**The following takes place immediately after we see Sydney slide down the wall after her battle with Allison in the episode, 'The Telling.'
Music for this Chapter (on repeat) : Che Valiers De Sangreal and Malleus Mareficarum by Hans Zimmer from The Da Vinci Code Soundtrack, O Fortuna by Carl Orff
TWO
o
Jack felt his blood run cold when he got the call. Sydney was missing and possibly dead. Vaughn had gone back to the house after they landed from Mexico City, as promised to pick up Sydney for their weekend in Santa Barbara but the scene he found was horrific. Blood sprays and spatters on the walls in Sydney's bedroom, everything in the house had been broken or turned over from some heavy fighting and Will was bleeding to death lying in the bathtub. Francie and Sydney were nowhere to be found.
Vaughn immediately called the ambulance and the CIA, who rushed to the scene. DNA samples were taken from the blood smear on the wall in Sydney's bedroom and the rapid genetics test performed confirmed it was indeed Sydney's blood. Jack had arrived on the scene 10 minutes after he received the phone call from Vaughn and his heart sank at the news. Sloane. Sloane was responsible for this, Jack was sure.
Jack would stop at nothing to find out what had happened to his daughter. Will finally re-gained consciousness after three days and confirmed what they had already suspected, that 'Francie' was actually Allison Doran, the other Helix-double.
Weeks had now gone by, and no new leads on Sloane's whereabouts could be found. The trail had gone cold on both he and Irina Derevko. Jack wondered if Irina knew what happened to their daughter, or perhaps was even involved in her disappearance. All plausible explanations for Irina's motives in doing so made no sense though.
He had to find Irina; she was the only one who could help them now with her massive network and inside knowledge. The last few weeks had taken their toll on Jack. He wasn't eating, barely sleeping and working endlessly to find his daughter… and Irina. He sat at his desk going over everything he had on the case, again, looking for something he might have missed when he saw Marshall running towards him out of breath and stumbling to find his words. "Slow down, Marshall…" Jack was growing impatient and yet empathetic for the young man who was obviously in distress and had been since Sydney had disappeared.
"Sir… Agent Bristow… we've just received an email on a secure server concerning your daughter!" Marshall rambled out; sweat beads forming on his brow.
"Who's sending them, Marshall?" Jack asked already having an idea what the answer was.
"Your wife, I mean your ex-wife… Irina Derevko, sir." Marshall finally got out, unsure what to call this woman who baffled everyone in the office. "Here," he said handing Jack a half crumbled piece of paper, the ink smeared for Marshall's sweaty hands. The paper simple read, 'The Covenant… new organization dedicated to Rambaldi, run by a man called 'Lazarey,' with the help of Cuvee and Sloane.'
"Cuvee." Jack hissed his name remembering the encounter with the man in Kashmir.
Kendall heard the commotion and joined the group forming around Jack. "You received new Intel?" He demanded, "What's it say?" Taking the paper from Jack's hand and glancing over it quickly. "Well this can't be good. Who's this Intel from?" He asked looking around the small group gathering waiting for an answer, and finally zeroing in on Jack.
"Derevko." Jack replied evenly knowing Kendall's thoughts of the woman.
"Great! Just great. The only piece of Intel we get in two weeks comes from a manipulative Russian terrorist we know we can't trust, claiming that two of her former business partners, both as obsessed with Rambaldi as she is, are now involved in a new organization with this Lazarey man. How and the hell can we believe any of this?" Kendall threw his hand with the paper into the air.
Vaughn, ecstatic with any new leads on Sydney, didn't want to dismiss Irina's Intel as easily as Kendall had. "Sir, I know that Derevko has proved time and again she is not to be trusted but even if this is another one of her manipulations, her Intel has been good in the past, even if it later serves her own purposes..." He thought back to the Rabat mission and all the other times Irina had offered up information that later helped her in some way, "It still deserves our full attention on the off chance it might actually be accurate."
Kendall knew he had a point and agreed, "All right, go ahead… use all our resources."
Vaughn could hardly contain his smile as Kendall stormed off upset they were once again relying on Intel from Irina Derevko. Jack wasn't exactly thrilled about it either but her Intel in the past had been correct, even if it served Irina's own purpose he had to believe where Sydney was concerned Irina's purpose would be the same as theirs… to find her safely and quickly.
