Ch. 1- An Exotic Somewhere...
(Sydney POV)

"Mommy! Mommy!"

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Can you tell me a story like usual?"

"Oh, sweetheart. Mommy's very tired tonight. Maybe tomorrow."

"Please, mommy? I want to hear the one about the two people that fell in love."

"Oh, alright, Jacklyn. Get under the covers."

I never thought I would be the mother of a four-year-old. She got his green eyes, my brown hair with my mother's natural easy wave, and my father's stare. She is already in first grade, being exceptionally smart for her age, yet she will never stop being my little girl. Since my father died four years ago, a day hasn't gone by when something in this life hasn't reminded me of him. The picture of him and I on my wedding day, the way Jacklyn stares at me when she's mad or frustrated, and my mother. We see her periodically, still held as a prisoner of the United States. I guess I'll never leave that life behind.

"Alright, let's see... well, a long time ago, somewhere... not just any somewhere, but an exotic somewhere, there was a man and a woman. The woman worked with the man, and although they were very good friends, they couldn't tell their true feelings to each other. Plus, they weren't allowed to see each other outside of work. So one day, after they'd been working together about five years..."

I kept going for about ten minutes after, waiting to make sure Jacklyn was securely in dreamland. Then I crept out of her room and tiptoed my way down the carpeted hallway, careful on my way down the stairs to make sure I didn't hit any of the spots that creaked. After being here four years, I had made mental notes of any place in the house that made any loud or intrusive sounds. As usual, he was asleep on the couch in front of the television with a hockey game in its last quarter. A sea of paperwork surrounded him, leaving me to wonder if my husband was even under there. I gently shook him and as usual, he grunted, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

"Well, looks like I'll be putting two kids to bed tonight," I thought to myself. Except this time out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of his eyes open just a slit and I knew what was coming. Like lightning, he put his arms around my waist and pulled me onto the enormous couch with him. Luckily, I had learned not to screech when he did that.

"Hey gorgeous," he said through eyes obviously at half mast.

"Gorgeous, yourself." I playfully slapped him and went to get up, but he pulled me down again, kissing my exposed neck and shoulders.

"If Jacklyn wakes up because of you, I'll never forgive you," I whisper threateningly. He knows not to take me seriously, though.

"That little girl is probably sawing logs as we speak. Don't worry about her, she's fine."

"Oh, alright." We laid there a few more minutes in sweet silence before I realized I was starting to fall asleep.

"Mike? Can you make it to the bedroom?"

"Sure thing, Syd. Just ten more minutes," he mumbled, eyes closed.

"Come on, get up." I rolled off the couch and picked up his head. This usually worked, and if it didn't, I resorted to the extreme: cold water.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming." He trudged up the stairs behind me, looking ready to fall asleep standing up. I got behind him and kept giving him little pushes until we reached our room. It was a large, spacious room with a queen-size bed and lots of floor space. And oddly enough at the moment, tidy.

"Night Syd." He had already rolled into bed, not caring where he landed. I got in on the other side and turned off the light. As usual, his arms slid around my waist and we went to sleep. A happy family.

Ch.2- Haunting Memories

The death of my father left me with a great responsibility. I had to take care of all of his affairs before I was able to forget one life and start a new one with Mike and Jacklyn. She was named after her grandfather, although we all call her Jackie. Anyway, about two years after my father died, I was forced to pick up where he left off. He was working on a Classified Intel project, however, I was allowed access to it. That’s when my troubles started.

Two Years Ago…

“Mike, Jacklyn has to be at the sitter in fifteen minutes. Would you please hurry?” I yelled at him from the bottom of the stairway. And we women are ridiculed because we take too long in the bathroom

“I’ll be down in a sec,” he yelled back, obviously irritated. This morning, after he had hit the snooze button for the fifth time, I finally realized it was seven o’clock. I needed to be to work in an hour and still needed to shower, blowdry my hair and get Jacklyn to her sitter.

“Mike, let’s go!” I yell back. Men.

“Alright, alright, let’s go,” he says, coming down the stairs with his top two buttons undone, tying his tie and a piece of toast with jam and butter on it sticking out of his mouth.

