WORSE THAN DEATH
Timeperiod of chapter: Season finale of Season 4
Note: Despite some parts being truncated, this is a LONG chapter, so plan your time accordingly!
Sovogda
The team lands in Sovogda in different locations. Tom ends up in the middle of a street.
He looks around and assesses his surroundings as he takes off his parachute: buildings with windows smashed out, cars crashed and piled on each other, fires everywhere, lots of dead bodies, and everything awash in an orange hue.
Tom shakes his head in dismay. His nightmare has come to life.
He then jumps a bit as he hears Nadia's voice behind him. "Are you alright?" Tom looks back and sees Nadia walking up to him. Tom gulps and says "This was all in my dream."
"What dream?"
That voice comes from Sydney, who has also landed and approaches Tom from his left. Jack, Irina, and Vaughn all converge at Tom's spot as well. Tom looks around at the rest of the team and shakes his head. "Nothing, don't worry about it."
Nadia then decides to tell the team "Tom had a nightmare the other night about all of this." As Tom looks at her a little irritated, Irina asks Tom "What happened in your nightmare?"
Tom now looks very irritated and says to the team "Look, I don't want to talk about it! It as a bad dream, that's all! We should be getting going." Jack nods and says "The DSR team should be here."
Note: Eventually, after roaming the streets for a while, the team catches up with the lone DSR survivor, Sydney's former partner Brodein. Brodein supplies them all with real weapons instead of tranquilizers. As he's handing out weapons, Brodein explains what the infected are capable of: pure, unadulterated rage. The team is informed that the Mueller device is on top of the largest building in Sovogda: the Oransky Building. Sydney says the subways can get them there, despite the lack of power in the city.
Brodein gets the lock off of the door to the alleyway that leads to the subway. However, he receives a steel rod through the chest for his efforts. An infected man emerges from the alleyway and starts charging at Sydney and Nadia. Unfortunately for Nadia, Brodein ran out of guns and she didn't get one. Nadia takes cover behind Sydney as she starts shooting at the man.
As Tom stands off to the left of all this, he notices something amiss about what Sydney is doing: For all of her shooting, this man is not dying.
In a very calm manner, Tom walks up to the left side of the infected man and casually puts one bullet into his brain with his machine gun. The man collapses in a lifeless heap.
Tom looks at Sydney and sarcastically shakes his head. "Haven't you seen any zombie movies? Aim for the head, conserve your ammo!" Tom then squats down to examine the body. As he does, Sydney just looks at him with a look of astonishment. "Are you always this chilled out when you kill people?"
Tom smirks and chuckles. "Like, I told you before, I've killed too many people to have any remorse left. To survive in the Anti-Cartel, you had to be just as aggressive and ruthless as the cartels and gangs you encountered. I was an Anti-Cartel agent for 10 years, Sydney. When it comes to killing the living, I have no problem finishing the job when it warrants it. But, like your dead friend with the steel rod through his heart said earlier, these...things aren't alive. Their sense of life is worse than death. Believe me, we're doing these people a favor."
Sydney retorts "But, these people have families..." Tom stands up and rapidly shakes his head. "No. These people HAD families. These people HAD friends. These people HAD feelings. These people had all of that until Elena and Sloane came rolling into town. So don't tell me that what we're doing is inhumane. Believe me, Elena and Sloane already have claimed the title of inhumane with what they've done here. Now come on, we have a world to save."
Tom casually strolls in to the alleyway, leaving everyone else to follow in his lead.
Note: At this point, as they're cutting the brake lines, Irina urges Vaughn to reveal his deep secret to Sydney. We don't know what it is...yet. Meanwhile, we rejoin Tom, Sydney, and Nadia at the switches.
Sydney and Nadia start flipping the track switches while Tom stands behind them, looking the other way on lookout. Nadia notices the lights on the subway map aren't turning green anymore and says "It's not catching." Sydney replies "They're at either end of the platform. Maybe when the train is at the station, we have to do it ourselves."
Nadia says "Ok", then lowers her head and sighs deeply. Sydney notices and says "You're still feeling it, too?" Nadia replies "Like something awful is going to happen."
Sydney quickly replies "I know. But I'm sure there's brides that want to kill their maid of honor. I'm not one of them." Tom now turns to them, having been listening to the conversation. "And Sydney, I'm sure there's grooms that want to kill their fiancée's maid of honor. And I'm not one of them either."
Sydney and Nadia both share a smile over that. Tom smiles as well as he looks at Sydney "Listen, after this is over, you and Vaughn are going to go on vacation. And eventually, you will get married. And just like you and Vaughn, me and Nadia are going on vacation after this is over, and eventually, we'll get married, too. You want to talk about prophecies? Well, here's MY prophecy: When this is over, we're all going to live happily ever after. The end."
Nadia laughs a bit and says "I like that prophecy!" Sydney, now reassured herself, says "Me too." Sydney then looks at Nadia seriously. "I'll take the switch in front. Tom, can you go with Nadia?" Tom smirks. "Like you had to ask..." Nadia smiles at Tom after he says that, then heads for the back switch.
