Forty-eight…forty-nine…fifty. Irina stopped, holding herself in the plank position as she heard the gates lift outside her cell. She rolled her eyes in slight annoyance. No doubt it was Vaughn or Kendall wanting her cooperation again. The two seemed oblivious to the fact that she had only agreed to see Sydney. Another silent standoff with Kendall was something she wasn't in the mood for today. The man was surprisingly patient and willing to sit there for at least an hour, studying her through the glass like she was some sort of experiment.
She found it amusing, how Kendall would sit there, his hand cupping his chin with his eyes narrowed. It looked as if he was concentrating on growing hair. He'd ask her a few idle questions or try to entice her with "gifts". Time outside, something besides prison food, but she never answered. Only stood there and smiled or continued in meditation.
Rolling over, Irina stopped short and her eyes grew wide when she saw the man standing in front of her. Jack. She had wondered how long it would take him to come to her cell but no amount of preparation could stop the sudden surge of emotion and shock that ran throughout her body.
She quickly stood, walking towards him with a hand on her hip, every muscle in her body tense in anticipation. Chewing on the inside of her lip, Irina frowned as she studied him. Jack looked good. There was simply no disputing that. He had filled out since their early years together and the black suit he wore looked tailored, his broad shoulders filling the coat perfectly. There was even a small scar on his upper lip that hadn't been there before and Irina briefly wondered what had happened.
But there was something dark and dangerous about the way Jack clenched his jaw as he scrutinized her. It was borderline exciting but entirely lethal. There was a hardness about him now that had never been there before. "I've had a picture of you in my mind for twenty years," Irina started. She blinked slowly and cocked her head slightly before continuing, something she knew used to drive him crazy. "I remember a loving husband, generous man, patriot."
Jack's expression only imperceptibly changed as he swallowed and clenched his jaw harder so she continued. "I may have been under orders to fabricate a life with you but there were times when the illusion of our marriage was as powerful for me," Irina smiled briefly at the flood of familiar memories, "as it was for you. Especially when Sydney was born." It was a small truth that wouldn't cause her damage. Irina was toying with a dangerous fire: emotion. Play enough and you usually get burned.
At the mention of their daughter, Irina noticed Jack lift his head in a slight defiance and his eyebrows seemed to furrow even closer together. She wasn't entirely sure what she had expected but this was not the man she used to know. Irina looked Jack up and down once more before continuing as he'd chosen to remain silent. It seemed the coldness that he'd always spoken to Laura about had finally taken over. "Looking at you now, I see that illusion is finally gone."
Jack swallowed hard at her last words, taken off guard by the fact that she'd even brought up their marriage. He wanted to scream at her. To tell her that she didn't have the right to mention their farce of marriage. She couldn't even begin to imagine everything she'd put him through. Put Sydney through. Irina couldn't just simply walk back into their lives, say she was sorry, and expect something as small as acceptance. Seeing her now made him wish Laura were still dead.
"I want to make something very clear to you," Jack said, finding his voice. "There are people here who believe you can repay the debt you owe this country through your continued cooperation. I am not one of them." His tone was low and gravelly, something Laura had always liked, and Jack knew he had played his hand just right as her eyes brightened a bit.
If Irina thought he would be a fool for her again, she was dead wrong. "And if Sydney, in any way, becomes victim to your endgame," Jack paused to make sure she completely understood, "I will kill you." Jack's lip turned up into a slight snarl, the act of taking revenge and thought of ending Irina Derevko was almost intoxicating. "She spent most of her life believing you are dead. She'll get used to it again. No matter what bond you try to forge with her." He spit the words out, mocking the fact that she even thought of herself as a mother. Giving birth didn't make you a parent.
Irina looked for any kind of reaction but found none. All she could see was a man who was desperate to have her gone from his life, no matter what the cost or circumstance. As he turned and walked away, a slight smile tugged at her lips. Did Jack really think she'd never bothered to keep tabs on them? That she didn't know?
"You haven't told her what you did to her after I disappeared, have you?" Irina lowered her head, watching his body language, and even from the back she could tell that she'd blindsided him. Jack looked as if he may turn around for a brief moment but he didn't. She watched him walk away with a gait that could only be described as confident and thoughtful. The wheels in Jack Bristow's head were already turning.
As Irina settled back onto her cot, legs crossed in a meditative position, she realized there was something different about him. Jack was no longer the naïve, trusting young man he used to be. There was no trace of that boyish smile or laughter she used to know.
She replayed the new, tight lipped version of Jack Bristow through her head again and again. I will kill you. There was no mistaking he would. Jack had never been a man to make empty promises or threats. Irina bit deeply into her lip, the coppery taste of blood slowly filling her mouth. Bringing up Project Christmas, she may have just opened Pandora's box.