Thanks to cmste, who betareaded the story from here on. :)
Part 8 - The Right Kind of Wrong
Note: This chapter is dedicated to LeAnn Rimes for wonderful inspiration I got hearing her song "The Right Kind Of Wrong" over and over again while writing this part.
When Jack awoke the next morning he didn't even realize that something was different at first. Usually it took him some time to pass from the state of sleeping to being awake, but this morning the time was shortened when he suddenly realized that his chest felt heavy... He managed to open his eyes, ignoring the hurting sunlight and found Irina snuggled into him. Her head was resting on his chest, her arm possessively wrapped around his waist. Her legs were still on her side of the bed and he wondered how she was able to sleep in this position. His hand touched her silk hair slightly and he couldn't resist to softly stroke her. This reminded him of those many Sunday mornings they had had, back then when they had still been a happy family. They had stayed in bed, sometimes until noon and had spend the time talking or just cuddling. He wished he could bring back those times - no, he corrected himself, not those times. I don't want Laura, I want her.
His hand stroked over the arm around his waist, then he decided that it would be best to get out of this bed before she awoke, otherwise she would most likely blame him on her position.
Carefully to not wake her up, he lifted her arm and rolled her over to the side. She moaned softly, but didn't wake up. He looked at her for a long time, noticing that one strap of her top had slid over her shoulder, drawing his attention to the soft skin of her shoulder.
He knew she would kill him if she woke up just now, but he couldn't resist. In the softest touch, he laid his lips to her skin, moving them up her shoulder to her neck. Then he finally looked at her, softly stroking her cheek with his finger.
"I love you..." he whispered, his voice couldn't be called more than a breath and he was shocked, first when he realized how true these words were and secondly when he heard her reply.
"I love you too..." Her voice was sleepy and he doubted that she knew whom she was talking to at all. He thought it better to leave now. After he had moved away from her, he covered her body with the sheets in order to keep her from getting cold.
Then he showered quickly, got dressed and left the room.
When Irina awoke about half an hour later, the first thing she did was wondering about why she was lying on Jack's side of the bed. The second thing was thinking. Wasn't there something she should remember?
She felt so light-hearted within and she couldn't remember why... although she should.
Maybe a nice dream, she concluded and got up to look out of the window. She stretched and smiled then. Tomorrow afternoon they were scheduled to reach Melbourne. That would make one and a half day to them, and since they had arranged for everything, they could just take some time off.
Irina quickly did her workout and left the bedroom. She found Yuki sitting in the living room and watching TV.
"Morning!" the girl warbled and Irina smiled at her.
"Morning... where's Jack?"
"He left about thirty minutes ago. I don't know where he went."
"Oh... fine. He's adult. Do you want to accompany me to the pool?"
"YAAA!" The girl cried out and Irina held her ears.
"I will just have a shower!" she interrupted Yuki and smiled at her face.
Ten minutes later they left in their casual wear with their bath-clothing underneath.
The pool area was already very populated, which was natural given the already very hot temperatures. Irina pulled off her clothing and dropped them into a free chair, then she headed into the water, followed by Yuki. They swam a race and after about half an hour Irina left the water in defeat. She was good in swimming, but that girl was like a fish in the water. She chuckled and let herself sink to her chair, closing her eyes to the sun. Only ten seconds later she jumped when cold water hit her unexpectedly. Yuki started to laugh out loud.
"Damn it, don't do that again!" Irina scolded and sank back lazily. Yuki jumped to the chair next to her, still laughing and rubbed her hair with her towel.
"Hey, they're starting a game in diving for little rings! Let's participate!" she cried out about three minutes later and Irina sighed.
"No, I just want to lie here for a moment..."
"You're boring!"
"I'm a little older than you, missy!" she reminded and peeked through half closed eyes. "But feel free to participate! I'll be lying here... sending out good thoughts for you!"
Yuki laughed and got up. "Fine then... sleep well!"
"I'm not sleeping. I'm well aware of my surroundings!"
"Yeah, we'll see that at the next load of cold water."
"Don't you dare..." Irina warned and Yuki ran away laughing. The woman sighed and closed her eyes again. This felt so comfortable, so sure, as if nothing in the world could ever happen to her again.
She let herself drown in the comforting sounds of laughter from the pool and the people talking around her, her mind drifting more and more away to sleep. She only came back to reality when she heard the squirming of the chair next to her that told her someone had sat down on it.
"And, did you win?" she asked sleepy, not opening her eyes.
"In what?" Jack's voice was amused and Irina sighed, too lazy to open her eyes.
"Sorry, I thought you were Yuki. She's participating in that stupid dive game over there in the pool."
"Yes, I know. I've been watching her. She's pretty good, but she has a strong rival who looks as if he usually participates in swimming contests."
Irina laughed softly and opened her eyes, blinking against the bright light of the sun and finally looking at the man. He offered her a drink.
"Thirsty?"
"Thanks..." she murmured surprised and took the cold glass. "Why are you..."
"I'm trying to negotiate a truce..." he explained and she shot him a smile.
"Starting another attempt after your last one failed pathetically? I have to admit that's courageous."
Only now she realized that he was wearing his swimming trunks, which allowed her to caught a glimpse at his well trained chest. Unaware of her reaction to him, she bit her lower lip and forced her attention back to the pool.
"Where have you been this morning?" she asked, trying to think of something else.
"Oh, I needed to free my head." He explained and caught a confused glimpse of her.
