Title: Worlds Apart, Still Connected

Author: GataFairy

Genre: Supernatural/Angst

Disclaimer: I only own my computer. Anything copyrighted isn’t mine.

Distrubution/archiving: As long as you let me know where, sure. ^^

AN:
Whee. I shudder with glee (and insecurity, yup *nodnod*). Mkay. So. There’ll be smidges of humor here and there, and there will be at least one-sided V/S. I can’t write sap-fics about actor-based series to save my life. Mucho angstiness, muuucho supernaturalness, mucho weirdness. (And the filename for this? weeeirdness.html ^^)

By the way, I would like to make it clear that I do not know very much about fortune telling or tarot cards, but I do know a little bit of palm reading. …so please don’t kill me if I messed up…

Pastels. The colors were pastels. They had to be pastels. Calm, gentle pastels.

They were swirling. Moving about in a beautiful pattern — completely disordered, but beautiful nonetheless.

Then they morphed into more intense colors. The colors evoked emotions. Each one of them a different one.

Blue was seriousness. Violet was intensity. Red was pain.

A red so dark it was almost violet prevailed. And he felt intense pain.

The colors turned into pastels again.

And then he opened his eyes.

Disturbing as it might have seemed to him during and immediately after he saw it, it slipped away from Michael Vaughn’s memory about a minute after he regained full consciousness. He still felt its effects, yes, but what it was was what really troubled him. After all, what could be so serious that it jolted him out of his sleep an hour before his alarm clock was set to wake him up?

You’re being paranoid, he told himself.

How he wished he could believe himself.

When he stared at his reflection in the mirror and saw how stupid he looked, he raised his eyebrows, closed his eyes, sighed, and shook his head, actions which were performed all at once and after which his facial features returned to normal. All served to cast the thought away. However, it came back with a vengeance, and what a vengeance — it came back with fear and foreboding. Not for his life, though.

More for hers than his.

Had he been able to, he would have had great pleasure in slapping himself then and there. But he refrained from doing so because, quite suddenly, he felt tired again. He returned to his room, and upon sitting down on his bed, his digital clock caught his eye. The light indicating that the alarm was set to go off was not on. Briefly, he had to fight drowsiness to recall that he was not working today, but rather had been invited on a ‘friend’s afternoon’ to ‘hang out’ by Eric Weiss.

That thought alone was enough to divert his thoughts from the alarming dream he could not remember. He was able to find sleep again, unhaunted sleep, dreamless sleep.

He would not remember the dream until hours later.

“Aw, come on, Mike, you can’t tell me you didn’t have a little fun!”

“Yes I can.”

“No you can’t!”

“I can and I will: I didn’t have a little fun.”

“You didn’t even emphasize it right!”

“Shut up.”

Eric Weiss laughed, enjoying picking on his fellow agent and friend. Vaughn, however, was growing tired of it. Yet as usual, he let it slide, because deep down, he really had enjoyed not having to think about work.

“See?” Weiss continued. “You had fun and just won’t admit it.”

“Yeah, really, Eric, I had loads of fun at the circus,” Vaughn said with much sarcasm. “I haven’t had this much fun since my last visit to the dentist. I’m so happy.”

Weiss looked mockingly proud. “I know. My good deed for the day is done.”

Vaughn couldn’t keep a laugh and disbelieving look from escaping him. It hadn’t been entirely boring — his friend had a knack for picking out the tiniest mistakes or details and blowing them up large enough for him to actually take notice of them. He had even suggested that Weiss join the traveling circus, since he seemed to know so much about it.

“Nah,” Weiss had said. “Too dull.”

And while he did agree, Vaughn thought that sometimes dull was more appealing than secretive.

Silence fell between the two as they walked among the booths set up around the large circus tent. Out of the corner of his eye, Vaughn saw Weiss reach into his pocket, pull out his yo-yo, and proceed to play with it. Something about something — he wouldn’t have been able to put it any other way — made him remember the dream, or rather, the fact that it had woken him up.

