A/N: Thank you all so much for the reviews. Don't worry, Vaughn will seek his revenge on Lauren. Just give it time. Now read!

Chapter 21

Nothing could prepare Jack Bristow for the meeting with the daughter he never knew. The daughter that wasn't even his. The daughter that belonged to his wife and another man. Not to mention that she was also a major part of the whole Rambaldi puzzle. In fact, Jack really had no idea why he had volunteered to escort Nadia down the field, but now that he had to, he found it was difficult just to turn the knob and enter the safe house. Jack took a deep breath and opened the door.

He found Nadia sitting on the couch. She had her hands on her knees that were lying together diagonally from the couch. The television was on with the sound off. She looked up the moment he walked in, and Jack had a flash of Irina as he looked into Nadia's eyes. Jack resisted the temptation to look away. She kept an eye on him as he took the single chair away from her. The distance he held in his movements did not go unnoticed to her.

"You're Sydney's father," Nadia said just as he was getting the courage to speak. "I saw your picture in a file I found of my mother's." Jack didn't know what Nadia knew about her mother, but frankly he wasn't going to come out and make her face what an evil woman Irina Derevko was.

"I just wanted to talk to you about the trade," Jack said, breaking another moment of silence. "You know the standards?" Nadia nodded. "Once you two are within a hundred feet of the wings, we'll have three of our snipers open fire on the Covenant's snipers and one will be free to take out your escort. A vehicle will be waiting for you in the front parking lot of the stadium. You will be equipped with a bullet proof vest."

"Sydney won't be," Nadia said simply. Jack of course knew that, and he didn't like the situation either, but could he figure out another way of getting both Nadia and Sydney back safely into the CIA's hands, he would definitely jump at the opportunity.

"The CIA wants both of you to remain safe. If they could provide safety protection for Sydney, they would."

Nadia glared at him. "I told the CIA I would make the trade so that my sister could return back safely. With this plan, that is not the case."

"The CIA thinks you're too valuable to fall into Covenant hands."

"Screw the CIA. What about you? Why don't you think of Sydney?" Nadia asked in a harsh whisper.

Those words struck a nerve with Jack Bristow.

"You don't think I'm trying that? Sydney means the world to me, and I want to see her back more than you. I don't care about Rambaldi, all I care about is my daughter, but the CIA doesn't give a damn about me or her!" Jack stopped talking and looked at Nadia, who surprisingly, was smiling.

"I wish you were my father."

Jack Bristow for the first time in his life was absolutely speechless.

21212121

"Hello?"

"It's me."

"It's been a long time."

"I've got a job for you."

"What kind of job?"

"I've faxed you the location and the person."

"The CIA's involved. Agents will be all over the place. This job will cost you extra."

"I'll give you whatever you need. Usual place."

"Anything for you."

"Just don't miss."

"I never do."

21212121

Vaughn sat by himself on the small jet that was carrying the tactical team to Germany. He was drained. He hadn't slept a wink the night before as he worried about every possible scenario that could go wrong during the trade. He imagined Sydney attempting to run across the field before a sniper hit her. He could picture her lying on her stomach with a dark red spot forming in the middle of her spine. But the worst part is that before she would fall, she'd shout his name with all the emotion she had.

He imagined similar scenarios when Sydney and Anna had met together at the football stadium so that they could read what was inside Rambaldi's suitcase. That was the night she had called him her Guardian Angel. At that time however, he'd been thousands of miles away, monitoring her by satellite. Now he could be right there to make sure that she didn't get hurt, and he was going to focus on doing that duty right.

21212121

Jack Bristow and Nadia were flying on a separate plane, just in case planes were intercepted. Jack had never been more surprised than the moment that Nadia had said she wished he were her father. For so long, he had regretted not being around more as Sydney was growing up. Not being able to watch her turn from a child to a woman. But Nadia, like Sydney, seemed to be able to look past all that and realize the love that he held for his daughter, and that was why, Jack was sure, Nadia wished he were her father.

"You're wondering about my father," Nadia said. Jack looked up. He hadn't realized that Nadia had been watching him. "I never knew him. I guess it's one of the reasons why I want to find my mother."

Jack couldn't take it anymore. As much as he didn't want to ruin whatever happy view Nadia had of her mother, he couldn't let anyone go on believing that Irina Derevko could be trusted or should be sought out for any reason.

"I don't know what you know about Irina Derevko—" Jack began.

"Believe me, I know what you know. Or as I should say, what Sydney knows, but I guess I'm like Sydney in that way. I want to wait to see her with my own eyes. Evaluate her for myself."

"And that was Sydney's mistake too," Jack said vehemently. "If Sydney really did tell you about Irina Derevko than you know that Sydney never should have tried to learn more about her mother after the night Irina left the family and faked her death. You shouldn't need closure after the fact that she left you at the orphanage. Believe me, you've seen the only Irina Derevko that exists."

