DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, except for the original ones, so don't sue… JJ owns Alias world… not me… well at least not YET.

CHAPTER TWENTY

(A few days later…)

Ana is in the middle of the living room, sitting on the rug and playing with Jacob. A large bandage was plastered at her right temple. She's not Gabrielle Rinaldi anymore. But she is still carrying the horrors Gabrielle Rinaldi had done.

'I can get over this. You can get over this…' she thought as Jacob crawled towards her. He then wiggled his little hands in front of her.

"N-n-n…" Jacob gurgled. Ana pushed away all the depressing thoughts and smiled sweetly at her baby brother. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she leaned forward so that she and Jacob are looking eye to eye.

"What is it Jakey? Did you miss Ana?" She asked and kissed Jacob in the nose. "Did you miss my stories?"

Jacob smiled at her and then reached for her hair. "N-n-n…"

He started to tug her hair. Hard.

"Ow… Jake, Ana's hair is not a toy. Please let go…" She said in a soft tone as she tried hard to gently pry open Jacob's hands.

"Hey you two, what are you doing?" Sydney asked as she entered the living room.

"Playing… I think. I need help, please…" Ana replied. "His grasp is quite strong."

Sydney laughed a bit. She then sat down beside her and helped her with un-gripping Jacob's hands.

After a few minutes, they unclenched his hand.

"Wow, he has a good grip." Sydney remarked and looked at Ana. Her brown hair is tangled a bit.

"Yeah… he likes to play with mom's hair." Ana said as she smoothed out the mesh. She then looked at Sydney. "Thank you."

Sydney smiled at her. "Oh, it was nothing."

"No, I meant, thank you for saving me from Gabrielle Rinaldi."

"Oh." Sydney said. "That was nothing too."

That remark earned a smile from Ana. "Right." She said, half-jokingly. Sydney smiled back and then felt someone tugging her hair. It was Jacob.

Ana laughed and helped Sydney 'un-grip' Jacob's clenched fist.

Jack was watching them by the doorway. He couldn't believe that he was blessed with three beautiful children. 'Does he deserve them? No, wait, the most appropriate question would probably be, do they deserve me?' he thought as observed them.

He wants to change everything that happened. He wants to change the things that make him so powerless of giving his whole trust to another person. He wants to be free from all the worries he has now so that he could show the people he loves what he really feels for them.

Fear. It's holding him back. But how can he not be afraid? He's been betrayed many times. By the people he loves. And he has betrayed them too. Trust is a two way thing. You can't cheat it.

"They're not going to bite you, you know." A soft voice said. It was Irina.

Jack glanced at her. She was looking at their children too.

Their children.

Such a wonderful term and yet ominous too. They will be seen as their weakness. A very easy target for their enemies. And he won't let that happen.

"Does Ana know?" Jack asked referring to Irina's decision a few nights ago.

"Yes. And she's very angry about it." Irina answered as she crossed her arms in front of her. "She's really stubborn."

"I wonder whom she got that from." Jack remarked. This made Irina laugh a bit.

Silence reigned between them. They both watched, transfixed as Ana made a very funny face that made both Sydney and Jacob laugh.

Irina sighed, as she remembered Nadia. With the short time she had with Jacob, she always manages to get that reaction from him whenever she amuses him.

"Something bothering you?" Jack asked. Irina shook her head.

"No."

"You're lying." Jack said. Irina looked at him and raised a brow. "I don't appreciated being lied to, Irina."

She pursed her lips and then turned away to leave.

"Jack, I'm Irina Derevko, remember? I lie almost all the time and deception is the name of my game."

After she said that, she walked away from him.

-x-x-x-

"I don't want to leave!" Ana said, gritting her teeth. She and her mother are in the study. She's arguing with her Irina for the nth time and Ana's trying very hard not to lose patience.

"For the last time, Ana. YOU. ARE. GOING. AND THAT'S FINAL!"

