Believe

Chapter Two

Council

            Sydney stood outside the preschool building, Sark's warning ringing in her head repeatedly.  Rogan stood next to her, bouncing excitedly at the prospect of entering the building before him.  He'd never really gotten a chance to play with kids his own age.  It had always been him and Sydney and sometimes Eric or Jack.  He did get to see Mitchell sometimes, but Mitchell was an odd child and younger than him anyway.  Sydney had told him it was genetic.  So he was finally going to be able to play with people his own age.  Sydney gripped her son's hand while she came to grips with the realization that she had to let him go in.  She couldn't coddle Rogan.  He was an incredibly bright little boy and he deserved to have friends and be normal.  Even if his conception and birth weren't.  Sydney finally walked him inside and he became immediately fascinated by everything in the room.  There were toys and games and a lot of kids playing games.  He started to run to a group of kids, but Sydney held him back.

"Rogan, I want you to be careful."
"I will, Mommy."

"Don't talk to any strange adults.  And never go with them."
"Don't talk to strangers.  I know."
"You're a friendly little boy.  You have to be careful."

"I will."

"If someone tries to take you away from here, I want you to scream bloody murder."
" 'kay."

Sydney took his face in her hands and kissed his forehead.

"I love you, baby."

"Love you, Mommy."  Rogan pulled away from her and ran to a group of children playing.  He waited for them to acknowledge him instead of saying hi first.  And of course they did, because Rogan wasn't the type to go by unnoticed.  Sydney watched him for a moment, unwilling to leave.  A woman came over to her, her face sympathetic.

"He's your first one, isn't he?"

"Yes.  How did you know?"
"First time moms never want to leave.  I'm Delainia Ambrose, the teacher."

"Oh.  You must think I'm very dumb, I just worry about Rogan."
"Rogan Bristow?  We were waiting for you both to get here.  Don't worry about him."

As if on cue, her pager beeped.  She checked the number and saw Dixon's flashing on her screen.  Her heart dropped for a moment.  Dixon never paged her, not anymore.  She wasn't a field agent anymore, not really.  There had to be a reason for him to page her and it couldn't be a good one. 

"Work calls."
"Where do you work?"

"State Department."

"Ahhh, that must be an interesting job."

"Yes, it does get interesting sometimes.  Before I leave, Rogan isn't allowed to leave with anyone besides my father, Jack Bristow and me.  No one else."

"Have no worries, Ms. Bristow.  I'll keep an eye on your son."

Sydney smiled warmly, but her heart wasn't really into it.  She waved goodbye to Rogan and left the preschool, leaving Delainia Ambrose behind.  Delainia rolled her eyes.  Parents.  They acted like their children were in imminent danger all the time.

            Sark strode in the room confidently.  He was dressed impeccably in an Armani suit and looked ready to kill.  In fact, he was.  He stopped at the front desk where a blond secretary sat.  Sark placed his most charming smile on his face and leaned forward.

"Is McKennas Cole in?"

"Do you have an appointment?"  She asked dutifully.

"No, I don't.  But when he finds out I'm here, I'm sure he'll want to see me."
"And who are you?"

"Mr. Sark."
"Mr. Sark?  That's an odd name."
"Indeed.  Now is Mr. Cole in?"

"Not at the moment, Mr. Sark.  If you want to wait, he'll be back to this office in approximately an hour."

"I'll wait in his office."
"Oh, Mr. Cole wouldn't like that a bit.  You'll have to stay out here in the waiting room."
"I'm afraid I can't do that.  It would ruin the surprise."
"It's a surprise?"

"Oh, he has no idea I'm coming."  A small smirk appeared on his face, imagining the look on Cole's face when he saw Sark.  Sark detested the man.  He was crass and overly confident and Sark had the feeling he had replaced Sloane in the Council.  Rambaldi had to have three sides to his Council, three to the symbol he was so fond of.  He'd discovered the symbolism of it, the Council reflected twice around a circle of life.  They were in charge of Rambaldi's prophecy, the destiny of the Chosen One and the Passenger, each player's life.  Sark had hoped the Council would be gone after Sloane's murder, as would The Covenant.  If the Council disbanded The Covenant would too.  But he wasn't so sure he had changed the prophecy of The Passenger.  Not since he'd spoken with Irina.  That woman had the special ability of being able to get under his skin.  He hated that she could do that, but it must be genetic, since Sydney had that same ability.  If he hadn't changed the Prophecy, The Covenant and Council wouldn't have disbanded.  And he didn't think it had.  Irina held the highest position, the tip of the Rambaldi triangle and she seemed to believe very much in Rambaldi's greatness which only served to worry him more.

"Well, I guess it would be all right.  Since it's supposed to be a surprise."
"It is."

Sark walked on back to the office with another flirtatious smile to the secretary before taking a seat in Cole's designer leather chairs.  As much as he despised Cole, he did have good taste in furniture.

            Sydney hurried into the Operations Center.  It had taken her forever and a day to get there from the preschool and the whole time the curiosity was gnawing away at her insides.  Why would Dixon page her?  Something had to be seriously wrong and she was desperate to find out what it was.  Dixon was waiting for her in the center, not even hiding away in his office like usual.  Something really was up.  He ushered her into the conference room where Jack, Vaughn, Lauren, Weiss, and Marshall sat already.

"Sorry it took me so long to get here.  I was taking Rogan to preschool.  It was his first day."

Marshall perked up and leaned forward, "I've been trying to get Carrie to let Mitchell go to preschool.  He should be able to use his talents, you know, impress all the kids with how smart he is, but she won't let him go.  Maybe if I tell her you let Rogan go it'll work."

Dixon cut into the parental bonding moment with a serious tone, "I hate to interrupt this, but the meeting is about The Covenant and we need to get a move on."

