Michael_Vartan_Hottie
Cadet
Loved it please tell me there will be a sequel after this!!!!
Running for Freedom
- Thread starter derevkointraining
- Start date
Loved it please tell me there will be a sequel after this!!!!
farliieansds225
Cadet
ahhhh hope everyones ok!!
awesome update
loved it
only 3 more chs??!!!!
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
awesome update
loved it
only 3 more chs??!!!!
thanx for the pm
cant wait for more
apofieldagentnadiasantos
Cadet
OH NO!!!! WHAT"S GOING TO HAPPEN!!!
Nadia
Time is Precious-Romance Fiction
Nadia
Time is Precious-Romance Fiction
Nicky_Bristow
Cadet
I hope she calls Jack on time. Only three more chapters? I love this fic I don't want it to end
°°NiCkY°°
°°NiCkY°°
undercover_spy
Cadet
Sorry I didn't reply to yesterday's update. I've been doing crazy amounts of homework and projects, and this is the first time I've had a chance to read. Both updates were awesome. I can't believe that there are only 3 chapters left. I'm sure Jolie and Isabelle will be okay. Well, I guess I should get started on my homework (Ugh, I hate the end of semesters ). Thanks for the PM !
). Thanks for the PM !sydneymicheal
Cadet
I hope Syd gets thorugh to Jack in time...
I'm glad that Izzie and Jo were allright...
I don't understand why they didn't stop Sark from leaving...
Three Chapters left
Thanks for the pm.
Can't wait for more.
I'm glad that Izzie and Jo were allright...
I don't understand why they didn't stop Sark from leaving...
Three Chapters left Thanks for the pm.
Can't wait for more.
derevkointraining
Cadet
derevkointraining
Cadet
B/c I'll be way too busy tomorrow...
Chapter 16
An uneasy feeling came over Jolie as she sat in Jack’s office watching Isabelle sleep. Something wasn’t right and she felt the urgent need to get out of APO with her sister as fast as possible. Quickly she packed their things in her backpack and the baby’s diaper bag and carefully transferred her sister from the car seat to the stroller.
“I’ll be right back, Iz, so stay put.” Jolie left her sister alone for a few minutes as she ran into her mother and father’s offices and shoved anything that seemed of importance into her backpack and another plastic bag she found. She couldn’t understand why she felt she had to do this, but her uneasy feeling was growing stronger. Feeling satisfied with what she packed, she ran back to Isabelle and began wheeling the stroller toward the elevator.
As she waited, hell seemed to break loose. She heard Jack shouting orders and people running around with their laptops and files.
“She’s over here!” Jolie looked up to see Rachel standing in front of her. “Your grandfather was looking for you, kiddo.”
“Jolie, what were you doing?” Jack asked as he walked over.
“Leaving. I had this feeling that we needed to get out of here and I wanted to protect Izzie.” Jack’s eyes seemed to glaze over with tears as he knelt to her level.
“Good girl.” He pulled Jolie into a hug. “Take Isabelle up to street level and walk about one hundred feet down the street to the left. Wait in front of the donut shop. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded seriously. “What’s going on, Grandpa?” He stared at her for few seconds before answering.
“I’ll tell you later. Go, now,” he said, shoving her into the elevator that had just opened. She stared at him fearfully as the doors closed, sealing her off from him. She gazed into the stroller where Isabelle still slept without a care in the world.
“It’s you and me now, Iz. Please don’t wake up and cry. Please.” She prayed to herself and quickly left the elevator as soon as the doors opened into a parking garage. Rapidly walking to the exit, she burst into the sunlight and turned left as she was instructed.
Reaching the donut shop she stood back against the building and watched as the street seemed to fill with panicked people coming from all directions. Fear filled her heart and suddenly a very nervous man ran straight into the stroller, jolting Isabelle awake and causing her to scream out crying. Without so much as an apology, he ran away, leaving Jolie to calm her sister.
“It’s okay, Izzie. It’s okay. Please don’t cry…” Jolie stood on her tiptoes to stand over the stroller and stroked her sister’s cheek. Tears began to fall down her own eyes as the baby kept crying. Finally, Jolie hoisted her out of the stroller and sat on the ground, cuddling her in her lap, which seemed to help. Less than two minutes later, they felt the ground tremor as more panicked people continued to run down the street. Isabelle whimpered softly against her sister’s chest and Jolie looked down.
“I know how you feel,” she murmured to the baby, desperately trying not to cry hysterically herself. They sat like that for at least another minute before she heard someone shouting her name.
Jack knelt down in front of them. “Are you two okay?” Jolie looked into his eyes and burst out crying, causing Isabelle to start wailing again. Sighing, Jack took the baby out of her arms and secured her in one arm before grabbing Jolie with the other one.
“Need some help there?” Rachel asked, coming up behind them and taking the baby out of his arms.
“Thanks,” Jack replied, standing up with Jolie in his arms. His cell phone went off a minute later. “Bristow.”
“Dad? You need to get everyone out of APO…”
“Already done, Syd. Everything went down a few minutes ago.” He heard a gasp on the other end.
“Jolie and Isabelle…”
“Are perfectly fine and are right here next to me.”
“Do they know what happened?”
“Aware probably, but no details.”
“Did anyone…not make it?”
Jack paused for a moment before saying just one name. “Tom.” He saw Rachel’s face tighten as she tried not to start crying again for the loss of her friend.
Sydney sighed. “How is Jo?”
“Upset and scared…she saved Isabelle though.” Jack heard Sydney whimper softly and suddenly Vaughn’s voice filled his head.
“Jack?”
“Vaughn.”
“It was Sark. He’s after the same thing we are and wants to get it before we do. What happened exactly?”
“Our sensors detected an explosive in the train tunnels. Tom went to investigate and when he found it, there was about six minutes left. We sounded the alarm and everyone grabbed whatever they could and got out. Everyone but…”
“Tom,” Vaughn said, sadly.
“It was his choice, actually. We yelled at him to get out. He felt he could save everyone more effectively if he stayed to work on slowing down the timer.”
There was a moment of silence between the two men. “And the girls are all right?”
“Yes, they are right here with me. Do you want to speak to Jolie?”
“Yeah.” Vaughn heard Jack mumble something to the little girl.
“Daddy?” A timid voice came over the line, filling Vaughn’s ear and he sighed with relief.
“Hi, princess. I’m so glad to hear your voice. Some pretty scary things are happening, aren’t they?”
“Uh huh. Are you and Mommy okay?”
“We’re fine, sweetie. Mommy is standing next to me.”
“Okay.” She paused. “I grabbed a lot of files from your offices. I don’t know what I took but I grabbed a lot of random things off the desks.”
Vaughn chuckled. “I’m sure whatever you took was a big help, princess. And Mommy said you saved your sister by leaving APO quickly.”
“Uh huh.” Another pause. “When are you guys coming home?”
“As soon as possible. We’re on our way.”
“I want you to come home now.”
“We are. I promise.”
“Okay,” she whispered and then paused again. “Daddy, Grandpa says we have to go.”
“Okay. Just listen to anything he says right now and Mommy and I will be there to give you a hug before you know it. We love you.”
“We all love you too. Bye, Daddy.”
~~~
“Goodbye, princess.” Vaughn flipped the phone closed.
“How is she?” Sydney asked.
“She’s scared. I can tell. But she’s trying to be very brave.”
Sydney shut her eyes tightly. “She shouldn’t have to deal with this. I didn’t want my kids having to grow up with this insanity in their lives. That’s not what I imagined when I thought about having children one day. When THEY told me that Jolie was…you know…I was actually relieved in a way because I didn’t want her around this life.”
“Syd…we’re almost there. Just a little longer and we’re done. Come on…be strong. We’re going to end this. Let’s go.”
