"I beg your pardon?" Kendall's eyes narrowed.
"And we're back to this," was Lindsay's impatient response. "I am informing you both as a courtesy! I could just as easily issue an order that abandons them."
"Us pulling them out seems to be what you want, then," Jack shot back. "Wouldn't that action risk compromising Ms. Reed's identity even more so than just having them continue their current course of action?"
"Agent Bristow, you're out of line!"
"What are you really after, Lindsay?" Jack challenged, not even hearing the admonishment.
"You don't have any authority to - "
"Because it looks like you want them to die. Wouldn't that help your mission? Have us attempt a rescue and then have Ms. Reed prove her loyalty to Arvin Sloane by killing at least one of them in the process?"
Kendall paused, utterly lost. "Jack, we would be pulling out your daughter. Don't you want that?"
Jack paused. "No," he said at length. "No, I do not."
"Did he give you any trouble?"
Emily's doctor-for-hire shook his head. Sydney, standing just out of sight of the two men, listened intently. "No. I insured cooperation by cutting off the IV flow. The faster he allowed me to change bandages and examine him, the sooner I'd consider enabling his painkiller." The man shrugged modestly. "Even with the drugs it would probably have been painful, but without them…" he shrugged again. "Seemed to work."
Sloane smiled, pulling himself upright. "Excellent. Mr. Sark will see to your payment, as discussed."
He nodded and left. Sydney stood frozen, horrified. Doing nothing had been fine while she was on the other side of the world, but she had been one floor above him when he'd been deliberately tortured!
You'll pay for this, she fumed, pasting a smile on her face as she rounded the corner to join him. Slowly.
"Good morning," she said to him.
If he was suspicious she had been listening, he didn't show it. "I'm going to go see where Mr. Sark vanished off to," Sloane told her, stepping over to squeeze her shoulder in greeting. "Head down to the cellar and wait for us. We'll join you shortly and then go in together."
"Okay," she said, smile still pasted on.
When he turned and left, she almost fell over herself with urgency as she headed downstairs.
Sark stood alone in one corner of the yard, leaning against a tree, eyes closed. It was already a beautiful day, but he didn't feel it.
Instead, he was numb.
He harbored no delusions of the life he lived, of course. Allison had not been an innocent victim of circumstance, nor had she been undeserving of her fate.
It was one of the many reasons why he had genuinely felt for her. Loved her, even. They had understood each other, had grounded each other to facets of life the naïve would consider normal.
She had been his innocence and his cruelty. The one person who made him like any other twenty-something, and then reminded him that he was certainly not.
And now she was gone. His lip curled, equally disgusted with himself for his reaction and surprised he hadn't reacted more.
"Mr. Sark?"
He whirled with silent grace, very aware of the still-active listening device in his neck.
"Mr. Sloane."
The other man frowned at him. "Is everything all right?"
He nodded. It will be, when you realize I betrayed you. "Everything is fine," he answered. Hands in his pockets, he inclined his head toward the house. "Are we ready to begin?"
"Yes. Sydney is already waiting downstairs."
"Oh?"
"I sent her," Sloane dismissed. He glanced over at Sark, gaze piercing. "This is a test, Mr. Sark. She doesn't know the doctor was so cruel. When she sees him, I'm going to tell her it was you."
He raised an eyebrow. And watch her kill me? "Why?"
"Because I want to see where her loyalties are," Sloane replied. "And where her concern lies. If she displays any consideration at all for Mr. Vaughn, or any unhappiness at you, we'll know she is not truly with us. As for Michael Vaughn himself… if the boy really does want to prove himself to Sydney as claimed, he will go along with whatever we say in the interim."
"Indeed."
"But if either one shows signs of disloyalty, I expect you to take care of both of them. Without Emily knowing."
Inside his pockets, Sark's hands clenched into fists. He was no one's lackey.
"Of course, sir."
"Jack?" Kendall's jaw dropped.
