A/N( Okay, here it is finally, I'm sorry it took so long to get but I've
been busy and it was giving me problems to write but I hope you'll enjoy.
Please give feedback!!!!!
Redemption Chapter Thirty Three
Kat gripped the cane tightly as they rode the elevator up. Her palms were sweating and her breathing erratic. Jack glanced over at her several times. "It'll be fine, everyone already knows, they're expecting you."
"Sure," she sighed. "What am I supposed to say to them? They thought I was dead, they went to my funeral for Christ's sake."
"It will be difficult, but you'll be fine. How's your back?"
"Sore," she shrugged.
"After we're done here, I want you to have those x-rays."
"Jack no-"
"No arguments."
"Alright, fine," she sighed. "Why are you being so secretive about all this?"
"I'm not."
"You mean you don't know what they found out about The Contessa?" she asked surprised.
"No." The doors opened and they stepped into the rotunda. Jack saw Sydney and motioned her over; he checked his watch. "The briefing is in twenty minutes, stay with Sydney until then."
Kat nodded and watched him walk to his office. Typical Jack Bristow; all business.
"Hey," Sydney greeted her with a large smile and a hug. "You survived," she joked referring to spending the night with Jack.
"Funny," Kat managed a smile. "Everyone is staring at me," she said softly looking down at her feet.
"They're just happy to see you, we all are." Sydney put an arm around her shoulders and led her away. "Come on, there is someone that you have to meet."
"Eric?" Kat stopped and called his name as he was passing in front of her, but he didn't respond.
"Kat come on," Sydney tugged on her arm.
"Who is it?" she asked as Sydney led her to Marshall's office.
"You'll see," Sydney knocked on the door before they entered.
"Hey you're looking better," Will grinned and gave Kat a quick hug.
"Oh, watch the back," she winced as he held her a little too tight. "It's called cover-up, the greatest invention of the modern world." She pulled away and leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I never thanked you," she said shamefully. "Thank you."
"I'd do it again in an instant," he said.
"Kat," Marshall called over to her and enveloped her a big hug. He pulled away several long moments later wiping tears from his eyes.
"It's good to see you," she gave him another quick hug and then noticed Carrie and a baby car seat sitting on his desk.
"You had your baby," she smiled giving Carrie a hug.
"I still can't believe it's really you," Carrie smiled holding her close.
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around," Kat laughed lightly and wiped her cheeks.
"Just give them all some time, they'll get used to the idea. Now come meet our daughter," Carrie took her hand leading her over to the baby.
Kat gazed at the four-day-old infant, "she's beautiful, congratulations," she said in a shaky voice.
"Thanks," Marshall grinned from ear to ear. "She was born the day of your funeral, we named her Kate...er well after you of course."
"What happened to the unisex names," she asked with a laugh. "Weren't you leaning towards Jordan or Jamie?"
"Kate seemed more fitting," Carrie lifted the baby out of the carrier. "A good strong name and in honor of a good friend, it's perfect." She held out the baby to her, "do you want to hold her?"
"Oh, no, I shouldn't," she backed away. "I might drop her."
"Don't be ridiculous," Carrie laughed.
"Wait just a minute, don't tell me that the fearless Kat---the I come back from the dead kicking ass---Kat is afraid of a baby?" Will snickered.
"I'm not," she protested. "It's just..I've never held a baby before," she confessed.
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Carrie plopped the baby in her arms and guided her hands to hold her properly. Kat sat down on a chair, "Hi little Kate," she whispered in amazement transfixed by the tiny being. Everything was so small, so miniature, so fragile. Her breath caught in her throat as a tiny fist grasped her baby finger.
"We were wondering if you'd be her godmother," Carrie sat next to her and was surprised at the shocked reaction on Kat's face. "We've already asked Sydney and she said yes and Vaughn and Eric as well, we were hoping you would be her other godmother."
"I-wow, Carrie, Marshall, I'm honored really but I really don't know how long I'll be around," she said softly. She handed the baby the baby back to Carrie. "After this is all over, if I'm still..in this world, I'll probably go back to the city."
"Kat-" Syd began.
