He was tired. He was scared. He was hungry. And most of all, he was furious.
Neil Caplan sat awkwardly at a desk in a warehouse. A guard leaned against the door on the far side of the room, gun trained on him. Another sat in front of him, watching him work. He had never seen either of them before and had no idea if his captors were busy killing his family, and thus not there with him, or if someone else was now in charge.
He closed his eyes, fighting uncharacteristic tears. The last words he had said to his beautiful wife had been out of anger.
"I can't stand any more promises you don't keep!"
"I don't know how else to do this!"
"Maybe you don't. There are other fields."
"Once the polytechnic goes public with the design, I'll slow down. I mean, I'll stop. I promise."
"Think about your father. Aaron's growing up, and you're missing it."
She'd been right, he now realized. She'd been right. And now, he was likely to miss much more of his son's life than he had ever thought.
He was likely to never see Aaron or Elsa again.
A few hours of monotonous calculations later, Neil jumped at the sudden commotion that erupted outside the room he was held in. He didn't dare to look up, but hope began to rise…
And died quickly when the guard opened the door for the older man. Sloane. Following him were two more guards half-dragging, half-carrying a drugged younger man that was bound tightly. The guard sitting in the chair in front of his desk stood up so they could dump the new prisoner on it and secure him to it firmly with even more white cord.
"I trust you're well, Mr. Caplan?" Sloane inquired, his tone friendly. He set the magnetometer on the desk.
"Who is that?" he asked wearily.
"His name is Michael Vaughn," Sloane replied. "I understand that what I'm asking you to do is very difficult, so I thought I'd provide you with someone that could sympathize with your plight."
He turned to leave. "Do tell Agent Vaughn when he awakens that Sydney's well-being is directly concurrent with his behavior."
"Sydney? Wait! What about my family?"
The door closed behind him. Caplan stared at his notes and then at the sleeping young man slumped in the chair, his thoughts racing. Sloane had said Agent. Was this Michael Vaughn NSA? CIA? FBI? Was this new captive someone that had been trying to save him? Did he know about Elsa and Aaron? And who was Sydney?
Come on kid, he thought toward his new cellmate. Wake up. We have a lot to discuss.
She was waiting for him, eyes clearly demanding answers. But for a moment, that faded away. She's beautiful, he thought. Just like Sydney. Like our daughter.
He took a deep breath, his eyes heavy with worry. "What have you heard?"
"Only that Sydney was captured," Irina said quietly. "Give me details, Jack. Please."
Jack sighed. "Sydney and Vaughn went to Switzerland to follow Sloane's trail. After rescuing a family held by him, they tracked Sloane to a bank in Zurich. After a standoff inside the building, Sloane forced them to surrender and come with him. We lost them on a highway outside the city."
She nodded shortly. "What's being done?"
"Nothing," he said quietly, in frustration.
"What?"
"Apparently, Vaughn has spent the past few months in meetings all over the world with former KGB operatives and assassins. Kendall and counter-intelligence are convinced that he worked for Sloane and that Sydney was either helping him, or a pawn in his plans."
"That's preposterous," she dismissed. "William Vaughn's son could never be anything but loyal to America."
"I agree," he said quietly. He leaned closer to the glass. "Agent Weiss switched things around so that he could watch the cameras at this time. We can talk freely." He paused. "We're going to get them back."
She raised her chin, looking him in the eyes. "If Vaughn was meeting KGB people, they probably had ties to me. We could claim I was trying to confirm that information, but I can't do that from here. I want to help, Jack. Let me help."
"Kendall would never agree to-"
"Make him," Irina said simply. "Get me out of this cell, Jack, and I will do everything I can to help us retrieve them."
She had been beautiful before, when she was angry. But while asleep, her beauty and her innocence, were unrivaled. It simply took his breath away how perfect this woman was.
Sark slouched in a chair to the left of Sydney, in a hidden room on the basement level of the Sloane's Tuscany villa. She lay on a rollaway, hands bound above her head to the bed frame, ankles secured to the iron posts supporting it.
Sydney stirred slightly, appearing like a little girl awakening from a nap, as she stretched as much as her restraints allowed. He waited patiently, not wishing to rush her. He needed her head clear.
And just seconds later, she turned towards him, eyes hard. "Where's…"
"And good day to you, Ms. Bristow," he replied. "To answer your query, Mr. Vaughn was taken to the same location where Mr. Caplan is temporarily residing. He and Mr. Sloane are relatively close by."
She glared. "Where am I?"
"Spain," he answered. "I regret that I cannot give you any additional details, at least for now. I have been asked by my partner to remind you that Mr. Vaughn's comfort level rests in your hands."
She closed her eyes briefly, but said nothing.
"We have an assignment for you," Sark told her. "And if you are successful, I am authorized to say that we will consider allowing your boyfriend to leave our custody and return to Los Angeles. Alive and unharmed, present condition not withstanding. Though if you refuse or fail, well…"
"What kind of assignment?" she asked warily.
He leaned forward in the chair.
"Your mother, Sydney, was once my employer. I'd like for that to happen again. Your assignment is to retrieve Irina Derevko from FBI custody and both return her to us and her former glory."
Review Responses
Amyrlin: I love your review! ;)
Ilovemypenguin: :sigh: I was hopin' my readers could perform another miracle and find that out, like y'all figured out M. Vartan's middle name for Surmising Alliances. My faith is shattered! ;'( lol
Kay10197: LOL, I'd drop dead from shame. Like I did before these chapters were beta'd, ay Linda? ;)
Jennycraig10: Here ya go!
Charmedgal005: LOL, these chapters are like 3 times as long as my normal chapters are. (This chapter is like 5 times as long!) And, :gushes: thanks for your kind words!
Andi Horton: Bob, ay? There's an idea! lol
Britt4: LOL! Breathe! ;)
Maggie: Poor, poor Sarkie.
Wannabannana: Happy to oblige! Hee.
K4e: Devlin's first name is Ben. :P
London: Thanks very much!
Anonymousthinker: I think Engelbert has a nice ring to it! That and Eugene. Hmmmm…
Michele: See, I coulda sworn Jack said it during an argument, but maybe I just can't hear. It's very possible. lol
Kittyfantastico: Psssh. It's very fair! And thank you!
UKHoneyB: LOL, poor Weiss. And poor Jack, not even he can scare Weiss from helping Vaughn when he needs it!
Nattie700: Awww, thanks for tryin'! A KILT? :shields eyes:
Linda: Well, sometimes Jack lets Kendall win, but only if it benefits Daddy Bristow. ;)
gum-addict: LOL, easy, chica. Breathe! As for the pic… I'm a paying member of FF.net, so the profile pic is one of the perks. :)
Liz: Only six? hehe