"Pulling her out would put her in more danger than leaving her," Jack said bluntly. "It's not worth the risk. And it could very well compromise the weapons deal we just made with Sark."
Kendall's mouth worked a few times before he remembered how to talk. "When the hell did we switch places?"
Jack ignored him. "Agent Weiss has made no secret of his desire to rescue Agent Vaughn." He glanced again toward the phone. "I propose a compromise, Director Lindsay."
"That being?"
"Vaughn is my daughter's only weakness," Jack said shortly. "Pull him out. Let her do what she does best with nothing standing in her way. The deal for the Rambaldi weapon will still stand, and we will still have a chance to capture Sloane and Derevko."
"And what exactly would she be doing, Agent Bristow?"
"She would be earning Sloane's trust enough to learn Derevko's whereabouts, and presumably ensuring that Mr. Sark didn't suddenly change his mind about our agreement," Kendall spoke up. "Once she does that and Mr. Sark has the weapon in mind, the CIA, FBI, NSC and NSA can team up together for the five of them. We all have interests in this."
"But Ms. Reed - "
"If she is as capable as you claim she is," Jack replied. "She'll not shy away from a little spontaneity. By pulling Vaughn out we insure that my daughter is not distracted… something that will save all three of their lives, and the mission as well."
Lauren stood up from her perch by the room when she saw her. Sydney paused, the woman's rage was hardly hidden.
"I was in the room," she explained simply. "And I was ready to kill the arse myself."
The two women exchanged a glance. Sydney felt a pang go through her. Lauren had been there when she could not. If circumstances were different, could Vaughn and Lauren…
And then the NSC agent unsealed the door. "He needs you," Lauren said, those three words unknowingly serving as a both reminder and reassurance. "I'll try to warn you when they come."
With another nod, Sydney entered.
Weiss sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "I don't mean to be difficult. It's just…"
Dixon shrugged. "If I could get Sydney out of there, I would in a heartbeat. Your thoughts aren't wrong."
"Yeah," Weiss muttered. Damn you, Michael. If you get yourself executed, I'll kill you myself.
Footsteps drew the two of them out of their dark thoughts, and both men looked up as a harried looking Kendall strode to join them.
"Sir?" Dixon questioned.
"Your wish has been granted, Agent Weiss," Kendall said, without preamble. "Bring him home."
He was wide awake when she rushed to his side, hair mussed and eyes red, bound hands clenched into fists. She swallowed hard. For him to not put up an act for her… he had to have been in excruciating agony.
"Vaughn," she choked, kissing his face, his neck, behind his ear… fighting back her own frantic worry to provide some semblance of comfort.
But he shook his head, pulling away from her and wincing at the movement. "Syd, we can't do this. There's no way of knowing when they'll - "
She kissed him again, this time to shut him up. He responded automatically, relaxing a little when she brought her hands up to stroke at his hair… and then couldn't help a choked sob when she, kissing him with even more passion, accidentally put weight on his back.
She stopped instantly. "What?"
He shook his head, panting a little. Confused, Sydney stood and checked his oxygen. Her eyes widened, it was far lower than it should have been.
"Vaughn!" What did that doctor do to you?
With no further reason to pretend otherwise, he moaned and closed his eyes, brow furrowed in pain. Carefully Sydney returned his oxygen intake to 100%, blinking back tears of relief when his breathing gradually evened out. But he had yet to relax, hands clenching into even tighter fists, body shaking on the bed.
"Vaughn! I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong!"
He winced at her tone, trying to open his eyes and look at her. "Syd - " he managed. She flew back to his side, looking at down at him beseechingly. "Syd, the doctor… he didn't…"
Another wave of fire shot up his back and he gasped, biting off a scream. Sydney's eyes widened with hatred, even as she whirled to stand in front of his IV. A suspicion began to blossom. The doctor had been cruel, but he had been a doctor. Surely he wouldn't have…
But he had. Her attention fell on the tube that granted Vaughn reprieve from his agony… which remained clamped closed. Rage tore through her. The man hadn't bothered to give Vaughn back his painkiller after "treating" him!
