She'd only agreed to meet him, because she knew if she didn't she'd go
insane. There were too many questions, too many things that didn't and
would never make sense. She hated it but she needed him. Or she needed his
answers.
It was all crashing down on her again. Not knowing who she was or what she was living for. She'd spent the last year trying to piece together her life, trying to be a living, breathing, functioning person. It had been harder than anything she could have ever imagined, more lonely too. And now she was standing in a place where everything she'd pieced together, everything she'd been forced to accept, to believe; it was all crashing down on her, and she had no way to stop it. Her father could have stopped it, but at present it seemed that he hadn't raised a finger to help her.
"Sydney you must know how sorry I am." He started bleakly.
"Cut the crap Dad. I have questions, you are going to answer them. Maybe at some point after I've figured this all out, we can..." She wasn't sure what she was saying, or how to finish it; so she didn't.
Jack nodded, a cold calculating nod. Or maybe just a sad one, Sydney could hardly care to know the difference.
She sat across from him in the only place she could think of where she had the upper hand. She wanted him to be intimidated, she wanted him to squirm. And she knew exactly how to accomplish that. The room was barely lit, there were no windows. She'd set it up to be an interrogation, her own private inquisition. He sat in a chair across from her, he shifted in his seat every few minutes. She liked that.
"When did you know I had a sister?" She'd decided to start with the past and work her way up. She didn't really know any other way to go about it.
"Your mother was pregnant when she left us." Jack said, his words biting with indignation.
Sydney swallowed, unsure of what to say. She was angry with her father, but this was something different.
"How did you know?" Sydney said softly.
"She told me. Looking back on it, she probably didn't intend to, but she did just a few months before the accident." Jack said, averting his eyes.
"So you've known all this time..." Sydney breathed. She regretted saying it after she did.
"Sydney, you wont like this but I'm going to say it anyway. It wasn't any of your business to know this." Jack's words stung, but she knew they were partially true.
"It is now. So let me make sure I have this straight. You knew mom was pregnant. She left, had the baby. And what, that's the end of it?" Sydney spat knowing that this topic was hurting him as much as it was her.
"If you're implying that I knew the child wasn't mine, than you're wrong. As for my actions and motivations at the time, there is no way you could possibly understand." Jack said, obviously hurt.
Sydney took a moment, she pretended to be looking over the file in front of her.
"I only found out that Nadia was Sloane's daughter recently. At the same time I found out about your mother's affair." Jack sighed, softening a little.
"So you knew that I had a sister out there somewhere, and you did nothing?" Sydney said, the hurt in her voice clear.
"The file in front of you indicates otherwise, as I recall." Jack said, closing his eyes.
"Operation FireTrap." Sydney read from the file. "What was your objective?" Sydney asked as professionally as possible.
"To find your mother, and bring her in." Jack said, matter-of-factly.
"And my sister." Sydney said scornfully.
"No one knew about the child. That was my business." Jack said, arching an eyebrow, waiting for her to argue.
"You were the lead, and there are dates here. But there are names that were concealed. Who?" She questioned quickly.
"That's unimportant." Jack said without faltering.
"I'll be the judge of that. Who did the team consist of?" She repeated.
"Sloane, Brill, and William Vaughn." Jack said, after a moment. He watched her reaction carefully.
Sydney didn't react. Inside she was reacting, but she would never let him know. "Tell me everything." She said calmly.
Jack sighed. "We followed a few leads on your mother. It took a few months but finally we caught up with her. It turned out that after she'd been returned to the KGB they took her into custody." Jack paused.
"Why?" Sydney interrupted.
"I don't know." Jack shook his head. "We found a way to infiltrate the prison, but there were unforeseen problems." Jack sighed.
"Like what?" Sydney prompted?
Jack sighed a heavy sigh, yet again. "William's contact within the prison was suspicious of Sloane. William felt the same way. He came to me, and I didn't believe him, but when we finally infiltrated the prison Sloane disappeared, we lost contact completely. Brill went to find him, and William and I went for Irina. She was in the hospital wing, recovering from the birth of her daughter." Jack said slowly gauging Sydney's reaction.
"It was a mess of a situation. William found the baby and tried to convince me that we should get her out, hide her from the KGB. I was much more focused on getting Irina into custody. When Brill found us, we were arguing about what to do. At that point we had no more time left, we were forced to take the baby and get out. Somehow your mother got hold of a gun. She shot Vaughn's father in the back as we turned to leave." Jack was shaking his head.
"Once we were clear Brill explained the situation to me. Truthfully, I was too blinded by my failure to capture your mother, and the loss of William Vaughn, to understand what he was telling me. He convinced me that the only way to keep the child safe was to hide her away where no one could find her. Not the KGB, not Sloane, not anyone." Jack sighed, closing his eyes.
"So you sent her to Argentina." Sydney said softly, taken aback by her father's story.
