A/n (June 24, 04)
Hey everyone here is Chapter Fifty Two of Redemption. Redemption has been
nominated in the Work In Progress (WIP) category of the Alias FOF Awards.
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REDEMPTION Chapter Fifty Two
As Sydney walked up the steps to The Farm's training office she noticed how eerily similar it was to the facility she'd been at for her training with SD-6. She'd heard of the Farm of course, who hadn't but she'd been told that the SD-6 facility was a part of the farm. In all her naivete, she'd believed the lie. Naturally it would have been very similar to the farm. Arvin Sloane was ex-CIA after all.
Devlin had pulled a lot of strings to get her inside the facility to check up on Kat. He'd been resilient at first to Sydney's request to visit her sister, but a threat of a two-month accumulation of vacation, sick days and holidays was all dhe'd needed to seal the deal. Besides it was a bonus for Devlin who would receive a full report on their newest recruit.
Reaching the top floor she headed straight for meeting location which had been arranged. Seeing the activity around her and the officers of varying ranks she couldn't help but feel a sense of loss at not having been a part of the full CIA indoctrination. The training she'd received at SD-6 had been just as extensive but it couldn't compete with the lie she'd been fed.
"Sydney?"
Sydney turned to the person who had called her name and was greeted with a familiar face. "Hi Sam," she smiled broadly.
"Well aren't you all grown up," Sam Daniels grinned. The elder man gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek and then stood back to have a look at her. Sam had been one of the many SD-6 agents fooled into thinking he was working for the CIA. He'd been Sydney's trainer when she initially joined SD-6 at nineteen years of age. After the fall of the alliance and SD-6 it had been Jack who'd suggested him as the head trainer for The Farm when a replacement was needed.
"It's good to see you too." Sydney smiled.
"Now let's take a little walk," Sam tucked Sydney's arm in his own and led her down the hallway. "Now Sydney, imagine my surprise when Director Devlin calls to tell me of a new recruit named Amanda Scott who will be arriving two weeks late to agent training and will require more personalized extensive training than usual. Now whoever thought they could pull the wool over my eyes by simply changing her name needs to have their head examined."
Sydney laughed, "how is she?"
"Your sister is doing very well," Sam seemed quite pleased with her progress. "I have some concerns, but we shall see." He turned to face her. "Your father never mentioned having another child."
"I wasn't aware the two of you were so close." Sydney was evasive.
"We aren't," Sam shook his head. "But your father was an ever present figure during your training, it was very clear where he stood regarding it and your involvement with SD-6. I assume the same applies to your sister."
"He didn't know about her, neither of us did," Sydney explained masking her surprise at the mention of her own training. "Her arrival into our lives was quite unexpected."
"Would that unexpectedness have anything to do with the orders I've been given to train her harder than anyone?"
Sydney didn't answer, it was clear one was not required. Sam led her into a small observation room equipped with volume controls and a one way mirror. "There she is," Sydney whispered softly, instantly spotting her sister swinging on a set of uneven bars.
Sam moved to stand beside her and crossed his arms over his chest as they watched Kat perform several flips on the bars. Her form was perfect as she arched, twisted and stretched over the two-bar span, her gymnast training ever present in each move. "When I first met her and saw her in action, it was like looking into the past."
Sydney bit her lip to keep from smiling, "really?"
"Oh yes." Sam nodded. "She's much more advanced than you were, seems to have a quieter personality, and I would say her stubborn streak is even worse than yours, but other than that...."
"Who is that with her?" Sydney asked nodding to another recruit who'd begun spotting Kat as she mounted the beam.
"JJ Cruz, he's in her section," Sam explained. "The rest of them are on free time, they've gone to town, but never her; Cruz often stays behind and works with her. Under orders from Director Devlin, Recruit Amanda Scott is forbidden to leave the grounds. Instead of resting, she trains. She works herself harder than any other here. She pushes herself until she's so exhausted she can barely stand and only then does she rest." Sam turned to look at Sydney. "Would you care to tell me why that is? Why am I training her harder than anyone else? Why is a seventeen-year-old girl here in the first place?"
