A/N: If I screwed up the Patron Saint thing please forgive me and correct me. I just looked on a website and I'm not sure if I used the terms correctly. Please give feedback.
Redemption
Chapter 20
It was something Jack couldn't even admit to himself. Something that reminded him so much of her that he couldn't stop watching her. He liked watching Kathryn sleep. She reminded him of Irina. He hadn't realized how much until he'd watched her at the party the night before. The way she held her head, the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed, the way she danced and even the way she held her glass. Most of all, it was her smile. It all came down to her smile. The way it started ever so slightly at first, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly until she couldn't contain it and her lips parted breaking out into a broad smile; a mirror image of her mother.
It seemed nearly impossible that a woman who'd raised her for only five years of her young life had, had such an affect on her. It seemed to him that the nature side was beginning to have more of a pull than the nurture side in the endless nature vs. nurture debate that sociologists were always arguing about. He looked over at her again a small smile passing his lips as he listened to her murmur about ice cubes and cookies. As a child Sydney had often talked in her sleep, so had Laura on a rare occasion.
She'd been reading, her thoughts lost in one of Sydney's books until she began to droop, her eyes fluttering closed and her head resting on Weiss' shoulder; he'd fallen asleep the moment the plane had taken off. Jack liked watching her sleep. She reminded him of his ex-wife. She reminded him of Laura, the Laura he missed. But Laura Bristow was dead; she had been for over twenty years now. All that was left of her was Irina. A woman who'd ruined every life she came into contact with. Both her daughters were a testament to that but more so Kathryn. Sydney at least had her father growing up. She'd always been safe and secure but Kathryn had no one. If Irina hadn't left her twelve years before than Kathryn would never have had to endure the pain and suffering she had in her short life. It amazed him that in some instances she slept almost peaceful and other times she lived in terror.
Her scream had startled them both. Jack and Weiss were in the hotel living room going over the mission reports after the party. Their guns drawn they raced into Kathryn's room. She sat up in bed, her hair matted to her face screaming and crying unable to breathe. Her screams came out marred by sobs as she gasped for breath.
"Don't turn on the light, it scares her," Weiss warned seeing Jack reach for the light switch. Weiss turned on the small lamp beside her bed taking control. Jack could only stand back and watch as Weiss sat on the edge of her bed taking her in his arms rocking her back and forth. "It's alright, you're fine," he repeated over and over. "It was just a dream, I'm here." It was a bad one, he could tell right off, he'd never seen her like this before; she was absolutely terrified. She fought him at first pounding and pushing against his chest until she realized who he was and where she was. He held her close rubbing her back as he tried to calm her and slowly she did. Her whimpers grew quiet and her breathing slowed. Kathryn was crying, her words cut off by sobs and all Jack could make out was "his hands, his hands, all over me."
He backed out of the room slowly feeling a tightening in the pit of his stomach. Opening the mini bar he poured himself a scotch and sat down trying to block out the sounds of her crying, her whimpers, and gasps for air.
It was over an hour before Weiss returned to the small room. "She's asleep now," was all he said and Jack realized that he'd had a lot of practice saying those words.
He liked watching her sleep. She reminded him of her, of Laura. That and it was the only time she wasn't being an eternal thorn in his side. Well that wasn't entirely true, he thought with a smile. She had guts and she was strong, independent, and stubborn but she had dignity. She was exactly like Sydney and that almost made him a little nervous.
She sighed restlessly in her sleep shifting her position trying to get more comfortable but her efforts were futile and she awoke. Sliding out from under Weiss' arm she picked up the fallen book.
"We'll be landing soon," Jack looked up from the paperwork seeing that she was awake.
"I'll go change," she took her bag and closed the door behind her. Carefully she took out the contacts rubbing her sore eyes. She hesitated for a moment before taking off the long red wig. It had been fun pretending to be someone else. The thrill, the adrenaline, it had all been exciting to be Alexia. But that's exactly what it was, pretend. The make up came off easily and finally she began to see herself in the mirror's reflection. She scrubbed at the remnants of the lipstick and paused slightly her finger on her lips remembering the feel of his lips on hers.
"Alexia sweetheart we have to go."
"Just another minute Daddy please, he promised he'd be here." Alexia took off her sunglasses squinting in the late morning sun.
"I can't imagine what is keeping your fiancée," Senor Ruggiero took her arm leading her towards the plane.
"It was nice of you to come see us off, and it was a wonderful party, thank you for inviting us Senor." She took his hands smiling and then leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"It was my pleasure Senorita. Senor Salenger certainly is a lucky man."
"Thank you," she smiled.
"Alexia, we have to go," Jack put his hands on her shoulders guiding her towards the plane. "You can call him once we are in the air."
She nodded solemnly and followed him up the steps. Reaching the top she heard someone call her name. Turning she couldn't help but smile. "You're late," she chided as JD ran up the steps.
