A WOMAN WITH A PLAN Eyghon

Author's notes: Many thanks to Lenafan for beta reading this story; what would I do without you?

Summary: Katya is not happy about her sister's death, something that should have never happened. She's going to make things right again. She is a woman with a plan.

Chapter 10: Relief

After three excruciatingly long hours, Sydney, Katya, and Irina saw Nadia show the first signs of life. Her skin was slowly losing its bluish complexion, and soon after that, her fingers twitched. Sydney knelt beside her and called out softly, "Nadia? Nadia, can you hear me?"

With a soft groan, Nadia eventually managed to keep her eyes slightly open and looked in the direction of her sister.

"It's me, it's Sydney, and you're okay now." She thought she saw a faint glow of understanding in Nadia's eyes before she closed them again.

"She's groggy. She just needs more time," reassured Katya, gently squeezing Sydney's shoulder.

Another two hours passed before Nadia opened her eyes again, and Sydney was relieved to see her more focused. She took in her surroundings with wide eyes and her mouth opened, but no words came out.

"Is this normal?" Sydney asked Katya, worry etched all over her face.

"I suppose. She…passed away before Irina, so we should expect a slower recovery."

"How do we know when it's okay to get her out of…" Sydney almost jumped in fright when Nadia suddenly clasped her arm, hanging on for dear life. "Nadia! God! It's okay, everything's okay, you're alright, relax…" Her soothing words only aggravated Nadia further, and her frustration grew by the minute.

Sydney was puzzled as to what Nadia wanted to say so badly but Katya quickly filled her in. "She remembers," she whispered.

"Oh God!" Sydney was horrified for forgetting about that part and hurriedly reassured her sister. "I know, I know about Sloane, Nadia. It's okay, it's taken care of; he won't hurt you…ever again."

She gave a pleading look to Katya who nodded and they took her out of the pool to set her on a blanket spread on the ground. "Come here." Sydney gathered her in her arms and hugged her tightly. She smiled as she felt Nadia squeeze back though much more lightly from muscle weakness. "Look, Katya and Mom are here," she said nodding toward the two women standing aside.

Irina didn't need any more encouragement and stepped forward to gently embrace her younger daughter.

"Mom," was the first word Nadia croaked out, and brought tears to her mother's eyes. Irina carried Nadia out of the cave with Sydney and Katya in toe.

Nadia was feeling worlds better by the time they arrived at LAX. Sydney was going to take her sister to a hospital to have her checked out but this was goodbye for Irina.

"So, where are you going?" Asked Sydney, turning to face her mother.

"Back to Russia, with Katya."

"Good. That's good. Will we uh…see each other again?"

Irina took Sydney's hands in her own. "Nothing would make me happier." Irina gave Sydney a warm smile. "And you can call me anytime you want, alright?"

"Yeah, Katya gave me the number."

Irina nodded. "Can I…is it okay if…" She sighed, flustered. "I…"

Sydney stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her mother, relief flooding through her. She'd missed this. A loving embrace from her mother, without any malevolent intent or ulterior motives. "Goodbye, Mom."

"Goodbye sweetheart. I'll see you soon."

Sydney smiled and squeezed her sister's shoulder as she passed her. She hugged Katya and whispered in her ear, "Next time you need to tell me something, call me, or it could get ugly."

"I'll take that into consideration."

They exchanged smiles and Sydney got into her car she'd left at the airport before her flight for Chawolo. She couldn't make out what Nadia and Irina were saying but she could tell the exchange was warm and teary-eyed for both parties.

Nadia joined her in the car a few minutes later and together they watched the jet take off again, with their mother and aunt on board. They waved and then left the airport.

Their stop at the hospital revealed nothing other than Nadia was in good health if not a little dehydrated and weak. The challenge would be to plan Nadia's return to civilisation, now that there was no APO and neither of them were part of any governmental agency. Bringing someone back from the dead was no easy task.

Vaughn had many questions, which Sydney promised to answer when they were alone. She made a mental note to call Eric the following week, once Nadia was settled in the apartment.

The following day, with Vaughn's help, Sydney had figured out what to do about Nadia's situation. She stifled her resentment and hate as she dialled Kendall's phone number. She could hear the smugness pour out of his mouth as he told her to come in with Nadia so they could discuss the best course of action and take care of paperwork.

That night, Nadia came home with a passport, driver's license, and birth certificate in the name of Nadia Bristow. Too many people knew Nadia Santos was dead and so dead she would stay. Kendall was doing Sydney a favour and his only condition was that Nadia was never to step foot in Argentina again. She would stay dead to her childhood friends and to her old employer, Argentinean intelligence.

Sydney had been afraid to tell her about the fact that they shared the same father but Nadia had welcomed the news with relief. Together they went to visit what was Jack's grave, although the coffin was empty. Ironically enough, it was placed right next to Laura Bristow's grave, as Jack had purchased both emplacements before he knew of his wife's treachery.

Nadia was thrilled with her newfound role of aunt and loved Isabelle as if she was her own daughter. Sydney was glad for the help and the company but she was worried about her sister. They'd never talked about what Sloane had done to her, about her experience with death or even about her coming back to life. Sydney felt it wasn't healthy to keep things bottled up inside and she feared Nadia might explode one day.

TBC