Victor Is Delicious
Cadet
Disclaimer: All characters and references to ALIAS belong to JJ ABRAMS and ALIAS
Chapter 1
JACK
Two hours after he looked into her eyes.
He slammed the door, used it for support as he allowed himself to relax finally.
His shoulders slumped, his arms hung at his side, exhausted.
He stared at the amber liquid on the other side of the room that was calling his name.
Jack, you want me, you know you do.
Louder and louder the voices grew, driving all rational thought from his mind.
His eyes rested on a photograph. A woman, the image of her father stared back at him.
I need you Dad, don't do it. Don't let her do this to you again.
He closed his eyes, concentrated on his breathing and began to count. When he reached the age of his daughter he stopped.
Enough reasons to never travel that road again. He was done. The temptation had passed.
He had prepared, readied himself. He had been doing it since he found out Laura had not died in the car accident.
When Irina shot her own daughter, fury surfaced.
His master of diguise had now been perfected.
He had longed for this moment, a chance for retribution.
He was in charge now. He was in command of the situation.
Nothing this woman said would get to him ever again.
I've had this picture of your face in my mind for over twenty years. I remember a loving husband, generous man, patriot. I may have been under orders to fabricate a life with you, but there were times when the illision of our marriage was as powerful to me as it was for you, especially when Sydney was born. Looking at you now I see that illisuion is finally gone"
"I want to make something very clear to you. There are people here who believe you can repay the debt you owe to this country through your continued cooperation. I am not one of them. And if Sydney in any way becomes victim to your endgame, I will kill you. She spent most of her life believing you wre dead, she'll get used to it again. No matter what bond you try to forge with her"
No matter how much he thought he had been ready, he wasn't. He had been unprepared.
Irina was forthright. Her eyes mocked him. This was not the woman he married. She was not Laura.
Had he been hoping? Did he want her to pretend?
He didn't know what he wanted. He knew he didn't want to feel like this. Tired, drained, scared and angry.
He wanted this woman to go away, to never come back and leave Laura's memory alone.
He could deal with a ghost. A deceitful woman he didn't have to see ever again. He could hate her.
He was not sure he had the strength to deal with a real one.
She didn't see his reaction to her question. Irina thought she knew him but she didn't.
He wasn't terrified of her tellings Sydney, or was he?
No one spoke to him that way, hadn't for a long time.
The last person to bring attention to his conscience was his wife.
IRINA
She knew the security camera was on her. She was composed until she turned away.
It would take Jack a few minutes to get to it so she had time.
Irina didn't think he would ever come.
Something had forced him too. He was angry.
She had seen the tension in his stance.
He made advantage of his height.
Irina could tell he was using every possible tactic to disarm her.
His facial muscles betrayed him.
Jack was not in as much control of the situation, as he would like to be.
Why shouldn't she be surprised he didn't ask questions, didn't want to hear her side of why she did what she had to and why she left?
Jack was a proud man.
Irina didn't know how she would get through to him.
For their daughter's sake it was time she tried.
*Dialogue from Cipher (2:03)
Chapter 2
JACK
One hour after his daughter had hate in her eyes.
He opened the door and walked inside his house. He was soaking wet and cold.
It was still pouring rain.
He undressed hoping the heat of the water would warm his body.
The water warmed his large frame but not his heart.
Despair overwhelmed him, like it had many years before.
Irina would be executed. That was what he wanted wasn't it?
He wasn't being vindictive.
Irina would use Sydney as she had used him. He would not let that happen again.
Jack was protecting his daughter from a woman who had brought her into the world and abandoned her.
Who let her live.
What had he done?
"Sydney get in!"
"What is it?"
"I have this memory when I was six years old. My mother had just died in a car accident. I fet so scared. You were never home, so who was going to take care of me? Then I overheard you talking. You were in your study on the phone. You were talking about Christmas, about me. You were taking care of my Christmas presents. Suddenly I-I felt so safe. You wre taking care of me. That memory is a lie. You weren't talking about that at all"
"Sydney"
"I've seen the footage. Mom's briefing with her KGB handler. She was sent here for one specific purpose, to steal information frm you about a project you were developing for the CIA. An operation to train children to be American spies. Project Christmas. Ever since mom came back, you were afraid she would figure out what you did to me. You weren't trying to protect me from her, you were trying to protect your secret. So the first opportunity you had, you set her up...in Madagascar"
"Sydney, understand something--"
"No Dad, you understand something. You took away my choices in life. You programmed me to be a spy. I will never forgive you for this"
Laura had done it again. She plagued his life. Still damaging the relationship he had tried to repair with his daughter.
How could falling in love with someone bring so much heartache?
He knew why. He trusted her. Gave her everything of himself. Never held back.
Jack tried to make his daughter less gullible than he had been and more able to judge human nature.
If he could give her that gift then he would have succeeded.
Sydney would never understand that he could love her and protect her at the same time by teaching her to be smarter than the average child.
*Dialogue from The Indicator (2:05)
Chapter 3
JACK
Four hours after his daughter insinuated he was a liar.
His own flesh and blood thought he used her.
On reflection how could he blame her?
Her own mother, his supposed loving wife had used him.
Why wouldn't his daughter think that he was capable of the same?
Sydney probably thought he spent six months in prison scheming the plan to make his daughter a spy.
What must she be feeling? That he hated his daughter because of what her mother did?
Did Irina have any idea how much pain she had caused her own flesh and blood, in the aftermath of her deceit?
"We should talk"
"We have nothing to talk about"
I know you have questions. You can be angry, or you can be informed"
"Please try to understand what I am about to tell you, Sydney. After your mother left, I tested Project Christmas on you because I didn't want you to be a victim. I thought it was my responsibility to teach you to think strategically, to see through people's lies, to be as strong as you can in an environment where one mistake could cost you your life"
Then you should've told me the truth, before I ended up here"
Yes, you're right! I never intended for you to lead a double life. I imagined recruiting you into the CIA after you left college. But Sloane got to you first, and that is a mistake that I will never live down"
"I'd like to believe you, but I don't trust anything you say"
Jack sat in the spare room, sifting through a large trunk.
They had bought it for Sydney.
Laura insisted they keep everything that Sydney had drawn and made.
When Jack returned home from prison, he placed all the photographs from around the house in the trunk.
He kept them for Sydney, knew she would want them when she was older. She had taken some photos when she moved out.
He didn't want to be reminded of treachery.
It was bad enough his life had been wasted with a woman who used him.
How did Irina know what he had done to their daughter?
Had she been watching them?
*Dialogue from Salvation (2:06)
Chapter 4
JACK
Seventeen hours after his daughter thought he regretted her existence.
He had tried to get through to her. Explaining to his daughter that her mother was not worthy of her worry.
Jack didn't realize he had poisoned his daughter's mind about her conception.
"I see your mother's latest maneuver had it's intended effect on you"
"What maneuver would that be?"
"Pleading guilty. Accepting the death penalty"
"Yep. She's got us right where she wants us"
"Not us. You. Your mother's no fool. She must have deduced I set her up, so why do you imagine she pled guilty? Because she was struck by a crisis of conscience?"
"I think she knew the verdict was a forgone conclusion"
"She pled guilty to keep you from witnessing her trial, Sydney, from having you see photos of agents she savagely murdered, including Vaughn's father. She knew if you sat through that, whatever sympanthy she managed to elicit from you would vanish, so she cast herself as the victim, to compel you to save her, and guess what? You fell for it"
"I though you deserved a second chance to think things over. Here's your letter"
"How'd you get that?"
"I spent a decade with this woman and another twenty years analyzing how she could have deceived me for so long. Trust me when I tell you, I'm protecting you"
"No you're not. I think you loved mum so much that when she left you, you lost your soul. You know what else I think? I think the kind of man that uses his own daughter to frame her mother, who'd test psych experiments when she was six years-old is the kind of man who looks at his daughter and sees his greatest mistake"
"You can't honestly believe that?"
"It's true isn't it? If Mom hadn't fooled you, if you hadn't been so gullible, I would never have been born. I'm going to finish the mission now"
~
"Agent Bristow, this hearings been convened to determine an appropriate punishment for the crimes depicted in your statement. Before we begin our inquiry, do you have anything to say?"
"Only that despite my admission of guilt, I still firmly believe that Irina Derevko is a threat and will prove it at her earliest possible convenience"
"Is that how you justify lying to your superiors, endangering other agents?"
"Yes"
"Why this sudden change of heart?"
"Deferentially Senator, my reasons are my own"
"I see. Reviewing your file, I was shocked to discover how many times you have displayed behavior that at best be characterized as rogue. You have lost the benefit of the doubt here sir, and your silence will not suffice. So again, I ask you, why the change of heart?"
"My daughter convinced me I acted unethically"
"Isn't it a fact that you knew your daughter intended to turn you in and you beat her to the punch only by an hour in order to secure a degree of leniency from this body?"
"No, sir, that is not the case. Sydney Bristow, my daughter...has come to believe that when I look at her, I see the embodiment of all my flaws. This afternoon, when I learned that she may have been exposed to a life-threatening disease, I realized that she might die believing that, but nothing could be further from the truth"
"When I look at her, when I look at the little girl who raised herself to become one of the finest agents I have ever had the privilege of knowing, I see only the promise of my own redemption. Turning myself in was the only way I could think of to make that clear to her, to prove that, despite my limited abilities as a father, I love her more than I could ever say"
Did Sydney believe he had bred a child to be a spy?
Irina's motives were clear.
A baby meant more time to serve her country.
He despised her for leaving a child.
How could he convince his daughter he wouldn't change the past?
He would go back and do it all again, to have her as his daughter.
She was the reason he went on living.
His mission in life was to protect her as he promised he would from the day Laura told him of his impending fatherhood.
He would give up his life for her.
Now with her life in danger he had been forced to express his innermost feelings for her.
The burden had been lifted.
His love for his daughter no longer assumed.
Sydney could judge for herself if she believed him.
*Dialogue from Salvation(2:06)
Chapter 5
IRINA
What a mess her daughter's life was.
Sloane had Sydney right where he wanted her, like a protege.
She felt for Jack who had lost a friend when Arvin recruited Sydney.
The evil little man couldn't help himself to further his glory which he one day expected to receive, thanks to Rambaldi.
Greed had exceeded loyalty since the dawn of mankind.
If her plan worked, then that would fail.
Sydney and Jack would be free from the plague of Arvin Sloane.
"Sydney, I'm sorry"
"You said you didn't tell us the truth because you were trying to protect me, because you didn't want to risk Sark finding out I was a double agent. The thing is, someone now has the ability to detonate six nuclear weapons and I am responsible. So I am going to be part of the team that finds and disarms those warheads no matter what you do. But if you were telling the truth when you said you wanted to protect me, then, Mom, I need your help"
~
JACK
Twenty-four hours after he smelt her.