"I've got it," she soothed, sobbing in her urgency as she released the liquid, allowing the merciful drugs to again flow into him. "I've got it."
"It's been twenty-four hours," Irina informed her captive.
"This database is encoded with an 8192-bit military-grade polymorphic encryption," Neil shot back without fear, still typing. "Unless you want to kidnap a smarter genius than me, it's going to be a little while."
"Tell me what you need to speed this up."
"I need access to a Cray supercomputer," Neil replied, resigned.
"I hope you're not stalling, Mr. Caplan, because our agreement hedges on your cooperation. Understand?"
He forced himself to pull it together. Allowing her to see his rage at his current helplessness would gain him nothing.
"Ms. Derevko, you're asking me to get the specific DNA strands of a handful of people from a record of billions," he said. "That's going to take some time."
She studied him as though he were a bug under glass. "Then I suggest, Mr. Caplan, that you keep working."
He went limp almost instantly, the monitors he was attached to calming themselves in tandem. She waited, glancing nervously towards the door.
"Vaughn?" All he now wanted to do was sleep, she knew.
"Here," he muttered, flashing her a reassuring smile. "God bless drugs," he said seriously.
She grinned back, full-dimpled, equal parts relief and love. "You're okay?"
He nodded exhaustedly. "When this is over," Vaughn said, words slightly slurred. "You and I are running away."
She actually laughed at that. "Where would we go?"
"Santa Barbara. You ever been?"
She nodded, bending and framing his face with her hands to kiss him on the forehead. He's running a fever, she realized, though she said nothing. Knowing would hardly help him
He smiled at her childlike memory. "No, I mean, the beach, the Biltmore, the food. La Superica… you ever been there?"
"No," she answered, raising an eyebrow. He's serious.
He grinned up at her. "Okay, we're going. When this is over."
"Yeah, come on, as if we can go. There'll be some emergency, some…"
The second door unsealed. Sydney stepped away from him immediately.
But it was only Lauren, who had the grace to blush when she realized she had interrupted them. "Sloane is on his way."
Sydney nodded, taking a deep preparatory breath. "Thanks."
The other woman flashed her a smile. "Are you all right, Agent Vaughn?" she inquired politely.
"Yes ma'am," he replied automatically. Sydney smirked, he sounded like a little boy answering a stern teacher. God bless drugs, indeed.
He glanced at her, reading her thoughts as easily as if she had spoken them aloud, meeting her amusement with a mischievous gaze of his own. "I am now," he amended innocently. "Although if you could stall them for a day or so, we wouldn't object."
"I'll try my hardest," Lauren answered, just as seriously. She glanced back at Sydney, eyebrow raised.
"God bless drugs," Sydney explained.
"Cheers," she agreed, unable to stop a laugh. The love those two had for each other simply illuminated the room, and she felt quite privileged to witness it.
Sydney leaned over and kissed him. "Be right back," she said dryly. "Stay awake, they'll want to talk to you and I want to get this over with."
He flashed her a smile. "Don't forget Santa Barbara."
"Never," she swore.
And then she followed Lauren out to wait on Sloane and Sark.
"This is strictly by-the-book," Kendall warned.
He sat with Jack, Weiss and Dixon in the circular briefing room, noting their sleep-stinging eyes.
Have any of us slept at all?
"The NSC will be watching us closely, and we can't in any way endanger both our operatives and their agent."
Dixon nodded, arms folded in front of him. "So how will this work?"
"You'll be in the helicopter," Jack informed him. "Agent Weiss will be taking point in the Villa itself. We don't know what condition Agent Vaughn is in, so we deemed it easiest to send someone he'll recognize without much thought."
Both men nodded, understanding the logic of sending Weiss in a position that would normally be held by Dixon.
