In The Air Tonight, Part 17
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For one of the few times since he'd joined the CIA, Michael Vaughn was truly frightened…all the way down to the marrow in his bones. There was no explicable reason for this fear; yet he couldn't deny the irrational panic threatening to overwhelm him. Not wanting to know the answer, but knowing he had to ask the question, Vaughn swallowed hard and then asked, "What do you mean she may have no choice?"
"That is rather a long story, Mr. Vaughn," Irina answered soberly. "Are you prepared to listen to the answer?"
Whatever the terrible news was, it didn't appear that Irina meant to keep it from him. For some reason, that helped soothe his nerves. Unless it's all a set up… he pondered in response to his line of thought. Well, there's only one way to find out…
Vaughn answered her question with a question. "What I want to know is, why me? Why bring this intel to someone who obviously doesn't trust you? Why not entrust your information to someone more likely to believe you?" Someone like Jack Bristow… Vaughn thought.
Vaughn might as well have said his last thought aloud. "I tried to talk to Jack, to explain. He wouldn't listen. He's too stubborn for his own good sometimes."
"That still doesn't answer why you chose me. There are several other Task Force members whose identities I'm sure you are aware of; it didn't have to be me. You killed my father, ruined my life. Why the hell do you think I, of all people, would listen to a word you say?"
"There are several reasons," Irina answered. "First, while you may believe I have taken something away from you, Mr. Vaughn, I also gave you something…my daughter."
Irina let that statment sink in before continuing. "Second, I know the lengths to which you would go to save Sydney. You gave Ineni Hassan's family witness protection through the U.S. Government to keep Sydney from being killed. In an extremely risky move, you infiltrated SD-6 during my raid of the facility in order to protect her. You followed her to Taipei to assist in reacquiring Will Tippin, expressly against CIA orders…an op that almost killed you. And you faced me, the woman you assume to be your father's killer, just to keep Sydney from having to when the CIA planned on forcing her to meet with me."
"And third, I believed I could be…successfully persuasive…if we spoke in person. Staring down the barrel of a gun tends to make people more…cooperative; don't you agree, Mr. Vaughn?" Irina asked, caressing the side of the handgun she held.
Vaughn glared at Irina venomously. "F*** you!" he cursed.
"Now, now…there's no need to get hostile simply because I spoke the truth, is there?" A ghost of a smile touched the corners of Irina's mouth. "Or perhaps your foul temper is due to your state of undress? That's a situation easily rectified, if it will improve your mood."
Irina edged around the corner of the bed, closer to where Vaughn sat. "Remove the pillows," she ordered, suddenly all business. "Toss them onto the floor on the far side of the bed."
Before Vaughn even had time to formulate a plan, Irina warned him, "Whatever it is that you're planning to do…don't. This is a show of faith, Mr. Vaughn. Abuse my trust and I assure that you will suffer…" Irina pointed the pistol about a foot and a half lower, leaving Vaughn no doubt as to what her new target was. He followed Irina's direction and slowly picked up and tossed the pillows onto the floor on the other side of the room.
"Good. Now slide up so that your back is against the headboard." Slowly, Vaughn complied, pushing himself cautiously backward until his buttocks grazed the edge of the mattress. "Put your arms out and place your palms flat against the wall where I can see them." Vaughn grunted as he awkwardly contorted his arms into the required position, feeling the muscles in his shoulders stretch uncomfortably.
Irina, keeping her eyes and the weapon trained on him, plucked Vaughn's robe from the floor with catlike grace and speed. Stepping back to the end of the bed, she thoroughly searched the item, checking for anything in the pockets or hidden within the fabric that could possibly be used as a weapon. Finally, satisfied, Irina tossed the terrycloth robe at him, landing it in his lap. "Go ahead and put it on…but no sudden moves," she warned.
Gingerly, Vaughn got onto his knees and wrapped the robe around his body, slipping his arms into the sleeves and tying the belt at the waist. Arranging the terrycloth to cover himself, he sat back down, stretching his legs out and crossing them at the ankles. "Now what?" he asked grimly.
Irina reached into a back pocket and tossed a set of handcuffs at him. "Attach your left wrist to the bedpost."
Michael Vaughn liked this situation less and less by the moment. Chaining himself to his own bed in the company of Irina Derevko was, in his opinion, more humiliating than being forced to sit naked in front of her.
Vaughn's glower of defiance gave Irina her answer. "Mr. Vaughn," she told him calmly, "you will either comply with my request, or else I will not give you the information you need to save Sydney."
Irate, Vaughn stared at Irina for a long, tense, moment. Irina stared back serenely, secure in the knowledge that he would eventually back down. To his self-disgust, Vaughn did, lowering his eyes and huffing while he attached a handcuff to his left wrist and then attached the other side to the bedpost.