Sydney avoided his gaze. Part of her wanted to keep the truth from him, to try and allow Kat the semblance of anonymity, but he knew something; exactly what, she wasn't sure. "You know?" she asked casually to determine what exactly he did know.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "I know only what the other recruits figured out and what she told them. "Her name is Katarina Bristow, she's seventeen years old, her father and sister are CIA Agents and her mother is Irina Derevko. Many of the other recruits didn't take well to this information, particularly her age and who her mother is. They don't think she belongs here. Most of them have never considered her an equal to begin with and this knowledge made things ten times worse. She relies solely on Cruz to treat her as an equal and to use full force while training. She hasn't been very forthcoming about her past. What am I missing?"
Sydney crossed her arms over her chest keeping her eye on her sister who was now blindfolded and was fighting JJ Cruz on the eight-inch wide balance beam. "Katy's different than other people, she's special," Sydney explained. "There are some who want information that she may or may not have. Others who believe she is something that she's just not. She needs to be able to protect herself, both physically and emotionally." Sydney turned to Sam and leaned against the glass window as she spoke. "Compartmentalization is key but she also needs to learn how to relieve that, how to decompress. She's been through more pain in the last seventeen years than anyone should ever have to experience. She's been hurt deeply by those she was supposed to trust. She's been betrayed by those who were supposed to protect her. She didn't grow up like other children did, and as a result she's the person she is today. She bottles things up until she explodes. She lies and she's very good at it. She keeps secrets, she can be very manipulative when it suits her, there are few people that she has any amount of trust in-"
"The trust," Sam interrupted. "The trust is an issue with her, it makes working in teams rather difficult. At this point, I can only see her as a solo agent. Perhaps undercover, she's good at it, but no partner, not unless its someone she knows and trusts already and she certainly will not settle for a desk job."
"Much to our displeasure," Sydney sighed. "We didn't want her to have any part of this life."
"She's too strong willed and stubborn to do what others want," Sam said, amusement showing in his voice.
"That is the truth, but sometimes she doesn't know her limits," Sydney sighed and turned back to the window. She watched her sister fight for several more minutes. Kat took several falls from the beam but each time, still blindfolded she got right back up. "She is really good," Sydney commented.
"She's better than good," Sam touched Sydney's shoulder forcing her to turn and look at him. "She's like you, the kind of agent that people would kill for to have under their control."
Sydney shuddered slightly at his words; they were exactly the truth.
"Based on your reaction, or lack there of it seems that this doesn't surprise you." Sam looked directly into Sydney's eyes. "She is not a novice Sydney, she was trained, before she came here and some of the things she does and the way that she does them, tells me that it was foreign intelligence, perhaps FDL or K-Directorate?" Sam eyed Sydney silently demanding answers. "Help me to help her. I can't train her to the best of her ability if I don't know what's going on. Sydney?"
Sydney shook her head. If she told him, she was breaking her confidentiality agreement, if she didn't, Sam was right and her sister's safety was more important than a document.
"Confidentially, it was KGB," she admitted. "Katy was trained, or brainwashed, conditioned, what ever you want to call it, it was done when she was four years old and she has no memory of it. As she grew up she was put into activities that would enhance that training, such as gymnastics, drama, karate, kickboxing, and she had no idea what was really going on."
"KGB?" Sam asked surprised that it had been done at such a young age.
Sydney nodded. "She was pre-programmed to be a spy, but the extent-well we still don't know exactly what was done to her."
Sam was silent as he nodded in comprehension.
Sydney turned her attention back to the window and watched as Kat and JJ sparred. Circling each other the waited for the other to make the first move. JJ was a difficult fighter. He had a lot of strength and power and in addition to being quick on his feet, his kicks were powerful and well directed. "She drops her left elbow," Sydney observed, her nose wrinkling in dissatisfaction. "And he's very good."
