A/N- I think that there needs to be more Jack/Irina fics out there, and this little story has been running around in my head these past few days, so here ya go! Please review!
Disclaimer- Sadly, I own nothing from Alias-it all belongs to ABC and Bad Robot.
Always
Part I-The Abduction
Irina heard the doors leading to her cell open. She got up from where she had been stretching on the ground, feeling her muscles ache slightly. She went to stand at the glass, hoping it was Jack or Sydney. To her disappointment, Kendall stepped in front of the cell.
"Miss Derevko, are you feeling up to another trip?"
She smiled slightly.
"Let me check my schedule."
Kendall, of course, was not amused.
"I'm really not in the mood for this, Derevko."
"Well, are you in the mood for telling me what kind of mission I would be going on?"
"Your daughter has been kidnapped."
Irina's breath caught in her throat, her smirk disappearing immediately.
"Agent Bristow and Agent Vaughn were having dinner together and clearly violating protocol, I might add. The Alliance has been keeping tabs on both Jack and Sydney ever since Ariana Kane mentioned to them that Jack might be the one blackmailing Sloane. Three of the Alliance's men followed Sydney to the restaurant, and upon spotting her with a known CIA agent, kidnapped them both and presumably brought them into their private custody for questioning Sydney on her betrayal of SD-6 and most likely, killing Agent Vaughn. Fortunately, the CIA alerted Jack of their disappearance and he intercepted the message to Sloane. So, for now, Sydney's double-agent status is safe. For now. The three men who have them have not been officially accepted into the Alliance. They know that something like the killing of a CIA agent and a betrayer of SD-6 would probably guarantee their acceptance."
Irina was, for probably the first time in her life, speechless.
"All we know is that the Alliance's headquarters are in London. Jack, of course, has asked to leave immediately on a recovery mission of his daughter and Agent Vaughn. He requested your presence on this mission, and why I doubt he made this request in a totally sane state; I see no reason to deny him this seeing how helpful you were on your last mission. Of course, this is only if you agree to the standard operations that apply when you're released."
"Of course." Irina said, just wanting to get out of this damn cell and get to London.
Kendall motioned to the guard to open her cell.
"Jack should be here any minute. There's a plane waiting for both of you."
At that moment, Jack came rushing through the door. Irina looked at him in shock. She had never seen him look this distraught. His face was deathly pale and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Sydney had been in trouble before-but never this bad. Her double-agent status had never been so close to discovery. Irina didn't even want to think of what they would do to Sydney and her precious Agent Vaughn if her betrayal was discovered.
"Irina, we have to go now." Jack said in a slightly strained voice.
"I trust you two can take it from here. Jack will administer the safety device the CIA demands to you in the plane. Good luck." Kendall gave them a nod, and left.
Jack immediately turned to go. Irina practically had to break into a run to keep up with him.
"Our bags and aliases are already on the plane. A British intelligence agent named Arthur Caleb has been working as a double agent for SD-9 and knows the whereabouts of Sydney and Vaughn. He has agreed to lead us to them. All he knows about us is that we're close to Sydney and work for the CIA. Tonight, we'll check into the Lexington as Mr. and Mrs. Wellington, a vacationing couple. Tomorrow, we'll meet Agent Caleb at the location and time he will inform me of tonight." Jack was speaking very quickly, but by the time he was done, they had reached the plane.
"Did you get all that?" He asked her as they settled into their seats.
"Yes." Irina replied as he handed her her passport and suitcase packed with clothes from the luggage hold.
"Wait a minute…I have to give you this." Jack pulled out something from his bag.
"What is that?"
"The CIA said I have to inject this into the back of your neck. Basically, it's a completely harmless device unless I feel like I need to activate it. If I do, the device will release a poisonous serum that will kill you in five seconds."
Irina looked at the needle, wincing slightly. She might be tough, but she had never been a big fan of shots. She pulled her hair off her neck, leaning forward slightly. She felt a slight prick, but nothing more. It was practically painless.
"Done." Jack said, as she raised her head up again.
"That wasn't so bad." She said.
Jack smiled a little, but just as soon as the smile was there, it was gone, and he was looking through his suitcase.
She opened the bag, and as she started looking through it, she noticed how rigidly Jack was sitting. She looked over at him.
"Jack…she'll be all right. We can do this." She put an assuring hand on his arm without really thinking. He tensed up even more noticeably when she did.
"I'm going to go change." She said quietly, leaving for the back of the plane.
