AU Bingo ficlet: "Resurrection"
I shall leave the prompt a secret for now! But it takes place/deviates from canon just at the end of Season Two:
"Resurrection"
Sydney sat in a safe house in Hong Kong, her head between her hands. Her body felt cold, foreign to her; her mind was awhirl with confusion and conjecture.
The last thing she remembered was the Francie who wasn’t Francie - the one who didn’t even taste food the same way Francie did - coming at her. Firing her gun. Francie falling. Dead? Not dead? That part didn’t make sense. All Sydney recalled after that was pain and blood, so much blood … then awakening in a Hong Kong alleyway.
A creak at the door made her startle, but then relief flooded through her as she saw Vaughn standing there.
“Vaughn!” She flung herself into his arms; he embraced her in return, but … slowly. It didn’t matter. He smelled so good. Felt so good. Quickly she pressed her lips to the pulse at his throat, one quick kiss, not nearly enough. “What’s going on? I don’t remember anything - except Francie, that wasn’t Francie, and oh, my God. Will. Is Will alive?”
“Syd. Take it easy. Sit down.” Vaughn took a chair himself, almost as if he had to sit before he could fall. “It’s really you.”
“Of course it’s me. What happened?” Sydney raked one hand through her hair. It was as if seeing Vaughn again had snapped her back to herself; she was newly aware of how eagerly she wanted to touch him, the subtle scents in the room, even her acute hunger. How long had it been since she’d eaten? No knowing.
“Your home - the aftermath of the fight - it was almost destroyed.” Vaughn’s eyes were wide, even wary. “When we searched, we found Will … he’s okay, by the way …”
“Thank God.” Sydney could taste that one kiss she’d pressed against Vaughn’s neck. She needed more of that, for sure. “And Francie?”
Vaughn didn’t answer that. He just stared, and for the first time, she realized that this wasn’t the joyous reunion for him that it was for her.
Slowly, she said, “What’s wrong?”
“Syd - ”
He turned his head to the side, and she could see the tension in him as he looked away from her: the working of his jaw, the taut length of his neck.
“Sydney, we found you in the house.”
“What do you mean?” Vaughn wouldn’t meet her eyes. Sydney kept staring at his neck.
“We found your body. Your dead body. It was you - no doubt, no question - we ran every test - except - ”
She was so hungry, so damned hungry, that she almost couldn’t focus on what he was saying. But then, what he was saying made no sense. “Wait. You can’t have found my body. I’m here. I’m alive.”
Vaughn slowly shook his head. “You’re here, Syd. But they looked you over when you came in, and - you’re not alive.”
He wasn’t Vaughn to her then. He stopped being a person at all. The only thing Sydney could hear was his heartbeat - so loud, louder than his confused wondering as to what Rambaldi might have done to her - and his throat was exposed, laid open, and she didn’t even know she’d tackled him until she sank her fangs into his flesh.
**
She managed to stop before she killed Vaughn: Enough of her mind returned for that. But Sydney ran out into the streets of Hong Kong again with tears on her cheeks, sickened by what she’d done, what she had become.
Who had done this to her? Francie? She had seemed so strange the past few months, and even Will had remarked on how she fixed food the same as ever but didn’t seem to eat a thing. A joke, they’d thought: Instead, it had been a clue.
Somebody was behind all this, though. Somebody had to have had the foresight to steal her body from its grave and bring her here. Somebody who wanted this for her, somebody Sydney intended to destroy the first chance she got ---
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Sydney whirled to see her mother standing behind her.
Irina said, “Don’t be afraid.”
“I should say that to you.” Sydney wondered what should scare her any longer. She was already dead, condemned to be a monster; it didn’t get any worse than this. “Did you do this to me?”
“No. But I learned it had been done. And I knew I had a chance to help you.” Irina cocked her head, fixing her daughter in a stare that continued to be both unearthly and unsettling. “I’m protected, by the way. There are ways the people you love can protect themselves. I’ll teach you.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Sydney protested. If her mother knew anything about this, it suggested she’d known too much. And couldn’t she have mentioned, during all those months of interrogations, that, oh, by the way, vampires are real? That would have been good information to have.
Irina’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll come with me to rescue your father.”
“What - what happened to Dad?”
“He also learned what had been done to you. He made the mistake of trying to tell the wrong people. They now have him captive in a top-security mental hospital, under the belief that your death has driven him insane.”
Her father would hate that. He would be dying in there by degrees. There was no way Sydney intended to let that continue.
Her eyes met her mother’s, and Irina smiled. “I told you that you’d be coming with me. And take heart, Sydney. There can be life after death. I have it on good authority.”
Sydney knew she’d only find out what that meant by joining her mother - and accepting her fate.