"Of what?"
"Of our fight yesterday. I thought that maybe you were right. I didn't mean to treat you... inappropriately. And I didn't mean it to come over as if I just wanted to sleep with you." He finished his sentence and took a sip of his cold drink. "I know your opinion of apologies, but I just wanted to say that. I've been a little... unbalanced lately."
She didn't say a word but observed him in a stunned silence. She had expected everything except for this.
Jack hated to lie to her, but he was sure that she would kill him if she knew what he had actually done this morning. Of course he had done some thinking, but he had also made some phone calls... including one with Kendall. He had told him exactly what was going on and despite Kendall's accusations and threats he had been able to convince him to not arrest Irina Derevko as soon as they reached Melbourne.
'What do you expect me to do? Wait until you decide to deliver her?' Kendall had asked ironically and Jack had tried to calm him down.
'Our efforts combined with hers might be able to be enough to locate Sydney... maybe even more. Maybe we can bring down the Covenant!' There had been a long silence, then finally he had heard Kendall clearing his throat.
'Fine. But I expect you to stay in contact with me. And as soon as you have finished your work, no matter to what conclusion, you will hand her over to us.'
'I will, but I've one condition!'
'Why did I have the feeling you had conditions!' Kendall had moaned.
'If I hand her over to you, you have to promise that she'll be granted immunity.'
'Jack, are you out of you min...'
He hadn't let Kendall finish, but continued. 'Not only will she be granted immunity, she'll also be allowed to be transferred to a safehouse where she can live at least with the illusion of a normal life. Of course there will be twenty-four hour surveillance. I will live with her, in that house, so there's no way she will be able to escape.'
Kendall had sighed deeply on the other end. 'Jack, please don't tell me you have fallen for her over again... She's Irina Derevko, a murderer and terrorist. Do I have to send you a copy of her file again to remind you of who she is?'
'Just do as I told you to! As soon as I have your agreement in writing, signed by the president of the United States, I will deliver her to you... otherwise you'll get nothing! And don't you dare try to interfere and arrest her before I tell you to.'
'Jack...'
He hadn't listened anymore but had hung up the phone staring into the dim darkness of the phone cabin. He knew she would be pissed like hell if she found out that he had contacted the CIA, informing them of their plans and whereabouts. To him it had been a good strategic move. If they got caught by the CIA now, they would at least not be treated as traitors.
"Why don't you lie down and relax?"
Her question interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality. He observed her for a moment, then he made a move to get up. "No, I wanted to read that files over once again, so I think I'll..."
"Jack..." Irina sat up straight, grabbing his arm. "You've read those files four times, we've been analyzing them about twice as often. I know you're worried about Sydney and so am I. But there is no sense in just reading over the same sheets of paper over and over again. We will find her! Now relax and enjoy the sun... or the pool. You can't be working all the time."
"There is still a lot that has to be taken care of. Passports for example... our flight tickets to Japan... money... just to enumerate the most important things."
"I already took care of that, now would you please sit down? You're driving me crazy standing in front of my chair all the time!"
"What do you mean by you took care of it?" he asked, sharply now and Irina shot him a confused look, not overhearing the upcoming anger in his voice.
"I contacted Katya and arranged for passports and money to lie for us in Melbourne."
"You did what?" he asked, a little louder than he had intended to.
"Jack, what's your problem? By the way, maybe you should yell a little louder! I think the steward on the other side of the pool didn't quite hear you yet!" she replied ironically and leaned back in her chair, determined to not let him ruin this beautiful day and her mood.
"Your attempt of being humorous is absolutely inappropriate!" he leaned over her, his eyes reflecting his anger. "What were you thinking, contacting the woman we don't know anything about!"
"You don't know anything about her, Jack, I do!"
"Well, I do know that someone planned to kill us on the ship, and that Jamis was a helper of that person. Who can tell you that Katya isn't one of them as well? She obviously knew where we were, and she hired Jamis." he pierced her with his eyes and stepped back. Irina shook her head.
"She is reliable, Jack. I can't tell you more than that."
"Do you have proof?"
"I don't need proof to know that she would never betray me! Would you please trust me on that?" she requested, starting to get annoyed now which he could clearly hear from her voice.
"Trust you." He laughed. "Why should I do that? You give me no reason to! All I know is that you just do things on your own without consulting me although we're supposed to be partners on this mission." He ignored the voice within that told him that he had done the exact same thing by calling Kendall.
"Jack, trust isn't actually about me telling you everything I do, but you not expecting me to, because you believe in my abilities and loyalty."
"But I don't! At least not in your loyalty. You've betrayed us more than once before, remember?"
"How nice to know!" she snapped back sharply and got up from her chair, her mood finally ruined. "So, if that's how you think about it, we should end our partnership now and here. I can't use a partner who questions my loyalty with every step I take on my own. If that's the case I'll be more successful if I go on from here on my own." Having said these words she just rushed him by without paying any more attention to him. She headed into the water of the pool and did the crawl until she felt neither fury nor her arms anymore.
When she left the water, she took some time to overcome the dizziness and stop her arms and legs from trembling.
Jack was gone.
Irina let herself sink to her chair. A bad conscience started to dawn on her. She knew that he was right, and she knew that, after all that had happened, if she had been in Jack's place, she wouldn't have trusted Katya either. But Katya was her sister.
