Disclaimer: same
A/N: Thanks to Eyghon, i love vaughn n syd, aliastar, total vaughn lover and mandi for reviewing!! I'm glad everyone is so willing to keep up with my quick updates. The only reason I have updates so often is that most of this is already written. I've posted through 21 chapters but have about 35 or so written - I just didn't want to totally overload anyone by posting it all at once. :-) The song in this chapter is "Blow Me Away" by Breaking Benjamin. Hope everyone likes!!
OOOOO
It took three nights to get everything organized, and to hire an independent pilot who wouldn't ask too many questions to fly the four of us to Russia. Hopefully, despite whatever animosity Brill felt towards Vaughn after he asked about Project Prodigy didn't stop him from getting a band of freelance operatives together to help infiltrate the facility where the Covenant kept the Rambaldi device.
Weiss and Vaughn sat in the back of the plane going over what little information we got from Olivia Reed before leaving the Rotunda that afternoon. My father was nowhere to be found – apparently Dixon had him on some kind of a recon mission in Germany, which made it much easier on us to work unnoticed. I sat across from Will, checking over the stealth gear we brought with us.
"Is this gonna work?" Will questioned. I looked up at him, not understanding what he meant at first. "This mission?"
"I don't know," I answered after a moment. "It's going to be dangerous. There's still time, if you don't want to be in there with us. I mean, you're not trained in these kinds of situations."
"Yeah, I know," Will replied, sighing. "But, I can't just let you guys hog all the action, now can I?" He smiled a little. I smiled back, but looked away. Truthfully, I was worried that he might not be able to handle himself in combat. Sure, he did all right against Allison, and running away from Sark, but we were talking about infiltrating a building with two-dozen security guards, in the dead of night with a bunch of people we met three hours before.
But, I didn't voice my concerns to Will, knowing that he wouldn't listen anyway.
We landed in Russia and made our way to the small town of Kretchnia. Most of it was old warehouses and industrial buildings that shut down several years ago. Weiss secured transport before we left, and took us directly to the warehouse.
Inside were the twelve men Thomas Brill promised to recruit, each one paid a little over sixty thousand dollars to help us. The price seemed a bit steep to me, but when I considered that we were going after my mother and Arvin Sloane, as well as Sark and Nadia, it made sense. Arvin Sloane and Irina Derevko were known all over the world for the power they amassed, and the two of them together could only complicate things.
Vaughn outlined the mission for all of them, going over what Brill already told them to make sure everyone was clear. Yes, the guards can be taken down with kill shots. Sloane and Derevko are the primary targets, Sark and Nadia are to be taken into custody if the opportunity presents itself, but no one should harm them unless it's necessary.
And, with that, the team loaded into two black tactical vans that I swore were on loan from the LAPD SWAT team, and headed for the facility.
They fall in line
One at a time
Ready to play
I can't see them anyway
When we reached the old paper mill, I could see four guards stationed outside. The freelance team took care of them effortlessly, allowing us to pull up and unload.
"All right," Weiss said, trying to break up the tension with a little conversation. He tried in the van during the drive over, but gave up after a few moments, seeing that everyone was concentrating. "We go for the targets, while the other team sets the charges on the Rambaldi device, right?"
"Right," Vaughn replied, nodding.
"Okay. Sorry. Just paranoid," Weiss replied, apologizing for having to review the details of the mission once more.
"You'd have to be crazy not to be," Will threw in.
"All right. Let's go," I stated, slinging my rifle over my shoulder. As usual, I wasn't planning on shooting anything, but my plan never really worked out that well. If I had to, I prepared myself to shoot any one of our targets in order to keep them from getting away.
Or, in Nadia's case, trying to kill me again.
No time to lose
We've got to move
Steady the hand
I am losing sight again
The four of us met up with the leader of the freelance team, a man named Kyle Hill, at the door to the facility. I had the distinct feeling that he worked for the CIA before becoming a freelancer, just because most of his training seemed identical to the training Vaughn and Weiss received. My own skills were, of course, a bit different because SD-6 trained me, not the CIA.
"We're prepped to blow the door," Kyle relayed. Vaughn nodded a little, and he pulled a small remote detonator off his vest, ducking slightly out of the way and pressing it. The hinges on the door of the building exploded, and the metal door crashed to the ground. "Go for entry."
On his command, all of the operatives began filing into the building, night vision goggles on and ready, ducking around corners and ready for anything. As the rest of us entered the building, I already knew something was wrong.
"There aren't any guards on this level," Will observed, apparently noticing the same thing I did. "Should there be?"
"Yeah," Weiss stated. "Especially if there are some thirty guards here."
"Maybe they're all on the sublevel," Vaughn replied. We followed the other team down into the lower levels of the building.
