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Halo
by Nicola
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: #3.11, 'Full Disclosure'
Note: an AU take on 'The Telling'
She dyed her hair blonde, because Michael Vaughn liked blondes. She couldn't be Sydney Bristow, with her smooth dark perfection. But she could be soft and yielding; happy and uncomplicated. She could smile in all the right places and toss her shiny blonde hair back from her temples when she laughed.
The bleach stung her scalp, searing through into a headache. With a veil of dark hair, and too-pale skin punctuated by red lips, she had been striking; now she simply average. Just another All-American California girl: lightly tanned skin finished with a gloss of pink lipstick; a shimmering halo of ash blonde hair.
"You're really going to do this," he said, staring at her reflection in the mirror. The corner of his mouth quirked and his eyes hardened. "You'll be the Covenant's whore. You'll be his mistress, because he'll never love you—"
"I can make him love me," she said decisively, tilting her chin as she examined her revised appearance. "I could make any man love me."
Lauren could feel his laughter against the back of her neck as he swept her hair aside. His fingers ran lightly through the golden mane, combing and teasing. He pulled harder and her head fell back against his shoulder. His fingertips ran in circles, spinning her hair into something new. He wound tight against her scalp and she exhaled sharply at the slow pain that seeped through her, ending at her shaking hands.
Julian kissed the nape of her neck, where the hair would soon grow back dark and telling. His fingers released her, and he walked away in carefully measured strides, leaving her to become another man's wife.
January 2004
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