Irina didn’t have to do anything and she irritated him.
Her presence infuriated him.
Now he was forced to spend time with her to protect his daughter.
How ironic they were going undercover as a loving family on vacation, when nothing could be further from the truth.
“Obviously you can’t maintain your cover if you are shackled. So there are two things you need to know about this necklace. One it’s layered with C-4. If you remove it while it’s armed, it will detonate. And two, if at any moment I believe you are attempting to escape or sabotage us, I’ll activate this remote trigger…and blow your head off myself”
He wasn’t prepared for the feeling her hair had on making contact with his hand as he fastened the necklace.
Her smell jolted him.
The look in her eyes he thought he had seen before when she was Laura.
It couldn’t be.
She knew what her glance could do to him. Had done to him when he was in love with her.
He wasn’t going to fall for her charms ever again no matter how hard she tried.
Irina Derevko would never fool him again into thinking she cared for him.
~
IRINA
She focused on stilling her body as he moved closer to put the necklace in place.
If she didn’t concentrate he would know and berate her even more.
As he reached behind to join the clasp his fingers touched her neck softly, arousing her in a way she had not felt in so long.
She wanted to revel in the moment but could not.
He was watched her like a hawk, eager no doubt to find a weakness.
She looked into his eyes to detect any recognition of his acknowledgment and found none.
The warm, brown eyes she remembered held none of her husband’s affection.
~
Chapter 6
JACK
Twenty-four hours after he sat next to her.
The silence was awkward.
He had not trouble keeping it as did she until she couldn’t help herself.
Typical woman.
Trying to connect with Sydney was her strategy.
Irina was using empathy tactics on his daughter.
“Agent Vaughn has trouble sleeping when you are in the field”
“I doubt he told you that”
“He didn’t have to tell me, I could see it in his eyes. I can see it in yours”
“Agent Vaughn is my colleague”
“You’re so willing to take risks for your country. Why aren’t you willing to do the same for your own happiness?”
“I hardly think you’ve earned the right to give anyone relationship advice”
“Jack, Sydney’s smart and she’s strong, but she’s not happy”
“Okay, wait a second, this— “
“After a twenty-year absence you’ve gleamed that from the cumulative half-hour you’ve spent in her presence?”
“I knew it from the moment I saw her. I’m her mother”
“Your motherhood is a biological fact, with no substantive value in Sydney’s life!”
“Hey! Stop baiting him. And stop being such an easy target. We’re going to be traveling together for the next two days, you can’t jump down her throat every time she opens her mouth”
He despised her for trying to make Sydney think she was interested in her life.
What a hypocrite this woman was.
Acting maternal.
Couldn’t she see how laughable it was that a mother who had abandoned her child was now trying to give advice?
How would she know that Vaughn had trouble sleeping?
The reason she was always tired when he returned home is because she was out secretly on her missions.
That had to be the reason.
~
IRINA
Jack obviously didn’t know about the conversation she had with Agent Vaughn.
Was he not watching her every move?
Doesn’t he know how Sydney feels about this man?
Of course Sydney with any man would be enough for Jack to express distaste.
He’s acting more like a father than he knows.
Sydney’s personality was so much like Jack.
Irina had stayed, risked her life for her family, yet they wanted to continue to be oblivious that she might care and have insight as a wife and mother would towards her family.
*Dialogue from Passage I
Chapter 7
JACK
Forty-eight hours after she kissed him.
He lay in bed tired from the mission.
Physically and emotionally he was wrecked.
Normally he could handle anything the CIA dealt him. This was different. It was personal.
His façade and indifference indicated he was unconcerned working with her.
At least it was over.
She had been the consummate actress.
The kiss surprised him.
He didn’t think she would be adventurous enough to make physical contact.
He didn’t want to ask her why she did it. Irina would know he had been affected.
Then when she was standing in front of him, shirt off, bra exposed, she smiled. He knew she had seen his weakness.
He wasn’t used to her being dominant. When she was Laura, they debated issues as a married couple would.
She was still demanding, obnoxious and antagonistic.
He didn’t trust her. Was sure at the first opportunity she would betray them.
He was only there to protect his daughter from a woman who had shot her.
“That bridge is the point of no return. If you’re lying about this, none of us will survive”
“I’d offer to go first but I don’t want to be accused of trying to escape”
“We go at the same time! Sydney, you follow”
“That’s not safe. These winds are too strong, our chutes could get tangled. You go first”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight. You go first”
“You’ll have to trust me sometime!”
“Trust is the last thing you’re getting from me!”
“The only reason you know about the nukes is because of me. I want some respect”
“We’ll miss our window unless you jump!”
“Shut up!”
~
“Are you okay?”
“It’s just a scratch”
“Drop it”
“Dad - -“
“Quiet”
“Jack, we’re in enemy territory. The PRF knows we’re here. We need to start trusting each other right now”
“You will not carry a weapon”
“Okay”
“Looks like we’re about twenty miles southwest of Azad”
“We can contact the CIA station chief in Pakistan. He’ll patch us through to Langley on a secure line”
“We should make it by dawn”
~
“Maybe they were just a roving patrol”
“No. PRF rebels would never be this deep into Indian territory without being dispatched”
“Your fathers right. We had one advantage—surprise. Now that’s gone”
“Just a second”
“Can’t stop. More patrols could be in the area”
“Oooh, God”
“What happened?”
“Nothing, I just scraped my leg”
“Dad, I can do it”
“I got it. You need to stop the bleeding”
“Where are you going?”
“These bushes, they have communis berries. Their juice soothes the skin, helps healing. You should put this on first”
“Seriously I’m fine”
“You’re not fine”
“No, you’re not fine”
“Jack, I know you’re determined to get to Srinigar but my contact in Jaipur is much closer. He’s completely reliable, has good equipment—“
“This is a CIA mission. I have operation control. You’re a prisoner. Your only function—sole reason you’re momentarily breathing fresh air, is to use your knowledge of the rebel’s base to help us steal the suitcase nukes and leave. That is why we are using people I know and trust. We’re not having this conversation again”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, thanks”
“This is not a power play. The facility we’re headed for, security’s tighter than the NSA. If I don’t have the right equipment, it’s pointless”
“We should move”
“Okay”
~
“I know what you’re thinking”
“Do you?”
“Toaster”
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Ah”
“We used to have this toaster at home. It was broken and using it one night I started a small fire”
“We had something like this to drink and we both had a little too much”
“I forgot about the toast I was making”
“When was this?”
“You were…four years old”
“There was so much smoke, we had to move out for a week. We stayed in that hotel”
“The Summit”
“The Summit”
“W-wait was that the hotel with the sundaes?”
“Mm-hmm”
“Yeah. I think you had one every night”
“You should get some sleep”
He never thought toast would be the subject of their first normal conversation.
Drinking with Irina brought the memories of what they were doing that night.
They started playing poker, as they drank more, it became strip poker. One thing led to another and then he was hungry.
After Jack put the toast on, he became distracted seeing the woman he had made love to, lying in the firelight.
Next thing they knew, the toaster was on fire.
Irina’s eyes lit up as they reminisced with their daughter about that night.
Her smile and laughter reminded him of Laura, the woman who supposedly loved him.
Laura had done that thousands of times when they were together.
Maybe she had not been acting after all. Why did she seem to enjoy the memory?
Irina didn’t have to act now, or did she? What was her plan?
IRINA
She smiled in the darkness with her head comfortably resting on a pillow.
The warming of her body was not from the blanket. It was occurring from the memories in India.
An opportunity to kiss Jack had been given, and she took it.
If only he didn’t have that irritating moustache.
Sydney had been shocked too.
They were on an important mission and she had a part to play.
Who was she kidding? She needed to touch him after he came so close to her in the cell. The opportunity may never arise again.
He looked uncomfortable in their cabin as she changed in front of him.
She knew that look. He was fighting his instincts.
He didn’t trust her at all. How could he not know she would do nothing to hurt him or their daughter?
Why she left had obviously never crossed his mind. Jack would not listen to her and she didn’t blame him.
Until she proved herself worthy of his trust and respect he would be defiant.
Why had he brought up the toaster?
A lapse in controlling his emotions proved he was human.
His mischievous smile had reappeared.
Irina never thought she would see it again, especially interacting with her.
Perhaps he did not hate the sight of her?
His memories of that night were vivid, as were hers.
They hadn’t needed to go out to have fun. Many a night was spent in front of the fire enjoying each other while their daughter slept.
Was her compliance with him on this mission rendering her somewhat redeemable?
*Dialogue from Passage I (2:08 )
Chapter 8
JACK
Forty-eight hours after she held his hand in the minefield.
He mind wouldn’t rest as he tried to sleep.
He kept recalling their conversations over and over, analyzing every communication between them.
Irina had been persistent. He had forgotten how annoying that could be.
Laura wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted.
He always made her work for it, and then more often then not gave in, irritated by her insistence.
Now she wasn’t his wife.
She was a terrorist.
An enemy.
“My truck is parked on the other side of the market”
“I owe you”
“What kind of air filter does it have?”
“A foam filter”
“That won’t work. It will clog up in the desert conditions”
“We’ll return the truck as soon as we can”
“We cannot us this truck, it’ll never get us there”
“Irina—“
“I know you think I’m always second guessing you—“
“I told you—“
“But if we don’t get a car with a—“
“This is my decision and it’s not negotiable!”
“Listen to me, both of you! We have a job to do. Your issues are going to have to be dealt with later. Please excuse us”
~
“Dad, we need to get moving”
“I know, I’m just…preparing myself to let Irina out”
“It will be fine”
“Sydney, I’ve been doing this job along time so when you lectured me about continuing the mission and letting down protocol—
“Dad, my point was—“
“I know what your point was, and the truth is, I needed to hear it. I’m proud of you that’s all”
“Thank you”
“What are we doing here? This is not the drop”
“The filter got clogged didn’t it”?
“We’re still ten miles away from the base. We need to hike to the field where we’ll access a sewage tunnel that’ll lead us into the facility”
“I thought you said the security was heavy?”
“It is on the other side of the facility. At the entry point we’ll be using, the rebels rely on land mines to keep intruders away”
“We don’t have the equipment to detect landmines”
“We don’t have the equipment because your contact didn’t come through. I know where the mines are planted”
“You want to walk through a minefield you haven’t seen in nineteen years?”
“Is there another way?”
“And assume no new mines have been planted?”
“I’ve just spent five hours in a grain bin. It’s my turn now. Let’s get to it”
~
“Clear”
“We’re here. The nukes will either be in a sealed R&D lab, or a vault located in the sub basement. The lab’s the best bet because it’s security system is more sophisticated”
“So we check the vault first?”
