Alias 1. Permanent Scars

_I dont own anything. Dont sue me I dont have anything._

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**_Discovering the Waterfront_**

**_Chapter One:_**

**Permanent Scars**

Isabelle Bristow-Vaughn laid quietly in her bed, her eyes were open and staring blankly out in front of her. She had woken up in the middle of the night again and had since been awake. Since Isabelle could remember she always had problems sleeping all through the night, she either woke up late at night and never went back to sleep or would fall asleep and wake up every hour or so. Last night however she only slept about two hours and stayed awake until morning. Isabelle was sixteen now, she would turn seventeen in a few months but until then, Isabelle would enjoy the simple restrictions and privelages allowed a sixteen year old. For instance, she had her permit but still couldn't drive by herself in the car, she couldn't go to an R-rated movie herself, and she still had a curfiew but that was going to last until she left the house and Isabelle understood that.

Isabelle heard the door click open to her room and was met by her mother's voice trying to shake her awake.

"Isabelle are you awake?" Sydney Bristowasked her daughter.

"Yeah." Isabelle said in an unusually cheerful and well awake voice.

"Did you sleep at all?" Sydney asked noticing the tired eyes and fleeting smile.

"A little." Isabelle said quietly as she pulled off the covers and got out of her bed.

Sydney had known about her daughter's sleeping problem since Isabelle had wandered into her mother's room late one night when she was five and said she couldn't sleep. Isabelle had continued to do so until about a year later and then she just stayed in her room but Sydney always checked on her daughter in the morning and every so often she would check to see if she was alright late at night.

"What time is it?" Isabelle broke the silence and asked.

"About six." Sydney told her.

"I'll be downstairs then." Isabelle informed.

It was the summertime so Isabelle could basically either lounge around and really had nowhere in particular to be. She didn't have to go to school or anything that had to do with school. Isabelle walked into the living room and sat on the couch, she let out a large breath of air and stayed quiet as she sat in silence. The teachers at school were always particularly worried about Isabelle being so quiet and always brought Sydney in for meetings but they could never really find anything wrong.

Isabelle had never met her father, only heard about him from her mother. Her mother told her stories of her father but always seemed to leave out something. Sydney had never told Isabelle about her job or her role in SD-6. Sydney never talked about work at home and had done her best to cover up anything that had to do with it.

_I'm cutting through, you're bleeding out  
And I would tell the truth, but I can't help myself  
Red rushes out, dissect this nerve  
And I'll stop myself before I reach my cell_

A few hours passed and the sun had well risen in the sky. Isabelle was watching T.V. when she heard the all too familiar ring of a certain cell phone in the kitchen. She heard her mother answer it in the kitchen and then waited for the words she knew were coming.

"Honey, I have to go to work." Sydney said when she walked into the living room.

_I wasn't asking for the world  
And you know that I'm not one to follow through  
All these city streets the people look the same  
And I can see your face, and I can hear your name  
I wasn't asking for the world_

There they were, just the phrase she knew was coming.

"See you later then." Isabelle said for what felt like the thousandth time.

"I love you." Sydney said from the door.

"You too."

_You're stabbing in, permanent scars  
And you'll justify it all inside yourself  
You've finished me, my pulse is gone  
And you're satisfied to put this all to hell_

Isabelle heard the door close and she was alone. The only sound was coming from the television which Isabelle wasn't all that interested in. She turned off the T.V. and went to her room to get dressed. She emerged from her room dressed in a t-shirt and jeans.

_I wasn't asking for the world  
And you know that I'm not one to follow through  
All these city streets the people look the same  
And I can see your face, and I can hear your name  
I wasn't asking for the world_

Isabelle heard movement in the room down the hall, her mother's room. She shrugged off the small noise as her mind playing tricks until finally there was an even louder and closer noise, now she wasn't imagining.

Isabelle turned the corner to peer around it and saw someone dressed in black standing in her mother's room. The person turned around and noticed her staring at them. Isabelle turned the corner and quietly moved into the kitchen. She ducked down behind the counter where she was well hidden and prayed that she wouldn't be found. She quietly opened a drawer that held knives and pulled one out.

_Drink the poison, when you think it's over  
(Drink the poison)  
Stabbing yourself, when you think it's too late  
Tragic endings are your thing, you love them  
(Tragic endings)  
You love letting go, the ending's the same  
Drink the poison, when you think it's over  
(Drink the poison)  
Inevitable, Verona lives inside of you_

The person quietly moved from the room and then through the living room and finally into the kitchen. They saw Isabelle hiding away and drew a gun. Isabelle dropped the knife when she was staring down the barrell of a gun and her mind went blank.

_I wasn't asking for the world  
And you know that I'm not one to follow through  
All these city streets the people look the same  
And I can see your face, and I can hear your name  
I wasn't asking for the world_

The person fired and Isabelle passed out. She was lucky, it wasn't a bullet that hit her but just a tranquilizer. The figure picked up the sleeping teen and walked out of the house. A black van waited patiently outside and opened to allow the home invader access. There were only a few other people inside and they helped there friend place the girl gently into a seat.

Isabelle Bristow-Vaughn daughter of Sydney Bristow and Michael Vaughn, two of the greatest spies for the C.I.A., had been kidnapped.

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_So there's the first chapter, and I hope you like it, please review. _

**_Your Sword Versus My Dagger - Silverstein_**


	2. Better Than This

_Disclaimer on chapter one. Thanks for reviewing!_

* * *

**_Discovering the Waterfront_**

**_Chapter Two:_**

**Better Than This**

Isabelle felt like she had been hit over the head with a ton of bricks. Her head pounded to the point where she couldn't even think, she opened her eyes to a dark and musty room. The room spun in her mind and she shut her eyes again to make it stop. She felt like she would throw up but soon everything stopped. She could think clearly and she could see straight. Isabelle opened her eyes once again to finally see her surroundings, she noticed when she tried to stand that she was handcuffed to a pipe attached to the wall.

Isabelle's breathing became short and shallowed, she tried to free her hands from the handcuffs but it was no use. She was trapped and there was no way out, she was alone.

Sydney entered the walls of APO and sat at her usual desk. She hated leaving Isabelle alone all the time but she had no choice. She never used to leave Isabelle alone a lot because she was younger and there were less things to worry about, but there was a new big bad in the world and Sydney had to stop it.

Jack Bristow was now in control of APO and all it's operations. He walked to Sydney's desk and stopped right in front of her.

"Sydney I need to talk to you." Jack said worriedly.

"Dad what is it?" Sydney stood from her desk and followed him into his office.

When they were in the office Jack walked over to his computer and typed something in. Whatever he had typed brought up satellite images onto his computer.

"Its Isabelle." Jack quickly told her.

"No, shes fine, shes at home." Sydney explained to her father.

"No she isn't. About an hour ago someone broke into your house and took her." Jack turned the computer monitor around and showed Sydney the satellite image of someone holding a passed out Isabelle.

"Oh my God." Sydney's breath became shallow and she felt tears burn her eyes.

"We have to find her." Sydney said after a long silence.

"I tracked the car and it stopped at an airport a short while ago, they got onto a private jet. Marshall's been trying to find the jet ever since." Jack informed her.

Isabelle managed to steady her breathing and quieted down as she sat alone in the room. She sat in silence and tried to remember anything about how she had gotten there. All she remembered was seeinga gun and then hearing it fire, then everything went dark until she woke up in the room. She leaned her head on the pipe and let out a large breath of air.

_late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal  
red light, can't stop soI spin the wheel  
my world goes black beforeI feel an angel lift me up  
andI open bloodshot eyes into fluorescent white  
they flip the siren, hit the lights, close the doors andI am gone_

She heard voices from outside the room and walking. The voices got closer until there was a large noise as the door to where she was opened. Isabelle watched as two people she had both never met and never seen in her life walked into the room. They both carried guns and seemed to be waiting for someone.

_nowI lay here owing my life to a stranger  
andI realize that empty words are not enough  
I'm left here with the question of just  
what have i to show except the promisesI never kept?  
Ilie here shaking on this bed, under the weight of my regrets_

Sydney exited the office and walked quickly to Marshall's office. He was typing on the computer and rushing around the room to try and find anything that would help him find Isabelle.

Sydney walked into the room where he was and waited for Marshall to try and tell her what he had found, so far he hadn't said a word.

"I'm doing my best Syd but these people, they planned everything, this didn't just happen." He told her quietly as he continued to type on the computer.

_Ihope that i will never let you down  
I know that this can be more than just flashing lights and sound_

Isabelle waited to see what would happen when the other person got there. Soon enough she heard more footsteps coming towards the room. Her heart was racing and blood pounded in her ears. She watched as the guards or whoever they were waited with no expression whatsoever.

_look around and you'll see that at times it feels like no one really cares  
it gets me down but I'm still gonna try to do what's right,I know that there´s  
a difference between slight of hand, and giving everything you have  
there's a line drawn in the sand, I'm working up the will to cross it_

Sydney went back to her desk and sat quietly. There was nothing she could do, first Marshall needed to find out where they had taken Isabelle and then after she was located they could take action.

The footsteps grew louder and louder until they stopped outside the door.

_andI hope that i will never let you down  
I know that this can be more than just flashing lights and sound_

Isabelle waited until a shadowed figure walked into the room, the guards waited for instructions and the person told them to leave.

Isabelle didn't recognize the voice and she figured this person probably just wanted money or something for ransom but there was somethign about the way her kidnapping had taken place that was off. If someone just wanted ransom they wouldn't have went through all the detail of not being caught. Everything about the kidnapping seemed planned, almost as if it had been scheduled for years.

_rhetoric can't raise the dead  
I'm sick of always talking when there's no change  
rhetoric can't raise the dead  
I'm sick of empty words, let's lead and not follow_

Marshall ran from his office to Sydney's desk.

"I've got something." He hurriedly told her and she followed him to the debriefing room.

There were several other agents in the debriefing room, including her father, Dixon, Rachel, and Grace.

Marshall followed Sydney and set up what he had found on the screens.

The image showed a jet landing not to far off from Moscow. Marshall then showed another image of a van pulling away and driving towards Moscow.

"Head to Moscow and try to find anything that can lead us to Isabelle and her kidnappers." Jack said.

_late night, brakes lock, hear the tires squeal  
red light, can't stop soI spin the wheel  
my world goes black beforeI feel an angel steal me from the  
greedy jaws of death and chance, and pull me in with steady hands  
they've given me a second chance, the artist in the ambulance  
_

The person waited for the guards to leave and finally stepped into the small amount of light in the room.

"Who are you?" Isabelle said rather loudly.

"You don't recognize your own grandmother." Irina Derevko said with a smile.

_Ihope that i will never let you down  
I know that this can be more than just flashing lights and sound  
can we pick you off the ground, more than flashing lights and sound_

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_There's the next chapter, hope you like it. Please leave me some reviews._

**The Artist In The Ambulance - Thrice**


	3. Make Things Right

_Disclaimer on chapter one, thanks for reviewing._

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**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter Three:_**

**Make Things Right**

Isabelle sat blank faced staring at the woman before her with new thoughts crossing Isabelle's mind about the grandmother she never before met.

"If you're gonna kill me could you please just get it over with?" Isabelle whispered not even thinking about the words falling from her mouth.

"Why would I kill you? You don't honestly think I'm that cold?" Irina said while pulling a chair over to her from a table in the middle of the room that Isabelle had not noticed.

"I'm sorry, I don't...I thought...aren't you dead?" Isabelle's mind was racing with so many unanswered questions, the stories her mother had always told her said that her grandma or her mother's mom had died not to long ago, her mom had been a little short on the details but Isabelle really had never thought twice about the story, that is until now.

"Isabelle, honey, I've been dead many times before but somehow I just can't stay that way." Irina laughed slightly at her own words.

Isabelle seriously considered that this woman was crazy and that she might actually be lying. Though Isabelle never said any of her thoughts aloud, Irina could see the questions in the teenager's eyes.

"I'll explain everything in a little while, until then however are you hungry?" Irina asked in a kind voice.

Isabelle shook her head no.

"Alright then, I'll see you in a couple hours." Irina shoved the chair back towards the table and proceeded to walk out of the dismal room.

"Wait, you're not gonna let me out?" Isabelle spoke in a cracked voice.

"We can't have you running off now, besides take this time to really reminise, who knows, maybe you'll get an epiphany or something." With those final words Isabelle's newly found grandmother walked out of the room and shut the door to the confined space to which Isabelle had to stay in.

_**Back me down from backing up  
Hold your breath now it's stacking up  
Etched with marks, but I can deal  
And you're the problem and you can't feel  
Try this on, straitjacket feeling  
so maybe I won't be alone  
Take back now, my life you're stealing**_

Isabelle tried once again to wrench her hands free but she couldn't get out. She felt betrayed, even though she had no idea that her grandma was even alive, her mother might have known and even if she didn't she sure as hell wasn't working for a bank, not if her own mother was keeping a family member in a place like this.

**_Yesterday was over  
Today I'm fine without you  
Runaway this time without you  
And all I ever thought you'd be  
That face is tearing holes in me again  
_**

Isabelle felt tears fill her eyes but she kept them from falling. She wasn't sure what her mother really did but whatever it was, she hoped that her mom would come and rescue her soon. Sure, Isabelle was clever and could hack into pretty much anything, but she currently she was chained to a pipe that was attached to a wall, how the hell was she supposed to get out of that situation?

**_Trust you is just one defense  
off a list of others, you don't make sense  
Beg me time and time again  
to take you back now, but you can't win  
Take back now, my life you're stealing_**

Sydney, Rachel, and Tom sat in a plane headed for Moscow. Sydney tried to sleep on the plane but everytime she closed her eyes she saw her daughter in another life taking situation. She had lost Vaughn she couldn't lose the only other person who reminded her so much of him as well, then there would be nothing of him left.

**_Yesterday was over  
Today I'm fine without you  
Runaway this time without you  
And all I ever thought you'd be  
That face is tearing holes in me again  
but today I'm fine without you  
Runaway this time without you  
And all the things you put me through  
I'm holding on by letting go of you  
_**

Sydney tried to think if she had noticed anyone watching her or if there had been anything unusual that happened in the last few months, but she kept drawing blanks. How had she not noticed if there was somebody watching? Either there hadn't been anyone watching or someone already knew there way around.

Only one name came to Sydney's mind.

Irina.

**_And when the memory slips away  
There will be a better view from here  
And only lonesome you remains  
and just the thought of you I fear  
it falls away_**

Irina walked with her two guards back to the main office area where she was conducting her business. She picked up a few files and continued to scan over several papers.

"Irina what do you want us to do with the girl?" One of the guards asked in an english accent.

The other one remained silent and stared awaiting orders.

"Leave her alone. Nothing happens to her, understand Sark?" Julian Sark nodded.

"It's just-well Sydney will find us, she'll find her daughter and I'd rather not be around for that." Sark said in an attempt to cover up his nervousness.

"Yes, she will find us but we'll be gone before she gets here, I'd like to get to know my grandchild if you don't mind, but like I said nothing happens to the girl." Irina said ending the conversation and returning to her files.

"What if she escapes?" Sark asked.

"Then we get her back, now leave." With those parting words Julian Sark and the other guard left.

_**Yesterday was over  
Today I'm fine without you  
Runaway this time without you  
And all I ever thought you'd be  
That face is tearing holes in me again**_

Sydney took out her lap top and continued to watch the footage Marshall had recovered, she was looking for something anything that would lead to a possible location. She didn't want her mother to disappear before there was a chance of finding Isabelle.

Rachel and Tom sat next to each other quietly, they had gotten married a few years after Prophet Five went down and Irina disappeared once again. When Isabelle was little they would babysit her and they thought of her as family and would help Sydney in any way possible to find Isabelle.

