DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the ALIAS or any of these characters (well, except for my original characters…). JJ Abrams, Touchstone Television and ABC rightfully own them. I'm writing these fictions to stop them from dancing around my head, together with the characters in CSI. Thank you.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
She was in bed when she heard something crash. Her mother told her that she can sleep through a world war if ever it occurs in front of their house, but she knows that when something bad is going to happen, she wakes up.
She can't breathe very well. That's why she is in bed early. Agent Marlowe accidentally gave her tuna burger as a snack.
'Well, I hope it was accidental.' She thought to herself. She only took a small bite; her medication should be able to handle it.
At the corner of her eyes, she saw shadows lurking in the windows. So she discreetly went out of bed and approached the window. A man in all black and night vision goggles, tried to open the window.
'Stupid, it's hard to open that window from the outside.' She thought. To her surprise, it opened easily. This indicated to her that something was very wrong inside the safe house.
Three men went in. As soon as they entered, they immediately went to the bed.
It was empty.
She came from behind. It was hard to wrestle with three men when one arm is broken, but she managed to take one of the men's guns and shoot them with it. It was a tranquilizer and it's silenced.
They all went down. 'Never mess with a professional killer.' She thought. She knows there are more of them. She took one of the men's equipment and her cell phone and subtly went out of her room.
She proceeded to the kitchen and took one of the airtight zip lock bags from the cabinets and placed her cell phone inside. She then heard noises in the living room. Out of curiosity, she checked that part first.
There were more men. Almost ten in this room. And there are others.
She took a deep breath. She knows she can't take all of them at once, especially with a broken right arm. But she took her chance. She wasn't called 'La Nina Loca' for nothing.
She went for the 'Ghost' assault and started shooting them one by one. But after a few men went down, she ran out of ammunition. She mulled for a while on what to do but she knew that she hasn't got a lot of time, so she decided to have a little hand-to-hand combat.
She moved forward, acting as fast as she could. She knew that if she will be tranquilized, she would lose.
Like the maniac she is, she handled the remaining men like they were dummies that can't hit back. But she found out what they were doing in the living room.
They were setting it on fire.
The automatic sprinklers started to do their job and rained the whole room with water. She knows that the place will go to automatic lockdown and decided to leave through the kitchen. But she then heard somebody in the kitchen so she went to the gym. There was another hidden entrance/exit there.
Taking a gun with her, she hurried to the gym but found it infested with more all black, night vision goggle-wearing men.
She attacked first, once again. She didn't know how she did it, but she took all of them down. Kicks, punches and shots were traded and thankfully, she didn't receive any shots from them.
She was going to shoot the last of the men when some stabbed her in the arm.
"Are you stupid?! He said not to hurt her!" she heard one of the last conscious men shout.
"Shut up and tranq her!" She heard her stabber say. He sounded like Agent Marlowe. Not minding the pain in her arm, she elbowed the stabber on the face and hit him on the face with the tranquilizer. She kicked him in the face and was going to do more damage when she was shot in the shoulder. But she seemed immune to it.
She moved forward, and shot the remaining men. After a few minutes she was shot again, this time from behind. She managed to look at the person and tranquilize him.
She can now feel the effect of the tranquilizer. She stumbled and fell but didn't feel any pain when she went down. She fell over the pool and she can now feel water overwhelming her. She knows how to swim but she has this fear of drowning. The fact that she can't move any part of her body added to the panic that was starting to bubble in her throat.
'I'm going to die.'
Paris opened her eyes and saw a sterile-looking ceiling. She doesn't feel pain in any part of her body at all. She last remembered drowning.
She tried to sit up.
"No, don't." she heard someone say. She looked to her left. It was her father.
"Agent Bristow." She said. She stiffened up as Jack helped her up. He sensed the controlled feeling.
"Are you hungry?" he asked then looked around. All he saw were the empty boxes of Chinese food Sydney brought him yesterday evening. "What do you want eat?"
It took her a while before she answered. "Anything."
"Even hospital food? Come on, what do you really want to eat for breakfast?" Jack asked.
Paris looked at him. He was acting… strangely.
"Sir? Are you okay?" Paris asked.
