LAST CHAPTER!! I'm sorry this took so long!  I hope it's not too lame!

            The tears rolled fluidly down her cheek as she reached out, feeling new emotions soar through her heart.  She had never felt this much pain before.  Nothing had ever prepared her for this.  No mission ever hurt this bad.  No torture made her ache this much.  This was a whole new type of pain that was completely indescribable.  Her body felt like it was going to split in two at any moment.  The clean hospital smell was lost on her as she focused on the one thing that mattered most in the world.  Her brown eyes, red with tears, flashed around the room to the familiar doctor's faces, who seemed to share the similar emotions.

            No one told her it would hurt this bad.

            Her arms reached out and the one man that mattered most in this world placed the other one thing that mattered most in the world into her arms.  The little red faced bundled was the most perfect thing in the world.  She cooed softly as her mother started to rock her back and forth in her arms.  "Shhh……..shhh……my little darling." She leaned forward and kissed her forehead.   She sat up slightly and tucked her hair, straying from the tight French braid.  She had held her little girl before but this time was different.  This time she could count fingers and toes and it was just her and the ones she loved starring at her.  Her daughter was more perfect than she could have ever imagined. Her little red head was covered by thick black hair.  She had dark blue eyes that seemed to look through her soul.  "My little darling."

            Vaughn laughed a reply and sighed contently, "She's perfect, baby." He kissed Sydney's forehead, smiling into it.  "Absolutely perfect."

            Sydney reached up and touched his face, slightly stubby from lack of shaving.  They had hurried out the house early Saturday morning and considering it was Sunday, midday……..Vaughn was not exactly clean shaven.  Scruffy.  "Well, I think we did a pretty good job." 

            Vaughn sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around the two of them as the bright light from the crisp day filtered into the room.  "She's just as beautiful as her mother."  He kissed her temple.  "I never thought we would make it this far."

            "I know.  I know."  She sighed contently.  "These nine months have been the craziest I think ever and considering what the two of us used to do for a living, that's saying a hell of a lot." She joked and continued to rock her child, humming a melody beneath her breath. This was her favorite spot in the world, she decided quickly.  With her baby in her arms and her in her boyfriend's arms, nothing could go wrong.

            And it was absolutely true.  Sydney had officially resigned from the agency.  It had been a painful decision for her to leave because she had truly grown to love the people she worked with.  She never imagined that it would be that difficult to pack up her little carton and move on from the Rotunda, as it was now commonly called.  She said her good-byes to everyone, promising over and over to visit (Jack assured her that she would be granted access) with the baby but she knew in her heart she would never go back.  It was time for her to move on with her life and that life was with Vaughn and her baby.  And even though she and Vaughn decided not to get married, her life was just about perfect.

            She decided to tutor Middle School and High School students.  She had about fifteen kids that came in and out of her apartment.  She had never been happier in her life.  The piles of textbooks grew weekly and she started to go through books as if they were water.  The little apartment was completely redone as the pregnant women tried to find projects to keep her busy.  Gallons of paint were brought in and the ultra chic, ultra modern guest room was transformed into a beautiful child's nursery.  Gone were the bamboo and the white linen sheets.  Instead, classic Beatrice Potter.  Peter Rabbit and friends adorned the walls as Sydney learned to stencil, her tummy growing all the way.  But it was the passion for learning that helped her get up everyday.   She loved her 'kids' more than anyone else could have known.  They never knew what she used to do for a living but she would sneak in little tidbits that she had learned along the way.

            "Did you know that in Saudi Arabia………."  "Well, you know that the Thailand landscape is…….."  Her voice was ring out, remembering a time where her life was put in danger on a daily basis. 

             Her answering machine, that fateful one that contained the message Vaughn had left the first time around, now held messages of excited students about passing a test or making the grade on a project that they had strived for. 

