Jack Bristow brought the car to a screeching halt in the now deserted
parking lot alongside the warehouse. The sudden stop caused Will to begin
to stir in the backseat. He began murmuring unintelligible gibberish. Jack
reached on the seat next to him, took hold of the tranquilizer gun, and
took perverse pleasure in shooting Will in the chest. It was his damn
curiosity and stupidity and nosiness that had created this mess in the
first place. Now his daughter was who knows where, or for lack of anyone
better to blame, he decided Will would suffice for the time being.
He loaded his weapon and placed it in his shoulder holster, turning off the safety. He stepped carefully out of the car, locking all of the doors, and looking in one last time to make sure Tippin was indeed knocked out and out of sight. Then he began to move slowly, cautiously towards the building.
He removed a card splice from his jacket pocket, and gained easy admittance to the laboratory. His weapon drawn, he entered the building, the door closing slowly behind him. Glancing down the plethora of hallways displayed in front of him, the building did actually appear to be deserted. He turned left and took off. Agent Vaughn (and hopefully his daughter) were somewhere in the building.
Vaughn rounded a corner, attempting to make his way back towards the last exit he could remember seeing, but this maze of identical hallways was deeply confusing. Sydney remained limp and unconscious in his arms.
Jack came upon a hallway full of security monitors, and he scanned them briefly before noticed a discarded handgun next to a pool of blood on the ground. He felt the spot with his fingertips. Not quite dry yet, still relatively fresh. He entered the adjacent room, only to be overwhelmed by the stench that met his nostrils. It smelled of death, and blood, and human. He raised his gun and whirled around, only to see Sark's dead, naked body on the bed, a bullet to the head. Checking the weapon, he noted that two rounds had been fired, then noticed the second slug embedded in the wall at the level of the bed. He noted that its purpose had been to break apart some sort of chain.
Disgusted, but relieved to see that someone had finally killed that bastard, Jack left the room to examine the security monitors. The moment he stepped out the door, he heard someone cock a gun directly at his head. He froze.
"Jack!" It was Vaughn. He quickly lowered his weapon.
"Is...is she?" Jack asked, barely able to speak.
"No, no she's alive...but we have to get her out of here. Fast."
Jack was sickened by the visible extent of her daughter's injuries. It still pained him to see that she had ever been brought into this life, and even more so once her friends were mixed up in it, even if he never chose to show it.
"What the hell happened?" he asked Vaughn huskily, his eyes pleading. Vaughn could see the pain in this man's eyes, and if this was what Jack Bristow was showing on the outside, Vaughn only knew what he could be feeling on the inside.
"I have no idea," Vaughn admitted. "I found her, right here, and I was trying to find a way out, but I think I just kept making circles. Then I heard you and thought that you were someone who had come back to kill us."
"So you don't know anything about Sark?" "Sark? No. Is he here?"
"Actually, he's dead. Right in there. Someone executed him, close range shot to the head."
"Good riddance."
"Follow me." And with that Jack Bristow led the way back out of the building, with Vaughn still cradling his daughter in his arms.
Jack dialed the number of their transport plane and began barking orders.
"Wait, I think we need to get Sydney to a hospital now--" Vaughn began to argue.
"It's not safe here. Khasinau knows that we are in Taipei, so we can't put her in a hospital here. It's not safe."
"What about a safe house? I'm sure there are some in Taipei, and we can get a doctor there for her."
"Agent Vaughn, listen to me. It is not safe to be here. We have to risk taking her back to L.A. We both have field medical training. I'm sure our training will suffice. Her injuries look bad, yes, but nothing life threatening."
Vaughn knew that arguing was just futile, a waste of air, and as it still hurt him to breathe a bit, he gave in to Jack's orders.
"From a quick once over, it looks like she's got a head injury, a concussion, a pretty deep cut in her side, a stab wound to the thigh, wrist and ankle surface injuries, and a dislocated shoulder." Jack tried to hold back tears. Sydney deserved none of this. He wished from the depth of his heart, despite all the good she was now doing and the bad she was destroying, that she still thought he sold airplane parts. But he knew that he had to remain strong, as Vaughn looked as if his heart was about to rip in two as well. He knew that Vaughn was in love with his daughter, and he admired his attempts to not reveal this or act on it. He also knew that his daughter was in love with Vaughn. He knew what love could do to anyone in the business, and what it had done to him. Emotion was a weakness, and love was even worse.
As the two men ran from the building, Jack opened the doors to the backseat to lay Sydney in, almost forgetting that Will was in there. The two men awkwardly rolled him into the trunk area, and Jack grabbed a large first aid kit.