_**but today I'm fine without you  
Runaway this time without you  
And all the things you put me through  
I'm holding on by letting go of you**_

Isabelle sat in the cold locked room trying to figure a way out of her captivity. She did her best to turn around to see exactly how she was chained up, she couldn't see much but it was enough to determine how she was stuck there. The pipe was rusted over but still Isabelle wasn't nearly strong enough to break the pipe. Her only way out was to find a break in the pipe and hoping beyond hope that the chains would come apart. It might work but still there was no guarantee.

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**Straightjacket Feeling - The All-American Rejects**

_Leave a review, I'd like to know what you think._


	4. Drowning My Pain

_Disclaimer on chapter one and thanks for the reviews. _

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter Four:_**

**Drowning My Pain**

Isabelle managed to wrench the cuffs free from the pipe in the wall, with as little noise as possible. She looked at the handcuffs that her hands were still stuck in. She couldn't get out of them but it didn't matter all she needed to do was get out. Isabelle opened the door that was surprisingly unlocked, she peered out of it to find no guards or any sign of life in the place, aside from the small amount of light you wouldn't think that anyone had been down in the place for years.

Isabelle stayed silent as she walked down the hall, she had no way of knowing where she was going but she would try her best to get out. She heardvoices from the opposite end of the hallway and chose to run in the other direction away from the voices.

_**Is this the end of my life or just the end of the world  
Skeletons rule the cities as the innocent burn  
And if you stand up and fight with your black flag tonight  
They'll put tape on your mouth as they kiss you goodbye**_

Isabelle ran quietly down the hall towards what she assumed or rather hoped to be a door. She could barely see and ended up hitting into a pipe causing a loud clanging noise.

"Son of a bitch." Isabelle said too loudly to stay quiet and unnoticed. Just as she said the words a loud alarm rang throughout the building.

**_Dance, dance, dance, dance  
Come dance with me, come dance with me  
Dance, dance, dance, dance  
Dance, dance come dance, come dance with me_**

She began to run faster towards the end of the hallway where she actually had no idea of knowing where she would end up. Red lights were flashing and Isabelle smacked right into the door. She opened it and was met with another room.

_**You know you can't stay neutral  
On a moving train  
So pick a f#cking side  
And place the blame  
Cause there's nothing worse  
than a bird with wings who doesn't fly**_

She entered the larger warehouse type room and ran past several large crates and other assorted goods. She could hear guards entering the room and shouting words she didn't understand. She was then met with the large ear shattering noise of guns shooting at her.

_**So wake up and smell the flowers today  
Don't they reek of shit and bloody money  
There's not an ounce of love that's left in this world  
Your not alive any more your a possible sale**_

She hid behind stacked crates and hoped against all odds she wouldn't be found. Just as she crouched down behind the crates she heard a familiar voice enter the room.

"Stop shooting! Leave the room now." Irina told the other guards.

"Sark find her." Isabelle heard Irina say to someone.

**_Dance, dance, dance, dance  
Come dance with me, come dance with me  
Dance, dance, dance, dance  
Dance, dance come dance, come dance with me_**

"I will." Sark said in a determined voice.

Isabelle shuddered behind the crate and noticed something near her that could possible help her.

**_You know you can't stay neutral  
On a moving train  
So pick a f#cking side  
And place the blame  
Cause there's nothing worse  
than a bird with wings who doesn't fly_**

She was careful to make no noise at all and pulled a laptop from a mostly empty crate that had openings.

Isabelle turned on the computer and it worked, though the battery was extremely low.

She opened a word document and typed in something very quickly, she attached the document to an e-mail and sent it to her mother's e-mail address.

Just as the mail was sent Isabelle put the computer back and heard movement close to her, she stayed low to the ground as she ran to another hiding spot.

**_There's still war on page six  
America don't die like this  
there's still war on page six  
A-ME-RI-CA!_**

"I don't want to play cat and mouse with you." Sark shouted as he stood in the spot where Isabelle had just been hiding.

Isabelle was careful to remain quiet as she moved around the room, hiding in various locations.

She found her way to another door and opened the door, then she shut it quickly and hid in a small spot that was close to the door.

Sark walked over to the door but smiled not opening it.

"Do you think I'm that stupid?" He shouted his voice echoing throughout the storage room.

**_There's still war on page six  
America_****_ don't die like this  
there's still war on page six _**

**_America don't die like this_**

He walked away from where Isabelle hid and continued his search as Isabelle ran quietly back towards the door she had come in through.

"Hello there." Irina said as she opened the door just as Isabelle reached it.

Sark walked to where Irina and Isabelle stood, he loaded his gun and shot Isabelle in the back. He carried her unconcious body towards Irina's office and sat Isabelle down in a chair. He unlocked the cuffs only to recuff each one of her hands to each arm of the chair.

**_You know you cant stay neutral  
On a moving train  
So pick a f#cking side  
And place the blame  
Cause there's nothing worse  
than a bird with wings who doesn't_**

**_You know you cant stay neutral  
On a moving train  
So pick a f#cking side  
And place the blame  
Cause there's nothing worse  
than a bird with wings who doesn't fly_**

Irina sat in a different chair at the desk where she was working at until the alarm sounded.

"Sark, leave." Irina said to him and he complied.

Isabelle began to wake up shortly after Sark left and she found herself in a new room but still trapped.

"I underestimated you." Irina said to Isabelle in a tone that would freeze anything.

"That can happen." Isabelle said in an equally chilling tone.

"Tell me Isabelle, how's your mother?" Irina asked her in an almost concerned voice.

"Why should I tell you?" Isabelle asked in a threatening tone.

"Because we are family after all, whether you want to admit it or not." Irina stated as she stood from her seat and walked towards the exit of the office.

"What do you want from me? Why can't I just go home and talk to you on the phone like someone normally would?" Isabelle broken hearted shouted to Irina.

"Because your family is anything but normal, I'll talk to you again in a little while. Don't go running off now." Irina said before she exited and Isabelle was once again left alone trapped in a room.

Irina stood in the hallway with Sark.

"Should we let her see the full picture?" Julian said in an almost saddened voice.

"No, we have to wait. Why don't you go watch her? Make sure she doesn't pull another escape attempt." Irina told him trying her best to show no remorse for what she was doing.

"It's not a weakness. To feel bad about something, it just shows that you're human." Sark said to Irina as he walked into the office.

Isabelle watched as the man referred to as Sark entered the office and sat in the chair her grandmother sat in only about a minute before.

"You look just like your mother, except for your eyes there your father's." He told Isabelle as she stared at him with hate in her eyes.

"She's not a bad person, she just wants to talk to you and the only way for her to speak to you face to face is unfortunately this way." Sark told Isabelle trying to get her to understand.

"By kidnapping me and keeping me locked someplace, sorry but I don't see that as the only way." Isabelle said angrily.

"It's the only way for someone who's wanted by the C.I.A." Sark told the teenager.

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**_That's a shorter chapter but the next one will be longer so don't worry, anyway you know the drill, review and etc. _**

**American Death - Senses Fail**


	5. The Same Mistake

_Thanks for all the reviews. Here's the next chapter._

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 5:_**

**The Same Mistake**

"C.I.A." Isabelle repeated to herself as if to verify she had heard correctly.

"Let me guess, your mother never said a word of this, what was it? A bank?" Sark smiled but it faded when he saw the distraught look on the teen's face.

"Why didn't she just tell me?" Isabelle said forgetting there was someone else in the room.

**_Let's count the days until winter comes our way  
We're all tired and ready to breathe  
And there's a rumor that_**

Sark didn't answer the girl's question and stayed quiet in his seat behind the desk.

"Sark, what did she do?" Isabelle asked motioning towards the hall.

"Lots of things, its actually quite a long story." Sark said reading a paper on the desk.

"If you haven't noticed, I've got nothing but time." Isabelle told him waiting for the story she wanted to hear.

Sydney arrived in Moscow and searched the places on the satellite photos Marshall had found. They drove down the road where the black van had been seen briefly and while on the dirt road noticed a hidden connecting road that was covered by grass and weeds.

**_There's a bitter cold chill in the air.  
It's haunting every breath we take.  
The hint of alcohol and nicotine it keeps us warm inside.  
So all your fashion sense aware, the sweaters unfold themselves.  
We are all alone, but we're better off by ourselves._**

"Do you think they could have gone that way?" Rachel asked Sydney.

"Maybe, we should probably ask around town to see if anyone saw anything." Tom said.

"We need to split up, two of us go this way and the other two go towards town." Sydney said as she made her way towards the dirt path.

"I'll goget her." Rachel said as she ran off in the direction Sydney rushed off in.

"What are you doing?" Rachel asked Sydney once she caught up with her.

"I'm finding my daughter." Sydney told her.

"Yeah but you have to play it smart, what if the people who have her know your coming? There could be armed guards waiting at the end of the path and we wouldn't know, then blam the end." Rachel told Sydney in a breathless voice from running to catch up to her.

"What should I do?" Sydney finally asked after a long moment of silence.

"Talk to Marshall, see if he has some new information." Rachel answered.

"Fine." Sydney and Rachel turned around and went back towards the car where Tom and Jack were still standing.

**_Let's think about all those nights on Luckie St.  
We stayed up til 3 am, with all the gossip and the latest girls._**

Isabelle heard everything from her grandmother's involvment with a Russian organization called K-directorate and then up to the point where her grandfather killed Irina, or tried to kill who he thought was Irina.

"That's insane." Isabelle finally said when she heard the story with the copied DNA.

"Yes well now you see what you're in the middle of." Sark laughed at his words.

"I'm not in the middle of any of that, no I think I'm in the middle of something totally different. That story has nothing to do with me." Isabelle told Sark with spite hinted in her voice.

"You're clever, like your mother." Sark saidin a dead serious tone.

"How do you know my mom?" Isabelle finally asked.

"And my dad?" She finished her question.

**_There's a bitter cold chill in the air.  
It's haunting every breath we take.  
The hint of alcohol and nicotine it keeps us warm inside.  
So all your fashion sense aware, the sweaters unfold themselves.  
We are all alone, but we're better off by ourselves.  
_**

Sydney turned on her laptop and noticed the blinking icon for mail. She looked at the e-mail address, it was an unknown sender but there was something about the subject line that Sydney found to be unusual for junk mail. She chose to open it and read the attachment, it was from Isabelle.

Sydney pulled out her cell phone and made a quick call to Marshall.

"Sydney?" Marshall answered when he read the caller id.

"Marshall, I need you to trace an e-mail message." Sydney hurriedly said over the phone and passed the message on to Marshall.

"It might take a while, I'll call you when I find something." Marshall said as he focused on the computer and tracing the message that could lead to finding Isabelle.

Sydney hung up the phone and read the message over and over again trying deperately to hear Isabelle's voice with every word written.

**_It's time to roll the windows down and  
Feel the cold air all around.  
We are heading out of town and  
Not a thing can stop us now.  
Get carried away._**

"I worked with both of them, your parents. Sometimes with them and other times, actually most times against them but I still met them and its all the same. I'll leave you with that thought." Sark stood and left the room leaving Isabelle alone once again to her thoughts.

Isabelle tried to move the chair closer to the desk where the papers sat but she couldn't. When she couldn't see what was lying about two feet in front of her she sat back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling trying to imagine what her life would have been like if she had a normal family.

**_This winter is much like all the rest.  
This season's changed since we've been away.  
This winter is much like all the rest.  
_**

Sydney sat in the grounded plane waiting for Marshall to call. She looked out at the runway and closed her eyes. She imagined a happy normal family where Vaughn was still alive and at this point in time they were just sitting down to dinner talking about anything that happened that day and not having to lie about any of it. It was an ideal scenario that Sydney begged for more than once to become a reality, but it never would, because she didn't have a normal family, it would never be normal...never.

**_It's time to roll the windows down and  
Feel the cold air all around.  
We are heading out of town and  
Not a thing can stop us now.  
Get carried away._**

* * *

**You know what to do...love all the reviews.**

**_Luckie St. - Cartel_**


	6. Losing Everything You've Ever Earned

Thanks for the reviews, check out the next chapter! Disclaimer on chapter one.

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 6:_**

**Losing Everything You've Ever Earned**

Sydney finally recieved the phone call from Marshall she had been waiting on for what seemed like forever.

"Marshall, did you trace the e-mail?" Sydney asked as soon as she answered the phone.

"Yeah, there's this old warehouse down a dirt road. The road's located a little bit past the city and it's right near train tracks so you should be able to find it." Marshall rushed over the phone.

"Thanks." Sydney said before she hung up the phone and grabbed her jacket. She exited the plane and she sat in the driver's seat of the car.

Rachel and Tom quickly followed Sydney into the car. Sydney protested but it didn't matter, they were coming and that was that.

Isabelle waited alone in the same room she had been in for a few hours. She looked at the walls trying to find anything that might help her get out of the chair. She wasn't going to try to run again but she just wanted out of the chair.

Suddenly the door opened to reveal the other guard standing there. He unlocked the cuffs to the chair and pulled Isabelle out of the chair. It was strange, there was something oddly familiar about him but Isabelle couldn't place where she had seen this guard. She definitely knew she had seen this person before.

"Come on Isabelle." The guard said in a whispery voice that seemed to care

Isabelle followed without a word because for some reason she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

"Ok go out this door and keep walking straight, someone should find you within the hour." The guard said to her as he held the door open.

"Why are you helping me?" Isabelle finally asked after staying quiet for so long.

"Because I have to." He said with a smile as he continued to hold the door open.

Then the realization finally hit her, the person standing in front of her was the one she saw in the house.

"You're the reason I'm here in the first place. You shot me with the tranq at the house." Isabelle stood still beside the door because for all she knew this person was just going to shoot her when she walked away.

"I can see why you don't trust me but you need to get out of here now, alright here take this." He handed her a loaded hand gun and then opened the door wider for her to leave, she looked at him with a confused look but walked out the door anyway.

_**I wrote down, the best part of our story  
To whom it may concern...I think your beautiful plan  
LACKS STYLE! Imagine what they could do  
With a little more time and a little more passion  
You're trying too hard to get a reaction**_

Isabelle didn't know where she was but it didn't matter, all she needed to find was a phone. The light hurt Isabelle's eyes so she had to look down at the ground for a little while as she walked, just until she got used to the sunlight. She looked back at the building she was held in, the place looked like a wharehouse. Isabelle stopped for a minute but turned back around and kept walking, when she was far enough away, she tossed the gun to the side of the road, what did she need it for? She walked a few paces away from the gun before using her better judgement and going back to pick it up again.

**_State the words right now to separate  
The truth from your intentions  
Your cold flesh tangled up in snakes  
Just as I expected but oh no  
I don't think so,  
Save some breath for the ending_**

She kept walking forward slowly before reaching some train tracks, she looked down them to see if a train was coming and then crossed them. When she crossed the tracks a white delivery van swerved to a stop near her, a few people dressed in black piled out of it. Isabelle ran for it, she didn't want to get taken hostage again for something she had nothing to do with. Two people ran after her and Isabelle turned around and fired the gun at them, she managed to hit one of the two people in the leg but the other one kept running after her. She turned around and ran again.

**_Save some breath for the ending_**

The person caught up to her and punched her across the face, she was down for the count. A few of the other people in the van walked over to help their fallen friend, while the remaining helped the one who was not shot get the captive.

The person who had struck Isabelle pulled off the black ski mask they were all wearing to reveal long blonde hair and an evil smile.

"Take her to the van." Said the woman with a British accent.

**_Why don't you make your move cause your acting like I'm on trial  
The pieces are set and the game is emotion  
Don't you forget the worst is yet to happen.  
_**

Sydney, Rachel and Tom pulled up a few miles from the scene and stopped once they heard the gun shots. Sydney and Tom ran towards where Isabelle was being taken to see what was going on, they weren't seen. Sydney and Tom watched as Isabelle's unconcious form was being taken into a different van, one that was not from the tapes. Then they saw who had taken her, well they saw one of them.

"Lauren." Sydney said with pure hate in her voice.

