Short chapter, enjoy! ~

VIENNA

Jack peered out of the tiny window as they landed in Vienna. In the dusk he could see the outline of Gipfelkreuz. The beauty of the mountain never failed to amaze Jack. The gray jagged mountain range filled the sky accented with the gentlest trace of a brilliant white cloud. As the pilot gently set the helicopter down on the emergency runway of the hospital, doctors hurried out with a stretcher for Sydney. Jack helped hoist Sydney down while the technicians updated the doctors on her conditions.

Jack lifted the bag onto his shoulder and ran to catch up with the doctor, who was already hurrying inside to the building. "Excuse me, doctor. I need to run some errands. Would it be alright…if I left for an hour or two?" This is one of the few instances Jack did not have to try to put concern into his voice, it was already there.

"Of course, Mr. Bristow. Sydney seems to be doing fine, and we can take things from here. We'll page you if her condition changes."

"Also, do you know a man by the name of Matthias Atzmüller? He's a business contact of mine I wanted to track down."

"Oh…you mean Matthy! Lucky for you, he works right here. If I remember correctly he should be on the third floor in the neurology lab."

"Thank you, doctor. Do keep in touch."

"Of course, Mr. Bristow. It's our pleasure to be at your service at Empress Elisabeth Hospital."

The doctor's words faded into the atmosphere as Jack rushed out of revolving doors of the lobby, all a part of the overarching pattern of the hospital. Rushing and moving and pushing and shoving, life and death, death and life. The line between them was so fine, so thin, so easy to cross. And again, as Jack looked towards the East, he saw Gipfelkreuz and stood a moment to marvel at it. The shadow seemed to have changed over the mountain, and as Jack hurried to the CIA headquarters he could feel the mountain watching him. Somehow, although he normally despised the feeling of being watched, he knew there was a connection among Sydney, and him, and the little boy in the bag, and the mountain. And the mystery of it, although anxious to be revealed, would wait, crouched in silence until dawn.

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