Eyghon
Author's notes: I really enjoyed writing this. Thanks for your questions, it gave me some insight in how you see things. It was very helpful. As always, many thanks to my beta reader Lenafan.
Chapter 11: Half way homeWhen Sydney awoke, she found herself in a brightly-lit room, lying in a bed. A shorthaired woman was sitting by her side on a chair, staring at her. Seeing her, the young girl sat up, disoriented. Nausea and dizziness threatened to put her back down, but she managed to overcome it.
"Who are you?" she asked, distrustful.
"Hello to you too. I'm Katya. I'm Irina's sister."
Sydney just stared at her, mouth slightly open. "She didn't tell me she had a sister."
"She didn't tell me she had a daughter," replied Katya evenly.
"She planned this?"
Katya blinked, confused, "I don't know what you are referring too. I'm merely offering you a place to stay until Irina can get here. A man brought you and left."
Sydney nodded, starting to put things together. "She told me she wouldn't let them hurt me. She told me there would be no deal."
"What are you talking about?"
Sydney glanced at her warily, "so you don't know?"
"No." Katya shrugged.
"So you're not an agent?"
Katya laughed, "No! Good Lord, no! I'm in the finance sector. I have nothing to do with Irina's business."
"Then why am I here?"
"She called me, saying she needed my help. She begged me. Irina never begs. It was enough to convince me."
"She must have told you something, explained…"
"No. She only asked me to lend her my company's jet and to provide you with a safe place to stay. You know as much as I do, probably more. Irina took care of everything else. Whatever everything else is, I have nothing to do with it."
"But she told you who I was."
"Actually she didn't. I knew the second I saw you though. I guessed. You look so much like her," replied Katya with a smile.
Sydney smiled shyly, then frowned, "how long was I out?"
"Ten hours. I was told you fainted?"
"Yeah, rough day I guess."
"What's your name?"
"Excuse me?"
"Your name? What is it?"
"Sydney, Sydney Bristow."
Katy was thoughtful, "I should have known. I heard Irina call out that name in her nightmares. I didn't know who she was referring to though."
"Nightmares?"
"It's a long story, I don't think it's my place to tell you about it. Are you feeling all right? You didn't stir once during the night, I was starting to worry."
"Wait, you stayed here with me all night, watching me sleep?" Sydney's brows rose.
"Yes. My apologies if it bothers you but…Irina never mentioned you, I was curious. You look so much like her. I was fascinated and plus, you're my niece, I didn't want you to wake up alone in a place you didn't know and get scared." Katya smiled kindly.
"Thanks," nodded Sydney, grateful for the attention.
"You must be hungry, would you like to join me for some breakfast?" asked her aunt cheerfully. It felt weird to think of her as such. The only aunt she ever had until now was her father's sister. She was an old and grumpy woman. Sydney hated her but thankfully, her father never forced her to visit.
"Breakfast?"
"Yes, we're in Italy, it's eight in the morning. I assure you, I'm not as a bad cook as my sister is," added Katya with a gentle smile, her eyes twinkling.
Sydney smiled and got out of bed. She followed Katya downstairs.
In the kitchen, Katya was cooking eggs and bacon. "So, tell me about Irina."
"Er…I'm not the best person to ask."
"You're her daughter."
"Yeah but…we're not...close...I mean…I don't know her. I thought she was dead actually."
"Really? Well, I guess that makes sense. You're what? Eighteen? She came back twelve years ago…I'm sorry, I should have known. She left you, didn't she?"
"Yeah."
"Don't worry, I'm not very close to her either. We haven't spoken in years actually."
"Why is that?" Sydney was glad for the change of topic. Katya seemed rather clueless concerning her sister's life. She didn't know how much she should say.
"I'm the eldest of three. When our mother died, I raised Irina and Elena. I didn't agree with her decision to join the KGB. I told her not to but she didn't listen. She's stubborn. When she came back from America, she was thrown into prison for treason. Two years went by before they let her out. She was different afterward, broken and empty. She didn't talk, didn't eat, didn't smile…She had nightmares, horrible nightmares in which she called your name among other things. There was nothing I could do to help her feel better. I took care of her physically until she was healthy enough to do so herself. One day I woke up and she was gone. I learned she was back in the government's employ as a SVR agent. I felt betrayed. I haven't tried to talk to her since, but she checks on me from time to time."