_**State the words right now to separate  
The truth from your intentions  
Your cold flesh tangled up in snakes  
Just as I expected but oh no  
I don't think so,  
Save some breath for the ending**_

"Isn't she dead?" Tom asked in a whisper.

"I thought she was." Sydney whispered back.

"We have to follow them." Sydney said as she began to stand.

"No, we need to go back to the place where the e-mail came from. Maybe they have some information." Tom said trying to be sensible.

"They could kill her and you want to go see if the place where she was a little while ago knows where she is now. Lauren doesn't lead she follows orders, we need to follow them so we can stop her and whoever she's working for." Sydney angrily told Tom.

Tom took out his cell phone and took a picture of the van with the camera. He then called Marshall and told him to follow the van.

At the same time he did that Lauren answered her own phone replying to the caller with "we have her."  
_**  
Save some breath for the ending**_

Sydney and Tom walked back to the car once the van left and they went to the place where the e-mail had come from, much to Sydney's dislike.

They quietly entered the building and searched the area. Rachel, Tom, and Sydney were all on their own looking for the people who had originally kidnapped Isabelle.

Sydney walked into a room that looked like an officeand saw the chair with the chains and papers on the desk. She didn't bother to read the papers but turned to leave the room, when she turned around however she was face to face with the person who had died so many years ago.

"Vaughn?"

* * *

Thats the next chapter, please review. 

**A Beautiful Plan - So They Say**


	7. Words That Cut Like Knives

_Disclaimer on chapter one, thanks for reading and reviewing. Sorry this took me a while but I've been obsessed with watching Rent over and over. It's such a good movie if you haven't seen it, WATCH IT!_

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 7:_**

**Words That Cut Like Knives**

The van drove down the dirt road the dry dust getting moved around by the wheels. Isabelle was slowly waking up and immediately felt the huge rushing pain from the bruise on her head. She groaned in pain and caught the unwelcome attention of her new captors.

"We're not at the extraction point yet, put her out." Lauren told the other agent to her left. He immediately took out a syringe and walked over to Isabelle.

"Don't...please..." Her pleads were no help to her, in a minute the syringe was inserted into her neck and the substance inside injected into her blood stream. A few seconds after the injection, Isabelle passed out and couldn't possibly ruin Lauren's mission.

Sydney stared straight into the green eyes that haunted her every day since she saw him get shot and when he was taken away on a gurney in the hospital, never to be seen again.

"Sydney." Vaughn said in the same comforting tone he always used whenever he said her name.

Sydney couldn't believe who she was looking at. Vaughn was alive, it couldn't be possible, at least not in her mind.

"How?" She had to ask the only question that was standing out in her mind since she saw him standing in front of her.

"I can't explain it right now." Vaughn said in a voice that showed he needed to tell her something.

"You were the one that broke into the house and took Isabelle." Sydney stated to herself outloud seeming as if she didn't want to believe the fact.

"Yes." Vaughn answered her unasked question without an explanation.

"I don't believe this." Sydney angrily said.

"Look I'm sorry but it had to be done, that's all I can say now." Vaughn told her apologetically.

"I don't care what you can say or what you can't, Lauren took Isabelle. Are you responisble for that too?" Sydney hurriedly asked her anger fading away.

"Lauren's alive?" Vaughn asked clearly answering Sydney's question. The light in his eyes changed to hatred at the mention of the betraying ex-wife.

"She can't be alive. I shot her...she died." Vaughn said quickly over and over again.

"We need to find her." Sydney said in a tired voice.

"I know who can help." Vaughn grabbed Sydney's hand and led her towards a room where Irina was located.

Isabelle awoke still drowsy from the innoculation in a well lit hotel room. She was laying on a comfortable bed and could hear the ocean outside.

She rubber her eyes as if wondering if the imagery around her was real. She rose shakily from the bed and walked to the door. She was about to turn the knob when the door burst open. Isabelle doubled back sitting down on the edge of the bed as a woman walked into the room with a gun pointed straight at Isabelle.

"Now now, you're not running off are you?" Lauren Reed said in a mock friendly tone.

"I was let go, you can't do this." Isabelle said hatefully towards Lauren.

"Sure, you're father let you go but see I'm a different person who works for different people. You see you're important to those people and my employers are going to be very pleased that you're here." Lauren gloated.

"Father?" Isabelle's voice went high.

"You didn't know? Well I guess it's better you know now than never, looks like all the people in your life who you thought were dead aren't but then again you'll never get the chance to enjoy the family you always longed for. I'm really going to enjoy killing each and every one of them and then watching as you get handed over to the people who are going to make the rest of your life a living hell." Lauren said in a malicious whisper.

"We'll see." Isabelle had somehow just gained a weird confidence that made her say the comment in a sarcastic tone to her obviously dangerous captor.

"You might want to save that biting wit for when you finally meet who's behind this team here. I'm going to make sure you don't try to run away so I wouldn't try anything." Lauren sat down in a chair next to the bed putting the gun down on the bedside table next to her.

**_I never wanted it to be this way  
Crashing down like the pouring rain  
Lying still in my blood-stained clothes  
Is this the ending that no one knows  
Is this the ending that no one knows  
Is this the ending that no one knows_**

Isabelle sat quietly fora few hours quietly planning her escape, she could hear the ocean clearly so she knew she was pretty close to the beach. From the sounds outside they were definitely close to the ground and the window was her way out. She had shoes on and she could be a pretty fast runner, she just didn't know how fast she could run when there were a few guns firing at her.

**_I cried out to heaven when I thought I lost myself  
I cried out to heaven when I thought I lost myself _**

Myself

**_How can I live if you know  
I lost my faith long ago_**

Isabelle turned to look at Lauren, Lauren glared at Isabelle as if she knew what Isabelle was planning. Isabelle turned back to look at the door.

"Is there anything to eat around here?" Isabelle asked trying to see if she could get Lauren to leave or at least turn her back.

"I could tell someone that you're hungry." Lauren stated.

"Ok well then go tell someone." Isabelle imitated Lauren in a mocking tone.

"Fine." Lauren said not amused.

Lauren walked over to the door and Isabelle jumped at the opportunity. She smacked Lauren against the door, Lauren hit the ground hard and before she could yell for help or reach for the gun Isabelle had pried open the window and looked out at the grassy earth almost directly below her feet.

**_Ripped and torn from the inside out  
Reminded of what I used to doubt  
Letting go and I'll fly away  
I'll see you all again someday  
I'll see you all again someday  
I'll see you all again someday_**

Isabelle heard a few shouts of help and then get her but she was alreadyracing away from the open window. Sheturned back and saw Lauren peer out of the window with a bruise on her face. Isabelle smiled at her small triumph but ran away faster when she saw two of the other team membersexit the building.

**_I cried out to heaven when I thought I lost myself  
I cried out to heaven when I thought I lost myself _**

Myself

She turned a corner and saw several buildings. She was standing in an alleyway and had no idea where she could go. She chose another alley and ran down that.

**_How can I live if you know  
I lost my faith long ago  
I think it's time to let go  
God if you're there, let me know  
Let me know_**

She heard the shouts of the other agents and saw one of them turn into the exact alley where she was standing. Isabelle ran down another alley and even jumped a wooden fence trying to escape. Soon she was in a main road where there were a few cars but more people walking around.

"Where the hell am I?" Isabelle asked herself, she knew it wasn't New York and it definitely wasn't home. She had no clue where she was.

**_When did I lose my faith  
Long ago  
When did I lose my faith  
I guess I'll never know  
When did I lose my faith  
Long ago  
When did I lose my faith  
I guess I'll never know_**

She headed for a coffee shop and ducked inside. She saw both agents run past the coffee shop and then double back their steps. She even saw them look like they gave up and head back the way they came from the hotel. Isabelle let out a large breath of relief that she wasn't found and that she was free.

**_I never wanted it to be this way  
Crashing down like the pouring rain  
Lying still in my blood-stained clothes  
Is this the ending that no one knows  
Is this the ending that no one knows  
Is this the ending that no one knows_**

She walked up to the front counter of the coffee shop. She waited for people to order their drinks and then waited until it was her turn.

The clerk asked her a question that she didn't understand.

"What?" Isabelle asked the teenager working at the register.

"You're American." The boy stated ina thick Italian accent.

"Yeah. This is going to sound weird but where are we?" Isabelle asked trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Rome." The teen said as if he was asked all the time.

"Great. Can I use your phone?" Isabelle delicately asked.

"Sure. I'm Vince by the way." The teen introduced himself as he handed Isabelle the phone.

"Isabelle." Isabelle returned the introduction as she dialed her mother's cell phone number.

**_So take me away  
Take me away  
(Take me away)  
Take me away  
So take me away  
(Take me away_**)

Isabelle listened as the phone rangseveral times.

"Come on, people call you all the time, pick up." Isabelle whispered to herself.

**_How can I live if you know  
I lost my faith long ago (How can I live now)  
I think it's time to let go (Is it time? Let go)  
God if you're there, let me know  
Let me know_**

She hung up the phone when she got the voice mail message. She waited a few seconds before dialing again. The familiar ring sounded in the earpiece.

**_I never wanted it to be this way_**

She waited a few minutes and listened to the phone continually ring before the voice mail message came on again.

"Damnit!" Isabelle shouted at the phone as she hung up for the second time.

She waited a minute this time before she dialed yet again. She heard the ring and waited for an answer. This time the voice mail message didn't come on but the person who answered wasn't her mother.

"Hello." A familiar voice that still wasn't her mother's answered.

"Mom?" Isabelle asked the obvious question.

"No. Isabelle?" The voice asked.

"Where's my mom?" Isabelle asked angrily wanting desperately to talk to her mother.

"Hang on." Her grandmother stated.

"Isabelle?" Sydney's voice rang through the phone.

"Mom." Isabelle said happily.

* * *

_Thats the next chapter so please leave a review!_

**Take Me Away (Cried Out To Heaven) - Mest - Photographs**


	8. If You Could Do Things Differently

_Thanks for reading and reviewing. You know the drill, disclaimer on chapter one yadda yadda yadda. ENJOY! I just recently got into this band that I used the lyrics for in this chapter, their called Waking Ashland. Check 'em out if you want to._

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 8_**

**If You Could Do Things Differently**

Isabelle held the phoneshakily hearing her mother's voice for the first time in days.

"Isabelle, sweetheart,are you ok?" Sydney asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." Isabelle said monotonously.

"Where are you?" Sydney asked hoping for a straight answer.

"First I need you to tell me what the hell is going on?" Isabelle asked angrily, wanting to know why she had been kidnapped in the first place.

"I'll tell you when I see you but you need to tell me where to find you?" Sydney's voice was pained and hoarse.

"You have resources available to you right?" Isabelle asked trying to sound like she had no clue where she was.

"Yes." Sydney replied.

"Then find me." Isabelle said hanging up the phone. Sure, Isabelle wanted to be found but something about talking to her mom and remembering how she had been lied to made her hang up the phone.

Sydney held the phone remembering the last thing Isabelle had said. She had sounded so angry and hurt, and Sydney knew it was all because she hadn't told the truth. Sydney realized now that Isabelle was feeling the same thing that Sydney had felt when she had learned her mother was KGB.

**_I and I am to blame,  
I sit here in shame.  
I threw you away again_**

Isabelle decided she would call her mother's cell phone in a little while, but first she needed time burn off all the anger she was holding. She walked into the bathroom and for the first time took in her reflection. Her hair hadn't become bad but her face was grimey. She ran some warm water and proceeded to wash her face. After a few minutes she messed with her hair a bit andwas satisfied with how she looked.

**_And I, I send you my best.  
I try to lay this to rest,  
When you were my everything._**

Sydney walked away from her mother and Vaughn. She had accepted what her mother and Vaughn had done, even Rachel and Tom had accepted what had happened. The problem was that Isabelle was taken away again for a further cause, something that no doubt involved Rambaldi or Sloane, maybe even both.

**_Shades of Grey,  
And please fade away.  
And oh what if I sit in vain._**

Vaughn followed Sydney out of the facility.The sky was darkbut there were a few lightsthat surrounded the area. Vaughn knew how Sydney must have been feeling, she had unkowingly done almost the same thing to their child as her own mother had done to her.

**_Hey, and I'll look away,  
Pretend I'm okay.  
I'm back on the road again._**

"Sydney, she'll get over it, thats what teenagers do, they get mad and then they get over whatever their mad at." Vaughn tried to comfort her.

"She won't get over this." Sydney said staring up at the sky not noticing Vaughn agree with what she said.

"You'll find her and then you two will move on with your lives." Vaughn told her.

"What about you? You're back in our lives again, you can't just dissapear again." Sydney told him desperately trying to avoid the many unsaid words between them.

"I won't dissapear." Vaughn told her determined not to make the same mistake twice.

**_And please, could it be true,  
That I still love you,  
And my loves unworthy._**

Isabelle walked out of the bathroom thinking whether or not she would make the call. She decided not to call just yet but chose instead to sit at a table in the back. She was drowning in her thoughts, after the last conversation she had had with her mom, how could she just call and say 'hey I'm ready to come home now.' There was no easy way to forgive her mother for lying to her but how easy could this situation be for her mom? Knowing her mother had been at the first place where Isabelle had been held let Isabelle know that her mother had took action and searched for her.

**_Shades of Grey,  
And please fade away.  
And oh what if I sit in vain._**

"Hey." Vincent said to Isabelle.

"What do you want?" Isabelle was a little taken aback that someone she had talked to a few minutes ago would say hi to her like she was their best friend.

"I just wanted to see if you wanted anything." Vincent said quietly.

"I don't have any money so sorry no." Isabelle stated.

"Are you alright?" Vincent asked the question that must have been buzzing in his brain ever since Isabelle had run into the coffee house.

"No, actually I have some family problems I'm dealing with right now." Isabelle blurted a statement that could have been interpreted as pretty much anything.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Vincent asked, his accent hinted in his voice.

"Not really, no." Isabelle said looking out the window she was sitting next to.

"Mind if I sit with you then?" Vincent asked kindly, smiling at her.

"Aren't you working?" Isabelle asked determined to be alone.

"Actually I stopped a few minutes ago." Vincent told her equally determined to sit in the empty seat across from Isabelle.

"Knock yourself out." Isabelle gave up and Vincent got a seat.

**_Are you listening to my words?  
And I saw your smile pass me by,  
And landed far from me.  
And what does that mean?_**

Isabelle kept her gaze away from Vincent and out the window. She watched people walk down the street looking like they were going to their jobs or just walking. She smiled at how normal the scene looked but the smile faded when she realized how abnormal her life had become. Her life was no picnic before but it was her life and it was all she had, now she was involved in some government spy family that had more secrets than actual memories.

**_Shades of Grey,  
And please fade away.  
Oh what if I sit in vain._**

She quietly stood from her seat not meeting Vincent's stare and walked over to the phone. Unkown to Isabelle, Vincent smiled knowing what she was doing. He had heard the conversation before but wasn't going to mention it to Isabelle. He watched Isabelle dial the same number she had dialed before.

**_I and I ran away,  
For I was afraid.  
Afraid you'd be everything._**

Sydney's phone rang as she stood outside. She picked up the phone instantly and heard a familiar voice that sounded apologetic and solemn.

"Hi." Isabelle said into the reciever in Rome while Sydney heard the pained hello from her phone in Moscow.

* * *

_I hope you like that chapter and remember to leave a review. _

**_Shades of Grey - Waking Ashland - Composure_**


	9. Keeping A Promise Alive

_I'm sorry this chapter took so long but I've just been really busy and I wanted to complete this other story I kind of neglected. I've taken some time to work out this chapter and I think it's the best it can be. Here goes!_

_I think you know where the disclaimer is._

* * *

_**Discovering The Waterfront**_

**_-Chapter 9-_**

**Keeping A Promise Alive**

Isabelle said everything she was willing to say at that moment in time over the phone to her mom. She avoided nearly everything about the kidnapping and all the lies she had been told. If she was going to have an argument or at least discuss the issue she wanted to talk face to face with her mother. She told her mother as much as she knew about where she was and fortunately for Sydney, Isabelle wasn't too far out of reach.