Sydney and Vaughn bolted out of the building and jumped into the van where Renee was waiting. “We have to get back, fast!” Sydney shouted and Renee hit the gas and veered the vehicle toward the private airfield where their plane waited for them.
“What happened?” Vaughn filled her in on the encounter with Sark and she narrowed her eyes. “I should have taken him out when I had the chance, years ago!” Within minutes, Renee had made it back to the airfield and they got ready to take off as quickly as they possibly could.
><><><
By the time Sydney, Vaughn and Renee had landed, Jack had herded all essential APO team members and his granddaughters to one of his many secret bunkers. The rest of the employees had been sent home and told to sort through whatever files they grabbed as well as to keep working on tasks they had been delegated. Marshall had immediately established a new server that everyone could access remotely.
Jolie was helping Marshall upload the files that her parents had sent him digitally. “Okay, Jolie. You can print out the documents that I upload. You’ll use this computer while I work on that one,” Marshall said, pointing at two machines. “Just keep everything in order starting with number one.” Jolie nodded and went to work for a few hours, pausing when Jack had dinner brought in.
“Grandpa, when can we go home?”
“Soon, sweetheart. I sent a team to investigate the house to ensure it is safe. I’m just waiting for the report.”
“When will Mommy and Daddy be back?” Just as the little girl asked her question, Jack’s cell phone rang. A minute later he turned to Jolie smiling.
“Good news. We’re heading home now and we’ll be meeting your parents there.”
“Great, let’s go!” Jolie urged, jumping up and trying to rush her grandfather along.
A half hour later they were pulling up to the house in time to see Sydney and Vaughn arrive as well. The entire family embraced on the front lawn, happy everyone was safe and sound.
“Sydney, Vaughn, take the night off to be with your girls. We’ll continue analyzing everything tomorrow,” Jack said before he departed, handing Isabelle over to her mother. Vaughn quickly scooped his older daughter into his arms and ushered his family inside.
Once inside, the family huddled together on the living room couch in silence. Isabelle was nestled in Sydney’s arms, contently sucking on her pacifier, while Jolie was sitting in between both parents, gripping onto them tightly. After fifteen minutes, Vaughn finally asked if anyone needed anything. A few more minutes of silence ensued before Sydney finally answered.
“I think we should just all go to bed. We have a lot of work ahead of us, starting tomorrow, to analyze all of that information we discovered.” Vaughn agreed while Sydney gently nudged her older daughter. “Want to sleep in our room tonight, kiddo?” Jolie nodded and the family went upstairs to get their rest.
><><><
The next week was full of studying documents and photographs, trying to solve the mystery of why the Horizon was so important and what it actually was. Finally, six days after the bombing, Marshall had a break through.
“I’ve deciphered the coordinates! They pin point a location in the Umbria Region of Italy.”
“Mount Subasio…” Sydney breathed. “It’s the only logical place.” Suddenly, the words on the photographed documents she had been staring at made sense. “Oh! These documents are written in Italian…but BACKWARDS. I thought it was a weird form of Latin.” She began reviewing some of the documents again and scribbling notes with fervor.
Twenty silent minutes went by before she looked up with a grim expression on her face. “The Horizon is a golden sphere which contains an elixir that Rambaldi created. This elixir will give anyone who drinks just one sip of it endless life…essentially…the power of invincibility. That’s why people are after it.”
“That’s probably what our father’s had figured out…” Vaughn said to Renee quietly. “They knew this secret and tried to destroy evidence of it. That’s why they had to go into hiding.”
“Well, we’re going to destroy it all once and for all,” Sydney said firmly and looked around. “We need a plan.”
After serious discussion, it was decided that Vaughn, Sydney, Renee, Jack, and Irina would travel to Italy and begin locating the supposed cave within Mount Subasio where the Horizon was hidden. Nadia and Weiss would first go to Switzerland to entice Dean with details of the location, causing the Prophet Five members to all gather in Italy where the APO team would be waiting to eliminate them. Marshall and Dixon would stay at their “headquarters” in Jack’s bunker to monitor and Rachel, who was still slightly shaken up over the bombing and in mourning over her close friend, was given the safe but important task of watching Jolie and Isabelle. All three of them would be temporarily moved to a hotel suite in Italy in order to be close by Sydney and Vaughn.
“Okay people, Wave One of agents should be ready for heels up in three hours,” Jack shouted. Wave One included him, as well as Vaughn, Sydney, Renee and Irina, for they would need the most time to locate the cave and prepare for battle. Weiss and Nadia were Wave Two and would leave a day and a half after Wave One. Rachel would travel with the girls a day after Wave Two left.
People scurried around, plans were finalized, weapons were gathered and everyone felt confident they would be ending this forever within just a few days.
TBC
2 more updates
Chapter 16
An uneasy feeling came over Jolie as she sat in Jack’s office watching Isabelle sleep. Something wasn’t right and she felt the urgent need to get out of APO with her sister as fast as possible. Quickly she packed their things in her backpack and the baby’s diaper bag and carefully transferred her sister from the car seat to the stroller.
“I’ll be right back, Iz, so stay put.” Jolie left her sister alone for a few minutes as she ran into her mother and father’s offices and shoved anything that seemed of importance into her backpack and another plastic bag she found. She couldn’t understand why she felt she had to do this, but her uneasy feeling was growing stronger. Feeling satisfied with what she packed, she ran back to Isabelle and began wheeling the stroller toward the elevator.
As she waited, hell seemed to break loose. She heard Jack shouting orders and people running around with their laptops and files.
“She’s over here!” Jolie looked up to see Rachel standing in front of her. “Your grandfather was looking for you, kiddo.”
“Jolie, what were you doing?” Jack asked as he walked over.
“Leaving. I had this feeling that we needed to get out of here and I wanted to protect Izzie.” Jack’s eyes seemed to glaze over with tears as he knelt to her level.
“Good girl.” He pulled Jolie into a hug. “Take Isabelle up to street level and walk about one hundred feet down the street to the left. Wait in front of the donut shop. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded seriously. “What’s going on, Grandpa?” He stared at her for few seconds before answering.
“I’ll tell you later. Go, now,” he said, shoving her into the elevator that had just opened. She stared at him fearfully as the doors closed, sealing her off from him. She gazed into the stroller where Isabelle still slept without a care in the world.
“It’s you and me now, Iz. Please don’t wake up and cry. Please.” She prayed to herself and quickly left the elevator as soon as the doors opened into a parking garage. Rapidly walking to the exit, she burst into the sunlight and turned left as she was instructed.
Reaching the donut shop she stood back against the building and watched as the street seemed to fill with panicked people coming from all directions. Fear filled her heart and suddenly a very nervous man ran straight into the stroller, jolting Isabelle awake and causing her to scream out crying. Without so much as an apology, he ran away, leaving Jolie to calm her sister.
“It’s okay, Izzie. It’s okay. Please don’t cry…” Jolie stood on her tiptoes to stand over the stroller and stroked her sister’s cheek. Tears began to fall down her own eyes as the baby kept crying. Finally, Jolie hoisted her out of the stroller and sat on the ground, cuddling her in her lap, which seemed to help. Less than two minutes later, they felt the ground tremor as more panicked people continued to run down the street. Isabelle whimpered softly against her sister’s chest and Jolie looked down.
“I know how you feel,” she murmured to the baby, desperately trying not to cry hysterically herself. They sat like that for at least another minute before she heard someone shouting her name.
Jack knelt down in front of them. “Are you two okay?” Jolie looked into his eyes and burst out crying, causing Isabelle to start wailing again. Sighing, Jack took the baby out of her arms and secured her in one arm before grabbing Jolie with the other one.