"I've got something!" Vaughn practically shouted from his desk where he'd been working feverishly on his computer trying to find out anything from Irina's Intel for the past 16 hours. "You aren't going to believe this," he said as Jack, Weiss, and Kendall surrounded his desk. "I've been looking on the Echelon System for anything on the Covenant, Cuvee, Sloane and this guy named Lazarey. Lazarey had a hit on the system." All eyes now narrowing in concentrating intently on what Vaughn was saying. "Pytor Alexei Lazarey, Russian businessman, with substantial funds from his seemingly legitimate business dealings in Russia and throughout Europe mostly dealing with charitable organizations and relief programs… it seems he is quite the philanthropist."
"We know who is probably bank rolling this new organization then," Kendall paused, "But why would a Russian philanthropist who donates money to needy causes be working with Cuvee and Sloane on a new organization devoted to Rambaldi?" Something about this didn't add up.
"Well, there's more," Vaughn began again, "Lazarey is a descendent of the Romanov family. His grandfather was the Tsar Nicholas II's brother Misha, whom Nicholas tried to abdicate the thrown to during the rebellion but Misha refused; and it seems that is where a great deal of the money from his charitable projects comes from, as the Romanov's were 'extremely' wealthy for Royalty. We've been working on trying to figure it out but there is some connection between the Romanov family and Rambaldi, I suppose his involvement has something to do with that."
"So what we know so far is that Sloane is working with two Russians on something that has something to do with Rambaldi, who has hidden things in Russia before… I'm really starting to hate that name…" Kendall huffed, shifting his weight on his hips, "and this information came from another Russian, Irina Derevko. Someone care to wager a bet that this new organization is located in Russia?"
"We can't be sure of that," Vaughn quickly added, his tone a little alarming, "Just because it involves Russians working on the Rambaldi Prophecy doesn't necessarily mean its located in Russia… look at Derevko's organization… she's Russian and it's global."
"Thank you, Agent Vaughn, for informing us again that Irina Derevko is Russian and that her organization is global. I'd forgotten." Kendall spat back at Vaughn with dripping sarcasm.
"Look, this is getting us nowhere, I believe-" Jack began but was cut off when Marshall came running over flustered as usual.
"We received another one… another email I mean, from her… from your wife, I mean ex-wife… I mean-"
"What is it, Marshall?" Jack quickly interrupted the young man's ramblings about what to call Irina in his presence.
"It's an address… of a warehouse… in Moscow."
"See!" Kendall grabbed the paper from Marshall. "Russia!" He smiled with a smug look before getting down to business. "This could be a trap. Derevko has set us up before and she may be in on all this. Either way, you know she will be there." He stare directly at Jack waiting for his rebuttal he knew was coming.
"Yes." Jack replied calmly knowing it was the truth. "But whether it is a trap or isn't, whether Irina is involved or isn't, makes no difference. If there is a chance that Sydney is there, I am going."
"Me too." Added Vaughn.
"Me too," Weiss stood from where he was sitting on the edge of the desk.
"Count me in." Came from Dixon.
"Me too." Marshall added in all seriousness, straightening his posture to seem more 'sure of himself.'
"What is this? The Volunteer Fire Brigade? Need I remind you that the final decision is mine?You don't get to chose what missions are acceptable and who goes! And you…" He said whipping his head around to Marshall, "you aren't even Field Rated."
"I've gone with Syd… I mean Agent Bristow before… and I could offer any technical assistance in case it is needed." Marshall pleaded his case to Kendall hoping to help in recovering Sydney. "She risked her life to save me, I want to return the favor."
Everyone remained silent as Kendall pondered letting them, go or not. Finally he sighed, throwing his hands up into the air. "Fine. Jack, this is your responsibility. This may be our only chance to ever have three wanted terrorists in the same place. I don't need to remind you all… that there are standing 'Shoot To Kill' orders on Derevko and Sloane if given the chance." He paused letting the information sink in. "Don't let this be another disaster, Jack." He added thinking about Panama before storming off in the other direction.
"Just one question," Weiss turned to Vaughn with a mischievous gleam in his eye, "The Romanov fortune, what are we talking about here… I mean roughly, how wealthy is wealthy if your Royal?"
