Chapter 14

Los Angeles

Alex steered her car through the traffic on the freeway. All those cars seemed to be moving in a snail's pace to her. When a red light replaced a green one, she hit the breaks disappointedly. While waiting for the damned light to change again, she grabbed her phone from the passenger seat and hit speed dial.

After four rings, it was picked up. "Your ticket and passport are waiting for you at the airport." Elena Derevko started without introductions.

"If I can get through this horrid traffic, I'll even be on time." Alex glanced at the rear way mirror and saw that the line behind her had grown from ten to twenty.

"You're never on time Alex." Her mother's slightly amused sentence did nothing to calm her.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say that." The red light finally turned green. "Finally." She accelerated and passed a few cars from a five-inch distance. "Have you heard from Irina?" Alex asked.

"Yes, I didn't exactly understand what she said, but she contacted with Julian and my sister doesn't want to wait, but rather skin Sloane alive and immediately." Elena huffed.

"I find no problem with that plan." Alex said innocently.

"Well, I do. Sloane's present location is very deserted and highly protected. Julian said that he had a small army of heavily armed men." The older woman said evenly.

"Since when has that situation been a problem to you, mother?" Alex asked coyly.

"I'm not going to get into that debate with you." Elena said determinedly, because she knew that getting into an argument with her daughter on that subject would be quite disturbing.

"We'll discuss that later." Alex said with a voice that held promise of a conversation in the near future. "Tell me exactly where am I going?" She changed the subject.

"Taiwan." Her mother answered.

Over the Indian Ocean, some hours later

Jack laid out a huge map on the floor of the compartment, as it was the only place large enough. "Alright. This is the general area." He motioned his hand to the middle of the map.

"It seems rather barren." Dixon commented.

"It is. There's not a populated place in a twenty mile vicinity, which is rare." Jack agreed.

"Do we have a more precise map?" Vaughn asked.

"Not right now. When we land, Marshall will send us the exact coordinates and satellite images." Jack explained.

"What's our escape route?" Dixon inquired and looked dutifully as Jack explained it to the team.

Taiwan, unspecified location

Irina was immersed in a set of area maps. She looked at them, drawing lines and understanding locations in her mind. Her dedication to understanding the maps however didn't cloud her and she heard the warehouse door to her left creak open.

Making no movement indication that she heard anything, she kept her head down and seemingly still reading the papers in front of her, while actually looking at the newcomer. Soon enough Irina recognized the familiar gait of her sister and relaxed back into her seat.

"Those the plans?" Katya asked, getting right to the point.

"Yes, Julian just sent them." Irina looked at her sister.

"Are you sure you want to do this now?" Katya asked as she sat next to her.

"I won't leave Sydney at the mercy of Arvin Sloane." Irina's tone was resolute and allowed no arguments.

Katya merely nodded and dragged some of the maps nearer to her. "Where is the easiest entrance point?" She ignored the thankful look Irina gave her; they both had reputations to hold.

Outside Sloane's facilities

"Raptor to Base Camp, we're in position." Jack said through the com links.

"Base Camp to Raptor, hear you loud and clear." He heard Marshall answer him.

"Any movement around us?" Jack asked as he motioned for Weiss and Vaughn to spread out.

"None, move on according to plan."

"Move in, we're in the clear." Jack ordered his companions.

The four men made their way to the set of warehouses in the distance of 400 yards. Entering the sewage tunnels, as it was the best entryway they could find at such short notice, Jack clamped down the memory of Kashmir and another mission a few months back.

Once inside the facility, they encountered three guards, who they took down quietly without any noise. Moving along a dark corridor they followed Marshall's instructions from Los Angeles. When the hallway came to it's end, Jack motioned for his team to stop.

"Sydney's right around the corner in a cell. There are two guards in front of the door." Marshall explained.

Jack motioned for Dixon to move with him and within merely seven seconds both guards slumped to the ground unconscious. They moved to the door, but saw that there was a mechanical locking system they were completely unaware of.

"Marshall, did Henderson say anything about the alarm system on the door?" Jack asked the man.

"What alarm system?" Was his only response.

"It's probably connected to some alarm system and will alert everyone if we try to interfere." Dixon said as he examined the door closer.