Fire your guns
It's time to roll
Blow me away
I will stay, unless I may
After the fall
We'll shake it all
Show me the way
The freelance team spread out over the lower level, looking for any sign of our targets or the rest of the guards. The entire place was dark, and completely empty. There were no other guards, despite what Olivia told Will about the security present at the facility.
"They knew we were coming?" Weiss wondered aloud.
"Looks that way," I replied, looking around.
"Lights!" one of the other operatives called. Everyone instinctively reached to the switch on the goggles, turning off the night vision before we were all blinded.
The lights came on, revealing the empty center of the facility. Someone set several computers up on one side of the room, probably half a dozen monitors and scanning devices. I could see where the Sphere of Life used to be, thanks to the photos Sark showed me in the warehouse when I met with him. But, the artifact itself was no longer there.
"Something's not right about this," Vaughn stated, looking around curiously.
"You think it's a trap?" I questioned. He shrugged.
Only the strongest will survive
Lead me to heaven when we die
I am the shadow on the wall
I'll be the one to save us all
"Let's check out these computers," he said. I left Will with Weiss, telling him to stay close to the other agent in case this was some kind of a trap set up by the Covenant. But, I reasoned, if they set this up, where is everyone?
I followed Vaughn over to the desk with the computers on it. Most of them were still on, suggesting that whoever used them last left in a hurry, taking the Rambaldi artifact with them.
He sat down at the desk, trying to access some of the files saved on the desktop. I wanted to try accessing one of the other computers, stopping when I heard someone speaking over a megaphone outside.
"Attention all agents inside – this is Commanding Officer Bryant of the Untied States National Security Council." My eyes widened as I looked over at Vaughn. He looked just as surprised at this. "Stand down immediately!"
There's nothing left
So save your breath
Lying awake
Caught inside this tidal wave
"What's the NSC doing here?" Vaughn questioned, standing and starting towards the center of the room.
"We have the building surrounded, and will open fire. Under authority of the Patriot Act, Agent Sydney Bristow and Agent Michael Vaughn of the Central Intelligence Agency are under arrest!" the man on the megaphone – Bryant – continued.
"My father," I realized, swearing under my breath.
"We've got to get out of here."
Your cover's blown
Nowhere to go
Only your fate
Only I will walk away
"How? The only way out is upstairs!" I replied.
"Surrender immediately or we will open fire," Bryant stated again.
Before I could start looking around for another way out, I heard pounding footsteps on the metal stairwell that led down to the sublevel where all of us were. Weiss already took Will somewhere out of the way, and I hoped the two of them would stay there so they weren't implicated as well.
Obviously, my father knew what we planned to do. Because he was a Follower of Rambaldi and probably wanted to get into the Sphere of Life just like the Covenant did, he called the NSC to stop us on account of 'terrorism'. Which, in all honesty, wasn't far from the truth.
Fire your guns
It's time to roll
Blow me away
I will stay, unless I may
After the fall
We'll shake it all
Show me the way
That was when the wall behind me exploded.
I ducked the flying shards of metal and plaster, the loud explosion creating a ringing sound in my ears. I could still hear Bryant over the megaphone, and saw several NSC operatives running down the stairs and into the room.
I tried to follow Vaughn, who headed towards the other end of the sublevel in search of another door, when I heard screeching tires. I turned to look at the hole in the wall as a white van gunned through it, into the room in reverse. The back door of the van flew open, and two men dressed all in black jumped out, running towards me.
"Sydney! Hurry!" I looked up at the sound of a familiar voice, seeing Katya Derevko leaning out the back of the van.
Only the strongest will survive
Lead me to heaven when we die
I am the shadow on the wall
I'll be the one to save us all
Wanted it back
Don't fight me now
"Syd!" I glanced back at Vaughn, who had stopped as well when the van came screeching into the building. Two NSC operatives rushed him, grabbing both of his arms and pulling his gun away from him.
Either get arrested or go with the woman who tried to kill us both, I said to myself, heart pounding along with the ringing in my ears as I tried to make a spur of the moment decision. Great options.
Before I could move either way, I felt hands grab me. The two men from Katya's van had me, and were pulling me in that direction. My instinct told me to fight back, even though I knew getting arrested by the NSC wasn't a much better option. Director Lindsey tried to kill me before, so I wasn't even sure this meant the rest of my life in a cell somewhere.
So, I went with them. They helped me into the back of the van, slamming the doors closed. I nearly fell over as the driver gunned the engine and shot back out of the hole in the side of the building.
"What is going on?" I asked, looking at Katya in question.
Only the strongest will survive
Lead me to heaven when we die
I am the shadow on the wall
I'll be the one to save us all
"All things in time," she stated. I felt a stinging in my arm, and looked over to see that one of the men she traveled with had just injected me with something. "I promise, I will explain."
Everything began to tilt as I realized the guard gave me some kind of tranquilizer. I swatted the man that injected me away, some part of me still trying to fight my way out of this. And then, I felt myself fall forward into Katya's arms, unconscious.
Save us all