Authors Notes: Like I said before, I'm officially done with this story. If
you want a sequel, please feel free to review and tell me to do so, or not
to do so. If you do review with a yes, please give me an idea. I usually
find a way to use all the ideas at some point, I just don't know where I'd
go after this ending.oh well, have fun and please review. My goal is to hit
over 70 reviews! Thanks!
Chapter Sixteen
They froze, debating whether to answer the door. Sydney and Sark looked at each other and nodded. Sydney took Irina, Jack, Vaughn, and the two other agents around to the back door. They crept out, praying that SD-6 wouldn't find them.
Sark answered the door, his hands in the air.
"Where is Irina Derevko?" asked one of the men.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied smoothly.
Sydney flew back around the corner from the kitchen and grabbed the spare gun that was hidden in one of the drawers. She carefully took aim and fired, killing the agent that was interrogating Sark. She was nowhere near the master assassin that Sark was, but it would do, she thought.
He put down his hands and dashed for the kitchen after shutting the door. "There's obviously more agents in the car," he said.
"I know. Sloane's probably there too." she let her voice trail off, remembering the bug. "Why is he after us?" she asked.
"I don't know," he admitted. She quickly grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something down and handed it to him.
"I got Mom, Dad, and Vaughn out of here. They're headed back to the CIA. Kendall's promised us an extraction point so that we can get out of here. We need to head for the corner deli. They'll be in the back parking lot waiting for us. We're to go to the CIA safe house after that," his eyes quickly skimmed the paper and he hastily wrote, "Where's Ambria?"
Sydney's eyes lit up in fear. Ambria! Where was her daughter? She was standing inside the kitchen when she showed them where to get out.
Sydney slid to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her face in her arms. Sark put an arm around her. "Let's go," he scribbled. "She's probably with your mother."
She stood up and wiped her face and nodded. They ran for the pool shed and closed themselves in the darkened, windowless building. She dug through the pool stuff and found the secret passage that Kendall had told them about. She motioned for Sark to follow her as she grabbed the flashlight and led them down the passage.
About a half a mile later, they came to the door. They crawled out behind a hedge and stood up. The deli was just across the street. All they had to do was get there and hope that SD-6 didn't know about the extraction point.
The light switched to red and they dashed across the busy street. Sydney saw the green car that Kendall had described briefly and sprinted toward it. Jack was behind the wheel.
"Get in!" he called. Sark climbed in front and Sydney climbed in back, and leaned against the seat, closing her eyes.
"Three, two, one," Sark counted backwards softly. They heard an explosion in the close distance.
"What are you, a fortune teller?" asked Sydney.
"Sydney, this is Sloane that we're talking about," he reached back for one of her hands and gripped it tightly. "He'd gladly blow up another house if he thought we were inside."
"Dad, did Mom take Ambria?" asked Sydney, opening her eyes a bit.
"No," Jack sounded puzzled as he drove. "Why?"
Sydney's eyes watered and tears spilled over. "I'm a horrible mother. I abandoned my only daughter."
"Sydney." Sark tried soothing her, but it was no use. She continued to cry. Finally, he climbed in the back seat with her and let her head rest against his chest. "Shhh."
She closed her eyes and a few minutes later, was completely silent.
"Is she sleeping?" Jack checked the rearview mirror.
"Yeah," Sark said. "Are they following us?" he looked out the back window.
"Not to my knowledge. We haven't had to dodge any bullets yet."
"Where's Irina?"
"Kendall came and got her and Vaughn. She's at CIA headquarters, probably back to living in her cell."
"I'm worried," he said quietly.
"Mr. Sark, you are a trained assassin. Trained assassins don't get worried."
"Trained assassins also aren't supposed to have children, and now I see why," he snapped back.
Sydney's eyes flew open and she sat up. "I just thought of something!" she said as they drove by the street that they usually turned on to get to the CIA headquarters. "Dad, go to headquarters. I have to see Mom!"
