Nothing is What it Seems
Part 2 – Death is Only the Beginning
Timeline - Around “The Telling” – Some before, some during, but most after.
Chapter 1
4 years ago
She staggered to the living room in time to see the woman reach the back door. “Hey b****!” The woman turned toward her with a look of curious surprise. She raised her gun and fired at Constance but she was not prepared for the vase that Constance threw at her. Her shot was low. Instead of the heart, the bullet entered just below her navel. Constance collapsed, bleeding profusely. The woman left as the house erupted in flames. Constance’s last thought as she slipped into oblivion was that she still loved Christopher and she was sad that he would never know that she had been pregnant.
She woke up some time later in a room she didn’t recognize, a hospital perhaps? A man walked in, whom she presumed to be a doctor, and smiled at her. “Glad to see you’re awake. For a while there we thought you might not come back. How are you feeling?”
“Groggy. Sore. How long have I been here?”
“Almost three weeks. Your injuries weren’t too severe but the smoke inhalation sent you into a coma. You’ll be good as new in another couple of weeks.”
She was almost afraid to ask, “What about the baby?” It was barely above a whisper.
“I’m sorry. You lost it.”
She began to cry and the doctor quietly left her to her grief. She cried for hours only stopping when she passed out from exhaustion. Her baby had been her only link to Christopher and now it was gone. She mourned for her lost child, her lost love, her murdered father, and her innocence.
The next day the doctor came by again. “Feeling better?”
She nodded.
He paused for a moment as if trying to figure out how to proceed, “You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. But now you’re going to have to make a decision.”
“What decision?”
“Whether you want to go back and continue the life you had, or to start over completely. Other people in similar situations have said that their old life just doesn’t fit anymore, that they’re not the same people.”
She understood what her meant, there was nothing of her old life left anymore. She had already decided the previous day that she would start over and she told the doctor this.
He nodded. “There is someone outside who would like to talk to you. Are you feeling up to it?”
What she really wanted was to be left alone but she was curious as to who could be visiting her. Her curiosity outweighed her need for solitude at the moment, “Sure.”
The doctor left and her visitor walked in. She didn’t recognize this man. He was an older man, possibly a colleague of her father’s.
He closed the door and sat beside her in the chair near the bed. “Hello Constance. I am Mr. Jones.”
“Were you a friend of my father’s?”
“No, I never had the privilege. I came here to make you an offer.”
She looked at him suspiciously, “What kind of offer?”
“If you had the opportunity to get revenge against the woman who killed your father, would you take it?”
“Absolutely,” she said without hesitation. That woman had taken everything that mattered away from her.
“How?”
She floundered. She hadn’t thought it through that far. All she had thought of was how much she wanted to hurt her, but she had no idea how to do it. She just knew that she wanted to cause that woman as much pain as possible.
“I represent a group of individuals who are very interested in you. They asked me to offer you a place in their organization.”
“What kind of organization?” she asked guardedly.
“Counter-intelligence. We could really use someone like you on our side.”
“Counter-intelligence? You mean like the government?”
“No. We do not work for any government.”
“But you are working against my father’s murderer?”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“You are intelligent, athletic, and driven. That drive will take you places. If you let it.”
She thought about it for a second. She was willing to do anything to get her revenge. “I’m in.”
* * *
The next day they flew to Colorado, where one of the organization’s facilities was located. Mr. Jones took her to a small building in the middle of a vast stretch of land at the edge of town. It was completely unremarkable. She didn’t know what she had been expecting but a quaint farm wasn’t it. Beneath the farm, however, was a completely different story. It was a catacomb of rooms reaching many floors below the surface.
She learned shortly after arriving that the organization was called The Covenant and that they were not always the good guys. She knew that this should bother her but it didn’t, she didn’t care who they were as long as they could help her find the woman that had destroyed her life.
Over the course of the next year she learned martial arts, weapons training, field tactics, languages, and acting. She caught on quickly, fueled by her desire for vengeance. The martial arts came easily because of the grace she learned from gymnastics, the languages were simple because she had minored in languages in college and was already fluent in several; she seemed to be a natural at everything they taught her. Her favorite, though, was the research. The Covenant had given her access to everything they knew about the woman who killed her father. Her name was Irina Derevko. And Christopher was her young protégé, Mr. Sark. She learned many things about the two. More, probably than they knew themselves.