Jack put his head in the hands, mentally commanding himself to get it together. Sydney and Vaughn were both very capable agents. Agent Caleb had always given reliable intel in the past. He wondered silently why he had even requested Irina come with him. It was strange, but when he had heard the news about Sydney, he an odd longing for her to be there with him, to help him on this mission. It was her daughter too, after all.
~*~
Sydney woke up with a start. Where the hell was she? She felt a dull aching all over her body and realized her hands were cuffed behind her back and her ankles were securely chained to the chair she was sitting in. She blinked a few times, her eyes trying to adjust to the light shining in her eyes.
She looked around the slightly dim room and saw suddenly that she wasn't alone. Vaughn was also tightly chained to a chair next to her.
"Vaughn, wake up." She whispered, her heart twisting at his severely bruised eye and busted lip.
He didn't move.
Suddenly, Sydney sensed there was someone watching them. Squinting through the light, she saw an unfamiliar face looking at them. It was a young man, probably not much older than her.
"Agent Bristow, you've surely taken your time in waking up." He said with a slight British accent.
"Who are you?" She asked, her brain foggily remembering what had happened before her capture.
She and Vaughn had been at a restaurant…men had come through the front door…men with guns. She remembered getting up to fight and seeing the butt of a gun coming towards her face. She hadn't ducked fast enough…and after that, everything was a blur. She decided she must have been drugged as well, she felt far too strange to just have jetlag.
"Who are you?" She repeated again, more loudly this time.
"Perhaps the more appropriate question, Miss Bristow, would be who are you? One minute you're a loyal SD-6 agent, and the next, you're working against Sloane and for the CIA. I afraid you might be a little confused about whose side you're on. Let me help you understand. This man, who you were with," The young man motioned towards Vaughn, "he's not on your side. He wants to bring on the destruction of the Alliance. That is not something that should make you happy." He said in a patronizing tone.
"Get to the point." Sydney said through gritted teeth.
"My point is, Miss Bristow, if you're really loyal to the Alliance, this shouldn't bother you a bit." The man took Vaughn's limp arm, and twisted it until Sydney heard a horrible crack.
Vaughn awoke then, screaming in pain.
"Stop it!" Sydney yelled, struggling against her restraints.
"I'm not going to stop until you tell me whose side you're really on!" The man yelled back.
Sydney fell silent, tears clouding her vision as Vaughn bit his bottom lip as hard as he could so he would not scream again.
~*~
"I'm James Wellington, and this is my wife, Emily." Jack smiled at the hotel clerk.
The man smiled back, pulling up their reservation.
"Ah, yes, you two will be staying in Room 422. Have a pleasant stay in London."
"We always do." Irina said in a flawless British accent, taking their room key from the clerk. The hotel clerk looked a little flustered when she smiled at him, tossing her newly acquired dark black curls over one shoulder.
"Let's go, Emily." Jack said, impatiently leading her towards the elevator.
"So possessive." She whispered to the hotel clerk, winking.
She and Jack got on the elevator with their bags. Jack kept getting his cell phone out of his bag, nervously looking to see if he'd missed Agent Caleb's call.
"Jack, he'll call. You have got to relax."
"Easy for you to say. You were probably just glad to have an excuse to get out of your cell."
"Oh, of course, because Sydney means absolutely nothing to me." Irina said sarcastically.
Jack choked back the easy response to that comment, deciding instead to stay silent.
Suddenly his phone rang, and he answered it immediately.
"This is Jack," he said, listening for a moment, "We'll be there."
Irina looked at him expectantly.
"We're going to meet him at 10:00 a.m. at the parking garage on Welsh Avenue. He'll take us from there."
Irina nodded.
They reached their room, and Irina unlocked the door.
"This is nice." She said, looking around the room.
"I'm tired. I'll sleep on the floor." Jack said abruptly.
Irina noticed then that was there was only one bed.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jack. We've just gotten off a twelve-hour flight, you need to get some rest. We slept in the same bed for ten years, I don't think it would kill either of us."
"Things were different then." Jack said harshly, grabbing his toothbrush and going into the bathroom. He slammed the door.
Irina changed her clothes, grabbing her toothbrush as well. She went into the bathroom, where Jack was splashing cold water on his face.
He noticed her presence, and looked up at her with an expression she couldn't quite identify.
"Good night." He said abruptly, walking by her and closing the door behind him.
"Night." Irina said softly.
By the time Irina got into bed, Jack was already asleep. She smiled sadly. He worked too hard, he didn't need all this with Sydney right now. She suddenly realized she was exhausted as well, and rolled onto her side, almost instantly falling asleep.
~*~
Laura Bristow heard the familiar sound of their garage opening.
"Syd! Daddy's home!" She called, hearing Sydney's footsteps racing down the stairs.
