The world was ablaze with color. Strands of every shade imaginable invaded senses long kept dormant via sedation drugs and it was all he could do to not whimper.
Gradually the world toned down the visual onslaught, leaving him slightly breathless but finally able to focus on his surroundings. He lay flat on his back on a hard mattress, handcuffed wrists folded on his stomach in a parody of relaxation, a fierce pain in his lower left arm.
And then a woman knelt beside him. For a moment, hope swelled in his chest. Elsa?
She couldn't breathe. Her lungs had simply collapsed in on themselves. As if moving in a dream she became dimly aware of harsh, hiccuping sobs from someone in the room.
Wow, she thought, whoever that is, I hope he or she is okay.
And then she realized that someone was shaking her by the shoulders.
"Sydney?" a man said, over and over. No response. She couldn't help but feel an almost absent sort of sadness. Sydney, whoever she was, must have been hurt somehow.
"Sydney! Hey, you! Go find Michael Vaughn! I know he's in debrief, but I don't care. Get him here, now!"
With a gasp, Sydney forced her mind out of the fog that had been threatening to consume her. Weiss stood directly in front of her, hands still on her shoulders as he peered into her face. The second he realized she was back, he released her.
Sydney drew a shuddering breath, fighting to focus. The last thing she remembered was talking to Will on the phone about… oh, God.
"I told him you'd call him back," a voice interrupted hesitantly on her thoughts. She raised her head to again meet Weiss' concerned gaze.
"I… I need to get home," she stammered. "I…"
"There's nothing you can do," Weiss interjected. "If Sloane is targeting your friends, it would be too dangerous for you to leave. I asked Dixon if he would mind hanging with Will at Mike's apartment until we know what's going on."
"Yes, but I should still… I mean… I…." she started to cry again, soft, little girl sobs that ripped his heart out with every gasp.
Damn it. Where's Michael?
"How did you manage to escape, Mr. Vaughn?"
"I didn't. Sloane told his wife about the warehouse I was in. She decided to scope it out and found me."
Kendall's jaw dropped. "Emily Sloane let you go?" She faked her death. Guess it's like husband like wife, in terms of deviance.
"Yes. And it didn't seem like she was in league with her husband, sir. She did request that Sloane, when caught, was spared the death penalty - "
Kendall looked up sharply, a rebuke on his lips.
" - but even when I told her that decision wasn't up to me and that I would not grant her request even if it was, she released me anyway."
Yeager nodded distractedly, jotting down notes to himself. "What about Neil Caplan? You've said you were initially held with him."
Vaughn winced. "I never saw him again after they threatened him, Mr. Yeager. The guard had orders to execute me when they called… after Mrs. Sloane told me she hadn't seen him in the warehouse, I assumed they had either killed him or taken him with them. I can't give you a definite answer on that."
"Right," he answered. "There's one thing that isn't clear to me, Mr. Vaughn."
"Mr. Yeager?"
"You've said that you only agreed to help them send Agent Bristow into Operations when they threatened Mr. Caplan. However, your lack of concern for him - "
"Hey, wait a minute!"
" - implies you accepted Mr. Caplan's death as a definite event. If so, then why agree to help them in the first place?"
Vaughn sat taller, directing his answer not to Yeager, but to Jack, whose intense gaze had yet to waver, even though he had yet to say a word.
"I agreed to help them because it was the only way I could get Sydney away from them," Vaughn answered shortly. "Away from wherever they were holding her… she at least had a chance for survival. I knew that my actions could very well cause my death, and possibly Mr. Caplan's, but I deemed that a necessary risk to ensure her safety. It was a decision I would repeat in a heartbeat, Mr. Yeager."
Jack nodded quietly, quiet gratitude in his eyes.
"Okay, Mr. Vaughn, what about - "
The door flew open and an intern rushed in, out of breath.
"This is a private sess-" Kendall started to reprimand.
The intern shook his head. "Agent Weiss sent me to look for Agent Vaughn. It's… Agent Bristow."
"What about Sydney?" Vaughn and Jack demanded simultaneously.
Weiss stood by helplessly, one eye on the television and one eye on Sydney, who had stopped crying but stared with unseeing, unblinking eyes, not yet fully restored from wherever her grief had sent her.
Running footsteps caught his attention and he breathed a sigh of relief when Michael brushed past him and gently engulfed his girlfriend in a firm embrace. She laid her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes while he rubbed her back and soothed her quietly.
Jack, Kendall and the pesky counter-intelligence guy trailed behind Vaughn, the elder Bristow visibly flinching when he saw his daughter's state. For a moment, Weiss wondered if he would take Sydney from Vaughn and comfort her himself, because he clearly wanted to, but the man instead stepped back, perhaps realizing that he was not the person she needed at the moment.
"This is Carol Lund with a follow-up to today's breaking story. Witnesses are reporting seeing a woman with brown hair fleeing the premises shortly after the fatal shooting. She remains at large. In other info, the victim was identified as Francine L. Calfo…"
If anything, Jack's heart plummeted further. Irina!
Mercifully, Kendall stepped forward and muted the television. "All right," he said quietly. "Agent Weiss, what action did you take?"
"Not much, sir," Weiss replied. "Agent Dixon came in when you were all… busy, so I took the liberty of asking him to look after Tippin and the Caplans."
