Author's Note: It's too bad Victor didn't win last night and I think Jennifer was totally ROBBED, but here's the next chapter, anyway. Coincidentally, it's all about Sydney and Jack (which is how it should have been last night, stupid Emmy voters!).
No, I'm not bitter. Just a little ticked off.
Anyway, if you've managed to sit through my ramblings, please take the time to let me know what you think of the latest chapter. I freely admit I feed off of your reviews and I've kind of set a personal goal for myself now that we've reached the midpoint (I think) of the story.
Thanks for reading and see ya later!
* * * * *
The following evening, Irina gathered both of her children and Vaughn in the library to discuss her next move. Sydney and Vaughn sat side by side on the sofa while Sark sat sulking in the armchair, an ever-present drink in one hand and a curiously not-talked-about bandage on the other. Irina stood before them.
"I have given a great deal of thought to this and I have decided that it is time to get back to work." She announced.
"It's about time." Sark grumbled under his breath.
"All right." Sydney replied, a touch of apprehension coursing through her veins.
Irina had been pacing, but she stopped in front of Sydney. "I want Page 47 of the Rambaldi manuscript." She looked her daughter straight in the eye.
"And how do you propose to go about it?" She asked. Did Irina know the CIA was in possession of the page? Sydney was aware that her mother knew SD-6 had the book (because Sydney herself had snatched it from Irina's clutches), but she wasn't sure if Irina knew Sydney had stolen that particular page for the CIA.
Her next words provided Sydney with answers to her questions. "We know the CIA has the page and so we have proposed an exchange."
So the CIA mole strikes again, Vaughn thought to himself. Before he and Sydney left here, they had to find out the identity of the mole, so that they could deal with the person once they got home.
"I have been in contact with your father--"
"You what?" Sydney blurted out sharply before she could stop herself. "You talked to Dad?"
"Not me personally." Irina amended, a coolness to her voice. She was aware that Sydney still held some loyalties to her father and those ties wouldn't be broken very easily no matter how much she wished for them to be. "But my subordinates have been in touch with him and we have arranged an exchange."
"What kind of exchange?" Sydney gave her a puzzled look. What did Irina have that would be of any interest to her father?
"I get Page 47 and your father gets to see you one last time." Her mother informed her with a self-satisfied look on her face.
Sydney was stunned. "Is that it?"
"Don't you think it's a fair trade?" Irina asked, arching an eyebrow.
She struggled to hide her impatience. "Mom, you're asking him to steal classified information from the CIA just so that he and I can have a father-daughter reunion?"
"You seem skeptical that he would agree to such a plan, Sydney." She commented blandly.
"With good reason, I think." She said slowly. "Why do you think he would commit a crime against his own government just to see me?"
Irina gave her an indulgent look. "Why, Sydney, I thought you knew by now that your father would do anything in the world for you." Her voice was light and musical, but she was feeling anything but happy-go-lucky. Irina did not like singing Jack's praises to Sydney for it only seemed to strengthen the bonds between them. She wanted to be the only parental figure in her daughter's life, but she could see it was going to be an extremely slow process to wean Sydney away from her father's influence.
Was that true? Sydney wondered and she had to admit it would please her if Irina's assessment of her father's devotion to her were accurate. "Will Michael be with me when I meet him?" She asked, trying to keep the hopeful note out of her voice. Sark snorted at her naïveté and downed the rest of his drink.
Irina narrowed her eyes slightly. "Sydney, do not underestimate me. I am afraid I don't trust you as much as a mother should trust her daughter and I know you feel the same way towards me." Sydney flushed at how insightful her mother was to her true feelings. "Think of this as a test."
She met Irina's gaze with an expression free of deceit. "I won't let you down."
* * * * *
The meeting was scheduled for two days hence. It would take place in a public square in the business district of Taipei. Irina, Sark and Vaughn would be in a limousine across the street while Sydney met with Jack to make the exchange. Irina had Sydney wear a two-way transmitter so that the occupants of the limo would be able to hear their entire conversation.
