Chapter Four
The story was basic, just like any other fairy tale that a child might have been told in their youth, that a father and mother might have told to put them to sleep, but as jack told it, s few things stood out and he was silently shocked, as was Sydney and Vaughn, the children, on the other hand, seemed to be enthralled, far more than they had been with all other stories they'd been told. Whether this was simply because it was, indeed a grand story or the way Jack managed to tell it, not awkwardly or too slowly, but like it was a proper story, like it deserved to be told.
The story had been about a Russian princess, obviously. Her name; ironically had been Rena and it was only now that Jack realised this. In the last twenty years he had avoided such memories and he had not thought of the story since she left. Rena was born into her rich family, her father was tsar or Russia and ruled with a fair hand, treating all as equals and never wavering from his aim for everyone to be happy. Rena had grown up, learning as much as she could, a smart, nice girl, quiet and observative and always faithful to her father.
Every summer when the ice melted she would wander the lands, meeting and greeting everyone she met but never telling them who she truly was. Her country fell into hard ship, but she was young, only seventeen and believed in her father would, magically, one day fix everything. And still she went looking at the villages, seeing them grow less and less appealing. Until she decided to never go out of the palace again. Her father was revealed and promised to lock them in and never see the outside world where evil reigned.
So she went out for the last time, dressed in her best black dress and still pretending to be someone else. But she was captured by the evil that was slowly taking over Russia and the world and taken prisoner. Still she wouldn't tell the truth, for days and days she observed, pretending to be like all of the villagers that had been captured alongside her. But then they broke her, they hurt her until she told the truth and they used her.
There was an important man in another country, his name was Mark and he knew more than Russia could ever know. It was her job to go and marry him and listen and observe. She thought it would be fun. She liked to watch, to listen, she thought it was good, that they were letting her go. She went to this country where Mark lived and she did as they told her, getting messages all the time, telling her what to do and she married him. She didn't love him, but it was her job and it didn't matter because she was escaping the evil.
But she hadn't. They still knew where she was, they tracked her, followed her, made her tell them everything and then she fell in love. With the man she had married, the man she had tricked, she fell in love with Mark. She wanted to tell him, but they told her not to. She wanted to stay forever, just pretending it was all real, but one day she was told by the evil people to leave the country or they'd hurt Mark and the two children they'd had together, but she still couldn't. She didn't want to.
She stayed and they came after her, capturing her again one day and hurting her. She had to leave, so she did.
And that was the story. By the end, Sydney was teary, Vaughn was shocked and Jack's mouth was unusually slack, Emily was the only one left awake. Watching, observing them, wondering what was going on. She looked to the man who seemed to be in some kind of trance. She looked at the woman whose eyes looked like glass and she looked at the man whose face was creased and hard, looking shocked, but still remaining unreadable. She watched them a minute before lying back down. She closed her eyes tight and tried to fall asleep. She did try, she honestly tried as hard as she could, but she couldn't and ten minutes later when they started talking, there was no way she couldn't listen.
"Done," Sydney said, her voice hushed and rasping from her tears.
Jack smiled weakly, "I always was good with kids," obviously the memory of a story that had obviously been more was bringing Jack to his knees, joking was not his normal way of avoiding a topic. "We wait another fifteen minutes, just to be sure, then go." He set his watch for fifteen minutes, secretly wanting the time to sit by himself and decide just why Irina had ever bothered to spin such a tale. Sydney and Vaughn just nodded to him and he turned and made his way towards the kitchen, mumbling something about a glass of water.
Sydney looked at Vaughn, her head cocked; he shrugged as though tot indicate they shouldn't talk about it. Together they sat down on the ground again, backs to the wall, shoulders almost touching but not quite as they watched the children sleeping. The silence was unbearable for both but it was Sydney who chose to break it with an offhand comment, "They're all so different."
Vaughn grinned; happy they weren't going to talk about her mother here, now. He looked at the children, realising they were in deed all unique. Chris was lying on his stomach, hands and arms out to his sides; Emily in a little ball, Ivan on his back, his breathing heavily, Craig slumped against a wall, thumb in mouth, and Jane on her side, a firm frown imprinted on her face. After a second he responded, "Yes...they are."
Sydney was in a strange mood, one she wasn't used to and found herself asking, treating Vaughn as the perfect friend and confidant he was, "Do you ever think of having kids?"
