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Part 7.
This song is Blackbird by the Beatles (Covered by Sarah McLachlan)
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Will sat in the dark cabin and adjusted his oxygen mask slightly. The plane bumped along on its take off roll, aggravating his nervousness.
Vaughn looked at him with a concerned look on his face. "Don't break the seal on your oxygen mask or the hour of pre-breathing you just done will be useless," he said through the radio within his own gas mask.
Will nodded and stopped fiddling with his mask. Irina had instilled the fear of God in him, or at least the fear of the Bends when she briefed him on the procedures for the jump. Will's overactive imagination could just picture all the tiny molecules of nitrogen swimming around the air, just waiting for the opportunity to jump into his body, expand and cause him excruciating pain.
Will looked over to Irina as the plane leveled off from its ascent. She was absorbed in the drift calculations she was trying to figure out by the light of a red flashlight. She was their navigator during the jump; she had a portable GPS strapped to her left arm, right next to her altimeter. She had the weather report out along side a topographical map. Her job was to make sure that they landed in the small field just outside the military compound and not in the forest that lay on the other side of the compound. Jumping from 30,000 feet from an aircraft travelling over 100 mph Will could just imagine how difficult in would be to navigate them, in the dark, to a one square mile clearing. He had no desire to interrupt her in her important calculations so he sat on his hands to keep from fidgeting.
After a few painstaking moments, Will looked over to Vaughn and saw him adjusting the straps on his goggles. When Vaughn caught his gaze he gave him a small smile. Will was a little surprised. Since they had boarded the plane he had seen a subtle change come over his friend. His brief smiles still didn't reach his eyes but Will had the impression that maybe one day they could once again. Vaughn's job during the jump was to make sure that he didn't kill himself or anyone else. Which brought him to his own job during the jump - not to die. He planned on working really hard at his job. He squished the laughter that was threatening to bubble up at his thoughts. He wasn't sure if it was panic, hysteria or stress that had suddenly turned him into a comedian in his mind. If only there was something he could be doing to keep his mind occupied and interfere with the panic building up inside him.
Though he was nervous, bored and scared to death, Will wondered where the time had gone when he saw Coz unhook his seat belt. Coz or Cosimo Batistta was a retired jumpmaster from the Italian military and he was acting as their jumpmaster today. He was a large man with bigger biceps that Will's thighs. Secretly Coz scared Will only slightly less than Irina did and only slightly more than making this jump. Will shook his head. He'd spent the better part of the trip so far prioritizing his fears just to keep his mind off of them. He tried not to laugh at the irony. So far upsetting Irina seemed to be at the top, followed closely by upsetting Coz. Jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft at 30,000 feet, and being impaled by a tree branch while landing were a far third and forth.
"Dieci minuti." Coz barked over the radios.
Vaughn nodded to him. "That's our ten minute warning Will. Do you remember the prejump checks?"
Even without Vaughn's translation Will had figured out that his doom was imminent. He saw Irina look over her calculations one last time before putting them, her weather report and the small map away. Will concentrated on performing his checks. He checked his straps; twice just in case, and then secured his goggles. Vaughn and Irina took turns checking each other before checking him.
Coz secured himself to the safety line, opened the bay door and signaled them to approach. Will watched Vaughn as he activated his bailout oxygen and unhooked himself from the chest-mount receptacle. Will followed suit but was scared silly when he felt the pressure in his mask increase. He forced himself to remember what Vaughn had told him before takeoff. The mask had to use positive pressure to force oxygen into his lungs because of the reduced pressure found at this altitude. He quickly decided that having his lungs explode beat out his fear of the tree branch.
Irina approached the door first and activated the small red light on her helmet so that they could see her during the free-fall. She waited for Will and Vaughn to approach. They had to jump at the same time otherwise at the airspeed they were travelling at; they would be scattered too far apart.
Will stood up in the half-bent position that his rigging allowed and shuffled over to the bay door. As he approached it, he saw the darkness underneath him and tried to push the bile back down his throat. The last thing he wanted to do now was vomit in his mask.
"Ready?" Vaughn asked him through the radio.
Will nodded and was grateful that the mask covered most of his face.
Irina looked at her GPS and altimeter, nodded and held up one finger. "Radio silence upon exit." After a moment she gave them a brief nod and leaped forward.
"Go!" ordered Vaughn. Will had no choice but to leap forward as well.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to be free.
Vaughn maneuvered closer to Will and spread out in the flat-arched position. He watched Will try to maintain the position but his nervousness caused him to keep changing his speed. Vaughn gave him the thumbs up sign, which Will unenthusiastically returned. He grabbed a hold of Will's arm to stabilize him a little. He could see Irina slightly below them and he checked his altimeter. They still hand another minute and a half of freefall and another minute before they tried to navigate to their planned infiltration point.
For a moment Vaughn let himself enjoy the exhilaration of the freefall. He didn't know if it was the adrenaline, the fact that he was travelling approximately 120 mph straight down or the fact that Will was clutching his hand so hard that he was worried he might lose circulation in it but for the first time in almost a year he felt like he had no worries. Well, really he was worried about the landing, the op, finding Sydney, getting out alive.... But compared to the constant pressure of helplessness that he had felt all year, right now he felt like laughing. At least now he was doing something. And he could almost believe that if he didn't hit the ground at 120 mph, everything would be all right. Maybe there was hope for the future yet.
