Chapter Eight

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Sydney looked across at Vaughn, who was sat in the grey leather seat opposite her. She gave a dimpled grin as she spoke, it just wouldn't leave her face. He shook his head and glanced out of the window, a little smile quite visible. "You've been watching me like that for the last five minutes, what is it?" she was starting to get a little embarrassed. Did she have a huge smudge right across her face or something? "Tell me."

Vaughn laughed at her insistence. "Ever since you saw your parents getting along you've been grinning to yourself like a little kid" he paused for a few seconds. "It's nice to see you so happy."

Her smile widened before she looked away. "I know it can't last but at the moment everything is..." she searched for the right word to use and sounded a little surprised when she added "normal. I never thought I could use that to describe my life -- to describe my parents, and now...that's kind of what they are. Normal. At least as normal as they could be considering the circumstances." She turned back to Vaughn at the same time as he looked at her. "Is that wrong? To want everything to stay like this?"

"Not at all" he answered without a second thought. "I think you should enjoy it" the Agent remembered then what Jack had told him keep Sydney away from Irina how was he going to do that when all she wanted to do just then was continue playing happy, normal family. Vaughn's tone change when he next spoke, he sounded cautious; careful when choosing his words. "Just know that at any time everything can change...things won't be normal anymore."

Then they heard the gunshot.

Irina was testing Jack's patience already and shooting at him was the worst thing she could have done. His demeanor hardened. Jack knew who he was dealing with, he thought himself then a fool for even trying to get her to listen to him whilst she was angry and had the upper hand. "You're a fool, Irina" he regarded her coldly, "I'm trying to help and all you can do is act your usual stubborn self" he huffed.

She duly ignored his rant and indicated he should get onto the plane. Being stubborn himself, Jack refused and stood his ground. "I'm not letting you out of my site."

She had no time for him to act like a good little Agent -- or the vengeful husband. She leveled the gun and took a moment to study him, to remember him before she pulled the trigger. He in turn eyed her with a defiant air about him, he had reason to be calm; he did not truly think that his wife would kill him. Irina saw that, it was such a shame to use it against him; it made her feel guilty. He almost looked smug about it. Irina spoke regretfully "you don't understand what you have gotten into, what you've gotten our daughter into. You made a deal with the devil himself and there's nothing you can do to get out of it." She moved away from him, making for the runway. There was fence surrounding it that was quite easy to get through thanks to pranksters that made the airstrip their playground in the dead of the night. "I can't give you the opportunity to work with him, to aid him further."

Jack wasn't sure when he actually realised that Irina was not bluffing, as he had first thought. It may have been right around the time it struck him that she might actually care about what happened to him, what she was about to do to him. "Is it so wrong that the only reason that I'm working with him is to save your life?"

Irina tried to see him as just another enemy, to imagine, perhaps, that he was Sloane. It made it easier to do what she had to do. "Yes" it also made it simpler when she imagined the only reason he said that was to try and catch her off guard. Irina aimed again.

The interruptions occurred at the same time, to deal with one concentration had to be taken away from the other and so there was a standstill. Sydney and Vaughn appeared at the stairs of the plane, she looked thunderstruck. Irina and Sydney's eyes met; Sydney's eyes showed an immense sadness, regret, and confusion. But she couldn't hate her mother, not anymore. Despite the fact that they were at opposite ends of the playing field, she understood why Irina wanted to escape. Though just then she did not know that Irina was not bluffing when she said she was planning on shooting Jack. "Mom..." Sydney walked down the steps towards her mother, with a pleading expression. "Don't, please..."

The second interruption came in the form of a flashy blue convertible. The driver screeched to a halt just outside the hangar and, gun in hand, he strode towards them looking for the entire world like the cocky boss seeing to his minions. It was Sark. He pushed his black sunglasses back on his head and surveyed the situation. "Well it looks like I came at the perfect time, don't you think? Though I suppose that does depend on your perspective" he came to a stop beside Irina; who watched him with mistrust.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jack demanded. He now had two guns trained on him and he was none too pleased. A familiar feeling of betrayal was beginning to creep in and all eyes turned on Irina.

Seeing the hesitation in his part boss part ex-prisoner, he understood and felt compelled to give a quick explanation. "Sloane has no idea I'm here. He believes I'm trying to find Jacque Bourrett; I swear I didn't know he intended to administer the poison to you prior to him doing it" he told her sincerely, ignoring the infuriated Jack.

Unbeknownst to either Sark or Irina, Vaughn was holding his own gun, he had kept it hidden behind him and now he aimed it at his two enemies consecutively. "Both of you, drop your weapons" he shouted and came forward on the stairs to stand just behind Sydney.