“Not if we only get one shot. The lab has thermal sensors to detect intruders through their body heat. If we raise the room to body temperature—98.6 degrees—the sensors won’t be able to distinguish between us and the thermostat level of the lab. Sydney, you’ll get to the central heating control panel here. It’s located in a room near the stairwell in the sub-basement. Find the panel for zone three"
“Got it”
“Jack, the lab door is controlled by a voice recognition system, only Cuvee’s voice is programmed to open it. We need to break into the main computer main system to access his file. You’ll erase his voice and substitute your own. I’ll be in Cuvee’s private office”
“You and I are not separating. Not in here”
“Jack, listen to me. Unless I deactivate the facility’s surveillance system from Cuvee’s office, we won’t get anywhere near the nukes”
“No. You’ve done good work getting us here. I’m not blind to that. But I’m also far from trusting you. If you want those nukes for yourself, this is the perfect setup. You were an officer here in this facility, you’ve got friends who are willing to work for you”
“Friends? You know what this place was when I was here Jack? A prison. Where the KGB interrogated suspected traitors, and no I was not an officer here. I was a prisoner. Why do you think I learned the sewerage tunnels and the learnt the mine locations. So I could escape, you idiot. We’re out of time. We either separate and meet at the lab in five minutes, or we’re going back. It’s your choice"
“Dad, she’s right. We don’t have any more time”
“I’ll be in the lab in five minutes, I promise”
“You better be”
~
Sleep was close. His mind was drifting.
Sydney looked beautiful in her disguise, like her mother.
When Sydney chastised him for his personal feelings interfering with their mission, he saw his strength in her. He saw Irina in her too.
Stubbornness and ferocity were Irina’s traits. He had a first hand reminder of those in Kashmir.
Speaking her mind and her mother’s elegance she had also inherited. As he looked at his daughter he knew, she was a mix of both of them.
He was proud of her. Now she knew how much, after his friend had revealed it.
If only she knew how much he loved her. How as she grew, he loved her for being his daughter but fought the pain that she reminded him of his wife.
Every time he looked at her he wondered why Laura had given him a child. What was her motive for having Sydney?
It tormented him into doing what he thought was best for her in a world that could shatter in an instant by people who you thought loved you.
Instead you were used and thrown away, discarded as if a piece of rubbish not worthy of dignity.
He risked his life everyday for his work.
Why then did the landmine close call seem more significant? Because he and Sydney could have died together? Because the mother of his child could have been killed to?
Why did he care about Irina? She held his hand to keep him still, not because she was concerned. Her hand had been warm. Laura’s hands had always been warm when they explored his…He had to stop thinking of her as Laura.
Idiot. He hadn’t heard that charming term of endearment for over twenty years.
When they were married she had used that same anger.
She was not lying about being a prisoner. Irina had been interrogated for suspected treason?
It was close to the time she left them. No it couldn’t be to do with them. She had called him a fool on the video footage. That was not convincing enough for the KGB?
IRINA
Her daughter inherited her father’s gentleness. Irina could see that now after spending three days with them. She had seen a glimmer of it in Jack.
Although deeply buried, it was there, would resurface given the right amount of tending.
Sydney’s was on the surface. Her hurt had been short lived. Children have the innocence of not harboring resentment.
They forgive and hope it never happens again. Irina had seen many children whose lives had been tormented. They seemed to cope more than adults did.
It always surprised her since adults had the capability to release their anger in more ways than a child could express.
“You must have a lot of questions”
“Yeah”
“One thing that should not wait any longer, is why I shot you in Taipei. The rebel leader, Gerard Cuvee…When you were in Taipei, he was in the next room watching, to see if I would betray him or you. Shooting you in the shoulder, giving you time to escape, it was the only way I could think to maintain his trust and keep him from killing both of us”
“We’re both tired. You should get some rest”
“You too…”
“Mom”
She couldn’t erase the hate in her memory of their eyes when they thought she had betrayed them with Cuvee.
She felt ill when Gerard was berating Jack. If only he knew was how wrong he was, his ego could be deflated in an instant.
A woman like her had to conceal how much she wanted a man like Jack. She had to be noncommittal to save their lives. His vulnerable look caught her off guard.
Years of practice had made her an expert at concealing her feelings. Jack had no clue how much she cared for him.
Her daughter had called her mom, twice in the past week. It was more than she could have ever hoped for.
Now if she could only get Jack to talk, ask questions. Irina knew it was impossible to ask Sydney for information or intervene with Jack. She must wait for him to approach her when he was ready.
Jack had been evasive on the flight home. He was always quiet when he was thinking about something important. He would do that before missions when they were married.
She had caught him staring at her when she woke. He looked away, assuming the coldness he had before their trip.
It was as if Kashmir had never happened. Still at least he hadn’t tried to kill her. It was a start.
*Dialogue from Passage II (2:09)
Chapter 9
IRINA
One hour after she hugged her daughter.
Irina was proud of Sydney, as any mother would be.
Her daughter was an exception to the rule of normal mother/daughter relationships.
Sydney had lost her mother in a car accident, then had her reappear over twenty years later, to shoot her.
Helping a terrorist who was kept in solitary had been a concern of Sydney's.
Her daughter was compassionate beyond normal standards.
Sydney had a forgiving nature.
Could she love her mother as much as before, or was it too late?
"Kendall's allowed me fifteen minutes here, twice a week. You put in the request, didn't you? To give me time out here?"
Yeah. We appreciated your help in Kashmir"
"I need you to understand...I was eightenn when the KGB recruited me. For a woman to be asked to serve her country it was a future, it meant...empowererment, independence. I was a fool to think that any ideology could come before my daughter"
"Sydney?"
Irina couldn't be sure if the six years of Sydney's life had been influenced by a mother's love.
Irina had tried to give her daughter more attention than normal, whenever she could, knowing one day her child would question her motives.
Jack had teased her, saying she lavished too much attention on their daughter, although he did the same.
She wondered if he had forgotten the coversations they had.
Would Sydney ever believe that her mother loved her and would do anything to keep her from harm?
~
JACK
Four days after she had said the word marriage.
Jack looked in the mirror. His face had returned to normal after Kashmir.
He decided to try a tactic to see if she would trust him with whatever her plan was.
He knew she was hiding something.
This woman would not turn herself in, to make up for years of neglect to her daughter.
Examining her conduct whe she was his wife, led him to believe next time she lied, he would know. Irina had an agenda.
Offering another gilded cage with some comforts gave her an opportunity to prove him right by confessing.
It also gave him an excuse to remove her from being easily accessible to Sydney.
"How are your wounds healing?"
"You obviously had the chance to betray us in Kashmir, but you didn't"
"I don't imagine that means you've decided to trust me?"
"Our previous...dealings would indicate that your strategy may be long-term, so for now I trust that your behavior is predictable"
"By "previous dealings" you mean our marriage? You know technically, we may still be husband and wife"
"I'm sorry"
"Sydney's on assignment with Sark. It is my belief that he's still working for you, that you've coordinated your efforst o infiltrate both SD-6 and the CIA. Whatever you have in mind, I promise you, it won't work. So I'm going to offer you a dea I'll see to it that you're relocated to a private residence o Puget Sound, under twenty-four hour surveillance, of course. But the illusion of freedom is better than none at all"
"In exchange?"
"In exhange, you'll confess, tell us what you are really doing her, why you've turned yourself in. I'll give you time to consider my offer"
~
"Have you thought about my offer?"
"I have nothing to confess, Jack. I know you find it hard to believe that I would turn myself in to make up for my mistakes but that's the reason...the only reason I'm here"
"If that's the truth, why didn't you simply refuse the offer?"
"I was considering whether or not to fabricate a confession just to get out of this cell"
"You were right. Although our marital contract was founded on fraudulent pretenses, it's still valid until it's annulled. Which means, technically, we are still married"
"Jack, thus far I've agreed to be debriefed only by Sydney. From now on, I'm willing to talk to you, too"
Irina took him by suprise.
His self-assurance implying about their marriage had given her a chance to bring up the past.
Jack predicting her long-term plan had been bodly matched by Irina.
Insinuating they were still married hit the target as expected.
Jack's reaction evident as his eyes resumed the coldness reserved for strangers.
Irina knew straight away, she had gone to far.
She was trying to win his trust, to enable him to become comfortable in her presence.
Sincerity and Irina did not go together. It was a gamble.
Telling her they were still married gave him an advantage. Irina obviously wanted to know.
He had given her that, shocking her in the process.
Her response was unpredictable. She trust him to talk to now.
Who was the cat and who was the mouse?
He wasn't so sure anymore.
Jack rummage through Sydney's trunk looking for two specific items.
He found them along with their wedding photos.
As he focused on the signatures, he could not believe what he saw.
How could he have missed it before?
Her middle name has supposedly been Ingrid and her maiden name Delaney.
His wife had signed her name as Laura Ingrid Delaney on their marriage certificate and on Sydney's birth certificate as Laura ID Bristow.
IRINA
Jack wanted her gone.
He was trying to persuade her that she would enjoy the freedom.
Irina knew better. Jack was uncomfortable withe her presence.
He had changed since Kashmir. He was vulnerable.
Jack tensing up when she brought up their marriage proved it.
He had to be prodded. Antagonizing Jack was a way to get results.
Irina now knew Jack had never remarried.
Jack knew she cared by her reaction.
How could he doubt her sincerity in regard to her love for her family?
Irina wanted to see him, talk to him and watch him.
An opportunity had been offered for mutual benefit.
It was up to him to act upon it.
*Dialogue from The Abduction (2:10)
Chapter 10
JACK
Two days after they had dinner together.
Jack sat at the table eating steak and broccoli.
He had bought Chinese on his way home after stopping at the supermarket.
He sat staring at a packet of cashews. He didn't even like cashews.
His first thought had been Irina.
Her intelligence had not gone unnoticed in Kashmir.
Her mind worked the same as his.
He now knew why they had stimulated each other with their conversations years ago.
The KGB had chosen well.
He had been a fool to think Laura was an ordinary woman.
Had she been as suprised as him, that she enjoyed his company?
"Briault has a wife and an adult son but neither would have the necesary insight to blackmail the alliance and the other partners considered Briault soft. No one was sad to see him go"
"So you have nothing?"
"Are you considering going into witness protection?"
"That would leave Sydney exposed with no one to watch her back"
"You'd have to take her with you"
"And have her spend the rest of her life looking over her shouler? That's not an option"
"Then if you are not here to say goodbye, why did you bring this to me?"