"I drew Daddy a picture of us at Disney World! I'm so excited we're finally going!" Sydney smiled widely, revealing the gap where she had just lost a tooth.
"Well, it's your seventh birthday, Syd. That doesn't just happen everyday." Laura smiled back, ruffling her daughter's shiny brown hair.
"I'm home!" Jack called, setting his briefcase down, and loosening his tie. He smiled at the sight of his wife and daughter laughing together in the kitchen. Today had been a chaotic day at work; it was always a relief to be home with his family.
"Daddy, I drew a picture of you, me, and Mommy at Disney World!" Sydney raced towards him, hugging him tightly around the waist.
She handed him the picture, showing a surprisingly well-drawn portrait of Jack, Laura, and Sydney standing in front of the Epcot center. Of course, the Epcot center was what Sydney was most excited about. She had always been very smart for her age.
"This is great, Sydney, thank you." Jack smiled down at his daughter.
"Mom got me a brand new suitcase, I'll go get it!" Sydney raced off again.
"Hey." Laura smiled at him, putting her arms around his neck.
"Hey." He replied, kissing her as he always did when he got home.
"Hard day?" She asked.
"Much better now." He smiled, thinking how lucky he was.
They kissed again, longer this time, just as Sydney came racing back down the stairs, her new suitcase thumping behind her.
"Look, daddy, isn't it great?" She rolled it into the room.
"Very nice, Syd." Jack agreed, his arm still around Laura's waist.
"All right, well I have to go put the chicken in the oven. It's teriyaki tonight." Laura winked at Jack. That was what they had had on their first date, and he caught the meaning immediately.
"My favorite." He grinned.
"I love teriyaki!" Sydney shrieked, racing into the kitchen to help her mom.
Jack sat down for a minute, his feet aching slightly. Today had seemed like it would never end. But now it was over. And he was home with the two people who meant the most to him in the entire world.
~*~
Jack suddenly snapped awake from his dream. A random memory of such a long time ago…why on earth had he dreamed that? He looked over at Irina's sleeping figure next to him, thinking of how much things had changed. Those times were gone. But the memories, and the feelings, refused to fade. He fell back into a restless sleep.
~*~
A/N- Part Two will be up shortly! Hope everyone enjoyed this, please leave a review. And don't worry-much more J/I and S/V is coming!
Disclaimer- Sadly, I own nothing from Alias-it all belongs to ABC and Bad Robot.
Always
Part I-The Abduction
Irina heard the doors leading to her cell open. She got up from where she had been stretching on the ground, feeling her muscles ache slightly. She went to stand at the glass, hoping it was Jack or Sydney. To her disappointment, Kendall stepped in front of the cell.
"Miss Derevko, are you feeling up to another trip?"
She smiled slightly.
"Let me check my schedule."
Kendall, of course, was not amused.
"I'm really not in the mood for this, Derevko."
"Well, are you in the mood for telling me what kind of mission I would be going on?"
"Your daughter has been kidnapped."
Irina's breath caught in her throat, her smirk disappearing immediately.
"Agent Bristow and Agent Vaughn were having dinner together and clearly violating protocol, I might add. The Alliance has been keeping tabs on both Jack and Sydney ever since Ariana Kane mentioned to them that Jack might be the one blackmailing Sloane. Three of the Alliance's men followed Sydney to the restaurant, and upon spotting her with a known CIA agent, kidnapped them both and presumably brought them into their private custody for questioning Sydney on her betrayal of SD-6 and most likely, killing Agent Vaughn. Fortunately, the CIA alerted Jack of their disappearance and he intercepted the message to Sloane. So, for now, Sydney's double-agent status is safe. For now. The three men who have them have not been officially accepted into the Alliance. They know that something like the killing of a CIA agent and a betrayer of SD-6 would probably guarantee their acceptance."
Irina was, for probably the first time in her life, speechless.
"All we know is that the Alliance's headquarters are in London. Jack, of course, has asked to leave immediately on a recovery mission of his daughter and Agent Vaughn. He requested your presence on this mission, and why I doubt he made this request in a totally sane state; I see no reason to deny him this seeing how helpful you were on your last mission. Of course, this is only if you agree to the standard operations that apply when you're released."
"Of course." Irina said, just wanting to get out of this damn cell and get to London.
Kendall motioned to the guard to open her cell.
"Jack should be here any minute. There's a plane waiting for both of you."