"I'm sorry about before." Isabelle finally apologized before she was about to hang up.

"It's ok." Sydney said in the same comforting tone she used every night when Isabelle couldn't sleep.

Isabelle looked out the window and noticed a familiar black van race up to the building and stop.

"God no." Isabelle whispered slowly becoming more and more unaware she was still holding a phone.

"What is it?" Sydney's said but her words were lost as Isabelle clutched the phone tightly watching as Lauren and two associates with automatic weapons stepped out of the van.

"Damnit!" Isabelle shouted as the two associates immediately opened fire into the small coffee house.

Sydney could only listen as she heard the gun fire due to the fact that Isabelle had dropped the phone, not hung it up.

People in the small building dropped to the floor but Isabelle ran as fast as she possibly could, she slid over the counter and ran through the back kitchen and out the back door. She quietly caught her breath outside but then began running again just to get away.

When the guns stopped shooting, Sydney could make out the voices and what was being said.

"Where is she?" The voice obviously belonged to Lauren, but she didn't seem to be ordering someone, she was clearly asking.

"She ran out through the kitchen." It was a male's voice but he didn't sound much older than Isabelle and he didn't seem to be one of the people holding a gun as his voice was shaky but still strong.

"You didn't tell me there was a kitchen." Lauren half yelled, half said sounding frustrated.

"I didn't know mother, I only started working here a few minutes after she walked in." The boy's voice said angrily.

"Just go find her, alright Mark? Otherwise, I'll have to fix your mistake again." Lauren ordered her son.

"Fine." Mark bitterly said and Sydney could hear what sounded like a whispered 'bitch'.

**_This is not the end  
This is just the beginning  
And don't you know that everything we want  
Is within our reach at fingertips length  
We fought nonstop to make these nights our own  
Now no one can take them away_**

Isabelle ran down the street passing the cars that had stopped due to the commotion in the coffee house. She ran through crowds of people who seemed to look at her like she was to blame for the shooting and in some way, they were right. She could hear a helicopter steadily approaching, was she really worth all this trouble?

She saw the helicopter way before any other person on the street did. It appeared over a building and once again she had to stop and check to make sure she wasn't just seeing things. As soon as she saw the small crowd of people turned in the same direction she believed it was there.

There was a small chance the helicopter wasn't for her, but that chance was very slim. The helicopter flew above the street and circled, trying to land somewhere. Isabelle turned a sickly pale color as soon as it landed in the middle of the street. She was frozen to the spot, until finally after what seemed like days she started running again.

**_Hands in the air (hands in the air)  
No one make a sound (no one make a sound)  
While you're in despair, we'll have our ears to the ground  
Listening for the pulse that just might drive these hearts tonight  
And I know we won't make it out alive_**

Mark ran down the street watching as the helicopter landed. He noticed Isabelle standing there looking terrified as it landed. Then like someone had flipped a switch, she took off again. He lost sight of her but watched who stepped out of the helicopter, it was Sydney and the previously thought deceased Vaughn.

"Wow, they're fast." Mark said sounding astounded that anyone could care that much about another person.

**_We could have had it all  
Our backs against the wall  
Our eyes blindfolded tight  
Living what they call life_**

Isabelle couldn't focus, blood was pounding in her ears to the point where she was nearly deaf. She stopped running when she reached a large wall. There was no way she could get over it and she wasn't about to risk her life attempting to make it over. She was desperate to get away, but she wasn't desperate enough to never see another day just to escape.

Mark ran down the same alleyway that he had seen Isabelle run down. He needed to make her dissappear without bringing attention to himself.

**_We could have had it all  
Our backs against the wall  
Our eyes blindfolded tight  
Living what they call life_**

**_(We could) We could havehad it all  
(Our backs) Our backs against the wall  
(Our eyes) Our eyes blindfolded tight_**

Isabelle stood in the alleyway, her back was turned to the street. Mark raced up behind her quietly and slammed her into the wall. He turned her around violently to look her in the face.

"Vincent?" Isabelle asked looking at the familiar face.

"It's Mark actually." Mark spoke in a different voice than he had used before, he sounded like he was from America but there was a slight accent to his voice.

"You called them." Isabelle realized and shelooked at Mark with a newfound contempt for the person who had acted like her friend.

"I had to." Mark soundedas ifhe was trying to explain his actions in a not so obvious way.

"No you didn't." Isabelle whispered to Mark, staring him down.

**_With hands in the air (hands in the air)  
No one make a sound (no one make a sound)  
While you're in despair, we'll have our ears to the ground  
Listening for the pulse that just might drive these hearts tonight  
And I know we won't make it out alive_**

Mark's cold glare eased when a loud bang rang through the air. He fell to the floor clutching his arm, blood was slowly seeping through the sleeve of his shirt. It wasn't a fatal wound but it would still leave him in pain for a little while.

Isabelle breathed a little easier but immediately tensed up again when she saw who was holding the gun. She put her hands up and leaned against the wall, this time it was by choice.

**_We won't make it out alive  
When you burn down these bridges  
And you build up these walls  
And you tore out these pages  
And there's nothing left at all  
And when that day comes  
And we're all still here  
Will you be waiting?  
Will you be waiting?_**

"Relax, I'm not going to shoot you." Vaughn said smiling at his daughter's reaction. She looked like she was caught in the middle of a crime, even though she was completely fine.

"Are you alright?" Vaughn asked, his fatherly concern kicking in. To be honest he wasn't really thinking when he fired the gun, he probably could have just punched out the boy who had Isabelle pinned to the wall but instead he took the more violent route.

"F-Fine." Isabelle stuttered feeling slightly panicked even though she knew this was her father. He had let her go the first time she was kidnapped, even though he was the one who had taken her from her home. Countless people had leaked that small tidbit of information that her dad was still alive, well not countless but she still believed what she had been told.

**_With hands in the air (hands in the air)  
No one make a sound (no one make a sound)  
While you're in despair, we'll have our ears to the ground  
Listening for the pulse that just might drive these hearts tonight  
And I know we won't make it out alive  
And I know we won't make it out alive_**

Sydney showed up a few seconds later, she glanced down at the bleeding kid with a bullet in his arm and thought that this must have been the person she had heard on the phone.

"Mom." Isabelle rushed towards her mother and all the pain of betrayalshe had felt the last few days suddenlymelted away when her mother gave her the warmest hug she had ever recieved.

* * *

_You all must be thinking, FINALLY THIS CHAPTER IS UP! Yes this did take me a while and forgive me if its short but I need to keep you all hooked so sadly I need to cut off the chapter at some point. Anyway you know what to do and the next chapter will most likely be up shortly._

**Until We Get Caught - Hit The Lights - This Is A Stickup...Don't Make It A Murder**


	10. Honesty and Apology

_Hello there to my loyal readers out in the world! Thank you for continuing to read this and for leaving me reviews. You know where the disclaimer is._

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_-Chapter 10-_**

**Honesty and Apology**

The C.I.A. safehouse looked sweet and innocent to anyone who gazed upon it while walking down the street but if you knew where to look inside the house you would find countless weaponry including guns and knives. Isabelle looked at the outside of the house before they entered and wondered 'How safe could it really be?'

"That doesn't look so safe to me." Isabelle said quietly to herself.

Once inside the house Isabelle wandered throughout the rooms, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Aside from the fact that her mother and her newfound father were now sitting at a table with several computers and a few guns lying about, everything was quite normal.

Mark's gunshot wound had been tended to and was wrapped with gauze to stop the bleeding. He was handcuffed to a chair and was sitting in both Sydney and Vaughn's line of eyesight. Rachel, Tom and Jack had gone back to APO once Sydney contacted them and informed them of her new plan. They had yet to learn that Vaughn was in fact alive and that Sydney had recieved assistance from both her mother and Sark, two former enemies.

Isabelle took a shower to clean off all the grime that had accumulated over the past three days. That was it, three days, what felt like a year was only the weekend with memorial day off.

Isabelle changed her clothes and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She walked down the stairs of the safehouse and peered over her mother's shoulder at the computer screen. Sydney was frustrated with a password that she couldn't figure out, she was trying to get into restricted files that were obviously Lauren's.

"Can I see something?" Isabelle asked not really waiting for an answer even though she heard her mother's reply.

"Sure, but I don't really think you can do..." Sydney stopped talking as she saw Isabelle take the seat she herselfhad occupied only moments before.

Isabelle looked at the screen and thought for a moment, she typed in a few things and then continued to type. She looked like she was repeating a pattern or at least trying to find something in the pattern.

She stopped typing for a second and Sydney thought she was giving up.

"It's a difficult system." Sydney sounded like she was trying to console a small child who lost their soccer game.

Isabelle shut her eyes for a second and thought. She opened them quickly and began to slowly press a system of buttons. After a few seconds Isabelle stood up from her chair and walked away. Sydney looked at the screen that she had stopped looking at for a few minutes to see several files waiting to be opened.

Isabelle opened the refrigerator and took out a water bottle. She opened it and took a sip, only to be greeted by footsteps walking into the kitchen.

"How did you do that?" Sydney asked as she walked into the kitchen behind Isabelle.

"I read." Isabelle spat out sounding sarcastic even though she hadn't meant to.

"I know you're mad at me and I don't blame you but please, where did you learn to do that?" Sydney pleaded.

"Six years ago, when I got the computer in my room I was writing a report and I had to do some internet research,and I guess I typed something wrong because I ended up at this website all about hacking. Rather than fix the mispelling and finish the report I left it, finished the report using a new windowand went back to the site after I was finished with the report." Isabelle told her mother.

"That explains where you got the idea not how you learned everything." Sydney said anticipating the rest of the story.

"Alright, I ordered the books the website mentioned and I memorized everything. The books only help for things like hacking into someone else's computer and using their web service. It wasn't really anything important so I did a little research on the subject and really got into the hackers world or whatever. You worked a lot, I needed something to occupy my time and when summer rolled around I figured out a way to get into security cameras quicker and safer than how you're supposed to do it." Isabelle took a large drink of water trying to cover up the silence that had covered the room.

"You spent your entire summer when you were ten trying to figure out how to bypass security cameras from your bedroom?" Sydney asked incredulously.

"You were gone at weird times and I guess I just needed something that would help me not notice the fact that I was by myself most of the time." Isabelle told her mother honestly, looking down at the tiled floor feeling a small amount of shame for not telling her mother sooner.

"I'm sorry, I probably should have told you but I thought you would think it was stupid or something." Isabelle tried to apologize for something that she didn't have to say sorry for.

"No, it was your own thing, I understand that. I'm sorry for not being around but it's this job, I tried to quit once but then I realized the bad guys would just keep on coming so I stayed." Sydney confessed.

"It's ok. It's your own thing." Isabelle returned the understanding that her mother had shown her.

Sydney looked at her daughter and finally saw herself in the teen. She had always noticed how much Isabelle was exactly like Vaughn and had never really seen herself in her daughter, but at this moment in time, she finally did.

"Isabelle, I could really use your help now. I mean if you want to?" Sydney didn't want her daughter to be upset, God knows she had been through enough upsets to last her a few years.

"Sure." Isabelle hesitated before answering. She wanted to help but she also didn't want to be involved in the spy stuff, at least not any more than she was already involved.

"Great." Sydney looked genuinely proud and happy.

Isabelle sat down in the same seat she had sat in only moments before and began to open the files and sift through them as her mother directed. Isabelle opened another folder when she looked over at Mark who in turn stared at her with a pleading look. He looked away as Isabelle stared at him with piercing eyes and she too turned away to look at the computer.

Vaughn was the only one to notice the slight interaction between the two as he was in the room with Mark. He only saw Mark's look and hadn't turned to see Isabelle's but he knew who Mark was staring at.

After about an hour, Vaughn had switched with Sydney and he was now sitting next to Isabelle watching the computer screen while Sydney paid attention to the prisoner, Mark.

"Wait a minute..." Isabelle trailed off as she looked at the computer screen, her brow creased in thought.

"What is it?" Vaughn finally spoke for the first time since Rome.

"That's not right." Isabelle didn't answer Vaughn's question and was talking to herself slowly becoming less aware that there was someone else in the same room.

"Isabelle what is it?" Vaughn asked noticing how Isabelle's reaction went from confusion to fright in less time than it took to ask the question.

"Oh my God." Isabelle said quietly as she stood from her chair quickly.

"What happened?" Vaughn asked as he watched Isabelle turn off the computer losing everything she was looking at. She unplugged the computer and removed the cable to the hard drive.

"There was an anomoly in the program." Isabelle stated flatly not really sure how to explain what she found.

"That's it, an anomoly." Vaughn stated in the same tone of voice.

"There was a bug in the program, it wasn't anything I've seen before. This bug it didn't just copy everything I decoded but it..." Isabelle couldn't bring herself to give the devastating news.

"What?" Vaughn asked wondering what could be so horrible.

"It gave the location of the user...my location...this place." Isabelle whispered her frightened statement.

Vaughn rushed into the room where Sydney sat with Mark who looked discouraged and somewhat disappointed.

"We need to go." Vaughn stated urgently.

"Why? Vaughn talk to me, what's wrong?" Sydney asked wondering what was happening.

Isabelle ran into the room a few seconds later.

"Too late." Isabelle said quietly sitting on the floor her back to the wall.

A few seconds after her previous statement, cars could be heard pulling around the house, the next moment a bullet crashed through the window.

"We need to run." Isabelle sounded calm but her heart woud tell a different story, her heart was pounding in her throat and if her hands weren't on her knees they would have been shaking.

"There's a tunnel out through the basement door, it leads into another safehouse that's about four miles from here." Vaughn said as he pulled guns from compartments in the house that Isabelle had no clue existed.

"What about Mark?" Isabelle asked as she was ushered towards the basement door by her mother.

"Yeah what about me!" Mark shouted fearing the loss of his own life.

"Isabelle, I can't let him go." Sydney told Isabelle feeling a sense of worry about the growing threat.

"I'll watch him." Isabelle said determined not to leave Mark behind.

"He could have killed you before." Sydney protested.

"But he didn't.Don't persecute himjust because he'sLauren's son and he had to do what he was told." Isabelle pleaded striking a chord within Sydney.

"Fine, but the cuffs stay on and you keep this with you." Sydney handed Isabelle a 9mm.

"Deal." Isabelle took the gun and the keys to the handcuffs, which she put in her pant's pocket after releasing Mark and allowing him to put his hands in front of him before handcuffing him once again.

Isabelle and Mark ran down the stairs of the basement and down the extended tunnel that was hidden behind a door that looked like a closet.

**_You should have ran for days  
You embrace, you betray  
I am sad to say, you're a sad cliche  
But when you ran you tripped and fell  
On a path that led you straight to hell  
This is the salt in your wounds  
This is why I told you so_**

Mark ran quickly beside Isabelle, she was used to the running now. Having been doing so for the past three days. Mark was used to running but not like this, not out of fear, he was used to doing the chasing, even running out of fun sometimes, but he wasn't used to running out of fear. He felt like the mouse being chased by the cunning and torturous cat, it was a feeling he wasn't looking forward to ever feeling again.

Isabelle could feel the fear, it was what made her run as fast as she did. The present fear was what made her strong in situations like these, sure she was running out of fear to save her life but she could just as easily turn around and fire the weapon in her right hand at the chaser. She wouldn't though, because as strong as she was, she was also weak and didn't want to put herself in a life or death situation that would be worse than the one she was in now. She chose life and by making that choice she had to run, it was her consequence to the choice she made.

**_If you knew, what I know  
Would you move, like you do  
With malicious discontent you went about  
Hellbent to destroy but did you have a reason why?_**

Sydney and Vaughn watched from the upper windows at the cars that surrounded the house. Only one shot had been fired throughout the entire situation and Sydney and Vaughn were prepared for more bullets to come crashing through the windows.

