Irina woke well after nine in the morning determined to make her second day with Jack better than the first. A quick run into town for fresh bread and fruit was used to kill time, waiting for Jack to awaken. Upon her return he still had not roused from his slumber so Irina set about preparing breakfast.
Cooking had never been her favourite past time but after spending over a month in seclusion she had honed her skills considerably. Many of her days were marked by exercise and meals. In order to stay well hidden she had cut all ties with members of her organization, avoiding intelligence information completely.
By eleven thirty Irina had prepared enough food to feed the army running drills at the base on the other side of the port. Jack shuffled into the kitchen just as she took the eggs of the burner.
"Good, you're up. I was just going to come wake you."
"I can't remember the last time I slept until almost noon. Quite frankly I don't believe I ever have." Jack looked down at himself with unease. He had slipped a pair of shorts Irina had purchased over his boxers and still wore the T-shirt he slept in.
"I'm sure you needed the rest." She dismissed him, walking out to the patio with her breakfast.
Jack filled a plate of his own, following her out the open French doors. The heat blanketed him as stepped foot outside. Even the sea breeze was not enough to compensate for the hellish inferno.
"How do you stand it out here?" Jack sat at the outdoor table, thankfully shaded by a grade umbrella.
"I love it. The heat is so powerful that one must just admit defeat and submit to it. Sometimes it's reassuring to submit to a force stronger than you."
Irina's introspective mood was almost too much to handle for Jack so soon after waking; however, the deliciousness of the food kept him rooted in place.
"Thank you for preparing breakfast, all the meals for that matter." Jack caught he shrug. "As I recall neither of us were near the caliber of gourmet but this is wonderful."
"I had twenties years to get better. If my skills had not improved I would have serious doubts in regard to the tests that christened me a genius." Irina smirked.
"So what's on the agenda today?" Jack asked lightheartedly or as lighthearted as Jack Bristow gets.
"You're allowing me to plan your day?" Irina bit her bottom lip in thought.
"Sometimes it's reassuring to submit to a force stronger than you." He returned the words to their owner.
"How brilliantly predictable of you Jonathan." Irina tilted her head to the side.
"One of us has to be. Unpredictability creates trouble."
"Ah so that's what this is." Irina pointed to her stomach. "Trouble."
"It's all trouble where you're concerned Irina." Jack stated meaningfully.
Trading barbs with her was easy and comfortable but left a bitter taste in Jack's mouth. The battle they were fighting was familiar but the war was unmarked terrain; neither seemed equipped to stumble through.
"I set up an appointment at the laboratory in the hospital for the test to be done tomorrow. Dr. Maridakos will be expecting you at nine o'clock to begin the procedure." She sipped from her glass of orange juice, waiting for his response.
"Have you worked with him before?"
"He did the work up on the amniotic fluid for the baby but I haven't met the man. I have an alias for use on the island; your cover is as my husband you found out you may have a debilitating disorder. Just tell them the final results are not in and the DNA test is being conducted to determine if the baby is a close enough match to allow you to use the stem cells from the umbilical cord."
"And if the baby turns out not to be mine at all? Won't that raise a few questions at the hospital?" Jack made direct eye contact with her.
"It would. But short of Divine intervention, the baby is yours."
"I've been meaning to ask you; how exactly it is you came to be pregnant?" Jack shifted in his chair.
"Apparently I'm not the only one who should possibly be doubting their genius. If you don't know that at you're age Jack then I don't suppose I would have any success explaining it to you." Irina shook her head in dismay.
"That isn't what I meant. I was referring to your age. It may have been a long time since health class but I'm pretty certain most women at fifty-two are unable to conceive."
"Quite right but I'm not fifty-two." Irina placed her fork on her plate, prepared to enlighten her companion.
"Many things may have been revealed to me over the last twenty years but I have seen your KGB profile. Your date of birth is March 22, 1951; you're taking the aversion to aging to a whole other level Irina." He set his mouth firmly.
"In the USSR children were identified early on as to their skills. By the time I was five the government had decided I would become an athlete. I was luckier than most, because my parents lived in Moscow, I did not have to leave home to train." She paused to recall the memory and allow Jack to catch her direction of thought.
"My mother's family lived in the country; they had an entire stable of horses which I took to immediately. The athletic advisors would have us experience every sport imaginable before they placed us. They believed I had potential in a few areas but I loved the horses so they designated me an Equestrian and began my training. I showed unbelievable promise but then I hit a snag."
"What happened?" Jack had placed his fork on his plate as well, in order to give Irina his full attention.
