two people(lenafan and brenda) have inspired me to also post my story here so if you haven't read it, enjoy. It's not the best but it's interesting. I'll post the whole intire story today just because I feel like it.

Author: Tamara (me)
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters; they belong to J.J. and abc etc

This story takes place sometime after season two’s finale. Vaughn’s not married and he and Sydney are back together. Sark is still held in C.I.A. custody and Sloane and Irina are still wondering around the world undetected.

feedback always appreciated.


Chapter 1

Jack came in the front door and locked it behind him. He hung up his coat, which was completely drenched from the rain and figured it would be dry by tomorrow.

He walked into the living room and put his suitcase on the coffee table.
Then went upstairs to the bathroom, took a towel and dried his hair.

He threw it on the floor, walked to the bedroom, changed to his pajamas and got into bed. He hadn’t had dinner yet, but he was too tired to eat anything and fell asleep immediately.

This past week had been absolutely exhausting for him.
Sydney and Vaughn left for Santa Barbara on Wednesday for two weeks and hadn’t bothered to call.

Kendal had given him loads of paperwork to keep his mind focused on his job. Plus, the C.I.A. didn’t find any new information on where Sloane or Irina might be.

Sark wasn’t very helpful on this either. Jack had debriefed him a couple of times as did Kendal but he gave no useful facts on they’re whereabouts.

Kendal gave Jack the weekend off since there wasn’t much they could do now. Jack didn’t really want to stay home all weekend in an empty house, but he didn’t feel like arguing with him today.

Besides, tomorrow was director Devlin’s funeral and he needed a good night sleep.

Devlin died a week ago of lung cancer, Jack was ordered to write a small speech for the funeral, he did and would share it with everyone tomorrow.

Vaughn didn’t tell Sydney that the funeral was this Saturday because he though she might not go on vacation then, he was probably right Jack thought and didn’t bother to tell her either, she needed a break form work.

Chapter 2

On Saturday, Jack woke up, well rested. It was the first time in years he got to sleep in and it felt very promising.

He got out of bed and took a shower, and then put on a suit, he hadn’t worn this one since Irina’s funeral, but it still looked fine.

He put the speech in his pocket and went downstairs. He grabbed a bowl of cereal and ate it while reading the newspaper.

Saturday august 23rd he read on the front page, he remembered this date had some sort of significance but what?

He finished his cereal and put the bowl in the dishwasher. Then went into his workroom and checked the calendar on his desk, he flipped the page to august and looked under the 23rd, Jack was shocked.

The calendar said Laura and mommy right beside it. He stood there for a moment, and then glanced at his watch. “Damn” he said, grabbed his keys, his coat, got in the car and drove off.

He couldn’t stop thinking about why he suddenly remembered Laura’s birthday, it sure wasn’t Irina’s birthday. But hey, not like it mattered anymore he thought to himself and kept driving.

Jack arrived just in time, everyone had already taken their seats and Kendal was just about to announce him.

“And now, Jack Bristow would like to say a few kind words” Kendal finished. Jack walked up to the platform and began.

“Director Devlin was a great man, his orders were clear and concise and he was a good friend to many of us. Unfortunate his years on earth weren’t very long”.

As Jack continued on he noticed a dark figure get in a car and drive off, but he couldn’t tell whom it was.

Probably someone he didn’t know he thought to himself as he finished his speech. There was a silent applause and some women sobbing as he left the platform, then Kendal came back up.

“Thank you Jack, he was a fine man and a tragic loss, that’s it for now, we have some refreshments in the back, thank you for coming today” Kendal finished.

Most people left the building and some family members put cards and flowers by the coffin. Kendal, Dixon, Marshall, Carrie, Weiss and Jack all got some coffee and then headed home as well.

When Jack got in the door the phone was ringing, he hurried to his workroom and picked up the phone.

“Hello” he answered catching his breath.

“Hi dad where have you bee, I’ve been trying to reach you all morning” said Sydney.
“To the store, how’s your vacation going?”

“Good, but are you okay?” she asked worriedly. “Fine why?” he replied.

“Well today used to be mom’s birthday”. There was an awkward silence.

“Sydney, I don’t want you to worry about me, no go enjoy your vacation”.

“Okay, thanks dad, bye”.

“Goodbye” he ended the conversation and hung up the phone.
Jack went to hang up his coat and closed the front door.

He walked to the dining room and hung his suit jacket over a chair when he noticed something fall out. It was a letter, he picked it up, and it read “Jack” in a very familiar writing.

Chapter 3

Jack sat down at the table and started reading the letter. It was dated February 18th 1981; the ink seemed to have faded somewhat over time.

I’m sorry I have to leave I have no choice, they would kill me, you and Sydney if I don’t. I know I’ll miss you and Sydney very much but I will see you again, not soon but sometime. Just remember I love you and Sydney and that I’m sorry. Please keep this safe. Irina.

When Jack went to put the letter back in the envelope he found her wedding ring. He took it out and stared at it for a while.

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t found this before; the letter was at least 20 years old.

The ink of her writing was like poison in his mind, the wound that would not seal. He left the ring and the letter and went to the living room he sat there for the rest of the afternoon doing some reports for work while drinking some Smirnoff on ice.

He left very relaxed as he walked to the kitchen for dinner.
He grabbed some left over lasagna from the fridge and heated it up.

Then went to sit down across from the letter and the ring, staring at it the whole time while eating.

