Easy

Author: Sierra (AliasSydney502)
Genre: S/V
Summary: Sydney Bristow's got a bad rep, but can Michael Vaughn see through it and save her from herself?
Disclaimer: Sydney, Vaughn, etc are properties of JJ Abrams and ABC. Not mine, unfortunately.
Thank You: To my awesome betas Mary and Laura. You girls rule!
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Chapters 1-6 // Chapters 7-12

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Chapter 1


“Weiss, common man, I don’t wanna go.” Seventeen year old Michael Vaughn whined to his best friend of twelve years.

“It’s just a party, you act like I’m feeding you to the vampires.” Eric Weiss, jokester, clown, and all around funny man remarked.

“Vampires don’t exist.” Vaughn baited, knowing that he was distracting his friend for a few more minutes. It was a Friday night and he just felt like staying home. His girlfriend of three weeks just dumped him for the quarterback of their school’s football team, making his life quite unpleasant. He was wrong thinking she didn’t care that he wasn’t on the football team. He tried to tell himself that she was just a ditzy blonde cheerleader anyway.

“Of course they do!” Weiss threw up his hands, completely forgetting about the party to prove his point. They had yet to leave the Vaughn residence and Vaughn hoped to buy enough time that he could complain the party was already over and they wouldn’t have to go.

“You have any proof?” Vaughn challenged.

“Yeah! Haven’t you ever seen Underworld? Or Blade?” Weiss walked to his TV cabinet, pulling out the aforementioned movies.

“Earth to Weiss, those are movies.” Vaughn rolled his eyes at his friend. Leave it to Weiss to find ‘proof’ in a bunch of Hollywood action flicks.

“Well…” Eric stammered, hating that his friend was always right. “They are real.” He crossed his arms over his broad chest, refusing to go down without a fight. “Let’s just go, okay?” Weiss begged.

“You just wanna see Nadia again.” Vaughn teased, knowing his friend had a weak spot for one Nadia Bristow. Most girls didn’t like Weiss’s teddy bear appearance, but Nadia had been continuously flirting with him for a week straight. She was also a fan of his magic tricks. Needless to say, Weiss was head-over-heels.

“So?” He countered weakly, losing a fight to Vaughn the second time that night and it probably wouldn’t be the last either.

“When are you gonna ask her out?” Vaughn sat back on the couch, comfortable to just hang out at home for the evening.

“At the party.” Weiss answered, pulling Vaughn off the couch by his arm. “Now get your ass up!”

***

“Hey Weiss!” Nadia Bristow yelled over the music when she saw him walk through the open front door.

“Hi.” He replied nervously, pushed forward by Vaughn. Michael knew his friend deserved something good in his life and Nadia seemed to be the source of his happiness. She was very beautiful, with her long black hair and her Spanish looking skin. You would never guess she barely knew how to say hello in the language. “How are you?” He asked.

“Great, now that you’re here.” She smiled and Weiss blushed. Vaughn rolled his eyes at the pair and went to find something to eat. He wasn’t much of a dancer and he couldn’t hold his liquor, so he decided that the snack table would be his best bet, figuring that standing back and watching the ‘fun’ would be a lot safer than trying to participate.

He had been to many parties in his day, always seeing other people get completely trashed or wasted, only to see them present at the next party, doing the same thing. He never understood why they came back for more after what had happened to them. He knew that there were problems caused by the drunken actions of participants, he heard about it at school and through Weiss.

Even though Michael Vaughn was considered hot by most girls, he never got caught up in that. His mother taught him to be grounded and not let his ego get the better of him. He didn’t care that he wasn’t a member of the football team and he didn’t care that he could almost have his pick of any girl. He wasn’t into gossip or popularity.

The party passed on, the same way all the rest had.

Late into the night, the music stopped as a group of three girls entered the house. Dressed in all beige, hair straight as needles, and clothes barely covering the needed areas, the leader commanded the attention of everyone. They slowly sauntered to the back of the house where the keg was located, sending sultry looks to every hot guy in the room. As Michael received a wink from the her, he heard a groan from Nadia.

“Oh, great. My sister’s here.”

Enter one Sydney Bristow, school slut and rumored coke dealer.

Syd’s Outfit: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v227/bigred502/Alias/Jen50.jpg




Chapter 2


She got around. At least that’s what all the jocks boasted in the hallways, locker rooms, and study periods. They all claimed to have ‘had’ her at one time or another.

Whether it was true of not, Michael didn’t know.