Jack made a hasty turn and the car had just barely stopped when Sydney jumped out and flew towards the door. She ran past Kendall, down to the familiar area where the CIA had once held her mother. She turned the corner, flashed her badge and found her mother, exactly where she had expected to.
"Let's see," said Irina, checking an invisible watch. "A new record."
"Mom," Sydney said, stopping for breath. "Okay, first, Sloane blew up the house."
"I heard the blast and figured as much. How's Ambria."
Sydney fought to keep from crying again as she said, "I thought that she was with you."
Irina's eyes held the same look of pain that Sydney's did and Sydney said, "The house was blown up.what would have happened to the trapdoor?"
"It was underground, just like the secret passage that you took to get out. It would have survived, and is probably buried under the rubble."
"When everything clears, I am going and retrieving what I can," said Sydney.
"That would be wise," said Irina.
"Agent Bristow," said Kendall, entering the room. "Your husband is upstairs.and we have a telephone call for you." She looked at him, raising an eyebrow and he shrugged.
"I'll find you later," she said.
"Be careful. I'll find you first," said Irina with a smile. Sydney returned the smile and turned and followed the path that Kendall had just taken.
She hurried back up the stairs and Vaughn handed her the telephone, a grim look on his face. She covered the mouthpiece with her hand, "What?" she asked.
"Just take the call," he said quietly. Sark stood behind him, absorbed in his thoughts.
"Hello?" she asked.
"I have your daughter," the voice said. She recognized it. It sounded like Marshall, behind one of his voice-changers.
"Marshall?" she asked. She heard someone curse on the other line and heard a faint scream. Ambria, she thought.
"You will hand over Irina Derevko and her Bible, or else your daughter will be killed, and I would hate to have to do that," the voice changed before she heard the click in her ear.
Vaughn gave her a sad smile as she slammed the phone back into its cradle. Sark looked at her, the same pain evident in his eyes. She sank into a chair. "I can't hand over my mother to SD-6," she said aloud. Sark stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders, just letting her know that he was there.
"What are we going to do?" she asked.
"We have to get out of here," he said. "We need to get to the safe house as soon as we can."
"What are we going to do though?" she asked again.
Jack entered the room. "Did she take the call?" he asked Kendall. Kendall nodded in response.
"Sydney," said Jack, standing in front of her. "We need to get moving. We're moving the SD-6 takedown. We're going to try pulling it off this week." He looked at Sark and looked for the bug.
"It's gone," said Sark. "I lost it when we were running."
She shook her head. "You can't. They want Mom, otherwise they'll kill Ambria. I can't hand my mother over to Arvin Sloane, but I can't let him kill my daughter."
Marshall came flying into the room, breathing heavily. "I just got here," he said. "Sloane has your daughter, Sydney. I'm really sorry that I had to call you.you see, Sloane was on top of me "Marshall, get your voice changer.call Sydney Bristow, tell her." Anyway, I'm really sorry and all and." Marshall's voice died off when he realized that he was rambling.
Sydney smiled sadly and looked at Marshall.
"She's okay.if that's any comfort," said Marshall. Sydney stood, surprising Sark and she turned for the door.
"I have to find Sloane," she said quietly. "I have to find him," she repeated and turned and ran.
She got into the car that the CIA had provided her father with and the keys were sitting right on the seat where he had left them. She drove as fast as the speed limit would allow to SD-6.
She entered the building and headed for Sloane's office. She turned the corner and heard the familiar crying, her daughter's. She followed it to a closed door and opened it.
"Mommy!" the little girl flew toward her.
"Sweetie," said Sydney, burying her face in the little girl's hair, inhaling her familiar scent.
"Mommy, this bad man came and took me away. He said that if.if."
"If what?" asked Sydney.
"Um.I forgot," the toddler gave her a grin.
"I love you," she hugged the girl closer to her and stood up. She had to get Ambria out of here.
"Ah, Ms. Bristow. I figured you'd be coming," said Sloane as she rounded the corner. She thought about running, but decided against it, as he'd probably have a gun on him and she didn't want to risk it.