"I need someone to brainstorm with"
"Surely the CIA has teams who specialize in these matters. Forensices, profilers..."
"Yes. They do"
"Have information resources pull everything they have on Briault"
~
"There must be a dozen ways to blackmail the Alliance, all of them far more elaborate than this one"
"So we can assume a secondary objective is to make Arvin suffer. Someone harboring an acute hatred...meaning it could be anyone"
"Does the Alliance have any permanent operations in Peru?"
"Peru? No. Why?"
"Jean Briault, whenever he traveled, he would use his credit card. Except here. Six times this past year hw ent to Lima but not a single transaction"
"I think there's a customs statement"
"Six arrivals in Chavez airport, each time he declared seventy thousand in cash"
"Why? What was he doing with all that money? No investments, he's not buying art? Is it possible he was running his own syndicate?"
"One the Alliance wasn't aware of? He can't wire his agens operational money, the Alliance would spot that. So he bankrolls them in Peru. Assume we're right. Why would they want revenge for his murder? I'll hav customs send over all arrivals and epartures into Peru for one week either side of Briault's visits"
"When I was your wife..."
"I would meet my case officer in his hotel room. I suggest you find out where Briault stayed and pull the hotel security footage"
He had taken Chinese food for dinner. It had been their favorite take-out meal. He would find out if Laura had been acting.
"I bought dinner"
"Smells wonderful"
"You still like it?"
"Yes, Jack"
He opened the containers and handed them to her. Irina noticed he had ordered white rice and fried rice. They never could decide and always ordered both.
Irina couldn't help smiling. As she began to take food from the container closest to her, she realized what the dish was.
It was her favorite, chicken and cashews.
"Would you like some?" she asked, knowing full well what he would say.
Jack stared at her thinking she had forgotten.
"No thanks"
"Still don't like cashews?"
"No" He said as a wry smile appeared on his face.
"Would you like some of mine?" he asked holding out his pepper steak and broccoli.
"No thank you" she said looking disgusted.
"Still don't like broccoli?"
"No"
After they had eaten and began to look for information, she spoke.
"Thank you for dinner Jack"
"Thank you for your help Irina"
IRINA
Irina wasn't sure what Jack's motives were.
Could he be thanking her for helping him and Sydney, or was there more to it?"
Was he trying to get her to trust him?
Irina had done that by allowing Jack to talk to her in an official capacity.
Jack had just left her after relaying what had happened at SD-6.
He was relieved, as was she that Sydney's safety had not been compromised.
Her thoughts were interrupted by dinner.
"Thank you Joe" she said as he brought the tray inside.
Two more guards stood outside, watching, waiting for her to attempt to escape.
She was surpised as Joe manage a small smile before he left.
Joe never smiled.
None of them did. They were not to interact with her at all.
Irina called him Joe for no reason really, just a name for a man she saw everyday that was not allowed to talk to her.
Talking with Jack had made her hungry.
Irina took the lid off her food and stared at the contents.
The food was the same as usual. Meat, vegetables, bread and dessert.
It was the extra item that shocked her so much she had to sit down.
A packet of cashews.
He watched on the monitor as she wiped her eyes, then left as she began to eat.
*Dialogue from The Getaway (2:12)
Chapter 11
JACK
Thirty-six hours after she breathed life back into his soul.
He sat on the couch, drink in hand, sipping slowly, relishing the memory.
Irina had been antagonistic again. He was sensing a pattern.
She was being playful, waiting for him to react after talking the bait.
He relished the ease in which they now talked in each other’s company. It reminded him of when they were married.
They still were, except she had married him for work and not love.
Yet there was something about her demeanour that was natural, not contrived, especially that pout.
“After you surrendered yourself to the CIA, you listed Luri Karpachev as one of your contacts”
“He was murdered yesterday, we believe by Sloane. Karpachev’s body was found without his wallet. Presumably Sloane has more insidious ways to pass the time than picking someone’s pocket. What might he have been looking for?”
“Why haven’t you tried to convince Sydney to leave the CIA?”
“You and I know better than anyone—she should leave this life while she has the chance”
“Sydney can be stubborn. Although where she gets that from is anyone’s guess. But she refuses to resign as long as Sloane is still free. Which brings me back to my question--what was in Karpachev’s wallet?”
“A key card to his home safe. In 93 Karpachev came into possession of a Rambaldi manuscript. Sloane must have believed he kept it in his safe, which is incorrect. Karpachev sold it”
“To whom?”
“Ilya Stuka, a former contact of mine, living in Bangkok”
“What is this manuscript?”
“Rambaldi’s study of the human heart. As you know immortality was one of Rambaldi’s obsessions”
“Where does Stuka keep it?”
“I don’t know, but I could find out if I were allowed to meet with him”
“Kendall won’t risk letting you out again, despite your cooperation in India”
“What if the price were worth it?”
“Sloane doesn’t know that you are in CIA custody”
“He thinks I’m in hiding as he is”
“If Sloane believes you’ve resurfaced, obtained the manuscript he’s after, he’ll want to meet with you. Negotiate a purchase”
“Which I’d be happy to do”
“And we could grab him”
“And give Sydney her reason to get out”
~
IRINA
Jack’s arms and legs were spread like…He couldn’t be.
He looked so sexy leaning against the glass.
Did he know what he was projecting? Of course he did. He was always in control.
Maybe he wasn’t? Could he tell how much she wanted to…He felt it too.
Jack was being playful. Was there hope after all? Could she trust him not to betray her for the sake of their daughter?
Why had she pouted? She hadn’t done that since she was Laura.
Jack had told Sydney she could chose one activity. Ballet, horse riding, girl guides, baseball or karate.
Irina had protested saying he was being unreasonable. Jack had been firm that his daughter would not be spoilt. Sydney ended up taking ballet and baseball.
JACK
Jack was going to be alone with Irina. It wasn’t the excitement of being alone with her, being able to finally ask questions that had his adrenalin pumping. It was the capture of Sloane, wasn’t it?
“Stuka works out of a nightclub in Bangkok. Why? Did Kendall approve the op?”
“Yes. We have a jet standing by”
IRINA
Irina was going to be alone with Jack. Would he talk, ask questions that he had been too afraid to ask at the CIA?
~
JACK
Irina looked like a doe. A wide-eyed deer that had escaped the clutches of a carnivore. She had genuinely thought she was going to be killed. He had seen the fear in her eyes as she ran from the nightclub.
“Once we get the manuscript, how do you intend to let Sloane know it was you?”
“Word will get back to him that I was in Bangkok. He’ll know it was me”
“I did not see that fourth man. If you hadn’t fired…I remember the first time you introduced me to Sloane. You were both working at the CIA, he came to the house for dinner. You were true friends”
“Yes. We shared a similar unsentimental patriotism…and a devotion to our wives. But Sloane changed and…it was Rambaldi that did it. I’m not sure what it is—he never told me—but Sloane has a personal connection to Rambaldi”
“I lived for years with the same obsession, to find a higher meaning in Rambaldi’s work. I never understood how you managed to avoid getting caught up in it”
“I had something neither of you did”
“Sydney”
“I never thanked you for everything that…for raising our daughter”
“We land in four hours. Get some rest”
Irina’s vulnerability was evident as she sat across from him.
There was no glass to diffuse the electricity. Their legs touched under the table. He had to leave, get away, before he relented.
Her hands were warm like in Kashmir. They were pulling, urging him to comply. He resisted the temptation.
Laura had been fascinated with his hands, always wanting to touch them and be touched by them.
The first time they had seen each other in over twenty years she had been accusing. Now Irina was thanking him for raising their daughter.
IRINA
As she held his hands in her own, she felt him tremble. He didn’t falter. He was calm, straightforward and direct, with no evident feelings towards her.
Irina was frustrated. She wanted to scream. It was time to tell him. To trust him, trust his love for her, for their daughter.
“Dad says your going to Panama”
“Do you think there’s a chance you will get Sloane?”
“I wanted to see you because…it’s going to be dangerous setting this trap. I hope it goes well but there’s no guarantee. So whatever happens, there is something I need you to know. Sydney, I love you”
“Mom—“
“You don’t have to say anything. I’m pretty sure I haven’t earned very much, and that’s okay. This was just something I needed to say”
“Mom, you’re coming back”
“I hope so”
IRINA
This was it. The last time she would see their beautiful daughter, if Jack helped her.
Irina hated lying to Sydney. It was the only way. Jack was the only person she could rely on, who knew how she operated.
~
JACK
He had given in to her. Gone along with her plan. He trusted her love for their daughter, to let her go.
If they didn’t catch Sloane, she would be gone.
He hadn’t seen it coming. He booked the room with a double bed, knowing he wasn’t sleeping on the floor.
His hands were controlled as he removed the tracker.
He hands had their own mind. They wanted to touch her bare back, wander further.
As she turned he saw her breast. She made a sound he hadn’t heard in a long time.
One he wanted to hear again mingled with his name and her breathlessness.
That look, he knew that look.
Laura.
“Based on our agreement, tomorrow morning you and two Delta force guards will be dropped off here. If Sloane follows the plan, he’ll drive north to meet you”
“Won’t he be suspicious if I don’t have the Rambaldi manuscript?”
“Sloane is smart enough to know you would never bring it with you at first contact. He’ll expect that you have it close by. CIA will be tracking you on a satellite back in Los Angeles in contact with me and a chopper waiting ten blocks away. When the call is made, the team will surround the vehicle and ambush Sloane"
“Pretty straightforward”
“I think we’ve got a shot”
“There’s one thing. The tracker you put in my shoulder”
“You want it removed”
“If they discover I’ve been tagged, it’s over. We both know that”
“Of course, Kendall would have me court-martialed for this”
“Kendall is not as smart as you are”
“Got it”
“You okay?”
“This is nothing”
“We need to be up early”
“Yes should get to bed”
“Yeah, we should”
IRINA
This was her chance, alone with her husband in a hotel room.
Once their mission preparation was completed, it was time to relax.
Jack drinking wine was a good sign. Irina couldn’t take her eyes off his hands as they moved across the table.
She felt his flesh on hers as he attached the bandage.
She wasn’t aware she made a sound.
Irina longed to have him caress and embrace her once again. Her senses were confused.
She couldn't take her eyes off his mouth.
Their eyes connected.
That look. She knew that look.
Jonathan.
JACK
Jack stood up. He was reluctant to enter an empty bed. He wanted her there, sharing her warmth.
He removed the change from his pocket and opened his wallet. He stood paralyzed staring at the window of his wallet where a photo would normally be.
He didn’t carry one of his daughter for security reasons. In its place was a note.
Find Me
Love You
Miss You
Need You
Love Is Divinely Bestowed
X
*Dialogue from A Dark Turn (2:17)
TBC Next Post
Chapter 1
JACK
Two hours after he looked into her eyes.