"They work well together, very well. And it seems to me that there was another who had difficulty keeping her elbow up." Sam smiled in amusement.
"I still do," Sydney near laughed. Her voice then took a more serious tone. "I'm glad it's you training her She needs the best, and Sam, you are the best."
"Thank you," Sam willingly accepted the compliment. "She still has quite a ways to go, but she's very good and she'll be like you, she'll be the one they all talk about."
Sydney hid a smile, focusing her attention back on her sister who was now sparring with another trainer. Kat looked older now and it had only been two months since Sydney had last seen her. She'd built up strength through out her entire body and had put on a few pounds taking away a bit of the childish figure she'd had. As one of the trainers blindfolded her, Kat looked directly up at the glass, unknowing that Sydney was there and Syd could see that some things didn't change. Her sister's eyes were still so full of sadness. "You said you had concerns?" Sydney questioned crossing to the opposite side of the room to watch the sparring match from a better angle.
Sam crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "There are many things working against her," he explained. "Her height, her sex, her strength and her overall physical size. It is not difficult for anyone to grab her and throw her across the room. She can be easily over powered and that worries me. Her size and strength will affect her ability to retaliate which means that her other skills will need to overcompensate. She will need to use her improvisation skills and quick thinking to try and counter situations before they arise. However those disadvantages also give her several advantages. She has the element of surprise. She's very unassuming and will definitely be overlooked by the enemy as a possible threat, but when she's up against a man more that twice her weight and size, the outcome could be less than favorable."
"She can do it," Sydney said confidently. "I know she can."
"I hope you're right-"
"I want to fight her," Sydney interrupted looking at Sam. "I need to see for myself."
"Are you sure?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"Absolutely," Sydney nodded and Sam led her from the room and down the steps to where Kat was blindfolded and sparring with another recruit. There was now a rather large group of recruits observing Kat, many having returned from their free time.
"Her sensory awareness is probably the best I've seen in years," Sam commented as they approached the group. "She can do just about anything blindfolded and the outcome is just as good as if she could see, sometimes better."
"Why doesn't that surprise me," Sydney smiled as she slipped off her jacket.
She quietly circled Kat several times before approaching her from behind. Although Sydney thought she'd been silent apparently she wasn't quiet enough as Kat grabbed her outstretched arm and swung her. Sydney got to her feet and watched her sister's face carefully. Kat was concentrating hard on the sounds around her to decipher which were from her attacker and which were the onlookers. Sydney faked left and went it on the right. Catching Kat off guard, she was easily able to take her down.
Kat hit the floor hard on her butt and scrambled to her feet, her hands ready for another approach. She could tell the person she was fighting was new. They were testing her, quick approaches to determine her weakness. The blindfold was slipping down over her eyes and the sensation was an irritating distraction. Her loss of focus resulted in Sydney placing several well-directed kicks and punches to her abdomen.
Kat lay on her back for a moment trying to catch her breath before she jumped back up still breathing hard from the defeat. Sweat poured from her forehead drenching her top and clinging to her back. Whoever she was fighting was tough. Just when Kat thought she had her, her opponent would pull something and Kat would be flat on her back or vice versa.
Sydney circled her sister once more. They were playing a game of cat and mouse, neither wanting to be the hunted. She hadn't actually hurt Kat yet and she wouldn't either. Kat's falls had been hard, but then again, so had her own. Sydney paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from her face with the sleeve of her shirt. She leaned over heaving slightly to catch her breath as she watched her sister stand ready and waiting. Kat was a good fighter. Sam was correct in his estimation that she could be easily over powered but then again he'd only seen her in training. He had no idea what a wild cat she really was in the field, when she was threatened. She could fight with the best of them, but she could also hold her restraint quite well and knew when to hold back and allow things to progress naturally. Except when it came to Irina of course. Unless Kat could learn to control her anger and compartmentalize her past feelings, their mother would be her downfall.
