Teaser:Still in shock from the devastating outcome of Marina's rescue, the group finds they have no time to regroup - Marina's secret is out, and with no protection and the CIA already losing one sister, she has no choice: leaving West Hollywood.
Series: Nothing to Write Home About, Story XXVII
Crossover: Alias/The L Word
Characters: Think clowns in a circus car.

--

"Go back and tell the others we need to leave."

Irina Derevko said this in a low, quiet, calm voice, standing over the body of her dead baby sister. Somehow, Sydney knew her mother was talking to her, even as Irina knelt down further, palms on her knees, blood spooling around her boots.

Beside her, Marina was panting, from emotion or exertion, she wasn't sure. She didn't see, hear, really process anything, but the sight of the beautiful woman with the dead, wide open eyes. A corpse.

Her mother was perfectly still, back to her, staring down at her sister while Katya slumped against the wall, eyes closed, suddenly dead to the world herself.

She kept staring, unable to process it, trying desperately to understand, somehow failing miserably.

This was her mother's sister. Lying dead on the ground.

"Sydney." She blinked, brought back into focus by her mother, who now looked at her, eyes a brilliant green, face remarkably passive. "Go tell the others we need to leave. The Covenant wont' be far behind and we don't have the man power or the weapons to fight them off again."

"Mom-"

"NOW, SYDNEY."

It was Marina who moved first, making her presence known again when she wrapped fingers in Sydney's palm, knitting their hands together, pulling her away, from the sight of her mother standing in blood, from Katya Derevko, arms wrapped around her body, as if trying to block all this away.

--

She really had no energy to speak.

The spark, a fighting spirit that had lingered in her, kept her alive when she was taken, seemed to have withered away to a curious numbness. Sydney wore bright tears in her eyes, and a traitorous, dangerous part of Marina wondered what kind of spy would be so foolish as to show obvious emotion, until her cousin cast her bright eyes on her and the numbness twisted into the slightest bit of pain.

Still, she did not fill in her rescuers. She left that for Sydney, instead concentrating on Shane's broken wrist, carefully handling her friend's injury while Shane glanced at her with frightened dread.

"What happened?" Shane whispered, a husky, concerned tone that somehow broke her, forced her to swallow and rise to her haunches, helping her skinny friend to her feet.

"She's dead," was all she managed, before she turned and discovered Sydney, once again, staring at her with those wide, open eyes - as if she were expecting something from her.

Blame, perhaps? Guilt?

Marina would not feel either.

"Let's go," she said quickly, turning away brusquely.

--

Sydney had fallen into a dark hole - Wonderland.

She didn't understand this family - the way Katya and her mother both came after them, hands bloodied, nothing between them.

"What about Elena?" she asked, pushing away from Vaughn's embrace, glancing fearfully between them both.

"We don't have time to be transporting a body, Sydney." Irina ignored everyone but her sister, reaching for a gun and tacitly turning to regard the young group that surrounded her. "Let's go."

Elena deserved a proper burial. She deserved anything better than a cement prison as her grave.

But even Marina turned away from her, following her mother and her aunt, following Jack, forcing Weiss and leaving behind Vaughn and Shane, both staring at her as if they could see her heart breaking.

The tear on her cheek was less grief than frustration, she decided, as her heart shuddered and she took one last look at this horrible place.

There was no time.

"Let's go."

Her answer came out gruff, cold, and because of it, neither touched her, as they moved after her, leaving the bullet ridden hell behind.

--

Jenny wore a bittersweet frown on her face, dried tears streaked on her cheeks, blemished red from her emotion.

Marina's heart had long since grown cold, and she considered it a miracle when she lost her breath at the sight of her broken lover, the way Jenny sought her immediately, a gasp of what had to be relief pushing from her mouth before she flung herself into her arms.

Marina held her tight, pressed soft lips against Jenny's forehead and closed her eyes, allowing herself to simply FEEL. Jenny's slender body trembled against hers, and for that, Marina was grateful. This is what she could do. She could comfort Jenny - it was what she loved to do.

She whispered a tender word into Jenny's ear, brushed her lips across Jenny's brow, smoothed a palm down Jenny's back, and she relished the contact - the sanctity of the moment.

Her emotional outburst sated, Jenny's grip loosened, until her beautifully crystal eyes met hers, looking up and up at her.

Jenny was a writer - raw in her talent, but talented, provided she could find a way to harness her own impulses. She had ways of coming up with words, making them hurt or sting or drive them into you until there was no sound but that of your heart bursting.

At this moment, she said nothing at all. Jenny only smiled once, ignoring the crowd of people around them, and simply swept her palm over the nape of Marina's neck, pulling down until her cheek was rested against Jenny's bony shoulder.

Marina breathed in a ragged sob - it was the only emotion she would allow - safe in the privacy of Jenny's neck.

She loved her for it.