At the back switch, Nadia tries desperately to get the switch up as Tom is on lookout. Tom turns when he hears the lights go on in the subway car, where the rest of the team has already assembled.
Just as he does that, he hears the sound of growling back down the tunnel. Tom quickly runs over to Nadia. "Nadia, take my gun! I'm stronger, I'll lift the switch!" Nadia nods as she takes his gun and stands ready to defend.
Tom grunts and grimaces loudly as he pushes up on the switch. Finally, after about 10 seconds or so, he gets the switch up...just in time for the horde to start bearing down on them.
Tom sees the subway car start to go and turns to Nadia and frantically yells "COME ON!" Then, Tom turns and starts sprinting for the car.
It's a long, long sprint, and as Tom is sprinting at full speed, he can't help recall the nightmare he had the other night...when he was sprinting, and sprinting, and sprinting up the stairs, but the stairs just kept getting taller and taller.
But, this was no dream. Tom makes it to the car and grabs Vaughn's extended hand and hops on the subway car. Thinking Nadia is right behind him, he turns and extends his hand.
Only, Nadia is not right behind him.
She was a few steps behind him, running towards the subway car while also trying to fight off the horde. Tom stretches out his right hand as far as he can and yells "COME ON NADIA!" Nadia looks at him and stops fighting the horde. She now is entirely focused on getting on the subway car.
She extends her hand out and grazes Tom's fingertips. She takes another swipe at Tom's hand and grabs on to it. Tom lets out a relieved smile and says "Got ya!"
But, his smile is quickly erased when an infected man tackles Nadia, and a look of sheer horror takes over as the horde start to pounce on her.
Nadia screams "NOOOOO!" from under the horde. Tom screams "NADIA!" as he continues to watch the horde continue to swarm over Nadia's position. He turns to the inside of the subway car and yells "STOP THE DAMN CAR!"
Jack says "We can't..." Tom then moves to jump, but Vaughn holds him back. Squirming in his arms, Tom yells "LET ME GO! I HAVE TO SAVE HER!" Vaughn says "You can't, you don't have a gun!"
Tom, as she's still fighting Vaughn, replies "Then give me one! I'll meet you at the building!" Jack now has joined in on restraining Tom and, as he and Vaughn drag him into the car, Jack says "The building would be too far away, and there's too much of them!"
Tom is dragged kicking and screaming into the car. When Vaughn and Jack let go, he bolts for the door again, but is again restrained by Vaughn, who grabs him and drives him face-first into the wall to the right of the back door. Tom yells "LET GO OF ME! I HAVE TO PROTECT HER!" Vaughn says "You wouldn't have a chance!"
Sydney, standing from a distance from the whole thing, tells Tom "Vaughn's right, there's too many of them!" Tom then stops fighting and closes his eyes. Vaughn, seeing as Tom is finally calming down, lets go of him.
Tom leans in on the wall and buries his head in his right arm. In between deep breaths, he says "Oh my God, it's happening...my worst nightmare is coming true..." Irina asks "Was this what Nadia was talking about earlier?"
Tom turns and looks at Irina with tears in his eyes, then starts walking down the car, past everyone.
His face is a combination of rage and tears. He's literally shaking from the emotions...the feeling that Nadia is likely gone for good is starting to sink in.
The rest of the team watches Tom to see what he'll do.
Tom keeps walking down to the end of the subway car and spots a metal trashcan. In a fit of rage, he picks it up and starts slamming it on the wall repeatedly, then he slams it on a few windows and throws it across the aisle, shattering a couple more windows in the process.
When he's done, he lets out a LOUD primal scream of rage before sliding down in a subway car seat. He then buries his head in his hands because he can't think of anything better to do.
No one approaches him for some time.
About 10 minutes have passed. An uncomfortable pall has been cast over the team in light of what happened to Nadia, and Tom's fit of rage that followed it.
And no one has still dared approach Tom, who has since taken his head out of his hands and just sits there staring into space, almost catatonic.
Finally, Irina casually walks over and stands next to him. Tom just keeps staring forward, not saying anything. Irina asks "Can I sit next to you?" Tom, still blankly staring forward, motions his right hand over to the seat on his left, saying nothing in the process.
As she sits, Irina looks at him and says "Your fiancée is alive." Tom, still in a semi-catatonic state, deadpans "How do you know that?" Irina quickly replies "Because, this is not her destiny."
Tom then turns slowly to Irina and suddenly has formed an angry look on his face. "You would know all about destiny, wouldn't you?" Irina ignores the hostility in Toms's voice and quickly replies "Rambaldi has been right up to this point. This would seem like a strange time for him to start getting things wrong."
Tom turns away from Irina and starts staring into space again. "Nadia was all I had left to live for. Like I told you on the plane, she was my everything. Without her, I have nothing. Without her...I am nothing."
