Chapter Two- The Family Business

Taipei

Warehouse District- Laura Bristow's Office

Jack gradually regained consciousness in a semi-dark room. He slowly picked his head up, trying to ignore the waves of nausea that threatened to overwhelm him. Glancing around the room, Jack saw that he was in someone's office, but the buzzing of the  fluorescent lighting from the hall revealed that he was still in the warehouse where Sydney was supposed to have been. He assumed from his reception that Sydney had been captured and started to formulate a plan to find her and get her out.

Jack struggled to his feet, cursing as a wave of dizziness made him trip over an object lying on the ground. He reached his hand up to the back of his head and felt a cut and the beginnings of a large bruise. Jack brought his hand back down in front of him and winced when he saw that it was covered in blood. Whomever had hit him had certainly been trying to make a point. It was obvious to Jack that the object they had used had been chosen to cause maximum damage. Jack glanced around the room trying to find an exit. In the dim light he could make out the shape of two doors. He ran over to one of the doors and frantically turned the handle, but as he expected, it was locked from the outside. He quickly ran to the second door and found that it too was locked.

"Damn it," Jack muttered under his breath, "What am I going to do?"

Jack looked around the room, searching for an alternative means of escape and then groaned unhappily when he saw his only option, "The ventilation system."

Warehouse District- Club- Back Office

Sydney stared at her mother. "I have a brother."

It was a statement, not a question.  She'd gotten a strange feeling from Sark at the club in Paris the other day but had assumed it was from her excitement over possibly taking down The Man. Now she realized why she'd felt so uncomfortable around Sark, they were related. And he had obviously known about it. He'd sat through her entire performance smirking at her because he knew everything. He knew about her job at SD-6. He knew who her father was. He knew who her mother was. Hell, he even knew her mother better than she did.  She faced both Sark and Laura in turn, seeing glimpses of herself in both of them. Sark even bore a striking resemblance to her father.

Sydney was finally able to speak. "How is this possible? You have to be lying to me."

Laura laughed shortly. "I know you don't want to believe this, but I wouldn't lie to you about something of this magnitude. Alexander is your brother. I was two months pregnant when I… left."

Sydney stared at her mother for a long while as feelings of rage and hurt washed over her. "Did you know you were pregnant when you left?"

Laura looked into Sydney's eyes and gazed at her levelly. "I did."

Sydney grew even more angry. "You left  my father when you knew that you were pregnant with his child! How could you?"

She glanced at Sark and attempted to gesture at him even though her hands were still bound. "You took his father away from him. And a family. A REAL family, not this twisted little facade of one that you've been inflicting on him for all his life."

Laura interrupted Sydney, "I'd watch what you are saying if I were you."

Sydney laughed at her. "What are you going to do? Kill me? That really doesn't seem like such a shocking action coming from the woman who abandoned me…"

Sydney's rant was interrupted when Sark bellowed, "Enough! You both need to calm down. Sydney, I know how much of  a shock this is for you, but I don't need to listen to you degrading the way that I was raised. And Mother, please take into account how much new information Sydney has received."

Both women stared at each other for a few seconds before breaking eye contact and becoming lost in their own thoughts. Sydney finally spoke, her voice having a trace of hysteria in it,  "This is unbelievable! My life is like a soap opera."

That last statement was perfectly timed as Khasinau burst into the room looking like he had some information to share. 

Laura laughed and responded to Sydney, "How right you are."

Khasinau eyed the situation with an upset look on his face. Sydney was handcuffed to a chair, Agent Vaughn was still in a heap on the floor, Sark was sprawled out on a chair looking like he was thoroughly enjoying the events transpiring, and Laura Bristow was standing in the middle of it all, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Well," Khasinau said standing up a little straighter, "This is cozy." He paused for a minute as if gathering up the courage to speak to Laura, "Irina, there's something I need to speak with you about."

Sydney winced at the use of her mother's real name. Even after all she had done, to Sydney her mother always would be Laura Bristow.

