Chapter Thirteen
Author's Notes: Okay, here goes. My fabulous beta-reader just informed me (the dumb blonde) that the Bible was destroyed. Well, that just about shoots down my whole storyline. The "Bible" (as I put it, since, like I said, have only started watching Alias and have only seen Season Two, Episode Six-what are we on, ten?) that was destroyed was a copy. The other copy was broken up into chapters and each was hidden in a different location, known only to Irina (probably) and a few others. Just in case you were reading this and like "What the heck? That thing was destroyed!" Okay, on with it!
Sydney sat at the kitchen table, staring off into space. Irina came and sat down across from her. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"Sydney, I know you. You haven't touched your coffee and you have that far- off look in your eyes."
"I'm thinking about Andrew."
"What about him?"
"Kendall recruited him for the CIA, at my request. Andrew's a double-agent, just like Dad and me. If Sloane were to find any of this out."
"Sydney, you've hid this for years. What makes you think that Sloane's going to find out now?"
"Now's when it's the most important that he doesn't find out. He let me off the hook, he took my "I don't work for the CIA, I'm not a double-agent" and said okay. Sloane doesn't let anyone, even Dad off the hook."
Sark yawned, walking into the room. "Who doesn't let your dad off the hook?"
"Sloane."
"She's right," he said to Irina. To Sydney, he said, "We need to find our own place. If Sloane finds out that this actually is your mother's house, he'll hunt her down."
Sydney nodded and took a drink of her coffee. "We can't have Sloane hunting her down. I can only lie to him so much before he catches on."
"Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I've had better weeks, but I'll survive," she leaned her head back and smiled at him.
"I'm going to go get dressed. The CIA lets me go out once a week for groceries and stuff. I'm going to go today," said Irina. Sydney nodded. Sark sat down across from her, taking Irina's place.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Andrew. I'm just tired, that's all." She stood up to leave. "I'm going to go check on Ambria and get showered and dressed in the upstairs bathroom." Sark stood up with her and kissed her.
"I love you," he said, letting her head rest on his chest.
"I know," she smiled.
He let her go and she headed upstairs. "We have to be at SD-6 in an hour."
"I know," he waved her upstairs and said, "I'll check on Ambria for you."
She showered and changed, feeling slightly better. She went back downstairs and saw her husband playing with her daughter. They were seated on the floor and Sark was trying to show Ambria how to do a puzzle.
"See?" he asked. "This piece goes here."
Ambria laughed and clapped her hands, and then grabbed a puzzle piece and threw it at Sark. She laughed again. He rubbed his head where the puzzle piece had hit him.
"Are you okay?" Sydney asked, dropping to her knees beside him.
He rubbed his head again. She moved his hair aside to see if there was a bump.
"Of course I'm okay. Sydney, your daughter just hit me with a puzzle piece, and a wooden one at that," he said teasingly.
"There's not a bump," she said, sitting back on her heels.
Ambria looked at her parents. "Daddy?" she asked.
"I'm okay, sweetie," he said, and picked her up.
"You should go and get dressed," Sydney said, taking Ambria from him.
"Yeah," he agreed.
She kissed him quickly and he headed to go take a shower. Irina came back into the room.
"What's wrong with Sark?"
Sydney laughed quietly. "You still can't break the habit, huh?"
Irina smiled. "Guess not. What about you?"
"Me either. My mind still calls him Sark."
"But he's not the cold-hearted son of a bitch who tortured Will anymore, is he?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Are you ready to go?"
"I'm just waiting on Andrew."
"I'm going to the mall today too. Anything you want me to pick up?" Sydney thought. "Anything you think Ambria might need. I've still got a few more outfits before I need to shop."
"I'm sorry about the house."
"It's okay, I'm going to make Sloane pay for it."
Sark came flying down the stairs, kissed Ambria and grabbed his coat. "Come on, we've got to go."
"Why?"
"Your dad just called. Sloane's on the rampage."