They watched as the man himself, Sloane exited one car and in one motion made all his croanies lower their weapons. Sydney looked shocked at the Rambaldi fanatic's sudden appearance. Vaughn looked at the man with pure hate in his eyes and felt nothing short of the same.

**_Here's to lowering caskets of old friends,  
Choice and consequence, we'll birth a new day  
With the death of an old and start over, start over  
Here's to burying hatchets in those who,  
You never call your friends, we'll birth a new day  
With the death of an old and start over, start over_**

The runners stopped in the middle of the tunnel both out of breath from the extortion of energy. Isabelle sank to the floor looking at her sneakers and breathing deeply. Mark sat on the opposite wall and looked at his own shoes.

"How's your arm?" Isabelle asked through pained breaths.

"It's alright. Hurts like hell but I'll live." Mark breathed out.

"We've got to keep moving." Mark said standing once again and awkwardly helping Isabelle to her feet with his handcuffed hands.

"Let's go." Isabelle whispered her voice cracking from the labored breaths she was taking as she ran.

**_Can you breathe in, reach in and let it out  
The evil inside, that's eating you out, tonight  
With every venomous move, I will suck you up and spit you  
Get out of my life, get out of my sight_**

Sydney's eyes narrowed as Sloane walked casually to the door and knocked like a neighbor coming to visit. Vaughn opened the window and looked down at the old man.

"Mr. Vaughn I didn't know you were alive. Care to let me in, I have to talk with you and Sydney." Sloane said already knowing Sydney would be in the house as well.

**_Here's to lowering caskets of old friends,  
Choice and consequence, we'll birth a new day  
With the death of an old and start over, start over  
Here's to burying hatchets in those who,  
You never call your friends, we'll birth a new day  
With the death of an old and start over, start over_**

Vaughn took a hand gun from underneath the bed and hid it in the back of his pants, covering the handle with his shirt.

Sydney followed Vaughn down the stairs as he let the enemy inside the house.

**_You let yourself get carried away  
Don't act like your ashamed  
You let yourself get carried away  
Bow your head now accept the blame  
You let yourself get carried away  
Bury this with you a waste_**

Isabelle and Mark continued to run, four miles may not sound like a lot but it was a lot and running the four miles wasn't helping the already tired teenagers.

Isabelle could barely feel her legs anymore as she kept on running. She thought that in a moment her heart would stop and she would die in the lonely tunnel right then and there. Mark felt the same only he knew that even if he made it outof the tunnel alive, he was still a prisoner and the cold steel on his wrists was there to prove the fact.

**_And now it's time to see, what you don't mean to me  
Now it's time to see what you don't mean to me  
Now it's time to see what you don't mean to me_**

Sloane sat comfortable on the same couch Sydney had been sitting on minutes before when she was watching Mark and making sure he wouldn't get away.

"You have Marcus Reed prisoner?" Sloane asked already knowing the answer. He was the one in league with Lauren, using her to get Isabelle for something.

**_Here's to lowering caskets of old friends,  
Choice and consequence, we'll birth a new day  
With the death of an old and start over, start over  
Here's to burying hatchets in those who,  
You never call your friends, we'll birth a new day  
With the death of an old and..._**

"What do you want?" Vaughn asked sounding official.

"I want to talk about your daughter and Lauren and Sark's son." Sloane said smiling, knowing something that neither families knew or could even dream of.

* * *

_There's that chapter, hope you liked it. Remember to leave a review. I love adding twists!_

**_Shameful - Atreyu - A Death-Grip On Yesterday_**


	11. Uninspired, Alone, and Tired

_Hey all! The new Alias episode was kick ass right? I loved it and I taped it because it was so awesome! I knewVaughn was still alive and apparently so did Syd. Anyway from here on out I'm kind of following my own way so even though the new episodes of Alias are coming on I'm still going to write the story the way I saw it so Ihope that wont be an issue and I will try to mention the things that have happened unless it really intereferes with how my story is going. Well here's the next chapter!_

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_-Chapter 11-_**

**Uninspired, Alone, and Tired**

After what seemed like hours of non-stop running, Isabelle and Mark entered the basement of another C.I.A. safehouse. It wasn't much of a house as it was a deserted building the tunnel happened to be connected to. The basement was dusty and the stairs squeaked as they walked up them. Once the two exited the basement the rest of the building was basically a giant wharehouse with a few steel tables here and there. It was cold and empty but the fact that there was no one else around was almost a relief to Isabelle.

Isabelle leaned against the wall and caught her breath for a few seconds. Mark sat on the floor leaning against the same wall as Isabelle.

"What do we do now?" Mark asked, breaking the silence.

"Wait." Isabelle said quietly as she sat down next to Mark.

"For how long?" Mark asked even quieter than Isabelle had been.

"I don't know." Isabelle told Mark as an uneasy silence fell upon them.

Isabelle looked at the ground secretly hoping someone would show up soon and the pressure would be off of her to do something about everything that was happening.

Mark sat quietly wondering to himself if Isabelle was alright.

"My family lied to me. My mom, everyone I know lied." Isabelle whispered answering Mark's unasked question.

"To be fair, I've had my share of lies to." Mark tried his hand at being comforting even though he wasn't one for sympathy, a little trait he had inherited from both of his parents.

"My dad's still alive and I had to learn about it from some guy who I've never even met before. Then who helps me leave the original kidnappers, my father. I don't even know how I'm going to talk to him." Isabelle kept her eyes glued to the accumulated dust on the floor.

"Maybe you should just be nice to him. I'm sure he's not going to know what to say either." Mark offered his bit of wisdom from a similar situation he had had a few years before.

"Thanks." Isabelle looked up from the ground, a small smile forming.

"I'm sorry about before." Mark admitted referring to their past encounter.

"Why did you do it?" Isabelle had to finally bring herself to ask the very question neither one wanted to ask or hear.

"I had to. My mother, she, well she's not a good person. Years ago she and my grandmother were involved in an organization called The Covenant, they stole things from the C.I.A. or ruined missions basically anything to stay ahead. They were actually pretty powerful but then she was shot and the Rambaldi thing all went to hell. Then I showed up, probably not at the best time." Isabelle could hear the small amount of pain hinted in Mark's voice as he explained.

"So you did it because she ordered you to?" Isabelle asked wondering why he would just give in to orders like that.

"Yeah. You don't know her. She has contacts that'll make your life a living hell. From day one, I was doing things for her, I'm her assistant I do what she tells me because I have to." Mark looked tearful as his confession finally came out.

"And your father?" Isabelle wanted the whole story, she hated how much pain her questions were causing but she wanted the truth, the whole truth, no more lies.

"He wasn't around much when I was little, then suddenly he showed up again. He's actually a pretty decent guy but my mother told him about some new organization she was involved in and he walked away. I don't really know what happened and I haven't talked to him in about a year." Mark said quietly as he stood from his seat.

"I'm sorry." Isabelle said trying to ease the tension that had slowly found it's way into the warehouse.

"Don't be." Mark said sounding honest and sincere.

There was a small sound from a distant place away. It sounded like a bottle was being moved but neither one of the two in the warehouse could be sure. Isabelle quietly rose from her seat and Mark stood in front of her.

Another sound, louder now, was heard. This one sounded like a car was pulling up and people were getting out. They could hear a small sound like people moving.

"Hand me the gun." Mark whispered sounding scared.

"How do I know you're not going to turn around and shoot me?" Isabelle asked not quite believing in Mark's subtle kindness.

"You don't." Mark said shrugging his shoulders...and she handed him the gun.

Mark had some difficulty leveling the gun with his hands still handcuffed together so Isabelle uncuffed him. He raised the gun as they headed for the door. They looked out the small window above one of the metal tablesto see Lauren Reed with about adozen armed men.

"Son of a bitch." Isabelle stated louder than she had intended.

Mark looked at the people standing and wondered how they had managed to find them.

Isabelle turned around and took the gun from Mark's lowered hand. She pointed it at him and backed him against a wall.

"Why is she here?" Isabelle asked in a threatening tone.

"I-I don't kn-know." Mark stammered as the gun was pressed against his neck.

"I wan't the truth." Isabelle yelled at him.

"That is the truth!" Mark shouted back.

"Then how did she find you?" Isabelle asked as she moved the gun from Mark's neck to the side of his head.

"I don't know!" Mark screamed angrily.

"You know I might have really bad aim but I doubt I could miss from here." Isabelle pulled back the hammer and waited, if she had to she would put a bullet in Mark's brain.

"I didn't call her. I wouldn't call her, I don't need her to come rescue me. Even if I did, she wouldn't come for me. The only reason she's here is because she wants to hand you over to her new organization." Mark said desperately.

Isabelle thought over what he said and looked at his eyes. He looked sincere but Isabelle couldn't tell, at least not completely. After what seemed like hours for the both of them, Isabelle lowered the gun.

"Fine." Isabelle said her voice lowering.

Before either one could say another word a smoke bomb crashed through the window and went off inside the warehouse. Isabelle tucked the gun in her jeans and hid behind the wall. Mark however had chosen to form his own plan and pushed over a few of the tables, not hiding behind one of them. He found a broken pipe and ducked behind one of the fallen tables. This one however was surrounded by a few boxes, making Mark almost invisable.

**_Alongside all hearts as they finish with backdrop cities  
Like jagged teeth digging deeper  
Ripping new wounds for former scars  
Stricken with insomnia  
Sickened lungs insist on heavy breathing_**

The enemy entered the building, the guns could be heard being loaded. Isabelle held her breath trying to be as quiet as possible. She quietly thanked her mother for giving her the gun she could use to protect herself.

Mark held the pipe close to him waiting to use it.

**_And the conductor is conducting electrical time signatures  
And I fall into rhythm.  
And my life is a rhythm  
And my feet will improvise;  
(my feet off beat, my feet off beat)  
As I sputter at the knee like a leaking faucet_**

Isabelle looked out from the wall to see every single one of the soldiers quielty searching the warehouse in the clearing smoke. She looked at Mark who signaled something to her. She turned back behind the wall as one of the soldiers looked up and towards her hiding space. So far no commotion had been made but Mark was about to make all that go away. He needed one of the guns they were holding but he wasn't sure if he could get one. Isabelle had the gun now and if she understood what Mark had told her to do, they would get out alive and Mark would get one of the guns to help.

**_You'll be undercover, under covers,  
_****_(Concrete coated gazes in hot pursuit of self-made mazes)  
Sleeping with the enemy  
(Talking circles around each other,)  
This is what we like to call internal espionage  
(Deserting halos to be  
Handcuffed and hogtied with your words)_**

Mark waited until he heard someone step very close to him. He swung the pipe as hard as he could. He heard the pipe strike something, the crack was umistakable, he had hit the leg of one of the soldiers. Mark hit the soldier again, knocking him out. There were several hallways in the warehouse and there was only two soldiers in the room Mark and Isabelle were in. Isabelle came out from her hiding spot and shot at the other soldier who was heading towards Mark. She hit his arm making him drop his gun, she fired again and hit him in the stomach. He fell back bleeding on the floor and Isabelle felt a small amount of guilt for being the cause.

Mark stood from his hiding space holding a new gun that he could use.

"We need to take care of the rest of them." Mark whispered and Isabelle nodded in agreement.

**_On the search for girls  
(Stricken with insomnia)  
With milk-carton father figures  
My veins are pulsing  
(Free-form jazz)  
To peninsula extremities  
My fingertips tap  
Polyrhythms like nervous fragments from a nervous mouth  
And these words set the cadence  
To the crude interpretation of scripts and codes  
Breeding pixels without homes-  
Reside in my mind; Resonate in my eyes_**

Isabelle could hear the crackling of a radio from the soldier she had shot. She grabbed the radio and put it in her pocket. She grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him behind the wall as another soldier ran in.

The soldier checked the shot soldier and then the unconcious soldier. He looked disappointed.

He took out his radio and spoke into it.

"Lewis is dead and Reynolds is unconcious. We need to find those kids." The soldier said and the message echoed in the room.

"Turn it off." Mark whispered harshly when he realized Isabelle had the radio.

The soldier took his gun and opened fire at the wall. The two hit the ground and waited for the gunfire to cease. After the gun shots stopped Mark grabbed the stolen gun and opened fire on the enemy. The soldier wasn't prepared and fell to the ground.

**_You'll be undercover, under covers,  
_****_(Concrete coated gazes in hot pursuit of self-made mazes)  
Sleeping with the enemy  
(Talking circles around each other,)  
This is what we like to call internal espionage  
(Deserting halos to be  
Handcuffed and hogtied with your words)_**

Isabelle looked at the two dead bodies and let out a small amount of breath. Sure they were going to kill the two of them first, but Isabelle still couldn't get over the fact that they were responsible for the deaths.

Mark took ammo off of the soldiers and took the other radio.

They ran down the empty hallway where they could choose to run either way. Lights from two flashlights were shining down one hallway and in the other there was only one light. Mark motioned for Isabelle to go down the hallway with only one light while he would go down the other hallway.

They took off in opposite directions and tried to stay as quiet as possible.

**_So affect this love affliction.  
Leave the injured overturned;  
Fight for breath with flailing arms,  
In vain, to float the bane._**

Isabelle saw the light from the flashlight edging closer to where she stood, she waited for it to get close enough before she jumped out from her hiding place and fired.

She heard the body drop and stopped shooting. She could hear more gunfire from a seperate hallway where Mark had taken care of the other two soldiers.

**_Tentative tastes for those less interesting  
Leave the injured overturned.  
Fight for breath with flailing arms,  
In vain, to float the bane._**

Isabelle walked down the hallway carefully stepping over the dead soldier's body. She continued to walk before she heard someone running in the hallway. She took her gun and fired, the soldier didn't expect her to be there and had fallen almost instantly.

Mark raced down the hallway and took care of three soldiers. He felt out of breath and sat down in the hallway. If any soldier were to come down the hallway he could still take care of them.

Isabelle walked quietly down the hallway before she tripped over two bodies on the floor.

She looked down to see the last twosoldiers' dead bodied. She noticed they had been shot multiple times so she picked up the radio and spoke into it.

"Mark, did you take care of the last twosoldiers?" Isabelle asked anxiously.

"No." Mark answered breathlessly.

"I think we have a problem." Isabelle stated worriedly.

**_You'll be undercover, under covers,  
_****_(Concrete coated gazes in hot pursuit of self-made mazes)  
Sleeping with the enemy  
(Talking circles around each other,)  
This is what we like to call internal espionage  
(Deserting halos to be  
Handcuffed and hogtied with your words)_**

"Isabelle what happened?" Mark asked the radio cracking.

"I didn't kill him." Isabelle whispered quietly causing Mark to have to put his ear to the radio to hear her.

"Then who did?" Mark asked.

"That would be me." Lauren said putting a gun to Isabelle's head. Isabelle dropped the handgun and put her hands up.

* * *

I'm sorry that chapter took so long to finish writing. I was having problems with fanfiction and finally it was working now. So anyway I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave me some reviews. 

**The Rival Cycle - The Receiving End of Sirens - Between the Heart and the Synapse**


	12. Running Out of Time

_Thanks for the reviews. I think it's awesome that you all like this story so much. Once again the disclaimer is on chapter one and I apologize for taking a while with this chapter._

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_-Chapter 12-_**

**Running Out Of Time**

Isabelle turned around to look at Lauren. The gun was aimed directly at Isabelle's head, there was no chance Lauren would miss if she took the shot. Isabelle gently pressed down the button to the radio, unknown to Lauren.

"I could kill you now I hope you know." Lauren said as she waited for Isabelle to give up.

"I know." Isabelle said feeling every fear lift.

"Where's Mark?" Lauren asked pressing the gun to Isabelle's forehead.

"I don't know." Isabelle answered not caring much about the iminent death that was fast approaching.