Tom then looks down at the palms of his hands as he recollects his night mare, when he had Nadia's blood dripping off of his hands.
After a few seconds, he shakes his head angrily and drops his hands. "Nadia's blood is on Sloane's and Elena's hands. They did all of this. They took my fiancee away from me. When I see them, I'm going to make them suffer. I almost single-handedly destroyed an entire Mexican gang after my friend Matt Aguero died. And I made them suffer...just like Matt wanted me to do before he took his last breath. And I'm going to give Elena and Sloane the same courtesy."
Tom then hangs his head and now, Irina looks curious. "What all did you do to this gang?" Tom looks at her and goes to say something...but then sees something outside the window that he did not expect to see: Arvin Sloane. He's standing at the platform, with a machine gun in his hand.
For the first time since he grabbed Nadia's hand before she got mauled by the infected, he cracks a smile. "Well, speak of the devil..." Tom rises to his feet slowly and keeps a death stare at Sloane.
The subway car stops suddenly. Tom quickly grabs a handle to keep his balance. Then, when the car stops, he walks over and stands facing the sliding door, locking eyes out the window with Sloane. Sydney runs up to him and asks "Tom, what are you doing?" Tom turns to Sydney slowly and just stares at her with a look of hostility on his face. He notices that Sydney is holding a machine gun in her hands, but not on her shoulder strap.
In a flash, Tom quickly grabs the machine gun from Sydney as the door opens. He then starts walking out of the car in a power march towards Sloane. He points his gun at him, which causes Sloane to point his gun at Tom in return.
Tom yells "Your daughter is a zombie snack down the rail line! I hope you're proud of what you've done here!" Sloane coolly replies "I'm still on your side."
Tom snap replies "LIKE HELL YOU ARE!" Tom cocks his gun back as he keeps walking towards Sloane. Sloane also cocks his gun and says "I don't want to kill you, but I will if I have to." Tom shakes his head slowly as his face turns sinister and evil. "You clearly didn't read my Rambaldi manuscript. The Passenger has perished, and the warpath is on! You just happen to be first..."
Just as he says that, Vaughn runs up and tackles him to the ground, forcing Tom's gun to go sprawling off to the side. Tom, lying face down on the ground with Vaughn on top of him, yells "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Vaughn calmly says "Killing him won't help us!"
Tom, looking back at Vaughn out of the corner of his left eye, says "Killing genocidal megalomaniacs isn't helping? What kind of sick, twisted world do you..." Sloane cuts him off as he lowers his gun. "Elena informed me about your role in the prophecy, and I'm sorry about what happened to your girlfriend, but..."
Tom starts laughing maniacally, causing Sloane to stop in his tracks and Vaughn to get off of Tom out of uncertainty over what's coming next. Tom gets up to his feet, and, still laughing like a crazy person, says "Oh, she was more than my girlfriend! She was my fiancée! I was going to be your son-in-law!"
Sloane looks at Tom slack-jawed and, in a deep, gravely voice says "She's your what?" Tom, keeping a maniacal smirk on his face, says "Yeah, right before we landed, I asked for her hand in marriage. I was going to ask for your permission, but you weren't available...just like you weren't available for a lot of things in Nadia's life. But, I got her mom's permission, and that was good enough for me!"
Tom looks back at Irina with that crazy smirk. Irina tentatively returns the smirk, still unsure about Tom's mental state.
From this point on, Sloane explains what he's been doing since knocking out Sydney and supposedly siding with Elena. He says he's been a mole on behalf of APO. As he starts giving out orders, Jack gives him a solid left cross to the face, knocking him down.
Tom smiles wide at that, then turns back at Jack. "Nice shot." Jack just looks at him and sarcastically says "Thanks." Then, Jack looks back at Sloane and, in a sinister voice, says "You're no longer in charge of this team."
Note: As Sloane continues to explain what's going on, Nadia has somehow fought off the horde, but cannot get a response from the rest of her team. Before climbing up the ladder to the street level, Nadia looks down at her engagement ring on her left ring finger and, with a strong hint of regret in her voice, says "Tom...I'm so sorry...I should have just followed you." Nadia then climbs up the ladder and eventually gets caught by one of Elena's men. She's then restrained in a chair and, after refusing to side with Elena, is injected with infected tap water. Meanwhile, Sydney is sent to the rooftop to stop the Mueller device, while the rest of the team goes hunting for Elena...and they don't take long to find her. Vaughn eventually takes off to try to find ways to stop the Mueller device. The following takes place as Elena is being interrogated.
After being grilled by Irina for the last few minutes, Elena finally looks over at Tom and looks at him curiously. Tom just keeps his angry sneer, not saying anything.
Elena smiles. "Well, if it isn't Nadia's handsome man..." Tom angrily cuts her off. "And if it isn't the woman that ruined my life in 2003 and betrayed Nadia her whole freaking life."