What he did know, was that she was one of the prettiest girls at school. Her chocolate brown hair matched her eyes, a deadly combination to any man. She wore short skirts, tank tops, push-up bras, thongs, and any other thing that would attract male attention. It was almost as if she asked to be hated by all the females within viewing distance. She was competition, and she knew it.

She flaunted her beauty like a little kid shows off their new toy. But he knew she wasn’t always like this.

Five year old Sydney Bristow walked into the kindergarten classroom, tightly clutching her mother’s leg. Tears made their way down her cheeks as she cried that she didn’t want to leave her mommy. Laura Bristow attempted to sooth her daughter and convince her that the other kids didn’t bite.

“Sydney, honey, you have to go to school. Mommy has errands to run.” She said softly, prying her daughter free from her leg.

“No!” Sydney screamed. “Don’t leave me!” She grabbed onto her mother’s neck tightly.

“Sweetie, I have to go now. Be good.” Laura picked up her purse from the floor where it had fallen, quickly exiting the room. Little Sydney pounded her fists against the closed door, trying so hard to get her mother back. She cried the whole day.

Everything had changed around the time they entered high school.

“Class, I have bad news.” Mr. Jetting, the freshman history teacher announced one rainy day in late October. “Over the weekend there was a tragic accident. Many of you may have heard, but this accident claimed the life of Laura Bristow, Sydney’s mother.”

A few gasps were heard, mostly from those who hadn’t known. Sydney’s absence was then clearly noted throughout the whole school.

“We would like you all to offer any support you can during this time of need for Sydney and her family. I can’t imagine what it must be like.” The teacher concluded with a frown.

Sydney came back a completely different person. Her eyes were cold, where there had once been warmth. Her lips no longer spilled sweet words, but was replaced by harsh tones and bitter expressions. She joined ranks with the rough crowd, hiking up her skirt to a dangerously high level, and wearing dark makeup. She wasn’t the sweet, innocent Sydney Bristow she once had been.

“You’ll never guess what happened over the weekend.” A nameless jock said in the locker room after gym class. His friends asked what and he proceeded to tell them. “I got laid.” He said proudly.

“By who?” Another guy said.

“Sydney.” He answered with a grin.

“Sydney… Bristow?” The other guys said incredulously.

“The one and only.” He high-fived his friends, leaving the locker room. Michael was still eavesdropping on their conversation though.

“She used to be such an innocent girl.” One guy commented quietly.

“What changed?” Another guy asked.

“I guess it was her mom’s death.” Michael answered in his head, having wondered the same thing before.

Everyone’s eyes followed the small crowd to the keg, where their beers where handed to them by awestruck guys, obviously checking them out. Vaughn didn’t think it was right to treat women like meat, he had been raised better than that. But by the way they dressed, he supposed Sydney’s group was used to it and wanted it.

“Hey, Mike! Come over here!” Weiss called to him from a couch in the livingroom.

“What’s up?” He asked as he sat down next to Weiss, who had his arm around Nadia.

“You just looked so pitiful over there at the snack table drooling over Sydney.” Eric teased, pointing out that he hadn’t been able to take his eyes off the trio while he was thinking about Sydney. Michael hadn’t meant to stare, and now he had been caught.

“You don’t wanna get involved with her,” Nadia piped up. “She’s just trouble.”

“I’m sure she’s not that bad, she used to be really nice.” Vaughn defended.

“Well, you don’t live with her now.” Nadia retorted, a hint of bitterness in her tone.




Chapter 3


“She barely comes home, she doesn’t clean up. She just leaves me alone and goes out with whoever she’s screwing that week.” Nadia continued, pointing out all the bad points of her sister. “It’s just disgusting.”

“Dude, don’t even go there.” Weiss said, reading Vaughn’s thoughts. He had been thinking that maybe that was just a façade, that she wasn’t like that by choice. There had to be a deeper reason behind her behavior.

“Don’t worry about it.” Vaughn covered his tracks. “I’m not interested anyway.”

“You’re not exactly her cup of tea either.” Nadia remarked, commenting on the fact that she usually went with jocks. It was clear that Nadia didn’t like her sister.

“I don’t think it’s tea she’s drinking.” Weiss laughed. Nadia joined in, but Vaughn was only able to chuckle nervously. He was intrigued with Sydney Bristow and he didn’t know why.