“Hey, Eric,” he addressed, staring out in front of himself as if in a daze.

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever had a dream that wakes you up and you feel tense about it, but you can’t remember what it was no matter how hard you try?”

Weiss looked thoughtful as he watched his yo-yo roll a few feet forward on the ground before summoning it back to his hand. He shrugged as he flicked his wrist and let the toy fall, hang, and spin for a while.

“Can’t remember,” he said. “Even if I had, I probably would’ve forgotten since I couldn’t remember the dream anyway.” He pulled his toy back into his hand as he frowned at his friend. “What, you scared of one?”

“No,” Vaughn replied rather distractedly, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking up at a particularly swift cloud. “I just had one at around five AM.”

“A-ha…” Weiss said, frowning a bit more deeply. He then shrugged and looked around at the booths nearest them.

Vaughn had taken no notice of the booths, lost in thought because of the early morning’s disturbance; suddenly, Weiss smacked him on the arm, causing him to abruptly stop and break from his thoughts.

“What?” he half-snapped at the grinning man.

“Look,” Weiss instructed.

Vaughn followed his friend’s arm and finger, which pointed at a small tent with a sign that read “Teresa” on it. The sign had the painting of a red-violet scarf half-concealing a crystal ball, and a deck of cards resting against the A in Teresa.

“A fortune teller?” he said dubiously. “So what?”

“You should go check her out,” Weiss said in a tone that made the statement seem like the most obvious thing in the world. “Maybe this Teresa lady can help you.”

Vaughn frowned at him in complete disbelief. “You’re crazy.”

“That’s all well and good and everything, but we already knew that. And I’m not gonna be the one with the cards!”

Vaughn sighed. “No.”

“Go!” Upon seeing his friend not move, Weiss walked behind him and semi-pushed him forward. “Go!”

“No,” Vaughn said, though he wasn’t completely resisting.

Weiss desisted, then half-glared at the stubborn agent. “It won’t kill you to try it, and if it turns out she’s a fake it’ll still’ve been worth it, what with all the laughs we’ll get.”

Sighing again, Vaughn gave it a few seconds’ thought. Weiss was right, but it was still stupid. He didn’t think the dream should be made fun of, and even though he thought he was being paranoid about it, it still nagged at him. If this Teresa was the real thing, she could help. If not, he would laugh. Curiousity told him he should go, and so did paranoia, and what some might call a sixth sense. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew that whenever it told him to do something, he should do it.

“Fine,” he said in resignation. As his friend cheered the decision, he figured that afterward he could say that he had at least tried. With Weiss behind him, maybe to stop him in case he changed his mind, he went inside the small tent.

It turned out to be of not so small size inside. Several candles were burning by the table, and incense burned at the back. Semi-transparent scarves hung from the top to sides of the tent, some of them glitter-strewn, some of them with charms hanging from the edges. Vaughn frowned as he looked around, surprisingly, not having noticed the woman emerging from behind a rather opaque maroon scarf. He heard her footsteps and faced her. Teresa dressed in deep blue; she was wearing golden bangles, large rings and earrings, long necklaces with numerous charms on them, and a long dark blue scarf to cover most of her head. In the dim light, she looked almost darker skinned than she really was. She held his gaze with her piercing, unwavering stare. Then suddenly, one of her hands lifted slowly to her cheek, and she drew in a gasp.

“You’ve come,” she breathed. Stepping slowly forward and toward Vaughn, she continued speaking in a calm yet amazed voice. “Strong of will, a distinguishing chin, deep eyes…” She stopped when she was in front of him, her head slightly tilted upward to see him more clearly. “It is very good that you came here. I was expecting you.”

Vaughn couldn’t help a look of disbelief from crossing his features. She frowned at him.

