COLLATERAL DAMAGE

Eyghon

Author's notes: Here is what I had planned since the beginning as the end of this story. Now, don't panic, it's not over yet. I really need to get this over with, as the finals are coming up, but I just can't. I knew I was 'addicted' to reading fiction but I certainly didn't expect to be 'addicted' to writing one! Many thanks to Lenafan for beta reading, for putting up with my incessant questions, and me. Sorry if the end sounds somewhat flimsy, but I was getting annoyed of of writing angst and I kind of like it that way.

Chapter 16: Narrow escape

"I will break you Miss Sullivan," promised Agent Bristow. "It's only a matter of time and I have lots of it," he added, finally leaving her alone. The man may think he had all the time in the world but he actually didn't. Soon Derevko would leave the United States and it would be safe for Chloé to tell them everything she knew. She was young; her record was clean. She had never planned spending her whole life running surveillance on people anyway. It was just an easy way to make big money fast. She was not a professional and if she played her cards right, she would never set foot in a prison.

For now, she needed to stall the CIA. She knew if she talked too soon Derevko would get back to her. If she didn't talk, she would end up in a bloody mess. When she had accepted the job, she knew there was a good chance she would be captured. She had been ordered not to resist. While the CIA had her in their custody, they would try to get information from her instead of questioning their own sources, who would have sold Chloé and Derevko out within one hour. Time was of the essence here, and the CIA was playing right into her hands…or Derevko's.

Chloé just had to give the CIA information piece by piece, enough to keep her out of harm's way but too little to compromise her boss's safety.

Irina knew she could count on Miss Sullivan's discretion but she still needed to speed things up. She wouldn't be able to give Sydney time to prepare herself. It was risky, because Sydney, too rushed, could get scared and refuse to come. Irina had no choice. It was up to Sydney now. It was a hard decision Irina was not sure Sydney had made peace with. Despite her protestations during their last conversations, Irina knew Sydney still loved her father. Her daughter would miss her friends at the very least. Irina hoped her rushing things wouldn't ruin everything.

Sydney and Francie were walking down Melrose Avenue. The CIA agents were far away enough so Francie wouldn't spot them, but they were still standing out: It was a street essentially composed of many boutiques specializing in clothes, thrift shops, and second-class art galleries. Not many men had the courage to be seen in this shopping district.

Sydney sighed. Soon she wouldn't have to worry about them anymore. It was probably the last time she would be shopping with her best friend.

Jack had found out a little more about the 'accident' Sydney had mentioned. He knew the Ukrainian authorities recovered several bodies from a car crash site in Kiev. Two cars had been set on fire before being pushed down into a ravine. The perpetrators probably hoped the vehicles would never be found. However, they were, along with four corpses.

It had taken a while to come back to Jack's attention, what with the Ukrainians being chummy with the Russians. The outcome of the next presidential elections in Ukraine could change a lot of things for the Americans, and the world in general. For now, it was all the Intel Jack would get. All the kidnappers were accounted for except one. No female body was among the dead. One of the kidnappers was still on the loose and Jack still didn't know what Sydney was hiding so fiercely.

"Excuse me, Miss?"

Sydney interrupted her chat with Francie to squint at a car that had slowed to her pace.

"Yes?"

"Could you tell me how to go to Robertson Boulevard from here?"

Sydney froze when she came within five feet of the driver, her mother. Why would Irina take the risk to approach her right under the nose of two CIA agents on foot? She took a deep breath. The men knew nothing about Irina. They couldn't even see her. For all they knew, she was just a lost tourist asking for directions. Sydney stepped off the sidewalk, Francie on her heels. She too had recognised the woman she had nicknamed 'the scary lady'. She wondered why Sydney was playing along. Maybe someone was watching them.

"Uh…sure."

She leaned in the car window, hoping she would be isolated enough to keep the CIA from listening in. Thankfully, Francie went to stand on her left, effectively blocking her from the view and earshot of the two suit-clad men.

"Something came up, it's now or never." Irina purposely kept her explanation cryptic. If Sydney refused, Francie would never know how close Sydney had come to abandon her.

"What? Why? What happened?"

Irina sighed, she didn't have time for this, but she would have to take it. "It's only a question of time before your father learns who I am. When it happens, it will be too late for us. I'm sorry I couldn't warn you before." She glanced anxiously at her rear view mirror. The agents were standing awkwardly a few meters behind, waiting for their target to start moving. It wasn't unusual in Los Angeles to see lost tourists asking for directions. The fact that Irina's Mercedes was registered in the state of Ohio helped to keep their suspicions at bay.

Sydney sighed, at a loss of what to do. It was so sudden. She hadn't expected to have to leave for another week. She discreetly looked over her friend's shoulder at the agents. They were getting restless.

"I'm coming with you," firmly declared Sydney.

