Here's part three. Thank you all so much for the reviews! They really mean a lot!
The Time She Fell for a Lie
It was time. After an eternity of lies and tricks, after marrying Jack Bristow and having their daughter, after learning everything she could about U.S. government secrets, the KGB was going to extract her. And they were going to do it tonight.
Irina looked out the frosted window of the place she had called home for so many years, going over the plan in her mind once again. She was going to get into her car and drive, and, as planned, she would be driven off the road and into the icy depths of a bay. She was going to fake her own death, leave her life in America behind, and return home.
At least, that was what she kept telling herself.
This was never meant to last. Irina told herself, repressing a sigh. You always knew you'd have to leave someday.
She couldn't continue to grieve like this. Her mission had been completed. She had served her country, and that was her purpose in life. Her resolve set, Irina turned and prepared to walk out the door. Jack was expecting her…he thought he'd be meeting her at a restaurant tonight.
"Have fun, Mrs. Bristow!" Monica, the babysitter they'd hired, chirped from her seat on the couch.
Irina glanced back at her, and forced a tight smile. "Thank you, Monica. Sydney's already asleep, so she shouldn't give you too much trouble. We'll be back around eleven."
"Sounds good." Monica flipped another page in the book she was glued to.
Irina put her hand on the doorknob, and then hesitated for a fraction of a second. She had enough experience as an agent to know when she was being watched. Very slowly, she turned towards the staircase, only to be faced with her six-year-old daughter.
"Mommy?"
"Sydney!" Irina tried to sound exasperated, but didn't quite manage it. "You should be asleep!" Upon closer inspection, she noticed that her daughter was trembling. "What's wrong?"
Sydney seemed unwilling to come closer, as if she still expected to be shouted at. "I was asleep." She said softly. "But then I had a really, really bad dream. Can you please come tell me a story before you leave?"
Irina let out a long sigh. "Why don't you have Monica tell you one, sweetie?" She suggested half-heartedly.
The little girl looked up at her with wide, pleading brown eyes. "Please, Mommy?"
There was something so sad in her daughter's voice that Irina knew she wouldn't be able to refuse. Besides, after tonight, they'd most likely never see each other again. But she willed herself not to think about that. "Alright." Irina caved, approaching the stairs. "Monica? I'll only be a few minutes."
"It's cool." She heard Monica answer as Sydney took her hand and pulled her up the stairs into her bedroom.
"So tell me about this dream." Irina said gently as they settled on the bed.
Sydney buried her face in her mother's arm. "It was bad!" She murmured, her voice muffled. "I was at the playground, and I was having a lot of fun. But then all of my friends left, so I wanted to go too. But you and Daddy weren't there! I looked all around, but I couldn't find you! Nobody wanted to help me look, and pretty soon it got dark…"
Irina stroked her hair reassuringly as she trailed off, evidently close to tears. "It was only a dream, sweetheart. Daddy and I would never leave you." She made this last statement with a trace of guilt that went unnoticed by the six-year-old.
"I know. But it was still scary." Sydney yawned, curling up.
With an affectionate smile, Irina nodded. "So how about that story?"
"Could you tell me a new one?" Sydney asked eagerly.
Irina nodded again. "I know one you'll like. It's kind of like Alice in Wonderland." She said.
Sydney brightened immediately. Alice in Wonderland was one of her favorite stories. "What's it called?"
"It's called the Wizard of Oz." Irina began, watching in amusement as Sydney squirmed eagerly. "It's about a girl named Dorothy, and her dog, Toto. They lived on a farm, but one day a tornado blew their house far, far away. They landed in a place called Oz."
"And there was a wizard there, right?" Sydney prompted.
Irina laughed. "Mmm-hmm, I'm getting to that. So Dorothy and Toto went to Oz, where a beautiful witch named Glinda gave her a pair of magical ruby slippers. But the evil witch who lived in Oz didn't like that, and tried to steal the shoes from Dorothy. But Dorothy made good friends with a Scarecrow, a Tinman, and a cowardly Lion, and together they defeated the witch and went to see the wizard. When Dorothy asked the Wizard to help her get home, she realized that she had the power to go home by herself all along. So she clicked her ruby slippers together three times, and found herself back on her farm. She was so happy to be home that she never took it for granted again." She finished softly.
Sydney was positively beaming at her. "That was the best story ever!" She whispered.
Irina grinned. "Besides Alice in Wonderland?"
"Yeah, besides that."
Gazing at her daughter, Irina realized for the umpteenth time that she was so much like her father. She knew that when she left, Jack would take care of Sydney. They'd be alright.
"Ready to go to sleep?" She asked gently.
Sydney stifled another yawn, looking none-too-thrilled about having to go to bed. She didn't protest, however. "I guess. I wish you could stay here with me, though."
Her statement made her mother stiffen. It was only an innocent statement. She knew that Sydney was simply referring to not wanting to be left with the babysitter, but for Irina it took on a whole other meaning. She stared vacantly across the room, searching for an answer. But when she returned her gaze to her daughter, it was only to see that Sydney's eyes were closed.
Irina sighed, leaned down, and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry." She whispered to her sleeping child, silently rising from the bed and making her way over to the door. Framed in the doorway, Irina hesitantly looked back. She realized, now, that she would never really be a mother to the little girl asleep in her bed. She'd never help Sydney learn to read, or comfort her through her first heartbreak, or watch her graduate. How could she have been stupid enough to even imagine doing any of those things?
She had been ordered to live a lie, and Irina had fallen into that lie so completely that she had melded with Laura Bristow, had become her. And that was why she had to leave now.
Tearing her gaze away from her daughter with a twinge of pain, Irina closed the door behind her.
