It was a cold, rainy morning. Sydney Bristow was just walking into the Briefing Room, where she was meeting Marcus Dixon, Eric Weiss, Michael Vaughn, and Sydney's father, Jack. They looked up at her, when she walked in. She quietly took a seat next to Jack and smiled at him. He smiled back and they both paid attention to Dixon, as he did the briefing.
After it was over, everyone else left the room, but Sydney and Jack. He said to her, "I was thinking about having Christmas Eve at home this year. I would like us to spend it together."
She grinned at him and said, "I'd like that, Dad." She stood up and left the room.
Jack watched her leave. He had a slight grin on his face.
Later that afternoon, Sydney was at home putting up Christmas decorations. She was in the middle of decorating the bannister going upstairs, when she heard the doorbell ring.
"Come on in!" She shouted to whoever it was. She kept working.
Weiss came inside carrying her tree. He looked up at her and he said, "Syd, you better be careful up there." He came up the stairs to help her, just as the bannister part she was working on broke. Sydney started to slip. She looked up at Weiss with a scared look on her face. "Syd!" Weiss shouted, as he grabbed for her hand.
Sydney tried to stay calm as Weiss pulled her back up. She sat on the stairs panting and shaking.
Weiss asked her, "Are you okay? You scared the hell out of me."
"Yeah, well, I scared the hell out of myself, too." Sydney told him. She was calmer now. She came down the steps and over to the couch and she sat down on it.
Weiss was relieved that she was taking a break for awhile. "You sit and relax for awhile. Since the mission isn't til tomorrow night, you have plenty of time to decorate for Christmas." He said, as he sat down next to her on the couch.
"I know. I just hate putting this crap off til the last minute." Sydney said. She smiled to herself. She got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. She started making hot chocolate for them, while Weiss put up Sydney's tree.
After Weiss was finished putting up Sydney's tree, he came into the kitchen and he asked, "What's going on, Syd? Your in a really good mood right now."
"I'm spending Christmas Eve with my dad." She said, with a smile.
"Sydney, that's great." Weiss said, grinning back at her. "When did he ask you about it?"
"Today after morning briefing." She said to him. She got two mugs out of the cupboard.
Time:10:00 P.M.
Place: An L.A Warehouse
Sydney was just going into the warehouse. It was dark inside, so she was carrying a flashlight in her hand. She was meeting a contact of hers, who also works for the Covenant. "Base Ops, this is Mountaineer. My contact hasn't shown up yet." She said, as she looked around.
At Base Ops, Weiss, Marshall, and Jack were monitoring communications. "Be patient, Sydney. I'm sure he'll show up." Jack reassured her.
"Copy that." Sydney said. She noticed a red blinking light blinking in the one corner, so she went over to check it out. She saw what it was and gasped.
Weiss quickly asked, "what's wrong, Syd?"
"I found a bomb. It's set to go off in ten minutes." Sydney tried to stay calm, but she was incredibly scared.
"Good thing I'm here then." Marshall said. He exchanged glances with Weiss and Jack. Okay, Syd. What your going to have to do is disarm the bomb."
Holding back tears, Sydney said, "Copy that, Marshall." Her vice started to waver, when she said his name.
Jack stood up and said, "Mountaineer, I'm on my way there to your location. I'll see you soon." He tried to sound as comforting as he could.
"Please hurry, Dad." Sydney said.
"I will." He said, not bothering to take his headset off. He raced out the door, calling over his shoulder to Weiss, "I'll call as soon as I get there!"
"Okay, Jack!" Weiss called back, just as the door closed behind Jack.
Jack quickly got out of his car and he raced inside the warehouse. He could see Sydney trying desperately to stay calm as she was given instructions by Marshall on how to defuse the bomb. He hurried over to her saying into his headset, "Base Ops, this is Watchtower. I'm in and I'm going over now to check on Mountaineer." He ran over to her and together, they focussed on the bomb.
Feeling braver now, Sydney was able to focus better on completeing Marshall's instructions, and after she cut the right wire to defuse it, she sighed with relief and gladly accepted the hug Jack offered.
"Very good, Miss Bristow." A voice said, walking toward them. "I wasn't so sure you could pull it off."
Both Sydney and Jack looked as The Person came into the light.
"Who the hell are you?" Sydney asked. She knew that Jack was thinking the same thing.
