CHAPTER THIRTEEN – CONNECTIONS
Jack Bristow had never in his life been as unsure of how to answer a question. How have I been? If he was another man, he would have laughed.
Instead he just shook his head and looked at her inquisitively, "Sydney?" She placed her spoon and bowl back down on the cart and moved it from between them.
"I know… but I don't know how to start this, Dad. I mean… Vaughn tells me I've been missing for two years. I want to know what's gone on – what has happened to the world and to the people I love – starting with you."
Jack sat back in his chair, trying to find the words to explain his past two years. There really wasn't much to tell.
"Well… You went missing and I tried to find you. That's pretty much all of it." He racked his brain, trying to recall any personal information to share with her. There wasn't any.
"Oh… Okay, then…" Sydney whispered. Now what? "So what's happened… with Mom… and Sloane?"
Jack sighed heavily and wiped his hands over his face. Exactly what I didn't want to talk about, he thought. "Sydney… I'm not sure you should be hearing this right now. We should wait until you're better rested. Nothing will change between now and tomorrow at the Joint Task Force."
"Dad," Sydney replied impatiently, "There are a lot of things I don't know, and a lot that you can't tell me. I should at least attempt to get a start on understanding the past two years with what information is available." She watched as Jack stood and began pacing the cabin. "Clearly you know something – something you think will bother me. I would like to hear it now, from you, rather than later in a room full of strangers."
Jack decided to start with the simplest facts first. "Irina has not been seen or heard from. You were the last to see her - that night in Mexico City." He had spent the better part of a year looking for the woman who had betrayed him, only to come up empty – and alone – every time. The cynic in him knew that now that he had no interest in finding her, Derevko would be sure to drop right on his front door.
"Alright," Sydney pressed, "And what about Sloane?"
"Sloane continued his obsession with Rambaldi. When I determined that tracking you was useless, I started tracking Arvin, thinking he would have some connection to you or Irina… I was right." Jack paused, wondering exactly how much he should tell his daughter. He decided it was better to tell her everything now. Perhaps it will stimulate her memory.
"Sloane had a connection to you. I had been tracking him for a while. A couple nights ago, outside of Florence, he turned up. Dead."
Sydney lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't know what to think – her initial reaction was a combination of relief, revulsion, guilt, and anger. It was what she had wanted… but something about just knowing he was dead, without knowing why, or who, bothered her.
She jerked her head back up to face her father, who was looking decidedly uncomfortable. "How was he connected with me?" she asked.
Jack walked over to his bag, pulled out a stack of papers, then turned and sat down on the bench next to his daughter. "It looks as if you were a bigger part of the Rambaldi prophecy than we had originally believed." He handed the stack to Sydney, "I retrieved these from the house where Sloane's body was found. There are a lot of things about you. We must have improperly translated page 47… you are clearly the woman in the prophecy."
Sydney spent several minutes looking through the pages. Her grasp of antiquated Italian wasn't terrific, but she recognized many dates, places, and events. It was as if someone else had written her diary for her. It was… bizarre… as if she had no control over her own decisions… her own life. She got to the last page.
"It stops," she stated dully. "This last date," Sydney paused, suddenly realizing she wasn't entirely certain of what day it was, "When is this date?"
"It was three days ago. The day, we believe, that Arvin Sloane was killed." Jack looked at Sydney, concerned, but also curious.
Sydney did not follow Jack's meaning. "How does that connect? I don't understand."
Jack pulled the papers from Sydney's lap and gently set them on the bench beside him. He turned and placed a hand on her arm, trying to brace her – or himself – for what she was about to hear.
"Sydney, you… It appears that the person who killed Arvin Sloane… was you."
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Kin En Kai sat at the desk, scrutinizing a file in front of him. After Jie and her husband had left, it was less than an hour before his wife went to bed. He had promptly checked to make sure everything in the house was in order, then retreated to his study.
While they were eating dinner, a courier had delivered some information he had requested from one of his contacts. In doing his preliminary search on Jack Bristow, En Kai had discovered that there were two Bristows connected with the CIA. The papers he was now inspecting composed the majority of Sydney Bristow's CIA file… illegally copied, of course. Vargas wasn't the only one with contacts in American intelligence.
En Kai was having trouble equating the thin, broken girl that was in his possession less than twenty-four hours ago, with the talented young agent described in the file before him. Sydney Bristow was clearly one of the best double agents the CIA had ever seen. But suddenly, two years ago, the entries in her file stopped. When Vargas said her illness first presented. But, there was no mention of the illness in her file – the entries just stopped.
There was, however, something else that interested En Kai greatly. The CIA gave their double agents something called a "handler." The name of Sydney Bristow's handler was Michael C. Vaughn.
En Kai suddenly understood – exactly – the connection Vargas had with the Bristows. He turned the page and came face-to-face with a harsh, black and white photo of his son-in-law.
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A/N: Ok, loyal readers & reviewers… Sorry for the long-ish wait for this chapter. I hope it doesn't disappoint. This scene with Jack & Sydney was very difficult to write & I pretty much had to figure everything out in my head in order to do it properly. On the plus side… I have everything figured out now! The rest shouldn't be so difficult.
Thanks, again, for joining &/or sticking with me!!!
