Disclaimer: Surprise surprise, I don't own Alias.. or the characters.. or anything else related to the show. And I stole the title from a song by Thursday.. which also happens to be my favorite song, so don't sue meh.

A/N: So I think I owe you all a bit of an explanation. First of all, I want to say that I am truly sorry that it took me so long to update, I can assure it won't take that long again unless I say something in advance. I had been planning the rest of the story, trying to get it to 22 chapters so that it would be like a full season (because I'm that anal), and I lost track of time. Also, I revamped chapter eight, but you don't have to reread it, it doesn't really have that much affect, but there were a few things that I changed. If you liked it better the other way, let me know and I'll change it back because I write it for the readers. Anyway, thanks so much for all of your reviews, I really am sorry about the delay; I can assure you that I have no intention of abandoning this story... unless interest drops :P

Tomorrow I'll Be You

"Irina? Is that really you," Yelena asked in awe.

Irina smiled, relieved that her little sister seemed happy to see her. She hadn't spoken to Yelena since she had turned herself into the CIA all those years ago, and they hadn't been on the best of terms. Yelena had never approved of Irina's choice to join the KGB nor Katya's choice to join the Russian military, and she took every opportunity to make her opinions known to anyone whom would listen. She just wanted a normal family.

"I've missed you," Irina said softly as she hesitantly pulled her sister in for a hug, "How are you?"

Yelena was still in a state of semi-shock. She had thought her sister was dead; all of Yelena's sources and all existing signs had shown that Irina was dead. She pulled her sister into the house and shut the door. They had a lot to talk about.

"We thought you were dead," she murmured, looking as though she was seeing a ghost.

Irina furrowed her brow, "We?"

"Katya and I," she clarified.

Irina scoffed. "Of course she did," she replied with a bitter air. She stared at Yelena for a moment before she hesitantly asked, "Have you cleaned lately?"

Yelena cast a questioning glance at Irina, hoping that she was referring to bugs and not insulting her housecleaning efforts, and nodded as she motioned to sofa, "Yes, I swept yesterday. Have a seat."

Irina slowly sank into the plush sofa; she hadn't sat in anything remotely comfortable for years and she let out a long, relieved sigh. Yelena left the room, only to return a few moments later with two cups of coffee. She handed one to Irina as she casually asked, "What did you mean by, 'Of course she did?'"

"What did Katya tell you," Irina asked curiously after two sips of coffee and a moment's pause. She still didn't understand how Katya had pulled off the kidnapping. Hadn't anyone wondered where she was?

Yelena shrugged and took a seat across from Irina. "She said that you had been killed in an operation overseas. The building had exploded; no survivors," she said simply in an almost child-like voice. In retrospect, Katya hadn't been as affected by Irina's 'death' as Yelena had been, but then again Katya never had been overly emotional. Still, the fact that Katya had skipped the grieving process had always bothered Yelena.

Irina offered a sardonic smile and leaned into the sofa. "You know where I've been for the last two... three years," she asked wistfully, without waiting for a response she continued in a tone that was a bit harsher than what she had intended, "I've been locked up in a cement room with an aluminum bed and no window. I've been fed stale bread and warm water everyday; except on the rare occasion that I would get a sandwich. My sister held me hostage for almost three years."

Yelena remained seated; she was surprised at Irina's sudden outburst, but she remained expressionless.

"Katya," she clarified quietly, sadly.

Irina nodded as she mentally chastised herself for her bout of anger. She had to learn to keep it under control, at least for now.

"Why would she do such a thing," Yelena asked in the same quiet tone.

Irina sighed. She had always been disappointed at Yelena's naïvety. It had gotten her into trouble many times, and in their line of work it was a definite hazard. While she never approved of her sisters' lifestyles, Yelena had done everything she could to help them both, which had ultimately resulted in her becoming one of their most valuable contacts. 'Surely she knows by now that Katya is not a saint,' Irina thought with disdain.