Jack looked at her. 'Sir? Did she just call me sir?' he asked himself. "Yes. I'm… fine. Why do you ask?"
"Nothing, sir."
"Can you please stop calling me sir? Or Agent Bristow? Its too… formal." Jack asked.
"What will I call you then? Mr. Bristow?" Paris asked.
Jack raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. What about… dad?"
"Dad?" Paris asked. It cannot be traced in her voice but she was surprised.
"Or Daddy, or Father, or Papa… what else? Padre? Pater? Itay? Ama?" Jack asked jokingly.
"Dad. Dad, will be fine." Paris replied. "Thank you."
"No, thank you. I took you for granted. I should be saying sorry."
Paris didn't reply. Instead she looked down. Jack looked at her.
"I'm sorry." Jack said.
Paris looked at him. "No, don't. It's okay."
"Are you sure?" Jack asked.
"Yes." Paris answered. She smiled. This was the first time she smiled at him.
Jack saw that she and Sydney have the same dimples in their cheeks. But they have the same smile.
"You have my smile." Jack whispered.
"Yes, mom told me. But she said I have her sneer." Paris replied.
"Your mother talks about me?" Jack asked.
"She answers my questions but she rarely talks about you." Paris answered.
Jack nodded. "Do you feel okay? Nothing aching or anything?" he asked.
Paris shook her head. Silence followed after that.
A few minutes later, someone knocked on the door. It was Sydney.
"Hi dad. Oh, hey… you're awake." Sydney greeted and gave Jack and Paris a smile. She closed the door and approached them. "I'm sorry; I thought you were still asleep. What do you want to eat?" Sydney asked to Paris as she gave her father breakfast.
"Anything will do. Except tuna, of course." Paris answered.
"Okay, I'll be the one to get something for you." Jack said, volunteering first. "Just stay with her for a while until I return, okay?" he asked Sydney.
"Okay." Sydney answered, and then smiled at her father. Jack stood up then left the room.
"Okay, he's acting a bit weird." Sydney said as she turned to Paris.
"Yeah. I agree with you." Paris replied then smiled. "He told me that I could call him dad."
Sydney smiled at her. "So, that's why you look happier this morning." She said as she sat down on the chair. "Did he also tell you that he asked Devlin to let you stay with him?"
"He did?" Paris asked.
"Yeah, he did. But I guess he's still waiting for the 'go' signal." Sydney said. "He was really concerned about you."
"What about Agent Westfield?" Paris asked.
"Oh, he's fine. He got out of the hospital yesterday."
"That's wonderful. Did you know that he and his wife have two sets of twins?" Paris asked. "What about Agent Marlowe?"
Sydney cleared her throat. She was uncertain on how she will answer the question.
"Uh… I don't know how to say this… but… Agent Marlowe…" Sydney paused. Paris was looking at her expectantly.
"Is he dead?" Paris asked.
"No. But he led the attack. He was also the person who stabbed you in the arm."
"Oh." Was Paris' only reply. She was quiet for a few seconds then said, "So that's why he gave me tuna burger for dinner."
"He did?" Sydney asked.
"Yeah. I sort of, took a bite. I guess he wanted to subdue me first."
A knock came on the door. It was Vaughn.
"Hi. Good morning." Vaughn greeted as he went in.
"Hi." Sydney and Paris greeted back. He closed the door.
"Where's your father?"
"He ran off to get Paris breakfast." Sydney answered. Just as she said this, Jack opened the door.
Vaughn greeted him and Jack, to the surprise of everyone in the room, greeted back.
"Uh… I bought you chicken and egg sandwich and milk. There's a deli in front of the hospital." Jack said uncertainly to Paris as he handed the brown paper bag to her.
"Thank you." She said after she received it and smiled at him.
"Uh, dad, we'd better get going. Dixon's expecting us." Sydney said and kissed her father on the cheek. "Get well soon, Paris." She said, smiling at her and left together with Vaughn, who also said goodbye.
When they left, Jack and Paris ate in silence. Paris was really hungry and she doesn't know why. Jack, on the other hand, was eating in an almost meditative manner.
"Uh… dad?" Paris asked hesitantly to Jack after a few minutes.
Jack looked at her. Paris smiled at him.
