Chapter Nineteen
The return trip was as normal as it could be, they managed to catch a plane out later that day, the five adopting aliases and sitting apart and sleeping, unsurprisingly for most of the trip. At the airport they had dinner each sitting watching the others, playful smiles crossing the table at many instances. And then they had to board, Sark who had bought a ticket with them took a moment to explain himself.
"I'm coming with you back to LA."
Irina smiled at him, "We guessed that," she grasped Jack's hand in a way Sydney had never thought she'd see her father manage.
Sark just shrugged, eyeing her over, "I have files, on a lot of things," his smile turned from smug to secretive; "I believe that they might be useful to the CIA."
Jack's brow creased, "And what? You plan on giving them to us?"
Sark nodded and in his cocky British accent he responded, quietly as he passed his boarding pass to the attendant, "Precisely, once back, I'll get them and meet you at the LA CIA headquarters, perhaps ten minutes later than you."
Irina raised an eyebrow at him but didn't question, instead watching as he tried to the seduce the blond in the twenty seconds she was concentrating on him. Sadly, he failed. Irina dropped Jack's hand and pretended not to know him as she boarded the plane, feeling his presence behind him, but knowing there was no way they would be able to talk until they landed. Taking her seat, she relaxed and soon fell asleep, the pain and adventure colliding to result in fatigue.
Jack was seated three seats in front of her and soon succumbed to slumbers as well, along with the Sydney and Vaughn who simply fell asleep watching each other out of the corner of their eyes across the aisle. Sark, on the other hand grabbed his chance. He soon had the airplane phone to his ear and was whispering into it at a tremendous rate, hanging up and redialing a new number and waiting, impatiently for someone to pick up. The airline crew was intrigued to try to catch words from him and ten minutes into the flight he had seduced one far enough to find himself in a first class seat with glasses of wine and snacks surrounding him.
His seduction was perhaps partially due to the fact that each time he dialed a new number, he spoke a new language, one particular hostess would later swear to CIA agents that he went through over twenty when in fact; it was perhaps more than twenty five. Half way home, he sighed heavily and hung up the phone, smirking, content with his actions and turning to the hostess nearest by.
Grinning she helped him out, taking the phone and empty glasses before sitting down beside him, her long red hair suddenly out and curling around her face as she listened avidly as he told her tails of triumph over the black market, back in Indonesia, where he had been for a year. In typical Sark style, he also weaved in enough truth so that when the CIA did track her down, they would be able to work out how he had pulled it all off, but in honesty, he just liked the conversation, women were, to him, the most interesting beings there were.
Several hours later they landed, the impact waking the agents left asleep and startling them into action. The pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker and they all waited patiently to be let off the plane, twenty minutes later they were waiting outside customs and another ten minutes after that and they were through and standing outside, wild winds whipping around them as they talked to each other for the first time in hours.
"Long flight," Irina said the first words of all of them. Sark just smirked.
"Yes," Jack said, a tinge of playfulness to his words, "But now we have to get back." Irina nodded and Vaughn and Sydney continued to watch them,, Sark looked to have his attention elsewhere.
"Where do we go from here?" Sydney asked, slightly sad to see her parents split so soon after they had come together.
"Well, Sark is free," Jack said, his voice sounding easier than he had intended, "He can leave whenever he wants. I suppose that the four of us just go back to the CIA and walk in the front door."
Vaughn nodded, looking to see what Sark was up to, his eyes were scanning the roads, "Rent cars or risk a taxi?"
Jack shrugged, to catch a taxi was dangerous and against CIA rules but he was tempted, how many rules had he already broken? So Sark answered for him, "Take the cars, over there," he pointed out the rental car yard and the four looked to him, openly suspicious. "I'll waltz into the CIA ten minutes after you; just don't expect me to hang around."
Jack raised an eyebrow, not sure what was going on, Irina appeared to have less of an idea, "Oh," Sark added as he turned and began o walk away, "Take separate cars, take your time."
Irina grinned at his back while the others just hid smiles as he turned a corner and disappeared from view. "I think we should take his advice." She said carefully, tempted to wink at Jack but holding back for the sake of their daughter.
Not long after, Jack and Irina were cruising along the highway in a black rental, Sydney and Vaughn trailing. Sydney's eyes continued to slide to Vaughn's, catching the other staring, grins would take over their faces and immediately they'd look back to the road. Realizing that they would eventually get back to the CIA headquarters, Vaughn spoke first from behind the wheel, "Do you think that they'll arrest your dad?"