"You won't be coming with us?" Dixon asked, eyebrow raised at Jack.
He shook his head.
"Why not?"
Jack's lips pursed, his only visible show of emotion. "The NSC has decided that I lost Irina Derevko. They don't want to risk another mishap," he answered shortly.
"Okay," Weiss muttered awkwardly into the silence that followed.
"I'm not going to lie to you," Kendall told him. "The plan requires you to pull him out. The backup will arrive with Dixon."
Weiss' jaw dropped. "I'm going in alone?"
"The NSC decided that sending in a team to raid the Villa is too big a risk," Jack said, still simmering. "Weiss, you will need to retrieve Agent Vaughn from the basement - according to the bug in Sark's neck, that's where he's being held - and then out onto the grounds. From there, Dixon, you and the rest of the backup team will provide cover while Vaughn gets on or is loaded onto the helicopter."
"There is to be minimal if any at all contact with the staff," Kendall warned them. "That's why the team is not to intervene until Agent Vaughn is outside the facilities. You will be provided with photos of the NSC officer, but you are still expected to not kill unless you have to."
Dixon nodded. Weiss' eyes narrowed. Did these people really think he'd allow Mike's tormentors to live?
"Questions?"
"Just one," Dixon said. "Where does Sydney factor into this?"
The two senior officials looked at each other.
"She doesn't," Jack said quietly.
As dictated they went in together to loom over Vaughn, Sloane standing between them with his hands on their shoulders like a proud father.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Vaughn?" he asked mildly.
"Like shit," he replied, fighting to stay awake. Sydney fought to hide a smile and even Sark raised an eyebrow.
"Typically defiant," Sloane mused. He glanced over at Sydney. "Is there anything you'd like to ask him?"
She frowned. "Why would I want to?"
Sloane chuckled. "I was aware that Mr. Vaughn may not be quite that forthcoming," he said. "So I asked Mr. Sark to help… encourage his willingness."
The younger man said not a word, hands resting on the metal frame around Vaughn's cot, gripping so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Sydney didn't miss a beat. "Good," she answered, with just a hint of mockery in her tone. Vaughn closed his eyes, relieved. Who knew Lauren permitting a quick visit would shatter one of Sloane's illusions?
"What do you want me to ask him?" she inquired. "I already know the details of how he killed Francie."
Hating herself, but knowing her every action was being carefully judged, Sydney reached down and gripped Vaughn's chin, forcing him to look at her. "Trust me," she swore, "you'll pay for that."
"Sydney - " Vaughn started, wincing at her grip. You could be a little less realistic.
But Sloane cut him off, satisfied. "Sydney, you know I love you as my own."
She forced herself to smile, even as she released Vaughn's jaw. "I know."
"So my mission is just a precaution of sorts. A way for you to prove what I already know, that you would never betray me."
"Of course," she agreed, while Vaughn silently logged the double meaning behind his words. Sloane hadn't just been talking to her.
"What?"
"Our objectives have not changed," Jack answered bluntly. "To be quite frank, I don't expect this plan to be successful."
Thanks for the pep-talk, Eric thought.
"I will not endanger Sydney by including her," he said. "It is safer in the longer run to see this plan to completion. The only reason why I agreed to attempt to rescue Agent Vaughn is because he is ultimately a distraction she cannot afford."
His gaze bored into the three of them.
"If you see her, tell her she is to continue."
"I will," Dixon answered solemnly.
Kendall rose. "Then let's get to it. A plane is waiting, and the helicopter will be ready when you get there."
Weiss and Dixon followed suit. So this is what it feels like to be a condemned man, Eric thought dryly.
"Gentlemen," Jack said.
They turned. Unlike the rest of them, he still sat stiffly at the table, hands folded in front of him.
"Bring him home."
"We will," Eric vowed.
And then they left.
Stay safe, Sydney, Jack thought, all by himself in the room.