Ana glared at her. She's shaking with anger and her eyes are filled with hot, angry tears. Her whole face, including her ears, is bright red.

"Ana, please understand. You are not safe with me." Irina said, almost in a pleading tone.

Her daughter didn't say anything. Ana's lips are pressed together as if doing so would stop the tears from falling. But they didn't.

"Honey…" Irina said hurrying towards Ana when she saw the tears stream out of her eyes. She placed both her hands in her shoulders. "I'm not sending you away."

"Then what do you call it?" Ana asked, chokingly asked. "Kicking me out?"

Irina hugged her. "No. Sweetie, just give your father and your sister a chance. Trust them. Please." She said as she cradled her crying daughter.

"But I'll not be able to see you again."

"Yes, you will." Irina said. But deep in her heart, she knows that there is truth in Ana's words.

She hugged her daughter tighter. "They'll take care of you." she said as she kissed Ana in the cheek.

Ana didn't contradict her mother. If she does that, she'll be telling her that she distrusts her mother's judgments about her father and Sydney.

Stillness filled the room as Irina comforted the child she might never see again. 'No, I don't call it sending away. I'm calling it abandonment.' Irina thought as she stroked her daughter's hair.

"Mom?" Ana asked after a few minutes. "What about Nadia?"

Irina sighed. "She's safe, honey."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure." Irina answered. Of course, Nadia's safe. She's with Dante, Byron and Francis. How can she not be safe?

Ana gently pulled away from her mother. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I didn't tell you about her."

Irina gave her a small smile. "Well, there's nothing we can do about it. Its done." she said as she smoothed out Ana's hair from her face.

"Will you tell him?" Ana asked. She saw her mother frown a bit.

"Yes, I will. Not just now, though."

Ana looked at her. "He'll get angrier if you tell him much, much later."

"I know, honey."

"And if he gets angry at you, he'll get angry at me too." Ana said. A new batch tears sprang from her eyes.

Irina's face fell when she saw Ana's reaction. Her daughter's misery and antagonism towards Jack is her fault.

She embraced her Ana once again, trying to ease all the pain and hurt that Ana is probably feeling.

"I'm sorry, honey. Please, give us time to discuss it. Okay?" Irina whispered.

"Okay." Ana managed to reply.

They stood there for a long time, knowing that this might be the last time they will be able to see, touch and comfort each other again.

-x-x-x-

Sydney is sitting beside Ana in the car. She is being sandwiched by Sydney and their father.

"Are you okay?" Sydney asked her sister. Ana was quiet all throughout the trip, looking out of the window, as if trying to escape the walls of the airplane.

"Hmm, yeah." Ana replied and gave her a small smile. She's quite uncomfortable with her surroundings. Jack is at her left while Sydney is at her right. Being around Sydney is fun but with being with her father… well, that another issue.

Her father. She is so terrified of him. Yes, she knows that he can be kind, gentle, funny and sweet. But she's not Jacob or Sydney. He sees her as a mini-version of her mother, not really a bad thing for her, but it seems like a really awful thing for him.

'He treats me as if I'm insignificant. I think I should treat him that way too.' She thought as she stared straight ahead.

'The least I could expect him to do is be uncivilized. He is polite. I think…' Ana told herself as she started to twiddle her thumbs. She's getting bored with the car trip. At least with the plane, she could stand and walked around. Being inside the car is like experiencing what sardines feel when they're inside their can.

"Except that they're dead." Ana didn't realize that she said that thought aloud.

"What did you say?" Jack asked, looking at her.

Ana snapped back to reality. "Huh? What?" She asked and glanced at Jack.

"You said something about someone being dead."

"Oh. It was nothing." Ana replied and gave him a blank look.

Jack tore his eyes away from her and stared straight ahead. 'How can teenagers stare at you like you're the most trivial thing on earth? How do they do that?'

A few minutes later, they arrived at the safe house. Sydney noticed Ana looking around the neighborhood.

