Title: Everything Is Relative

Author : Sarah 

E-mail: sydney453@yahoo.com

Feedback: That would be nice!

Distribution: Would you want to do that? That would be nice, but just let me know first please.

Disclaimer: JJ, well, he owns all the fabulous characters, except those that you've never heard of before. They belong to me. Alias is owned by the fine people at ABC. Alias is the brainchild of JJ Abrams and Bad Robot Productions, so please don't sue me; I'm just borrowing the characters for a bit.

Summary: Post Almost Thirty Years. Slightly alternate universe. Everything is the same except Emily and Sloane have a daughter. Sydney's still cuffed to a chair, Vaughn's still all wet, Will's still bloodied, Emily's still… poisoned?, Sloane's still a bastard, Sark's still hot, and Jack's still wondering how to get Will's blood stains off his lovely suede jacket. There's just another character thrown in the mix to muck things up some more.

Rating: Um, PG or PG-13.

Classification: Angst and Drama.

Authors note: I'm thinking that each chapter will be written as an episode. Each episode will end in a cliffhanger, which will be resolved in the next episode. Oh, and the conversation that occurred between Sydney and Sloane in ATY wasn't about why he and Emily never had children, but why they decided to send her to school overseas. That make sense? Okay then, onward!

A big, giant huge THANK YOU to my beta reader Katelyn for all her wonderful suggestions. You've helped me make this story a million times better than I ever thought it could be. Everything you've done is hugely appreciated. Thanks again!

Everything Is Relative: Part One

Chapter One: The Beginning, Again

Taipei

Warehouse District- Club- Back Office

          Sydney looked up as a figure entered the room where she was being held. A look of shock registered on her face for a split second as she realized who the figure was. "Mom?"

Laura Bristow, Irina Derevko, The Man- whoever she was, looked down at her daughter and smiled. To her, Sydney was still the giggling little girl that she had left behind.  It was hard for her to believe that this blue haired, scantily clad woman was that same child. 

"Hello, Sydney. It's good to see you again." Laura mentally chided herself for such a pathetic opening line; she was still in shock from actually being in the same room as her daughter.

Sydney glared at her mother, seething with anger, confusion, and revulsion.

She let loose a barrage of questions, "Why the hell am I here? What do you want with me? How could you do this?"

Sydney's voice broke on that last question, but she wouldn't allow herself to cry in front of her estranged mother, "How could you leave me?"

Laura felt long hidden emotions being stirred up as she watched her daughter react to her presence. She felt her eyes begin to water, but steeled herself quickly.

"You'll get those answers soon enough, dear. Right now I have some business to attend to, I'll be back as soon as I can."

Turning to leave the room, she said over her shoulder to Khasinau, "Keep her company, but don't untie her."

With that Laura Bristow walked out, leaving Sydney with Khasinau.

Airport- Empty Parking Lot

          Elsewhere in Taipei, Will and Jack were making plans of their own.

"Look Will, I'm not going to argue with you anymore. I'm taking you to the airport right now, your plane leaves in an hour. You will be met by a CIA agent in Los Angeles, there you'll be informed of the next step. This situation is too dangerous for you, I'm not going to allow…".

Jack was interrupted by an angry Will, "You're not going to allow what, Jack? Me to be beaten, your daughter to be God knows where doing God knows what? I'll tell you what I'M not going to allow. I'm not going to be kidnapped and tortured again. Your agent in LA can't protect me and you know that. I have to stay here and make sure Sydney is safe."

Jack sighed as he looked at his bruised and beaten passenger, "Will there is not going to be any arguing. I'm driving you to the airport right now. You're not trained to handle this sort of situation. I know you care for Sydney, but the only way that you can help her is to leave. There are too many things for me to worry about, I don't need to add you to the list."

Will leaned his head against the car's window and groaned. He knew Jack was right, but he couldn't bear not knowing what was happening. Every bit of Will's reporter's instincts were telling him to stay and find out the facts. Of course they were what got him into trouble in the first place.