“Daddy!” It amazed me that no matter how crappy we were feeling at the moment, Jacklyn could always make us feel better.

“How’s daddy’s little-“

“Daddy can spoil his daughter on the way to the car. Let’s go!” I said, giving both of them a little push towards the door. He picked up Jacklyn and carried her to the car.

“How did you sleep last night, sweetheart?” he said, kissing her cheek. I had to stop for a moment and remember this amazing man, my husband and the father of my child, was mine. He always was and always would be mine.

“Fine, daddy. And you?” she asked, carrying out their usual morning routine.

“Just swell. All five hours,” he grumbled. I wondered why he had gotten so little sleep.

“Hey Syd, are you stopping by the offices today or are you working at the school today?” he said, looking through the open car doors at me as he put Jacklyn in her baby seat and I got in the driver door.

“I’m going to the offices. I have some damage control to take care of,” I said, lowering my voice. Jacklyn was busy looking out the window.

“Okay. I’ll meet you for lunch then. Joey’s Pizza,” he said with a mischievous smile. After all these years, he still used our old signal. Except this time it applied to our lunch place- Francie’s restaurant.

“Alright.” He slammed the door and I turned on the ignition. He came around to my door and I rolled the window down. He stuck his head in and kissed me, bade me have a good day, then waved as I drove away. I knew he would be pulling out a moment later, so I didn’t hear him or see him as he started running after my car, yelling for me to stop. I knew he was going to go to work, so I didn’t feel the need to have my cell-phone out of my purse where I might be able to hear it. I knew all of these things, so why wasn’t I smart enough to assume something just might be wrong?

Ch. 3- History Repeats Itself

I got on the five freeway. Jacklyn’s sitter lived twenty minutes away, and I was already running late so I decided to take the fast road. And of course-

Gridlock.

Solid gridlock from our house on Orange Grove Lane all the way into Los Angeles. I only had to go a few exits, so I decided to ride it out. That was my biggest mistake yet. I was usually extremely cautious, my years of spy training sticking with me. But today I was in such a rush I didn’t care about anything except getting Jackie to the sitter and me to the office. I heard a familiar noise, and as I wasn’t going anywhere, I decided to see who was calling my cell.

“Hello?”

“Sydney, listen to me very carefully. There was a small can of tear gas implanted at the bottom of the car. Do not let the car stop. I repeat, do not let the car stop.”

“Mike, are you sure?”

“I’m positive. I saw it as you were pulling away. You must not have seen me chase after the car. Listen, just don’t turn on the heat, open the windows, and try to keep the car moving. Get over to CIA headquarters with Jacklyn. Just get over there now.”

“Alright. Just give me a few minutes.”

November 16- the day my father’s enemies began to wreak their revenge. After several months of working as an active agent, it was assumed I would pick up where my father had left off. I didn’t know until that day, though, that I would. I didn’t know I would endanger people I cared about the most- Mike, Jacklyn, Francie, Will, Weiss… everyone I had come to love and who had come to love me over the years. Once again, I would have to lie to everyone except Mike. Once again, he would be my guardian angel.

I hit the gas pedal and took the shoulder. The exit was only twenty, thirty feet away at most. That’s when I noticed something- I was low on gas. Could things be any worse?

Outside of the CIA

“Sydney! Over here!”

I saw Mike waving his arm from the curb. I pulled over slightly, making sure not to turn off the engine. I slowed just enough for them to open up the back door and grab Jacklyn. I slid over to the passenger seat and got out the passenger door, reaching over and turning off the engine as I got out. The car started filling with smoke, and I watched in horror and thought, ‘What if Jackie and I had still been in there when I turned off the car?’ I felt Mike put a hand on my shoulder and veer me into the CIA building. Someone handed Jacklyn to me, and I clung to her, not knowing whether to breath a sigh of relief or sob at the thought of her potential demise.

“Sydney… Syd, are you and Jacklyn alright?”

“I think so. I… yeah, I’m alright.”

“I’m fine, Daddy. Hey Daddy, what’s going on?” I think I was gifted with Einstein for a child.

“Honey, you’re at Daddy’s work and occasionally Mommy’s. But you have to be extra good today, okay?”

