A/N- Thanks so much for all your great reviews! I love getting feedback, so keep it coming! (Someone mentioned that Irina already knew Emily was dead- I don't recall that in the "Getaway" episode, but if it did happen already, I apologize for the discrepancy.) All right, on with the story!
Trust Me
Chapter Three
"One of Jack's good friends from work, Arvin Sloane, has invited us to stay with him and his wife at his home in Fiji this weekend. I just wanted to ask if there was anything special you wanted me to do on this trip." Irina told Kristoff.
"How long have this man and Jack been friends?" Kristoff asked.
"Long enough that he'd tell him things. Things the KGB might want to know." Irina said pointedly.
"All right, well, make sure and plant a bug whenever they're going to talk alone. We might hear something useful."
"Is that all?" Irina stood up, smoothing her skirt.
"Yes. Oh, and Irina?"
"Yes?"
"I'm so glad this operation is off to a good start. If he's already taking you on vacation with him, we're making better progress than I expected." Kristoff smiled.
"Well, what can I say?" Irina joked, picking up her purse.
"Call me when you get back from Fiji, we'll discuss any intel from the trip."
"Of course." Irina shook his hand, leaving the hotel room.
~*~
Irina knocked on Jack's apartment door, suitcase in tow. She heard a muffled 'Just a minute!' from inside the apartment. Finally he came to the door.
"Hey." He smiled, taking her bags inside.
"Hey. Ready for Fiji?" She grinned widely, coming in.
"I've actually never been there before." Jack said, sitting down on the couch.
"Me neither. It sounds great though. So, are Arvin and Emily meeting us here?"
"Yes, they'll be here at about 3:00. We'll all just take one car to the airport, and I think our flight's at 5:30."
"I'm so glad the office finally gave you a weekend off."
"I know, work's been insane lately." Jack sighed.
"Anything in particular?"
"Oh, just some new project they have me working on."
Irina pretended not to look overly interested.
"What kind of project?" She asked nonchalantly.
"I don't want to bore you with the details. Besides, I don't want to talk about work. This is my one weekend off, the only big decision I want to make is what flavor of margarita to drink." Jack smiled happily.
"You realize this is our first vacation together?" Irina said, leaning towards him slightly.
"Tell me you brought that black bikini and it won't be our last." Jack teased.
"You are so bad." She smiled under his lips as he kissed her.
Irina opened her mouth under his, her eyes closing. As they kissed, Irina suddenly felt a strange chill shoot through her body. She snapped away from him. That was the first time that had ever happened. Usually any sign of affection from Jack was merely a personal victory for her, she thought nothing of it and just saw it as a good sign that she was getting closer to him. This was the first time she had ever felt anything back.
"Something wrong?" Jack looked a little confused.
"No. Nothing's wrong." Irina looked into his eyes for a moment.
She decided to determine if the feelings accompanied with that first kiss were a fluke. They weren't.
~*~
Three impatient knocks on the door interrupted them a few minutes later. Irina reluctantly pulled away from him.
"That would be them." Jack sighed, thinking that staying at his apartment would be just as exciting as Fiji.
"Hey, don't look so upset. We have the whole weekend." Irina winked, getting up to answer the door even as Jack tried to drag her back to the couch.
Finally, he relented, joining her and opening the door.
"Hello, Jack." Arvin greeted his old friend with a handshake.
"Arvin, Emily, thanks so much for inviting us." Jack smiled.
"Of course. You two are absolutely going to love it there." Emily assured him.
"So, are you going to introduce us?" Arvin asked, looking at Irina.
"Oh, of course. Arvin, Emily, this is Laura Anderson."
"It's so nice to finally put a name with a face." Arvin shook her hand as well.
"Laura, you should be very proud of yourself. I never thought I'd see the day Jack Bristow would be in a relationship that lasted longer than a month." Arvin grinned.
"Hey, there was that one girl…" Jack said helplessly.
"You know, Jack, you are seriously the worst liar in the world." Emily laughed.
"Alright, alright. That's true. I guess I was just waiting for the right person." Jack took Irina's hand, looking at her affectionately.
"Awww." Emily smiled.
"Let's go." Arvin said, rolling his eyes.
It was very strange to see his best friend reduced to such a lovesick puppy.
They all got into Arvin's Mercedes SUV, and headed for the airport.
"So tell us about your place in Fiji." Irina asked.
"Oh, it's the best. Sometimes it feels like the only place we go where you can really be away from it all." Emily said, looking out the window.
