{A/N – hey there folks. Thanks for the reviews! I've just seen the season three finale and I'm having alias withdrawal symptoms now!! Bring on season four even though its going to be two episodes shorter which is so unfair :-( }

Jack arrived at the airport and entered. He spotted Arvin sitting waiting for him. He stood and walked over to him. Jack made a mental note to be careful around Arvin and heed his wife's warning.

"Jack... how are you?"

"I'm fine.... Arvin, how much do you know about Rambaldi?"

The question came as a shock to Arvin as he thought Jack had no idea of his obsession with the ancient philosopher.

"About as much as you know." He said as he thought of the implications with Laura's illness that could be made. "Why?"

"I was just wandering. You seem to be more interested in the information we could find rather than the antidote. I cant help wonder how different your feelings would be if it were Emily in that bed and not Laura."

"Jack you know how much I care for Laura and you. Your like family to Emily and I and Sydney's always felt like a daughter to me."

For some reason Jack cringed at the idea of Sydney being anything to do with his best friend who was becoming less like a patriot and more like a suspect with every case they worked on.

"Lets just get on the plane." Jack said as he walked over to the terminal. The bleeper went off and Jack mentally scolded himself for forgetting to use his op-techs. Any unnecessary attention could cost him this mission and in turn his wife's life. Jack emptied his pockets and looked over to Arvin as he walked back through the arch. Arvin's hand stealthily slipped into his pocket and pressed the button on his near identical key-ring to jacks which was lying on the table in a dish. The beeper didn't go off and Jack was handed his things. He returned the favour as the guards looked suspiciously at his partner who innocently took his hands out of his pockets and they got on to the plane.

"What happened there Jack?" Sloane said as he and Jack sat down as they got on the plane.

"I was just thinking of Laura and everything that's gone on in the last few days. Its just getting to me I guess. I'm sorry."

"Well it had better stay off your mind when the mission starts Jack. My life's in your hands." He replied as he looked out of the window.

As they sat there and prepared themselves for the impending mission, Jack thought of all that he had learned in the last few days and all that his wife had told him. He wondered what would have become of Sydney had Irina left or worse, taken her with her back to Russia. He pushed those thoughts out of his head as the seatbelt sign appeared and fastened the material across his waist.

The mission was beginning to worry Irina. She had been sitting in the hospital bed for hours since she awoke. She sighed as she rubbed her wedding ring and remembered the times when she and Jack had been happy. They had made countless memories and she intended for there to be many more. Suddenly she heard shouts from the hall.

"I WANT MY MOMMY!" Sydney kicked and screamed as two CIA issue doctors attempted to restrain her. Upon hearing her daughter, Irina got out of bed and headed for the door.

"Mommy!" Sydney shrugged off the grip of the second man and ran into her mothers arms. She buried her head into Irina's hair and began to cry. "I was so scared mommy. I know daddy says that I should never be scared because he'll always be there for me if I'm in trouble but I shouted for him and you but no-one came. The nasty man tried to stick a needle in me. He said it wouldn't hurt but it would mommy. It's a needle."

Irina wasn't surprised at the innocent intuitiveness of her daughter. After all she was part Bristow, part Derevko. The Bristow in her made it bad enough but the Derevko blood only fuelled her destiny to one day become something great. Irina hoped it would be for the good but she knew what an asset Sydney would be if she was taught by the wrong hands.

"Its ok honey. I'm here now and daddy will be back soon." The last thing she saw was Sydney's worried face as the corridor blackened and the floor travelled increasingly closer to her face or was it her face that travelled increasingly closer to the floor?

"Get her onto the gurney now." A burly doctor shouted as he felt for Irina's pulse. "Her pulse is very weak but she's strong. This woman's a fighter." Sydney watched in horror as her mothers limp body was pulled up onto the bed with wheels and she was taken away.

Jack and Arvin ran along the dusty road as they were shot at by several guards. They had been sneaking into the main building and they were caught by KGB employees changing shift. They had ran around the back along the dirt road and now they were on their way into the building. As they entered they used the fake I.D.s given to them by op techs and fitted right in. After dumping their balaclava's at the entry point, the guards from outside came in and looked around.

