Chapter 23
"Dad?"
My stomach twisted violently and I felt my knees beginning to give way. My mother continued sobbing quietly, her head on my father's motionless chest, and Sark looked up at me sympathetically.
"I'm sorry," he said gently, sincerely. I ignored him, forcing myself to take a step towards my parents. Sark's hand on my knee stopped my progress. I shot him a glare, but he moved as quickly as he could to get himself off the floor and up to my level.
"There's something you should know," he said quietly. He glanced at my mother, then motioned for me to step outside. I did so reluctantly.
"What is it? What's so important that you won't let me-" Sark cut me off before I could get too hysterical.
"He wasn't dead. Not when we first went in." I froze, forcing back the tears that had been flowing since I first spotted his body.
"What?" I whispered.
"When Irina opened the door, your father was still alive- purely by his own willpower, I imagine. He held on long enough to say something to her, and then…" Sark's voice trailed off, and I kept my eyes trained on the ground.
"Thank you," I mumbled as I went back into the room. He nodded, slowly leaning against the wall to rest his leg, but still remaining alert. Hesitantly, I knelt on the ground next to my mother, who hadn't moved while I was out of the room. My eyes wandered up to my fathers face, which looked very nearly peaceful. If Sloane had tortured him at all, there were no blatant physical signs of it.
You'll never talk to him again, never argue with him again, never hug him again. This is really the end. The thought forced its way into my mind, and I choked back another sob, causing my mother to sit up and face me. We shared an equal look of anguish before she leaned into my arms. Sark respectfully kept his distance, staying on guard just outside the room as my mother and I grieved our shared loss together.
Before long, Sark silently reentered the room, obviously not wanting to intrude. Clearing his throat, he spoke hesitantly.
"I apologize if I seem… unfeeling, but we've got to catch Sloane while we still can."
"No… you're right. Let's go," my mother agreed quietly. We both stood shakily, but while I dried my tears and headed for the door, my mother surprised us by leaning over and beginning to lift my fathers body. Sark and I exchanged worried looks.
"Mom?" I questioned uncertainly.
"We cannot just… leave him here," she replied, sounding desperate. Sark stepped forth as the voice of reason.
"Irina, our mobility is already severely limited by my injury. I understand your need to do this, but right now, it would only endanger us all." Realizing that she was about to protest, he carried on quickly. "We'll come back here after we've eliminated Sloane. Agent Vaughn might still have a chance; we can't squander that." She looked down at my fathers face, nodding slowly.
"We're not leaving here without him."
"We won't," Sark promised. My mother reached for my hand as we exited the room, neither of us able to look back. We continued moving down the hall, weapons at the ready. Sark still leaned heavily on my mother, who had pushed away her anguish, hiding it under a mask of cold determination.
"If my calculations are correct, there can't be much room left for him to run," Sark noted.
"What are those calculations based on?" I questioned.
"The landscape we saw outside, and the structure we've seen since we came in. Obviously, that's not very definite, but I've no reason to believe otherwise." I didn't reply, merely nodded, and a short time later, Sark's theory seemed to be proven correct as we came to the end of that hall and found ourselves faced with yet another door. It was slightly ajar; I reached for it hesitantly, but then pulled back, looking at my companions uncertainly as I recalled what had been discovered by opening other doors.
"Do it," my mother whispered.
"I'm afraid to," I admitted, and her hard demeanor softened slightly.
"I know, sweetheart." She hesitated briefly, looking away in deep though, before her eyes met mine again. "I am too." The confession took my breath away, but I had no time to dwell on it.
A slight clanging noise echoed from behind the door, instantly putting all three of us even more on alert. With my mother urging me forward, I kicked the door open and stormed in, prepared to fire at anything that moved.
There was nothing. Anxiously, I whirled to face my mother.
"I don't understand… we heard him! He has to be in here!"
"There!" Sark called suddenly, eyes focused upward. I immediately spotted Sloane attempting, without success, to open a door that would obviously allow him to escape. Then I realized what had made the noise that drew us in- a rusted metal ladder was on the ground. It had obviously been connected to the small landing Sloane currently occupied; he'd evidently shoved it off once he got up it.
Sloane had, of course, noticed our presence by that point; as I ran for the ladder, he withdrew a gun from his jacket and squeezed off a shot. Sark and my mother returned fire, causing him to duck back into the shadows by the door as they also took refuge. I quickly propped the ladder against the wall and climbed up cautiously. Just as I got to eye level with the landing, I saw Sloane finally force the door open. Looking through it, I could see there was another ladder leading upwards, which he quickly grabbed hold of. I reached for my gun, but before I could take a shot, he'd started climbing up. I hoisted myself up the rest of the way, and took a second to yell down to my mother and Sark.
"Another ladder, he's going up!" Within seconds, my mother was halfway up the ladder, leaving Sark to make it up by himself. I could see that her desire for revenge had outweighed her concern for him, but I didn't stick around to help him either. I ran to the ladder and followed Sloane up. As I poked my head out over the edge, he fired another shot, and I scrambled down.
"Sydney!" I heard the fear in my mothers voice.
"I'm all right," I promised, unsure of how to proceed. Finally, I took a breath and went up again. This time, there was nothing from Sloane. "He's gone again!" I groaned. My mother came through moments later, and we began searching for a door of some kind. Just as Sark began pulling himself up, I spotted a small bit of light. I pushed on the wall to reveal that there was indeed a door there; it opened fairly easily, and I saw we were on the roof, two stories up. I also spotted Sloane almost immediately; he was just about to start climbing down the fire escape. I recalled spotting that earlier, when we'd circled the building in search of an entrance. I also recalled thinking it didn't look safe, and thus scratching it off the list of ways in.