For a moment she thought seriously about apologizing to Jack and explain that little fact to him, but then she reconsidered the dangers of this revelation. If Jack planned to play her out, which she didn't believe since he was concerned about Sydney's life more than anything else, he would most likely draw Katya in as well. Irina didn't want her sister to pay for crimes she hadn't even been involved in. Although Katya wasn't an angel herself, her crimes were more confined to their homecountry Russia.
She had rarely committed any international illegalities except for the very few times when she had helped her, Irina or it had been absolutely necessary to cross international borders. To other people Katya had a really white slate, nobody expected her to be involved with terrorists or murderers, and that was what gave her such a great power.
I can't trust him on that, she thought to herself and closed her eyes, losing herself in thoughts. Jack had helped her. He hadn't set her up in Athens and even when she had caught him, he had protected her by buying her time to escape.
He might have stolen my disk, but he never did play me out, she thought and sighed as her thoughts went further. On the other hand, many things had changed since then. She had felt as if Jack had trusted her back then - at least enough to not question her behavior. Now he didn't seem to trust her at all. Was it because she had shot him? Was it because she had been staying in a hotel of the Covenant?
She didn't know for sure, but she decided to have a conversation with him next time she saw him. She didn't want to work alone - in fact she needed him. It made her feel safe if he backed her up on a mission. She opened her eyes abruptly when she realized, that of all the people she had ever known or worked with, she trusted him the most - along with Katya.
~*~*~*~*~
Irina didn't see Jack the whole day long. It was as if he had disappeared - which was actually impossible given the fact that they were on a ship.
When he didn't show up until night, her wonder turned into serious concern. She had dissolved their partnership and as she knew Jack he had taken her words exactly as she had said them.
"He isn't here yet!" Yuki interrupted the silence and Irina shot her a slightly annoyed glance by this stating of the obvious. The girl didn't even care. "Aren't you worried?"
"He's adult!" Irina replied hoping that the girl didn't see her true feelings, and turned her attention back to the TV screen without actually knowing what the movie was about.
"Why do you adults always have to be that stubborn..." Yuki sighed dramatically, but Irina didn't react.
She started when suddenly a loud knock on the door interrupted the sounds of the TV and jumped almost up. Hastily tying her bathrobe together, she opened the door and looked into the face of a steward.
"Um yes?" She didn't hide the confusion of her voice and he cleared his throat.
"Mrs. Miles... this is really embarrassing to us, but..." He stopped, obviously weighing his words and Irina looked at him impatiently.
"What is it?"
"Your husband... he kind of refuses to leave the bar. We want to close and if he doesn't leave voluntarily, we'll have to consult our security team. So I thought, I'd contact you to prevent any unnecessary embarrassing situations."
"Yeah..." Irina nodded absently. "I'll take care of him. Thanks for coming to me first." She left her room and pulled the door closed behind her, not caring that she was barefoot and wore her bathrobe. "Where is he?"
She followed the steward down the corridor, her mind working relentlessly. It was her fault. It wasn't typical for Jack to behave like he did right now, and she blamed her words on that. She had hurt him.
They crossed some larger halls, until they reached the lower floor of the dining hall. They passed it by and went up the small stairs to the second floor, then through a smaller door into a private bar room.
It was beautiful, one side all covered with windows through which allowed to look out into the huge dining hall - a magnificent view since they were on the middle level and could therefore see the lower floor as well as the upper floor.
Two barkeepers were cleaning the rest of the glasses behind the bar, obviously sunken into a private conversation.
"Over there..." The steward said lowly and pointed to the piano. Jack was sitting on the chair in front of it, a drink on the top of the instrument. Irina nodded at the steward.
"Thank you... will you give me a few moments alone with him?"
"Of course..."
He left and Irina went slowly towards the piano, ignoring the confused looks of the barkeepers, who were now turning their attention to the woman in the bathrobe.
"Jack..." Irina said softly when she stood behind him. His body didn't show any reaction at all.
"Leave me alone!" he demanded simply and she frowned her forehead.
"I will, as soon as you come with me! They want to close this bar and they're going to call security if you don't leave. So..."
"I told them, I will leave as soon as they arrange for a single room for me!" he interrupted her sharply and turned to look at her now. His eyes widened in disbelief and he scanned her appearance in disbelief - started with her bare feet to her silk bathrobe.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"Because I was about to go to bed when the steward knocked on our door and told me what was going on." She took the glass from the piano into her hand and looked at the brown liquid inside. "How much have you been drinking?"
"Nothing! I realized that I can't let you make me ruin my own life by drinking every time we meet!"
She raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed at his obviously aggressive attitude towards her, but decided not to react to his hidden accusation.
"Jack, since you're sober you know that refusing to leave this place will get you nowhere, except for an empty storage room where they'll arrest you for the rest of the journey if they feel that you're disturbing the ship's order!"
"Don't pretend that it would disturb you! I would be out of your way, not bothering you or your... agendas anymore!" he replied dryly and turned around to the keyboard of the piano again. She sighed, her eyes meeting those of the barkeepers, who were still following the conversation with interest. When they now saw the threat in her face, they turned around hastily, suddenly busy with taking the glasses back to the cupboards they belonged to.
Irina went closer to the man in front of her, her body softly brushing his as she laid her hands to his shoulders, softly stroking them.
"We both said things, that weren't actually compliments for the other and as far as I'm concerned... I'm sorry! I don't want this partnership to end, Jack! I need you on this."