"There has to be some way to go around it without disturbing the alarms." Vaughn said.

"For that you need this."

All men turned around swiftly training their guns on the speaker. She held her hands up in to show them she wasn't a threat.

"Your guy won't be able to surpass the system from LA." Alex spoke calmly; very aware of the fact the she was in the shooting range of four high-powered rifles.

"Who are you?" Vaughn asked, tightening the grip he had on his weapon.

"The help you need." She answered.

"You work for Sloane?" Jack asked icily.

"No, I don't." Alex answered, hiding her smile, as she was face-to-face with her aunt's husband.

"Then why are you here?" Dixon asked suspiciously.

"The same reason you are: separate Sydney from the little troll." Alex said in an even tone.

If the situation had been different, it would have earned a smile from Vaughn. "How do we know you're not working for Sloane?"

"If I was, you'd be either dead or defeated by his men by now." Alex decided she had enough of being the sitting duck. "Listen to me, it won't be long until Sloane figures that there are intruders to his facilities, we need to work fast." She left out that the four men weren't the only intruders to this place.

"Fine." Jack agreed after a few moments of silence and lowered his weapon, prompting the other agents to do the same.

"You're sure it will go around the system without activating it?" Weiss asked with a little trepidation as he saw the young woman move to the door, digging out a small device that looked like an MP3-player.

"There's only one way to find out." She said shrugging her shoulders and placed the machine to the control panel.

Luckily no alarms were heard and after waiting a few minutes, Alex took the device back and tried the door. It relented and opened. She took a flashlight from her pocket and lighted the room behind the door. With relief she saw Sydney, bound and disoriented, but still alive.

Alex let the four men into the room and watched as they worked on freeing her.

"Dad?" Sydney slowly recognized one of the dark figures.

"We'll get you out of here in no time." He took her hand in his after freeing it from the bonds that held her to the chair. When Sydney was completely free, she hugged her father with as much fierceness as she could muster. Before any of them could make any other moves, four guards entered the room, quickly followed by Julian Sark.

"Make no move." He ordered as the guards spilled across the room. One stood behind Alex, jabbing a gun to her ribs. The other three aimed their guns at the intruders.

"Sark." Jack said as he moved slightly in front of Sydney.

Julian nodded with a smirk and then quickly fired five round, each hitting their targets. The CIA agents watched in amazement as three of the guards slumped to the ground bleeding.

Alex quickly disarmed the fourth guard behind her and then rendered him unconscious. "Took you long enough." She tossed Julian's way as she took the guard's weapon.

"It would have helped if any of you would have informed me of the time you'd be arriving." He jabbed back. They didn't have any time to continue their banter as Jack cut in, quite angry.

"What is going on here?" He asked thunderously as he stood up more properly reaching for his gun. He and Julian aimed their guns at each other within seconds.

"I would advise you to lower your weapon, Mr. Bristow as I have no wish to shoot you, but I know you wouldn't listen to me." Julian said with a smirk.

"You're outnumbered, Sark." Jack said calmly indicating to his companions.

"Oh, for the love of God." Alex huffed and moved between the two men. "Would you both stamp down you testosterone levels for one moment." She looked pointedly at both men, almost scolding them. "We're in a building with over twenty guards with orders to shoot you on sight and Arvin Sloane who hasn't been in a forgiving mood lately. So if you want to defeat him, we'll have to work together."

"Who are you?" Jack asked from the lithe woman in front of him.

"Someone who has quite a few ties to you, but for now you can call me Alex." She answered, softening her tone of voice. "Lower your weapons, he's not going to shoot you." She indicated towards Julian who was watching her with clear amusement.

"I somehow doubt that." Vaughn said with an amount of sarcasm in his voice.

"Mr. Vaughn, I know for sure that he has no wish to kill you, never has, never will." Alex turned to the young agent.

"Then why-" Vaughn started, but was cut off by Alex.

"Are we going to stay here arguing or are we going to find Sloane?"

Jack nodded and lowered his weapon. "If either of you makes one wrong move…" He trailed off.

"You'll shoot me to Swiss cheese?" Alex raised her eyebrow. "I don't think so, Jack." She smiled.

