Only Hope

“Stop flirting with my wife,” Vaughn said

😆

Who would wanna anyway? Lol, im jk!

It was a very interesting chapter... i wish that Sydney and Sark wouldnt be so... negative? Bah... theres just something about the situation theyre in now that i dont like...

Great update, thanks for the PM :smiley:
 
Author’s note: This is the last time jump for a little while. Again, it was necessary for the future plot of the story . I’m pretty sure some of you might be catching on to where I’m going, but if not, please just go with it for now. There is promise of continuous Sarkney, no matter what.

Chapter Ten

Hope took a look around at her family and smiled before blowing out all ten candles of her birthday cake. This birthday was definitely a lot better than the previous ten. At least this time she was going to make sure she got her birthday wish if it was the last thing she did. She smiled again as her grandparents, her parents, her Uncle Will and Aunt Tessa, and her Aunt Amy and Uncle Noah and all of their children clapped at her accomplishment.

“So how does it feel to be a decade old?” Will asked her.

“The same as it felt to be nine and 364 days,” she answered back smartly.

“You know, I think you have your mother’s mouth and your father’s mouth combined.”

“They tell me that all the time,” Hope said. “I still can’t believe that you and Aunt Tessa flew in from London.”

“This is a big day for you,” Tessa Tippin said. “We wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

“Okay, enough of that mushy talk,” Noah interjected. “I say it’s about time for the presents. What do you say, kid?”

“I say let’s get this party started,” Hope yelled.

Sydney and Sark both stood back and watched their daughter tear through each and every one of the carefully wrapped packages. They still couldn’t believe how optimistic and full of joy their daughter was after all she had been through. When Irina pulled them out of Denver, Colorado five years earlier, they thought they could finally settle down in one place for a while.

The kidnapping attempts started within days of their settling in. They were forced to move yet again.

The moving hadn’t stopped since that day. They knew that Hope didn’t like it, but she never really complained once. Sydney was incredibly proud of her daughter in that aspect. She hadn’t raised a complainer.

“So, what do you think she’s going to ask for this year?” Sydney whispered in her husband‘s ear. She was alluding to their birthday tradition of Hope asking her parents for one thing on her birthday that they would give her no matter what.

“I would say that new skateboard, but she’s about to unwrap it.”

“I thought we discussed it and decided not to buy her that death contraption.”

“We did. But it seems that we didn’t mention that to her favorite uncle. Either that or Will chose to ignore our wishes.”

Sydney sighed and leaned her head up against Sark. “I’m going to have to have a talk with him before he hightails it off this continent.”

“Just don’t mess up his face too much. He has a few professional meetings for Irina in the coming weeks. She’d kill you if you forced her to come up with an excuse why her agent has two black eyes.”

“I’ll keep the blows restricted to his body,” she assured him.

“That’s my girl.” Sark squeezed her hand before walking over to sit next to where his daughter had just uncovered her new skateboard.

Jack seized the opportunity to have a few private words with his daughter. “How’s your work been going, Sydney?”

“Not too bad. No real developments. It seems like the information brought to us by Agent Lennox five years ago is the real thing. However inadvertent, Hope is prophesized to either kill or be killed.” She let her breath out in one long sigh. “You know I really thought that my contacts in Tokyo might have made some sort of headway in figuring out why the Covenant is still interested in my daughter and Tyler Vaughn.”

“My best guess? They think that which ever one survives this confrontation they’re going to have would make the perfect spy. Every agency out there can argue they have a stake in what happens to your child.”

“That’s ridiculous. And something I really shouldn’t be discussing on my child’s birthday.”

“When is a better time to discuss it then now?” Irina said, entering the conversation. “We can’t put it off. There are going to be consequences coming, and they’re not that far off.”

“I know that. I just still have a hard time accepting that this whole thing is real. Why can’t I give my daughter the normal life I never got to live?”

“Because both of you are just too special to be normal,” Jack said, hugging his daughter. “Now enough with this serious talk. I think some of your guests are leaving.”

Sydney turned to see Amy and Noah herding their mass of children out the door. She waved to them and turned back to her parents. “I’m sure you two need to be leaving also. There has to be some crisis out there that’s affecting national security.”

“There always is,” Irina said and kissed her daughter on the cheek. “I’ll be in contact with you and Julian about what I need you to do next. In the meantime, keep digging for information about that Rambaldi prophecy.”

Sydney nodded. Once her mother had said goodbye to Hope and left, she turned back to her father. “Any parting words, Dad?”

“No. But you seem to have something to say to me.”

“I never understood how you could always tell when I was trying to hold something back. Yes, I have something to say to you. Actually, it’s more like I have something to ask you. How is Tyler doing, Dad?”

“Good. He and his parents have had it a little easier than you have comparatively. They haven’t really had to move around that much since we relocated them. He seems to be doing fine. He just started high school the other day in fact.”

“God, he’s getting old. I can’t imagine Hope being old enough to attend high school.”

“It’s not that far off,” Jack said. “I’ll let Vaughn know you asked about them next time I’m in contact.”

“I’d like that.” Sydney waved as Will and his newlywed wife said their goodbyes to Hope.

Jack hesitated a moment before continuing, “He asks about you and Hope all the time. Mainly he just wants to be sure that you’re okay.”

“I bet he’s worried about the time Hope and Tyler spent with one another when they were little. I know that I am. Hope doesn’t really remember Tyler or either of his parents. She has vague recollections of living with another family, but we don’t really talk about it.”

“Maybe you should,” Jack instructed. “The way you tell it, Hope used to have a fairly big crush on Michael Vaughn’s son. Those things don’t just disappear into thin air. Especially when he was the first boy she ever took a liking to.”

“Kenny Horner,” Sydney said, her mind instantly transported to another place and time.

“What?”

“Kenny Horner. He was the first boy I liked. I was four years old, and he lived next to us. I told Mom about it, and she explained to me that he was a little old for me.” She chuckled. “He was sixteen.”

“You always did set your sights on the unattainable.”

Sydney smiled and met eyes with her husband from across the room. “Eventually, it worked, though. I think I’ve attained quite a lot through the years.”

Jack pulled his daughter into another hug. “As long as you’re happy.”

Sydney rested against her father for a few minutes before pulling away. “You have to go, don’t you?”

“Like you said, there’s probably a threat to national security that I need to attend to. If I don’t do it, nothing’s done properly.”

Sydney smiled and kissed her father on the cheek. “Don’t be a stranger. I know I work for an intelligence agency whose existence you’re not even allowed to acknowledge, but that doesn’t mean you can’t call every once in a while.”

“I got it,” Jack said. “I’ll see you soon.”

Before she had time to ask what that meant, Jack was out the door.

Her father was the last one to leave, and Sydney finally found herself alone with the two people she loved the most. She flung herself onto the couch next to her daughter and fingered one of the t-shirts Amy had bought her. “You got a lot of cool stuff.”

“I know. It’s so great. Dad’s already explained to me about the necessary safety precautions when using the skateboard Uncle Will got me, so you don’t have to go through that.”

“Thank god,” Sydney said, smiling as he husband snuggled in next to her on the couch. “Well, since we’re all right here, I think it’s about time that you told us your birthday wish this year, young lady.”

Hope’s face lighted up with excitement, and she took off out of the room, screaming back at them not to move an inch. “This worries me,” Sark whispered in Sydney’s ear before nibbling on it slightly.

She swatted him away. “For god’s sake, it’s your daughter’s tenth birthday. Keep your hormones in check.”

“I can’t help it. You bring out the primal side of me.”

Sydney heard the sounds of her daughter barreling down the stairs. “Do your best to keep it inside because Hope is coming back.”

Hope ran into the room and held out the papers in her hands. “Grandpa Jack helped me with this a little. He told me to keep it a surprise until you guys asked for my wish.”

