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Chapter Eighteen:

The Last Promise

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The moon was wrapped in a blanket of clouds, thin streams of light occasionally breaking free to slant through the windows. The room was filled with a warm glow from lamplight that spilled across the woman sitting at the table. Her head bent, she leaned over the thick piece of parchment that stretched across the desk before her. She was studying intently, eyes fixated on the sprawling script that flowed across the page.

There was a tension in her body, though she appeared at ease. She was a woman who had lived on the edge of a knife for years and was prepared to spring at a moment's notice. She heard and saw everything around her, nothing escaped her attention. Which is why she ignored the silent alarms that blinked up at her when she saw who her intruders were. She paid no heed to the distant sounds of footsteps approaching. She remained poised on the edge, attention rapt upon the paper. It was the click of the gun that finally brought her attention from the Rambaldi manuscript to face the woman who stood before her. She had heard her enter quietly but had not responded, waiting until the moment Sydney stood before her to look up.

Irina brushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear and leaned back in her chair, studying her daughter casually. She was not at all intimidated by the gun that her daughter was leveling with her head, nor by the man who stood in the shadows by the door. A crooked smile broke across her face and she studied her daughter intently.

"Sydney, what a pleasant surprise," Irina moved to clear the papers from the desk but Sydney shook her head and moved closer. The gun was clenched in her hand, steady and prepared to be used but they both knew that Sydney would not kill her. That was not why she was there.

"Keep your hands where I can see them," Sydney ordered. Her voice was cold, her eyes hard, but underneath Irina could sense something lurking. Sydney was not afraid, she seemed tired, world weary.

Irina folded her hands on the desk without responding, making it clear that it was her decision to do as her daughter asked. "Should I even bother asking how you found me and got in past my guards?" Her eyes flickered to Vaughn in the corner, he was watching her intently, eyes gleaming in the shadows. "And why you came with only Agent Vaughn as your backup?"

Sydney grit her teeth and shook her head, "I have done a lot of things that you might not expect from me, mother." Irina narrowed her eyes, there was a tremble in Sydney's voice as she spoke. A knowledge hidden in her eyes, the gleam of which Irina recognized all too well.

"I will be the one asking the questions," Sydney informed her. Her knuckles were turning white from her grip on the gun and Irina shook her head.

"I see," she gestured toward the gun in Sydney's hand. "At least put the gun down and sit, Sydney. I'm not going to hurt you."

Sydney narrowed her eyes and reluctantly flipped the gun around in her hand, sliding it back into its holster. With her other hand, she signaled Vaughn in the corner. He opened his jacket and slid his hand onto the pommel of his own gun, waiting at the ready, in case Sydney should need him. Irina watched this exchange with calculating eyes, measuring the distance between them and the intimacy with which they spoke without words. Something had happened to them, that much was clear to Irina. Something drastic had changed their lives.

Sydney took a seat in the chair across from Irina and leaned forward, staring intently into her mother's eyes. "I need information on a Rambaldi device," she informed her.

Irina was hardly surprised, but given the circumstances, she wondered at why her daughter was coming to her for help. "Why come to me?" She asked.

Sydney scoffed, "You've always known more about Rambaldi than you've let on. I need all the information on this device that you can give me."

Irina frowned, her gaze wandering to Vaughn in the corner. She analyzed his position, wondered how fast it would take him to reach her if she were to reach out and grab Sydney. "What makes you think that I'll give you any information on Rambaldi."

Sydney slapped her palm against the wood of the desk and Irina's eyes snapped back to her. No one moved or breathed, Irina saw Vaughn's grip on the gun tighten out of the corner of her eye. She knew then that he would kill her given the slightest chance, not that it would be easy to do. Yet, if Sydney wished it, Irina's life would be forfeit.

"This is not about the CIA," Sydney's words were a low hiss, filled with meaning. "This about my life."

Irina studied her daughter quietly, her mind whirling to put together the pieces of what she was seeing. Sydney was different from the last time Irina had seen her which had only been a few weeks earlier, in Mexico City. There was a deep wisdom in her eyes, a new set to her shoulders. She had the look of a woman who had been carrying a heavy burden for too long and was only beginning to let it go.

"What device are you seeking?" Irina asked, her eyes remained steady on Sydney's, searching for the truth in her daughter's gaze.

Sydney did not blink, she did not flinch as she spoke the words that Irina had not expected to hear. "I don't know what its called, all I know is that it is a gateway of red stone."

Irina stifled a soft gasp but Sydney heard it. Irina's eyes widened slightly and she stared at her daughter. "Tempus Denuo... You have used it."

Sydney did blink this time, her eyes clouding with doubt. "What?"

Irina shook her head and gazed at her daughter, something akin to awe in her expression. "You didn't think that you could hide something like this from me, now did you?" She grinned wryly and leaned closer, reaching one hand out to touch her daughter's face and inspect what she found.