He slammed the door, used it for support as he allowed himself to relax finally.
His shoulders slumped, his arms hung at his side, exhausted.
He stared at the amber liquid on the other side of the room that was calling his name.
Jack, you want me, you know you do.
Louder and louder the voices grew, driving all rational thought from his mind.
His eyes rested on a photograph. A woman, the image of her father stared back at him.
I need you Dad, don't do it. Don't let her do this to you again.
He closed his eyes, concentrated on his breathing and began to count. When he reached the age of his daughter he stopped.
Enough reasons to never travel that road again. He was done. The temptation had passed.
He had prepared, readied himself. He had been doing it since he found out Laura had not died in the car accident.
When Irina shot her own daughter, fury surfaced.
His master of diguise had now been perfected.
He had longed for this moment, a chance for retribution.
He was in charge now. He was in command of the situation.
Nothing this woman said would get to him ever again.
I've had this picture of your face in my mind for over twenty years. I remember a loving husband, generous man, patriot. I may have been under orders to fabricate a life with you, but there were times when the illision of our marriage was as powerful to me as it was for you, especially when Sydney was born. Looking at you now I see that illisuion is finally gone"
"I want to make something very clear to you. There are people here who believe you can repay the debt you owe to this country through your continued cooperation. I am not one of them. And if Sydney in any way becomes victim to your endgame, I will kill you. She spent most of her life believing you wre dead, she'll get used to it again. No matter what bond you try to forge with her"
No matter how much he thought he had been ready, he wasn't. He had been unprepared.
Irina was forthright. Her eyes mocked him. This was not the woman he married. She was not Laura.
Had he been hoping? Did he want her to pretend?
He didn't know what he wanted. He knew he didn't want to feel like this. Tired, drained, scared and angry.
He wanted this woman to go away, to never come back and leave Laura's memory alone.
He could deal with a ghost. A deceitful woman he didn't have to see ever again. He could hate her.
He was not sure he had the strength to deal with a real one.
She didn't see his reaction to her question. Irina thought she knew him but she didn't.
He wasn't terrified of her tellings Sydney, or was he?
No one spoke to him that way, hadn't for a long time.
The last person to bring attention to his conscience was his wife.
IRINA
She knew the security camera was on her. She was composed until she turned away.
It would take Jack a few minutes to get to it so she had time.
Irina didn't think he would ever come.
Something had forced him too. He was angry.
She had seen the tension in his stance.
He made advantage of his height.
Irina could tell he was using every possible tactic to disarm her.
His facial muscles betrayed him.
Jack was not in as much control of the situation, as he would like to be.
Why shouldn't she be surprised he didn't ask questions, didn't want to hear her side of why she did what she had to and why she left?
Jack was a proud man.
Irina didn't know how she would get through to him.
For their daughter's sake it was time she tried.
*Dialogue from Cipher (2:03)
Chapter 2
JACK
One hour after his daughter had hate in her eyes.
He opened the door and walked inside his house. He was soaking wet and cold.
It was still pouring rain.
He undressed hoping the heat of the water would warm his body.
The water warmed his large frame but not his heart.
Despair overwhelmed him, like it had many years before.
Irina would be executed. That was what he wanted wasn't it?
He wasn't being vindictive.
Irina would use Sydney as she had used him. He would not let that happen again.
Jack was protecting his daughter from a woman who had brought her into the world and abandoned her.
Who let her live.
What had he done?
"Sydney get in!"
"What is it?"
"I have this memory when I was six years old. My mother had just died in a car accident. I fet so scared. You were never home, so who was going to take care of me? Then I overheard you talking. You were in your study on the phone. You were talking about Christmas, about me. You were taking care of my Christmas presents. Suddenly I-I felt so safe. You wre taking care of me. That memory is a lie. You weren't talking about that at all"
"Sydney"
"I've seen the footage. Mom's briefing with her KGB handler. She was sent here for one specific purpose, to steal information frm you about a project you were developing for the CIA. An operation to train children to be American spies. Project Christmas. Ever since mom came back, you were afraid she would figure out what you did to me. You weren't trying to protect me from her, you were trying to protect your secret. So the first opportunity you had, you set her up...in Madagascar"
"Sydney, understand something--"
"No Dad, you understand something. You took away my choices in life. You programmed me to be a spy. I will never forgive you for this"
Laura had done it again. She plagued his life. Still damaging the relationship he had tried to repair with his daughter.
How could falling in love with someone bring so much heartache?
He knew why. He trusted her. Gave her everything of himself. Never held back.
Jack tried to make his daughter less gullible than he had been and more able to judge human nature.
If he could give her that gift then he would have succeeded.
Sydney would never understand that he could love her and protect her at the same time by teaching her to be smarter than the average child.
*Dialogue from The Indicator (2:05)
Chapter 3
JACK
Four hours after his daughter insinuated he was a liar.
His own flesh and blood thought he used her.
On reflection how could he blame her?
Her own mother, his supposed loving wife had used him.
Why wouldn't his daughter think that he was capable of the same?
Sydney probably thought he spent six months in prison scheming the plan to make his daughter a spy.
What must she be feeling? That he hated his daughter because of what her mother did?
Did Irina have any idea how much pain she had caused her own flesh and blood, in the aftermath of her deceit?
"We should talk"
"We have nothing to talk about"
I know you have questions. You can be angry, or you can be informed"
"Please try to understand what I am about to tell you, Sydney. After your mother left, I tested Project Christmas on you because I didn't want you to be a victim. I thought it was my responsibility to teach you to think strategically, to see through people's lies, to be as strong as you can in an environment where one mistake could cost you your life"
Then you should've told me the truth, before I ended up here"
Yes, you're right! I never intended for you to lead a double life. I imagined recruiting you into the CIA after you left college. But Sloane got to you first, and that is a mistake that I will never live down"
"I'd like to believe you, but I don't trust anything you say"
Jack sat in the spare room, sifting through a large trunk.
They had bought it for Sydney.
Laura insisted they keep everything that Sydney had drawn and made.
When Jack returned home from prison, he placed all the photographs from around the house in the trunk.
He kept them for Sydney, knew she would want them when she was older. She had taken some photos when she moved out.
He didn't want to be reminded of treachery.
It was bad enough his life had been wasted with a woman who used him.
How did Irina know what he had done to their daughter?
Had she been watching them?
*Dialogue from Salvation (2:06)
Chapter 4
JACK
Seventeen hours after his daughter thought he regretted her existence.
He had tried to get through to her. Explaining to his daughter that her mother was not worthy of her worry.
Jack didn't realize he had poisoned his daughter's mind about her conception.
"I see your mother's latest maneuver had it's intended effect on you"
"What maneuver would that be?"
"Pleading guilty. Accepting the death penalty"
"Yep. She's got us right where she wants us"
"Not us. You. Your mother's no fool. She must have deduced I set her up, so why do you imagine she pled guilty? Because she was struck by a crisis of conscience?"
"I think she knew the verdict was a forgone conclusion"
"She pled guilty to keep you from witnessing her trial, Sydney, from having you see photos of agents she savagely murdered, including Vaughn's father. She knew if you sat through that, whatever sympanthy she managed to elicit from you would vanish, so she cast herself as the victim, to compel you to save her, and guess what? You fell for it"
"I though you deserved a second chance to think things over. Here's your letter"
"How'd you get that?"
"I spent a decade with this woman and another twenty years analyzing how she could have deceived me for so long. Trust me when I tell you, I'm protecting you"
"No you're not. I think you loved mum so much that when she left you, you lost your soul. You know what else I think? I think the kind of man that uses his own daughter to frame her mother, who'd test psych experiments when she was six years-old is the kind of man who looks at his daughter and sees his greatest mistake"
"You can't honestly believe that?"
"It's true isn't it? If Mom hadn't fooled you, if you hadn't been so gullible, I would never have been born. I'm going to finish the mission now"
~
"Agent Bristow, this hearings been convened to determine an appropriate punishment for the crimes depicted in your statement. Before we begin our inquiry, do you have anything to say?"
"Only that despite my admission of guilt, I still firmly believe that Irina Derevko is a threat and will prove it at her earliest possible convenience"
"Is that how you justify lying to your superiors, endangering other agents?"
"Yes"
"Why this sudden change of heart?"
"Deferentially Senator, my reasons are my own"
"I see. Reviewing your file, I was shocked to discover how many times you have displayed behavior that at best be characterized as rogue. You have lost the benefit of the doubt here sir, and your silence will not suffice. So again, I ask you, why the change of heart?"
"My daughter convinced me I acted unethically"
"Isn't it a fact that you knew your daughter intended to turn you in and you beat her to the punch only by an hour in order to secure a degree of leniency from this body?"
"No, sir, that is not the case. Sydney Bristow, my daughter...has come to believe that when I look at her, I see the embodiment of all my flaws. This afternoon, when I learned that she may have been exposed to a life-threatening disease, I realized that she might die believing that, but nothing could be further from the truth"
"When I look at her, when I look at the little girl who raised herself to become one of the finest agents I have ever had the privilege of knowing, I see only the promise of my own redemption. Turning myself in was the only way I could think of to make that clear to her, to prove that, despite my limited abilities as a father, I love her more than I could ever say"
Did Sydney believe he had bred a child to be a spy?
Irina's motives were clear.
A baby meant more time to serve her country.
He despised her for leaving a child.
How could he convince his daughter he wouldn't change the past?
He would go back and do it all again, to have her as his daughter.
She was the reason he went on living.
His mission in life was to protect her as he promised he would from the day Laura told him of his impending fatherhood.
He would give up his life for her.
Now with her life in danger he had been forced to express his innermost feelings for her.
The burden had been lifted.
His love for his daughter no longer assumed.
Sydney could judge for herself if she believed him.
*Dialogue from Salvation(2:06)
Chapter 5
IRINA
What a mess her daughter's life was.
Sloane had Sydney right where he wanted her, like a protege.
She felt for Jack who had lost a friend when Arvin recruited Sydney.
The evil little man couldn't help himself to further his glory which he one day expected to receive, thanks to Rambaldi.
Greed had exceeded loyalty since the dawn of mankind.
If her plan worked, then that would fail.
Sydney and Jack would be free from the plague of Arvin Sloane.
"Sydney, I'm sorry"
"You said you didn't tell us the truth because you were trying to protect me, because you didn't want to risk Sark finding out I was a double agent. The thing is, someone now has the ability to detonate six nuclear weapons and I am responsible. So I am going to be part of the team that finds and disarms those warheads no matter what you do. But if you were telling the truth when you said you wanted to protect me, then, Mom, I need your help"
~
JACK
Twenty-four hours after he smelt her.