"No, Sydney it's okay," Carrie interrupted and turned to face Kat. "But I hope you'll reconsider."
"Kat?" they turned to see Dixon standing in the doorway. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"
"Sure," she nodded and left the office.
"Briefings in five," Dixon reminded them. "Carrie, I know you're on leave but if you could attend the meeting I'd appreciate it."
Carrie nodded curious as to why he wanted her there. She'd only stopped in so everyone could see the baby, but everyone was being rather secretive about the briefing. They'd spotted several of the tech guys in the rotunda on their way in and heard the rumors that analysts had been brought in from Langley, which Will had confirmed. Even Marshall was sure he'd recognized a few FBI Agents from the Department of Special Research. Kendall and Lindsey were present and had been in Dixon's office all day long but they weren't saying anything and Vaughn had mentioned hearing Dixon's secretary take a call from Devlin who apparently was going to be late and they should go ahead without them.
All eyes turned to the door once more as Weiss burst in, "guess what I just heard." He didn't wait for their response before closing the door and launching into his story. "I was in the men's room and in walks two agents from Langley, thinking they were alone. All I caught was three words," he paused for dramatic effect. "Kathryn, The Contessa and get this......Rambaldi."
Sydney crossed her arms over her chest now more confused than ever. Whatever was going on was big, maybe bigger than any of them could imagine.
~ ~ ~
Jack had been unable to speak with either Kendall or Dixon before the briefing and as he walked into the overcrowded briefing room, he realized that he wasn't the only one who had been kept in the dark. He spotted Sydney and took the seat beside her near the head of the long conference table. "Where is she?" he asked.
"Kat's with Dixon, Dad what is going on?" Her eyes were wide, "what is this all about?"
"I don't know," he shook his head and Sydney could tell that he was worried.
"Weiss overheard two agents from Langley talking in the men's room." Sydney lowered her voice and leaned towards him. "They were talking about Kat and The Contessa, they also mentioned Milo Rambaldi. The Contessa is connected to Rambaldi."
Jack was silent. He wasn't surprised; the increase in agents was only the first hint. All eyes turned towards the door as Lindsey and Kendall entered followed by Dixon who guided Kathryn in.
She could feel everyone's eyes on her; burning holes into her back and she quickly took a seat next to Jack. She'd never felt so out of place in jeans and a T-shirt with bruises marring most of her visible skin, mixed in with CIA and FBI Agents all smartly dressed in business suits. If anyone could be intimidated, this was the way to do it. Weiss sat across from her, she hadn't seen him since the night before and she tried to catch his eye but he wasn't paying attention as he chatted to Vaughn who sat beside him.
"Alright people listen up," Dixon took his seat at the head of the conference table with Dixon and Lindsey. "I know it's a little crowded in here," he stood again and began walking around the table pointing out various groups of people. "We have analysts on loan from Langley, FBI from Special Research, Agents Donovan and Caruthers from BSI and new recruits observing. I'll introduce you to the key players in our investigation. Agents Bristow, Jack and Sydney, Agent Vaughn, Agent Weiss, Agent Tippin, Marshall Flinkman and Carrie Bowman from Optech. And this is the lady of the hour, Kat Bristow."
Dixon's hands rested lightly on her shoulders as he introduced her to the group. She caught Jack's near look of surprise from the corner of her eye as Dixon called her by name but it quickly faded, replaced by his regular poker face and she kept her eyes down staring at the clasped hands in her lap.
"Now we've got quite a bit to cover, so pay attention." He clicked the remote and the computer screens brought up three pictures, one of Kat, Melnikov and the third was Petrov Khasianau. "Now you've all read the file so I won't go into too much detail but eleven days ago Kathryn Sullivan, also known as Kat Bristow and Katarina Derevko was abducted by a man named Viktor Melnikov. She was taken to Rome where she was reportedly killed." Kat glanced up hearing for the first time the events that had occurred surround her absence. Her eyes met Weiss' briefly. He was staring right at her with this indescribable look on his face; a look she'd never seen before. A look of regret, a look of sadness. He looked away quickly his face becoming a blank slate when he realized she was watching him and focused his attention back to Dixon. She opened her mouth as if to say something, confused as to his actions. Dixon continued to speak discussing Melnikov's history, but she didn't hear anything he said. She was caught in a daze, confused, hurt and wondering what exactly had happened, wondering why Eric was giving her the brush off. Jack brought her back to reality as he tapped her arm to get her attention and she focused back on Dixon swallowing the lump building in her throat.
