Same Disclaimer Applies. I have a few more chapters to upload. Sometimes
soon.
SYROS, GREECE
Jack jumped back as Irina raised the knife again. "You sure know how to treat your guests Irina." Jack spoke harshly and brought his hand up to cover the bleeding wound.
"Jack." She breathed in relief. "I thought you were someone else." She placed the knife on the bedside table.
"And here I assumed it was Freudian motivation." He bit out.
"You came." She said softly and tilted her head to the side.
"Yes and I continue to be tortured for my efforts." Irina just stared at him with a ghost of a smile. "Do you have something that I can stop the bleeding with or would you rather I stain the floor." He gestured to the clean slice along his forearm slowly spilling blood.
Irina seemed to come back to herself with Jack's words and looked for the first time at the damage she had done. Moving quickly she got off the bed and into the attached bathroom. She returned seconds later with a towel and a first aid box.
"Here, roll up your sleeve and hold this tight to the wound." She said distractedly.
"Yes, I know what to do for a bleeding wound Irina but thanks for the refresher course in both how to receive and care for them." Jack's anger was boiling to the surface.
"Sit down on the bed so I can stitch your arm up." She gestured to the bed while opening the kit.
"If you think I'm going to let you come near me with a needle, you're more insane than people give you credit for." Jack stayed standing as she sat on the side of the bed.
"Jack your cut needs stitches and you cannot give them to yourself with only one hand. Please just sit down and let me do this." Irina looked up at him emphatically.
Jack weighed his options but quickly determined he would indeed need stitches and he would not do a very good job one-handed. Resigning himself to the fact that he would be at Irina's mercy, he sat beside her on the bed.
She nodded her head once at him to acknowledge his choice and set to work preparing the wound. She ran a substance around the outside of the wound before opening the enclosed suture kit.
"What was that?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"It was a surface numbing agent. It isn't great but it will ease some of the discomfort." She told him with her head bent over his arm.
"This is nothing." His words caused her to react as he anticipated as eyes jumped to meet his. He mentally cursed himself for giving her the chance to look directly at him.
She smirked slightly, remembering the night she had spoken identical words but remained silent. Instead her smile left her face to be replaced by a slight frown and she went back to work, slowly closing the wound.
"I'm sorry." The words were spoken so softly, Jack thought he may have missed them.
"Pardon?" He returned without thinking.
"I'm sorry." Irina repeated. "I didn't know it was you and I woke up to find a shadowed figure standing over me. I thought-" she paused, "I don't know what I thought but I didn't mean to hurt you and I'm sorry." She remained focused on her task but was surprised enough to raise her head when Jack spoke.
"I know." He said softly. "If you just wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have gone to all this trouble." His voice held irony. "But the question is: what is it you do want from me?"
Irina didn't utter a word.
"I came here because you asked me to. I didn't bring the CIA and I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I covered my trail so no one will be able to find me. So tell me Irina why did I do all of this and what was so important that you would risk Sloane finding you again?"
Finished wrapping a bandage over the stitches in Jack's arm, Irina stood and returned the first aid kit to the bathroom and called to Jack as she descended the stairs. "Would you like something to eat Jack? I'm hungry."
Jack blinked and followed after her. "There's fruit, or chicken from last night, salad, pasta or" Irina turned from the fridge to see Jack walking into the kitchen. "would you like an omelet?"
"Irina I've never known you to avoid a question outright so I'll ask you again. Why did you want me here?" Jack stood on the opposite side of the kitchen's island from her but his voice carried harshly.
"I think a Greek omelet sounds good don't you? Do you want feta or would you rather something milder." She continued to ignore him and remove items from the fridge.
"Irina!" Jack boomed.
Irina stopped her movements instantly. Her arms rested at her sides and for a split second she looked defeated. Her resolve returned and she lifted her head to look at Jack.
"Truth-" She started.
"If you say 'takes time' I'll kill you myself." Jack spit out.
She faltered under the intense look in Jack's eyes. The times she had met with him while in CIA custody or while they were working together on missions his anger had always had a sense of control to it. Looking at him in front of her now, she realized his control was a thing of the past. He seemed to have lost it after losing her a second time.
"Did someone finally do the world a favour and cut out your tongue?" Jack's shoulders hunched with the effort of containing his fury.
