DISCLAIMER: The usual blah. I do not own any of the characters, except for the original ones, nor do I own the brands that crop up once in a while. Okie dokie? Okie dokie…

A/N- I guess you're all bored with the chapters I'm uploading due to the 'lagging' scenes. This might be the last of those lagging scenes. Thank you for the people who reviewed. Thank you… :D

CHAPTER TWELVE

The dawn is breaking and light is slowly pouring in the window. Jack felt the sunlight dance in his face, as if prodding him to wake up and open his eyes.

Part of him doesn't want to wake up. He wants to stay in the comfy bed and sleep next to the warm and soft body next to him.

'Wait, warm body?' This thought that crossed his mind jumpstarted his sleepy brain. Jack's eyes sprang open and he realized that Irina's head is resting in his chest while his arms are encircled around her waist. The blanket was pushed down to their feet and is entangled with their legs.

She's still asleep.

Jack shifted his position, intending to get away before Irina awakens. He doesn't want to get into another awkward moment that he cannot avoid. But Irina groaned a bit and snuggled closer to him.

Jack stifled a sigh and instead tightened his embrace. He closed his eyes and inhaled her sweet scent, and wished that the terrible things that had transpired between them never happened and that their relationship isn't that complicated anymore.

But he knows that, that will never happen. Everything about them, the Derevko's, the Bristow's, everything is convoluted.

A gurgling sound tore him away from his thoughts. He looked at his son's cradle and saw Jacob trying to reach his toes.

Jack smiled and then looked at Irina. She seems so angelic when she's asleep, but God knows that she's the exact opposite when she's awake. He gently stroked Irina's hair then kissed her lightly in the forehead.

"Irina…" he said in a soft voice.

"Hmm…?" was her reply. But she is still asleep. She moved a bit, thus, allowing Jack to slip gently away from her and cover her with the blanket.

Jack regretted leaving Irina but he doesn't want to get emotionally attached to her again. It clouds his judgment.

"Good morning, Jacob." Jack said in a soft but audible voice. A pair of chocolate brown eyes looked up to him. Jack smiled and lifted the baby from his crib.

"Daddy's hungry. Are you hungry too?" Jack asked. The baby just made unintelligible syllables and waved his little hands at him.

Jack kissed his son, took one last look at Irina, and then headed out to go downstairs and into the kitchen.

-x-x-x-

Mother Nature is pouring down all her sorrows in the city and Arvin Sloane is in his veranda, watching it all happen. But he seems to be in the past, thinking of his life with his beloved Emily.

'She would have loved Nadia…' Sloane thought. He looked at his hands, and thought about Nadia's hostility, which is slowly ebbing away, for him.

He had cast doubt over his paternity to Nadia. 'The child is too beautiful to be mine. I know I'm not that handsome, and given that Irina was still with Jack when she came to me…' Sloane tore his thoughts away from the issue. Nadia is in his care now, and she believes that her mother hates her. He is her only pillar of strength. And Nadia is one of Rambaldi's children, one of the puzzles.

His cell phone rang. Sloane took it from the table and received the call.

"Yes?" he greeted.

"We're ready to enter, sir."

"Wait for another five minutes. Make sure he doesn't get hurt." Sloane ordered.

"Yes, sir."

Sloane ended the call and then looked at his watch. He's going to have another ally in his side.

-x-x-x-

He could hear the guards talking about a basketball game. Frankly speaking, he can't understand why Americans are so in love with basketball and baseball. Why don't they like soccer?

Sark, who is lying on his metal bed, started to whistle. 'Damn, I'm starting to act like a real prisoner.' He thought and continued whistling a tune he heard in the last movie he saw.

'When will I be able to get out of here?' Sark thought as he looked at the ceiling. 'I hate being cooped up in this kind of place. At least real prisoners could get out.' He thought bitterly. 'Why oh why do I have to be caught?'

Suddenly the lights went off. 'Wow, even the most secretive organization in the whole world has power failures.' Sark thought amusingly. He stood up from the bed and took a look from the glass panes.

Just as he was to smirk at the guards that were deployed near his cell, a large explosion took place behind him. Debris of cement hit him as he took cover.