In the beginning, she convinced herself she was doing this simply for revenge, and at the beginning she had been. But after a few months she began to realize that she was enjoying herself. She loved the adventure of it all, the danger. She had never been so alive before. She realized that she had changed, she was not the same person she had been a year before. She was older, colder, and much more ambiguous about the difference between right and wrong; she would do whatever was necessary to achieve her goal, no matter the cost. She could no longer relate to Constance and the person she had been. The name felt awkward, like a nickname she had grown out of. They called her by her last name at the facility, Jacobs, which eventually got shortened to Jake. She liked Jake much better. It suited her.
So it was Jake that went on her first mission for The Covenant. She infiltrated a bio-weapons plant and destroyed the lab. She knew that The Covenant was trying to ease her into the game and she found it amusing. She was more than eager to do whatever they wanted. But The Covenant was concerned that she might not be able to kill. So they assigned Jake the assassination of a petty crime boss who was plaguing one of their allies. Jake dressed the part of happy hooker and dropped by one of his notorious parties. She clung to his arm all night until he took her back to his room. She strangled him with the silk tie of his own bathrobe. She then kissed him on the forehead with ruby red lipstick. It was her new sign. Jake knew that Derevko had used it in the past and she wanted to let her know that she was coming for her.
* * *
Chapter 2
Present
Shortly after her twenty-third birthday, The Covenant contacted Jake for an extraction. They didn’t usually tap her for this kind of mission so she was instantly intrigued. Mr. Jones handed her a file. It had been thrown together rather quickly. It described the capture the previous night of Mr. Sark by CIA Agents Michael Vaughn and Sydney Bristow. Jake, of course, knew all about Sydney Bristow from her research of Derevko. She accepted the mission, feeling that everything was finally falling into place.
The next day Jake staked out the CIA building waiting for Agents Bristow and Vaughn. She still hadn’t decided which one to follow when her targets decided for her; Vaughn drove Bristow home. Jake watched Vaughn drive away and decided to stay and scope out the woman. She watched from her car through as a fight ensued between Bristow and her roommate. Jake could hear the banging and shattering glass all the way across the street. She heard gunshots and then all was silent. She crept silently into the house through the broken glass door. The roommate was dead but Bristow was merely unconscious. She half-dragged, half-carried Agent Bristow out to her car and drugged the unconscious woman to keep her oblivious as she worked out a way to use this to her advantage.
Later that evening Jake called Agent Vaughn at home.
“Hello?”
Using a voice synthesizer Jake says, “I have Sydney Bristow. If you want to see her alive you will do exactly as I say. Take Mr. Sark sixty miles west of the city, I will call you with the exact coordinates at three o’clock. Come alone. If I see anyone other than you and Mr. Sark, your girlfriend is dead.”
Vaughn’s mind was racing as the line went dead. He looked at his watch; it was just past ten. He had less than five hours to break Sark out of CIA custody and drive sixty miles out into the desert or Sydney would be killed. He grabbed his cell phone and keys and ran out the door.
* * *
He is running faster than he has ever run before but it isn’t fast enough. It is already too late when he gets there. The house is in flames. He runs to the door, pounding and kicking but it wont give. His sleeve catches fire and he rushes to put it out. He falls to his knees in despair. Then the door opens. A flaming horror emerges from the doorway. She points an accusing finger at him, “You did this! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t betrayed me I would still be alive. You must pay.” She walks over to him and pulls him into her fiery embrace. His screams are silent as the flames engulf him and burn him to ashes.
Sark awoke from the dream in a sweat. It had been over three years since he had had one of those dreams, since he had had any dreams at all. Remembering her, and the person he was when he was with her, was too painful. Betraying the only person that had ever truly cared for him was the only thing in his life that he regretted. But he didn’t have time for regret or remorse. So he had learned to push it all away and forget. But he knew he’d never really forget. Constance was a part of him, whether he liked it or not.
He tried to determine what time it was but there were no windows in his cell. By the lack of activity though, it must still be night, he thought. But then who is coming down the hall? Agent Vaughn appeared in the hallway, approaching quietly. “To what do I owe this honor Agent Vaughn? Come to read me a bedtime story, perhaps?”