"I'm sorry Lexie," he hugged her. "Will I see you again?" he whispered in her ear.
"Only if I have to save your ass again," She laughed quietly.
"You know who I am but who are you?"
"Why whatever do you mean Mr. Salenger?" she raised an eyebrow a small smile spreading across her lips clearly enjoying the frustration across his face. "My name is Alexia Deveraux, I'm your fiancée."
"Well then I suppose I should kiss my fiancée good bye."
He surprised her leaning down and gently covering her lips with his. His hands found their way to her waist and hers to his shoulders. She stood on her tiptoes her hand scraping across his unshaven cheek. Slowly he pulled away leaving her a little dazed, embarrassment creeping up her cheeks. He kissed her cheek. "Good bye Lexie. Thanks for saving my ass," he added with a grin.
She'd never been kissed before. She'd never, ever been truly kissed. A small smile played on her lips as she remembered the moment. Feeling foolish she finished wiping the remnants of lipstick and slid everything into her bag. Leaving the bathroom she sat on her knees across from Jack at the table.
"Let me see your arm," he said setting the folder aside. She held out her right hand on the table and he pulled up her sleeve. It was swollen and badly bruised, Salengers handprints could clearly be seen. She winced as he slowly bent her wrist and elbow. "It's not broken, a bad sprain though. It'll be fine in a week or two."
"I thought I was going to fall," she said softly gently rubbing her injured arm.
"Pretty close, but he wouldn't have let you fall."
"When will we land?"
Jack checked his watch, "about twenty minutes."
"Great I'm starved," she began drawing imaginary circles on the table with her fingers and Jack turned back to his paperwork.
"You didn't eat breakfast," he commented making notes on his legal pad.
"No I couldn't," she shook her head. "I'm allergic to strawberries, I get hives."
"You should have said something, I could have ordered you something different. You need to eat regularly if you don't you blood sugar-"
"Thanks Dr. Jack" she sighed. "I know my disease pretty well, I don't need you watching everything I eat."
"Kathryn, last night, when you were sleeping-"
"I'm sorry I disturbed you," she looked away, her finger continuing to trace designs on the table.
"It's not that. Sydney told me you weren't having nightmares anymore."
"Oh... I'm not," she lied. "It was just....new bed."
She was lying, he knew that. Her eye twitched when she lied. "Of course," he nodded.
"Jack there's something I never told you..."
"Yes?"
"I never thanked you. That night when you found me at the safehouse..." This wasn't easy, she sighed not sure what to say. "I asked you to stay with me and you did, I was just really scared. Well... thank you for staying with me. It was kind."
"You're.........welcome." He didn't know what to say he certainly hadn't expected that. "Kathryn have you remembered any more about when you lived in Russia?" he asked changing the subject.
"A little," she nodded. "But I told Kendall and Lindsey everything-"
"I know, what did you remember?"
"Amonia the smell of it and rubber gloves they hurt my skin. I don't know what it means or what they were used for though."
"Anything else?"
"A man, he was nice. He told me stories and he gave me this," she pulled a necklace out from under her shirt and leaned forwards so Jack could see it. "It's Raphael the Archangel Medal. He's the Patron Saint of-"
"Guardian Angels," Jack finished inspecting the necklace. It looked quite old.
"Yeah. He said it would keep me safe, almost like he knew that things would happen. Who knows maybe he did. I don't even know who he was but I remember he taught me French. That's all I remember."
"Amonia and rubber gloves," he thought for a moment. "Were you in a hospital?"
"No, I don't think so but I can't be sure." She stood and poured herself a cup of coffee. "They wanted me to do another regression therapy session. I said no, I can't not again, not right now."
"Good-"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that coffee will stunt your growth?" Weiss picked himself up off the couch having woken. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Kathryn.
"I don't think coffee can stunt my growth anymore."
"What ever you say shortee."
"For the record, I'm not short, I'm vertically challenged."
"Well that makes all the difference. That's like saying I'm horizontally advanced," he laughed and Kathryn just shot him a dirty look.
"Kathryn you were awesome last night, wasn't she Jack?" Weiss made an attempt at groveling.
"She did well," Jack nodded choosing his words carefully.
"What? Come on Jack- Kat you kicked some serious ass last night. You were more than awesome!"
"Thanks," her smile quickly faded when her eyes met with Jacks cold hard stare. Why did he always have to ruin everything?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Coming up next!!!! Someone rather unexpected makes a surprise visit! PLEASE REPLY Feedback has slowed down a lot. If you don't want to leave a comment please just say that you're reading so I know that people are still reading cause I won't continue to post it here if people don't want to read anymore. Oh there's a poll going on at All Alias.com http://forums.allalias.com/index.php?showforum=101 a couple stories are nominated in the poll so if you're interested go and vote for your favourite whichever story it may be.