"You have the look in your eyes," Irina informed her as she inspected her with gentle fingertips. For a moment she was the mother she had once been, checking Sydney for bruises of a more internal nature.

"Your voice is different, your techniques have changed. Your eyes tell me that you are harboring some deep secrets," Irina smiled. "You have the wisdom of Rambaldi in you. This machine has changed you." Irina shook her head, "The only way that you could know of the gateway is if you have used it, Sydney. It is called Tempus Denuo, a time travelling device. No one has spoken of this particular Rambaldi invention in hundreds of years, so great is its power."

Sydney's gaze lowered and Vaughn stepped free of the shadows, coming to her side in a swift movement that escaped Irina's notice until he stood before her. He touched Sydney's shoulder gently and she looked up at him, her eyes exchanging some secret information that Irina could only wonder about.

Irina's gaze was instantly fixed to the man before her, the darkness that lingered in him, the way the shadows seemed to cling to him. The light in his eyes, the truth of Rambaldi.

"You have both used the gateway." Irina stated it as fact this time, she could not question it any longer. She was certain, deep inside, that this was the case.

"If you know what the gateway is," Vaughn's voice was low but filled with an authority she had not heard from him before. "If you know what it does, then you know that it will do no good to ask about it."

This statement was more than enough proof for Irina who stood up from her desk. Instantly, she found herself staring down the barrel of Vaughn's gun. Her gaze slid up the length of black metal to meet his eyes in a silent challenge. She was startled by what she saw there. In all of her previous encounters with this man, she had seen only a smoldering hatred in his eyes when he brought them to her gaze. He had rarely looked into her eyes, unwilling to face the woman who had stolen his father's life. Now he gazed at her without hesitation, without hatred, there was only a fierce determination in his eyes and a muted glow of love. Love of Sydney. Irina was somewhat satisfied to know that she had been right all along about this man. He would do anything for Sydney, it was both his strength and his weakness.

"I cannot help but wonder," Irina was unfazed by the gun in her face, the smell of gunpowder that rose thickly from it. "What I did for the two of you that made you think I would help you? What made you so desperate that you had to come to me?" Irina's eyes narrowed and she waited for her words to sink in before she asked, softly, "What did you sacrifice... and how far back did you come?

Vaughn did not respond, but Irina could see the flicker of guilt that flared in his eyes. Sydney stood and slid one hand down Vaughn's arm until her hand wrapped around where his clutched the gun. Gently she eased his hand down to his side and looked up at him. His eyes were drawn to her gaze instantly, Irina momentarily excluded from their private world.

"Two years," was Sydney's quiet response to her mother's question. "We gave up everything to get our lives back," her hand tightened imperceptibly on Vaughn's and she shifted her gaze from him to Irina. "You helped us then, we need you to help us now."

Irina studied the two of them intently, reading the truth in every line of their face, every inflection of their voice. She had been studying Rambaldi her entire adult life, and in the matter of a few years, her daughter had gained the wisdom that had taken her mother a lifetime to earn. Sydney had done it the hardest way possible, by being the subject of the Rambaldi's prophecies. She had been chosen to live through experiences that would kill anyone weaker.

"Tempus Denuo can only be opened by Rambaldi's chosen," Irina informed her. "However, once it is opened, it remains so until someone else passes through. If more than one person pass through at a time, then the gateway self-destructs."

Vaughn frowned and exchanged a knowing glance with Sydney. "Why does it self-destruct?"

Irina shook her head, "I do not know. I have investigated Tempus Denuo, but like most Rambaldi artifacts, what is known is not very much. It was one of Rambaldi's most ambitious inventions, many debate on whether or not it is his greatest power. The notion of time travel was one that Rambaldi was fond of, as well as immortality and technology. Tempus Denuo was one of Rambaldi's last inventions, but he never completed it. It was completed by the first members of the Mythic Order of Rambaldi who may have planned on using it, but never did. It was hidden and has not been unearthed for hundreds of years."

Sydney frowned, "What would happen if two people did enter the gateway simultaneously and it was destroyed?"

Irina shook her head and replied with a slight shrug of her shoulders, "I cannot know that, I've never seen had the chance to analyze it, but I would assume that they would be killed." She narrowed her eyes, "Which the two of you obviously are not."

Sydney unconsciously laced her fingers through Vaughn's, he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "No we're not," she said. Her eyes were clouded and she seemed more perplexed by this than before. Irina's heart went out to her daughter, she could only imagine what the circumstances in that life had been that had led to the decision to use the gateway. Sydney was stronger than she knew.

Irina folded her arms across her chest and frowned, deep in thought. "Well, there are many Rambaldi mysteries that still cannot be explained. However, it is possible that Vaughn was able to pass through unharmed because the two of you are so connected."