"Do you remember the prophecy," she impatiently asked her sister.

Yelena nodded, "The one about Sydney."

Irina nodded in affirmation. "At the time, Katya believed that the offspring of the Chosen One would be the Rambaldi Incarnate," she explained, "Katya wanted to abduct her and run some tests; I didn't agree." Irina breathed a sigh and then muttered, "She obviously took care of that."

Yelena said nothing; instead, she waited patiently for Irina to continue.

"I can only assume that Katya was wrong because she let Sydney go and there had been no indication of a child," Irina finished, "but I still don't know what they did to her."

Both sisters where quiet for a moment before Irina spoke again, almost to herself, "I need to find her."

Yelena was still trying to digest what Irina had told her. She knew her family was abnormal, but she never even considered the fact that one of her siblings would hold the other hostage. 'Who in their right mind would do that,' she asked herself.

She hadn't met either of her nieces, although, she could only imagine what they were like: the Chosen One and the Passenger, prophesized to kill each other. She was momentarily relieved that she didn't have children; well, none that she could acknowledge, anyway. Why couldn't things just be normal?

"I'll see what I can do," Yelena said quietly before she stood up and gathered her coffee mug. She was on her way to the kitchen when she heard her sister's voice.

"How is Julian," Irina asked softly.

Yelena stopped walking, but didn't answer. After a few moments she turned around to begin her reply when a knock on the door interrupted her. Her brow furrowed as she glanced at the clock, noting that it was a little past ten in the morning. Wondering who would visit her so early without a notice, she cautiously made her way to the door.

The sun was just peaking over the French horizon, painting the sky in brilliant shades of red and violet. The new morning rays seeped through the curtains of one bedroom window and landed on the face of Michael Vaughn, effectively pulling him from his exhaustion-induced sleep. He glanced over at Sydney, relieved to see that she was still sleeping peacefully and, from what he could tell, quite comfortably. He was thankful that she could at least find a little solace from the mess her life had become.

He watched her for a few minutes, a bit disappointed that she wasn't talking in her sleep this time. However, she did smile a few times, which, in turn, made him smile and wonder what she could possibly be dreaming about. He stayed that way for awhile, resisting the urge to touch her, until he heard his mother downstairs, or rather smelled what she was cooking. He placed a soft kiss in Sydney's hair before he disentangled himself from her and made his way down the stairs, relieved to find that it was a lot less taxing to get downstairs rather than upstairs.

Vaughn made his way into the kitchen just in time to see his mother sneaking chocolate chips into the pancake batter.

"Mom! What are you doing," he questioned exasperatedly, startling Amélie and causing her to send a few chocolate chips skittering over the countertop.

Amélie clicked her tongue and scolded, "Michael, don't scare me like that." She sent him one last glare before she answered his question with a smile, "And it's only chocolate; live a little."

Vaughn sighed. Didn't she know that the chocolate completely negated the pancake's healthy intent? "Mom, if you're going to put chocolate in them, we might as well have ice cream for breakfast, too," he teased.

"Check the freezer," she deadpanned without turning away from her batter.

Vaughn rolled his eyes and took a seat at the table. "Did you sleep well," Amélie asked after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah," Vaughn answered as he stood up to retrieve a cup of coffee, "I didn't realize how tired I was." He could only imagine how exhausted Sydney must have been yesterday. He wouldn't have been surprised if she had decided to sleep all day. "I'm just glad Syd's still sleeping. I don't think she's slept for a few days," he confessed as he reclaimed his seat.

Amélie placed her finished 'pseudo' pancakes on a plate and joined her son at the table. "She seems like a wonderful girl, Michel," she stated, causing Vaughn to smile, "Despite what you both had to go through, I'm glad that you found each other."

Vaughn hadn't been looking for his mother's approval, but he was glad that he had found it. Knowing that his mother liked Sydney filled him with such hope for the future. Seeing as how his mother never cared for Lauren, her approval felt like a fresh start. Unfortunately reality had to creep in as he remember what was on the agenda for the next few days.