"No. I'm just weighing my options." Irina states evenly. "If I tell you the truth, you'll accuse me of lying and working at a greater evil but if I continue to avoid the question all together your imagination will conjure up a decidedly horrific picture of what the truth could be." She sighed. "I'm trying to determine which one is the lesser evil."
"There is no lesser evil where you're concerned Irina." Jack quipped quickly.
"Okay Jack, but this could take a while." Irina sighed.
"I've got two weeks." Jack assured her.
"Fine. I really am hungry though. I'll talk to you and cook at the same time. Does that meet your standards?" Her anxiousness manifested itself as sarcasm yet only served to make Jack grin.
"As long as you don't put crush glass or arsenic in mine I suppose it's acceptable." Jack's return to a straight face, made Irina wonder if he was kidding or not.
"Sit." She pointed to the stools on the other side of the island with a knife. "You lost a fair amount of blood." Jack subtly rolled his eyes but obeyed the order.
"Where do you want me to start?" She asked.
"With you turning yourself into the CIA." Irina nodded in understanding.
"I wasn't exactly truthful with Sydney when I came to see her in L.A. last month." Irina paused giving Jack the opportunity to scoff at her words.
Irina glared but let it pass as she continued with her story. "I told Sydney I knew I was going to betray the CIA when I turned myself in but in fact I wasn't sure I would have to." Irina kept her head down as she chopped vegetables for the omelets. "I was aware of Sloane's plan to set the Alliance up to be destroyed but I thought the CIA would be able to take him in at the same time, rendering my plan inconsequential."
"And when Sloane disappeared with the fall of the Alliance?" Jack prompted.
"Knowing my time in CIA custody was limited, I encouraged Sydney to leave. I thought at least that way it wouldn't be as difficult for her when I had to." Irina paused again. "Rambaldi's works were never meant to be reassembled, especially by someone like Sloane. There was a reason the pieces were scattered around the world; the artifacts and manuscripts were never to be discovered, it could only be to the detriment of everyone involved." She sighs in resignation of the truth and shakes her head. "It would be to the detriment of Sydney and me."
"So you were trying to protect yourself." Jack shifted in his seat at the counter.
"Rambaldi was not a prophet Jack. He was a scientist and philosopher, someone who didn't believe in the natural order of the universe and set out on a mission to reorder it. Nothing that man wrote about should be believed with any amount of credibility yet there are those that were willing to believe, those willing to tirelessly seek out the answers. The answers, Jack, would destroy Sydney and myself. Even your own government was convinced Sydney was the key to the great destruction Rambaldi prophesied." Irina alternated between watching the knife she was wielding and Jack.
"So how do you account for all of the events Rambaldi has predicted accurately, hundreds of years after his time? Or the DNA sequences he details in his works?" Jack's eyes followed Irina's movements carefully.
"I don't. I can't tell you how he did it and quite frankly I don't care. I lost five years Jack. Five years to Rambaldi's words, I'm not about to lose any more. I wasn't going to let Sydney's life be ruled by a man long dead. Whether he wrote about either of us is not important, what is, is getting rid of all things Rambaldi. It has been my mission for the last fourteen years Jack, the only one."
"So, when you turned yourself into the CIA?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"My cover as 'The Man' had been made. I couldn't risk my safety with Sloane so eagerly seeking Rambaldi's message; he would have killed me if he thought I was standing in his way. I had to devise a plan where I would be indebted to him, so he would not question my loyalty so blatantly. Before I turned myself in, I destroyed all of my artifacts."
"But Sark bartered with some of the pieces while you were in CIA custody. And I am confident Sloane inspected each one upon the incursion of your partnership." Jack said with indifference.
"I used a master forger to recreate copies of the artifacts. So precise, Sloane would not have known the difference, Rambaldi may not have been able to distinguish between the forgeries and the authentic items." Irina's back turned to Jack as she began working with the cook top.
"So you needed Sloane to break you out of CIA custody in order to make it appear as though you were indebted to him and ensure your standing as his 'trusted accomplice'. I suppose seeing Sydney and I again was all a means to end for you." Jack's hard response succeeded in turning Irina back to face him.
"Nothing about my relationship with either of you is a means to end. Is that what you felt when you were distracting me from noticing the tracker you implanted in Panama? That I was a means to an end?" Irina meant it as a rhetorical question and was stunned silent when Jack answered.
