A/N: Here's another update. I hope you enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think.
Chapter Nine
It was dark outside, a bit chilly for a Los Angeles night. In about five minutes she was about to turn herself over to Arvin Sloane. One of her men gave the sign that Sloane had arrived. Irina walked over to the entrance of the field and watched as Sloane made his way to the center of the field with two agents walking behind him. She had instructed him to wait for her with her daughter in the center of the field five minutes before midnight where she would then meet him and the exchange would take place. At first she could not see Sydney and then she realized that the two agents were holding Sydney. She was bleeding all over, she looked like she was barely holding on. It seemed as if they were dragging her rather than helping her walk. She was wearing a silk nightgown, it had once been a beautiful beige color, but now it was full of dirt and blood.
"Irina, it's midnight." Jake Reynolds said from behind her. Jake had been a follower of Rambaldi most of his life and had devoted his life to Irina and her operation in hopes of one day finding the promised eternal life. He was the man who would take Sydney to safety while she would be walking into the arms of a madman.
"Let's go." she said. Jake walked in front of her. Irina was aware that as soon as Sloane saw her he would immediately recognize her as Irina Derevko, once Laura Bristow the wife of his best friend. She had to do this, she had to get her daughter back.
&&&
Sloane looked at his watch once more. It was now midnight and soon he would have the power and resources he needed to complete Rambaldi's endgame. He looked at the entrance that was facing him and watched as an older man walked straight towards him. 'So this is the Man.' he thought to himself. As the man came closer Sloane realized that there was someone behind him. He couldn't see who it was, but he assumed that it would be the person who would take Julia.
The man walked right up to him and then stepped to the side revealing finally the person behind him. It was a woman. A familiar woman. Sloane squinted his eyes, was he really seeing who he thought he was seeing?
"Arvin." she said cooly. She looked very beautiful. Her long brown hair, her face, the way she stood, it was her.
"Irina?" he questioned.
"Yes Arvin. It's me, I am the Man."
"We hadn't heard from you in so long I thought you might have been dead."
"You should have known better."
"You're right. I wish Jack were here to see this."
"This is Jake, he'll be taking my daughter."
"Of course." Sloane stepped aside and the two agents dragged Sydney towards Jake, but before that Irina intercepted them and hugged her daughter one last time.
"Mom." Sydney whispered as she tried to hold on to her mother. Throughout most of the night Sydney had been almost asleep. Everything seemed like a dream to her.
"Sydney," Irina whispered, "if this doesn't work, trust the CIA."
"What?" Sydney was able to ask before Jake took her. "Mom? Mom, no!" she yelled as she watched her mother walk away with Sloane. Jake tried walking quickly. She looked back and watched her mother wave her hand quickly. In a matter of seconds several of her operatives jumped out of nowhere and began shooting Sloane's men. The agents nearest Sloane attacked Irina before she was able to run away. Sloane signaled to his men and they opened fired. Jake was shot before they made it out of the stadium. Sydney looked back and watched as her mother was dragged away. She had been so worried about her mother that she hadn't realized that two agents were running towards her until they were only a few feet away. Sydney's heart began pounding quickly. She couldn't be captured again. If she was taken she would never be able to help her mother. She quickly began running as fast as she could. She ran and ran, hardly knowing where she was going. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder. She didn't take much notice of it and continued to run. She heard more shots and when she looked back she realized that the two men running after her were dead. Shots continued to be fired, but she was too far away to realize who it was. She didn't want to stay and find out. She continued running. The streets didn't look very familiar to her, but she ran just the same. Finally she recognized one of the streets. She finally had a sense of direction. She thought about going to the warehouse, but then she remembered what her mother said, 'trust the CIA.' She knew where their LA office was at, it was a lot closer than the warehouse. She made her decision quickly and ran towards the direction of the CIA office.
CIA Office
"Maybe you should go home." Eric said once more.
"I can't." Michael told him again.
"Mike, it's already midnight. How long are you going to wait?"
