Chapter 16: Such a Mess of Things

Disclaimer: This particular piece of brilliance isn't mine.

A/N: We're getting close to the end now! Hold on tight, it's going to be a wild ride! _____________________________________________________________________________________

"I know there have been rumors of an intrusion of this facility," Irina Derevko said to the room of guards she'd posted around everything. "I'm not sure if the rumors are credible or not," she lied, "but we're going to react as if they are. Bear in mind that these potential intruders are not to be harmed. Tranquilizers will be issued in the case of an emergency. If at all possible, these intruders are to be left alone. If any casualties occur among them, it will cost you greatly."

Every man in that room murmured their consent; this woman had proven time and time again that she'd follow through on her threats. It certainly helped her edge that she spoke English, a second, or third, language to most of the men there.

"I also want to be sure that it's clear that no one is to have any contact whatsoever with the prisoners. Let me catch you even looking at them and I'll make sure you find it difficult to do so ever again." She paused for emphasis. "Mr. Sark, please see to it that all the weapons are distributed properly."

Derevko slipped away to see her daughters while everyone else was occupied. Walking up to the door of the storage room, she pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. She settled on the floor silently in front of them after weaving through a maze of crates.

Sydney said softly, a sad tone in her voice, "I wish you'd just leave us alone."

Lorrie just stared at her with big, scared eyes.

Their reactions hurt her more than they could ever have known.

"I feel like I owe you both something before you're gone," she said softly, shaking her head. "You won't be here much longer. To be truthful, the one thing I want is to go back and do everything over, and not make such a mess of things. I want you to know, I'm sorry. And, that I love you. Sydney, I loved your father, too, but it would have been dangerous for him if I'd stayed. I was in too deep. Lorrie, I loved your father, but, as I'm sure he's made sure you know, we never saw eye to eye on anything. I stayed as long as I did because you needed me. I couldn't risk staying any longer, though." She looked them both in the eye. "I'm not sure if I'll see you again, so I'll tell you good-bye now." Sydney was shocked to see her mother's eyes were moist. "I'm taking off the shackles, too. They weren't my idea. Please don't make a bunch of noise and alert anyone. It might be best if you stayed back here, away from the door." Derevko stood and turned to face them. "I love you," she said softly, then turned and walked out before they could see the tear slip down her face.

Outside, Sark was waiting for her. She blinked and tried to wipe at her eyes without him seeing her.

"I asked for you to wait for me in the meeting room," she complained sharply.

Sark shrugged. "So…What?" he asked softly, weary of anyone else hearing. "We just let them in? We really aren't doing anything?"

Derevko nodded. "We'll have plenty of time to get out. All Jack and Taylor want is Lorrie and Sydney. They'll come after me second."

Sark grinned a weasel-ish grin. "You really don't want to give them up, do you?"

Irina made a conscious effort to appear in control. "I suggest you go make sure the head guards are clear on the protocol for this situation and stay the hell out of my business," she snapped menacingly.

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Five grueling hours of planning. A four hour flight to wherever the hell they were, on which Taylor and Danny had managed to sleep but Michael and Jack were too wired. And now, Michael thought, with an hour before we move in, we sit and wait. And after the extraction, they'd have a four hour flight back, then he and Jack would have a two or three hour debrief during which they'd have to justify their rash, insubordinate act. And that was assuming something didn't go horribly wrong, or one of the stupid civilians didn't get themselves killed. God, they were stupid. He and Jack could probably do a better job without them.

He stole a quick glance at Jack; yep, he was reflecting on their stupidity, too.

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Lorrie was crying again. Her back was to Sydney, but she still knew Lorrie was crying. Not sobbing; they were both too tired for that. Neither of them had slept in three days. Sydney was exhausted, but being on constant alert didn't allow for sleep. Even if she could relax her body enough to sleep, her mind wouldn't rest. She knew Lorrie had to feel about the same, and the whole ordeal was clearly too much for her emotionally.

Knowing Lorrie didn't want her to know she was crying, Sydney occupied her mind with the questions that were flying around in her head like a blizzard. Why did our mother unchain us and suggest we won't be here much longer? She blinked and shook her head, allowing that question to remain unanswered; the potential answers were too frightening. Any questions concerning Derevko were better left unanswered for the time. So…Is Jaime okay?

"Of course," she said softly. "Danny can take care of him." She realized that this was where a mental image of Danny playing with Jaime, or at least holding him, should show up, but none came. She thought harder. The last time she remembered Danny taking on Jaime was…almost five months ago, when she'd come down with the flu. And when she'd been able to get up to take care of him, he'd had diaper rash.

She quickly shut down that line of thought. If she died, she didn't want to do it thinking bad things of her husband, like that he'd neglected their baby…

But he had, hadn't he? And he rarely offered to take Jaime to daycare, and if he was already asleep when Danny got home, sometimes he seemed downright relieved.