Redemption
Chapter 20
It was something Jack couldn't even admit to himself. Something that reminded him so much of her that he couldn't stop watching her. He liked watching Kathryn sleep. She reminded him of Irina. He hadn't realized how much until he'd watched her at the party the night before. The way she held her head, the way her eyes sparkled when she laughed, the way she danced and even the way she held her glass. Most of all, it was her smile. It all came down to her smile. The way it started ever so slightly at first, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly until she couldn't contain it and her lips parted breaking out into a broad smile; a mirror image of her mother.
It seemed nearly impossible that a woman who'd raised her for only five years of her young life had, had such an affect on her. It seemed to him that the nature side was beginning to have more of a pull than the nurture side in the endless nature vs. nurture debate that sociologists were always arguing about. He looked over at her again a small smile passing his lips as he listened to her murmur about ice cubes and cookies. As a child Sydney had often talked in her sleep, so had Laura on a rare occasion.
She'd been reading, her thoughts lost in one of Sydney's books until she began to droop, her eyes fluttering closed and her head resting on Weiss' shoulder; he'd fallen asleep the moment the plane had taken off. Jack liked watching her sleep. She reminded him of his ex-wife. She reminded him of Laura, the Laura he missed. But Laura Bristow was dead; she had been for over twenty years now. All that was left of her was Irina. A woman who'd ruined every life she came into contact with. Both her daughters were a testament to that but more so Kathryn. Sydney at least had her father growing up. She'd always been safe and secure but Kathryn had no one. If Irina hadn't left her twelve years before than Kathryn would never have had to endure the pain and suffering she had in her short life. It amazed him that in some instances she slept almost peaceful and other times she lived in terror.
Her scream had startled them both. Jack and Weiss were in the hotel living room going over the mission reports after the party. Their guns drawn they raced into Kathryn's room. She sat up in bed, her hair matted to her face screaming and crying unable to breathe. Her screams came out marred by sobs as she gasped for breath.
"Don't turn on the light, it scares her," Weiss warned seeing Jack reach for the light switch. Weiss turned on the small lamp beside her bed taking control. Jack could only stand back and watch as Weiss sat on the edge of her bed taking her in his arms rocking her back and forth. "It's alright, you're fine," he repeated over and over. "It was just a dream, I'm here." It was a bad one, he could tell right off, he'd never seen her like this before; she was absolutely terrified. She fought him at first pounding and pushing against his chest until she realized who he was and where she was. He held her close rubbing her back as he tried to calm her and slowly she did. Her whimpers grew quiet and her breathing slowed. Kathryn was crying, her words cut off by sobs and all Jack could make out was "his hands, his hands, all over me."
He backed out of the room slowly feeling a tightening in the pit of his stomach. Opening the mini bar he poured himself a scotch and sat down trying to block out the sounds of her crying, her whimpers, and gasps for air.
It was over an hour before Weiss returned to the small room. "She's asleep now," was all he said and Jack realized that he'd had a lot of practice saying those words.
He liked watching her sleep. She reminded him of her, of Laura. That and it was the only time she wasn't being an eternal thorn in his side. Well that wasn't entirely true, he thought with a smile. She had guts and she was strong, independent, and stubborn but she had dignity. She was exactly like Sydney and that almost made him a little nervous.
She sighed restlessly in her sleep shifting her position trying to get more comfortable but her efforts were futile and she awoke. Sliding out from under Weiss' arm she picked up the fallen book.
"We'll be landing soon," Jack looked up from the paperwork seeing that she was awake.
"I'll go change," she took her bag and closed the door behind her. Carefully she took out the contacts rubbing her sore eyes. She hesitated for a moment before taking off the long red wig. It had been fun pretending to be someone else. The thrill, the adrenaline, it had all been exciting to be Alexia. But that's exactly what it was, pretend. The make up came off easily and finally she began to see herself in the mirror's reflection. She scrubbed at the remnants of the lipstick and paused slightly her finger on her lips remembering the feel of his lips on hers.
"Alexia sweetheart we have to go."
"Just another minute Daddy please, he promised he'd be here." Alexia took off her sunglasses squinting in the late morning sun.
"I can't imagine what is keeping your fiancée," Senor Ruggiero took her arm leading her towards the plane.
"It was nice of you to come see us off, and it was a wonderful party, thank you for inviting us Senor." She took his hands smiling and then leaned over and kissed his cheek.
"It was my pleasure Senorita. Senor Salenger certainly is a lucky man."
"Thank you," she smiled.
"Alexia, we have to go," Jack put his hands on her shoulders guiding her towards the plane. "You can call him once we are in the air."
She nodded solemnly and followed him up the steps. Reaching the top she heard someone call her name. Turning she couldn't help but smile. "You're late," she chided as JD ran up the steps.