Vaughn looked at Jack who was obviously annoyed by the question but was curious as well and nodded for Vaughn to proceed. "The estimated worth of the family's possessions, meaning money, property, jewels, etc. would be roughly, and this is just roughly… about $165 billion dollars." Vaughn choked out as the rest of the group's mouths dropped to the floor.
"You're jokin' right?" Weiss hit him in the arm, "I mean, no one has that much money except maybe Bill Gates, Oprah or the Sultan of Brunei or some small country... but I don't think they even have that much money."
"I'm not kidding." Vaughn deadpanned right back at him sobering the group where upon Jack immediately jumped into action devising a plan, they were leaving for Russia tonight.
-Moscow, Russia-
Dressed from head-to-toe in black, Irina finished loading the last magazine clip with ammunition and slammed it into her gun letting it drop into its holster around her thigh. She'd learned from the Intel she received about the night Sydney disappeared, that her daughter had been injured and there was no way Irina could get an 'injured Sydney' and herself out of the warehouse. She was also a 'Wanted' woman and couldn't take the chance that Sydney wasn't as badly wounded as she'd thought, and would try to capture her mother again in another horrible face-off once Irina freed her from the Covenant.
Irina had planned to distract Sloane, Cuvee, and Lazarey long enough for the CIA team to get there and save Sydney and give her time to escape. It was a dangerous plan, but the only one she could think of to save her daughter from the unspeakable things she'd experienced at the hands of Cuvee, and never wanted Sydney to go through.
On the roof of the warehouse, Irina finished securing her rope and took a moment to take a deep breath and one last look at spectacular sight of Moscow's city lights. The breeze was cool even though it was summer, but not cold, and she welcomed the cool relief as the rush of adrenaline surging through her had her blood boiling. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and once again stepped off the ledge into darkness.
Sydney was just starting to come to when she heard voices, some she hadn't recognized and others she knew, but couldn't place in her yet drugged state.
"Sydney, Darling… time to wake-up."
'Sloane. Where was she? What was wrong with her? Why was Sloane there?' So many questions and yet Sydney couldn't force her mouth to speak. She knew she'd been drugged and tried to focus her energy on her surroundings as her training had taught her.
There was another man in the room, he seemed familiar too but she couldn't quite make out his face as her vision was blurry from whatever she'd been drugged with. She closed her eyes once again; too tired to keep them open, when she felt the sting of a slap on her face.
"Stay awake!" Someone ordered, presumably the one who had just slapped her though she still couldn't focus fully.
"Was that entirely necessary?"
Sydney heard Sloane's voice again but couldn't move her head to the direction it was coming from. Any answer the man might have given was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open as another man entered the room. Sydney tried to concentrate but felt herself sliding sideways as she had no control over her body from whatever drug they had used. She'd been sitting in a chair and was saved from hitting the floor by someone pulling sharply on her arm, sitting her upright again. She felt her arms being lifted and placed on a table she just now realized was in front of her, helping her regain some sense of balance and stability.
"Any word?" Sydney heard Sloane asking the man who'd just entered the room. He was a tall thin man with blonde hair, and was wearing a black suit… that much Sydney could make out as the man came closer. She was trying harder to concentrate but finding it very difficult with a pounding headache.
"Not yet, but I suspect she'll be here any time now. Is she," he said gesturing towards Sydney with a hint of Russian accent, "coming around yet?"
"Yes, we've given her a mild sedative to counteract the other drug, bringing her to consciousness, yet keeping her immobile for the time being." Sloane replied.
"Good," The blonde man said leaning over the table looking intently at Sydney. "We wouldn't want to have to fight with both of you." He smiled.
"I'm going to go check with the guards, make sure everything is in place." Came a hiss of a voice again from the man that slapped her, yet Sydney recognized but couldn't place even as the man in the gray suit breezed by her and out the door.
"He's so antsy." The man in the black suit muttered to Sloane, when the other man had left, from where he was now standing behind Sydney.
"It's the anticipation of Irina. She always gets him excited." Sloane replied.
'Oh, God!' Sydney cringed internally. She should have known that her mother had lied again in Mexico City and was still working with Sloane.