Vaughn bowed his head and Irina smiled as Sydney looked up from him to her mother. Irina just shook her head, "There are some things that a mother knows, even before the child knows."

Sydney smiled softly and nodded, one tender hand touched Vaughn's back as she rose to her feet. He nodded at her wordlessly and stepped back. Sydney stood before her mother, meeting her gaze easily. The two woman were mirror images of one another, dark hair tucked behind the ear, eyes filled with shadow and fire and a gleam of ancient knowledge, arms crossed as they contemplated one another. The mother and the child of prophecy.

At length Sydney let herself go, she dropped her walls, let her arms open and embraced her mother tightly. Irina's eyes welled up with tears as she felt the strength of her daughter crushing her tightly.

"I love you, Sydney."

There was a muffled sob against her shoulder where Sydney's head was buried, "I don't want to lose you again." She whispered.

Irina's eyes darkened as she considered the meaning of Sydney's words, it was then that she knew she had to give Sydney the information she requested. For many years, Irina had been working to protect her daughter from the prophecies that would rule her life. Now, Sydney was trying to protect her. The world had been flipped upside down, control was slipping from her grasp, but Irina could only be grateful for her daughter's act of love.

Sydney drew back to Vaughn's side, releasing her mother from her tight grip. She met Irina's gaze with tear-filled eyes and struggled to harden herself. "Promise me one thing," Sydney asked softly.

"What is it?"

Sydney smiled sadly, "Promise me that you'll contact Dad."

Irina was startled, eyes widening with surprise. "What?"

"You still love him, and in another life the two of you had crossed a bridge and made amends. All I ask is that you find the bridge."

Irina frowned doubtfully and shook his head, "I don't know how much he'll appreciate that."

"A time will come," Sydney informed her. "When he'll need your help, he'll need to trust you. I just want that to be possible."

Irina smiled sadly, "Your father is a stubborn man, Sydney."

Sydney grinned, "I know, but so are you." She squeezed her mother's hand one last time before letting it go.

Vaughn smirked and looked between the two of them, "It must run in the family," he commented. Sydney turned to him with a clever retort on her lips that died when she saw the sparkle in his eyes. Instead she shook her head and said, "You know that you love it."

Vaughn's smirk softened in a loving smile and he nodded, "I do."

Irina withdrew from the moment to cross the room and open a large safe hidden behind an old Rambaldi painting. Shuffling through the papers there, she retrieved several sheets and brought them to Sydney.

"This is all the information I have regarding Tempus Denuo, but Sydney," Irina clasped her hand over her daughter's as she placed the folder into it. "You cannot let this information fall into the wrong hands. If the gateway does exist and you know where it can be found, you will be in great danger. You must make sure that it is never discovered."

Sydney nodded in understanding, before flipping briefly through the folder's contents. Brow furrowing, she glanced back up to Irina. "Aren't you curious as to where it is? How you might find it?"

"Of course I am," Irina smiled and shook her head. "But I am not willing to sacrifice your life in order to obtain it, Sydney... Or mine." Irina touched her daughter's cheek softly and kissed her on the forehead.

"Thank you," Sydney whispered, she handed the folder to Vaughn who deposited it into a slim bag that was slung over one shoulder. When he glanced up, he found himself staring into Irina's eyes as she watched him curiously. His jaw tightened and he met her gaze without trepidation. Instead he did something Irina did not expect, he lifted his left hand and pressed a fist to his chest, fingers flicking outward. It was an old hand code that Irina had devised long ago that meant danger had been averted, something that she had obviously taught to him in this other life that would now never occur. She found herself regretting the fact that she had missed her chance to study this young man, train him to fully become a spy.

Irina grinned and made a similar motion that was the proper response to such a salutation and Vaughn smiled gently, bowing his head to Irina and backing away. Sydney made a slight gesture with one hand and Vaughn vanished out the door, securing their exit.

Sydney stood facing her mother, looking at her as if for the first time. She spent a moment, memorizing the subtle details of her mother's face. The movements, the features that made them so much alike. The little things that she had missed and thought that she would never know again when she had died.

In the back of her mind, hovered the memory of that stray bullet that had been meant for Vaughn as it missed him and slammed into her mother's back. She could still see the sight of Irina slumping down over Jack, head landing on his chest as her last gasp of breath escaped her chest. As Irina turned now, to meet Sydney's eyes, the image finally faded from her view and she saw only her mother before her. A duplicitous woman, a brilliant spy, a once loving wife and an always protective mother. That was Irina Derevko, Sydney no longer wanted her any other way, as long as she knew that she was alive.

Sydney reached out to pull her mother into one last embrace and swallowed the lump of tears that had risen in her throat, "I love you, Mom."

Irina shut her eyes and let the words settle into her soul, freeing her heart from a cage of self imposed detachment. She swallowed her tears and felt Sydney pull away, quiet feet padding across the floor.

When she opened her eyes once more, she was alone.

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