"How do you know our names?" Weiss asked the woman.

"I'll answer that later." Alex said and then reached into her back bag. Pulling out an earpiece, she handed it to Julian. Then she pulled out a small palm computer and typed a few quick commands. "Where's Sloane now?" She asked Julian.

"In the lab." He answered.

Alex turned on her earpiece and Julian did the same. "We've got to spread out, that way it'll be easier." She turned to the only other female in the room. "Sydney, can you walk?" She asked softly as she neared her.

Sydney watched the other woman curiously; unable to understand why did she look so familiar.

"I'm fine." She said and stood up a little shakily. Suspiciously she looked at Alex who she helped her up.

"We need to spread out. Sloane still here, if you want to catch him." Alex explained rushed. "Mr. Bristow will you promise me not to shoot Julian there when he goes with you as he knows this building best?" She ignored the snort she hear from her cousin and looked directly at Jack.

When the older agent looked at her disbelievingly, she continued. "He knows where everything is, but moving in one group would cause unnecessary attention. Since I doubt you would let me and Julian leave here without any of you accompanying us, I offer that we divide into two groups. Mr. Weiss and Mr. Dixon would be coming with me and you, Miss Bristow and Mr. Vaughn would go with Julian."

Jack knew that if they had any real chance of apprehending Sloane then this would be it. And this mysterious woman was offering them that opportunity. That could of course mean she would be leading them straight into a trap but they did outnumber the two. He was willing to use their help until Sloane was caught and then he could find out why this girl offered her and Sark's help.

"If you try anything, they will be ordered to stop you at any cost." Jack said gravely, looking at Alex. "That also goes to you Sark." He turned to the man.

"I wouldn't expect anything less." He glanced down.

"We need to move now." Alex said once again.

"Wait! Isn't there any surveillance cameras here?" Vaughn asked.

"They're taken care of." Julian said, knowing they would understand it as if he disabled them.

"Let's go." Jack nodded.

Irina landed on her feet with a soft thump. Looking around she thankfully didn't see any guards. Picking up her bag, she jogged down the dim hallway, away from the air vent she had just exited. She had managed to make it about halfway down the corridor when she encountered a guard. Without blinking she pulled out her gun and shot him. She didn't however see the second guard and he knocked the gun out of her hands after she had fired the shot. A short fight ensued for Irina quickly gained the upper hand and rendered the man unconscious.

Again she moved and soon found her destination. She tried the door but not surprisingly it was locked. Making quick work on the lock, she entered Sloane's office. Quickly deducing he wasn't in the room, she made her way to the large desk. Walking around it and sitting, she found the security cameras' feed. Within a few minutes she had put the cameras on loop and rounded the actual surveillance to her small palm pilot.

Exiting the office, she carefully moved through the labyrinth of hallways. The guards she had met were all unconscious of dead, never having time to report her presence in the building. Irina heard cracking from her earpiece, then Elena's voice.

"Irina, what's your status?" She sounded vaguely out of breath.

"East wing of the building." Irina answered quickly and quietly.

"Did you cut the surveillance?"

"Affirmative." She peered around a corner, seeing a larger group of guards a hundred metres from her.

"The north wing is secured." They heard Katya murmur over the link.

"Copy that. Moving to the laboratory area." Irina said. "Going radio-silent." She ended the connection and dropped her bag silently, preparing herself for the fight that was sure to come for she couldn't unarm all those guards at once from that distance. And she needed to get to that laboratory, unfortunately there was only on entrance point. Six heavily armed men who from afar seemed to be fit to give Irina quite a fight guarded that.

Aiming her gun, she managed to shoot three before the others became alert of her presence. She got to shoot one more before dropping the gun and engaging herself into a fight with the remaining two.

Irina had been trained to fight up to six opponents at once and she was good at that, but these opponents weren't made of wood. She had to admit the when one of them got the opening he needed and delivered a kick to her ribs that made her lose her balance and fall backwards on the hard concrete floor. She braced herself on the floor with her hands, so she would fall completely but still she was at a disadvantage.

Irina didn't have the time to retaliate as she felt something hard hitting the back of her head and she succumbed to darkness.