A/N: Okay so, this takes place Pre- Phase One, after the Getaway but before Phase One, I'd imagine. I haven't written a WIP like this in a while so... bear with me. Lol.

[b]Written in Blood[/b]

Chapter One~ So We Don't Get Separated

~Sydney~

[i]Running, running
As fast as we can
Don't think we can make it.
Running, Running
Keep holding my hand
So we don't get separated~ No Doubt~ "Running"[/i]

"Dad, it's me! Vaughn hasn't reached the rendezvous point yet! Where the hell is he?" I demanded desperately into my comm. link, throwing a glance behind me for fear of someone catching me there.

"We've lost his signal. Just get out of there and to the extraction point, now!" my father ordered.

"No!" I yelled back. "I'm not leaving without him!"

"We'll send in a team. You have to get out."

I stared out the gap between the buildings at the end of the alleyway, then back towards the one I'd just sprinted from, its window lights glowing almost menacingly in the distance.

Images of Vaughn raced through my mind. The pier. His father, my mother... him hugging me. Saving me at the SD-6 raid. The Vatican. Throwing me in his trunk. Comforting me after Noah. The train station. Comforting me again after I found out about Project Christmas, and when I thought I had the virus.

He'd been there for me too many times for me to back down now. "I'm going back for him."

"Sydney-"

"Keep the helicopter standing by. I'll contact you when we need extraction," I cut him off before he could protest, then switched off the link.

Quickly, I pulled my (already slipping) long strawberry blonde wig off and let my natural brown hair fall into my face. I raced through the pouring rain; my three inch heals clattering through the rapidly forming puddles in the darkened road. Thank goodness I was at least in a pant suit tonight and not one of those unpleasant gowns.

All I could see though the pounding droplets was the building twenty feet away. All I could her was Vaughn's voice in my own thoughts.

[i]"Speaking of which, I got you something..."

"You look really pretty..."

"I believe in you... do you think I'd just throw anyone in my trunk?"

"If you're doing what I think you're doing... I'm in. If you need me..."

"I'm your ally. Never question that..."

"This grasshopper walks into a bar..."

"Don't frost the pie..."

"Tell me about your pets..."[/i]

Finally, I reached the building. Without thinking, I ran around to the back and kicked the door open. It sounded quiet inside. I hurried down the empty hallway, not caring that the door clanged shut behind me. Where could they have taken him?

I couldn't ponder that question long, because suddenly, a large, stony looking man emerged from the shadows and grabbed me by the wrist. "Agent Bristow."

I turned his wrist and flipped him onto his back. He flung out his leg and kicked my ankle, tripping me before I could blink.

The last thing I remember before he knocked me into blackness was Vaughn's smiling face in my mind, thinking I didn't see him standing on a bridge watching as I played mini-golf with my friends.

I awoke to the sound of a door crashing open.

"We'll be back later. It's her turn next time," the larger man I'd fought sneered as he tossed something through the doorway. He slammed the door shut again and locked it. I blinked, confused, in the chilly darkness.

I couldn't see what he'd thrown in, only an outline. I squinted and moved closer, my palms against the cold, cement floor. The figure groaned.

"Vaughn!" I breathed, quickly crawling the rest of the way over. "Vaughn, can you hear me?"

He didn't answer, only stirred. My eyes began to adjust to the black surroundings. Already I could see that he was hurt. Curled up in fetal position, his foot and ankle twisted out in an odd angle. My heart wrenched.

Very carefully, I reached out and touched his shoulder. I shook him gently. "Vaughn?"

"Mmm..." he groaned again, then shifted. He opened an eye slowly. "Syd?" he whispered hoarsely.

"It's me."

"How... how..."

"I couldn't leave without you," I replied softly.

He turned over on his back, then slowly pushed himself up to sit beside me. "You should have left."

I didn't answer, just reached for his hand. When I found it, I linked it with my own. Then I winced. His skin was covered in tiny cuts and larger bumps. I loosened my grip, afraid I might be hurting him. That's when I got a clear look at his face.

Scratches decorated his cheek bones and forehead.  A large bruise swelled his left eye shut. Dried blood crusted his nose, which looked broken. A deep gash ran from his chin to his temple, blood dripping hastily down from it, forming a small puddle on the floor. Angry burns spread across his neck and shoulders, which were exposed where the sleeves of his now ratty shirt had been ripped off.

"Oh God, Vaughn..." I whispered, horrified. "What did they do to you?"

"I'm okay..." he answered, moving his thumb lightly across my hand. His soothing voice might have convinced me, but his still open eye displayed otherwise.

"No you're not. You're hurt. I...  I'm so sorry, Vaughn. I should have waited for you."

"Syd, it's alright..."

I looked up at him, wondering how someone could be so amazing. Right then, even with everything that had happened to him, he was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.

I reached my free hand up and brought my fingers gently to the un-gashed side of his face. He sucked in a breath, obviously in pain, and I immediately jerked my hand away.

He breathed in and out deeply a few times, lungs seemingly weakened. In... out... in... in more sharply... cough, cough, cough. I couldn't stand to see or hear him like this.

A second later, he looked hard at me, then carefully reached for the hand I'd just moved away. Now, with both my hands in his own, he gently squeezed. "It's okay," he assured me softly, and once again, I almost believed him. Almost.

"Come on, we have to find a way to get you out of here," I whispered, knowing he needed medical attention badly. I wasn't sure of all of his wounds, but I knew that the gash could end up really bad if it didn't stop bleeding soon. "There's a helicopter standing by at the extraction point."