"I grew." Had Jack not seen the sadness in her eyes, he would have laughed outright at the picture forming in his head. "A horse doesn't jump very well with six feet of weight on top of them. Thus ended my illustrious carrier as an Equestrian."
"What does that have to do with your age?" Jack's forehead crumpled in puzzlement.
"If you would reign in your impatience I will get to it." Irina scolded. "They weren't about to give up on me. Height may be debilitating in the sport I was in but it can be advantageous in many others. Besides horses I loved swimming and skating and found it difficult to choose between the two as it turned out so did the athletic advisors."
"You were a figure skater?" Jack inquired.
"Not even close. I had very little balance in my youth; I would have spent more time on my ass than my feet. I was a speed skater and butterfly and free style swimmer.
"I began training for both and advanced quickly. My training schedule was hectic and with my educational periods added it became almost unbearable but I was determined to make the Olympic team for both events. I rationalized that one was a summer sport and the other was winter, making it tangible. When the 1968 Olympics came about, I decided to attempt the qualifiers for speed skating. I finished with the fastest time among women in the Soviet Union. But I was only fifteen and the committee thought I was too young to participate, they revoked my privilege to leave the country to compete." Irina's lips turned down, frowning at the injustice.
"I knew the outcome would be the same for my qualifiers for swimming; I raced any. It just about killed my fifteen year old spirit when Lyndmila Titora won the gold medal in speed skating and set an Olympic record with a time of 46.1 seconds. I had an average time of 46 seconds flat and beat her in the qualifiers at a time of 45.7 seconds; she was a hack."
"So why didn't you just wait for the next Olympic year and qualify again?" Jack asked.
"I was training to do just that. What I didn't know was that the KGB had been watching me for two years at that point, they didn't want me leaving the country before they could fill my head with patriotic propaganda. The KGB had been the ones to block my admittance to the team and had every intention of doing the same in 1972. Khasniau was intrigued by me and was desperate to recruit me. So desperate, he forged my paperwork so they believed I was two years older than I was. I was sixteen when they coerced me into joining."
"Coerced?" An eyebrow was raised across the table from her.
"It was a great honor to be asked to sever Russia but I was raised in an athletic arena where you serviced your country by performing to the best of your ability. I wanted to prove my athletic talent in an international forum."
"So why didn't you turned the KGB down?"
"Like you, I was an idealist who wanted to service my country. When I was told in no uncertain terms, I would never be permitted to compete with the Olympic team because I was needed in the KGB, I made the only choice I could." Jack nodded along in understanding. "So that was the longwinded version of telling you I was born March 22, 1953 and am fifty, not fifty-two."
"I see." Jack resumed eating.
"I bare my childhood angst and all you have to say is: 'I see'?" The accusation was stated with gentle ribbing.
"I'm sorry; I'm picturing you at fifteen arguing the validity of their decision not to send you to France for the Games." Jack covered his smirk with a mouthful of food.
"Yes, I can see how picturing a young her having her dreams dashed would amuse you." She bit out sharply.
"While fifty is younger than fifty-two, it still seems old to be pregnant." Jack challenged further.
"It's apparently more common than you think. According to my first doctor, women in their late forties, early fifties are finding themselves pregnant more often. There is an on going debate about the issue but causes range from by-products in the foods commonly eaten today, methods of birth control and stress, all contributing to the longevity of childbearing age."
"How….uninteresting." Jack announced with a slight roll of his eyes. He got no response from the woman across from him. "You still haven't told me what you have planned for today."
"I haven't got anything planned. I expected you would keep yourself busy." Irina gathered both her plate and Jack's, which had was not done with, and entered the house in the direction of the kitchen.
"Well then I think I'll visit the town. The house is feeling cramped suddenly." Jack glared at her back.
"Fine." She called over her shoulder.
"I'm taking your car."
"Fine." She said again. "Keys are on the front hall table."
Jack retreated to his room to shower and change to go into town. Standing at the doorway to the living room after dressing, Jack watched Irina lounge comfortably on the sofa with a book in hand.
"I'll be back later."
"Fine." Her replied wasn't accompanied by any movement.
"Goodbye." Jack waited.
"Fi-" She caught herself and looked up at Jack. "Goodbye." She said softly.
Satisfied with the response, Jack turned and walked out the door, leaving a disappointed woman behind. She had not expected Jack to jump at the first opportunity to leave her company and was hurt by it. The morning had been filled with plans as to how they would spend the day and it seemed none of them would come to fruition. Stamping down the sorrow, Irina returned her attention to her book.