AN: Music for this Chapter (on repeat): Spies by Coldplay, The Russian Spy and I by The Hunters
FOUR
o
-Moscow, Russia-
Twenty-three hours later, Sydney in disguise, entered the tall office building where Cuvee's office was located.
"Mountaineer, this is Base Camp… any sign of Cuvee?" Vaughn asked Sydney breathless through her Com.
"Negative, Base Camp nothing yet." She exhaled softly.
"Mountaineer, this is Boy Scout, the security system should be by-passed in fifty-six seconds and counting."
"Standby," Sydney began counting the seconds in her head as she waited in the elevator. 'Go!' She heard in her earpiece and began working with the locking mechanism on the elevators security system that only allowed access to the fourteenth floor by code. "Got it!" Sydney whispered as the elevator doors slid open and she was standing in the lobby of Cuvee's office… no one there. She looked down the hall to see a woman walking away from her towards another set of doors and took the opportunity to slip into Cuvee's office.
"You have ninety seconds, Mountaineer, before the override on the alarm system will sound and give away your location."
"Roger, standby." Sydney said scanning the room for the safe. A large abstract painting hung on the wall behind Cuvee's desk, she moved the painting to the side and could see the safe's outline but no way of opening it. 'Must be a switch somewhere,' She thought rapidly feeling around the bookshelf, finding nothing. She sat behind the desk feeling under the ledge for the switch, still nothing. Sticking her head under the desk she saw a small brown button. "Bingo!" She exclaimed pressing the button. To her surprise the big grey filing cabinet in the desk flew open. Her eyes scanned the contents. Files. 'Old KGB files' Sydney took notice of the worn appearance of the folders. She began reading the names, written in Cyrillic, searching for anything to do with the Rambaldi pages.
Reznikov, T.,
Gruskovskya, R.,
Derervko, I.,
Grigoriko...
'Wait a minute!' Sydney's hand flew back to the thick file her hand had just brushed by, reading the name again. 'Derevko, I.'
"Oh my God!" She said out loud, pulling the file from the drawer.
"What is it, Mountaineer?" Vaughn's voice came through her earpiece, "Did you find them?"
"No… not yet." Sydney barely breathed as opened the file and saw the picture of a very young, Irina Derevko staring back at her.
"What is it then?" Vaughn asked trying to keep the worry out of his voice.
"My mother's KGB file…" Sydney transfixed on the photo in front of her.
"Mountaineer, we already have that file… leave it and proceed with the mission. I repeat. DO NOT REMOVE THAT FILE! You have 38 seconds left!" Vaughn knew she was getting distracted with anything to do with her mother and lacking focus on the mission putting her in more danger.
Sydney closed the file and tried to focus on the mission. Looking inside the filing drawer she had just been rummaging through, she spotted another button at the back of the drawer and pressed it. The safe opened. Sydney slammed the drawer shut and went to the safe. "Got them!" She said triumphantly as she gently slid the two plastic covered pages out of the safe with a disk, she assumed would be the codes.
"Get out! Mountaineer, you have fifteen seconds left…" Vaughn reminded her.
Sydney closed the safe; put the painting back in place, turned back to the desk, grabbed her mother's KGB file and headed for the door.
"6, 5, 4, 3, 2, …" Vaughn counted as Sydney slid back into the elevator, putting the pages and the file into her bag.
"Just made it… again." Vaughn sighed into her earpiece. "We'll see you at home."
"See you at home," Sydney repeated and walked out the door into the bright sun, her hand protectively covering her bag.
Sydney barely made it to the transport plane waiting to take her home before she dug into her bag and pulled out the file once again. This file was different then the one they already had on her mother. They looked the same in appearance but this one was about four inches thicker and contained, photographs, and disks.
