Chapter Three: Revelations
A/N: Whoo!!! Another chapter! I'm so proud *sniffle, sniffle*! Hopefully this new chapter will be taking the plot somewhere new but I don't read Alias fan fics (I read only Lord of the Rings) so I really don't know what the masses are writing about. Sorry if my ideas are a little (well, A LOT) overused. But read on, 'cause I REALLY think that the ideas for this chapter are pretty original. Please???
Dedication: To Couch, who remains my most loyal and supportive reviewer. Go you!
Special thanks also to Anonymous, who made me aware of my story's shortcomings! As usual, at the end will be a list of people who reviewed my last chapter. Love ya!
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*Irina's POV*
I felt a small tug of guilt as I watched Sydney sit there with a look of stunned betrayal on her face. She was, after all, my daughter and I had just put her in probably the most heart-wrenching position she had ever been in, in her life. But then the hardened side of me took over, and once again I felt nothing but cruel joy at her predicament. When I left the room, my heart was once again made out of stone.
*Sydney's POV*
There was really nothing to think about.
My mother had given me two choices: join her and Vaughn lives, or refuse and let him die. The humane, merciful thing to do, of course, was to save Vaughn's life and become one of the Man's minions; and, believe me, that's what I wanted to do. I would sacrifice anything for Vaughn, even my own life. But I had a duty that surpassed anything else in this world; I had a duty to my country. A pledge of loyalty that I could never, NEVER, break.
To join Derevko in working against the United States, working against everything that I had ever believed in and against the principles I had instilled inside myself, that would be unthinkable.
More so than Vaughn's death.
Even if she did keep me here against my will after I made my choice, I knew that I would never be able to live with myself knowing that I had succumbed to such evil, even under the circumstances that I was in. There was no other choice.
Why, then, did my heart cry out against the choice that I had made?
*Normal POV*
Bam! The steel door slammed shut in Vaughn's face, leaving him alone in a tiny, brightly lit room, probably designed to drive its prisoners crazy. Knowing that there was nothing to do now but wait for the verdict, wait for Sydney's choice, Vaughn curled up against the door, and, without realizing it, fell into the world of dreams.
Irina turned to Khasinau, who was standing outside the door. "Make sure he gets something to eat. He should taste something before he dies."
Seeing Khasinau's startled look, she smirked, "Have you learned nothing from working with me, you imbecile? Irina Derevko always does what she wants, regardless of others' decisions."
"Now, GO! Before I lose my temper and get rid of you as well."
Khasinau scurried off to the kitchens hurriedly, not wanting to anger his boss further.
*Khasinau's POV*
I had hoped that it would not come to this, that I would not have to reveal my true identity until after this…..ordeal. But now that it was confirmed that my superior would kill Vaughn and enslave Sydney anyway, I saw that I had no other choice. So as I prepared Vaughn's food, I slipped in a little something extra. And prayed that my plan would work.
*Francie's POV*
My life was a mess recently. I had gotten engaged, broken up with my fiancé, and gotten engaged again. Now, to top it off, it was two o'clock in the morning, my best friend Sydney still hadn't come home, and Will, my second best friend, was officially missing. God, if I was a suicidal person, I would have killed myself by now.
Briiinnngggg!!!! I nearly fell off the bed as the phone on my nightstand jumped off the hook. "Who the hell would be calling at this hour? Not even Will would have the nerve," I thought to myself. Then, realizing that I was letting my mind wander to Will again, the one person I DIDN'T want to think about, I sighed with frustration and picked up the phone, prepared to yell at whoever was on the other end of the line.
But the first sound I heard made me freeze.
"Hello, Francie." It wasn't the words themselves that terrified me, it was the voice that accompanied them. Deep, distorted, unidentifiable, something out of a horror movie. Only ten times worse, because it was actually happening to me.
The person obviously guessed my thoughts, as he immediately said, "Don't hang up. You'll regret it."
Which is when I should have hung up; and looking back now that is what I should have done. But something about the person's voice made me stay on the line as he said his next words.
"What do you know about the 'bank' that Sydney works for?"
*Normal POV*
Irina's face was within two inches of Sydney's, so that she could feel Irina's breath on her face.
"So my dear daughter, have you come to the end of your…deliberation?"
"Go to hell," Sydney spat out.
"I suppose then, that means that you refuse my offer, leaving Mr. Vaughn to die."
"Fine!" she shouted, feigning anger.
Pivoting on her heel, Irina strode to the door of the room. Just before she pulled open the door, however, she turned around to face Sydney.
"He dies tomorrow at dawn."
*Vaughn's POV*
I woke up with a start, my mouth dry and in desperate need of water. The almost white light in the room didn't help my throbbing temples, either. "Man, Vaughn. Why did you have to fall asleep? You could've spent your time trying to find a way to bust it out of here." I chided myself.
But looking around at the room, I realized miserably that there WAS no way out of here. My fate really was in Sydney's hands.
Suddenly, I was forced to get up, and, turning around, saw that a tray, on top of which was a plate of food and a bowl of water had been pushed through a slot that I had been leaning against.
Realizing that I was ravenous and nearly dying of thirst, I sprang forward, then stopped myself. "Never touch food or drink that an enemy gives you," I remembered my training days early on at the CIA. But that fresh water---it looked so good. Throwing caution to the winds, I rushed forward and downed the water, drinking it in deep gulps, then turned to the food. Well, I wasn't hungry enough yet to eat something that the Man gave me without inspecting it first.
So taking the fork that was also on the tray, I began sifting through the rice. And at the bottom of the plate, instead of finding poision, I found…a note written in tiny script on a thin sheet of plain paper. Holding it up to the light, I deciphered the writing.
I have been an undercover agent of the CIA for over ten years, first working with the KGB, and then under the Man. This will come as extremely unexpected but I swear I am on your side. Your trust in me is vital to my plan. I will contact you some way shortly.
The note was signed at the bottom:
Khasinau
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A/N: I'm particularly proud of this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it. The next few chapters should be very action-packed, with some cliffhangers (especially the predicament that Francie is in) as well, so stick with me. Again, lots of love to all my reviewers, but especially to Couch. Also, I hope I got all my Alias facts straight in this chapter, but I'm really confused about all that "organized crime" crap (yes, I visited the website at ABC.com and actually read EVERYTHING there. I work my butt off for ya'll) so forgive me if I'm wrong about everything (hopefully not).
To Anonymous: I hope that you liked this chapter; I worked especially hard so that you would be satisfied.
Liz
Anonymous
Katie
Andi Horton
Hermione512
Anonymous
Anonymous
Calla Lancaster
Masquerade
Mojoco
Couch J
Ecd
Jen
Kiwikendra
Sorry if I misspelled anyone's name or missed anyone, but it's Sunday night and really late and tomorrow's a school day (eighth grade= homework) so…well, I'm sure you know the feeling. Much love to everyone (keep up the AWESOME reviews!!!!!!!). Also, I'm really sorry this took a while to update but I'm really busy with school right now, so bear with me. I'll probably update about once a week from now on.
---Lady of the Golden Wood