Sydney reached out and took the papers, which she quickly realized were plane tickets. “Los Angeles?” she said, looking at Hope in surprise. “What do three tickets to L.A. have to do with your birthday wish?”

“I want to move back to L.A.”

“What?” Sark said. “You’ve never lived in L.A.”

“Technically, I did for the first few days after I was born. You and Mom always sound so happy when you talk about the years you live together in L.A. and New York. It was a hard decision, but I figured you’d be more willing to move from Texas to California instead of New York. Was I right?”

“We’re not moving anywhere,” Sydney said determinedly.

“That’s what I thought you would say. Which is why I asked Grandpa Jack for help. He told me to tell you that everything’s been cleared with him and Grandma. They both expect you in the next coming weeks. He found this really nice house for us to live in. Uncle Will was telling me that it’s just down the street from where you used to live with him and Francie.”

“Did everyone besides us know about this?”

“Well, I told you I needed help.”

“You won’t mind if I call my parents to make sure you’re not making this up?”

Hope shook her head. “I don’t care what you do as long as we move.”

“You don’t like Houston?” Sark asked. “You seemed happy to me.”

“It’s all right. The same way that Portland and Tucson and Reno and Dallas and Topeka all were. All right, but not that great. I want to live somewhere where all three of us can be happy and comfortable. I don’t really understand why we’ve had to move so much, but I know it’s mostly because of me somehow.”

Sydney took a deep breath and pulled her daughter close to her. “We’ve been putting off talking to you about this, honey. But it’s about time. Your father and I have always been trying to protect you from things outside your knowledge. We thought it was best not to burden you with things you couldn’t really comprehend.”

“But obviously, if you’re old enough to organize a move to Los Angeles, you’re old enough to hear this,” Sark explained. “This Italian philosopher and inventor named Milo Rambaldi that lived over five hundred years ago. He made a lot of prophecies about things that were going to happen in your mother’s life. A long time before you were born, your mother found out there was a prophecy about you.”

“Really? I was in some old European guy’s prophecy?”

“Yeah,” Sydney said. “He said that you were going to play an important part to things that were going to happen when you were all grown-up. There are a lot of people out there who are interested in the person you’re going to become someday Hope, and your father and I have been trying to protect you from some of these people.”

“They’re bad guys?”

“Yes, they are. We wanted to make sure that nothing bad happened to you so we kept moving to where this people wouldn’t find us.”

“But they always seemed to find us,” Sark added on. “So we just kept moving.”

“But now you’ve seemed to come up with a way for us to go back home, I guess.”

“It took me a long time,” Hope explained. “But Grandpa Jack said that there was no reason why we should be running all over the country.”

“Your grandpa’s a smart man,” Sark said with a smile. “All right, kid. Wish granted. We’ll move to L.A. as soon as we can.”

“I knew you couldn’t refuse,” she said with a smile. “Now can I go try out my skateboard?”

It wasn’t much of a request as she was already halfway out the door. “Be careful,” Sydney yelled after her. Realizing there wasn’t much more she could do, she settled back down into Sark’s arm. “You know she got that ability to frustrate me at the drop of a hat from you.”

“Yeah, I was always good at that, wasn’t I?” That earned him a punch in the gut. “So, how do you feel about going back to L.A.?”

“It feels weird. After ten years of moving from safe house to safe house, I never really thought going back to the city was an option for us. It’s so strange that our daughter would be the one to figure out a way.”

“I think it was all just a matter of us deciding that other people weren’t going to dictate our lives any longer.” He laced his fingers in with hers. “We’re going to be okay, Sydney.”

She looked up at him and smiled. “You know, for the first time in ten years, I think I actually believe that.”
 
Aww... how sweet!

Woot! Hope got a skateboard for her birthday... :woot: Skeg!! Hehe, i loved having a skateboard when i was young... *reminisces about old times* :angelic:

So the Bristows/Lazareys/Bristow-Lazareys (?) are moving back to L.A... ooh... i wonder whatll happen.

Interesting update, cant wait for more soon! ^_^
 
Chapter Eleven

Tyler Vaughn sat in front of his English tutor, wishing that his day would come to an end as soon as possible. He hated these stupid creative writing assignments his teacher kept giving him. Just because his father had taken a job at the local paper to cover-up his work with the CIA in Fiji and excelled at it didn’t mean he was naturally good at writing.

“But everyone always seems to think that, don’t they?” he muttered to himself.

“Did you say something, Ty?” asked the young girl beside him, diligently correcting his typos.

“Just mumbling, Elsie. So what’s the verdict?”

“You are hopeless. I can’t even help you fix this junk.”

“Maybe I should just run away.”

His best friend of four years couldn’t help but laugh in his face. “Run away? Where are you going to run to?”

“America,” he said stubbornly. “My home.”

“Your home is in Fiji. You’ve been here for five years. I wish you would just give up on these dreams of returning to your ‘homeland’.”

He stared at her in shock. “Did you just use air quotes? Air quotes have been out of style for years now.”

“I think they’re vintage,” she pouted.

“And, before I forget to tell you, just because your father moved you here when you were a baby doesn’t mean you know everything there is to know about who belongs here and who doesn’t.”

“And I suppose you don‘t?”

“I never did, Else. Belong.”

“Are you sure this doesn’t have something to do with the pressures of high school? My father said that everyone freaks out a little during their freshmen year.”

“Your father doesn’t know everything.”

“He knows a lot,” she pouted.

Smiling, he poked her in the ribs. “Why don’t we take a break from this and sneak out to play down by the beach?”

“I have studying to do,” she protested even as he grabbed her hand and yanked her to her feet. “And you should finish this paper. It’s due at eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll finish it after dinner. Promise. Now let’s have some fun.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Lauren smiled down from the second floor as she watched her son play with his best friend. It was amazing the changes that Fiji had caused in Tyler. His introversion disappeared about fourteen months after they settled into the island. She figured it had something to do with the sensible young girl who lived next door to them. Elsie Ashmore was a godsend.

“What are you looking at?” Vaughn said, entering the room.

“Our son’s happy, Michael. He’s really happy.”

“I know.”

“How are we supposed to tell him what’s going to happen to him one day? That he’s destined to kill or be killed?”

“I don’t know. Let’s not dwell on it. I got a call from Lennox. He wants to see us in the office tomorrow morning.”

“I’m getting tired of answering to that man when he keeps failing to come up with more information on our son and his connection with Rambaldi.”

“Lennox is trying, Lauren. You know he is. He wants to know almost as much as we do. The man has become like an uncle to Ty. He cares for him.”

“I know.” Lauren laughed. “But I would classify him more as an older brother. Those two can get into some real shouting matches when they’re fired up. Not exactly the uncle-nephew relationship, I think.”

“I think I saw him sneaking Ty a beer last week.” When he saw his wife’s horrified look, he couldn’t keep a straight face. “I’m kidding! Sneaking a beer to a young man is a father’s job.”

She smacked him really hard on the back of the head. “I have no idea why I married you, Michael.”

“Sometimes I wonder.” He just had time for one quick kiss before both of their beepers started to buzz. “Damnit. Lennox is always ruining our alone time.”

“It’s part of the job,” she reminded both of them. She walked over to the door and threw Vaughn his coat which was hanging on one of the hooks. “We should move. Lennox might have made some progress.”

“Doubt it,” Vaughn mumbled. He followed his wife outside. “I’ll start the car.”

“And I’ll deal with Ty,” she said, rolling her eyes. She marched across the yard to the beach behind their house. “Tyler! Your father and I need to go pick up a few things at the store. Why don’t you go inside and do your homework?”

“In a minute,” he yelled back. He watched his mother wave and then begin to make her way back to the house.

