Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except for the original ones, so please don't sue. Don't copy either. Thank you and have a nice day.

A/N- Thank you to Agent Flamingo for beta-reading :D I hope you enjoy (I hope you enjoy it enough to leave a review…hehe) Thanks!

CHAPTER TWENTY

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHE'S MISSING!"

Mikhail Premenov paced around the room, struggling to digest what he had just heard from the trembling man standing in front of him—the man that he assigned to protect Alexia Vadison.

"Sir, she was hit by a car—"

"She was what!" Mikhail roared, fear stabbing into his employees' hearts. "I told you to watch over her and protect her and what did you do? You let her get caught. Do you want to die?"

The employee stared fearfully at him, unable to move. He had never seen him like this. Mikhail Premenov was usually a good-natured, easy going, responsible man. But on the rare occasion that he snaps, everyone knows to get well out of his way.

"Find her. And if you fail to do so, be prepared to lose your job." 'And your head', he mentally added. "Do you understand?"

The disgraced employee bobbed his head apprehensively. "Yes sir."

Mikhail stared at him.

"Then what are you standing there waiting for?"

His employee left hurriedly whilst Mikhail sighed and rubbed his face in frustration.

'I should have listened to her. We should have stopped the minute we found mama.'

-x-x-x-

Somewhere in San Francisco

"Breathing's fine. Vitals are stable."

"She's got minor abrasions and bruising on her right arm, right leg and right cheek."

"No evidence of broken bones or concussion."

Nadia is sitting on a small plastic chair, watching, as in the distance emergency doctors and nurses completed examining their patient. The result of an event that was partially her fault, she knew.

Their stakeout mission was finally over.

She stared at the walls, idly wondering why the girl called out to her mother when they (Alexia and her mother that is) apparently disliked each other.

But after hearing Alexia calling out for her mother, Nadia felt really sorry for her. What is going to happen to her now?

Somebody sat down on the chair beside her. She didn't have to turn around to see who it was. Sydney always managed to make the worst things better.

"How is she?" Sydney asked quietly.

"She's fine," she answered in an equally quiet tone.

Sydney looked at her sister. "Are you okay?" she asked upon hearing Nadia's guilty tone. Instinctively knowing that she was blaming herself for what happened.

"Um, yeah I'm fine." Nadia looked at Sydney confused. "She called out for her mom before the tranquilizer took effect, but doesn't she have issues with her mother?"

Sydney's eyebrows knotted in confusion. "Uh, yes, she does. What did she call you?"

"She called me mommy. It was a bit surreal since she said it once she saw me." The expression on her sister's face became one of distraction. "Are you okay?"

Sydney nodded her head. "Uh, excuse me for a while, will you?" she stood up and searched the room for her father.

She found him talking to one of the doctors. Sydney hurried towards him and waited for his conversation with the doctor to end.

"Dad."

Jack looked at her. "They're sedating the girl for transport."

Sydney looked at the doctor, as if asking him to leave before turning again to Jack. "She called Nadia 'mommy'." She said after the doctor was out of earshot. When her father only raised a brow, she continued. "Nadia looks like mom."

Jack started to walk away from her, "What is its relevance?" he asked when Sydney fell into step beside him.

"Because if mom was really alive all this time, then why not the twins?" she asked in a low tone. "I mean, Alexia Vadison's the same age as them."

"Almost the same age, Sydney." Jack corrected. "Vadison is turning nineteen."

"What's going to stop them from adding one year to their age?" Sydney answered. "I know how much you want dead loved ones to stop coming back to life, but please take a look at our family's track record in this kind of activity."

Jack stopped walking and faced her. "They're dead. They died in that explosion fourteen years ago."

Sydney could see that her father wanted this discussion to stop. His face was serious and his jaw was set on a stubborn line, but she could see the emotion brewing behind his eyes.

"Fine." she gritted her teeth.

Jack waited for a few minutes before saying, "We leave in fifteen minutes." he turned his back from her and started to walk away.

Sydney went the opposite direction. The voices of the nurses drifted to her ears. They were on their way out of the area where Alexia once lay.

She looked around and after confirming she was alone, she decidedly walked towards the room. She searched for the garbage can and found several bloody pieces of gauze that had been used to irrigate their prisoner's wound.

Sydney took one out and looked for a small plastic to bag to put it in, eventually locating one by the sink.

If she couldn't convince her father, maybe a little DNA testing would.

-x-x-x-

The airport was bustling with people, a normal occurrence in this kind of place. Agents Ratzi, Tanner and Weiss easily blended in with the crowd as they walked towards the lounge for the airport's frequent flyers. The key that was found in Alexia Vadison's pockets led them here, and they were tasked to examine the contents of locker number seventeen.

They strolled into the lounge and headed straight towards the lockers. The shiny metal doors winked at them as they searched for number seventeen. There were a couple of people inside, but they didn't take notice of the three men in black suits.