*Spies*
She flipped back to the first page again. There was the picture that had captivated her in Cuvee's office. Irina had told her the she was only eighteen when she'd been recruited by the KGB, but Sydney had never really thought about how 'young' that really was. Her mother didn't look old enough to be out of high school let a lone in the KGB. Sydney had been just a little older, nineteen, when she joined SD-6, believing she was going to work for the CIA at the time. Her mother had said she joined the KGB because it was 'an honor for a woman to be asked to serve her country, and it meant empowerment and independence…' Weren't those the same reasons she had joined too? Were they the same then? The lines between the two were becoming blurry. Sydney shook her head, not wanting to confuse herself as to who was the enemy…
For the first time she read the name printed on the top of the file,
'Her Imperial Highness: Tsarevicha Irina Nikolaevna Alexandra Dmitrievna Romanova Derevkova, Grand Duchess of all Russia.'
Sydney gasped, re-reading the name several times to make sure she was translating it correctly. 'This can't be!' She scanned the rest of the page. 'Born: December 15th, 1954… wait a minute… that's not right… Father: Dmitri Vladimirovich Derevko… Born 1901… ok so that is the same.' She sighed happy to recognize something from the other file she had memorized the moment she found out the truth about her mother. 'Mother: Her Imperial Majesty: Tsarina Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, Empress of all Russia... Born 1901… Oh My God!' This was most definitely not in the other file. The other file had said her grandmother's name was Anya… "Anya as in Anastasia," Sydney could barely breathe; unable to process any thoughts as she eagerly read on… 'Siblings: Her Imperial Highness: Ekaterina Victoria Tatiana Dmitrievna Romanova Derevkova, Grand Duchess of all the Russia's… Born: January 20th, 1956...' "She has a sister!" Sydney almost shouted. Something else that was 'left out' of the KGB file they had received. The one they had said that Irina had been an only child. 'She has a sister!' Sydney was growing angrier by the second, yet something else her mother had lied about! She really didn't know anything about her mother except her life was one giant lie after another.
First, she was just her mother, Laura Bristow, an English Literature Professor at UCLA… then it was Irina Derevko, Russian KGB officer… but that wasn't all either, of course, Sydney then found out Irina was "The Man," international terrorist and mafia leader… and now, she yet another layer to this woman's crazy identity… she was Russian Royalty and the daughter to a myth! "Oh my God," Sydney suddenly remembering what Cuvee had said when her mother first entered the room in Moscow, 'Royal Russian Whore!' Royal… Why hadn't she remembered that earlier? None of this was making any sense; the information in front of her was only causing more questions to arise within… She began flipping madly through the file, stopping whenever a photo was present.
All of the photos, except for the first, seemed to be taken without the knowledge of Irina. There were photos of a young Irina talking to groups of other children, running, doing ballet, sitting on park benches reading, walking in and out of various buildings, holding hands with a man whose face couldn't be seen… and suddenly, a photo of her father appeared… and then more photos of her father and mother together, studying in the library, walking barefoot on the beach, him pushing her on a swing, both smiling madly... kissing… her mother teaching, getting into her car… talking with a man Sydney didn't recognize but from the various photos of the man with her mother, Sydney devised he must have been her handler. Anger began seething within Sydney as the photographic 'evidence' of her mother's fabricated life went by… photo after photo of her parents in loving poses: kissing, holding hands, her mother and father in the park together… It was making Sydney feel ill… they seemed so happy, her father so in love with this woman who was deceiving him day after day…
'She deserves an Academy Award, her acting was superb,' Sydney thought looking at the photos. A photograph of her parents wedding… and then a very pregnant Irina followed… Sydney's heart was breaking staring at the photo. Her father was sitting, leaning against a tree in the park, reading a book as her mother's head lay in his lap, her hands surrounding her very large belly, his hands in her hair.
The following page contained a photo of newborn Sydney in her hospital records. Her eyes were open wide, rare for a newborn, like she was curious about the world from day one… One eyebrow furrowed, just as she's done all her life when she was thinking. Her perfectly round head covered in thick, jet-black hair forming a natural Mohawk down the center of her head.