“Your parents sure go to the store a lot,” Elsie commented.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Well, it seems like every time I come over, they have to pick something up at the store. Have you guys never heard of the concept of stocking up?”

“They like things fresh,” Tyler answered quickly. “Now how about a swim?” He didn’t wait for her answer and ran down into the waves.

The lie he told Elsie was burning in his chest. He hated having to lie to the one person besides his parents that he trusted. But his mother and father both stressed to him on a daily basis that he couldn’t let anyone know that they worked for the United States government and not an accounting firm and newspaper, respectively, like everyone thought.

“When did my life become a pack of lies?” he thought as he watched Elsie shrug her shoulders and dive into the water behind him. He really hated the position his parents had put him in. At least he knew that someday he’d find a way out of Fiji. It was beautiful and all, but, like he had told his friend earlier, it had never really been home.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Vaughn drove his truck into the tunnel that had a large sign marking it closed for repairs. “You know, I would really think that someone would wonder why this tunnel has been closed for repairs for over five years now.”

“Secret entrances to CIA facilities never seemed to be noticed or questioned. It’s uncanny,” Lauren replied smartly.

The tunnel slowly turned into the beginnings of a parking garage, and Vaughn steered the truck into the first available, close parking space. He and Lauren quickly got out of the truck and hustled their way into the facility. Jim Lennox was waiting for them, patiently leaning up against a desk.

“New development?” Lauren asked immediately.

“Sort of. Jack Bristow got in contact with me for his yearly report on the other half of the prophecy.”

“You can refer to Hope by name,” Vaughn said. “She is a person, not an object.”

“It’s best if you try to keep your relationship with her less personal,” Lennox suggested. “She is going to kill your son. Or was it your son that was going to kill her?”

“You’re testy today, Lennox,” Lauren pointed out. “Did Jack do something to rile you up?” She looked over at her husband. “He always does that. You know he always does that. Why does he do that? Does he find it easier to do his job that way?”

“We’ll never know,” Vaughn replied. “So what did Jack have to say?”

“Hope and her parents are doing just fine. They’re moving back to Los Angeles.”

“How is that possible?”

“The person in question,” he said with a snide look, “seemed to call in all the favors the different spies in her extended family owed her. Hope arranged for it to be possible.”

“We’re not going back, are we?” Lauren asked, puzzled as to how this could be happening. She really didn’t know what this latest news was supposed to mean to her.

“No. You won’t be going back. We still need to keep the two children separated.”

“We can’t do that forever,” Vaughn pointed out. “We’ve only been living in Fiji for five years, and Tyler is already restless. He wants to go back to the States.”

“He never mentioned anything to me.”

“He hasn’t said anything to us either. That doesn’t mean I’m oblivious to him. He doesn’t want to be in Fiji. He wants to leave.”

“We can’t let that happen.”

“We know. It’s just so hard to keep telling Tyler that he can’t leave Fiji without giving him the reason why.” Lauren held up her hands before Lennox could say exactly what she knew he would. He had only given her the why-we-can’t-tell-him-yet speech 1897 times. “Let’s drop this little dilemma for right now. Tell us about your conversation with Jack since it was important enough to call us away from our son‘s side today.”

“He and Irina had a secret conference thing that other day, and they’ve decided that with the lack of new intel, we have to just sit tight on this one for at least a little while.”

“Tell us something we don’t know,” Vaughn said, flinging up his hands.

“Jack only authorized his daughter’s move to L.A. because they think that Hope is going to be the one to commit murder. He wants to keep a closer eye on her.” Both Vaughn and Lauren’s eyes went wide. “You wanted to hear something new.”

“You’re lying,” Lauren whispered.

“No. Jack and Irina thought about it. The probability factor is behind their granddaughter and not your son in the killing department. And, before you say it, Vaughn, no, I don’t think Tyler is the kind of person to just let himself be killed by a girl. No one knows the specifics of their confrontation, but I think there are some major twists and turns ahead that need to happen in order to allow Tyler to be killed by Hope.”

“So, everyone is just giving up on the concept that my son could be a murderer someday?” Lauren asked. “Because that’s not only sloppy, it’s stupid.”

“Hope’s the more likely suspect,” Vaughn said, voicing his agreement with Jack, Irina, and Lennox all at once. Lauren shot him a look that quieted the rest of his word immediately.S

“So what now?”

“Now, you two settle back into your life in Fiji. You’re going to be here for at least four more years.”

“Why four?” Vaughn asked Lennox.

Lennox turned and sat down at the desk, obviously about to dismiss both of the Vaughns within moments. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. Turning back, he looked at both of Tyler’s parents seriously. “Because that’s how long we have until we lose control of the situation. Tyler’s going to graduate from high school. And when he does, he’s going to decide to go off on his own path. And when that happens, I don‘t know what we‘re going to do.”
 
“Why four?” Vaughn asked Lennox.

Lennox turned and sat down at the desk, obviously about to dismiss both of the Vaughns within moments. He picked up his phone and dialed a number. Turning back, he looked at both of Tyler’s parents seriously. “Because that’s how long we have until we lose control of the situation. Tyler’s going to graduate from high school. And when he does, he’s going to decide to go off on his own path. And when that happens, I don‘t know what we‘re going to do.”

Dun dun dun...

I woulda said expect the unexpected... man this is really interesting! Its such a cliffhanger to know whose going to be the murderer and the victim. :Ponder:

Good update, thanks for the PM :smiley:
 
Author's Note: I'm sorry I haven't updated in forever. School's gotten really busy for me, and I barely have time to breathe, let alone write for fun... Enjoy the new stuff and I hope you haven't forgotten the old!

Also, I totally lied about the last time jump being the only one I would take for a while. However, that is true for this one. I think I have at least four or five chapters with my current plot thoughts…


Chapter Twelve

Tyler Vaughn stared at his parents out of the front window of their house on the beach in Fiji. They were doing their own landscaping, a task they insisted upon performing themselves since they moved there nine years ago. He hated having to go outside and break up the happy scene. Since his mother and father had told him about that Italian prophecy with his name written all over it on his sixteenth birthday, happy days of domestic bliss were few and far between.

He stared down at the acceptance letter to UCLA he had received in the mail the day before. It was like being able to hold all his hopes and dreams in his hands. At least all the hopes and dreams a nineteen-year-old who was doomed to die by the hands of a woman he didn’t know at some point in the future could have.

“Elsie would get a kick out of my situation,” he said to himself with a laugh, thinking about his best friend. As soon as her picture had popped into his head, he scolded himself. Elsie was not the person he had wanted to be dwelling on at this moment. She would hate him for leaving her in Fiji to fend for herself.

“That’s not entirely true,” he whispered, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “She has Derrick.”

Derrick Scott had only lived on Fiji for six months, but somehow, he had gotten Elsie to fall in love with him in that little amount of time. Tyler had no idea why his incredibly intelligent and sensible friend had fallen for a large bank account and a great pair of abs. In all the years, he had known her there really hadn’t been any talk of boys she was interested in in a romantic sense. And then Derrick show up, and her life suddenly revolved around his every move.

When, the night before, Elsie had hand delivered the letter she had received at her house from the Office of Admissions at UCLA because he was too scared to let his parents come even moderately close to realizing he wanted to go to college in California, she had told him the “wonderful” news.

Turns out Derrick loved her, too, and they were moving in together. He asked her what about their plans to move back to the States together, and she had just laughed, asking him if he really thought they had been serious all those years back when they had made a promise to get off the island together as soon as they had a chance.

“Don’t you love it here?” he said out loud, mocking the excruciatingly happy tone she had said that in the night before. He knew that he had no right to be mad at her for wanting to stay or for finding a man she could love. But he couldn’t help feeling slightly betrayed by her. Fiji was great, but it wasn’t for him the way it seemed like it was for Elsie. So, he had no other choice but to leave her behind.