At that moment, Jack came rushing through the door. Irina looked at him in shock. She had never seen him look this distraught. His face was deathly pale and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Sydney had been in trouble before-but never this bad. Her double-agent status had never been so close to discovery. Irina didn't even want to think of what they would do to Sydney and her precious Agent Vaughn if her betrayal was discovered.
"Irina, we have to go now." Jack said in a slightly strained voice.
"I trust you two can take it from here. Jack will administer the safety device the CIA demands to you in the plane. Good luck." Kendall gave them a nod, and left.
Jack immediately turned to go. Irina practically had to break into a run to keep up with him.
"Our bags and aliases are already on the plane. A British intelligence agent named Arthur Caleb has been working as a double agent for SD-9 and knows the whereabouts of Sydney and Vaughn. He has agreed to lead us to them. All he knows about us is that we're close to Sydney and work for the CIA. Tonight, we'll check into the Lexington as Mr. and Mrs. Wellington, a vacationing couple. Tomorrow, we'll meet Agent Caleb at the location and time he will inform me of tonight." Jack was speaking very quickly, but by the time he was done, they had reached the plane.
"Did you get all that?" He asked her as they settled into their seats.
"Yes." Irina replied as he handed her her passport and suitcase packed with clothes from the luggage hold.
"Wait a minute…I have to give you this." Jack pulled out something from his bag.
"What is that?"
"The CIA said I have to inject this into the back of your neck. Basically, it's a completely harmless device unless I feel like I need to activate it. If I do, the device will release a poisonous serum that will kill you in five seconds."
Irina looked at the needle, wincing slightly. She might be tough, but she had never been a big fan of shots. She pulled her hair off her neck, leaning forward slightly. She felt a slight prick, but nothing more. It was practically painless.
"Done." Jack said, as she raised her head up again.
"That wasn't so bad." She said.
Jack smiled a little, but just as soon as the smile was there, it was gone, and he was looking through his suitcase.
She opened the bag, and as she started looking through it, she noticed how rigidly Jack was sitting. She looked over at him.
"Jack…she'll be all right. We can do this." She put an assuring hand on his arm without really thinking. He tensed up even more noticeably when she did.
"I'm going to go change." She said quietly, leaving for the back of the plane.
Jack put his head in the hands, mentally commanding himself to get it together. Sydney and Vaughn were both very capable agents. Agent Caleb had always given reliable intel in the past. He wondered silently why he had even requested Irina come with him. It was strange, but when he had heard the news about Sydney, he an odd longing for her to be there with him, to help him on this mission. It was her daughter too, after all.
~*~
Sydney woke up with a start. Where the hell was she? She felt a dull aching all over her body and realized her hands were cuffed behind her back and her ankles were securely chained to the chair she was sitting in. She blinked a few times, her eyes trying to adjust to the light shining in her eyes.
She looked around the slightly dim room and saw suddenly that she wasn't alone. Vaughn was also tightly chained to a chair next to her.
"Vaughn, wake up." She whispered, her heart twisting at his severely bruised eye and busted lip.
He didn't move.
Suddenly, Sydney sensed there was someone watching them. Squinting through the light, she saw an unfamiliar face looking at them. It was a young man, probably not much older than her.
"Agent Bristow, you've surely taken your time in waking up." He said with a slight British accent.
"Who are you?" She asked, her brain foggily remembering what had happened before her capture.
She and Vaughn had been at a restaurant…men had come through the front door…men with guns. She remembered getting up to fight and seeing the butt of a gun coming towards her face. She hadn't ducked fast enough…and after that, everything was a blur. She decided she must have been drugged as well, she felt far too strange to just have jetlag.
"Who are you?" She repeated again, more loudly this time.
"Perhaps the more appropriate question, Miss Bristow, would be who are you? One minute you're a loyal SD-6 agent, and the next, you're working against Sloane and for the CIA. I afraid you might be a little confused about whose side you're on. Let me help you understand. This man, who you were with," The young man motioned towards Vaughn, "he's not on your side. He wants to bring on the destruction of the Alliance. That is not something that should make you happy." He said in a patronizing tone.
"Get to the point." Sydney said through gritted teeth.
"My point is, Miss Bristow, if you're really loyal to the Alliance, this shouldn't bother you a bit." The man took Vaughn's limp arm, and twisted it until Sydney heard a horrible crack.
Vaughn awoke then, screaming in pain.
"Stop it!" Sydney yelled, struggling against her restraints.
"I'm not going to stop until you tell me whose side you're really on!" The man yelled back.
Sydney fell silent, tears clouding her vision as Vaughn bit his bottom lip as hard as he could so he would not scream again.
~*~
"I'm James Wellington, and this is my wife, Emily." Jack smiled at the hotel clerk.