"Why?"
"The CIA infiltrated another possible location of the Bible. Vaughn went with them."
"Why would Vaughn go? I'm the one who usually goes."
"I have no idea why Vaughn went, but SD-6 found him and traced him to the CIA. They shot him and are holding him hostage as well."
"You're kidding!"
"No. Let's go, now!"
They got into the car and drove as fast as the speed limit would allow to SD-6 headquarters.
"I'm going to find my father," said Sydney, giving him a quick kiss.
Sark's cell phone rang. "Sark," he said. He nodded and answered a few question, and then hung up.
"It was Sloane. He wants me to meet him in the prison block for as he put it "My first day back." I assume that he wants me to torture Vaughn."
She shook her head. "Vaughn's still mad at me too. If he dies."
"Sydney, don't think that way. He's going to survive."
She nodded and turned down the hallway to find her father. She turned the corner and ran into Marshall. "Hey," she said.
"Welcome back," he greeted her.
"I've got to go. Have you seen my father?"
"In a meeting. Second door to the right. Sloane managed to snag some pretty- boy CIA agent, as he puts it." Marshall knew the truth about SD-6, but still worked undercover for the CIA at SD-6.
"Agent.Vaughn?" she asked, uncertainly in case the security cameras were watching.
Marshall raised an eyebrow and flicked his eyes at the one on the wall. "And-I mean Sark got a call from Sloane telling him to come down to the prison block. He assumed that it was to torture the CIA agent. Word travels fast around here."
"Yeah, I agree. Well, see you later," he turned and went back down the other hallway.
Sydney walked as fast as she could to the meeting room where Marshall had said that she would find Jack.
She silently slipped into the conference between Cuvee, Jack, and several other agents. From what she had heard, she figured that they were trying to compromise something.
"Where is Arvin?" asked Cuvee. Sydney slipped in and sat next to Jack.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"Cuvee's getting mad that Sloane isn't here."
"He's torturing Vaughn with Sark."
"That's great," Jack rolled his eyes. "Why isn't he dead yet?"
"I have no idea. Ask Kendall." He gave her a look as Sloane entered the room.
"Gerard," he said, shaking his hand. "Sydney, Jack," he nodded and acknowledged them.
"Where is Mr. Sark?" asked Cuvee.
"He's busy at the moment. Something came up. He'll be here as soon as he can." Sloane sat down. "As most of you know, we're here discussing a possible alliance between SD-6 and Gerard Cuvee. If this is voted upon as being a good addition to the SD-6 allies, our bases, agents, and so on will be united for a common cause- finding the Bible."
"And if the motion is shot down?" asked Jack.
"This meeting will have never happened," said Sloane.
"All in favor of linking forces with Gerard Cuvee?" asked Sloane. A few hands went up.
"All opposed?" More hands went up, including Sydney and Jack's.
"Undecided?" The remaining hands went up.
"We have a two-way tie between favor and opposed," said Sloane. "We need Mr. Sark's vote."
"I can vouch for him," said Sydney. "He'd be." her voice trailed off. He would have been in favor of it, based on his former alliance with Cuvee, but she could make him look the other way.
"We'll ask him, Ms. Bristow," said Sloane.
"He'd be in favor," she finished. Jack looked at her. Sloane smiled.
"Gerard Cuvee, welcome to SD-6," said Sloane, shaking his hand. "Meeting adjourned."
Sydney stood up and left the room. Jack followed her angrily.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked, yanking her into a nearby room. She scanned the room for cameras or bugs.
"He would have said yes. I would have had to make him look the other way. He worked with Cuvee when we went in for the nukes in Kashmir, remember?"
"I remember. We sabotaged the mission. You could have just said that he wouldn't have wanted it."
"But Sloane knows that he'd be in favor of it."
Jack shook his head angrily. "You could have talked Sark out of it, you're his wife for God's sake!"