Sydney hadn't underestimated her sister's fighting ability, not exactly. She'd expected her to be quick and forceful, her kicks and punches well directed, but she hadn't expected Kat to take her down so quickly. Either she was a little rusty or Kat's sensory skills were more than astounding.
Sydney suddenly launched herself at Kat hoping for a surprise attack but her sister had been expecting it and flipped Sydney onto her back. Kat straddled her waist and forcefully pinned her arms above her head and struggling with her.
"Alright, alright, I give up little sister. You win," Sydney lay her head down on the rubberized floor breathing heavily. Had she not kept her eyes open Sydney would have missed the look of surprise and absolute horror that passed her sisters face as Kat pulled every which way at the blind fold trying to get it off.
"Sydney?" Kat gasped for air struggling with the restraint and finally succeeding in freeing her vision. "What are you doing?"
Sydney looked up at her wide terrified eyes and shifted her body slightly. "Katy, I'm fine," she grimaced attempting to sit up but her efforts failed. "But if you don't get off my chest asphyxiation is a possibility."
Sydney watched Kat's lips form a small "o" and she sat frozen in place for a few moments before snapping into action. Rolling back onto the balls of her feet, Kat crouched and extended her hand to Sydney pulling them both upright to a standing position. Kat leaned forwards; her hands resting on her thighs her head hung to the ground as her body slowly relieved the tension of the fight.
"That was awesome." JJ thrust a bottle of water into her line of vision and gratefully Kat nodded her thanks and took it. She tilted her head back and gulped the water allowing the liquid to cool and fill her throat completely before swallowing. Pulling the bottle from her lips Kat used the back of her hand to wipe a trickle of water from her chin. She stood staring at Sydney, oblivious to those around her as she waited for an explanation.
"I wanted to see how you were doing-"Sydney's explanation was cut short as Kat suddenly hurtled herself into her sisters arms. Surprised at her sister's sudden and unexpected show of affection it took several moments for Sydney to close her arms around her in a brief quick hug. Like always with Katarina, any show of affection was unexpected, brief and so few and far in-between. It was the unexpectedness of the emotion that those on the receiving end could always tell that what was shown, was truth.
Kat pulled away, chewing her lip, her eyes downcast as they darted around nervously at the other people attempting to determine how many onlookers had witnessed it.
"How are things?"
"They're fine, great actually." A smile passed her lips and a hand tucks a lock of hair, which had fallen out of its messy bun during the fight, behind her right ear.
It was a closed lip smile, a brief answer, and the shy quiet persona Kat had suddenly adopted, which told Sydney her words were not the truth. That was one of the things Sydney doubted she'd ever be able to understand about her sister, how the personality shifts were so swift they were almost unnoticeable and yet seemed so natural. Her sister's voice could change from a shout to a whisper, mid-sentence and few would notice the difference.
The crowd had broken away into small whispered groups, as they spoke of Sydney and her escapades. Mind you, the question of how true the stories were, begged to be answered.
Sydney led Kat off to the corner away from curious onlookers. "Truth Katy," she demanded. "How are you doing?"
Kat shrugged. "Alright, I guess."
Sydney raised her eyebrows in a silent challenge.
"It's just hard," she admitted with a sigh. She leaned against the wall and took another gulp of water before continuing. "It's not the training- the training is easy, I just—I just want to be back in LA."
Sydney nodded understanding completely. It made sense now. The little girl, alone and abandoned by the world, who'd raised herself into the incredible young woman she was today, who'd never had a real place to call home--was homesick, as if she were away at summer camp for the first time.
"It's not for too much longer." Sydney was sympathetic as she put an arm around Kat's shoulders and begun to lead her from the training center. "Come on, I've only got a few hours here and I want to take you to dinner."
"But Devlin won't allow me to leave."
"What Devlin doesn't know, can't hurt him," Syd whispered in her ear laughing.
"I'm glad you're here."
"So am I."
"So I kicked your ass right?" Kat smiled slyly.
"No, dear little sister," Sydney corrected. "We kicked each others asses."