Sydney was tense as her mother went over her instructions. "Sydney, remember, you must not mention my name. If your father asks who is holding you, you will tell him it is The Man, who he assumes to be Khasinau."
"After you make the exchange, during which you will confirm the authenticity of the page, I will allow you a moment to say goodbye to your father." How generous of you, Sydney thought to herself wryly. "But you must not come within arm's distance of him. Do not attempt to make any physical contact."
Sydney frowned at her. "You're telling me this may be the last time I see my father and you won't even let me hug him goodbye?" Actually, she couldn't remember the last time she had hugged her father, but that was beside the point. She just hated that Irina was trying to control her every action and emotion.
"I would not put it past your father to spirit you away if he gets the opportunity." Irina said brusquely. "Therefore, I have employed the services of a few sharpshooters, who will have their weapons trained on you and your father. You will be meeting in a public square, Sydney. If Jack tries to grab you, they will shoot and I can't guarantee that innocent people won't be hurt." She said ominously.
Leave it to my mother to turn a warm and fuzzy family reunion into a bloodbath. "Fine." Sydney said resignedly. "Whatever you say."
The limo ride into the city took just under an hour. As they drove through the city streets, Sydney and Vaughn couldn't help but try to take in all the unfamiliar sounds and sights around them, for they had been isolated from civilization for over a week now and they craved sensory stimulation from anything other than the people sitting in the limo with them.
The limo pulled next to the curb in a busy section of the financial district. Sydney saw the square across the street with its park benches and pigeons and the spouting marble fountain in the center of the square. She was dismayed to see the multitude of people, either rushing about or just relaxing, especially the small children feeding the pigeons by the fountain. There was no way she could try anything, not with all those people around.
"Syd?" Vaughn's hesitant voice interrupted her thoughts. She had not yet made a move to exit the vehicle.
She looked at him and smiled. She put a hand to his face and pressed her cheek against his, not wanting Sark or her mother to see them express any other kind of affection towards each other.
"I believe your father is waiting, Sydney." Irina said, keeping her voice neutral.
"All right." Sydney got out of the limo, smoothed the jacket of her lightweight suit and headed across the street.
"Please say something so that we can hear you, Sydney." She heard Irina's voice in her earpiece.
"My feet hurt in these shoes." Sydney muttered.
She heard Irina's throaty laugh. "Then we will have to buy you a new pair."
Sure, buy me some new pumps and that'll make up for everything. Sydney's heart caught in her throat as she saw the familiar figure standing with his back to her as she neared the fountain. She recognized the graying hair and the ever-present black Burberry trench coat and she nearly stumbled.
"Dad?" Her voice came out strangled and was barely above a whisper, but he still heard her.
When Jack Bristow saw his daughter for the first time in over a week, he felt his body sag with relief. The hours that turned into days of not knowing what had happened to her, if she were even still alive, had been absolute torture for him.
"Sydney!" He started for her and then stopped. She appeared in good health, but her expression was oddly reticent. This wasn't his Sydney, his little girl who wore her pain and hurt so palpably on her face.
They faced each other more than two arm's lengths apart. "Are you all right?" was the first question out of her father's mouth and it touched her.
"Yes." She nodded.
"Did they hurt you?" He would hunt them down if they had harmed a hair on her head.
"No, I've been treated very well." She was choosing her words carefully and he noticed.
"You're wired?"
Her eyes flickered. "Yes."
"Where is he?" Jack's tone was sharp. "Khasinau?"
"He's close by." She replied vaguely. "Dad, I have so many things to ask you and I don't know how much time I have." Her words came out in a rush. "How is Will? Is he all right?" In the car, Sark smirked at Vaughn, hoping to elicit a jealous reaction. Vaughn ignored him.
"He's back home and he is recovering physically, at least." Jack acknowledged. "As you might expect, Mr. Tippin's life has changed dramatically." He could not go into all the details with her, seeing as how he did not want the information to be transmitted back to Khasinau.