Nadia applied the same stubbornness that ran in the Bristow family. "Well, whether or not I want to get to know my mother is for me to decide. But it still remains, Irina Derevko is the only one who knows who my father is, and if I am discouraged from meeting her for any other reason, that is my reason." Jack nodded, but felt the same frustration with Nadia that he had when Sydney insisted on learning more about her mother. But Jack also didn't know why he cared so much.

21212121

When the two planes landed in Germany, it was dark, and the meet was to take place in four hours. Midnight. In prearranged vehicles, the team headed to the CIA safe house to get ready for the trade. This was the first chance Vaughn had to see Nadia, since she arrived at the CIA, and he was definitely going to take the opportunity to talk to her. He knocked on the door to the room where Nadia had said she was going to change and possibly take a nap, but for some reason, he doubted that she was sleeping.

"Come in." Vaughn opened the door and stepped inside. Nadia was sitting on the edge of the bed, her black bulletproof vest sat on the bed next to her. "Hi," she greeted when she saw him.

"Hi," Vaughn responded, unsure of how to begin, but Nadia did nothing to coax him into talking.

"So you're the Passenger," Vaughn said sounding slightly irritated.

"Michael—"

"How can you not tell me that?"

"At the moment it wasn't important."

"Wasn't important?" Vaughn scoffed. "You would come to me and tell me not to search for Syd, but to look for the Passenger, when the whole time the Passenger was standing right in front of me. I was your little puppet to be led around in circles."

"If I would have told you who I was, at some point it would have reached the CIA and then the Covenant. Now, during the time when I was asking you to research the Passenger, I was hoping that you could tell me how much the Covenant knew about the Passenger. It was in the best interest of the CIA and Sydney for me not to have told you. Especially since we can probably assume they know nothing about the serum," Nadia concluded.

"Well, why didn't you at least tell me you were coming in?" Vaughn demanded, his anger beginning to subside.

"If I told you I was coming in, I would have to tell you that I was the Passenger, and if you had let it slip out to your superiors that you knew me in some way or that you had a thorough knowledge of the Passenger, they'd be suspicious on how long you knew me and why you had kept me a secret from the CIA. It was best if you were in the dark."

Vaughn was quiet for a moment. "You know, you do remind me of Syd. A lot. She's always thinking in the interest of her friends or the CIA, and she is stubborn to the core when she thinks she's right."

"I can't wait to see who's more stubborn."

Vaughn smiled. "Me too."

21212121

Boots pounded against the metal benches around the fields. Guns occasionally clanged as their metal parts made contact with the rusty benches. The stadium was pitch black except for four circular beams of white light took their positions on their half of the field. Ten minutes later, the stadium's lights were turned on. The old lights illuminated the stands pretty well, but only two lights worked on the field. The two wings where Sydney and Nadia would be exiting from were pitch black.

Vaughn squinted and tried to make out the entryway, but it was impossible. They'd need another plan if they were going to take out Nadia's escort.

"We've got a problem," Agent Norris, the most Senior of the officers said into the com. "The lights do not illuminate the wings."

"Give me the dimensions that are dark and lit," Dixon requested.

"It's about twenty-five yards of darkness on either side with fifty yards of light in the middle," Agent Norris responded.

"Wait just before they disappear back into the dark section in order to give them enough time to take cover."

"Copy that."

Suddenly the same stomping they had made when they had entered the stadium was heard as the Covenant's snipers began to file in. They too were dressed in black tactical gear. Vaughn looked through his eyepiece and focused on one of the Covenant's snipers. It was Agent Norris who was to be aiming for Nadia's escort. Under the tense circumstances, Vaughn was actually kind of glad.

Across the field, Vaughn could make out the figures of Jack Bristow and Nadia standing together. They stood in the wings, probably waiting until they saw movement from the Covenant. Then Vaughn caught sight of movement on the other side. Jack, having seen the movement too, began to walk forward. As Sydney and her escort began to walk more into the light, a head of blond hair came into view, and it definitely was too long to be Sark's. Lauren.

Vaughn's heart began to pound. Here he had a perfect opportunity to take her out, and he wasn't going to be the one to do it. Subconsciously, he found himself lowering his weapon to the field as he put his gun into focus on Lauren's form. Finally, both Jack and Lauren had stepped into the light and Vaughn was given a clear view of Sydney.

Her face was heavily bruised, especially around her eyes, and she seemed to be leaning heavily on Lauren for support. She also looked thinner, more haggard than when he had last saw her. The anger that Vaughn had felt for Lauren just a few minutes before intensified as he felt his finger tighten on the trigger. The two women began to step forward and walk towards each other. The first step away from her support caused Sydney to stumble. Simultaneously a gun fired as Sydney's stumble caused her to fall backwards into Lauren.

Sydney's body shuddered for a moment before she stopped moving completely and fell to her knees. Even from where Vaughn was he could see the red spot begin to form on her breast as he was forced to look on in horror. By this time, Nadia had stopped where she was. Even Jack Bristow seemed unable to react. Just before Sydney fell to her stomach, she turned her head to the left, looking almost directly at Vaughn's position in the stands, where his gun was still pointed to the position Sydney had been in just seconds before.

21212121

P.S. Please don't hate me too much! I'll try to add-on ASAP.