"I'm not his mind! I can't say what he'd do and not do. I'm sorry, I have to go find Andrew and see what exactly he is doing to Vaughn." She turned to leave and Jack grabbed her arm.
"You persuade him to look the other way," his eyes were cold. "Or else everything that we've worked for is useless."
"No it's not. We have the inside on Cuvee now."
"But SD-6 is now going to be harder to bring down with Cuvee and his men attached. It's also going to send them on a rampage for Irina."
"Why would they want Mom?"
"Your mother knows the location of the Bible, something that the CIA and SD- 6 both want."
"What is so important about the stupid Bible? All it is are base locations and blackmail. Big deal."
Jack shook his head. "The Bible is the key to your mother's operations."
"Yeah, I know," she cut him off.
"If we have the key, we can infiltrate their bases, take control of their knowledge, that sort of thing. Did Irina ever mention to you that the key to Arvin Sloane's undoing is in that book?"
Sydney looked confused. "No, she didn't."
"It is. That's why SD-6 wants it, to destroy the information about Sloane. If the CIA gets it, we can take down Sloane and SD-6."
Sydney looked at him. "I can't convince Andrew of anything. If we tail Cuvee enough, we can get enough information to blackmail Sloane even."
"And reveal that we're double-agents?"
"If we're getting ready to take it down anyway, it won't matter."
"Go and find Sark. Make sure that he's going easy on Vaughn," said Jack, giving her a hug.
"I was thinking more along the lines of as bad as he could torture him, go for it," she said with an evil grin.
"Just because you're mad at him doesn't mean you have to scar him for life."
"He deserves it," she said and left the room.
She headed down to the prison block and found Sark, talking to Vaughn rather than torturing him. She stood next to Sark and smiled at him. He leaned down and whispered, "Want to really torture him?"
They turned away from Vaughn. "All you have to do is kiss me and he dies," she said evilly.
"Okay, once, but we have to get some sort of information out of him."
"Yeah," she agreed.
He kissed her and she grinned at him.
"So, Mr. Vaughn," Sark continued the interrogation. "Where is Irina Derevko?"
"Irina who?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" asked Sydney. "You know good and well who Irina Derevko is."
Sloane reentered the room. "Ah, good, Agent Bristow. I was hoping you'd find your way down here."
She looked over at him, puzzled. "Carry on," he called over his shoulder as he left again. She looked at Sark with the same puzzled face and he shrugged.
"Where is Irina Derevko? Our intelligence says that she is no longer at CIA headquarters."
"Even if I knew where the bitch was, I wouldn't tell you."
Sydney shot daggers at him. "Play along," she mouthed. To Sark, she smiled. "I'll be back in a minute," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
She pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write furiously in French.
"We're getting you out of here," she wrote. "Play along with Sark and don't call my mother a bitch. Have a nice night," she grinned at the last bit. She went back into the room and said, "I believe that this is your girlfriend.Alice, is it?" she held up the sheet of paper. His eyes scanned the first sentence and he nodded. "Either you tell us where Irina Derevko is, or she will die," she threatened. He nodded, signaling that he had finished reading the paper. She folded it up and put it into her pocket.
"Irina Derevko was sent back to Russia," he began, choosing his words carefully. "She came over on a fake visa. Her whereabouts after that are unknown. She was released sometime last year."
She nodded and Sark untied Vaughn from the chair and led him back to the cell.
"Eight tonight, okay? We'll bring a disguise and get you out of here," she whispered. "I know you're not the happiest with me right now, but we need to talk." He nodded and they turned and left.
"What did you write?" asked Sark.
She pulled out the sheet of paper and let him read it. "We are?" he asked.
"Yes. Andrew, part of me still loves him," she said quietly. He hugged her to him and she leaned into his chest.
"Come on. Let's go out for lunch," he smiled at her and they headed to their car.