Irina glanced up at the men above her and she saw Vaughn flying with one hand on Will's arm. Silhouetted behind them were a million stars shinning brilliantly against the black sky. She looked down again. At this altitude her night vision goggles were useless and the area that they were flying over was relatively rural, so there were hardly any lights. She was surrounded by darkness. She allowed herself to relax for a moment and enjoy the thrill of the freefall. She had always enjoyed the sense of freedom she felt at being suspended between the heavens above and the earth below her. She smiled for a moment. Then she remembered that she was falling towards the earth and not towards the stars. Not yet, she thought bitterly. She forced her attention back to her altimeter and decided that it was time to move into position.
Vaughn saw Irina move out from under them and he checked his altimeter. It had almost gone around twice and it was time to pull the chute. He motioned to Will to pull his and he barely had time to let go when suddenly Will was jerked upward. Vaughn allowed himself to fall a few more seconds to increase the space between him and Will before he pulled his own.
Vaughn saw Irina land safely and managed to land within a few hundred feet of her. Will however, had had some trouble steering but Vaughn saw him land and manage to avoid the trees close to the edge of the field. It took twenty minutes but they regrouped. They unpacked their weapons and found a nook to hide their parachutes and rigging in.
Irina turned to Will and pulled out a copy of the floor plan from her pocket. "Ok, we are here." She turned the map so that it was oriented correctly for him. "You are going to proceed to this location and try and find us some transportation out of here. Any questions?"
Will shook his head and turned to see if Vaughn wanted to see the map but he didn't. Vaughn had figured out where they were and had memorized the blueprints two days ago. Will nodded to himself and unslung his rifle from his shoulder.
"Don't rely too much on your night vision goggles. They restrict your field of view and you will be temporarily blinded if someone increases the amount of light suddenly." Vaughn said.
Will nodded. He checked his watch. They had four hours until daylight and they still had to make in into the compound. His legs still felt weak from the jump but he felt higher on the adrenaline coursing though his veins than on any of the drugs Jack had injected in him, so very long ago. He just hoped that he could hold his rifle without shaking too much. With one last look at his companions he turned and started towards the east-end of the compound.
Finally, Irina turned to Vaughn. "Ready?"
Vaughn looked at her in the dim light. This was it. He pushed his excitement and nerves into a corner of his mind and focused on her eyes. Eyes so very much like Sydney and yet so very different. He gave her a curt nod and they moved out.
Blackbird fly
Into the light of the dark black night.
Sark watched a dark figure hop the small fence on the northeast side of the compound. He watched him move somewhat awkwardly, trying to hide in the shadows but silhouetting himself a moment later against the lights around the perimeter. Sark focused his binoculars but he couldn't make out the man's face. He was a little surprised that the CIA would send someone so inexperienced with their team.
He removed the binoculars from his face and scanned the horizon with his eyes. Something wasn't right. If it was a CIA team, protocol would state at least twenty to thirty men and air support, but Sark couldn't see any. He knew the CIA would not veer from its procedures but he also knew that he should have seen more by now.
Sark's eyebrows bunched together in slight confusion. It didn't really matter though. He wasn't worried about the CIA. His thoughts wandered to Sydney for a moment, but he quickly pushed them away. His plan was complicated enough without thinking of her.
His thoughts were interrupted when a large, burly, uncouth man suddenly barged his way onto the tower's balcony. "Ok, Mr. Sark. I've got the people out on patrols, but I don't see why. We're leaving in a few days and this place is deserted. Mr. Sloane left. What are we supposed to guarding anyways?"
Sark fixed the man with a cool, condescending glaze and smiled. Soon he would be rid of this man and the other men he had chosen to stay tonight. He had faith that Agent Vaughn and his team would be able to take care of that for him. "Thank you. I trust that you will be checking up on them periodically. Mr. Sloane is still interested in certain assets that we have here. I am quite certain that he would be very unhappy if your men were responsible for any damage to those assets."
The man tried to contain a snarl but he was not entirely effective. It was obvious to Sark that this man thought he was only a young punk but from his attempt to contain his snarl it was also obvious that he recognized Sark's rank. Sark gave him a cold look and soon the man excused himself to make his rounds.
His small smile returned as he lifted the binoculars back up to his face and scanned the horizon. It was easy enough for him to find the man he had spotted before. He looked to be heading in the direction of the garage. He packed his binoculars away in his jacket pocket and headed towards the door. He didn't care if the CIA meant to take the truck, but he had to make sure that whoever this was, that he didn't take his transportation out of here, or worse yet, destroy all the vehicles.
Sark maneuvered himself down the small staircase leading from the observation tower and made his way to the main security room on the first floor. He opened the door, only to be greeted by two corpses slumped over the controls. He looked around. There was only mild blood spatter on the walls. Whoever had done this had obviously known what they were doing. All the security monitors were showing static and he noticed that the alarm system had been deactivated.