Although Amélie had no qualms about Sydney, she couldn't help but be curious as to what happened to Lauren. She had made it no secret that she was never very fond of her daughter-in-law, and when Vaughn had told her that they were separating, Amélie was thrilled; however, she didn't realize that the divorce process was so fast. She was about to ask about it when Vaughn spoke.

"Sydney and I have a few things to do today," he started hesitantly, "We'll be leaving this afternoon, but we're hoping that we won't be gone long. Two, maybe three, days."

Amélie nodded. She decided it was best that she not inquire any further. Despite the fact that she had accepted her son's decision to follow in his father's footsteps, she refused any details. It was easier to understand that way.

"Be careful Michel," Amélie said quietly.

Vaughn smiled sadly and took his mother's hand, "I promise."

Sydney chose that moment to slink into the kitchen. She still looked extremely tired, which concerned both Vaughn and Amélie. "Hey Syd," he greeted softly, "You sleep okay?"

She smiled and nodded as she slowly made her way to the table, running her hand through Vaughn's hair as she sat down. "I can't believe how tired I was," she confessed, resting her head in her hand. Vaughn brushed a loose strand of her hair away from her face before he stood and moved to pour her some coffee.

Amélie smiled and pushed a plate of food in her direction, "Help yourself, dear."

"Yeah, although they've been tainted," Vaughn added with mock-anger.

Sydney smiled at their banter. "I love chocolate," she said excitedly.

Amélie shot her son a victorious smirk and stood up, "Well, there you have it, Michel; mother knows best. Now, I'm going to get the paper."

After Amélie exited the room, Vaughn reclaimed his seat next to Sydney, "Are you sure you want to do this? We don't have to go..." he trailed off, hoping she had reconsidered.

Sydney shook her head sighed. "I have to, Vaughn..." she said, hoping that he would understand why she had to follow her sister's letter.

"Okay," he sighed. At least he would be with her.

"Who is this contact, exactly," Jack asked sharply with a glance at Sark.

They had made it to the airstrip just in time; the remainder of the transport team had been right on their tails. Now they sat at 3600 feet with Jack wondering how he was going to make this work, and Sark wondering when Jack was planning to remove the pistol from his neck.

"You mean you haven't figured it out," Sark asked in a slightly disappointed tone. When he received no reaction from Jack he flatly continued, "I've known her for about five years; she mainly deals with biographical information, but she is quite useful in the weapons trade." Sark paused and then, with a mock-pensive expression, taunted, "I'm sure you know her."

Jack was tired of games, and quite frankly, he didn't like Sark's attitude. With a clearing of his throat he changed his approach. Perhaps if he could get Sark angry enough, he would break. "You're quite young for a man in your position," Jack said with interest. He had always been curious as to how a young man could rise through the ranks as quickly as the one in front of him had.

"And what would my position be, Mr. Bristow," Sark drawled.

"You lead a Covenant cell," Jack began, and then poked, "Although, I have yet to understand why."

Sark smirked. It wasn't hard for him to see what Jack was doing. It didn't matter anyway, his contact would be revealed sooner or later; he just enjoyed pissing the older agent off.

"It's quite the mystery, isn't it," Sark sneered.

Jack stared at him for a moment before he started again, "What did they want with my daughter?"

Sark shrugged. He debated over whether or not to tell Jack what he knew, but one look at the agent's face and Sark decided that continuing his taunts wouldn't be such a good idea. "Sydney was taken so that she could complete a series of events," he started.

"What events?"

"I don't know; you might remember that I was in custody," Sark replied pointedly.

"According to one of the prophecies," he continued, "the Chosen One must complete the events before Rambaldi can return. It had been thought that when it happened, he would be in the form of her firstborn."

"Were the events completed," Jack asked with his trademark stony expression, although, inside he was reeling with concern.

"Yes."