Irina didn’t have to do anything and she irritated him.
Her presence infuriated him.
Now he was forced to spend time with her to protect his daughter.
How ironic they were going undercover as a loving family on vacation, when nothing could be further from the truth.
“Obviously you can’t maintain your cover if you are shackled. So there are two things you need to know about this necklace. One it’s layered with C-4. If you remove it while it’s armed, it will detonate. And two, if at any moment I believe you are attempting to escape or sabotage us, I’ll activate this remote trigger…and blow your head off myself”
He wasn’t prepared for the feeling her hair had on making contact with his hand as he fastened the necklace.
Her smell jolted him.
The look in her eyes he thought he had seen before when she was Laura.
It couldn’t be.
She knew what her glance could do to him. Had done to him when he was in love with her.
He wasn’t going to fall for her charms ever again no matter how hard she tried.
Irina Derevko would never fool him again into thinking she cared for him.
~
IRINA
She focused on stilling her body as he moved closer to put the necklace in place.
If she didn’t concentrate he would know and berate her even more.
As he reached behind to join the clasp his fingers touched her neck softly, arousing her in a way she had not felt in so long.
She wanted to revel in the moment but could not.
He was watched her like a hawk, eager no doubt to find a weakness.
She looked into his eyes to detect any recognition of his acknowledgment and found none.
The warm, brown eyes she remembered held none of her husband’s affection.
~
Chapter 6
JACK
Twenty-four hours after he sat next to her.
The silence was awkward.
He had not trouble keeping it as did she until she couldn’t help herself.
Typical woman.
Trying to connect with Sydney was her strategy.
Irina was using empathy tactics on his daughter.
“Agent Vaughn has trouble sleeping when you are in the field”
“I doubt he told you that”
“He didn’t have to tell me, I could see it in his eyes. I can see it in yours”
“Agent Vaughn is my colleague”
“You’re so willing to take risks for your country. Why aren’t you willing to do the same for your own happiness?”
“I hardly think you’ve earned the right to give anyone relationship advice”
“Jack, Sydney’s smart and she’s strong, but she’s not happy”
“Okay, wait a second, this— “
“After a twenty-year absence you’ve gleamed that from the cumulative half-hour you’ve spent in her presence?”
“I knew it from the moment I saw her. I’m her mother”
“Your motherhood is a biological fact, with no substantive value in Sydney’s life!”
“Hey! Stop baiting him. And stop being such an easy target. We’re going to be traveling together for the next two days, you can’t jump down her throat every time she opens her mouth”
He despised her for trying to make Sydney think she was interested in her life.
What a hypocrite this woman was.
Acting maternal.
Couldn’t she see how laughable it was that a mother who had abandoned her child was now trying to give advice?
How would she know that Vaughn had trouble sleeping?
The reason she was always tired when he returned home is because she was out secretly on her missions.
That had to be the reason.
~
IRINA
Jack obviously didn’t know about the conversation she had with Agent Vaughn.
Was he not watching her every move?
Doesn’t he know how Sydney feels about this man?
Of course Sydney with any man would be enough for Jack to express distaste.
He’s acting more like a father than he knows.
Sydney’s personality was so much like Jack.
Irina had stayed, risked her life for her family, yet they wanted to continue to be oblivious that she might care and have insight as a wife and mother would towards her family.
*Dialogue from Passage I
Chapter 7
JACK
Forty-eight hours after she kissed him.
He lay in bed tired from the mission.
Physically and emotionally he was wrecked.
Normally he could handle anything the CIA dealt him. This was different. It was personal.
His façade and indifference indicated he was unconcerned working with her.
At least it was over.
She had been the consummate actress.
The kiss surprised him.
He didn’t think she would be adventurous enough to make physical contact.
He didn’t want to ask her why she did it. Irina would know he had been affected.
Then when she was standing in front of him, shirt off, bra exposed, she smiled. He knew she had seen his weakness.
He wasn’t used to her being dominant. When she was Laura, they debated issues as a married couple would.
She was still demanding, obnoxious and antagonistic.
He didn’t trust her. Was sure at the first opportunity she would betray them.
He was only there to protect his daughter from a woman who had shot her.
“That bridge is the point of no return. If you’re lying about this, none of us will survive”
“I’d offer to go first but I don’t want to be accused of trying to escape”
“We go at the same time! Sydney, you follow”
“That’s not safe. These winds are too strong, our chutes could get tangled. You go first”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight. You go first”
“You’ll have to trust me sometime!”
“Trust is the last thing you’re getting from me!”
“The only reason you know about the nukes is because of me. I want some respect”
“We’ll miss our window unless you jump!”
“Shut up!”
~
“Are you okay?”
“It’s just a scratch”
“Drop it”
“Dad - -“
“Quiet”
“Jack, we’re in enemy territory. The PRF knows we’re here. We need to start trusting each other right now”
“You will not carry a weapon”
“Okay”
“Looks like we’re about twenty miles southwest of Azad”
“We can contact the CIA station chief in Pakistan. He’ll patch us through to Langley on a secure line”
“We should make it by dawn”
~
“Maybe they were just a roving patrol”
“No. PRF rebels would never be this deep into Indian territory without being dispatched”
“Your fathers right. We had one advantage—surprise. Now that’s gone”
“Just a second”
“Can’t stop. More patrols could be in the area”
“Oooh, God”
“What happened?”
“Nothing, I just scraped my leg”
“Dad, I can do it”
“I got it. You need to stop the bleeding”
“Where are you going?”
“These bushes, they have communis berries. Their juice soothes the skin, helps healing. You should put this on first”
“Seriously I’m fine”
“You’re not fine”
“No, you’re not fine”
“Jack, I know you’re determined to get to Srinigar but my contact in Jaipur is much closer. He’s completely reliable, has good equipment—“
“This is a CIA mission. I have operation control. You’re a prisoner. Your only function—sole reason you’re momentarily breathing fresh air, is to use your knowledge of the rebel’s base to help us steal the suitcase nukes and leave. That is why we are using people I know and trust. We’re not having this conversation again”
“You okay?”
“Yeah, thanks”
“This is not a power play. The facility we’re headed for, security’s tighter than the NSA. If I don’t have the right equipment, it’s pointless”
“We should move”
“Okay”
~
“I know what you’re thinking”
“Do you?”
“Toaster”
“What are you guys talking about?”
“Ah”
“We used to have this toaster at home. It was broken and using it one night I started a small fire”
“We had something like this to drink and we both had a little too much”
“I forgot about the toast I was making”
“When was this?”
“You were…four years old”
“There was so much smoke, we had to move out for a week. We stayed in that hotel”
“The Summit”
“The Summit”
“W-wait was that the hotel with the sundaes?”
“Mm-hmm”
“Yeah. I think you had one every night”
“You should get some sleep”
He never thought toast would be the subject of their first normal conversation.
Drinking with Irina brought the memories of what they were doing that night.
They started playing poker, as they drank more, it became strip poker. One thing led to another and then he was hungry.
After Jack put the toast on, he became distracted seeing the woman he had made love to, lying in the firelight.
Next thing they knew, the toaster was on fire.
Irina’s eyes lit up as they reminisced with their daughter about that night.
Her smile and laughter reminded him of Laura, the woman who supposedly loved him.
Laura had done that thousands of times when they were together.
Maybe she had not been acting after all. Why did she seem to enjoy the memory?
Irina didn’t have to act now, or did she? What was her plan?
IRINA
She smiled in the darkness with her head comfortably resting on a pillow.
The warming of her body was not from the blanket. It was occurring from the memories in India.
An opportunity to kiss Jack had been given, and she took it.
If only he didn’t have that irritating moustache.
Sydney had been shocked too.
They were on an important mission and she had a part to play.
Who was she kidding? She needed to touch him after he came so close to her in the cell. The opportunity may never arise again.
He looked uncomfortable in their cabin as she changed in front of him.
She knew that look. He was fighting his instincts.
He didn’t trust her at all. How could he not know she would do nothing to hurt him or their daughter?
Why she left had obviously never crossed his mind. Jack would not listen to her and she didn’t blame him.
Until she proved herself worthy of his trust and respect he would be defiant.
Why had he brought up the toaster?
A lapse in controlling his emotions proved he was human.
His mischievous smile had reappeared.
Irina never thought she would see it again, especially interacting with her.
Perhaps he did not hate the sight of her?
His memories of that night were vivid, as were hers.
They hadn’t needed to go out to have fun. Many a night was spent in front of the fire enjoying each other while their daughter slept.
Was her compliance with him on this mission rendering her somewhat redeemable?
*Dialogue from Passage I (2:08 )
Chapter 8
JACK
Forty-eight hours after she held his hand in the minefield.
He mind wouldn’t rest as he tried to sleep.
He kept recalling their conversations over and over, analyzing every communication between them.
Irina had been persistent. He had forgotten how annoying that could be.
Laura wouldn’t stop until she got what she wanted.
He always made her work for it, and then more often then not gave in, irritated by her insistence.
Now she wasn’t his wife.
She was a terrorist.
An enemy.
“My truck is parked on the other side of the market”
“I owe you”
“What kind of air filter does it have?”
“A foam filter”
“That won’t work. It will clog up in the desert conditions”
“We’ll return the truck as soon as we can”
“We cannot us this truck, it’ll never get us there”
“Irina—“
“I know you think I’m always second guessing you—“
“I told you—“
“But if we don’t get a car with a—“
“This is my decision and it’s not negotiable!”
“Listen to me, both of you! We have a job to do. Your issues are going to have to be dealt with later. Please excuse us”
~
“Dad, we need to get moving”
“I know, I’m just…preparing myself to let Irina out”
“It will be fine”
“Sydney, I’ve been doing this job along time so when you lectured me about continuing the mission and letting down protocol—
“Dad, my point was—“
“I know what your point was, and the truth is, I needed to hear it. I’m proud of you that’s all”
“Thank you”
“What are we doing here? This is not the drop”
“The filter got clogged didn’t it”?
“We’re still ten miles away from the base. We need to hike to the field where we’ll access a sewage tunnel that’ll lead us into the facility”
“I thought you said the security was heavy?”
“It is on the other side of the facility. At the entry point we’ll be using, the rebels rely on land mines to keep intruders away”
“We don’t have the equipment to detect landmines”
“We don’t have the equipment because your contact didn’t come through. I know where the mines are planted”
“You want to walk through a minefield you haven’t seen in nineteen years?”
“Is there another way?”
“And assume no new mines have been planted?”
“I’ve just spent five hours in a grain bin. It’s my turn now. Let’s get to it”
~
“Clear”
“We’re here. The nukes will either be in a sealed R&D lab, or a vault located in the sub basement. The lab’s the best bet because it’s security system is more sophisticated”
“So we check the vault first?”