Author's Notes: Okay, here goes. My fabulous beta-reader just informed me (the dumb blonde) that the Bible was destroyed. Well, that just about shoots down my whole storyline. The "Bible" (as I put it, since, like I said, have only started watching Alias and have only seen Season Two, Episode Six-what are we on, ten?) that was destroyed was a copy. The other copy was broken up into chapters and each was hidden in a different location, known only to Irina (probably) and a few others. Just in case you were reading this and like "What the heck? That thing was destroyed!" Okay, on with it!
Sydney sat at the kitchen table, staring off into space. Irina came and sat down across from her. "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing."
"Sydney, I know you. You haven't touched your coffee and you have that far- off look in your eyes."
"I'm thinking about Andrew."
"What about him?"
"Kendall recruited him for the CIA, at my request. Andrew's a double-agent, just like Dad and me. If Sloane were to find any of this out."
"Sydney, you've hid this for years. What makes you think that Sloane's going to find out now?"
"Now's when it's the most important that he doesn't find out. He let me off the hook, he took my "I don't work for the CIA, I'm not a double-agent" and said okay. Sloane doesn't let anyone, even Dad off the hook."
Sark yawned, walking into the room. "Who doesn't let your dad off the hook?"
"Sloane."
"She's right," he said to Irina. To Sydney, he said, "We need to find our own place. If Sloane finds out that this actually is your mother's house, he'll hunt her down."
Sydney nodded and took a drink of her coffee. "We can't have Sloane hunting her down. I can only lie to him so much before he catches on."
"Are you okay?" he asked, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"I've had better weeks, but I'll survive," she leaned her head back and smiled at him.
"I'm going to go get dressed. The CIA lets me go out once a week for groceries and stuff. I'm going to go today," said Irina. Sydney nodded. Sark sat down across from her, taking Irina's place.
"You're sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Andrew. I'm just tired, that's all." She stood up to leave. "I'm going to go check on Ambria and get showered and dressed in the upstairs bathroom." Sark stood up with her and kissed her.
"I love you," he said, letting her head rest on his chest.
"I know," she smiled.
He let her go and she headed upstairs. "We have to be at SD-6 in an hour."
"I know," he waved her upstairs and said, "I'll check on Ambria for you."
She showered and changed, feeling slightly better. She went back downstairs and saw her husband playing with her daughter. They were seated on the floor and Sark was trying to show Ambria how to do a puzzle.
"See?" he asked. "This piece goes here."
Ambria laughed and clapped her hands, and then grabbed a puzzle piece and threw it at Sark. She laughed again. He rubbed his head where the puzzle piece had hit him.
"Are you okay?" Sydney asked, dropping to her knees beside him.
He rubbed his head again. She moved his hair aside to see if there was a bump.
"Of course I'm okay. Sydney, your daughter just hit me with a puzzle piece, and a wooden one at that," he said teasingly.
"There's not a bump," she said, sitting back on her heels.
Ambria looked at her parents. "Daddy?" she asked.
"I'm okay, sweetie," he said, and picked her up.
"You should go and get dressed," Sydney said, taking Ambria from him.
"Yeah," he agreed.
She kissed him quickly and he headed to go take a shower. Irina came back into the room.
"What's wrong with Sark?"
Sydney laughed quietly. "You still can't break the habit, huh?"
Irina smiled. "Guess not. What about you?"
"Me either. My mind still calls him Sark."
"But he's not the cold-hearted son of a bitch who tortured Will anymore, is he?"
She shook her head. "No."
"Are you ready to go?"
"I'm just waiting on Andrew."
"I'm going to the mall today too. Anything you want me to pick up?" Sydney thought. "Anything you think Ambria might need. I've still got a few more outfits before I need to shop."
"I'm sorry about the house."
"It's okay, I'm going to make Sloane pay for it."
Sark came flying down the stairs, kissed Ambria and grabbed his coat. "Come on, we've got to go."
"Why?"
"Your dad just called. Sloane's on the rampage."
"Why?"