She gave her father a guilty look. "Tell him I'm sorry." Her voice was pleading. Jack nodded.
"What about Francie?"
"She thinks you're on an extended European business trip for the bank."
"Does she believe that I would be away for this amount of time without calling her?" Her tone was skeptical.
"You are keeping in touch with her through email as well as postcards." Jack replied briskly.
Sydney had to grin. "Pretty good trick, Dad."
Jack's lips quirked. "In any case, she is busy with her restaurant dealings, so she has a lot on her plate right now."
"And Dixon? Has he talked yet?"
"I convinced Dixon not to do anything until he talked to you." Her father informed her. "I told him that as your partner, he at least owed you that much and he agreed not to go to Security Section until he spoke to you. Of course, what he didn't know was that you would be headed off on a three-week vacation to a destination where you couldn't be reached."
"Dad, he'll think I'm trying to stall him." She pointed out unnecessarily.
"Nevertheless, he gave me his word and you know he will keep it." Jack replied in an abrupt manner.
Sydney nodded, preparing herself for her last and hardest questions. "Dad, where does Sloane think I am and what does he think I've been doing?" Some of the anxiety she was feeling crept into her voice.
"He doesn't even know you've been gone." Jack shook his head.
Sydney stared at her father. "What do you mean he doesn't know? He certainly wouldn't buy the same story you're feeding Francie and he knows he didn't approve a vacation for me!"
"Sloane doesn't know you haven't been to work because he hasn't been to work." Jack told her and the expression on his face grew somber. "Sydney, Emily Sloane died the night you disappeared."
"Oh, no!" Sydney's eyes filled with tears. She silently cursed her mother for preventing her from being at Emily's bedside in her hour of need. "Emily didn't look well the last time I saw her in the hospital. I guess her body could no longer fight off the cancer." She said sadly.
Jack's face took on a guarded expression. "Emily's cancer was in remission, Sydney."
"I don't understand." Sydney frowned and then the realization suddenly dawned on her. She looked at her father in horror. "Dad, did Sloane--you're not saying he--because she knew about SD-6…" Her voice trailed off, unable to finish the abhorrent thought.
"I'm not saying anything, Sydney. Just the facts." Her father said cryptically. "In any case, Sloane is on an extended leave of absence. No one knows when he'll be back."
"Didn't he notice I wasn't at the funeral?"
"He wasn't noticing much at all that day." Jack shook his head. "Not to diminish Emily's passing, but it was a fortunate break for us that it happened when it did. It focused Sloane's attentions elsewhere, so you will be able to return without any difficult questions from him." Jack glanced around and lowered his voice. "Come along, Sydney, I think we can make a break for it and I have a car waiting nearby." He took a step towards her.
"Dad, I can't!" Sydney backed away from her father's grasp and Jack stopped in his tracks.
"What do you mean you can't?" Jack said brusquely.
"Dad, there are snipers trained on us." She said grimly. "If you try to force me to go with you, they will shoot and they don't care who they hit."
Sydney could see the wheels turning in her father's brain as he contemplated the risks. Then a look of resignation passed over Jack's face and he swore under his breath. "Very well." He said quietly and then opened his briefcase to extract a cardboard tube. "This is what he wanted?" Jack removed the cap from the tube and unrolled the parchment so that Sydney could see that it was indeed the real thing. Every time she saw the portrait of that woman who looked so much like her, it tugged at her insides.
Sydney nodded in satisfaction and her father proceeded to re-roll the parchment. "Dad, what is Devlin going to say when he finds out you took that?"
"These were extenuating circumstances, Sydney." Her father's voice was curt. "I had no choice."
"Dad, they won't view what you did as a necessary course of action." Her eyes were troubled. "You did it for purely personal reasons."
"I'm prepared for whatever consequences may arise, Sydney." Jack said staunchly.
