A/N: So sorry once again. The summer is supposed to be a break, right? Well, mine has yet to give me any free time. My parents must think that I'm crazy taking my laptop into my room at eleven-thirty at night just so I can add a few paragraphs to this. Well, anyway, I regret to inform you all that I'm leaving for Europe on Thursday for fifteen days, so I won't be able to add-on for at least that amount of time. I'm really sorry. But I realized I haven't thanked my reviewers since Chapter 12, so I'm taking the time to do that once again, in the hope that I will still get old reviewers to come back, and new ones to join. Thank you all!
fuzzier145: Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you, but I don't think my info is inaccurate. Tell me what you think is wrong so I can fix it please.
Grouchy, kiki, Natalie: Relax, Vaughn will try and save Sydney, but I'm in no shape or form ready for it to end there. Oh no, I promise you, you have a LOT to look forward too!
Eyghon and Sara: I haven't decided how, but I'll see what I can do about bringing Irina into the story.
Mallory (x4), Piscean, Maggie (x2), SunnE1, ImmortallyAlias (x3), serendipity112233 (x9), jennycraig10 (x6), Jinet (x5), Kiki (x3), Stephi (x4), speed, Total Vaughn Lover (x3), donnatellaMarks (x2), midnightqueen6 (x4), Mary Kate 113 (x3), anonymous (x2), star16 (x10), spinach, Agent Katy, Brynne, Delordra (x2), Star Mage1, Alicia, Kristal, sallene (x3), Elora-18, leo's l'il sista, Haley, Agent Elektra (x3), neptunestar (x2), I heart ALIAS, supergirl14, SlonessIZtheWAYtoGO89, Chaosti, American Rhapsody, J.Dy, Ms.MV (x2), Terin, Coffee Crazy, liz, knX3571, Collen, kat, Lady Prongs of Rohan (x4), Natalie (x6), Ms. Vaughn (x2), Fair Cate (x3), oOspuffy4everOo (x2), Kris, Roonie, CSI3, Vanessa, Sara (x2), SVU-Watcher14 (x9), hannahbanana, Eyghon (x2), Grouchy (x2), and fuzzier145.
And the winner is, star16 with ten reviews! Star16 will receive ten cyber cookies for her appreciated reviews! I encourage all of you to review as much as you can to earn cyber cookies!
P.S.: So no one is confused about the "18181818" thing, they just serve as dividers.
Chapter 18
"We've successfully located Lauren Reed," Dixon announced to the group. "Her last phone call to Agent Vaughn was traced to this facility in Poland. It was once a genetic research facility, but once the Polish government found out that testing was being done on humans, the facility was shut down and taken over by the government. It is our belief that the Covenant has paid off government officials to obtain use of this building. If this is true, it would be a worthy assumption to believe that Sydney may be a prisoner in this facility. As a result, only a small tactical team will be sent to Poland to ensure her safe return. Agent Weiss, Agent Vaughn, you two will be part of a team of five led by Jack Bristow. Your plane will leave tonight." The agents present in the room made a move to rise but Dixon motioned for them to be seated.
"On another note, in correlation with the person who broke into Agent Bristow's house we found this." Agent Dixon used his remote to make a slide appear on the white screen behind him. A picture of a young girl who looked to be in her early to mid-twenties appeared on the screen. She had beautiful dark hair with a soft face but troubled eyes.
"Her first name is Nadia but her real last name is unknown. She was adopted and cared for by the King family, but there is no record of Nadia's continuous use of that name. She was later recruited by the Argentine government and trained as a spy." Dixon paused and faced the group as if preparing them for what he was about to say. "The fingerprints from the phone book recovered from Agent Bristow's home revealed two things. One is that Nadia is the one who broke into Agent Bristow's house and called the CIA." Dixon hit the next button on the controller and a new photo appeared with two sets of figure prints. Vaughn analyzed them closely. Now he was no expert on fingerprints, but the two sets looked very similar.
"On the left is the thumb print of Nadia. On the right is the thumbprint of Sydney Bristow. Research is still developing on this kind of identification, but researchers believe that those family members who are linked hereditarily will receive similar fingerprints characteristic of the mother, the father, or sometimes both. From a brief but conclusive analysis of the two sets of fingerprints it appears as if Agent Bristow and Nadia are related." Vaughn stared at Dixon as if he were insane before turning his gaze to Jack. Jack had always been good at hiding his emotions, but this time the shock was evident on his face.