“Shh! I’m here to get you out. Now shut up before you get us both killed!”
As Vaughn unlocked the door Sark decided to play along for the moment. He wanted out; he didn’t care how. Before he took two steps, however, Vaughn grabbed his wrists roughly in front of him and locked them into a pair of handcuffs. “You’re not free, just changing masters.”
Sark looked at him in amusement. Does he really think that a pair of handcuffs would really stop me if I chose to run? Apparently so, because he then turned and motioned for Sark to follow. I will play the obedient captive for now. But he will pay for this. He followed the agent down the hall and past the unconscious guard. They crept silently out of the building through an access tunnel and out into the parking garage.
Vaughn led Sark to his car and when he didn’t get in Vaughn asked, “What?”
Sark held up his restrained wrists, “Aren’t you going to take these off?”
“No.”
Sark opened the passenger side door and got in reluctantly. He disliked being chained even more than he disliked being caged.
Neither man said anything until they were almost thirty miles away.
“Do you mind telling me where we’re going and why?”
“The desert.” Vaughn said nothing else for a long time. Finally, “Someone has Sydney. They want you in exchange.”
Sark nodded in understanding. “Of course, the lovely Miss Bristow. I should have known.”
Seething, Vaughn said nothing.
They were silent the rest of the drive except when Vaughn received a short phone call. Another car was already waiting for them when they arrived. A man got out of the front seat and pulled a half-conscious Sydney from the back. All four walked toward each other, meeting halfway between the vehicles.
A canister thunked to the ground near them and began to hiss. They had no time to run. The gas worked instantly, rendering them all unconscious. A petite woman approached the group. She used a syringe of endorphins to rouse the Covenant operative. “Help me get them into the car.”
“Yes ma’am.”
The two placed Sydney in the back seat and Sark in the front, leaving Vaughn to explain this mishap to the CIA. The woman then turned to the man beside her, “You have been most helpful. I really couldn’t have done this without you. But I’m afraid you have now outlived your usefulness.”
He looked confused for a moment then horrified as recognition dawned. She smiled as she shot him once in between the eyes. She pulled out her favorite lipstick and carefully applied it, looking at her reflection in the car window. Satisfied, she knelt down beside his lifeless body and kissed him solidly on the forehead, leaving her mark as a message to the CIA.
* * *
AD Lindsey slammed his door shut as Agent Vaughn entered his office. “What were you thinking? Kidnapping Sark, going alone to an undisclosed location and not only failing to retrieve Agent Bristow but losing Sark as well?”
Vaughn had no answer.
“You screwed up Agent Vaughn. You should have followed protocol and informed me the second you were approached. But instead you chose to go alone and lose our two most important assets.”
“There was no time. The deal was to come alone and it appeared that he had stuck to it but there was a third party waiting for us. If there hadn’t been I would have been successful.”
“I don’t want to hear it. I have no choice but to suspend you until further notice.” He walked over to the door and opened it, effectively ending the conversation. Agent Vaughn reluctantly rose and left the director’s office.
* * *
Lindsey pointed to a large picture of the dead Covenant operative on the screen behind him. “This man was Kenneth Daniels, an operative working for The Covenant. Last night he was killed during an exchange gone bad. Two days ago he contacted Agent Vaughn claiming to have custody of Agent Bristow. He demanded the release of Mr. Sark in exchange for her safe return. But according to Agent Vaughn, they were both double-crossed by someone else. This mystery guest apparently abducted both Agent Bristow and Mr. Sark and killed Mr. Daniels while leaving Agent Vaughn unharmed.” He pushed a button and the picture zoomed to show the kiss on his forehead. “This, we believe, is a message.”
Jack spoke before he could continue, “Irina.”
“What?”
“Years ago that was Irina’s signature, a kiss on the forehead after she killed someone, to let everyone know who had done it.”
“Then we focus all of our resources on finding Derevko. I want Agent Bristow back.”
* * *
Part 2 – Death is Only the Beginning
Timeline - Around “The Telling” – Some before, some during, but most after.
