"Why the hell don't I set my alarm clock for the last possible moment I need to get up to get ready in time?" Kaylee screamed as she flung her pillow at the alarm. Hearing a crunch and a smash, she realized that might not have been the smartest idea she ever had. "I guess I'll have to tell Mom that I need another alarm clock. Again." She giggled thinking of her mother's face when she realized that this was Kaylee's fifteenth alarm clock that year.
Kaylee dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. After a full half-hour of just standing under the spray, she finally woke up enough to go over all the events of the day before. "Let's see. I fought my sister for the first time after learning of her existence the day before. I pissed off my mother's number one business associate and then managed to turn the whole argument around so it was all his fault. A great trick I learned from my mother. Then, after being almost one hundred percent positive that Mr. Sark would never want to speak to me again in his life, it turns out that I've intrigued him, and he wants to know how I grew up and what it was like having Irina as a mother. Strange day..."
Slipping out of the shower, Kaylee quickly threw one some sweatpants and a t-shirt. She hadn't eaten since six o'clock the previous night, and she was starving. Quickly, she stumbled down to the first floor kitchen to find her favorite morning treat: Coco Puffs.
"What is going on?" she mumbled when she realized that the Coco Puffs were not on their usual shelf.
"Looking for something?" a voice called from the table.
"God!" Kaylee screamed. "I didn't even see you. Do you usually lurk in the corners of rooms, Sark?"
"I try not to make it a habit," he said with a smile.
Kaylee realized what he was holding up at her. "Who said you could eat my Coco Puffs? And why are you eating my Coco Puffs?"
"Just because I'm an aloof British spy doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good American breakfast cereal now and again." He paused a moment. "And I didn't realize that your name was printed on the box."
"Shut up and hand over the chocolaty goodness," Kaylee said with a smile.
The two of them ate in silence. Neither one was sure what to say to the other. Finally, the entrance of her mother interrupted the quiet. She waltzed into the kitchen in her trademark way and took a seat between the two.
"I just wanted to congratulate you on a job well done," she said.
"Cut the crap, Irina," Sark said. It was a little too early in the morning for him to be playing the run around game with her. "We know that the disc Kaylee got wasn't the real one, if a real one even exists. Tell us what the real mission was last night."
Irina laughed softly. "I should have known that you two would have figured out that the mission wasn't about the disc. However, I am surprised that you two didn't come up with my true objective."
Kaylee sent a confident smile Sark's way. "What is this?" Irina asked.
"Kaylee figured it out last night," Sark admitted. "She tore my ego to bloody hell telling me about it, but she did figure it out."
"You always were a little too cocky," Irina said. "What was your theory, darling?"
"You wanted Sydney to see how inexperienced and naive I was. Lure her into a false sense of security. Let her think that my whole life revolved around proving that I'm the better daughter. Though, I honestly don't know exactly why you wanted me to do that." Kaylee looked at her mother expectantly.
"And I don't suppose you're going to tell us," Sark said without even looking up from his bowl of Coco Puffs.
"Not a chance," Irina said. "I like to be secretive."
"So what now?" Kaylee asked. She was eager to get back into the field again.
"There must be something in the Bristow bloodline that just compels them to want to constantly be on the move," Sark thought to himself.
"That's the thing. The CIA doesn't know where to go from here. They're going to realize that there never was a Rambaldi artifact in Brighton, and that will really throw off their investigation. Though I think I can count on Sydney or Jack to come up with a theory that's pretty close to the truth of why I set up the confrontation between my daughters. Even with that mostly accurate theory, the CIA will have nothing to go on to continue their investigation. So, I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that I really have nothing for you two to do for a while. I need to plan my next move, and that could take a while. This whole scheme is really important to me, and I need it to go off just right," Irina admitted.
"Do you want me to go back to London and check in with your London division?" Sark asked.
"No, actually I was planning on doing that. What I need you to do is slightly more demeaning," Irina said with a smile.
"What?" Sark was truly afraid of the answer.
"I need a babysitter."
"For who?" Sark said. Irina gave a nod towards Kaylee.
Sark smiled at his employer. "Come on. You can't be serious." Realizing she was serious, he wiped the grin off his face. "You have nothing better for me to do than watch over your daughter?"
"Hey! I don't need someone to watch over me. You've left me here at the chateau by myself since I was ten, mother!"
"I know," Irina said. "But that was before the CIA and the rest of the world's spy organizations learned of your existence. I don't think the CIA will take action, but I can't completely rule it out. If you get taken into custody, my whole plan is ruined. I can't take that chance. Which is why I need you, Sark, to watch over her. She's the key." Irina smiled at her associate. "And there's no one who I trust more."
"All right," Sark agreed. "I'll do it."
"Don't I have a say in it?" Kaylee asked.
"No," Sark said. "Come on and get packed. We can't stay here. The CIA will find you in no time at all if we stay in this country."
Kaylee rolled her eyes but got up out of her chair. She walked over to the sink to rinse out her dish mumbling the whole way about being twenty-four and having a babysitter. Sark couldn't help by grin.