Sydney sat at her workstation, completing a report on her last mission. She saw Vaughn coming out of the corner of her eye, looked up, and smiled. Then sighed to herself. He had that "I need to talk to you about your parents but don't know how I'm going to start," look on his face. There was something else, as well. He looked so serious.
"Sydney, Kendall asked me to bring you to his office," he said hurriedly. "Right away," he finished.
"Vaughn, what's up?" she queried, as she got up and followed him down the hall.
"I think Kendall should tell you," he replied. Sydney began to worry.
As she entered Kendall's office, she noticed that he looked unusually somber. "Have a seat, Agent Bristow," he said, gesturing her towards the chair in front of his desk. He looked up. "Agent Vaughn, will you wait outside?"
When the door closed, Kendall turned to Sydney. "Agent Bristow, Sydney, I'm afraid I have some very bad news. Your father," he paused, "your father died in a training accident yesterday morning. He was demonstrating the use of explosives to local security forces, and it appears that he may have prematurely detonated the explosive."
Sydney looked stunned. "That's impossible. My father would never make a mistake like that."
Kendall looked uncomfortable. "Agent Bristow, you are probably aware that your father took your mother's latest actions quite hard. His behavior had become…erratic. The station chief believes he had been drinking heavily. You need to prepare yourself for the possibility…that it might have been intentional."
"Are you saying he might have killed himself on purpose?" asked Sydney, looking shocked.
"I'm afraid that might be the case. I'm sorry." Kendall had heard the rumors about Jack's behavior since he had left the taskforce. Derevko had a lot to answer for.
"Are you sure…it was him?"
"Only one set of remains was found. I'll need to ask you to obtain his dental records, so that we can confirm it was him, but he was seen entering the building and not seen leaving it."
"I see," Sydney whispered.
"Agent Bristow, there was a letter addressed to you in your father's personal effects. It was delivered by diplomatic pouch." Kendall handed her an envelope, with her name scrawled in large writing across the top.
Sydney looked at the envelope, then looked up, puzzled. "It's opened," she said.
Kendall flushed. "I'm sorry, Agent Bristow. I'm afraid the agents on site were a little overzealous."
With shaking hands, Sydney opened the letter and read:
Dearest Sydney,
If you are reading this letter, I am gone. You know the effect your mother's defection to Sloane had on me. I need to end this, permanently.
Please know, sweetheart, that I have always loved you. I am sorry to leave you alone.
Love,
Dad
Kendall cleared his throat. "I'll ask Agent Vaughn to drive you home. Take all the time you need for any arrangements that might need to be made. If there's anything any of us can do-," Kendall said, leaving the offer hanging.
"Thank you," said Sydney, a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'll…go now."
Kendall sighed as she left his office. No child deserved parents like hers.
**
Sloane received the news of Jack's death with delight. His source in the Algerian embassy had kept him regularly updated on Jack's progress, and had contacted him when Bristow's "accident" had occurred. Perhaps this would be the final push Irina needed. He wondered if she had somehow engineered it herself, as payback. There were very few coincidences in their business.
"My dear, I have some unfortunate news," he said silkily.
Irina watched him patiently.
"Jack Bristow died in an unfortunate…training accident yesterday," he said, watching her closely. He was not disappointed. The look of fierce satisfaction in her eyes, quickly erased, told him what he wanted to know. Clearly this was not a woman to cross.
"We had an agreement," he began delicately.
She finished his thought for him. "The second artifact is yours." After a moment's hesitation, "Ours."
"Ours?" inquired Sloane.
"There might be more that I could do to help," Irina admitted, "but I think a slightly more balanced partnership might be in order."
Sloane had difficulty concealing his satisfaction.