Just then, the sound of shattering glass jolted her attention back to her surroundings and watched in awe as a flying-ball of black came bursting through the plate glass windows to her right, rolling across the floor in front of them and stood, with gun pointed right in her direction. Sydney could barely breathe staring at the figure in front of her.
"Irina." Sloane hissed through a smile. "How nice of you to drop in."
"Hello Cousin," the man in the black suit spoke in Russian, causing Irina's eyes to quickly glance in his direction while keeping her gun aimed directly in front of her.
'Cousin?' Sydney wondered but was still too drugged to say anything or move though her vision was becoming more clear and focused staring at her mother before her.
"We've been expecting you." The man in the black suit finished while Sydney took notice of the slight movement of her mother's eyebrow in surprise.
"Pytor." Irina hissed back in Russian, "I never would have thought you'd be in on this, knowing the repercussions it would have."
'Pytor? Who's Pytor?' Sydney questioned herself trying to remember if she'd heard of, or seen this man before. She was getting more confused as time went on. She had thought her mother was part of this operation in kidnapping her and the gun Irina seemingly had trained on her would suggest that, but now Sydney wasn't sure with her mother talking about repercussions this man faced for his involvement or why she would burst through the windows instead of using the door?
"You brought this on yourself, Irina, breaking the family code first… you gave the CIA Julian." The man in the black suit spat at Irina.
Sydney was trying desperately to process this new information. The man in the black suit had called her mother 'cousin' and was now talking about breaking 'family codes' and 'who was Julian?' The drug-induced fog in Sydney's brain was slowing her attempts to think quickly.
"Your son disobeyed orders and turned on me first… going behind my back to make arrangements with Sloane, not realizing I knew what he was up to, of course. His ego was getting the best of him… just like his father." Irina replied with a smile, knowing it would only enrage the man more.
'Julian? Julian? Son? Working for my mother? In CIA custody?' Sydney's mind raced trying to put the pieces to this puzzle together as quickly as it unfolded. 'Oh my God!' Sudden realization dawning on her, 'Sark! Julian Sark!'
"How could you turn on your own family, Irina? Selling him out like that." The man growled angrily.
"She's a professional at turning on her 'family' remember, though now seems to be the contradiction." The man in the grey suit had slipped into the room again behind Irina, with gun leveled at her head. Sydney had seen him coming but was unable to warn her mother as she could not speak or move her body. This man, Sydney now recognized as Gerard Cuvee.
"The Royal Russian Whore returns to save her bastard American offspring, though… as delighted as I am to see you again, Irina… I am terribly disappointed in you." Cuvee said, walking closer towards Irina until the gun he held was touching the back of her skull. Sliding the barrel of the gun around her head and down her cheek suggestively, he continued, "I thought we 'cured' you of this problem in Kashmir."
Sydney could see her mother visibly tense at the man's words and touch, though Irina remained still and said nothing.
"All that time you 'were held captive', isn't that what you told me," Cuvee said cocking his head to one side with a wicked grin, "by the CIA… has diseased you again. Another round of 'treatment' may be in order when we are finished here with you, I think."
Irina could barely swallow as she felt the bile rising in her throat at Cuvee and the memories he was ripping out of the dark places inside her.
Cuvee pressed the gun into her cheek harder. "Drop your gun onto the table." He demanded.
Irina looked at him confused, he was asking her to place a loaded weapon directly on the table in front of her daughter, who's outstretched hands could reach the gun in seconds.
Cuvee read her mind and once again motioned Irina to put the gun on the table. Irina had no choice but to comply."I see what you're thinking," He said as she slowly put the gun on the table. "But she can't get the gun… she's been drugged and can't move. The power to save you…just within her reach… but she won't be able to save you, Irina."
Irina, now very confused as to why they wanted her, stared intently into Sydney's eyes, not wanting to lose what might be their final contact and hoping her daughter could see in her eyes that she loved her.
"You fell right into our trap… you stupid whore! They have certainly infected you again." Cuvee hissed and slithered his way within centimeters of Irina's face, so close she could feel his hot breath on her, yet she remained silent as Cuvee continued with his tirade, and wishing for the first time in her life that the CIA would hurry and get there.