"What do you want?"
"You have your precious daughter, now I need Irina Derevko."
"I don't know where she is," lied Sydney.
"You know," he said. "Your husband is working for me," he said evilly. "His coat was bugged after I left. I heard every word that you said," he took out his gun and pointed it at Sydney.
"Mommy," Ambria murmured and buried her head in Sydney's shoulder.
"She escaped. I have no idea where she is."
"Hmm," said Sloane thoughtfully. "No one seems to know where she is. First, Agent Vaughn said she was in Russia. Then I hear her voice. Now you tell me that you don't know where she is. This is a coincidence."
"I swear to God, Arvin, I have no idea where my mother is."
"Then you admit to helping her escape."
"I was upstairs the whole time. I went back upstairs after you left. I came down and Andrew was talking to my father. Then your men came and I went back to get Ambria. I couldn't find her, so I assumed that she was with Andrew. That's when he told me that Irina had escaped. Had I had more time, I would have contacted you." She was cut off as the building shook.
"What the hell?" cursed Sloane as he picked himself up off the floor and headed for the cameras.
Her cell phone rang. "Sydney," it was Vaughn. "Get yourself out. Fighter planes are now in the sky."
"I figured, when the building shook and we fell. I'm on my way," she ran for the exit and tripped as the building shook and smoked again. The entrance collapsed, leaving Sydney with no way out.
Ambria started crying as she fell. "Shh," Sydney quietly rocked her, "It's okay, it's okay," she repeated, getting up and trying to find another way out. She saw the stairs and flew down to the basement just as the doorway collapsed. She heard screaming as beams fell and another air strike hit the building. She dodged a falling beam and headed for the secret door that Arvin had showed her.
*Flashback*
"Sydney," Sloane led her down the dark passage to a small steel door. "This is a secret exit to the main street, in case you're ever in trouble. Here's the key. You're like a daughter to me, you know that?" He took her hand and gently kissed it. She fought to keep from cringing as he handed her the key.
"Thank you," she said quietly, hoping that she could get out of there and wash her hands as much as possible.
*End of Flashback*
She dug through her purse to her key chain as more beams fell around them. She found the right one and gasped for air as she made it through the door just as the rest of the building fell. She slumped onto a bench, setting Ambria next to her as she caught her breath.
***
Why did I let Kendall talk me into this? Vaughn asked himself as he pulled into what used to be the SD-6 parking lot. He moved past the fire trucks and police officers to right next to the rubble, where firefighters had just pulled Arvin Sloane from.
He would go into CIA custody, be interrogated, and be released if he was found to be innocent. Vaughn doubted that he would be found innocent.
"Excuse me," he said to one of the guards. "I'm Michael Vaughn, with the CIA. Did you by any chance find Sydney Bristow and her daughter?"
The officer scratched his head. "Sir, Mr. Vaughn is it? This just happened. Mr. Sloane was the first to be pulled from the rubble. I assume that more will come," he said, motioning to what was left of the building, which was going up in flames. The entryway was blocked. Vaughn went around to one of the other exits and picked his way in.
"Sydney?" he coughed as the smoke hit his lungs. People ran past him to the exit. "Sydney?" he coughed again as he went deeper into the ruins.
***
"Damn it," Sark cursed as he drove to SD-6. The stupid CIA and their stupid air strike. Sydney was still in the building. He pulled up along the curb and saw the flaming building. He hoped that Sydney wasn't in there.
He got out and asked an officer about her. "What is she, some supermodel?" he asked. "You're not the first person to ask about her. A Michael Vaughn was looking for her too."
Sark looked confused, but saw Jack and Irina, fighting with the firemen to get one to go inside.
"Jack!" yelled Sark over the confusion. Jack looked up and saw him.
"Did you find her?"
"No. No one's seen her, although the officer said that Vaughn was looking for her too." He reached into his bag and pulled out an oxygen mask.
