Disclaimer: I'm tired of writing these things, see the previous chapters.

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Irina Derevko shook her head in almost disgust at herself. What she was doing was dangerous. Almost three days ago she had tried to warn her daughter about the danger of that situation. The situation Irina found herself in now, was infinitely more dangerous. She wasn't playing with fire, she was playing with explosives and this situation was about to blow up in her face.

She had considered the possibility that this situation would occur, that Sloane would capture Sydney, but she had put more faith in her daughter's abilities than her stubbornness than she should have. She wasn't as adequately prepared for that possibility as she should have been. It was a mistake and she would have readily admitted it, if it would help the situation. But it wouldn't so it was no longer mattered, no, what she needed now was a way to free her daughter.

Irina had desperately not wanted to leave her daughter in Sloane's custody without being present herself, but hopefully if she wasn't murdered in the next few minutes, this would help free them both.

Irina sighed and looked back down at the information she was reviewing. According to her contacts he would be here today. Her informants had lost track of him somewhere along the way, but for once she hadn't punished them for their inability. It wasn't their fault the man they were tracking had skill far superior to their own. Besides this place was her sanctuary, her turf, and she was willing to bet even he wouldn't be able to sneak in unannounced.

She only retreated to this small property outside of Moscow when she was feeling terribly vulnerable, either emotionally or physically, or when she needed a secure location for important meetings. The house was small, but was protected by a one of a kind security system. It was by far, the least palatial of the various estates she owned around the world, but it was the one where she had felt the most comfortable.

This was where she had retreated to lick her wounds and recover after her stint in the Kashmiri prison, where she had come to cry, both in joy and sadness the day she learned Sydney had been recruited to SD-6. She had spent many painful moments here over the years, but this was also where she had been the happiest since the death of Laura Bristow. It was the closest thing to a home she'd had to a home in twenty years. This was where she had briefly retreated after she had seemingly betrayed Jack's trust and broke his heart for the second time and now he was coming here.

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Jack Bristow was nervous. Oh, he hid it expertly behind the same mask he had hidden all of his emotions since he had learned that his precious wife, his entire world, had been a lie. It was only appropriate that the mask he had created after the death of Laura Bristow would protect him from her alter-ego Irina Derevko. Jack was nervous about seeing Irina and still being able to concentrate on the mission. He was nervous because he knew Irina was his best chance at freeing Sydney, but he wanted to strangle her for letting their daughter be captured in the first place. He was nervous because he would be seeing Irina again for the first time since that heavenly, torturous mission to Panama.

He wasn't nervous because his actions were breaking multiple laws and would be seen as treason against the CIA. It was the realization that he was knowingly giving his trust to the woman that had betrayed him so many times that was making him the most nervous, though. Somehow he couldn't help but come when she called.

He had tried to justify it to himself by saying that he was only doing this for his daughter's sake, but he knew better. He was doing this because he was drawn to her like a moth was drawn to the flame that was its own destruction in the end. No matter how many times he got burned, he still went back. Maybe it was because he desperately wanted to trust her or maybe he could sense that Irina Derevko was hiding something from the world.

He had left LA immediately without telling anyone, not even Agent Vaughn. The Agent would have tried to insist on coming, but Jack didn't want to involve him and by extension implicate him in his own treason. It would have seemed strange for him to ask for leave while his daughter was still in Sloane's custody, so instead he concentrated on disappearing and getting to Moscow as quickly as possible.

He would do anything to ensure Sydney's safety, this and so much more. Besides he couldn't help but feel that Sydney's well being was one area where he really could trust Irina.

Jack glared coldly at the man who barked at him in impatient Russian that this was where his ride ended. Methodically Jack climbed out of the rickety truck and started walking. If Irina's security was half as competent as he expected, then she would know of his presence in a matter of minutes.

He was right. He had barely approached the house when a wizened old man, not the security escort that he had expected, appeared beside him. Smiling the way that only someone who's truly unconcerned about their own welfare can, the man nodded slightly to Jack and then said, "This way if you please, Comrade Bristow."

Jack allowed the man to lead him into the house, but remained cautious and prepared for danger. He didn't think Irina would bring him here simply to kill him; she could have done that back in LA. His infuriating wife had always been surprisingly unpredictable, however, his death could be exactly what she was planning.

Jack was surprised though, when he noticed the lack of pretension and ostentatiousness in the house. It didn't fit with how he would have pictured her tastes from the persona she portrayed as "The Man" but he did have to grudgingly admit that it showed a level of class he wouldn't have credited her with.

For some reason he didn't really care to explore, that trivial irrelevant realization rankled Jack. It was so much easier to hate her when she was simply an evil thug. It rankled to that point that he almost growled at the old man in annoyance when he stopped in front of a single door.

Without a word the man gestured calmly that Jack was to enter and walked away easily, as if unaware that he had managed to anger one of the world's most dangerous men. Stifling his annoyance and taking an instant to restore his usual grim, angry look, Jack opened the door ahead of him and cautiously walked in.

If he hadn't been walking into Irina Derevko's study, Jack supposed the room would have been called cozy. He found her instantly, standing with her back to him, staring out the window. Despite the fact that she didn't acknowledge him, he knew she was aware of his presence.

"Why did you want me to come here, Irina?" He asked in a voice devoid of emotion.

"Hello to you too, Jack." She said still not looking at him.

"I didn't come here to play your games Irina." He bit out tersely. "I came to see if you were as heartless as I thought or if you actually cared enough about our daughter to save her life."

He could see the muscles in her back tense, but otherwise she had no other outward reaction. Finally she turned to face him. "This is no game, Jack," she said harshly, her accent coming out stronger as she grew more intense. "Do you think I wanted to leave Sydney in Sloane's hands."

"Then why did you allow her to be captured," he demanded. Jack knew he was missing something, but his judgment was always impaired when it came to her.

"Why did you allow Sydney to join Sd-6," she shot back to silence him. "Jack," she continued while he was still listening, "I didn't ask you to come here to apologize for who I am or simply to bait you. I need you to help me save our daughter. If you don't want to do that Jack, then get out, because I have work to do."

Jack stared, his grim mask firmly in place as he analyzed what she had said. "Do you have a plan?"

His decision didn't surprise Irina. Jack might hate her more than she had ever thought possible, but he loved Sydney more than he cared about anything else in the world. "Sloane's holding her in a facility in Stockholm. I can get in obviously, but Sloane, the bastard, is keeping her drugged and I can't get back out with her." Irina sighed. "All of the people in that facility are Sloane's. I couldn't get any of my people in."

Jack looked at her patiently. He might not trust Irina Derevko, but she was more than capable of devising a plan. He watched with as much emotional distance as he could as he saw a smile grace her features. The traitorous part of his mind that he couldn't suppress, noted her beauty in that moment, but he pushed it back as he saw her adopt a dangerous sarcastic look.

"You should like this plan Jack," Irina said, her smile twisting into a smirk. "You're going to turn me over to Sloane as a traitor in exchange for Sydney."

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