“Okay, Daddy.” She turned to me. “Mommy, is the car sick?”

“Yes honey. But these nice men are going to try to make it better. But for now we are going to stay here with Daddy, okay?”

“Okay, Mommy.” She busied herself with buttoning and unbuttoning her white sweater. For the next hour and a half, Mike and I were run ragged with meetings, discussing who would have taken a hit out on me. Jacklyn was busy with a constant stream of admirers while sitting quietly at my desk playing with her bear. I think I was one of the lucky ones to have such a great little girl. Finally, two hours later, Mike and I were allowed to go home. We took *his* car, seeing as how mine was still in “Detox” as we affectionately called it.

“Wow, what a day. Are you doing alright, Jackie?” Mike looked over his shoulder and asked her before we pulled out.

“I’m having fun playing with my teddy. I liked going to work today.”

We smiled at the comment, then I thought about it. She liked being in the world I have had to be in since I was nineteen years old. Dear god, history really does repeat itself.

Ch. 4- The Return of an Enemy

At Home (Vaughn POV)

“Home sweet home,” I said with a sigh as I turned the key in the lock. Today has been exceptionally long, and right now all I want to do is fall into bed. But first I have to check in at work, then we have to put Jacklyn to bed, then I have to look over some paperwork and… well, my job is just never done.

“Sydney! Does Jackie need a bath tonight?”

“Don’t know, don’t care!” she called from the kitchen. It was nights like these I knew she let Jackie roam around the living room while she went and got a large glass of wine. And a quart of peanut butter chocolate ice cream.

“Do you want me to put Jackie to bed?” I came into the kitchen, carrying my sleeping daughter. She had gone out like a light five minutes after we walked in the door.

“You’ll be my favorite husband if you do,” she said, turning her head enough to look at me. She had her arms and head leaning on the counter, hair splayed across her face.

“I’m you only husband, and I better be your favorite,” I yell as I carry Jackie upstairs and place her in her bed. That night, she could sleep in her clothes. I didn’t honestly care if she slept naked that night. After that, I jogged downstairs to Sydney.

“Mike? How did everything become so messed up?” She was still in the same position as before, except the wine glass was already half empty and a quarter of the ice cream was already gone.

“I think it messed up the day… well, the day you joined SD-6 and the day I joined the CIA.”

“That sounds about right.”

Sydney POV

Classified Intel. Protocol. Those words turn to stone in my mouth now. The project I was supposed to end which my father had begun wasn’t anything major. It was paperwork. Sure, it was collecting info on one of America’s biggest threats- but most of the work was already done. I only had to find out who and what he was currently working for and on. No problem. Just hunt him down, then take him down. And if you believe that, then you’ll believe when an ugly little man tells you you’re working for your country, your country is actually benefiting from your work. Ha.

He was standing there just looking at me. Sometimes I wonder how he could be so patient with me, especially in situations like this. Where all I want to do is wonder where’s an ACME anvil at a time like this.

“Sydney… Sydney, are you alright?”

“No. Mike, I know this has something to do with my father. I just know it.”

“How do you know it?”

“I was coming in today… hold on.” I went over to my purse, got out my lipstick, and opened it. It beeped twice, and I began again.

“Alright, I was coming in to work today because I got a message there was some work I needed to finish. Some of my father’s work. I don’t know, Mike, it’s just, it’s like our problems from the wedding are starting all over again.”

He pulled me into a rough hug. Being the idiot I am, I sobbed on his shoulder for quite possibly the millionth time. I wonder how he ever got it dry.

“Hey, if it’s him, we’ll fight him together. You know that.”

“I just… I’m not the same person I was back then Mike. I might not be able to fight him this time. I can’t protect you and Jackie.”

“No, Sydney, you’re not the same person you were back then.”

“What?”

“No, you’re not. You’re stronger. Back then, you really didn’t have a reason to fight, especially after losing your dad—”

“Mike, no. You’re my reason for fighting. I love you too much to lose you, understand?”

“Sydney, don’t worry about me. The only person you need to worry about right now is Jackie. She needs you. Look, we’ll take him out together. I’m going to be right by your side the whole way.”