“Not if we only get one shot. The lab has thermal sensors to detect intruders through their body heat. If we raise the room to body temperature—98.6 degrees—the sensors won’t be able to distinguish between us and the thermostat level of the lab. Sydney, you’ll get to the central heating control panel here. It’s located in a room near the stairwell in the sub-basement. Find the panel for zone three"
“Got it”
“Jack, the lab door is controlled by a voice recognition system, only Cuvee’s voice is programmed to open it. We need to break into the main computer main system to access his file. You’ll erase his voice and substitute your own. I’ll be in Cuvee’s private office”
“You and I are not separating. Not in here”
“Jack, listen to me. Unless I deactivate the facility’s surveillance system from Cuvee’s office, we won’t get anywhere near the nukes”
“No. You’ve done good work getting us here. I’m not blind to that. But I’m also far from trusting you. If you want those nukes for yourself, this is the perfect setup. You were an officer here in this facility, you’ve got friends who are willing to work for you”
“Friends? You know what this place was when I was here Jack? A prison. Where the KGB interrogated suspected traitors, and no I was not an officer here. I was a prisoner. Why do you think I learned the sewerage tunnels and the learnt the mine locations. So I could escape, you idiot. We’re out of time. We either separate and meet at the lab in five minutes, or we’re going back. It’s your choice"
“Dad, she’s right. We don’t have any more time”
“I’ll be in the lab in five minutes, I promise”
“You better be”
~
Sleep was close. His mind was drifting.
Sydney looked beautiful in her disguise, like her mother.
When Sydney chastised him for his personal feelings interfering with their mission, he saw his strength in her. He saw Irina in her too.
Stubbornness and ferocity were Irina’s traits. He had a first hand reminder of those in Kashmir.
Speaking her mind and her mother’s elegance she had also inherited. As he looked at his daughter he knew, she was a mix of both of them.
He was proud of her. Now she knew how much, after his friend had revealed it.
If only she knew how much he loved her. How as she grew, he loved her for being his daughter but fought the pain that she reminded him of his wife.
Every time he looked at her he wondered why Laura had given him a child. What was her motive for having Sydney?
It tormented him into doing what he thought was best for her in a world that could shatter in an instant by people who you thought loved you.
Instead you were used and thrown away, discarded as if a piece of rubbish not worthy of dignity.
He risked his life everyday for his work.
Why then did the landmine close call seem more significant? Because he and Sydney could have died together? Because the mother of his child could have been killed to?
Why did he care about Irina? She held his hand to keep him still, not because she was concerned. Her hand had been warm. Laura’s hands had always been warm when they explored his…He had to stop thinking of her as Laura.
Idiot. He hadn’t heard that charming term of endearment for over twenty years.
When they were married she had used that same anger.
She was not lying about being a prisoner. Irina had been interrogated for suspected treason?
It was close to the time she left them. No it couldn’t be to do with them. She had called him a fool on the video footage. That was not convincing enough for the KGB?
IRINA
Her daughter inherited her father’s gentleness. Irina could see that now after spending three days with them. She had seen a glimmer of it in Jack.
Although deeply buried, it was there, would resurface given the right amount of tending.
Sydney’s was on the surface. Her hurt had been short lived. Children have the innocence of not harboring resentment.
They forgive and hope it never happens again. Irina had seen many children whose lives had been tormented. They seemed to cope more than adults did.
It always surprised her since adults had the capability to release their anger in more ways than a child could express.
“You must have a lot of questions”
“Yeah”
“One thing that should not wait any longer, is why I shot you in Taipei. The rebel leader, Gerard Cuvee…When you were in Taipei, he was in the next room watching, to see if I would betray him or you. Shooting you in the shoulder, giving you time to escape, it was the only way I could think to maintain his trust and keep him from killing both of us”
“We’re both tired. You should get some rest”
“You too…”
“Mom”
She couldn’t erase the hate in her memory of their eyes when they thought she had betrayed them with Cuvee.
She felt ill when Gerard was berating Jack. If only he knew was how wrong he was, his ego could be deflated in an instant.
A woman like her had to conceal how much she wanted a man like Jack. She had to be noncommittal to save their lives. His vulnerable look caught her off guard.
Years of practice had made her an expert at concealing her feelings. Jack had no clue how much she cared for him.
Her daughter had called her mom, twice in the past week. It was more than she could have ever hoped for.
Now if she could only get Jack to talk, ask questions. Irina knew it was impossible to ask Sydney for information or intervene with Jack. She must wait for him to approach her when he was ready.
Jack had been evasive on the flight home. He was always quiet when he was thinking about something important. He would do that before missions when they were married.
She had caught him staring at her when she woke. He looked away, assuming the coldness he had before their trip.
It was as if Kashmir had never happened. Still at least he hadn’t tried to kill her. It was a start.
*Dialogue from Passage II (2:09)
Chapter 9
IRINA
One hour after she hugged her daughter.
Irina was proud of Sydney, as any mother would be.
Her daughter was an exception to the rule of normal mother/daughter relationships.
Sydney had lost her mother in a car accident, then had her reappear over twenty years later, to shoot her.
Helping a terrorist who was kept in solitary had been a concern of Sydney's.
Her daughter was compassionate beyond normal standards.
Sydney had a forgiving nature.
Could she love her mother as much as before, or was it too late?
"Kendall's allowed me fifteen minutes here, twice a week. You put in the request, didn't you? To give me time out here?"
Yeah. We appreciated your help in Kashmir"
"I need you to understand...I was eightenn when the KGB recruited me. For a woman to be asked to serve her country it was a future, it meant...empowererment, independence. I was a fool to think that any ideology could come before my daughter"
"Sydney?"
Irina couldn't be sure if the six years of Sydney's life had been influenced by a mother's love.
Irina had tried to give her daughter more attention than normal, whenever she could, knowing one day her child would question her motives.
Jack had teased her, saying she lavished too much attention on their daughter, although he did the same.
She wondered if he had forgotten the coversations they had.
Would Sydney ever believe that her mother loved her and would do anything to keep her from harm?
~
JACK
Four days after she had said the word marriage.
Jack looked in the mirror. His face had returned to normal after Kashmir.
He decided to try a tactic to see if she would trust him with whatever her plan was.
He knew she was hiding something.
This woman would not turn herself in, to make up for years of neglect to her daughter.
Examining her conduct whe she was his wife, led him to believe next time she lied, he would know. Irina had an agenda.
Offering another gilded cage with some comforts gave her an opportunity to prove him right by confessing.
It also gave him an excuse to remove her from being easily accessible to Sydney.
"How are your wounds healing?"
"You obviously had the chance to betray us in Kashmir, but you didn't"
"I don't imagine that means you've decided to trust me?"
"Our previous...dealings would indicate that your strategy may be long-term, so for now I trust that your behavior is predictable"
"By "previous dealings" you mean our marriage? You know technically, we may still be husband and wife"
"I'm sorry"
"Sydney's on assignment with Sark. It is my belief that he's still working for you, that you've coordinated your efforst o infiltrate both SD-6 and the CIA. Whatever you have in mind, I promise you, it won't work. So I'm going to offer you a dea I'll see to it that you're relocated to a private residence o Puget Sound, under twenty-four hour surveillance, of course. But the illusion of freedom is better than none at all"
"In exchange?"
"In exhange, you'll confess, tell us what you are really doing her, why you've turned yourself in. I'll give you time to consider my offer"
~
"Have you thought about my offer?"
"I have nothing to confess, Jack. I know you find it hard to believe that I would turn myself in to make up for my mistakes but that's the reason...the only reason I'm here"
"If that's the truth, why didn't you simply refuse the offer?"
"I was considering whether or not to fabricate a confession just to get out of this cell"
"You were right. Although our marital contract was founded on fraudulent pretenses, it's still valid until it's annulled. Which means, technically, we are still married"
"Jack, thus far I've agreed to be debriefed only by Sydney. From now on, I'm willing to talk to you, too"
Irina took him by suprise.
His self-assurance implying about their marriage had given her a chance to bring up the past.
Jack predicting her long-term plan had been bodly matched by Irina.
Insinuating they were still married hit the target as expected.
Jack's reaction evident as his eyes resumed the coldness reserved for strangers.
Irina knew straight away, she had gone to far.
She was trying to win his trust, to enable him to become comfortable in her presence.
Sincerity and Irina did not go together. It was a gamble.
Telling her they were still married gave him an advantage. Irina obviously wanted to know.
He had given her that, shocking her in the process.
Her response was unpredictable. She trust him to talk to now.
Who was the cat and who was the mouse?
He wasn't so sure anymore.
Jack rummage through Sydney's trunk looking for two specific items.
He found them along with their wedding photos.
As he focused on the signatures, he could not believe what he saw.
How could he have missed it before?
Her middle name has supposedly been Ingrid and her maiden name Delaney.
His wife had signed her name as Laura Ingrid Delaney on their marriage certificate and on Sydney's birth certificate as Laura ID Bristow.
IRINA
Jack wanted her gone.
He was trying to persuade her that she would enjoy the freedom.
Irina knew better. Jack was uncomfortable withe her presence.
He had changed since Kashmir. He was vulnerable.
Jack tensing up when she brought up their marriage proved it.
He had to be prodded. Antagonizing Jack was a way to get results.
Irina now knew Jack had never remarried.
Jack knew she cared by her reaction.
How could he doubt her sincerity in regard to her love for her family?
Irina wanted to see him, talk to him and watch him.
An opportunity had been offered for mutual benefit.
It was up to him to act upon it.
*Dialogue from The Abduction (2:10)
Chapter 10
JACK
Two days after they had dinner together.
Jack sat at the table eating steak and broccoli.
He had bought Chinese on his way home after stopping at the supermarket.
He sat staring at a packet of cashews. He didn't even like cashews.
His first thought had been Irina.
Her intelligence had not gone unnoticed in Kashmir.
Her mind worked the same as his.
He now knew why they had stimulated each other with their conversations years ago.
The KGB had chosen well.
He had been a fool to think Laura was an ordinary woman.
Had she been as suprised as him, that she enjoyed his company?
"Briault has a wife and an adult son but neither would have the necesary insight to blackmail the alliance and the other partners considered Briault soft. No one was sad to see him go"
"So you have nothing?"
"Are you considering going into witness protection?"
"That would leave Sydney exposed with no one to watch her back"
"You'd have to take her with you"
"And have her spend the rest of her life looking over her shouler? That's not an option"
"Then if you are not here to say goodbye, why did you bring this to me?"