As he finished he put his plate in the dishwasher and turned it on, then went upstairs.

He walked in his bedroom, which was extremely dark, he was too lazy to turn on the lights but saw just enough to change and get into bed.

He lay on his side facing the window, then he suddenly saw the shadow again, but it left in a mere second and Jack started to fall asleep.

At about 2:30 a.m. He moved around a little until his leg hit something, he thought it was Irina so he said “sorry” out loud.

There was obviously no response and he turned around again. He tried to go back to sleep but he ended up thinking of Irina through his sleepless mind.

The next morning, he slowly woke up. Took a shower, got dressed and went downstairs.

He went to get some coffee when he realized the coffeemaker was on. Probably left it on last might he thought and grabbed some coffee.

He went outside on the patio and took a sip from his coffee. Then his eyes caught the shadow sitting on a bench by the pool.

As he slowly approached the dark figure it became visible. He couldn’t believe his eyes; in shock he dropped his coffee on the tiles making a load breaking sound. What was this person doing here?

Chapter 4
”Hello Jack” the voice said calmly.

“What are you doing here?” he asked angrily.

“I thought I’d stop by to see how you were doing” Irina said softly and started to pick up the pieces from his broken mug.

She was dressed in a navy blue suit and her skirt ended just above her knees. Jack just blankly stared at her. Irina stood up and walked inside, Jack followed.

“Why are you here?” he asked again. Irina threw the pieces in the garbage and went to face Jack.

“I already told you, don’t you believe me?” she asked in a silent tone.

“No, now tell me why you’re here!” he yelled furiously.

“Alright, you need my help and I need yours. I suggest we co-operate instead of kill each other,” she brutally stated.
“Why would I need your help?” he mildly replied.

“Because Sloane is after you and will kill you as soon as he has the information he needs”.

“Why would I believe that?”

“Because it’s true Jack, and you know it”. Jack knew she was probably right, but still a little confused.

“Why do you need my help?”

“To simply stop Sloane from achieving his goal”.

“Which is?”

“Rambaldi” she finished and walked over to the letter.

“When did you find this?” she asked and looked at Jack.

“Yesterday” he said.

“Do you believe it?”

“Should I, I mean it could’ve been forged” he responded vaguely.

“It could have”. There was a slight moment of silence.

“But it wasn’t”.

Jack turned around and walked down the hall.

“Where are you going?”.

“We have to get ready, go upstairs Sydney has some clothes here in case of an emergency, put them on, I’m getting some equipment” he said and walked into the garage as she headed upstairs.

Irina came back down in Sydney’s clothes, which fit her perfectly and walked into the kitchen where she found Jack.

“Put these on” he said and handed her a pair of earrings, her wedding ring and a chip to put in her ear.

Without question she out them on. Irina took out her cell phone and called for an airplane, then hung up.

“Alright, let’s go”.

“Where?” he asked suspiciously.

“Cairo, Sloane’s somewhere in the Middle East, and I have contacts there”.

Jack didn’t say anything; he just grabbed a suitcase and walked out the house, Irina following.

“Let’s take my car” she said briefly, they did and Irina drove them to the airport. Neither said a word to each other the whole way.

Chapter 5

They got on the private airplane and Irina was explaining everything she knew about Sloane since the last time Jack saw him.

They stood up after the plane landed, Irina walked by Jack and said:” it’s okay”.

“What is?” he asked, confused.

“You kicked me last night in bed, it’s okay”.

Irina turned to look at him; she could see the surprise and anger on his face, which was exactly what she expected to see.

Jack was stunned; he froze for a moment, then walked right by her and off the airplane, Irina following.

Neither said a word on their way to the apartment. Irina’s contact had a team ready waiting at the apartment.

The apartment had no furniture so they slept on the floor in sleeping bags after outlining the mission and having some pizza.

At five the next morning, Jack and Irina rode camels out of Egypt. Heading into Israel with the team in a chopper nearby following their every move.

Their journey was long and exhausting, it took three days, but now they were close to arriving at their destination.

Irina and Jack were now in Jordan; they could see the entrance to the underground building by the Dead Sea. It was a black door in a sand dune.

They got off their camels and drank some water from the sea.

“Why did you give me this jewelry?” Irina asked.

“The earrings are tranquilizer darts and the ring is now a tracking device”. Jack responded joyfully. Irina smiled a little then handed Jack a pair of handcuffs.

“Put these on, Sloane needs to think that I caught you for him, it’s the only way he’ll let us in”. Jack put the handcuffs on and they headed for the black door.
-----
Kendall picked up the phone and furiously dialed a number.

“Hello” Sydney answered.

“You and agent Vaughn need to get back here now”.

“Why?” she asked.

“Your father’s missing”.

“What do you mean, he’s missing?” she asked with a worried look on her face.

“He hasn’t been at work for four days, we’ll explain the rest when you get here”.

“Okay” she said and hung up the phone.
She stood in the garden of their hotel in Santa Barbara with her phone. Vaughn approached and started kissing her neck.

“We have to go, my father’s missing”. He stopped and stared at her.

“I’m sorry,” she said apologetically.

“It’s okay” he said, took her hand and they walked inside.

Chapter 6

Irina pointed her gun at Jack’s head and knocked on the door, a guard opened it and stared at them.

” I have a prisoner for Mr.Sloane,” she said.

The guard ordered them in and two other gaurds led them down some stairs and a long dark hallway.