"Eric, there's no point in me going home. I won't be able to sleep, besides someone should wait here in case Jack calls."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it has to be you."
"Why don't you go home? I promise if I don't hear anything in the next hour I'll go home." he said.
"Fine. I'm leaving. I'm too tired to wait with you." Eric stood up and took his things and left the office.
Michael closed his eyes and waited. He didn't really know what he was waiting for. Jack had left almost two hours ago. Sloane had told Jack earlier that they had Julia and that the man had agreed to make the exchange. Sloane had asked Jack to stay at SD-6 until his return. Jack had promised to contact the CIA as soon as he had further information. Michael felt almost devastated. This could have all ended had he been able to hold on to Julia in the first place. Now he was just waiting. Waiting to hear how bad things were gonna get, hoping beyond hope that something would go his way.
His phone rang and he quickly answered. He had assumed it would be Jack and was surprised when instead the receptionist answered back.
"Agent Vaughn, we have a walk-in. She asked for you specifically."
"Who is it?"
"She says her name is Julia Thorne."
"I'll be right there." he said as he put the phone down and ran to the elevator. When he got to the lobby he was surprised to see the state she was in. She was covered in blood, sweat and dirt. She was wearing a silk nightgown and had obviously been walking without shoes for sometime. Her mouth was bloody, her body full of cuts and burns but there was a large concentration of blood near her shoulder. He realized that she had been shot.
"Julia, you've been shot." he said. She looked at her shoulder and realized he was right. She had been shot, she didn't even remember being shot.
"Michael."she called out in a soft voice. Just looking at him filled her with a great sense of relief. He made her feel safe, and for that she was grateful. She wanted to run to him and hug him, but she had no strength. She felt her knees weaken and watched as everything went black. She called out his name once again, but she couldn't stop herself from falling.
Michael ran to her side quickly and managed to catch her right before she hit the ground. He sat down and gently laid her on the floor next to him. He continued to hold her as he ordered the receptionist to call an ambulance. It didn't take long for the ambulance to come over, but it seemed like a lifetime to Michael. She looked so fragile he was afraid to move her. The ambulance took her to the CIA-run hospital. Michael went with her in the ambulance. He didn't know exactly why he felt so attached to her, but he couldn't bare the thought of her going to the hospital by herself. He convinced himself that he was going with her to make sure that no one tried to take her again, but deep down inside he knew it was because he was scared. He was scared that she wouldn't make it, that she wouldn't wake up. Somehow he hoped that if she knew she wasn't alone it would help her pull through.
When the ambulance finally arrived at the hospital they quickly rushed her into the emergency room. Michael wasn't allowed to go in, something which annoyed him quite a bit. He tried to calm down and realized that he could take this time to call Devlon and Jack. They would both be very happy to hear that Sloane hadn't gotten away with everything. He used the payphone to dial Devlon's number.
"Hello." Devlon answered sleepily.
"Hello sir, it's agent Vaughn. I'm calling to let you know that the CIA had a walk in tonight."
"Who?"
"It's Julia Thorne."
"Have you taken her statement yet?" he asked much more awake than before.
"No, she collapsed moments after she came in. I'm at the hospital right now."
"What did the doctor's say?"
"They haven't said anything but I know she was shot. We just got here."
"Alright. Keep me posted, we need to find out what happened as soon as possible."
"I'll do that."
"Have you talked to Jack?"
"No, I was going to call him next."
"Alright then. Goodnight agent Vaughn."
"Goodnight." Michael put the phone down and dialed Jack's cell number. The phone rang a few moments before Michael heard the very angry voice of Jack.
"Hello."
"Jack, it's agent Vaughn."
"What can I do for you agent Vaughn?"
"I'm calling to let you know that Juila Thorne came to the CIA a half hour ago. She collapsed a few moments after arriving, I'm in the hospital now."
"That must mean that the exchange took place."
"Did Sloane tell you about it?"
"No, he was gone by the time I got to SD-6.".
"What does this mean?"
"Either Sloane suspects that I'm a double agent, or he's planning something so big he doesn't even trust me with it."