"For what? I thought you could do everything on your own!" he replied dismissive, forcing back the feelings that her touch woke inside him.
"I'm terribly sorry. I can't do everything on my own." She murmured and he gave a short ironic laugh. She stroke softly through his hair. "Okay, I'll tell you. She's my sister!"
"Who?" Jack asked, his voice not hiding his confusion at this revelation he did not really know what to do with right now.
"Katya." Irina replied lowly. "She's my sister. I didn't tell you because... she has nothing to do with any of my crimes and I didn't want her involved in some way. But obviously one of us has to start trusting the other. I totally understand that given our past it can't be you, so it has to be me then."
"You sister..." he replied her words and turned around unexpectedly. "You have a sister?"
"Actually have two... but I'm closer to Katya. That's why I knew she would never betray me." She avoided his eyes. Suddenly they were so close - too close for her to force back her feelings. "I don't expect you to trust me now, but please lets finish this together!"
She shrieked softly when he turned them both around abruptly, so that she was trapped between his body and the piano. His hands formed out the shaped of her waist.
"I want to trust you..." he murmured and opened her bathrobe. "But every time I start to, I remember the many times before when you have just played with me or Sydney - used us for you own intentions."
Her hands lifted to his head and softly stroke through his hair. She didn't know what to answer to this accusations since she knew he was right.
"God, you're so beautiful..." he whispered and placed his lips softly to her belly. At the first touch of his mouth to her skin, she felt herself drowning in him and feared to lose her balance. Her hand went to her side to lean herself on the keys of the piano. They gave a slight plunk when she hit them.
Jack got up, finally searching her lips with his, devouring them in a deep kiss. He lifted her up so she was sitting completely on top of the pianos, her legs standing on the keys. In the softest touch he let his lips draw a path down her chin to her neck. She leaned her head back, her hands clasping his shoulders searching for support.
Finally their eyes met and Irina was overwhelmed by the tenderness she found in his eyes.
"Considering our agreement to act professionally, you should leave now..." He murmured close to her lips. "...because if you don't I might not let you go anymore."
"You know, I've been thinking this agreement over!" she replied, her lips brushing over his in a playful breath of a kiss, that could barely be called a touch at all.
"Have you?" he asked and chuckled amused.
"Yes! I was thinking that maybe we should drop it when the sun goes down." Her voice was hoarse, her hands pulling him impatiently closer to her. Her lips searched for his, but he evaded her touch playfully.
"So are you implying, that we have sex at night, and act professionally at day?" he asked, bending his head to let his tongue run across the skin of her neck.
She closed her eyes, her hands stroking through his hair. "To me it seems the best way. We can't get our hands off each other... we're both frustrated, which might be one of the main reasons for our recent aggressions. So it's actually a means to improve our professional partnership." She explained and gave a soft moan when his tongue ran over the sensitive right under her ear.
"So your theory is that if we have sex at night it will help us to work as a team without fighting all the time." He asked and looked into her eyes that were gleaming dark with desire.
"That's the theory, yes..." she replied, her hands lying on his cheek. "Provided that neither of us has any expectations later. It would be just meaningless..."
"But what about..." he stopped for a moment, carefully scanning her eyes. "What about our discussion yesterday evening where you wanted me to prove that I don't think of you as..."
She silenced him with her fingers which she placed softly on his lips. "Shhh... Doesn't matter anymore."
He looked into her eyes, surprised by her reaction. "Really... why is that?"
"Because maybe we both expected too much. We can't trust each other personally... at least not yet, so we shouldn't try to force anything, since that's how we always ended up fighting. If we just work together on a professional base, it doesn't matter what you think of me, or I think of you. We're free persons, just having meaningless sex, that's it. No deeper emotions or fears of betrayal involved." She whispered seductively against his ear and felt him shiver.
"That doesn't sound very romantic..." he breathed into her ear and she smiled while running her fingers over his cheek.
"Well, what about our relationship is romantic, Jack? We're enemy spies! We betray each other, we don't trust each other, we fight every time we have a conversation... but we need each other physically, so let's just give in to it! Just the way we did nineteen months ago... in my house and Athens. You do still remember, don't you?"
She nibbled seductively on his lower lip, her hoarse words leading his thoughts back to their hot encounter in Athens. As the vivid memory of the happenings in the brothel crossed his mind, he suddenly took possession of her mouth in a passionate, fierce kiss, urging her further onto the piano.
She was right, he needed her, but wasn't willing to trust her - although he loved her, that he had to admit - at least to himself. But thinking or worse analyzing his relationship with her had caused nothing but problems so far. So maybe the best way for them was to bring it to a level where talking about what they felt for each other was unwanted - therefore he wouldn't be forced to neither think about his feelings nor dealing with them.
Irina gave in to every touch, every feeling - and every emotion she felt deep within. She knew that her offer to him was the best way to do in order to find Sydney - besides she needed him, and this - meaningless, passionate sex - was obviously all he was willing to give, so she would take it. Even if it meant that her heart would break when their mission was complete and they separated to continue on different ways.
Katya's warning words were still vivid in her mind - not to fall for Jack again and under no circumstances get emotionally attached to him - and Irina had to admit that Katya had been right with everything she had said. Nonetheless, with all the heartbreak it would bring to her, she did not want to waste the very few time she could have with him, even if it was wrong -Jack Bristow was just the right kind of wrong.