“Really?”

“Really. And don’t ever forget that.”

Ladies, if you can find a guy who gives you kisses that make your heart stop, I mean really stop, hang on to him for dear life because they come one in a million. I don’t know how I could ever even contemplate being in love with anyone else when I had someone as good as him right in front of me the whole time. Well, almost anyone. Danny has always been the exception to the rule.

“Syd… I’ve got to call into the office… see how the situation is going… Syd…”

“You… wanna go… be my guest…”. Of course, this was all said between kisses. Worst part was, neither of us wanted to break it up.

“Well… things probably… hmm… haven’t… progressed that much… I probably don’t need to… hmm… Syd…”

“Hmm… yes?…”

“You know we…. Hmm… haven’t…”

“… sure…”

“That’s not what I was going to say,” he said, breaking the kiss and laughing. “What I was going to say was how we haven’t talked to your mother in a while and how I was thinking you should talk to her and see if she knows anything about this project you’ll be working on.”

“Let’s not think about work tonight. Especially my mother,” I said, pulling him in for another round. There are those times when you just have to let go, and this was one of them.

****

That night was definitely one of the best nights of my life. But in the spy world, people are always watching. Old enemies who never let go of the grudge they had against you five years ago. Naivety is one of my worst faults, especially when it comes to thinking the man you thought was gone forever could never come back. Whoever said revenge was sweet had no idea what the hell they were talking about.

Ch. 5- Space Time Continuem

Certain time periods never really end. The fashions of those periods, the music, everything about it comes back to haunt us once in awhile. The thirties and early forties were all about jazz. Flappers. Booze. Murder. Notoriety. Anything that could get your name in the papers. Well, nowadays we see the jazz, although a little different, the booze, and of course, the murder. In 95% of most cases, there was a motive. Some people were just meant to die at the hands of people who used to love them. Or because of hatred, like the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which was something like what my old enemy had planned.

"Alright Sydney, here's the plan. You go in, find out exactly what information your father had on Sark, and we'll take it from there."

"Mike, I don't know if I want to do this."

"Why not?"

"I'm just getting a feeling everyone I love will be in danger if I start investigating Sark."

"Don't worry, everything will be just fine. Trust me."

"Alright." She walked into Devlin's office, head held high.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Ah, Mrs. Brist- I mean, Mrs. Vaughn. Please have a seat." She sat down in the chair opposite him. He slid a thick file over to her marked CONFIDENTIAL.

"I assume you already know what's in that file," he said as she flipped through the file detailing Sark's every move up until two and a half years ago.

"What would you like me to do?"

"I want you to pick up where your father left off. Pick up Sark's trail, find out who he's working for, what he's working on, then take him out. We can pick up on his boss' trail from there."

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Agent. See if you can identify where he might be from that file and report back tomorrow afternoon."

"Thank you." She dismissed herself and walked out the door to the area where Vaughn was waiting.

"Well?"

"Nothing we didn't already know. Except he wants me to take out Sark after I find out who he's working for."

"Sydney, I'm going to bring this up again- why don't you go talk to your mother? She might know what the hell is going on."

"Let me see if this file will tell me anyth-"

(Siren Sound) REER-REER-REER-REER

"Security breach! Let's get out of here!" They headed for the elevators but they were already shut down. Vaughn grabbed Sydney's hand and led her through several hallways until they found a fire escape.

"Mike, wait! Jackie!"

Pause.

"Alright, let's go." The CIA had a child day care center which operated like a normal daycare except it was extremely well protected. Even so, someone might still be able to get in. They ran through several more hallways past people pushing, trying to get out. It seemed everyone was in a panic except the guys with the big guns who were trying to keep everyone calm. Finally, they made it to the unmarked wooden doors, the handles of which were already riddled with bullets.

"Oh no. Mike, you don't think it's him, do you?"

"I don't know. But we have to find Jackie." He reached for the door handle and peered into the large playroom. There was no one there except for the body of the woman in charge of the daycare.

"Mike, it's Linda!" Sydney said, running over to the body and kneeling down beside it. "They got here first. Now Jackie could be anywhere."