"It's nice to finally meet you."
Sydney is on her way to their old house, to have dinner with Paris and her dad. Jack was almost an hour ahead of her, since he is the chef for the night. Paris moved in with their father almost four days ago.
Devlin allowed Paris to stay with their father and Jack, upon hearing the news, ordered the transfer of all Paris' things from Britain to the United States. Paris was also going to be a full time employee of the CIA and will be field rated this weekend. Sydney was sure that her sister's going to pass with flying colors.
She slowed down when she neared the house. As she parked her car in the driveway, she heard the faint melody of Eine Kline Nachtmusik of Mozart being played on the piano. And it was being played beautifully. The music was coming from the house.
Sydney, who brought a box of chocolate cake, walked to the big mahogany door and rang the doorbell. The music stopped and a few seconds later, the door was opened.
"Hi."
It was Paris.
"Oooh. You brought cake." Paris said as she let her in. She offered to take the box from Sydney.
"Yeah. Where's dad?" Sydney asked.
"He's in the kitchen." Paris answered as they walked to the kitchen.
"Was that you playing the piano?" Sydney asked.
"Yes. I am so happy that my sling is gone. Even if I still have this bandage" Paris replied as they entered the kitchen. A delicious aroma was filling the room.
"Wow, you're fast dad. And that smell's delicious. What are you cooking?" Sydney asked, approaching her father.
"Pasta Alfredo and Fillet Mignon. Paris prepared the ingredients." Jack answered as he turned to look at her.
"You look nice." Sydney said after she had surveyed what her father's wearing. He took off his coat and wore an apron over his shirt, tie and trousers.
"May I taste?" Sydney asked.
"Paris asked me that question and she got banned to the living room." Jack answered.
"Just for asking once?" Sydney asked and turned to Paris.
"Not really. I asked him ten times." Paris replied and then gave her sister an impish smile. "But maybe if you help him, you can get a taste. I don't really know anything about cooking."
"Mom didn't teach you?" Sydney asked as she took one apron near the potholders.
"She tried. But I think we both got traumatized when I almost burned the kitchen. So, I just settled with washing the dishes."
"So, you're going to wash the dishes later?" Sydney asked,
"Yeah." Paris answered and smiled at her. Sydney smiled back.
"So, dad. How can I help?"
Paris was sitting on the floor of her new room, looking at the leather bound diary in her hands. Sydney left a few minutes ago and it was getting late.
She heard her father's footsteps pass by the door. She hurriedly stood up and went out of her room.
Paris went out and followed Jack to his room. Before entering, she knocked first.
"It's getting late." Jack remarked as she went in.
Paris shrugged. "I need to give you something." She said.
"What is it?" Jack asked, his eyebrows knitting a little.
"Well, Uncle Danilov, mom's twin brother, asked me to give this to my father. To you." Paris said as she handed to him the leather bound diary.
"Why?" Jack asked, receiving it.
"Explanations. He said that it was partially his fault." Paris replied.
Jack looked at her.
"I don't know what he meant. I mean, I've been told weirder reasons, after all, I've been keeping things for my relatives and close friends, like some sort of secret keeper or something." Paris said.
Jack looked at the diary. "Did your mother made you keep anything for her?"
"Yes." Paris said, remembering a white-gold ring in a silver chain she's been keeping for her mother for almost ten years.
"Can you keep something for me?'
"Sure. As long as I can hide it." Paris answered. She watched as her father walked towards one of the drawers near the king-sized bed and took a small box inside.
"I haven't worn this in the last twenty years. But I've always kept it." Jack said as he handed it to her. Paris took it and placed it in her pocket. "You're not going to look what's inside?"
"Maybe later." Paris said. She knows that her father's a bit uncomfortable with her opening something personal in front of him.
"Go to sleep." Jack said gently and gave her a little smile when she gave him a goodnight kiss.
Paris walked to her room and closed the door after her. She sat on her bed and took the box from her pocket.
She opened it and saw a simple gold ring she has seen before.
Paris stood up and went to one of her tables to get her jewelry box. She took the ring that her mother gave her and compared it to what her father gave her.
They were the same.
She's keeping her parent's wedding rings, for them.