Chapter Six
Willow sat quietly and watched the two women. They seemed to be at an impasse for words and actions. She knew little of what happened but the daughter looked white as a ghost. Willow surmised that something more than Irina hadn't seen her in a long time was on the go. She looked at Irina questioningly, "should I leave you?"
Irina looked over at Willow and shook her head. "I want to speak with you Willow, but I need a minute with Sydney." Irina gave Willow a gratification smile as she left the room.
The two women looked at each other a moment longer before the tears sprang from Sydney's eyes and then, just as quickly as they started, the tears dried up. "You lead me to believe that you were dead and now here you are? Do you realize how torn up I was? Night after night, month after month and then it dragged into years, I cried for you. When I graduated, you weren't there yet I cried because mom couldn't see me! When dad would go away on those long trips and I'd be alone with a Nanny, I only wanted you to come hug me and tell me a bedtime story, but you couldn't because you were dead! Ever since you left I was grieving for you and you have been alive all this time?"
"Sydney," Irina spoke in a methodic voice. "I never wanted to leave you but I had no choice. I worked for the KJB and was sent to spy on your father and after a time, they extracted me by force. I spent a long time in a Kashmir prison for treason because the KGB believed that I was trading secrets to the USA, which I was not. There were other reasons they put me there but the punishment was great, hellish to be precise. There was nothing worse than losing you though Sydney. Your father found out that I was alive and forced me to keep it a secret in return for not turning me in to the United States government. Force is a harsh word, we sort of came to an agreement and I was all right with it because I thought you were in good hands. I didn't feel as though I deserved to know you after what I'd done. Sydney I would give anything to change it all but I can't." Irina's facial expressions displayed a plethora of emotions, pain, anguish, anger at herself and devastation in its highest form. She knew that she wasn't choosing the best words but hoped that Sydney would somehow understand.
"Why are you here now and why did you take me out of my house like that?" Sydney questioned, as she tried to act like an agent rather than a daughter.
"I was sent here by the FSB to do some checking into things concerning a program that you all have going. It concerns demon studies and what they can do for the government. Do you know anything about that?" Irina asked in hopes that she did not.
"No," Sydney said. "If I did, I wouldn't tell you anyway! I don't know you and you work for the other side, who's to say that you don't have another bad plan and just what is your name, is it Laura?"
"My name is Irina Derevko," Irina said somberly. She knew that making things right with Sydney would not be easy but wasn't prepared for the hurt it would cause them both.
"Dad wouldn't let me work on that case." Sydney rose to her feet with a flabbergasted look on her face. "Did you stay in contact with him?"
"No," Irina replied in an abrupt tone, as she too stood up. "Sydney, I can not allow you to leave this house because the reason I got you out of your house in the manner that I did, is because your life is in danger."
Sydney laughed uproariously. "You can't stop me!" She tried to side step Irina who took her down with a leg sweep. Sydney got up quickly and shoved Irina against the wall. As she turned to run, Irina grabbed her from behind and flipped her to the floor.
"Sydney, don't make me do this!" Irina shouted, as Sydney kicked away from her. Both women got up at the same time but Irina was a hair faster on the punch and knocked Sydney back to the ground. Before Sydney could move, Irina injected her with something that stopped all movement. "You will stay here and try to rest," she pulled out a small pad of paper. "This might help answer your questions while I attend to business."
- - - - - -
Irina found Willow in the room down the hall. "Thank you for choosing a room without any windows." Irina said in a tired voice. "I've phoned Marshall to come and he will fill her in on everything when she awakes. Willow there is so much that you need to know." Irina bent down and kissed her lover fervently.
"No Irina, I can wait." Willow said and returned the kiss. "Whatever happened between you and your daughter is important. I trust you fully. I got you a nice hot bath ready because you look like you could use one. Not because your not clean because you are clean but," Irina pulled the redhead close and began kissing her down the neck.
"I understand what you mean Willow. I will go if you agree to come with me." There was no way Willow could say no, especially after the kissing and fondling Irina was administering to her.
- - - - - - - - -
Willow awoke to voices in the hall. "I want her to have full disclosure," Irina was saying to someone. "I've done enough damage to her and I thought that if you spoke to her about this danger she is in, she would listen. I will go meet Jack on your behalf. This ends today one way or another. Did Spike get any information out of Maggie?"
"No he didn't and I will do my best to speak with Syd for you Ira." Came the reply from Marshall. "What about the others?"