The next photo Sydney recognized and wondered how the KGB had gotten a hold of a copy. Her father had taken the photo, one Sydney had always adored until the day she learned the truth about her mother… and then in anger and hurt, threw the photo into the fireplace along with every other photo she had of her mother. It was taken in black and white, a close-up, of Irina and Sydney. Irina had fallen asleep rocking a very newborn Sydney to sleep. Sydney, perched on her mother's chest sleeping, one hand protectively around her baby, Irina's face was nuzzled against Sydney's soft black hair… a soft smile on her face even though she was sleeping, both, completely at peace. More photos of Irina and Jack; Irina and Sydney; Jack, Irina and Sydney were on the following pages. Sydney hadn't looked at any photos from her childhood since meeting her mother face to face again and now, looking at the photos Sydney couldn't help but wonder if the love she saw in her mother's eyes and touch… was all part of the act or was actually real?
She closed the file, unable to look at it anymore… fresh tears were coming to her eyes. She needed to talk to someone about all of this, what she was feeling… things she didn't understand. 'Vaughn…' Sydney sighed wiping the now steady stream of tears. She wanted so badly to be able to talk to him about this; they talked about everything else but the subject of her mother had always been tense… she couldn't blame him. Her mother had killed his father in the most gruesome way… And her father, well she wasn't exactly 'close' with him, though they had certainly gotten closer since her mother had come back into their lives… Ironic, as it had been her mother's leaving, that tore them a part. Her father had too many unresolved issues where her mother was concerned, and no doubt this was only going to add to it.
There were too many unanswered questions where her mother was concerned. The more answers they got, the more questions they had… like 'Is this the 'real' file, or the other one? Which is the lie? Which one is meant to be the manipulation?' Sydney stuffed the file back into her bag angrily. Her life resembled a Soap Opera more and more every day. No one's lives seemed as insane as hers… her entire life was one lie after another.
When she landed in the Los Angeles, it was 8 A.M. 'Might as well go to work.' Sydney grabbed her bag and told the driver to take her to Ops. She had to get the files on Rambaldi to Kendall, and tell them she'd disobeyed a Direct Order, once again, and had taken the file on her mother she wasn't authorized to remove. She only hoped that their surprise at its contents would serve as a buffer for her punishment.
"Syd… Good morning." Vaughn met her with his adorable smile at the door. She said nothing but smiled back as they continued to walk into Opts. "I know you must be tired from the mission, but I was thinking… later, after you've had time to sleep… we could grab some dinner and make those plans to go to Santa Barbara."
"I would love to." Sydney smiled back, causally bumping into him… they both laughed.
"Agent Bristow." Kendall boomed from across the room, striding rather quickly to meet them. "Congratulations on the mission," he said dryly, accepting the files on Rambaldi; his mind obviously occupied by them. "We'll get Marshall on this right away."
Jack had just arrived and made his way over to the group. "Sydney." He nodded in acknowledgment; relieved she was home safely once again.
"Agent Vaughn told me that you discovered another file with your mother's name on it in Cuvee's desk and stupidly told you to leave it there!" Kendall eyed Vaughn.
Jack hadn't heard about such file and was also immediately furious at Vaughn for telling Sydney to leave it behind, though he didn't believe it would contain anything on Irina he didn't already know. He had spent the last twenty-one years analyzing the woman and was sure he knew everything about her… as far as the KGB was concerned. Anything else about the woman completely bewildered him… she was predictable, yet unpredictable all at once.
"What were you thinking?" Kendall accused Vaughn believing whatever file Cuvee had on Irina had to have some sort of leads in it.
"I was thinking about getting Sydn- Agent Bristow," he corrected himself, "out of the office in time, with the Rambaldi material, her main objective… as soon as possible." Vaughn, now confident in his decision, stood a little taller. "I didn't believe the file Cuvee had on Derevko was necessary to the CIA, as we already have her KGB files on record."
"Suddenly you're in a position where you get to decide what is and isn't necessary information to the CIA?" Kendall glared at Vaughn and Sydney saw the vein in his neck begin to throb. She decided to take the heat off Vaughn.