Chapter 1
4 years ago
She staggered to the living room in time to see the woman reach the back door. “Hey b****!” The woman turned toward her with a look of curious surprise. She raised her gun and fired at Constance but she was not prepared for the vase that Constance threw at her. Her shot was low. Instead of the heart, the bullet entered just below her navel. Constance collapsed, bleeding profusely. The woman left as the house erupted in flames. Constance’s last thought as she slipped into oblivion was that she still loved Christopher and she was sad that he would never know that she had been pregnant.
She woke up some time later in a room she didn’t recognize, a hospital perhaps? A man walked in, whom she presumed to be a doctor, and smiled at her. “Glad to see you’re awake. For a while there we thought you might not come back. How are you feeling?”
“Groggy. Sore. How long have I been here?”
“Almost three weeks. Your injuries weren’t too severe but the smoke inhalation sent you into a coma. You’ll be good as new in another couple of weeks.”
She was almost afraid to ask, “What about the baby?” It was barely above a whisper.
“I’m sorry. You lost it.”
She began to cry and the doctor quietly left her to her grief. She cried for hours only stopping when she passed out from exhaustion. Her baby had been her only link to Christopher and now it was gone. She mourned for her lost child, her lost love, her murdered father, and her innocence.
The next day the doctor came by again. “Feeling better?”
She nodded.
He paused for a moment as if trying to figure out how to proceed, “You’ve been through a terrible ordeal. But now you’re going to have to make a decision.”
“What decision?”
“Whether you want to go back and continue the life you had, or to start over completely. Other people in similar situations have said that their old life just doesn’t fit anymore, that they’re not the same people.”
She understood what her meant, there was nothing of her old life left anymore. She had already decided the previous day that she would start over and she told the doctor this.
He nodded. “There is someone outside who would like to talk to you. Are you feeling up to it?”
What she really wanted was to be left alone but she was curious as to who could be visiting her. Her curiosity outweighed her need for solitude at the moment, “Sure.”
The doctor left and her visitor walked in. She didn’t recognize this man. He was an older man, possibly a colleague of her father’s.
He closed the door and sat beside her in the chair near the bed. “Hello Constance. I am Mr. Jones.”
“Were you a friend of my father’s?”
“No, I never had the privilege. I came here to make you an offer.”
She looked at him suspiciously, “What kind of offer?”
“If you had the opportunity to get revenge against the woman who killed your father, would you take it?”
“Absolutely,” she said without hesitation. That woman had taken everything that mattered away from her.
“How?”
She floundered. She hadn’t thought it through that far. All she had thought of was how much she wanted to hurt her, but she had no idea how to do it. She just knew that she wanted to cause that woman as much pain as possible.
“I represent a group of individuals who are very interested in you. They asked me to offer you a place in their organization.”
“What kind of organization?” she asked guardedly.
“Counter-intelligence. We could really use someone like you on our side.”
“Counter-intelligence? You mean like the government?”
“No. We do not work for any government.”
“But you are working against my father’s murderer?”
“Yes.”
“Why me?”
“You are intelligent, athletic, and driven. That drive will take you places. If you let it.”
She thought about it for a second. She was willing to do anything to get her revenge. “I’m in.”
* * *
The next day they flew to Colorado, where one of the organization’s facilities was located. Mr. Jones took her to a small building in the middle of a vast stretch of land at the edge of town. It was completely unremarkable. She didn’t know what she had been expecting but a quaint farm wasn’t it. Beneath the farm, however, was a completely different story. It was a catacomb of rooms reaching many floors below the surface.
She learned shortly after arriving that the organization was called The Covenant and that they were not always the good guys. She knew that this should bother her but it didn’t, she didn’t care who they were as long as they could help her find the woman that had destroyed her life.
Over the course of the next year she learned martial arts, weapons training, field tactics, languages, and acting. She caught on quickly, fueled by her desire for vengeance. The martial arts came easily because of the grace she learned from gymnastics, the languages were simple because she had minored in languages in college and was already fluent in several; she seemed to be a natural at everything they taught her. Her favorite, though, was the research. The Covenant had given her access to everything they knew about the woman who killed her father. Her name was Irina Derevko. And Christopher was her young protégé, Mr. Sark. She learned many things about the two. More, probably than they knew themselves.