“Whatever he says, don’t believe him”. She mumbled to Jack in Russian, he nodded.

The gaurds led them in a room, it was much brighter in here, and they were ordered to sit in the two chairs facing a desk with another chair on the other side of it.

They sat down and the gaurds left the room.
Neither could quite see the person sitting on the other side of the desk but they had an idea who it was.

Then, another set of lights went on right above the figure, revealing him.

“Jack, Irina, what a pleasant surprise” Sloane said with a smile on his face.

“I’m glad you’re both here, I have something for you to do”.

“What would that be?” Jack asked, getting angry.

“I want you two to go to this location” he said as he showed a map on the screen behind him of a hotel. Irina recognized it immediately and interrupted him.

“You want us to go to Italy, why?”

“Yes, Pisa, Italy to be exact, there is a manual hidden in one of the rooms, which I want”.

“How can you be so sure we’ll get it for you?” Jack shouted out in fury.

“Simple you want to catch me and you’ll do anything to make that happen, that’s why you’re here isn’t it?” Sloane responded calmly.

Jack didn’t answer, and wasn’t sure whether he should trust either one of these people.


“Now, you’ll be disguised as a married couple going on your 30th anniversary, you’ll be staying here for five days, that should be enough time” Sloane finished.

Jack glanced over at Irina, she seemed to be fine with this, did she plan this, he thought.

“This is what the manual looks like” Sloane showed another picture and went on.

“Your plane leaves in ten minutes, any questions?” He looked straight at Jack.

“No” Jack said, while at the same time Irina said: “Yes”.

“Can I make a phone call” Irina continued.
“There’s no need, your friends in the chopper are all dead” Sloane responded with a little smirk on his face, while Irina gave him a dirty look.

“O, and I’ll have a team follow you just in case, now what are we waiting for?”
Sloane finished and some gaurds came in who led them to their airplane.
As Sloane was watching them from his office.
---
Sydney and Vaughn arrived at headquarters and immediately rushed to the debriefing room where they found Kendall and Marshall.

“Welcome back from your vacation” Marshall greeted them.

“Thanks, any news?” Sydney replied.

“We went to his house, all we found was this letter, some weapons missing and” Kendall nodded to Marshall, who showed two blown-up fingerprints on the screen.

“The right ones is from your father, and seeing that they’re not identical, the left one would have to be from someone else”. Vaughn cut him off.

“Who’s is it Marshall?” he shouted.

“Its Irina’s” Marshall responded shyly.

“What?” Vaughn yelled.

“That could mean, uhm…I don’t know, something” Vaughn said going back to his normal tone.

“Or nothing” Kendall stated.
Sydney now sat in a chair, crying as she read the letter.

“Syd, are you okay?” Vaughn asked. She stood up and wiped away her tears.

“Uhm, yeah, is this real?” She asked silently as she looked at Kendall for an answer.

Chapter 7

Irina and Jack walked in the hotel, three men following with their suitcases. The concierge, who knew they’d be well-paying guests, greeted them.

Jack was wearing a light beige suit and hooked on his arm was Irina, wearing a light flowery summer dress and a smile as they approached the front desk in the lobby.
They got the honeymoon suite on the top floor, which had been reserved for Mr. And Mrs. Kenzo(Irina and Jack’s aliases).

Once they got to their room, Irina went back downstairs for a swim in the pool. Jack however, started searching all the rooms on the floor for the manuscript. Since there were 2574 rooms in the hotel, they decided to take turns searching.
By 4:00 o’clock, both returned to their room.

“Any luck?” Irina asked.

“No” he responded as Irina walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
Jack sat down and read the paper while he heard the shower running.

After what seemed like a long time, Irina came out in a white linen shirt with matching pants.

“Alright, I’m ready” she said and walked towards the door, Jack following.
He locked the door behind him and they got on the elevator. The elevator stopped one floor below theirs, the doors opened and Irina walked out.

“You look nice”. Jack said quickly, Irina flashed him a smile and the doors closed.

She walked up to the nearest room and tried opening the door with a credit card just as a janitor walked up to her.

” Excuse me, what are you doing mam?” he asked curiously.
---

“We couldn’t find a flaw,” Kendall said.

“Well, what can we do to find them?” Sydney asked.

“We did find a tracker on your dad but we kinda lost it somewhere in Jordan”. Marshall replied, hoping not to get yelled at again by Vaughn.

“So they’re still in Jordan right?” Vaughn asked.

“We don’t know but our best bet is to send you two there and find out”, “I suggest you pack, your plane leaves in two hours”.

Kendall finished and walked out of the room with Marshall following.

“Here, let me see” Vaughn said as he walked up to Syd.

“No, let’s just go” she responded and put the letter in her pocket. Vaughn put his arm around her and they also left the room.

Syd and Vaughn arrived in Jordan, as close to the Dead Sea as possible.

“Where do we start looking?” asked Vaughn.

“We swim to those hills over there”. Sydney replied and jumped in the water off a small cliff, Vaughn did the same.
It took them fifteen minutes to reach the hills, they hid in a bush, then Vaughn saw something.

“Syd, what’s that?” he asked.

“Looks like a door, come on” she said and they approached the door.
As they were walking, all of the sudden, Vaughn collapsed and fell in the sand.

Just as Sydney stopped to look over at him, she fell as well.
Two men came up and both dragged Syd and Vaughn into the black doorway.