"I hope neither situation is the case here. As soon as I'm able to get a statement from Julia I'll let you know. I have to go Jack, the doctor just came out."
"Alright."
Michael hung up the payphone and walked towards the doctor.
"Doctor, how is she?"
"She's going to be fine. The bullet didn't cause any damage, she'll be a bit sore but thankfully it was only a flesh wound. She was dehydrated and very exhausted but other than that, she's going to be okay." Michael sighed and then smiled. He felt so relieved that she was going to be okay.
"Is she awake?" he asked.
"No, she's resting right now. She should be awake in the morning though."
"When will she be released?"
"I'll check on her in the morning. If everything is okay than she can leave tomorrow morning."
"Can I see her?"
"Sure, she's in room 47."
"Thank you doctor." The doctor simply smiled and then walked away. Michael walked down the hall and into her room. She was sleeping so soundly, it was hard to imagine that this woman had been the cause of so many sleepless nights and days full of worry. The only thing about her that gave her the look of someone dangerous was the handcuffs she had on. Each of her hands was handcuffed to the bed. Although she was a walk-in they had to take precautions. He brought in a chair that had been outside the room and pulled it up right next to the bed. He sat down and waited for her to wake up. It didn't take long before he fell asleep, uncomfortably, in the chair.
Hours later Michael woke up with a sore neck and back pain. He looked at Julia, who was still sleeping peacefully. He looked at his watch and realized that it was almost seven am. The doctor would be back shortly and soon enough Julia would be taken out of the hospital and taken into CIA custody.
"Agent Vaughn, good morning." the doctor said cheerfully as he walked into the room.
"Good morning doctor."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Not really, but she did."
"Yes, I'd imagine so. Let's see here, her vitals are normal, she doesn't have a fever or any infections. She seems to be doing fine. Julia? Julia can you hear me?" he said as he lightly nudged her. She opened her eyes slowly and at the sight of the doctor she tried to sit up but the handcuffs prevented her from doing it. She laid back down and looked at Michael and then the doctor.
"Where am I?"
"Julia it's alright. You're in the hospital, you're safe." Michael reassured her.
"Julia how are you feeling?" the doctor asked.
"I'm feeling fine."
"Any fatigue, discomfort, or pain?"
"No, I'm fine."
"Well in that case we'll release you by the end of the hour."
"Thank you doctor." Michael answered. The doctor smiled and left the room, Julia looked at Michael and waited for him to say something.
"Are you okay?"
"No. I was tortured, I've lost the only family I had left, and I'm sure that in less than an hour I'm going to be taken into some cell where I will be drained of any information I have."
"Why did you come to the CIA? I'm sure that you could have gone for help somewhere else, what made you decide to turn yourself in to the CIA?"
"Someone told me I could trust the CIA."
"Who?"
"And so the draining begins."
"I'm sorry. I know you've been through a lot. I'll leave you so you can get some rest."
"Thank you. I didn't mean to be rude to you. I'm just very frustrated right now."
"I understand." he said as he left the room.
CIA Holding Cell
The glass wall made it a little easier to bare. At least there were no bars. She had sat in the metal "bed" since she had arrived. She hadn't seen Michael since he left the hospital room in the morning. After he left someone brought her some clothes, not anything nice like she was used to, instead it was gray cotton pants and a matching gray button-up shirt. She didn't like the clothes but was thankful that she had something other than a hospital gown or a silk nightgown to wear. Before being brought to the CIA cell, she had been interrogated by a psychological profiler as well as an armed agent. She had told them nothing after they had refused to follow her terms.
"You want something from me, I want something from you." she finally said after refusing for the third time to write a statement detailing her work with The Man and her capture and escape from Sloane.
"What do you want?"
"I want the director to sign a paper stating that upon the capture of Sloane and the destruction of SD-6 and the alliance I, as well as the Man, if found, will be released."
"There's no way that the director will sign that."
"Then you get nothing from me."