"Her murder was staged. We received a video detailing it and pictures. We believed Kathryn Sullivan had been killed-"
"So who was in the video then?" one of the FBI officers interrupted.
"We don't know-" Dixon shook his head. "It's most likely it's the body of the person who was buried.
"It was me," she said slowly.
"Kat, what are you talking about?" Sydney turned to her.
"Well I've never seen the video but it was me," Kat explained. "He pushed me to my knees, put the gun to my head, I tried to reason with him, tried to give him a way out but he wouldn't. I thought I died. He pulled the trigger and it was a gun, the sound was a gun but there wasn't a bullet, it was a needle and blood. I don't know how they did the blood but the needle- " Kat began breathing erratically as she remembered the events leading up to her supposed death. "The needle was very real, it put me right out. I woke up two or three days later. I thought I was in heaven, but I soon learned it was hell."
Dixon nodded in acknowledgement before continuing. "Agents Bristow, Jack and Sydney went to Rome, identified her body and brought her home. It wasn't until the day before her funeral that they realized that it wasn't really her. They received Intel acted on this Intel, formed a team and extracted her last night. Now Melnikov was working for a man named Petrov Khasinau. He believed as The Convenant did that Kathryn knew about something he called The Contessa. His brother Alexander Khasinau whom you may remember was Irina Derevko's right hand man, showed it to Kat when she was a child but she didn't remember what it was." He paused momentarily watching as the new recruits scrambled to write down ever one of his words. "During the time that Kat was abducted and her extraction, she did remember what it was and we have every reason to believe that Khasinau knows this and will come after her again. Now after the debrief last night we sent the information she gave us about The Contessa to analysis at Langley. Why don't you bring us up to speed."
The head analyst from Langley nodded and clicked the mouse changing the computer screens to an old black and white photograph of The Contessa and Kat's hand drawn picture. "The reason we've never been able to find anything on it, is because it's never been known as The Contessa. We traced it back to 1918 where it was known as the violet diamond tiara. It belonged to The Romanov Family of Russia worn mostly by The Grand Duchess. It disappeared after the massacre of the Royal Family, its never been seen since. It came into possession of the Romanov's during the 1600's at that time it was a very large rare uncut diamond. We're still working on how it got from Rambaldi to the Romanov's. The diamond was then set into the Tiara. The story goes that the center of the diamond couldn't be cut so only the edges were trimmed and the center was fit into the tiara and the edges were set around it-"
"So what exactly does this have to do with Rambaldi?" Sydney sighed wishing they would just get to it.
"I'm getting to that," the analyst continued. "Our analysis of the doll and the material of the dress leads us to believe that although the doll was manufactured in Moscow in 1985 the dress or at least the material dates back hundreds of years. We're still trying to narrow it down to a specific year but it does correspond to a time frame within Rambaldi's lifespan and the coding is clearly his."
Kat poured over the photographs of her doll Sophie. Every inch of her had been burned into her memory as far back as she could remember but something wasn't right, something was different. "She wasn't wearing that dress when I got her," Kat spoke up softly.
"What do you mean?" Kendall asked.
"It remember, it was soft against my skin and dark..dark blue or green. It was velvet. She was wearing a velvet dress when I got her. I forgot her at that house and then we went back the next day but she was wearing a different dress, the one she has now."
"I would think its safe to assume that Alexander Khasinau switched either the entire doll or just the clothing. He wanted you to find out about the coding." Kendall cleared his throat and opened his file to his notes on Kat's regression therapy session where she had spoken of the doll to verify his statements.
