As I drew nearer her cell, I could see my mother was practicing her autocircadian meditation. When I stopped in front of her glass barrier, she stood and faced me with movements as quick and graceful as a tiger. She approached the window, and I could feel her eyes drilling intensely into my own.

"No turning back," I said softly. She shook her head.

"No turning back." Suddenly, the lights all faded, and I knew the power had been shut down. It was safe to talk freely.

"What's the plan?" My mother asked. I explained it quickly, but with as much detail as possible.

"Nothing for us to do on this end?"

"No. We just wait. He originally told me that I would be the one to knock out any guards down here, but he changed that." She nodded and looked up the hall anxiously.

"The longer it takes, the less chance we have of getting out safely," she stated calmly.

"I know." Her eyes met mine, and she nodded. Just then, the sound of footsteps pounding down the hall set both of us on edge. It turned out to be one of the CIA guards, gun in hand.

"Step back, Agent Bristow. Derevko could try to take advantage of the situation." I moved away slowly, allowing him to step in front of me and train his weapon on my mother.

"What is the situation?" I questioned.

"Don't know. Power's down. Kendall thinks some foreign agency may be responsible," he said tersely, not bothering to glance at me. If he had, he may have been prepared for the blow to the back of his head that took him out. I quickly dragged him a short way down the hall, keeping him out of the way of the escape that should be happening soon. My mother nodded to me. As more footsteps sounded, I glanced over at the prone guard, aware that if it were more agents, I'd have some major trouble on my hands.

It turned out to be Sark's inside man, as well as two other people I didn't recognize. The first man glanced past me at the guard I had knocked out.

"Get to work!" he barked at his companions. They stepped up to the glass barrier, instructing my mother to stand as far back as possible. As they began to work on the glass, the other man drew my attention back to him.

"Agent Kurtz. I work with Mr. Sark."

"I'd figured as much," I said dryly, not fully prepared to trust this man. He gave me an unfriendly look, but reached back to grab a bag, which he handed to me.

"Here. Take what you want, and then let Derevko take whatever she'd prefer." I glanced through it, finding a small assortment of guns. I grabbed two and left three for my mother. At that moment, they finally broke through the glass. She stepped out for the first time in a long time. I glanced at the time.

"It's been three minutes since the power went out," I stated.

"We need to move quickly. We don't have much time." I handed her the bag of guns, and we started down the hall at a brisk clip. She discarded the empty duffel bag, tucking a small handgun into her waistline and keeping the other two in hand. As we passed under the set of gates, Sark appeared.

"Hurry," he said urgently. We picked up the pace, bursting into the main area. As soon as we did, I could feel a pair of cold eyes locked onto me. Glancing around, I saw Kendall yelling orders, pointing towards us. Barnett stood next to him, speaking to another agent. Before we got any further, a group of agents appeared and began shooting. We all quickly ducked; Agent Kurtz, who had been trailing us, didn't react in time. I jumped slightly as his body landed with a thump near my foot.

"We'll have to shoot our way out," Sark said. My mother nodded; I sighed in resignation, knowing that he spoke true.

"Ready?"

"Let's go," I replied. Sark peered over the desk and began firing. The agents who had been shooting at us scattered quickly; none of them fell. My mother raised the guns she held in her hands, and began a rapid-fire attack. I saw a dangerous glint come into her eye, and she shifted her focus. As I looked out from my cover behind a desk, I saw Dr. Barnett fall. A shocked Kendall caught her and lowered her to the ground. Judging by the amount of blood spilling from her mouth and her chest, I knew she was gone for sure.

I noticed two agents attempting to flank Sark and my mom; I quickly raised my gun and took each of them down with shots to the shoulders. I didn't want to kill any CIA agents if I didn't have to. Suddenly, Sark made a strangled noise, and his gun fell from his hand as he dropped behind the desk. My mother gave him a worried look, and quickly ducked over to him. He sat up slowly, and I could see where his elbow had been hit. I grimaced.

Just then, a wild burst of gunfire nearly took my mother out. I quickly looked over to see Kendall holding an automatic rifle. I raised my gun and squeezed off a single shot. I couldn't stop the vengeful smirk that crossed my face as he looked at his chest in shock before falling next to Barnett. My mother retrieved her weapons, and between the two of us, we took care of the rest of the resistance. She helped Sark up, and looked to me.

"Let's go." We hurried out; as I passed the fallen forms of Kendall and Barnett, I nearly stopped as I swore I heard a sound Neither of them moved, so I quickly caught up with my accomplices. But as we neared the door, I caught sight of something that did cause me to stop in my tracks. My breathing became erratic as we neared the lifeless agent.

"Oh my god…" I gasped. My mother paused, and she and Sark glanced at me in worry. I fell to my knees.

"You weren't supposed to be here," I sobbed as I turned the bloody man over.

"Sydney," my mother said softly. I ignored her, pulling him into my arms and crying full force. I tried to wipe away the blood to make his features more recognizable, but as soon as I did so, more red liquid just replaced it. I pounded on his chest in frustration.

"Sydney, we need to go, or we'll all end up dead," Sark gasped, and I could hear the pain in his voice.

"I'm so sorry Marshall," I whispered to my dead friend. "This wasn't supposed to happen." My mother grabbed my arm gently, and we rushed out. I glanced back at Marshall's dead body one last time before we got into the getaway van and prepared to face more carnage ahead.