"What the hell?" Sark exclaimed as he glanced from his hiding place. The blast opened a hole in his cell and in came men in black clothes with matching black ski masks.

Half of the men started to fire their guns while the other half started to scour the small room. They are looking for him.

"Mr. Sark, we're here to rescue you." One of the masked men said to him when he saw Sark by the side of the bed, crouched.

"What am I, a princess needed to be saved?" Sark sarcastically said but he stood up.

The men started to hand him a Kevlar vest and a gun.

"Why will I need these? Aren't you here to protect me?" Sark asked when he took the glock hand gun.

"Its better that you are armed. We were ordered to make sure you don't get hurt." The man replied and put his hand by her ear. "Yes, sir. He's here." Sark heard the man say. He then motioned him to follow them.

Gunshots were exchanged again. When Sark glanced behind him, he saw the glass pane shattered and wall, stained with blood.

It was a short run from the escape vehicles and when they were safely inside the car, Sark turned to his rescuers to say a little thank you. But he felt a small sting in his neck that felt like a mosquito bite. He slapped and then fell unconscious.

"Sir, we have the package."

-x-x-x-

Irina's full concentration is directed to the laptop in front of her. She couldn't believe she got a 57% on the 'Wench Test' she took with Ana and Sydney. They roared in laughter when they saw her result.

"Mom, why is it so low?!"

"I feel I'm going soft."

"I think dad should see the result!"

'Okay, I'm in this stupid question. If there are one hundred people who will come to your funeral, how many will just go to check if you're really dead? Hmm… let me see, who will actually come to mourn for me?' Irina thought as she fixed her eyeglasses.

"Mom…?"

'Hmm… how many people? Ana, of course. What about Sydney? Hmm… this is a hard question. Why didn't I think about this one yesterday?' Irina asked herself. She didn't hear the person calling her.

"You could castrate a cow with that look on your face."

Irina looked up from the computer and saw Ana amusedly looking at her. The bandages are now gone from her face and the wounds from the torture were almost invisible.

"You need help with that question?" Ana asked, smirking. She sat next to her mother and leaned back on the chair.

"No, thank you. I think I know who my enemies are." Irina replied, making a face.

Ana giggled and then leaned on her mother's shoulder. "Don't worry mom. You'll live longer than your enemies. And you'll see Jacob's marrying and having children…"

Irina typed the number 92 on the blank space and proceeded to the next number.

"That's less than yesterday." Ana pointed out, remembering that Irina typed in ninety three the day before.

"Sydney included your father. I think Jack would go to my funeral to make sure I'm dead." Irina answered then looked at her daughter. She has no reaction, whatsoever, to the response.

Irina sighed, knowing full well that Ana still doesn't consider Jack as her father. She's waiting for the results of the paternity test. "Where's Sydney?" Irina asked, changing the topic.

"Sydney's talking to someone on the phone." Ana replied, playing with her mother's hair

"Did somebody say my name?" Sydney asked and entered the kitchen. Sydney smiled at them and sat down beside Irina. She was smiling really wide.

"Mom, your glasses make you look… distinguished." Ana suddenly said. This elicited a laugh from Sydney.

"Come on, Arriana. I know what you meant is old." Irina said and looked at her daughter. Ana has a funny expression on her face. It was like Jack's confused facial expression. Irina always thought that, that expression of Jack's is very funny. She likes making him confused.

"No I didn't." Ana said in a tone of denial, but smiling.

"…?...!...?...!...?...?...!...?"

Irina saw Ana's facial expression turn from amusement to a blank stare. Jacob and Jack are coming their way and a few seconds later, they did.

"Where are the others?" Jack asked when he saw Irina, Sydney and Ana inside. The house, except for the kitchen, seemed awfully quiet without Dante, Francis, Byron and Yelena.

"Yelena and Byron went out. Dante and Francis, I don't know." Irina replied, not looking at him.

"Dzrbrrtak…" Jacob said in an audible tone. Irina looked at the baby and smiled at him.

"What did you say, sweetie?"

Jacob grinned and flailed his arms and legs while at the same time reaching for her. Jack went closer to them and passed the baby to her.