Khasinau pulled Laura off into a corner away from the group and started speaking to her in Russian. Since  Sydney was fluent Russian , she was able to understand everything being said. Khasinau either wanted Sydney to understand their conversation or was as stupid as he looked.

Sydney leaned forward, trying to hear better, "It seems our friend in your office has managed to escape."

Laura's voice rose in volume as she snapped, "How the hell did he get away? There are guards posted at both the doors. The doors were locked. This shouldn't have happened!"

Khasinau looked upset at being yelled at by Laura, "It appears that Mr. Bristow managed to escape through the air ducts."

Sydney almost gasped at the mention of her father's name, but was able to keep her face expressionless as her mother turned back to glance at her for a second.

Khasinau added, "We have guards looking all over for him. I assure you, we'll find him."

Laura stalked over towards the door and made a motion for Khasinau to leave, "You'd better find him."

Sydney looked up at her mother and smiled, "So you're the woman who is supposed to "render the greatest power unto utter desolation", and yet you still can't find competent help. That's sad."

Laura shot her daughter a sharp look as she responded, "I see you have the same sarcastic streak as your father. That's not a good thing. And can you tell me that you're absolutely sure that Rambaldi's prophecy was about me? What about you? You seem to bear a startling resemblance to the woman pictured on Page 47. More so than me even."

Sydney eyed her mother carefully, not liking the mind games she was playing, "The prophecy stated that the woman in it was never to have seen Mount Sebacio.  I've been there. Climbed it actually."

Laura smiled at her daughter, "You may have been there my dear but did you really see "the beauty of the sky beyond Mount Sebacio"? I'm not too sure about that last part."

Sydney's eyes widened as she realized what her mother was saying.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles Register Offices

Will sat slumped in a chair staring at his editor as she tried to stop his story from being printed.

"Look I don't care how late it is, there is a story that absolutely cannot be printed…. No I can't tell you why. Don't argue with me, I'm in charge here… Fine, you do that. Contact me when you know for sure."

Litvack hung up the phone and glanced up at Will and Agent Weiss, "The idiot that I spoke with wasn't sure if the issue had been sent to the presses yet. He went to go check," she glanced back up at Will when he moaned and dropped his head into his hands, "He said he would contact me as soon as he could. Will, why did you get yourself into this mess?"

Will looked up at her and responded, "I thought I would be helping a friend, but it turns out she was the one who had to help me." He sighed and got up to leave the room, "I'll be at my desk. Please let me know when you find out if the story has been printed."

Weiss watched Will leave and then turned to face Litvack. "If Will's story is printed…", he paused trying to find the right words.  "Let's just say you'll be running a lot more obituaries than usual." Weiss left the office.

Arvin Sloane's Beach House

Audrey and Arvin Sloane sat numbly in the master bedroom of their rented beach house. Audrey turned to her father with tears brimming in her eyes and whispered, "I can't believe she's really gone."

Sloane reached over to comfort his daughter,   "We have to remember that she's in a better place. No matter how much we wish she were here and want her back, we have to remember she's at peace now. Nothing can ever hurt her again."

Sloane was saying this for his own benefit as well as his daughter's. The reality of what he had done was beginning to sink in. He had murdered his wife. The woman who had loved him for more than twenty-five years. The mother of his child. She was gone forever now. And for what? His job at SD-6? A place on The Alliance's board of directors? That didn't seem as important now. The only thing that mattered any more was keeping Audrey safe from the members of The Alliance.

"What do we do now?" Audrey asked, as she stood in front of Sloane with tears in her eyes.

Sloane got up to hug her, "That's not for you to worry about, sweetheart. I'll deal with everything. It's two thirty in the morning, I know how upset you are but I still think you should try and get some sleep. I'll go and make the necessary phone calls and arrangements."

Audrey looked up at him, her voice breaking as she responded, "That wasn't what I was talking about. What I meant was how do we go on without her? How do we wake up every morning knowing that she's not going to be there for us?"