Sydney shrugged, looking at him again, "Probably, I mean they arrested me for maybe being some woman in prophesy that was written by some guy hundreds of years ago. I mean he's going to walk in there with his arm around her." Sydney paused, "You know, I can't wait to see Kendall's face."
Vaughn smiled sensing she was more worried than she was letting on, "You know, they can't really be too hard on him; I mean he did bring her back, and he rescued us."
Sydney shook her head, "It's just stupid though, I mean, unfair to him and mom, it's really stupid, everyone knows that he didn't break her out to help him take over the world and the only thing that stopped him from breaking her out legally in the first place was protocol. Stupid protocol."
Vaughn caught on quickly, "You think protocol is stupid?" Sydney smiled at him, thanking him for making this conversation easier.
"Yeah, I mean most of it makes no sense, thinking that they can weigh up loss of human life against money and holding people down and everything else." She paused looking at him quickly before focusing on the road. They were getting too close to the building; she had to hurry this along, "I mean the whole no relationships thing is ridiculous."
Vaughn had to bite his lip to stop himself from kissing her right there, "You think so," she gave an almost unperceivable nod, "Yeah, me too." Sydney face almost split in two but Vaughn started again, "You know what your mom said, just before, well, she jumped?"
Sydney nodded, knowing what he meant and repeated his words as she turned off the highway, "Sydney, Vaughn, it is love," she lowered her head as she spoke, "that's what she said." Vaughn nodded.
"She is right," he said, whispering almost, as Sydney turned the car off, right out the front of the CIA building, parking the car behind the vehicles that contained her parents. Sydney only a had a moment to stare at him before he pulled himself out of the car and up, she quickly followed, looking at him over the top of the car, her mind working at what he had said.
Out of the corner of his eye, Vaughn saw Jack and Irina climbing out of their own car and he knew there was nothing left to say. Sydney saw him coming, could have stopped him, but didn't want to and in a second he was in front of her, eyes locked, the world forgotten for that one little moment. Sydney smiled and nodded "She is." And then she leaned in until she could feel his breath on her cheek, on her lips and thought she was about to explode.
It was a tender kiss, not rushed or overly passionate, just sweet and perfect. Their hands exploring each other's hair and back tentatively and their eyes closed as they tried to hold onto the feeling forever. Of course, this wasn't to be and while Jack and Irina just watched, smug, content expressions in place, a raging Kendall soon put a stop to the public display of affection.
"What the hell is going on?" Sydney and Vaughn leapt apart, their eyes locking for only a moment and the resulting smile carefully hidden from their superior.
When Jack didn't make a move to explain, Sydney quickly took over, "Sir, we thought that you'd like to know that we made it back," she smirked at him, longing to hold Vaughn's hand but deciding against it, "With or without your help."
Kendall glared at the four of them as Jack and Irina made their way over to stand with the younger agents. He was about to speak when a group of agents rushed past and Kendall shook his head, "Let's get inside."
In silence the four of them followed him through the doors, up a flight of stairs down several corridors and eventually into a lovely big conference room. He motioned for them to take a seat before leaving, locking the door behind him and effectively blocking any mistake. It had already been at least five minutes since their arrival and Jack noticed Irina growing restless, God knew what Sark was going to do when he arrived, for all they knew he might blow the place up or bring them a box of candy.
Luckily, not long after Kendall walked back in, closing the door but not quick enough to block the several burly guards from view. Sydney rolled her eyes, trying not to worry over what fate held in store for her father. Kendall, noticing, said, "Miss Derevko, Jack, both of you have acted illegally," Irina raised an eyebrow, "You've broken quite a few rules and broken, once again, your agreement with us. For that you will be punished."
He sounded serious, he sounded stupid though and Jack just quickly interrupted him, "Sir, you know perfectly well that I had the CIA's best interests at heart."
Kendall stared at him, "I think it perhaps had more to do with your daughter, but yes, I agree that you were not, in any way, trying to help Miss Derevko escape. You're too intelligent to fall for her charms." Typically this sent the room into broad grins which Kendall soon noticed but decided not to comment on, "As for the two of you," he looked to Sydney and Vaughn, "You know the rules of protocol, what happened out in the parking lot, will not," he emphasized the word, "Happen again."
Sydney's grin only grew while Jack shared a raised eyebrow with Irina, "I'm going to request you see Barnett, both of you. If you choose not to, I'll have you reassigned." The humour fell from their faces as they realized how grave the situation should have been. Momentarily Vaughn wondered why his boss was being so soft on them, but quickly pushed the query away as Irina spoke.