"I need someone to brainstorm with"
"Surely the CIA has teams who specialize in these matters. Forensices, profilers..."
"Yes. They do"
"Have information resources pull everything they have on Briault"
~
"There must be a dozen ways to blackmail the Alliance, all of them far more elaborate than this one"
"So we can assume a secondary objective is to make Arvin suffer. Someone harboring an acute hatred...meaning it could be anyone"
"Does the Alliance have any permanent operations in Peru?"
"Peru? No. Why?"
"Jean Briault, whenever he traveled, he would use his credit card. Except here. Six times this past year hw ent to Lima but not a single transaction"
"I think there's a customs statement"
"Six arrivals in Chavez airport, each time he declared seventy thousand in cash"
"Why? What was he doing with all that money? No investments, he's not buying art? Is it possible he was running his own syndicate?"
"One the Alliance wasn't aware of? He can't wire his agens operational money, the Alliance would spot that. So he bankrolls them in Peru. Assume we're right. Why would they want revenge for his murder? I'll hav customs send over all arrivals and epartures into Peru for one week either side of Briault's visits"
"When I was your wife..."
"I would meet my case officer in his hotel room. I suggest you find out where Briault stayed and pull the hotel security footage"
He had taken Chinese food for dinner. It had been their favorite take-out meal. He would find out if Laura had been acting.
"I bought dinner"
"Smells wonderful"
"You still like it?"
"Yes, Jack"
He opened the containers and handed them to her. Irina noticed he had ordered white rice and fried rice. They never could decide and always ordered both.
Irina couldn't help smiling. As she began to take food from the container closest to her, she realized what the dish was.
It was her favorite, chicken and cashews.
"Would you like some?" she asked, knowing full well what he would say.
Jack stared at her thinking she had forgotten.
"No thanks"
"Still don't like cashews?"
"No" He said as a wry smile appeared on his face.
"Would you like some of mine?" he asked holding out his pepper steak and broccoli.
"No thank you" she said looking disgusted.
"Still don't like broccoli?"
"No"
After they had eaten and began to look for information, she spoke.
"Thank you for dinner Jack"
"Thank you for your help Irina"
IRINA
Irina wasn't sure what Jack's motives were.
Could he be thanking her for helping him and Sydney, or was there more to it?"
Was he trying to get her to trust him?
Irina had done that by allowing Jack to talk to her in an official capacity.
Jack had just left her after relaying what had happened at SD-6.
He was relieved, as was she that Sydney's safety had not been compromised.
Her thoughts were interrupted by dinner.
"Thank you Joe" she said as he brought the tray inside.
Two more guards stood outside, watching, waiting for her to attempt to escape.
She was surpised as Joe manage a small smile before he left.
Joe never smiled.
None of them did. They were not to interact with her at all.
Irina called him Joe for no reason really, just a name for a man she saw everyday that was not allowed to talk to her.
Talking with Jack had made her hungry.
Irina took the lid off her food and stared at the contents.
The food was the same as usual. Meat, vegetables, bread and dessert.
It was the extra item that shocked her so much she had to sit down.
A packet of cashews.
He watched on the monitor as she wiped her eyes, then left as she began to eat.
*Dialogue from The Getaway (2:12)
Chapter 11
JACK
Thirty-six hours after she breathed life back into his soul.
He sat on the couch, drink in hand, sipping slowly, relishing the memory.
Irina had been antagonistic again. He was sensing a pattern.
She was being playful, waiting for him to react after talking the bait.
He relished the ease in which they now talked in each other’s company. It reminded him of when they were married.
They still were, except she had married him for work and not love.
Yet there was something about her demeanour that was natural, not contrived, especially that pout.
“After you surrendered yourself to the CIA, you listed Luri Karpachev as one of your contacts”
“He was murdered yesterday, we believe by Sloane. Karpachev’s body was found without his wallet. Presumably Sloane has more insidious ways to pass the time than picking someone’s pocket. What might he have been looking for?”
“Why haven’t you tried to convince Sydney to leave the CIA?”
“You and I know better than anyone—she should leave this life while she has the chance”
“Sydney can be stubborn. Although where she gets that from is anyone’s guess. But she refuses to resign as long as Sloane is still free. Which brings me back to my question--what was in Karpachev’s wallet?”
“A key card to his home safe. In 93 Karpachev came into possession of a Rambaldi manuscript. Sloane must have believed he kept it in his safe, which is incorrect. Karpachev sold it”
“To whom?”
“Ilya Stuka, a former contact of mine, living in Bangkok”
“What is this manuscript?”
“Rambaldi’s study of the human heart. As you know immortality was one of Rambaldi’s obsessions”
“Where does Stuka keep it?”
“I don’t know, but I could find out if I were allowed to meet with him”
“Kendall won’t risk letting you out again, despite your cooperation in India”
“What if the price were worth it?”
“Sloane doesn’t know that you are in CIA custody”
“He thinks I’m in hiding as he is”
“If Sloane believes you’ve resurfaced, obtained the manuscript he’s after, he’ll want to meet with you. Negotiate a purchase”
“Which I’d be happy to do”
“And we could grab him”
“And give Sydney her reason to get out”
~
IRINA
Jack’s arms and legs were spread like…He couldn’t be.
He looked so sexy leaning against the glass.
Did he know what he was projecting? Of course he did. He was always in control.
Maybe he wasn’t? Could he tell how much she wanted to…He felt it too.
Jack was being playful. Was there hope after all? Could she trust him not to betray her for the sake of their daughter?
Why had she pouted? She hadn’t done that since she was Laura.
Jack had told Sydney she could chose one activity. Ballet, horse riding, girl guides, baseball or karate.
Irina had protested saying he was being unreasonable. Jack had been firm that his daughter would not be spoilt. Sydney ended up taking ballet and baseball.
JACK
Jack was going to be alone with Irina. It wasn’t the excitement of being alone with her, being able to finally ask questions that had his adrenalin pumping. It was the capture of Sloane, wasn’t it?
“Stuka works out of a nightclub in Bangkok. Why? Did Kendall approve the op?”
“Yes. We have a jet standing by”
IRINA
Irina was going to be alone with Jack. Would he talk, ask questions that he had been too afraid to ask at the CIA?
~
JACK
Irina looked like a doe. A wide-eyed deer that had escaped the clutches of a carnivore. She had genuinely thought she was going to be killed. He had seen the fear in her eyes as she ran from the nightclub.
“Once we get the manuscript, how do you intend to let Sloane know it was you?”
“Word will get back to him that I was in Bangkok. He’ll know it was me”
“I did not see that fourth man. If you hadn’t fired…I remember the first time you introduced me to Sloane. You were both working at the CIA, he came to the house for dinner. You were true friends”
“Yes. We shared a similar unsentimental patriotism…and a devotion to our wives. But Sloane changed and…it was Rambaldi that did it. I’m not sure what it is—he never told me—but Sloane has a personal connection to Rambaldi”
“I lived for years with the same obsession, to find a higher meaning in Rambaldi’s work. I never understood how you managed to avoid getting caught up in it”
“I had something neither of you did”
“Sydney”
“I never thanked you for everything that…for raising our daughter”
“We land in four hours. Get some rest”
Irina’s vulnerability was evident as she sat across from him.
There was no glass to diffuse the electricity. Their legs touched under the table. He had to leave, get away, before he relented.
Her hands were warm like in Kashmir. They were pulling, urging him to comply. He resisted the temptation.
Laura had been fascinated with his hands, always wanting to touch them and be touched by them.
The first time they had seen each other in over twenty years she had been accusing. Now Irina was thanking him for raising their daughter.
IRINA
As she held his hands in her own, she felt him tremble. He didn’t falter. He was calm, straightforward and direct, with no evident feelings towards her.
Irina was frustrated. She wanted to scream. It was time to tell him. To trust him, trust his love for her, for their daughter.
“Dad says your going to Panama”
“Do you think there’s a chance you will get Sloane?”
“I wanted to see you because…it’s going to be dangerous setting this trap. I hope it goes well but there’s no guarantee. So whatever happens, there is something I need you to know. Sydney, I love you”
“Mom—“
“You don’t have to say anything. I’m pretty sure I haven’t earned very much, and that’s okay. This was just something I needed to say”
“Mom, you’re coming back”
“I hope so”
IRINA
This was it. The last time she would see their beautiful daughter, if Jack helped her.
Irina hated lying to Sydney. It was the only way. Jack was the only person she could rely on, who knew how she operated.
~
JACK
He had given in to her. Gone along with her plan. He trusted her love for their daughter, to let her go.
If they didn’t catch Sloane, she would be gone.
He hadn’t seen it coming. He booked the room with a double bed, knowing he wasn’t sleeping on the floor.
His hands were controlled as he removed the tracker.
He hands had their own mind. They wanted to touch her bare back, wander further.
As she turned he saw her breast. She made a sound he hadn’t heard in a long time.
One he wanted to hear again mingled with his name and her breathlessness.
That look, he knew that look.
Laura.
“Based on our agreement, tomorrow morning you and two Delta force guards will be dropped off here. If Sloane follows the plan, he’ll drive north to meet you”
“Won’t he be suspicious if I don’t have the Rambaldi manuscript?”
“Sloane is smart enough to know you would never bring it with you at first contact. He’ll expect that you have it close by. CIA will be tracking you on a satellite back in Los Angeles in contact with me and a chopper waiting ten blocks away. When the call is made, the team will surround the vehicle and ambush Sloane"
“Pretty straightforward”
“I think we’ve got a shot”
“There’s one thing. The tracker you put in my shoulder”
“You want it removed”
“If they discover I’ve been tagged, it’s over. We both know that”
“Of course, Kendall would have me court-martialed for this”
“Kendall is not as smart as you are”
“Got it”
“You okay?”
“This is nothing”
“We need to be up early”
“Yes should get to bed”
“Yeah, we should”
IRINA
This was her chance, alone with her husband in a hotel room.
Once their mission preparation was completed, it was time to relax.
Jack drinking wine was a good sign. Irina couldn’t take her eyes off his hands as they moved across the table.
She felt his flesh on hers as he attached the bandage.
She wasn’t aware she made a sound.
Irina longed to have him caress and embrace her once again. Her senses were confused.
She couldn't take her eyes off his mouth.
Their eyes connected.
That look. She knew that look.
Jonathan.
JACK
Jack stood up. He was reluctant to enter an empty bed. He wanted her there, sharing her warmth.
He removed the change from his pocket and opened his wallet. He stood paralyzed staring at the window of his wallet where a photo would normally be.
He didn’t carry one of his daughter for security reasons. In its place was a note.
Find Me
Love You
Miss You
Need You
Love Is Divinely Bestowed
X
*Dialogue from A Dark Turn (2:17)
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