"What?" he asked, when he saw Jack's curious look. "I raided Marshall's office. He had this and said it might come in handy." He slipped it on and headed toward the other entrance. "I'm going to find her," he said, determined as he headed into the flames.
Sydney rounded the corner of the building and saw as Sark ducked into the flaming building. "Andrew!" she yelled, but he didn't hear her.
"Sydney!" Irina looked up and saw her daughter running toward her.
"Gamma!" Ambria said happily, reaching for Irina.
"Ambria!" Irina took her and hugged her.
"Sydney!" Jack hugged her.
"He went in, didn't he?" she asked. Jack nodded.
About fifteen minutes later, as Sydney anxiously paced on the sidewalk, the fire was put out. Sark managed to make it out, dragging Vaughn behind him.
"Vaughn!" Sydney sank to her knees beside him, making sure that he was breathing.
"Oh yeah, I feel loved," muttered Sark.
"Daddy!" Ambria exclaimed, trying to get down from Irina's arms and Sark took off the mask.
"Sweetheart!" He picked her up and twirled her around.
Vaughn sighed as he tried to sit up. "Vaughn!" Sydney hugged him. Sark's eyes widened as he saw her. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head to clear and coughed. The paramedics came over to him with a stretcher. He shook his head, waving them away. "I'm fine."
"Mr. Vaughn, Agent Kendall has requested that we take you back and have the doctors check you out," said one, and Vaughn knew him as a CIA paramedic. He nodded and fell onto the stretcher. He took Sydney's hand and she held it tightly, finally letting go as they wheeled him away.
"Andrew," she kissed him. "You are so stupid," she laughed, tears running down her cheeks.
"I know," he handed Ambria back to Irina and their foreheads touched. He leaned down and kissed her again, their fingers running through each other's hair.
"Are you okay?" he asked as they parted. She nodded and he pulled her closer to him.
"Vaughn will be fine," Jack said as her mouth opened slightly. She shook her head and took Ambria from Irina.
"Yes, I am," she said, turning back to Sark. "I am, as long as you're here," she said quietly as he leaned down to kiss her again. "Yes, I am," she repeated again.
Chapter Sixteen
They froze, debating whether to answer the door. Sydney and Sark looked at each other and nodded. Sydney took Irina, Jack, Vaughn, and the two other agents around to the back door. They crept out, praying that SD-6 wouldn't find them.
Sark answered the door, his hands in the air.
"Where is Irina Derevko?" asked one of the men.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," he lied smoothly.
Sydney flew back around the corner from the kitchen and grabbed the spare gun that was hidden in one of the drawers. She carefully took aim and fired, killing the agent that was interrogating Sark. She was nowhere near the master assassin that Sark was, but it would do, she thought.
He put down his hands and dashed for the kitchen after shutting the door. "There's obviously more agents in the car," he said.
"I know. Sloane's probably there too." she let her voice trail off, remembering the bug. "Why is he after us?" she asked.
"I don't know," he admitted. She quickly grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled something down and handed it to him.
"I got Mom, Dad, and Vaughn out of here. They're headed back to the CIA. Kendall's promised us an extraction point so that we can get out of here. We need to head for the corner deli. They'll be in the back parking lot waiting for us. We're to go to the CIA safe house after that," his eyes quickly skimmed the paper and he hastily wrote, "Where's Ambria?"
Sydney's eyes lit up in fear. Ambria! Where was her daughter? She was standing inside the kitchen when she showed them where to get out.
Sydney slid to the floor, pulling her knees to her chest and burying her face in her arms. Sark put an arm around her. "Let's go," he scribbled. "She's probably with your mother."
She stood up and wiped her face and nodded. They ran for the pool shed and closed themselves in the darkened, windowless building. She dug through the pool stuff and found the secret passage that Kendall had told them about. She motioned for Sark to follow her as she grabbed the flashlight and led them down the passage.
About a half a mile later, they came to the door. They crawled out behind a hedge and stood up. The deli was just across the street. All they had to do was get there and hope that SD-6 didn't know about the extraction point.