"Even after you recent betrayal in Kashmir… I thought you deceived me, just as you'd done the CIA… so you could have Rambaldi all to yourself… I almost admired you for that, turning on us both like you did… meant I really had created a 'masterpiece' in you." Cuvee smiled nuzzling her ear with his nose all the while keeping his gun firmly pressed into her cheek.
Irina closed her eyes, trying to compartmentalize her feelings in this situation and think of a way out.
"But…" Cuvee continued, pulling back slowly and pushing the gun barrel harder into Irina's face as a horrified Sydney watched, "Arvin here, told me that he suspected you really did still have feelings for your 'precious Jack and Sydney,' which is what caused you ultimately to betray your partnership with him as well. So when he proposed this business opportunity to me, I could hardly say 'No.'"
*Che Valiers De Sangreal*
Irina opened her eyes and finally spoke, this time staring directly at Sloane. "What business proposal is that? And what do you, or you," she said turning her eyes from Sloane to Pytor, "get in return?"
"Well Irina," Sloane began moving closer to Sydney, placing his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them as he spoke, making both Sydney's and Irina's blood boil at his vile touch, "We, meaning you and I, were incorrect in believing Sydney was The Chosen One in The Prophecy…" Sloane paused at Irina's confused expression, "With the parts of the Rambaldi device we obtained and assembled, I thought finally… I would be able to realize the word of Rambaldi. But when the machine was activated, the Di Rengo Heart shattered… leaving a small block with the word 'PEACE' on it." He paused to gauge Irina's reaction, her face remained in a puzzled expression, unbelieving that the masterpiece of Rambaldi's work would be the simple phrase of 'PEACE.' "I know," he began again, "I was just as puzzled by this as you… so I began to investigate it further… and you'll never believe what I discovered." He smiled, enjoying this slow torturing of Irina that Cuvee had just had. "Under closer examination, each letter in the word PEACE contained another smaller letter inscribed in the delicate artwork… when put together, these small letters formed a name." He paused again, really enjoying the agony he knew this was putting Irina in. "The name was yours, Irina. I. R. I. N. A," He spelled her name out slowly to accentuate his point.
Irina was stunned silent, barely breathing at the revelation.
"You shouldn't be so surprised, after all, Irina means 'peace' in your native Russian tongue, in many languages actually. It all made sense and yet, it didn't… I couldn't figure out the connection until I spoke with Pytor here and found out you were cousins… not just any relation… but 'The One.'" He smiled his evil grin as Irina quickly turned her gaze to Sydney to see 'if or what' of this she was comprehending…
Sydney only stared back at her, confused as ever by what this all meant.
"So now what?" Irina asked almost defiantly, the barrel of the gun digging into her face as she stood firm and tall against its pressure.
"Well," Sloane's eyes narrowed, "First, I need your body in order to complete the work of Rambaldi and when I'm finished with you-"
Cuvee jumped in, "Your body belongs to me!"
Irina's eyes darted to Cuvee's and Sydney could read the panic in them.
"For another round of 'treatment,' of course… hopefully this time you'll be more willing but, if not… I'll take it anyway and then take pleasure in killing you… slowly." Cuvee hissed in Irina's ear before licking her face suggestively with a disgusting laugh of enjoyment.
Irina was sure she would vomit at any moment; she could taste the bile now.
"And when you're dead," piped in Pytor, "I'll finally get what's rightfully mine… All of it!"
Irina turned her attention back to Sydney, who now had tears forming in her eyes threatening to fall at any moment. Sydney had come to realize, that she had been the bait in this trap, and her mother had fallen for it.
"Do with me what you will." Irina replied in an icy tone, her eyes never leaving Sydney's, "But let Sydney go… she has nothing to do with this."
"Oh, but I think she will prove useful to me…" Cuvee turned his leering glare to Sydney, "What are you now? About twenty-seven?" Sydney's eyebrows creased when the man had guessed her age perfectly and upon seeing her reaction Cuvee knew, he'd guessed correctly. "I take that would be a, yes." He smiled his piggish grin turning his attention back to Irina. "How ironic she is about the same age you were when you were extracted…"
Irina tensed at the memory, her concern immediately short-circuiting to fear for her daughter.
