Chapter 18
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Will sat in his car wondering how Jack was going to stop the story from being published. Oh man, what a big mess I'm in. Not to mention what a bigger mess I'll cause. Will sighed and leaned back, nervously awaiting Jack's arrival. Soon enough, Will spotted Jack's car pulling up in the alley. Will stepped out of his car and noticed Jack carrying some files.
Jack handed them over to Will. "Here."
"What's this for?"
"I've called some of my contacts and they've kindly taken care of your story. They called your employer and informed her where you were."
Will looked at Jack, puzzled. "You mean they told her the truth?"
"Of course not. They merely informed her that you were in a psychiatric ward, and that you were being treated for your anxiety disorder. Thus causing you to seek people's attention and writing your story."
"Anxiety disorder…What, they think I'm crazy now?"
"Well, I wouldn't put it that way, Mr. Tippin."
Jack noticed Will's face reddening.
"How else was I suppose to explain your bizarre story? What… would you rather have me kill them?" Jack said sarcastically. "You have to understand, your story could have cost you your life. Not to mention Sydney's life. So what I did was for the best. If it's any consolation, you still get to keep your job…Well, that is, after your suspension has been lifted."
"Suspended…How long?"
"They've given you one month to get your affairs in order."
Will started to calm down, but quickly became agitated again, "What… I suffer from minor hallucinations?…I'm on tranquilizers too?!"
Jack ignored Will and entered his car, driving away.
Oh great, everyone knows I'm crazy now. "Hey, look it's crazy Will. Don't go in there, Will might hallucinate on you."
Will sat in his car for a moment, trying to settle himself down. Oh well… at least I get some time off.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was almost nine twenty and Dixon still hadn't shown. Sydney started her engine and was just about to leave when Dixon's car pulled up from behind her. Sydney stepped out of her car as Dixon walked over to her.
"Sydney."
"Hey, what's up?"
"You know very well why we're here. Now, Sydney, we've known each other for a long time, and I want you to be honest with me. Are you a double agent?"
"No."
"Sydney, don't lie to me!"
From the look on Sydney's face, it seemed that she was about to tell Dixon the truth, but couldn't bring herself to.
"Dixon, I'm telling you the truth. When you caught me that day, I was checking up on the page that we'd retrieved from Khasinau."
Dixon still wasn't sure whether or not Sydney was telling him the truth. In fact, he was certain she was keeping something from him.
"Why?"
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."
"Try me."
"Well, when I was having dinner over at Sloane's, he showed me a collection of Rambaldi artifacts. It interested me how he took everything involving Rambaldi so seriously. So, when I found out where the rest of the artifacts were being kept, curiosity got the better of me…Dixon," Sydney pleaded, "You can't tell him that I was there…if you report me I'll…"
"I didn't report you to security section, if that's what you want to know. But your excuse still hasn't given me any reason not to. You still haven't explained whom you were speaking to when you called for help. I may have appeared to be unconscious, but I was fully aware that you were not contacting SD-6. So the question is, who were you speaking to Sydney?"
Sydney thought for a moment, but knew she had to respond quickly, before her silence raised any suspicion.
"I was contacting Langley. I knew SD-6 wouldn't come through in time, so I called them instead. Unfortunately, I didn't get a fast enough response. So I carried you to the jeep and drove you to the nearest hospital. As for the whole Freelancer situation….well, I really don't know where that came from, and that's the truth."
Dixon's silence worried Sydney. She didn't know weather or not he believed her excuse, but she was soon going to find out.
"Is this really the truth, because if it isn't, you're really going to make it hard on yourself."
"I swear to you. And the only reason I asked you not to mention this to Sloane is because someone had already broken into the vault before me."
"Was anything taken?"
"Yes…it seemed that Khasinau had sent men in there to retrieve the page."
"What…Sydney, you should report this to Sloane!"
"I can't, or he'll know that I was there. Anyway, I'm sure he already knows. I've checked and he's issued an investigation, which is why he's sending us to Zurich. Dixon, please… I don't want him to suspect me. Especially since Sloane finds my loyalty a little questionable these days."
"Well, he's not the only one."
Sydney seemed relieved. "So, you believe me then?"
"Yes, but Sydney…" Dixon paused. "Promise me you'll be careful….I mean, whatever you're doing, whether it's good or….well, you know, just be careful."
Sydney smiled, knowing that Dixon still had faith in her. She hated herself for lying to him, but she remembered what Vaughn had said, and she knew what she was doing was for the better. As the two of them were about to leave, they hugged one another.
Dixon patted Sydney on the shoulder, "Drive safe, all right?"