“Need some help there?” Rachel asked, coming up behind them and taking the baby out of his arms.
“Thanks,” Jack replied, standing up with Jolie in his arms. His cell phone went off a minute later. “Bristow.”
“Dad? You need to get everyone out of APO…”
“Already done, Syd. Everything went down a few minutes ago.” He heard a gasp on the other end.
“Jolie and Isabelle…”
“Are perfectly fine and are right here next to me.”
“Do they know what happened?”
“Aware probably, but no details.”
“Did anyone…not make it?”
Jack paused for a moment before saying just one name. “Tom.” He saw Rachel’s face tighten as she tried not to start crying again for the loss of her friend.
Sydney sighed. “How is Jo?”
“Upset and scared…she saved Isabelle though.” Jack heard Sydney whimper softly and suddenly Vaughn’s voice filled his head.
“Jack?”
“Vaughn.”
“It was Sark. He’s after the same thing we are and wants to get it before we do. What happened exactly?”
“Our sensors detected an explosive in the train tunnels. Tom went to investigate and when he found it, there was about six minutes left. We sounded the alarm and everyone grabbed whatever they could and got out. Everyone but…”
“Tom,” Vaughn said, sadly.
“It was his choice, actually. We yelled at him to get out. He felt he could save everyone more effectively if he stayed to work on slowing down the timer.”
There was a moment of silence between the two men. “And the girls are all right?”
“Yes, they are right here with me. Do you want to speak to Jolie?”
“Yeah.” Vaughn heard Jack mumble something to the little girl.
“Daddy?” A timid voice came over the line, filling Vaughn’s ear and he sighed with relief.
“Hi, princess. I’m so glad to hear your voice. Some pretty scary things are happening, aren’t they?”
“Uh huh. Are you and Mommy okay?”
“We’re fine, sweetie. Mommy is standing next to me.”
“Okay.” She paused. “I grabbed a lot of files from your offices. I don’t know what I took but I grabbed a lot of random things off the desks.”
Vaughn chuckled. “I’m sure whatever you took was a big help, princess. And Mommy said you saved your sister by leaving APO quickly.”
“Uh huh.” Another pause. “When are you guys coming home?”
“As soon as possible. We’re on our way.”
“I want you to come home now.”
“We are. I promise.”
“Okay,” she whispered and then paused again. “Daddy, Grandpa says we have to go.”
“Okay. Just listen to anything he says right now and Mommy and I will be there to give you a hug before you know it. We love you.”
“We all love you too. Bye, Daddy.”
~~~
“Goodbye, princess.” Vaughn flipped the phone closed.
“How is she?” Sydney asked.
“She’s scared. I can tell. But she’s trying to be very brave.”
Sydney shut her eyes tightly. “She shouldn’t have to deal with this. I didn’t want my kids having to grow up with this insanity in their lives. That’s not what I imagined when I thought about having children one day. When THEY told me that Jolie was…you know…I was actually relieved in a way because I didn’t want her around this life.”
“Syd…we’re almost there. Just a little longer and we’re done. Come on…be strong. We’re going to end this. Let’s go.”
Sydney and Vaughn bolted out of the building and jumped into the van where Renee was waiting. “We have to get back, fast!” Sydney shouted and Renee hit the gas and veered the vehicle toward the private airfield where their plane waited for them.
“What happened?” Vaughn filled her in on the encounter with Sark and she narrowed her eyes. “I should have taken him out when I had the chance, years ago!” Within minutes, Renee had made it back to the airfield and they got ready to take off as quickly as they possibly could.
><><><
By the time Sydney, Vaughn and Renee had landed, Jack had herded all essential APO team members and his granddaughters to one of his many secret bunkers. The rest of the employees had been sent home and told to sort through whatever files they grabbed as well as to keep working on tasks they had been delegated. Marshall had immediately established a new server that everyone could access remotely.
Jolie was helping Marshall upload the files that her parents had sent him digitally. “Okay, Jolie. You can print out the documents that I upload. You’ll use this computer while I work on that one,” Marshall said, pointing at two machines. “Just keep everything in order starting with number one.” Jolie nodded and went to work for a few hours, pausing when Jack had dinner brought in.
“Grandpa, when can we go home?”
“Soon, sweetheart. I sent a team to investigate the house to ensure it is safe. I’m just waiting for the report.”
“When will Mommy and Daddy be back?” Just as the little girl asked her question, Jack’s cell phone rang. A minute later he turned to Jolie smiling.
“Good news. We’re heading home now and we’ll be meeting your parents there.”
“Great, let’s go!” Jolie urged, jumping up and trying to rush her grandfather along.
A half hour later they were pulling up to the house in time to see Sydney and Vaughn arrive as well. The entire family embraced on the front lawn, happy everyone was safe and sound.
“Sydney, Vaughn, take the night off to be with your girls. We’ll continue analyzing everything tomorrow,” Jack said before he departed, handing Isabelle over to her mother. Vaughn quickly scooped his older daughter into his arms and ushered his family inside.
Once inside, the family huddled together on the living room couch in silence. Isabelle was nestled in Sydney’s arms, contently sucking on her pacifier, while Jolie was sitting in between both parents, gripping onto them tightly. After fifteen minutes, Vaughn finally asked if anyone needed anything. A few more minutes of silence ensued before Sydney finally answered.
“I think we should just all go to bed. We have a lot of work ahead of us, starting tomorrow, to analyze all of that information we discovered.” Vaughn agreed while Sydney gently nudged her older daughter. “Want to sleep in our room tonight, kiddo?” Jolie nodded and the family went upstairs to get their rest.
><><><
The next week was full of studying documents and photographs, trying to solve the mystery of why the Horizon was so important and what it actually was. Finally, six days after the bombing, Marshall had a break through.
“I’ve deciphered the coordinates! They pin point a location in the Umbria Region of Italy.”
“Mount Subasio…” Sydney breathed. “It’s the only logical place.” Suddenly, the words on the photographed documents she had been staring at made sense. “Oh! These documents are written in Italian…but BACKWARDS. I thought it was a weird form of Latin.” She began reviewing some of the documents again and scribbling notes with fervor.
Twenty silent minutes went by before she looked up with a grim expression on her face. “The Horizon is a golden sphere which contains an elixir that Rambaldi created. This elixir will give anyone who drinks just one sip of it endless life…essentially…the power of invincibility. That’s why people are after it.”
“That’s probably what our father’s had figured out…” Vaughn said to Renee quietly. “They knew this secret and tried to destroy evidence of it. That’s why they had to go into hiding.”
“Well, we’re going to destroy it all once and for all,” Sydney said firmly and looked around. “We need a plan.”
After serious discussion, it was decided that Vaughn, Sydney, Renee, Jack, and Irina would travel to Italy and begin locating the supposed cave within Mount Subasio where the Horizon was hidden. Nadia and Weiss would first go to Switzerland to entice Dean with details of the location, causing the Prophet Five members to all gather in Italy where the APO team would be waiting to eliminate them. Marshall and Dixon would stay at their “headquarters” in Jack’s bunker to monitor and Rachel, who was still slightly shaken up over the bombing and in mourning over her close friend, was given the safe but important task of watching Jolie and Isabelle. All three of them would be temporarily moved to a hotel suite in Italy in order to be close by Sydney and Vaughn.
“Okay people, Wave One of agents should be ready for heels up in three hours,” Jack shouted. Wave One included him, as well as Vaughn, Sydney, Renee and Irina, for they would need the most time to locate the cave and prepare for battle. Weiss and Nadia were Wave Two and would leave a day and a half after Wave One. Rachel would travel with the girls a day after Wave Two left.
People scurried around, plans were finalized, weapons were gathered and everyone felt confident they would be ending this forever within just a few days.