"Call him." Lauren commanded.

"Why?" Isabelle needed to keep her talking long enough for Mark to show up. He was currently listening to the conversation and walking down the hallway.

"Because I have to take care of him and then we're going for a ride." Lauren boasted about her plans. Mark heard the words 'take care of' and knew she was going to kill him. The sad part was, Mark wasn't even remotely surprised by her plans.

"You would kill your son?" Isabelle asked horrified that any mother would do that.

"Yes." There was no hesitation, she answered almost instantly and without feeling.

"You're disgusting." Isabelle sneered.

"Call him." Lauren ordered.

"Get the gun out of my face and I will." Isabelle said noticing a slight movement behind Lauren.

Lauren lowered the gun only to be knocked unconcious by Mark. Isabelle let out a large amount of breath and dropped the radio next to Lauren.

"Let's go." Mark told Isabelle and they left the building.

"Leave her alone." Sydney said defiantly to Sloane, who sat still with the same smile on his face.

"Sydney, I'll get what I want eventually, whether it's easy or hard, that's your choice." Sloane said as he left the safe house.

Sloane walked outside to the other agents who were now in his command.

"Kill them. You two, locate Isabelle." Sloane ordered and the agents complied.

The two agents Sloane had referred to left in a car while the rest loaded their guns and began to open fire upon the house.

Rather than stay and fight Vaughn and Sydney ran through the same tunnel Isabelle and Mark had left through only about an hour before. The firing squad continued outside unaware their targets had escaped. When Sloane indicated they should stop, he sent in about a dozen agents to collect the corpses, only there were no bodies to take.

"Damnit." Sloane swore as he went back into his car and ordered the driver to take him back to his office.

Isabelle and Mark walked in silence for about a mile until Isabelle finally shattered it.

"You hit you're mother over the head with a gun." Isabelle stated still seeming like she didn't believe that Mark had actually knocked his own mother unconcious.

"Yeah." Mark said monotonously.

"Listen, you can stop this, just come back with me and my mom. I'm sure if you explain the situation she won't put you in jail or anything." Isabelle tried to help.

"Sure and then we can go eat candy and forget about all this." Mark sarcastically told her.

"Look I was just trying to help alright?" Isabelle said frustrated with Mark.

"Sorry." Mark mumbled under his breath.

A car sped up towards the two of them and stopped causing a cloud of dust to surround the car.

"I think it's time to run now." Isabelle said sounding worried.

"Yeah, let's go." Mark said pushing her forward.

"Get them." One agent said loudly to the other.

**_The lights go down, outside  
Before our cars collide  
And so we silhouette ourselves  
For these shades of fire_**

Isabelle felt someone grab her and pull her to the ground. She struggled under their grip but was soon bound with rope and her mouth was covered by a piece of cloth that was tied around to make a gag. She continued to struggle as her feet were bound and she was being carried to the car.

Mark shouted incoherently from his gag and was pulled with a heavy amount of force towards the car. He kicked out and struggle but it was no use, he was trapped.

**_Do you know where this is leading?  
I will meet you there  
On the other side of the crash  
On the other side of the glass_**

They were shoved into the trunk of the car.

"Looks like we've got ourselvesquite a catch." One agent said in a thick southern drawl.

Isabelle tried to squirm out of the trunk but it was slammed shut and she was trapped with Mark in the back of an enemy's car.

**_All our friends are falling out  
Can't look us in the eye  
We're there to hear that broken sound  
Happens when we're_**

They were shoulder to shoulder in the trunk. The space inside occupied by the two kidnapped victims. Isabelle couldn't help but wonder 'what would happen to them now?'

Little did she know, Mark was thinking the exact same thing.

Isabelle continued to struggle for a few more minutes as the car began moving. She gave up her attempts at escaping once the car hit a bump in the road and she smacked her head on the top of the trunk.

**_All alone inside  
In the middle of the night  
I hear your voice I feel the shake  
Every time I say it_**

Mark sat still thinking about what he was going to do. He needed to find a good escape route, but the only problem was he didn't know the escape route. The only way he would find a way out was after the kidnappers had taken the kidnapped into whatever new liar they would be held, by then it would be too late to escape.

Sydney and Vaughn entered the wharehouse to find the placeempty except for the occasional dead body.

"What happened?" Sydney asked worried Isabelle had disappeared again.

"I don't know." Vaughn turned over another dead agent.

They walked down the hallway and came across the unconcious Lauren Reed. They tied her to a chair and began their line of questioning when she came to.

"Where's Isabelle?" Vaughn asked wanting answers now.

"Mark, that bastard." Lauren said out loud as she felt a rush of pain swim through her head.

"Where's Isabelle?" Vaughn repeated getting frustrated.

"I don't know. Probably with that no good son of mine." Lauren said with a smirk.

"She's just a pawn, she wouldn't know what was happening unless she was responsible. We know she's not Vaughn because she could never come up with this plan." Sydney said bitterly trying to anger Lauren and get answers out of her that way.

Lauren looked angry but she really had no idea where Isabelle was and sooner or later Vaughn and Sydney would figure that out. Although it looked like it would be sooner because as soon as Sydney said her biting words, her phone rang.

"Hello." Sydney answered trying to sound as normal as possible under the given circumstances.

"Sydney, I'd like you to know that it turns out it didn't take that much effort to retrieve you're daughter. I guess the realchallenge is, how are you going to find her?" Sloane said with a small laugh as he hung up the disposable cell phone he was using.

Sydney hung up the phone in a shock, she looked over at Vaughn who seemed confused at her expression.

"What happened?" Vaughn asked but Sydney couldn't bring herself to answer.

**_Car crash came and car crash went  
So I went along with it  
Girl, you're love's not coming back  
You'll never be the same_**

**_Don't look away  
I need to know  
If this is real_**

The car continued its journey down the road and soon enough it stopped. Isabelle could hear noises around her that sounded like planes, but she couldn't be sure.

Before she could really think about what the noises were the trunk door opened and a blinding light shone through. Isabelle couldn't see or even allow her eyes to adjust before a bag was shoved over her head. She could feel Mark get pulled out of the car before she was pulled out. Another sound, this one louder, she was approaching whatever the noise was.

Isabelle struggled under the grasp of her captor and felt herself be placed down on something that felt like a soft chair. Her hands were unbound and then retied to the arms of the chair, the same thing was done with her feet.

She heard Mark struggling as he was placed down in a seperate seat that seemed far from Isabelle. The bag was pulled from her head and she realized she was in fact inside a plane, a private plane to be exact.

**_In the hospital ward sleeps through the surgery  
Hiding needles in the drawers for emergency  
While outside they wait in the pouring rain  
On the other side of the glass…_**

Isabelle watched as the bag was pulled from Mark's head and he looked around until his eyes rested on Isabelle. She smiled or at least tried to, only to comfort him in the terrifying situation.

Isabelle looked out at the plane window, at least as much as she could see, and watched as the ground faded away. There was no escape route here, they were in fact completely stranded.

A door inside the plane opened and an old man walked through it. He traveled down the isle with an agent standing next to him.

"Put him in the back." The old man ordered and the agent knocked Mark out and took him to a different section of the plane.

**_Don't look away  
I need to know  
If this is real _**

Don't look away  
I need to know  
When will this end?

The old man sat in a chair directly across from Isabelle and smiled at her. She wondered how any kidnapper would just smile at the person they had stolen, that wasn't the way things worked.

"Let's get this gag off of you." The old man nodded towards an unseen agent would pulled off the fabric gag.

"Where's Mark?" Isabelle asked wanting to make sure he was alright.

"He's alright Isabelle, there's no need to worry about him." The old man said with a smile.

"How do you know my name?" Isabelle asked looked at theold manwith wide eyes and pale skin.

**_The IV drips the days drag on  
Adjust the light switch in the hall  
Maybe the x-ray screen keeps it from getting dark  
The bulb burns out when it gets too hot_**

"I know lots of things.I know you're mother, I know you're father, therefore I know you. My name is Mr. Arvin Sloane but you can just call me Mr. Sloane. Let's try and keep things formal." Sloane introduce himself.

"Why did you kidnap me?" Isabelle asked cutting to the chase.

"Kidnap is such a strong word. I'm simple borrowing you for a little while. Your parents wont mind, much." Sloane said proudly.

"Why am I here?" Isabelle asked hoping this person couldn't turn around her words.

"You ask a lot of questions. You're here because you're important and that's all you need to know." Sloane told Isabelle sounding very cryptic.

**_Keep crashing this car, over and over  
Till it spins out of control  
So hold me closer, I might disappear_**

"Did you want to ask me something?" Isabelle asked noticing the old man named Sloane wasn't leaving anytime soon.

"Actually, yes I did. Do you know anything about what you're mother does for a living?" Sloane asked keeping his intentions for their conversation well hidden.

"She's an agent for the government and that's all I was told, not by her just to be clear." Isabelle stated flatly still holding a small grudge and letting it show.

"That's it, you don't know about any of the missions she was ever on?" Sloane asked hoping he could get a clearer answer from Isabelle.

"Not really. Well I did hear about this one she went on with this guy named Sark where he was a prisoner but was kidnapped by some person named Anna Espinosa. Other than that I don't know anything about what she actually does." Isabelle explained.

"That's good because I can tell you all about what your mother does." Sloane said already putting his plan into action.

**_This time, out of control  
Like currents in the water we cannot go off the shore  
We lost control_**

Mark found himself stuck in a room with about a million boxes. He wasn't being watched so he managed to get the ropes binding his feet off. He managed to get his hands undone and finally removed the gag. He stood in the spacious storage area and walked around, looking at the boxes. He tripped and fell forwards into a stack of documents that spilled over the floor. He tried to pick them up but stopped when he saw a sheet of paper with writing on it. He read the words over and over again with wide eyes, he definitely needed to tell Isabelle about this.

* * *

Sorry to leave you hanging for a while and sorry for leaving a cliff hanger here but how else would I keep you all guessing. Anyway I hope you liked this chapter and please leave a review. 

**The Other Side of the Crash/Over and Out of (Control) - Thursday - A City By the Light Divided**


	13. Comfortably Numb

_Well here I am again. Now I'm sure we all know where the disclaimer is. _

_And the adventure continues..._

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 13_**

**Comfortably Numb**

Mark read the plan over and over again. Sloane was going to use Isabelle to do his work. There were other papers lying around, ones that made references to the former agency called SD-6. Was Sloane actually repeating everything? Using Isabelle, just like he had used Sydney. Mark knew the story, his mother had told him the tale. She knew it due to the fact she had worked with Sydney for a little while and had read her file, while she decieved the C.I.A.

Isabelle sat quitely in the chair she was forced to sit in. She looked out the plane window to see the passing clouds. She hoped her mother would show up soon.

"You're mother worked for me you know?" Sloane asked Isabelle breaking her daze.

"I didn't know that." Isabelle stated quietly still making her wish.

"That was before she turned." Sloane told Isabelle waiting for the right reaction.

"What?" Isabelle asked, her wish now gone.

"You're mother, Sydney, she used to work with me in several organizations. You see they were covert ops for the C.I.A. but she didn't want to belive me so her and you're grandfather, Jack, began to work against me. Eventually my organizations fell and well, the rest is pretty much history." Sloane explained, leaving out a few select details.

"Those organizations were bad. My mother wouldn't go against anything good." Isabelle defended her parent.

"I was doing something important. Everything I've done has lead up to this endgame and you can either help me or I'll kill them all." Sloane threatened, realizing she wouldn't fall for his usual tricks so easily.

"That's all you've got to threaten me with. You'll kill them? I don't even know who you're talking about." Isabelle tried to cover the worried feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"I'll start with Mark, then I'll move to you're grandfather, then you're grandmother. Until I get to you're mother and then finally you're father. And I'll make you sit through each and every one so they'll know that you betrayed them." Sloane told Isabelle in a malicious voice. Isabelle's eyes held anger and hate, but they also held a worry that knew he would do as he said. She turned to look at the inside of the plane and away from Mr. Sloane.

"Fine. I'll help you." Isabelle monotonously complied, apologizing in her mindto each and every person Sloane had threatened. Especially her mother, she wasn't sure she would ever be forgiven. Isabelle thought about Mark and how much he had helped her through everything, she couldn't believe she was about to help a villain.

Sydney, Vaughn, Rachel, Tom, and Jack walked into APO each one heading off into a different direction to find information on Isabelle. Sydney and Vaughn went together to go talk to Marshall.

"Sydney, you're back." Marshall said excitedly.

"Mr. Vaughn, I knew you weren't dead." Marshall gave Vaughn a hug before sitting back in his chair. Vaughn and Sydney shared a smile at Marshall's actions, somehow he always made them laugh.

"Marshall, Sloane's taken Isabelle." Sydney said feeling emptiness when she told him.

"Now Sloane's involved...as if things couldn't get anymore complicated." Marshall said absentmindedly to the room.

"We're not sure where he's taken her but she disappeared from the C.I.A. wharehouse in Rome, well at least somewhere on the road to the wharehouse. I also think that there might be another person with her, his name is Mark and he's about seventeen so just watch out for him. I need to know where they might have taken her, please Marshall find her." Sydney pleaded with her friend.

Marshall nodded and began to type up things in the computer.

"She disappeared outside of Rome?" Marshall confirmed.

"Thank you." Sydney said before she walked out of the room and sat at her desk, she didn't have any reason to sit there but rather she needed a break. Vaughn followed Sydney and stood next to her. He laid his hand in hers and that small gesture comforted Sydney a hell of a lot.

"Untie her, she's not going anywhere." Sloane told the soldier, who took out a knife and broke the ropes. He didn't seem to have any care about what he was doing, he probably would have acted the same way if he was cutting open boxes. Isabelle rubbed her wrists where she had slowly been getting rope burn. There were red marks from the rope but they would soon fade.

Isabelle could have done her best to run and hide throughout the plane, but she didn't want to risk her family's and Mark's lives. Besides, what was she going to do on a plane.

"Follow me, we have a lot of work to get done." Sloane said before they walked to another part of the private jet.

Isabelle held her head down and followed Sloane into the other room.

Mark shuffled around the storage room. He couldn't find a way out, not that it mattered much, he wasn't getting out of the plane until it landed anyway. He tried to open some of the wooden crates thinking there might be some weapons or form of communication in them. After he managed to open one crate he found what he was looking for, a cell phone. He had seen the number Isabelle had dialed before in the coffee house. He had a photographic memory and recalled the numbers. The first try he messed up the two middle numbers but soon enough got the right combination.

The phone rang on the other line and a woman's voice answered.

"Miss Bristow?" Mark asked before he got a confirmed yes.

"My name is Mark Reed, I'm on a plane somewhere and I need you to trace this call." Mark said his message quickly but Sydney understood.

Sydney rushed into Marshall's office and told him to begin the trace. Marshall complied and typed rapidly on his computer, the trace began.

"It'll take a minute, you need to stay on the line." Marshall told Sydney quietly.

"Mark this'll take a minute just keep talking." Sydney told him.

"Is Isabelle alright?" Sydney asked trying to get as many answers as she could.

"I'm not sure. They came out of nowhere, we tried to get away but they were too fast. They tied us up, put bags over our heads, and shoved us into the back of a trunk of some car. Then we were on a plane, Sloane's plane." Mark explained to Sydney.

"Done!" Marshall exclaimed.

"Where are they?" Vaughn asked as he had followed Sydney.

"Over the Atlantic Ocean, it looks like they're headed towards the U.S. but I'm not sure where." Marshall said after he had locked on to the phone signal.

"Can we follow the plane?" Vaughn asked hoping they could.

"Yeah. Marshall typed a few more things before a dot appeared on a map. When the plane moved the dot shifted slightly, the trace was on.

"Mark, listen we can see the plane now. When it lands we'll be sure to get you two back." Sydney told Mark.

"Thanks." Mark said before he hung up the phone.