"You just keep thinking that," Kat's laughter echoed through the long hallway as the two walked side by side.
REDEMPTION Chapter Fifty Two
As Sydney walked up the steps to The Farm's training office she noticed how eerily similar it was to the facility she'd been at for her training with SD-6. She'd heard of the Farm of course, who hadn't but she'd been told that the SD-6 facility was a part of the farm. In all her naivete, she'd believed the lie. Naturally it would have been very similar to the farm. Arvin Sloane was ex-CIA after all.
Devlin had pulled a lot of strings to get her inside the facility to check up on Kat. He'd been resilient at first to Sydney's request to visit her sister, but a threat of a two-month accumulation of vacation, sick days and holidays was all dhe'd needed to seal the deal. Besides it was a bonus for Devlin who would receive a full report on their newest recruit.
Reaching the top floor she headed straight for meeting location which had been arranged. Seeing the activity around her and the officers of varying ranks she couldn't help but feel a sense of loss at not having been a part of the full CIA indoctrination. The training she'd received at SD-6 had been just as extensive but it couldn't compete with the lie she'd been fed.
"Sydney?"
Sydney turned to the person who had called her name and was greeted with a familiar face. "Hi Sam," she smiled broadly.
"Well aren't you all grown up," Sam Daniels grinned. The elder man gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek and then stood back to have a look at her. Sam had been one of the many SD-6 agents fooled into thinking he was working for the CIA. He'd been Sydney's trainer when she initially joined SD-6 at nineteen years of age. After the fall of the alliance and SD-6 it had been Jack who'd suggested him as the head trainer for The Farm when a replacement was needed.
"It's good to see you too." Sydney smiled.
"Now let's take a little walk," Sam tucked Sydney's arm in his own and led her down the hallway. "Now Sydney, imagine my surprise when Director Devlin calls to tell me of a new recruit named Amanda Scott who will be arriving two weeks late to agent training and will require more personalized extensive training than usual. Now whoever thought they could pull the wool over my eyes by simply changing her name needs to have their head examined."
Sydney laughed, "how is she?"
"Your sister is doing very well," Sam seemed quite pleased with her progress. "I have some concerns, but we shall see." He turned to face her. "Your father never mentioned having another child."
"I wasn't aware the two of you were so close." Sydney was evasive.
"We aren't," Sam shook his head. "But your father was an ever present figure during your training, it was very clear where he stood regarding it and your involvement with SD-6. I assume the same applies to your sister."
"He didn't know about her, neither of us did," Sydney explained masking her surprise at the mention of her own training. "Her arrival into our lives was quite unexpected."
"Would that unexpectedness have anything to do with the orders I've been given to train her harder than anyone?"
Sydney didn't answer, it was clear one was not required. Sam led her into a small observation room equipped with volume controls and a one way mirror. "There she is," Sydney whispered softly, instantly spotting her sister swinging on a set of uneven bars.
Sam moved to stand beside her and crossed his arms over his chest as they watched Kat perform several flips on the bars. Her form was perfect as she arched, twisted and stretched over the two-bar span, her gymnast training ever present in each move. "When I first met her and saw her in action, it was like looking into the past."
Sydney bit her lip to keep from smiling, "really?"
"Oh yes." Sam nodded. "She's much more advanced than you were, seems to have a quieter personality, and I would say her stubborn streak is even worse than yours, but other than that...."
"Who is that with her?" Sydney asked nodding to another recruit who'd begun spotting Kat as she mounted the beam.
"JJ Cruz, he's in her section," Sam explained. "The rest of them are on free time, they've gone to town, but never her; Cruz often stays behind and works with her. Under orders from Director Devlin, Recruit Amanda Scott is forbidden to leave the grounds. Instead of resting, she trains. She works herself harder than any other here. She pushes herself until she's so exhausted she can barely stand and only then does she rest." Sam turned to look at Sydney. "Would you care to tell me why that is? Why am I training her harder than anyone else? Why is a seventeen-year-old girl here in the first place?"