~*~*~*~
TBC
Part 8 - The Right Kind of Wrong
Note: This chapter is dedicated to LeAnn Rimes for wonderful inspiration I got hearing her song "The Right Kind Of Wrong" over and over again while writing this part.
When Jack awoke the next morning he didn't even realize that something was different at first. Usually it took him some time to pass from the state of sleeping to being awake, but this morning the time was shortened when he suddenly realized that his chest felt heavy... He managed to open his eyes, ignoring the hurting sunlight and found Irina snuggled into him. Her head was resting on his chest, her arm possessively wrapped around his waist. Her legs were still on her side of the bed and he wondered how she was able to sleep in this position. His hand touched her silk hair slightly and he couldn't resist to softly stroke her. This reminded him of those many Sunday mornings they had had, back then when they had still been a happy family. They had stayed in bed, sometimes until noon and had spend the time talking or just cuddling. He wished he could bring back those times - no, he corrected himself, not those times. I don't want Laura, I want her.
His hand stroked over the arm around his waist, then he decided that it would be best to get out of this bed before she awoke, otherwise she would most likely blame him on her position.
Carefully to not wake her up, he lifted her arm and rolled her over to the side. She moaned softly, but didn't wake up. He looked at her for a long time, noticing that one strap of her top had slid over her shoulder, drawing his attention to the soft skin of her shoulder.
He knew she would kill him if she woke up just now, but he couldn't resist. In the softest touch, he laid his lips to her skin, moving them up her shoulder to her neck. Then he finally looked at her, softly stroking her cheek with his finger.
"I love you..." he whispered, his voice couldn't be called more than a breath and he was shocked, first when he realized how true these words were and secondly when he heard her reply.
"I love you too..." Her voice was sleepy and he doubted that she knew whom she was talking to at all. He thought it better to leave now. After he had moved away from her, he covered her body with the sheets in order to keep her from getting cold.
Then he showered quickly, got dressed and left the room.
When Irina awoke about half an hour later, the first thing she did was wondering about why she was lying on Jack's side of the bed. The second thing was thinking. Wasn't there something she should remember?
She felt so light-hearted within and she couldn't remember why... although she should.
Maybe a nice dream, she concluded and got up to look out of the window. She stretched and smiled then. Tomorrow afternoon they were scheduled to reach Melbourne. That would make one and a half day to them, and since they had arranged for everything, they could just take some time off.
Irina quickly did her workout and left the bedroom. She found Yuki sitting in the living room and watching TV.
"Morning!" the girl warbled and Irina smiled at her.
"Morning... where's Jack?"
"He left about thirty minutes ago. I don't know where he went."
"Oh... fine. He's adult. Do you want to accompany me to the pool?"
"YAAA!" The girl cried out and Irina held her ears.
"I will just have a shower!" she interrupted Yuki and smiled at her face.
Ten minutes later they left in their casual wear with their bath-clothing underneath.
The pool area was already very populated, which was natural given the already very hot temperatures. Irina pulled off her clothing and dropped them into a free chair, then she headed into the water, followed by Yuki. They swam a race and after about half an hour Irina left the water in defeat. She was good in swimming, but that girl was like a fish in the water. She chuckled and let herself sink to her chair, closing her eyes to the sun. Only ten seconds later she jumped when cold water hit her unexpectedly. Yuki started to laugh out loud.
"Damn it, don't do that again!" Irina scolded and sank back lazily. Yuki jumped to the chair next to her, still laughing and rubbed her hair with her towel.
"Hey, they're starting a game in diving for little rings! Let's participate!" she cried out about three minutes later and Irina sighed.
"No, I just want to lie here for a moment..."
"You're boring!"
"I'm a little older than you, missy!" she reminded and peeked through half closed eyes. "But feel free to participate! I'll be lying here... sending out good thoughts for you!"
Yuki laughed and got up. "Fine then... sleep well!"
"I'm not sleeping. I'm well aware of my surroundings!"
"Yeah, we'll see that at the next load of cold water."
"Don't you dare..." Irina warned and Yuki ran away laughing. The woman sighed and closed her eyes again. This felt so comfortable, so sure, as if nothing in the world could ever happen to her again.
She let herself drown in the comforting sounds of laughter from the pool and the people talking around her, her mind drifting more and more away to sleep. She only came back to reality when she heard the squirming of the chair next to her that told her someone had sat down on it.
"And, did you win?" she asked sleepy, not opening her eyes.
"In what?" Jack's voice was amused and Irina sighed, too lazy to open her eyes.
"Sorry, I thought you were Yuki. She's participating in that stupid dive game over there in the pool."
"Yes, I know. I've been watching her. She's pretty good, but she has a strong rival who looks as if he usually participates in swimming contests."
Irina laughed softly and opened her eyes, blinking against the bright light of the sun and finally looking at the man. He offered her a drink.
"Thirsty?"
"Thanks..." she murmured surprised and took the cold glass. "Why are you..."
"I'm trying to negotiate a truce..." he explained and she shot him a smile.
"Starting another attempt after your last one failed pathetically? I have to admit that's courageous."
Only now she realized that he was wearing his swimming trunks, which allowed her to caught a glimpse at his well trained chest. Unaware of her reaction to him, she bit her lower lip and forced her attention back to the pool.
"Where have you been this morning?" she asked, trying to think of something else.
"Oh, I needed to free my head." He explained and caught a confused glimpse of her.
"Of what?"
