
“Right sorry.” Eric said.
~*~
“Boyscout are you in position?” Eric asked through their coms.
“Copy that.” Michael said. He nervously stood in the center of a deserted city square waiting for the men to arrive. He knew Eric was on a nearby roof top watching him. Then he saw a black van approaching. It stopped about fifty feet in front of him and two men got out, he recognized one of them from the train.
“Do you have the package?” One asked him.
“Do you have my partner?” Michael asked sternly.
The man turned and nodded toward the van. A third man stepped out with a gun pressed to Sydney’s throat as he dragged her with him. Michael tensed as he saw that she had a wound that was bleeding on her forehead. She was sobbing and looked terrified. That broke his heart.
“Give us the package.” They said.
Michael pulled it from his pocket and held it up to show them. “Give her to me.” He said.
“The package first.” The man with the gun to Sydney said.
Michael set the package down on the ground and slid it to them so it landed about a foot away from the one man’s foot. One of the men picked it up and began to climb back in the van.
“WAIT!” Michael shouted. “Let her go!”
The man with the gun to Sydney just smirked and released the safety on his gun. Sydney whimpered.
“Stop.” Michael said as he pulled out his gun and trained it on that man. ‘On three boyscout.’ Eric said through their coms.
One.Two.Three.
Michael shot the man holding Sydney hostage and Eric shot the other two. They all fell to the ground leaving a cowering Sydney standing stunned.
“It’s ok, you’re ok.” Michael said as he rushed forward and swept her into a hug.
“Michael.” She sobbed into his shoulder.
“It’s ok. I’ve got you.”
Chapter 11
Michael, Eric and Sydney rode the ten minutes to yet another safe house in silence. Sydney was too much in shock to speak or move; Eric and Michael just exchanged glances.
“Why don’t you go lay down for a bit.” Michael said as he helped Sydney inside. She just nodded silently and walked into the bedroom.
Eric and Michael sat down at the table in the kitchen area.
“Well I gotta hand it to you man. She’s hot.” Eric said. Michael looked at him. “She is!”
“I know.” Michael sighed. “I feel so, SO bad.”
“Why?”
“Because of me she was dragged into this mess. Look at her! She was almost shot! Because of me!”
“Whoa don’t be so hard on yourself. You saved her.”
“Yeah after I put her in danger.” He sighed as he buried his face in his hands.
“No you didn’t. That moron who dropped the chip into her purse put her in danger. You were only trying to cover his mistakes and save her life.” Eric told him.
“I guess.” Michael sighed. “I just hope she’ll be ok.”
“She’s going to be fine. She just has a small gash to the head. Nothing that won’t heal.”
“Yeah… but I mean emotionally and all… I wish I could be there but I’m sure she’ll be running away from me and back into the arms of her fiancé as fast as she can get there.” Michael groaned.
“Um correction: she had a fiancé before she met you. How do you know things haven’t changed?” Eric asked optimistically.
“Oh yeah right.” Michael said, half laughing. “I’m sure she’s going to pick the man who she’s known for 72 hours and almost got her killed a minimum of three times in that period over the man she’s been in a loving, committed relationship with for two years….”
“Well if the first man is better… and he clearly is….”
“Thanks man.” Michael said with half a smile.
“No problem. I’m going to get started on this debrief.” Eric said.
“Ok I’m going to go check on Syd.” He said.
Michael got up and quietly walked to the bedroom where he found Sydney snoring softly. He sat down in a chair and just watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slept. He wasn’t sure how long he sat there; he really didn’t care. He could have watched her sleep for hours on end and never grow tired of it. For a moment he thought he should stop. For a million reasons of course. First she was engaged to someone who wasn’t him. Second he was really only torturing himself since he wanted her more and more by the second but he couldn’t have her. Third she’d probably freak out if she woke up and found him staring at her.
But still, he couldn’t move. He couldn’t leave her. He wanted her to be safe; he wanted her to be alright. He wanted her to love him, though he suspected that she never would.
Finally she woke up. “Hey,” she said in a breathy tone. It startled him.
“Hi.” He smiled. “How are you?”
“In severe denial.” She said with a slight laugh.
“Welcome to my life.” He laughed back.
“Your life is scary.”
“I know.” He sighed. “I’m so sorry about…”
“Don’t.” She said.
“No really I’m so, SO sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am. I never meant for you to get hurt. I was supposed to protect you and…”
“Michael stop.” She interrupted him. She slid over to the edge of the bed and took his hand. “It’s not your fault. You did everything right and you saved me.” She said as she stroked his cheek gently. “Thank you.”