"That's insane," Jack finally said to break the silence. "Sydney does not have any other siblings."
"Further analysis will be done, of course, but our researchers are assured that the two fingerprints are too similar to be coincidental," Dixon stated.
"Well they're wrong! You can't make such a big assertion on such under developed technology!" Jack shouted angrily.
"I'm sorry, Jack." Dixon's voice dripped with sympathy and compassion. It was a tone that Jack hated to hear. It was so condescending. He knew for a fact that he and Irina had not had another child. That had to mean that Irina had had an affair. Of all the ways Jack had pictured Irina betraying him, having an affair had been the least likely of all his assumptions. She had after all, been ordered to marry him and create a life with him. Why would she ruin her mission for something as trivial as an affair? He couldn't believe it. He needed more proof, not some techie going on about fingerprints. Jack couldn't stay in this room listening to this. Without a word to Dixon or any one else, he left the room.
Dixon cleared his throat. "Agent Vaughn, if for some reason Nadia contacts you again, trace the call as before." Vaughn nodded. "As for the rest of you, I want you to back trace and find information for me on Nadia. Dismissed."
Vaughn's head was swimming. First Sydney disappears, then Lauren turns out to be Covenant, and now Sydney might have a sister. What else could go horribly wrong?
18181818
As soon as Vaughn entered the house he filled with dread. He instantly regretted not having remembered to call the neighbors and ask them to take Donovan outside during his prolonged stay away from home. The house smelled worse then a pasture of cow manure. Walking into the living room he saw the pile of poop sitting there like a giant stain. Donovan was nowhere in sight. That was typical of him, especially when he knew he did something bad, even if he really had to go.
"Donovan?" he called through the house as he looked in the pantry for some plastic bags Lauren always liked to save from grocery stores. He pulled out a white bottle that had something like "Nature's Miracle" on it that was designed specifically for "accidents" created by animals. However, Vaughn was confused on how anything that smelled like chemicals in such a way that the contents of this bottle did, could be natural. He also didn't like pondering on the alternative meaning of the title that induced that accidents were miracles.
With a scrunched up nose he picked up the poop with one bagged hand before flipping it inside out so that he could tie up the bag. Then he poured some "Nature's Miracle" on the spot, rubbed it off, and then poured some more on to let it sit. With a sigh he stood up from his knees and took the waste to the outdoor trashcan. Vaughn shook his head. If this is because I have expressed some desire for normalcy, Vaughn thought. I take it back.
Vaughn walked back inside, washed his hands, and then went upstairs while calling for Donovan. He suddenly heard his anxious little bark coming from outside. Vaughn instantly changed his direction and saw his little brown dog jumping up and down against the sliding glass door. Vaughn reached over to unlock it when he realized it was already done.
"How did you get outside, boy?" Vaughn asked as Donovan walked into the room wagging his tail. The wagging stopped however when the dog seemed to catch scent of the air and his tail fell between his legs, then to Vaughn's surprise he started barking.
"You should really take better care of your dog." Vaughn turned around with his gun pointing at the source of the voice. Nadia was standing there in a simple pair of jeans and a red cotton short-sleeved shirt that seemed a little too big. Her dark hair rested at her shoulders. She looked even younger in real life.
"Nadia," he murmured, unsure of whether or not he needed to keep his gun raised.
"So the CIA knows about me," she stated looking surprised.
"Why do you want to talk to Sydney?" Vaughn demanded.
"Because I am her sister," Nadia answered simply.
"Who is your father?"
"I don't know, but you can put that away," she said gesturing to the gun. Vaughn looked at her warily before slowly lowering his weapon to his side.
"Why did you come to me?"
"She's mentioned you before. It seemed as if you were the only one she could trust."
"When has she mentioned me to you? She's never mentioned you before."
"While she was working for the Covenant."
"What?" Vaughn asked startled. This was new information to him.
"No, it's my turn. Where is Sydney?"
"I'll answer that when you tell me more about Sydney working for the Covenant."