Sydney was shaken. While she had been grieving for the loss of her mother, safe and sound in her house, said mother was rotting in some dark cell, alone.
"She used to say I inherited my father's ears and her character. She was stubborn when she was with us."
"Was she a good mother to you?"
Sydney didn't need to think about it, she nodded emphatically, "Yes, the best mother anyone could ever dream of, until she left me when I was six."
The thought saddened her, Katya could tell. She decided to switch topics. "She'll get here as soon as she can. She has to make sure she's not suspected of having anything to do with your escape."
"What do we do in the meantime?"
"We could talk some more if you feel up to it. You could fill me in on what kind of mother she was to you, at least on what you remember from your childhood. I could tell you all about her life until she left for America."
The day had gone by quickly, spent talking with her aunt, sharing memories of the same person in two different lives. Katya had photo albums to show, Sydney had none, not even at home. She had a framed picture of her mother on her nightstand, but her father had all the family albums, probably somewhere in his study.
The doorbell rang as Sydney was helping Katya cook dinner. The woman went to answer it and found herself speechless. Her long lost sister was standing before her, looking nervously at her.
"Irina," eventually nodded Katya.
"Katya," greeted Irina in the same fashion.
"Come on in. Sydney is in the kitchen. This way."
"Mom!" Sydney launched herself into Irina's arms, sobbing. She buried her face in her mother's neck. She felt so safe in her embrace, a familiar and foreign feeling.
"Shhh, it's okay, it's okay, I'm here now. Are you alright?" asked Irina, wrapping her arms around her sobbing daughter. She had never thought she would get to hug her daughter ever again, to console her as she did when she was a child. It hurt to see Sydney in pain but it felt so good to be able to soothe away her pain with something as innocent as a hug.
"I was so scared! They didn't tell me where they were taking me…you weren't there. I was all alone!" sobbed Sydney, "I thought you had left me again!"
Irina's heart broke, a tear made its way down her cheek, she hugged Sydney even tighter. It had been hard leaving her daughter with Nikolai, but she needed an alibi. What better alibi than to be in the SVR offices? "I'm so sorry I couldn't warn you Sydney. I had to stay away, to protect you. If they had known what I was planning, they would have hurt us both."
"I was worried about you," confessed Sydney, looking up at her mother.
"I'm okay, you don't have to worry about me, sweetheart." It felt so odd to have someone care about her; it had been so long since anyone had bothered to worry about her.
"How did you manage to pull that off? The men who killed everyone?"
"I know people who know people. They were mercenaries, I hired them, I paid them. I'm sorry you had to witness that. Were you injured?"
"No, I'm fine, I was just so scared!"
"I know. But it's over now, you'll be home soon."
After a few minutes, Sydney had calmed down enough to keep the tremors out of her voice. Reluctantly backing away from her mother's familiar scent, she wiped her eyes and asked, very seriously, "Mom?"
"Yes?"
"We need to talk. I still have questions."
Irina sighed and glanced at Katya, who seemed uncomfortable. "Alright, but not now, I don't want Katya mixed in all of that, okay? I'll come in later if it's not too late."
Sydney was sitting Indian style on her bed, reading a magazine Katya had brought her earlier. She had had a big day what with meeting her aunt, sharing memories with her all day and finally getting her mother back. She was exhausted but couldn't go to bed just yet, she wanted to talk with her mother. She hadn't insisted earlier and had left Irina and Katya alone on purpose. She had the feeling both sisters needed to talk, to sort things out.
A few hours later, she couldn't hold back sleep anymore and slipped between the covers. There was a soft knock on the door. Someone entered her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. It was her mother. Irina knelt by the bed and called out Sydney's name. Her eyes opened and she sat up wide-awake.
"Hi. Sorry I woke you, I wanted to make sure you were alright."