In the beginning, she convinced herself she was doing this simply for revenge, and at the beginning she had been. But after a few months she began to realize that she was enjoying herself. She loved the adventure of it all, the danger. She had never been so alive before. She realized that she had changed, she was not the same person she had been a year before. She was older, colder, and much more ambiguous about the difference between right and wrong; she would do whatever was necessary to achieve her goal, no matter the cost. She could no longer relate to Constance and the person she had been. The name felt awkward, like a nickname she had grown out of. They called her by her last name at the facility, Jacobs, which eventually got shortened to Jake. She liked Jake much better. It suited her.
So it was Jake that went on her first mission for The Covenant. She infiltrated a bio-weapons plant and destroyed the lab. She knew that The Covenant was trying to ease her into the game and she found it amusing. She was more than eager to do whatever they wanted. But The Covenant was concerned that she might not be able to kill. So they assigned Jake the assassination of a petty crime boss who was plaguing one of their allies. Jake dressed the part of happy hooker and dropped by one of his notorious parties. She clung to his arm all night until he took her back to his room. She strangled him with the silk tie of his own bathrobe. She then kissed him on the forehead with ruby red lipstick. It was her new sign. Jake knew that Derevko had used it in the past and she wanted to let her know that she was coming for her.
* * *
Chapter 2
Present
Shortly after her twenty-third birthday, The Covenant contacted Jake for an extraction. They didn’t usually tap her for this kind of mission so she was instantly intrigued. Mr. Jones handed her a file. It had been thrown together rather quickly. It described the capture the previous night of Mr. Sark by CIA Agents Michael Vaughn and Sydney Bristow. Jake, of course, knew all about Sydney Bristow from her research of Derevko. She accepted the mission, feeling that everything was finally falling into place.
The next day Jake staked out the CIA building waiting for Agents Bristow and Vaughn. She still hadn’t decided which one to follow when her targets decided for her; Vaughn drove Bristow home. Jake watched Vaughn drive away and decided to stay and scope out the woman. She watched from her car through as a fight ensued between Bristow and her roommate. Jake could hear the banging and shattering glass all the way across the street. She heard gunshots and then all was silent. She crept silently into the house through the broken glass door. The roommate was dead but Bristow was merely unconscious. She half-dragged, half-carried Agent Bristow out to her car and drugged the unconscious woman to keep her oblivious as she worked out a way to use this to her advantage.
Later that evening Jake called Agent Vaughn at home.
“Hello?”
Using a voice synthesizer Jake says, “I have Sydney Bristow. If you want to see her alive you will do exactly as I say. Take Mr. Sark sixty miles west of the city, I will call you with the exact coordinates at three o’clock. Come alone. If I see anyone other than you and Mr. Sark, your girlfriend is dead.”
Vaughn’s mind was racing as the line went dead. He looked at his watch; it was just past ten. He had less than five hours to break Sark out of CIA custody and drive sixty miles out into the desert or Sydney would be killed. He grabbed his cell phone and keys and ran out the door.
* * *
He is running faster than he has ever run before but it isn’t fast enough. It is already too late when he gets there. The house is in flames. He runs to the door, pounding and kicking but it wont give. His sleeve catches fire and he rushes to put it out. He falls to his knees in despair. Then the door opens. A flaming horror emerges from the doorway. She points an accusing finger at him, “You did this! This is all your fault! If you hadn’t betrayed me I would still be alive. You must pay.” She walks over to him and pulls him into her fiery embrace. His screams are silent as the flames engulf him and burn him to ashes.
Sark awoke from the dream in a sweat. It had been over three years since he had had one of those dreams, since he had had any dreams at all. Remembering her, and the person he was when he was with her, was too painful. Betraying the only person that had ever truly cared for him was the only thing in his life that he regretted. But he didn’t have time for regret or remorse. So he had learned to push it all away and forget. But he knew he’d never really forget. Constance was a part of him, whether he liked it or not.
He tried to determine what time it was but there were no windows in his cell. By the lack of activity though, it must still be night, he thought. But then who is coming down the hall? Agent Vaughn appeared in the hallway, approaching quietly. “To what do I owe this honor Agent Vaughn? Come to read me a bedtime story, perhaps?”