Elena, unfazed, says "I'm glad to see the scars have been healed from your Project Alloy surgery! How are you feeling physically?" Tom gets in Elena's face and leans in with an evil smirk. "Physically, I'm fine. Mentally, well...the reason I'm smiling is because I'm imagining all the ways I can kill you. You better be thankful that I have a proverbial leash on me...otherwise I'd do to you what I did to the leader of the Lobos Rabiosos gang in 1996. And you know what I did, it was in your notes on me."
Elena laughs. "Ah yes, I remember following you during that time period. You were like a wild animal! It was perfect training for your destiny!" Tom starts laughing maniacally and shaking his head. "Oh, you're wrong! All of Rambaldi's plans for Sydney and Nadia went to shit when my fiancée got mauled in the subway just a little while ago! But, I'm still going to..."
Now, it's Elena's turn to laugh, forcing Tom to stop. She eventually stops and says "I just saw Nadia not 5 minutes ago..." Tom's eyes almost pop out of his head in shock as he quickly leans back away from Elena's face. "Where did you find her?"
Elena smirks and says "Oh, we found her alive and well in town. You still have some time to protect her and fulfill your destiny." Tom shakes his head in disbelief. "What do you mean? WHERE IS SHE?"
Elena looks up. "Oh, she's up on the rooftop with her sister!" Unbeknownst to Tom and everyone else, Sloane slinks out of the room after hearing that.
Tom shakes his head again. "Too bad she won't ever fight her sister..." Elena cuts him off. "Not if she has a little tap water in her system."
Tom realizes the meaning of that right away and starts breathing heavy, the rage starting to bubble up inside. "YOU INFECTED HER? She...she was going to be my wife! And she was like a daughter to you!"
Elena looks down and says "There are some things bigger in life than love..." Tom cuts her off angrily. "Not to me."
Elena smiles at that and looks back at Tom. "I know. Go protect her. She's fighting Sydney as we speak. Oh, and make sure she gets this...she dropped it while she was here." Elena then reaches into her pocket and holds up the engagement ring that Tom gave Nadia before the mission.
Tom's face starts to shake in anger as he grabs the ring...and a couple of Elena's fingers. He jerks down quickly and Elena yells out in pain, now that a couple of her right hand fingers are broken.
Tom looks down at the ring, looking for damage. He then puts it in his pocket, apparently satisfied. He then looks up at Irina. With a look of bloodthirsty rage in his face, he tells her "Irina...please do something terrible to her."
Tom then takes off at breakneck speed out of the room.
A sprinting Tom rounds the corner to the left and spots the stairs leading to the rooftop at the end of the hallway. However, Vaughn steps in his path, causing Tom to stop in his tracks.
Vaughn asks "Where are you going?" Tom, breathing heavy because he's both angry and winded, replies "I'm going to save Nadia."
Vaughn shakes his head slowly. "I can't let you do that." Tom, surprised, says "WHAT?"
Vaughn, in an uncharacteristically sinister voice, says "I have to protect my fiancée, too. And I know what you're going to do to Sydney once you get to the rooftop." Tom walks up to Vaughn and stands in his face. "I will not hurt Sydney. I just want to get Nadia out of there!"
Vaughn coolly replies "You're just saying that. I know what comes in the prophecy if you hit the rooftop. I can't let you pass." Tom thinks for a bit, then replies in a deep, low, sinister voice "I'm going to ask you one time, and one time only, to get out of my way. You've prevented me from taking care of business twice tonight...there won't be a third!"
Vaughn just stands there, holding his ground. Tom, seeing as he's not going to move, gives Vaughn a HARD forearm blast with his right arm...the right arm with the titanium bones from Project Alloy. Vaughn crumples to the ground in a heap as Tom leapfrogs him and starts sprinting up the stairs.
Just like in his nightmare, Tom is sprinting as fast and as hard as he can up the stairs. As he's running, he can't help but wonder what's going to be on the other side once he gets up to the door. Nadia's alive...but is she really? And if Sydney kills her...well, he doesn't want to think about that.
Tom finally reaches the final flight of stairs and busts through the rooftop door and looks out to the left. He immediately sees Nadia strangling Sydney with a chain.
He's got to stop Nadia...but, before he can do anything, he catches something out of the corner of his left eye and turns to face it.
Arvin Sloane is standing there and pointing a gun in Nadia's direction.
Tom springs into action and starts charging at Sloane. As he's running at him, he yells "DON'T SHOOT! I CAN STOP THIS!" But Sloane doesn't flinch. Just as Tom is going to tackle him, Sloane gets a shot off and nails Nadia between the shoulder blades.
Tom tackles Sloane about a split second after he gets the shot off. Sloane and Tom hit the ground at the same time Nadia does.
Sloane's gun goes flying off the the side. Once Tom gets his senses back, he immediately looks over to where Nadia and Sydney were...and looks completely mortified when he sees Nadia's lifeless body lying next to Sydney.
The tears immediately form in his eyes. His body shakes. His stomach aches. His head hurts...