When they found it, Agent Tanner immediately checked it for booby traps. After a few seconds, he found none and motioned to Weiss that it was safe.

The metal door was cool to touch. Weiss immediately placed the key into the hole and opened it. Several clothes are hanging on the rack and two medium sized backpacks were at the bottom. Weiss moved out of the way so that Ratzi could check the inside of the locker fully.

Ratzi quickly went to his knees to check for false bottoms. A few minutes later, he pried open the right side. Money fell out of it.

He stood up and showed Weiss the catch. "I've got Euros, Dollars and Pounds."

"Sort it, count it and bag it." Weiss answered and inspected the clothes. Ratzi went to one corner while Tanner began to move around, scaring the nosey people away.

When he found nothing suspicious on the clothes, Weiss took one of the bags and opened it. His eyes widened when he saw what was inside.

A silencer measuring in at nine millimeters, a knife enclosed by its sheath and passports were all present. Weiss set down the bag and took the passports out.

He opened it and found Alexia Vadison's smiling face, an indication that she was the owner. But when he looked at the name, he decided that it may not be the case.

Sonya Pavlova has the same face as Alexia Vadison?

-x-x-x-
LA California, the following day

She's soaring in the sky, feeling absolutely free and light.

This is a wonderful dream.

And then, the pain interfered.

"Lecheng Puta" she muttered as her eyes fluttered open. The Spanish/Filipino curse word echoed around her. She was reclined on a cold, hard slab of metal and her back was hurting.

Her vision was slightly blurry and blinking didn't make it any clearer. But the sight before her (she's sure of it…) is white.

'Where am I?'

Quickly, she pulled herself up to sitting position. Her muscles screamed in agony almost immediately.

"Oh, damn." She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. Tears streamed down her cheeks as the pain barraged her. It took a few minutes before it subsided.

It gave her a chance to look around. She's inside a white room—the walls, the floor, the security cameras and the ceiling are all colored white, but her cell, which occupies the middle of the room, is made entirely out of glass. When she looked at her reflection in the glass, she found out that she's wearing an oversized navy blue shirt and a pair of equally oversized navy blue pants. Her right cheek is covered in bandages.

She sighed and looked down. Here she's sitting on a thin mattress, but when she woke up, it felt more like it was part of the metal bed.

"Damn it." She muttered again. She tried to lift up her right arm. A string of curses followed the action. Her arm feels like there are thousands of pins embedded in it.

She clenched her jaw and tried to think of other things. She was not going to let the pain take control of her. She was caught and she was in pain, but she will not fold to them come interrogation time. She will not give them that satisfaction.

Suddenly, the door opened. She turned towards the sound and found two figures walking towards her, a male and a female.

They stopped a few centimeters away from her cell. She could see them, though not as clearly as she would have wanted. The female is a striking African-American, with an air of importance around her and a serious expression on her face. Her companion is a distinguished, middle-aged man with silver hair who has the same look on his face.

She wonders if somebody died. They both look so somber.

"Ms. Vadison? Or do you prefer Ms. Pavlova?" the woman asked.

She pursed her lips, as if amused. "I prefer the former." Her voice is strong and clear. "Now, how did you get hold of that other name?"

Though she's sitting stiffly on her bed and her right cheek is swathed in bandages, the girl exudes calmness that seems out of place due to the gravity of her situation.

'She should be afraid. Unless she's much smarter than we thought.' Chase observed. She's quite surprised with the girl's reaction.

Chase glanced at Sloane.

"Terrorism is a subject the CIA doesn't take lightly, Ms. Vadison." Sloane stated, scrutinizing Alexia Vadison's face.

A child stared back at them.

"What makes you think I'm a terrorist?" the girl asked, her British accent bouncing off the walls. The undercurrents of her tone speak of challenge and disdain.

"Hacking is not exactly within the law, isn't it?" Chase answered.

"But so is kidnapping." Alexia retorted. "Do you have any proof of this… unlawful act?"

Sloane chuckled. "If we didn't have anything, Ms. Vadison, do you think you'd be sitting inside this Plexiglas cell?"

"Plexiglas?" Her eyes widened. Sloane doesn't know whether it's because of shock or glee.

"Why, Ms. Vadison? Was that not part of your plan?" Chase goaded. "Give us what we want and we might consider lightening your punishment."

A mocking smile blossomed on the girl's face. Slowly, she climbed out of the bed, with a silent prayer that her knees will not buckle. She then sauntered towards her two visitors positions.

"And what do you want?"

Sloane could see her face clearly. She had hazel (but quite unfocused) eyes, a straight nose, sharp cheekbones, medium sized ears, a full mouth and black hair. Her features are a mixture of her mother and father's although he's sure that she doesn't know that. The mixture is so subtle though, that it wouldn't be noticed at first glance.

"Mikhail Premenov and Irina Derevko's location, plus the Intel you've acquired from the Shining Sword's server." Chase answered, looking at Sloane and then back to their prisoner.