"It's not much," he admitted. "But please, do whatever you can." With that, Jack clambered into the front seat, and Vaughn into the back with Sydney, and they took off for the airstrip.
He loaded his weapon and placed it in his shoulder holster, turning off the safety. He stepped carefully out of the car, locking all of the doors, and looking in one last time to make sure Tippin was indeed knocked out and out of sight. Then he began to move slowly, cautiously towards the building.
He removed a card splice from his jacket pocket, and gained easy admittance to the laboratory. His weapon drawn, he entered the building, the door closing slowly behind him. Glancing down the plethora of hallways displayed in front of him, the building did actually appear to be deserted. He turned left and took off. Agent Vaughn (and hopefully his daughter) were somewhere in the building.
Vaughn rounded a corner, attempting to make his way back towards the last exit he could remember seeing, but this maze of identical hallways was deeply confusing. Sydney remained limp and unconscious in his arms.
Jack came upon a hallway full of security monitors, and he scanned them briefly before noticed a discarded handgun next to a pool of blood on the ground. He felt the spot with his fingertips. Not quite dry yet, still relatively fresh. He entered the adjacent room, only to be overwhelmed by the stench that met his nostrils. It smelled of death, and blood, and human. He raised his gun and whirled around, only to see Sark's dead, naked body on the bed, a bullet to the head. Checking the weapon, he noted that two rounds had been fired, then noticed the second slug embedded in the wall at the level of the bed. He noted that its purpose had been to break apart some sort of chain.
Disgusted, but relieved to see that someone had finally killed that bastard, Jack left the room to examine the security monitors. The moment he stepped out the door, he heard someone cock a gun directly at his head. He froze.
"Jack!" It was Vaughn. He quickly lowered his weapon.
"Is...is she?" Jack asked, barely able to speak.
"No, no she's alive...but we have to get her out of here. Fast."
Jack was sickened by the visible extent of her daughter's injuries. It still pained him to see that she had ever been brought into this life, and even more so once her friends were mixed up in it, even if he never chose to show it.
"What the hell happened?" he asked Vaughn huskily, his eyes pleading. Vaughn could see the pain in this man's eyes, and if this was what Jack Bristow was showing on the outside, Vaughn only knew what he could be feeling on the inside.
"I have no idea," Vaughn admitted. "I found her, right here, and I was trying to find a way out, but I think I just kept making circles. Then I heard you and thought that you were someone who had come back to kill us."
"So you don't know anything about Sark?" "Sark? No. Is he here?"
"Actually, he's dead. Right in there. Someone executed him, close range shot to the head."
"Good riddance."
"Follow me." And with that Jack Bristow led the way back out of the building, with Vaughn still cradling his daughter in his arms.
Jack dialed the number of their transport plane and began barking orders.
"Wait, I think we need to get Sydney to a hospital now--" Vaughn began to argue.
"It's not safe here. Khasinau knows that we are in Taipei, so we can't put her in a hospital here. It's not safe."
"What about a safe house? I'm sure there are some in Taipei, and we can get a doctor there for her."
"Agent Vaughn, listen to me. It is not safe to be here. We have to risk taking her back to L.A. We both have field medical training. I'm sure our training will suffice. Her injuries look bad, yes, but nothing life threatening."
Vaughn knew that arguing was just futile, a waste of air, and as it still hurt him to breathe a bit, he gave in to Jack's orders.
"From a quick once over, it looks like she's got a head injury, a concussion, a pretty deep cut in her side, a stab wound to the thigh, wrist and ankle surface injuries, and a dislocated shoulder." Jack tried to hold back tears. Sydney deserved none of this. He wished from the depth of his heart, despite all the good she was now doing and the bad she was destroying, that she still thought he sold airplane parts. But he knew that he had to remain strong, as Vaughn looked as if his heart was about to rip in two as well. He knew that Vaughn was in love with his daughter, and he admired his attempts to not reveal this or act on it. He also knew that his daughter was in love with Vaughn. He knew what love could do to anyone in the business, and what it had done to him. Emotion was a weakness, and love was even worse.
As the two men ran from the building, Jack opened the doors to the backseat to lay Sydney in, almost forgetting that Will was in there. The two men awkwardly rolled him into the trunk area, and Jack grabbed a large first aid kit.
"It's not much," he admitted. "But please, do whatever you can." With that, Jack clambered into the front seat, and Vaughn into the back with Sydney, and they took off for the airstrip.