Hahaha...
Andi
Horton: Your
review made me laugh... Funny funny stuff
M: Thanks so much for the wonderful
review but I'm sure that there are other great fics besides this one. Just keep
looking~
Secret
Agent Girl:
I know I've dedicated like a million chapters to you but your reviews always
make me laugh... especially when you tell me what you're doing (ex: the
"flailing arm Kermit dance")... Thanks for choosing my fic to read :)
J.
Turenne:
Hey, we all make mistakes. Just don't make it again ;)
The Wanlorn: Oooohh... So THAT'S what happened to you... I see I see. Oh well, you're back and reviewing every chapter so I'm not complaining. Hope the shift + enter thing worked… I had to re-space this whole thing because it was prewritten… sigh the things I do for you guys ;)
To the people who actually wanted to know:
In
chapter 10, I mentioned the birth of a certum toad and told you all that you
didn't want to know how it was actually born because it is
"super-gross".
However,
I guess some of you did want to know. So here it is:
1) Picture a toad
2) Picture his back
3) Now
think pimple except when it pops, it's not pus-stuff that comes out. It's a
baby certum toad.
Ewwwwwwwww
Okay,
I've wasted enough of your time:
Here it
is~ Enjoy
29.
The bars
made their usual screeching noise as they rose up towards the ceiling, opening
the passage that was the hall of death.
To Jack
anyway.
Needing
to take the breath he always took, he paused for a second before stepping in
front of the glass.
"I
need to talk to you."
Irina
Derevko walked up to it, her face only a few inches away from his though the
tension between them was as palpable as the glass separating them.
"Why?"
"Damn
it Irina, now is not the time for an interrogation."
Almost
simultaneously, "Then answer my question and we'll move on. Is there some
reason why my question isn't valid?"
They
both stopped at the same time. Silence fell once again.
She
looked down towards the floor. "Is this how it's always going to be Jack?
Will we always be at each other's throat every time one of us opens our
mouths?"
"It's
quite possible."
She
nodded.
"It's
about Sydney isn't it? What has she done?"
"I
think you know what she has done. You knew what was between them from the very
beginning."
Her eyes
lit up as she processed what Jack was telling her. "They gave in to each
other."
"I
don't see why that makes you so happy."
"They
found love. What can be a more joyous event?"
He
clenched his jaw and she immediately regretted speaking. There were times when
she forgot that she was dead to him. That Laura had died.
"Love
is weakness. Love clouds your senses until you can't think straight anymore;
can't even see what's in front of your eyes. Love affects your judgment and
love kills those who you love."
Her reply was soft. "No. Love is power. It can be
wasted or it can be used but either way, it is efficient. It is
desperation."
He
exhaled quickly, laughing to himself. "You haven't changed at all have
you? You still don't understand the simple morals. There are reasons for
rules and there are reasons for protocol and there are reasons
why a handler cannot have romantic relations with his asset."
His last
words were hushed, said straight into the glass so that none but she could hear
them though they were the most intense of all.
"We
are not normal people and we do not lead normal lives. In this world, in our
world, we don't have the same kind of normalcy. Everything is
dangerous and every action-"
Irina finished his sentence. "-has an equal or
opposite reaction. Issac Newton. Yes, I know. But isn't that all the more
reason to grab on to any semblance of normalcy you can?"
He shook
his head. "No. Not when it endangers lives. Not when you have nothing to
gain."
"Don't
you mean everything?"
"What?"
"I
think you mean, 'not when you have everything to gain.'"
"What's
the difference?"
She
sighed to herself. It was no use. He had always been as stubborn as a mule.
"Why did you come here? Obviously it wasn't just to chat. What do you need
me for?"
"Daniel
Hecht is alive."
"Sydney's
fiancé?"
"Ex.
Ex fiancé. And he knows everything."
Her
reply was immediate and matter of fact. "Kill him."
"SD-6
has possession of him."
"Does
he still love her?"
"Maniacally
so."
"She
has to pretend to love him."
"She's
already been instructed to do just that."
"Then
what do you need me for?"
"It's
what happens next."
"Jack,
why do you come to me? You have resources at your disposal, people waiting to
help you. Why me?"
You
know why. Why are you insisting on me telling you why?
"Because
I hate you for what you did to me. But the past is nothing. And despite your
actions, you are still the most brilliant person I've ever come in contact
with. And because I need your help for our daughter."
She
nodded then.
He took out his keys and entered her cell.
God
damn her for being so beautiful.
"I
think you should start from the beginning."
"There's
no time. Apparently, Sydney and Vaughn have been seeing each other for three
months and are now engaged."
He
ignored the subtle raising of her eyebrows.