Nadia sighed. "Two years ago she was captured by the Covenant. She was tortured until she agreed to become a woman named Julia Thorne. She fooled them into believing that they had successfully reconditioned her when she was only pretending to be the person they wanted her to be. She was really working under an agent of the FBI. She never told me his name. We met in a research building in San Janiro, Spain. She had been sent on some mission by the Covenant that involved downloading information on new weaponry that the Spanish were developing when she found that someone on the server was looking up information on Irina Derevko. At the time, with no conclusive evidence to go on, I believed that Irina was my mother. A source had led me to the facility where she had once done dealings with a man who worked there. The lead proved to be a bust, but it led me to Sydney. It wasn't till later that we met again, but we figured out that we were sisters. We've kept contact until the last few months." Nadia finished.
Vaughn looked at Nadia in bewilderment. Why had Sydney worked for the Covenant while all her friends presumed her to be dead? Why hadn't the CIA been notified that a CIA agent was under the control of the FBI? And the question of who Nadia's father was still burned into Vaughn skull.
"Now tell me. Where is Sydney?" Nadia asked tiredly.
"The Covenant has her. She was captured during a mission. The CIA believes she's in Poland."
"Oh, God," Nadia said closing her eyes. Vaughn watched her curiously. He knew that the situation was bad, but Nadia's reaction suddenly made it seem a lot worse.
"What?" Vaughn asked.
"What's the CIA's plan?" Nadia asked urgently as if she hadn't heard Vaughn.
"They're sending in a team tonight."
"Are you apart of it?"
"Yes."
"Good, then I'll call you when you get back," Nadia said turning to leave.
"Wait, why don't you turn yourself into the CIA? You have inside information to the Covenant that we need. Not to mention that you can explain Sydney's two years working with the Covenant to her."
"What?" Nadia asked suddenly stopping.
"Sydney doesn't remember what happened during the two years while she was in the Covenant's custody. That's probably why she hasn't made contact with you. She doesn't remember you exist," Vaughn said almost thoughtfully. The words hit Nadia at home and she looked pained with indecision.
"I can't turn myself in. It would endanger my life as well as Sydney's," Nadia said sadly.
"How?" Vaughn asked confused.
"I can't explain that now, but trust me Agent Vaughn, the Covenant can not know that I exist. If the CIA needs any information just contact me by e-mailing this account," Nadia said as searched for a piece of paper to write on and a pen. She found an envelope and Vaughn handed her a pen. "I'll check it regularly. But you must keep the fact that you've heard from me a secret from the general public. Please, you must keep me a secret from the Covenant."
"Okay," Vaughn said uncomfortably.
"Thank you, and please bring my sister back." Nadia's brown eyes watered slightly as they looked into his own green ones.
"I will," Vaughn said with determination. Then she was gone.
18181818
"The CIA got an Echlon intercept yesterday," Dixon said addressing the remaining agents who would be working tech from back home while Vaughn, Weiss, and Jack were away. "After decoding it we discovered that it was a conversation between Hendriki and untraceable contact outside the Covenant." Dixon paced along the front sides of the crescent moon table as he spoke. "Their conversation was Rambaldi. Specifically, it related to our unknown contact's inquiry of something called the Passenger. Apparently, Hendriki didn't know anything about the Passenger, which tells us that the Covenant knows nothing about the Passenger. I want to keep it that way. We are to search every lead until we find out what this Passenger is so that we can get it before the Covenant. Dismissed."
18181818
"What's on site?" Agent Jack Bristow demanded from his hiding spot outside the research center in Poland. Jack and his team of three while two worked tech, only had a few hundred feet between them and Sydney Bristow. Unfortunately, since Jack was leading the team there were was barely a foot between him and Vaughn.
Jack had been thoroughly irritated after having to deal with the idea that his wife had cheated on him and Sydney had a sister. In fact, the old rule of "don't speak unless spoken to" seemed to be the only way to keep the mission flowing smoothly. Vaughn knew at some points during the plane ride Jack had been singling him out with his penetrating glare as if he knew that Vaughn had a secret, but under no circumstances was Vaughn going to inform him that he had met Sydney's sister.
"We've got two guards to your right and one on your left," Weiss responded.
"Get ready to loop the feed." Jack looked up and turned his attention to them.