Sydney had always found her father's stiff and starched demeanor to be at times alternately frustrating and infuriating. He never showed his emotions and he was always so hard to read. It was what made him such an accomplished and invaluable agent, even though it didn't exactly foster a hugs-and kisses paternal relationship with his daughter. But at least it was something she could count on and at a time like this, Sydney found his manner oddly comforting.
"Dad, you did it for me and that means more to me than you'll ever know." At that moment, Sydney wanted to fling herself into her father's arms and she would have had it not been for Irina's orders. She almost giggled when she thought of the utterly shocked expression her father would have on his face if she threw her arms around him. Did they even know how to hug each other anymore?
A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he didn't respond because he didn't know what to say. "Sydney, we went back to look for you at the warehouse when you never showed up at the airport." It was imperative to Jack that she know he hadn't abandoned her.
"I know you did, Dad." There had never been a question in her mind.
"We also looked for Agent Vaughn." Jack looked pained. "Sydney, I don't know if I should tell you this, but we never found him, either." Her father gave her an aggrieved look and Sydney was grateful that he had tried to soften the blow for her.
Her face broke out into a reassuring smile. "Oh, Dad, it's all right. Michael is with me."
"He is?" Jack looked stunned, but remained cognizant enough to realize that Sydney had called her handler by his given name for the first time that he could remember. "We told his mother he was MIA…" His voice trailed off. In the car, Vaughn cringed.
"Dad, you have to tell her he's alive." Sydney said urgently. "Please, the first chance you get, you have tell her he's fine."
Jack nodded. "So Khasinau has him, too?"
"Yes." She replied softly. "And that's another reason why I can't leave with you." The look she gave her father spoke volumes. Jack was surprised to see the depth of feeling in her expression. Somehow their relationship of agent and handler had been altered irreversibly.
"I see." Jack uttered, knowing there was nothing more to say on the subject.
There was a crackling in her ear. "Sydney, I think it is time for you to say your goodbyes." Irina had heard enough.
Sydney winced. No, you're not giving me enough time! "Dad, I have to go now."
"So soon?"
She nodded, bowing her head so that he wouldn't see her break down. "Dad, our relationship has never been easy. We both went into a reclusive shell after Mom left and we lost a lot of time that could have been spent building a solid, loving relationship with each other."
"It was my fault, Sydney--"
"No, it was my fault, too." She cut him off gently. "For the longest time, I didn't think you cared about me and I resented you for that. I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong to make you push me away."
"You were a child. You didn't understand."
"I'm not a child anymore, Dad." Her eyes were bright but no tears fell as she looked at him. "Explain it to me."
Jack hesitated a few moments before speaking. "The choices I made while you were growing up--not being around, not telling you the truth about what I was really doing, having your nanny virtually raise you--they were made because I knew I wouldn't have been a very good father to you at that time." He said remorsefully. "I was having…difficulties dealing with your mother's death and I thought the best thing I could do for you was to stay away."
"Unfortunately, by the time I was ready to handle being a father again, it was too late." Jack looked regretful. "There were too many missed dance recitals and soccer games and graduations."
"You didn't miss my graduation, Dad." Sydney reminded him with a little smile.
"No, but I almost did and that's inexcusable." Her father lowered his eyes. "I've failed you as a father, haven't I, Sydney? I tried to protect you from this ugly business your entire life, but you got drawn into it, anyway." He looked disgusted with himself.
"Dad, no!" Sydney protested. "I've been making my own decisions for awhile now and if I've been hurt by them, it's my own fault. You certainly can't be blamed for the choices I've made."
"You have to know that I never wanted this kind of life for you, Sydney, because I know all too well how it encompasses your whole existence." Jack said quietly. "I wish to God that you could have a normal life, get married, buy a house, have children."
"Well, we both know none of that is going to be happening any time soon." She said ruefully. "But just knowing that my happiness is important to you means a lot, Dad, and I'm very glad you told me how you feel."
"That's all a parent ever wants for his children, Sydney." Her father's voice cracked even as he struggled to maintain his air of reserve. "You'll realize that when you have children of your own."
