Jack Bristow waited patiently for his daughter at the carousal. He looked
at it again, remembering the times Sydney would ride on it squealing in
delight. Laura would just smile brilliantly. After nearly twenty years,
it was still hard to believe all of those happy memories were all false.
The visits had stopped when he had found out the truth about his wife.
After she had passed away, being with Sydney had brought up some very
painful memories.
Sending Sydney to live with his mother was decision he regretted. The day Sydney had walked into the CIA and volunteered herself was his proudest, and the most terrifying, moment. Despite all the pain that she had had to endure, she was the most selfless in love, evident the most when she was around her friends.
He glanced up to notice Sydney, striding towards him at an angry pace, arms swinging wildly at her sides, her long coat swishing loud.
"How is he? How is Vaughn?" she didn't even pause for breath as she shot out her question.
"He is fine. The medics tended to him on the chopper. The bullet didn't hit any major organs, but he did lose a fair amount of blood. He'll be in the hospital for a couple of days," Jack said.
"Can I see him?
"I would advice against it, Sydney. Sloane's has been asking about you. He received a phone call at home about page 47. Sydney, he knows that it's a fake."
Sydney was stunned. She couldn't say anything for a long while, her mind trying to come up with possible counter-responses to Sloane's questions.
"Sydney, did you have the transcript the whole time?" Jack asked.
"No. When I got to the airport dock, I handed it to Dixon, while I changed," she said. Her head snapped up at what this could mean.
"Dad, no. You can't suggest Dixon, when you and I both know fully well I switched the page."
"I'm not going to implicate him. Just suggest him as alternate suspect to you. Divert suspicion.
"Dad, no. Absolutely not."
Jack was silent, looking down at his hand. "The CIA figures out why Khasinau went after FTL. Their DNA encrypted greeting cards are based on Rambaldi's work. Khasinau wanted a working model to make his life easier. Sydney, there's more. The DSR cracked the code on that page with your picture on it. It's a prophecy, a warning about the woman on that page. They've confirmed it's you."
"What??? Huh….How??"
"The tests they ran on you..they were trying to confirm certain details Rambaldi mentioned about the woman in the picture. You matched all the details. They want to bring you in."
"Bring me in? Why? I haven't done anything."
"The painting of Alexander VI has some unusual dark spots on the canvas that doesn't belong in the picture. At first, SCI-Tech thought it was sloppy workmanship. When they did a spectral analysis however, they got something else. It's a star chart, like the in Sol D'oro. They took the date from the painting to figure out the location. It's an old castle in Barcelona that once belonged to a friend of Rambaldi, Duke Sperello. He helped Rambaldi after he was excommunicated. Whatever is in Barcelona, Sydney, your DNA is the key. That why DSR wants to bring you in. They're afraid that you're going to help SD-6 bring to life a weapon of mass destruction."
Sydney swallowed hard, blinking back tears, as it all sunk in. "It's too late, Dad. Marshall already has a sample of my DNA."
Eric Weiss knocked softly on the doorjamb before entering the hospital room. Vaughn, he noticed, was already out of bed, and getting dressed.
"Going somewhere?" he asked lightly.
"Hey, surprised me," Vaughn replied buttoning his shirt, and turning around. "I'm checking out, against AMA," he smiled sardonically.
"Man, you've been shot. Maybe you should listen to the doctors."
"No.. hate doctors. Beside, I can't lie here when we have so much going on. Those DSR guys are probably going to poke and prod Syd.."
"They took her into custody," Weiss interrupted him.
"WHAT????" Vaughn exclaimed, and winced in pain.
"I'll tell you in the car. C'mon," he helped his friend pack his bag, leading him out the door.
"You let them take her?" Vaughn couldn't believe his ears. "You're her father, and you handed her over?"
"I was ordered to, Mr. Vaughn, Under the circumstances, I felt it would be prudent to do just that," Jack replied back, just as indignantly.
Weiss rubbed his temples. Whenever he was in the room with one of the Bristows and Vaughn, there was always yelling involved. At least no body else could hear them outside this warehouse, he thought to himself.
"What do we do now," he asked aloud. "Should we go after the DNA sample?"
"No. Our first priority should be getting Sydney out of custody. SD-6 doesn't have the information that we do," Jack said.
"The DNA sample was taken months ago. The integrity of the sample might've degraded over time," Vaughn exhaled out, rubbing his eyes.
"So, what do we do?" Weiss asked.
"something utterly stupid and dangerous," Vaughn removed his hands from his eyes, locking onto Jack's gaze. He held his gaze until understanding seeped into the older man's eyes, leaving Weiss to exclaim aloud, "What?"