The light switched to red and they dashed across the busy street. Sydney saw the green car that Kendall had described briefly and sprinted toward it. Jack was behind the wheel.
"Get in!" he called. Sark climbed in front and Sydney climbed in back, and leaned against the seat, closing her eyes.
"Three, two, one," Sark counted backwards softly. They heard an explosion in the close distance.
"What are you, a fortune teller?" asked Sydney.
"Sydney, this is Sloane that we're talking about," he reached back for one of her hands and gripped it tightly. "He'd gladly blow up another house if he thought we were inside."
"Dad, did Mom take Ambria?" asked Sydney, opening her eyes a bit.
"No," Jack sounded puzzled as he drove. "Why?"
Sydney's eyes watered and tears spilled over. "I'm a horrible mother. I abandoned my only daughter."
"Sydney." Sark tried soothing her, but it was no use. She continued to cry. Finally, he climbed in the back seat with her and let her head rest against his chest. "Shhh."
She closed her eyes and a few minutes later, was completely silent.
"Is she sleeping?" Jack checked the rearview mirror.
"Yeah," Sark said. "Are they following us?" he looked out the back window.
"Not to my knowledge. We haven't had to dodge any bullets yet."
"Where's Irina?"
"Kendall came and got her and Vaughn. She's at CIA headquarters, probably back to living in her cell."
"I'm worried," he said quietly.
"Mr. Sark, you are a trained assassin. Trained assassins don't get worried."
"Trained assassins also aren't supposed to have children, and now I see why," he snapped back.
Sydney's eyes flew open and she sat up. "I just thought of something!" she said as they drove by the street that they usually turned on to get to the CIA headquarters. "Dad, go to headquarters. I have to see Mom!"
Jack made a hasty turn and the car had just barely stopped when Sydney jumped out and flew towards the door. She ran past Kendall, down to the familiar area where the CIA had once held her mother. She turned the corner, flashed her badge and found her mother, exactly where she had expected to.
"Let's see," said Irina, checking an invisible watch. "A new record."
"Mom," Sydney said, stopping for breath. "Okay, first, Sloane blew up the house."
"I heard the blast and figured as much. How's Ambria."
Sydney fought to keep from crying again as she said, "I thought that she was with you."
Irina's eyes held the same look of pain that Sydney's did and Sydney said, "The house was blown up.what would have happened to the trapdoor?"
"It was underground, just like the secret passage that you took to get out. It would have survived, and is probably buried under the rubble."
"When everything clears, I am going and retrieving what I can," said Sydney.
"That would be wise," said Irina.
"Agent Bristow," said Kendall, entering the room. "Your husband is upstairs.and we have a telephone call for you." She looked at him, raising an eyebrow and he shrugged.
"I'll find you later," she said.
"Be careful. I'll find you first," said Irina with a smile. Sydney returned the smile and turned and followed the path that Kendall had just taken.
She hurried back up the stairs and Vaughn handed her the telephone, a grim look on his face. She covered the mouthpiece with her hand, "What?" she asked.
"Just take the call," he said quietly. Sark stood behind him, absorbed in his thoughts.
"Hello?" she asked.
"I have your daughter," the voice said. She recognized it. It sounded like Marshall, behind one of his voice-changers.
"Marshall?" she asked. She heard someone curse on the other line and heard a faint scream. Ambria, she thought.
"You will hand over Irina Derevko and her Bible, or else your daughter will be killed, and I would hate to have to do that," the voice changed before she heard the click in her ear.
Vaughn gave her a sad smile as she slammed the phone back into its cradle. Sark looked at her, the same pain evident in his eyes. She sank into a chair. "I can't hand over my mother to SD-6," she said aloud. Sark stood behind her, his hands on her shoulders, just letting her know that he was there.
"What are we going to do?" she asked.
"We have to get out of here," he said. "We need to get to the safe house as soon as we can."
"What are we going to do though?" she asked again.