Again, he scolded himself for thinking about her too much. Elsie was not the real problem at hand. Growling, he pushed away from the window, opened the door, and took the first few steps on his journey back to the place he used to call home.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Neither Lauren nor Vaughn noticed their son until he was practically standing on top of them. Tyler had never made an effort to help with the yard work so his presence outside was extremely odd. That was probably the reason both of them felt their hearts freeze a little at the sight of him.

“What’s wrong?” Lauren asked, setting down the rake she had been using.

He smiled at her weakly. “You’re going to hate me, Mom.”

“What did you break this time?” she asked. “It had better not be that new vase your grandmother sent me from Germany the other day.” When he shook his head, she continued, “Who did you fight? Where did you get banned from? What law did you break? How much money is this going to cost us? Just let me know before I worry myself to death, Tyler”

Vaughn stood up and placed his hand on Lauren’s shoulder. “Let our son talk, Lauren. What did you want to say, Tyler?”

“I got accepted to college,” he said, holding out the letter that was still grasped in his hand. His father took it from his warily and unfolded it.

“Oxford!” Lauren squealed happily and flung her arms around her son in a hug. “That’s wonderful! I knew they would take you. They had to. You’re so smart.”

Tyler tried to shrug away from her. “No, Mom. You don’t understand.”

“Neither do I,” Vaughn said, holding out the letter so his wife could see the return address. “Why is this coming from UCLA? You never applied there.”

“Actually, I did apply there. It turns out that I really am as smart as you guys have always been telling me. I got accepted. That’s where I want to go to college, Dad.”

“That’s unacceptable,” Vaughn said, throwing the paper onto the ground. He grabbed the chainsaw he had been using to trim back some of the bushes off the ground and then turned back towards his son. “There’s no way you’re going that far away from your mother and I.”

Tyler’s face filled with disgust. “Don’t play that card. We all know that it’s just a convenient excuse for your real reasoning to keep me close. You’re afraid I can’t watch out for myself on my own. I promise I’ll be fine, whether I’m in England or the US.”

“It’s not that.”

“Then what is it? You guys have been tiptoeing around the subject of going back home to the States for years. Ever since you told me about that stupid prophecy.”

“It’s not a stupid prophecy,” Lauren corrected. “It’s your probable future. And something you should take very seriously, Tyler.”

“I know. You’ve lectured me on that fact time and time again. I still don’t see why this relates to me going to UCLA.”

“You’re not going to UCLA,” Vaughn amended.

“Oh yes, I am. Unless you finally give me the reason why I shouldn’t go that you think is so worthwhile. Tell me the truth for once.”

Vaughn looked over at his wife, pleading for her help. She shook her head at him. “I don’t know what to say, Michael. There’s not much we can do.”

“But I don’t want our son to run into her.”

Before Vaughn could continue, Tyler interrupted, “See who? Who’s in California that I shouldn’t see?”

Tyler felt his heart freeze as his father turned away from his mother to look at him. He had never seen that look on Vaughn’s face before. Vaughn was mad. His father never got mad. Worried, yes. Mad, no. If he didn’t know better, he might fear for his life right about now.

“You really want to know, don’t you? You’ve been angry at us because we haven’t told you before. We said that it was for the best, but you just couldn’t find it in yourself to trust us that much. Fine. Don’t say that your mother and I didn’t warn you. Don’t say we didn’t try to protect you for as long as you would allow us to. The woman who is going to kill you is in Los Angeles. She’s just sitting there waiting for you to come to her.”

“Now, Michael,” Lauren said, placing her hand on his arm gently. “Don’t be melodramatic. There’s no way Hope could kill Tyler.”

“Hope?” Tyler said, looking back and forth from one parent to the next. “Her name is Hope? You knew her name?” A realization hit him. “You’ve known who she is this whole time.”

Lauren nodded. “We didn’t think it wise to tell you.”

“You didn’t think it was wise? That’s nice. Real nice.” He shook his head. “Listen. I am going to UCLA because I’ve been dreaming about it for four years, but I really couldn’t tell you that, could I? Didn’t want you guys to have time to figure out a way to keep me from it. Plus, maybe I didn’t think that was wise to tell you,” he mocked. He paused and took a few deep breaths, knowing that if he was going to persuade them, he would have to keep his temper in check. “I’m nineteen years old. That’s old enough to make it on my own. I don’t want to, but I will. This is the only thing I’ve ever really wanted in my life, and I’m going to see it through.”

Vaughn’s face paled. “Oh god. You sound like me whenever I would give a speech about Syd when I worked in the US.”

Tyler reached out and placed a hand on his father‘s shoulder. “I know you don’t realize it, but that was the first time you’ve mentioned Aunt Sydney to me in eight years, Dad.”

“I didn’t think you remembered her.”

“I don’t really that much. There are a lot of vague images in my mind of a pretty woman who used to play tag with me when I was little, but nothing else that really makes any sense. Maybe I would remember her if you talked about her a little more often.”

“He had his reasons,” Lauren explained.

“He always does,” Tyler said, shaking his head in frustration and letting go of Vaughn‘s shoulder. He was tired of being lied to. His temper might be in check, but that didn’t mean he still couldn’t let himself get completely pissed off inside.

“Fine,” Vaughn said quietly. When his son and wife swung their heads around to stare at him, he cleared his throat and spoke a little louder. “Fine. You can go to UCLA. I don’t want to hold you back any more than we already have. You deserve to have the life you dreamed about, even if you never thought you could tell us about what that life was.”

“I can’t believe you just said yes, Michael.” Lauren was shocked at this new development. Vaughn had been the one who kept telling her time and again over the nine years they’ve spent in this one location that there’s no way they could let their son make his own, reckless, fool hearted decisions about his life. It had been determined that it wasn’t safe by Lennox.

“I can’t believe he did, either,” Tyler added. This whole thing was too easy.

“Lennox is going to hate this.”

“No, he’s not. Jim’s been encouraging me to look into colleges in the States since I was a sophomore.”

“But I’m sure he didn’t intend for you to go to California.”

“No one really did,” Vaughn pointed out. “But it looks like you’re going.”

“We should call Jack.”

“Jack Bristow?” Tyler asked. “Isn’t he some big man in the CIA who everyone seems to be scared to death of?”

“He’s a personal friend of your father’s,” Lauren said with a smug smile. “Your father used to date his daughter.”

“No way! You and Aunt Syd dated.”

“You really do have a good memory, don’t you, Ty?” Vaughn couldn’t believe his son remembered that Jack Bristow was Sydney’s father. The last he had spoken of Jack to Tyler was eight years earlier. Shaking his head, he reached into his back pocket and hit the three on speed dial. “Lennox. Get Jack on the phone. We need to have a conference as soon as Lauren and I get in. We’re bringing Ty with us.” He paused. “No, you heard me right. Tyler’s coming in with us.” Another pause. “Don’t argue with me. You have no idea the deep s*** we’re going to be in with Jack. Tyler has to come with me.” Vaughn sighed and hung up the phone. “He was not happy.”

Lauren nodded her understanding and turned to her son. “So, it looks like you get to come into work with your parents finally.”
 
Tyler sounds jealous :P

The Vaughns sound like theyre going to... unleash (I couldnt think of a better word) something bad when they come back to America. Cant wait for that to happen :lol:

Thanks for the PM and update soon!
 
Author’s note: I know I’ve been slacking off on updating, and I’m really going to try to get something done with these stories over my Spring Break. However, I’m going to focus mostly on finishing up the other story I have going. But I will try to update this one at least once more!

Chapter Thirteen

Sark watched his daughter run around the Christmas tree lot, searching for the perfect tree. Ever since they had spent a Christmas in Maine, Hope had gotten addicted to setting up a massive pine tree in their living room and decorating it to her liking. For some reason, she wanted to put thousands of pieces of tinsel on it this year. That was something to look forward to.