--

"Hey..."

It would be Shane, who found her, locked in her own little corner, away from the chaos of the other room, where Toni Cummings and her family and co-workers spoke in loud, sharp, angry whispers, spying on the Covenant members who came to the facility they had abandoned.

Sydney had left the moment they found Elena's body.

Shane had followed her into the abandoned weapons locker, where Sydney had been absently toying with a semi-automatic - snapping it together, tearing it apart.

"Hey," she answered, offering only a glance before she was back to her repetitive motions. Snap - switch, jerk - snap-

"Obvious question incoming." Shane's footsteps were sloppy, swishy in the dirt, as if she were dragging her feet. "Just so you know."

Sydney paused, stared at the clip in her palm, before she turned, took in Marina's friend. Shane still looked scruffy. She looked tired, dark circled under her eyes, like mascara had dripped beneath. Her right arm was in a sling, and she looked delicately fragile, as her warm brown eyes focused on her.

"Are you okay?"

Shane looked slightly taken aback, embarrassed grin tugging at her features. "That was my obvious question."

Sydney smiled slightly, a smile that couldn't stay on her face for long. It faded away, and she snapped the clip into the gun, hearing the motion cut through the air like a whip.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," Sydney said into the silence that followed, eyes on her black gun. "I'm sorry I made you come."

"You didn't make me come, Syd." When Sydney finally looked up, she found Shane almost smiling, and when the perverted nature of the sentence finally stuck, she couldn't help an almost exasperated sigh, trying to push down the silly swell of amusement.

"You know what I mean."

It was a snap, harsh and cruel, and strangely, she didn't care when Shane almost flinched, straightened her expression. Sydney was content to let the conversation die into an awkward silence.

"Yeah," Shane admitted after a pregnant pause. "I knew what you meant. I just wanted to try to make you smile."

"Smile?" she repeated, in a sneer that seemed foreign, cold - too familiar for her own comfort. "What the fuck is there to smile about, Shane? One of my aunts, an aunt I didn't even know I had - just got murdered and no one gives a fuck. Sark and Lauren still got away, and my fucking family doesn't give a fuck. I hate them all right now, Shane - so excuse me if I don't smile."

It was a verbal attack, a tacit attempt to release her frustration on the person least deserving of her anger, but it didn't stop the poison in her words. She was finished, and her reply had done it's work - as Shane merely stared at her, before her mouth settled into a painful frown, and with a nod, she shuffled back.

"Sure."

She left her alone again, and Sydney's heart suddenly wrenched, tears stinging when she slammed the metal into the table, a loud ringing, metallic thud that did nothing to sate her anger.

--

"You never told me."

Her haven was the empty room where she had woken up, and Marina did not want to be a part of her family. Not at this moment.

She preferred Jenny, wrapped in her arms, fingertips careful as the traced the slight widow's peak, hidden by her too-long bangs.

"Yes," she agreed, voice a murmur. "It was a secret."

Jenny fell silent, contemplating, shifting in Marina's arms until she lay on her lap, staring up at her. "Will you tell me everything?"

Marina smiled, heart full as she regarded her. Jenny's palm traced her forearm, until she caught her fingers, tangled their hands together, thumb rubbing idly into Marina's skin.

"What would you like to know?" she asked thickly, fixated on the touch of satin soft skin, intermingled with the writer's callouses on the tips of Jenny's fingers.

Jenny moved again, thick hair falling over Marina's knees and a small, impish smile caressed her features.

"Everything," she said softly. "I want to spend the rest of my life learning everything about you."

"I don't think I’m that complex."

Jenny studied her, like a student viewing a painting, digging an elbow into Marina's thigh when she finally pushed herself up, until she was eye level.

"Marina, in case you haven't noticed? You are seriously fucked up."

It was sadly, horribly true, but Marina laughed into Jenny's lips, settling into a soft brush of her tongue, a warm, wet kiss.

Jenny smiled into the caress, breaking her kiss to stare into Marina's eyes. "I love being able to do that."

She was beautiful when she was happy. Carefully, Marina brushed Jenny's too long bangs away from her face, carefully brushing them to the side of her forehead, only to see them fall back into place.

"You can do that whenever you like," she mumbled softly.

Jenny's smile was bigger, brilliant. She took her on her invitation, clinging to her bottom lip, painting it with her tongue.

"The worst is behind us," she whispered against her lips. "We can be together now."

They were interrupted when Shane opened the door, frozen in between coming in and scooting out.

"Shit, I'm sorry-"

"No, Shane," Marina said, clearing her throat, smoothing her fingers over Jenny's arms soothingly as the smaller girl turned, settled against her, curling into her lap. "Come in. I want you to."

Shane's smile was grateful, relieved, as she closed the door behind her, staring back at it as if there were Martians on the other side.