"Are you listening to yourself, you're asking for the release of a terrorist, a person who has been running an underground organization dealing with weapons trade, drugs and intelligence that has put the lives of everyone in jeopardy. You aren't helping yourself by refusing to cooperate."
"I'm not trying to help myself. I'm trying to save the only family I have left. You can put me away into some cell now, because unless I know that my family will be safe you're not getting any information from me."
They had done just that. They had taken her to the cell, where she had been left alone ever since. She assumed that it was some strategy, keep her in solitary until she broke and gave them what they wanted. They were wrong to think they could break her. Her mother had taught her well and she could endure a lot. She stood up and began pacing back and forth. She looked around the cell. There was no way she could escape without help. She was obviously being watched, she had already spotted three cameras both in and outside of her cell. She could see that even if she was able to get past the reinforced glass wall, there were at least four more cell walls to get through. She couldn't see any manual way of opening it, so she assumed they must operate through some command system somewhere in the CIA.
"I'm screwed." she said outloud. She sat down on the ground and stared straight into the camera that was inside the cell. She crossed her legs and stared, wondering if anyone was staring back at her.
&&&
Michael stared at the television screen wondering what she was thinking. It was almost as if they were staring into each other's eyes. It seemed to him that Julia was staring straight at him. She had been sitting on the floor starring into the camera for the last ten minutes.
"Weird huh?" Eric said from behind Michael.
"What?"
"It looks like if she was starring right at you. I almost feel like if she knew I was here."
"Oh, yeah. She's been like that for the last ten minutes."
"I heard she gave the profiler and interrogater a pretty hard time."
"I don't know, I wasn't there."
"Yeah, Peters told me. He said that Julia refused to speak for like thirty minutes. She wouldn't write any statements and when she finally spoke she told them that she wouldn't help them unless they promised to release The Man and her after capturing Sloane."
"How did she even know we were after Sloane and not the Man?"
"I don't know."
"Do you know what they're going to do with her?"
"I don't know Mike. Devlon has been screaming in his office for the past two hours. Jack hasn't shown up, we don't know what's going on in SD-6 or what happened with the trade last night. We're completely in the dark."
"That's great."
"Agent Vaughn!" Devlon called out from his office.
"Good luck man." Eric said as Michael walked towards Devlon's office. Michael hesitantly entered the Director's office.
"Agent Vaughn, that woman is withholding information! Jack hasn't been able to contact the CIA since last night. We have no idea what happened with the Man, all we know is that woman came in here last night instead of going with her people. So I imagine that at some point she had intended to help us. I want you to talk to her. I want you to get her to tell us everything she knows."
"I'll do my best."
"Well your best better be good enough otherwise it's both our asses."
"What do you mean?"
"My superiors have been on my ass for the last few days, about you to be precise. Whatever relationship that you have with that woman has jeopardized both our jobs."
"Sir, I already told you I don't know that woman. I don't know how she knows me."
"I believe you agent Vaughn, the problem is my superiors don't. You have until the end of the day to get her talking."
Michael walked out of the office feeling like he's just been punched in the stomach.
"Mike!" Eric called out as he ran towards Michael.
"Hey."
"What happened?"
"Devlon says I have to get her to talk or we're probably going to get fired."
"You and me?" Eric asked in shock.
"No, Devlon and I."
"Why?"
"Because this whole Julia thing is a mess. She got away on my watch, she knows who I am and I can't explain it."
"What are you going to do?"
"My job."
&&&
She heard the bar walls open one by one, but she remained still. She had been sitting still for the past thirty minutes now and she found that it was somehow soothing. Meditation had always been a favorite of her mothers. It must have something to do with the many times she had found herself imprisoned in her life. Sydney wondered if her mother was meditating now. Was she hurt? Was she being tortured? She only hoped that she would be able to help her soon.
"Julia." Michael said. Sydney opened her eyes and at the sight of Michael she almost smiled.
"Agent Vaughn, how nice of you to come visit me." she said mockingly.
"Julia I need your help."
"I already told your people what I want."