Sydney avoided his gaze. Part of her wanted to keep the truth from him, to try and allow Kat the semblance of anonymity, but he knew something; exactly what, she wasn't sure. "You know?" she asked casually to determine what exactly he did know.
Sam raised an eyebrow. "I know only what the other recruits figured out and what she told them. "Her name is Katarina Bristow, she's seventeen years old, her father and sister are CIA Agents and her mother is Irina Derevko. Many of the other recruits didn't take well to this information, particularly her age and who her mother is. They don't think she belongs here. Most of them have never considered her an equal to begin with and this knowledge made things ten times worse. She relies solely on Cruz to treat her as an equal and to use full force while training. She hasn't been very forthcoming about her past. What am I missing?"
Sydney crossed her arms over her chest keeping her eye on her sister who was now blindfolded and was fighting JJ Cruz on the eight-inch wide balance beam. "Katy's different than other people, she's special," Sydney explained. "There are some who want information that she may or may not have. Others who believe she is something that she's just not. She needs to be able to protect herself, both physically and emotionally." Sydney turned to Sam and leaned against the glass window as she spoke. "Compartmentalization is key but she also needs to learn how to relieve that, how to decompress. She's been through more pain in the last seventeen years than anyone should ever have to experience. She's been hurt deeply by those she was supposed to trust. She's been betrayed by those who were supposed to protect her. She didn't grow up like other children did, and as a result she's the person she is today. She bottles things up until she explodes. She lies and she's very good at it. She keeps secrets, she can be very manipulative when it suits her, there are few people that she has any amount of trust in-"
"The trust," Sam interrupted. "The trust is an issue with her, it makes working in teams rather difficult. At this point, I can only see her as a solo agent. Perhaps undercover, she's good at it, but no partner, not unless its someone she knows and trusts already and she certainly will not settle for a desk job."
"Much to our displeasure," Sydney sighed. "We didn't want her to have any part of this life."
"She's too strong willed and stubborn to do what others want," Sam said, amusement showing in his voice.
"That is the truth, but sometimes she doesn't know her limits," Sydney sighed and turned back to the window. She watched her sister fight for several more minutes. Kat took several falls from the beam but each time, still blindfolded she got right back up. "She is really good," Sydney commented.
"She's better than good," Sam touched Sydney's shoulder forcing her to turn and look at him. "She's like you, the kind of agent that people would kill for to have under their control."
Sydney shuddered slightly at his words; they were exactly the truth.
"Based on your reaction, or lack there of it seems that this doesn't surprise you." Sam looked directly into Sydney's eyes. "She is not a novice Sydney, she was trained, before she came here and some of the things she does and the way that she does them, tells me that it was foreign intelligence, perhaps FDL or K-Directorate?" Sam eyed Sydney silently demanding answers. "Help me to help her. I can't train her to the best of her ability if I don't know what's going on. Sydney?"
Sydney shook her head. If she told him, she was breaking her confidentiality agreement, if she didn't, Sam was right and her sister's safety was more important than a document.
"Confidentially, it was KGB," she admitted. "Katy was trained, or brainwashed, conditioned, what ever you want to call it, it was done when she was four years old and she has no memory of it. As she grew up she was put into activities that would enhance that training, such as gymnastics, drama, karate, kickboxing, and she had no idea what was really going on."
"KGB?" Sam asked surprised that it had been done at such a young age.
Sydney nodded. "She was pre-programmed to be a spy, but the extent-well we still don't know exactly what was done to her."
Sam was silent as he nodded in comprehension.
Sydney turned her attention back to the window and watched as Kat and JJ sparred. Circling each other the waited for the other to make the first move. JJ was a difficult fighter. He had a lot of strength and power and in addition to being quick on his feet, his kicks were powerful and well directed. "She drops her left elbow," Sydney observed, her nose wrinkling in dissatisfaction. "And he's very good."
"They work well together, very well. And it seems to me that there was another who had difficulty keeping her elbow up." Sam smiled in amusement.