He nodded, not taking his good eye off of me. I smiled at him, hoping he was even the slightest bit comforted. Then I reached up to my head and felt the smooth metal lump perfectly fitting into my ear canal like a plug for concerts. Thank God the comm. link hadn't been discovered.

"Dad?" Crackle. I tried again, whispering more loudly. "Dad... Mountaineer to Cobra. Copy?"

"This is Cobra. We read you, Mountaineer. Define your location."

"The basement of the building the mission was in, I think. In a cell at the end of a corridor. We need extraction. Hurry, Agent Vaughn is in bad need of medical assistance and I'm not sure when the guard will be back for me."

"Copy."

I switched off the link again and turned my attention back to Vaughn. "We're being extracted. This will all be over soon."

Vaughn just nodded in the darkness, staring off at something that wasn't there. Another sharp intake of breath. He was having trouble holding on. If he let go... no, he wouldn't. He [i]couldn't[/i].

I leaned back against the cold stone wall, gently coaxing Vaughn along with me. "C'mere," I told him softly.

Grasping my hand, he eased himself up to rest against the wall in the spot next to me. He slowly turned his head to look at me, then conjured up a voice with what little strength he had. "S...Syd..."

"Shh..." I whispered, like a mother comforting a child, trying to calm him although I was extremely nervous for myself about the possibility of the torture man coming back for me any moment. But Vaughn was my first thought now.  "Try to sleep until my father gets here."

He nodded and put his head back to the wall. Seconds later, he shifted slightly, trying to find a position that didn't cause him pain. Silently, I tugged at his hand and placed my other hand lightly on his back, guiding him to lay his head down in my lap as I stroked his cheek with the hand not laced with his. 

He sighed quietly, seeming more comforted. I was glad for that. I bent down, and after a second's hesitation, placed my lips softly against his forehead, then pulled away. In the dark room, I swore I could see his lips twitch at the corner just the slightest bit.  I rubbed my thumb across his hand until his ragged breathing evened out and he was fast asleep. It wasn't soon after that I gave into the exhaustion of the night and let my own eyes close, Vaughn's cheek still warm underneath my fingers.

I awoke with a start to the sound of the door banging open again. I wasn't sure how much time had passed, but it couldn't have been long because the extraction team was expected 20 minutes after I'd made contact.

Our capturer. It had to be. I squeezed my eyes shut; bracing myself for the rough hands grabbing me and tearing Vaughn and I apart (he was still resting unmoving in my lap.) When I felt nothing, I opened my eye to see light pouring into the dank cell, a familiar figure silhouetted in the doorway. 

"Dad!"

"Come on Sydney, we have to go."

"Vaughn..." I gently prodded him awake, feeling guilty for disturbing his peaceful slumber and not wanting to hurt him more. "Vaughn, come on, we're getting out of here."

He stirred and slowly opened his eye, realizing what was going on. He got up as quickly as he could, struggling to get to his feet. Without caring about my father overlooking us, I carefully locked my arm around him and helped him up. Together, the three of us hurried out the door to our freedom.

The three of us sat on the floor of the small plane in silence, traveling just a little above and ahead of the extraction team's helicopter. I sat close by Vaughn, carefully cleansing and bandaging each of his wounds, my hand holding his in his lap when I was finished. My father's gaze burned through us, but I hardly noticed.

It was quiet, the uncomfortable silence screaming above the whir of the plane's engines. Finally, my father spoke, his tone flat and unemotional as always. "Was the document recovered?" He didn't receive an answer. "Did you obtain Page 63 of the Rambaldi documents?"

I slowly shook my head. "No." After all this, after our risky entrance, even riskier exit, Vaughn's torture and my capture, we hadn't managed to do what we came for. After all this, our mission had failed. I'd been so close... so close.

But they caught us, and we had to run. I still don't know how it was they didn't catch me. One second Vaughn had been far ahead and they were gaining on me. A second later, we turned a corner, I looked around me, and both Vaughn and the K-Directorate agents were gone.

Then, for the first time since he fell asleep in the cell, Vaughn opened his mouth and spoke in one notch above a whisper, "I have it."

We looked to him in surprise, his words taking a moment to rush through my system and settle in my mind. "You... have it?"

His throat obviously still sore from the burns, and possibly various other tortures he had yet to reveal to us, he didn't speak again. He just reached into his worn out boots and pulled out a folded piece of parchment, handing it to my father. My fathers stare flickered briefly over the document after unfolding it, then at Vaughn.

For once, I could read the emotion in his gray eyes. Respect. He respected Vaughn for what he'd done. And I knew what that was. "Vaughn... that's why you were captured. You stayed for just one more moment to grab the document...." I didn't finish. I just gripped his hand tighter and smiled at him. He faintly returned it.

What I'd left out of that statement, what Vaughn and I both knew but refrained from saying aloud right then, was how I'd managed to escape. Vaughn had stopped running, let them catch him, turned himself over to the enemy, to cause a distraction. Just a few minutes, enough for me to get away.

Vaughn had allowed himself to be brutally tortured for hours, let his own blood drip and drain away, experienced the excruciating pain that agents like us spend careers dreading... all so I could make it to safety.

And in that moment, looking at his beaten features and feeling his warm fingers curling in mine, realizing what he'd done, I knew that I loved him more than I could ever express. And one day I would find a way... hopefully one day soon.

[i]TBC...[/i]

A/N: I swear, there's a plot to this more than angsty torture fluff. Honestly, I only put the angsty torture fluff in for fun. Lol. Actually, the plot of this fic is placed around that Rambaldi document they're talking about, but it will involve a lot of S/V romance/angst. So stick with me, this should be an interesting ride. :-D