Sloane sighed and squeezed Audrey's hand, "I don't know sweetie, I just don't know. But we'll find a way. You're not going to go through this alone, I'll always be there for you."

Audrey gave her father a kiss on the cheek, turned to walk out of the room, and said, " 'Night, Daddy. I'm just so… sorry for… everything."

Sloane watched her leave the room and then walked towards the phone, careful to avoid looking at Emily's body.

Los Angeles Register Offices

Will got up from his desk and began pacing back and forth across the well worn floor. He watched as Weiss disconnected from the fifth cell phone call he had placed since their meeting. Will surmised that something other than the newspaper article was also happening.  It had been fifteen minutes since Litvack had put in a call to the printer and they still hadn't received a response. Will knew that if his story was printed everything would be ruined. Sydney and Jack would most likely be killed by SD-6. They would probably send someone to kill him too. And countless other innocent people would wind up dead also. All of those unsuspecting people who worked for SD-6 thinking it was a branch of the CIA. So many lives ruined because of something he did.

"Damn it! What's taking them so long," Will practically shouted.

"Look, just calm down, Mr. Tippen. Your getting agitated isn't going to solve anything." Weiss exasperatedly responded. He'd been sitting on a chair in Will's office listening to him mutter to himself for fifteen minutes straight and it was beginning to grate on him.

Will laughed at him, "You've got that right. Nothing is going to solve this, is it? I'm going to spend the rest of my life running from these people. That is if they don't kill me first. You don't have any right to tell me to…" Will was interrupted by the shrill ring of the telephone.

Will and Agent Weiss quickly ran into Litvack's office and caught the tail end of her conversation, "Well thank you very much, you don't know how much of a help you've been. We'll fax you an alternate story in a few minutes."

Will gasped with joy, "It hasn't been printed! Thank God, I'm not going to die."

Weiss awkwardly patted Will on the back saying, "Yeah, you're going to be just fine." Weiss just hoped The Man and his cronies were done with Will. Turning away from Will and turning towards Litvack, Weiss said, "Thank you for everything that you have done. I can't even begin to explain how much of a help you have been."

Taipei

Warehouse District- Club- Air Ducts Over Back Office

Jack was getting more and more frustrated, he'd been crawling around in the air ducts for more than an hour now and he still hadn't found Sydney.  All he saw was a giant water drenched room which he assumed had housed The Circumference. At least Sydney had destroyed that.

"Damn it. Where is she?" He continued crawling around until his search finally paid off. There she was, handcuffed to a chair. But she wasn't alone. Jack moved closer to the vent trying to get a better view.

"Wonderful." Jack muttered under his breath as he saw that Sark and Agent Vaughn were also in the room with her. Along with a woman whose back was turned towards him. Jack almost gasped when he heard the woman speak, but managed to keep his emotions in check and avoid detection.

Warehouse District- Club- Back Office

"I see you're finally catching on Sydney. Rambaldi's prophecy was truly about you." Laura Bristow said to her shocked daughter.

"No," Sydney replied, "That can't be. I was THERE! I saw that stupid mountain. It can't be about me. I followed the whole prophecy. I did what the woman in it wasn't supposed to have done."

Laura laughed at her daughter's distressed reaction, "No my dear that wasn't the entire prophecy. There are other books that have been in my possession for many years. You don't think that I would go through all this trouble to bring you here if I wasn't one hundred percent sure you were the subject of the prophecy, do you? I've read that you are a genius Sydney, don't tell me that you are so naive that you would think all you needed to do was see Mount Sebacio. Haven't you learned by now? Nothing in life is ever that easy."

Sydney wasn't able to process this information. It couldn't be, she could never be the one to bring down "the world's greatest power".

"No!" Sydney yelled, "This can't be happening. You have to be lying to me."