Chapter 8

“O, I’m sorry, I forgot my key in the room, do you think you could?” she asked as nicely as possible and nodded to the door.

The janitor opened the door for her and started to walk away.

“Thanks” she shouted and walked in the room. What the janitor didn’t notice was that Irina quickly snatched his spare set of keys from his belt as he opened the door for her.

As she finished checking the whole floor, with no luck, she went downstairs to the bar where Jack was waiting for her.

“Wow, now that’s a beauty, isn’t she?” the bartender said to Jack while looking at Irina.

“Tell me about it, that’s my wife” Jack said and took a sip from his drink.

“I’m sorry sir, I didn’t know”. The bartender stated as Jack gave him a look, then quickly walked away. Jack took his drink and walked up to Irina.

“And?” he asked.

“No, but I did get keys to every room in this building”. She replied with a smile as they headed for the restaurant.
They spent almost half the night there, they talked, they laughed, and they had far too much to drink.

Their waitress was kind enough to guide them back to their room; she could tell four bottles of wine was a little too much for the both of them.

They stumbled in the room and Jack closed the door, as Irina took off her shoes and fell onto the bed.

Jack did the same and joined her on the bed. She closed her eyes, still hiccupping; she hadn’t been able to stop since they got on the elevator. Jack just stared at her, smiling.

He leaned over and placed a kiss on her lips, she didn’t respond, but she did stop hiccupping.

“Irina” he called out softly, nothing, she’d fallen asleep. Jack put his left hand on her cheek and brushed it a little. O, how he’d missed her all these years. His head slowly placed itself on her shoulder and Jack fell sound asleep as well.


Sydney slowly awakened, she found herself in a dark room, tied to a chair. There was enough light however to see the person sitting in front of her.

“Where’s Vaughn?” she asked angrily.

“Don’t worry he’s fine, now tell me, why are you here” Sloane asked in a bitter tone of voice.

“I was looking for you” she replied.

“And now that you’ve found me, what are you going to do?” he asked as he leaned closer to her.

” Ask you where my parents are and kill you” she stated boldly.

“Your parents are on a mission for me, but I can’t tell you where that is, and I do the killing around here”. He said and leaned and leaned a little closer, staring straight into her cold eyes.

“I will use you as bait for them to finish their mission, since they will most likely run away” he finished.

“I hate you” she yelled and spat in his face. Sloane calmly wiped it off and said.

“I thought you would have been a little nicer my dear, or else your friend Mr. Vaughn might not survive this trip” he said and walked out of the room.

There was no response from Sydney, but she knew she was going to get out of here, with Vaughn.

Chapter 9

Irina woke up, finding Jack’s head on her shoulder. It felt nice but he had to wake up sometime, it was already 11:00 a.m.

“Jack” she whispered.
She tried pushing him off of her, but he was a little on the heavy side.

“Jack, wake up” she said. Jack slowly opened his eyes, only to find Irina lying underneath him.

As he pushed himself off the bed he yelled “Good” and was about to finish by yelling “Good God what have I done” but something else jumped out of his mouth: “Morning” he finished.

Irina smiled and watched Jack stumble into the bathroom. She got off the bed herself and ordered some coffee from room service.

She stood be the balcony, drinking, when Jack finished. He took some coffee and sat at the small table.

“I’m gonna continue our search” he said as he put down his coffee and walked out the door. Irina smiled as she got in the shower.

He was never one of many words, she thought. She stayed in the room the whole day, filling it with endless amounts of paperwork, covering the floor, the bed, and the table.

“What’s this?” Jack said as he entered.

“Work” she replied, still scrabbling away on a piece of paper.

“I gathered that, but”.

Before he could finish she covered his mouth and handed him a piece of paper. It read: “I’m making a plan”. “A plan to what?” he asked puzzled.

“What to eat for dinner” as she said this another paper shoved in front of his face read: “escape”.

With his brow furrowed, he stared even more confused at her. This followed another piece of paper, more words on this one though.

Jack took a seat and read: “Sloane has Sydney, we have his manuscript, or soon anyways. If we can make a successful escape, we’ll trade, but we have to hurry. Be careful with what you say, I found five audio bugs, there’s probably more. Read the eight papers on the far left side of the bed, review, then destroy. While you do so I’m once again going to look for the manuscript.” Jack nodded at her, then she left the room. He found the specified papers and started reading.

---
Sydney stood up, still tied to the chair; she banged it against the desk until it split in two.

With her hands somewhat free she found a knife in one of the drawers and managed to cut the ropes off her hands.

Checking the other drawers, she found a gun, loaded. Sydney then, furiously headed for the door, she gave it a few kicks and the door fell to the floor.

In one minute she had shot two gaurds and was running down the dark hallway checking every door for a sign of Vaughn. She swung open another door, Bingo.

“Vaughn?” she said silently as she walked up to him.

“Syd”, came a breaking voice as he looked up at her. He had been tortured, badly. Cuts and bruises were now, what once had been his pretty face. She knelt down beside him.

“O, God, are you okay?”.

“Syd, leave here, it’s not safe, just go” he spoke with trouble.

“No, I won’t leave you” she said with tears in her eyes.

“That’s good, but, unfortunately he will leave you” Sloane said calmly. He was standing in the doorway with two men behind him, with the most satisfying look on his face.

He raised his gun and two shots fired. They struck right in Vaughn’s heart, blood quickly absorbed his shirt, and his head pulled itself down.