The nightmare just reached it's climax.
With the pressure building up in him, Tom screams "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" After he finishes, instead of rushing to Nadia's side, all Tom can think about is blood.
Tom looks down and locks eyes with Sloane, who's lying underneath him. Now consumed completely by rage, Tom immediately wraps his hands around Sloane's throat and starts strangling Sloane. As he does, he screams "THAT IS THE LAST MISTAKE YOU'RE EVER GOING TO MAKE!"
After a few seconds, Sloane's eyes start to roll back in his head. However, relief comes in the form of Sydney's voice: "She's alive!"
Tom looks over to the right and sees Sydney crouched over Nadia. Immediately, Tom releases the chokehold and runs over to Nadia and crouches over her. Behind him, Sloane starts coughing and tries to catch his breath.
Nadia has not passed out, but she just lies there, clinging on to life, her eyes slowly gazing over to Tom. Tom immediately notices the yellow, possessed eyes that Nadia has. Tom's heart sinks and he looks away, not wanting to believe what he's seeing.
However, he's forced to look back in her eyes quickly when she, in a very light and raspy voice, says "Tom..."
However, she can say no more as her body goes limp while she passes out and her eyes close. Tom gently puts his hand on her cheek, then slides it down to her neck and notices she still has a pulse...albeit a faint one.
Tom immediately breaks down in tears, unable to control his emotions at the moment. To no one in particular, he says between sobs "She still knew who I was...it didn't have to happen like this! It didn't have to happen at all!" Sydney looks at Tom and can't help but feel bad what he's going through.
As he's getting back to his feet, Sloane tells them "I had no choice..." Tom looks back at him angrily. "SHE STILL KNEW WHO I WAS! I could have stopped her!"
Sloane blankly replies "You wouldn't have made it in time to save Sydney." Tom shakes his head frantically. "You don't know that...you don't know shit!"
Sloane says "I do know that you possess the ability to heal Nadia in your bloodstream. That's why I shot her...to save Sydney and to give my daughter a chance." Tom looks back down at Nadia as he lets Sloane's words sink in. After all...he's right. He still can save her.
Tom suddenly bends over and scoops up Nadia in his arms. As he does, he looks back at Sydney, who has stayed silent throughout all of this, unsure of how Tom is going to react if she says anything.
Tom's face of rage has now been replaced with one of concern. Reason starts sinking back in to his mind. Tom lets out a deep breath and tells Sydney "I would never have hurt you. You have to believe me." Sydney just continues to look at him fearful, not sure what to think.
Tom then turns and starts carrying Nadia towards Sloane. He gets in his face and his look of anger returns. "All your life, you've been nothing but a bloodsucking tick, feeding on others in order to not only survive, but thrive. I remember asking you when were you going to meet your Waterloo, like Napoleon once did. Well, welcome to Waterloo, Arvin. However, I'm going to spare your life...for now. But if Nadia ends up dying over all of this...you die. Her blood is all over your hands. And you better get on those hands and your knees and start begging God...Rambaldi...whoever you worship...to spare Nadia's life. Because if she dies, I will hunt you down and I will butcher you...and I'll take my time so you can savor every last, painful second of your pathetic life. But, I'm not completely without mercy, so I will offer this...if she lives, and if we're are allowed to live out the rest of our lives in peace, I'll let you live. And don't think for one second that I won't make good on this promise. After all, it's been written into prophecy that the warpath will begin the moment Nadia takes her last breath."
Tom then finishes and keeps his death glare at Sloane. The glare is broken up by Sydney saying "Tom, get Nadia out of here!" Tom looks over at her with a blank look on his face. "Go save the freaking world...I'm going to try to save mine."
Sydney looks at him a little sullen over his words. Tom then turns quickly and sees Vaughn has reached the rooftop finally, with a split left eyebrow from Tom's forearm shot, and a stream of blood running down the left side of his face. Vaughn assesses the situation, then looks at Tom, who's approaching him angrily with a lifeless Nadia in his arms.
Suddenly, Tom stops walking and gets in Vaughn's face. "Nadia's blood is on your hands, too." Vaughn replies "I was just looking out for..."
Tom cuts him off angrily "Don't speak to me. Ever. I just hope you're happy that you still get to enjoy life with your fiancée while mine clings to hers. I can never forgive you for what you've done to me here. Now...this time...you will get out of my way."
This time, Vaughn obeys Tom's request and steps off to the side, allowing Tom to walk through the rooftop entrance and down the stairs.
Note: Sydney does save the world by cutting the correct wire, causing an avalanche of water to fall from the sky. Before she does that, Elena is shot and killed by Irina. Sydney, Sloane, and Vaughn catch up with Tom standing outside an elevator. They get in the elevator together. As they're in the elevator, Tom keeps pressure on Nadia's bullet wound. They do end up surviving the waterfall.
Irina stands outside, leaning against the Oransky Building, digesting what has happened this night. Jack is on lookout about 50 yards ahead of her.