"Of our fight yesterday. I thought that maybe you were right. I didn't mean to treat you... inappropriately. And I didn't mean it to come over as if I just wanted to sleep with you." He finished his sentence and took a sip of his cold drink. "I know your opinion of apologies, but I just wanted to say that. I've been a little... unbalanced lately."
She didn't say a word but observed him in a stunned silence. She had expected everything except for this.
Jack hated to lie to her, but he was sure that she would kill him if she knew what he had actually done this morning. Of course he had done some thinking, but he had also made some phone calls... including one with Kendall. He had told him exactly what was going on and despite Kendall's accusations and threats he had been able to convince him to not arrest Irina Derevko as soon as they reached Melbourne.
'What do you expect me to do? Wait until you decide to deliver her?' Kendall had asked ironically and Jack had tried to calm him down.
'Our efforts combined with hers might be able to be enough to locate Sydney... maybe even more. Maybe we can bring down the Covenant!' There had been a long silence, then finally he had heard Kendall clearing his throat.
'Fine. But I expect you to stay in contact with me. And as soon as you have finished your work, no matter to what conclusion, you will hand her over to us.'
'I will, but I've one condition!'
'Why did I have the feeling you had conditions!' Kendall had moaned.
'If I hand her over to you, you have to promise that she'll be granted immunity.'
'Jack, are you out of you min...'
He hadn't let Kendall finish, but continued. 'Not only will she be granted immunity, she'll also be allowed to be transferred to a safehouse where she can live at least with the illusion of a normal life. Of course there will be twenty-four hour surveillance. I will live with her, in that house, so there's no way she will be able to escape.'
Kendall had sighed deeply on the other end. 'Jack, please don't tell me you have fallen for her over again... She's Irina Derevko, a murderer and terrorist. Do I have to send you a copy of her file again to remind you of who she is?'
'Just do as I told you to! As soon as I have your agreement in writing, signed by the president of the United States, I will deliver her to you... otherwise you'll get nothing! And don't you dare try to interfere and arrest her before I tell you to.'
'Jack...'
He hadn't listened anymore but had hung up the phone staring into the dim darkness of the phone cabin. He knew she would be pissed like hell if she found out that he had contacted the CIA, informing them of their plans and whereabouts. To him it had been a good strategic move. If they got caught by the CIA now, they would at least not be treated as traitors.
"Why don't you lie down and relax?"
Her question interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to reality. He observed her for a moment, then he made a move to get up. "No, I wanted to read that files over once again, so I think I'll..."
"Jack..." Irina sat up straight, grabbing his arm. "You've read those files four times, we've been analyzing them about twice as often. I know you're worried about Sydney and so am I. But there is no sense in just reading over the same sheets of paper over and over again. We will find her! Now relax and enjoy the sun... or the pool. You can't be working all the time."
"There is still a lot that has to be taken care of. Passports for example... our flight tickets to Japan... money... just to enumerate the most important things."
"I already took care of that, now would you please sit down? You're driving me crazy standing in front of my chair all the time!"
"What do you mean by you took care of it?" he asked, sharply now and Irina shot him a confused look, not overhearing the upcoming anger in his voice.
"I contacted Katya and arranged for passports and money to lie for us in Melbourne."
"You did what?" he asked, a little louder than he had intended to.
"Jack, what's your problem? By the way, maybe you should yell a little louder! I think the steward on the other side of the pool didn't quite hear you yet!" she replied ironically and leaned back in her chair, determined to not let him ruin this beautiful day and her mood.
"Your attempt of being humorous is absolutely inappropriate!" he leaned over her, his eyes reflecting his anger. "What were you thinking, contacting the woman we don't know anything about!"
"You don't know anything about her, Jack, I do!"
"Well, I do know that someone planned to kill us on the ship, and that Jamis was a helper of that person. Who can tell you that Katya isn't one of them as well? She obviously knew where we were, and she hired Jamis." he pierced her with his eyes and stepped back. Irina shook her head.
"She is reliable, Jack. I can't tell you more than that."
"Do you have proof?"
"I don't need proof to know that she would never betray me! Would you please trust me on that?" she requested, starting to get annoyed now which he could clearly hear from her voice.
"Trust you." He laughed. "Why should I do that? You give me no reason to! All I know is that you just do things on your own without consulting me although we're supposed to be partners on this mission." He ignored the voice within that told him that he had done the exact same thing by calling Kendall.
"Jack, trust isn't actually about me telling you everything I do, but you not expecting me to, because you believe in my abilities and loyalty."
"But I don't! At least not in your loyalty. You've betrayed us more than once before, remember?"
"How nice to know!" she snapped back sharply and got up from her chair, her mood finally ruined. "So, if that's how you think about it, we should end our partnership now and here. I can't use a partner who questions my loyalty with every step I take on my own. If that's the case I'll be more successful if I go on from here on my own." Having said these words she just rushed him by without paying any more attention to him. She headed into the water of the pool and did the crawl until she felt neither fury nor her arms anymore.
When she left the water, she took some time to overcome the dizziness and stop her arms and legs from trembling.
Jack was gone.
Irina let herself sink to her chair. A bad conscience started to dawn on her. She knew that he was right, and she knew that, after all that had happened, if she had been in Jack's place, she wouldn't have trusted Katya either. But Katya was her sister.
