Previously "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow your head off," he said calmly pressing the gun against her skin.

"Look under the blanket," she said curtly her accent shining through.

"I don't have time for your games." "Just look under the blanket!"

Jack cocked the gun.

"Look under it you stupid idiot!"

Deciding to see what her game was he drew back the cover in one swift motion.

"What the hell?"

Second Chances

Part 2: Tears of Rain

She wasn't sure what he had expected to find.

He'd left right away and she spent the next few hours making arrangements to leave. The sun was just rising when she stepped out onto the balcony. The early morning breeze ruffled the curtains as she closed the french doors.

She would miss Madrid. The beauty of the land, the warm breezes, the sparkling clear waters. Madrid was her sanctuary. The small city just to the east of Volos had been her home for the last four months, her place of peace and now it was all being taken away from her because of some foolish mistake. Or was it?

She leaned out over the balcony trailing her fingers over the smooth wood. It was almost time to go. She couldn't stay, couldn't risk it. Obviously she'd wanted Jack to find her, what she hadn't counted on was his anger. It was only a matter of time before he contacted the CIA revealing her location. And then she saw him.

He stood on the private beach below looking deridingly relaxed in jeans and a t-shirt but Irina knew better.

~ ~ ~

Jack heard her approach but he didn't turn and acknowledge her.

"My plane leaves in an hour or should I expect the CIA first?"

He heard the animosity in voice. "If I had given up your location, would I be here?"

She considered his words. "Point taken." She reached out to touch his shoulder but he took a step away equalizing the distance once more. "I hadn't expected you to come like that. You took your time, I assumed you hadn't tracked my phone call."

"I told you I had matters to take care of."

"Apparently." Irina bent down and picked up a shell examining it briefly before tossing it in the water. "And how is Mr. Tippin?"

Jack turned to face her. "Why? Planning another attempt on his life?"

"Harming him was not part of the plan. That was Sloane," she said coldly.

"And Francie Calfo?"

"I was in a glass prison, how could I have instigated that."

"Where you should still be, where you would still be if I hadn't made the mistake of trusting you."

"I have no regrets for my actions, Jack." Irina began walking down the shoreline, her bare feet connecting with the edge of the tide. Jack paused for a moment to remove his socks and shoes before following. She waited until his stride matched hers before continuing. "Sydney has always been my most important concern. Leaving her was the hardest thing I'd ever had to do."

"Then why did you?"

"Don't be stupid Jack. The KGB would have killed you both if I had resisted the extraction."

"You're resourceful Irina, If you cared for Sydney as much as you say you did, you could have found another way; would have found another way."

"I was not willing to risk her life, to risk your life Jack."

"Your compassion astounds me, but tell me Irina, do you know what it's like to tell a six year old child that her mother is dead?"

"At least she was alive and she had her father."

"That wasn't any comfort to the one who cried herself to sleep every night for months."

"As I said I do not regret my actions nor do I need to explain them to you." Angrily Irina walked ahead of him, her sundress billowing in the wind behind her.

Jack let her go. She was furious and even he knew better than to egg her on when she was like this. A roll of thunder rippled through the sky and he looked up to see the once purple clouds now an angry shade of gray threatening to spill its rain. Irina noticed the impending storm and she turned around walking back towards him, oblivious to the tiny droplets that began to fall.

"Why are you here Jack?" She stood before him, her arms crossed over her chest defensively. "Have you come simply to rub my mistakes in my face."

"I am here for one reason and one reason only," Jack squared off. "Sydney, and your involvement in her death."

Irina reached up to touch his face trailing a frosted fingernail down his cheek. "If you actually believed I had any involvement in her death, I wouldn't be standing here."

Jack caught her hand and wrapped his fingers around her wrist. Gripping her wrist tightly he lowered it to her side. "Correction, If I actually believed she was dead, you wouldn't be standing here."

Irina glanced up at the darkened sky as raindrops began to fall heavier. She looked to him again both their faces glistening with the sudden rain. She jerked her arm away from Jack and walked back towards the path and the rickety stairs that led up the cliff to the house.

Jack followed. "Don't walk away from me," he grabbed her arm.

"In case you haven't noticed, its pouring and I am freezing," her eyes flashed angrily.

"What do you know about Sydney?" he did not release her arm.

"Nothing," she cried trying to pull away. "I've been in hiding for four months now, you're the first person I've had contact with. I don't know anything."

"You're lying." Jack pretended not to notice the tears in her eyes as he gripped her arm even tighter."

"No I'm not Jack." Irina raised her other hand to his chest pushing, trying to free herself from his harsh grasp. "If I really knew something would I keep it from you. Would I?"

"You tell me." Seeing the pain on her face Jack released her arm, but his hands grabbed her shoulders holding them tightly.

"I only know what I believe." She was crying now. Tears slid down her cheek in separation from the rain.

"And what is that?"

"That if my daughter... our daughter were dead, I would know." She stepped back from him and he allowed her to do so, his hands slipping from her shoulders. "I would feel it in my heart."

He believed her. The anguish on her face, her tears, they weren't a façade.

"Why did you want me here?"

A look of anger and disbelief crossed Irina's face. She held up her arms in frustration, "shall I state the obvious?"