"My name is Nicholas Rnkov. I was born in Russia, but raised in the U.S. I'm an old enemy of Irina's. That's the reason I did all of this." He looked at Jack. "Who are you? I don't know of you."
This comment made Sydney smile. "If you really knew my mom as well as you claim to, then you would know that this is my dad." She couldn't hide the pride from her voice, as she spoke, either.
Jack shot her a smile. Then he asked Nicholas, "What do you want with us?" He moved closer to Sydney, just in case.
"To use the both of you as bait, to draw Irina out of hiding. I'm planning to kill her, as soon as I get the chance." Nicholas said, as he opened a trapdoor that was located on the floor of the warehouse. He forced both of the Bristows down through the doorway and into a cell. They were both hit on the back of the head and knocked onconscious.
Sveral hours later, Sydney finally woke up. She had a bad headache and was having some dizzy spells, because of the blow she was given. She looked around and saw her father looking through a file, one of the guards had given him.
Jack looked over at Sydney, relieved she was awake. "Are you okay?" He asked. When she didn't answer him, he walked over to her and he sat down next to her. Then, he asked again, "you okay, Sweetheart?"
Sydney groaned, because of her headache. Then, she answered, "Yeah. Its just a headache. I'm kind of dizzy too." She glanced around the room again. "Dad, where are we?"
"I'm not sure. I think its some kind of underground detention center." Jack said. He shot her a worried look. "Can you sit up?"
Sydney nodded. When she tried to sit up, the dizziness overwhelmed her. She wound up leaning on Jack, so she could remain sitting up.
Several minutes later, Nicholas came back to see them. He unlocked the cell and he walked inside. He looked angry, when he saw how calm Jack and Sydney were. He had also just gotten news that Irina once again got away from his men. He grabbed Sydney and he shoved her at two of his guards. He nodded at them and they took her away.
"Where are they taking her?" Jack asked. He was getting both worried and angry.
"they just took her to another room, so she could be questioned." Nicholas told him. "Relax, Mr. Bristow. She will be returned to you, when my men are done questioning her." Then, he left the cell, closing the door behind him.
Jack sat on the bed, hoping Sydney would be all right.
Meanwhile, three of Nicholas's men were questioning Sydney about where to find her mother. "Where is Irina Dereveko?" One of them asked Sydney.
"I don't know." Sydney sighed worriedly. "Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you." She groaned, when one of them punched her in the stomach. This kept up for the next several hours, until Nicholas ordered them to put her back in the cell. By then, she had a couple of broken ribs, a black eye, and a broken wrist. She stayed tough though. She didn't tell them anything, the entire time she was questioned.
Two of the men took Sydney back to the cell and shoved her onto the bed. She groaned from the pain, and passed out a few seconds later.
Jack shot them a nasty look, but he said nothing. He was too worried about Sydney.
When she woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in the cell. She looked around worriedly. "Where am I?" She asked herself.
A few seconds later, both Vaughn and Weiss came into the room. Weiss asked, "Hey, Syd. Feeling any better?"
The first thing Sydney asked was, "Where's Dad? Is he okay?" She looked a little scared.
"Syd, its okay." Vaughn said to her, trying to calm her down. "He's fine. He's down stairs. He wanted to finish a surprise for you."
"Is she awake? Its ready!" They heard Jack call upstairs to them.
Vaughn and Weiss helped Sydney downstairs and they got her comfortable on the couch.
Jack gave her a relieved smile. Then, he asked, "How does it look?"
"Dad, this place looks incredible. Thank you." She said, grinning at him happily.
"Your welcome, Sweetheart. I'm glad your all right." Jack said to her. He walked over to her and he hugged her.
She hugged him back.
Lauren came into the room a few minutes later with hot chocolate for all of them. Vaughn helped her pass the steaming cups out to everyone. Then, Lauren said, When I was little, my family and I each took turns making a Christmas wish. I still do that each year."
Sydney smiled at her and asked, "Anybody want to go first?" She glanced at each of the others.
Weiss seemed embarrassed as he said, "I will. Mine is that I'll finally get a steady girlfriend."
They sat down, as Vaughn said, "I was just thinking that mine already came true." He glanced at the others before adding, "Mine was that you guys would get back here safely."
"Thanks, Vaughn." Both Sydney and Jack said, at the same time.
"What's yours, Lauren?" Sydney asked.