“Vaughn!” Sydney cried. She couldn’t see properly anymore, her eyes were filled with water. Sloane however seemed to be smiling.

Oh no. WOW I love you work sofar. Keep going

Chapter 10

“Done?” Irina questioned as she stormed in the room.

“As a matter of fact, I am” Jack replied as he stood up.

“Good, let’s go, I got the manuscript”.

“Wouldn’t it be safer in my hands?” he responded.

“Jack, not now, this isn’t about trust” she said while gathering things to go.

“Isn’t it?, I mean we all know what happened last time you got your hands on a manuscript” Jack said bitterly.

“Jack please, that wasn’t the same”. Irina responded.

“I recall it being a very similar situation”.

“Yes, but this time my… our daughter’s life is on the line”. She continued, “You don’t seem convinced”.

“I’m not” Jack stated boldly.

“Believe what you will, but we’ve still got to go” she said walking out the door, Jack following.

“Here’s the damn manuscript”. She tossed it to him and they got on the elevator. Once in the lobby they returned their key and headed for the door.

“Excuse me” a man yelled after them causing both to turn around.

“I don’t think so” the man said with his gun trained on them. Four other men joined, also focusing their guns on Irina and Jack.
---
“Don’t cry my dear, Mr. Vaughn is fine” Sloane said.

“How could you say that, he’s dead” Sydney replied crying.

“I assure you, he’s not” Sloane walked up to the man that looked like Vaughn.

He got out a knife and started to cut the man’s face, beginning with the forehead. Once finished removing the skin from the man’s face, there appeared another layer of skin.

“See, this isn’t agent Vaughn, I had some plastic surgery done on this man to make him look like Vaughn”. Sloane stated. Sydney’s tears stopped, she felt relieved, yet still angry.

“You sick bastard” came out of her mouth as she stood up. A gentle laugh filled the room followed by.

“I stopped you from escaping didn’t I? And don’t try that again or I will be forced to do something about agent Vaughn”.

Sydney struggled as the other two men tied her up again, this time with handcuffs and shackles.

Chapter 11

“You’re not going anywhere!” the man continued as he and his men approached Jack and Irina.

Who were now standing with their hands up in the air and knew exactly that these people are Sloane’s men.

The other people in the lobby however didn’t. The man approached Irina and whispered something in her ear.

“What do you think you’re doing?”. Irina leaned in closer, her finger tapping on her hip; she only hoped that Jack understood she was signaling him in Morse code.

“Leaving” she whispered as she kneed him in the gut and whithout difficulty grabbed his gun and fired. The man dropped to the floor and she shot the other three men.

Meanwhile, Jack got Irina’s signal and threw himself at the man nearest to him. The man’s gun slid away while this happened and both men now crawled on the floor struggeling to get it first.

Unfortunately, the man got the gun first; he now aimed it right between Jack’s eyes and kept it there as he stood up.

With all effort Jack swung both his legs to the right, where the man was standing, with an attempt to knock him down.

The man however jumped as Jack did this and avoided Jack’s movement.

“I don’t think so old man” the guy said and smiled. Jack however looked somewhat frightened. The sound in the lobby was filled with a single gunshot.
---
Sydney thought awhile about Vaughn and what was really happening to him. But she soon fell asleep.

Sloane stepped in another cell. Vaughn looked up.

“Why are you here Mr. Vaughn?” Sloane asked him.

“I’m helping Sydney,” he answered.

“You know as well as I do that she could’ve easily done this by herself” Sloane said, expecting the truth this time.

“Why are you torturing us? Two years wasn’t enough?” Vaughn stated.

“We need Sydney for something, you’re just a distraction to her”. Sloane continued.

“I could kill you right now, but that wouldn’t do me much good, so I’ll let you live… for today” Sloane said brutally and walked out the door before Vaughn could respond.

Not like he was going to say anything but he sure as hell would like to be with Syd.

Chapter 12
The man fell down on the hard marble floor, right beside Jack. Irina offered Jack her hand, he took it, thankfully and she helped him up.

With all the energy they had left, they raced out of the hotel and into a now stolen car.

“Now what?” Jack asked while Irina was speeding and had no intent of stopping the car anytime soon.

“We’re getting Sydney” she replied and viciously turned the corner.

“How? We don’t have any weapons and we’re gonna need a new cover, besides we can’t just leave the country” Jack finished and looked over at Irina. Irina’s face suddenly had the biggest smile on it.

“Yes we can,” she said. They arrived at the airport and got out of the car. When in the building Jack asked:

“Were you planning on stealing an airplane too?” Irina laughed and just kept walking.

They walked through some tunnels and then outside. There was an airplane in front of them and Irina walked right in, Jack was puzzled but didn’t care too much as long as they got out of the country.

They sat across from each other in silence for a while, Irina tapping away on a laptop.

Jack stared at her the whole time, he was going crazy, he had at least a million questions and he wanted them answered so bad it ached. Apparently Irina read his mind because she said:” Go ahead, ask” still typing away.

“First of all, who’s’ plane is this?” he started his list of questions.

“Mine” she answered vaguely. Jack looked surprised but also a bit relieved as he went on.

“Where are we going?”.

“Jordan, where we were before” she replied. Most of the trip was like this, Jack would as a question and Irina would answer it.

When he was out of questions she showed him her plan that she had been working on while he was asking questions.

