DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters, except for the original ones, so don't sue. Algebra, Physics and Economics are currently kicking my ass mercilessly and I might not be able to update this story until November. Thank you and have a nice day.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

"Dad?! I need help!"

Jack broke the speed limit as he rushed Nadia to a CIA-managed hospital. She is bleeding uncontrollably and calling an ambulance will be irrational. She might be dead by the time the ambulance arrives.

He told Ana to call Sydney and to inform her of the emergency. He also told her to call Byron to help with Jacob. He had also instructed her to stay with her baby brother until both Sydney and Byron arrive in the house.

He heard Nadia whimper in pain. She is in the back seat of the car.

"Hush now, we're nearing the hospital."

A few seconds later, Jack stopped in front of the emergency area. A couple of nurses were already waiting for them.

'Oh god, thank you for my daughter's presence of mind.' Jack thought as he carried the bleeding Nadia to the stretcher.

They rushed her to the emergency room. Nadia is already unconscious.

"Agent Bristow, you're only allowed until here. But don't worry; we are going to update you with your daughter's condition." A doctor said and closed the doors and left him in the bustling corridors of the emergency room. Jack's hands and clothes are bloody and he looked as harassed as the doctors were in this shift.

Jack sighed and looked at his bloodstained hands. 'Who had done this to her?' he asked himself. Nadia looked utterly helpless when he saw her, slumped by the doorway. He remembers how Ana looked at him, with a fearful and yet pleading look.

'What was she afraid of? Did she think that I'm going to let Nadia go like that because her father is Sloane?' Jack thought as he walked towards the men's bathroom, to wash off the blood from his hands. As he entered the washroom, thoughts circled around his head like the planets rotating the sun in fast forward mode.

'Why do I feel so worried? She's not my daughter. Don't I hate her for being Sloane's daughter? Wasn't she the fruit of Irina's affair with that bastard?' he asked himself as he stood in front of the sink. 'She must be protected. I can't get her hurt again… even if her father is Sloane, she's still Irina's daughter.' He thought, contradicting his other beliefs. He felt the water run in his hands.

"Agent Bristow, there you are. We've been looking for you for almost thirty minutes."

Jack looked up from the sink and saw the doctor who closed the door in his face. 'Thirty minutes? I've been standing in front of the sink for thirty minutes?' he asked himself.

"Is she okay?" Jack asked.

"Your daughter lost a lot of blood and needs transfusion."

A wave of confusion passed by but quickly dissipated. "Uh, she's not my daughter."

"Well, she needs blood transfusion, preferably from a close relative since her blood type is quite rare." The doctor started and he looked at his clipboard.

Jack almost flinched when he heard the words "blood type" and "rare" in the same sentence. If Nadia has a different blood type with Sydney and Ana there is a big chance that she'll die.

"She's a negative AB. Do you know anyone who has the same blood type as she is and is willing to donate? She needs it as soon as possible or else…" the doctor trailed off, not wanting to continue.

"Negative AB?" Jack asked, gaping at him. Sloane has blood type O while Irina has blood type AB. Knowledge of basic Genetics told him that a person with blood type O cannot have a child with blood type AB, much less a blood type of negative AB. It's impossible!

"Are you sure?" Jack asked.

"Agent Bristow, we don't have much time-"

Jack cut him off.

"I'm negative AB."

-x-x-x-

A few hours later

Sydney walked inside the hospital with Ana limping behind her. The place smells of death, medicine and antiseptic.

'I hate going to hospitals.' Sydney thought as she looked behind her. Ana tripped on the pavement when they left the house.

They had already fed Jacob and made him sleep. The excitement this evening, however, dulled their appetite.

"I'll just get some ice." Ana said to Sydney and hobbled off to the nurses. A big bruise is beginning to form round her shin and it hurts so much.

Sydney, on the other hand, saw Jack sitting on one of the sofas. She approached her father and found him sleeping. Not wishing to wake him up, Sydney silently sat beside him. The sofa is quite comfortable.

"Where's Ana?"

Sydney looked at him. Her father's eyes are still closed.

"She got ice for her bruise. She tripped on the sidewalk on the way to the car."

"Is she okay?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, she's just limping a bit." Sydney answered. "How's Nadia?"

"The doctors are still trying to stabilize her condition. She needed blood transfusion." Jack answered. "The doctors said something is attacking her system. They're still trying to stop it."

"Blood transfusion?" Sydney asked. "Blood bank?"

Jack shook his head. "Her blood type's rare. And, it turns out that we have the same blood type. She's a negative AB."

Sydney was going to ask more questions when Ana came limping towards them, her hand over her bruise.

"Is Nadia okay?" She asked and sat down on Jack's other side.

"Not really. She needed blood transfusion."

Ana didn't say anything and just nodded her head. Sydney noticed that her sister bit the inner part of her cheek and looked down. She placed all her concentration on her ice pack and her bruise.