"I just can't handle all that shit right now," she explained, settling into an Indian squat, wincing as the movement jostled her wrist. "Figured I'd hide... it's just..."

"It's a lot to take," Marina finished gently.

Shane regarded her, almost suspicious. "Yeah."

"Why do you think we're hiding in here?" Jenny asked flatly, using Marina's collarbone like a headrest.

"Thank you, Shane." She said it without preamble or complication. It was something that needed to be said. "Thank you coming for me."

Shane looked caught off guard, and Marina wondered at that. "Yeah... you're welcome," she said flatly. Marina kept silent, until Shane studied her, rubbing fingers into frazzled bangs before she smiled shortly. "You know you really scared the fuck out of all of us when you were taken. You should have seen Alice and Dana."

Jenny snorted, and Marina pulled her in closer, fighting the smile that somehow just... felt wrong.

But she gave into it. It seemed all right, in this room, with her friends from her real life - the one where she was Marina Ferrer, not Marina Derevko.

"How much have you told them?" she asked softly.

"Not everything," Shane said after a moment. "Just about Sydney being a spy. They're probably freaking out at home right now."

Marina swallowed hard, heart tremoring slightly when Jenny suddenly sighed, body vibrating against her. "Can you imagine how weird it's going to be? Going back? I mean... after all of this?"

"Jenny..." she said, so thickly and so heavily, that Shane and Jenny both stared."I'm not going back."

--

She expected Vaughn next. He was her loyal boyscout, she could always count on Vaughn, and no matter how much they changed, that much she knew.

Despite her certain doubts, she knew that Vaughn would always be there for her.

She missed him. If he had come in that moment, she would have turned, buried herself into his arms and clung to his lips, because she needed his reassurance, his comfort.

Vaughn was safe and amazing.

Instead, she found her mother walking briskly into the weapons room, pausing briefly to take her daughter in, before she continued moving, face down, expression hidden behind soft bangs.

"The Covenant has moved on," she said crisply. "It's safe to move."

"Is it?"

Her mother was so unlike her. Sydney's physique was an American kickboxer's - with strong, powerful legs and carefully toned biceps. Her mother's form was harder - lethal muscle strapped beneath skin, deceptively frail when hidden by long sleeved shirts and simple smiles.

Everything about her mother was a deception.

"Did they take Elena?"

"I suspect they did," Irina said, after a beat, snapping an ammunition clip into place and turning with an indrawn breath, giving her daughter an even glance. "It's time for you to go home, Sydney."

And that was that.

Sydney was not a simple person - sometimes she wondered why on earth she had managed to stay alive in a business where she hated everyone but her co-workers, her partners.

She couldn't understand this world, and she wondered why she felt so at home in it, why half the time, she wanted to get out and others she could never imagine taking this away from her.

There was a time when all she wanted was a normal life.

"Is it easy?" she asked suddenly. "To be this cold? To hide your pain so easily beneath your soul like it means nothing?"

Irina stared - cat-eyes dark and hooded and almost passive. "Sydney, would you like me to grieve? Now? Do you think I have a moment to grieve for my sister when my daughter's life is still at stake?"

"Your daughter can take care of yourself," she said haltingly. "What she really wants to know is whether her mother has a heart."

Irina paused, frozen in her study of Sydney, and Sydney thought she detected something, a glimmer or some emotion when Irina deliberately put her gun down, traced the barrel with her fingertips.

"I got your letters, Sydney," she said softly. "Two of them, at least. Both broke me considerably."

Sydney swallowed suddenly, a large lump in her throat paralyzing her ability to react.

"You asked for answers I do not have. You act as if I have a measure of control in all of this - as if this world is controlled like strings of a puppet from my fingertips." Irina licked her bottom lip, glanced up. "Sydney, I have never had control. For so longer, my entire life was an attempt to grab hold, maintain my own ground instead of being flung over a cliff."

"Mom-"

"When I was forced to give up Nadia..." Irina paused, faltered, considered her words and began again, firmer this time. "When she was taken from, it was the second time a child had been ripped from my arms. In that moment, there was a part of me - I'm sure you have it to, Sydney - the part that feels what is right, what is wrong..." She glanced away, then back again. "In order to survive, to find my daughters - I had to kill that part of myself, always taking the gamble that when I did, I would find it again. It would grow again inside of me." She smiled, bittersweet. "It grew back, Sydney - but by the time I realized it I had learned to ignore it."

Sydney found it harder to breathe, taking in a painful breath, focusing instead on the barrel of her mother's gun.

"My youngest sister was a footnote in this legacy. She was born to my parents at just the time when we discovered that our family's involvement with Rambaldi was more a curse than a blessing. By then it was too late for Katya, too late for me. But I took her, I hid her away, I faked her death and I gave her another life, where she could bake her cakes with the same precision she could hit a man in the heart." Irina's eyes were glistening now. "Freeing her was perhaps the one pure thing I ever did, Sydney. And to that end, I brought her back into this, only to kill her with my blindsided jealousy."

