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 Six

Before Sark could fire, a bullet slapped the gun from his hand. Instantly, Sark leaped back into cover, followed swiftly by the other Covenant members. Cole and Olivia Reed dived through the door, back into the facility. Sark lingered for a moment, his gaze moving from his dropped pistol to Vaughn's face and back again.

"This is but a stay of execution, Mr. Vaughn. I will see you again, very soon." With these parting words, Sark followed his confederates. The remaining guards glanced at each other, obviously unsure of what to do. Their dilemma was resolved speedily when a hail of gunfire dropped them.

To Sydney's shock and joy, her father appeared from the undergrowth, flanked by a pair of agents. "Dad!" She shouted.

"Sydney!" Jack Bristow hurried over to where his daughter hung and swiftly cut her down. Then he saw the remains of Irina Derevko. He stopped, shock covering his face for a moment before the normal inscrutable mask dropped into place.

"It was Sark." Both their heads turned at the sound of Vaughn's voice. He too was free, supported by the agents, looking far more drained than anyone had ever seen him. "Sark shot her just before you arrived."

Jack shook his head, as if clearing it of unwelcome thoughts. "Sydney, we have to go now. There are not enough of us to ensure a successful outcome if we stay here." He gestured the two agents with Vaughn to take him into the undergrowth from whence they had emerged.

Before Sydney could protest, more Covenant troops appeared in the doorway, already bringing their weapons to bear. She dived for cover, a hail of bullets slamming into the wall she had been standing in front of. One of the CIA agents dropped, his body shaking with the impacts.

Realising that to stay there was to court almost certain death, she scurried after her father. Before the Covenant forces could fully bring their guns to bear on the fugitives, they had disappeared into the trees.

A helicopter waited far enough back from the base to remain undetected. Now that all were assembled, Sydney could see that there were only five agents. Her father, Weiss, the two carrying Vaughn, and the one lying dead outside the Covenant base. No wonder that they were not staying to fight.

As they loaded Vaughn in the helicopter, he was trying to say something. Sydney hushed him, and pressed an oxygen mask over his face. "It can wait."

He forced the oxygen mask away. "No it can't. She's alive."

He coughed, blood spattering his lips, but pushed the words out, confessing his sins to her. "Lauren is alive."

Then he slumped into merciful unconsciousness.

Covenant Base:

The passages were in uproar, personnel dashing hither and thither as they rushed to remove all equipment and signs of their presence before the arrival of the CIA. Sark strode through the halls, making for a particular room.

As he went, he wove his way through a mix of scientists, security, agents like himself and any number of other people, all hurrying to escape. Sark, by contrast, took his time, slipping through the crowd as if it was not there.

Soon, he reached his destination – a simple room, separated only from those that surrounded it by that which it contained. Unlocking the door, he knocked, waited for the soft reply, and entered.

This was Lauren's room. She sat in a chair, staring out of the window, seemingly just enjoying the experience of being alive. He had waited with her through the night, waited as the memories returned, clasping her hand in his as she relieved the memory of her death. Small wonder that he had been in a vindictive mood that morning. Death was too good for Vaughn; he deserved to suffer for what he did.

He cleared his throat. "They escaped." A word that gave him a bitter taste in his mouth. He had the greatest regard for the skills of the CIA, and enjoyed his battle of wits with them, but he had wanted Vaughn dead, once and for all.

Lauren had still not shown any sign of noticing his presence, beyond the reply to his knock.

He shrugged, and turned to go. Stopped at the sound of her voice.

"Good."

Sark turned back to her, one eyebrow raised.

"I want to do it."

Lauren stood carefully, using the chair to support herself.

"I want to do it." She repeated, her voice growing stronger.

Sark nodded. "And you shall. So you shall."

Another knock sounded at the door. A Covenant guard stood there, face hidden behind the stylised mask worn by the elite guards. Another relic of the Covenant's ancient past. "Sir, the helicopter is ready. I was ordered to escort the pair of you there."

Sark nodded. "Well then, we had better be on our way."

He helped Lauren to the door, noticing as he did so that the guard had looked away – the elite guard had their own code of honour. In any case, Sark appreciated it. Lauren always hated showing weakness to anyone. That her muscles had atrophied slightly from the time in the CIA facility did not seem to have occurred to her.

As they left the room, four normal guards joined them, two ahead, two behind, forcing a path through the mob that still cluttered the passages. Lauren leaned on him for the entire journey, although her strength seemed to be returning. At the end, she was able to enter the helicopter without any help. They were the only ones in the vehicle, Olivia Reed and McKenas Cole having left separately earlier. The other Covenant personnel were evacuating by road.

Lauren stared out of the window, seemingly enthralled by the landscape passing by beneath her. Sark watched her, enjoying the mere ability to see her again. A feeling of triumph stole over him as he did so, overcoming his disappointment at failing to kill Vaughn. There would be other chances.

Somewhere over Western Europe:

McKenas Cole sat back in his seat, and sighed. The communication that he had just completed with the Covenant's leader had left him feeling tired. His boss had been upset about the escape of Sydney Bristow, and the success of Il Rinato had not entirely mollified him. More to the point, the boss had feared that the CIA might now learn too much. It was time to move on to the next stage.

He reached for his phone again, calling various Covenant cell leaders to put into place plans and contingencies. The last number he had to call caused him to falter. Once he did this, there was no turning back. The Covenant would be committed and he with it. He would either ascend with the Covenant, or fall with it.

He sighed again, and dialled. The phone rang twice before the other man answered.

"Yes?"

Cole was surprised at the steadiness of his voice. "It is time. Initiate Requiem."