"We could only find one mention of anything resembling the Contessa in Rambaldi's works, it told us nothing only that the diamond, was the key. The key to what exactly, we don't know-"
"Wait," Carrie interrupted. "I might have something." She began typing rapidly on the computer and accessed her workstation and notes and files on Rambaldi. The others sat in a nervous silence waiting for her. "Here it is," she made visible her notes on the other screens. "On page twelve of the Rambaldi manuscript. He made reference to something called Scroll 47 which would contain the key. We assumed it was in reference to Page 47, The Prophecy, but it does seem more likely that there is a scroll 47 floating around out there."
"Alright I want you to all focus on that page, find out about this scroll 47. Do we have it? If not where can we get it." Lindsey closed the file and stood up. "We need to get this scroll before Khasinau does and before The Covenant realizes that Kathryn is still alive. Work on it, we'll meet back at four. Dismissed."
Kat leaned back in the chair staying put as the room emptied out. Jack and Sydney stood in the corner with Will, Vaughn and Carrie speaking in hushed tones. Her eyes traveled over to Jack's file. Hers had her name on it; none of the others did so it was obvious that hers was lacking information the others contained. No one was watching and she slid it over in front of her. There didn't seem to be anything much different until she got to the photographs. More specifically the photographs of her death. Her eyes filled with tears as she thumbed through them. They were graphic and it was impossible to say if it was even her, or the look-a-like. A hand reached out slapping the file closed and pulling it away from her. She looked up at Jack's angry face. "I have questions," she whispered blinking away the tears.
"Not now," he handed her the cane. "You have an appointment with Medical Services."
"But Jack-"
"Not now," he repeated and took her arm helping her stand and it was now that she noticed they were the only ones left in the room. As they left the room Kat walked smack into someone. As she took a step back and looked into their face, she didn't recognize him but he had an air of authority about him and she knew exactly who he was.
"You're Devlin," she said softly and Devlin glanced over at Jack in surprise. "You're the one who wanted to lock me up."
"Putting you in protective custody would have been for your own good," he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Like putting me in a safe house was. Lots of people died because of me. I won't live in a prison, I would rather die than live in a prison-"
"Kat," Jack interrupted. "Please wait for me in my office."
"But-"
"Now Kat." Jack didn't even try to hide his anger as he spoke harshly to her.
She started to walk away but turned back to face Devlin. "Just so you know," she crossed her arms over her chest stepping back towards him. "If you try to lock me up again, I'll run. And I promise you that you will never be able to find me. Have I made myself clear?"
"Katarina, My office. Now!" Jack said through clenched teeth.
Devlin watched her walk away an eyebrow raised. "Well I see you have your hands full with her, I guess I don't need to tell you who she reminds me of," he had almost a hint of amusement in his voice.
Jack just glared at him.
"Have you heard anything from Derevko since she informed you that Ms. Sullivan is your daughter?" Devlin asked stepping into the briefing room.
Jack followed and closed the door behind him. "What are you insinuating Ben?"
"You acted on the Intel from an unreliable source regarding a daughter you barely know. You and I both know that you would not act impulsively on Intel unless you trusted the source it came from."
"My daughter is back in my custody and she is alive and that is all that matters," Jack reached for the door handle.
"So the Intel did come from Irina Derevko."
"Get to the point Ben."
"This is the biggest break in Rambaldi we've had in months. The girl who seems to have all the answers turns up missing and then dead. Then suddenly reappears and you want to tell me that your ex-wife, her own mother, the one obsessed with Rambaldi had nothing to do with it, no one buys it Jack, especially not me."
"Irina Derevko supplied Intel through an unknown source that led to her daughters recovery. If you want to write that in the report than go ahead," he opened the door.
"Jack, don't forget that you're not the only one who was fooled by her. We all were."
"Ben, that was twenty years ago. What that woman does now is of no concern to me. What does concern me is protecting my daughter, whether she wants it or not; even if that requires protecting her from you." Jack let the door slam behind him and made his way to his office.
Kat stood as he entered the office. "Are you angry with me?" she asked tentatively.
"No," he sat down and set the files regarding The Contessa in his desk.
"Not about Devlin," she shook her head. "About what Dixon called me, Kat Bristow." She swallowed hard. "He asked me before the meeting what I wanted to be called, I didn't know what to say. Kathryn was never real and I'm not really sure who I am anymore."
Jack watched her for several moments before he stood and spoke. "Get your coat. There's something I want to show you."