Sydney blinked away her tears, felt one fall loose, cold on her cheek.

"There is my heart, Sydney," she whispered. "It lies buried in a part of me that was killed long ago. Do not try to resurrect it. What you ask will only get you killed."

Her mother's voice was calm, gentle, and her words were heartbreaking. But Sydney's emotion burst, and suddenly she was moving, careful, absurdly careful as she wrapped her mother into her arms and folded her into a desperate embrace.

Irina froze, just for a second, before she was suddenly grasping just as tight, and Sydney shut her eyes, suddenly grateful for her broken mother, breathing in her mother's scent, feeling the slight pants of her mother's breath against her cheek, the tremors of her heart.

"Mom," she whispered, "Mom, we found Nadia." She pulled back, voice husky and nearly joyful, "We found her, and you can meet her, Mom." She pressed palms to her mother's cheek, smiling through her tears. "Mom, she looks just like you."

In a hint of a smile on her mother's lips, a soft tremble of skin, she saw her hope - that part of her mother wasn't dead at all.

Someone cleared his throat, but Sydney didn't feel ashamed when she turned and saw her father standing in the doorway, breaking up the mother/daughter moment with a frank, suspicious stare.

--

"What do you mean?" Jenny asked, sounding scared and bewildered, eyes growing wide as Marina's sentence bit into her happiness. "What do you mean you're not going back?"

Behind her, Shane's mouth hung slightly open, staring at her, as if what she had said made no sense at all.

Marina only felt curious resignation, as if this was exactly what was supposed to happen - as if she was foolish to think that happiness could be binding and forever.

"I can't stay in West Hollywood, Jenny," she said in a low voice, almost a whisper. Calm. Careful. "Lauren and Julian got away. They will have told the Covenant everything. With Sydney's sister in CIA custody - it is only a matter of time before they would start looking for me."

"But... no!" Jenny shook her head nearly violently, pushing off Marina's lap with an angry thrust, staring at her accusingly, "No, because we just RESCUSED you, Marina! They would know-"

"There is nothing to stop them from coming after a defenseless woman in a café," Marina interrupted. "And if they did not - the CIA would. I am not an innocent, Jenny."

"Oh, fuck," Shane whispered, closing her eyes away from her.

"No." Jenny's voice was clouded with tears, muddled with anger. "No, Marina, I can't-"

"Jenny-"

"STOP IT." She pushed her arms away with a shove, tears bright in her blue eyes. "NO. THAT'S NOT WHY I CAME. NOT TO LOSE YOU AGAIN."

"Jenny... Jenny, please-"

"Don't tell me you're leaving me again, Marina-"

She tried to reach her, but Jenny wouldn't listen, not with her heart broken and her tears streaming from her face. Already on her feet, she stared at Marina accusingly, once again betrayed, once again lost among her shattered dreams.

"Jenny, this is hard for me too, Jenny!"

"FUCK you, Marina."

And just like that, little Jenny fled, and Marina could not find the energy to go after her.

Her heart felt like lead, and she could not push up against it, not with it weighing her down.

Her eyes stung with unshed tears, and she was careful as she wiped at them, taking in a haggard, painful gasp, before she realized Shane was still there, on her haunches, watching her with a sad, frank gaze.

"Isn't there another way?" she asked softly.

Marina shook her head, an angry chuckle bursting from her lips. "There isn't."

Her sentence gave way to silence, as Shane took that in, before she shuddered and shook her head, rubbing at her hair. "Fuck." Marina swallowed, eyes on the floor. "Where will you go?"

She looked up, stared at her friend. "I don't know."

--

"I've made contact with the CIA," Jack Bristow clipped, breaking into the moment. "They're not exactly happy with what we've done, but I've made it clear we had no choice."

"The CIA seems quite understanding," Irina answered, voice low, civil.

"Dixon made it clear that should we enter the country following exact specifications and keep ourselves discreet," he said, taking a moment to stare into Sydney's mother's eyes. "Then he will look the other way should we stop by a certain safehouse."

"So Mom can see Nadia," Sydney breathed, squeezing Irina's shoulders. "Mom-"

"What about Katya?" Irina interrupted, pushing gently away from her daughter, an affectionate brush against her shoulder removing any sting of rejection.

Katya. Sydney felt a lurch in her stomach, swiveled her gaze between her parents, a sick feeling suddenly penetrating her stomach.

Jack took it in stride, a barely there tick against his jaw, that disappeared just as quickly. "I wasn't in the mood to extend her the same courtesy. She goes in, she would be lucky not to get the chair."

"Maybe, I should leave you two alone," Sydney whispered suddenly.

"Sydney - I have said all there is to say to your father," Irina snapped, holding her still with an iron grip around her bicep. "You don't owe us any moments."