Soon after they were finished reviewing their mission’s details Jack dozed off. Irina got up, took off his shoes, slowly moved his chair backwards and covered him with a blanket. She walked into another room, this one with a bed, fell on it and soon sound asleep.
---
Sydney woke up from the cold icy water that was just thrown on her. Sloane and a doctor approached.

“Good morning Sydney” Sloane said cheerfully. While Sydney was busy cursing at Sloane, in her mind, the doctor put a needle in her right arm.

“AAH, what is this?” she asked angrily.

“Nothing severe, we just need your blood sample my dear” Sloane replied.

“What for?” she continued asking.

“I can’t tell you that now but you’ll know the answer soon” He replied.

The doctor finished up and him and Sloane left the room. Sydney was confused but too hungry to care about any of that now.

Chapter 13
Irina woke up at 5:00, she got dressed and walked into the room where Jack was. He seemed well awake as well.

His shoes were on, blanket folded and on the table, and his seat I an upright position. Irina once again sat down across from him.

“Coffee?” she asked and moved towards another table.

“Yes” he responded boldly.

Jack was now the one occupying the computer and seemed to be very caught up in whatever he was doing.

Irina walked up to Jack, with steaming hot coffee in her hand. All of a sudden, the airplane started shaking, including everything in it. Irina was trying to keep her balance, but not succeeding very well, stumbling forwards and backwards.

Then, with one brutal turn to the left, she fell, she let go of the mug as well, which bounced off Jack’s head, the coffee spilling all over his face and Irina ending up in his lap. The plane slowly stopped shaking.

Jack was rubbing his forehead, then looked over at the back of Irina’s head. She didn’t move, it was like she didn’t feel like getting up, or was she dead? At this thought, Jack moved his hand towards her neck, trying to find a pulse.

“What are you doing?” she scowled, placed her hands on his leg and helped herself up.

“I was just-“ she cut him off.

“What, you thought I was dead?” she said, angry and stormed off into the cockpit.

She was definitely angry, he could hear her swearing in Russian at the pilots. After about ten minutes of this, she returned, walking incredibly fast in the room where Jack was.

She stopped as she stood beside him. It frustrated him not to know what she was going to do, he was kind of scared too, she was obviously not happy.

All she did was throw him a towel, which he caught. She then continued marching to her room, and locked the door.
---
Sydney was getting a little angry, she hadn’t heard from Sloane for at least a week.

Day after day she would get some food tossed in her cell, not big portions, but enough to keep her alive.

She was extremely tired, everyday she devoted her energy to get out of there, but no luck.

Sydney decided not to try today instead; she kept thinking of Vaughn, how was he doing? And her parents were they okay? What about Kendall, did he send a team to rescue her? It was useless; all these questions had no answer.

She moved toward her bunk, and out of exhaustion, she fell asleep.

Chapter 14

The plane landed around 7:00 p.m., Jack got up and knocked on Irina’s door.

“Irina?” he said.

“We landed,” he continued.

“Really, I didn’t notice” she replied sarcastically. She opened the door and found Jack standing in front of her.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Let’s go” Irina said and walked past him. The pilots loaded their car with some equipment; Irina and Jack got in and took off, Irina driving.

Speeding naturally, of course Miss All-Mighty will never have the privilege of earning a speeding ticket in a foreign country, he thought.

Found in a hotel room in Amman, Jordan, Irina was unpacking the equipment while Jack was once again reviewing their mission. Just then the phone ringed.

“Hello” Irina answered, wondering who it could be.

“Ah, Irina, Congratulations on your little escape victory” Sloane said and continued.

“I will see you and Jack with the manuscript tomorrow, here at noon and we’ll perform a little trade” he finished.

“Fine but I’m bringing my own team” she replied.

“Agreed” Sloane responded and hung up the phone.

“Who was that?” Jack asked, looking up from his papers. Irina sat down on a chair next to the couch he was sitting on.

“Sloane, he knows everything” she said.

“Does he?”.

“Pretty much” she answered.

“He doesn’t know that we know this” he said and handed her a picture. She studied it, it was Vaughn locked up in a cell.

“Looks like we ran into a little problem, our daughter is not gonna leave without him” Jack stated.

“Great, now we have to save him too, I’m hungry do you want something?” she got up and walked towards the phone. But he grabbed her elbow and stopped her.

“It’s not that easy Irina” Jack said angry.

“I know, but I’m hungry and with my team and the C.I.A., we’ll get them back”.

“The C.I.A.?” he asked.

“Yes Jack the C.I.A., I know you’ve been keeping contact with them” she said and pulled away from his hand.

“How?” he said and wondered.

“Jack, please you couldn’t live without your government and how else would you get that picture” she continued angry.

“Now what do you want?”.

“I’ll have whatever you’re having” Jack answered. As Irina called room service, Jack sat down thinking how she could possibly know he was contacting the C.I.A.
---
Sloane wasn’t exactly happy when he ordered another team of thirty men for tomorrow. “As soon as I get the manuscript I want them all dead” were his last words as he hung up the phone.
---
Meanwhile the guards threw a Half-drugged Michael in Sydney’s cell. She woke up as she heard the thud and raced to Vaughn as soon as she saw him.

“Vaughn. Are you okay?” she asked, worried.

“Syd” he said softly.

“What did they do to you?” she asked.

“Drugs” he stated.

“Let me help you up”.