"It's where we go when we don't want anyone to find us." Arvin smiled at his wife, and they rode in contented silence the rest of the way.
~*~
Irina woke up from that dream with a satisfied smile on her face. Sloane was in Fiji. She knew they were right.
But what could they do with this information? Obviously no one Sloane knew from SD-6 could go there, that would be far too suspicious. But they couldn't send some random agent, Sloane and Sark would never trust them enough to tell them anything important.
Irina was struck with a sudden flash of inspiration.
What if she went?
~*~
Kendall, Sydney, Vaughn and Jack all headed to Irina's cell. Jack was being very secretive; he wouldn't tell them anything about why he had asked for this meeting until they were there.
They reached the cell at last, and Irina was already wide awake, obviously lost in thought. She snapped out of it when she heard the doors to her cell rising.
"Irina, as promised, I've called a meeting to discuss our idea." Jack said, turning to face Kendall, Syd, and Vaughn.
He didn't say anything, so Irina began.
"Jack came to see me last night, and told me the state of the Alliance. Why I agree that this a victory for the CIA, we both refuse to believe that anything is ever tied up that nicely. Sloane and Sark's simultaneous disappearances led us to speculate that they have joined forces and possibly planned for the destruction of the Alliance."
Kendall opened his mouth to speak, but Jack cut him off.
"Irina and I theorized that they would set up their new base of operations in Fiji. Sloane has a home there, and hardly anyone but his closest friends knew this. So basically, just me, Irina, and his wife knew of its existence. This would be a perfect place to stage Phase Two of whatever plan they've concocted." Jack finished.
"But, Dad, why would Sloane want the Alliance destroyed?" Sydney asked.
"Seperation of power makes Sloane nervous. He likes knowing that he is in ultimate control. As long as the Alliance existed, that could never be possible." Jack answered.
Kendall, Syd and Vaughn considered this for a moment.
"So what exactly are you two proposing we do about this?"
"That's why we called the meeting." Jack shrugged.
"Actually, Jack, I had an idea while you were gone." Irina spoke, almost a little nervous about what they would all say to something her proposition.
"Go ahead." Kendall looked at her curiously.
"Well, I considered all possibilities, and there's no chance we could send anyone from SD-6 in. Sloane would know that they were working for the CIA now. A random agent would never bring any results- Sloane and Sark would tell them nothing. So, that's why I decided- the only person who could go and yield anything substantial is me."
"You have got to be kidding me." Kendall shook his head.
"I realize that this would put me in a situation that would require an immense amount of trust on the CIA's part. But think about it- Sloane knows me and knows I'm alive. But for all he knows, I'm still a terrorist. Sark's worked with me for years, I practically raised him. All he knows is that I disappeared. Both men would see me as a valuable asset to whatever they're trying to accomplish." She finished.
"That is true." Sydney said, looking at Kendall.
"And what's stopping you from actually joining forces with them and burning us as soon as we let you go?" Kendall looked at her suspiciously.
"If you even suspected me, you could rig me with something that would…end my collaboration."
"You'd agree to that?" Jack looked a little surprised, speaking for the first time.
"Of course." Irina nodded.
Kendall thought for a long moment. Finally he spoke.
"Well, Drevko, I must admit it's all we got right now. And if you and Jack are correct, which I'm assuming is true, the CIA has to have someway of fighting against this."
"So I can go?" Irina said, feeling a surge of excitement.
"You can go." Kendall nodded.
Irina smiled widely.
~*~
"Jack, I'm really going out on a limb for you here." Kendall told him as the two men left the Ops building.
"For me?" Jack questioned.
"You want her to go, don't you?" Kendall looked at him.
"I want the CIA to destroy the Sloane-Sark alliance, and if Irina can do that, then, yes, I want her to go."
"Well, since now she is an official asset of the CIA on this mission, I'm assigning you as her case-officer. You'll assign counter-missions, you'll watch surveillance, this is your op."
Jack looked a little surprised.
"Isn't there someone else for that job?" He asked.
"Oh, come on, Jack, it's not like I'm asking you to be her best friend. Everybody's overbooked with Alliance clean-up right now, I don't have many agents to spare. If we're going to do something this risky, I'd much rather have a senior officer like yourself handling it."
"Fair enough." Jack shrugged, relenting.
It wouldn't be that bad. He could handle her. Jack mentally shook himself. He could handle THIS.