END
Yes, the prompt was "Fantasy & Supernatural: Vampires."
"Resurrection"
Sydney sat in a safe house in Hong Kong, her head between her hands. Her body felt cold, foreign to her; her mind was awhirl with confusion and conjecture.
The last thing she remembered was the Francie who wasn’t Francie - the one who didn’t even taste food the same way Francie did - coming at her. Firing her gun. Francie falling. Dead? Not dead? That part didn’t make sense. All Sydney recalled after that was pain and blood, so much blood … then awakening in a Hong Kong alleyway.
A creak at the door made her startle, but then relief flooded through her as she saw Vaughn standing there.
“Vaughn!” She flung herself into his arms; he embraced her in return, but … slowly. It didn’t matter. He smelled so good. Felt so good. Quickly she pressed her lips to the pulse at his throat, one quick kiss, not nearly enough. “What’s going on? I don’t remember anything - except Francie, that wasn’t Francie, and oh, my God. Will. Is Will alive?”
“Syd. Take it easy. Sit down.” Vaughn took a chair himself, almost as if he had to sit before he could fall. “It’s really you.”
“Of course it’s me. What happened?” Sydney raked one hand through her hair. It was as if seeing Vaughn again had snapped her back to herself; she was newly aware of how eagerly she wanted to touch him, the subtle scents in the room, even her acute hunger. How long had it been since she’d eaten? No knowing.
“Your home - the aftermath of the fight - it was almost destroyed.” Vaughn’s eyes were wide, even wary. “When we searched, we found Will … he’s okay, by the way …”
“Thank God.” Sydney could taste that one kiss she’d pressed against Vaughn’s neck. She needed more of that, for sure. “And Francie?”
Vaughn didn’t answer that. He just stared, and for the first time, she realized that this wasn’t the joyous reunion for him that it was for her.
Slowly, she said, “What’s wrong?”
“Syd - ”
He turned his head to the side, and she could see the tension in him as he looked away from her: the working of his jaw, the taut length of his neck.
“Sydney, we found you in the house.”
“What do you mean?” Vaughn wouldn’t meet her eyes. Sydney kept staring at his neck.
“We found your body. Your dead body. It was you - no doubt, no question - we ran every test - except - ”
She was so hungry, so damned hungry, that she almost couldn’t focus on what he was saying. But then, what he was saying made no sense. “Wait. You can’t have found my body. I’m here. I’m alive.”
Vaughn slowly shook his head. “You’re here, Syd. But they looked you over when you came in, and - you’re not alive.”
He wasn’t Vaughn to her then. He stopped being a person at all. The only thing Sydney could hear was his heartbeat - so loud, louder than his confused wondering as to what Rambaldi might have done to her - and his throat was exposed, laid open, and she didn’t even know she’d tackled him until she sank her fangs into his flesh.
**
She managed to stop before she killed Vaughn: Enough of her mind returned for that. But Sydney ran out into the streets of Hong Kong again with tears on her cheeks, sickened by what she’d done, what she had become.
Who had done this to her? Francie? She had seemed so strange the past few months, and even Will had remarked on how she fixed food the same as ever but didn’t seem to eat a thing. A joke, they’d thought: Instead, it had been a clue.
Somebody was behind all this, though. Somebody had to have had the foresight to steal her body from its grave and bring her here. Somebody who wanted this for her, somebody Sydney intended to destroy the first chance she got ---
“Hello, sweetheart.”
Sydney whirled to see her mother standing behind her.
Irina said, “Don’t be afraid.”
“I should say that to you.” Sydney wondered what should scare her any longer. She was already dead, condemned to be a monster; it didn’t get any worse than this. “Did you do this to me?”
“No. But I learned it had been done. And I knew I had a chance to help you.” Irina cocked her head, fixing her daughter in a stare that continued to be both unearthly and unsettling. “I’m protected, by the way. There are ways the people you love can protect themselves. I’ll teach you.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Sydney protested. If her mother knew anything about this, it suggested she’d known too much. And couldn’t she have mentioned, during all those months of interrogations, that, oh, by the way, vampires are real? That would have been good information to have.
Irina’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll come with me to rescue your father.”
“What - what happened to Dad?”
“He also learned what had been done to you. He made the mistake of trying to tell the wrong people. They now have him captive in a top-security mental hospital, under the belief that your death has driven him insane.”
Her father would hate that. He would be dying in there by degrees. There was no way Sydney intended to let that continue.
Her eyes met her mother’s, and Irina smiled. “I told you that you’d be coming with me. And take heart, Sydney. There can be life after death. I have it on good authority.”
Sydney knew she’d only find out what that meant by joining her mother - and accepting her fate.
END
Yes, the prompt was "Fantasy & Supernatural: Vampires."