Covenant's Fall
Summary: Sydney and Vaughn head off to find Irina, but old enemies haunt their steps. Alternate Season 4.
Rating: PG-13 at the moment.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything included in this story except the occasional concept.
Chapter Five
Sydney Bristow's awakening was somewhat less pleasant than that of Michael Vaughn. She had been given a far more powerful drug and consequently needed a greater dose to counteract the effects. This resulted in her arriving at a state of consciousness at high speed. Needless to say, she was not in the mood for co-operation.
Across the way, she could see Vaughn, slumped in his shackles. A moment later, her attention was brought back to her own situation, when her cell door was opened, and her mother entered.
Sydney did not want to believe that her mother was responsible for their kidnapping, but until another explanation presented itself that was the assumption she had to operate under. After all, it was Sark who had captured them and her mother, Irina, she reminded herself, had broken Sark out of CIA custody. She had to be responsible.
On the other hand the handcuffs that her mother was wearing were a pretty convincing argument in the other direction.
This was Irina Derevko. Nothing could be taken at face value with her as painful experience dictated. Therefore, Sydney adopted an attitude of distrust mixed with a healthy dose of scepticism but still open to the possibility that she was wrong.
Her resolve to be detached was shaken when her mother opened her arms as far as she could and tried to embrace her. "Sydney, I am so sorry."
She pulled back. "Why should I believe a word you say? As far as I know, you are responsible for this."
Irina stepped away from her. "I would never do anything to hurt you Sydney. You know that."
"Then why don't you explain the intel we have? Why don't you explain Sark being rescued by a mercenary team days after you recruit mercenaries? Why were you meeting with a Covenant official?"
Irina rocked back visibly under the tirade. "You really think that I would release Sark? He hates me now, ever since I betrayed him for you. I would never do anything that would hurt you in any way, Sydney. But if you do not believe in my affection for you though, at least believe in my sense of self preservation. Sark would slip a knife into my back at the first chance he had."
Sydney deflated; the simple logic in her mother's voice cutting through the anger that had been building up. Yet there was still the intelligence that had sent them into the trap in the first place. Intelligence that could not easily be denied.
"What about your meetings with Covenant officials, including Gerard Cuvee? How would you explain those?"
"I cannot. I can tell you that the meetings did occur, but I have nothing to do with the Covenant. They requested the meetings."
There was a creak as the cell door opened behind Irina and the guards entered. Irina's shoulders slumped and she allowed them to lead her out. Across the way, Sydney could now see that Vaughn had company as well, in the form of Sark. Fortunately for Vaughn, he also appeared to be on the verge of leaving. Sydney could not hear what was being said, but when Sark stopped in the doorway, she guessed that Vaughn had hit a nerve. She would never know what Vaughn had said to Sark, but she saw Sark's chin come up, as though he had been struck, and saw the brief flicker of some unidentifiable emotion before the mask came up. She thought later, with the benefit of hindsight, that it might have been triumph.
Following Sark's departure, nothing of much interest occurred, excepting Vaughn's excursions from his cell in the company of two guards. The first time, he returned with the look of a man who had just been through a vicious beating. At Sydney's inquiring look, he had mouthed two words, which she thought had been "Olivia Reed". That would certainly have explained the damage; the woman had probably wanted revenge for her daughter. Sydney suspected that Sark might have had something to do with it as well. As bad as Vaughn had looked then, nothing could have prepared her for the Vaughn that was flung into his cell after the second trip. His physical state was the same as it had been, but he might as well have been catatonic. He would not respond to anything she tried in her increasingly desperate attempts to make contact.
Eventually she slumped in her chains and waited. And waited. Eventually, after an indefinite length of time, the guards came for the pair of them. They were dragged outside the complex, and chained to a wall. Sark and McKenas Cole were stood there already, and her mother was hanging from one set of chains. She regarded Cole with surprise. The last time she had seen him, he had been working for her mother, and in CIA custody. If he was working with Sark and Olivia Reed, he was definitely Covenant. Perhaps her mother had been telling the truth after all.
Cole stepped forward with that blasted smirk on his face. "You can relax pigtails. I know that might be difficult in your current… situation, but your execution ain't today. The big boss feels that it would be a salutary lesson for you to watch these two die. So, enjoy the show. I know I will."
He stepped back and rubbed his hands together. "Let us begin."
Cole gestured Sark forward, and handed him a pistol. "If you would like to do the honours Julian."
He accepted the gun gravely. "It would be a pleasure." He strolled along the wall, stopping at Irina. She stared at him, seemingly resigned to her fate.
Sark levelled the gun at her head. "I have been waiting for this moment for three years."
Irina shook her head. "Julian, don't do this."
"Why not? I would not have three years ago, but then you betrayed me to the CIA simply to set up Sloane. At that point, I decided, that at the first opportunity, I would kill you. Now I have that chance, and I do not intend to waste it." He cocked the gun.
Neither Sydney nor Vaughn could see the faces of the participants, but they could hear everything that was said.
Sark pressed the gun to Irina Derevko's temple. "Goodbye." He pulled the trigger.
The noise of a single shot filled the air. Irina's body slumped in the chains. Sark stepped back swiftly, trying to avoid getting any blood on his shoes.
He moved along to the next one in line – Vaughn. Leaning in close, he whispered something in Vaughn's ear. Whatever it was, Vaughn threw himself forward in his chains in a futile effort to reach Sark, who merely smirked.
"In any case Mr. Vaughn, I find myself in the disappointing position that whatever I do to you, it will never be enough. Nothing I could possibly do to you would even begin to cover what you deserve. Therefore a swift execution has as much merit as anything. Sadly, the one who should be pulling the trigger is not currently capable of it. But I am more than capable of doing it for her. Goodbye, Mr. Vaughn."
Sark raised his gun to Vaughn's temple. His finger tightened on the trigger…
A/N: Apologies for the delay, but I found parts of this chapter very tricky to make them read how I wanted them to. I hope that the next chapter will be quicker, but I'm not going to make any promises. No spoilers this time, but as my wonderful beta said, it was nice knowing Vaughn. Enjoy.