"I still do," Sydney near laughed. Her voice then took a more serious tone. "I'm glad it's you training her She needs the best, and Sam, you are the best."
"Thank you," Sam willingly accepted the compliment. "She still has quite a ways to go, but she's very good and she'll be like you, she'll be the one they all talk about."
Sydney hid a smile, focusing her attention back on her sister who was now sparring with another trainer. Kat looked older now and it had only been two months since Sydney had last seen her. She'd built up strength through out her entire body and had put on a few pounds taking away a bit of the childish figure she'd had. As one of the trainers blindfolded her, Kat looked directly up at the glass, unknowing that Sydney was there and Syd could see that some things didn't change. Her sister's eyes were still so full of sadness. "You said you had concerns?" Sydney questioned crossing to the opposite side of the room to watch the sparring match from a better angle.
Sam crossed his arms over his chest and nodded. "There are many things working against her," he explained. "Her height, her sex, her strength and her overall physical size. It is not difficult for anyone to grab her and throw her across the room. She can be easily over powered and that worries me. Her size and strength will affect her ability to retaliate which means that her other skills will need to overcompensate. She will need to use her improvisation skills and quick thinking to try and counter situations before they arise. However those disadvantages also give her several advantages. She has the element of surprise. She's very unassuming and will definitely be overlooked by the enemy as a possible threat, but when she's up against a man more that twice her weight and size, the outcome could be less than favorable."
"She can do it," Sydney said confidently. "I know she can."
"I hope you're right-"
"I want to fight her," Sydney interrupted looking at Sam. "I need to see for myself."
"Are you sure?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"Absolutely," Sydney nodded and Sam led her from the room and down the steps to where Kat was blindfolded and sparring with another recruit. There was now a rather large group of recruits observing Kat, many having returned from their free time.
"Her sensory awareness is probably the best I've seen in years," Sam commented as they approached the group. "She can do just about anything blindfolded and the outcome is just as good as if she could see, sometimes better."
"Why doesn't that surprise me," Sydney smiled as she slipped off her jacket.
She quietly circled Kat several times before approaching her from behind. Although Sydney thought she'd been silent apparently she wasn't quiet enough as Kat grabbed her outstretched arm and swung her. Sydney got to her feet and watched her sister's face carefully. Kat was concentrating hard on the sounds around her to decipher which were from her attacker and which were the onlookers. Sydney faked left and went it on the right. Catching Kat off guard, she was easily able to take her down.
Kat hit the floor hard on her butt and scrambled to her feet, her hands ready for another approach. She could tell the person she was fighting was new. They were testing her, quick approaches to determine her weakness. The blindfold was slipping down over her eyes and the sensation was an irritating distraction. Her loss of focus resulted in Sydney placing several well-directed kicks and punches to her abdomen.
Kat lay on her back for a moment trying to catch her breath before she jumped back up still breathing hard from the defeat. Sweat poured from her forehead drenching her top and clinging to her back. Whoever she was fighting was tough. Just when Kat thought she had her, her opponent would pull something and Kat would be flat on her back or vice versa.
Sydney circled her sister once more. They were playing a game of cat and mouse, neither wanting to be the hunted. She hadn't actually hurt Kat yet and she wouldn't either. Kat's falls had been hard, but then again, so had her own. Sydney paused for a moment to wipe the sweat from her face with the sleeve of her shirt. She leaned over heaving slightly to catch her breath as she watched her sister stand ready and waiting. Kat was a good fighter. Sam was correct in his estimation that she could be easily over powered but then again he'd only seen her in training. He had no idea what a wild cat she really was in the field, when she was threatened. She could fight with the best of them, but she could also hold her restraint quite well and knew when to hold back and allow things to progress naturally. Except when it came to Irina of course. Unless Kat could learn to control her anger and compartmentalize her past feelings, their mother would be her downfall.
Sydney hadn't underestimated her sister's fighting ability, not exactly. She'd expected her to be quick and forceful, her kicks and punches well directed, but she hadn't expected Kat to take her down so quickly. Either she was a little rusty or Kat's sensory skills were more than astounding.