"Yes. That is exactly how I saw it." Jack almost admitted his mistruth when he saw Irina flinch subtlety. "What exactly did you accomplish while working with Sloane? He has built whatever it was he has been striving for and you dropped off the radar."
"Sloane built a piece of junk. When I departed from Mexico City, I did so with half of the Rambaldi pieces and manuscripts."
"But half of collected items were counterfeit." Jack furrowed his brow.
"My half were counterfeit. That is why I obtained Sloane's half." Jack watched as her smile radiated within the room. He couldn't even remember the last time he had seen her smile like that. Well, he could but he did his very best to forget about all things Panama.
"What did you do with the pieces acquired from Sloane?" Jack leaned back in his chair.
"Some of them were comprised of precious stones and metals. I dismantled and sold those and destroyed the rest of the collection. I believe it was the sale of the stones that led Sloane to my home in Russia; however it could have been my interaction with you."
Irina finished making the omelets and placed them neatly on two plates. She grabbed two glasses as well as milk and juice from the refrigerator.
"Sorry, I don't have coffee in the house to offer you, I figured it was better I didn't tempt myself." She sat along side Jack at the kitchen island.
"How would Sloane track your movements through me?" Jack asked as he looked at his food speculatively.
Irina rolled her eyes at him, so he quickly put a fork-full in his mouth. "Sloane has his people watching you and Sydney." Jack looked sharply at her but didn't seem all that surprised. "He has one operative who oversees the L.A. surveillance as well as my own. But Sloane doesn't have his loyalty." Irina indulged in a small smile. "It seems a trend with Sloane. He isn't one to inspire devotion."
"Emily didn't think so." Jack commented.
Irina looked down into her plate of food and sighed. Emily's death had been difficult to deal with, especially knowing that had she pushed a little more, move faster with her plan that she may still be alive today.
"What? What is it?" Jack asked upon listening to the extended silence.
"Emily shouldn't have died. I should have been able to stop it from happening. Sloane and I should have arranged to meet somewhere else. If we had, she would still be alive today." Irina's tone suddenly sound haggard and melancholy.
"You can't seriously believe that Irina." Jack said incredulously. "You're right that what happened to Emily shouldn't have, it was a dreadful accident but it was in no way you're fault. Sloane was responsible for putting his wife in danger and she made the decision to run with him. She was a good friend to both of us but that doesn't mean we could have prevented her death." Jack almost shook his head at the absurdity of Irina's words.
"Spoken like a man acclimatized to feelings of guilt." Irina looked at him with meaning. Jack ignored her comment; he was not about to have a discussion with Irina Derevko about his psyche. "I only say that because I've noticed a trend amongst those in our family. Sydney seems to feel the spinning of the earth is dependent solely on her."
Jack shared a looked of understanding with her, recognizing the truth to her words. "It would seem a genetic trait she was doom to inherit." Irina gave him a small smile with sadness etched around the corners. "Am I right in assuming you have someone working in Sloane's organization?" Jack took another bite of his meal.
"Yes. I've none Darius for many years. I consider him a close friend and confidant." Irina implored.
"How close are you and Darius?" Jack's gaze rested heavily on Irina but broke away abruptly when her head turned to return the look.
"Darius and his wife are like family to me; I'm their oldest son's godmother." Irina smiled slyly, knowing she had succeeded in making Jack Bristow jealous.
"Family." Jack let the word roll around in his mouth. "They've been subject to your murderous betrayals then." His eyes held hers, hoping his attack would make her forget the momentary appearance of emotion.
"You're an ass Jack." She stated it so matter-of-factly, Jack wondered if he had actually been insulted or not.
"Only with you." Neither spoke for some time, instead getting lost in their food. "Does Sloane know the pieces he has in his collection are fakes?" His question was spoken while he looked straight ahead.
"You and Sydney wouldn't be alive if he knew what I had done." She tilted her head and continued when she noticed the confusion on his face. "Sloane can't find me but he knows where you and Sydney are; you're accessible to him. He would believe, if he killed you it would draw me out, looking for revenge."
"Sloane is quite aware that our relationship was a matter of convenience for you. What would he possible have to gain from hurting Sydney and I?"