Redemption Chapter Thirty Three
Kat gripped the cane tightly as they rode the elevator up. Her palms were sweating and her breathing erratic. Jack glanced over at her several times. "It'll be fine, everyone already knows, they're expecting you."
"Sure," she sighed. "What am I supposed to say to them? They thought I was dead, they went to my funeral for Christ's sake."
"It will be difficult, but you'll be fine. How's your back?"
"Sore," she shrugged.
"After we're done here, I want you to have those x-rays."
"Jack no-"
"No arguments."
"Alright, fine," she sighed. "Why are you being so secretive about all this?"
"I'm not."
"You mean you don't know what they found out about The Contessa?" she asked surprised.
"No." The doors opened and they stepped into the rotunda. Jack saw Sydney and motioned her over; he checked his watch. "The briefing is in twenty minutes, stay with Sydney until then."
Kat nodded and watched him walk to his office. Typical Jack Bristow; all business.
"Hey," Sydney greeted her with a large smile and a hug. "You survived," she joked referring to spending the night with Jack.
"Funny," Kat managed a smile. "Everyone is staring at me," she said softly looking down at her feet.
"They're just happy to see you, we all are." Sydney put an arm around her shoulders and led her away. "Come on, there is someone that you have to meet."
"Eric?" Kat stopped and called his name as he was passing in front of her, but he didn't respond.
"Kat come on," Sydney tugged on her arm.
"Who is it?" she asked as Sydney led her to Marshall's office.
"You'll see," Sydney knocked on the door before they entered.
"Hey you're looking better," Will grinned and gave Kat a quick hug.
"Oh, watch the back," she winced as he held her a little too tight. "It's called cover-up, the greatest invention of the modern world." She pulled away and leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I never thanked you," she said shamefully. "Thank you."
"I'd do it again in an instant," he said.
"Kat," Marshall called over to her and enveloped her a big hug. He pulled away several long moments later wiping tears from his eyes.
"It's good to see you," she gave him another quick hug and then noticed Carrie and a baby car seat sitting on his desk.
"You had your baby," she smiled giving Carrie a hug.
"I still can't believe it's really you," Carrie smiled holding her close.
"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around," Kat laughed lightly and wiped her cheeks.
"Just give them all some time, they'll get used to the idea. Now come meet our daughter," Carrie took her hand leading her over to the baby.
Kat gazed at the four-day-old infant, "she's beautiful, congratulations," she said in a shaky voice.
"Thanks," Marshall grinned from ear to ear. "She was born the day of your funeral, we named her Kate...er well after you of course."
"What happened to the unisex names," she asked with a laugh. "Weren't you leaning towards Jordan or Jamie?"
"Kate seemed more fitting," Carrie lifted the baby out of the carrier. "A good strong name and in honor of a good friend, it's perfect." She held out the baby to her, "do you want to hold her?"
"Oh, no, I shouldn't," she backed away. "I might drop her."
"Don't be ridiculous," Carrie laughed.
"Wait just a minute, don't tell me that the fearless Kat---the I come back from the dead kicking ass---Kat is afraid of a baby?" Will snickered.
"I'm not," she protested. "It's just..I've never held a baby before," she confessed.
No sooner had the words left her mouth than Carrie plopped the baby in her arms and guided her hands to hold her properly. Kat sat down on a chair, "Hi little Kate," she whispered in amazement transfixed by the tiny being. Everything was so small, so miniature, so fragile. Her breath caught in her throat as a tiny fist grasped her baby finger.
"We were wondering if you'd be her godmother," Carrie sat next to her and was surprised at the shocked reaction on Kat's face. "We've already asked Sydney and she said yes and Vaughn and Eric as well, we were hoping you would be her other godmother."
"I-wow, Carrie, Marshall, I'm honored really but I really don't know how long I'll be around," she said softly. She handed the baby the baby back to Carrie. "After this is all over, if I'm still..in this world, I'll probably go back to the city."
"Kat-" Syd began.
"No, Sydney it's okay," Carrie interrupted and turned to face Kat. "But I hope you'll reconsider."