"Two
days ago, Sydney was at Agent Vaughn's house when Daniel Hecht appeared at her
door and tried to… go back to the way things used to be with her. She escaped,
came to CIA headquarters, broke down in interrogation and almost told Kendall
the truth about her whereabouts when she was paged. By Sloane. He had Dermott
and his crew check up on Hecht and when they found him-"
Irina
nodded. "They found Vaughn. They know he's a CIA agent but Sydney lied and
now they have retaken Hecht because of Sydney's professed love for him?"
Jack
nodded.
"Why
do you need my help? It seems as though everything has already been taken care
of."
"There
is one more thing."
Irina
looked into his eyes, looked past the guarded exterior and saw the love and confusion
that swam underneath.
"You're
planning on assassinating him aren't you?"
How
do you always look through me? How can you read my mind like you do? Why are
you Irina Derevko? Couldn't you have stayed Laura forever?
He
cleared his throat. "Two weeks."
"Do
you have this planned out too or is this what you need me for?"
Suddenly,
he didn't know anymore.
"I
wanted to run it by you, see if anything should be changed or if there is...
room for error."
She sat
on the thin mattress, nodding as she ran her fingers through her hair.
They both knew the truth. And they were both willing to live the facade.
And the
conversation between them suddenly flew, two intellectual giants discussing a
plan.
"He's
kept in a room in Section E-"
"Video-taped?"
"Of
course."
"How
are you going to get past that?"
"Marshall's
cigarette lighter scrambles all electronic devices for about 3 minutes."
"He
hasn't come up with a back up?" Irina's eyes took on their inquisitive
hardness, her mind warming up and ready to absorb all the information being fed
to her.
"Not
that I know of."
"What
about the guards?"
"Another
one of Marshall's inventions. The tranquilizer spray."
"And
the key?"
"Already
copied."
"What
are you planning on using?"
"Bendolyne
Pentaoxide." (Yes I made it up)
"How
long does it take to go through the system?"
"Less
than 5 minutes."
Irina
shook her head quickly. "I need more specific numbers than that."
Jack looked
at her. You would. "It depends on size. With someone Danny's size,
it should take maximum 4 minutes."
"He'll
still be alive when the power is back on."
"I'm
not going to be staying to watch him die, Irina. I'm not like-" he
stopped. That was a floodgate he didn't want to open.
She
smiled a little. "You're not like me."
"I'm
not going to apologize."
"I
don't expect you to. What you said was true and you do have the right to be a
bit resentful don't you?"
He was
silent.
"Where
will you be when they find him?"
"As
far away as I possible can."
"And
you know the route you're taking out of the building?"
"Of
course."
"And
if someone should see you?"
She
almost sounded as if she cared. "Stay in the building; I wouldn't want to
be conveniently gone if I had been spotted a moment before."
"Won't
the guards remember you sprayed them?"
"Modifications
can be made and hallucinations are often present."
"Even
so."
"What?"
She hesitated
before speaking again. "Jack, this one is different."
"I
know that."
"Does
Sydney know what you're planning on doing?"
"Daniel
Hecht is now no more than a hindrance in her life if she wishes to pursue her
relationship with Agent Vaughn."
"The
heart works in strange ways."
"I
thought you were for their love."
"Love
is a tool."
The
words stung.
"Not
if you're the victim."
"Even
then, it can still be used."
"How?"
"Deception."
Jack
shook his head, not wanting to believe the words coming out of her mouth. He
heard Irina speak again.
"Perhaps
she wants Danny gone. But gone doesn't translate into dead."
"It
did in your case."
"Don't
transmute our past into Sydney's future." She stood up, regal and towering
above him. "I am truly sorry for all the hurt I caused you Jack but that
is no reason to punish her."
"Punish?
I'm trying to help her."
"You're
trying to help yourself. Trying to save yourself."
"By
helping her breach protocol?"
"By
plugging up the one leak that could kill you."
"And
is looking out for my life such a horrible thing? Maybe you had no
qualms about leaving your life behind but I don't have another identity waiting
for me under the river.
"I
have to be here to protect Sydney and if, in doing so, I'm also
protecting myself, then so be it."
"In our lives, we face death every day. What's to
stop us from embracing it?"
"The possibility of never being able to return. The
fear that everything truly will stop one last time."
"Daniel
has died already."
"No.
He thought he did."
"Embrace
life. And if in doing so, one must embrace death, let it happen. It only
happens once."
"It
will happen." He stood up, walking back towards the door.
"Jack."
He
turned at the sound of her voice.
"There
is no room for error."
TBC...
Wow...
I'm confusing myself, I don't even understand half the stuff I wrote and I'm
pretty sure that none of it makes sense. But I wanted Irina in the story.
Blah...
Review
anyway~
-Jenn