"No, really, I should go." She said it fast, with a quickly smile, wiping at her tears. "I mean, I should probably check on... stuff-"

"Irina-"

"There were quite a few revelations I discovered during my long-term work infiltrating the Covenant." Irina was not speaking to her. Though her palm was still wrapped around her bicep, her hard, cold eyes were on her father. Sydney paused, filled with curious dread. "I discovered more than a few secrets, Jack."

Sydney blinked, swiveled her gaze back to her father, who stood stock still, staring at Irina with an...

Was he frightened?

"Stay away from me, Jack," Irina said suddenly. "And pray I do not discover more."

She let Sydney go, stalked away, leaving Sydney to stare at her curiously pale father.

"Dad?"

He shook out of whatever spell her mother had cast, gave her a glance, as if surprised she was there, and then swiveled on his heel - moving fast. Away.

--

"I was waiting to see how long it would be before she made you cry."

It was Katya Derevko that greeted Jenny, when she slammed the door to Marina's room, leaned against it and tried desperately to gain control of her tears.

Marina's mother lounged in a chair, infuriatingly smug, eyeing her from the empty control room.

"Where is everyone?" Jenny asked.

"Doing what they have to do," Katya said, "To get away from this place."

"Shouldn't you be doing it with them?" Jenny snapped, wiping as well as she could, desperate now to move past her broken heart, suddenly intent on putting herself together.

To cry in front of this woman was just... wrong.

"I have nowhere to go," Katya said with a flourish of a wave, fingers arching idly. "The Covenant knows I have betrayed them. My sister no longer trusts me. My other sister is dead, and my daughter hates me."

"Yeah," Jenny sniffed, trying to regain her composure. "This is the saddest violin in the world saying 'fuck you'."

Ironically, that only made her smile. "Did it actually surprise you that my daughter broke your heart?"

Jenny swallowed, closing her eyes and wondering what would happen if she just slugged the woman across the face.

She'd probably get herself killed.

She seriously weighed the pros and cons of it. It might be worth it.

"I'm sure it didn’t surprise you," she said. "And no - your daughter is a veteran at making me cry." She smiled almost politely. "She's almost too good at it. You should be proud."

"I am," Katya returned just as civily. "Quite proud. Just like me, she knows when to cut the dead weight away from her."

"My God..." Jenny sucked in her breath. "You know... I may be a little insane. I may be selfish - but you're a real bitch, you know that?"

Katya's smile faltered, grew into a stagnant frown. "Let me give you some advice, Jenny. Do not tangle with women of my blood. My daughter may think she loves you - but she will only break your heart. Her destiny is bigger than yours. It's bigger than mine. It's what the Derevkos are. What drives us. Our own capacity for cruelty."

Jenny eyed her, suddenly calm - no longer trembling. "Your daughter is nothing like you. Unlike you - my love isn't based on blood."

Sydney entered, caught the tail end of the sentence, frowned at them both, turning from Jenny to Katya.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing," Jenny said stiffly. "Nothing important."

Sydney considered arguing that, but she had a headache, and there wasn't time. Instead she moved to the door, rapping on it lightly.

Her heart twisted slightly when Shane opened it, stared at her with her dark, wounded eyes.

It took a moment of awkward silence to gather her composure, say as politely as she could, "Is Marina in there?"

Shane stared at her, as if waiting for something else, and when Sydney simply stood there, she shook her head slightly, averting her eyes.

"Yeah," she said, almost dismissive in her tone, pushing away from the door and moving aside, letting Sydney close it behind her.

Shane ignored Katya, instead moved closer to Jenny, carefully pushing her long strands off her shoulders.

"You okay?"

Jenny took in a shuddering breath, managed a stiff smile. "No. You?"

"Not really." Shane managed a grin, untangling a snarl. "You should let me cut this when we get back. It looks like straw."

Jenny froze, giving her an odd look, and Shane met her eyes with her own compassionate gaze.

It surprised her, when Jenny shrugged casually. "Maybe."

--

Marina was seated on the floor, head thrown back against the edge of the bed. Her eyes opened when Sydney entered, watched like a wild panther, with narrowed, slit eyes.

With an erratic breath in, Sydney swallowed down a knot of emotion, said as crisply as she could, "The CIA is prepared to offer you protective custody-"

"Sydney, thank you," Marina interrupted smoothly, "But I do have better things to do, than become a lab rat in a cage." Sydney glanced away.

Marina was right, really. The CIA would jump at the chance to have another Derevko in custody, and after Marina's years as a café owner...

It just didn't make sense.

"I just want to get away from this, Sydney," Marina spoke up, twisting a piece of paper in her fingers, rolling it and crumpling it into a wrinkled wad.

"I don't think you can keep running away, Marina."