TBC
2 more updates
derevkointraining
Cadet
Chapter 17:
“We’ll see you soon,” Vaughn promised his older daughter as they tearfully said goodbye three hours later.
“Be safe, Daddy. Please don’t die.” She buried her face into his shoulder as she said those words. Vaughn was stunned by her choice of what to say but just stood there, rubbing her back and whispering promises he hoped he could live up to. Finally he placed her on the ground so she could say goodbye to her mother while he took Isabelle out of Sydney’s arms.
“Come here, Jolie,” Sydney said softly, pulling the little girl into her lap. They hugged tightly. “We’re going to come back, Jo,” Sydney tried to reassure her daughter. “I want you to be good for Aunt Nadia tonight and then Rachel for the next few days, okay? Help them with Isabelle and listen to what they say. Can you do that for me? Please?”
“Yeah,” Jolie sniffed.
“I know you will. I love you, peanut. I’m doing this for you and your sister, so you two can grow up without the constant fear of this spy business.”
“I know,” the little girl replied in a small voice. “I love you too.” A few more hugs later, everyone boarded the flight and crossed their fingers that this plan would go without any glitches.
><><><
Ten hours after landing in Italy, the Wave One team (or Team Alpha as they started calling themselves) located the secret Rambaldi cave after much climbing and searching. Cautiously making their way through the dark tunnel, they suddenly came upon an open “room” in the cave that had the Rambaldi symbol etched into the wall and a stone vault-like contraption in the middle of the space.
“Look, there is some sort of puzzle on top of this. Help me figure out how to put it together so we can get it open,” Sydney said, after studying the vault.
“I’ll help. I probably know the most about Rambaldi,” Irina volunteered, stepping forward. No one argued and mother and daughter quickly set to work. It took almost two hours, but finally they were able to open the vault and Sydney reached in to grab the sphere.
Everyone stared at the glittering gold object in her hand as Jack stepped forward to take hold of his wife, unsure if she’d retreat into her Rambaldi-obsessed self.
“Jack – get off me! I don’t want what is inside!” Irina hissed in disgust.
“One can never be sure with you, Irina.”
“Okay, enough fighting. Renee, where is our container we were going to drain the elixir into?” Sydney questioned.
Renee rummaged through her pack and produced the desired object. Opening the sphere slowly, Sydney drained the liquid into an airtight container then rinsed the Horizon with water from her canteen to ensure there were no drops of the elixir left. Vaughn secured the container in his pack to be destroyed later and everyone glanced at each other.
“Now, we wait,” Jack said as everyone began to set up gear for their next few days in the cave.
~~~
A day and a half later Nadia’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie Jack was carrying.
“Come in Team Alpha.”
“This is Team Alpha, what’s your status?”
“Hey, Dad!” Sydney chuckled at her sister’s informality.
“EVERGREEN,” Jack emphasized, “what’s your status.” The rest of them could practically hear Nadia rolling her eyes.
“Everything is on schedule, RAPTOR,” Nadia emphasized back. Irina smirked at her daughter’s spunk. “Houdini and I are en route and the Prophet Five members are gathering for a meeting in Zurich. I estimate they’ll be out to Italy about a day after we arrive.”
“Copy. Travel safe.”
“Will do.’ Everyone heard Nadia pause briefly. “Bye, DAD!” Then a click was heard signaling that her walkie-talkie had been shut off. Jack looked less than amused as the rest of the team was busy trying to hold in their laughter.
Another ten hours went by before Nadia touched base again to let them know they had arrived and would be at the cave as soon as they completed the climb. An hour later they greeted the team with a surprise guest.
“Look who we caught trying to sneak in,” Weiss said heartily as he threw Sark to the ground in front of the other team.
“Sark,” Sydney growled. “I guess your little plan to destroy us failed because we aren’t the ones tied up right now.” Sark just stared at the ground in silence.
“Go put him in the corner,” Vaughn suggested and Weiss dragged him over. Afterwards, everyone gathered around for a hushed meeting.
“Is everything set?” Nadia questioned.
“Yes. Explosives are rigged and we’re going to take turns monitoring the outside to see when Prophet Five members begin their climb. Once we see them, we’re going to hide in the offset of the main room of the cave. That room is completely hidden and it took us a while to find, so no one will spot us and we will be safe when the main room explodes because this other room is at an angle that won’t be affected. The liquid has already been drained and all instructions relating to the elixir have been destroyed. Oh, and we’ll just leave Sark in the room when Prophet Five gets here. I suggest we tranquilize him so he can’t warn them,” Sydney explained. Everyone nodded and began moving their gear to the smaller hidden room. Weiss volunteered for the first watch as the rest of them slept for a few hours.
~~~
“Everyone wake up!” Vaughn said in a hushed tone as he rushed back into the cave from his post outside. “It’s show time. They should be here in an estimated half hour.”
“I’ll go administer the tranquilizer to Sark,” Sydney mumbled groggily and wandered into the main room of the cave where she said a few choice words to Sark before knocking him unconscious. Taking her place with the rest of the team, they waited in a hushed silence and watched for the Prophet Five members.
Forty-five minutes later, all twelve had gathered in front of the stone vault. The team let them open it to find the sphere and a note they left that said “sorry, you lose.” As soon as expressions of confusion and anger were present on the Prophet Five member’s faces, the APO team pressed their explosive triggers and silently watched as Prophet Five was blown to bits and buried by rock debris. Vaughn noticed that the sphere itself shattered into thousands of tiny glass pieces.
The explosion did cause the secret room that the APO team was hiding in to tremble a bit and a loose rock fell and knocked Jack to the ground. Irina gasped but soon tumbled down herself as the tremble grew larger and a thick dust filled the air. No one was able to see anything for a few minutes.
After the dust settled, everyone slowly began to peel themselves off the floor as the air cleared. Sydney and Vaughn locked eyes from across the room and a tear slowly made its way down her cheek.
Nadia crawled over to her father, who was lying unconscious a few feet to her left. She checked his pulse. It was there, but weak. She sighed in relief and whispered in his ear to hang on.
Irina, Weiss and Renee stood up and surveyed the damage. It was over. Prophet Five was gone.
“Come in Team Alpha…what is your status?” Jack’s walkie-talkie crackled to life with Dixon’s voice and Nadia grabbed it quickly.
“This is Evergreen. It’s over. We’re all alive but need Med-Tech.”
“Copy that, Evergreen. We’re coming to get you.”
By now, everyone was standing and wordlessly looking around. Vaughn crossed the room to his wife and they looked into each other’s eyes for a minute before collapsing into each other’s arms. “It’s over, Syd. It’s finally over.” He felt his shoulder grow damp and realized she was crying. “I love you, honey,” he whispered into her ear. “You did it. We can finally have that normal, boring family life you want.” He felt her chuckle lightly against his chest before she pulled back and looked up at him.
“There’s nothing I want more.”
“So, how will we entertain ourselves from now on without constant danger?” Weiss cracked as he and Irina knelt down next to Nadia and Jack.
“I don’t care. I’m just happy my girls can grow up safely.” Sydney said and then noticed Renee standing in the corner. “You okay?” She asked.
Renee looked up and nodded. “I guess I finally got my revenge…” she replied and smiled as Sydney came over to stand with her.
“What are you going to do now, Renee?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll figure it out.”
Sydney smiled. “Okay. But don’t be a stranger.” Renee smiled wider and agreed.
Fifteen minutes later, the medical team arrived for Jack and Irina left with them. The rest of the extraction team arrived within minutes to safely transport Weiss, Nadia, Renee, Sydney and Vaughn out of the cave.
Chapter 18:
Four Hours Later, a Hotel in Italy
Jolie was pacing in the hotel room suite as Rachel sat on the couch with Isabelle. “Where ARE they, Rachel? Shouldn’t they be here by now?” The little girl whined, glaring in Rachel’s direction.
