I am getting so bad with the updates… and I used to be so good about it! Sorry guys! I'll try to update more frequently, especially since this is really drawing to the end now.


Irina and Jack both called the next day, as planned. Jack had nothing new; he just wanted to check in. Irina, on the other hand, wanted me to go with her to Mexico City. She said she had gotten in touch with a highly reliable informant- he apparently called himself Mysterio- who had spotted an old contact of Matthew Jericho in Mexico. Irina believed that this man, Colin Michaels, would be able to give us some kind of information. So I agreed to make the trip with her. What other option was there?
I called in sick to work the next day. Kendall didn't believe a word I said, and I knew it. So I gave him plenty of disgusting details about the symptoms of my illness, and he quickly told me to take the day off, but to be back at work the day after. Grinning triumphantly, I hung up and drove to the park to meet Irina. That was the standard meeting place for the rare occasions that we needed to talk in person.
Irina was there, waiting, in a disguise you could easily see through if you were actively looking for her, which I was. She looked nervous as she led me out of the park and to her waiting Dodge. She gave the park one last anxious sweep before checking to make sure she had her gun and then starting the Viper.
"Is there something I should know?" I questioned uncertainly. Her behavior was definitely out of character for what I had come to know as Irina. She gave me a quick glance before flying onto the freeway and heading for the airport.
"I was just a bit nervous."
"Yeah, I noticed. Care to tell me why?" She gave me another glance before maneuvering around a big rig and shooting past a car that was going 80. I cringed slightly, wondering if I would even make it to the airport.
"They kept looking at me," she said. That drew my attention to her face and away from her driving.
"What? Who did?" I asked, thinking she sounded highly paranoid and slightly insane.
"Everyone there! They all kept looking at me, and it made me think maybe some of them were CIA and had recognized me." I stared at her for a moment.
"I don't suppose they were just looking at you because you have green hair at the moment, were they?" Irina looked almost startled, and quickly turned to the rearview mirror. She grimaced.
"I didn't realize Sark had given me the green one. Actually, I specifically told him not to." She seemed annoyed, so I stayed quiet for the rest of the drive, trying to get over the image of her with green hair. An hour later, she was blonde, I had blue eyes, and we were about to get on the plane.
"So does he always pick your wigs?" I asked once we were settled in our seats.
"No. Actually, I usually do it, because when he picks, he always goes for the weird colors." I had to smile at that, an image of Irina with neon pink hair coming to mind, soon followed by the memory of Syd with her electric blue hair. That wiped away the smile, and caused me to give Irina a look of distrust before I turned to look out the window.

        The rest of the flight was spent in silence. Irina finally spoke once we had landed in Mexico City.

        "There's a car waiting for us. It should only take us half an hour to get there." I nodded and followed her to the car, which turned out to be a less than impressive black pickup truck- something I could never have imagined Irina Derevko behind the wheel of.

 True to her word, Irina had us there in 27 minutes. I got the feeling that may have had a bit more to do with her driving than anything else, but I didn't comment. Our destination turned out to be a small, ramshackle, isolated house, with a long dirt driveway. Irina looked around cautiously before proceeding.

It took about a minute to get all the way up the driveway. Just as Irina parked, we heard a car start up. Irina quickly threw open the door and got out. As she did so, a black car flew by. Irina stood and stared at it until it disappeared from sight. I also got out and looked at it, but there seemed to be nothing remotely special about the car, so I turned and shut my door before stopping to wait for Irina. After a moment, she sighed and joined me. I looked at her curiously, but she ignored me and walked towards the house. I followed.

We knocked on the door and waited in silence. No one came, so Irina pounded on it. A moment later, a young woman came running. She stood in the open door and looked at both of us briefly before nodding slightly and speaking in perfect English.

"Can I help you?"

"We're looking for Colin Michaels. A friend of mine said I could find him here." The woman nodded briefly.

"Stay here. I'll go get him." She shut the door, and I heard her turn the lock. Irina raised an eyebrow.

"Like that would stop us if we wanted in." I smiled.

"Do you know anything about this Colin Michaels? Where he's from, if he speaks Spanish…"

"From what my contact said, Michaels is originally from Texas. That girl is probably his younger sister, and I doubt that she speaks anything but English. Michaels, on the other hand, speaks Spanish and German fluently, as well as some Portuguese." I nodded.

"So that's why she answered in English. She looks like-" I stopped as the door opened. The girl stood there, with a man I assumed to be Colin Michaels at her side. They each stepped onto the porch, and Michaels turned to his sister and signed something. I was surprised, and wondered if we had the wrong guy. The girl turned back to us.

"He said to tell you he's sorry, but he lost his hearing in an accident a year ago." Irina nodded.

"That's ok. I know sign language." She gave the girl a look, and she took the hint, stepping back into the house and shutting the door. Irina turned and began to sign to Michaels, translating everything along the way.

"Do you know Sydney Bristow? He says no. Have you heard of Sydney Bristow? No." She reached for her wallet and pulled out a picture. "Have you seen this girl, ever? No." She glanced towards me and I shrugged lightly. She frowned as she turned back to Michaels. I watched as her hand went into her pocket and pulled out the keys. She glanced at them and for the first time, I noticed that the truck had an alarm. That would have made me laugh, but her next question threw me off.