"I know I can't." Marina's tone was bitter, dropping her wad of paper to run fingers through her dark hair, eyes cast downward. "Elena's death is living proof that what we are is all we are."

The implications of that statement caused a sting.

"I can't believe that," she said roughly.

Marina took her in for a moment, before glistening eyes turned away, and Sydney heard a mumbled, "Neither could I."

She had lost hope.

Sydney blinked, vision blurred with emotion, and suddenly there was nothing else to do.

She came forward, settled down next to her cousin, and lay her cheek against Marina's shoulder, shuddering once.

A pause, a shift, and suddenly Marina's arm came down over her shoulder, drawing her in further to her side.

Sydney closed her eyes, breathed in her cousin's scent, rubbing her nose along her sleeve. "Let's just stay like this for a minute, okay?"

"Okay."

--

What had been a simple comment hard turned into a full-blown argument, and thanks to Toni Cummings, who had rushed in at the first sign of an escalating voice, everyone was fucking there to see it.

"They deserve to know, Mr. Bristow."

"They know too much already, Shane." Jack was an imposing man. He looked down at her with his silver hair and broad chest, and Shane knew she should have felt intimidated by him - it was a smart thing.

At the moment she could have given a fuck about it.

"If it wasn't for them you wouldn't even know where Marina was," she snapped, rubbing fingers into the nape of her neck. "You expect them to just watch their friend disappear into thin air and not wonder where the hell she is?"

"We'll come up with an adequate explanation?"

"And if they don't believe it?"

"It doesn't matter." Irina interrupted, with flashing eyes. Sydney's mother was beautiful, and Shane had to admit that she frightened her more than the father. It was weird, really. "Let Shane tell them - they deserve to know - And Marina will be gone. I'll take her myself. She'll be forgotten in a matter of months-"

"You'll take her?" Katya chuckled in disbelief, pushing out of her chair. "She is my daughter, Irina. She will be with me-"

"And do you really believe that she would go with you?" Irina asked. "Think clearly, Katya - you have nowhere to go - you'll be lucky to keep yourself alive with the way you've twisted and deceived."

"I would find a way."

"And would she even go with you?" Jenny asked, moving in front of Weiss to eye Marina's mother. "Knowing what she knows?"

In an odd way, Katya Derevko almost looked scared of Marina's little lover.

"Where's Sydney?" Michael Vaughn pushed through them, startling Shane when his too-wide eyes and breathless pants.

"She's in there with Marina," she answered, nodding toward the closed door. He moved fast, slamming on it with an open palm.

"Sydney!"

"What is it, Vaughn?" Jack Bristow came forward, eyes narrowed. "What's happened?"

Vaughn looked tense, swallowing so hard his Adam's apple bobbed visibly. "Just got off the phone with Marshall... Nadia's gone."

Nadia....

Sydney's sister? Shane swiveled her head to the door, heart pounding relentlessly against her chest when Sydney and Marina both appeared in the doorway.

"What?"

For some reason, she answered the door too quickly for everyone.

Vaughn looked close to panic, crossing a glance with Shane, like she would know what to do, and she only shrugged back, eyes wide.

"What happened?" Marina asked again.

"Nadia's gone," Vaughn finally said, cellphone still in hand, pointing to it like it held the answer. "She... she's disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

Shane didn't have the energy to look to see how Sydney's mom was taking it. Instead, she found herself unable to tear her gaze away from Sydney's passive, somewhat blank expression.

"She...um... she's okay," he said, clearing his throat with a cough, gentle and loving. "She's... she knocked out her guards and well-"

"What do you mean, she knocked out the guards?" Sydney's eyes were wide now, moving from Marina's stunned expression to her fathers, then her mothers, and back to Vaughn. "Vaughn!"

"She was spotted in the company of Arvin Sloane."

Arvin Sloane. The name meant nothing to her, but it meant something to everyone else, as Irina audibly gasped and Sydney froze, as if the name meant the very devil.

"Sydney..."

"No..." Sydney's smile was beautiful heartbreak, trembling breaths panting from her lips. "No, it's fine. I was taking in by Sloane for a long time. We'll get her back. We will..."

She moved fast, away from Marina's comforting squeeze, ducking under Vaughn's well-meaning outstretched limbs, and never looking twice at Shane, pushing out the door and heading into the darkness of the Italy night.

They were all going to go after her. It seemed like ages ago when Weiss said that they should start a 'We Love Sydney' club, and now Shane agrees. Everybody loves Sydney, because even though Sydney can be a judgmental neurotic freak, she's brave and beautiful and has that something that makes everyone want to follow her.

Four pairs of feet started in her direction before Irina's voice stopped them all. All but hers.

Shane was young and skinny and insignificant, and no one cared to look at her when Vaughn and Marina both turned, argued with Irina about leaving her daughter alone.

Shane was never big on arguments.

She let them do it for her, and she just kept walking, through the door, unnoticed.