In their four years of living in L.A. once more, Sark had to admit that things had quieted down to where putting tinsel on the tree was the most pressing thing he had to worry about. The developments in the prophecy plaguing the thoughts of Sydney and him were few and far between. They hadn’t even spoken of it in over a month.

He broke away from his thoughts as his daughter yelled his name. She was standing in front of the scrawniest tree he had ever seen and pointing emphatically at it. “Is that the one you want?”

“Yeah, isn’t it great?”

Sark couldn’t believe that Hope had found the worst tree on the lot and fell in love with it. Trying to use his best happy voice, he replied, “It’s fantastic.”

His daughter collapsed into a fit of laughter immediately. He stared at her in confusion until she had calmed down five minutes later. “What’s so funny?”

“I just wanted to see if I could get you to lie to me. That’s the worst tree in the whole world, Dad.”

He punched her gently on the arm. “You need to stop tormenting me, kid.”

“Mom does it.”

“Your mother is allowed to. I love her.”

“And you don’t love me?”

He looked at her seriously. “I tolerate you. There’s a difference.” Hope stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, and he couldn’t help but laugh. Grabbing her, he pulled her in close to his side. “Now that pout you got from me. Let’s find us the perfect Christmas tree.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Sydney paced back and forth before the front door of her house. Her father was supposed to call her. She had received an anonymous letter on the front porch about half an hour after Sark and Hope had left to go on the perfect Christmas tree hunt.

Someone was offering her information on her daughter’s future for a million dollars.

Her cell phone began to rang, and she rushed into the dining room to pick it up. “Talk to me, Dad.”

“The offer seems legitimate. The man said he was from a faction of the newly reformed K-Directorate. Our best guess, he’s one of the underlings that doesn’t like the fact that he won’t be able to work his way up to a powerful position like he always wanted. Figures that the CIA might give him the money he needs to buy himself a place.”

“Are you actually telling me that I should find a way to get the million dollars?”

“No. There’s no way you should pay this guy that much. Whatever information he has, it can’t be that hard to get. He’s just an underling. Give me a few hours, and I’ll figure out what he knows.”

“Dad, I don’t have a few hours. He said that he would send someone to get the money by six o’clock. It’s already 4:52. I don’t have the time to let you do some detective work.”

“I’m still going to do it. Maybe it won’t take as long as I think it will.”

“This has set-up written all over it.”

“I know that. But sometimes you have to take a leap of faith into a trap to get to the point you want to be at.”

“You’re philosophizing. It’s quite annoying.”

“Then call your mother and tell her your problems,” Jack said before hanging up.

Sydney felt herself smile for the first time since she had gotten that anonymous note. Her father always got touchy whenever she mocked him. Sighing, she dialed her mother’s number. Irina picked up on the second ring. “What’s wrong, Sydney?”

“I don’t only call you when something’s wrong,” she defended, making her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. She sat down into the comfy chair by the window with a plop.

“Yes, you do. I haven’t sent you on a solid assignment for a year, Sydney, because you’re so concerned for my granddaughter. The only time you call me is when you think Hope’s in danger.”

“What a lie,” she said, rolling her eyes even though she knew that her mother was right.

“But it’s the truth. What’s wrong with Hope?”

“I got a letter this morning from a man claiming he had information on the Hope’s prophecy. He demanded a million dollars in return for the info. I didn’t know what to do and, since Sark is currently out with Hope, I didn’t have anyone to ask.”

“You called your father,” Irina said, recognizing Sydney’s failure to get to the point as the usual sign for when she went to her father for help before she called her mother.

“I figured with his obvious CIA resources he might be able to find the origin of the note. And before you say it, I know you have CIA resources, too. But they’re all black ops-y and I don’t really understand what you can and can’t do with them.”

“Point taken. So what did Jack have to say?”

“He said he thought it was an underling of K-Directorate trying to make a name for himself so that he can be promoted farther up. Told me that I shouldn’t give him the money.”

“How long do you have?”

“About one hour, then there is going to be an operative on my door demanding the million.”

“I knew that bringing you three back to Los Angeles was the wrong decision.”

“We haven’t been targeted by one mercenary since we came here,” Sydney pointed out.

“Mostly because I’ve had some of my agents protecting you.”

“I told you not to do that, Mom.”

“It was necessary.”

Sydney growled to herself in frustration. It wasn’t really that the idea of having her mother assign her protection that made her so angry. It was the fact that she was so caught up in her domestic bliss that she hadn’t noticed these alleged agents’ presence. There used to be a time when things like that didn’t get by her.

“So you want my advice, right?” Irina asked after a moment of silence. “The situation sounds completely fishy. Shoot the agent when he shows up at your house.”

“Just shoot him? No verbal exchange? No talk about what he knows?’

“Shoot him,” Irina affirmed. “It will make things a lot easier on you. If he does have some information that is pertinent to your life, it’s better you didn’t know. You’re happy right now, and you shouldn’t mess with that. If the offer is a sham, then you just saved yourself a few minutes. And you’ll have time to clean up before your family gets home.”

Sydney heard a creak on the stairs leading up to the second floor. “What time is it?” she asked her mother.

“5:19. Why?”

She sat still and listened for a few minutes in silence.

“Sydney?” Irina prodded.

“Sorry. I thought I heard someone in the house, but it couldn’t have been. Sark and Hope shouldn’t be home for at least another two hours if I know the way my daughter picks out a Christmas tree. That agent with all the info shouldn’t be here until six o’clock, so it’s not them.”

“You should run a perimeter check. Don’t get sloppy.”

“I know. I’ll call you in the morning and let you know how everything went.”

Sydney heard the floorboard creak beside her before she registered that a hand was covering her mouth. The phone hit the floor just about the time, she turned to get a look at her attacker.

“Sydney? Sydney? Are you there?” Irina’s voice rang through the phone. “Damnit, Sydney. Answer me.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Sark pulled into the driveway and let out the breath he had been holding as he saw the porch light on. That was Sydney’s code to him that everything was okay. If anything went wrong while he was out, the first thing she would do was hit the switch to turn the light off. It was the first thing they had done when they moved into the house. An electrician had been called, and he was quickly paid lots of money to install light switches in each room that controlled the porch light and not ask questions while he was doing it.

Hope slid out of the car once Sark had pulled it to a stop in front of the closed garage. “Dad?” she said hesitantly as they both began to untie the tree from the hood of the SUV.

“What’s the problem, munchkin?” he said with a smile.

“I have a question for you.” When her father continued to untie the tree without paying her much attention, she added, “About boys.”

Sark felt his whole body stiffen, and his breath push out of his lungs. “You have a question about boys? Aren’t you too young for that kind of thing?”

“I’m fourteen, Dad.” She sighed. “I knew I should have just waited and asked Mom.”

“Give me a moment,” he said. Stopping he thought about his daughter. She seemed too innocent to be worrying about boys in any way. It was amazing how hard a life she had had so far, but she had still managed to turn out normal. Someday he was going to have to shatter that innocent world. But at least it wasn’t today. He hefted the tree off the roof with help from Hope and finally turned to her. “I’m sorry, love. You took me by surprise there. What is it you want to know?”

“There’s this boy in my Math class named Tyler.”

Sark felt his body freeze up again even though there was no rationale to it. If his daughter happened to like a boy named Tyler in her Math class, that had no connection to Tyler Vaughn. Tyler Vaughn lived halfway around the world with his parents. Sark should know. He checked to make sure that fact hadn’t changed nearly every day and every night.

“Dad, you’re not breathing,” Hope said, pushing his shoulder lightly. “If I had known this would be so traumatic for you, I definitely would have asked Mom.”