 Now, on the other hand, Vaughn was a much different story.  He kept his counseling up with the new recruits and helped them more than he could ever imagine.  Three times a week, sometimes less, he would manage to get to the Rotunda and collapse into the small corner of the building that became his office. There was a large black couch that those who came to talk could sit upon as he curled up, resting his war torn body.  They all knew of his condition and they all knew that he was not a certified counselor by any means.  But he was a friendly face that the young agents, mostly in their early twenties, sometimes late teens, could come running to at the end of a mission  and spill the overwhelming emotions.   They were a bundle of nerves and energy as soon as their planes land, they would bound into his office or leave long, breathless messages on his voicemail. 

            "Oh Mr. Vaughn-I just came back from Malaysia and they tried to kill me but oh my     G-d"  or "Hey, what's up?  Just got back from my trip and I wanted to tell you that I survived and I'm in one piece.  Yeah, I made it."  But he hated those other phone calls.  There were two types that he dreaded. 

"Hi Mr. Vaughn." Sarah Hanison, a twenty-four year old agent, with a degree in international relations and specialized in liniquistics began a tearful message on day,  "I just stepped off the plane and uh-I haven't told anyone this but-but Jackson-he didn't make it.  Oh G-d.  There was nothing I could do.  He got shot down and when I went to get him and he-he……"  Tears choked her voice as she started to sob.  She couldn't even finish the message she was so distraught.  Losing a partner was one of the most difficult things in their line of work.  And the little girl from Athens, Georgia learned it that day.

David Jackson's death shook Vaughn and reminded how dangerous the world really was.  This only added to the anxiety he was starting to feel for his unborn child.  But there was one phone call that shook him to the core and he never fully recovered from.

 "Agent Vaughn," his body always stiffened when that name registered over his phone, "this is Agent James  I was told to inform you that Agent Shepard did not make it back from her mission.  I'm sorry." 

            Those were the bad days.  Despite his illness, it was a horrible day when one of his agents-one of his friends were killed in the line of duty.  It brought back memories of Jeanette and all those times that they had near misses and the one time that he lost her.  He was never the one to tell the parents but he hated the funerals.  He attended three in nine months and he could clearly see their faces whenever he closed his eyes.  David Jackson, a strong twenty-eight year old former soccer player from Vermont, Connor Washington, a tall twenty three year old scholar from Duke, and Aurora Shepard, the beautiful little blonde stood about five foot three but was almost as powerful as the strongest male agent.  Aurora's death had hit him the hardest.  She was the most eager and loved her job so much.  She was so patriotic and was thirty seconds away from tattooing the flag across her lower back.  Aurora had this undying spirit and Vaughn took her under his wing to help her and guide her.  The reason? 

            "My mother and father were CIA." She responded suddenly during one of their coffee discussions.  She placed her warm cup of coffee down and looked at him with those pure, innocent blue eyes.

            "Were?" Vaughn felt the familiar worry lines take over his face.

            She sighed heavily and ran her finger over the rim of the mug, "My mother was killed while on active field duty.  They never told me details and told me it was classified."  She sighed heavily again and shook her head remorsefully.

            "How old were you?"

            "Seven and a half." She replied just as simply as it had been asked.  Suddenly, she took a real interest in the base of her mug and pursed her lips together tightly.  "Three later, my father was taken captive by Afghani rebels and I've never seen him since."  She took in a breath of air and puffed it out, "No one knows how much it hurts not to know what exactly happened to your father-how he died-if he died."

            Vaughn lean back into his chair and looked at her, "Aurora, I know that pain.  It eats away at your soul until it feels like you can't breathe.  I want you to know that.  I've been there-twice.  I know that pain and if that ever overwhelms you-I want you to come and tell me right away.  Sydney won't mind if you call at whatever hour.  That's how we first met and fell in love.  She called me one night and we met by the pier and-" he noticed Aurora's puzzled look.  "Feel free to call me whenever you need something."    

             She was captured in Chile two months after that conversation and tortured until her heart gave out.  Vaughn mourned for days as the girl, of only twenty, was laid to rest.   