"Kat?" they turned to see Dixon standing in the doorway. "Can I speak with you for a moment?"
"Sure," she nodded and left the office.
"Briefings in five," Dixon reminded them. "Carrie, I know you're on leave but if you could attend the meeting I'd appreciate it."
Carrie nodded curious as to why he wanted her there. She'd only stopped in so everyone could see the baby, but everyone was being rather secretive about the briefing. They'd spotted several of the tech guys in the rotunda on their way in and heard the rumors that analysts had been brought in from Langley, which Will had confirmed. Even Marshall was sure he'd recognized a few FBI Agents from the Department of Special Research. Kendall and Lindsey were present and had been in Dixon's office all day long but they weren't saying anything and Vaughn had mentioned hearing Dixon's secretary take a call from Devlin who apparently was going to be late and they should go ahead without them.
All eyes turned to the door once more as Weiss burst in, "guess what I just heard." He didn't wait for their response before closing the door and launching into his story. "I was in the men's room and in walks two agents from Langley, thinking they were alone. All I caught was three words," he paused for dramatic effect. "Kathryn, The Contessa and get this......Rambaldi."
Sydney crossed her arms over her chest now more confused than ever. Whatever was going on was big, maybe bigger than any of them could imagine.
~ ~ ~
Jack had been unable to speak with either Kendall or Dixon before the briefing and as he walked into the overcrowded briefing room, he realized that he wasn't the only one who had been kept in the dark. He spotted Sydney and took the seat beside her near the head of the long conference table. "Where is she?" he asked.
"Kat's with Dixon, Dad what is going on?" Her eyes were wide, "what is this all about?"
"I don't know," he shook his head and Sydney could tell that he was worried.
"Weiss overheard two agents from Langley talking in the men's room." Sydney lowered her voice and leaned towards him. "They were talking about Kat and The Contessa, they also mentioned Milo Rambaldi. The Contessa is connected to Rambaldi."
Jack was silent. He wasn't surprised; the increase in agents was only the first hint. All eyes turned towards the door as Lindsey and Kendall entered followed by Dixon who guided Kathryn in.
She could feel everyone's eyes on her; burning holes into her back and she quickly took a seat next to Jack. She'd never felt so out of place in jeans and a T-shirt with bruises marring most of her visible skin, mixed in with CIA and FBI Agents all smartly dressed in business suits. If anyone could be intimidated, this was the way to do it. Weiss sat across from her, she hadn't seen him since the night before and she tried to catch his eye but he wasn't paying attention as he chatted to Vaughn who sat beside him.
"Alright people listen up," Dixon took his seat at the head of the conference table with Dixon and Lindsey. "I know it's a little crowded in here," he stood again and began walking around the table pointing out various groups of people. "We have analysts on loan from Langley, FBI from Special Research, Agents Donovan and Caruthers from BSI and new recruits observing. I'll introduce you to the key players in our investigation. Agents Bristow, Jack and Sydney, Agent Vaughn, Agent Weiss, Agent Tippin, Marshall Flinkman and Carrie Bowman from Optech. And this is the lady of the hour, Kat Bristow."
Dixon's hands rested lightly on her shoulders as he introduced her to the group. She caught Jack's near look of surprise from the corner of her eye as Dixon called her by name but it quickly faded, replaced by his regular poker face and she kept her eyes down staring at the clasped hands in her lap.
"Now we've got quite a bit to cover, so pay attention." He clicked the remote and the computer screens brought up three pictures, one of Kat, Melnikov and the third was Petrov Khasianau. "Now you've all read the file so I won't go into too much detail but eleven days ago Kathryn Sullivan, also known as Kat Bristow and Katarina Derevko was abducted by a man named Viktor Melnikov. She was taken to Rome where she was reportedly killed." Kat glanced up hearing for the first time the events that had occurred surround her absence. Her eyes met Weiss' briefly. He was staring right at her with this indescribable look on his face; a look she'd never seen before. A look of regret, a look of sadness. He looked away quickly his face becoming a blank slate when he realized she was watching him and focused his attention back to Dixon. She opened her mouth as if to say something, confused as to his actions. Dixon continued to speak discussing Melnikov's history, but she didn't hear anything he said. She was caught in a daze, confused, hurt and wondering what exactly had happened, wondering why Eric was giving her the brush off. Jack brought her back to reality as he tapped her arm to get her attention and she focused back on Dixon swallowing the lump building in her throat.