Sydney stopped in her tracks at the mention of The Covenant.  She hadn't heard about them for almost a year and a half from the CIA.  The Covenant had basically dropped off the face of the earth as far as the intelligence world was concerned.  Dixon mentioning it was serious.  The Covenant plagued Sydney's thoughts daily, but they did not plague Dixon's.

"What about The Covenant, Dixon?"

"Go ahead and sit down, Syd.  All right, after Sloane's death by the hands of Sark The Covenant seemed to have just vanished.  Rambaldi's followers seemed to have lost interest in his prophecies and useless machines and Sydney mentioned it was because the Council had broken up.  Since Sloane's death, there was an opening in the Council.  McKennas Cole had resurfaced only months before Sloane's death so we've been keeping an eye on him.  He seemed likely to fill the position, since he was fairly high up in the organization. 

"The only remaining members of the Council were Bomani and Irina Derevko.  Derevko has been missing for several years; so we haven't been able to watch her.  We have been able to keep surveillance on Bomani, though.  Yesterday, he was murdered."

"Yesterday?  Why am I only hearing about this today?"  Sydney's amber eyes flashed protectively.  Everything having to do with The Covenant was top priority for her.  She needed to know if Rogan was in immediate danger and she needed to know it instantaneously.  Finding out about Bomani's death a day late was not acceptable to her.  She sighed, waiting for Dixon's answer as her mind traveled to Sark's visit.  Was that why he'd come?  Did he know about Bomani's death and that was why he had warned her about leaving Rogan in day care? 

"We thought it would be best if we had all the information before we involved you, Sydney."

"We?"

"Your father and I."

Sydney rolled her eyes and glared at her father.  He was always trying to protect her from things she didn't need protecting from. 

"Why do you think Bomani's death is such an imminent threat?"

"We're worried that his death means someone else was trying to get in on the Council.  Which means the Council is still very much alive as is The Covenant."

"So they've just been waiting for an opportunity to take Rogan."

"Or maybe they're just biding their time as the insane Rambaldi Prophecy is fulfilled."

"No.  Sark said that Irina told him I was to die according to The Prophecy.  After the Chosen One has fulfilled her duty she would be murdered by the Harbinger or some crap like that."

"Think of your sources, Sydney.  I know you trust Mr. Sark for some reason, but he did get the information from Irina.  Who is part of the Council.  Maybe she fed him a line or maybe he fed you one."
"Oh, no.  This has nothing to do with Sark and me, Dixon.  This is about The Covenant."
"Which Sark could be a part of. You don't really know, do you?"

"I do.  Sark wouldn't be a part of The Covenant.  He's been fighting them since the moment he escaped CIA custody.  Almost two years ago."

"All the same, Sydney, I'd watch who you'd trust."

Sydney narrowed her eyes, feeling like she was being attacked by Dixon.  Her former partner and recent uptight boss. 

"The real reason we called you in here, Sydney-" Jack said, cutting into the glaring contest Dixon and Sydney seemed to have gotten themselves into, "is we'll need you to return to being a field agent again.  You'll have to help go in undercover with The Covenant, maybe try to squeeze information from Sark."
"I haven't talked to Sark in awhile, not really."

"I was under the impression he calls to check in with you."
"Not hardly."

Jack let it go, knowing she was lying.  If she didn't want everyone to know about her phone calls with Sark, it was her prerogative.

"So you will become a field agent again?"

"Of course.  I'll do anything to rid myself of The Covenant.  I feel like I'm looking over my shoulder and that's even when I think I'm safe.  I'm back."

"Wonderful.  We have a mission for you now, in fact."  Dixon said, taking control of the meeting once more.

"Sign me up, then."

            McKennas Cole entered his office, whistling a tune.  Bomani had been found dead yesterday morning, so everything was going according to plan.  Irina would be pleased as well.  He saw a blond head peeking up from his leather chairs, a sign that Sark had shown up.  Irina had said he would. 

"Mr. Sark, delightful to see you.  I like the change in your hair again.  You're just that kind of man that looks good with any kind of hair."

Sark stared at him for a moment, seeming a little off kilter.  Sark must have been depending on that element of surprise or maybe he just didn't like people talking about his hair.

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Mr. Sark, though I can't say I'm sorry."

"I'm not uncomfortable, Mr. Cole.  I am curious, however.  How did you know I was here?"
"I've been expecting you."  Cole walked to the tray of drinks displayed on a bureau in the office.  He poured a couple of glasses of scotch and offered one to Sark.  Sark sniffed it and studied it intently before taking a sip of the amber liquid.  McKennas, however, took several long gulps and emptied the glass immediately.
"Why?"
"Oh, don't be so suspicious, Julian.  Bomani's dead and of course you'd come to me for answers."
"Well, McKennas-" Sark drawled his name out deliberately.  He hated it when people called him Julian, unless it was Sydney and occasionally Irina could get away with it.  But for Cole to have the audacity irked him.

"I'm glad I did not disappoint you.  Since you brought Bomani up, you wouldn't know anything about his death, would you?"

"Well, yes.  I hired someone to kill him.  Point blank in the head, might I add.  I never really got into the whole killing people thing.  I prefer torture.  So I send people to do my killing for me."
"I never expected you to admit to it so easily."
"Aw, were you hoping to torture me?  I do hate disappointing people when it comes to torture."

"Why did you kill Bomani?"  Sark tried to get the conversation back on track.  McKennas Cole was an odd man.  He seemed so cheerful and friendly, but of course, that probably made him all the more dangerous.  Cole was sicker than he was.

"To make room for you in the Council, naturally."

Sark almost choked on his drink, but was able to keep his game face on. 

"Room for me?"

McKennas smiled smoothly and shrugged before taking his own chair behind his desk.