The return trip was as normal as it could be, they managed to catch a plane out later that day, the five adopting aliases and sitting apart and sleeping, unsurprisingly for most of the trip. At the airport they had dinner each sitting watching the others, playful smiles crossing the table at many instances. And then they had to board, Sark who had bought a ticket with them took a moment to explain himself.
"I'm coming with you back to LA."
Irina smiled at him, "We guessed that," she grasped Jack's hand in a way Sydney had never thought she'd see her father manage.
Sark just shrugged, eyeing her over, "I have files, on a lot of things," his smile turned from smug to secretive; "I believe that they might be useful to the CIA."
Jack's brow creased, "And what? You plan on giving them to us?"
Sark nodded and in his cocky British accent he responded, quietly as he passed his boarding pass to the attendant, "Precisely, once back, I'll get them and meet you at the LA CIA headquarters, perhaps ten minutes later than you."
Irina raised an eyebrow at him but didn't question, instead watching as he tried to the seduce the blond in the twenty seconds she was concentrating on him. Sadly, he failed. Irina dropped Jack's hand and pretended not to know him as she boarded the plane, feeling his presence behind him, but knowing there was no way they would be able to talk until they landed. Taking her seat, she relaxed and soon fell asleep, the pain and adventure colliding to result in fatigue.
Jack was seated three seats in front of her and soon succumbed to slumbers as well, along with the Sydney and Vaughn who simply fell asleep watching each other out of the corner of their eyes across the aisle. Sark, on the other hand grabbed his chance. He soon had the airplane phone to his ear and was whispering into it at a tremendous rate, hanging up and redialing a new number and waiting, impatiently for someone to pick up. The airline crew was intrigued to try to catch words from him and ten minutes into the flight he had seduced one far enough to find himself in a first class seat with glasses of wine and snacks surrounding him.
His seduction was perhaps partially due to the fact that each time he dialed a new number, he spoke a new language, one particular hostess would later swear to CIA agents that he went through over twenty when in fact; it was perhaps more than twenty five. Half way home, he sighed heavily and hung up the phone, smirking, content with his actions and turning to the hostess nearest by.
Grinning she helped him out, taking the phone and empty glasses before sitting down beside him, her long red hair suddenly out and curling around her face as she listened avidly as he told her tails of triumph over the black market, back in Indonesia, where he had been for a year. In typical Sark style, he also weaved in enough truth so that when the CIA did track her down, they would be able to work out how he had pulled it all off, but in honesty, he just liked the conversation, women were, to him, the most interesting beings there were.
Several hours later they landed, the impact waking the agents left asleep and startling them into action. The pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker and they all waited patiently to be let off the plane, twenty minutes later they were waiting outside customs and another ten minutes after that and they were through and standing outside, wild winds whipping around them as they talked to each other for the first time in hours.
"Long flight," Irina said the first words of all of them. Sark just smirked.
"Yes," Jack said, a tinge of playfulness to his words, "But now we have to get back." Irina nodded and Vaughn and Sydney continued to watch them,, Sark looked to have his attention elsewhere.
"Where do we go from here?" Sydney asked, slightly sad to see her parents split so soon after they had come together.
"Well, Sark is free," Jack said, his voice sounding easier than he had intended, "He can leave whenever he wants. I suppose that the four of us just go back to the CIA and walk in the front door."
Vaughn nodded, looking to see what Sark was up to, his eyes were scanning the roads, "Rent cars or risk a taxi?"
Jack shrugged, to catch a taxi was dangerous and against CIA rules but he was tempted, how many rules had he already broken? So Sark answered for him, "Take the cars, over there," he pointed out the rental car yard and the four looked to him, openly suspicious. "I'll waltz into the CIA ten minutes after you; just don't expect me to hang around."
Jack raised an eyebrow, not sure what was going on, Irina appeared to have less of an idea, "Oh," Sark added as he turned and began o walk away, "Take separate cars, take your time."
Irina grinned at his back while the others just hid smiles as he turned a corner and disappeared from view. "I think we should take his advice." She said carefully, tempted to wink at Jack but holding back for the sake of their daughter.
Not long after, Jack and Irina were cruising along the highway in a black rental, Sydney and Vaughn trailing. Sydney's eyes continued to slide to Vaughn's, catching the other staring, grins would take over their faces and immediately they'd look back to the road. Realizing that they would eventually get back to the CIA headquarters, Vaughn spoke first from behind the wheel, "Do you think that they'll arrest your dad?"