For a moment she thought seriously about apologizing to Jack and explain that little fact to him, but then she reconsidered the dangers of this revelation. If Jack planned to play her out, which she didn't believe since he was concerned about Sydney's life more than anything else, he would most likely draw Katya in as well. Irina didn't want her sister to pay for crimes she hadn't even been involved in. Although Katya wasn't an angel herself, her crimes were more confined to their homecountry Russia.
She had rarely committed any international illegalities except for the very few times when she had helped her, Irina or it had been absolutely necessary to cross international borders. To other people Katya had a really white slate, nobody expected her to be involved with terrorists or murderers, and that was what gave her such a great power.
I can't trust him on that, she thought to herself and closed her eyes, losing herself in thoughts. Jack had helped her. He hadn't set her up in Athens and even when she had caught him, he had protected her by buying her time to escape.
He might have stolen my disk, but he never did play me out, she thought and sighed as her thoughts went further. On the other hand, many things had changed since then. She had felt as if Jack had trusted her back then - at least enough to not question her behavior. Now he didn't seem to trust her at all. Was it because she had shot him? Was it because she had been staying in a hotel of the Covenant?
She didn't know for sure, but she decided to have a conversation with him next time she saw him. She didn't want to work alone - in fact she needed him. It made her feel safe if he backed her up on a mission. She opened her eyes abruptly when she realized, that of all the people she had ever known or worked with, she trusted him the most - along with Katya.
~*~*~*~*~
Irina didn't see Jack the whole day long. It was as if he had disappeared - which was actually impossible given the fact that they were on a ship.
When he didn't show up until night, her wonder turned into serious concern. She had dissolved their partnership and as she knew Jack he had taken her words exactly as she had said them.
"He isn't here yet!" Yuki interrupted the silence and Irina shot her a slightly annoyed glance by this stating of the obvious. The girl didn't even care. "Aren't you worried?"
"He's adult!" Irina replied hoping that the girl didn't see her true feelings, and turned her attention back to the TV screen without actually knowing what the movie was about.
"Why do you adults always have to be that stubborn..." Yuki sighed dramatically, but Irina didn't react.
She started when suddenly a loud knock on the door interrupted the sounds of the TV and jumped almost up. Hastily tying her bathrobe together, she opened the door and looked into the face of a steward.
"Um yes?" She didn't hide the confusion of her voice and he cleared his throat.
"Mrs. Miles... this is really embarrassing to us, but..." He stopped, obviously weighing his words and Irina looked at him impatiently.
"What is it?"
"Your husband... he kind of refuses to leave the bar. We want to close and if he doesn't leave voluntarily, we'll have to consult our security team. So I thought, I'd contact you to prevent any unnecessary embarrassing situations."
"Yeah..." Irina nodded absently. "I'll take care of him. Thanks for coming to me first." She left her room and pulled the door closed behind her, not caring that she was barefoot and wore her bathrobe. "Where is he?"
She followed the steward down the corridor, her mind working relentlessly. It was her fault. It wasn't typical for Jack to behave like he did right now, and she blamed her words on that. She had hurt him.
They crossed some larger halls, until they reached the lower floor of the dining hall. They passed it by and went up the small stairs to the second floor, then through a smaller door into a private bar room.
It was beautiful, one side all covered with windows through which allowed to look out into the huge dining hall - a magnificent view since they were on the middle level and could therefore see the lower floor as well as the upper floor.
Two barkeepers were cleaning the rest of the glasses behind the bar, obviously sunken into a private conversation.
"Over there..." The steward said lowly and pointed to the piano. Jack was sitting on the chair in front of it, a drink on the top of the instrument. Irina nodded at the steward.
"Thank you... will you give me a few moments alone with him?"
"Of course..."
He left and Irina went slowly towards the piano, ignoring the confused looks of the barkeepers, who were now turning their attention to the woman in the bathrobe.
"Jack..." Irina said softly when she stood behind him. His body didn't show any reaction at all.
"Leave me alone!" he demanded simply and she frowned her forehead.
"I will, as soon as you come with me! They want to close this bar and they're going to call security if you don't leave. So..."
"I told them, I will leave as soon as they arrange for a single room for me!" he interrupted her sharply and turned to look at her now. His eyes widened in disbelief and he scanned her appearance in disbelief - started with her bare feet to her silk bathrobe.
"Why are you dressed like that?"
"Because I was about to go to bed when the steward knocked on our door and told me what was going on." She took the glass from the piano into her hand and looked at the brown liquid inside. "How much have you been drinking?"
"Nothing! I realized that I can't let you make me ruin my own life by drinking every time we meet!"
She raised her eyes to the ceiling and sighed at his obviously aggressive attitude towards her, but decided not to react to his hidden accusation.
"Jack, since you're sober you know that refusing to leave this place will get you nowhere, except for an empty storage room where they'll arrest you for the rest of the journey if they feel that you're disturbing the ship's order!"
"Don't pretend that it would disturb you! I would be out of your way, not bothering you or your... agendas anymore!" he replied dryly and turned around to the keyboard of the piano again. She sighed, her eyes meeting those of the barkeepers, who were still following the conversation with interest. When they now saw the threat in her face, they turned around hastily, suddenly busy with taking the glasses back to the cupboards they belonged to.
Irina went closer to the man in front of her, her body softly brushing his as she laid her hands to his shoulders, softly stroking them.
"We both said things, that weren't actually compliments for the other and as far as I'm concerned... I'm sorry! I don't want this partnership to end, Jack! I need you on this."