***

“Oh god, there she goes again.” Nadia remarked at the lunch table. She had joined Vaughn and Weiss’s table when she started going out with Weiss. They watched as a kid dressed in all black walked by Sydney’s table, nodding in her direction. She stood up and followed him into the deserted hallway.

“What is she doing?” Vaughn asked.

“She’s probably out there whoreing herself for cash.” Nadia commented lightly, like they were talking about a class assignment causing Vaughn to almost spit out his drink.

“W… What?!” He looked at her in shock.

“How else do you think she buys all those designer clothes, certainly my dad doesn’t pay for it. He’s rarely home anyways.” She picked at her food with her fork, avoiding Weiss’s concerned glance. She was far too comfortable with this for his liking.

“Maybe they’re just talking.” Michael defended, not believing that Sydney could be that kind of person. Yeah, she dressed like a slut and was rumored to be easy, but it didn’t mean that was the case.

“My ass she’s ‘just talking’.” Weiss said. “I heard she deals.” He said quietly, making sure they were not overheard by other students.

“Deals… what?” Michael asked. He always seemed to be out of the loop on rumors.

“Coke.” Weiss answered, and Vaughn was speechless.

“Wait… how do you know that for sure?” He asked and Weiss shrugged.

“It could just be a rumor.” Weiss said.

“Nadia could check.” Vaughn proposed, looking to Nadia for confirmation.

“You want me to dig through my sister’s room for drugs?” She reiterated, not liking the idea. If she got caught she would be in deep trouble with her sister. Not to mention if Sydney decided to tell their father.

“Please?” Weiss begged, his curiosity overwhelming his better judgment.

“If I get caught… you both are so dead.” She threatened.

***

“I can believe I’m doing this…” Nadia muttered to herself as she snuck down the hall to Sydney’s room. “She would kill me if she found out.”

The sisters rarely exchanged more than nods of recognition from each other. Other kids that had siblings close to their own age were close, but Nadia and Sydney couldn’t be farther apart.

Finding her sister’s door locked, she pulled two bobby-pins from her hair and stuck them in the lock. She had seen it on TV once or twice, it shouldn’t be that hard. And indeed, she was rewarded with a click as she managed to open the door. “Now, if I were Sydney, where would I hide stuff?” She mumbled, taking a quick survey of the room.

Her bed was set in the middle of the room, a night table to the right, a small closet to the left. Clothes littered the floor and any other surface provided. There was a desk in the corner, but there was nothing but makeup scattered across it in front of a mirror. Random scraps of paper, purses, ribbons, magazines, belts and other junk covered the floor as well.

She’d be amazed if she managed to find anything in this jungle of a room.

Nadia quickly moved to the closet, checking the top shelf for anything suspicious. After finding nothing, she lifted up the box-spring mattress. An old t-shirt was found, but it must’ve been there by mistake. She put it back, not wanting to leave evidence she was there.

She opened the drawer on the nightstand, somewhat surprised to find a box of condoms. Rolling her eyes, she tossed them back. “At least she’s safe.” She mumbled.

Sighing, she stood back up to look for any other possible hiding spaces. Her eyes rested on the desk of makeup and a few small out of place white bags. They were in plain sight, why hadn’t she noticed them before?

“Bingo.” She said aloud, about to walk towards them.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”




Chapter 4


“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Another voice said. Nadia shifted her gaze from the bag of drugs and up to see her sister standing in the doorway, looking pissed.

“Um… I lost my hairbrush… I just thought you’d have one I could use.” She lied, nervously keeping her eyes away from the drugs. She didn’t want Sydney to know what she was looking for.

“How did you get in?” Sydney asked incredulously, and Nadia thought she might have bought her lie.

“Your door was open.” Nadia lied again.

“Bullshit.” Sydney spat, grabbing her sister by the wrist and throwing her out of the room. “If I ever catch you in here again I will make sure you have some form of bodily damage.”

“I’m not afraid of you.” Nadia crossed her arms over her chest.

“I got news for you, sister,” She smiled evilly. “You should be.”

“She is such a bitch.” Weiss pronounced after Nadia recounted her story to him and Vaughn the next day.

“I know, and she just expected me to be afraid of her, like she’s the god damn queen of the world!” Nadia threw up her hands in disgust. Vaughn remained quiet.

“Nadia, I really think you should be careful around her for a while.” Weiss advised. “She has connections.”

“I can handle her.” Nadia said fiercely.

“I just don’t want you getting hurt.” Weiss wrapped his arm around her shoulder in a gesture of affection.