Sark shrugged to himself. Perhaps the CIA really would rid him of all of Sloane's most loyal goons. Without another moment's hesitation, Sark pivoted on his heel and continued towards his escape. A smirk crossed his face when he saw the guard he had been talking to earlier, lying in a pool of his own blood.
The garage was quiet and dark and for a moment Sark thought that maybe he had managed to beat his competitor. He crept through the shadow, scanning the room for any sign of movement. He made his way to his jeep and was about to open the door when he heard the distinct sound of movement behind him.
"Freeze!"
Sark froze.
"Put your hands up above your head and turn around slowly."
Sark complied but the voice was tickling his memory. When he turned around he was shocked to see the dirty face of the reporter he had kidnapped some years ago. His name was…."Mr. Tippin."
Will froze as he recognized Sark. Sark used his momentary shock to step forward, kick the rifle out of his hand and send it clattering to the floor. Once disarmed, it was easy enough for Sark to drop him to the floor. He quickly stepped over Tippin's unconscious form, all the while shaking his head. He had been surprised too many times already tonight but he found it unbelievable that the CIA would include Mr. Tippin in their rescue team. He rubbed his head in concern. Maybe he had overestimated Agent Vaughn.
He was about to step in the car when he heard an ominous click. A split second later, the garage was filled with the spray of machine gun fire and his left hand exploded in pain. He dove into his seat, started the car and dropped it in gear. The pain in his hand was blinding but he managed to momentarily block it out. With his left hand cradled uselessly in his lap he managed to slam the jeep back out of the garage.
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Sydney heard some scuffling on the other side of her door and awoke. She never slept deeply anymore. She looked up towards the door in time to see it swing open. A tall man was silhouetted against the back light and she shied her face away from the light.
"Syd?" came an anguished voice from the face she couldn't see.
She tried to shield her eyes and look at him once more but he was still standing in the light. He must have seen her movements though because he rushed forward to her and grabbed her arm.
"Sydney?"
She looked at the face and did not recognize it immediately. It was striped in dark paint to distort the features and her tired mind could not instantly process all the information. When she looked at his green eyes though she knew she was looking something so beautiful that she could not comprehend it.
"Sydney, it's me. Vaughn." The voice said to her quietly but with some urgency.
Her mind took a moment to process what it had previously deemed to be unthinkable. Subconsciously she thought about all that this face implied and then her mind decided that it had been right to begin with. It was unthinkable. It had to protect itself.
She backed away from him, almost stumbling on her own feet. "No, no, no...not again. I can't go there again…." she muttered to herself and the apparition before her. She shook her head from side to side trying to banish the sight from her eyes.
Vaughn held her arm though and refused to let her get away.
"Syd, it's me. I'm here, so is Will and so is your mom. We came to get you out of here. Please."
The voice. She couldn't shake the voice from her head. It seemed to be everywhere and it threatened to burst forth the protective dam that she had built. She covered her ear with her other hand and shut her eyes. The pain in her head was building but on some part she could feel the dam starting to crumble.
"Sydney!" Vaughn screamed at her as he saw her trying to block away the sight of him. He grabbed her other arm and brought it away from her ear. The movement caused her to open her eyes and stare at him directly in face.
She knew the moment the dam burst because she felt herself shattering. The light, the pain, the love, the agony, the horrible longings as she felt her love ripped from her chest. The face that she'd tried desperately to never remember because of the anguish it brought her. All the memories that she'd locked away so that she could survive were bursting forward with a blinding pain in her head.
She moved her arms up to cradle her head as Vaughn stood and watched her.
"Syd we got to go, it's going to be dawn soon. Are you ok? Can you walk?"
Sydney stared at him with pain and horror smeared across her face. Her mouth opened and closed like she was trying to form words but no sound came out of her throat.
Michael tried to pick her up, force her to move with him but she stood rooted to the ground. He turned to stare at her. Cupping her face with his hands he said to her gently, "Come on Syd. Come back to me."
With tears appearing in her eyes she finally managed a whisper. "Vaughn?" her voice cracked.
He smiled at her, tears starting to form in his own eyes. "Yeah, Syd. It's me. Are you ok?"
She stood there staring at him, the pain in her head almost blinding her.
Vaughn was shocked at the agony he saw in her eyes. And though he hated to rush her he knew they needed to leave. "Sydney we have to go. The sun is rising, we'll be caught if we don't go."
With a croak from a voice that has not been used in a while she whispered. "…Vaughn…" He saw the tears falling and it seemed almost like she was bleeding from her eyes. "There's no more sun, there's no more light…Don't you understand, there's no Dawn anymore…"
Vaughn cradled her against his chest as she let herself collapse in his arms. "Yes, Syd there will be. I promise you there will be light again in your world. We just have to get out of here."
"No Michael, there won't be." Sydney cried. Her words muffled slightly as she spoke into his chest. "Sloane took her. He took her. She's gone. He took our Dawn. He stole my light. It was the only thing I had left and he took her too. He took our daughter."
Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.