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New Years came and went without much notice from me. The only significance was that I needed to go buy a new calendar so I could keep track of meetings with Jack. Oh, and I couldn't forget, there was also the possibility of facing another year without Sydney.
New Years Eve, 2004, was less than exciting.
At work a week later, my cell phone rang, disrupting my thoughts about lunch. Following the ring tone, I located the object and picked it up to inspect the caller ID. I didn't recognize the number. I bit my lip momentarily, not sure if I should answer. Finally, I did.
"Vaughn," I sighed, sure it wouldn't be Jack.
"Get out of there, now," said a voice that was vaguely familiar, but obviously masked.
"What? Why? Who is this?"
"Actions now, questions later, Mr. Vaughn."
"You're giving me nothing to go on," I protested, though at that same time as I was peeking out the door of my office.
"It's about the time you normally go for lunch. Take a walk to the park, and your questions will be answered. If you are not satisfied then, you can forget all about this."
"Fine," I sighed, reaching for my jacket and searching for my keys.
"Walk, I said. Do not take your car." That stopped me cold. Whoever it was, they were watching me at that moment.
"Get moving, you're running out of time." I shook myself and walked out the door, trying to maintain a semblance of calm. As I walked out to the street, I thought of something.
"Which park? As you may know, there is more than one in L.A."
"Just keep walking, Agent Obvious. The first one you'll come to is the one I referred to." I bristled at the little nickname, and looked around casually, trying to see if I could spot her anywhere.
"What do you think, I'm going to be walking right behind you?" At that, I stopped walking.
"You know what, I just walked out of my office at lunch on your word, and your word alone. You didn't give me a good reason, but I did. I'm dealing with you following me, seemingly knowing every move I make. And now you throw in these smart-ass comments. What makes you so sure I'm not going to just turn around and walk back to my office and find Weiss and go get some of that crap they pass off as food? Why are you so sure I'm not going to do just that?"
"Because you'll do anything, and put up with anything, if it brings you one step closer to finding Sydney." I sighed and continued walking as the park came into view. I absolutely despised the situation.
Once again, she was holding all the cards.
After a few more moments of walking in silence, her voice came through again.
"Park bench, straight ahead." With that, she hung up. I could see the bench she had indicated, but there was no one in sight. Great place for a covert meeting: the middle of a crowded park, just a 5-minute walk from the Joint Task Forces center. I suddenly wondered if this was the same park Syd had run through on her way to the Ops Center each time.
I sat down at the bench and moments later, two people joined me. Under the wigs, I recognized them as Sark and Irina. I frowned as one question immediately came to mind.
"Have you two been working together the whole time?" Irina shook her head lightly.
"No. I did not lie to Sydney. However, Sark has always been loyal to me, so I knew I could count on him to help us out. That was why I told Jack to contact Sark if we had to meet in New Zealand." There was another thing.
"Why weren't you in New Zealand? Sark showed up, however briefly."
"Something went wrong when I was escaping. The security and all communications were supposed to be down for 5 minutes; instead, they were down for only 3. I had to improvise, and in so doing, the plan changed. I've been in Canada the past few weeks, waiting for things to calm down."
"How did you get out of your cell? And up to Canada?"
"What is this, 20 questions?" Sark interjected, sounding annoyed. Irina held up a hand.
"He has a right to know some of these things." Sark nodded stiffly and turned to watch our surroundings, presumably on the lookout for any kind of danger.
"I can't tell you that, Agent Vaughn. A woman doesn't reveal all of her secrets." I frowned, but let it pass. There were more important things to worry about. Another thought crossed my mind.
"Does Jack know any of this?" Irina frowned slightly, looking almost confused.
"No, he doesn't. I haven't spoken to him since the day he left. Why?" I shook my head, clearing out some of my suspicions about Jack.
"Nothing, never mind. Why did you tell me to get out of there, and that I was running out of time?"
"Because there were 3 men on their way to question you, presumably about my disappearance," she said simply. My eyes widened slightly.
"What? So I just ran from an interrogation?"
"Well you didn't know they were on their way, so no. You didn't run from them, you just wanted to enjoy some time at the park."
"They don't know that I didn't know! They're already suspicious enough, no thanks to you. This isn't going to help matters." Sark rolled his eyes, an action that didn't go unnoticed by myself or Irina. She merely hid a smile, while I glared at him.
"Any more questions?" Irina asked, stopping a war before it could begin.
"Yeah. Why did you bring me out here? Why not just tell me on the phone?"
"We wanted to have a picnic, and catch up on old times in person. You have such a vibrant personality, don't you know?" Sark tossed out.
"A picnic? So where's the food?" I threw back. Irina gave us each a fairly annoyed look.
"We don't have time for this. I need to get in touch with Jack. How do I do that?" I shrugged, and she gave me a look.
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
"I mean, I don't know. He always calls me. Safer that way." Irina nodded.
"I suppose that's true. We'll have to work that way also. Next time he gets in touch, give him this number. As soon as I speak to him, that cell phone will be turned off." She handed me a piece of paper with a number on it.
"I'll be in touch." I sighed. I heard that a lot. Irina and Sark stood up and started to walk away, before Irina stopped and turned around.
"By the way…" I glanced up, and she tossed something my way. I almost thought it might be a grenade or something of the like, until I realized that it was just a sandwich. I looked at her in confusion.
"They'll be waiting for you. You won't have time to eat." With a brief smile, she turned and disappeared with Sark. I glanced down at the sandwich in my hands. Turkey. Not one of my favorites, but I was definitely hungry enough to eat it and be grateful.
As predicted, there were 3 men waiting for me when I returned. They didn't ask anything to specific, so it was easy for me to say I had no idea about anything. After they had left, it occurred to me that it would have been a lot smarter for Irina and Sark to wait until after the questioning to get in touch with me. That way, I really wouldn't have known anything. But then again, Irina Derevko rarely made sense to me.
Whoo. So that's that. Next chapter will get back to the bar. And I'm thinking there are only 2-3 more chapters left, tho I could be wrong- it's been known to happen on occasion. Anyway, give me lots of reviews, and I'll be inspired to update quicker! Plus, I'd be super excited if I reach 100… what can I say? I'm blonde (for the next 2 months), and I'm easily amused…