Sydney suddenly launched herself at Kat hoping for a surprise attack but her sister had been expecting it and flipped Sydney onto her back. Kat straddled her waist and forcefully pinned her arms above her head and struggling with her.
"Alright, alright, I give up little sister. You win," Sydney lay her head down on the rubberized floor breathing heavily. Had she not kept her eyes open Sydney would have missed the look of surprise and absolute horror that passed her sisters face as Kat pulled every which way at the blind fold trying to get it off.
"Sydney?" Kat gasped for air struggling with the restraint and finally succeeding in freeing her vision. "What are you doing?"
Sydney looked up at her wide terrified eyes and shifted her body slightly. "Katy, I'm fine," she grimaced attempting to sit up but her efforts failed. "But if you don't get off my chest asphyxiation is a possibility."
Sydney watched Kat's lips form a small "o" and she sat frozen in place for a few moments before snapping into action. Rolling back onto the balls of her feet, Kat crouched and extended her hand to Sydney pulling them both upright to a standing position. Kat leaned forwards; her hands resting on her thighs her head hung to the ground as her body slowly relieved the tension of the fight.
"That was awesome." JJ thrust a bottle of water into her line of vision and gratefully Kat nodded her thanks and took it. She tilted her head back and gulped the water allowing the liquid to cool and fill her throat completely before swallowing. Pulling the bottle from her lips Kat used the back of her hand to wipe a trickle of water from her chin. She stood staring at Sydney, oblivious to those around her as she waited for an explanation.
"I wanted to see how you were doing-"Sydney's explanation was cut short as Kat suddenly hurtled herself into her sisters arms. Surprised at her sister's sudden and unexpected show of affection it took several moments for Sydney to close her arms around her in a brief quick hug. Like always with Katarina, any show of affection was unexpected, brief and so few and far in-between. It was the unexpectedness of the emotion that those on the receiving end could always tell that what was shown, was truth.
Kat pulled away, chewing her lip, her eyes downcast as they darted around nervously at the other people attempting to determine how many onlookers had witnessed it.
"How are things?"
"They're fine, great actually." A smile passed her lips and a hand tucks a lock of hair, which had fallen out of its messy bun during the fight, behind her right ear.
It was a closed lip smile, a brief answer, and the shy quiet persona Kat had suddenly adopted, which told Sydney her words were not the truth. That was one of the things Sydney doubted she'd ever be able to understand about her sister, how the personality shifts were so swift they were almost unnoticeable and yet seemed so natural. Her sister's voice could change from a shout to a whisper, mid-sentence and few would notice the difference.
The crowd had broken away into small whispered groups, as they spoke of Sydney and her escapades. Mind you, the question of how true the stories were, begged to be answered.
Sydney led Kat off to the corner away from curious onlookers. "Truth Katy," she demanded. "How are you doing?"
Kat shrugged. "Alright, I guess."
Sydney raised her eyebrows in a silent challenge.
"It's just hard," she admitted with a sigh. She leaned against the wall and took another gulp of water before continuing. "It's not the training- the training is easy, I just—I just want to be back in LA."
Sydney nodded understanding completely. It made sense now. The little girl, alone and abandoned by the world, who'd raised herself into the incredible young woman she was today, who'd never had a real place to call home--was homesick, as if she were away at summer camp for the first time.
"It's not for too much longer." Sydney was sympathetic as she put an arm around Kat's shoulders and begun to lead her from the training center. "Come on, I've only got a few hours here and I want to take you to dinner."
"But Devlin won't allow me to leave."
"What Devlin doesn't know, can't hurt him," Syd whispered in her ear laughing.
"I'm glad you're here."
"So am I."
"So I kicked your ass right?" Kat smiled slyly.
"No, dear little sister," Sydney corrected. "We kicked each others asses."
"You just keep thinking that," Kat's laughter echoed through the long hallway as the two walked side by side.