Silence pervaded throughout the cabin and Jack turned lost in his own thoughts. Of course, not all hope was lost. Sark hadn't said for sure that Rambaldi would return as Sydney's child. Perhaps there was still a way to put an end to the prophecy before it was fulfilled. Maybe the Covenant had made a mistake; maybe Rambaldi had made a mistake.

After an eternity of silence, Jack asked the question that had been on his mind for nearly three years, "Who is the head of the Covenant?"

Jack hadn't expected a straight answer, but he didn't expect the one he did get, either.

"I was not privy to that information," Sark answered, and after a slight pause he eagerly confessed, "I do know; however, that McKenas Cole is." Sark had made it no secret that he detested Cole; therefore, he had no regrets about his confession. In fact, if Sark were honest with himself, he could easily say that he detested the entire organization for its sloppiness and ill-conceived ideas.

Jack was finding it difficult to hide his surprise over this revelation. According to the CIA, McKenas Cole was still in custody, or DSR custody, anyway. After Cole had been imprisoned, the DSR took control of his case, claiming that he was a 'Rambaldi expert' and that his 'expertise would be of use.'

Jack scoffed. It was all beginning to make sense; Kendall certainly had it all figured out. A dozen scenarios ran through Jack's mind as to what he could do to the son of a bitch at their next meeting. He couldn't wait.

Before he could think about it any further, the plane began its descent for landing. Although he had feigned ignorance, Jack had a good idea as to whom Sark's contact was. The fact that they had ended up in Russia had only confirmed his suspicions.

If Yelena Derevko was anything like her sisters, Jack was going to be in a world of trouble.

Thirty-six thousand feet and a ninety-minute car ride later, Jack found himself outside of a large, brick house with Julian Sark; never in his wildest dreams had he found himself in this situation. They walked up the walkway and stopped in front of the heavy, wooden door, Jack's pistol never leaving Sark's back. After a few moments of slight nervousness, Jack brushed his finger lightly over the doorbell before he decided to knock on the door.

Sydney and Vaughn had left for Zürich on the first available flight. Amélie had been sad to see them go, but she could see the determination in Sydney's eyes; it was the same determination she'd seen in Bill's eyes so many years ago, and the same she'd always seen in Vaughn's.

After a long and rather uncomfortable flight, Vaughn and Sydney found themselves standing outside Credit Suisse. She wasn't sure exactly how this was going to work, Nadia's letter had not stated exactly whom had access to the deposit box. After a brief consideration she decided to go in with an assumed name under the guise of opening a new account.

"You ready," Vaughn asked quietly as her grabbed her hand, although, he wasn't sure if it was for her comfort or his. It was obvious that he was apprehensive as to what they would find inside the vault. For all he knew, Nadia could be setting them up.

Sydney didn't answer, choosing instead to nod her head in affirmation as they started toward the building together.

After a short conversation with the teller, Sydney and Vaughn found themselves amidst thousands of deposit boxes. As soon as the teller made his departure, the couple began their search for Box 1147, and within a matter of minutes they had found it. Sydney had planned to open the box in a similar fashion to the one in Wittenberg; however, she soon discovered that this box was special.

"Vaughn," she called.

Vaughn moved closer to get a better look and furrowed his brow. "What is that," he asked.

Instead of a key lock on the box, this one had some type of thumb pad as well as a combination lock. They both tried their thumbs on the pad and a descrambler, but the lock didn't budge. Sydney's apprehensive expression turned puzzled as she tried to figure out a way to open it.

"You don't have the letter with you, do you," Vaughn asked quietly, breaking her concentration.

Sydney smiled and pulled the letter out of her coat pocket, "Always be prepared."

Vaughn grinned as he took the paper. "I can't believe you remember that," he chuckled as he looked over Nadia's letter.

Sydney shrugged as she continued to poke and prod at the box; "I remember a lot of things."

"Me too," he said quietly, remembering the stolen moments they had shared in a dank warehouse and the anonymous conversations at the pier.

