A/N: Here's another update. I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for reading.
Chapter 18:The Plan
He sat at the small coffee shop in Paris, he appeared to be reading a book, his cup of coffee sitting at the table, still untouched. He had already spotted two snipers and five agents that were checking to see if he had been followed. He continued to "read" his book, completely aware of all the activity going around him. From the corner of his eye he watched as the tall brunette wearing a long black coat walked toward him. The closer she got, the more he realized how beautiful she still was. No matter how much time passed, what she did or didn't do, she seemed more beautiful every day. Her hair was just as long as the last time he had seen her. She continued to walk toward him, her hands in her pockets looking down. It was a way of preventing being identified by cameras that weren't exactly there for everyone to see. As the space between them closed, his heart began to beat a little faster. He watched as she quickly sat down in the table next to his. They were sitting backs facing each other, but still they were very close. He continued to hold his book just as he had been doing for the last half hour. After the waitress had taken her order, and brought it back with her, he felt that it was safe to began communications.
"Irina."
"Jack." she repeated in the same tone he had used to acknowledge her presence. It had always seemed amusing to her, his serious composure. She knew him better than all his enemies, than all his friends and his colleagues. Although they all feared him, and that fear had earned him much respect in the spy business, she knew that this man wasn't a man to fear. He wasn't the intimidating man that he appeared to be. Behind his cold-stone face was a warm kind man. He had a reputation of a man to be feared, but the truth was that only those who threatened the people he loved were in any real danger of him. When it came to protecting his family, he was a man that should be feared, a man who would do anything and everything to protect those he loved. He had proven this to her time and time again. When it came to protecting their daughter there was no right or wrong, no moral or immoral, there was only the choice between protecting Sydney and not, the latter being something that he would never do. Not in a million years.
"I'm glad you came."
"You said it was important."
"I don't know how much you know about what's been going on in LA. The CIA has done everything they can to keep this quiet. I imagine you must keep tabs on what goes on, but I thought I should tell you myself."
"What is it?" Up until then she had been calm, and open to whatever he could have come here to tell her but his tone, his words, they scared her. What could be so awful that he had to come here and tell her himself. After all meeting her here wasn't just risky for her, he was risking his job and his freedom coming here.
"The fact that you ask that indicates to me that you don't know. It appears that there was some sort of accident. That's what the CIA is calling it, but I don't believe it. Sydney's apartment was burnt to the ground."
"Is she alright." Her heart began beating intensely fast. A million thoughts ran through her head. Was she hurt? Was she okay? Had she been in the apartment when it happened, had she lost someone dear to her? Was she dead? The last thought gave her chills, she couldn't be, not her Sydney.
"The CIA has officially declared her dead. There was a body found, they couldn't identify it. They ran tests, they said it was a match to Sydney's DNA." The words were hard to speak, he didn't believe them, he couldn't. Irina hadn't said a word in the past few minutes. She hadn't even made a sound, it was as if she had just stopped breathing and moving. "Irina?"
She had closed her eyes and tried to hold back her tears, it was proving to be a very difficult task. She continued to breathe in slowly, hoping that it would help her regain her composure. "I'm alright." she was finally able to say. Although she had tried to sound strong, she knew that the crack in her voice hadn't escaped him.
"Good, because I want you to know that I don't believe it. Not for a second."
"You said they identified the body."
"It could have been easily planted. The CIA doesn't have the resources I need to look into this matter further, that's why I asked you to meet me."
"You want me to investigate what happened?"
"Yes. You have connections that the CIA doesn't. I believe that Sydney is alive, but I have no way to prove it. Can you help me?"
"You don't even have to ask. She's my daughter too, I'd do anything for her. I'll keep you updated on what I find."
"I'll be waiting." He heard her stand up and watched as she walked away. He placed his book on the table and watched as she slowly disappeared into the horizon. After several minutes he stood up and left.
-In the safehouse-
"Syd, I don't want you to go back there. It's too dangerous." Vaughn said shortly after Jack had left. She turned to face him, and inhaled deeply.
"It's dangerous if I don't go back. It's dangerous if I stay. This isn't really about what is or isn't dangerous."
"Then what is it about? You're not honestly considering going back to them are you? You're free, for all they know you're dead."
"This is about what is right, I can't just walk away for my own comfort. Think about all the lives that can be saved if we stop them. You and I both know that my father is right, it I stay we have much better chances at taking them down quickly. If I go back home, they'll find out, they will hunt us until they get what they want. I can't have that on my conscience every day. Wondering if today is the day that they get to us, that they hurt you or my father. I just can't."
"I can't lose you again."
"You're not losing me."
"Aren't I? How long before the CIA is able to bring them down? How long do we have to live away from each other, pretend like we don't know about each other? Isn't that a form of losing you, being away from you for who knows how long, never knowing if you're safe or if you're hurt, never knowing when I'll see you again?"