"So young…" Cuvee leered at Sydney, "beautiful and full of fire, just like your mother was. But any wild horse can be tamed, some take longer then others…" he turned his attention back to Irina, "but they are all 'breakable' in the end. Aren't they, Irina?"
It was a rhetorical question that sent another wave of nausea rushing through Irina as she so desperately tried to keep her emotions in check and the contents of her stomach… in her throat. Sydney had seen the flash of pain across her mother's face and the desperate need for control she was trying to hold on to.
"She's of no use to you, Gerard, you have me… And besides, keeping her will only attract more attention then you care for from the CIA." Irina's tone was completely unwavering. Showing no signs of the turmoil raging within.
"Oh, but Irina… I think she could prove to be useful where you're concerned, in your 'treatments'… Just like she was last time, only now… she'll be here in the flesh." Cuvee sneered.
Irina's mind raced back to her time spent in 'treatment' at the prison in Kashmir, and she started panicking to find a way to get Sydney out of this situation. "It's no use, Gerard… You can't use her against me this time. She was my baby then, and yes, I was emotionally attached to her when I was extracted but I feel nothing for her now."
A surge of pain rushed through Sydney's heart at her mother's cold words and Irina could see the pain she had caused, and the confusion… She looked deeply into Sydney's eyes, willing her to see that she didn't mean what she was saying, "She's my enemy, remember? She shot me and has been hunting me like an animal for the CIA. She's grown up to be her father's daughter."
The tears that had been welling in Sydney's eyes began to fall and it was tearing Irina apart inside but it was the only way to save Sydney from her same fate.
"I don't believe you, you are the master manipulator remember, this I know about you." Cuvee pushed the gun even further into Irina's face causing her to lean to the side from the pressure he was putting upon her temple. "You wouldn't have come here to rescue here tonight if that were true."
"I didn't come here to rescue her." Irina hissed back at him, knowing this needed to be convincing, she pressed her head back against the gun barrel even more, standing up tall again, unafraid of his manipulations. "I came here to kidnap her from you, so that I could use her as leverage against the CIA."
"If… that's true," Cuvee smiled and reached into jacket pocket extracting a large six inch boning knife, "then this test should be easy for you."
*Malleus Mareficarum* (repeat)
'Oh God No!' Irina and Sydney thinking together. The last test Irina was put to by Cuvee resulted in her shooting Sydney and she couldn't imagine what this was going to be. 'Where the hell was the CIA?' Irina wandered desperately, not caring at the moment if they did arrest her, as anything would be better then going through 'treatment' with Cuvee again. She could live with prison in a nice glass cell, she could even live with the Death Penalty, but she could not live through another Kashmir.
"Though last time," Cuvee continued interrupting her thoughts, "you were pretty convincing I must say, shooting her and all." Cuvee kept the gun pointed at Irina's head with his left hand and the knife in his right, hovering over Sydney's hand on the table, where it lay spread out, Sydney unable to move from the drugs in her system.
"What are you doing?" Sloane asked stepping forward, in a half annoyed-half worried tone. "This was not part of the plan. The plan was to use Sydney as bait for Irina and then let her go. That was the plan I agreed to."
"Yes, Arvin," Cuvee hissed back annoyed that he was interrupted, "That was the plan but the plan has changed. If Irina passes, Sydney goes free."
Irina had an idea as to what he was about to do... If she stood by and watched… did nothing to stop him, showed no emotion, Sydney would go free… but Irina couldn't stand the thought of having to hurt her daughter again for this man she despised more then anything.
Just as Cuvee was bringing the knife down, Irina lunged forward pushing Sydney's hand out of the way, replacing it with her own left hand, grabbing her gun still lying on the table with the right hand and leveling it on Sloane. The pain was excruciating as the knife went through the back of her hand, effectively pinning it to the table, just as she had done to Stuka in Bangkok. The crunch of the bones could be heard loudly and everyone in the room was silent, including Irina who made no sound at all.
Sydney was in shock staring at her mother's hand pinned to the table in front of her, Irina's gun aimed directly over her shoulder trained on Sloane. She had seen more horrific things in her line of work, but this was the first time she'd witnessed her own mother being so protective of her. Irina, 'The Man,' had actually allowed herself to be stabbed in order to save her daughter from the pain.