Sydney hung up her own phone and looked at the blinking dot.

"We've got you now." Sydney said angrily at the computer screen.

"There's an artifact I would like to contain. This artifact is located in a bank just outside of Las Vegas. My team will create a diversion and take down any security measures." Sloane directed while an image of the bank was passed around. Isabelle looked at the picture of the bank, she wondered how she would pull off anything they wanted her to do.

"Isabelle you will crawl through the air ducts and into the main safe room. There you will use this decoder and the safe will open. You will have a minute to grab the artifact before the fail safe is activated. The artifact is located behind a piece of the wall where money will be covering it." Sloane told Isabelle who looked terrified that she might be trapped in a safe.

"So all I have to do is find the wall before the safe closes on me, great." Isabelle said sarcastically.

"Lucky for you it's a wooden piece of wall whereas the rest is solid metal. All you need to do is knock off all the money and you should see the square. It'll open like a door and the artifact will be inside, it will be wrapped in paper so put it in this bag and hurry out of the safe." Sloane said to Isabelle in a friendly voice that seemed out of place for the situation.

The plane will land in the airport in Las Vegas then we will be provided transportation to the bank. Here you are Isabelle." Isabelle took the messenger bag and the decoder that looked like a calculator. She shoved the decoder into the bag and waited for further direction before she realized she had no idea how to use the decoder.

"How exactly do I use this?" Isabelle held up the decoder after she had pulled it from the bag.

"Just press the red button after you stick it to the code box." One of the agents explained to Isabelle.

"Thanks." Isabelle said before she shoved the decoder back into the bag.

"The plane should land in about an hour, take that time to prepare yourselves." Sloane said to the group.

"Isabelle." Sloane stated her name indicating she was to follow him. She grabbed her things and followed Sloane to his small office at the back of the plane, right before the storage room.

"Don't think about running." Sloane ordered.

"I wasn't...I won't run away." Isabelle said determined to follow through with the plan. She wasn't about to ruin other people's lives because she didn't want to steal from anyone.

"Good." Sloane gave her a hint of admiration.

"You look just like you're mother." Sloane acknowledged, Isabelle felt sick.

"Stay in here until the plane lands." Sloane ordered before he left Isabelle alone with her thoughts.

Sooner than Isabelle would have liked, the plane landed in Las Vegas. She was taken hold of and pulled into a car where she would be riding with Sloane. A van followed the car, this van held the agents, Mark had been left in the storage area of the plane.

"Sydney the plane's landed." Marshall told her.

"Where?" Sydney asked from her desk.

"Las Vegas."

The C.I.A. raid was useless. Sloane and his group including Isabelle had left a little while ago. Agents surrounded the plane and pulled Mark from the storage area. Sydney and Vaughn went with the agents, they hoped Mark had some information.

"Where did they go?" Vaughn questioned Mark.

"I'm not sure. I heard an agent say something about a bank outside of here." Mark shouted over the sounds of agents emptying boxes and boxes of things from the plane.

Mark had been standing behind the door to the storage area when two agents had passed by. They were supposed to be guarding Mark but there was really no point. The first agent had said something about heading for the bank soon and then the second agent said Vegas would never be the same, naturally Mark put two and two together.

**_With eyes closed tightly  
I march so blindly  
Pretending everything's fine  
'Cause you're there to keep me in line_**

"We need to go." Vaughn told Sydney as they ran towards a car that would take them to the bank. Vaughn called Marshall and told him to find the right bank. Marshall returned the call a few minutes later and gave them the right address, he also said to hurry.

Isabelle waited outside the bank as two agents went inside. There was loud shooting heard from inside, a few more agents ran in to take care of the security measures. A voice came over her com and told her it was safe to enter.

She walked into the bank wearing a new outfit, this one all black. She looked just like them, an agent, she became another person with the mission. She couldn't handle everything and was fastly headed for a breakdown, but who wouldn't be?

**_I don't want your guidance  
I'll break my silence  
So sick of asking and being denied  
And now I realize _**

"Find the artifact." An agent told Isabelle, who soon took off in the direction of the safe. She broke open the air vent and climbed inside.

Sydney and Vaughn drove up to the bank quietly. They noticed the van but didn't see another car. They loaded their weapons and headed into the bank, taking down several agents with no problem.

"You go this way." Vaughn told Sydney running off in a different direction.

**_We're holding the key  
To unlock our destiny  
We were born to lead  
We're finally free  
No longer following  
We were born to lead  
We were born to lead_**

Sydney ran through the bank finally stumbling upon the open air duct. She followed suit, knowing full well that Isabelle would be the one on the other side. She wasn't sure why Isabelle would be in an air vent but she thought maybe Isabelle had gotten away.

Isabelle shuffled around in the vent seeing a mouse pass by every so often, each time however she would completely freak out but she would have a silent freak out.

"Sure, I'll help you. Stupid." Isabelle told herself quietly.

"Then again..." Isabelle said as she thought about the iminent threat.

Isabelle reached the spot she was told about and kicked open the air vent. She was pretty high up but it was no higher than being on top of the jungle gym and jumping off. She let go of the edge and landed on the ground with a thud. She took a moment to catch her breath before she stood and looked at the safe door.

"Oh my God." Isabelle said as she looked at the huge safe door. She found the code box and placed the calculator like decoder onto the box. She pressed down the button and waited for the safe to open. In a matter of seconds, the sound met Isabelle's ears and the safe door opened.

**_You can't ignore me (you can't ignore me)  
You can't think for me (you can't think for me)  
Your world will come crashing down to the ground  
'Cause I figured you out_**

She ran inside and knocked all the money off of the shelves. Her eyes scanned the room before she found the one small wooden piece of wall. She slid it open and reached inside, pulling out a small wrapped package that held something inside. She stuffed the artifact into the bag and ran out of the safe just before it closed.

She let out a large breath after the safe had closed. She rested for a second before she unlocked the metal door to the room and opened it. She walked out of the sealed room and casually made her way to the rooftop.

"I'm done, take the van and get out." Isabelle ordered.

"Good job Sparrow, head to the rooftop for extraction." An agents voice spoke over the com.

Isabelle let out a small laugh at her codename. She couldn't get over the fact that she had actually been given a name like an agent.

Sydney noticed the empty room and the sealed safe. She headed through the open door and saw Isabelle walking down the hall, she looked like she was laughing. 'She might be happy she got away or she's laughing because she outsmarted them.' Sydney thought to herself, trying to ignore the fact that Isabelle might have been compromised.

"Isabelle." Sydney called down the hall, watching for agents.

Isabelle turned around to see her mother standing outside the room she herself had just exited. She felt a pain in her heart for having to do what she was about to.

"I'm sorry." Isabelle apologized quietly before running towards the stairs.

**_We're holding the key  
To unlock our destiny  
We were born to lead  
We're finally free  
No longer following  
We were born to lead  
We were born to lead_**

Sydney raced after Isabelle trying to catch up but Isabelle was too far ahead. Isabelle reached the door to the stairs and slammed it open with a loud bang. She started up the stairs knowing her mother was in hot pursuit.

"Give it up." Isabelle said loudly down the stairs as she heard her mother enter the staircase.

**_We were born to lead_**

"Why should I?" Sydney shouted up at her daughter.

"Because you can't win." Isabelle stopped for a second but began to head up the stairs again.

Fourteenth floor, fifteenth floor, they had a few to go before they reached the roof. Isabelle could feel her legs begin aching as she ran up the stairs. Sydney wasn't in good shape either but she wouldn't stop, not until she reached Isabelle.

"Isabelle, you need to stop." Sydney told her daughter, trying to find the source of the sudden betrayal.

"I can't!" Isabelle shouted, her vent up anger showing.

**_I used to think I'm all alone  
But now I see our numbers grow  
I'm not afraid to break away  
Think on my own_**

The two finally reached the floor before the roof. Isabelle pushed open the door and ran outside, seeing the helicopter coming to the roof to get her. Sydney emerged a few seconds after Isabelle noticing Isabelle waiting for the helicopter.

"Isabelle why are you doing this?" Sydney shouted over the helicopter.

"I told you, because I have to." Isabelle yelled back.

"What did you take?" Sydney questioned.

"I can't tell you." Isabelle angrily shouted.

_**With eyes wide open  
My new life begins  
Without you there to tell me when  
We're in hell when you can't stop me now**_

"Don't do it." Sydney pleaded as the helicopter landed.

"I have to, I'm sorry." Isabelle ran towards the helicopter with Sydney in tow. Isabelle jumped inside handing the bag to Sloane. Sydney watched the exchange and watched helplessly as the helicopter left, taking Isabelle with it.

Isabelle watched her mother and couldn't bring herself to look anymore so she looked at the inside of the helicopter.

**_We're holding the key  
To unlock our destiny  
We were born to lead  
We're finally free  
No longer following  
We were born to lead  
We were born to lead_**

"Good job." Sloane told Isabelle but she didn't care. She had already destroyed her family, there was nothing left. She couldn't let them die though, so she had to continue with her new life. It sucked but she had to do it, otherwise everyone would die.

"Thanks." Isabelle said without feeling.

The helicopter landed at a base in the desert of Nevada. Isabelle was shown to a room in the base, she sat on the bed helplessly. Before long she fell asleep, her only escape.

**_We're holding the key  
To unlock our destiny  
We were born to lead  
We're finally free  
No longer following  
We were born to lead_**

Sydney met up with Vaughn in the bank. As they walked back to the car, she explained the situation.

"What are we going to do?" Vaughn asked hoping Sydney had a plan.

"I'm going to ground her and then I'm going to kill Sloane." Sydney said, her instincts finally showing through.

* * *

_That would be the next chapter, tell me what you think? I hope it was long enough to suffice for the two week time off I took. Thank you to the readers who are hanging on every moment. I want to do the show justice and there is only so many things I can do on paper that they can make better on the show, you know?_

**_Born to Lead - Hoobastank - Every Man For Himself_**


	14. Letter to the Outside

_That last chapter was a doozy wasn't it. Isabelle turned? Well we all know it's because she had to but what will happen now? Read to find out. You should know where the disclaimer is by now..._

_Here we go again!_

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_-Chapter 14-_**

**Letter to the Outside**

The military base was a grim and orderly place. It's dank hallways always made Isabelle sick as she walked down them. For a week she had lived in the base, the entire time being accompanied by at least one or more guards.Isabelle couldn't walk two inches before a guard was following her, the guards were in vain as Isabelle would always put her family first and wasn't planning on going anywhere. She guessed that until Sloane actually trusted her, she would have to put up with the security measures. In the week she had been M.I.A. she had stolen from a bank, a museum, and finally a wharehouse that had the C.I.A. written all over it. She was slowly growing accustomed to the routine of being filled in on the op and flying solo when needed. She even knew the soldiers by name now,they still treated her like scum but she could think about how much Roberts had pissed her off rather than think about how the agent with the brown hair had made her mad.

She had her own room in the base, it wasn't as nice as her own room at home but she could get used to the new one here. The cot for a bed was in the corner, it was nothing special, just something to sleep on. There were no bright colors or posters to adorn the walls but she could live. There was a lap top computer on a wooden desk against the wall, Isabelle wouldn't dare send a message from that computer as the guards were probably monitoring the computer in case she tried anything. The floor was a cold, grey, cement and the walls weren't much better. The room itself was cold but Isabelle didn't mind much. There was a small rug in the middle of the floor but it smelled musty and looked as if it hadn't been washed in weeks. There was a bookshelf near the door and several dusty classics were on the shelves. Each day she had been in the room a new book seemed to find it's way onto the shelves and if the trend continued, the bookshelf would soon be full. Isabelle felt much like a prisoner in her new surroundings but when Sloane eased up and trusted her, she would probably end up in a better room or at least a warmer one.

Isabelle stepped inside the old room and sat quietly on the bed. She scanned over therow of books reading each title outl oud toherself. _The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Catcher in the Rye, The Call of the Wild, Lord of theFlies, 1984, To Kill A Mockingbird, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Shining, Oliver Twist, Treasure Island, _before her eyes finally rested on the new book that had been placed there when she was gone, _The Red Badge of Courage_. Isabelle picked up the same book she had been reading for the past two days and sat back down on her bed.She rarely had anything to occupy her time with and since she wasn't needed, she relaxed as best as she could and the only way to do that was to read. She hadn't slept in days, she couldn't sleep,and she was slowly beginning to see shadows against the wall, things that weren't there. The first two days she thought she was fine, sure she had never had a good nights sleep in her life but she managed to get at least a few hours in, enough to still feel tired but not go crazy. On the third day however, Isabelle saw the first sign she wasn't alright.

She had been sitting in the room reading _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer _and listening intently to the peacuful silence around her. Her eyes were red and bloodshot from spending her nights reading and doing nothing else. In a matter of minutes she heard the faint whisper of her mother's voice. It said something about being ashamed but as quickly as it had come, the voice disappeared. Isabelle shrugged it off as nothing and continued to convince herself that she was fine. The next day she went on another mission and fell back into her room aching from the day's events. She reached for the same book as the night before and again heard the whisper but this time she saw her mother. The ghost disappeared quickly enough but Isabelle couldn't shake the feeling the encounter had stirred. She felt guilty that was a given but she felt even worse that she couldn't tell her mother why, she couldn't even confess to the ghost of someone who wasn't really there.

The day after that her mother didn't return, this time she heard her father's whisper. He seemed more understanding of her actions or at least his voice did but Isabelle couldn't be sure if he was actually that kind. This was after all her mind's image of him after she had met him and talked to him twice. She had been asked if she was alright by countless guards and even Sloane himself but Isabelle kept denying the fact she was going crazy, even though she knew she was and believed it.

Isabelle didn't reach for a book this time, she just sat and waited. She waited for the voices to show up or for sleep to finally claim her. She tried to lay down and fall asleep but she couldn't, she was frustrated and on the verge of breaking down but she couldn't allow whatever was happening to consume her. She needed to stay strong for her family and Mark, to keep them alive.

When she couldn't take the silence anymore, she rose from the bed and searched around the room as if expecting to find something.

"Where are you?" Isabelle hoarsely whispered, her voice full of an exhausted determination.

She got angrier and more frustrated with each passing second. Her voice was red from screaming the question she wanted answered at the given moment in time.

"Where are you!" Isabelle shouted at the top of her lungs, but her screaming was no use, she was alone.

She sat back down on the bed and began to cry, she could feel her regrets lifting as she cried them out. She hated everything that had happened, she couldn't take the constant pressure. She just couldn't handle it, after all she was only one person scratch that, she was only one teenager against a very powerful person with an underground empire. She fell back on the bed and shut her bloodshot and red eyes, but still she couldn't sleep.

"Where are you?" Isabelle whispered looking at the empty wall.

Sydney looked at the clock on the bedside table, 1:28 a.m., she sighed and rose from the bed. She felt lost and broken, her only daughter had helped her enemy and couldn't even explain why. Sydney hadn't been sleeping very well, she only got a few hours a night, she felt very much the same as she had when she worked for SD-6 and the C.I.A.

She walked into the kitchen and shuffled through papers that littered the counter. She looked over at the couch to see Vaughn asleep over another stack of papers. She smiled to herself in spite of the current situation, it was just like old times.

Sydney's phone rang breaking the silence, she looked at the number on the caller ID and answered.

"Hey dad." Sydney said over the phone hoping for news on Isabelle's wherabouts.

"Sydney, Isabelle was last seen at a C.I.A. wharehouse security cameras show her breaking into a safe and taking a small coin or something out of it." Jack told Sydney over the phone while he watched the tape.

"Where was the wharehouse?" Sydney asked looking at a map with red dots on it.

"Mexico City." Jack answered as Sydney placed another red dot on the map right above Mexico City.

"They're following a pattern. The next place they hit should be somewhere in Monte Carlo." Sydney explained.

"Is there anything significant in Monte Carlo that Sloane would wan't?" Sydney asked looking at the map.