"I'm sorry Lexie," he hugged her. "Will I see you again?" he whispered in her ear.
"Only if I have to save your ass again," She laughed quietly.
"You know who I am but who are you?"
"Why whatever do you mean Mr. Salenger?" she raised an eyebrow a small smile spreading across her lips clearly enjoying the frustration across his face. "My name is Alexia Deveraux, I'm your fiancée."
"Well then I suppose I should kiss my fiancée good bye."
He surprised her leaning down and gently covering her lips with his. His hands found their way to her waist and hers to his shoulders. She stood on her tiptoes her hand scraping across his unshaven cheek. Slowly he pulled away leaving her a little dazed, embarrassment creeping up her cheeks. He kissed her cheek. "Good bye Lexie. Thanks for saving my ass," he added with a grin.
She'd never been kissed before. She'd never, ever been truly kissed. A small smile played on her lips as she remembered the moment. Feeling foolish she finished wiping the remnants of lipstick and slid everything into her bag. Leaving the bathroom she sat on her knees across from Jack at the table.
"Let me see your arm," he said setting the folder aside. She held out her right hand on the table and he pulled up her sleeve. It was swollen and badly bruised, Salengers handprints could clearly be seen. She winced as he slowly bent her wrist and elbow. "It's not broken, a bad sprain though. It'll be fine in a week or two."
"I thought I was going to fall," she said softly gently rubbing her injured arm.
"Pretty close, but he wouldn't have let you fall."
"When will we land?"
Jack checked his watch, "about twenty minutes."
"Great I'm starved," she began drawing imaginary circles on the table with her fingers and Jack turned back to his paperwork.
"You didn't eat breakfast," he commented making notes on his legal pad.
"No I couldn't," she shook her head. "I'm allergic to strawberries, I get hives."
"You should have said something, I could have ordered you something different. You need to eat regularly if you don't you blood sugar-"
"Thanks Dr. Jack" she sighed. "I know my disease pretty well, I don't need you watching everything I eat."
"Kathryn, last night, when you were sleeping-"
"I'm sorry I disturbed you," she looked away, her finger continuing to trace designs on the table.
"It's not that. Sydney told me you weren't having nightmares anymore."
"Oh... I'm not," she lied. "It was just....new bed."
She was lying, he knew that. Her eye twitched when she lied. "Of course," he nodded.
"Jack there's something I never told you..."
"Yes?"
"I never thanked you. That night when you found me at the safehouse..." This wasn't easy, she sighed not sure what to say. "I asked you to stay with me and you did, I was just really scared. Well... thank you for staying with me. It was kind."
"You're.........welcome." He didn't know what to say he certainly hadn't expected that. "Kathryn have you remembered any more about when you lived in Russia?" he asked changing the subject.
"A little," she nodded. "But I told Kendall and Lindsey everything-"
"I know, what did you remember?"
"Amonia the smell of it and rubber gloves they hurt my skin. I don't know what it means or what they were used for though."
"Anything else?"
"A man, he was nice. He told me stories and he gave me this," she pulled a necklace out from under her shirt and leaned forwards so Jack could see it. "It's Raphael the Archangel Medal. He's the Patron Saint of-"
"Guardian Angels," Jack finished inspecting the necklace. It looked quite old.
"Yeah. He said it would keep me safe, almost like he knew that things would happen. Who knows maybe he did. I don't even know who he was but I remember he taught me French. That's all I remember."
"Amonia and rubber gloves," he thought for a moment. "Were you in a hospital?"
"No, I don't think so but I can't be sure." She stood and poured herself a cup of coffee. "They wanted me to do another regression therapy session. I said no, I can't not again, not right now."
"Good-"
"Didn't anyone ever tell you that coffee will stunt your growth?" Weiss picked himself up off the couch having woken. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Kathryn.
"I don't think coffee can stunt my growth anymore."
"What ever you say shortee."
"For the record, I'm not short, I'm vertically challenged."
"Well that makes all the difference. That's like saying I'm horizontally advanced," he laughed and Kathryn just shot him a dirty look.
"Kathryn you were awesome last night, wasn't she Jack?" Weiss made an attempt at groveling.
"She did well," Jack nodded choosing his words carefully.
"What? Come on Jack- Kat you kicked some serious ass last night. You were more than awesome!"
"Thanks," her smile quickly faded when her eyes met with Jacks cold hard stare. Why did he always have to ruin everything?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Coming up next!!!! Someone rather unexpected makes a surprise visit! PLEASE REPLY Feedback has slowed down a lot. If you don't want to leave a comment please just say that you're reading so I know that people are still reading cause I won't continue to post it here if people don't want to read anymore. Oh there's a poll going on at All Alias.com http://forums.allalias.com/index.php?showforum=101 a couple stories are nominated in the poll so if you're interested go and vote for your favourite whichever story it may be.