The next day, I was awakened by the ringing of my cell phone. I rolled over and grabbed it from the table, answering groggily.
"Hello?"
"Syd? Weiss. You have a meeting with Barnett in half an hour, and I take it you just woke up." I squinted at the clock and realized it was almost 11:45. My appointment with Barnett was scheduled for 12.
"Crap. Thanks Weiss, see you in a few." Ten minutes later, I was on my way out, still rubbing sleep out of my eyes. I made it there ten minutes before our meeting was to start.
"Are you ok?" Weiss cut me off at the pass. I sighed.
"Yeah. Thanks for calling, I guess my alarm didn't go off, or I didn't set it… or something." He gave me an odd look.
"No problem. Good luck with Barnett."
"Thanks." I was on my way to her office when my cell rang again. I looked at it and wondered who it was now.
"Bristow," I answered with a sigh, figuring it had to be work-related. I was correct, to an extent.
"Sydney. Is it safe to talk?"
"I'm on my way to Dr. Barnett's office right now," I said, knowing Sark would catch the hint.
"Understood." He hung up, and I slipped my phone back into my pocket. A moment later, Dr. Barnett called me into her office. I sighed and attempted to push back my emotions. Then, I went in.
"Hello Sydney. How are you?" I was getting really sick of hearing people ask me that. I took a moment to consider my answer.
"I'm dealing," I finally said carefully.
"So you're not doing well?" I groaned inwardly; that was exactly the assumption I had wanted to avoid her making.
"I'm doing as well as can be expected, considering the circumstances." I didn't want to be too upbeat- she would see right through that, as would anyone with half a brain- but if I let her see how much everything was truly bringing me down, it would endanger everything. The moment Barnett got Kendall to revoke my clearance to see my mother, the whole plan would have to change, of that I was sure.
"Did you sleep well last night?" Again, my mind was racing. I quickly realized she was probably going to direct the conversation to dreams. She wanted to figure out how deeply it was affecting me.
"I slept all right," I said shortly, determined not to help her line of questioning at all.
"Were you awakened at any point?"
"By what?" I asked curiously, feigning ignorance.
"Anything at all. Noises, dreams, movements." I pretended to think hard for a moment.
"No, I slept through the night until Agent Weiss called."
"And was it difficult to wake up?"
"No, not at all." She nodded and wrote down a few notes. I stared at her, trying to anticipate her next move. I figured she would try to delve into the dreams a bit more, but not be too blatant about it. I was only half right.
"Tell me about the kind of dreams you've had lately." That was anything but subtle, I thought wryly.
"Well, nothing out of the ordinary, that I can recall," I said haltingly. That was a lie, from the first word to the last. I could remember every detail of each vivid nightmare I'd had the past few days, but I wasn't about to tell her that.
"So you don't remember your dreams?"
"No. But then, I never do." More lies. But the last thing I needed was her getting into my dreams and overanalyzing them.
"Ok. Well, I think that's enough for today." I was surprised; it had been just over ten minutes, and she was already done with me? But I quickly stood up; I wasn't going to complain.
"Thank you, Dr. Barnett," I said, managing to remain polite.
"You're welcome, and thank you for coming." I nodded to her and slipped out the door, breathing a sigh of relief as it clicked shut behind me. I took a deep breath and walked down the hall. Kendall met me as I walked into the main area.
"I appreciate your cooperation. Feel free to go home now." With that, he continued past me, presumably on his way to Barnett's office. I stared after him bitterly.
"What home?" I sighed as I walked out. A little while later, I pulled up to my father's apartment and shut off the car, which was also his. Before I could even open the car door, my cell phone rang. I quickly pulled it out and answered. It was Sark.
"How did the appointment go?"
"It was… manageable. Can I take it everything's in place?"
"Yes. You'll go in there tomorrow, and ask to see your mother. Kendall will presumably say yes, to which you reply 'it will just take me ten minutes. Probably only seven.' That will be the cue, and you have two minutes to get down to Irina's cell." I took a moment to absorb all the info.
"What then?"
"My man on the inside will cut all power. A team will raid the facility and extract the two of you. If all goes off without a hitch, there will be no casualties, and the three of us will be in the air, on our way to London, tomorrow night. We'll restock and come up with a strategy while in England, and move on Sloane within the next few days."
"Ok. Any particular time I need to go in tomorrow?"
"By noon would be helpful."
"Fine. I'll be there then."
"Thank you. See you tomorrow." And then he was gone, and I was left to think about the plan. Something didn't feel right. After a few minutes of analysis, I realized that I was uncomfortable with the phrases he had used- namely, if all goes without a hitch. I knew nothing, especially something in my life, could ever go off without a hitch. With a sigh, I got out of the car and went into the house. It was going to be a long day of waiting.
Thanks for the reviews, keep 'em coming! I think the good stuff is coming up next chapter…