A/N- That's it for now! Please leave me a nice, long review. Next Chapter- We see how well Jack and Irina make out at their first meeting (hehe, don't get excited-none of that yet), and Irina, Sloane, and Sark have a reunion.
Trust Me
Chapter Three
"One of Jack's good friends from work, Arvin Sloane, has invited us to stay with him and his wife at his home in Fiji this weekend. I just wanted to ask if there was anything special you wanted me to do on this trip." Irina told Kristoff.
"How long have this man and Jack been friends?" Kristoff asked.
"Long enough that he'd tell him things. Things the KGB might want to know." Irina said pointedly.
"All right, well, make sure and plant a bug whenever they're going to talk alone. We might hear something useful."
"Is that all?" Irina stood up, smoothing her skirt.
"Yes. Oh, and Irina?"
"Yes?"
"I'm so glad this operation is off to a good start. If he's already taking you on vacation with him, we're making better progress than I expected." Kristoff smiled.
"Well, what can I say?" Irina joked, picking up her purse.
"Call me when you get back from Fiji, we'll discuss any intel from the trip."
"Of course." Irina shook his hand, leaving the hotel room.
~*~
Irina knocked on Jack's apartment door, suitcase in tow. She heard a muffled 'Just a minute!' from inside the apartment. Finally he came to the door.
"Hey." He smiled, taking her bags inside.
"Hey. Ready for Fiji?" She grinned widely, coming in.
"I've actually never been there before." Jack said, sitting down on the couch.
"Me neither. It sounds great though. So, are Arvin and Emily meeting us here?"
"Yes, they'll be here at about 3:00. We'll all just take one car to the airport, and I think our flight's at 5:30."
"I'm so glad the office finally gave you a weekend off."
"I know, work's been insane lately." Jack sighed.
"Anything in particular?"
"Oh, just some new project they have me working on."
Irina pretended not to look overly interested.
"What kind of project?" She asked nonchalantly.
"I don't want to bore you with the details. Besides, I don't want to talk about work. This is my one weekend off, the only big decision I want to make is what flavor of margarita to drink." Jack smiled happily.
"You realize this is our first vacation together?" Irina said, leaning towards him slightly.
"Tell me you brought that black bikini and it won't be our last." Jack teased.
"You are so bad." She smiled under his lips as he kissed her.
Irina opened her mouth under his, her eyes closing. As they kissed, Irina suddenly felt a strange chill shoot through her body. She snapped away from him. That was the first time that had ever happened. Usually any sign of affection from Jack was merely a personal victory for her, she thought nothing of it and just saw it as a good sign that she was getting closer to him. This was the first time she had ever felt anything back.
"Something wrong?" Jack looked a little confused.
"No. Nothing's wrong." Irina looked into his eyes for a moment.
She decided to determine if the feelings accompanied with that first kiss were a fluke. They weren't.
~*~
Three impatient knocks on the door interrupted them a few minutes later. Irina reluctantly pulled away from him.
"That would be them." Jack sighed, thinking that staying at his apartment would be just as exciting as Fiji.
"Hey, don't look so upset. We have the whole weekend." Irina winked, getting up to answer the door even as Jack tried to drag her back to the couch.
Finally, he relented, joining her and opening the door.
"Hello, Jack." Arvin greeted his old friend with a handshake.
"Arvin, Emily, thanks so much for inviting us." Jack smiled.
"Of course. You two are absolutely going to love it there." Emily assured him.
"So, are you going to introduce us?" Arvin asked, looking at Irina.
"Oh, of course. Arvin, Emily, this is Laura Anderson."
"It's so nice to finally put a name with a face." Arvin shook her hand as well.
"Laura, you should be very proud of yourself. I never thought I'd see the day Jack Bristow would be in a relationship that lasted longer than a month." Arvin grinned.
"Hey, there was that one girl…" Jack said helplessly.
"You know, Jack, you are seriously the worst liar in the world." Emily laughed.
"Alright, alright. That's true. I guess I was just waiting for the right person." Jack took Irina's hand, looking at her affectionately.
"Awww." Emily smiled.
"Let's go." Arvin said, rolling his eyes.
It was very strange to see his best friend reduced to such a lovesick puppy.
They all got into Arvin's Mercedes SUV, and headed for the airport.
"So tell us about your place in Fiji." Irina asked.
"Oh, it's the best. Sometimes it feels like the only place we go where you can really be away from it all." Emily said, looking out the window.
"It's where we go when we don't want anyone to find us." Arvin smiled at his wife, and they rode in contented silence the rest of the way.