“They’ll be here, sweetheart. Be patient. Why don’t you sit with me and your sister?” Jolie warily glanced over to where Isabelle was fidgeting in Rachel’s lap and trying to grab her hair.
“No thanks. Too nervous to sit.” As she went back to pacing, a key card was heard in the door and she slowly turned to see who was coming inside.
Sydney and Vaughn cautiously entered, covered in dirt and looking exhausted. Too anxious to get back to their family, they hadn’t even bothered to change upon returning from that final mission.
Elated, Jolie screamed and rushed over to her parents. Vaughn scooped her up easily and hugged her more tightly than he ever had. “Is it over, Daddy?” He nodded and she threw her arms around his neck. Sydney then sandwiched her in between them to join in the hug.
Baby noises filled the air and the three of them looked over to see Isabelle looking a little jealous. They laughed and Sydney retrieved her two and a half-month-old to join in the group hug. Rachel looked on with tears in her eyes and knew their lives would be dramatically different from this point forward.
><><><
A month later the entire family was gathered at Weiss and Nadia’s for a barbeque. As everyone sat down to eat, Jack cleared his throat and silently passed out envelopes to Vaughn, Sydney, Nadia and Weiss, as well as keeping one for himself.
“Dad, what is this?” Nadia inquired.
“Let’s open them,” he said with a smile. Everyone cautiously opened their envelope and inside were official documents from CIA headquarters releasing each of them from agent status and employment. In addition, the envelope contained their final paychecks, which included at least 80% hazard pay and all of their unused vacation hours.
“Oh my god, it’s really over, all of it. We’re done…” Sydney breathed. “All we have to do is sign our forms, send them back and return any government issued equipment we are in possession of…” She drifted off. “I kind of don’t know what I am going to do with myself now. I’ve been a spy since I was old enough to work!”
“Well, honey, judging by our paychecks, we don’t need to make any quick decisions regarding future employment…” Vaughn joked, lightening the serious atmosphere. Everyone laughed and the conversation began to flow again.
“I guess this is a good time to mention that Eric and I are going to have a baby,” Nadia suddenly said, turning to her husband and smiling.
“Oh, Jack…this is going to be our THIRD grandchild…” Irina moaned, pretending to be upset but quickly congratulating her younger daughter.
Jolie sat back as everyone talked and laughed. Her first six and a half years of life had been anything but normal and she was anxious to have two parents who had regular, boring jobs and were home for dinner every night. She marked the date in her head to remember that this was her family’s independence day. This was the day everyone was free from a life of danger and espionage. This was the day where they all simply became Bristow’s, Vaughn’s or Weiss’ and nothing more.
“I’d like to make a toast,” the little girl cried out, holding up her cup of grape juice. The adults quickly lifted their goblets of wine and little Isabelle, who had begun to mimic people’s actions, pulled her pacifier out of her mouth and held it out towards Jolie. “To freedom,” Jolie said with a smile.
“Freedom,” everyone echoed before clinking glasses. Vaughn smiled down at his little princess and leaned over to kiss the top of her head.
“Well said, sweetheart. Well said.”
Sydney glowed from across the table, watching her husband and daughter. This was the day she had been waiting for since she found Danny murdered in the bathtub. Although, the past eight years from that day hadn’t been too terrible…they did give Sydney her loving husband and two precious daughters.
Whatever the past eight years had brought her she only knew one thing. Her life was about to start again and she couldn’t be happier.
><><><
Epilogue
Six-year-old Isabelle was pulling various photo albums off the living room shelves and frantically flipping through them, not appearing to find whatever she was looking for. Sighing, she pulled out yet another album and tossed it aside mere moments later.
“Whatcha lookin’ for, Belle?” Three-year-old Jack asked his sister, using the special name only he called her.
“What?” She asked, looking up. “Oh, nothing Jack. Go…play with your Legos or something.” Pouting, the small boy walked away. Finally, Isabelle got up and timidly walked upstairs to where her almost thirteen-year-old sister was giggling with her best friend Sarah.
Approaching Jolie’s door, she knocked lightly and hovered in the doorway. “What do you want, Iz?” Jolie asked, pausing in her conversation.
“Are you adopted?” The younger girl asked her sister. Jolie gave her an incredulous look.
“What?!”
“I asked if you were…”
“I know what you asked, freakshow,” Jolie rudely interrupted. “Why would you ask such a stupid question? I’m the mirror image of Mom!”
“Then why are there no baby pictures of you?” Isabelle shot back. As soon as the question left her mouth, Jolie stilled and frantically tried to figure out what to say. Six years ago, just a few days after her parents officially left CIA life behind them, they decided they’d never speak of their past and dredge up all the horrible things they had to go through. They made Jolie swear up and down that she wouldn’t tell her siblings about where she lived until she was three, or what Sydney and Vaughn used to do for a living.
The subject of the past had never come up in front of the two youngest Vaughn’s until now, and Jolie wasn’t quite sure what to say. Finally, she mumbled “go ask Mommy” to her sister and told her to get out.
Annoyed, Isabelle went back downstairs and walked out to the backyard patio where her parents were relaxing.
“There’s my little angel,” Vaughn cooed his to daughter as she climbed into his lap. “What’s up Isabelle?”
“Nothin’ much,” she said, smiling. “Daddy? How come I’m your angel and Jolie is your princess?”
He looked down at her, amused at the question. “I don’t know, sweetie. That’s just what I decided to call you guys.”
“Oh.” She paused and traced her fingers around a pattern on Vaughn’s t-shirt. “What was I like when I was born?”
Sydney chuckled lightly. “You were no angel, that’s for sure. You, little girl, liked to cry,” she said, leaning over to gently poke the little girl’s stomach.
Isabelle giggled. “Really? Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you wanted attention…or, maybe you just wanted to be held, or maybe you were tired or hungry. We just don’t know.”
“Was Jolie like that?”
Silence hung in the air for just a split second before Sydney answered. “No…Jolie… was different. She liked to sleep a lot,” she said slowly.
“Oh.” Isabelle grew silent again, trying to think of a way to trap her parents into telling her why there appeared to be no trace of Jolie until she was about three. “How come Jolie was at your wedding?”
Sydney glanced at Vaughn, wondering why her little girl was asking so many questions. Forcing a smile onto her face she leaned closer to Isabelle again. “My, my! Someone’s a nosey little girl today! Well, if you must know…Mommy and Daddy just did things a bit differently. Jolie was an unexpected, but good, surprise in our relationship before we got married.”
“But…you waited like, four years after she was born to get married!”
Sydney frowned slightly. “Daddy and I were just waiting till we felt things were perfect, that’s all.”
Isabelle went to open her mouth again but luckily was interrupted by little Jack running outside with tears in his eyes due to a cut on his finger. Suddenly left alone as both parents rushed to her brother’s aid, she just knew something was fishy about her parent’s past, and she really wanted to find out what it was.
~~~
Later that night
“Mom?” Jolie questioned, hovering in the doorway to the living room where her parents had been talking in hushed tones for the past hour after putting her sister and brother to bed. Sydney looked up and smiled at her oldest child.
“Hi, sweetie. Do you need something?”
“Kinda…”
Vaughn noticed she had a strange look on her face and patted the couch next to him. “Come here, princess. What’s wrong?”
Jolie walked over and sunk down onto the couch in between her parents. Vaughn immediately wrapped his arms around her, glad that she still let him at her age, and she leaned back onto his chest. “Today Isabelle asked me a weird question…” she began and quickly noticed that her parents exchanged an odd glance.
“What did she ask?”