"Mr. Vaughn is proposing that we kidnap Sydney from federal custody," Jack explained.
"Yeah, you in?" Vaughn turned around to confront a stunned Weiss.
Sending Sydney to live with his mother was decision he regretted. The day Sydney had walked into the CIA and volunteered herself was his proudest, and the most terrifying, moment. Despite all the pain that she had had to endure, she was the most selfless in love, evident the most when she was around her friends.
He glanced up to notice Sydney, striding towards him at an angry pace, arms swinging wildly at her sides, her long coat swishing loud.
"How is he? How is Vaughn?" she didn't even pause for breath as she shot out her question.
"He is fine. The medics tended to him on the chopper. The bullet didn't hit any major organs, but he did lose a fair amount of blood. He'll be in the hospital for a couple of days," Jack said.
"Can I see him?
"I would advice against it, Sydney. Sloane's has been asking about you. He received a phone call at home about page 47. Sydney, he knows that it's a fake."
Sydney was stunned. She couldn't say anything for a long while, her mind trying to come up with possible counter-responses to Sloane's questions.
"Sydney, did you have the transcript the whole time?" Jack asked.
"No. When I got to the airport dock, I handed it to Dixon, while I changed," she said. Her head snapped up at what this could mean.
"Dad, no. You can't suggest Dixon, when you and I both know fully well I switched the page."
"I'm not going to implicate him. Just suggest him as alternate suspect to you. Divert suspicion.
"Dad, no. Absolutely not."
Jack was silent, looking down at his hand. "The CIA figures out why Khasinau went after FTL. Their DNA encrypted greeting cards are based on Rambaldi's work. Khasinau wanted a working model to make his life easier. Sydney, there's more. The DSR cracked the code on that page with your picture on it. It's a prophecy, a warning about the woman on that page. They've confirmed it's you."
"What??? Huh….How??"
"The tests they ran on you..they were trying to confirm certain details Rambaldi mentioned about the woman in the picture. You matched all the details. They want to bring you in."
"Bring me in? Why? I haven't done anything."
"The painting of Alexander VI has some unusual dark spots on the canvas that doesn't belong in the picture. At first, SCI-Tech thought it was sloppy workmanship. When they did a spectral analysis however, they got something else. It's a star chart, like the in Sol D'oro. They took the date from the painting to figure out the location. It's an old castle in Barcelona that once belonged to a friend of Rambaldi, Duke Sperello. He helped Rambaldi after he was excommunicated. Whatever is in Barcelona, Sydney, your DNA is the key. That why DSR wants to bring you in. They're afraid that you're going to help SD-6 bring to life a weapon of mass destruction."
Sydney swallowed hard, blinking back tears, as it all sunk in. "It's too late, Dad. Marshall already has a sample of my DNA."
Eric Weiss knocked softly on the doorjamb before entering the hospital room. Vaughn, he noticed, was already out of bed, and getting dressed.
"Going somewhere?" he asked lightly.
"Hey, surprised me," Vaughn replied buttoning his shirt, and turning around. "I'm checking out, against AMA," he smiled sardonically.
"Man, you've been shot. Maybe you should listen to the doctors."
"No.. hate doctors. Beside, I can't lie here when we have so much going on. Those DSR guys are probably going to poke and prod Syd.."
"They took her into custody," Weiss interrupted him.
"WHAT????" Vaughn exclaimed, and winced in pain.
"I'll tell you in the car. C'mon," he helped his friend pack his bag, leading him out the door.
"You let them take her?" Vaughn couldn't believe his ears. "You're her father, and you handed her over?"
"I was ordered to, Mr. Vaughn, Under the circumstances, I felt it would be prudent to do just that," Jack replied back, just as indignantly.
Weiss rubbed his temples. Whenever he was in the room with one of the Bristows and Vaughn, there was always yelling involved. At least no body else could hear them outside this warehouse, he thought to himself.
"What do we do now," he asked aloud. "Should we go after the DNA sample?"
"No. Our first priority should be getting Sydney out of custody. SD-6 doesn't have the information that we do," Jack said.
"The DNA sample was taken months ago. The integrity of the sample might've degraded over time," Vaughn exhaled out, rubbing his eyes.
"So, what do we do?" Weiss asked.
"something utterly stupid and dangerous," Vaughn removed his hands from his eyes, locking onto Jack's gaze. He held his gaze until understanding seeped into the older man's eyes, leaving Weiss to exclaim aloud, "What?"
"Mr. Vaughn is proposing that we kidnap Sydney from federal custody," Jack explained.
"Yeah, you in?" Vaughn turned around to confront a stunned Weiss.