Vaughn looked at her, eyebrows raised at the questions but answering with as much honesty as he could, "Yeah, I do, quite a bit actually," he didn't think it wise to add that all those children he thought about were theirs and not his and some other woman. It wasn't exactly the right time for it, what with six delinquents, Jack and a mission around, but then it was never the right time.
He felt her head on his shoulder and suddenly the mission was looking up, "You want kids?"
"Hmmm..." he liked to have some suspense, "Yeah, I would."
Sydney didn't want to bring up the question of with whom, scared he'd say her and fearful he'd name someone else, so instead she just continued with questions that didn't involve him or her, just what they wanted. Which, ironically, was him or her. "How many?"
He smiled, thinking a moment, "I've always thought two. A boy and a girl. I know it's full of clichés and predictable but, I just figure that's what I 'd want." She smiled at him, "What?"
"I think the exact same," he looked down to hide the happy grin pressing itself into his features. She thought he was doing it because he didn't believe him so she tried to convince him, "No, it's true, I always pictured myself with two, and the girl would be the oldest."
Vaughn shook his head, "Nah, the boy would by born first. Then he could be the big brother to the sister."
Sydney just grinned playfully hitting him on the arm, "Hey, is that so he can protect her?" she paused raising her eyebrows, "Cause I figure any kids would be just as good as the other, no matter what. Trust you to think like that."
Vaughn just smiled, helplessly at her, "Sorry, I just always imagined it would by a boy then a girl." He looked at the kids in front of them and was about to keep talking when Jack re-entered and he quickly shut his mouth taking the arm away that had, on its own, found its way over her shoulders and her head shot up from where it had been nestled. Surprisingly, Jack seemed to not notice, his thoughts completely occupied by the story, trying to work out a substantial reason as to why Irina had told such a parody.
Jack motioned them over, to the door, opening it a crack and walking out, and waiting for them to follow him. Together they stopped in the hall, hoping they looked like they were going for coffee before beginning the split second timing they needed to pull of the mission.
Okay, short chapter, I realise that, but I was stuck on time and ideas, so I figured this was good place to leave it, please read and review so I know if this is working, I've decided that this is going to turn into yet another big Irina/Jack confrontation but will be shorter than the others so I can start on my next major project. ;) Hopefully a real good one with an actual plot, something everything I do lacks, ;)
The story was basic, just like any other fairy tale that a child might have been told in their youth, that a father and mother might have told to put them to sleep, but as jack told it, s few things stood out and he was silently shocked, as was Sydney and Vaughn, the children, on the other hand, seemed to be enthralled, far more than they had been with all other stories they'd been told. Whether this was simply because it was, indeed a grand story or the way Jack managed to tell it, not awkwardly or too slowly, but like it was a proper story, like it deserved to be told.
The story had been about a Russian princess, obviously. Her name; ironically had been Rena and it was only now that Jack realised this. In the last twenty years he had avoided such memories and he had not thought of the story since she left. Rena was born into her rich family, her father was tsar or Russia and ruled with a fair hand, treating all as equals and never wavering from his aim for everyone to be happy. Rena had grown up, learning as much as she could, a smart, nice girl, quiet and observative and always faithful to her father.
Every summer when the ice melted she would wander the lands, meeting and greeting everyone she met but never telling them who she truly was. Her country fell into hard ship, but she was young, only seventeen and believed in her father would, magically, one day fix everything. And still she went looking at the villages, seeing them grow less and less appealing. Until she decided to never go out of the palace again. Her father was revealed and promised to lock them in and never see the outside world where evil reigned.
So she went out for the last time, dressed in her best black dress and still pretending to be someone else. But she was captured by the evil that was slowly taking over Russia and the world and taken prisoner. Still she wouldn't tell the truth, for days and days she observed, pretending to be like all of the villagers that had been captured alongside her. But then they broke her, they hurt her until she told the truth and they used her.
There was an important man in another country, his name was Mark and he knew more than Russia could ever know. It was her job to go and marry him and listen and observe. She thought it would be fun. She liked to watch, to listen, she thought it was good, that they were letting her go. She went to this country where Mark lived and she did as they told her, getting messages all the time, telling her what to do and she married him. She didn't love him, but it was her job and it didn't matter because she was escaping the evil.
But she hadn't. They still knew where she was, they tracked her, followed her, made her tell them everything and then she fell in love. With the man she had married, the man she had tricked, she fell in love with Mark. She wanted to tell him, but they told her not to. She wanted to stay forever, just pretending it was all real, but one day she was told by the evil people to leave the country or they'd hurt Mark and the two children they'd had together, but she still couldn't. She didn't want to.