"Mine has already come true, too. It was to finally have someone that I can spend the holidays with." Lauren said. She quickly glanced at Vaughn.
Sydney felt a little uncomfortable, hearing Lauren say that, but she kept quiet.
Jack noticed the looks everyone was giving him, so he quickly cleared his throat. Then, he said, "I guess I'm next." He smiled at Sydney, who grinned back. "Mine was to find someone I know Sydney has been missing." He smiled again at her.
Sydney gave him a surprised look and asked, "She's here?"
Jack nodded as he got up from the couch. He walked over to the door and he opened it.
Sydney took one look and she started to cry. Through her sobbing, she said, "Oh my God."
Standing in the doorway was Irina Derevko, Sydney's mother. She walked in the door with a big smile on her face. "Hello, Sydney. Its good to see you again." Then, she walked over to Sydney and she hugged her.
Jack closed the door and he came back over to join them. He was also happy to see Irina.
After Sydney calmed down, she introduced her mother to Lauren. Then, Irina sat down on the floor in front of Jack.
Jack gave Irina a quick kiss on the lips and he asked, "you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Irina said and she smiled at him.
He grinned back. He looked over at Sydney and he noticed that she was in pain. This concerned him, so he moved closer to her.
"Sydney, are you all right? Irina asked her. She also had a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah. Its just my wrist." She said, as Jack put his arm around her.
Lauren got up and went upstairs to the bathroom medicine cabinet. When she came back down, she gave Sydney the aspirin she had gone to get. Then, she sat back down next to Vaughn.
Sydney took the aspirin and she fell asleep soon afterwards.
"Is she all right?" Irina asked Jack. She was still looking worriedly at their sleeping daughter.
"She's fine, Sweetheart. She fell back to sleep." Jack reassured her. He looked at Lauren and added, "Thank you for getting her the aspirin, Lauren."
"Your welcome." Lauren said.
After the others left, Jack was able to persuade Irina to stay for a few days with them. They sat on the couch together. Irina asked him, "what do you think Sydney's Christmas wish was?"
Jack looked at her in disbelief. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Her wish was for us to spend Christmas together as a family."
Irina looked at him and nodded. She felt stupid for not figuring it out.
The Bristows spent both Christmas and New Year's together as a family for the first tims, since Sydney was little.
For Sydney, it was the best holidays she ever spent with her family.
THE END
After it was over, everyone else left the room, but Sydney and Jack. He said to her, "I was thinking about having Christmas Eve at home this year. I would like us to spend it together."
She grinned at him and said, "I'd like that, Dad." She stood up and left the room.
Jack watched her leave. He had a slight grin on his face.
Later that afternoon, Sydney was at home putting up Christmas decorations. She was in the middle of decorating the bannister going upstairs, when she heard the doorbell ring.
"Come on in!" She shouted to whoever it was. She kept working.
Weiss came inside carrying her tree. He looked up at her and he said, "Syd, you better be careful up there." He came up the stairs to help her, just as the bannister part she was working on broke. Sydney started to slip. She looked up at Weiss with a scared look on her face. "Syd!" Weiss shouted, as he grabbed for her hand.
Sydney tried to stay calm as Weiss pulled her back up. She sat on the stairs panting and shaking.
Weiss asked her, "Are you okay? You scared the hell out of me."
"Yeah, well, I scared the hell out of myself, too." Sydney told him. She was calmer now. She came down the steps and over to the couch and she sat down on it.
Weiss was relieved that she was taking a break for awhile. "You sit and relax for awhile. Since the mission isn't til tomorrow night, you have plenty of time to decorate for Christmas." He said, as he sat down next to her on the couch.
"I know. I just hate putting this crap off til the last minute." Sydney said. She smiled to herself. She got up from the couch and walked to the kitchen. She started making hot chocolate for them, while Weiss put up Sydney's tree.
After Weiss was finished putting up Sydney's tree, he came into the kitchen and he asked, "What's going on, Syd? Your in a really good mood right now."
"I'm spending Christmas Eve with my dad." She said, with a smile.
"Sydney, that's great." Weiss said, grinning back at her. "When did he ask you about it?"
"Today after morning briefing." She said to him. She got two mugs out of the cupboard.
Time:10:00 P.M.
Place: An L.A Warehouse
Sydney was just going into the warehouse. It was dark inside, so she was carrying a flashlight in her hand. She was meeting a contact of hers, who also works for the Covenant. "Base Ops, this is Mountaineer. My contact hasn't shown up yet." She said, as she looked around.