"Her murder was staged. We received a video detailing it and pictures. We believed Kathryn Sullivan had been killed-"
"So who was in the video then?" one of the FBI officers interrupted.
"We don't know-" Dixon shook his head. "It's most likely it's the body of the person who was buried.
"It was me," she said slowly.
"Kat, what are you talking about?" Sydney turned to her.
"Well I've never seen the video but it was me," Kat explained. "He pushed me to my knees, put the gun to my head, I tried to reason with him, tried to give him a way out but he wouldn't. I thought I died. He pulled the trigger and it was a gun, the sound was a gun but there wasn't a bullet, it was a needle and blood. I don't know how they did the blood but the needle- " Kat began breathing erratically as she remembered the events leading up to her supposed death. "The needle was very real, it put me right out. I woke up two or three days later. I thought I was in heaven, but I soon learned it was hell."
Dixon nodded in acknowledgement before continuing. "Agents Bristow, Jack and Sydney went to Rome, identified her body and brought her home. It wasn't until the day before her funeral that they realized that it wasn't really her. They received Intel acted on this Intel, formed a team and extracted her last night. Now Melnikov was working for a man named Petrov Khasinau. He believed as The Convenant did that Kathryn knew about something he called The Contessa. His brother Alexander Khasinau whom you may remember was Irina Derevko's right hand man, showed it to Kat when she was a child but she didn't remember what it was." He paused momentarily watching as the new recruits scrambled to write down ever one of his words. "During the time that Kat was abducted and her extraction, she did remember what it was and we have every reason to believe that Khasinau knows this and will come after her again. Now after the debrief last night we sent the information she gave us about The Contessa to analysis at Langley. Why don't you bring us up to speed."
The head analyst from Langley nodded and clicked the mouse changing the computer screens to an old black and white photograph of The Contessa and Kat's hand drawn picture. "The reason we've never been able to find anything on it, is because it's never been known as The Contessa. We traced it back to 1918 where it was known as the violet diamond tiara. It belonged to The Romanov Family of Russia worn mostly by The Grand Duchess. It disappeared after the massacre of the Royal Family, its never been seen since. It came into possession of the Romanov's during the 1600's at that time it was a very large rare uncut diamond. We're still working on how it got from Rambaldi to the Romanov's. The diamond was then set into the Tiara. The story goes that the center of the diamond couldn't be cut so only the edges were trimmed and the center was fit into the tiara and the edges were set around it-"
"So what exactly does this have to do with Rambaldi?" Sydney sighed wishing they would just get to it.
"I'm getting to that," the analyst continued. "Our analysis of the doll and the material of the dress leads us to believe that although the doll was manufactured in Moscow in 1985 the dress or at least the material dates back hundreds of years. We're still trying to narrow it down to a specific year but it does correspond to a time frame within Rambaldi's lifespan and the coding is clearly his."
Kat poured over the photographs of her doll Sophie. Every inch of her had been burned into her memory as far back as she could remember but something wasn't right, something was different. "She wasn't wearing that dress when I got her," Kat spoke up softly.
"What do you mean?" Kendall asked.
"It remember, it was soft against my skin and dark..dark blue or green. It was velvet. She was wearing a velvet dress when I got her. I forgot her at that house and then we went back the next day but she was wearing a different dress, the one she has now."
"I would think its safe to assume that Alexander Khasinau switched either the entire doll or just the clothing. He wanted you to find out about the coding." Kendall cleared his throat and opened his file to his notes on Kat's regression therapy session where she had spoken of the doll to verify his statements.
"We could only find one mention of anything resembling the Contessa in Rambaldi's works, it told us nothing only that the diamond, was the key. The key to what exactly, we don't know-"
"Wait," Carrie interrupted. "I might have something." She began typing rapidly on the computer and accessed her workstation and notes and files on Rambaldi. The others sat in a nervous silence waiting for her. "Here it is," she made visible her notes on the other screens. "On page twelve of the Rambaldi manuscript. He made reference to something called Scroll 47 which would contain the key. We assumed it was in reference to Page 47, The Prophecy, but it does seem more likely that there is a scroll 47 floating around out there."