"It's a safe neighborhood." Sydney remarked as she ushered her sister towards the house. Ana smiled at her, not because Sydney was assuring her but because she knows that she can easily escape the safe house.

They were welcomed by Dixon who's being flanked by Weiss and Vaughn. They looked a bit grim but they seemed happy to see them.

Dixon was taken aback with Ana's likeness to Irina Derevko. Ana seemed like an exact copy from where he is standing. They have the same way of carrying themselves, the same way of walking and almost the same way of smiling. Except for the eyes, though. They were gray.

"Ana, this is Agent Dixon, head of our division. Agent Vaughn and Agent Weiss have met you before." Jack said in a polite tone.

"Thank you for introducing them to me." Ana replied in an equally polite tone. But Jack can recognize the sarcasm in her voice.

"Now, Arriana, you promised your mother that you will be courteous." Jack said a bit mockingly.

"I'm not being rude, Mr. Bristow. You're being insignificant." Ana answered in a sweet, almost saccharine, way.

They glared at each other. Sydney sighed and placed a hand on their shoulders.

"Dad, Ana. Please." Sydney said.

Both heard the exasperation in her voice and quickly averted their eyes from each other.

Dixon was watching the whole interaction. He could sense hostility between Jack and Ana but can't feel any tension between Ana and Sydney. Vaughn and Weiss already know that Ana dislikes Jack.

"So, do you want to meet the agents assigned to Ana?" Dixon asked to Sydney. She nodded then looked at her father.

"Take Ana. I have some things to do." Jack said to her and left in a huff.

Ana acted like his reaction was nothing to her, but deep inside, she felt hurt. 'Good work Ana. Why do you have to be so rude?' she thought, berating herself for her actions.

She turned to Dixon and gave him a small smile. "I'm sorry, if we had a bad start. My sister told me nothing but praises about you." Ana said sincerely.

"Well, I'm flattered." Dixon said, chuckling and glanced at Sydney, who also gave him a smile. "So, shall we go into the living room?"

-x-x-x-

Irina is sitting on the sofa, watching Jacob play with his toys and attempting to stand up. He seems to be always pulling himself up whenever has the chance. Sometimes he falls and cries. But that doesn't deter him from trying again.

She sighed. Determination. A trait the Derevkos and Bristows have. And it seems like all her children had too much of it.

"Ma-ma."

The little voice interrupted her thoughts. Irina looked at her son and smiled at him. Jacob was handing her a weird-looking, fuzzy, blue bear.

"What's this, sweetie?" Irina asked as she slid off the couch and sat beside Jacob.

"D-d-d"

Irina, puzzled with what Jacob's attempting to say, but accepted the toy. It was an extremely fuzzy, blue bear.

"Did daddy give this to you?" She asked. Jacob gave her another toy, this time a yellow sponge-like toy that Irina recognizes as a character in one of Ana's favorite cartoon.

"D-d-d… ma-ma." Jacob said and handed her a big story book. He then raised both his hands, as if demanding his mother that he wants to be carried. Irina lifted Jacob and set him on her lap. He was holding the story book with his little hands.

"Do you want mommy to read to you?" Irina asked as she took the book. Ana loved to read aloud to Jacob. There was even one time that she read out loud a part of Crime and Punishment to him a few months after he was born.

Jacob gave an incoherent gurgle and clapped his hands. Irina smiled, opened the book and began to read.

This was how Nadia saw them, sitting cozily in the middle of the carpet, reading a story book. A wave of jealousy spread through her but it was overpowered by the feeling of longing.

Irina felt Nadia's eyes at them and looked up. She saw the look of yearning in her daughter's eyes.

"Nadia, come join us." Irina gently said. Nadia's face lit up. She smiled at her and approached them.

"What are you reading… mom?" She asked as she sat down.

When Irina heard Nadia address her as "mom", she felt the tears stinging the back of her eyes. She fought back the tears and smiled at Nadia.

"I'm reading 'The Ugly Duckling', dear."