"I understand all of that, but how do you expect us to have any shred of normalcy while we're always looking behind our backs?"
"When has that ever been the case? We've had enemies all along, but it hasn't stopped us from living out lives."
"This is different. The Covenant isn't like our enemies. They have unlimited resources, moles that we don't know about, people who can get close to us and use it without our knowledge."
"Is this about Lauren?"
"No! You're not the only person who was fooled by her. I lived with a stranger pretending to be my best friend for months without ever having any clue. We have to stop this, we have to stop them. They've taken so much from me, I can't just walk away from this."
"Fine, but neither will I."
"Are you out of your mind? You can't just waltz in there, they know who you are. They won't be fooled."
"I'm not talking about working for the covenant. I'm talking about helping you, being involved in this all the way. No staying home and waiting for a call to tell me that you're alive."
"You're insane." She walked over to him and kissed him. She couldn't help but be moved by his concern. It was infuriating but sweet. She hugged him and stood there silently taking it all in. It had finally occurred to her to ask about Simon. "What happened to Simon?"
"He's fine, your father gave him something to sleep, he won't be waking up anytime soon."
"What are we supposed to tell him?"
"You don't have to worry about it. Your father has that covered."
"I'm glad."
"So we're gonna do this?"
"Yeah."
A few weeks after the fire-
Jack walked into the crowded movie theater and found two seats at the back. He took of his coat and placed it in the seat next to his. The movie began soon after. After the first few minutes of the movie, Irina wearing a baseball cap that covered a good deal of her face, sat down next to him.
She leaned her face toward him, it would have appeared to anyone else that she was leaning in to kiss him, but in fact she was leaning in to whisper in his ear. "It appears that you were right."
His eyes lit up at the sound of those words. "What did you find?"
"It appears that a small organization has grown into a real threat without anyone noticing. The Covenant, in alliance with several internationally wanted criminals and terrorist, has been pursuing the same things that both Arvin and I have spent our lives working for."
"Rambaldi?" It shouldn't have surprised him, he knew that but it had caught him off guard. He had heard of the Covenant before, but the CIA wasn't aware that their primary goal was to fulfill some Rambaldi prophecy.
"I have it on good authority that the Covenant planned on taking Sydney. It seems that they had been watching her for sometime. The Covenant saw the perfect opportunity to abduct her after the fight between her and the woman she thought was her best friend. She was alone, and at the time no one knew about Alison, and she was badly hurt. She couldn't have fought them off. "
"Why take her?"
"Because Jack, she's been able to recover many of the Rambaldi artifacts, more than anyone else. To the Covenant she is priceless. She can get them in a short amount of time what others have failed to do. More than that, she was mentioned in the prophecy. Unlike what the CIA thought, she is the Chosen One and the Covenant is aware of that fact."
"She would never work with them."
"You're right. She wouldn't work with them. Which is why the Covenant has spent the last few weeks trying to brainwash her."
"It won't work."
"It's begun to."
"What?"
"Sydney has slowly began to believe that she is not Sydney Bristow, that she is an assassin named Julia Thorne."
"That can't be. Project Christmas should have prevented this from happening."
"Not necessarily. When I stole Project Christmas, we tested it for months. We found that after a prolonged period of time a person could be brainwashed. "
"That's not possible."
"However, after a period of time the subject became aware of who they were. We monitored them for months after conditioning was successful. They began to have strange dreams, dreams that were in fact memories and slowly the conditioning wore off. Sydney will regain her memory in a span of a few months."
"We have to get her out of there."
"I don't think that's a wise move."
"What do you mean?"
"Like I said before, the Covenant is a real threat. They are far to dangerous. We can't just take her from them."
"We can't leave her there either."
"You and I both know that she isn't safe either way. She can help us get rid of the Covenant."
"She's been brainwashed."
"As soon as she realizes the truth she'll contact the CIA, or you. I'm sure of that."
"What if she doesn't?"
"I'll be keeping an eye on her. I'll make sure that she is safe."
"I hope so."
"I'll be keeping you informed." She stood up and walked away, hoping that she was right, that what she was doing was the right thing. She wanted nothing more than to help Sydney, but getting her away from the Covenant wouldn't solve her problems. It might even make them worse.
Outside the safehouse-
His phone rang at the exact time that they had agreed upon.
"Jack Bristow." he answered as usual.
"What did she say?" Irina asked on the other line.
"She was hesitant at first but I think I got through to her."
"Good, now we can set our plan in motion."
"We have a few things that we're going to have to work out. As you know Vaughn is involved."
"Do you think he's a problem?"
"No, I think this might work to our advantage."
"Good. I'll keep in touch."
"Be careful."
"You too."
He put his phone back into his pocket and headed back into the safehouse.