Jack Bristow listened carefully from the air ducts. The look on Sydney's face was heartbreaking. Jack found it hard to believe that the woman he was staring at really was his wife. And that she was still as heartless as he thought. It angered him that this woman thought she had the right to speak to his daughter like that. She'd been gone from Sydney's life for more than twenty years and when she finally reappears she tells her something that could potentially ruin the rest of her life. Jack took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself. He'd deal with the anger and resentment he felt towards his wife later, now he had to formulate a plan to free Sydney and Agent Vaughn.

Sark got up and walked across the room towards his mother, "I don't think she likes you Mother."

He grinned at Sydney and bent down so that they were face to face, "You may think that the information that you have just received is terrible, but I assure you once you know the truth about everything, you'll be glad to work with us."

Sydney recoiled from Sark, "I'll never have anything to do with you people. You're the reason…" Sydney was interrupted as Jack burst into the room.

"Hello Laura. It's been a long time," Jack said, as he threw up his elbow and knocked her unconscious.

Sark ran at Jack at full speed, trying to knock him off his feet.  Jack was too quick for him though as he kicked Sark in the stomach and knocked him unconscious with an object from a nearby shelf as he was struggling to get back up.

"Sydney, are you alright? They didn't hurt you did they?" Jack asked as he searched a nearby desk for the keys to the handcuffs that held Sydney to the chair.

"I'm fine, Dad. A little bruised, but fine. But Vaughn- - God!" Sydney stopped speaking and tried to compose herself- she didn't want her father to see her cry. "Vaughn doesn't look so good. He's been unconscious for hours."

Jack un-cuffed Sydney and felt Vaughn's pulse. "His pulse is strong Sydney. If we get him medical care soon he should be fine."

"Thank God," Sydney breathed, "I was so scared. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to him."

Jack glanced up as he heard the sound of footsteps rapidly approaching. "Here comes the cavalry Syd. We have to leave now."

Just then a group of well armed soldiers burst into the room. Jack and Sydney both dove for cover. "Sydney, we have to get past them quickly. There's no telling how many more men your mother has working for her."

Jack burst out from behind the table and moved quickly towards the door, making short work of the men who tried to get in his way. "Sydney, move!" Jack yelled.

Sydney glanced towards Vaughn who was at the other side of the room, out of her reach. "What about Vaughn! We can't just leave him here. They'll kill him!" Sydney cried.

"Sydney, we have to leave him. We don't have any choice." Jack yelled as he cracked a chair over the head of one of Laura's henchmen. "Come with me. NOW!!"

Sydney cast one final glance at Vaughn, and then ran out from her hiding space, and out the door with her father.

Los Angeles

Freeway

Audrey sat staring out the window of her father's car. When she'd woken up that morning her father had told her that everything that needed to be done with her mother had been taken care of. Sloane wanted them to leave the beach house as soon as they could. He couldn't stand being in the place where his wife died for too much longer. Audrey bent towards the dashboard, trying to find a song on the radio that would distract her.

Finally settling on one, she said, "Daddy, I know this is a horrible time to discuss this, but there is something that I need to talk to you about. It's the reason why I came home from England."

Sloane took in the apprehensive look on his daughter's face and gasped, "You're not pregnant are you?"

Audrey looked at her father as if he were crazy, "Of course not Daddy."

"Thank goodness. Then what is it sweetie, you know you can tell me anything."

Audrey took a deep breath and looked her father in the eye, "I know about SD-6 Dad. And I want to work for you."

Sloane slammed on the brakes, nearly causing an accident as he tried to process Audrey's last statement.

Taipei

Airport Runway

Sydney paced back and forth in the CIA chartered plane that the extraction team had gotten for them.  She kept running the events of the day over and over in her head. "I can't believe this is really happening. We have to get Vaughn back."

Jack felt awful for his daughter, but knew that he had done the right thing. Sydney was the one Laura wanted, it was more important to have gotten her out than Vaughn.

"Sydney look at me," Jack took his daughter's hand and led her to a seat, "I will do everything in my power to get Agent Vaughn back alive. You have to trust me on this."

Sydney just closed her eyes and tried not to sob.

End episode two.