Will turned to face Jack, "Okay, I'll go back to Los Angeles, but you have to promise me that you'll get her home safe."

Jack gave Will a look and said stiffly, "She's my daughter, Mr. Tippen. I'll always get her home safe."

With that Jack started the car and sped off towards the airport. The quicker he got rid of Will, the quicker he could save Sydney.

Los Angeles Arvin Sloane's Beach House

          Arvin Sloane watched his wife take a sip of the wine he had given her. The wine he had poisoned. Somehow he knew that this was the right thing to do. She wouldn't die in a hail of bullets at the hands of an unknown Alliance member. Emily would die a quiet peaceful death tonight as she slept at the beach house.  He kept telling himself that this was the right thing to do. This was the only way to spare her any more pain. And she had suffered so much already. The cancer. Finding out what he really was. Her heart had broke when Sloane had told her the truth about SD-6 earlier in the day, but she had forgiven him because he had kept her and their daughter safe from those people for whom he worked for more than two decades. Sloane and Emily both ate their dinners in silence, occasionally commenting on the food. It wasn't an awkward silence, but Sloane could still feel some tension from Emily. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he was afraid of what Emily's answer might be. He didn't want Emily's last moments with him to be wrought with anger.

Emily finally broke the silence with a question, "What are we going to tell Audrey?"

Sloane smiled at the thought of his daughter. Twenty years old, brilliant and his pride and joy. She and Emily were the only things that kept him from attempting to break away from SD-6 and the Alliance, he knew that if he left they would be the first two people that the Alliance would go after. But now that Emily had revealed her knowledge of SD-6 every carefully laid plan to protect them was crumbling.

Sloane replied, "She never has to know anything. It's the only way to keep her safe. Besides she has her own life in England."

Audrey had just finished schooling at Oxford a year earlier than her peers and was starting a job at a magazine later on in the summer.

"I think that's best, Arvin. The thought of her being dragged into this life of yours, it scares me. We have to do everything in our power to keep her safe."

Emily's eyes started to tear and Sloane moved to embrace her, "Don't worry darling, I'll always be there to protect her. That's one thing I can promise you."

Emily started to get up, wiping tears away from her eyes as she did so. "I think I'm going to go lie down for a while. Everything that has happened lately has made me so tired."

Sloane watched his wife walk out of the room knowing that she would never get up again. He sat down on the couch as tears sprang to his eyes, wishing with ever fiber of his being that this wasn't really happening.

Taipei Airport- Parking Lot

          Jack hurriedly ran back to his car after dropping Will off at the correct gate. He kept running the nights events over in his head, hoping that when he reached the club where he knew Sydney was everything would be all right. But the sinking feeling in his stomach told him otherwise. He could feel that something was wrong.  Jack jumped in his car and gunned the engine.

Warehouse District- Club- Back Office

          Sydney stared at the person she had been led to believe was The Man, "What is going on here? Please tell me."

Khasinau gazed at Sydney for a few seconds before responding. "The resemblance is amazing. I can see why those people at the FBI thought the prophecy was about you."

Sydney sighed exasperatedly, "I know that I look like my mother, that's all that I've been told my whole life. I'm tired of everyone comparing me to her. We are nothing alike. She betrayed me, my father…"

Sydney's rant trailed off as she tried to keep herself from crying in front of Khasinau.

Khasinau felt a twinge of sympathy for the girl. She was so young, but she had seen so much. So many of the people she loved were either hurt or dead. He couldn't begin to understand her feelings, let alone comfort her.

He tried though, "I know things seem… bleak, but I assure you they will get better."

Sydney rolled her eyes at Khasinau. What did he know about her? He had no right to even be speaking to her. It was obvious to Sydney that Khasinau was part of the reason why her mother had left her. He was the enemy.

There was a minute of uncomfortable silence until Sydney snapped, "Look, I don't need your sympathy. I just want to know what the HELL is going on."

Khasinau sighed as he stood up, "Well, young lady, I can't help you there."