"Are you really Colin Michaels?" He looked alarmed, but she gave him a disarming smile. Finally, he nodded. Irina sighed, and idly pushed the button on the car alarm. I turned as the noise started. Irina pushed the button again a moment later, and the racket subsided. I turned back to see her wearing a secret, triumphant smile.

"Well, unless you can think of anything else to ask…" she began, looking towards me. I was about to respond when she shocked me by turning and punching Michaels in the nose. He recovered, blood now pouring down his face, and reached into his jacket, pulling out a gun. Before he could even raise it, Irina had kicked it from his hand and knocked him out with a blow to the neck.

A shot was suddenly fired, causing both of us to jump and duck. We finally realized it had come from inside the house, and we rushed in to find Michaels' sister struggling with a large rifle. Irina took her down while I went to bring Michaels in. Irina tossed his sister into the basement, and I tied him to a chair. I smacked his face a few times, and he quickly came around.

"I'm not telling you anything," he said angrily.

"If we were, perhaps, the US government, you would have rights here. But, as you may have guessed, I am not. So you have two options, Mr. Michaels: you can answer some questions, or I can shoot you and your sister both. Which is it going to be?" I could see fear in his eyes. He turned to me a moment later.

"You won't kill me. He wouldn't let you." I shook my head and turned my back as Irina pulled her gun and pointed it at him. His defenses all crumbled at that moment.

"I'll tell you, just don't shoot me!"

"Good idea. Do you know who Sydney Bristow is? Has she been here?" He nodded, keeping his eyes on her gun, which was now by her side.

"She just left here, right before you showed up!"

"Left, or was taken away?" I butted in.

"She was taken away."

"The black car," Irina said softly. I nodded, unable to say anything as I realized just how close we had been to Sydney. Irina turned back to him.

"How long was she here?"

"A few months at most."

"And what happened to her while she was here?"

"She was…" he paused, looking from her to me. "She was interrogated." I could see Irina's eyes narrow, and I knew he would be lucky to get out of this alive. She leaned closer to him.

"Interrogated? In what way?" He nodded towards a desk I was standing by. I pointed at an envelope sitting there, and he nodded again. I picked it up, but Irina grabbed it from my hands. She ripped it open, and I could see that there were pictures in there. I still couldn't tell what they were of. After looking through them quickly, Irina glanced up at me, and I could see an indefinable look of hatred in her eyes. She shoved the pictures back and tossed the envelope at me.

"Who has Sydney now?" She continued her questioning as I pulled the pictures out. I could only manage to look at two before I threw them all across the room. They were images of Sydney being tortured.

Irina glanced up at me apologetically before turning back to Michaels.

"Answer the question."

"I don't know. I swear, I don't!" He protested as she raised the gun again.

"How did you know to get her out of here today?"

"An old associate called to warn me."

"An old associate? Who?" He shrugged.

"I don't know the guys name, he always uses a different alias." Irina turned away and cursed under her breath.

"What is it?" I asked, finally regaining my voice.

"Mysterio is playing both sides. I'm going to kill him."

"Wait, how do you know it was him?"

"He double crossed me once before."

"And he's still alive to do it again?"

"It was just before I turned myself in to the CIA. I thought I had taught him a lesson… I guess not." I said nothing, not really wanting to know about her ways of teaching lessons. She shook her head.

"Let's go. Whoever has Sydney, they're long gone by now." I nodded, thinking in the back of my mind that I should probably grab the pictures, but not having the stomach to do so. Irina didn't touch them either. We were on the porch when Irina stopped. After a moment of contemplation, she turned around, opened the door, and fired five shots. Over her shoulder, I could see Colin Michaels' lifeless body, covered in blood. And I couldn't care less.

Once we were in the car, on the way back to the airport, I asked the question that had been on my mind for a while now.

"How did you know?"

"What, that he wasn't deaf?" I nodded.

"Early on, I thought I saw him jump when the door slammed as his sister went in. I tried to think of a way to test it, without being obvious. Then I remembered that I had noticed an alarm on the truck keys."

"And when you hit the alarm, he looked at the truck?" She nodded. I sat there, stunned. I hadn't noticed anything off about his performance. The rest of the trip, including the plane, was made in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts about Syd.

As we pulled into LA, Irina turned to me.

"Are you going to tell the CIA?"

"Of course! They might be able to act on… oh." She nodded at me.

"I doubt they'd be of any use. All they would want is for you to tell them where I am."

"I could just leave you out of it."

"They'd look into it. Once they found out that you traveled with a blonde woman…" I nodded in defeat.

"I'll talk to Jack. We'll be in touch," she said lightly as she faded into the crowd. I knew there was no point in waving, or nodding, or anything- she would be gone by now. So I returned to my apartment long enough to change, and then headed for the bar.

See, look! Longer than usual! Review for me! I seriously have no more than 5 chapters left (probably less) until this thing wraps up, and I would love to get 100 reviews!