"The CIA infiltrated another possible location of the Bible. Vaughn went with them."
"Why would Vaughn go? I'm the one who usually goes."
"I have no idea why Vaughn went, but SD-6 found him and traced him to the CIA. They shot him and are holding him hostage as well."
"You're kidding!"
"No. Let's go, now!"
They got into the car and drove as fast as the speed limit would allow to SD-6 headquarters.
"I'm going to find my father," said Sydney, giving him a quick kiss.
Sark's cell phone rang. "Sark," he said. He nodded and answered a few question, and then hung up.
"It was Sloane. He wants me to meet him in the prison block for as he put it "My first day back." I assume that he wants me to torture Vaughn."
She shook her head. "Vaughn's still mad at me too. If he dies."
"Sydney, don't think that way. He's going to survive."
She nodded and turned down the hallway to find her father. She turned the corner and ran into Marshall. "Hey," she said.
"Welcome back," he greeted her.
"I've got to go. Have you seen my father?"
"In a meeting. Second door to the right. Sloane managed to snag some pretty- boy CIA agent, as he puts it." Marshall knew the truth about SD-6, but still worked undercover for the CIA at SD-6.
"Agent.Vaughn?" she asked, uncertainly in case the security cameras were watching.
Marshall raised an eyebrow and flicked his eyes at the one on the wall. "And-I mean Sark got a call from Sloane telling him to come down to the prison block. He assumed that it was to torture the CIA agent. Word travels fast around here."
"Yeah, I agree. Well, see you later," he turned and went back down the other hallway.
Sydney walked as fast as she could to the meeting room where Marshall had said that she would find Jack.
She silently slipped into the conference between Cuvee, Jack, and several other agents. From what she had heard, she figured that they were trying to compromise something.
"Where is Arvin?" asked Cuvee. Sydney slipped in and sat next to Jack.
"What's going on?" she whispered.
"Cuvee's getting mad that Sloane isn't here."
"He's torturing Vaughn with Sark."
"That's great," Jack rolled his eyes. "Why isn't he dead yet?"
"I have no idea. Ask Kendall." He gave her a look as Sloane entered the room.
"Gerard," he said, shaking his hand. "Sydney, Jack," he nodded and acknowledged them.
"Where is Mr. Sark?" asked Cuvee.
"He's busy at the moment. Something came up. He'll be here as soon as he can." Sloane sat down. "As most of you know, we're here discussing a possible alliance between SD-6 and Gerard Cuvee. If this is voted upon as being a good addition to the SD-6 allies, our bases, agents, and so on will be united for a common cause- finding the Bible."
"And if the motion is shot down?" asked Jack.
"This meeting will have never happened," said Sloane.
"All in favor of linking forces with Gerard Cuvee?" asked Sloane. A few hands went up.
"All opposed?" More hands went up, including Sydney and Jack's.
"Undecided?" The remaining hands went up.
"We have a two-way tie between favor and opposed," said Sloane. "We need Mr. Sark's vote."
"I can vouch for him," said Sydney. "He'd be." her voice trailed off. He would have been in favor of it, based on his former alliance with Cuvee, but she could make him look the other way.
"We'll ask him, Ms. Bristow," said Sloane.
"He'd be in favor," she finished. Jack looked at her. Sloane smiled.
"Gerard Cuvee, welcome to SD-6," said Sloane, shaking his hand. "Meeting adjourned."
Sydney stood up and left the room. Jack followed her angrily.
"What the hell were you thinking?" he asked, yanking her into a nearby room. She scanned the room for cameras or bugs.
"He would have said yes. I would have had to make him look the other way. He worked with Cuvee when we went in for the nukes in Kashmir, remember?"
"I remember. We sabotaged the mission. You could have just said that he wouldn't have wanted it."
"But Sloane knows that he'd be in favor of it."
Jack shook his head angrily. "You could have talked Sark out of it, you're his wife for God's sake!"