“Well, she wanted to know if I was adopted because she couldn’t find any baby pictures of me…” she trailed off when she heard Sydney sigh. “What? Did she ask you too?”
“She asked us some other random questions…” Vaughn said quietly and the three of them sighed again, knowing how difficult their past really was. “I guess she’s starting to figure out in her mind that some things in our family are a little different than in her friend’s families,” he finished.
“So what are we gonna do?” Jolie asked, looking back and forth at her parents. They were silent, wondering how to answer that question. In order to create a normal environment after they left the CIA they slowly began blending into the general public. Vaughn used his degree in international studies, along with his knowledge of geography and languages, to work for a large multi-national corporation that dealt with security systems. Sydney taught for a few years but became a stay-at-home mom once she learned she was pregnant with a third child. Now she was working on a book that she hoped would be published.
Jolie did home schooling with her grandmother until she was eleven and the other children her age were entering middle school. In order to appear more “normal” and have a regular life, the Vaughn’s worked out a deal with the school for her to attend all elective classes such as phys ed and art, and during the classes where all her peers would be in social studies or English, math or science, she’d have a private tutor in the library to do more advanced work with her. This arrangement allowed Jolie to learn at her rapid pace as well as participate in normal adolescent after school activities such as drama or sports. Jolie loved the arrangement and enjoyed being on her school’s female lacrosse team as well as in the drama club.
Jack and Irina enjoyed their spy-free life by traveling to all the places they had been on “business” and finally exploring them. Weiss and Nadia also took on regular jobs and were busy raising two children of their own that were close to the ages of little Jack and Isabelle.
The entire family had been more than happy to start fresh and everything had been working well until now when Isabelle was beginning to get curious. Now Sydney started to worry how long it would be until the past came back to haunt them.
“Mom? Mommy? You there? So, what are we gonna do?” Jolie asked again, cutting into Sydney’s thoughts.
Turning back to her daughter, she smiled. “We’ll take it one day at a time and figure it out.”
“And remember, princess, you can’t…”
“I know, Daddy. I can’t tell her anything. Trust me, I don’t want to.” Jolie shuddered at her memories of the past and snuggled closer to her father, much like she used to do as a little girl. He smiled and held her a little more tightly.
“We’ll get through this. We always do.”
THE END!
Thank you all for reading. Thanks to those of you who would write responses...I love reading them all.
“We’ll see you soon,” Vaughn promised his older daughter as they tearfully said goodbye three hours later.
“Be safe, Daddy. Please don’t die.” She buried her face into his shoulder as she said those words. Vaughn was stunned by her choice of what to say but just stood there, rubbing her back and whispering promises he hoped he could live up to. Finally he placed her on the ground so she could say goodbye to her mother while he took Isabelle out of Sydney’s arms.
“Come here, Jolie,” Sydney said softly, pulling the little girl into her lap. They hugged tightly. “We’re going to come back, Jo,” Sydney tried to reassure her daughter. “I want you to be good for Aunt Nadia tonight and then Rachel for the next few days, okay? Help them with Isabelle and listen to what they say. Can you do that for me? Please?”
“Yeah,” Jolie sniffed.
“I know you will. I love you, peanut. I’m doing this for you and your sister, so you two can grow up without the constant fear of this spy business.”
“I know,” the little girl replied in a small voice. “I love you too.” A few more hugs later, everyone boarded the flight and crossed their fingers that this plan would go without any glitches.
><><><
Ten hours after landing in Italy, the Wave One team (or Team Alpha as they started calling themselves) located the secret Rambaldi cave after much climbing and searching. Cautiously making their way through the dark tunnel, they suddenly came upon an open “room” in the cave that had the Rambaldi symbol etched into the wall and a stone vault-like contraption in the middle of the space.
“Look, there is some sort of puzzle on top of this. Help me figure out how to put it together so we can get it open,” Sydney said, after studying the vault.
“I’ll help. I probably know the most about Rambaldi,” Irina volunteered, stepping forward. No one argued and mother and daughter quickly set to work. It took almost two hours, but finally they were able to open the vault and Sydney reached in to grab the sphere.
Everyone stared at the glittering gold object in her hand as Jack stepped forward to take hold of his wife, unsure if she’d retreat into her Rambaldi-obsessed self.
“Jack – get off me! I don’t want what is inside!” Irina hissed in disgust.
“One can never be sure with you, Irina.”
“Okay, enough fighting. Renee, where is our container we were going to drain the elixir into?” Sydney questioned.
Renee rummaged through her pack and produced the desired object. Opening the sphere slowly, Sydney drained the liquid into an airtight container then rinsed the Horizon with water from her canteen to ensure there were no drops of the elixir left. Vaughn secured the container in his pack to be destroyed later and everyone glanced at each other.
“Now, we wait,” Jack said as everyone began to set up gear for their next few days in the cave.
~~~
A day and a half later Nadia’s voice crackled through the walkie-talkie Jack was carrying.
“Come in Team Alpha.”
“This is Team Alpha, what’s your status?”
“Hey, Dad!” Sydney chuckled at her sister’s informality.
“EVERGREEN,” Jack emphasized, “what’s your status.” The rest of them could practically hear Nadia rolling her eyes.
“Everything is on schedule, RAPTOR,” Nadia emphasized back. Irina smirked at her daughter’s spunk. “Houdini and I are en route and the Prophet Five members are gathering for a meeting in Zurich. I estimate they’ll be out to Italy about a day after we arrive.”
“Copy. Travel safe.”
“Will do.’ Everyone heard Nadia pause briefly. “Bye, DAD!” Then a click was heard signaling that her walkie-talkie had been shut off. Jack looked less than amused as the rest of the team was busy trying to hold in their laughter.
Another ten hours went by before Nadia touched base again to let them know they had arrived and would be at the cave as soon as they completed the climb. An hour later they greeted the team with a surprise guest.
“Look who we caught trying to sneak in,” Weiss said heartily as he threw Sark to the ground in front of the other team.
“Sark,” Sydney growled. “I guess your little plan to destroy us failed because we aren’t the ones tied up right now.” Sark just stared at the ground in silence.
“Go put him in the corner,” Vaughn suggested and Weiss dragged him over. Afterwards, everyone gathered around for a hushed meeting.
“Is everything set?” Nadia questioned.
“Yes. Explosives are rigged and we’re going to take turns monitoring the outside to see when Prophet Five members begin their climb. Once we see them, we’re going to hide in the offset of the main room of the cave. That room is completely hidden and it took us a while to find, so no one will spot us and we will be safe when the main room explodes because this other room is at an angle that won’t be affected. The liquid has already been drained and all instructions relating to the elixir have been destroyed. Oh, and we’ll just leave Sark in the room when Prophet Five gets here. I suggest we tranquilize him so he can’t warn them,” Sydney explained. Everyone nodded and began moving their gear to the smaller hidden room. Weiss volunteered for the first watch as the rest of them slept for a few hours.
~~~
“Everyone wake up!” Vaughn said in a hushed tone as he rushed back into the cave from his post outside. “It’s show time. They should be here in an estimated half hour.”
“I’ll go administer the tranquilizer to Sark,” Sydney mumbled groggily and wandered into the main room of the cave where she said a few choice words to Sark before knocking him unconscious. Taking her place with the rest of the team, they waited in a hushed silence and watched for the Prophet Five members.
Forty-five minutes later, all twelve had gathered in front of the stone vault. The team let them open it to find the sphere and a note they left that said “sorry, you lose.” As soon as expressions of confusion and anger were present on the Prophet Five member’s faces, the APO team pressed their explosive triggers and silently watched as Prophet Five was blown to bits and buried by rock debris. Vaughn noticed that the sphere itself shattered into thousands of tiny glass pieces.