--

For some reason, it was easier to cry out here, eyes cast upon a moon that was round and beautiful, the same in every country.

Sydney used to keep a log of every country she had been to, despite protestations that it wasn't a big deal. Back in her wide-eyed days of naivete at SD-6, it was her way of making it all real - of keeping her work a secret to everyone but herself.

She had long since given it up. Displacement and jetlag were a way of life, and when she knew every dusty corner in Italy, every chicken butcher shop in Hong Kong, it had stopped being real and started once again being just life.

She had wanted a few moments to herself, but when she felt a tap on her shoulder, turned and saw Shane staring at her with such wounded, sympathetic eyes, she couldn't stop her momentum, the way she suddenly closed her eyes and buried herself into the crook of Shane's shoulder.

The tears came, hard and fast, and muffled in Shane's gray sweatshirt, Sydney's sobs were meek and small.

Still, she clung to her friend, eyes shut tight, lost in a sense of feel, as Shane whispered into her ear, soft words of comfort that slid through her.

"I'm sorry," she managed. "I'm sorry, Shane-"

"Don't apologize." Shane was low and gruff, lips brush against the tip of her ear, cradling her into her arms like a child. "Don't. It's not you-"

"It is me," she managed, pushing up and away and still stuck in her arms, staring at the other woman with wide-eyed acknowledgement. "It's me. I keep thinking I can fight this damned prophecy, and I can't Shane. Do you know what the Passenger is? Do you know what my sister is destined to do?"

"No." Shane's answer was simple. Frank.

"We're destined to try and kill each other," Sydney whispered. "THAT's my destiny - THAT'S our only path."

"No it's not."

"Shane-"

"Syd, I don't give a FUCK about prophecies, all right?" Shane's palms wrapped tighter around her shoulders, smoothing up to cup her cheeks, forcing Sydney's gaze onto her. "I don't believe in family curses or in destiny. I don't fucking CARE about your blood or your fucking last name. That's not what you are to me."

"And what am I?"

It was a loaded question, came too fast and too soon, and Shane felt her heart drop, mouth fall open as Sydney stared into her eyes with a gaze that was too intense to deal with. Not right now.

She swallowed, tried desperately to push moisture back into her mouth, licked her lips and tried to answer-

"SYDNEY."

She was saved, and Shane stepped away, caught between relief and disappointment when Marina moved swiftly, and Sydney's attention moved from her to her cousin.

When Sydney crashed into Marina's arms, and the cousins held each other with desperate earnestness, like they were drowning, Shane felt her heart shudder, twist in a way that was painful. She was an outsider again, watching like an intruder as Sydney's tears glistened in the moonlight, and she told Marina desperately, "We're not them. I don't care what anyone else things - I don't care what's been written ten thousand years ago. You and I aren't what our mother's were, what my sister is. We're gonna be better than that. We're not going to let it beat us. We're more than that. Okay?"

Shane didn't know if Marina was simply trying to placate Sydney or really truly believed it, but Marina stared, and suddenly nodded shortly.

"Okay," she answered, pulling Sydney to her again, eyes drifting closed as Sydney clutched tighter. "Okay."

--

It reminded her of a Buffy episode she had seen once. It was actually where she got the idea.

Alice stood, in her glasses, careful to make sure that the blinds were closed, that her friends all had a decent view of the wall she had cleared for this very purpose.

Everyone that counted was here: Dana, sans Tanya, per unspoken agreement. Tina. Bette. Not sitting together, but at least being civil. Kit, who leaned against the bar like it was hers, and it practically was.

After a week of running The Planet, Kit seemed at home in it.

"Okay," Alice said, adjusting the projector and looking up again, running through her index cards. "Okay, I'm almost ready."

"Alice..." Dana seemed tired and annoyed. "Can't you just-"

"No," she said sharply. "No, it's complicated, and it took Shane an hour. It's better this way. I promise."

It had been a hard week for all of them, and she understood their anxiety. Shane had only given her a short phonecall - saying something about heading to Italy with Jenny, and nothing since.

This phone call had been a long time coming, and Alice knew she owed it to her friends to make sure there were no questions.

Still, she knew a powerpoint presentation and Alice with index cards was not what they were expecting.

"Okay," she said, taking a deep breath, smiling quickly at her audience. "Thanks for coming. I appreciate you taking the time-"

"Alice," Tina warned.

"Right, okay. Slide one." Alice pointed to Dana, who rolled her eyes and pushed a button the projector. There was a click and whir, and an image of an old guy filled the screen. "This is Rambaldi."