"Mommy? Daddy?" They both whipped around, hearing Jackie's whispers coming from behind them. What they saw scared them both to death. There was Sark, holding their precious daughter in his greasy arms with a gun pointed towards them and two henchmen accompanying him.

"It's alright, sweetheart. Everything will be alright," Sydney said, trying to stay calm for everyone.

"Ms. Bristow. Or should I say, Mrs. Vaughn?" Sark said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What the hell are you doing here, scum?" Vaughn spat, not wanting to waste breath on the trash in front of him.

"As a matter of fact, I'm carrying out my employer's very carefully laid plans. She certainly is a very good actress," he said gesturing towards the door. "She'll be here in a few minutes for the execution."

"Who's she? And what execution?" Sydney was having a hard time comprehending anything beyond how much trouble her daughter was in.

"The execution of anyone who has ever stood in her way. You see, after you two were married, the largest obstacle was removed, but then we realized the second largest obstacle was anyone involved in the CIA. So we decided-"

"We decided to eliminate the competition." The woman standing in the doorway said, finishing Sark's sentence. She stood around 5'8 1/2, with wavy brown hair and sad looking eyes. She was wearing navy blue pants with comfortable-looking sliders and a long-sleeved plain navy blue shirt. She walked over to Sark and took Jackie from his arms.

"Oh, is this my little granddaughter?"

Ch. 6- Truth Takes Time

Syd POV
I hate to admit it, but my father had been right all along. She was a traitor at first to this country, now to her own daughter. At least she would never cease to amaze me. I think.

“Sydney, aren’t you going to introduce me to your newest addition?”

“You… I… What- are you doing here?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m “escaping from Alcatraz.” After all, do you really think I wanted to spend the rest of my life cooped up like some lab rat?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Then let me simplify it for you. Remember the night I kidnapped you and your father on that boat?”

“Y-es,” I said slowly, wondering what her master plan was.

“Didn’t it seem a little odd to you that I let you go so easily?”

“Yes. I was wondering about that myself.”

“Hmm. You see, I was originally planning on killing both of you and leaving you, Mr. Vaughn, with your pretty blonde girlfriend. But then I thought better of it. If I allowed you and your father to escape, Sydney, you two would continue to work for the CIA. All I had to do was show up when I needed to just to make sure everything was on schedule. Everything went as planned. You completed the work for me I started oh, over twenty-five years ago, and now, all I have to do is destroy the evidence.”

“You mean us?” After a side glance at Mike, he realized I wasn’t handling this very well, so he spoke for me.

“I can’t have you two living out your lives knowing what went down here today, now can I? Anyways, Sydney, since I know you won’t join me, all you would keep doing is getting in my way.” During the entire time she was talking, she kept Jackie on her hip, eyes locked on my little girl. “Say goodbye.”

She pointed her gun straight at us.

No more POV

“Freeze!” Her head snapped up, staring straight ahead.

“Weiss! Will!” They were standing in the doorway, blocking anyone from entering or exiting.

“Drop it!” Weiss turned his gun on one of Sark’s henchmen. Suddenly, shots rang out.

“Mike, get down!” Sydney pushed him behind the old beat up couch in front of the TV and charged her mother. However, flying bullets and continuing combat between agents prevented this and Irina made it out the door with Jackie, Sark right behind her.

“JACKIE!” Vaughn got up and lunged after them, but the continuing shower of bullets from Sark’s machine gun stopped him dead in his tracks.

“Sydney! Are you alright?”

“Where’s Jackie? Where is my daughter?” She was clinging to his lapels, extremely close to tears.”

If you’ve ever had a child, you’d know the hell you go through when you don’t know where they are or even if they are dead. You can’t accept the truth, and you deny their disappearance, that any moment they are going to come in through the door, wrap their arms around your knees, and say everything will be alright. There are times you would give your own life to bring them back, but what good will it do? I could kill my mo- Derevko, I could cry until there was no more water left in my body, or I could try to get my daughter back. Even if it meant losing one of my closest friends.

Ch. 7- Rainy Days and Mondays

“Alright, let’s think. Where would they have taken her?” Mike was thinking out loud, but I really couldn’t understand what he was saying.