            To add insult to injury, he was still quite ill and was not up to do what he used to do but he got by.  On more pills than ever, he continued to fight for everyday of his life.  Finally, the doctor suggested an risky surgery to remove most of the tumor.  With much anxiety, he consented to it and spent the next six weeks in the hospital, drifting in and out of a drug induced coma.  His counselees sent flowers almost daily and visited Sydney often, giving her ready made meals.  He made it through the surgery with flying colors and they all kept their fingers crossed that this time, he would be okay.  None of the doctors really knew what would happen from there but they couldn't have been happier for him than when they saw Sydney walking down the hallway with her little belly showing from beneath her tee shirts.  It was during his last week in the hospital that he received news of Aurora's death.   

            Well, the rest of the world was a completely different story.  Weiss finally took the plunge, as Sydney had urged him to do and he made the next step with Isabelle.  They were in love with each other but Isabelle had a hard time moving on from David and moving away from the Vaughn estate.  She still hadn't consented to move stateside but Weiss told everyone it was only a matter of time.  He loved Maisie like she was his own child and he basically told Isabelle, who he nicknamed Bella, that he would jump in front a moving train or a bullet for her and her daughter.  Isabelle replied with the same and declared to the rest of her family and friends that she was in love with him.  She was free of David and now, Weiss seemed to be a blessing from above.

            But Weiss, in all, had 'forgiven' Vaughn.  He loved Vaughn like a brother and was happy that he was welcomed into the family with open arms.  Weiss spent more time doing analyst work than anything else. It allowed him more time to be with Isabelle and Maisie.  Finally, seven months through their dating, Isabelle moved away from the estate and into an old house that Weiss had purchased and renovated.  Everyone who knew either of them knew it was only a matter of time before Weis would pop the question.  And everyone who knew either of them knew it was only a matter time before Isabelle said yes. 

            Isabelle actually started to work on a children's book series.  She had said she wanted to do it since she was a child and now she had time to actually do it.  Maisie started to go to preschool, in the states and make many friends, going on many play dates.  She was kept out of her hair as Isabelle started to develop her characters that resembled much of her family.  She used herself and Claire as models for the lead character, Oddette.  With her light brown hair twisted up with a black chopstick, she spent much of her time on her sun porch with her laptop on her lap and a cup of tea in her hand.  She wrote until her fingers went sore or until it was time to pick Maisie up and Weiss came home.  Even then, she would find time to sneak off to finish the adventures of her beloved Oddette. 

            Now the baby of the family.  Claire had thrown herself into her work and had become one of the ranking members of the Thames House in London.  She loved her job more than anything and actually found love again.  Yes, he was an agent but she didn't care as much this time.  No, she still did care for him but the absolute terror of dating an agent was gone.  She tried just to go with her gut.  Her body had become absolutely trim and fit, the toned muscles sculpting out from beneath her black suits.  Occasionally, she was sent under deep cover and seconded to MI6.  She had dreams of saving the world and being wonderful but quickly realized her own mortality.  The world wasn't all James Bond and fancy gadgets.  She worked steadily and gained recognition.

            "You're the best I've seen in a while." Her supervisor admitted one night over late cocktails.  His black hair was ragged from a long day's work.

            "Thank you, Tom." Claire responded, taking a slow sip of the clear liquid that had tasted tart against her tongue.  A strong accent had taken the place of her French and now, anyone would think that she was born in the UK. 

            Tom took another sip of his drink, "What happened when you went home?"  He watched her carefully and tried to judge her composure.

            "My, aren't you out of character this evening?" She laughed lightly into her chair as she opened the cap off of the bottle and poured another glass full for each of them.  "It was wonderful and horrible."

            "That mission went awry, didn't it?"  He knew the details but wanted to hear it out of her mouth for some reason.  There was a certain companionship he felt with her than he felt with anyone else.  Without much thought or maybe too much thought, he placed his hand atop hers, causing her to look up with emotional eyes.   