"Because I would have avenged any act of violence against you and Sydney. I've done it before." Irina got up from the counter and took the two empty plates to the dishwasher.
Jack filed away the last piece of information she had imparted for later, instead focused on the former. "You would have." He said carefully. "Arvin's ploy would no longer work?" His voice held no sentiment.
"When I was alone these past twenty years I did anything I wanted, whenever I wanted, to the point of recklessness. I don't have the luxury of going into a situation half-cocked anymore." She glanced down at the slightly visible lump under her clothing.
Jack's head jerked up and down in a quick nod, acknowledging his understanding. "Sloane will have to be dealt with before he can find out the truth about the Rambaldi items." Jack's eyes became distant as his mind executed scenarios resulting in the capture of Arvin Sloane.
"Do you have anymore questions?" Irina leaned her back against the granite countertop, with her arms crossed across her chest. Jack wondered if she was aware of how defensive the position was.
"If you were effectively slowing Sloane down while working with him, why leave?" Jack shifted in his seat, trying to find a more comfortable position.
"When I left CIA custody, I wasn't working within any time constraints. I wrongly assumed I could destroy Sloane completely while I worked with him. I didn't exactly factor in my current situation." Irina forced an ironic smile.
"You mean your pregnancy." Jack almost hit himself for stating the obvious. There were times when he felt like the biggest lout in Irina's company.
"Our child's impeding birth was not information I wanted Arvin to acquire. I left when it became too difficult to hide." Smoothing her palms over her shirt, her stomach took greater shape. The sight was enough to make Jack ignore her use of the word 'our'. "So that's it Jack. That's the extent of what I've been doing for the past year."
Irina pushed off the counter and walked into the living room. Jack followed quickly behind, watching as she dropped herself onto the sofa in the middle of the room. Tilting her head against the back of the cushions, she felt the air shift as Jack completed the walk to the piece of furniture she occupied and sat at the far end.
"If that is everything for now I'm going to-" Jack cut her off.
"Tell me about Kashmir."
His words, spoken evenly, forced her eyes open. Irina felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart stop beating. The chill running up her spine contrasted the heat of the island so greatly; she thought she may be going into shock.
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SYROS, GREECE
Jack jumped back as Irina raised the knife again. "You sure know how to treat your guests Irina." Jack spoke harshly and brought his hand up to cover the bleeding wound.
"Jack." She breathed in relief. "I thought you were someone else." She placed the knife on the bedside table.
"And here I assumed it was Freudian motivation." He bit out.
"You came." She said softly and tilted her head to the side.
"Yes and I continue to be tortured for my efforts." Irina just stared at him with a ghost of a smile. "Do you have something that I can stop the bleeding with or would you rather I stain the floor." He gestured to the clean slice along his forearm slowly spilling blood.
Irina seemed to come back to herself with Jack's words and looked for the first time at the damage she had done. Moving quickly she got off the bed and into the attached bathroom. She returned seconds later with a towel and a first aid box.
"Here, roll up your sleeve and hold this tight to the wound." She said distractedly.
"Yes, I know what to do for a bleeding wound Irina but thanks for the refresher course in both how to receive and care for them." Jack's anger was boiling to the surface.
"Sit down on the bed so I can stitch your arm up." She gestured to the bed while opening the kit.
"If you think I'm going to let you come near me with a needle, you're more insane than people give you credit for." Jack stayed standing as she sat on the side of the bed.
"Jack your cut needs stitches and you cannot give them to yourself with only one hand. Please just sit down and let me do this." Irina looked up at him emphatically.
Jack weighed his options but quickly determined he would indeed need stitches and he would not do a very good job one-handed. Resigning himself to the fact that he would be at Irina's mercy, he sat beside her on the bed.
She nodded her head once at him to acknowledge his choice and set to work preparing the wound. She ran a substance around the outside of the wound before opening the enclosed suture kit.
"What was that?" Jack asked suspiciously.
"It was a surface numbing agent. It isn't great but it will ease some of the discomfort." She told him with her head bent over his arm.
"This is nothing." His words caused her to react as he anticipated as eyes jumped to meet his. He mentally cursed himself for giving her the chance to look directly at him.
She smirked slightly, remembering the night she had spoken identical words but remained silent. Instead her smile left her face to be replaced by a slight frown and she went back to work, slowly closing the wound.