"Sydney is your only concern at this time," Irina said and left the house.
As Marshall stood perplexed, Willow came out of the room. "Would you like me to go get you guys some brunch, maybe get her some clothes to clean up in and such?"
"That would be great but I think I want you to stay here. Just do the brunch real quick then come on in the room. Ira is about to blow this thing wide open and I don't want us all separated."
"What about Spike and Maggie?" Willow asked concerned for her vampire friend. A sudden fear swept across her features, "all those demons and people in the initiative?"
"I don't know because she's on the war path. Sit tight and maybe help me out a little here if you can."
- - - - - - - -
Jack Bristo stood in a dank warehouse where he instructed Marshall to meet him. He was growing more impatient by the minute because every minute lost was a minute of danger for Sydney. As he glanced around the room, he felt a familiar air and then was knocked to the ground from behind. He turned his head and found that he was staring up into the barrel of a gun and eyes of Irina Derevko. "You tell me now what the hell is going on or I will kill you where you lay!" She shouted with rage in her voice.
Jack kicked out and connected with her leg. She stumbled slightly but managed to hit him hard with the gun. "Don't move Jack! I want to know why you subjected Sydney to this insane plot to make human/demon combinations! This is a ploy that I would finger Arvin Slone for but not you!" She kicked him hard, as he tried to go for his own gun.
"You've gone mad! I always knew you had a screw loose but my god Irina!" Jack pulled a pistol out of his sock and fired it quickly. Irina dodged the bullet but he tripped her up and held the gun to her face. "Now it's my turn you stupid bitch! You give me back my daughter! You lost all rights to her when you left her like the coward that you were!"
"Is that what this is all about? You hate me so much that you are willing to destroy your own daughter Jack? I left Sydney with you because I thought you would love and nurture her. I see now that this was a huge error on my part! If I would have known that you were going to allow your maniacal girlfriend to install some sort of chip into my daughter and turn her into some super soldier there is no way in hell I would have left her with you! You bastard," Jack looked into Irina's eyes and saw pure rage in them. Gone was the love he used to wake up to daily, gone were the beautiful eyes that he could stare at for an eternity, and their replacing them were the eyes of a stone cold killer.
"Can you prove any of this Irina?" Jack knew all the cruel things this woman had done but he also knew the compassion in her eyes was real, or hoped it was. He no longer saw that compassion anywhere and knew it was all because Sydney was in danger.
"Yes she can prove all of it," Jack turned to the voice with a shocked look on his face, as his daughter spoke. "You kept me from my mother and you tried to turn me into something non-human. Put the gun down dad, now!"
Irina sported a stunned look on her face as she looked at her daughter. "Sydney, he's chipped." She said softly, as green liquid began to spew from Jack's mouth.
Irina lifted her device that confirmed Jack had indeed been got, as a guttural growl emerged from the man she once was so fond of. "Sydney, get out of the way!" Irina shouted and fired a tranquilizer at Jack.
"That assignment in south America last year," Marshall echoed from the top of the stairs of the old building. "He acted a little off since then."
Jack's super soldier form charged at Irina blindly. He fired off rounds of ammunition from his hands and mouth with ease. The ex KJB agent moved swiftly but was having trouble blocking the blows from the demon. "Irina look out!" Marshall shouted, as a small bomb came flying out of the demon's mouth.
"Get out now!" Irina shouted and fired the tranquilizer gun once more.
"I can defuse it," Willow said and rushed to the ticking bomb. She worked quickly and defused the bomb at the last second.
"Marshall, take him to the house with Maggie. I want to find out if we can save him." Irina said, as she moved closer to Sydney who was racked with sobs. "I'm so sorry Sydney, for everything." Irina placed her arms around the young woman and pulled her to her feet.
"Marshall told me everything," Sydney said in a trembling voice. "I didn't want to believe him but I had to. I wanted out of that house for so long now because dad turned colder then he ever was. He was always standoffish with me but I knew he loved me. Lately, I didn't even know if he loved me and he probably didn't because my dad probably died in South America. I used to dream that you would come rescue me and love me and here you are." Sydney sank back to her knees with Irina's arms planted firmly around her. "I love my dad and I know he loved me but that's not dad is it."
"Sydney, it's going to be all right. I will do everything I can to save him." Irina said, as she wiped the tears from Sydney's eyes and rubbed her back.