Michael smiled softly as he tried to hid the electric feel her touch was giving him. “You’re welcome.”
They sat together in silence for a few moments before Michael spoke again. “So I guess you’ll want to get to London as soon as possible then… I mean you’re three days behind schedule because of me… Your fiancé will be waiting.”
“Oh,” she said half surprised, half sad. From the look on her face Michael thought it was almost as if she had completely forgotten about him, her fiancé. “Yeah I guess so…” She sighed. “I’m gonna go… um freshen up…” She said, trying to with hold her emotions. Michael nodded then he joined Eric back in the other room.
“So…?” Eric asked, not looking up from the papers in front of him.
“I told her to go back to her fiancé in London.” Michael said.
Eric threw down his pen and looked up at Michael in disbelief. “Dude are you stupid!?”
“She’s engaged Eric.” Michael sighed.
“SO?! Engagement means nothing!” Eric said.
“Eric how would you feel if a woman you were engaged to ran of with some guy?” Michael asked.
“First I’d never be engaged. Second sure I’d be pissed off but all that matters here is your happiness.” Eric said.
“No, all that matters is her happiness.” Michael sighed.
Eric just shook his head. He knew Michael was really in love and felt bad for him. “Whatever you say man. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks… Eric could you do me one favor though?” Michael asked.
“Anything buddy.”
“Take her to the train station for me… I just…” he let his voice drift off.
“Sure.” Eric said.
A few minutes later Sydney came out of the bathroom.
“I have to write up a report so Eric’s going to take you to the train station now.” Michael told her.
“Now?!” She gasped in disbelief. Michael nodded. “Oh… ok… I um… well I don’t really know what to say except… thanks. Thanks for everything.” She said with deep sincerity.
“No problem.” He said, trying desperately to maintain his cool. She walked over to him and gave him a tight hug. Michael wrapped his arms around her back, never wanting to let go. Finally she stepped back and gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. He could see the tears forming in her eyes.
“Goodbye Michael.” She sighed.
“Bye Sydney.” He said, looking away from her so she wouldn’t see the tears in his eyes.
Eric picked up Sydney’s bag and they walked out the door and she walked out of his life just as suddenly as she had come in.
Chapter 12
It had been one week since he saw her. One week since she kissed him on the cheek and left him. That kiss nearly caused him to die of a broken heart. All he wanted to do was grab her, kiss her lips, tell her he loved her and beg her to stay. But he couldn’t do that. He had to let her go. That was the right thing to do.
Besides if he had done that, there was a chance she would have just laughed at him or hit him with her purse again. That would have hurt even more than her just walking away. At least now he could romantically fantasize about that fact that maybe she liked him too.
But it didn’t matter. She was gone. She was back with her fiancé and they were probably having the time of their lives touring Europe. His only hope was that some how a part of her would remember him and the crazy three days they spent together. After all, he would never ever forget them.
Michael had sent Eric back to Washington with out him. He told Eric to tell Kendall he needed some time off to think. That was partly true. Mostly though, he couldn’t bring himself to leave France. Not only had it always felt like home to him, but it did then even more so since it was where he had met Sydney. Where he had fallen in love with Sydney. Where he had seen her for the very last time.
Wishfully he thought that maybe if he stayed he could stay lost in his dream world forever. That maybe he would ride to the top of the Eiffel tour and she’d be there waiting for him. Maybe. Or maybe he would go back to Washington… after all she knew he lived there and she lived near by. Maybe she would look him up some day. Maybe.
No, he told himself. Stop thinking that. You’re only hurting yourself.
It was true. He was torturing himself. He couldn’t get her out of his mind no matter how much he tried. He even saw her everywhere. On trains. In busses. And even then as he walked down the Champs-Elysees he thought he saw her walking a few yards ahead of him and disappearing into a shop.
Yes, he was in Paris. He had needed to go there. He needed to feel like he was home. He watched the busy shoppers chatting in French with their friends and smiled. He watched the confused Americans attempt to communicate in a pathetic attempt at the French language and laughed slightly. He saw a young couple kissing on a boat as it floated down the Seine and his heart broke.
Now he was leaning over the edge of the Pont Alexandre III. He had told her it was his favorite place. But now as he stood there all he could think about was her and the place that had once brought him so much serenity now only brought heart break.
People passed all around him, some only inches away, but no one saw him; no one knew he was there. No one except one. One who was now standing right behind him.
“You’re right; it is beautiful here.”
---------------------------------------------------------------
Afterward