He walked into the next room and shut the door behind him. Sydney began to struggle with the cuffs that fastened her to the chair as the outside door was thrown open.  She looked up and saw a man dragging another unconscious man into the room. Sydney's eyes widened when she saw who it was that had just been brought into the room.

Warehouse District- Club Entrance

          Jack burst into the club, ignoring the looks that came from the patrons. He knew that he stood out like a sore thumb, but he didn't care. All that mattered was finding Sydney. He ran towards the hallway that led to the warehouse where The Circumference was supposed to be located.  That was where his daughter could be. He knew that he was breaking every rule of protocol, that he was being reckless and unsafe, but he didn't care. Nothing on this earth would stop him from finding his daughter. Jack frustratedly tugged at door handles, all of which were locked.  He looked up and down the corridor, searching for signs of life, but no one was nearby and the only sounds he heard were the thumping bass from the club and the buzzing of the over head lighting. He turned around to reach for another door, when a blow to the head stopped him in his tracks. He crumpled to the floor, unconscious, as Laura Bristow watched.

"Hi, honey," she muttered and then chuckled at the fact that those were the first words she said to her husband after being away from him for more than twenty years.

Then she turned to one of her guards and said in Russian, "Take him to my office. I can't deal with him now."

Los Angeles Los Angeles International Airport- International Arrivals Terminal

          Will walked slowly down the corridor into the airport, carefully avoiding eye contact with anyone. He knew he looked awful and he felt even worse. His entire body felt like it was on fire. Will was an emotional wreck, wondering what was happening to his best friend and trying to figure out how to go on with his life. It didn't help that the sight of him had made the child sitting next to him cry for most of the flight. Will sighed and glanced around for the CIA agent that was supposed to be meeting him at the gate. For a split second he thought about trying to get away alone, but decided that after all that had happened to him in the last twenty-four hours, it would be best to let the CIA protect him.

He felt a hand grab his arm from behind as an unfamiliar voice said, "Come with me, Mr. Tippen."

Will glanced at the tall dark haired man, hoping that he was CIA and not someone else who wanted to kill him. "Where exactly are you taking me? And who are you?"

The man looked Will over carefully and showed him his CIA identification, "My name is Agent Weiss. I'm here to take you down to the newspaper office. We have to get there quickly, before your story is printed. Then we'll see if we can find you a doctor, because, and don't take this the wrong way, you look like crap."

Will rolled his eyes at the man, "Gee thanks. How do you know about the story?"

Weiss eyed him stonily and cryptically responded, "We're the CIA Mr. Tippen, we know everything." Weiss then grinned at him and added, "Plus we went through the filing cabinets at your house. That helped."

Will didn't know what to make of this guy. Was it such a good thing that the man who held his life in his hands was making lame jokes? He didn't think so. "Let's just get on with this please."

Weiss guided Will towards his car and they made their way towards the Los Angeles Register offices. During the drive, Weiss kept up a steady stream of chatter that Will responded to with nothing more than a few grunts. He was staring out at the sights of the city trying to forget about the searing pain that Suit and Glasses had inflicted upon him.

Arvin Sloane's Beach House

          Sloane was sitting on a wing chair next to his bed. He'd been there for hours, watching and waiting. Watching Emily's breaths slowly become more ragged and further apart. Waiting for the inevitable. The death of the woman who had loved him unconditionally. He was snapped out of his reverie by a sound coming from the front hall. He grabbed his gun and went to investigate, vowing that whoever was bothering him would be shot for their troubles. Sloane stepped in to the foyer and waited as the door knob slowly turned and the door opened.

"Drop what you're holding and put your hands where I can see them," Sloane ordered as soon as he saw the shadowy figure in the doorway.

"Daddy? What's going on? Why do you have a gun?"

"Audrey! Why are you here? You scared me."