The explosion did cause the secret room that the APO team was hiding in to tremble a bit and a loose rock fell and knocked Jack to the ground. Irina gasped but soon tumbled down herself as the tremble grew larger and a thick dust filled the air. No one was able to see anything for a few minutes.
After the dust settled, everyone slowly began to peel themselves off the floor as the air cleared. Sydney and Vaughn locked eyes from across the room and a tear slowly made its way down her cheek.
Nadia crawled over to her father, who was lying unconscious a few feet to her left. She checked his pulse. It was there, but weak. She sighed in relief and whispered in his ear to hang on.
Irina, Weiss and Renee stood up and surveyed the damage. It was over. Prophet Five was gone.
“Come in Team Alpha…what is your status?” Jack’s walkie-talkie crackled to life with Dixon’s voice and Nadia grabbed it quickly.
“This is Evergreen. It’s over. We’re all alive but need Med-Tech.”
“Copy that, Evergreen. We’re coming to get you.”
By now, everyone was standing and wordlessly looking around. Vaughn crossed the room to his wife and they looked into each other’s eyes for a minute before collapsing into each other’s arms. “It’s over, Syd. It’s finally over.” He felt his shoulder grow damp and realized she was crying. “I love you, honey,” he whispered into her ear. “You did it. We can finally have that normal, boring family life you want.” He felt her chuckle lightly against his chest before she pulled back and looked up at him.
“There’s nothing I want more.”
“So, how will we entertain ourselves from now on without constant danger?” Weiss cracked as he and Irina knelt down next to Nadia and Jack.
“I don’t care. I’m just happy my girls can grow up safely.” Sydney said and then noticed Renee standing in the corner. “You okay?” She asked.
Renee looked up and nodded. “I guess I finally got my revenge…” she replied and smiled as Sydney came over to stand with her.
“What are you going to do now, Renee?”
“I’m not sure. I’ll figure it out.”
Sydney smiled. “Okay. But don’t be a stranger.” Renee smiled wider and agreed.
Fifteen minutes later, the medical team arrived for Jack and Irina left with them. The rest of the extraction team arrived within minutes to safely transport Weiss, Nadia, Renee, Sydney and Vaughn out of the cave.
Chapter 18:
Four Hours Later, a Hotel in Italy
Jolie was pacing in the hotel room suite as Rachel sat on the couch with Isabelle. “Where ARE they, Rachel? Shouldn’t they be here by now?” The little girl whined, glaring in Rachel’s direction.
“They’ll be here, sweetheart. Be patient. Why don’t you sit with me and your sister?” Jolie warily glanced over to where Isabelle was fidgeting in Rachel’s lap and trying to grab her hair.
“No thanks. Too nervous to sit.” As she went back to pacing, a key card was heard in the door and she slowly turned to see who was coming inside.
Sydney and Vaughn cautiously entered, covered in dirt and looking exhausted. Too anxious to get back to their family, they hadn’t even bothered to change upon returning from that final mission.
Elated, Jolie screamed and rushed over to her parents. Vaughn scooped her up easily and hugged her more tightly than he ever had. “Is it over, Daddy?” He nodded and she threw her arms around his neck. Sydney then sandwiched her in between them to join in the hug.
Baby noises filled the air and the three of them looked over to see Isabelle looking a little jealous. They laughed and Sydney retrieved her two and a half-month-old to join in the group hug. Rachel looked on with tears in her eyes and knew their lives would be dramatically different from this point forward.
><><><
A month later the entire family was gathered at Weiss and Nadia’s for a barbeque. As everyone sat down to eat, Jack cleared his throat and silently passed out envelopes to Vaughn, Sydney, Nadia and Weiss, as well as keeping one for himself.
“Dad, what is this?” Nadia inquired.
“Let’s open them,” he said with a smile. Everyone cautiously opened their envelope and inside were official documents from CIA headquarters releasing each of them from agent status and employment. In addition, the envelope contained their final paychecks, which included at least 80% hazard pay and all of their unused vacation hours.
“Oh my god, it’s really over, all of it. We’re done…” Sydney breathed. “All we have to do is sign our forms, send them back and return any government issued equipment we are in possession of…” She drifted off. “I kind of don’t know what I am going to do with myself now. I’ve been a spy since I was old enough to work!”
“Well, honey, judging by our paychecks, we don’t need to make any quick decisions regarding future employment…” Vaughn joked, lightening the serious atmosphere. Everyone laughed and the conversation began to flow again.
“I guess this is a good time to mention that Eric and I are going to have a baby,” Nadia suddenly said, turning to her husband and smiling.
“Oh, Jack…this is going to be our THIRD grandchild…” Irina moaned, pretending to be upset but quickly congratulating her younger daughter.
Jolie sat back as everyone talked and laughed. Her first six and a half years of life had been anything but normal and she was anxious to have two parents who had regular, boring jobs and were home for dinner every night. She marked the date in her head to remember that this was her family’s independence day. This was the day everyone was free from a life of danger and espionage. This was the day where they all simply became Bristow’s, Vaughn’s or Weiss’ and nothing more.
“I’d like to make a toast,” the little girl cried out, holding up her cup of grape juice. The adults quickly lifted their goblets of wine and little Isabelle, who had begun to mimic people’s actions, pulled her pacifier out of her mouth and held it out towards Jolie. “To freedom,” Jolie said with a smile.
“Freedom,” everyone echoed before clinking glasses. Vaughn smiled down at his little princess and leaned over to kiss the top of her head.
“Well said, sweetheart. Well said.”
Sydney glowed from across the table, watching her husband and daughter. This was the day she had been waiting for since she found Danny murdered in the bathtub. Although, the past eight years from that day hadn’t been too terrible…they did give Sydney her loving husband and two precious daughters.
Whatever the past eight years had brought her she only knew one thing. Her life was about to start again and she couldn’t be happier.
><><><
Epilogue
Six-year-old Isabelle was pulling various photo albums off the living room shelves and frantically flipping through them, not appearing to find whatever she was looking for. Sighing, she pulled out yet another album and tossed it aside mere moments later.
“Whatcha lookin’ for, Belle?” Three-year-old Jack asked his sister, using the special name only he called her.
“What?” She asked, looking up. “Oh, nothing Jack. Go…play with your Legos or something.” Pouting, the small boy walked away. Finally, Isabelle got up and timidly walked upstairs to where her almost thirteen-year-old sister was giggling with her best friend Sarah.
Approaching Jolie’s door, she knocked lightly and hovered in the doorway. “What do you want, Iz?” Jolie asked, pausing in her conversation.
“Are you adopted?” The younger girl asked her sister. Jolie gave her an incredulous look.
“What?!”
“I asked if you were…”
“I know what you asked, freakshow,” Jolie rudely interrupted. “Why would you ask such a stupid question? I’m the mirror image of Mom!”
“Then why are there no baby pictures of you?” Isabelle shot back. As soon as the question left her mouth, Jolie stilled and frantically tried to figure out what to say. Six years ago, just a few days after her parents officially left CIA life behind them, they decided they’d never speak of their past and dredge up all the horrible things they had to go through. They made Jolie swear up and down that she wouldn’t tell her siblings about where she lived until she was three, or what Sydney and Vaughn used to do for a living.
The subject of the past had never come up in front of the two youngest Vaughn’s until now, and Jolie wasn’t quite sure what to say. Finally, she mumbled “go ask Mommy” to her sister and told her to get out.
Annoyed, Isabelle went back downstairs and walked out to the backyard patio where her parents were relaxing.
“There’s my little angel,” Vaughn cooed his to daughter as she climbed into his lap. “What’s up Isabelle?”
“Nothin’ much,” she said, smiling. “Daddy? How come I’m your angel and Jolie is your princess?”