            She sighed heavily, "There's no reason for me to go deep into them.  You may read my debrief. Take anything from there.  You know everything you need to know about me.  Take it or leave it."  She let her other hand drift on top of his and smiled softly.  "I must be destined for great things if my family is this crazy and screwed up."

            Vaughn leaned back slightly, stretching out his back, and sighed softly,  "What are we going to name her?"  His eyes filled with love and he knew that he would step in front of a train at that moment to keep this little nameless girl safe.  He had never felt this much love in his life.

            "I don't know.  I mean, we've gotten all those baby books but-what are we going to name her?"  Sydney sighed out of frustration.  She caught herself in such an act and laughed lightly, "This should be our biggest problem in life."

            "I have an idea." Vaughn kissed her forehead and wrapped his arm around her shoulder tighter.  With his other hand, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a baby name book.  Flipping through nonchalantly, he opened up to a page he had previously dog eared.

"Oh you do?" She replied, watching the red baby fuss slightly in her arms.  "Ah ah ah." Her mouth opened to a smile.  "Are you trying to talk already?  Just like your Daddy-an overachiever.  Relax, baby girl.  You're only six hours old."

  "Ava." He announced, scanning halfway down the page.  "It's Greek for 'like a bird.''

"Well, maybe she won't fly away." Sydney joked.  A bad joke at that but she gave herself a pity laugh all the same. 

Vaughn shook his head, laughing and  turned to the next marked page.  "Ava Faith." A smile started to spread over his lips. 

            "Ava Faith Vaughn." Sydney rocked the baby as she tested the name over her lips.  She repeated it once more and decided that she liked it.   

            "You want to use my last name?  We're not going to use yours or hyphenate it?  Ava Faith Bristow….Ava Faith Bristow-Vaughn?" He asked, a smile etching over his face slowly.  Today was a perfect day.  It was a warm May day with the bright sunlight streaming into the quiet hospital room.  This was the same hospital that he had spent so much time in during the chemo and after he had stopped breathing that one time. 

            "I think if she had her father's last name, that's good enough for me.  She doesn't need four names." Sydney replied.  "And besides, she'll have my temper, so she won't need my name for people to know that she's mine."  She paused for another moment as the true nature of her baby's name sunk it.  "Ava after Aurora, your agent, right?  And Faith, after your mother?"

            Vaughn immediately sobered up, "We don't have to use that name.  I just thought that Aurora was such a wonderful human being-you tutored her sister.  It was three weeks ago that we buried her.  Twenty-one days ago we put that beautiful little girl into the ground.  She was just a few years younger than Claire.  I still can't believe she's gone.  She was just a baby and they killed her.  She was just a baby." Vaughn sighed heavily and let his eyes flutter slightly, feeling his heart grow heavy and tears fill with unshed tears.  "So now, she can live on with our baby.  And with Faith as her middle name, she'll have a bit of my mother too."

            Sydney leaned into his jaw line and felt her own brow wrinkle in emotion, "Sweetie, it's a perfect name.  I think it's perfect for her.  Aurora was an amazing woman.  This will be the perfect opportunity to honor her."  She shifted her weight slightly as she tried to get comfortable.  "Do you want to hold her?  I'm getting tired." 

            Vaughn eagerly turned his body and lifted his precious little girl from Sydney's arms.  "Hi.  Hi there.  Yeah."  He cooed as he adjusted the little swatted bundle in his arms.  He started to walk around the room, gently rocking Ava in his arms as Sydney sunk down against the pillows and got comfortable.  "She's perfect.  Ten fingers.  Ten toes."  Sydney raised her eyebrows and Vaughn caught this out of the corner of his eye.  "I counted."  He sighed contently and starred down at the little girl with the big blue eyes.  They still hadn't figured out where she got the blue from.  "I-I just want a good life for our baby, Syd.  I mean, I was walking around before and life is so scary and so many things can happen and I just want her to be safe.  She's so beautiful, Sydney.  I don't want her growing up in a family that we always have to look over our shoulders every time we get together." He paused as he tried to get his words together.  He only wanted to make his point once and hoped he never had to do it again.   "We were spies, Sydney.  We were James Bond.  And now, we have a baby.  And this baby, she's so innocent.  We can't screw her up-"

            "Hey!  Watch it!  I have no intention on screwing her up, thank you very much." Sydney exclaimed jokingly.