Snapping back to the present, there were two lines in the letter that stood out at Vaughn, they were obviously a code or a hint of some sort.

"Syd, what do you think these mean?"

She looked over his shoulder as he pointed to the last two lines of the letter.

It will only open for you, you will see why...
The heart of a lover has the most watchful eyes.

"You think it's a code," she asked automatically.

"No, there's no pattern..."

They spent a few moments studying the letter intently when a thought suddenly hit Vaughn. The letter reminded him of one particular moment in the warehouse, and he picked up the deposit box and punched in the combination: 10-01-01. The lock gave away; however, the thumb pad kept the box secure.

"How did you know that combination," Sydney asked softly, recognizing the date the numbers formed.

Vaughn glanced into her dark, brown eyes and whispered just as softly, "I had an instinct." He took Sydney's hand and placed her thumb on the pad once again, and this time it relented to reveal the contents of the box.

Dozens upon dozens of files stared up at them and they wearily began to sort through all of them. They were so engrossed in their findings that they hadn't heard the footsteps quietly approaching.

"Oh my God, Vaughn," Sydney whispered after a few minutes as she held a single file for him to see. Halfway through skimming the page, his eyes grew wide with hope and disbelief. He was about to refute the document, deny that it was even possible, when they heard the clearing of a foreign throat.

"Hello Sydney..."

A/N: Okay, so let me have it :P Remember your reviews keep me going, so hopefully I can have the next chapter up sooner. I haven't forgotten about Katya, or Dixon, etc. I just needed to get some of this out of the way. The next chapter is in the works, so it won't be too long of a wait. Anyway, constructive criticism is always welcomed and appreciated. Please review, don't make me beg (even though I deserve it) :P

olivia: I'm so glad you still like this. And I'm sorry you had to wait so long, I promise it won't happen again! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thanks for reviewing :)

Ren201: Thanks for that, it made me smile. I really do want it to be realistic and I hope that makes it stand out. Again, I'm sorry for the wait. The next chapter will be up sooner, I solemnly swear. Thanks for your reviews :)

xanya-forever: You don't have to worry about the length (although I really do appreciate it), I'm just glad you review :P I know the site was acting kind of funny, I was trying to fix some typos in the last chapter and it wouldn't let me. I'm glad you like the S/V, I always worry about it 'cause I don't want it to end up too sappy; so I'm really glad you thought it was okay. And yeah, things are going to get a little tense in the Derevko household :P Thanks for your reviews!

Maree: Yeah, I had a lot of questions after that episode. So I decided to delude myself into thinking I knew the answers. And this is the result :P And about Vaughn's dad.... shhhh! :P I'm glad you didn't think the characters were out of character, I try really hard to make them realistic, so thank you. And thanks for reading and reviewing :)

Agent Flamingo: I'm glad you liked it, I'm not sure when Syd will learn the whole truth, so I haven't really decided what will happen when she does, although, I should probably say that I love happy endings. Anyway, thanks for reviewing :)

daisyduke947: lol, I'm glad you like it. Thanks for reviewing, and sorry for the delay, the next chapter will be up sooner, I promise!

Narya Fire: I'm really glad I could help, I feel the same way. The files in the vault will be revealed next chapter, and you have my word it will be up sooner than this one was. And I'm glad you like the S/V interactions, I'm always nervous about writing them so I'm glad everyone seems to enjoy how I write them. Thanks for reading and reviewing :)

DFfan2037: You love my story? That is so awesome. I'm glad you like how I write the characters, and I promise you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter. And toodles is my new favorite word, I love that :P Thanks for reviewing!

evanescence2037: I sense a pattern :P I have updated, and I cannot apologize enough for the wait. Thanks for reading!

dani11e87: I know you didn't review this particular chapter, but yeah, my take on it is in chapter four, and then there's a bit more to it in some of the following chapters. Anyway thanks for the review, and I hope you liked the other chapters :)