Jack paused for a moment before looking Sydney in the eye. He took a deep breath before speaking. "No, I took her there myself."
It was all crashing down on her again. Not knowing who she was or what she was living for. She'd spent the last year trying to piece together her life, trying to be a living, breathing, functioning person. It had been harder than anything she could have ever imagined, more lonely too. And now she was standing in a place where everything she'd pieced together, everything she'd been forced to accept, to believe; it was all crashing down on her, and she had no way to stop it. Her father could have stopped it, but at present it seemed that he hadn't raised a finger to help her.
"Sydney you must know how sorry I am." He started bleakly.
"Cut the crap Dad. I have questions, you are going to answer them. Maybe at some point after I've figured this all out, we can..." She wasn't sure what she was saying, or how to finish it; so she didn't.
Jack nodded, a cold calculating nod. Or maybe just a sad one, Sydney could hardly care to know the difference.
She sat across from him in the only place she could think of where she had the upper hand. She wanted him to be intimidated, she wanted him to squirm. And she knew exactly how to accomplish that. The room was barely lit, there were no windows. She'd set it up to be an interrogation, her own private inquisition. He sat in a chair across from her, he shifted in his seat every few minutes. She liked that.
"When did you know I had a sister?" She'd decided to start with the past and work her way up. She didn't really know any other way to go about it.
"Your mother was pregnant when she left us." Jack said, his words biting with indignation.
Sydney swallowed, unsure of what to say. She was angry with her father, but this was something different.
"How did you know?" Sydney said softly.
"She told me. Looking back on it, she probably didn't intend to, but she did just a few months before the accident." Jack said, averting his eyes.
"So you've known all this time..." Sydney breathed. She regretted saying it after she did.
"Sydney, you wont like this but I'm going to say it anyway. It wasn't any of your business to know this." Jack's words stung, but she knew they were partially true.
"It is now. So let me make sure I have this straight. You knew mom was pregnant. She left, had the baby. And what, that's the end of it?" Sydney spat knowing that this topic was hurting him as much as it was her.
"If you're implying that I knew the child wasn't mine, than you're wrong. As for my actions and motivations at the time, there is no way you could possibly understand." Jack said, obviously hurt.
Sydney took a moment, she pretended to be looking over the file in front of her.
"I only found out that Nadia was Sloane's daughter recently. At the same time I found out about your mother's affair." Jack sighed, softening a little.
"So you knew that I had a sister out there somewhere, and you did nothing?" Sydney said, the hurt in her voice clear.
"The file in front of you indicates otherwise, as I recall." Jack said, closing his eyes.
"Operation FireTrap." Sydney read from the file. "What was your objective?" Sydney asked as professionally as possible.
"To find your mother, and bring her in." Jack said, matter-of-factly.
"And my sister." Sydney said scornfully.
"No one knew about the child. That was my business." Jack said, arching an eyebrow, waiting for her to argue.
"You were the lead, and there are dates here. But there are names that were concealed. Who?" She questioned quickly.
"That's unimportant." Jack said without faltering.
"I'll be the judge of that. Who did the team consist of?" She repeated.
"Sloane, Brill, and William Vaughn." Jack said, after a moment. He watched her reaction carefully.
Sydney didn't react. Inside she was reacting, but she would never let him know. "Tell me everything." She said calmly.
Jack sighed. "We followed a few leads on your mother. It took a few months but finally we caught up with her. It turned out that after she'd been returned to the KGB they took her into custody." Jack paused.
"Why?" Sydney interrupted.
"I don't know." Jack shook his head. "We found a way to infiltrate the prison, but there were unforeseen problems." Jack sighed.
"Like what?" Sydney prompted?
Jack sighed a heavy sigh, yet again. "William's contact within the prison was suspicious of Sloane. William felt the same way. He came to me, and I didn't believe him, but when we finally infiltrated the prison Sloane disappeared, we lost contact completely. Brill went to find him, and William and I went for Irina. She was in the hospital wing, recovering from the birth of her daughter." Jack said slowly gauging Sydney's reaction.
"It was a mess of a situation. William found the baby and tried to convince me that we should get her out, hide her from the KGB. I was much more focused on getting Irina into custody. When Brill found us, we were arguing about what to do. At that point we had no more time left, we were forced to take the baby and get out. Somehow your mother got hold of a gun. She shot Vaughn's father in the back as we turned to leave." Jack was shaking his head.
"Once we were clear Brill explained the situation to me. Truthfully, I was too blinded by my failure to capture your mother, and the loss of William Vaughn, to understand what he was telling me. He convinced me that the only way to keep the child safe was to hide her away where no one could find her. Not the KGB, not Sloane, not anyone." Jack sighed, closing his eyes.
"So you sent her to Argentina." Sydney said softly, taken aback by her father's story.
Jack paused for a moment before looking Sydney in the eye. He took a deep breath before speaking. "No, I took her there myself."