"Hey you." Jack flinched as he turned to face the guard.

"Erm Da?" He replied.

"Did you see two men go through here with weapons?"

Jack pretended not to understand English and the guard ignored him carrying on around the corner.

Jack and Arvin proceeded to the research lab and watched as the guards swapped over. They walked right past the new guards pretending to be on their way out of the lab and right on cue Arvin slapped his head.

"Oh damn. I've forgotten my badge. Its in the lab on the table. "I'll just pop back in to fetch it."

"I'll come in with you too Henry." Jack added as the guards waved them past with a smile.

"I'm glad they didn't ask for my ID." Jack said as he removed the white coat and got out his tranq gun. "We didn't think about that."

"I know. It only occurred to me as we went through the doors." Arvin said as he handed his partner the darts he had tucked in his sock. Jack pulled off the corks and loaded them into his gun.

They looked around the lab and took in the sight. There were beds of people and soldiers with what looked like small pox but much more severe. They were groaning and sobbing. One man caught Arvin's arm and whispered to him.

"Kill e... please... end it." Arvin pulled out his gun and hit the man across the face knocking him unconscious and they walked over to the table.

"Do you think that's what Laura's got?" Jack said worriedly.

"Of course not. Jack they probably experiment with lots of different biological weapons here. This is what the KGB would do to us if we let them. Good thing we've got some one inside eh Jack?"

"Yeah. I'll look over here and you look on the computer system to see if they have any information on an antidote." Jack said trying to get the images of Sydney and Laura with the symptoms he had seen in the previous room. He walked over to a cabinet. It was loked and so Jack pulled out a small lock pick. In a few minutes the first lock was opened. It was then he discovered that the digital lock panel was the one that was locked by key and that was all he had opened.

He pulled out a small white tube and poured the liquid onto the panel. Sparks flickered into his face and the door swung open. Jack peered into the cabinet and saw lots of tiny named bottles and among them was a vile with the name 'Derevko' on it. He knew it was Laura's real name but how was he going to get the CIA to analyse it without telling them how he knew it would be to do with his wife? He decided to worry about that later and ripped the label off pocketing the bottle. With the small clue as to his wife's illness in his possession, Jack walked over to his partner and friend and glanced at the screen.

"Found anything?"

"No. I found the list of antidotes but it looks like it depends on the person. Without a small amount of their uninfected tissue, we cant find it."

"Uninfected?"

"Yes. It's a failsafe the KGB put in. They took some skin from the people that that they knew were carrying the dormant disease before it awakened in its victims. This way, the people they infected or who were naturally infected would have no idea how to get a cure and if any of their own got infected, the KGB would have some of that person's tissue to create a cure. They haven't got Laura's tissue. There's no need for them to. She must be naturally infected. Looks like we have no way to cure her. I'm sorry Jack."

"If we had some of her skin, how would we create a cure?"

"Jack, we don't have any of her..."

"...ARVIN. Don't question me. What would we do?"

"There's a chamber at the bottom of the adjacent corridor and it has the liquid in it that you add to the tissue to create a cure. Jack, what's going on?"

"Laura had some of her eggs frozen just in case she couldn't conceive later on in life when she was a teenager. I'd say that was when she was uninfected. We can take the liquid with us and the hospital can do the mixing." Jack lied clutching the vial in his pocket.

"Jack that's brilliant! Lets go." They headed off down the corridor as Jack hoped his wife was hanging in ok and that his daughter wasn't a carrier.

'They should know by now' He thought as the guards ran towards the broken door to the second lab. Jack and Arvin were of course far, far away from the room holding the case full of liquid that they would need to cure Laura.

Sydney sat on Irina's bed and watched as doctors came in and out of her mothers room. Each checking something different as they looked down at the little girl and sighed. They knew that she would soon be as sick as her mother and unless her father came back with a cure, they would both be dead by the end of the week.

{A/N - oh noooo!!! review please and you'll have more!!}