"And what will happen if I refuse to cooperate?"

Sloane chimed in, "You'll be staying here until they are caught. And during your whole stay, you'll be subjected to interrogations that we believe will make you turn on them eventually."

Alexia stared at him and raised a brow, "You know... I don't like the way you're looking at me." Turning to Chase, "I'm not going down without a fight, so bring in you best if you want your answers fast."

She turned away from them and slowly walked back to her bed. She licked her dry lips and looked at them once again. "It's nice to meet my captors. Have a nice day." A mocking smile was flashed before her face turned serious again.

Chase and Sloane didn't have any choice but to leave. They would not be able to get answers from her this way and they couldn't torture her since she could be useful in the Agency's affairs. But, they were not about to let the information she had, stay in her head.

"Sark is to meet Premenov in San Francisco in a few hours time." Sloane said after they stepped out of the "white" room. "We are going to apprehend him as soon as we have contact."

Chase nodded her head. "Good. As soon as we have him, we can go after Olivia Reed and her cohorts." She looked at her watch. "I have to leave for Langley. Good luck."

-x-x-x-

Pacing around the empty room didn't do anything to contain his anger. He had to keep his hands in his pocket to keep them from destroying things.

He is in an old, vacated building in the middle of San Francisco. A helicopter is upstairs, waiting for the meeting to finish. He knows that Sark will be entrapping him, the same way he entrapped his sister, but he will not let him succeed. Sofya was quite careless, he is not.

A small wooden table sat in the middle of the room, with a silenced nine millimeter handgun on top of it. It is their gun preference since it's small and compact. And he wants to take it and empty the bullets on the wall.

'Focus. You won't find her that way.' He thought, although if the situation was reversed, he's pretty sure the entire city of San Francisco would have been bombed to find him.

The door creaked open. He turned around, his hand on the knife hidden in his jacket, alert for any danger.

He found his friend walking towards him.

"Eoclin gave this to me a few hours ago." His friend said and handed him a brown envelope. "Lex instructed that I give it to you as soon as possible."

He took the envelope from Cedric's outstretched hands and opened it. Inside is his sister's PDA, her SIM card and a thumb drive. He looked at Cedric again before putting the envelope on the table.

"So, what are you going to do?" Cedric asked, as he sat on one of the crates. He watched as Mikhail pace around like a trapped lion.

He saw Mikhail's cheek twitching a bit. His friend's face was stoic—he couldn't see any emotions at all.

"I'm going to find a way to get to her before the thirty-first of May while at the same time keep her disappearance from my mother."

Cedric gaped at him in disbelief. "Keep it from your mother? Are you insane?"

Mikhail gave him a sharp glance. Cedric decided to change the subject.

"How is your mother, anyway?" he was with them when she was rescued. He saw Irina's pale and almost lifeless body being carried by her son. There were cuts and bruises on her wrists made by the chains and she looked like she had really suffered a lot in the cell. He thought that Mikhail and his sister would kill everyone that wasn't on their team. Even their uncle thought they would go into a murderous rampage. But they didn't.

Mikhail thought for a while.

"I don't know how she is. Physically, she's doing superbly. But other than that…" he trailed off.

Almost each night on her fist week in Italy, her screams woke them up in the middle of the night. Currently, Martin has reported that she has found a way to cope up with that by going down the kitchen every midnight.

"Who are we waiting for here, Mik?"

Just as Cedric said those words, the door opened. In came Mikhail's two bodyguards with Julian Sark and his bodyguards.

"Julian, we meet again."

His tone is so emotionless. It matches the expression on his face and both Sark and Cedric hadn't heard him speak like that before.

"Unfinished business."

Mikhail stared at him. He then walked his way to the table in the middle of the room. Suddenly, two popping sounds echoed.

Sark's bodyguards fell down the floor.

The nine millimeter was in Mikhail's hands and was now leveled at Sark's head. His ruthless glare brought shivers of fear to everyone still standing.

He walked towards Sark, who was rooted in his place. Mikhail placed the nozzle of the silenced weapon a few inches from Sark's heart. "There is no use in asking for help, Julian. I have rigged the place with scramblers."

Mikhail squeezed the trigger. Sark stumbled backwards.

He tried to conquer the pain. He is still alive, thanks to the bulletproof vest he is wearing, but the pain was still unbearable.

"Do you know how much I wanted that bullet to enter between your eyes, pass through your underused brain and exit through the back of your head?" Mikhail leveled the gun towards Sark's position and fired again.

"Tie those two CIA agents and throw them out the building. Hogtie and gag this traitor." He pulled out a metal bracelet from his pocket. "Put this on his wrist and put him in a crate. I'll be bringing him with me."

Mikhail returned the safety latch of his gun and placed it inside his pocket. He walked towards the table and took the envelope.

"Let's go, Cedric." He said and walked towards the other door. Sark was going to die in his hands if he would not tell him where Sofya is.