“I’m fine,” Sark said. “My mind just wandered off somewhere. So, you like a boy named Tyler, huh?”

“Yeah. Except he doesn’t even talk to me. I keep asking him questions about our assignments, and all I get is one word answers.”

“Does Tyler like Math class?”

“No. He absolutely hates Math.”

“Well, there’s your problem. You need to talk to him about something you both are interested in.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one that’s in love with this Tyler character.”

Hope shot her father a dirty look. “I never said it was love.”

“It’s always love at your age.” Sark hooked his arm around his daughter’s neck. “Tell you what. Let’s go inside, tell your Mom about this Tyler character, and then we can get her opinion.”

Hope shut the door behind them as they went inside the house. She felt her father tense up for the third time. “Is something wrong?” she whispered. She was used to either one of her parents getting nervous at any possible moment. There seemed to always be some sort of crisis on the horizon for them to worry about.

Her parents had told her about the prophecy involving her on her thirteenth birthday, so she was pretty sure most of the tensing up had to do with her somehow. Still, it made her get worried for her parents.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” Sark said, assuring her with a smile. “I just though it might be smart to put the tree in the garage. We probably won’t get it up tonight, but it should be in the garage in case it snows. We don’t want a wet tree in the morning. Go upstairs and get your Mom. We’ll show her the tree once I get it inside the garage.”

Hope nodded and, after watching her father walk back outside, she made her way upstairs. “Mom? Where are you?” When there was no answer, she rolled her eyes. Her mother was probably enthralled in some file folder that her grandma or grandpa sent over with one of her trillion aunts or uncles. It seemed like she had the largest, non-blood related family in the world. “Mom,” she yelled again.

Pushing the door open, she saw the room in complete disarray. There were papers everywhere, and a steady buzzing coming from somewhere in the mess. On automatic, Hope stumbled into the room and tried to locate the buzzing. Kneeling down, she found her mother’s cell phone under a pile of ripped up books. It looked like there had been a phone call in progress.

Hope looked around the room, searching for something. What exactly that was she didn’t quite know. Her eyes rested on the light switch that matched the corresponding switches in every other room. There were claw marks all around it, as if someone was desperately trying to get the light to switch off.

Looking back on this moment, she would shudder at the memory of the shrill scream that erupted from her throat as she finally realized that her mother was gone.
 
hey, first to reply!! good timing i guess.

this is really good, and a good twist. u really need to upedate more often though, especially if every update is as good as this one!! :D

well written, and i like how everything ties in together. i like the tyler stuff too, very well done

thanx for the pm and UPDATE SOON!!!

aid
 
Hope slid out of the car once Sark had pulled it to a stop in front of the closed garage. “Dad?” she said hesitantly as they both began to untie the tree from the hood of the SUV.

“What’s the problem, munchkin?” he said with a smile.

“I have a question for you.” When her father continued to untie the tree without paying her much attention, she added, “About boys.”

Sark felt his whole body stiffen, and his breath push out of his lungs. “You have a question about boys? Aren’t you too young for that kind of thing?”

“I’m fourteen, Dad.” She sighed. “I knew I should have just waited and asked Mom.”

“Give me a moment,” he said. Stopping he thought about his daughter. She seemed too innocent to be worrying about boys in any way. It was amazing how hard a life she had had so far, but she had still managed to turn out normal. Someday he was going to have to shatter that innocent world. But at least it wasn’t today. He hefted the tree off the roof with help from Hope and finally turned to her. “I’m sorry, love. You took me by surprise there. What is it you want to know?”

“There’s this boy in my Math class named Tyler.”

Sark felt his body freeze up again even though there was no rationale to it. If his daughter happened to like a boy named Tyler in her Math class, that had no connection to Tyler Vaughn. Tyler Vaughn lived halfway around the world with his parents. Sark should know. He checked to make sure that fact hadn’t changed nearly every day and every night.

“Dad, you’re not breathing,” Hope said, pushing his shoulder lightly. “If I had known this would be so traumatic for you, I definitely would have asked Mom.”

“I’m fine,” Sark said. “My mind just wandered off somewhere. So, you like a boy named Tyler, huh?”

“Yeah. Except he doesn’t even talk to me. I keep asking him questions about our assignments, and all I get is one word answers.”

“Does Tyler like Math class?”

“No. He absolutely hates Math.”

“Well, there’s your problem. You need to talk to him about something you both are interested in.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. You’re the one that’s in love with this Tyler character.”

Hope shot her father a dirty look. “I never said it was love.”

“It’s always love at your age.”

LoL... thats kinda embarassing. I woulda asked my mom not my dad about... "boys" :laughbounce:

And :eek:

Update already! Im dying to know whos kidnapped Sydney!

Excellent update, thanks for the PM :smiley:
 
Chapter Fourteen

Sark sat down on the couch next to his daughter. It was four in the morning, but he had finally gotten every single person to clear out of his house. Once he had come in to find his daughter distraught and his wife gone, he had called in both of Sydney’s parents.

The house had been swarming with officially sanctioned and unofficially sanctioned agents, trying to turn up any clue that was present. Now there were only a handful of agents positioned around the perimeter of his home. If it were up to him, no agents would be there. But it had been the only way to get Irina to agree to leave him “alone” with his daughter.

Sark sighed. There was so much to do. He was going to have to call in all his old, unused favors to get his wife back. It wasn’t really a matter of wondering if he would get her back. He knew he would get her back. The only unanswered question was how long it would take him.

“I want to help,” Hope said, softly, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?” he asked, playing dumb.

“I’m fourteen, Dad, not an idiot. You and Mom work for Grandma Irina. You do something shady for the government, unlike Grandpa Jack who doesn’t do anything shady.”

“That’s arguable.” Sark took a deep breath and turned to face his daughter. “So, you finally know what your mom and I do for a living.”

“I’ve know since I was ten,” she pointed out. “You guys weren’t that secretive.”

“We really thought we were.”

“I want to help,” she repeated.

“I don’t see how you can. This is a dangerous world that Syd and I work in.”

“I can help,” she insisted.

“You’re not qualified,” he said, pulling Hope into his arms. “I wish you could help, darling, but you’re just not…” His voice trailed off. “I’ll get her back, you know that right?”

“Yeah, I know that, Dad.”

Sark relaxed slightly as he sensed the truth in her words. She believed him. At least he had that right now.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

It was obvious that the Covenant had played some part in his wife’s abduction, but Sark still couldn’t find any leads. There was no evidence of who had taken her in the massive chaos that used to be his bedroom. She had been gone for twenty-four hours, and all he could think of to do was pace back and forth in their room searching for clues.

“There has to be something,” he whispered to himself. His eyes landed on the scratches where Sydney had tried to flip on their ‘panic light’. Shuddering, he walked out of the room before the reality of what must have happened to her sank in.

The house was quiet ever since he sent Hope to stay with her grandmother. In a time like this, Irina was really the only person he trusted to keep his little girl safe. The world would self-destruct before she let her granddaughter get hurt in any way.

Hearing his cell phone begin to ring, he took the last few stairs in one giant leap and ran to the front hall where it was sitting on a table. “Tell me something good.”

“It’s Will.”

“How are things over the pond?” Sark asked, trying to allow himself to relax slightly in order to keep Will on the line as long as possible. At this point, any sort of human contact was good in distracting him from his complete lack of action. Things were beginning to seem hopeless.

“I’m not there right now. Irina has me working on figuring out some more information in this whole Rambaldi mess, and she asked me to come to the States for a little while until my assignment is complete. Anyway, the reason I’m calling you is I think that Sydney’s disappearance might have something to do with some new developments I’ve come across.”

“Lay it on me,” Julian said, sitting down on the couch in the next room.