“No, just let me sleep, here, with you” Vaughn replied. Sydney did as she was told and put her head on his chest.

She couldn’t sleep but certainly could. Sydney lay awake a while, thinking why they brought him here. Were they going to kill them? Was this their last time together?

Chapter 15

Jack and Irina finished eating their dinner in silence. After that Jack made a few phone calls to the C.I.A. while Irina took a shower. Jack hung up just as Irina entered the room, wearing nothing but a towel.

“Where are your clothes?” Jack asked silently, nearly breathless by the sight of her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t have time to pack up my wardrobe” She replied simply, fully aware of the fact that he’s eying every inch of her body.

“What happened to your clothes from before?”.

“I sent them to the dry cleaners”. Jack walked over to his backpack and retrieved a large white blouse, then tossed it at her.

“Wear this” he said as she caught it.

“You bring extra shirts with you?” she asked, examining the shirt.

“You never know when they might come in handy”.

“You pick” Irina said, still with no attempt to put the shirt on.

With confusion he asked: “Pick what exactly?”

“The bed or the couch”. A long moment of silence filled the room.

“Well…the bed is not that small” Jack stated and began approaching her slowly as a small smile developed on her face.

“I guess we’ll find out” Irina said and put her arms around his neck. Then both mutually kissed each other, long and passionately.

Eventually falling onto the bed, and they took it from there. They made love for the rest of the night, finally expressing their feelings for each other.
---
Awoken by the sound of her cell door opening early that morning, Vaughn and Sydney were brought to an interrogation room.

Vaughn somewhat recovered from the drugs and Sydney seemed well rested. Some men tied them to their chairs, then left.

Vaughn’s shirt was torn quite a bit, exposing his muscular abs.(sorry just had to put that in there) Sydney’s clothes weren’t exactly new either but they seemed to last. After a long moment of silence Vaughn asked:

“Syd, what’s going on?” After a big sigh she answered.

“I wish I knew”.

Chapter 16
“Good morning” came Jack’s voice as soon as he saw Irina’s eyes flutter open.

“Good indeed” she replied and placed a kiss on his lips. Irina threw off the covers, exposing her naked body and got out of bed.

When she stood up, Jack quickly grabbed her by the waist and threw her back on the bed, pining her down.

“Where are you going?” Jack asked in a harsh tone.

“Shower” she reassured him.

“Come” she continued with a smile. Jack let go and stood up, then took Irina’s hand, who guided him to the bathroom.

They got in the shower and continued their fun for at least another hour.
---
At exactly 12:00, Jack and Irina stood before Sloane in a gray room filled with nothing but a desk, Sloane on one side and Jack and Irina on the other.

Outside the building, where two teams facing each other as if ready for war. On one side was the C.I.A. and Irina’s team, actually co-operating for once, and on the other side and equal amount of Sloane’s men.

Back inside, Sloane was staring coldly into Irina’s eyes. Then with a smirk he said:

“Irina, you look like a gorgeous wreck”,” And Jack, did you get any sleep at all last night?” Sloane finished, satisfied.
Jack felt like chocking him, right there, and making him eat his own tongue, Irina felt very much the same.

“We didn’t exactly come here to kill you, but that might accidentally happen in the process, now where is Sydney?” Irina demanded.
---
Two men appeared and literally dragged Sydney away from Vaughn. When she finally let go and guided to another door, she was shocked to see what was behind it.

“Mom? Dad?” came her voice. Irina smiled and Jack softly said “hi”. The guards pushed her toward Sloane, causing her to trip, but Sloane caught her.

“It’s okay my dear” he said and helped her up. Sydney backed away and demanded:

“Don’t touch me!”. Sloane smiled and waved at the guards, they now had a strong hold on her arms.

“Irina, the manuscript, I trust it’s not a fake one” Sloane said, holding out his hand.

“I wouldn’t be that foolish, but my daughter first” she demanded.

Sloane waved at the guards again, and Sydney was shoved towards her father, who released the rope around her hands.

Irina was satisfied and handed the manuscript to Sloane. He examined it carefully and when finished, looked pleased.

“Thanks” Sloane said. Then, without warning,

Sloane got out his gun and brutally fired three shots at Jack’s chest. Sloane and his guards made quick exit for the door, while Irina and Sydney rushed to Jack’s side.

“Sydney, get Vaughn, and then Sloane”.

“But what about dad?”.

“He’s fine, he wore a bullet-proof vest, now go!” Irina yelled, but Sydney was still not convinced.

“Yes Sydney, go” Jack managed to say. With this Sydney rushed out the room.

Chapter 17
Irina removed Jack’s shirt only to find out what she already knew. There was no bulletproof vest.

There were three holes, blood flowing from them continuously.

“Jack, hang in there, you’re gonna get through this” Irina kept reassuring him. With difficulty Jack managed to say:

“Irina…I love you” and tried to smile. Tears began running down her face like a waterfall both of joy and grief.

“I love you too” came of her mouth between sobs.

“Don’t go Jack” were the last words he heard before he closed his eyes.

By the time two C.I.A. agents got there, there was just as much blood as there were tears on the floor. Irina’s hair was partly covered in blood from where she had laid her head on his chest.

The two men approached and took Jack out of the building, another man came and guided Irina out of the building as well.

On the airplane, Sydney took a seat next to Irina.

“Mom, we got Sloane, and the manuscript, and Vaughn is going to be fine too” Syd said with joy. Irina didn’t respond.