"Thanks, you too."
As Sydney drove away, Dixon headed back inside his car. He removed a handheld from his glove compartment and turned it on. Soon enough, Sydney's position was shown on the radar.
Chapter 19
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack slowly made his way to Devlin's office. As he entered, Devlin threw a huge fit.
"Jack, where the hell have you been?!"
"Doing my job, unlike certain people."
Devlin looked puzzled, "What are you talking about? You know what, Jack, it really doesn't matter. I'm sick of you playing cowboy; I'm ordering you to see Barnett for a full psych evaluation. And I'm sure you would agree with me, when I say that you've gone mad!"
Jack paused for a moment before answering him, "Were you aware that Haladki was a mole for The Man? Or were you so tired of me playing "cowboy," that you overlooked that matter?"
Devlin's eyes moved back and forth before setting themselves back on Jack again, "How do you know this?"
"I have my ways."
Devlin looked Jack straight in the eye, "I'm sure you do."
"All the information you need to know is in there. It's a taped confession of Haladki revealing to me that he was the mole."
Devlin gave Jack a shocked look, "He was, Jack?"
"Yes, well, he tried to kill me. I had no choice but to retire him."
"I know you, Jack, and I'm pretty sure you had plenty of choices. You probably just went with the first one you saw fit."
Jack clenched his jaw and from the look on his face Devlin knew that Jack was going to lose his control. But Jack remained calm, as if Devlin's accusations did not bother him.
"Why does it matter to you anyway? If I had brought him in, he'd clearly wind up with the same fate."
"Even so, he still deserved a trial. You had absolutely no right to execute him Jack!"
Jack eyed Devlin with great intensity, "I got you your evidence…I found your mole, and yet you're acting as if I'm the one who deserves a trial here."
Devlin looked at the evidence and then at Jack, "You're right, Jack…you're absolutely right."
Jack knew something was wrong with Devlin, but couldn't quite tell what. The way Devlin spoke to Jack reeked with suspicion; however, Jack ignored it, for he remembered exactly what Sydney had said to him.
*FLASHBACK*
(Sydney and Jack meet by pier, Sydney cries.)
SYDNEY: "The CIA has the ampule Khasinau wants. SD-6 has the page. You and I could get them both and just turn them over."
JACK: "We can't afford to blindly hand the enemy something he wants so desperately."
Sydney: "I don't know much about you. Do you have any close friends? I mean, people that you love?"
*END FLASHBACK*
"Well then, I'll see you when I get back from Zurich."
Devlin gave Jack a nod and escorted him out to the door. Devlin then headed towards his desk and picked up the phone.
"Yeah it's Devlin…We've got a little problem here."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney sat quietly reading yet another one of her mother's books, when Francie entered the room.
"Oh man, Syd, you would not believe how hard opening a restaurant can be. I mean I never knew how incompetent some people could get. Like today, for instance, this complete…moron totally threw two dozen boxes of MY wineglasses. I mean is it so hard to read handle with care?"
"I know how that can be sometimes."
Francie leaned her head against Sydney's shoulder, "Yeah I bet people at the bank can be real asses, huh?"
"Yeah…" the sudden ringing of the phone soon cut Sydney off. "Hello?"
"Joey's Pizza?"
"Sorry, you have the wrong number."
She hung up the phone and turned toward Francie. "Um, I think I'll go to the store. I'm having a sudden craving for some triple fudge ice cream," Sydney said enthusiastically. "You want anything?"
"I'll have the same…ooh and some marshmallows too."
Sydney smiled, "Ok, I'll be back in a little while."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sydney entered the warehouse to find Vaughn and her father waiting for her.
"Hey what's up?" From the look on Vaughn's face Sydney knew something was wrong. "Is there something wrong"?
"Sydney, your father tells me that there might be a mole within the CIA."
"A mole…Who?"
"Well, we recently found out that the first mole was Steven Haladki, but now your father thinks there might be someone else. As to who…we really don't know."
"Sydney," Jack interrupted. "I'd prefer that you and I should hold off telling the CIA any valuable information regarding SD-6 or any of its affiliates. Not until we know for sure who the mole really is."
"All right."
"Sydney, when I mean CIA, that includes Vaughn."
"Your father' s right Sydney. Right now, it's not safe for you to tell me anything. We don't know who could be listening."
"Well, if you don't know who could be listening, then why are we all having this conversation?"
"Don't worry, Sydney, your father and I checked the warehouse. It's clean."
Sydney stared at Vaughn, completely ignoring her father. "Ok…I understand."