            He found refuge in a nearby chair and eased himself into it slowly, "You know what I mean, baby.   But I was thinking about this and we've seen the worst of the worst.  How are we ever going to protect her?"  He looked up to Sydney, who found tears coming to her eyes.  "What's wrong?"

            She wiped her eyes slowly and shook her head dismissing any idea that something was wrong.  "I'm fine.  Just tired."

            "Why don't you shut your eyes for a little bit.  I'll look after Ava."  Sydney nodded her head silently before letting her eyes flutter close and slipped into a lightly sleep.

            Vaughn watched this transition to a sleeping state and found himself lost in the sight of the most beautiful woman in the world right before him with her child in his arms.  He stood up slowly and walked over to the large window with the rocking chair resting there.  He eased himself into the white rocking chair and started to rock back and forth, basking in the warmth of the sunlight.

            This seemed a touch too poetic.  His body was destroying itself but at the same time, it was it was the same thing that helped give Ava life.  "Well Ava, I guess I should introduce myself.  I'm Michael Vaughn, your father.   Over there-that lady sleeping?  That beautiful woman is your mother.  And I hope for all of our sakes that you don't have her temper or else I might have to move out of the house." He laughed lightly at his own little joke.  "I have to warn you, Ava.  Our family's a strange one.  First there's Grandpa Jack and Grandma Irinia.  Now, they're your mom's parents and they don't get stranger than that.  But don't worry, Grandpa Jack will kill anyone that hurts you and Grandma Irinia would probably too.  We don't have any grandparents on my side.  They all died before you were born-but that's a different story for when you're older.  There's Aunt Isabelle and Aunt Claire, my sisters.  They're pretty nice, you'll like them.  You have a half sister, Maisie.  Although," He caught himself suddenly, "no one is suppose to know that she's your half sister but you're young enough not to understand, so I'll tell you now.  There's also Uncle Eric, my best friend, Uncle Will, your mom's best friend, Aunt Francie, her other best friend and oh yeah, Aunt Julia, Uncle Will's wife.  You see, we're all going to be here to watch you grow up and we all waited so long for you to get here and we all love you so much but-" He stopped with a sudden realization. 

            "And um…….I wanted to be the first one to tell you about what happened before you were born.  Well, maybe I should say this first; I've had cancer for a long time now, longer than you can imagine.  And I've tried everything they said I could possibly try…….that's how your mommy came back to me was because of one of the treatments.  But, nothing any of the doctors has done has worked.  And I might not around forever but I want you to know-right here-right now, that I will love you forever.  Oh G-d, Ava, I might not make it to your to your first date or your  prom or your first day of college……I might not make it to your first day of preschool or-" A sudden realization hit him and it hurt so badly when it did.  It hurt more than all the surgeries, leaving their painful purple scars across his chest, and all the treatments combined.  "I might not make it to your first birthday." 

            He rested his head on the back of his chair and felt his brow knot up in concern.  "But I will love you for the rest of your life.  No matter what, I will always love you.  Even when you start screaming or doing something rash, as I'm sure you'll inherit your mom's temper, I'll be in your corner.  I was your mom's guardian angel and one day, sweetie, I'll be yours."

End.

Well, that's it.  I hope you all figured out why I named the story Shiva's Fire (and hint; it's not because of the cat).  I had a lot of fun writing this and I hope you had the same reading it.  If you're really unhappy with the ending, I can continue one or two more chapters if that'll make ya feel better.

TheUptownGirl