"Julia we can't do that. Your father is a terrorist, at most we can promise life in prison." Sydney felt a little pang upon hearing Michael's last sentence. Her father, a terrorist, what an insane idea. Her father was the most wonderful man that she had ever known, he was a good man and it hurt her to hear such awful words. She couldn't blame him though, he didn't know the truth. He didn't know that her father had been a CIA agent and close friend to his father, that her mother was the criminal but even so she loved her mother.
"Please don't ever refer to the Man as my father." she said. She knew that he wouldn't understand but she couldn't bare the sound of her father being called anything but a hero and a good man.
"Alright."
"I do want to help you Michael, but I need to know that you will do what you can to help me too."
"I can't promise you that The Man will be released."
"Then I can't help you."
"Julia, if you don't help me a lot of people will suffer."
"No Michael. If you don't help me a lot of people will suffer."
"I'm sorry you feel that way."
"Believe me, I want Sloane captured as much as you do but I can't help you unless you help me."
"How do you know we're looking for Sloane."
"I overheard one of your agents before I was interrogated."
&&&
Jack walked into the Director's office without taking notice of anyone else in the office.
"Jack where the hell have you been?" Devlon asked as soon as the door closed.
"I've been at SD-6. Sloane didn't show up last night or this morning. He didn't contact anyone after the trade. This morning we were contacted by one of the agents, he gave us their location. It was a massacre. There were almost forty dead, no survivors. The man who contacted us died before we got there. There was no sign of Sloane. We should assume that Sloane has taken control of the Man's organization."
"Have you tried contacting him?"
"Yes, he hasn't answered. Have you been able to get any information from Julia?"
"No, agent Vaughn is with her now. I hope he was able to get through to her."
"If he wasn't, I may be of some help."
"Jack, the CIA doesn't allow torture."
"Right, but I can still give it a try."
"Go ahead. I hope you get through to her."
Jack left the office and looked around for agent Vaughn. He spotted him coming out of the holding cell looking very disappointed. Vaughn noticed him right away and walked to him.
"Jack, what's going on?"
"Sloane has disappeared. Were you able to get anything from her?"
"She's not talking. She wants Devlon to secure her release as well as the Man's once Sloane is captured."
"I'm going to talk to her, hopefully I'll get through to her."
"Jack, don't be too hard on her, she's been through a lot."
"It's that mentality agent Vaughn that got you nowhere with that woman. Perhaps you should be more interested in national security than in a criminal."
"I'm not more interested in a criminal Jack but I do realize that there are other ways of getting what you want. Intimidation and torture don't always work, what are you going to do then, be nice?"
Jack ignored his last comment and walked towards the holding cell.
When he finally got to her cell he was a bit disconcerted by how much she reminded him of Irina. She had long brown hair, much like Irina's hair and her face had a striking resemblance to that of his wife's. Perhaps this woman was a relative, a niece or cousin perhaps. He cleared his throat and watched as the woman opened her eyes.
&&&
She continued to sit on the floor, still meditating. The sound of a man clearing his throat brought her back from her meditative state. She opened her eyes, feeling quite disinterested. She imagined it would be another agent trying to persuade her to tell the CIA what they needed to know. But this agent was different. It didn't take longer than a millisecond for her to realize that this man was different. Her heart felt like it would explode, beating so quickly. She could feel beads of sweat forming on her face. It was as if the temperature in the room had suddenly risen quite quickly. Her hands were trembling, not so much that a person would notice if they weren't looking straight at her hands. She felt a swirl of emotions run through her body. She was scared, she was excited, but most of all she was in shock. How could it be? He was dead. But then again she had never seen his body, never been to his grave. All she knew was what her mother had told her. But why would she lie? To keep her from looking for him perhaps. She had lied before, why should she believe that her mother had told her the truth about his death. She stood up slowly and walked towards the glass wall. She was standing in front of him, face to face. There was no denying it now. It was him. It was her father. Jack Bristow.