"For what? I thought you could do everything on your own!" he replied dismissive, forcing back the feelings that her touch woke inside him.
"I'm terribly sorry. I can't do everything on my own." She murmured and he gave a short ironic laugh. She stroke softly through his hair. "Okay, I'll tell you. She's my sister!"
"Who?" Jack asked, his voice not hiding his confusion at this revelation he did not really know what to do with right now.
"Katya." Irina replied lowly. "She's my sister. I didn't tell you because... she has nothing to do with any of my crimes and I didn't want her involved in some way. But obviously one of us has to start trusting the other. I totally understand that given our past it can't be you, so it has to be me then."
"You sister..." he replied her words and turned around unexpectedly. "You have a sister?"
"Actually have two... but I'm closer to Katya. That's why I knew she would never betray me." She avoided his eyes. Suddenly they were so close - too close for her to force back her feelings. "I don't expect you to trust me now, but please lets finish this together!"
She shrieked softly when he turned them both around abruptly, so that she was trapped between his body and the piano. His hands formed out the shaped of her waist.
"I want to trust you..." he murmured and opened her bathrobe. "But every time I start to, I remember the many times before when you have just played with me or Sydney - used us for you own intentions."
Her hands lifted to his head and softly stroke through his hair. She didn't know what to answer to this accusations since she knew he was right.
"God, you're so beautiful..." he whispered and placed his lips softly to her belly. At the first touch of his mouth to her skin, she felt herself drowning in him and feared to lose her balance. Her hand went to her side to lean herself on the keys of the piano. They gave a slight plunk when she hit them.
Jack got up, finally searching her lips with his, devouring them in a deep kiss. He lifted her up so she was sitting completely on top of the pianos, her legs standing on the keys. In the softest touch he let his lips draw a path down her chin to her neck. She leaned her head back, her hands clasping his shoulders searching for support.
Finally their eyes met and Irina was overwhelmed by the tenderness she found in his eyes.
"Considering our agreement to act professionally, you should leave now..." He murmured close to her lips. "...because if you don't I might not let you go anymore."
"You know, I've been thinking this agreement over!" she replied, her lips brushing over his in a playful breath of a kiss, that could barely be called a touch at all.
"Have you?" he asked and chuckled amused.
"Yes! I was thinking that maybe we should drop it when the sun goes down." Her voice was hoarse, her hands pulling him impatiently closer to her. Her lips searched for his, but he evaded her touch playfully.
"So are you implying, that we have sex at night, and act professionally at day?" he asked, bending his head to let his tongue run across the skin of her neck.
She closed her eyes, her hands stroking through his hair. "To me it seems the best way. We can't get our hands off each other... we're both frustrated, which might be one of the main reasons for our recent aggressions. So it's actually a means to improve our professional partnership." She explained and gave a soft moan when his tongue ran over the sensitive right under her ear.
"So your theory is that if we have sex at night it will help us to work as a team without fighting all the time." He asked and looked into her eyes that were gleaming dark with desire.
"That's the theory, yes..." she replied, her hands lying on his cheek. "Provided that neither of us has any expectations later. It would be just meaningless..."
"But what about..." he stopped for a moment, carefully scanning her eyes. "What about our discussion yesterday evening where you wanted me to prove that I don't think of you as..."
She silenced him with her fingers which she placed softly on his lips. "Shhh... Doesn't matter anymore."
He looked into her eyes, surprised by her reaction. "Really... why is that?"
"Because maybe we both expected too much. We can't trust each other personally... at least not yet, so we shouldn't try to force anything, since that's how we always ended up fighting. If we just work together on a professional base, it doesn't matter what you think of me, or I think of you. We're free persons, just having meaningless sex, that's it. No deeper emotions or fears of betrayal involved." She whispered seductively against his ear and felt him shiver.
"That doesn't sound very romantic..." he breathed into her ear and she smiled while running her fingers over his cheek.
"Well, what about our relationship is romantic, Jack? We're enemy spies! We betray each other, we don't trust each other, we fight every time we have a conversation... but we need each other physically, so let's just give in to it! Just the way we did nineteen months ago... in my house and Athens. You do still remember, don't you?"
She nibbled seductively on his lower lip, her hoarse words leading his thoughts back to their hot encounter in Athens. As the vivid memory of the happenings in the brothel crossed his mind, he suddenly took possession of her mouth in a passionate, fierce kiss, urging her further onto the piano.
She was right, he needed her, but wasn't willing to trust her - although he loved her, that he had to admit - at least to himself. But thinking or worse analyzing his relationship with her had caused nothing but problems so far. So maybe the best way for them was to bring it to a level where talking about what they felt for each other was unwanted - therefore he wouldn't be forced to neither think about his feelings nor dealing with them.
Irina gave in to every touch, every feeling - and every emotion she felt deep within. She knew that her offer to him was the best way to do in order to find Sydney - besides she needed him, and this - meaningless, passionate sex - was obviously all he was willing to give, so she would take it. Even if it meant that her heart would break when their mission was complete and they separated to continue on different ways.
Katya's warning words were still vivid in her mind - not to fall for Jack again and under no circumstances get emotionally attached to him - and Irina had to admit that Katya had been right with everything she had said. Nonetheless, with all the heartbreak it would bring to her, she did not want to waste the very few time she could have with him, even if it was wrong -Jack Bristow was just the right kind of wrong.
~*~*~*~
TBC