"Rambaldi," Bette repeated, eyes narrowing. "Alice, what does-"

"Shut up and listen," she snapped. "Rambaldi - was a guy who lived way back when who made all sorts of predictions and was killed or something. Well... it turns out all of them have been right, and for the last thirty years or more, organizations like-" she motioned to Dana. "The CIA," Click, whir- "The Russian Government," click, whir- "And assorted bad guys," Click, whir, and a picture of Al Capone came up, "Have been running around the world trying to find Rambaldi artifiacts in an attempt to find what they call 'his endgame'." She flipped through her index cards. "It's this time machine or something."

"A time machine," Bette said again.

"Yes, a time machine."

"What does this have to do with Shane and Marina?" Kit asked, eyebrow arching.

"Hold on, I'm getting there." Alice pointed again, and Dana once again clicked and whirred to a picture of Sydney Bristow. "We all know her, right?"

"Sydney, yes," Tina said dryly.

"Well... believe it or not? She's also been mentioned in these prophecies. In fact - the whole family-" Click and whir and she managed to speed through a few more faces, until the last one, Marina, "has been mentioned in it. The women in the family have been nothing less than legendary."

"That's Marina," Bette said fast. "Alice, Marina-"

"Her cousin," Alice said, nodding. "They're cousins."

"Wait." Dana looked befuddled. "Weren't they-"

"Apparently that was just a front. It turns out that our Marina?" she pointed to her powerpoint slide of their café owner. "Is not who she appears to be. She is..." she looked down, consulted her cards. "A world renowned thief, who has been living West Hollywood as a cover in order to avoid detection by the Rambaldi people and the governments-"

"She's a criminal?!" Bette gasped.

"Sorta."

"Wait - they were PRETENDING?" Dana asked. "They were pretending to fuck each other?"

"Well, Sydney is a CIA agent," Alice said, shuffling cards again. "I was getting to that-"

"They were pretending to be girlfriends?" Tina asked. "That's..."

"Gross," Dana finished.

"HEY!" Alice waved her cards, motioning wildly. "You guys are messing up my presentation!"

"Alice, just get to the point," Bette said quickly, rubbing at her temple. "What does all this mean? Is Shane allright?"

Oh, FUCK it.

Alice threw her cards to the side.

"She broke her wrist," Alice said finally. "But she's fine. Guys - Marina's cover has been blown. She can't stay in West Hollywood anymore because she's afraid that the Rambaldi guys are going to come after her, and she won't go into Protective Custody because she's afraid that she'll become a labrat because of the whole Rambaldi thing-"

"So, she's leavin'," Kit said softly. "Just like that."

"Yeah." Alice took in a breath, let it out slowly. "She's coming in tomorrow with Shane and Jenny, Sydney's going to help her sneak out of the country in two days."

Another click, whir, and the slide was back to Sydney.

Alice glared at Dana.

"WHAT?!" Dana asked, shrugging. "I thought I was helping!"

Tina just looked tired. "What are we going to do?"

Alice closed her eyes, trying to shake the defeat in the room.

"Well I know what I'm going to do." Kit seemed absurdly upbeat. "Tomorrow night's Radar. And I'm going to make it slammin'. If this is Marina's last night in West Hollywood - we're going to make it one to remember."

Someone clapped, loud and almost sarcastic, and Alice blinked, looked at the immobile hands of her friends, before she suddenly blinked, and noticed an uninvited guest.

Francesca Wolff stepped out of the shadows, bringing her hands together in a deliberate snap, echoing across the empty café.

"Wonderful," she said crisply, bringing her hands down, now that all the attention was on her. "Beautifully put together Alice, though I gotta say? Not so good with the discreet. You should really learn to lock these doors."

"Fran," Alice returned, exchanging a bewildered glance with Tina, before she swallowed. "You said you were in Virginia."

"I was," she said. "I came back for a quick visit. I had some business to take care of. So Marina's secret is out."

"You knew all along," Bette breathed.

Fran smiled. "Relationships that last seven years don't have secrets, Bette - you'd think you'd know that."

It was a bitter sting, and even Bette winced, suddenly unable to look at Tina.

"I have my own parting gift for Marina," Francesca said quickly, breaking into the silence. She came forward, taking a stack of documents and dropping them into Alice's hands. "Do make sure she gets them, won't you?"

"What is that?" Kit asked, pushing away from the counter.

"I'm signing over the Planet," Francesca said, never looking her, eyes always on Alice. "It's Marina's. Hers to do with it as she pleases. Let her run it into the ground or sell it, it's all the same to me." She didn't give them a chance to let that sink in, turned away from them all, headed back out. At the last minute, she paused. "Word to the wise - now that you're in the loop. I was a fool in love once. I took a look at a beautiful face and wanted more than anything to set her free. Derevko's live in a cage. They're wild animals stuck in captivity, and you become quite the social worker when you meet one. The problem is, you don't free them at all. All you do it put yourself in the cage with them." She smiled. "Stay away from Marina and her family, and thank your lucky stars she's getting away from all of you. Trust me. They're more trouble than they're worth."

She walked away, leaving them in the darkened café.

FIN