"I'm sorry." The words were spoken so softly, Jack thought he may have missed them.
"Pardon?" He returned without thinking.
"I'm sorry." Irina repeated. "I didn't know it was you and I woke up to find a shadowed figure standing over me. I thought-" she paused, "I don't know what I thought but I didn't mean to hurt you and I'm sorry." She remained focused on her task but was surprised enough to raise her head when Jack spoke.
"I know." He said softly. "If you just wanted to kill me, you wouldn't have gone to all this trouble." His voice held irony. "But the question is: what is it you do want from me?"
Irina didn't utter a word.
"I came here because you asked me to. I didn't bring the CIA and I didn't tell anyone where I was going. I covered my trail so no one will be able to find me. So tell me Irina why did I do all of this and what was so important that you would risk Sloane finding you again?"
Finished wrapping a bandage over the stitches in Jack's arm, Irina stood and returned the first aid kit to the bathroom and called to Jack as she descended the stairs. "Would you like something to eat Jack? I'm hungry."
Jack blinked and followed after her. "There's fruit, or chicken from last night, salad, pasta or" Irina turned from the fridge to see Jack walking into the kitchen. "would you like an omelet?"
"Irina I've never known you to avoid a question outright so I'll ask you again. Why did you want me here?" Jack stood on the opposite side of the kitchen's island from her but his voice carried harshly.
"I think a Greek omelet sounds good don't you? Do you want feta or would you rather something milder." She continued to ignore him and remove items from the fridge.
"Irina!" Jack boomed.
Irina stopped her movements instantly. Her arms rested at her sides and for a split second she looked defeated. Her resolve returned and she lifted her head to look at Jack.
"Truth-" She started.
"If you say 'takes time' I'll kill you myself." Jack spit out.
She faltered under the intense look in Jack's eyes. The times she had met with him while in CIA custody or while they were working together on missions his anger had always had a sense of control to it. Looking at him in front of her now, she realized his control was a thing of the past. He seemed to have lost it after losing her a second time.
"Did someone finally do the world a favour and cut out your tongue?" Jack's shoulders hunched with the effort of containing his fury.
"No. I'm just weighing my options." Irina states evenly. "If I tell you the truth, you'll accuse me of lying and working at a greater evil but if I continue to avoid the question all together your imagination will conjure up a decidedly horrific picture of what the truth could be." She sighed. "I'm trying to determine which one is the lesser evil."
"There is no lesser evil where you're concerned Irina." Jack quipped quickly.
"Okay Jack, but this could take a while." Irina sighed.
"I've got two weeks." Jack assured her.
"Fine. I really am hungry though. I'll talk to you and cook at the same time. Does that meet your standards?" Her anxiousness manifested itself as sarcasm yet only served to make Jack grin.
"As long as you don't put crush glass or arsenic in mine I suppose it's acceptable." Jack's return to a straight face, made Irina wonder if he was kidding or not.
"Sit." She pointed to the stools on the other side of the island with a knife. "You lost a fair amount of blood." Jack subtly rolled his eyes but obeyed the order.
"Where do you want me to start?" She asked.
"With you turning yourself into the CIA." Irina nodded in understanding.
"I wasn't exactly truthful with Sydney when I came to see her in L.A. last month." Irina paused giving Jack the opportunity to scoff at her words.
Irina glared but let it pass as she continued with her story. "I told Sydney I knew I was going to betray the CIA when I turned myself in but in fact I wasn't sure I would have to." Irina kept her head down as she chopped vegetables for the omelets. "I was aware of Sloane's plan to set the Alliance up to be destroyed but I thought the CIA would be able to take him in at the same time, rendering my plan inconsequential."
"And when Sloane disappeared with the fall of the Alliance?" Jack prompted.
"Knowing my time in CIA custody was limited, I encouraged Sydney to leave. I thought at least that way it wouldn't be as difficult for her when I had to." Irina paused again. "Rambaldi's works were never meant to be reassembled, especially by someone like Sloane. There was a reason the pieces were scattered around the world; the artifacts and manuscripts were never to be discovered, it could only be to the detriment of everyone involved." She sighs in resignation of the truth and shakes her head. "It would be to the detriment of Sydney and me."
"So you were trying to protect yourself." Jack shifted in his seat at the counter.