"That's better," Irina said, pulling up Vaughn's desk chair to the end of the bed and sitting down. "Now I can get comfortable." This earned Irina yet another foul look from Vaughn. Irina chose to ignore it.
"As you know, about six weeks ago, Emily Sloane discovered the truth about Arvin's plans to assemble Rambaldi's device. Apparently unbeknownst to her, Sloane approached me with an offer: he wanted to sell me his entire Rambaldi collection, amassed over a 30-year timeframe. He was willing to give up his quest solely to retain the love of his wife. I was in Tuscany at the time of the CIA raid in order to finalize our agreement and arrange for the transport of his collection."
Vaughn was shocked by the news that Arvin Sloane had actually planned on leaving the world of organized crime because of his love for his wife. To him, Sloane had always appeared heartless and ruthless; it was hard to imagine him feeling real love for anyone beside himself. But apparently this was exactly what Irina was telling him.
"After losing Emily during the raid in Tuscany, Sloane became despondent. Even after exacting his revenge on Agent Dixon by ordering the assassination of his wife, he became increasingly morose and disconnected. About three weeks ago, he left the compound in Zurich suddenly, informing Sark to carry on the quest without him, as he may never return."
Again, Vaughn was surprised. Sloane went into hiding?
"It was during the time of Arvin's disappearance that I was able to thoroughly study the artifacts stolen from the NSA archives. During the study of the complete Rambaldi manuscript, I discovered a terrible truth; one worse than I had feared."
"What 'terrible truth'?" Vaughn asked.
Irina continued on as if she hadn't even heard his question. "For many years, I had believed that the Prophecy…"
"What do you mean, 'for many years'? Page 47 was only deciphered last year."
"I have known for many years about the Prophesy woman, long before Page 47 revealed her description. There are many mentions of her sprinkled throughout Rambaldi's writings. I truly believed for many years that the Prophecy referred to me. I was obsessed with Rambaldi; obsessed with discovering the higher meaning of his studies. It made sense that I would be the woman to bring forth his works."
"But, after seeing Sydney in Taipei, realizing how much more she looked like the Prophesy woman from Page 47 than I, I began to wonder. I pored over the information given on Page 47 over and over, trying to make sense of my hunch. After entering CIA custody and spending more time with Sydney, the true meaning of Rambaldi's words came to me. I understood all that was at stake. It was then that I decided that, at all costs, I needed to help her. I needed to save her from her fate."
"While my original purpose remained, that of obtaining the intel on where to find the Rambaldi artifacts, a new purpose formed. I knew that somehow, Sydney needed to be convinced to leave this life, to get away from the CIA, SD-6, and especially, to get away from Arvin Sloane. Everything I did while in custody became a machination to keep Sydney from fulfilling the Prophesy."
Irina was silent for a long moment. When she continued, her voice, normally cool and in control, was tinged with frustration and regret.
"When you came to me after contracting the virus, I helped you. I gave Sydney the information she needed in order to procure the serum to cure you. What you don't know is that I had a very specific reason for doing this."
"I did not help you because I felt indebted to you after saving my life after Jack tried to frame me, nor did I help you because of your promise to divulge your feelings for Sydney to me if I did…. I helped you because I knew, I knew that my daughter was in love with you. I knew that my plan would soon bring SD-6 to an end and that then she would be free…free from Sloane; free from the rules and regulations imposed by the CIA; free to follow her heart and create a new life with you. I had hoped that, given the opportunity to create a normal life for herself outside of this world, she would jump at the chance."
This news stunned Michael Vaughn. Irina had wanted them to be together?
"You see, Mr. Vaughn, if Sydney had decided to leave the CIA, decided to move on with her life, then she would never fulfill the Prophecy. I knew her current path was bringing her closer and closer to that fate forecast by Rambaldi 500 years ago. But…even with everything I tried to do, I could not sway her from this path. She would not allow herself move on, not let herself be happy without first avenging the wrongs done to her by Sloane."
"I don't understand how any of what you've told me proves Sydney's tie to the Prophecy," Vaughn said.
"Throughout the manuscript are encoded strands of DNA, much like the ones found in the manuscript of Rambaldi's study of the human heart. When the strands are correctly decoded and fused, it reveals the identity of the woman from the Prophesy. The DNA strand belongs to Sydney."
No! Vaughn's mind rebelled. It can't be! "Are you sure?" he asked, but he knew it was true by the look on Irina's face. The Prophecy woman was indeed Sydney Bristow.
Irina suddenly appeared very weary. "Despite my best efforts, all of my attempts to save Sydney have failed. It is happening as Rambaldi foretold; her fate is now sealed. Unless Sloane is found soon, the Prophecy will be fulfilled. Sydney will bring Il Dire to life."