At Base Ops, Weiss, Marshall, and Jack were monitoring communications. "Be patient, Sydney. I'm sure he'll show up." Jack reassured her.
"Copy that." Sydney said. She noticed a red blinking light blinking in the one corner, so she went over to check it out. She saw what it was and gasped.
Weiss quickly asked, "what's wrong, Syd?"
"I found a bomb. It's set to go off in ten minutes." Sydney tried to stay calm, but she was incredibly scared.
"Good thing I'm here then." Marshall said. He exchanged glances with Weiss and Jack. Okay, Syd. What your going to have to do is disarm the bomb."
Holding back tears, Sydney said, "Copy that, Marshall." Her vice started to waver, when she said his name.
Jack stood up and said, "Mountaineer, I'm on my way there to your location. I'll see you soon." He tried to sound as comforting as he could.
"Please hurry, Dad." Sydney said.
"I will." He said, not bothering to take his headset off. He raced out the door, calling over his shoulder to Weiss, "I'll call as soon as I get there!"
"Okay, Jack!" Weiss called back, just as the door closed behind Jack.
Jack quickly got out of his car and he raced inside the warehouse. He could see Sydney trying desperately to stay calm as she was given instructions by Marshall on how to defuse the bomb. He hurried over to her saying into his headset, "Base Ops, this is Watchtower. I'm in and I'm going over now to check on Mountaineer." He ran over to her and together, they focussed on the bomb.
Feeling braver now, Sydney was able to focus better on completeing Marshall's instructions, and after she cut the right wire to defuse it, she sighed with relief and gladly accepted the hug Jack offered.
"Very good, Miss Bristow." A voice said, walking toward them. "I wasn't so sure you could pull it off."
Both Sydney and Jack looked as The Person came into the light.
"Who the hell are you?" Sydney asked. She knew that Jack was thinking the same thing.
"My name is Nicholas Rnkov. I was born in Russia, but raised in the U.S. I'm an old enemy of Irina's. That's the reason I did all of this." He looked at Jack. "Who are you? I don't know of you."
This comment made Sydney smile. "If you really knew my mom as well as you claim to, then you would know that this is my dad." She couldn't hide the pride from her voice, as she spoke, either.
Jack shot her a smile. Then he asked Nicholas, "What do you want with us?" He moved closer to Sydney, just in case.
"To use the both of you as bait, to draw Irina out of hiding. I'm planning to kill her, as soon as I get the chance." Nicholas said, as he opened a trapdoor that was located on the floor of the warehouse. He forced both of the Bristows down through the doorway and into a cell. They were both hit on the back of the head and knocked onconscious.
Sveral hours later, Sydney finally woke up. She had a bad headache and was having some dizzy spells, because of the blow she was given. She looked around and saw her father looking through a file, one of the guards had given him.
Jack looked over at Sydney, relieved she was awake. "Are you okay?" He asked. When she didn't answer him, he walked over to her and he sat down next to her. Then, he asked again, "you okay, Sweetheart?"
Sydney groaned, because of her headache. Then, she answered, "Yeah. Its just a headache. I'm kind of dizzy too." She glanced around the room again. "Dad, where are we?"
"I'm not sure. I think its some kind of underground detention center." Jack said. He shot her a worried look. "Can you sit up?"
Sydney nodded. When she tried to sit up, the dizziness overwhelmed her. She wound up leaning on Jack, so she could remain sitting up.
Several minutes later, Nicholas came back to see them. He unlocked the cell and he walked inside. He looked angry, when he saw how calm Jack and Sydney were. He had also just gotten news that Irina once again got away from his men. He grabbed Sydney and he shoved her at two of his guards. He nodded at them and they took her away.
"Where are they taking her?" Jack asked. He was getting both worried and angry.
"they just took her to another room, so she could be questioned." Nicholas told him. "Relax, Mr. Bristow. She will be returned to you, when my men are done questioning her." Then, he left the cell, closing the door behind him.
Jack sat on the bed, hoping Sydney would be all right.
Meanwhile, three of Nicholas's men were questioning Sydney about where to find her mother. "Where is Irina Dereveko?" One of them asked Sydney.
