Disclaimer: See past chapters for this. Or just make up one and tell it to yourself. They're fairly standard.

It had seemed to take forever to get Marshall there. Once he had arrived, Vaughn had practically stood over Marshall's shoulder the whole time he was working until Dixon had "suggested" that he wait for them outside the room. After all it seemed like Marshall was always close to a nervous breakdown. There was no need to push him over the edge while he was obtaining information that they needed.

Instead, he paced the hallway, carefully counting the number of steps back and forth. Everything told him that they were getting closer and closer to finding Sydney, they had to be. He couldn't accept the fact that something had happened to Sydney, that maybe she was gone. He certainly wasn't going to give up on her until he had proof the she was dead and he doubted if he would even believe that. After all, Irina had come back from the dead after twenty years. What he felt for Sydney wasn't temporary and he wouldn't let her go, ever.

"Agent Vaughn," Vaughn snapped around, focusing on Dixon as the older agent stepped out of the room, "We have information."

Quickly Vaughn walked back towards the door, stepping through while Dixon held it open for him. He directed his next question to Marshall. "What do we have?"

It was Dixon that answered, however. "We've found information that tells us where many of Sloane's assets are located. The CIA wasn't even aware of several of these facilities. Pending authorization from the Director we're going to launch simultaneous assaults on these locations."

Vaughn studied Dixon for a moment, disbelief wrinkling his brow, "What about Sydney?"

Dixon spoke clearly, but Vaughn could easily see that the other agent had reservations about what he had been ordered to do, as well. "According to the preliminary reports that our analysts have been feeding us as Marshall decodes this information, it's likely that Sydney is being held at one of three major locations. If all goes well we can retrieve her when we go in."

"Retrieve her when we go in," Vaughn demanded in fury. "That's insane, Dixon, and you know it. Sloane is a psychopath, who knows what he'll do to Sydney if he knows that he'll be captured. This plan is ridiculous."

"It worked at Sd-6."

"It worked because Arvin Sloane wanted it to work. We got lucky. Sydney's good, but no one's that lucky all of the time. The CIA's jeopardizing one of their most valuable agents with this plan."

Dixon said nothing and Vaughn couldn't really tell what he was thinking. After a moment, Dixon said blandly, "According to our mission plan, we leave for Madrid in two hours."

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Irina watched her daughter distractedly as the scenery flashed by them out of the limo window. Sydney's face was turned away from her, towards the window and her eyes were closed, but Irina knew that she wasn't sleeping. Her breathing was calm, but lacked the deep evenness of sleep and Irina was certain that despite her relaxed appearance, Sydney was actually quite alert, at the slightest hint of trouble she would be ready for whatever happened.

If Irina had to guess, though, she would probably say that thoughts of her Agent Vaughn were what occupied Sydney's mind. Irina smiled, hopefully if all went well, Sydney would be back with Agent Vaughn soon. The first part of her plan was already in motion. She hadn't been certain if her daughter would agree but she had in the end. That was the nice thing about controlling an organization. She didn't have to do everything herself. As it was, she and Sydney were already in route to where they needed to be for the next part of their plan.

Sydney shifted slightly and Irina refocused her attention on her daughter. The book that had been on Sydney's lap slid onto the seat between them. Reaching over quietly, not wanting to startle Sydney, Irina picked up the book. She ran a hand over the cover and opened it, flipping through the book randomly. She didn't need to start at the beginning of the book, she had certainly read it enough times. Books like this one hadn't been available to her in the Soviet Union when she was growing up. Her cover as a student of literature hadn't been upsetting for her.

The pages stopped turning and Irina found herself staring at the inside cover. She smiled, running a finger over the inscription. She closed her eyes in an unconscious echo of her daughter's actions and let her mind slip back to that day.

She and Jack had both been struggling undergrads and although she would deny it to her last breath, should anyone ever ask, she was struggling more than him. The first three years of her undergraduate study existed only on paper and despite her rigorous training, English was her sec-well third language actually. Some days she thought she might scream or cry if she heard another word of English. She had been surprised at how much she missed her native language. She couldn't even think in Russian, because of course, Laura wouldn't do that. Catching up on all of the things she should know, things "Laura" would know, and balancing her duties as a spy and the time she spent gaining Jack's trust were nerve-wracking.