“Non-believer though you may be, the traces left in my morning cup of coffee did not lie to me, did they?” she said, sounding severe. “You come to me seeking an answer which I may or may not be able to give. It is not so much my talent, but your disposition that will allow me to help you. Be not troubled or afraid. I knew that you both would come.”

“Really?” Weiss asked. Teresa’s gaze flickered to him. “So you saw me too, eh?”

“Of course,” she said, more softly now. “I thank you for being so persistent in your attempt to help your friend.”

Weiss looked proud. He cast Vaughn a look full of this pride, then nodded at him. Once more, Vaughn sighed.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll… let you help me.”

Teresa smiled and nodded, then walked to the table and gestured to it. “Take your seat.” He did. He looked rather confused when she took away the cards lying on the table. “These cards have been touched by many today. It is my personal belief that it would be best for you to use an untouched deck.” At Vaughn’s nod she placed the deck on a crimson cloth and folded it, then put it in a trunk. From the same compartment she drew another deck in another crimson cloth, only this one seemed to have darker material making curvy shapes on it. She sat before her customer, unfolded the cloth, and gestured for him to take them. Weiss was sitting elsewhere, watching.

Vaughn carefully shuffled the cards and handed them back to Teresa. He watched her intently as she dealt them onto the table, wanting to read her reactions right. Once three cards were down, she began to speak.

“You have many secrets,” she said, clearly focused on the task at hand. “Secrets that your life hangs on.” She placed another card down and smiled serenely. Lowering her voice, she said, “Your desire to protect her has led you to love her. Another secret. One which hurts you more than the others.” Another card was dealt. “But you are committed to your current ties,” she said in the same low volume.

At a pause she made after having spoken, Vaughn frowned curiously. Before he could speak, she said, “May I see your hand?”

He nodded and lifted his right one.

“No, no, dear, not your right one if you are right-handed,” she said, stopping him.

“Oh. Okay.” And he showed her his left one.

She examined his palm, tracing the line going along the base of his thumb with her finger. “A very healthy life.” Then she bent his fingers and looked at the side of his hand, a bit off the base of the pinky. She laughed lightly. “A happy marriage, it seems. Long-lasting, and only one. You are most fortunate!”

She released his hand and began dealing cards again, shaking her head while still smiling softly. At the next card, she frowned and said nothing. The same happened with the next, and with the one after that she frowned even more deeply, concern in her gaze.

Vaughn too frowned. “What is it?” he asked, careful to not be loud.

Teresa paused to think. “May I offer you a drink?” she said rather suddenly. “Coffee? Tea?”

“Uh — no, thank you,” Vaughn said, looking confused.

“It wouldn’t be poisoned or such,” she continued, almost as if she were bent on giving him the drink.

“No,” he said firmly, deciding that he would not stall any longer. “Now, what was it that made you look so concerned?”

Teresa pulled in a deep breath and looked up at him. “You are wise to fear for her and not yourself first, but it’s not as if you should believe you’re safe. What awoke you during the night should be taken seriously. Your fears, your suspicions — pay attention to them. Be alert. Be very, very careful.”

“Wait — could you be a little more specific?”

“Ask yourself if you really want to know.”

“I do.”

Looking aloof, the woman placed another card on the table. “Beware danger. There is a great threat looming on the horizon for you and her, and it will not limit itself to just the two of you. If it takes either one of you down, it takes many others in its wake.”

“What, is it a person, a disease…”

“It’s not exactly that,” she said slowly. “But… I suppose ‘person’ or ‘people’ would be a way to describe it.”

“Who, then?”

“That I cannot say… but,” she paused as if unsure of whether to tell him or not. His gaze, however, prompted her to. “But I can tell you that it involves lives once lived.”