I dropped down as Sloane aimed his gun at me. Counting those shots and adding in how many he'd already used, I was fairly certain he was out of ammo. The gun being left on the edge of the roof as Sloane started his descent confirmed my belief. I ran to the fire escape and trained my gun on him.
"Sloane! Stop right there!" I hollered. He paused and looked up at me smugly.
"You still won't shoot me, Sydney." The confidence in his voice and lack of concern on his face made my skin crawl.
"After what you did to my father, what on earth would make you believe that?" I demanded.
"Because, Sydney, I'm still the only one who knows where your Vaughn is." His grin faded into a serious expression. "I didn't mean for… what happened to Jack, that wasn't part of my plan," he said earnestly.
"Planned or not, it still happened. Whether it was your goal or not, my father is dead, and it's your fault!"
"I know that, Sydney, and I'm sorry."
"Stop it!" I screamed. "I don't want to hear your apologies! I don't want to hear how sorry you are for what happened to dad, and to Danny, and to Dixon, and Dixon's family. You are a monster… you are not human!" Sloane stared up at me, eyes dark and angry. Then, to my surprise, he began climbing back up. I glanced behind me, wondering if my mother and Sark had followed me. They weren't there.
"Is it really my fault, Sydney?" Sloane questioned as he stood, facing me. "Do you truly blame me for everything that's happened? Or perhaps, you think, the blame should be focused within," he suggested quietly. I was rattled, more by the fact that he was voicing my own thoughts than anything else.
"You killed my father and Dixon… you had that bomb planted at Dixon's house… of course it's your fault!" I hissed. He shrugged mildly.
"Yes, I may have carried out the acts… but is it truly my fault that things had to happen this way?" he pressed. I knew he was playing mind games, but I couldn't keep the words from affecting me.
"Stop it," I said, trying to sound forceful.
"And is it my fault that you killed Marshall? Or Dr. Barnett? Kendall? Surely Devlin's heart attack can't be blamed on me either, can it Sydney?"
"Stop it!"
"And your friends Will and Francie… granted, Allison was the one to kill them, but we both know it never would've happened if they weren't your friends. We mustn't forget Agent Weiss… I think we're both aware of who killed him."
"Stop it!" I screamed, swinging my gun up to hold it to his head. Through the tears that had accumulated in my eyes, I couldn't see when he stepped away and reached out to grab my wrist. We grappled for the gun, inching ever closer to the edge of the roof.
"Sydney!" My mother's frantic voice rang out clearly as she finally emerged from the building, Sark in tow, and began running towards us. The distraction allowed me to get the upper hand, but wasn't enough to get Sloane to release the gun. He also realized that I'd gained the advantage, and in an act of desperation, took a step back and pulled it closer to him. The motion threw us both off balance, and before I knew what was happening, we'd both toppled over the edge. I frantically reached out and caught the edge of the building, then glanced down to see where Sloane was.
He had caught hold of the fire escape ladder, just inches below my feet. It was then that I realized he had also ended up with the gun. I reached out with my left foot, trying to kick it out of his still uncertain grasp, but he held firm. The effort caused my hands to slip, and I scrambled to maintain my hold, attempting to use the ladder to push myself up. It was then that I felt a pair of hands on each arm, and looked up to see my mother and Sark pulling me up. Sloane, realizing this, reached out and grabbed my leg, trying to block their efforts. He simultaneously began inching his way up the ladder, until he had almost drawn even with me. I was halfway onto the roof, with just my legs hanging over the edge. Seemingly certain that I would be ok, Sark released my arm and maneuvered around my mother, swiftly reaching down and wrapping his hands around Sloane's throat.
Sloane's eyes widened and he began struggling viciously, causing the already weak escape ladder to shake violently. In the next few seconds, there was a sudden flurry of activity as my mother managed to get me all the way up just as the ladder came loose. Sloane, so intent on freeing himself from Sark's chokehold, had no grasp on the building itself. One hand wrapped itself around Sark's wrist, while the other brought the gun up to point at his forehead. As Sark moved to block the weapon, a shot was suddenly fired.
The next thing I knew, Sloane was plummeting down the two story drop, and Sark was slumped over the edge, about to slip. My mother and I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back up to safety. While she checked on Sark, I leaned over the edge in an attempt to determine Sloane's fate, and immediately wished I hadn't. My stomach twisted as I saw the portion of rusted ladder protruding from his chest. Hearing my mother's breathing hitch, I turned around to check on her and Sark.
"Mom? Is he…?"
"He's gone, Sydney… he died to protect us…" she pulled her hands away from his throat, and I could see where the bullet had become lodged. I clasped my hands over my mouth and turned away quickly.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered, knowing Sark had meant something to her. More blood on your hands, the inner voice noted cruelly. I watched as my mother covered Sark's face with part of his shirt, and then stood to face me. I immediately saw the pain lancing through her eyes, and knew it was my fault it was there.
"Let's go… we still have a chance to save Vaughn," she said softly.
"Thank you," I whispered back. She merely nodded, pulling me to her as we walked back into the building and desperately continued the last leg of our quest.
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Should only have a few chapters left to go… a few, as in one or two…