Jack noticed the tension in the room and quickly broke it up; "Well, then we all better get going."
"Yeah, I should go. I've got an early flight tomorrow."
Vaughn nodded and left the warehouse with Sydney and Jack. Little did they know, Dixon's car was parked nearby, and a recording of their conversation was being made.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 20
"Hey, Fran, I got you your marshmallows, but they were all out of triple fudge, so I got the next best thing."
"What'd you get?"
"Cookie dough."
Francie smiled as Sydney handed her the ice cream, "Even better."
After an hour of conversation and enlightening little anecdotes, Francie thought it best that she and Sydney went to bed.
"Syd, I think we should be going to bed now. I mean it's like two o'clock, don't you have a early flight tomorrow?"
"Yeah, I guess we should be heading to bed."
"Ok, didn't I just sound like my mother there or something?"
"Yeah, just a little," Sydney said, smiling.
As the two of them were heading toward their rooms Sydney called out to Francie, "Good night Mrs. Calfo."
"I'm warning you, Sydney Bristow, lights out or else!"
"Ha ha, all right. Night, Fran."
"Night, Syd."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jack sat at home with a drink in his hand, mind set on Vera. After countless hours, Jack could no longer bear the pain of thinking about her. He made his way to his den and turned on his computer. Jack logged onto SD-6's servers and into their video archive, searching for anything regarding Vera. His search soon ended when he came across a file dated moments after Vera and Khasinau's supposed death. Jack played the file to find Irina armed, and Vera on the ground bleeding.
*Video*
"Vera, you're just as weak and just as pathetic as Khasinau. Of all the things you could have inherited, you inherited stupidity. How could you be so naïve as to think that Sark would actually save you…from me? Look at what you've done. Your grandfather is dead, and where is Sark…nowhere. He left you in a cowardly attempt to save his life."
Irina bent over, looking Vera straight in the eye, "You see, Vera, in the end I always win."
Vera glared back at her mother, and then spat in her face, taking the gun away from her. "No, I win. All I have to do is pull this trigger and…"
"And you'll what…kill me?" Irina interrupted.
Vera paused for a moment, staring back at her mother. Then her program started to take control. Not now…please, not now. Irina knew this, and motioned forward toward her daughter.
"All right then, Vera… prove me wrong. Kill me."
Vera tried to hold back tears, but found it unsuccessful. Her eyes started to blur and tears rolled down her face. "Step back, or…or I'll kill you."
Irina was now face to face with Vera. "Shhh", Irina murmured, stroking Vera's hair. Vera allowed Irina to take the gun from her. Irina whispered softly into her ear, "I always knew you were weak, but now, I'm going to set you free."
Vera looked at her mother confused, "What…?"
Then, a gun suddenly went off, and Vera lay motionless on the ground. As Irina walked away, she turned to face her daughter one last time. "Such a waste," Irina whispered, spitting on the ground.
*END OF VIDEO*
Jack sat there, horrified of what he had just seen. He had witnessed the daughter that he had never known, die, right in front of his eyes. Jack couldn't take the pain, so he filled his empty glass up to the very top with Scotch again. He drank until his eyes felt heavy and the bottle was half-empty. Soon enough, Jack had drunk himself to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Sydney and Vaughn were speaking to one another over the phone.
"Vaughn, when I think about all the lies I've told… the people that have been hurt because of what I do, it kills me. Will… he can't ever live a normal life now, all because he wanted to find Danny's killer. He said he couldn't stand to see me hurt, that's why he pursued his investigation. If I hadn't told Danny the truth, none of this would have happened. Will would be safe and Danny would still be here with me," Sydney said, sobbing.
"Listen, Sydney, the great thing about you, is that you can't stand to lie or to see the people that you care about hurt. And as much as it hurts right now, what you're doing is going to stop SD-6 for good. That's what you should focus on right now. Sydney what I…what I love about you is…"
"Love…You never used that word before," Sydney said sheepishly.
"Sydney, the truth is I…"
"Syd, Syd…Wake up", Francie said, shaking her. "You're gonna be late."
Sydney's vision was blurry, "What…what time is it?"
Francie smiled at her, "Half past seven. Listen Syd, I gotta go or I'll be late for class. Oh and just in case you're hungry, I made some breakfast for you. It's on the table."
"Thanks, Mrs. Calfo," Sydney teased.
"Excuse me, Miss. Thang, but do you want to get on your flight in one piece?"
"All right, all right, I'll stop. See you tonight."
Francie gave Sydney a kiss on the cheek; "Have a safe flight."
"Thanks bye."