As she continues to wonder if the rest of the team made it, she hears a female voice in her head all of the sudden. "Irina..."
Irina quickly stands up straight and starts looking for people around her. All she finds is Jack, who's paying her no attention. The voice says again "Irina, you can't see me, and you don't know me. But I know you."
Irina shakes her head and whispers "Who is this?" The voice replies "My name is Mary Landry Falk. I'm Tom's mother."
Irina starts pacing off to the right. She whispers "What is this? What do you want?" Mary replies "I'm dead. But, I can communicate with you, Sydney, Nadia, and my son from the afterlife. And I'm talking to you because I need your help, and you need mine."
Irina stops and turns to see if Jack has noticed anything. He hasn't. Irina then turns back and starts pacing the other way. She asks "How can you help me? I've never met you." After a pause for a few seconds, Mary replies "I know that you seek The Horizon. And I know a lot about Rambaldi's prophecy that you don't. In exchange for my help in the coming months, I need you to protect my son."
Irina looks confused as she stops pacing again. "Protect him? How?" Mary quickly replies "He's not doing well, and it's going to be some time before he recovers from this. Pretty soon, you're going to see him holding Nadia in his arms. Please try to comfort him, I know you can. He respects you and he'll listen to you. I also need you to do something else for him. I know it won't make any sense at first..."
Mary stops as Irina sees Tom walking out of the building on the far side, holding Nadia in his arms and being flanked by Sydney, Sloane, and Vaughn. Irina whispers "Mary?" Mary whispers "I have to go. Please help my son. I'll give you the details later."
Irina looks away, digesting her supernatural conversation with Tom's mother. However, she jumps when she hears Vaughn ask Tom "I can help carry her..." Tom looks over at him and snaps "YOU'VE DONE ENOUGH ALREADY!"
Vaughn stops and has a a look of disdain on his face as Tom marches away. Sydney tries to put a hand on Tom's shoulder, but he angrily shrugs it off. Irina is taking notice of all this and has come to the conclusion that Tom is not well, indeed.
Irina steps in front of Tom as he approaches Jack. Tom stops and looks at her with a look of concern on her face. Irina looks down at Nadia and assesses her situation, then back up at Tom. "Tom, I know how you're feeling..."
Tom turns and gives her a distraught glare. "You have no idea what I'm feeling because I don't know how I'M feeling anymore. I don't know whether to be hopeful or angry." Irina smiles and says "You should be hopeful. You haven't lost faith in Nadia up to this point, and you can't give up on her now. She's searched all her life for someone to believe in her and she found you. And now, she needs you more than ever."
Tom looks down at Nadia's face and, fighting back the tears, he says "I love her so much...she gives me peace in my wretched life. I don't know what I'll do without her." Irina quickly replies "Don't think like that. She's going to survive. After all, she's a Derevko."
Tom looks at her a little funny, and then chuckles a bit. "I never thought of her that way..." Irina smiles and says "As long as you continue to have faith in Nadia, she has hope."
Tom looks at her with a very somber look and says "You're right. Thanks for the kind words." Irina pats Tom on the shoulder and says "Mothers know best, right?" Tom digests that comment for a second...then goes back to focusing on Nadia.
Irina then turns to talk to Jack and Sydney. Tom looks back at her and yells out "Hey!" Irina stops and looks back at him. Tom smiles and says "Thank you." Irina asks "For what?" Tom quickly replies "For bringing Nadia into this world."
Irina cracks a smile and says "No problem. Good luck...my future son-in-law." Tom smiles again and looks back down at Nadia and gives her a kiss on the forehead, then says "Everything's going to be fine. We'll be in San Felipe before we know it."
Note: Irina says her goodbyes. Jack actually advises her to escape, which she happily obliges. Sloane is arrested and thrown in federal prison for a myriad of reasons, not the least of which betraying APO. Meanwhile, Nadia is stabilized and transported back with the team to Los Angeles and immediately is placed in the hospital.
Los Angeles
Tom sits next to Nadia, who is laid out unconscious in the hospital bed. He's in the process of filling up an empty blood bag and has a hopeful look on his face.
As the blood bag fills, Tom reaches into his pocket and pulls out Nadia's engagement ring. He examines it again, making sure it's not scuffed up from Sovogda. He's happy when he sees it isn't.
Tom stands up and leans over Nadia to grab her left hand. He holds it up and slides the ring on her ring finger. He then sits back down and smiles at Nadia. "You're going to be so beautiful on our wedding day...I can't wait until I see you walk down the aisle."
After he says that, the same female doctor that treated Tom when he was shot walks in. She grins as she looks at the full blood bag. "Ok, we're full."
She looks over at Tom and takes out his needle on the inside of his left elbow and puts a cottonball over the needle hole. She then applies a strip of tape to keep the cottonball in place.