"I'm not his mind! I can't say what he'd do and not do. I'm sorry, I have to go find Andrew and see what exactly he is doing to Vaughn." She turned to leave and Jack grabbed her arm.
"You persuade him to look the other way," his eyes were cold. "Or else everything that we've worked for is useless."
"No it's not. We have the inside on Cuvee now."
"But SD-6 is now going to be harder to bring down with Cuvee and his men attached. It's also going to send them on a rampage for Irina."
"Why would they want Mom?"
"Your mother knows the location of the Bible, something that the CIA and SD- 6 both want."
"What is so important about the stupid Bible? All it is are base locations and blackmail. Big deal."
Jack shook his head. "The Bible is the key to your mother's operations."
"Yeah, I know," she cut him off.
"If we have the key, we can infiltrate their bases, take control of their knowledge, that sort of thing. Did Irina ever mention to you that the key to Arvin Sloane's undoing is in that book?"
Sydney looked confused. "No, she didn't."
"It is. That's why SD-6 wants it, to destroy the information about Sloane. If the CIA gets it, we can take down Sloane and SD-6."
Sydney looked at him. "I can't convince Andrew of anything. If we tail Cuvee enough, we can get enough information to blackmail Sloane even."
"And reveal that we're double-agents?"
"If we're getting ready to take it down anyway, it won't matter."
"Go and find Sark. Make sure that he's going easy on Vaughn," said Jack, giving her a hug.
"I was thinking more along the lines of as bad as he could torture him, go for it," she said with an evil grin.
"Just because you're mad at him doesn't mean you have to scar him for life."
"He deserves it," she said and left the room.
She headed down to the prison block and found Sark, talking to Vaughn rather than torturing him. She stood next to Sark and smiled at him. He leaned down and whispered, "Want to really torture him?"
They turned away from Vaughn. "All you have to do is kiss me and he dies," she said evilly.
"Okay, once, but we have to get some sort of information out of him."
"Yeah," she agreed.
He kissed her and she grinned at him.
"So, Mr. Vaughn," Sark continued the interrogation. "Where is Irina Derevko?"
"Irina who?"
"Do I have to spell it out for you?" asked Sydney. "You know good and well who Irina Derevko is."
Sloane reentered the room. "Ah, good, Agent Bristow. I was hoping you'd find your way down here."
She looked over at him, puzzled. "Carry on," he called over his shoulder as he left again. She looked at Sark with the same puzzled face and he shrugged.
"Where is Irina Derevko? Our intelligence says that she is no longer at CIA headquarters."
"Even if I knew where the bitch was, I wouldn't tell you."
Sydney shot daggers at him. "Play along," she mouthed. To Sark, she smiled. "I'll be back in a minute," she said, giving him a quick peck on the cheek.
She pulled out a sheet of paper and began to write furiously in French.
"We're getting you out of here," she wrote. "Play along with Sark and don't call my mother a bitch. Have a nice night," she grinned at the last bit. She went back into the room and said, "I believe that this is your girlfriend.Alice, is it?" she held up the sheet of paper. His eyes scanned the first sentence and he nodded. "Either you tell us where Irina Derevko is, or she will die," she threatened. He nodded, signaling that he had finished reading the paper. She folded it up and put it into her pocket.
"Irina Derevko was sent back to Russia," he began, choosing his words carefully. "She came over on a fake visa. Her whereabouts after that are unknown. She was released sometime last year."
She nodded and Sark untied Vaughn from the chair and led him back to the cell.
"Eight tonight, okay? We'll bring a disguise and get you out of here," she whispered. "I know you're not the happiest with me right now, but we need to talk." He nodded and they turned and left.
"What did you write?" asked Sark.
She pulled out the sheet of paper and let him read it. "We are?" he asked.
"Yes. Andrew, part of me still loves him," she said quietly. He hugged her to him and she leaned into his chest.
"Come on. Let's go out for lunch," he smiled at her and they headed to their car.