She shook her head again. It was almost midnight, and the third night she hadn't slept at all. Three days of no sleep could make anyone think unfounded accusations about people.

"Sydney?" Lorrie said softly, her back still turned. "Are you awake?"

"Yeah. Not like I can sleep," she said softly.

"Are…do you wonder about people? I mean, like, your dad. Do you think he misses you?"

Sydney smiled a sad smile. "I think, in his own way, my dad loves me. Things were just bad for a while and we both let it go on too long. You dad loves you, too, Lorrie."

Lorrie turned around wearily. "Sometimes I wonder," she murmured.

Sydney put her arm around Lorrie. "I'm sure he does. Why don't you try to sleep a little while?" she added as she noted the exhaustion on Lorrie's face. "I'll be right here."

Lorrie shook her head. "I can't sleep."

"Just close your eyes for a few minutes, then. Relax a little. You need some sleep."

"You haven't slept either," Lorrie accused.

"It's different. I can go longer than you without sleep." Sydney looked into Lorrie's worried eyes. "I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

Lorrie sighed. "Okay. But just for a few minutes."

Within minutes, Lorrie was fast asleep.

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"Let's move."

Jack led the way into the building. They filed along the hall, guns drawn, until they came to two separate halls. Jack motioned to Michael, and they split up, Taylor following Jack and Danny following Michael.

Michael led. Danny followed. Most of the rooms on the hall they were on were small, and required only a quick glance to determine whether anyone was inside. Besides, they were unlocked. Finally they came to a door at the end of the hall.

A storage room," Michael muttered. "Search behind everything," he added to Danny.

They split up and started doing just that.

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Sydney sat behind the crate and tried not to burst into tears. She stifled scream after scream as the men got closer and closer…

I'm going to die…I promised Lorrie I'd protect her…who'll take care of Jaime?…I'm going to die…

"Michael!" she cried, her scream dying in her throat as her appeared in front of her.

"Sydney!"

She had never been so happy to see anyone in her life. For a moment she could barely breathe, she was so relieved.

Danny appeared behind Michael, and his appearance broke the spell.

"Sydney!"

To Sydney's surprise, she couldn't muster up the same enthusiastic reply for him as she had for Michael. Instead, she stood and woke Lorrie.

"Mmm…huh?"

"Lorrie, come on. Look who's here," she said gleefully.

She pulled Lorrie to her feet and Michael immediately started toward the door.

"Are you guys okay? Will you make it out okay?" Michael asked.

Lorrie nodded, and Sydney muttered, "We're more than ready to get the hell out of here."

Something in her tone made Michael turn to look at her.

"Then let's get out of here," he said to cover up his glance before Danny caught on.

He flipped on the microphone on the COM unit.

"Jack, I've got them. Meet back at the transport."

Danny dropped back to talk to Sydney and left Michael to lead them all out.

"Sydney, are you okay, honey? Did she…"

"I'm fine, Danny," Sydney broke in quickly. "I just need some sleep. I don't want to talk."

Danny looked shocked. "Sydney, I want to know what she did to you," Danny came very close to snapping at her. He grabbed her arm.

Sydney glanced at him, wondering how she'd never noticed how…pushy he was.

"Danny, I'm tired. I'm not talking about it right now. Lay off," Sydney said irritably, pulling her arm from his grasp.

They rounded a corner to find two men standing there. One ducked into a room, but the other stood his ground. Michael and Danny both drew guns, and Michael shouted at Danny to stay back; he didn't. The other man drew a gun. Michael fired. The other man fired. Seemingly in slow motion, Danny fell.

Michael flipped on the COM again.

"Jack, man down! Get to the van and meet me at extraction point two!"

Sydney was already kneeling by Danny, and Lorrie stood behind her looking horrified. Michael stooped down next to Sydney.

"Damn!" Danny muttered hoarsely.

"It'll hurt like hell, but it didn't do much damage," Michael said firmly. "Get up, we'll get you to the closest hospital."

"Are you crazy?!?" Danny growled.

"Jack, cancel that. We'll be at the van in ten minutes, tops," Michael said in annoyance. Another reason civilians didn't belong in the field: agents had been trained to show pain only if it was life threatening, basically. A shoulder shot wouldn't have even made most agents blink.

"Sure?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. Civilians," he muttered before turning off the COM again. He hauled Danny off of the floor and half dragged him toward the door, despite Danny's avid protests.

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"Taylor, let's get out of here as quick as we can. It's too quiet; I'm afraid someone's waiting for us," Jack muttered.

They slinked along the hall, Taylor glancing curiously into each room they passed. After one room, he froze and stepped backward.

"Holy shit!" Taylor yelled, causing Jack to turn around. Before Jack could even react, Taylor charged into the room, gun first.

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Don't worry, I'm not letting Danny get off that easy! Nor Taylor…although I'm trying to make him look better now. You'll have to excuse his language…even if you don't now, you will in the next chapter…hehehe!