She stayed and they came after her, capturing her again one day and hurting her. She had to leave, so she did.
And that was the story. By the end, Sydney was teary, Vaughn was shocked and Jack's mouth was unusually slack, Emily was the only one left awake. Watching, observing them, wondering what was going on. She looked to the man who seemed to be in some kind of trance. She looked at the woman whose eyes looked like glass and she looked at the man whose face was creased and hard, looking shocked, but still remaining unreadable. She watched them a minute before lying back down. She closed her eyes tight and tried to fall asleep. She did try, she honestly tried as hard as she could, but she couldn't and ten minutes later when they started talking, there was no way she couldn't listen.
"Done," Sydney said, her voice hushed and rasping from her tears.
Jack smiled weakly, "I always was good with kids," obviously the memory of a story that had obviously been more was bringing Jack to his knees, joking was not his normal way of avoiding a topic. "We wait another fifteen minutes, just to be sure, then go." He set his watch for fifteen minutes, secretly wanting the time to sit by himself and decide just why Irina had ever bothered to spin such a tale. Sydney and Vaughn just nodded to him and he turned and made his way towards the kitchen, mumbling something about a glass of water.
Sydney looked at Vaughn, her head cocked; he shrugged as though tot indicate they shouldn't talk about it. Together they sat down on the ground again, backs to the wall, shoulders almost touching but not quite as they watched the children sleeping. The silence was unbearable for both but it was Sydney who chose to break it with an offhand comment, "They're all so different."
Vaughn grinned; happy they weren't going to talk about her mother here, now. He looked at the children, realising they were in deed all unique. Chris was lying on his stomach, hands and arms out to his sides; Emily in a little ball, Ivan on his back, his breathing heavily, Craig slumped against a wall, thumb in mouth, and Jane on her side, a firm frown imprinted on her face. After a second he responded, "Yes...they are."
Sydney was in a strange mood, one she wasn't used to and found herself asking, treating Vaughn as the perfect friend and confidant he was, "Do you ever think of having kids?"
Vaughn looked at her, eyebrows raised at the questions but answering with as much honesty as he could, "Yeah, I do, quite a bit actually," he didn't think it wise to add that all those children he thought about were theirs and not his and some other woman. It wasn't exactly the right time for it, what with six delinquents, Jack and a mission around, but then it was never the right time.
He felt her head on his shoulder and suddenly the mission was looking up, "You want kids?"
"Hmmm..." he liked to have some suspense, "Yeah, I would."
Sydney didn't want to bring up the question of with whom, scared he'd say her and fearful he'd name someone else, so instead she just continued with questions that didn't involve him or her, just what they wanted. Which, ironically, was him or her. "How many?"
He smiled, thinking a moment, "I've always thought two. A boy and a girl. I know it's full of clichés and predictable but, I just figure that's what I 'd want." She smiled at him, "What?"
"I think the exact same," he looked down to hide the happy grin pressing itself into his features. She thought he was doing it because he didn't believe him so she tried to convince him, "No, it's true, I always pictured myself with two, and the girl would be the oldest."
Vaughn shook his head, "Nah, the boy would by born first. Then he could be the big brother to the sister."
Sydney just grinned playfully hitting him on the arm, "Hey, is that so he can protect her?" she paused raising her eyebrows, "Cause I figure any kids would be just as good as the other, no matter what. Trust you to think like that."
Vaughn just smiled, helplessly at her, "Sorry, I just always imagined it would by a boy then a girl." He looked at the kids in front of them and was about to keep talking when Jack re-entered and he quickly shut his mouth taking the arm away that had, on its own, found its way over her shoulders and her head shot up from where it had been nestled. Surprisingly, Jack seemed to not notice, his thoughts completely occupied by the story, trying to work out a substantial reason as to why Irina had told such a parody.
Jack motioned them over, to the door, opening it a crack and walking out, and waiting for them to follow him. Together they stopped in the hall, hoping they looked like they were going for coffee before beginning the split second timing they needed to pull of the mission.
Okay, short chapter, I realise that, but I was stuck on time and ideas, so I figured this was good place to leave it, please read and review so I know if this is working, I've decided that this is going to turn into yet another big Irina/Jack confrontation but will be shorter than the others so I can start on my next major project. ;) Hopefully a real good one with an actual plot, something everything I do lacks, ;)