Sydney shrugged, looking at him again, "Probably, I mean they arrested me for maybe being some woman in prophesy that was written by some guy hundreds of years ago. I mean he's going to walk in there with his arm around her." Sydney paused, "You know, I can't wait to see Kendall's face."
Vaughn smiled sensing she was more worried than she was letting on, "You know, they can't really be too hard on him; I mean he did bring her back, and he rescued us."
Sydney shook her head, "It's just stupid though, I mean, unfair to him and mom, it's really stupid, everyone knows that he didn't break her out to help him take over the world and the only thing that stopped him from breaking her out legally in the first place was protocol. Stupid protocol."
Vaughn caught on quickly, "You think protocol is stupid?" Sydney smiled at him, thanking him for making this conversation easier.
"Yeah, I mean most of it makes no sense, thinking that they can weigh up loss of human life against money and holding people down and everything else." She paused looking at him quickly before focusing on the road. They were getting too close to the building; she had to hurry this along, "I mean the whole no relationships thing is ridiculous."
Vaughn had to bite his lip to stop himself from kissing her right there, "You think so," she gave an almost unperceivable nod, "Yeah, me too." Sydney face almost split in two but Vaughn started again, "You know what your mom said, just before, well, she jumped?"
Sydney nodded, knowing what he meant and repeated his words as she turned off the highway, "Sydney, Vaughn, it is love," she lowered her head as she spoke, "that's what she said." Vaughn nodded.
"She is right," he said, whispering almost, as Sydney turned the car off, right out the front of the CIA building, parking the car behind the vehicles that contained her parents. Sydney only a had a moment to stare at him before he pulled himself out of the car and up, she quickly followed, looking at him over the top of the car, her mind working at what he had said.
Out of the corner of his eye, Vaughn saw Jack and Irina climbing out of their own car and he knew there was nothing left to say. Sydney saw him coming, could have stopped him, but didn't want to and in a second he was in front of her, eyes locked, the world forgotten for that one little moment. Sydney smiled and nodded "She is." And then she leaned in until she could feel his breath on her cheek, on her lips and thought she was about to explode.
It was a tender kiss, not rushed or overly passionate, just sweet and perfect. Their hands exploring each other's hair and back tentatively and their eyes closed as they tried to hold onto the feeling forever. Of course, this wasn't to be and while Jack and Irina just watched, smug, content expressions in place, a raging Kendall soon put a stop to the public display of affection.
"What the hell is going on?" Sydney and Vaughn leapt apart, their eyes locking for only a moment and the resulting smile carefully hidden from their superior.
When Jack didn't make a move to explain, Sydney quickly took over, "Sir, we thought that you'd like to know that we made it back," she smirked at him, longing to hold Vaughn's hand but deciding against it, "With or without your help."
Kendall glared at the four of them as Jack and Irina made their way over to stand with the younger agents. He was about to speak when a group of agents rushed past and Kendall shook his head, "Let's get inside."
In silence the four of them followed him through the doors, up a flight of stairs down several corridors and eventually into a lovely big conference room. He motioned for them to take a seat before leaving, locking the door behind him and effectively blocking any mistake. It had already been at least five minutes since their arrival and Jack noticed Irina growing restless, God knew what Sark was going to do when he arrived, for all they knew he might blow the place up or bring them a box of candy.
Luckily, not long after Kendall walked back in, closing the door but not quick enough to block the several burly guards from view. Sydney rolled her eyes, trying not to worry over what fate held in store for her father. Kendall, noticing, said, "Miss Derevko, Jack, both of you have acted illegally," Irina raised an eyebrow, "You've broken quite a few rules and broken, once again, your agreement with us. For that you will be punished."
He sounded serious, he sounded stupid though and Jack just quickly interrupted him, "Sir, you know perfectly well that I had the CIA's best interests at heart."
Kendall stared at him, "I think it perhaps had more to do with your daughter, but yes, I agree that you were not, in any way, trying to help Miss Derevko escape. You're too intelligent to fall for her charms." Typically this sent the room into broad grins which Kendall soon noticed but decided not to comment on, "As for the two of you," he looked to Sydney and Vaughn, "You know the rules of protocol, what happened out in the parking lot, will not," he emphasized the word, "Happen again."
Sydney's grin only grew while Jack shared a raised eyebrow with Irina, "I'm going to request you see Barnett, both of you. If you choose not to, I'll have you reassigned." The humour fell from their faces as they realized how grave the situation should have been. Momentarily Vaughn wondered why his boss was being so soft on them, but quickly pushed the query away as Irina spoke.