He seemed shocked as well, surely he didn't realize that she was his daughter, but likely it was her reaction to him that had shocked him. She hadn't even realized that she was crying until now that the tears were coming faster and harder. He just stood there, quietly. His face was unreadable, but his eyes, his eyes told her that he was confused.
"Are you alright?" he finally asked.
"Yes." she said.
"I'm here because I need to know what happened last night." he asked hesitantly. She continued to look at him. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, if she did he might disappear from her life again. She tried to touch his face but all she could do was touch the glass.
"I'll come back when you're feeling better." he said as he turned his back and began to walk away.
"NO!" she yelled out. She fell to the ground and cried. "Don't leave me! Please stay!"
He had stopped walking at the sound of her cries. He walked back to where he had been. "I'm still here." He watched as she stood up and again stared at him. "What is it?"
"They told me you were dead. They said you were dead, that you were killed on your way home." she began trying to explain everything to him. His expression turned more serious now.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"You said you would come back for me, you said we would see each other soon. But you never came back!" she yelled as she cried even more. "You said you would never leave me! But you left! You left me and then I never saw you again!"
"I don't understand." he said. He felt a lump in his throat, he wanted to cry too. He was so confused.
"Look at me! Look at me!" she yelled. "Don't you recognize me? It's me, it's Sydney! Look at me!"
His eyes opened wide. No, it couldn't be. He had found her grave, there were DNA tests to prove it was her.
"Sydney is dead! I found her grave, DNA tests confirmed it was her." he said.
"Nooooo! I'm Sydney!"
"You're lying." he said. He began to walk away once more. He couldn't handle this. This woman who looked so much like his wife, who claimed to be his dead daughter. It was too much for him.
"Daddy! Please, it's Sydney! You have to believe me! Remember the lions daddy, remember the picture! You have to believe me!" she cried out. She cried and cried and punched and kicked the glass wall. But he didn't come back. Finally she laid down on the cold metal bed and cried herself to sleep.
Hours later, CIA office
The phone rang and Jack immediately picked it up.
"Hello."
"Jack, it's Dr. Matthews, I have the results. I'm sending them to you via email right now."
"Thank you Dr. Matthews." Jack turned to his computer and opened the email that Dr. Matthews had sent. The results confirmed what she had said. Julia Thorne was in fact Sydney Bristow. Jack stood up quickly and walked towards Devlon's office.
He knocked on the door, he hardly ever knocked but seeing as he was about to ask a huge favor he felt that a sign of respect might help him out.
"Come in." Devlon said from inside. Jack entered the office and sat in the chair in front of Devlon's desk.
"What is it Jack?"
"Earlier, I told you that I wasn't able to get any information out of Julia Thorne."
"Yes I remember."
"I lied."
"What?"
"Julia Thorne told me that her real name isn't Julia, that it's in fact Sydney. Sydney Bristow."
"That can't be, Sydney Bristow is dead, DNA test confirmed that."
"That's what I told her. Still, the seed of doubt was planted. She looks just like Irina, she knew things that only my daughter and I shared. She's the same age as my daughter as well, and I asked myself what she could possibly gain by telling me something like that. If indeed I believed her she should have surely guessed that I would have found some way to verify it, so what could she gain from lying to me about it."
"Well?"
"I called the hospital earlier. Dr. Matthews told me he had indeed taken a blood sample and I asked him to conduct a paternity test. I asked him to do it as soon as possible. I just got off the phone with him, he sent me the results. Julia Thorne is indeed my daughter Sydney."
"Jack, I don't know what to say."
"I came here to ask you for a favor."
"What is it?"
"I have spent ten years of my life searching for my daughter, and after believing her to be dead I've spent my days mourning her. The past twenty years have been quite dark to say the least. I have often times wondered what my daughter would be like, how things would be different had I stayed and taken care of her. I have blamed myself for losing her everyday of my life. The only reason why I didn't give up those first ten years was because I had the hope that I would find her and after that the only reason I had to get up in the morning was the hope that someday I would be able to avenge her death. Knowing that my daughter is alive has given me hope once again. I would like for you to allow me to enter the cell. I haven't held my daughter in twenty years. I don't want to talk to her behind a glass wall. I know it's against protocol, but you have to understand that this is my daughter we're talking about."