He looked down at her, amused at the question. “I don’t know, sweetie. That’s just what I decided to call you guys.”
“Oh.” She paused and traced her fingers around a pattern on Vaughn’s t-shirt. “What was I like when I was born?”
Sydney chuckled lightly. “You were no angel, that’s for sure. You, little girl, liked to cry,” she said, leaning over to gently poke the little girl’s stomach.
Isabelle giggled. “Really? Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe you wanted attention…or, maybe you just wanted to be held, or maybe you were tired or hungry. We just don’t know.”
“Was Jolie like that?”
Silence hung in the air for just a split second before Sydney answered. “No…Jolie… was different. She liked to sleep a lot,” she said slowly.
“Oh.” Isabelle grew silent again, trying to think of a way to trap her parents into telling her why there appeared to be no trace of Jolie until she was about three. “How come Jolie was at your wedding?”
Sydney glanced at Vaughn, wondering why her little girl was asking so many questions. Forcing a smile onto her face she leaned closer to Isabelle again. “My, my! Someone’s a nosey little girl today! Well, if you must know…Mommy and Daddy just did things a bit differently. Jolie was an unexpected, but good, surprise in our relationship before we got married.”
“But…you waited like, four years after she was born to get married!”
Sydney frowned slightly. “Daddy and I were just waiting till we felt things were perfect, that’s all.”
Isabelle went to open her mouth again but luckily was interrupted by little Jack running outside with tears in his eyes due to a cut on his finger. Suddenly left alone as both parents rushed to her brother’s aid, she just knew something was fishy about her parent’s past, and she really wanted to find out what it was.
~~~
Later that night
“Mom?” Jolie questioned, hovering in the doorway to the living room where her parents had been talking in hushed tones for the past hour after putting her sister and brother to bed. Sydney looked up and smiled at her oldest child.
“Hi, sweetie. Do you need something?”
“Kinda…”
Vaughn noticed she had a strange look on her face and patted the couch next to him. “Come here, princess. What’s wrong?”
Jolie walked over and sunk down onto the couch in between her parents. Vaughn immediately wrapped his arms around her, glad that she still let him at her age, and she leaned back onto his chest. “Today Isabelle asked me a weird question…” she began and quickly noticed that her parents exchanged an odd glance.
“What did she ask?”
“Well, she wanted to know if I was adopted because she couldn’t find any baby pictures of me…” she trailed off when she heard Sydney sigh. “What? Did she ask you too?”
“She asked us some other random questions…” Vaughn said quietly and the three of them sighed again, knowing how difficult their past really was. “I guess she’s starting to figure out in her mind that some things in our family are a little different than in her friend’s families,” he finished.
“So what are we gonna do?” Jolie asked, looking back and forth at her parents. They were silent, wondering how to answer that question. In order to create a normal environment after they left the CIA they slowly began blending into the general public. Vaughn used his degree in international studies, along with his knowledge of geography and languages, to work for a large multi-national corporation that dealt with security systems. Sydney taught for a few years but became a stay-at-home mom once she learned she was pregnant with a third child. Now she was working on a book that she hoped would be published.
Jolie did home schooling with her grandmother until she was eleven and the other children her age were entering middle school. In order to appear more “normal” and have a regular life, the Vaughn’s worked out a deal with the school for her to attend all elective classes such as phys ed and art, and during the classes where all her peers would be in social studies or English, math or science, she’d have a private tutor in the library to do more advanced work with her. This arrangement allowed Jolie to learn at her rapid pace as well as participate in normal adolescent after school activities such as drama or sports. Jolie loved the arrangement and enjoyed being on her school’s female lacrosse team as well as in the drama club.
Jack and Irina enjoyed their spy-free life by traveling to all the places they had been on “business” and finally exploring them. Weiss and Nadia also took on regular jobs and were busy raising two children of their own that were close to the ages of little Jack and Isabelle.
The entire family had been more than happy to start fresh and everything had been working well until now when Isabelle was beginning to get curious. Now Sydney started to worry how long it would be until the past came back to haunt them.
“Mom? Mommy? You there? So, what are we gonna do?” Jolie asked again, cutting into Sydney’s thoughts.
Turning back to her daughter, she smiled. “We’ll take it one day at a time and figure it out.”
“And remember, princess, you can’t…”
“I know, Daddy. I can’t tell her anything. Trust me, I don’t want to.” Jolie shuddered at her memories of the past and snuggled closer to her father, much like she used to do as a little girl. He smiled and held her a little more tightly.
“We’ll get through this. We always do.”
THE END!
Thank you all for reading. Thanks to those of you who would write responses...I love reading them all.
farliieansds225
Cadet
awwww so cute
so sad its over!!!!
so happy that everyones safe and ok!!!
awesome updates
loved them!!!
thanx for all the pms!!
so sad its over!!!!
so happy that everyones safe and ok!!!
awesome updates
loved them!!!
thanx for all the pms!!
sydneymicheal
Cadet
That was great...
I loved that Jolie seemed to have a sixth sense about danger and got Izzie out of there...
I'm glad that they have the normal life they wanted so much.
Thanks for all the pms and sharing this story...
I really hate to see it end cause you know I love all Jolie fics, hopefully you will write another one...
I loved that Jolie seemed to have a sixth sense about danger and got Izzie out of there...
I'm glad that they have the normal life they wanted so much.
Thanks for all the pms and sharing this story...
I really hate to see it end cause you know I love all Jolie fics, hopefully you will write another one...
6helterskelter6
Cadet
Aw, I'm glad they all got what they wanted and deserved. And I'm glad that Jack was OK. And that Nadia and Eric had a baby. And that baby Jack is so cute.
Thanks for all of the PMs! I LOVED this story.
~Anja
Thanks for all of the PMs!
I LOVED this story.~Anja
NadiaSantosFan
Cadet
Aww im sad this is over. . I was really hooked on it.
i loved Jolie and i just wanna thank you for sharing this amazing story!
Hope to see something new by you soon! *hint hint*
i loved Jolie and i just wanna thank you for sharing this amazing story!
Hope to see something new by you soon! *hint hint*
Michael_Vartan_Hottie
Cadet
I loved it but i'm sad it's over
Please pm me if you start a new fic.
Please pm me if you start a new fic.
undercover_spy
Cadet
Aw, it's all over. I hope you write another part to it. You left it open to possibilities, so hopefully you will (hint, hint ). I'm glad that the whole family is safe and happy, and that they are all able to live there "normal and boring lives." Thanks so much for all the PM you sent, and ofr sharing a great story!
). I'm glad that the whole family is safe and happy, and that they are all able to live there "normal and boring lives." Thanks so much for all the PM you sent, and ofr sharing a great story!LittleNicky
Cadet
I can't tell you what a fantastic ending that was! I'm so sad that it's over, but it was seriously brilliant! Thanks for writing such a wonderful story, and please PM me when you write something else!!!
derevkointraining
Cadet
Thanks everyone!!!
Nicky_Bristow
Cadet
Awesome ending! I loved it... I'm glad they can finally have a normal life
°°NiCkY°°
°°NiCkY°°
hey a~
the last 4 chapters were really good, i wish i'd been able to access them while at home. and no reviews, i know, but hey, you started posting while i was on holiday, miss impatient!
glad jolie has friends to giggle with, and can be a normal kid, despite her incredible intelligence. wonder what she'll do with her life after school... hmmm, a sequel???
all the best, babe!
~tracey
the last 4 chapters were really good, i wish i'd been able to access them while at home. and no reviews, i know, but hey, you started posting while i was on holiday, miss impatient!
glad jolie has friends to giggle with, and can be a normal kid, despite her incredible intelligence. wonder what she'll do with her life after school... hmmm, a sequel???
all the best, babe!
~tracey