There were moments though, that made it all worth it. Her handler, when he wasn't being a detestable pig, stated that those times were the moments when the KGB triumphed, when she had successfully stolen information from Jack. For her, though, those moments were the time she would spend with Jack. The dates she would go on with him, when she didn't have to obtain information from him. The moments where she could forget, just for a second that she was Jack's enemy, that if he were ever to find out who she was, he would hate her.

Irina sighed, nostalgically, what she hadn't known about the direction her life would take back then. That night, their six month anniversary as a couple, was one of her favorite memories or one of her most painful.

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"Laura," She looked up from the food on her plate that she had been picking at and smiled involuntarily up at Jack as she met his eyes.

"Hmm," she questioned.

"Is your food all right, Honey?" He asked the picture of attentive concern.

Of course, Jack would notice that she wasn't eating, he was one of the most attentive men she had ever met. It made him an excellent agent and she loved that about him. Jack noticed all of the little things that most other men missed. It was also one of the things that worried Irina the most. She worried that one day his attention to detail would be the end of her career as a KGB agent, and probably be the death of her.

"It's fine," she said with a smile, pushing her darker thoughts to the back of her mind.

He seemed to accept that and then asked her about her day. She relaxed as she answered him. She had been busy lately and she had been ordered to spend more time with Jack. It was an order she could gladly comply with. After the waiter left to bring them dessert, Jack gently took her hand in his. She looked at him, bemused.

He was looking back at her with a mixture of love, shyness and intensity that was uniquely Jack. When she had first been given this assignment, that look had startled the young woman tucked so far beneath the well trained agent that was always on the surface. No man had ever looked at her like that before. Now, she cherished that look, drinking it in.

"I have something for you," he said softly and she forced herself to focus on what he was saying and not how his thumb was running over her hand and making her shiver.

"Jack, you shouldn't have," she said with a combination of playfulness and sincerity.

He smiled at her show of reluctance and said, "I wanted to. Besides have you forgotten what today is?"

She laughed lightly, "How could I? This is our six month anniversary."

He smiled easily and handed her a package. She unwrapped it carefully, smiling in a combination of anticipation and mischievousness as she saw a hint of impatience in Jack's eyes. When she finally opened it, she "oohed" in surprise. Most of Laura's literary education had been false, but she knew how much this was worth. Running her hand over the book, she easily noted the title, Pride and Prejudice, and the edition, first.

It was a classic of English literature and one she had yet to read. As soon as she had time, she would though. It would make the nights when Jack was away on missions that she shouldn't even know about, go by faster.

"Jack," she said looking up at him slowly, "Thank you. This is wonderful." She leaned over and met him in a kiss that he returned fervorently. A moment later when they had pulled apart, he whispered softly, "C'mon let's go."

It was two weeks later before she had actually opened the book. Jack was gone, this time for an indeterminate amount of time and she was missing him more than she should. More than was safe for either of them, should the KGB find out. She curled up on the couch and opened the book. She blinked in surprise and then smiled in delight as she saw the inscription.

"To the women I love with all of my heart. Know that no matter where I am or what I'm doing you're always with me. I love you forever, Darling, never forget that. Happy Anniversay."

She had felt tears slowly slide down her cheeks, "Jack."

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"Mom," Sydney's hand on her shoulder snapped Irina back to the moment. Her voice was business like, but the instant she saw the hint of tears in Irina's eyes, she asked, "Mom, are you okay?"

Irina nodded, pushing those memories away. Now was presumably not the time for a mother/daughter bonding moment. Sydney looked as if she had something urgent to tell her.

Sydney didn't seem quite convinced, but said anyway, "Okay," then, "We're here. The next stage of the operation is ready."

"Good," Irina said firmly, "Are you ready?"

Sydney smiled, determinately, "Of course."

In unison the two women got out of the car, moving towards the sidewalk steadily, with a confidence born of skill and surety to confront the devil himself.

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In Madrid, Spain Michael Vaughn stood outside a darkened building. It was dawn and soon the building would be filling with workers. It was his team's job to apprehend these people and stop them, to take down anyone who might be collaborating with Arvin Sloane.

"Status, Boyscout?" Dixon, who was leading the other team, queried Vaughn through their mics.

"Ready on your signal," he replied.

Dixon didn't hesitate. They would be in position well before anyone arrived. Vaughn led his team quickly towards the building, but they didn't make it halfway there before they went flying back in the direction they had come as the building in front of them exploded without warning.

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