The man smiled back, pulling up their reservation.
"Ah, yes, you two will be staying in Room 422. Have a pleasant stay in London."
"We always do." Irina said in a flawless British accent, taking their room key from the clerk. The hotel clerk looked a little flustered when she smiled at him, tossing her newly acquired dark black curls over one shoulder.
"Let's go, Emily." Jack said, impatiently leading her towards the elevator.
"So possessive." She whispered to the hotel clerk, winking.
She and Jack got on the elevator with their bags. Jack kept getting his cell phone out of his bag, nervously looking to see if he'd missed Agent Caleb's call.
"Jack, he'll call. You have got to relax."
"Easy for you to say. You were probably just glad to have an excuse to get out of your cell."
"Oh, of course, because Sydney means absolutely nothing to me." Irina said sarcastically.
Jack choked back the easy response to that comment, deciding instead to stay silent.
Suddenly his phone rang, and he answered it immediately.
"This is Jack," he said, listening for a moment, "We'll be there."
Irina looked at him expectantly.
"We're going to meet him at 10:00 a.m. at the parking garage on Welsh Avenue. He'll take us from there."
Irina nodded.
They reached their room, and Irina unlocked the door.
"This is nice." She said, looking around the room.
"I'm tired. I'll sleep on the floor." Jack said abruptly.
Irina noticed then that was there was only one bed.
"Don't be ridiculous, Jack. We've just gotten off a twelve-hour flight, you need to get some rest. We slept in the same bed for ten years, I don't think it would kill either of us."
"Things were different then." Jack said harshly, grabbing his toothbrush and going into the bathroom. He slammed the door.
Irina changed her clothes, grabbing her toothbrush as well. She went into the bathroom, where Jack was splashing cold water on his face.
He noticed her presence, and looked up at her with an expression she couldn't quite identify.
"Good night." He said abruptly, walking by her and closing the door behind him.
"Night." Irina said softly.
By the time Irina got into bed, Jack was already asleep. She smiled sadly. He worked too hard, he didn't need all this with Sydney right now. She suddenly realized she was exhausted as well, and rolled onto her side, almost instantly falling asleep.
~*~
Laura Bristow heard the familiar sound of their garage opening.
"Syd! Daddy's home!" She called, hearing Sydney's footsteps racing down the stairs.
"I drew Daddy a picture of us at Disney World! I'm so excited we're finally going!" Sydney smiled widely, revealing the gap where she had just lost a tooth.
"Well, it's your seventh birthday, Syd. That doesn't just happen everyday." Laura smiled back, ruffling her daughter's shiny brown hair.
"I'm home!" Jack called, setting his briefcase down, and loosening his tie. He smiled at the sight of his wife and daughter laughing together in the kitchen. Today had been a chaotic day at work; it was always a relief to be home with his family.
"Daddy, I drew a picture of you, me, and Mommy at Disney World!" Sydney raced towards him, hugging him tightly around the waist.
She handed him the picture, showing a surprisingly well-drawn portrait of Jack, Laura, and Sydney standing in front of the Epcot center. Of course, the Epcot center was what Sydney was most excited about. She had always been very smart for her age.
"This is great, Sydney, thank you." Jack smiled down at his daughter.
"Mom got me a brand new suitcase, I'll go get it!" Sydney raced off again.
"Hey." Laura smiled at him, putting her arms around his neck.
"Hey." He replied, kissing her as he always did when he got home.
"Hard day?" She asked.
"Much better now." He smiled, thinking how lucky he was.
They kissed again, longer this time, just as Sydney came racing back down the stairs, her new suitcase thumping behind her.
"Look, daddy, isn't it great?" She rolled it into the room.
"Very nice, Syd." Jack agreed, his arm still around Laura's waist.
"All right, well I have to go put the chicken in the oven. It's teriyaki tonight." Laura winked at Jack. That was what they had had on their first date, and he caught the meaning immediately.
"My favorite." He grinned.
"I love teriyaki!" Sydney shrieked, racing into the kitchen to help her mom.
Jack sat down for a minute, his feet aching slightly. Today had seemed like it would never end. But now it was over. And he was home with the two people who meant the most to him in the entire world.
~*~
Jack suddenly snapped awake from his dream. A random memory of such a long time ago…why on earth had he dreamed that? He looked over at Irina's sleeping figure next to him, thinking of how much things had changed. Those times were gone. But the memories, and the feelings, refused to fade. He fell back into a restless sleep.
~*~
A/N- Part Two will be up shortly! Hope everyone enjoyed this, please leave a review. And don't worry-much more J/I and S/V is coming!