Irina let out a relieved sigh. "Glad to hear it. We have to hurry but we must be discreet. We can't risk being chased…"

"Wait! What are you guys talking about?" Francie looked at her friend disbelieving and fearing she would finally know why Sydney was being so secretive.

"Now is neither the time nor the place," reminded Irina. "You two obviously need to talk. Go inside a café, make sure you aren't overheard." Then, gravely, she went on, "Sydney, if you still want to come with me, go to The Lavender Girl Boutique two blocks away. Go out through the back door, you'll find yourself in an alley leading to the main street. I'll wait for you there." It was the oldest trick in the book to shake off a tail but the CIA wouldn't expect it. "After fifteen minutes I'll be gone. You will never see or hear from me ever again."

Before Sydney could answer, Irina accelerated and was out of sight.

"Are you leaving with her? Is that what it's all about?"

Francie and Sydney were sitting in the back of a little café, stuck between a clothes boutique and a perfumery.

"Yes." What good would it do to lie to her friend now? Francie had it all figured it out already. She just wouldn't let herself see it.

"Why? What is so special about her?"

"For the first time in my life, I feel safe and loved with someone."

"What?" Francie sighed, knowing Sydney wouldn't answer her question, or even worse, would lie to her. "This is crazy. 'You' are crazy"

"Francie, please…Once I'm gone, I can never come back. I won't be able to contact you either." Sydney said sadly.

"Why? How is that possible? What happened?" She couldn't hold her questions anymore. She was losing her best friend, the closest thing she ever had to a sister.

"It's complicated. I'm sorry. It's been very hard to decide whether to leave all of this. But it's worth it, and I know I'll be happy with her."

"How can you be so sure? You barely know her, unless you lied about that too? And what do you mean loving her? What about me? Did you, for one second, think about what it would do to me to lose you?"

Sydney opened her mouth to talk but nothing came out. She had only envisioned how it would be to live with her mother and to leave her friends and family behind. She had never thought about the long run. How it would be not to have her best friend to confide in. How she would feel when not able to run to the same park she went to when she was little. How she would miss her father's rebuffs or shouts, which were annoying but which proved that he somehow cared, at least enough to waste his breath.

It dawned on her then, how selfish she had been in the process of deciding whether she would leave her life in the US. She hadn't really given much thought to others' feelings toward her. How would Francie feel? How would Mrs. Calfo, who considered Sydney as a part of the family, feel? How would her friends feel? And what about her father? She was so angry with him for ignoring her; she had never once considered that her decision, her disappearance, might hurt him. He was so good at hiding his emotions she had forgotten he could actually 'feel'. She didn't have time to think about him now. He had his chance and didn't take it. Maybe later she would rethink this.

"I thought so," Francie bitterly concluded before getting up and heading toward the exit.

"Fran, wait!" Sydney grabbed her arm, desperate. "It's probably the last time we'll see each other. I don't want to let things like this between us. I love you."

"Then stay!"

"I can't! I have nothing here! I mean…" Sydney sighed, frustrated. She couldn't tell Francie her family was more important than her best friend without telling her who the mysterious woman was. "I'm sorry. Of all the things I'll miss, it's you I'll truly regret leaving behind. I already miss you."

"Sydney…" Francie's voice broke; she had to let her go. "I love you too, and if it means I have to let you go, then so be it. I'm happy for you. I don't look like it, but if this is really what you want, then I'm happy."

"Thank you!" The two girls hugged. "Will you accompany me?" Sydney asked.

"Of course! Let's go!" Francie's enthusiasm was obviously forced but Sydney was glad her friend was trying to be supportive.

"I guess it's when we say goodbye and wish each other luck?" Asked Francie, standing in the alley behind The Lavender Girl Boutique.

"Yeah, I guess," quietly replied Sydney, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Forget what I said earlier, I don't want you to leave." Fran cried.

"But you want me to be happy."

"Yeah." Francie forced a smile. "Can't have both, huh?"

"Nope. Be there and be happy is not possible for me anymore. Not when I know I have something else, something more, waiting for me. Listen we would have had to split eventually. We would have had our boyfriends to take care of, our studies…"

"UCLA offers everything we need Sydney, and you know that. Didn't we say we would share a condo with our respective man and get to the same retirement home when we would be too old for movie night?"

Sydney chuckled, "it's not permanent you know, I said I couldn't come back but in a few years maybe…eventually."

"Syd, be realistic, from what I know, this chick you're so fond of is not American and she's trouble…"

"But you won't tell anyone I left with her," cut in Sydney, worried.

"No! Of course not! I promised you! Will you let me talk? What I mean is… going with her means you're some sort of accomplice, and with your father involved in this mess…just watch your back sister." Sydney nodded mutely, touched by the endearment. "Now go, before she leaves."

"Thank you Fran, thank you."