“Sydney! Syd! You have to stay with me! I need your help on this!”

“Okay, um… do we still have a list of Sark’s warehouses?” I said vaguely, trying to snap out of it.

“Yeah, they are in the database. I’ll have one of the guys bring it up.” He left my side briefly to stand up and talk to one of the agents standing nearby. After Derevko left, security section found their way down to the nursery. He soon squatted down next to me again, however.

“We’ve got an agent down over here!” I looked up and I saw a familiar face lying on the floor. The agent next to the person checked his pulse.

“He’s gone.”

Funerals are never fun. They are a lot of work, a lot of planning, and people expect you to either grieve and let it all out or be strong for everyone else who is allowed to grieve. No one knows how you are really feeling. I scheduled his funeral for Monday. Coincidentally, it rained that day. Francie came with Weiss (they were dating by then) and Mike briefly stopped in. I had to stay because I was the hostess, but Mike spent every waking moment at CIA headquarters, keeping up the search for Jackie. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t leave one of my best friends on his day of remembrance.

Ch. 8- The Impossible

There's times in life you don't want to remember. It's too tough. After Will's funeral, the search for Jackie continued. We were starting to lose hope we would ever find her, considering there was proof my mother had left the country. My dad must have been looking out for us though, because sometimes events happen which just can't be explained.

So don't tell me that it's over,
Don't give up on you and me,
Because there's no such thing as hopeless
If you believe
Unsinkable ships, sink
Unbreakable walls, break
Sometimes the things you think would never happen
Happen just like that
Unbendable steel, bends
If the fury of the wind, is unstoppable
I've learned to never underestimate
The impossible.

Syd POV
"Do we have any leads?" I huffed into the intel center, over to one of the tech agents on Jackie's trail. When I get my hands on Mike, he's dead. I haven't slept in two days, looking for Jackie, and he slipped a sleeping pill in my coffee. I've been out for almost three hours.

"We're- well, do you want to hear what you want to hear or the truth?"

I shake my head. "I... just tell me what we know."

"Okay, well, we know your mother has definitely left the country. We got her picture at LAX about, oh, two hours ago."

"Why wasn't I told!" It was more a statement than a question. I was pretty sure I knew the answer.

"We actually had a team at LAX, ready to mobilize at the first sign, but when they went after her, it was like she had disappeared into thin air."

"Did you sweep the airport? Check anyone who might even remotely look like her?"

"Of course, Agent Bri- Vau- Bristow." This guy was obviously new.

"Alright," I said, trying to regain my composure before I throttled this guy, "I'm going to find Agent Vaughn, so update me the instant we know anything. Got it?"

He nodded his head nervously. He could tell I was pissed.

"Good." I walked away, pushing past everyone as I retreated to the employee's lounge. I had a hunch I would find Mike there.

"Syd! What are you doing here? You're supposed to be asle- never mind."

"No, go ahead, say it. Asleep! Because you slipped me a sleeping pill! Why, Mike? You know how important this investigation is to me!"

He shook his head at me, closing his eyes in exasperation.

"Sydney, when you used to do missions, you made sure you were at the top of your game each time, right?"

"Sydney, when you used to do missions, you made sure you were at the top of your game each time, right?" I knew where he was going with this, but I wasn't going to let him win that easily.

"I guess."

"You got sleep, you ate, you made sure you were in top condition?"

"Mike, I need to know if and when we find them."

"I know. But we're still working on it, so I felt it was necessary and alright for you to get some sleep. You're already feeling better, right?"

"No, I'm no-"

"Agents, I'm sorry to interrupt, but you might want to take a look at this." We exchanged scared glances, and jogged out behind the tech guy.

"We just found this email. I have no idea where it came from because- and here's the weird part- it didn't come from anywhere."

"What are you talking about?" I wondered what kind of game this guy was trying to play.

"I mean, either the sender is the ultimate creator and controller of the entire internet or ... it's something else."

"Let's read it." I was eager to see if someone had sent us some information about Jackie. After waiting a few minutes, it finally opened.

She's headed for Russia. Her hometown, Zapolic. Get there in twenty-four hours, before she does.