Jack entered the room. "Did she take the call?" he asked Kendall. Kendall nodded in response.
"Sydney," said Jack, standing in front of her. "We need to get moving. We're moving the SD-6 takedown. We're going to try pulling it off this week." He looked at Sark and looked for the bug.
"It's gone," said Sark. "I lost it when we were running."
She shook her head. "You can't. They want Mom, otherwise they'll kill Ambria. I can't hand my mother over to Arvin Sloane, but I can't let him kill my daughter."
Marshall came flying into the room, breathing heavily. "I just got here," he said. "Sloane has your daughter, Sydney. I'm really sorry that I had to call you.you see, Sloane was on top of me "Marshall, get your voice changer.call Sydney Bristow, tell her." Anyway, I'm really sorry and all and." Marshall's voice died off when he realized that he was rambling.
Sydney smiled sadly and looked at Marshall.
"She's okay.if that's any comfort," said Marshall. Sydney stood, surprising Sark and she turned for the door.
"I have to find Sloane," she said quietly. "I have to find him," she repeated and turned and ran.
She got into the car that the CIA had provided her father with and the keys were sitting right on the seat where he had left them. She drove as fast as the speed limit would allow to SD-6.
She entered the building and headed for Sloane's office. She turned the corner and heard the familiar crying, her daughter's. She followed it to a closed door and opened it.
"Mommy!" the little girl flew toward her.
"Sweetie," said Sydney, burying her face in the little girl's hair, inhaling her familiar scent.
"Mommy, this bad man came and took me away. He said that if.if."
"If what?" asked Sydney.
"Um.I forgot," the toddler gave her a grin.
"I love you," she hugged the girl closer to her and stood up. She had to get Ambria out of here.
"Ah, Ms. Bristow. I figured you'd be coming," said Sloane as she rounded the corner. She thought about running, but decided against it, as he'd probably have a gun on him and she didn't want to risk it.
"What do you want?"
"You have your precious daughter, now I need Irina Derevko."
"I don't know where she is," lied Sydney.
"You know," he said. "Your husband is working for me," he said evilly. "His coat was bugged after I left. I heard every word that you said," he took out his gun and pointed it at Sydney.
"Mommy," Ambria murmured and buried her head in Sydney's shoulder.
"She escaped. I have no idea where she is."
"Hmm," said Sloane thoughtfully. "No one seems to know where she is. First, Agent Vaughn said she was in Russia. Then I hear her voice. Now you tell me that you don't know where she is. This is a coincidence."
"I swear to God, Arvin, I have no idea where my mother is."
"Then you admit to helping her escape."
"I was upstairs the whole time. I went back upstairs after you left. I came down and Andrew was talking to my father. Then your men came and I went back to get Ambria. I couldn't find her, so I assumed that she was with Andrew. That's when he told me that Irina had escaped. Had I had more time, I would have contacted you." She was cut off as the building shook.
"What the hell?" cursed Sloane as he picked himself up off the floor and headed for the cameras.
Her cell phone rang. "Sydney," it was Vaughn. "Get yourself out. Fighter planes are now in the sky."
"I figured, when the building shook and we fell. I'm on my way," she ran for the exit and tripped as the building shook and smoked again. The entrance collapsed, leaving Sydney with no way out.
Ambria started crying as she fell. "Shh," Sydney quietly rocked her, "It's okay, it's okay," she repeated, getting up and trying to find another way out. She saw the stairs and flew down to the basement just as the doorway collapsed. She heard screaming as beams fell and another air strike hit the building. She dodged a falling beam and headed for the secret door that Arvin had showed her.
*Flashback*
"Sydney," Sloane led her down the dark passage to a small steel door. "This is a secret exit to the main street, in case you're ever in trouble. Here's the key. You're like a daughter to me, you know that?" He took her hand and gently kissed it. She fought to keep from cringing as he handed her the key.
"Thank you," she said quietly, hoping that she could get out of there and wash her hands as much as possible.