"You got it."

They hugged again, and Sydney turned around, heading to the end of the alley, where she could hear the cars passing on Santa Monica Boulevard. She sighed. She just left her best friend for her mother. She regretted not seeing her father today. She would have liked to say goodbye, though it couldn't have included actually saying goodbye, or hugging him, or even kissing him, but still, in her head, she could have tried to make peace with herself.

"You were hired by a Russian woman, I want to know her name," repeated Jack for the hundredth time. His prisoner remained unfazed. It was odd. Jack was a master interrogator, and his prisoner, by her young age, at first seemed like an easy target. Still, she was not cracking. Instead, was content by asking for a lawyer.

"There are no such things as lawyers in this place Miss Sullivan. You have been arrested under the Patriot Act"

"What? No one read me my rights!" Protested Chloé, feeling the trap closing in on her. Soon she would have to start talking or the grey haired man facing her would lose his cool and send her to a place she'd rather not see. Miss Derevko had warned her against the danger she would put herself into by accepting to work for her. It wasn't about spying on a cheating husband. It was about spying on a student and report her every move. It was about spying without being spied on by said student's watchdogs. Watch dogs that happened to be on the good side of the law, broadly speaking.

"If there are no lawyers, what is the point in having rights, Miss Sullivan?" Taunted Bristow, putting himself less than an inch from her face.

"Good point. Okay, I don't know her name, I swear. I never saw her, only talked by phone."

"What does she want with Sydney Bristow?"

"I don't know, she just said to keep an eye on her."

"In what way?"

"I don't know! Look, I got paid the big bucks to basically walk behind someone all day long, period."

Jack made no comment on whether he was satisfied with her answer or not when he finally left her alone in the interrogation room.

Sydney took a deep breath and stopped. The sound of the cars passing on the street was overwhelming now. She was just out of sight of her mother. One more step and she would be giving up her home, her identity, her life, as she knew it.

She was walking into the unknown but with her mother. She forced herself to see only that last part. That reassuring presence, who alone could drive away the fear of nothingness.

The Mercedes door was pushed open from the inside. Sydney grabbed the door and took a last look around her before climbing into the passenger seat.

"Are you sure?" Gently asked Irina, fixing her daughter with a stare.

Sydney nodded wordlessly, smiling. Irina pulled away from the curb and off they went, to LAX.

Francie had gone back into the boutique, pretending to look at clothes. She was in the back, in the lingerie section. The people following Sydney, whoever they were, would never dare to check on her as long as Francie remained in here. LAX wasn't too far from here. In the past, they had spent whole afternoons in boutiques. The men wouldn't worry if they didn't come out for a while.

"You still have time to back out and pretend nothing ever happened. I wouldn't hold you to it"

"Mom, I made my decision, and I will respect it," firmly stated Sydney.

"I can still take you back. I just wanted you to know."

"I know. Thanks for worrying, but please, stop trying to make me change my mind."

"I'm not…" Irina sighed. "I'm just not sure you realise what it entails…"

"Oh not again!" Sydney groaned.

"Yes, again, and you will listen to me, again," scolded Irina, and stopped dead. Sydney was laughing. Irina threw her a death glare, making her laugh even louder.

"Sorry…hum" Sydney was trying to get her composure back, and explain the reasons why she burst out laughing. "It's just, we've been there like ten minutes and we're already playing mother/daughter. I love it." Irina smiled too. "I know Mom, I heard you the first hundred times. By going with you, I know what I'm throwing away. But what I will gain will be worth it."

"Are you sure of that," gently asked her mother. "Do you realise that if you had dreamt, your whole life, of a typical American wedding with all your friends and family by your side, you can forget it? Your father won't walk you down the aisle Sydney, and Miss Calfo won't be your maid of honour."

"Mom! Why are you talking about marriage?" Sydney was stunned. What the hell did it have to do with the problem at hand?

"Well, doesn't every little girl dream of the day of her marriage?" Asked Irina, puzzled.

"No! Mom for God's sake we're in the 21st Century, wake up!"

"Don't talk to me like I'm senile please, because I'm not."

"I know, you just live in another age," sniggered Sydney.

Irina elbowed her daughter, prompting her to whine, "Hey, no hitting the driver!"

"You're not driving, 'I' am!" Replied Irina.

"Well, it works both ways. The driver must not be hit and must not hit, period."

They were at a red light, watching the world, or at least the city, move around them. Both women were invisible to the pedestrians, thanks to the tinted windows. It allowed them to watch without being seen. To scrutinize the people walking by, minding their usual business, unsuspecting of what was about to happen. Tomorrow, they would still be unsuspecting, and yet, many lives would have changed. Irina's, Sydney's, Francie's, but especially Jack's

"There's no coming back Sydney. Not without dire consequences."

"Hit the gas."

TBC