Chapter 24

"Sydney!" Vaughn cried out her name, as he picked her up, cradling her in his arms. She lay there motionless, as tears ran freely down Vaughn's cheek. Weiss stood silently by the door, with Cole at his side, praying that she would be ok.

"Sydney, come on open your eyes! You're not gonna leave me her Syd." He gently brushed the strands of her from her face, while all the time holding her close to him. He dropped his head down, resting it on her forehead, wishing that she would just open her eyes.

"Vaughn?" He shot up to find Sydney's eyes slowly opening.

"Oh my God! Syd, I thought I'd lost you." The tears kept on coming, as he leant down and kissed her.

"Did you really think you would get rid of me that easily?" She asked. She raised her hand and wiped the tears that were still falling down his face. Vaughn was amazed to see that at least she still had her sense of humour.

"Syd, where did the bullet hit you?" His eyes were full of concern, his forehead covered in wrinkles. Without speaking, Sydney lifted up the bottom of her top, revealing a black vest with the bullet lodged into it. Vaughn breathed a sigh of relief, his heartbeat beginning to return back to normal.

"You were wearing your bullet proof vest!" Vaughn exclaimed. Hearing himself say that made him realise that she was safe, he hadn't just lost her again. The force of the bullet hitting her had caused her to black out momentarily. But luckily the vest had prevented it from injuring her.

"Of course I was. I couldn't go and die on you now, could I?" She smiled at him. He leant in for another kiss, and then turned to Weiss. "You best call somebody to get the body." He nodded in the direction of Lauren. He picked Syd up in his arms as if she were a baby, and walked towards the door.

"Vaughn, I can walk. It's not like I'm injured!" She protested jokingly, only half meaning it.

Vaughn stopped, but remained with her in his arms. "I want to look after you Syd, even though you are perfectly healthy. Look, back there I thought that I had lost you for good again, and that you were never coming back to me. I thought I'd never get the chance to tell you how much I love you. But now that I have you in my arms, I know that you're safe." Vaughn looked down at her lovingly. She smiled at him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Okay!" She agreed, and he continued walking only to be stopped at the door by Weiss.

"I'm glad that you're ok Sydney!" He kissed her on her forehead and patted Vaughn on the back. "Take care of her man!"

"Don't worry I will." Vaughn's grin grew as he prepared to take the woman he loved home.

A Week Later

Sydney rolled over to see Vaughn asleep next to her. She loved waking up and watching him sleep, feeling lucky that she had been given a second chance to make things work with him. She didn't want to wake him, so she carefully rolled out the bed to get ready for work. As soon as she put one foot out of the bed, she was pulled back under the covers. Laughing she turned over to see Vaughn with one eye open smiling at her.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asked, as he wrapped his arms tightly around her pulling her close to him.

"I was going to get ready for work, otherwise we're gonna be late!" She snuggled closer to him, thinking that she wouldn't mind staying like that for a little bit longer, even if it did mean that they were gonna be late.

"You don't have to do that." Vaughn replied, as he planted light kisses down her neck. "Dixon said that we could both take some time off. He knows that we've been through a lot this past year, and there were no big missions planned, so we're free for a couple of weeks. Besides I'm sure you'd rather be going on holiday then going into work!" He watched as her face light up.

"We're going away?" She asked, her eyes glistening and a smile covering her face. Vaughn reached over and picked an envelope up of the dresser. He handed it to Syd who opened it quickly. Inside were two tickets to Hawaii. Sydney laughed excitedly.

"Hawaii? We're going to Hawaii?" Vaughn nodded and she threw her arms around his neck pulling him in for a kiss. "You are definitely the greatest boyfriend ever, you know that right?" She asked, their faces barely inches apart.

"So I've been told!" He laughed. "But I don't want to be just the greatest boyfriend..." Sydney raised her eyebrows wondering where he was going with this. He leaned over and picked something else up. "I'd like to give it a go at being the greatest husband, that's if you'll be my wife Syd?" Sydney's smile continued to grow.

"Are you asking me to marry you Agent Vaughn?" Sydney asked, knowing what the answer would be.

Vaughn opened up a small box, to reveal a silver ring, with a cluster of white diamonds in the middle. "Yeah I am. I love you so much Syd, I don't know what I would do without you. So, will you marry me?" He sat up in the bed, causing her to do the same.

"Yes Vaughn. Of course I'll marry you!" She kissed him again, and then broke away so that he could put the ring on her finger. She sat admiring her ring, putting her arm out infront of her, making the diamonds sparkle.

"I love you Michael." She took hold of his hand, entwining their fingers.

"I love you too, Mrs Vaughn."

The End