"Drop your gun." Irina ordered this time to Cuvee whose gun was still trained on her head. Cuvee frozen in the moment and still in shock from what she'd done remained still. "I said," Irina sighed growing more impatient with the situation, on the verge of a blackout from loss of blood, "Drop. Your. Gun. Or I won't hesitate to kill Sloane."
Sloane's eyes growing wide, knowing Irina Derevko meant business, especially after allowing herself to be stabbed.
"I have a gun trained on your head, and you have one hand pinned to a table, and you're giving me orders? You. Drop your gun." Cuvee smiled back with a sickening laugh amused by what she'd done to herself.
"If you don't drop it I 'will' shoot Sloane." Irina stated again; her eyes narrowing in on Sloane.
"Seems, we have a stalemate." Pytor backed away one step before freezing, something out the window catching his eye.
From the building across the street, Jack and the team couldn't believe their eyes. The view was partially blocked by pillars but through their night vision goggles, Jack could clearly make out Sydney, sitting in a chair behind a table, Sloane behind her, the man named Lazarey to Sydney's left, Cuvee; and in front of the table was Irina… holding a knife in one hand and pointing a gun to Sydney's head with the other. 'She had been involved! This was a trap damn it!' Jack thought to himself. Jack saw Cuvee's arm move next to Irina but her body was blocking him from seeing what was going on. Whatever was going on was intense and sure the hell didn't look good as they watched the interaction and body language.
"We have to move in now!" Vaughn insisted, fastening his clip to the repel line, his fear for Sydney evident to all. "Jack, you are under orders that if given the opportunity, you use the 'Shoot To Kill' order on Derevko, do it… or I will." He threatened, fear for Sydney's life taking control over all logic.
"I give the orders around here, Agent Vaughn! Hold your fire!" Jack barked back at him, a glare in his eyes. "We don't know enough about what the situation is to move at the moment." Jack couldn't quite figure it out but his gut was telling him there was more then meets the eye going on in that room and he should wait.
"Don't know enough about the situation?" Vaughn raised his voice in frustration, "The psychotic monster, that is Sydney's mother, is about to kill her while we sit out here and watch!" Vaughn moved as if to get up and Jack grabbed his arm. "Jack, you're her father for crying out loud! Are you just going to stand there and watch while Irina Derevko savagely murders another member of the CIA?" His thoughts immediately rushing to his father's demise at the hands of the same 'psychotic monster.' "It's an order, Jack… either you take the shot or I will!"
After a long silence, gun still trained on Sloane, Irina took a deep breath and using all the strength she could muster, began pulling her arm upwards, trying to free her pinned hand by the knife wedged into the table. The blade, extremely sharp, had plunged deep into the table's wooden surface and wasn't about to give… Irina's hand, however, was… and the harder she pulled against the table the further the knife went through her hand until it reached the handle and could go no further.
Just when Sydney thought she couldn't stand to watch anymore, and Irina was about to pass out on the floor… Irina gave her hand one last 'yank,' and the knife pulled free from the table. She held her hand up with the knife now completely through it, and blood running in rivers down her arm.
"No tears, Irina. You are truly a masterpiece," Cuvee leered at Irina once again in his sick amusement of the whole situation, "Just remember, you wouldn't be able to do that if I hadn't of conditioned you as I did in Kashmir."
*O Fortuna*
At the mentioning of Kashmir and what it had done to her, Irina snapped. In an instant, she had crossed her arms, lunged, and effectively shot Sloane in the shoulder and stabbed Cuvee in the neck, with his knife still protruding through her hand, but not before Cuvee fired off a couple rounds from his own gun. One ricocheting off the metal table leg and into Lazarey killing him instantly and the other… into Irina's chest as her momentum carried her forward.
Sydney, unable to move, watched in horror as her mother and Cuvee simultaneously sank to the floor covered in blood.
About the same time Irina lunged at Cuvee and shot Sloane, the CIA team had moved in, spraying gun fire everywhere as they approached on the zip-line in through the window Irina had previously crashed though. Irina, gasping for breath, dropped her gun long enough to remove the knife from her hand before picking it back up and whirling to meet the oncoming assault of CIA agents. Cuvee gasping for breath slithered his way across the floor.
