Through the Gate: an alias ficlet
May. 24th, 2004 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tommygirlThis is a ficlet written for the latest picture challenge at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
15minuteficlets. It's completely unbeta'd and may appear to end abruptly because it's a timed exercise.
WARNING: Spoilers off of the season three finale from last night are mentioned in this piece. So don't read if you haven't seen yet!
Sydney raced toward the iron gates. She wasn’t sure where she was going, how she had gotten there, or what she would do once she arrived at the top of the walkway. She wasn’t sure of much anymore, her world having slowly ripped apart at its seams when she scanned over page after page of classified materials. She didn’t know how to react to the information in front of her or her father’s appearance. She didn’t know what he could possibly say to her to make things right again, but she couldn’t imagine going back to the distant relationship they had together for so many years. She loved being close to her dad, feeling like she could trust him and count on him for anything. She loved that he would do anything for her…but now? What was she supposed to do with all this? How was she supposed to react?
There was no right answer so she ran. She ran out the doors and ignored her father calling her name, ignored the stares from passersby on the streets, and ignored Vaughn’s voice in her ear piece asking her if she was okay. She just ran.
She kept telling herself if she made it through the opening of the gate, if she got up those last few steps, she would stop. She would stop running and try to process everything that had happened moments earlier. She pumped her arms and put some extra kick into her stride, but found that crossing through the cast iron entrance did little to alleviate her current tailspin. Things were still chasing her.
Things, it seemed, were always chasing her, and now she knew that her father was to blame for that. The man who claimed that her needs always came first to him, who was so devoted in his protection of her to almost insane levels…and it was all an act. A means to an end that made him no better than anyone else who had betrayed her before.
Sydney removed her earpiece, tossing it haphazardly over her shoulder, and slowed her run to a brisk walk. It appeared to be an old church and cemetary she had stumbled upon and she pretended to be caught up in the architecture as she passed an elderly couple on a bench. She kept walking around the outside of the building, wondering if this could be her sanctuary the way the church was for others. If she would find all those answers, garner some understanding of herself, by doing nothing more than walking through the doors.
She slid into the church the way she often moved on missions. Quick, quiet, and aware of everything going on around her. There were a few random people in pews and a priest talking in the corner with an older man. The priest noticed Sydney and smiled at her. It was a smile that made her step further inside the church, a smile that said so many things without uttering a sound.
She sat down in a back pew and stared out in space aimlessly. Her body was finally still, but there was nothing she could do to quiet her mind. She realized in her need to get away from everything that she had left so many questions unanswered. She told herself it could wait, that living a lie for so long could go on for another few days until she felt comfortable facing her father. She told herself a lot of things while she sat there, but she didn’t really believe any of it.
“There you are,” she heard over her shoulder. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Vaughn sit down next to her. He sighed and asked, “What happened, Syd?”
“I don’t know.”
“You scared the hell out of me. I thought you had someone on your tail…and you weren’t answering me.”
“Sorry,” she managed to get out before she felt the tears fall. Being around Michael made it all the more real. Until that moment she could hold onto hope that it was a dream or some sort of hallucination, but it wasn’t.
Vaughn wrapped his arms around her and said, “It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay. We’ll get through it.”
15minuteficlets. It's completely unbeta'd and may appear to end abruptly because it's a timed exercise.WARNING: Spoilers off of the season three finale from last night are mentioned in this piece. So don't read if you haven't seen yet!
Sydney raced toward the iron gates. She wasn’t sure where she was going, how she had gotten there, or what she would do once she arrived at the top of the walkway. She wasn’t sure of much anymore, her world having slowly ripped apart at its seams when she scanned over page after page of classified materials. She didn’t know how to react to the information in front of her or her father’s appearance. She didn’t know what he could possibly say to her to make things right again, but she couldn’t imagine going back to the distant relationship they had together for so many years. She loved being close to her dad, feeling like she could trust him and count on him for anything. She loved that he would do anything for her…but now? What was she supposed to do with all this? How was she supposed to react?
There was no right answer so she ran. She ran out the doors and ignored her father calling her name, ignored the stares from passersby on the streets, and ignored Vaughn’s voice in her ear piece asking her if she was okay. She just ran.
She kept telling herself if she made it through the opening of the gate, if she got up those last few steps, she would stop. She would stop running and try to process everything that had happened moments earlier. She pumped her arms and put some extra kick into her stride, but found that crossing through the cast iron entrance did little to alleviate her current tailspin. Things were still chasing her.
Things, it seemed, were always chasing her, and now she knew that her father was to blame for that. The man who claimed that her needs always came first to him, who was so devoted in his protection of her to almost insane levels…and it was all an act. A means to an end that made him no better than anyone else who had betrayed her before.
Sydney removed her earpiece, tossing it haphazardly over her shoulder, and slowed her run to a brisk walk. It appeared to be an old church and cemetary she had stumbled upon and she pretended to be caught up in the architecture as she passed an elderly couple on a bench. She kept walking around the outside of the building, wondering if this could be her sanctuary the way the church was for others. If she would find all those answers, garner some understanding of herself, by doing nothing more than walking through the doors.
She slid into the church the way she often moved on missions. Quick, quiet, and aware of everything going on around her. There were a few random people in pews and a priest talking in the corner with an older man. The priest noticed Sydney and smiled at her. It was a smile that made her step further inside the church, a smile that said so many things without uttering a sound.
She sat down in a back pew and stared out in space aimlessly. Her body was finally still, but there was nothing she could do to quiet her mind. She realized in her need to get away from everything that she had left so many questions unanswered. She told herself it could wait, that living a lie for so long could go on for another few days until she felt comfortable facing her father. She told herself a lot of things while she sat there, but she didn’t really believe any of it.
“There you are,” she heard over her shoulder. She glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw Vaughn sit down next to her. He sighed and asked, “What happened, Syd?”
“I don’t know.”
“You scared the hell out of me. I thought you had someone on your tail…and you weren’t answering me.”
“Sorry,” she managed to get out before she felt the tears fall. Being around Michael made it all the more real. Until that moment she could hold onto hope that it was a dream or some sort of hallucination, but it wasn’t.
Vaughn wrapped his arms around her and said, “It’s okay. Whatever it is, it’s okay. We’ll get through it.”
