A/N: Hey, everyone! Sorry this is short, but hey, you're getting two new points of view in the same damn chapter. Lucky you. Thanks for reading and reviewing. On to Jack's perspective!
Sit back, relax, and enjoy!
Previously..."You always were beautiful..." He said, stroking my cheek. I quickly bit his finger, and for that I got hit hard.
Vaughn...Dad...Mom...wherever you are, please get me out of here.
Present time, Jack's POV...
My little girl is taken. By her own fiancé. The one thread of sanity I have is probably tortured half to dead in a random warehouse.
By a man she was supposed to marry. A man I merely brushed off on the phone. A man I attempted to protect.
A man that broke my daughter's heart. The man that sent Sydney over the edge and further into the abyss of espionage and deceit.
As an absentee father, I really have no reason to be so mad. He probably took better care of Sydney than I ever did. He lied to her just as I did.
But Sydney was...is... my daughter. And no man will ever be good enough for her.
Although Vaughn certainly has come close.
Vaughn. To think that my best friend's son would be so madly in love with my own little girl. To think that he'd be so good for her. That he'd treat her like the goddess that she is. It's kind of like when you lose the pieces to your favorite puzzle when you're little. He's the missing pieces for her. They fit together so well that it's scary.
I just remember seeing them laying around on the floor, kissing, talking, eating popcorn, and screaming at a hockey match on TV. They were soul mates. They reminded me of another couple I knew all too well.
Irina and me.
We used to do the same things. Lay there on the floor, bantering, kissing, eating, screaming at hockey, we did all of that. The way he looks at her, the way he talks about her, it's insane.
Even after she left.
When she left, he lost the sparkle in his eyes. He reminded me even more of myself. He started to drink, take unnecessary risks. It was like looking at a blonde-haired version of myself. He was so broken.
Not anymore. We know she's alive now. His story ended much differently than mine had.
"Jack, Nadia just told us where to go. She remembers Danny mentioning something about Srinigar."
"Srinigar? I have a contact there. I'll have a plane ready within the hour."
And so it began. The second longest 24-hour period of my life had just begun.
Irina POV
As I look on at Vaughn and Jack getting the plane and the equipment ready, I started to notice how alike they were.
Both were smart. Intelligent. Sweet. Handsome.
Left handed. Hockey-obsessed. Both worried about the same woman.
I guess I was thinking out loud when Jack came over.
"We are more alike than we thought," he pauses. "We're both hockey fiends, both lefties." He took a deep breath. "Both madly in love with stubborn brunettes."
He meant me.
He loved me still. After all this time, after all that I've done, he still loves me.
Was he lobotomized?
"No, I'm perfectly sane, Irina." He kissed the top of my forehead. "I love you."
I felt my eyes well up. "I love you too, Jack." He smiled for the first time in years and kissed me again.
He gave me a hug, and then turned to Vaughn.
"Nadia and Bill will stay here. The plane is ready. Let's go."