"Actually, I have the file." Sydney looked at Vaughn and could read the hurt and anger in his eyes. Not wanting to face his wrath about the file at that particular moment, she turned back to her father and Kendall. "I had a chance to glance over the file on the way home… It would seem this is either the most elaborate scheme ever conceived, which I wouldn't put past my mother… or Marshall was correct about the earrings… and my mother is a Romanov." She pulled the file out of her bag, handing it over to Kendall, who was looking very perplexed and a little pale. "And not just any Romanov, but 'thee' Romanov…" She paused to look her father in the eye knowing he was going to be floored by this information as well, "According to this file, my mother's birth certificate reads, Her Imperial Highness: Tsarevicha Irina Nikolaevna Alexandra Dmitrievna Romanova Derevkova, Grand Duchess of all Russia... eldest daughter of Her Imperial Majesty: Tsarina Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova, Empress of all Russia. "
Kendall's eyes flashed wide in surprise and he flipped open the file immediately, scanning the contents of the first page. Jack too stunned to move, continued to stare at Sydney. "That's impossible." Jack finally found his voice, "Anastasia Romanov was murdered along with the entire Royal family July 17th, 1918. Her survival a mere myth, proved false when her bones were identified with DNA technology in 1998. This is obviously another manipulation." His anger growing at the thought of this sick and twisted game continuing and the preposterous idea that Irina could be related to royalty.
"This file also says Mom was born in 1954, not 1952… and that she wasn't an only child… she has a younger sister… Ekaterina."
Jack grabbed the file from a surprised Kendall, immediately coming face to face with Irina's photograph. His reaction had been the same as Sydney's… she looked impossibly young… and innocent… A word he would never had used when referring to Irina Derevko now, to be a Field Operative in the KGB. His eyes scanned the page, absorbing the information Sydney had just told him.
"How are we supposed to know which of the two files we have, is the real file… or if either are for that matter?" Kendall ranted on, "Is 'anything' we have on this woman the truth?"
"I know, it doesn't make any sense to me either but this file is quite a bit thicker then the other and contains far more information and photos… There are also two disks in the back that I'm sure, contain even more information on them. Most of the photos in there are taken without Mom's knowledge… like they were keeping tabs on her." Sydney offered.
"Most?" Kendall asked looking over Jack's shoulder to see the file. Jack began flipping the pages to see the same photos of Irina that Sydney had the night before. It certainly did appear that she wasn't aware of the photographer. Jack also realized these were pictures he never seen of Irina, in all his research.
"Yes, most," Sydney continued, "There is one I know my father took."
Jack's eyes darted up from the page to Sydney's. He flipped through the pages… pain and anger rising inside him as he saw his life with 'Laura' unfolding in KGB surveillance photographs. First, their courtship…then their wedding, her pregnancy… Sydney! Jack's pulse began to race at seeing his newborn daughter's picture in a KGB file, knowing that it made sense as she was Irina's daughter too and this was 'the file of her lie,' but at the same time he was terrified they had been keeping tabs on Sydney too. He flipped the page and saw the photo he had taken, one he knew well but hadn't looked at in twenty-one years.
"I can't believe that is Irina Derevko, she certainly looks convincing in the role of loving mother." Kendall slapped Jack on the back, as if to say, 'Hey, I can see now how you were fooled by this woman for eleven years. Sucks to be you.' "I'm going to get Marshall started on decoding these Rambaldi disks, and the one in this file… Maybe they will give us some insight about all this. Jack, I am putting you in charge of investigating whether this file is the 'real deal' or just another elaborate scheme. Maybe there is something in there that will lead us to her location."
"I want to help." Sydney chimed in.
"Me too." Vaughn was curious if this file had anything more about why she was ordered to kill his father.
"No." Jack said flatly, with not wanting his daughter more emotionally ravaged by her mother's lies then she already had been.
"Dad…" Sydney protested, "I can handle this. I know I can help."
"I agree, this is the only lead we have at the moment and the more people working on it, the faster we locate Derevko." Kendall removed the disks from the back of the file and strode off to find Marshall.