"I understand Jack. I'll allow it. I'll give you one hour with her. You'll be supervised by an agent and you will release any weapon or sharp object before you see her."
"Thank you."
&&&
After having been searched Jack was escorted by agent Vaughn and agent Weiss to the holding cell. Michael opened the door to Sydney's cell and closed it immediately after Jack entered. Both Michael and Eric took a seat in front of the cell, to keep a watchful eye on Jack and Sydney. Neither Michael nor Eric were aware of the true situation, to them, Julia Thorne was simply Julia Thorne and not Sydney Bristow. That being the reason why they had found it strange that Jack would be allowed to enter the cell to talk with her. Eric simply assumed that Jack would probably do something shady, like beat her up or inject her with truth serum or perhaps just stand there until she broke from intimidation, while Michael believed that Jack had some psychological strategy to get her to tell them the truth.
Sydney was still asleep, her eyes were puffy from all the crying earlier. Jack kneeled down next to her and pulled her hair behind her ear. "Sydney. Sydney, wake up." Sydney opened her eyes and was surprised to see her father. She sat up and Jack sat down next to her. They were facing each other, silent for a second as they both took in the situation.
"Hi sweetheart."
"Daddy!" she yelled out as she wrapped her arms around him. They held each other for what seemed like an eternity, when in reality it had only been about a minute. Both Eric and Michael looked at each other in surprise.
"I've missed you so much." Jack said as he let go of his daughter. He looked at her and smiled, something that shocked Michael and Eric even more. "You're so beautiful."
"Daddy, I'm so sorry about everything. I know I've let you down." she said as her eyes began to get teary.
"Sweetheart, you could never disappoint me. I'm the one who disappointed you. Ten years ago we found a grave with your name on it. We tested the DNA and it confirmed that it was you. I believed you were dead, it's the only reason why I didn't continue looking for you."
"I thought you were dead too. Mom came the night you were supposed to come for me. She told me you were dead, she said she had come back for me because you were dead. She lied to me!" Sydney put her head on her father's shoulders and cried.
"Sweetheart it's alright."
"Dad, they took her. Last night, she traded herself for me and he took her. You need to help me get her back dad. I know you must hate her but I can't leave her with that man."
"If we have any hope of finding your mother you need to tell me everything that you know."
"After the mission in China I went back to my apartment. When I woke up in the morning my apartment was full of armed men. I tried to escape but I couldn't. The next thing I knew I was in this room and I was being tortured. They never even asked me anything. After a while they left me there. Then two men came and they dragged me out of there. I realized I was in LA soon after. I kept falling in and out of consciousness but I remember hearing them talk about a trade. We stopped at a stadium and they took me with Sloane. At the center of the field we waited until mom came. She hugged me and told me that if this didn't work that I had to trust the CIA. As I was being taken out of there by one of her men she gave a sign to attack, everyone was shooting at each other. The man I was with was killed, mom tried to escape but they grabbed her and took her with Sloane. I ran here and the rest you already know."
"Sloane wants to take over your mother's organization. He needs all of her resources to be free from the alliance. Do you have any idea where Sloane would go?"
"Mom has a lot of dirt on the alliance, it's her way of making sure that they don't cause much trouble to her. She keeps everything in a safety deposit box in France. If Sloane wants to get leverage on the alliance he would most like go there, assuming that mom has told him about it, or that somehow he found out on his own."
"I'll get a team there. Don't worry sweetheart, your mother will be fine, she's a strong woman."
"Dad, what's going to happen to me, to her?"
"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of everything. I'll make sure that you're safe. I love you sweetheart."
"I love you too. Will I see you soon?"
"Of course, I'll come as often as I can." Jack kissed his daughter's forehead and hugged her once more. He walked to the door and waited for Eric to open the door. Before leaving he turned to his daughter and smiled. "I'll see you soon." She smiled back at him and watched as the three of them left.