“Shh! I’m here to get you out. Now shut up before you get us both killed!”
As Vaughn unlocked the door Sark decided to play along for the moment. He wanted out; he didn’t care how. Before he took two steps, however, Vaughn grabbed his wrists roughly in front of him and locked them into a pair of handcuffs. “You’re not free, just changing masters.”
Sark looked at him in amusement. Does he really think that a pair of handcuffs would really stop me if I chose to run? Apparently so, because he then turned and motioned for Sark to follow. I will play the obedient captive for now. But he will pay for this. He followed the agent down the hall and past the unconscious guard. They crept silently out of the building through an access tunnel and out into the parking garage.
Vaughn led Sark to his car and when he didn’t get in Vaughn asked, “What?”
Sark held up his restrained wrists, “Aren’t you going to take these off?”
“No.”
Sark opened the passenger side door and got in reluctantly. He disliked being chained even more than he disliked being caged.
Neither man said anything until they were almost thirty miles away.
“Do you mind telling me where we’re going and why?”
“The desert.” Vaughn said nothing else for a long time. Finally, “Someone has Sydney. They want you in exchange.”
Sark nodded in understanding. “Of course, the lovely Miss Bristow. I should have known.”
Seething, Vaughn said nothing.
They were silent the rest of the drive except when Vaughn received a short phone call. Another car was already waiting for them when they arrived. A man got out of the front seat and pulled a half-conscious Sydney from the back. All four walked toward each other, meeting halfway between the vehicles.
A canister thunked to the ground near them and began to hiss. They had no time to run. The gas worked instantly, rendering them all unconscious. A petite woman approached the group. She used a syringe of endorphins to rouse the Covenant operative. “Help me get them into the car.”
“Yes ma’am.”
The two placed Sydney in the back seat and Sark in the front, leaving Vaughn to explain this mishap to the CIA. The woman then turned to the man beside her, “You have been most helpful. I really couldn’t have done this without you. But I’m afraid you have now outlived your usefulness.”
He looked confused for a moment then horrified as recognition dawned. She smiled as she shot him once in between the eyes. She pulled out her favorite lipstick and carefully applied it, looking at her reflection in the car window. Satisfied, she knelt down beside his lifeless body and kissed him solidly on the forehead, leaving her mark as a message to the CIA.
* * *
AD Lindsey slammed his door shut as Agent Vaughn entered his office. “What were you thinking? Kidnapping Sark, going alone to an undisclosed location and not only failing to retrieve Agent Bristow but losing Sark as well?”
Vaughn had no answer.
“You screwed up Agent Vaughn. You should have followed protocol and informed me the second you were approached. But instead you chose to go alone and lose our two most important assets.”
“There was no time. The deal was to come alone and it appeared that he had stuck to it but there was a third party waiting for us. If there hadn’t been I would have been successful.”
“I don’t want to hear it. I have no choice but to suspend you until further notice.” He walked over to the door and opened it, effectively ending the conversation. Agent Vaughn reluctantly rose and left the director’s office.
* * *
Lindsey pointed to a large picture of the dead Covenant operative on the screen behind him. “This man was Kenneth Daniels, an operative working for The Covenant. Last night he was killed during an exchange gone bad. Two days ago he contacted Agent Vaughn claiming to have custody of Agent Bristow. He demanded the release of Mr. Sark in exchange for her safe return. But according to Agent Vaughn, they were both double-crossed by someone else. This mystery guest apparently abducted both Agent Bristow and Mr. Sark and killed Mr. Daniels while leaving Agent Vaughn unharmed.” He pushed a button and the picture zoomed to show the kiss on his forehead. “This, we believe, is a message.”
Jack spoke before he could continue, “Irina.”
“What?”
“Years ago that was Irina’s signature, a kiss on the forehead after she killed someone, to let everyone know who had done it.”
“Then we focus all of our resources on finding Derevko. I want Agent Bristow back.”
* * *
I want Sydney back too. Awesome chapter. 
So full of suspense! It was great. I loved the daring Vaughn, and going behind the CIA to get his women. Very interesting! Have to say, I loved the dream in the beginning with Sark. Freaky.. 
Thanks for the pm 