“I just can’t believe she left it out in plain sight like that.” Vaughn said, entering the conversation. “I mean, what if your dad saw it?”

“He’s never home. And when he is, I never see him. He just leaves a note on the counter. He probably wouldn’t care anyway.” Nadia dropped her head into her arms on the lunch table. “My life is just so fucked up.”

“Nadia…” Weiss said soothingly, rubbing his hand over her back.

“Well, now you have Weiss…?” Vaughn stated, not indicating whether that was good or bad.

“Oh wow. Thanks Vaughn.” Nadia rolled her eyes, lifting her head from the table and picking at her food.

“Hey! I take offence to that!” Weiss complained, pouting.

“Aww, I’m sorry baby.” Nadia cooed, gently kissing him to make it all better.

“Guys, guys, no PDA’s at the lunch table.” Vaughn teased, covering his eyes.

“You’re just jealous.” Weiss taunted, his arm back around Nadia, resting on her waist. “I bet you can’t walk up to any girl in this room and ask her out.” Weiss challenged. He knew his friend wasn’t the best around girls, and sometimes he just needed a little push to get started.

“No, Eric.” Vaughn shook his head. “NO.” Vaughn knew the type of trouble that came from Weiss’s bets, and wanted no part in it. He wouldn’t make a fool out of himself.

“Come on man, it’s funny.” Weiss nudged.

“Yeah, for you.” Vaughn retorted.

“And me.” Nadia chirped. “Ok, Weiss, close your eyes and randomly point to any girl in here.”

“Why?” Weiss asked, being the slow thinker he was.

“Cause that way you don’t know who it is and you can’t choose the ugliest girl in the room.” Vaughn answered, picking at his sandwich.

“Ok. Fine. Here goes!” Weiss put one hand over his eyes and waved his other arm around, pointing in random directions. Nadia ducked when he came swinging her way and Vaughn rolled his eyes at his overly dramatic friend. “How about…” He stopped his arm, pointing directly at one girl in particular. “Her!”




Chapter 5


“Sydney?” Weiss looked at who he was pointing to, saying her name aloud.

“No!! No, do it again Weiss!” Nadia said frantically.

“No, Nadia it’s fine.” Vaughn assured. He could handle Sydney. She wasn’t that bad. She was a normal person. “She doesn’t bite.” He reasoned out loud.

“Hard.” Weiss corrected.

“Vaughn, don’t do it.” Nadia pleaded. The game had lost all fun for her. She didn’t want her new friend to be submitted to the torture that was Sydney Bristow. She wouldn’t wish that on her worst enemy.

Of course her worst enemy was Sydney, but that didn’t matter.

“Yeah, man, you don’t have to. It’s just a stupid bet.” Weiss joined Nadia’s side. “Just forget about it, it’s no big deal.” Weiss continued, only to look up and notice his friend was gone from their table and heading into no-man’s land. “Shit.”

“You can say that again.” Nadia muttered.

“Shit.”

***

“What am I doing?!” Vaughn whispered to himself as he walked towards Sydney and her table. What if she makes fun of me. I can’t talk to her in front of her friends, I’ll start sweating. Okay, maybe I’ll just ask her to talk in the hall. That’s it! He thought.

“Can I help you?” Sydney asked harshly, when Vaughn stopped by her side of the table.

“Can I talk to you?” Vaughn asked, amazed that his voice was more than a whisper. He nervously looked back at Weiss and Nadia to see them staring at him, worried expressions on their faces. Then he looked back at Sydney to see that she had picked up her purse and standing up.

“You comin?” She called, as she started walking towards to cafeteria doors. He heard snickers behind him from her friends, and followed her out into the hall.

“Thanks.” Vaughn stuttered, clearly not thinking his plan through. What was he going to talk to her about? He was going to kill Eric the next time he saw him. He should have never listened to him. Sydney was going to think he was psycho.

“So how much you want?”

***

“Oh my god, they’re going into the hall.” Weiss said hysterically, watching his best friend tail Sydney Bristow into the deserted hallway. He stood up to follow.

“You want him to look like even more of an idiot?” Nadia hissed, placing her hand on his arm to sit him back down.

“We gotta save him… She’s gonna hurt him.” Weiss panicked like a little girl and Nadia started laughing. “This is not funny,”

“Despite what you may think, Vaughn can handle himself.” Nadia smiled, knowing Vaughn would have a story to tell once he got back to the table.