The doctor then takes the needle she used on Tom out of the tube and replaces it with a fresh one. She leans over, rubs the inside of Nadia's right elbow with alcohol, dries it off, and sticks the needle in.
Tom smiles as the blood starts to go through the tube and into Nadia. Then he looks back up at Nadia's face and smiles wider. "San Felipe, here we come!" The doctor looks at him curiously. "What?"
Tom looks at her with a wide smile and says "Me and Nadia are going there on vacation. It's in Baja California, along the Bay of California. I couldn't think of a better place to celebrate our engagement!" The doctor smiles and says "Well, we just have to hope for another one of your miracles!"
Tom shakes his head confidently. "It's not a miracle when you know it will work." The doctor laughs a bit as she looks at Nadia's vitals.
Then, she leans over and pulls down the collar of Nadia's hospital shirt a bit and notices the gunshot wound is gone. She smiles at Tom as she says "Here we go again! No bullet hole!"
Tom nods and smiles assuredly. It would appear The Lifeforce is working once again.
The doctor then leans back and looks at Nadia's vitals again. Her expression immediately changes from happy to confused. "Hmm, her vitals should be improving by now..." Tom now looks a little concerned himself as he looks at Nadia's vitals and notices they haven't moved from their high levels.
And then, Tom notices Nadia's right arm start to move. He raises his eyebrows surprised that she's coming back already.
The doctor moves out of the way as Tom walks over to the side of Nadia's head and strokes her hair back as she starts to stir. "It's ok, babe, it's ok. I'm here. Everything's going to be..."
And then, Nadia opens her eyes...those same yellow, possessed eyes from Sovogda.
Tom, now in spooked disbelief, staggers back quickly until he hits the counter behind him. He looks on stunned as Nadia starts convalescing. The doctor quickly restrains her shoulders and yells "I NEED HELP IN HERE!"
Tom's bottom lip starts to quiver and tears start forming in his eyes. He slowly shakes his head and says "No, no, no, no, NO! This isn't supposed to happen!"
A couple nurses run in. The doctor exclaims "Hold her down!" The nurses do as instructed as the doctor runs past Tom to grab a syringe and a vial of fluid.
Tom walks over to the doctor and frantically asks "What's going on? What happened?" The doctor shakes her head and says "I don't know..." as she walks past Tom. The doctor sticks the needle into the vial of fluid and draws fluid out of it. She then walks over to Nadia's left arm, where her IV drip is, and injects a struggling Nadia with the fluid.
Almost immediately, Nadia relaxes and she sinks into her hospital bed. Her eyes are closed again as the fluid has apparently knocked her out. The nurses then stop restraining her and walk out of the room.
Tom walks up to Nadia again and, with tears pouring out of his eyes, asks her "Why...why didn't it work?" The doctor looks over and says "I don't know. We'll run some tests to see what happened. Your blood DID heal her gunshot wound..."
Tom then gently lifts Nadia's head up and looks at the scar she has from when Anna Espinosa branded her with a Rambaldi symbol. Only, the scar is gone. "She had to get a skin graft on the back of her neck when she was branded...that scar is gone too. I don't understand..." The doctor then hypothesizes "It could be that your blood can only heal wounds...or that her disease has some sort of immunity to the elements in your blood. Maybe some blood tests can tell us more."
Suddenly, Sydney quickly walks into the room. She sees Nadia passed out and Tom leaning over her with tears in his eyes and a sad look on his face. The first things out of Sydney's mouth are "Is she ok?"
Tom looks back at Sydney and slowly shakes his head. His lip still quivering, he says "My blood did nothing for her infection." Sydney holds up her hand to her mouth to hide her surprise. The doctor says "We're going to have to put her in a medical coma to keep her stable. Unfortunately, there's no known cure for her infection."
And at that point, the reality of the situation hits Tom. He completely breaks down. He sits in the chair he was in while he was filling the blood bag and starts openly sobbing.
Sydney walks up to him and puts a hand on his shoulder...and he doesn't brush it away this time. Meanwhile, the doctor solemnly says "Our team of doctors will research a cure for her."
With that, Tom just buries his head in his hands and starts mumbling "This isn't happening...this isn't happening..."
The doctor, left with nothing to say, walks past Tom and Sydney to unhook the now half-full blood bag. She takes the needle out of Nadia's arm and takes the bag away with her.
Sydney, meanwhile, rubs Tom's shoulder and says "Tom, I can't imagine what you're going through, but you have to believe..." Tom looks at her quickly and cuts her off angrily. "BELIEVE? BELIEVE IN WHAT? NADIA'S GONE!"
Sydney backs off a couple of steps and says "No she isn't! And don't get angry with me, it's not me you're mad at!" Tom stands up quickly and points a finger in her face. "No, I'm angry at Sloane and Vaughn!"