When Sydney thought to herself that her father might never get to see her children, it became too much for her to bear. "Oh, Daddy!" She threw herself into his chest and felt his arms wrap around her in a protective manner.
"Hold your fire!" Irina shouted into her walkie-talkie.
"I knew she couldn't be trusted." Sark sneered.
"She's saying goodbye to her father!" Vaughn barked at him, giving the younger man a thunderous look.
"Use this as soon as you can." Her father whispered into her ear. Sydney felt him slip something into her jacket pocket.
"I love you, Dad." Sydney said fiercely, pulling away from their embrace before her mother went crazy.
The surprise on her father's face was clearly evident as he let her words sink into his brain. He and Sydney had never been overly demonstrative in showing their affection towards one another, at least not since she was a child before Laura left them. He was the type of person who had never felt comfortable in outwardly displaying his emotions, especially to the people closest to him. Some of the blame could be placed at Laura's feet and he supposed he had also transferred some of that culpability to Sydney as well, who was a constant reminder that the one time he did let down his guard, he got burned for it.
But Sydney's unforeseen exodus from his life left a surprisingly large hole in his heart. He had never realized just how much he had come to depend on seeing her everyday, if only to remind himself why he continued to live the dangerous life of a double agent. It was not for his own personal satisfaction that he wanted to destroy Sloane and SD-6 (although it would feel good to stick it to the smarmy weasel for all the times he had taunted Jack with his overly paternal feelings towards Sydney). No, it was all to ensure the safety and future happiness of his little girl.
Was her father pleased by her declaration? It was hard to tell beneath that aloof exterior, but Sydney thought she might have detected the briefest of smiles tugging at his mouth.
She tried to put on a brave face for him. "I just wanted you to know that since it appears we won't be seeing each other again."
Her father's eyes hardened. "Sydney, don't say that." He admonished her.
"I'm sorry, Dad, but that's just the reality of the situation." She felt the tears prickling again at the backs of her eyes, even though she didn't really believe what she was saying. She would see her father again; not even Irina would be able to prevent that.
"Goodbye, Dad." Sydney picked up the canister and turned on her heel without a backwards glance.
She thrust her hand into her pocket as she walked away. Her fingers closed around a small vial. The radioactive isotopes. Good old Dad.
The door to the limo opened for her as she neared. The moment she was safely inside, it took off. Sydney sat back in her seat next to Vaughn and faced her mother. Irina did not look happy that Sydney had actively defied her instructions.
"Have a problem following orders, Sis?" Sark snarled at her.
"I'm still here, aren't I?" Sydney retorted venomously. "Maybe you can't understand this--being the spawn of the Devil and all--but I actually love my father."
"Sydney!" Irina scolded her. "Sergei is right to call you on this. You deliberately disobeyed me." Her eyes glittered angrily.
Sydney flushed. "You said this would be the last time I ever saw him." She said through clenched teeth. "I'm sorry if you feel I went against your orders, but I had to go to him. I had to let him know how I felt."
"Yes, we all heard the nauseatingly heartfelt speeches you and Daddy gave each other." Sark said mockingly.
"Do you want to can it with the nasty remarks?" Vaughn fixed a threatening glare at Sark. The younger man gave Vaughn a surly look, but he backed off.
Sydney gave Vaughn's hand a grateful squeeze. "Mom," She forced herself to speak in a moderate tone, so as not to sound rebellious or antagonistic. "Please don't be mad at me for what I did. Just think about what you would have done if it had been your father." Sydney blatantly tugged at Irina's heartstrings. She knew her mother had adored her own father, Sydney's grandfather.
Irina's face remained impassive for a few moments, but then Sydney saw her steely gaze slowly begin to soften. "If I had been in your place, I would not have been able to resist one last embrace from my father." She said finally.
"I will let your lapse in judgment pass this one time, Sydney, but from now on, I will expect your loyalty and your compliance in all matters." Her mother gave her an imperious look.
Sydney was the picture of acquiescence. "You shall have it, Mom."
To be continued…