"Rambaldi was not a prophet Jack. He was a scientist and philosopher, someone who didn't believe in the natural order of the universe and set out on a mission to reorder it. Nothing that man wrote about should be believed with any amount of credibility yet there are those that were willing to believe, those willing to tirelessly seek out the answers. The answers, Jack, would destroy Sydney and myself. Even your own government was convinced Sydney was the key to the great destruction Rambaldi prophesied." Irina alternated between watching the knife she was wielding and Jack.
"So how do you account for all of the events Rambaldi has predicted accurately, hundreds of years after his time? Or the DNA sequences he details in his works?" Jack's eyes followed Irina's movements carefully.
"I don't. I can't tell you how he did it and quite frankly I don't care. I lost five years Jack. Five years to Rambaldi's words, I'm not about to lose any more. I wasn't going to let Sydney's life be ruled by a man long dead. Whether he wrote about either of us is not important, what is, is getting rid of all things Rambaldi. It has been my mission for the last fourteen years Jack, the only one."
"So, when you turned yourself into the CIA?" Jack raised an eyebrow.
"My cover as 'The Man' had been made. I couldn't risk my safety with Sloane so eagerly seeking Rambaldi's message; he would have killed me if he thought I was standing in his way. I had to devise a plan where I would be indebted to him, so he would not question my loyalty so blatantly. Before I turned myself in, I destroyed all of my artifacts."
"But Sark bartered with some of the pieces while you were in CIA custody. And I am confident Sloane inspected each one upon the incursion of your partnership." Jack said with indifference.
"I used a master forger to recreate copies of the artifacts. So precise, Sloane would not have known the difference, Rambaldi may not have been able to distinguish between the forgeries and the authentic items." Irina's back turned to Jack as she began working with the cook top.
"So you needed Sloane to break you out of CIA custody in order to make it appear as though you were indebted to him and ensure your standing as his 'trusted accomplice'. I suppose seeing Sydney and I again was all a means to end for you." Jack's hard response succeeded in turning Irina back to face him.
"Nothing about my relationship with either of you is a means to end. Is that what you felt when you were distracting me from noticing the tracker you implanted in Panama? That I was a means to an end?" Irina meant it as a rhetorical question and was stunned silent when Jack answered.
"Yes. That is exactly how I saw it." Jack almost admitted his mistruth when he saw Irina flinch subtlety. "What exactly did you accomplish while working with Sloane? He has built whatever it was he has been striving for and you dropped off the radar."
"Sloane built a piece of junk. When I departed from Mexico City, I did so with half of the Rambaldi pieces and manuscripts."
"But half of collected items were counterfeit." Jack furrowed his brow.
"My half were counterfeit. That is why I obtained Sloane's half." Jack watched as her smile radiated within the room. He couldn't even remember the last time he had seen her smile like that. Well, he could but he did his very best to forget about all things Panama.
"What did you do with the pieces acquired from Sloane?" Jack leaned back in his chair.
"Some of them were comprised of precious stones and metals. I dismantled and sold those and destroyed the rest of the collection. I believe it was the sale of the stones that led Sloane to my home in Russia; however it could have been my interaction with you."
Irina finished making the omelets and placed them neatly on two plates. She grabbed two glasses as well as milk and juice from the refrigerator.
"Sorry, I don't have coffee in the house to offer you, I figured it was better I didn't tempt myself." She sat along side Jack at the kitchen island.
"How would Sloane track your movements through me?" Jack asked as he looked at his food speculatively.
Irina rolled her eyes at him, so he quickly put a fork-full in his mouth. "Sloane has his people watching you and Sydney." Jack looked sharply at her but didn't seem all that surprised. "He has one operative who oversees the L.A. surveillance as well as my own. But Sloane doesn't have his loyalty." Irina indulged in a small smile. "It seems a trend with Sloane. He isn't one to inspire devotion."
"Emily didn't think so." Jack commented.
Irina looked down into her plate of food and sighed. Emily's death had been difficult to deal with, especially knowing that had she pushed a little more, move faster with her plan that she may still be alive today.
"What? What is it?" Jack asked upon listening to the extended silence.
"Emily shouldn't have died. I should have been able to stop it from happening. Sloane and I should have arranged to meet somewhere else. If we had, she would still be alive today." Irina's tone suddenly sound haggard and melancholy.
