Chapter 8

Irina awoke to a touch on her shoulder and a hand over her mouth. Quickly snapping her eyes open, she saw Jack, motioning her to be quiet and listen. She held her breath, and heard what he had. Footsteps, outside in the deserted street. She saw flashlight beams flickering outside the windows. Stealthily, she got up and followed Jack, crouching in a shadowy corner away from the windows. Footsteps slowly approached the building. "Soldiers," Jack breathed in her ear. She nodded her understanding. The footsteps would periodically pause, then continue. A random search. She relaxed, and waited. The footsteps stopped outside their window, and flashlight beams sliced the darkness. Finding nothing, the footsteps moved on. They waited, huddled together, until they could no longer hear the search.

Irina stood up and stretched. Glancing at her watch, she saw that she had only slept for a couple of hours, but she felt rested. And hungry. She turned to Jack, who was looking relieved.

"I don't suppose you brought the steaks with you?" asked Irina wistfully.

"No," said Jack, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Left the champagne behind too." When Sydney had been 5, they had taken her on her first camping trip. They had made up a tiny daypack for her with her teddy bear and some snacks, so that she could feel like she was a real hiker. Irina had carefully packed a festive dinner on ice for them. Jack had been pleasantly surprised by how light it had been to carry as they trekked the 3 hours to their campsite. When they had set up the tent and started to unpack, they discovered why his pack had been so light - the steaks and champagne were still at home, sitting on the kitchen counter. They had convinced Sydney that real campers always had oatmeal for dinner, and had tucked her in tenderly into the tent. They had then spent the rest of the night under the stars, Irina teasing him mercilessly about leaving the dinner behind, and Jack making it up to her in creative ways. It had been a standing joke for the next several weeks. Jack sobered abruptly. She had left them 2 weeks after the camping trip. His mood soured.

He was hungry too. Doing a mental inventory, he realized that he had nothing except his money belt and passport. The rest of his gear had been in the suitcases. He didn't even have a stick of gum. He glanced over at Irina, wondering what she had. Probably the same. His body stilled. Irina had a gun. *The* gun. And was not wearing the C4 necklace. He cursed himself for forgetting, even for a second, that she could not be trusted. That she was a CIA prisoner that he needed to return. Keeping his voice casual, he said, "Irina, why don't you give me the gun to hold?"

Irina cast an amused glance in his direction. "It's no problem, I can hold onto it. Why don't you get some rest?"

"Irina, give me the gun," snapped Jack. He was exhausted, but there was no way he could lie down as long as Irina was armed.

Irina looked back at him, with the intent of making another flip remark, then paused, stunned by what she saw in his eyes. He didn't trust her. He still didn't trust her. She had always know that trust would take time, but would it take forever? How long would she have to wait? The pain which had been simmering inside her for months, since her return, suddenly boiled over. Damn this man. To hell with waiting until he was ready. Advancing on him, eyes dark with anger and hurt, she hissed, "How many times do I have to save your life, you idiot? Do you think I'm going to gun you down as you sleep? Why can't you, just once, trust me?"

Jack, standing open-mouthed at her onslaught, looked as if he had been slapped. "Trust you?" he roared back. "I did trust you once, remember? Or have you forgotten how you left me after 10 years of lies with nothing?"

"Nothing?" shouted Irina, white-lipped. "Nothing? I gave you the most precious thing I had! I.gave.you.Sydney!"

"What do you mean, you gave me Sydney?" said Jack, eyes glinting dangerously.

"Did you even *once* consider that I could have taken Sydney with me? That I was encouraged to take Sydney with me? And wonder why I didn't?" Irina spoke slowly, as if to a child.

"You didn't love her," Jack hurled back. But even as he said it, he could feel a niggling of doubt in the back of his mind. That's what he'd believed at the time. Having seen Irina's reaction to Sydney over the last couple of months, he wasn't so certain.

"DIDN'T LOVE HER?!" Irina was shaking with fury. She pulled out the gun, put on the safety, and flung it at Jack. "Take it," she spat. "I'll murder you with my bare hands, it you're not careful." She stalked off to the other side of the room.