*End of Flashback*
She dug through her purse to her key chain as more beams fell around them. She found the right one and gasped for air as she made it through the door just as the rest of the building fell. She slumped onto a bench, setting Ambria next to her as she caught her breath.
***
Why did I let Kendall talk me into this? Vaughn asked himself as he pulled into what used to be the SD-6 parking lot. He moved past the fire trucks and police officers to right next to the rubble, where firefighters had just pulled Arvin Sloane from.
He would go into CIA custody, be interrogated, and be released if he was found to be innocent. Vaughn doubted that he would be found innocent.
"Excuse me," he said to one of the guards. "I'm Michael Vaughn, with the CIA. Did you by any chance find Sydney Bristow and her daughter?"
The officer scratched his head. "Sir, Mr. Vaughn is it? This just happened. Mr. Sloane was the first to be pulled from the rubble. I assume that more will come," he said, motioning to what was left of the building, which was going up in flames. The entryway was blocked. Vaughn went around to one of the other exits and picked his way in.
"Sydney?" he coughed as the smoke hit his lungs. People ran past him to the exit. "Sydney?" he coughed again as he went deeper into the ruins.
***
"Damn it," Sark cursed as he drove to SD-6. The stupid CIA and their stupid air strike. Sydney was still in the building. He pulled up along the curb and saw the flaming building. He hoped that Sydney wasn't in there.
He got out and asked an officer about her. "What is she, some supermodel?" he asked. "You're not the first person to ask about her. A Michael Vaughn was looking for her too."
Sark looked confused, but saw Jack and Irina, fighting with the firemen to get one to go inside.
"Jack!" yelled Sark over the confusion. Jack looked up and saw him.
"Did you find her?"
"No. No one's seen her, although the officer said that Vaughn was looking for her too." He reached into his bag and pulled out an oxygen mask.
"What?" he asked, when he saw Jack's curious look. "I raided Marshall's office. He had this and said it might come in handy." He slipped it on and headed toward the other entrance. "I'm going to find her," he said, determined as he headed into the flames.
Sydney rounded the corner of the building and saw as Sark ducked into the flaming building. "Andrew!" she yelled, but he didn't hear her.
"Sydney!" Irina looked up and saw her daughter running toward her.
"Gamma!" Ambria said happily, reaching for Irina.
"Ambria!" Irina took her and hugged her.
"Sydney!" Jack hugged her.
"He went in, didn't he?" she asked. Jack nodded.
About fifteen minutes later, as Sydney anxiously paced on the sidewalk, the fire was put out. Sark managed to make it out, dragging Vaughn behind him.
"Vaughn!" Sydney sank to her knees beside him, making sure that he was breathing.
"Oh yeah, I feel loved," muttered Sark.
"Daddy!" Ambria exclaimed, trying to get down from Irina's arms and Sark took off the mask.
"Sweetheart!" He picked her up and twirled her around.
Vaughn sighed as he tried to sit up. "Vaughn!" Sydney hugged him. Sark's eyes widened as he saw her. "Are you okay?"
He shook his head to clear and coughed. The paramedics came over to him with a stretcher. He shook his head, waving them away. "I'm fine."
"Mr. Vaughn, Agent Kendall has requested that we take you back and have the doctors check you out," said one, and Vaughn knew him as a CIA paramedic. He nodded and fell onto the stretcher. He took Sydney's hand and she held it tightly, finally letting go as they wheeled him away.
"Andrew," she kissed him. "You are so stupid," she laughed, tears running down her cheeks.
"I know," he handed Ambria back to Irina and their foreheads touched. He leaned down and kissed her again, their fingers running through each other's hair.
"Are you okay?" he asked as they parted. She nodded and he pulled her closer to him.
"Vaughn will be fine," Jack said as her mouth opened slightly. She shook her head and took Ambria from Irina.
"Yes, I am," she said, turning back to Sark. "I am, as long as you're here," she said quietly as he leaned down to kiss her again. "Yes, I am," she repeated again.