"It's fine. I couldn't sleep anyway."
"I brought you some tea. It will help you relax. It's healthier than pills."
"Thanks." Sydney sat up and accepted the hot cup. "How did it go with Katya?"
Irina shrugged, "we haven't seen each other in a long time. I left angry years ago, it's complicated."
Sydney didn't push the issue but instead concentrated on her main concern. "How is Dad?"
"He's fine. He's back to the U.S. and the SVR won't bother him again."
Sydney sighed in relief, but felt her mother was hiding something. "What is it?"
"He was hurt, not badly, but don't worry. He was lucky, it could have been worse." Inwardly, she thought he deserved much worse for putting Sydney at risk. She thought she had let him off the hook too easily. She might have to correct that later.
"What happened?" Sydney gasped.
Irina knew what she was about to say would hurt Sydney, but she was a big girl, she deserved to know the truth. "He didn't respect the deal. He tried to fool the man he was meeting with. A sniper shot him in the shoulder."
"But…wasn't that dangerous for me?"
"This disk was a bomb in the wrong hands. Your father had to protect it…at all cost."
Sydney swallowed, pain evident in her eyes, "I see."
Irina wasn't about to tell her she paid the sniper. Probulov's men were dead before Jack even got there. Irina's men took their place and watched the meeting unfold. They were to cover Agent Bristow in case something went wrong. Irina knew he would do something stupid. She had been so angry with him for endangering their daughter for the sake of his beloved agency. That's why she had had him shot.
She too had put Sydney in the line of danger by exposing her to her superior and colleagues, but it was for a higher purpose. The situation had escaped her control, as the Nikolai debacle had proven. She felt remorseful for what happened to Sydney, but she meant to protect Jack while he only wanted to protect the CIA, knowing all along it would probably cost him Sydney's life.
"When I get home, what do I tell Dad?"
Irina tilted her head smiling, "the truth of course."
"How do I explain how I escaped and came home?"
"You don't need to concern yourself with that, Sydney."
"Fine but what about Russia and Nikolai? Should I tell him that?"
"Tell him the truth, everyone is dead anyway. If we try to make up a story, he'll know you're lying."
"But what about you? I can't tell him you're alive, it would break him."
"He knows I'm Russian. There is a good chance my 'death' was an extraction and he knows it too."
"But the CIA will have proof you're alive if I talk; they will look for you."
"I'm good at playing cat and mouse."
"What if they find you? Will they send you to prison?"
Irina sighed, "I don't know. It depends. There will be a trial, unless I plead guilty…in the end it doesn't matter…I'll get the death penalty."
Sydney gasped, "whatever you did, you have the right to a fair trial and…"
"I committed crimes, Sydney. I killed people, people working for the US government. They were Federal agents..." interrupted Irina firmly. "It would be the Federal government who handles my case, not the state of California."
"You mean…agents like Dad?"
"Yes. It's considered treason. They can do whatever they please to me."
"But why? Why did you do that?"
"Because I was ordered to do it. Your father too did things he's not proud of and at that time, every means was employed to gain the upper hand on the enemy, by both the US and the USSR."
A heavy silence followed, broken when Sydney yawned loudly, her state of exhaustion now obvious.
"Come on, sweetheart, you should sleep. I'll tuck you in."
Sydney laid back down as Irina pulled the covers up, "Tomorrow morning I'll take you back to Los Angeles myself."
"Isn't that dangerous for you?"
"No, I'll be okay. The SVR is too busy looking for the people who attacked their agents."
"But what about the US authorities, you told me it was dangerous…."
"Don't worry about them. I'll stay in Los Angeles for a few days, to make sure you are really out of danger. You won't see me, but I'll be there. You'll be safe." Irina was not worried, Chevchenko would soon learn Sydney was alive but there was a very little chance he would try anything.
"Okay," agreed Sydney, reassured.
"Goodnight sweetheart. I love you." She softly kissed her on the cheek.
"I love you too, Mom," replied Sydney, returning the kiss with a dimpled smile.
Irina stroked her hair and watched Sydney fall asleep, a peaceful smile on her face.
TBC