"You can't seriously believe that Irina." Jack said incredulously. "You're right that what happened to Emily shouldn't have, it was a dreadful accident but it was in no way you're fault. Sloane was responsible for putting his wife in danger and she made the decision to run with him. She was a good friend to both of us but that doesn't mean we could have prevented her death." Jack almost shook his head at the absurdity of Irina's words.
"Spoken like a man acclimatized to feelings of guilt." Irina looked at him with meaning. Jack ignored her comment; he was not about to have a discussion with Irina Derevko about his psyche. "I only say that because I've noticed a trend amongst those in our family. Sydney seems to feel the spinning of the earth is dependent solely on her."
Jack shared a looked of understanding with her, recognizing the truth to her words. "It would seem a genetic trait she was doom to inherit." Irina gave him a small smile with sadness etched around the corners. "Am I right in assuming you have someone working in Sloane's organization?" Jack took another bite of his meal.
"Yes. I've none Darius for many years. I consider him a close friend and confidant." Irina implored.
"How close are you and Darius?" Jack's gaze rested heavily on Irina but broke away abruptly when her head turned to return the look.
"Darius and his wife are like family to me; I'm their oldest son's godmother." Irina smiled slyly, knowing she had succeeded in making Jack Bristow jealous.
"Family." Jack let the word roll around in his mouth. "They've been subject to your murderous betrayals then." His eyes held hers, hoping his attack would make her forget the momentary appearance of emotion.
"You're an ass Jack." She stated it so matter-of-factly, Jack wondered if he had actually been insulted or not.
"Only with you." Neither spoke for some time, instead getting lost in their food. "Does Sloane know the pieces he has in his collection are fakes?" His question was spoken while he looked straight ahead.
"You and Sydney wouldn't be alive if he knew what I had done." She tilted her head and continued when she noticed the confusion on his face. "Sloane can't find me but he knows where you and Sydney are; you're accessible to him. He would believe, if he killed you it would draw me out, looking for revenge."
"Sloane is quite aware that our relationship was a matter of convenience for you. What would he possible have to gain from hurting Sydney and I?"
"Because I would have avenged any act of violence against you and Sydney. I've done it before." Irina got up from the counter and took the two empty plates to the dishwasher.
Jack filed away the last piece of information she had imparted for later, instead focused on the former. "You would have." He said carefully. "Arvin's ploy would no longer work?" His voice held no sentiment.
"When I was alone these past twenty years I did anything I wanted, whenever I wanted, to the point of recklessness. I don't have the luxury of going into a situation half-cocked anymore." She glanced down at the slightly visible lump under her clothing.
Jack's head jerked up and down in a quick nod, acknowledging his understanding. "Sloane will have to be dealt with before he can find out the truth about the Rambaldi items." Jack's eyes became distant as his mind executed scenarios resulting in the capture of Arvin Sloane.
"Do you have anymore questions?" Irina leaned her back against the granite countertop, with her arms crossed across her chest. Jack wondered if she was aware of how defensive the position was.
"If you were effectively slowing Sloane down while working with him, why leave?" Jack shifted in his seat, trying to find a more comfortable position.
"When I left CIA custody, I wasn't working within any time constraints. I wrongly assumed I could destroy Sloane completely while I worked with him. I didn't exactly factor in my current situation." Irina forced an ironic smile.
"You mean your pregnancy." Jack almost hit himself for stating the obvious. There were times when he felt like the biggest lout in Irina's company.
"Our child's impeding birth was not information I wanted Arvin to acquire. I left when it became too difficult to hide." Smoothing her palms over her shirt, her stomach took greater shape. The sight was enough to make Jack ignore her use of the word 'our'. "So that's it Jack. That's the extent of what I've been doing for the past year."
Irina pushed off the counter and walked into the living room. Jack followed quickly behind, watching as she dropped herself onto the sofa in the middle of the room. Tilting her head against the back of the cushions, she felt the air shift as Jack completed the walk to the piece of furniture she occupied and sat at the far end.
"If that is everything for now I'm going to-" Jack cut her off.
"Tell me about Kashmir."
His words, spoken evenly, forced her eyes open. Irina felt her breath catch in her throat and her heart stop beating. The chill running up her spine contrasted the heat of the island so greatly; she thought she may be going into shock.
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