"Agent Vaughn and I will take out the two guards on the right, you'll cover the one on the left," Jack instructed Vaughn and Agent Ryan Landers, another senior officer who was younger than Jack but older than Vaughn. Jack removed a small pen sized utensil from his pocket and pushed the sliding lever up and a nice pink laser popped out. Jack put the laser to the metal gate and began making a half oval big enough for them to fit through.
Before any of the three guards had a chance to shout out warnings to the others, the three agents had successfully fired their silenced rifles and knocked the three men out cold. From the little distance left to reach the door he could tell that a key card was needed to open it. Jack ran over to one of the fallen men and searched his pockets for any card that would open it. He found it tucked down slightly in the man's breast pocket where the blood was just beginning to spread. Without a second thought, Jack stood up with the card in hand and headed for the door.
"Is the feed looped?" Jack asked as he placed the card in the slot and pulled it out again, waiting for it to turn green.
"Yes. Hey do any of you know anything about the Passenger?" Weiss asked. "Base Ops just phoned in telling us not to divulge any information about the Passenger."
Vaughn glanced over at Jack as he pulled opened the door. Jack seemed to hesitate slightly. "No, what does the CIA know?"
"Nothing. They heard the name in a conversation off Echlon. That's all I know." Jack ran into the building and crouched before a three-way intersection in the hallway.
"I need direction," Jack said changing the conversation.
"Uh, take a left, but move quickly. We've got a lot of movement near the middle of the building."
"What kind of movement? How many?" Jack demanded as the cautiously took the left turn around the corner.
"I'm counting three."
"We're closing in."
18181818
Sydney Bristow was thoroughly confused. Sark and Lauren had rushed in the room just a few moments ago, and were hurriedly strapping cuffs across her ankles and hands. Neither of them said a word as they did this as Sydney waited for any opportunity to which she could escape. As soon as she was cuffed, Sark undid the cuffs that held her to the chair as Lauren removed her gun and pointed it directly at Sydney.
"I won't hesitate," Lauren warned.
"Let's go," Sark said as he pulled Sydney up to her feet. Sydney swayed slightly as she put her full weight on her feet. She thought her knees would buckle from the lack of food and the constant beatings and drugs.
"Move!" Lauren ordered as she pushed the gun barrel into her lower back. The force almost knocked her over but Sark grabbed her arm before she fell. Just as quickly however, he pulled her towards the door. They opened slowly. Sark peered around the corner and when he was assured that no one was present, he pushed Sydney into the hall and then followed her close behind. Lauren covered Sark's back.
They made it only about ten feet down the hall before Sydney heard shots. Sark pushed her forward. Sydney's chains bumped uncomfortably around her ankles as she increased her pace, but since she was able to look around to see who she was running from she decided to keep moving forward. That was at least until she heard a voice calling her name down the corridor.
"Sydney!" It was Vaughn. Relief, love, and anger all overtook her in that single moment of speech. Sydney's pace slowed considerably as she struggled to turn around and see his face. Sark however, was preventing this as he pushed her forward. Lauren was also doing a good job at blocking her vision by keeping her back to Sydney as she rained bullets down upon her hopeful rescuers.
Sydney glanced forward and saw them pass the door marked "Stairs" as they headed towards the set of elevators. Sark quickly pushed both the up and the down arrows and waited impatiently as Lauren fended off the invaders. As soon as the up arrow appeared Sark practically threw Sydney in as he called for Lauren. The elevator doors shut just as Sydney caught a glimpse of Vaughn rounding the corner.
They rode the elevator to the twelfth level, the level below the rooftop. As Sydney assumed they got off the twelfth floor and then took the stairs to the rooftop. Sark kept an arm on Sydney all the way up as she stumbled and tripped on the steps because of her chains. Lauren kept an eye on her the whole time for any movements that looked suspicious or planned.
On top of the rooftop a helicopter was waiting for them. Sark helped lift Sydney in as Lauren kept guard. Once Sydney was on board, Lauren jumped in and slammed the side door shut. As soon as they were off the ground Sark lifted Sydney into a chair and strapped her in. Sydney's face however was all smiles.
"The CIA knows," Sydney said grinning as she stared straight at Lauren. "Vaughn knows you betrayed him now."
Lauren didn't say a word, but a second later Lauren got up with her gun in hand, and with a smooth quick motion hit Sydney in the head with it and Sydney's world went black.