He glanced wryly towards Vaughn. "I gave him my key."
Still rubbing circles against Sydney's back, Vaughn nodded wordlessly, not quite clear why his apartment had seemingly been opened to the public while he'd been away on his 'business trip', but not caring at the moment.
"All right," Kendall sighed. "I think we can rule out accidents or coincidence. Let's get to work, people. Agent Weiss, escort Agent Bristow to Agent Vaughn's apartment."
It was a tossup as to who was more startled; Jack, Vaughn, Weiss or Sydney.
"Sir -" Vaughn started.
Kendall rolled his eyes. "It will be another hour before you're cleared by Security Section, Agent Vaughn. Federal law says you can't leave until that happens. I 'm assuming Jack will want to look into how we seemed to have forgotten that Irina Derevko was roaming around free, and Agent Bristow, with all due respect, you've been through Hell and you look it."
"Wait a minute," Sydney cut in.
He ignored her. "Until we can obtain concrete intel that dictates what course of action to follow, I'd suggest you get some rest. Agent Vaughn, that goes double for you. I'd suggest visiting Medical Services, but feel free to come back up here afterwards. That's why we have couches in the break room, and I understand you'll want to stay current on information."
"My friend was just murdered," Sydney snapped. Any hint of her grief was gone, replaced by single-minded determination. "I am not going to sit around and do nothing!"
"I understand that," Kendall replied. "But right now, we need to figure out what to do. Until then, go rest. I'm sure Mr. Tippin will want to see you."
"You knew Irina was going to kill her."
The former head of SD-6 flinched. The unemotional mask that was Sark's signature was gone, replaced by an icy rage that succeeded in chilling even Arvin Sloane.
"I did."
"And you never saw fit to inform me of this little piece of your plan."
"Our plan."
"Your plan. I never would have allowed that to occur, had I known."
"It was necessary, Mr. Sark. I knew I had to have a failsafe when Sydney to returned to us. What better way to strengthen Agent Vaughn's betrayal in her eyes than killing the woman she believed to be her friend, and making him the apparent murderer? That way, we won't have to worry about any distraction on her part over him. It was Irina's idea, actually."
Sark shook his head, even further enraged at his "partners'" deception. "This is necessary, as well," he bit out, blue eyes turning colder with every breath he drew. "Our partnership is henceforth terminated."
Sloane frowned, genuinely surprised. "That is both unwise and rather presumptuous of you. I would advise against it."
Sark graced him with a smile. Not a nice smile by any means, rather, it made his skin crawl.
"I would advise against unwise threats, Arvin."
And then he was gone.
Numb, Sydney followed Weiss up the stairs to Vaughn's apartment. Had this been any other day she would have taken the steps two at a time, but right now she scarcely cared where she was. Her grief had manifested itself into a dull ache that was her new constant companion. Francie…
But stunned as she was, Sydney still had all her instincts, the abilities that had saved her life time and time again.
The abilities that had failed Francie.
So she knew he was there before he showed himself behind her, gun held loosely in his hand. Weiss whirled the same time she did, an astonished expletive flying from his mouth as he recognized their visitor.
For his part, Sark waited patiently for them to collect themselves, revolver held at the ready for defense, not aggression, a move mirrored by a wary Sydney. Agent Vaughn's partner, however, aimed his pistol at Sark's head almost without thought. This was one of the men that had dared to hurt Mike, and Weiss was just waiting for him to try something.
"I'd like to propose something," Sark said shortly, without preamble. "You arrange it so that I may join you in taking down the man that murdered your friend and mine. No cell, no restrictions, just a simple partnership to accomplish something we both want dearly."
Sydney and Weiss exchanged glances.
"And in return?" she asked.
"You get to tell your superiors you have a walk-in. Me."
Up next: Jack and Vaughn have a breakthrough. So do Sydney and Sark. No, not like that. Ew.
Review Responses
Yahoo! Lots and lots of them! Thanks, everyone!
Maxwell: :sniffles: I so missed you! Give me a hug! Hee. And why no, I didn't know that, but now I definitely have to try it. ;)
Raina: Duuude. One of my fav S/V moments, man. :sniffles: And Vartan's recollection of that scene in the ATY commentary ("is that the one where you threw your beeper into the ocean like a crazy person?"), made me love it MORE.
Lara783: Well, welcome to Presages! I'm honored you stopped by! And who am I to ignore your hopes like that? ;) Have a new chapter. LOL.
Ja Teaser Ja: "I wonder if you would brainstorm with me."
Ilovemypenguin: :flashes back to Phase One: :sniffles:
Anonymousthinker: LMAO. I heartily concur with your rant. I bawled my eyes out writing that, btw. That chapter and the next three. LOL
Jen: Thanks! Poor Jack, having to watch his little girl like that. My dad would have spazzed. LOL
311_fan: Thanks so much for droppin' a word! Welcome! :)
K4e: Even more vengeful Sarkie, just for you. ;)
valley-girl2: Who said that? ;) Poor S/V. They just attract both trouble and audiences like magnets.
valley-girl2: I'm betting Jack enjoyed that, too.
Kittyfantastico: Sark is not a person you wanna be near when he unravels, but then again, neither is Syd. ;) Ah, man. Hey, mailman! Hurry up!
MvsGirl: Aww, thanks!