Vaughn blinked a long blink and reopened his eyes to reveal them to be thick with confusion and concern. The silence following Teresa’s words was intense and uncomfortable, but somehow he couldn’t find it in himself to break it. For a moment he hoped Weiss would say something, but half a glance in his friend’s direction told him that wasn’t going to happen. He looked perpetually intrigued, and Vaughn had a feeling it had more to do with who this “her” Teresa mentioned than with the danger of whatever situation was being predicted.

And so Vaughn had only one thing that sounded coherent enough to say, even though he knew it was also the stupidest comment he could make. But he said it anyway.

“This is dumb.”

He felt two pairs of eyes on him, making him more uncomfortable than he had estimated he would feel after having spoken. Rubbing his brow, he sighed, offering a feeble “What I mean is” to give himself more time.

“What I mean is that I’m back where I started.” He stared at Teresa and continued, adding special emphasis to his next statement. “You haven’t told me anything I didn’t already know.”

Teresa’s lips curved into a small grin which was obviously meant to keep back a chuckle. She looked at him meaningfully, but not angrily.

She said in a mischievous voice, “Why, I had no idea you were a believer in rebirth.”

Weiss’s snigger momentarily distracted Vaughn and made him look even more bewildered than he already did. Seeing that she said nothing and still grinned, Vaughn frowned, half-glared at his friend, with whom he was very angry at the moment, and stood.

“I’m sorry for having been a bother,” he said, an edge of sarcasm in his voice. “Thank you for your time.”

As he turned away — his fellow agent having got the message and walked to the exit — there was heard the scraping of a chair and a strong, purposeful voice which compelled him and his friend to stop.

“Mr. Vaughn, I understand your concern and current state of mind,” said Teresa, standing and looking taller than she had at first, “and I can and will forget this incident. But I will not forget you or your situation.” She produced a card from somewhere within a sash she wore and held it out for Vaughn to take. He did so tentatively, trying to look as unwavering in his stance as did the blue-eyed woman before him.

“What’s this?” he asked, turning it over but not caring to read the text on it.

“Where to locate me,” she said calmly, slightly mischievous grin back in place. Despite that, she held reassurance in her gaze.

Vaughn reached into his pocket but was stopped by a jingling wave of the woman’s hand. “I wouldn’t let either one of you pay me. I only ask that of those who come because of simple curiosity. Even though you may not think so —” and here she looked from one set of eyes to the other “— your reasons were well-founded. Concern and worry.”

“Well then,” Weiss said after a rather short moment of what he would call awkward silence. “Gracias, ma’am.” He gave her a smile and a nod and stepped outside, followed by the other agent. When he was sure they were at a safe distance from the tent, he shook his head in a sort of disbelief, smiling a bit. “I dunno, man. That was really weird — what do you think? The real thing or a loon?”

Vaughn stared at the card Teresa had given him.

“Don’t know,” he said, pocketing the item. “She looked a bit like both.”

The silence that followed was so sudden that Vaughn knew it meant something. Also adding to his suspicions was the fact that Weiss had stopped walking, and upon looking back Vaughn saw that he was frowning as though trying to accept a new, delicate piece of information.

“What?” Vaughn asked.

“We never told her our names…” Weiss said; he looked up, his frown so deep it made his friend feel almost as though he had just gone through another tarot reading. “…but she knew yours.”

Vaughn looked as though his friend had said he was really an ape. “So? Maybe she heard us outside and —”

“Don’t be stupid! You know I have not called you ‘Vaughn’ all afternoon! Not even joking! Well, not today, at least.”

At first taken aback, but, now, primarily concerned, Vaughn’s green eyes widened while his eyebrows lowered into a frown indicative of wild thought. He thought back to the card and wondered whether or not he should go to Teresa again. He was momentarily lost in thought when Weiss once again pulled him from them.

“Well, now,” intoned the brown-eyed man, grinning mischievously and with an equally playful look in his eyes. “Who’s the ‘her’?”

“Eric, you bastard…”

reconnaissance to columbia to find a copy of "relato de un náufrago" which has a code embedded into its cover illustration