"Jakey, wanna banana?" Ana asked and showed her brother the banana. Jacob curiously looked at the fruit and then opened his mouth.

Jack watched as Ana and Sydney's faces light up with laughter when Jacob tried to put the entire banana in his mouth.

"No, honey, don't eat the whole banana." Sydney said as she looked at her baby brother. He is so cute trying to put the entire fruit in his mouth.

Jack just stood in his place, transfixed with the scene. The three women don't seem to care that they're standing on different sides of the law.

'Technically, Irina and Ana are against Sydney. Why are they getting along?' Jack thought. He heard Ana laugh and he looked at his youngest daughter. She looks so much like her mother. A younger version of Irina.

A few minutes later, the banana was all gone. Jacob is smiling contented with what he tasted and ate. Irina stood up to get a paper towel to wipe Jacob's banana covered hand.

Jack is still looking at Ana. When she saw him, her smiling lips quickly turned into a straight line. She is glaring at him.

'Why is she so damn hostile?' Jack thought as he matched the intensity of her glare. Ana's gray eyes are filled with so much antagonism and he doesn't know why. And he doesn't know how to react to it. 'For god's sake, I'm temporarily living in their house!'

Suddenly, Sydney and Jack's cellular phones began to ring. Both fished for their phones in their pockets and separately went to find a private place to receive the call.

Jack walked out of the patio while Sydney went out of the kitchen. But Ana and Irina heard the distinct, office-like tone as they greeted the caller.

"Bristow."

Irina's mouth twitched upwards as she looked at the baby in her arms. Jacob is thumb sucking and looking at her. She smiled and kissed the top of his forehead and then went back to her seat.

"What?! What do you mean, blew the entire wall off?!?!?!" they heard Jack exclaim. He is pacing around the patio.

"Yeah, we'll be there by tomorrow. Yes, understood." Jack said, gritting his teeth. He then ended the call and went back inside the kitchen.

He waited for Sydney to come in. She entered the room once again and has this troubled look on her face.

"What happened?" Irina asked, concerned. She was finished with the wench test and is now waiting for the result.

"Well, the person who helped me find you, recently escaped CIA custody. Do you have any involvement in this?" Jack asked, irritated with the news that Sark escaped them, practically blowing the cover that the CIA has a division in LA.

"Can you please stop accusing my mother?!" Ana angrily asked.

"Ana…" Irina said to Ana in a reproving tone. "No, I don't have anything to do with it. Why not try Arvin?" Irina answered Jack. Her tone is a bit sarcastic.

"Dad, mom, please." Sydney said a bit exasperated. "Mom, we need to be back in LA by tomorrow." She said as she turned to her mother.

Irina sighed and then shrugged. "Do what you have to do. Besides, we'll be going back home in a few days."

"Home?" Jack asked, not showing his confusion and fear. He will not be able to see them again.

"This is where we live when we go to Panama. But we don't really live in Panama." Ana answered his question. Her tone is still laced with sarcasm.

"Dad, I already booked tickets. Our plane leaves in six hours." Sydney said to Jack. Jack looked at her, and then nodded his head.

"Okay." Jack said. Sydney gave him a resigned nod and then looked at her sister. Ana looked back at her and then sighed. She stood up and went out together with Sydney.

"Uh…" Jack started to say. He wants to spend time with Jacob before going back to LA.

"Jacob?" Irina asked. She understood the one-syllable 'word'.

"Uh, yeah." Jack answered, a bit sheepish that he can't ask her directly.

Irina smiled at him and then handed Jacob to his father. She kissed Jacob and took one last look at Jack before going out of the room.

Jack sat on the chair that Irina used to occupy. The computer was still atop the table. Fishes, the screen saver, were swimming across the monitor.

"You want to play solitaire with your old man?" Jack asked as he moved the mouse. The aquarium scene vanished and was replaced by a number.

YOU ARE 47% WENCH! THAT IS TEN PERCENT HIGHER THAN THE USUAL 37%

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A/N- Hello… what do you think? What do you think of the result? If you're interested where I found the wench test (I can't post it here…) check my profile. I'll post it there. Reviews please! :-D