Title: Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps

Author: Amanda, nihongogirl.whichever

Rating: I'm gonna go with PG-13 for this one, just in case

Characters: Jack and Irina, Sydney and Vaughn

Disclaimers: I don't own them, obviously

A/N: This is the final part in The Music Series. I'm posting it separately because it's getting long. You don't really need to read Criminal and Shadowboxer first, but I would recommend reading Cry Me A River first.it goes more with the plot of this one than the other two. And, in my opinion, it's better. Please, read and review.

In the car, there was complete silence, save the noise from outside. Neither Jack nor Irina knew what to say. He wanted to delve deeper into what she had told him about Kashmir, but didn't want her to become defensive and shut him out. She wanted to ask him why he had even cared to ask, even though it was a painful memory that she would rather forget. Instead, they both kept quiet, afraid of what might happen if they said what was on their minds.

They arrived at the airport, parked the car and went in search of Syd and Vaughn. They found Cameron and Julianne waiting for them by the check-in desk. Irina gave Sydney a hug, holding her as tightly as she could without crushing her. It felt good to be able to publicly hold her daughter without rifles being pointed at them. Sydney must have felt the same because she held on with as much force, if not more, than Irina had. They finally broke their hug, keeping their arms around the other's waist. Sydney smiled at her father while Irina gave Vaughn a tiny smile.

Sydney saw that her father seemed a little friendlier toward her mother and made a mental note to ask one of them about it on the plane. She moved away from her mother and moved to stand next to her 'husband'. She also saw the glare forming in her father's eyes as she did so. She grabbed Cameron's hand, just to make him mad. "Are we ready to go?" she asked, gesturing toward the counter. Their flight would be taking off without them if they didn't check in and go through security in a timely manner.

The airport wasn't really busy and Samuel, Abigail, Cameron and Julianne were able to check in and get through security fairly quickly. They got to the gate where their plane was before boarding even started. Irina watched her daughter and her handler closely while they sat and talked, waiting for their boarding call. They seemed very comfortable as husband and wife, even if they were only pretending for the sake of a mission. She herself was feeling uncomfortable with Jack, even though they had been married and slept in the same bed for years. He had been acting strange since they arrived at the safe house the night before and she was desperate to find out why. She looked at him, sitting next to her and was surprised to see the gaze returned. He had been doing that a lot lately, just staring at her.

The boarding of their plane to Tokyo was announced and they gathered their things. Sydney subconsciously grabbed Michael's hand as Jack subconsciously took Irina's. It was just an instinct for him, something he had done every time they went to board a plane. She didn't resist the touch or try to drop his hand, so he figured she must have remembered that from their travel together. Jack looked into her eyes and saw that she was a little surprised at the action, but not disturbed by it at all. He gave her a small smile and handed his ticket to the patiently waiting man that stood in front of him.

Sydney and Vaughn watched this exchange with interest, Vaughn not even noticing that Sydney had taken his hand as well. It wasn't until Jack turned around and glared at the two of them, looking between their faces and their hands that he did. He didn't release her hand either, just gave Jack one of his own glares and Sydney a big smile. Irina saw this and laughed at both her husband and her 'son-in-law'. She walked ahead of Jack, pulling him with her, taking his attention from their daughter.

They got on the plane and took their seats. Jack and Irina were seated together toward the front of the plane while Sydney and Vaughn were together near the back. Irina waved to her daughter, who waved back, before turning around and putting her seat belt on. Jack did the same. Her plan was to try to get him talk to her, but going on their previous conversations, it wouldn't be easy.

They sat through the safety speech and the plane began to move down the runway. Soon, they were in the air on their way to Tokyo and another Rambaldi artifact.