Sark laughed and tutted. "Do you really believe I think you're serious?" he strode the few steps towards Jack. "Why don't you put down iyour/i weapons Agent Vaughn, or I shoot your superior."

"Agent Vaughn I order you to shoot him, regardless of his intentions" Jack countered.

"If you do that I will have no choice but to shoot Agent Bristow, and really, what would Sydney think of you then?" Sark asked slyly.

Knowing that later on, in some way, Sark would find a way to make her regret it, Sydney raised her arm to lower Vaughn's gun. Her smile was no longer present and she kept eye contact with her mother, silently conversing, asking her to change her mind.

It was so hard to ignore her, but Irina didn't have a choice. Sydney had succeeded in changing one thing though. Irina couldn't just shoot Jack with her there, no matter what it might accomplish. In some way she knew she could not have done it anyway. Sark started back towards the car. His watch bleeped and his worry became obvious to all, "24 hours has almost passed."

The three Agents conveyed their confusion but Irina understood the cryptic message clearly; and it made her follow Sark back to the car without hesitation. "You don't have to leave!" Sydney called out to Irina. The normalcy was gone now and it seemed like they were right back at the start.

When Irina eventually faced her daughter her eyes were distant, her face hardened, showing barely any trace of emotion. "Yes, I do" she turned her back to them, and walked away.

Jack, Sydney and Vaughn were only free to move once the car reversed and sped away, leaving only a cloud of sandy dust in their wake.

Sark relaxed again, now that the CIA were behind them business could continue. "I suggest we find a suitable location to hide, Sloane expects me back in two days -- with Bourrett, unfortunately --." Out of the corner of his right eye he caught sight of the barrel of a gun. Aimed in his direction.

"Pull over" Irina demanded.

With a sigh, Sark complied. He laid his hands flat on the wheel. "Far be it from me to tell you what to do but, we don't have time for this" he said carefully, trying not to get any further on her bad side than he already was. As he generally did when he became nervous, Sark carried on speaking. "I didn't know what Sloane had planned for you --."

"And if you did? What would you have done?" Irina knew she was purposely panicking him. She had no intention of killing Sark, he was far too useful for that and if she was completely honest with herself she was used to having him around. However, she did want to know ihis/i intentions. The only way to do that was to get him to talk; threatening him was the easiest, and most amusing way to do that.

Sark was in dangerous waters, he shifted around in the seat; seriously contemplating taking his chances with the CIA. "I would have done what I thought the best course of action in that particular situation -- as it didn't happen that way I can't say precisely what I would have done" he replied without actually giving an answer, at least not a straight one. He could have made dodging the question an art form.

She let a tense silence linger for a short while. "We're going to Paris."

Confused at the sudden change, though visibly glad for it, Sark responded, "Excuse me?"

Irina set the gun on her lap and pointed to the road. "As I'm sure you remember there is a private airstrip not too far from here, we need to go to Paris" she leaned back in her seat trying to get comfortable but knowing that it was impossible. The clock ticked and she glanced at Sark's watch. It was almost time. "We need to hurry."

Not wanting to push her anymore, Sark drove. "Why are we going to Paris?"

"I know someone there," his boss answered vaguely. She checked the rearview mirror but they weren't being followed.

"Do I know this person?"

"You know of her but I don't believe you've been introduced."

Sensing she was not in the speaking mood Sark fell quiet. He broke in again not long later "I don't believe Jack Bristow will let you die" he broached the subject with obvious uncertainty.

"He doesn't have a choice. The only way Sloane can win is if he has me and that isn't going to happen" she added then, sternly "now drop it."

Sark knew better than to pursue the subject further.

"What do you mean you don't have her?" Sloane blasted down the phone.

Jack spoke through gritted teeth, reminding himself that he was doing this for a good reason. "There were complications" knowing what Sloane's next question would be he wasted no time in explaining, in his own way "just how loyal are the people you work with?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" an irked Sloane responded.

"Well first Irina betrays you and then Bourrett, so who could possibly be next?" there was a kind of pleasure in Sloane being on the receiving end of taunts and jibes. "You asked me to hand over Irina or find a way to extract the information she holds. The way to accomplish that is through another person that now has her."

However this went down, whoever found her first, Jack would still be the one to have gotten Sloane what he wanted. And he knew it. As much as he wanted to be rid of her he didn't think he would, he would keep up his end of the bargain for the simple reason that if he gained even a tiny bit of trust, he could use it later to his advantage. That thought didn't temper his fury. "Sark" he hissed.

Tbc