"I don't know." Sydney sighed worriedly. "Even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you." She groaned, when one of them punched her in the stomach. This kept up for the next several hours, until Nicholas ordered them to put her back in the cell. By then, she had a couple of broken ribs, a black eye, and a broken wrist. She stayed tough though. She didn't tell them anything, the entire time she was questioned.
Two of the men took Sydney back to the cell and shoved her onto the bed. She groaned from the pain, and passed out a few seconds later.
Jack shot them a nasty look, but he said nothing. He was too worried about Sydney.
When she woke up the next morning, the first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in the cell. She looked around worriedly. "Where am I?" She asked herself.
A few seconds later, both Vaughn and Weiss came into the room. Weiss asked, "Hey, Syd. Feeling any better?"
The first thing Sydney asked was, "Where's Dad? Is he okay?" She looked a little scared.
"Syd, its okay." Vaughn said to her, trying to calm her down. "He's fine. He's down stairs. He wanted to finish a surprise for you."
"Is she awake? Its ready!" They heard Jack call upstairs to them.
Vaughn and Weiss helped Sydney downstairs and they got her comfortable on the couch.
Jack gave her a relieved smile. Then, he asked, "How does it look?"
"Dad, this place looks incredible. Thank you." She said, grinning at him happily.
"Your welcome, Sweetheart. I'm glad your all right." Jack said to her. He walked over to her and he hugged her.
She hugged him back.
Lauren came into the room a few minutes later with hot chocolate for all of them. Vaughn helped her pass the steaming cups out to everyone. Then, Lauren said, When I was little, my family and I each took turns making a Christmas wish. I still do that each year."
Sydney smiled at her and asked, "Anybody want to go first?" She glanced at each of the others.
Weiss seemed embarrassed as he said, "I will. Mine is that I'll finally get a steady girlfriend."
They sat down, as Vaughn said, "I was just thinking that mine already came true." He glanced at the others before adding, "Mine was that you guys would get back here safely."
"Thanks, Vaughn." Both Sydney and Jack said, at the same time.
"What's yours, Lauren?" Sydney asked.
"Mine has already come true, too. It was to finally have someone that I can spend the holidays with." Lauren said. She quickly glanced at Vaughn.
Sydney felt a little uncomfortable, hearing Lauren say that, but she kept quiet.
Jack noticed the looks everyone was giving him, so he quickly cleared his throat. Then, he said, "I guess I'm next." He smiled at Sydney, who grinned back. "Mine was to find someone I know Sydney has been missing." He smiled again at her.
Sydney gave him a surprised look and asked, "She's here?"
Jack nodded as he got up from the couch. He walked over to the door and he opened it.
Sydney took one look and she started to cry. Through her sobbing, she said, "Oh my God."
Standing in the doorway was Irina Derevko, Sydney's mother. She walked in the door with a big smile on her face. "Hello, Sydney. Its good to see you again." Then, she walked over to Sydney and she hugged her.
Jack closed the door and he came back over to join them. He was also happy to see Irina.
After Sydney calmed down, she introduced her mother to Lauren. Then, Irina sat down on the floor in front of Jack.
Jack gave Irina a quick kiss on the lips and he asked, "you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." Irina said and she smiled at him.
He grinned back. He looked over at Sydney and he noticed that she was in pain. This concerned him, so he moved closer to her.
"Sydney, are you all right? Irina asked her. She also had a concerned look on her face.
"Yeah. Its just my wrist." She said, as Jack put his arm around her.
Lauren got up and went upstairs to the bathroom medicine cabinet. When she came back down, she gave Sydney the aspirin she had gone to get. Then, she sat back down next to Vaughn.
Sydney took the aspirin and she fell asleep soon afterwards.
"Is she all right?" Irina asked Jack. She was still looking worriedly at their sleeping daughter.
"She's fine, Sweetheart. She fell back to sleep." Jack reassured her. He looked at Lauren and added, "Thank you for getting her the aspirin, Lauren."
"Your welcome." Lauren said.
After the others left, Jack was able to persuade Irina to stay for a few days with them. They sat on the couch together. Irina asked him, "what do you think Sydney's Christmas wish was?"
Jack looked at her in disbelief. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Her wish was for us to spend Christmas together as a family."
Irina looked at him and nodded. She felt stupid for not figuring it out.
The Bristows spent both Christmas and New Year's together as a family for the first tims, since Sydney was little.
For Sydney, it was the best holidays she ever spent with her family.
THE END