Sydney looks displeased that he would say that. "What? Why Vaughn?" Tom wipes some tears away and his look of rage that he had in Sovogda returns to his face. "I could be mad at him for stopping me from killing Sloane in the subway. I could be mad at him for delaying me from saving Nadia on the rooftop. But no, I'm mad at him because he prevented me from saving Nadia on the subway and avoiding this IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
Sydney shakes her head quickly. "Tom, he was looking out for..." Tom snaps back "DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO JUSTIFY HIS ACTIONS! Maybe I could have helped Nadia fight off the horde, and when I did, I could have protected her from Elena!"
Sydney quickly responds "Or maybe you could have died!" Tom forms an angry sneer and says "I'd rather die trying to save the woman I love than live with this pain I'm feeling right now! But regarding Vaughn, I do agree that this all wouldn't have happened without Sloane. He's still #1 on my..."
Sydney, still looking down, cuts Tom off "I know you don't want to hear this, but I think Sloane was doing the right thing..." Tom snaps and says "HE COMMITTED GENOCIDE ON AN ENTIRE CITY AND HE SHOT THE LOVE OF MY LIFE! HELLO? ARE YOU INSANE?"
Sydney looks back up at Tom and intently replies "He tried to help..." Tom cuts her off. "...by watching idly as a city devoured itself? He put the crap in the water and he was there to build the device! And then, he 'helped' by busting a cap in my fiancée's back! What is wrong with you?"
Sydney replies "I know it seems he did wrong, on the surface, but you have to look..." Tom gets in Sydney's face and, with an angry scowl on his face, says "Damn you for trying to take his side while your sister lies here because of his actions. Damn you!"
Sydney now gives Tom an angry glare back, offended over his comments. Then, Tom looks past her shoulder as he sees Sloane walking down the hallway in shackles, flanked by two prison guards.
Tom's angry scowl somehow gets angrier as he sees Sloane walk into the room. Tom steps around Sydney and gets in Sloane's face. He's breathing deeply...seething in his anger. Sloane picks up on that and asks "What happened? Didn't you give Nadia your blood?"
Tom replies angrily "It worked on her bullet wound, but it did nothing for her infection." Sloane leans left and looks past Tom's right shoulder at Nadia, then hangs his head. "I thought it would work..." Then, Sloane looks back up remorsefully at Tom. "But, even still, if you had restrained Nadia, she'd still be infected, and we'd still be in this predicament."
Tom shakes his head. "No! No, if you hadn't gone and infected the water during your time in Omnifam, we wouldn't be in ANY predicament, NOW WOULD WE!" Sloane looks at him blankly and doesn't give him a response.
Tom looks up at the prison guards, then back at Sloane. "Even though you helped commit genocide on an entire city, in addition to shooting my fiancée, I'm sure you're going to want to weasel your way out of prison somehow. And if you do somehow manage to get free, you're going to want to do everything in your power to tap into your Rambaldi sources to find a cure for Nadia...if one even exists. Otherwise...I will fulfill that promise I made to you on the rooftop in Sovogda. For once in your life, I DARE you to do the right thing for your daughter."
Tom then turns to Sydney. "And as for you...you go ahead and go to Santa Barbara with that piece of crap you're going to marry. Meanwhile, I'll be back here, trying to find a way to cope with the fact that I might not ever get to see my fiancée walk down the aisle. I hope you have a great freaking time in Santa Barbara while your sister lies in a coma...but don't you ever expect me to forgive Vaughn for doing what he did to me in Sovogda! And if you have a problem with that...then have a great freaking life for all I care!"
Tom then turns away from Sydney and storms out of the hospital room. Sydney looks both hurt and angry at Tom's words. Sloane, meanwhile, glares at him as he walks away and looks to be in deep thought over these latest circumstances.
As Tom walks down the hallway, he starts getting overcome with grief. He walks up to the elevator and hits the button to go down. He then leans up against the wall with his right hand and lets some tears fall from his face.
The elevator door opens and he walks through the doors. He's alone in the elevator, which is a relief to him. The doors close and Tom hits the button to go down to the ground floor.
As he starts grieving again, he looks up to the ceiling. "Dad, this is your son. You once told me that I might understand what you felt when Mom died." Tom then starts sobbing again, and as he sobs, he says "I understand now, and I forgive you! I don't know how long I'm going to last..."
As he says that, the elevator door opens. A middle-aged blonde-haired man stands in front of him, next to a woman with medium-length black hair, and a young black-haired girl who might be 5 or 6 years old.
Tom looks at the parents, then down at the little girl. He then realizes he's probably being rude and says "Sorry, excuse me." Tom then walks by the family as they get into the elevator. The family members give him a weird look, but step on to the elevator anyway.
As he walks into the parking garage, he thinks about that family...and how those parents could have been him and Nadia down the road...with a girl of their own.
And then he realizes that future might not be there anymore.
The thoughts make him sob some more as he gets to his black Cadillac and opens the driver's door. He gets in the car and closes the door.
Instead of starting his car right away, he stares off into space for a while...still trying to come to grips with what is happening.
Only one conclusion comes to his mind: "I need a drink."
END OF SEASON 4