“Mom, what’s wrong?” she asked, now concerned. Irina looked at her daughter for a moment, then dove in for a hug, which caused the tears to flow again. Sydney held her for a moment then immediately released. What the hell was wrong she’d never been this sad before, Sydney thought.

“What is it, tell me” Sydney demanded. Irina wiped away her tears.

“Sydney, your father died” she said softly, holding back the tears.

“What, that can’t be, you said-“.

“I know, I lied, sorry”. Sydney was angry, but sadness took the best of her, as tears started running down her face as well.

She hugged Irina for a while and both fell asleep after, from exhaustion of crying.
---
Back in L.A. the gray clouds began absorbing the blue sunshine sky.

The funeral was small since it was going to rain. It just included some close friends: Irina, Sydney, Vaughn, Marshall, Dixon, Will and even Kendall. When the funeral was over Irina stood by her husband’s grave for a while, even though Sydney insisted she go with her.

As a tear escaped from her eye, she dropped a red rose on the not yet grass-covered soil. She kissed the gravestone and walked back to her car.

The house was cold, not due to the weather it just had an eerie atmosphere. Sydney had made plans to sell the house; it was too full of memories for both of them to take.

Irina sat in the living room, looking through photo albums for the rest of the day. Then a thought jumped to her mind and she realized she forgot to do something. She got up and ran towards Jack’s home office.

Chapter 18
Irina wrote a note and taped it to the computer for Sydney to read. She grabbed her coat and keys then headed out the door.

At the Joint Task Force Facility, Irina sped down the halls in a hurry and demanded to see the prisoner.

When she approached the glass window Sloane got off the bunk and walked towards her.

“Irina, how nice to see you” Sloane said, apparently truly happy to see her.

“Save it, why did you shoot Jack?” she asked bitterly.

“I must say, I expected him to confront me, why you?”

“Answer my question damnit!” she shouted.

“Shooting Jack was merely a distraction, we all knew he was going to be fine, but it was just enough time for me to escape” he then continued “Where is he anyway, I’m sure he’d like to be a witness to this conversation” Sloane finished.

Irina uneasily diverted her eyes, then placed them back, coldly, on Sloane.

“Jack’s dead” she stated with an it’s-all-your-fault tone.

“I’m sorry”.

“No, you’re not” Irina backfired.

“Irina, I hate to tell you this, but it’s all for the best”, Sloane said calmly. Irina blankly stared at him for a while.

While she did this, she removed a button from the cuff of her sleeve and carefully placed it under a gray bar beneath the cell’s glass.

“Thank you” she said with a gentle smile. Then walked away as the gates closed behind her. Irina drove of right when Sloane grasped his neck.

He started coughing repeatedly trying to breathe. The guard watching him rushed to Sloane’s side, soon also finding himself suffocate.
---
Irina was driving down the highway when she stopped her car in the middle of a bridge due to a traffic jam.

Not one car moved for at least fifteen minutes, when the minutes passed there was still no movement. Then she saw the problem, a car was driving against the traffic and no one did something.

She decided to take action; she moved her car in the empty space between the lanes. The approaching car was gaining speed, and heading straight for her. Then it hit her; the car wasn’t going to stop.

But she wasn’t going to move either. The car hit a violent crash. Irina’s car had a humongous dent in the side and was now moving towards the edge of the bridge. Irina’s cell phone rang and she picked it up in panic. It was Sydney.

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“Guess what?” Sydney chirped excitedly.

“Sydney, now is not the time” Irina responded.

“Mom, I’m pregnant, with Vaughn’s baby!” she cheered.

“What” after a moment of silence she continued. “Congratulations”.

“Thanks mom”.

“Look, I have to go, I love you, bye” Irina ended the conversation.

She was just about to jump out of her car when it took a tumble off the bridge without warning.

She sat there with her hands on the wheel as the car began to fill with water. How could this happen? Why me? Why now? She thought. Then she clued in: This is the way I should have died years ago, I’m dying for a reason was her last thought as her body foiled with water.

Her life flushed over her in a split second and the familiar face that met her at the end of the white tunnel was none other then Jack’s. They hugged, they kissed and when finished, Jack took her hand in his and led her down the pearly white aisle.

The End.
---

Author’s Note: That’s right the end, it’s not the happiest but it’ll do. I hope you don’t think I’m physco killing off my favorite characters but I thought it would be a little different for once. I’m also not very religious if you got that idea I just thought it would be a cute ending. If you have any questions feel free to post and I’ll answer them as soon as I can.

feedback is always appreciated.

Just finished it all and all i can say is wow. Great job!

LightTraveller posted on Cot. 8, 2003 at 3:49 p.m.

Flashed or flushed? :P
Thanks for posting your story over here. Eighteen chapters! Wow, are you doing a lenafan? :huh:
Kind of sad at the end. :( You may do it, but don't expect me too! Lose Jack and Irina, never! I love them :wub: too much. They are the best characters of all time!
B)

both, really, because she's drowning and the water(and thoughts) flush over her and flashed because that usually happens(or so they say)when you die.

lol, hadn't even thought of that actually, kinda creepy but very cool.


As you might be able to tell i am a J/I shipper and really enjoyed reading this story, thanks for reading guys.

Great story LightTraveler . . .

I enjoyed reading it . .. but it was finished before I spotted it . . .

Please write up another story.

That was a great story. :)