“I found out that the Covenant has been digging around in some of Sydney’s past. It seems like they’ve had a man following different people in her life including myself. Most interestingly, it seems the Covenant has renewed the interest they’ve had in California. They seem to be preparing for some influx in activity in the area.”

“I don’t know why. There’s nothing changing over her anytime soon. Sydney and I have been running all the menial missions for Irina so that we can watch over Hope. She seems to have integrated herself nicely into her school. She’s even made some friends.”

“That’s good to hear. Hope deserves to have a normal life.”

“I know she does, but I don’t think that’s something that any of us can really give her on a permanent basis. Especially right now, considering her mother was abducted. Why don’t you tell me more about why this new information is leading to Sydney being taken?”

“I think the Covenant thinks they can get their hands on Hope by initiating an exchange of her for Sydney. They’re banking on you loving your wife enough to give up anything and everything.”

Sark shook his head. “They obviously don’t know Sydney. She would literally murder me if I traded our daughter’s life for hers.”

“I thought you might want to know in case the Covenant contacts you to set up the exchange.”

“I hope they do, Will. Because then I might be able to trace where their communication is coming from.”

“Good luck, Julian.”

“You’ll let me know if you get more information that I need to know?”

“Will do.”

Sark closed his phone and flung it at the chair opposite him. So, the Covenant thought he would trade away his daughter after years of giving his life up to protect her from falling into their hands. He was going to have to think this development over and find a way to use it to his advantage.

Sighing, he sat up and retrieved his phone. There were a few phone calls he had to make first, though.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Hope groaned and flung her book across the room. It hit the wall with a resounding smack.

“What is wrong, young lady?” Irina said, sticking her head into the kitchen of her house.

“This math assignment is ridiculous. Why couldn’t I have to compose a story or something interesting instead of having to do these stupid algebra equations?”

“Algebra is important,” Irina called as she walked back out of the room. “Keep at it.”

“Keep at it,” Hope mocked silently. “I don’t see her using Algebra in her job. I guess being the head of a secret government agency might give you a free pass to having to do math, but still!”

Groaning again, she slid out of her chair and wandered her way down the hall. She caught the sound of her grandmother on the telephone and couldn’t help but listen.

“You really think that the Covenant is going to try to pull an exchange, Julian?”

Hearing her father’s name, Hope couldn’t hold herself back and pushed the slightly closed door open in order to walk into the room. Irina wagged her finger at Hope but didn’t tell her to leave. “Good thing I have Will assigned to be in California for a few more months. He’s in a position to get us some information without the Covenant being the wiser. So, did Jack have any new information? Wait. What am I saying? Of course he doesn’t. His little CIA minions never seem to get any of the information that we need.”

Hope heard her father say something before Irina said goodbye and hung up the phone. She winced slightly and closed her eyes expecting her grandmother to start laying into her about entering the room while she was doing business. When no yelling came, she opened one eye an inch. “Aren’t you going to yell at me?”

“No. I think you know that you should have knocked before coming in.”

Sighing, Hope let out the breath she hadn’t known she had been holding and walked over to where Irina sat at her desk. “What did my Dad have to say?”

“It seems your Uncle Will gave him a lead.”

Hope waited for Irina to say more. When it didn’t come, she frowned slightly.

“Don’t start to pout. You know from experience that no one in your family will talk business around you. You’re still too young.”

“I want to help you guys find my Mom,” Hope pleaded. “There has to be something I can do.”

“You don’t have enough experience to help us with this one, darling. This business might get dangerous real soon if we’re going to get Sydney back.”

“I have experience. I know all about what you do on your missions.”

“No, you don’t,” Irina said, standing up and walking over to her granddaughter. “I’m sorry, Hope. But until you get a little older, the things your parents and I do are just not safe for you to partake in.”

Hope shrugged off the hand Irina had placed on her shoulder. “Fine. I guess I’ll just go back to my safe homework and let you guys handle the fact that my Mom is in danger out there somewhere.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Irina managed to call before Hope slammed the door shut. “This is not good,” she whispered taking a deep breath. “Not good at all.”

Hope stalked down the hallway and back into the kitchen. “There has to be something I can do to help, no matter what everyone tells me. I know that I’m not too young to help.”

The voices of her father and grandmother rang through her head, taunting her lack of experience, to the point that she was starting to form a headache. Frustrated, she flung the last remaining book that was on the table to the floor. “Fine. If they don’t think I have enough experience, then I’ll have to come up with a way to get it.”

Suddenly, the perfect solution to her problems popped up in her head. “It has to work,” she whispered, running the details through her head a few times. She had to be sure that this was the right move to make before she started. She grabbed a piece of paper and pencil off the ground and started mapping it out.

Ten minutes later, having decided that her plan was definitely foolproof, Hope dialed a familiar number. “Uncle Will. What are you up to?”

“Nothing besides trying to track down who your mother got herself kidnapped by this time. Has something happened?”

“No, nothing to do with my mom. I’m going a little stir crazy with Grandma.”

Will chuckled. “It still makes me laugh when you call Irina that.”

“She is my grandmother.”

“I know that, squirt.”

“Are you busy right now?”

“Depends on what you want from me.”

Hoping that he would see through the slight lie she was telling, she started explaining why she called, “Grandma told me that you are working on a project here in California for her. I was wondering if I could come stay with you up North while you’re here in the States. I figured Dad might be able to focus more knowing that I‘m completely out of harms way while he searches for Mom.”

“What else do you want because that sounds too self-sacrificing for your normal mode of operations?”

“Well, there are a few things you know that I think I should know.”

“What’s in this deal for me?”

“Remember a few years back when I found those old love letters you wrote my Mom? The ones you said you’d die from embarrassment if she ever saw?” Hope snickered to herself. “Well, turns out that I never really threw them away.”

“That’s blackmail, Hope,” Will scolded.

“My Dad taught me well.”

“All right, kid. As long as you can get your Dad and Grandma to agree to it and as long as it’s not going to cause me to get into any trouble, you can come stay with me.”

“And you’ll teach me a few things?”

“I guess, you little brat.”

“Thank you, Uncle Will,” she squealed.

“Don’t start in with the gratitude. You haven’t gotten anyone else to agree with your little plan.”

“They will. I have everyone wrapped around my finger,” she said unabashedly. “See you soon.”

“Yeah. See you soon, kid.”

Hope hung up the phone and went running to go tell Irina what she had just gotten Will to promise. As she had said, she knew the secret to getting everyone to agree to this. She would just point out the benefits of having her out of the way where the Covenant doesn’t know she will be.

“It has to work,” she told herself. In her mind, there was really no other option.
 
Author's Note: This was just a quick chapter I whipped up to pass a little time (;)) and to get all all the funnies I seem to have stored up inside me today.

Chapter Fifteen

Sydney stared at the large man standing shoulder to shoulder with her on her right and then looked over at the man of equal size on her left. “Okay,” she thought, assuring herself. “True, they are rather large and intimidating and probably armed with at least half a dozen guns a piece. But you’re Sydney Bristow. You should be able to handle this.”

Before she could make a move, there was a slight sting around her neck as the metal collar rubbed her the wrong way. She groaned and gave it a good yank. It didn’t budge.

“Don’t you think that you guys could take this off for just a minute?” she inquired.

“The boss says there’s no way you’re supposed to get that thing off. I’m not some stupid thug,” the man on her right said.

Sydney nodded in exasperation and turned to the guy on her left. “I don’t suppose you are?” When the man just stared her down, she shrugged. “I thought not. So what are we supposed to do now, boys? I really haven’t had a good escape plan since you put this stupid accessory on me a week ago. There’s nothing to keep us on our toes.”

Neither man answered. Sighing, she walked to the other side of her cell and sat down on the small bunk she had slept in for every night for the two months she had been cooped up in wherever she was. Days had just flown by like mad as she tried time after time to get herself out of this predicament. Every time, though, it seemed like the others were one step ahead of her. Honestly, it didn’t surprise her when she thought of who had taken her and put her in this hellhole.