Jack looked at Sydney and Vaughn for the moment, relaying the message with his eyes, he was not happy to have them involved… they were too emotionally involved… but then again… wasn't he? "Just remember that I am in charge here and anything I say is final." He slammed the file shut. "Vaughn, get on the Xenon system, we're going to need it to decode what this file says. Meet us in the conference room… we can work in there." As soon as Vaughn was out of earshot, Jack turned to Sydney. "I mean it, Sydney, what I decide is final. If I decide at any moment you are too emotionally involved I will remove you from this investigation are we clear?"
"Perfectly… and what about you?" Sydney was pissed at her father for treating her as a child instead of an agent. She also knew that he was just as 'emotionally' involved in this as she and Vaughn were, if not more. He had tried to execute her mother on false pretenses he'd been so 'emotionally' involved.
"I've been doing this a long time, Sydney, I can handle this. Don't doubt my abilities." Jack was unnerved that his daughter had seen and known of his own weakness when it came to Irina Derevko.
"And don't doubt mine." Sydney turned on her heel and headed for the conference room.
*The Russian Spy And I *
Hours of poring over decoded files revealed information they already knew, and other information that was completely new. Jack had met 'Laura' shortly before her nineteenth birthday in 1971; he had taken her to a Chinese restaurant in Georgetown to celebrate. They hadn't known each other very long but it was a significant turning point in their relationship… it was the first time he had kissed her goodnight. According to this new file, they had actually been celebrating her seventeenth birthday, and she hadn't been twenty-one when they were married in 1974, but nineteen.
"She was so young." Sydney sighed looking at another photograph of her young mother's smiling face.
"About the same age as you when you started at SD-6." Jack reminded her as he began mental calculations in his head coming to a startling conclusion. 'My God… she was only sixteen years old when we first met… Seventeen when we started dating!' Jack thought to himself in disbelief… 'She was a baby!' The KGB was incredible to send 'a baby' into enemy territory, though he was none the wiser, she was brilliant and certainly didn't act like a child. He closed his eyes blinking hard as mental pictures of her skills in the bedroom suddenly flashed before him.
"Yeah… but my missions were nothing like this. To move to an entirely foreign place… the country of your enemy at sixteen! Marry and have a baby… she was only twenty when she had me and twenty-six… when she left." Sydney was twenty-seven and couldn't imagine making decisions like her mother had made.
"It says here she was ordered to terminate her pregnancy… She refused on grounds she was 'already too far along to terminate without putting her own health at risk." Vaughn looked up from the paper he had been decoding.
Jack glanced quickly over at Sydney, having a hard time swallowing thinking about if Irina hadn't refused, even if her' reasons for not terminating had been selfishly her own. Sydney was having a hard time digesting the information too; her mother hadn't terminated her, not because she wanted Sydney… but because she didn't want to jeopardize her own health.
"It also notes that they later saw it, your birth… as an asset in securing Jack's trust in her, and as a method of manipulation if necessary against… your mother."
Jack's fist clenched tightly at the thought of his daughter being used as a tool of manipulation.
"Well that would explain these." Sydney placed various photos on the table so both Jack and Vaughn could see them. The images in the photos made Jack's blood run cold. Sydney, being dropped off at the babysitter, her playing in the backyard… being dropped off at piano lessons, school… on the playground. Photos cataloging the opportunities where Sydney was left vulnerable, without Jack or Irina with her… opportunities that the KGB could get to their daughter if necessary.
Jack wondered if Irina was aware the danger she had put their daughter in, the anger once again rising within him. He took a deep breath to calm himself. 'Don't let her get to you!' He reminded himself he was supposed to compartmentalize this, stay unemotional, as were his own orders. Jack returned his attention to the documents in front of him.
Vaughn glanced over the photo of Sydney from the hospital and chuckled.
"What?" Sydney smiled at him, wondering what could be so amusing.
"You still do that." Vaughn turned the photo over to show her what he was laughing at. "That thing… With your eyebrow… you still do that when you're concentrating. You were such a cute baby… I love the Mohawk." Vaughn caught Jack's intense gaze and his face quickly lost its smile.