Audrey put her bag down and turned to face her father, "I went to the house in the city and you and Mom weren't there. Then I remembered you saying something about renting a beach house, so I went and checked the day planner that Mom keeps in the kitchen. Sure enough, there was the address.  I'm sorry to bother you and Mom, but I came here because I needed…"

Audrey trailed off when she noticed the look on her father's face. "What? What is it? Something's going on I can tell. Where's Mom?"

Sloane took his daughters hand an led her towards the living room, "Audrey, your mother is not well.  I… I don't think she's going to make it past the night."

Audrey's eyes filled with tears. They both made their way up the stairs towards the master bedroom, "But I just talked to her the other day, she said she was in remission! She said she was going to be fine. This can't be happening."

Sloane was trying not to cry himself, the feelings of guilt and remorse beginning to overwhelm him. "I'm so sorry sweetie. I don't know what happened, we thought she was going to be okay. Then everything went downhill."

They both stopped and stood at the door of the bedroom for a few minutes watching Emily breathe. Sloane and Audrey both held their breath every time Emily exhaled, waiting for her to inhale again.

Audrey walked over to her mother's bedside and collapsed on the floor, repeating the same word over and over again, "Why?"

Sloane was wondering the same thing himself.

Los Angeles Register Offices

          Will and Agent Weiss ran into the Los Angeles Register offices looking for someone who could help them. Will burst into Litvack's office, hoping that the editor would still be there. She was and almost fainted at the sight of Will, who ran in yelling, "Stop the presses, stop the presses!!"

Weiss ran in after him, pulling his CIA identification out of his coat and explaining, "I'm CIA Agent Eric Weiss and Mr. Tippen has written a story that could cause us a lot of trouble.  To echo his sentiment- stop the presses! That story of his absolutely cannot be printed. If it is our whole operation is ruined, months, hell YEARS of work down the drain."

The woman looked over the two wild eyed men in her office and picked up her phone, "I'll see what I can do."

Will just looked at Weiss and sadly said, "I thought I was doing the right thing."

Taipei

Warehouse District- Club- Back Office

          In the back room of the warehouse Sydney goggled at the sight before her. The Man's favorite henchman, Sark was struggling with the water-logged body of her handler and friend Agent Vaughn. Sydney gasped as Sark unceremoniously dumped Vaughn's body onto the floor at Sydney's feet.

"Oh my God, Vaughn! Can you hear me?! Please be alright."

Sydney's already fragile emotional state was being pushed even further- she was nearly hysterical at the sight of her friend. "Is he alive, please tell me he's going to be alright! I can't loose someone else." Sydney pleaded at Sark, which seemed to amuse him.

"Well, he does have a pulse, I can tell you that much. As for how all right he is, I'm no doctor, but I think he should be perfectly fine once he regains consciousness. We found him unconscious in a hallway after the water receded. An object that was swept away with the water must have hit him in the head. He's got a nasty bruise on his forehead."

Sark watched Sydney carefully as he spoke, and then added, "I just hope he doesn't have any brain damage."

Sydney glared at him as Sark rose up his hands in mock surrender and in a sarcastic tone of voice, added, "That was a joke. An insensitive one at that. You're under a lot of strain and that was unnecessary. I apologize."

"Where the hell is my mother and what is your connection to her?"

Now that she knew Vaughn was alive, Sydney was growing impatient. She had been sitting cuffed to a chair for  what seemed like hours wondering if Vaughn was alive or dead. She was not happy.

Sark smirked at Sydney and sat down in the chair previously occupied by Khasinau, "Oh, don't worry Miss Bristow, you'll find everything out soon enough. You might even like what you hear."

He paused for a second as if considering the facts then amended his statement, "Well some of what you hear anyway." Another smirk.

Sydney was getting more and more angry, how she wished her hands were free so she could wipe that smug look off his face. She decided to tell him so, "If I were able to I'd thoroughly enjoy making that little grin of yours disappear you pompous ass."

At that moment, Laura Bristow decided to reappear. She smiled down at the two people in the room and said, "Now Sydney, that isn't any way to talk to your younger brother."

End episode one.