Show: Alias

Ship: Vaughn/Lauren, Vaughn/Sydney

Setting: Post-Telling

Rating: G

Vaughn’s POV

Vaughn’s life isn’t what he thought it was.

It begins over a cup of coffee and you realize how cliché that might sound, but it’s the truth. She accepts your offer and you notice that she likes her coffee the same way that you do and you can’t help but think that’s a sort of sign.

You ask her out to dinner and you ask her questions like: What’s your favorite movie? (Casablanca) Do you like music? (vintage Aerosmith and Billy Idol) If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you have with you? (suntan lotion, a bottle of tequila, and Tom Cruise)

She makes you smile. She makes you laugh. You thought you had forgotten how, but you’re still able to do those things.

Eric asks you what’s going on with you and that NSC chick and you get mad and tell him to not call her a chick. You have to step back and wonder why you would be offended, why you would feel the need to defend her.

And the day comes when she spends the night. She fits in your arms and whispers your name. When you wake up, she’s still there. You think you can do this forever.

Her hair is blonde, her eyes blue, her skin fair. The opposite of the dark hair and eyes you used to dream about.

She listens to you talk about Sydney (her hands gently drifting through your hair as your head rests on her chest). She surprises you at work (with lunch breaks and love notes). She even picks up a hockey stick for you (and she even has the bruises on her legs to show you). You ask for her hand in marriage (she says yes with joyful tears as you’re down on bended knee).

You go the pier and talk to Sydney one last time. You tell her about Lauren. You tell her you’re getting married. You tell her you’re moving on. And you wait for her for say something back. It’s getting harder to hear her and you think maybe it’s because you’ve let go.

On your wedding day, you think about that cup of coffee.

Your desk at the CIA starts to smother you so you trade it in for a school desk. The kids call you “Mr. Vaughn” and you correct them by saying it’s Monsieur Vaughn.

You think you can do this forever.

Until you get that phone call. You need to go to Hong Kong. You need to go to Sydney.

So, here you are staring at a ghost. She’s finally talking back to you and her voice is louder than it ever was. You want to ask her if she ever heard you. Did she hear you on the pier when you told her you were moving on? Did she hear you any other time?

You go home to Lauren and find her asleep in bed. You look at her with a heavy heart. Your wedding ring seems even heavier.

You collapse in the hallway, unable to move. You bury your head in your hands and know that nothing in your life will ever be a cliché again.

END