'The eyebrow thing,' Jack thought unnerved, as it was yet, something else Sydney had inherited from Irina. Back to business was the clear message his eyes sent.
At 11:30 P.M. Kendall burst through the door to the conference area. "So what do you think?"
Jack became unnerved by the question; his nerves were that way a lot since Irina had come back into their lives. "It's too soon to say. We've worked all day and so far have only eight pages completely decoded. This is going to take a while."
"Well how long is awhile, Jack? This is the only lead we have and I need to know if its legitimate Intel about Derevko or another wild goose chase!"
"There are, over two hundred pages here… we are working as quickly as we can. What has Marshall found?" Jack turned the attention away from him.
Kendall shook his head and squeezed his brow with his thumb and pointer finger… the headache that was his job was getting to him. "Nothing yet… he is decoding the information on the disk that Cuvee decoded from the Rambaldi pages and I have no idea about the Derevko disks." He picked up the phone and dialed a couple of numbers. "Flinkman, get in here." He slammed the phone back on the receiver.
Marshall flew through the door minutes later, obviously stressed out and attempted to adjust his tie and tuck his shirt back in, to look presentable.
"What have you found on the disks I gave you from Derevko's file?" Kendall loomed over the small man. Marshall looked uncomfortably around the room and gulped.
"I… a nothing yet, sir. I mean… I've been looking at it… but the disks are heavily encoded. I've never seen anything like it before and I've seen a lot. What ever is on these disks, someone went to a lot of work to protect them." Marshall turned his gaze away from Kendall's angered face and found Sydney. She smiled at him knowing how uncomfortable he was. "Hi Syd…" He smiled in return, "I heard about your mother being a Romanov… and your grandmother was Anastasia… so cool. That means you're a Royal too… like a princess or an empress… maybe?" He pondered the thought and then smiled, "Really cool."
"We don't know that for sure, Marshall." Sydney was suddenly nervous with the concept she hadn't yet thought about, if her mother was royalty, what did that make her?
"Well you'll always be a princess to me." Marshall smiled back before realizing what he'd just said. Embarrassed he turned his attention towards the floor.
"Keep working on those disks and tell me immediately when you've cracked them. And find out whatever you can on the Romanovs." Kendall turned his attention back to Vaughn, Sydney and Jack still sitting at the table. "If Derevko really is a Romanov, I want to know exactly what we're dealing with and how this all fits into her organization."
Marshall continued to stand there until he noticed Kendall looking at him, wondering why he wasn't moving. "Oh, right the disks… I'll get right on that." He said quickly and sped out the door.
Kendall shook his head and followed.
Hours later, Sydney stifled a yawn and Jack took notice of how tired she looked.
"It's late Sydney, you have had a busy week. Go home, get some rest." Jack's tone was on the border between ordering and caring.
"Dad…" Sydney began to protest but gave in, remembering that she and Vaughn were supposed to have dinner and talk about their 'vacation.' "Ok. You too."
Jack nodded giving in as well, that he too should wrap up for the evening.
"Goodnight Dad." Sydney smiled softly at him over her shoulder as she and Vaughn left the conference room, leaving Jack sitting there alone.
He sighed, closing the file in front of him, he doubted he would get much rest. Just like Sydney, this file only served to raise more questions for him. Jack knew he would spend the night lying awake, re-analyzing his entire life with 'Laura' and Irina, wondering how this new information fit into the picture. He opened the file to the picture he took of Irina with Sydney… wondering if he would ever learn the entire truth, if she would ever tell them… wondering if he could ever believe her… wondering if she was even alive.
A week had passed since the mission… since he shot her. He saw the look in her eyes when she realized it had been him that fired the shot. When Sydney had shot Irina, it was in the arm, a warning of 'I could kill you if I wanted' but let her escape. Jack's shot had not been intended as a warning, it had been a shot to kill. 'Had he succeeded?' The thought sent shivers down his spine glancing back to the photo.