"How do we know if this is legit?" Mike turned to me, those wrinkles making their hourly appearance.

"We don't. But it's the only lead we have, and we have to act on it." I wasn't going to let this one go so easily.

"Alright. We'll have a team ready to leave in three hours." Weiss strode up to us, looking as stressed as I felt.

"Thank you."

"Go home and pack, we'll call you guys with the rest of the information," he said, looking at Mike. Without another word, he steered me towards the exit and before I knew it, we were driving to the house.

"Mike? What if we don't get to her in time?" I said, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Don't worry. We'll get there. I just need you to hang in there and be strong for me."

"Okay." I rubbed my eyes and stared straight ahead at the road until we got home.

Two Hours Later
"Hey, Syd, how are you?" Weiss tapped me gently on the shoulder and took the empty seat opposite me. Mike was already asleep, so I put my finger to my lips to quiet him.

"How do you think I am?" I whisper through unshed tears freshly springing to my eyes.

"Hey, we're gonna do this. Don't you worry. Your moth- I mean Derevko will be executed before you know it. Okay?"

"Weiss- why did you ever forgive me?"

"For what?"

"For everything that happened between us those few days when we weren't speaking."

"Oh, that. Well, I resolved myself to the fact you were marrying my best friend. I guess I instigated our little fight because I was afraid he wouldn't be the same. But I was wrong. He hasn't been the same since the day he met you."

"Really?" For the first time in days, I smiled.

"Yeah. You coming into his life was probably one of the best things that ever happened to him. Anyways, I realized I was jealous of your position in his life, so I thought I could drive you away. I didn't realize until afterwards what a huge mistake that would be. I thought I was saving him if you would have left, but it would have ultimately killed him. You are the single most important thing in his life- unless you mind sharing that spot with Jackie?"

"No, not at all. Thanks for telling me this, Weiss. It helped."

That was the longest plane ride I had ever been on. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't concentrate. All I could think about was getting Jackie back.

Zapolic, Russia
"Wow, that was one of the bumpiest car rides I've ever been on," Weiss exclaimed as he sat in his chair at our makeshift comm center.

"Well, they don't exactly use asphalt here, now do they?" Mike was back to being a smart ass. "Wait, we've got something."

There was a car similar to the one we had been in coming down the street. It was midnight and dark, so we couldn't see much, but I could make out a woman holding a child and a man standing next to her. They quickly got in the house the car parked in front of and shut the door.

"Alright, let's move in!" Mike ordered, grabbing his gun. I followed, grabbing my own.

"One, two... three!" The door flew open as over 20 CIA agents filed inside the miniscule house.

"Hands where I can see them!" Weiss, Mike and I pointed our guns at my mother who had Jackie asleep on her lap.

"Everyone drop your guns!" Another CIA agent, the actual leader of the team, shouted at the rest of the men in the room, including Sark. Once we had all their guns, they were all handcuffed and put under tight security until backup came. After Derevko was cuffed, I got Jackie, who had woken up half way through the raid.

"Mommy, I was scared."

"I know, sweetheart. So was I."

"That bad lady said she was my gramma. Was she?" Jackie looked at me, ready to cry. I beat her to it, the tears flowing steadily from my eyes.

"She used to be your grandmother. But she isn't anymore." I felt arms slide around me and Jackie as Mike pulled us into a hug. He kissed the top of her head, then asked her how she was doing.

"I'm fine, daddy. But I missed you. I love you daddy. I love you mommy."

So that was it. We brought Jackie home, safe and sound, and my mother was soon after executed. I don't think my father would have minded her execution, but then, thanks to her, I'll never know much more about him than I did before Mike and I were married. I'm a teacher, though I still do some work for the CIA from time to time. Francie's restaurant is franchising, and she's already got three here in California, two in Nevada, and two in Colorado. Mike is as wonderful as he has always been, and I make sure to visit the cemetery every week, bringing one white rose for Will, one red one for Danny. I don't bring my Dad any because I don't think he would appreciate them, so instead I just bring Jackie. I believe this was where I was supposed to end up. Happy, with a loving husband, a smart, beautiful daughter, and another one on the way. Living a normal life, just like I always wanted.