***

Sydney immediately got to work, extracting a white bag from her purse. He almost fainted, knowing that what was in her hands was cocaine, and she was thinking he was trying to buy some from her. Her chocolate eyes connected with his and he had to keep himself from staring, choosing that moment to be fascinated by his shoes.

“No, um… that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.” He stuttered nervously, running a hand through his hair. She quickly put the drugs back in her purse, sighing.

“Ok, Friday, pick me up at eight.” She said and walked away before he could get another word in.

Did he just arrange a date with Sydney Bristow?




Chapter 6


Nadia watched as her sister came back into the cafeteria, a nonchalant expression on her face. She knew Weiss was also watching. Michael followed in slowly behind Sydney, a glazed over expression on his face.

“What happened?” Weiss asked the second Michael sat down.

“I was gonna kill you… but now I might wanna kiss you.” Vaughn said.

“Ew, man, that’s gross.” Weiss backed away from his friend. “What the hell did she do to you?”

“We have a date. Friday night.” Vaughn answered and Nadia rolled her eyes.

“Vaughn! Don’t go.” She pleaded. “You don’t know what you just got into.”

“I can handle it.” Vaughn assured Nadia. “And you didn’t even have to go snooping, I got my proof right there.”

“What? How?” Nadia asked.

“She thought I was trying to buy some coke off her.” Vaughn laughed while Weiss’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“Oh my God!” He exclaimed.

“Stop sounding like such a girl.” Vaughn chastised. “Nadia, are you sure you wanna be going out with that?” He laughed and Nadia’s mood lightened.

“Hmm… I’m not sure. I’m not into that whole trisexual thing.” Weiss was repeatedly hitting his forehead on the table. “But he’s cute,” She placed a hand on his should and he stopped. “I’ll give it a try.” She laughed as Weiss blushed.

***

“Nadia, tell me more about Michael Vaughn.” Sydney said casually, as if they talked all the time about boys. She was leaning against Nadia’s doorframe, minutes before her date with Vaughn. Her skirt was way too high, her shirt was way too tight, and her eyes made her give the impression of being a street-corner whore because she had so much make-up on.

“Um… like what?” Nadia looked up from the magazine she was reading. She didn’t go out on Fridays, unless Weiss was taking her somewhere. He was busy tonight, but they were going out Saturday. She got one look at Sydney’s getup and had to hold back her laugh. She would pay to see the shocked expression on his face.

“What does he like?” Sydney asked, her lips twitching into a devilish smile.

“Hockey…?” Nadia answered, not sure where her sister was going with this.

“You’re so useless.” Sydney spat, huffing away from her younger sister’s room. Nadia went back to reading her magazine, knowing Vaughn was in for quite a surprise.

***

“Syd, you ready?” Vaughn said as she opened the door later that night. He stopped in his tracks as he took in her skimpy apparel. “Um… Y-you look… nice?” He stuttered.

“Let’s go.” Sydney replied brightly, grabbing his hand and leading them back towards his car. Vaughn tried not to look at her backside as her short skirt swayed over her long legs. He wasn’t really sure what he had gotten into going out with Sydney Bristow.

“So,” He attempted to start light conversation during the car ride. “How was your day?”

“Eh, ok.” Sydney answered, shrugging her shoulders. “Where are we going?” She asked as they drove through the small business district close to her house.

“Movie.” Vaughn said as he pulled into a parking spot. “That’s ok, right?” He asked, hoping she wasn’t expecting something expensive.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you want.” She smiled and got out of the car. He sighed and got out as well, joining her on the other side. She took his hand as they walked towards the ticket booth. He couldn’t fight the feeling of how perfectly her hand fit in his.

“How about Pirates?” Vaughn suggested as they neared the front of the line.

“Sure.” Sydney said noncommittally. She couldn’t care less what they were seeing. Normally guys just took her somewhere private, but the dark of the theater might work.

“Two for pirates.” Vaughn told the cashier, paying for their tickets and walking inside to the snack bar. “You want anything? They got good nachos here.” He recommended.

“Dr. Pepper would be fine.” She said, letting go of his hand and latching onto his elbow while he bought her the drink. She smiled politely at the man behind the counter as he checked her out. Vaughn noticed this and they headed off to the theater quickly.

“What a jerk.” He muttered.

“It’s ok.” She shrugged and pulled him toward the back row of the theater. He wondered why she didn’t want to sit in the middle, but complied anyway. They sat down and waited patiently for the lights to dim.




Chapters 7-12