"Alright I want you to all focus on that page, find out about this scroll 47. Do we have it? If not where can we get it." Lindsey closed the file and stood up. "We need to get this scroll before Khasinau does and before The Covenant realizes that Kathryn is still alive. Work on it, we'll meet back at four. Dismissed."
Kat leaned back in the chair staying put as the room emptied out. Jack and Sydney stood in the corner with Will, Vaughn and Carrie speaking in hushed tones. Her eyes traveled over to Jack's file. Hers had her name on it; none of the others did so it was obvious that hers was lacking information the others contained. No one was watching and she slid it over in front of her. There didn't seem to be anything much different until she got to the photographs. More specifically the photographs of her death. Her eyes filled with tears as she thumbed through them. They were graphic and it was impossible to say if it was even her, or the look-a-like. A hand reached out slapping the file closed and pulling it away from her. She looked up at Jack's angry face. "I have questions," she whispered blinking away the tears.
"Not now," he handed her the cane. "You have an appointment with Medical Services."
"But Jack-"
"Not now," he repeated and took her arm helping her stand and it was now that she noticed they were the only ones left in the room. As they left the room Kat walked smack into someone. As she took a step back and looked into their face, she didn't recognize him but he had an air of authority about him and she knew exactly who he was.
"You're Devlin," she said softly and Devlin glanced over at Jack in surprise. "You're the one who wanted to lock me up."
"Putting you in protective custody would have been for your own good," he crossed his arms over his chest.
"Like putting me in a safe house was. Lots of people died because of me. I won't live in a prison, I would rather die than live in a prison-"
"Kat," Jack interrupted. "Please wait for me in my office."
"But-"
"Now Kat." Jack didn't even try to hide his anger as he spoke harshly to her.
She started to walk away but turned back to face Devlin. "Just so you know," she crossed her arms over her chest stepping back towards him. "If you try to lock me up again, I'll run. And I promise you that you will never be able to find me. Have I made myself clear?"
"Katarina, My office. Now!" Jack said through clenched teeth.
Devlin watched her walk away an eyebrow raised. "Well I see you have your hands full with her, I guess I don't need to tell you who she reminds me of," he had almost a hint of amusement in his voice.
Jack just glared at him.
"Have you heard anything from Derevko since she informed you that Ms. Sullivan is your daughter?" Devlin asked stepping into the briefing room.
Jack followed and closed the door behind him. "What are you insinuating Ben?"
"You acted on the Intel from an unreliable source regarding a daughter you barely know. You and I both know that you would not act impulsively on Intel unless you trusted the source it came from."
"My daughter is back in my custody and she is alive and that is all that matters," Jack reached for the door handle.
"So the Intel did come from Irina Derevko."
"Get to the point Ben."
"This is the biggest break in Rambaldi we've had in months. The girl who seems to have all the answers turns up missing and then dead. Then suddenly reappears and you want to tell me that your ex-wife, her own mother, the one obsessed with Rambaldi had nothing to do with it, no one buys it Jack, especially not me."
"Irina Derevko supplied Intel through an unknown source that led to her daughters recovery. If you want to write that in the report than go ahead," he opened the door.
"Jack, don't forget that you're not the only one who was fooled by her. We all were."
"Ben, that was twenty years ago. What that woman does now is of no concern to me. What does concern me is protecting my daughter, whether she wants it or not; even if that requires protecting her from you." Jack let the door slam behind him and made his way to his office.
Kat stood as he entered the office. "Are you angry with me?" she asked tentatively.
"No," he sat down and set the files regarding The Contessa in his desk.
"Not about Devlin," she shook her head. "About what Dixon called me, Kat Bristow." She swallowed hard. "He asked me before the meeting what I wanted to be called, I didn't know what to say. Kathryn was never real and I'm not really sure who I am anymore."
Jack watched her for several moments before he stood and spoke. "Get your coat. There's something I want to show you."