With the agents still coming in on the zip-line, Irina saw this as her one chance to escape and forced herself to stand with gun raised and ran the best she could, firing in their direction, but not at them, to give her cover while she headed for the door.
Jack was the first to reach the building and upon seeing Sydney motionless and covered in blood, and Irina running for the door firing at them… assumed the worst and started firing at Irina.
Just as she made it to the door Irina felt the sting of another bullet rip across her flesh…this time her abdomen. She fell backwards out the door and into the hall, slamming into the wall. A horrific scream of "Nooooooo!" ceased everyone's fire. The scream had belonged to Sydney watching her mother fall backwards into the hall after her father had shot her.
Irina's eyes lifted from her wound to the face of her shooter, Jack, who was momentarily paralyzed by Sydney's scream and the fact he'd actually shot Irina. Irina took the opportunity and dove for the stairwell making her way to down the stairs by a combination of running, sliding and falling.
Weiss and Dixon, who'd both just untangled themselves from the line, began to run after Irina, Cuvee, and Sloane, who were also making their getaway out an Emergency Exit door. Jack stood motionless, staring out the door at the bright red blood smear Irina had left on the white wall before she vanished yet again.
Vaughn meanwhile ran directly to Sydney's side. "She's bleeding severely but I can't tell where she's been hit!" He cried out as the team medic approached, bringing Jack back to reality he rushed to Sydney's side as well. She was lying on her side covered in blood and crying profusely but unable to speak.
"She's not hit," The medic informed them, scouring Sydney's body for any fresh bullet wounds and finding none, "It's not her blood." He announced to the relieved crowd now gathering around her. "She's been drugged though and I don't want to give her anything to reverse the paralysis until I know for sure what's she's been given. We'll have to take her to a hospital right away." He began talking into his headset, requesting medical extraction for Sydney and a clean-up crew for Lazarey's body.
"She's gone." Announced a breathless Dixon referring to Irina.
"Cuvee and Sloane are gone too." Weiss added joining Vaughn and Jack back at the room with Sydney.
"I think we should call in for backup to look for her," Dixon breathed heavily looking at Jack in reference to Irina, "From the looks of the blood trail she left, she's lost a lot of blood…" He paused conscious of Sydney's presences, who, though unable to speak at the moment, was listening intently. "I don't think she's going to get very far."
Jack had to force himself to swallow the lump in his throat as his mouth had gone completely dry. He looked back to the doorway where Irina's body had smeared the white walls with fresh blood and then to the table in front of him, covered in a pool of blood now running onto the floor. 'If this was her blood too, he had no idea how she was going to survive…' "Contact all the hospitals within a 100 mile radius for a woman with a… multiple gunshot wounds," he corrected himself, remembering he'd shot her as well, "And check all the airports." Jack sighed his attention going back to Sydney now being loaded in to the back of their van.
"Did anybody see what happened while we were on our way in?" Weiss asked, the first to bring it up as they sat in silence on the drive to the hospital.
"No," Vaughn almost whispered, concentrating on holding Sydney's hand for the moment. "Jack was in front of me blocking my view, I couldn't see anything… only hear the gunshots."
"Jack-" Dixon began but was cut off.
"I don't know! I couldn't tell what was going on, it all happened so fast and I was trying to concentrate on getting into that building and then when I landed all I saw was Sydney, covered in blood, and Irina running for the door, shooting so I shot back." His eyes fell to his trembling hands for a split second showing his emotions getting the best of him before quickly pulling it back together. "Marshall," Jack commanded into his headpiece.
"Yes, sir… Working on it right now." Marshall replied from the front of the van where he was working feverishly behind his laptop.
Jack only hoped that the video feed of the mission combined with Sydney's statements could clear up the confusion in his brain, and ease his conscience. He wanted desperately to believe he made the right move… That Irina had betrayed them and put their daughter's life in danger…and it was his duty as an Officer of the CIA under a Direct Order, and as a father… to shoot Irina Derevko.
Irina had made it to her car standing by and collapsed into the backseat. Covered in blood and unable to breathe without gasping for every breath… she pressed a speed-dial number rarely used into telephone… "Katya… I need you…" Was all she could get out before passing out with the phone dropping from her blood-covered hand.