Chapter 8

The black van pulled up in front of the Joint Task Force building in the darkness of the night. As the heavily armed guards made sure that all areas were covered, Irina was led to the second cell in the building.

Once she was inside, a rigorous body cavity search was performed, followed by Irina changing into prison regulation clothing. Kendall approached Jack as all this was going on.

"When we got the call that we had Derevko in our custody again, a select committee of senators was convened to determine her punishment. As of Panama, Derevko's pardon agreement was invalidated. Her agreement to forego all appeals is still binding, however, so the original sentence has been settled upon again. Irina Derevko will be put to death at noon two days from now. I just thought you might want to know."

As the guards left Irina's cell, Jack looked at the woman in front of him. The hurt and resentment from the past twenty plus years came to surface. "I can't wait for her to die." Kendall looked at Jack. "Thanks for the good news." A hint of a smile appeared on Jack's face. As he walked away, Jack dialed Sydney's number. Getting her voice mail, Jack left a message telling her that they needed to talk.

Sydney awoke the next morning to a churning stomach. Vaughn's arm was around her waist, and, though she didn't want to wake him, she moved his arm and rushed to the bathroom.

As she let the disgusting mixture of partially digested food and gastric juices exit her mouth, Sydney realized what she was in for with pregnancy. She felt horrible. She had heard about morning sickness, but she didn't realize just how bad it was going to be.

Flushing the toilet, she couldn't help but realize that this was just the beginning. Brushing her teeth to get the wretched taste out of her mouth and following it with a strong dose of mouthwash, she thought about what Vaughn had said the day before. Their child would never be safe.

Sydney remembered how she had felt when she had found out about Project: Christmas. She didn't want to think that it had been a major factor in keeping her alive, but she had to consider it, and as much as she hated to admit it, she was going to have to do it to their child. Sydney sighed.

Sydney decided to make breakfast since she was up. Walking out to Vaughn's kitchen, she started looking through the cupboards until she found everything she needed.

Lauren had just started her meeting with Sloane. "I got a phone call last night that all the information you gave us has been validated." Placing a piece of paper down on the table with a pen, she stated all the legal jargon that she was required to before allowing Sloane to sign the pardon. "And you understand that if you betray the U. S. government this pardon will be considered void and you will be subject to the full extent of our anti-terrorism laws."

"Yes, I understand," Sloane said, signing the form. Lauren signed on the witness line.

"Congratulations, Mr. Sloane, you have been officially pardoned," Lauren told him.

"Thank you."

Allison quickly fast-forwarded through the tape from the bugs that she had placed. Sydney had been home for only a little bit, and then had left almost immediately. She hadn't returned at all that night, so Allison assumed that Sydney had stayed at Vaughn's place the night before. Allison knew that she needed to get some bugs in there too. She knew that was going to be a problem.

Sydney got back into the bed and woke Vaughn. "Breakfast is ready."

"You didn't have to cook," Vaughn said with a smile.

"I wanted to."

"Okay."

"Okay," Sydney repeated with a smile. A kiss followed. Vaughn and Sydney both went out to the kitchen.

"Those waffles look good," Vaughn said.

"They've got a special ingredient."

"Are those chocolate chips?"

"Yeah," Sydney said, smirking. "I've got a soft spot for them."

Vaughn had to laugh at that. He had been dating Sydney for nearly six months now, and he didn't even know that.

Sydney and Vaughn talked until they had to leave for work. "I'm not looking forward to having to tell Kendall that I can't do field work."

"I'm not looking forward to telling Jack about it." Sydney had to laugh at what Vaughn had just said. Out of nowhere, Sydney was overcome with sadness. Her laughter turned to tears.

"Hey babe, what's wrong?"

"Francie and Will are dead," Sydney said.

Damn the hormones, Vaughn thought. This is going to be interesting.

Irina looked at the guard standing outside her cell. She hadn't planned on being captured. As much as she believed that she was ready to die, her survival instinct kicked in. "Hey, you, tell Kendall that I have some information."

The guard motioned for another guard, and then repeated Irina's statement. The other guard left and returned a little bit later with Agent Kendall.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"Agent Kendall, I've got some information you'd be interested in. However, for me to give it to you, I'd like a one month extension on my execution."

"It depends on the information whether or not you'll get it."

"You know about me killing those twelve agents?"

"Yes."

"There's a disk, the contents of which should be quite interesting."

"What is on it?"

"The locations of the twelve agents I supposedly killed. Their deaths were just a cover-up for the extractions of the agents without any suspicion."

"So what you're saying is that all those agents are alive?"

"Three have died since their extraction, but the remaining nine are still alive and kicking."

"What about Agent Vaughn's father?"

"Grant me an extension on my execution and I'll give you the location. You're questions will be answered then."

Kendall dialed his phone. Irina smiled.

…TBC…