“What’s on the agenda today?” she asked, lying down and folding her hands back behind her head. “Your boss seems to always have some kind of work for me to do. Helps keep it real to know what’s going on in the world, I guess.”

“We haven’t gotten word.”

“Okay. So, does anyone know any show tunes?”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“Your dad’s on the phone, squirt,” Will screamed from downstairs.

Hope paused in working the punching bag to give a small smile before vaulting down the stairs and into the kitchen. As she reached for the phone, Will pulled it up high out of her reach. “You’re getting serious about those workouts, Hope.”

“Now is not the time for an intervention,” Hope said, jumping up and grabbing the phone. Sticking her tongue out at Will as a final act of defiance, she said, “Hi, Dad. What’s up?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to hear your voice. It’s hard to get you on the line these days.”

“I’m busy. Uncle Will has been making sure that I get all A’s in my tutorials for school.”

“Good. Your mom would kill me if she found out you were flunking when she gets back.”

Hope smiled at his comment. “Still optimistic after two months?”

“Your mother is coming home, kid.”

“I know. I don’t doubt it. No one can really keep you two apart from what Will tells me. Seems like amnesia and gunshot wounds are your usual thing. How much you want to bet that Mom has either one or another?”

“That’s not funny,” he scolded.

“Humor helps you through the tough times. That’s what Grandpa Jack has been telling me non-stop for the past sixty-four days.”

“Your grandpa has no idea what humor is.”

“You should have heard him when he came up to visit last weekend. I think there might have been an actual laugh like noise coming from his lips.” Hope could hear Sark shuffling through some papers on the other end of the phone. “Are you busy?”

“Anna just brought me a lead she had on your mother. I’m going to have to talk with you more later.”

“No problem. I have stuff to get back to.” Hope hung up the phone and jogged back up the stairs.

Will was standing in the middle of the gym, cutting air idly with a sword.

“You didn’t tell me the Geenata blade came in!” she screamed running up to him. “Let me touch.”

“You have your father’s enthusiasm for painful weapons.”

Hope flipped the sword out of his hand and into hers. “And my mother’s efficiency. Now arm yourself before I cut you again like I did last time you were too slow.”

“Your father is going to kill me,” Will said before picking a sword from off the wall to his left.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Sydney hummed the chorus of Oklahoma as she hit her hundredth push-up. Her arms were beginning to get sore, but this was pretty much the only exercise she could get when shoved into a two by two cell with a pair of big, burly men. “No jogging for me,” she mumbled, standing up and dusting off her hands. She turned to the man closest to her. “Okay. Thug #1, I guess it’s high time I learned your name. You’ve been guarding me during the weekday afternoon shift pretty consistently. So, do you have a name? Are you married? What are your hobbies? How did you start working for such a psychopath?”

“We’re really not allowed to converse with you,” the other man said.

“So says Thug #2.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re new. And I don’t like you.”

“He’s right, Sydney. Boss would kill us if we keep talking to you.”

“Fine. I’ll go back to amusing myself. Got to do something to pass the time before my husband shows up and kills you all.” She flung herself back onto the bed. “I’m thinking of a number between one and one hundred. Oh wait. You can’t talk to me. This game is going to really suck.” She paused while continuing to stare at the ceiling. “Fifty-two? Nope. Twenty-nine? So close. Fifteen?”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“Anna, is this true?” Sark said, holding up the files she had given him a few minutes earlier.

“I’ve had multiple sources confirming. Your wife is safely tucked away in Puerto Deseado.”

Sark pushed himself to his feet and ran over to Anna. “You are a goddess.” Unable to control his joy, he picked her up and swung her in a few circles before planting a kiss on her lips.

“I’ve been told that by many men,” Anna said with a smile. “Do you want me to assemble a team?”

“Call Irina. I’m sure she’ll want to go. We have to keep it quiet which means no CIA. Since Sydney left them, they can’t seem to do anything right.”

Anna smirked. “You didn’t even have to tell me that. I’ve fought the CIA for years. Listen. You should probably call Hope back and tell her the news.”

He shook his head emphatically. “No way. Hope does not know about this until we get Sydney back. I don’t want to get her hopes up just to shatter them a few hours later.”

“My sources aren’t wrong,” Anna insisted.

“I hope they’re not, but I can’t risk it.”

“I guess this means Will stays in the dark, too.”

“He has to. I can’t chance that he’ll let something slip or even look a little too preoccupied while we’re going in to get my wife. Hope’s extremely perceptive. She always knows where I hid her Christmas presents almost before I hid them.”

“Understood. But just remember, the only reason I’m taking orders from you is that it’s convenient for me. You’re one of the few people I respect.” Anna held up her finger and pointed at him as she backed out of the room. “But don’t push me, Julian. Even I have boundaries.”

As she was about to close the door behind her, she paused and poked her head back inside. “You should probably call Michael Vaughn in Fiji. He’s been going crazy worrying about Sydney.”

“I thought there wasn’t supposed to be any contact between my life and his. Wasn’t that made clear to everyone?”

“Lines are starting to get a little hazy.” Anna gave him one last wicked smile before disappearing from sight.

“That man always had a hero complex when it came to my wife,” Sark muttered. The second she was out of the room, he picked up the phone and started dialing. There were quite a few things to arrange before he could break up his wife’s little impromptu vacation.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Sydney looked at the cement floor. “I think I might try to the tunneling option again. I haven’t done that in a few weeks.” She looked over at the men. “Or if you want, I can try to sever the bars again. That was fun times.”

“How do you expect to sever the bars when you have no weapon?” the new thug asked her.

“Aren’t you, Mister Chatty?” Sydney said walking over to him. “Not afraid of losing your job all the sudden?”

“My curiosity is getting the best of me, Mrs. Lazarey.”

“Come on now. Why the formality all of the sudden?” She smiled widely at him. “You can call me Sydney. And now to answer your question, there are plenty of weapons for me to use. Last time, I knocked both the guards unconscious and used the knife one of them foolishly had on his person to break through four of the bars before the higher ups got wise to my ways.”

“We aren’t allowed to carry knives.”

“And now you know why.” Sydney rolled her eyes. “You think they could have gotten me thugs that were at least on my level with the clever deductions.” She turned her attention to the other man. “How about you? Got any stories you want to hear?”

“The one where you ended up handcuffed to your bed with the guard’s clothing on for two days before someone realized that you had tried another one of your crazy escape plans and failed is pretty funny.”

“You were there for that one. There’s no need for me to retell it.”

“But it is rather funny.”

“Speaking of that day, how are the bruises on your neck?”

“Healing. I still don’t understand why you had to strangle me instead of just knocking me unconscious with the hammer. How you got a hammer I’ll never know.”

“I’ve got skills,” Sydney said, shrugging. She was about to start goading the rookie again when she heard a strange sound coming from down the hall. “Are those footsteps? I thought the changing of the guard wasn’t for at least four more hours.” She shrugged and made herself comfortable.

About a minute later, she got her answer.

“Hello, Syd,” the woman said, leering at her through the cell bars. “Sorry I couldn’t come see you earlier.”

Sydney waved off her concern. “Not a problem. I didn’t know you existed for the first thirty-something years of my life. I didn’t mind the wait. But can I ask you one thing? I still don’t understand why you felt the need to kidnap me, Nadia.”
 
This story is getting more interesting by the chapter!

Sarks getting.. oh how can i say it... soft no... sloppy? Maybe why hes taken so long to find Sydney just comes with age *shrugs*

LoL Hope certainly does take after her father. How cute!

And lol... do you kinda hate Nadia by any chance?

Excellent updates, thanks for the PM's :smiley:
 
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