They sat in silence. A few minutes later, a male nurse went to them and handed a brown folder to Jack.

Jack immediately opened it and read its contents.

Reading every sentence in the document is like being run over by a dozen bulldozers with shock, confusion and rage as its wheels. The emotions that he is feeling are starting to burn a hole in his head and in his heart, but he didn't show it.

'How the hell… why didn't she tell me? Wait, does she even know?' Jack thought reading and re-reading the documents.

"Dad, what is it?" Sydney asked. Though her father's face is unreadable, she could sense that something is wrong. Very wrong.

Jack looked at her and then to Ana. Ana is still attending to her bruise.

"Nothing… just a test." Jack answered and closed the folder.

"Dad…" Sydney said and touched his arm.

Jack sighed and gave the folder to his eldest daughter. He noticed that Ana didn't seem interested at all, and it is very uncharacteristic of her.

Sydney opened the folder and read its contents. One particular sentence caught her eye.

PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 99.94

Her eyes widened in astonishment. "Dad… Nadia… your daughter?" Sydney asked, flabbergasted. "How… but… Sloane…?"

"I don't know." Jack replied. Sydney's reaction is the same as his and now he's waiting for Ana's reaction. But all he got is apathy.

"Uh, I'll be returning this ice pack…" Ana said and started to stand up.

She is giving off feelings of fear and guilt and both Sydney and Jack are aware of it. Her face doesn't betray anything but her gray eyes do. She refused to meet their eyes.

"Arriana." Jack said. His tone is soft bye one can hear the steely grit underneath it. It was very… father-like.

Ana looked at him and sat down again.

"Ana, did you know?" Sydney asked gently.

A few minutes passed before her younger sister answered.

"Yes."

Jack gaped at her. "Why didn't you tell us?" Jack asked.

Ana looked down at the floor. "Because mom said she'll tell you."

Disappointment and anger crushed him. He thought that Irina is going to be transparent, going to clear away the entangled web of lies and deceit that she put up before him. To be at least honest with him when it comes to their children.

He was wrong.

"How long have she known?" Jack inquired.

"Aunt Katya gave her the information when I was Gabrielle Rinaldi. I was the second one to find out. Sloane was the first."

"How did you know?" Sydney asked.

"When I was Gabrielle Rinaldi, I used to frequent Sloane's office. One day, he was out of the country and I was left with Sark and Cole. I chanced upon a folder with my picture and Nadia's picture plus several other papers." Ana said. She then looked at her father and then to Sydney.

They are both looking at her intently. Ana sighed and continued her explanation. "At that time, Nadia was still staying Sloane and Sark was trying to take me off the influence of the microchip. And during that day, he succeeded. I then realized that I was holding results of DNA tests. Sloane tested his DNA against Nadia's and came up with absolutely no match with her DNA. He then tested it against mine and got a lot of alleles in common which told him that Nadia and I were closely related. Since I was in my correct brain, as myself and not Gabrielle Rinaldi, I made a copy and sent it to my address in London."

Jack stared at his daughter. 'Am I really talking to a seventeen year old? The way she thinks and the way she reacts to things… it's not really… normal.'

"How did Aunt Katya get the results?" Sydney asked.

"She checks my apartment once in a while, for mails and bills. She got the copies through the mail."

Jack didn't say anything after that. This prompted Ana to apologize.

"I'm sorry. I should have said something."

Jack looked at Ana. "Your mother is the one who should apologize. Not you." He gently said and gave a small smile.

He then stood up and took the ice pack from Ana's hands.

"I'll be informing Dixon. It's better that we be transparent about this matter."

-x-x-x-

"I gave you my best resources and you still failed?" Sloane said irritably as he assessed Lauren once again. It was a mistake to entrust her with the job. He should have asked Sark. At least he gets things done.

"It wasn't my fault that she runs fast-"

"The Derevkos and the Bristows all run fast." Sloane snapped. "There's nothing we can do. She's with the CIA and I lost her trust. We can't get her without proper planning."

Sloane looked at Lauren again.

"When you leave, please tell Mr. Sark to see me." He said, dismissing her presence.

Lauren, irritated, turned around and left the room. When she closed the door, she saw Sark smirking at her.

"Stop smirking at me." She said. "Get inside, Sloane wants to see you."

Sark looked at her amusedly and shook her head. Lauren's flustered face doesn't suit her very well.

"After you let out your temper, I suggest you fix your face. And I don't mean that literally. Ask your mum how to do it."

Lauren balled her right hand into a fist and resisted the urge to slam it into Sark's pretty face. She just stomped her feet and walked away from him.

"Asshole." Lauren muttered.

Sark laughingly looked at her retreating figure.

"I heard that." He said and grinned at the furious woman's back. He's been mercilessly taunting Lauren for the past several weeks now.

'Serves you right. If I can't kill you because of what you did to her, I'll just settle with hurting your feelings.'