~*~
Irina woke up from that dream with a satisfied smile on her face. Sloane was in Fiji. She knew they were right.
But what could they do with this information? Obviously no one Sloane knew from SD-6 could go there, that would be far too suspicious. But they couldn't send some random agent, Sloane and Sark would never trust them enough to tell them anything important.
Irina was struck with a sudden flash of inspiration.
What if she went?
~*~
Kendall, Sydney, Vaughn and Jack all headed to Irina's cell. Jack was being very secretive; he wouldn't tell them anything about why he had asked for this meeting until they were there.
They reached the cell at last, and Irina was already wide awake, obviously lost in thought. She snapped out of it when she heard the doors to her cell rising.
"Irina, as promised, I've called a meeting to discuss our idea." Jack said, turning to face Kendall, Syd, and Vaughn.
He didn't say anything, so Irina began.
"Jack came to see me last night, and told me the state of the Alliance. Why I agree that this a victory for the CIA, we both refuse to believe that anything is ever tied up that nicely. Sloane and Sark's simultaneous disappearances led us to speculate that they have joined forces and possibly planned for the destruction of the Alliance."
Kendall opened his mouth to speak, but Jack cut him off.
"Irina and I theorized that they would set up their new base of operations in Fiji. Sloane has a home there, and hardly anyone but his closest friends knew this. So basically, just me, Irina, and his wife knew of its existence. This would be a perfect place to stage Phase Two of whatever plan they've concocted." Jack finished.
"But, Dad, why would Sloane want the Alliance destroyed?" Sydney asked.
"Seperation of power makes Sloane nervous. He likes knowing that he is in ultimate control. As long as the Alliance existed, that could never be possible." Jack answered.
Kendall, Syd and Vaughn considered this for a moment.
"So what exactly are you two proposing we do about this?"
"That's why we called the meeting." Jack shrugged.
"Actually, Jack, I had an idea while you were gone." Irina spoke, almost a little nervous about what they would all say to something her proposition.
"Go ahead." Kendall looked at her curiously.
"Well, I considered all possibilities, and there's no chance we could send anyone from SD-6 in. Sloane would know that they were working for the CIA now. A random agent would never bring any results- Sloane and Sark would tell them nothing. So, that's why I decided- the only person who could go and yield anything substantial is me."
"You have got to be kidding me." Kendall shook his head.
"I realize that this would put me in a situation that would require an immense amount of trust on the CIA's part. But think about it- Sloane knows me and knows I'm alive. But for all he knows, I'm still a terrorist. Sark's worked with me for years, I practically raised him. All he knows is that I disappeared. Both men would see me as a valuable asset to whatever they're trying to accomplish." She finished.
"That is true." Sydney said, looking at Kendall.
"And what's stopping you from actually joining forces with them and burning us as soon as we let you go?" Kendall looked at her suspiciously.
"If you even suspected me, you could rig me with something that would…end my collaboration."
"You'd agree to that?" Jack looked a little surprised, speaking for the first time.
"Of course." Irina nodded.
Kendall thought for a long moment. Finally he spoke.
"Well, Drevko, I must admit it's all we got right now. And if you and Jack are correct, which I'm assuming is true, the CIA has to have someway of fighting against this."
"So I can go?" Irina said, feeling a surge of excitement.
"You can go." Kendall nodded.
Irina smiled widely.
~*~
"Jack, I'm really going out on a limb for you here." Kendall told him as the two men left the Ops building.
"For me?" Jack questioned.
"You want her to go, don't you?" Kendall looked at him.
"I want the CIA to destroy the Sloane-Sark alliance, and if Irina can do that, then, yes, I want her to go."
"Well, since now she is an official asset of the CIA on this mission, I'm assigning you as her case-officer. You'll assign counter-missions, you'll watch surveillance, this is your op."
Jack looked a little surprised.
"Isn't there someone else for that job?" He asked.
"Oh, come on, Jack, it's not like I'm asking you to be her best friend. Everybody's overbooked with Alliance clean-up right now, I don't have many agents to spare. If we're going to do something this risky, I'd much rather have a senior officer like yourself handling it."
"Fair enough." Jack shrugged, relenting.
It wouldn't be that bad. He could handle her. Jack mentally shook himself. He could handle THIS.
A/N- That's it for now! Please leave me a nice, long review. Next Chapter- We see how well Jack and Irina make out at their first meeting (hehe, don't get excited-none of that yet), and Irina, Sloane, and Sark have a reunion.