"I think I know what he wants." Jack said sullenly over the phone, realization hinted in his voice.

Isabelle heard a loud knock at her door. She rose silently from the bed and opened the door to allow the person entrance.

"Isabelle, we're off to Monte Carlo." Sloane said excitedly and Isabelle nodded in compliance. She tied her hair up in a ponytail and pulled a sweatshirt over her jeans and t-shirt. She sighed as she slipped on her shoes and walked out of the room following Sloane.

"It's a long plane ride, you might want to bring something to read." Sloane told Isabelle and she walked back into her room, grabbing the first book she saw.

Sydney, Vaughn, Tom, Rachel, Dixon, Marshall, and Jack waited in the debriefing room. Jack stood and pulled something on the screens that adorned the back wall.

"You're breaking into a casino, Sloane wants a gold chain necklace with a code imprinted in it. The coin Isabelle stole last week is the third part of the code, the chain is the last part. You need to get the chain before Isabelle or Sloane gets to it. Marshall will give you the op-tech." Jack finished his explanation and Marshall stood to show the tech they woud be using.

"This right here, it looks like an mp3 player but in fact." He pressed the play button on the mp3 player and a pocket knife came out of it.

"You could use it if you get into a bad spot you know, you know just..." Marshall made a stabbing motion and then realized no one was amused. He coughed and moved on to the next item.

Isabelle quietly sat away from everyone on the plane, she knew Mark was safe for now. She had heard about the plane being ransacked and knew they had left Mark in the plane so he was alright. She sighed and looked out the window, they were a few hours away and she was about to rob a casino, her nerves got the best of her, but only for a minute. Her hand shook a little too violently for comfort but she steadied it. She let out a deep breath and continued to glare out the window realizing just how deep she had dug herself in.

"Sydney, when are you leaving?" Mark asked standing in front of Sydney's desk looking anxious and concerned.

"In about an hour why?" Sydney asked looking at the trembling figure in front of her.

"Because I'm going too." Mark informed her letting her know he would be going no matter what.

Mark sat quietly in the back of the plane looking out the window, his eyes were vacant and if anyone on the plane didn't know any better they would have thought he was dead. The plane began to descend causing Mark's heartbeat to begin to spin out of control. He let out a deep breath and waited, this was it.

Isabelle could feel the plane descending and waited quietly before leaving. She needed to focus now, there was no turning back, this was it.

**_I don't know where to go.  
Ain't no light along the road.  
Stumbling under the stars above._**

Isabelle was handed a gun and a few more objects she would use for the robbery. Casinos were nearly impossible to break into or even get around, but she was good and she could do it. She walked into the casino acting like she was heading to the upstairs hotel but before she reached the elevator she clicked the pen she had been given, the cameras went out.

The team arrived shortly after the robbery was already playing out. Sydney and Mark walked carefully through the casino keeping an eye out for Isabelle. Vaughn, Rachel, and Tom were inside the casino keeping a look out while Dixon and Marshall tapped into the security system to help out anyone of the other agents.

**_Somehow feel someone's stare.  
Turn around nobody there.  
Never knowing if I'm all alone,  
'Cause paranoia is the only friend that I know,  
And everybody else is gone.  
Their eyes are burning into my heart.  
Fall and feeling fear. I can't go on.  
And nobody will sound the alarm._**

Isabelle made her way past the elevators and back through the casino avoiding any guards.

"I see her." Mark told Sydney who looked around. Mark indicated the person weaving in and out of slot machines and avoiding anyone, they began to run after her.

Isabelle didn't realize she was being followed not until she heard a shout of her name. She disappeared in a flash and Mark was after her in a moments notice. Sydney followed the two feeling exhausted from the constant running.

Up the stairwell and then the next floor, the chase continued. Mark was determined and wasn't going to give up easily. Isabelle had dropped everything she had been given and had forgotten the original reason she had come to the casino. Right now the mission didn't matter, she just needed to get away.

Mark could feel his heart racing and could hear his ragged breath panting. He couldn't stop though, as much as he was in pain, he couldn't stop.

**_Sit around late at night,  
Sitting by the fireside,  
Planning out to bury me alive.  
And when I'm done they all will laugh about how I died,  
'Cause everybody else is gone.  
Their eyes are burning into my heart.  
We'll fall and feeling fear. I can't go on.  
And nobody will sound the alarm._**

Isabelle saw the service elevator and managed to get inside before the door closed, unfortunately for her so did Mark. Sydney had lost the two long ago and had told Rachel over the coms who was now looking.

"Isabelle, you've got to come back." Mark pleaded his voice hoarse.

"I can't." Isabelle quickly answered panting.

"Why are you helping them?" Mark asked desperately wanting an answer.

"Because they'll kill them!" Isabelle had had enough, she needed to tell the truth to someone and she found it easier to tell Mark than anyone in her family.

"What?" Mark asked as the elevator dinged while it passed another floor.

"He's going to kill my entire family...Sloane." Isabelle said quietly looking at the floor while she explained.

**_In the darkness of my mind,  
I hear a voice that seems to sigh.  
I'm going to die before I save myself._**

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Rachel was standing outside the elevator expecting to see the two.

"Hi." Rachel said with a smile.

"I've got them." Rachel voice came over the coms and Sydney breathed out a sigh of relief.

"I can't go back." Isabelle whispered not following Mark out of the elevator.

**_And everybody else is gone.  
Their eyes are burning into my heart.  
We'll fall and feeling fear. I can't go on.  
And nobody will sound the alarm.  
We'll fall and fearing fear. I can't go on.  
And nobody will sound the alarm._**

"Yes you can. No one blames you for what happened, you had to do it." Rachel explained while Mark walked back into the elevator.

"Come on. I'll be right here." Mark whispered quietly so only Isabelle could hear. She smiled and took his outstretched hand.

"You can explain everything when we get back to APO." Rachel told Isabelle.

"APO?" Isabelle asked looking from Mark to Rachel.

"Authorized Personnel Only." Mark said in a joking voice.

Isabelle laughed.

"Seriously that's what it stands for?" Isabelle asked looking at Mark.

"Yeah." Mark laughed. Isabelle could feel a lighter mood come over her, maybe it was the fact that she was going home or the fact that she was free from Sloane for the time being but whatever it was she was glad it was there.

Isabelle found her mother and was victim to the biggest hug ever given.

"I'm so sorry." Isabelle apologized not able to look anyone in the eye.

"Its alright." Sydney said in a comforting voice looking at her daughter's eyes.

"When was the last time you slept?" Sydney asked sounding concerned.

"I don't really remember." Isabelle lied, she knew how long it had been...7 days, 5 hours, 42 minutes, 22 seconds.

Sloane walked down the wharehouse looking agitated. He walked into his office and pressed a button on the intercom.

"Bring her in." Sloane ordered before his door opened and a woman entered.

Dixon reached for his cell phone as it rang, he answered and got some unfortunate news. He dialed another number and waited for Vaughn to answer.

"We have a problem, Lauren was intercepted by Sloane's agents." Dixon said to Vaughn over the phone.

"What do you want me to do exactly?" Lauren asked Sloane as she looked over a file.

"Well I need you to obtain them." Sloane told Lauren as she smiled.

* * *

_That is to be continued and I hope you liked this chapter. Please leave a review telling me what you think. _

**Sound the Alarm - Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm**


	15. Haunted and Haunting

_Alright this next chapter may not be the best but I'm building up to the climax which promises to be totally excellent. _

_...the story continues..._

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 15_**

**Haunted and Haunting**

Isabelle sat quietly on the C.I.A. plane. Her mother sat next to her but Isabelle didn't really notice. She was so tired she couldn't focus on anything around her. There was a problem though, as much as she tried or wanted to sleep, she couldn't. She let out a small sigh of frustration and shifted her sitting position. She looked out at the darkened sky and then around the plane. Everyone was asleep, that was everyone except for the one person in one of the seats in the front. She quietly stood and maneuvered her way around her mother without waking her up. She walked forward down the aisle and sat down next to the awake person.

"Couldn't sleep?" Vaughn asked his daughter.

"Nope." She replied without any emotion.

"How long since you last slept?" Vaughn asked sounding concerned.

"Over a week." Isabelle laughed despite the circumstances.

There was an awkward silence amongst the two, neither one wanting to tell the truth.

"So you're my dad." It wasn't a question but a statement to herself.

"Sorry I haven't been around kiddo." Vaughn said trying to sound as fatherly as he could.

"That's what grandpa calls me." Isabelle told him.

"Ok, I won't call you that then." Vaughn rebounded.

"That would be great." Isabelle laughed a little.

"I saw you when you were a baby you know? But there was a problem with Prophet Five and everyone thought I was dead. Even your mother didn't know." Vaughn explained his absence.

"What happened?" Isabelle asked wanting to hear the story.

"After Prophet Five found out I was alive the first time they ordered a hit. You, Your mother, and I we were all in hiding but they just kept coming. You were too little to remember this but they blew up an entire apartment building thinking it was the one we were staying in. After the explosion I disappeared, your mother thought I was dead and Prophet Five stopped coming. I don't think she thought I was gone but she went back to work and the rest is history." Vaughn told the story.

"That was why mom was always at work. She was looking for you." Isabelle said quietly.

"Probably." Vaughn confirmed Isabelle's suspicions.

"When Sloane took me they made me take this pill everyday, I didn't want to but they forced it down.Then every morning they would ask me how I was feeling and whether or not I had been sleeping." Isabelle said thinking the no sleep condition was connected to her stay.

"Did you tell them?" Vaughn asked looking at her bloodshot eyes.

"I lied, said I was sleeping fine. Then they upped the dose to twice a day. Then they would do the same routine questioning but they added a new question. Whether or not I was seeing things that weren't there." Isabelle thought over the medicine and the times she had thought she had seen her family.

"Were you?" Vaughn was concerned.

"Yeah. I kept lying but I think they knew because they reduced the dose again and kept writing things down on a chart. When I asked them about the medicine they told me it was for something important." Isabelle looked out the window and saw a bird flying by but it wasn't an ordinary bird it was bright white and suddenly it burst into flames.

She shuddered and put her hands to her head. She shut her eyes and then looked out at the window again, the bird was gone.

"Are you alright?" Vaughn asked noticing her reaction to something she saw.

"Fine." Isabelle whispered keeping her eyes closed and in doing so ending the conversation.

The rest of the flight Isabelle was silent and even when they arrived at APO, she remained quiet and vacant. She dropped herself in a chair near Sydney's desk, she was on lockdown for the next 48 hours starting now.

"Sydney I need to talk to you for a second." Vaughn told Sydney suddenly.

"Sure." Sydney followed Vaughn into the debriefing room.

"I think they did something to Isabelle. She told me they made her take this medicine or something and she hasn't been sleeping. She's seeing things that aren't there Syd, I'm really worried." Vaughn explained Sydney hurriedly.

"I'll have the doctors run some tests." Sydney left the room and walked over to Isabelle trying to confirm what Vaughn said for herself.

"Listen, we have to run a few tests ok?" Sydney told Isabelle in the most delicate voice she could use.

"What kind of tests?" Isabelle looked her mother directly in her eyes showing how bloodshot and worn her own were.

"Blood tests." Sydney answered Isabelle and smiled slightly when she saw her daughter shudder like she always did at the mention of any form of needle.

"Alright." Isabelle complied with a shrug.

"And I think a psych test too." Sydney admitted.

"Why?" Isabelle asked wondering why she would possibly need to go answer questions from a shrink.

"It's just routine." Sydney lied, she was worried so she was making Isabelle go talk to the psychiatrist.

_**I think we have an emergency  
I think we have an emergency**_

Isabelle sat on the couch of the psychiatrist's office. The office was rather large than Isabelle thought it would be, there was a couch lined up against the wall with a chair right across from it. Awards and degrees lined the wallnear a desk where a bookcase was behind.Itwas located in the C.I.A. offices in Los Angeles so naturally Isabelle had to be transported there for her session, with theproper security measures taken of course. The shrink knew all about what had happened as she had read the report and seen Isabelle's medical records from the bloodwork.

The psychiatrist was a new person whom Sydney had only talked to once before. She seemed nice and Sydney figured Isabelle would be alright, so she waited out in the hall while Isabelle sat in the session alone.

**_If you thought I'd breathe then you were wrong  
Because I won't stop holding on  
So are you listening?  
So are you watching me?_**

"Well Isabelle, I bet you're exhausted from all that running around?" Dr. Lewis asked Isabelle holding a clipboard with countless charts and a blank piece of notebook paper waiting to be written on about Isabelle.

"Not really." Isabelle answered quickly looking anywhere but at the shrink.

"Your mother says you haven't slept in over a week, is that right?" The doctor tried again.

"If thats what she said." Isabelle didn't like the interrogation thing, she had been asked question after question by everyone from her grandfather to nearly everyone at APO.

**_If you thought I'd breathe then you were wrong  
Because I won't stop holding on  
This is an emergency  
So are you listening?  
And I can't pretend that I don't see this  
It's really not your fault_**

"Isabelle I understand that you're angry about not being told the truth. I understand that you're probably sick of the question answer thing but if you don't let me help you, you're going to have a breakdown." Dr. Lewis told Isabelle finally seeing the bloodshot eyes she had been told about.

"You have no idea what I feel." Isabelle whispered dangerously.

"Then give me an idea." She struck a nerve.

"Yes, I'm angry...yes, I don't understand why my mother didn't tell me...but I don't care about any of it anymore because the thing that I'm most worried about is the fact that I'm going crazy." Isabelle had stood during her speech and walked over to the window staring absentmindedly out of it while she spoke.

"Why do you think you're going crazy?" The shrink asked writing down something that Isabelle didn't care to ask about.

"Because...I see things that aren't really there. I haven't slept since I was kidnapped...I mean since Sloane took menot the other times.I don't think I'm ever going to sleep again." Isabelle explained.

"Is there something bothering you that's stopping you from sleeping?"

Isabelle thought over this question. What could be bothering her? Was it the fact that maybe she did still hold some anger towards her family for lying to her? Or it might have been something else that she didn't even realize she felt.

**_And no one cares to talk about it  
To talk about it  
Cause' I've seen love die way too many times  
When it deserved to be alive  
I've seen you cry way too many times  
When you deserved to be alive  
Alive..._**

"They made me take this weird pill when I was taken by Sloane. They asked me routine questions and I always gave the same answers...I lied." Isabelle admitted in the room that was slowly becoming more and more constricted.

"Why did you lie?"

"Why do you think?" Isabelle said it airily and without feeling.

"Let's talk about your family." The statement was so plain and simple but for Isabelle it held many unobtainable truths that she couldn't hand out to the world.

A flash went through her mind to when she was in first grade and for a project the class made a poster about their family. The only pictures Isabelle had were ones of her and her mother and her and her grandfather. That was it, and she couldn't even explain what her mother did because she didn't know what Sydney did at the bank, all she knew was that she worked at a bank.

The other kids at things like their father was a lawyer and their mother stayed home with them or they visited their mother every other weekend but lived with their father or for some it was reverse. All Isabelle had was her mother who was gone a lot and an absent childhood.

She had a childhood of course, she played pretend, she had lots of friends but when the day was over all Isabelle had was the quiet peace of her dreams where her parents were happy and she was just like everyone else.

**_So give up every chance you get  
Just to feel new again  
I think we have an emergency  
I think we have an emergency_**

"What do you wan't to know?" Isabelle asked not taking her eyes off the passing cars on the road below the window.

"Do you love your mother?"

"Of course I do." She answered without hesitation and feeling slightly offended that anyone would need to ask her that.

"Even though she lied and worked a lot?"

"Yes, I love her regardless." Isabelle looked at the doctor while she answered before returning to her staring contest with the pavement.

"What about your father?"

"I don't know him well enough to answer honestly." Isabelle replied monotonously.

"I think you do."

"I've only talked to him once and yes, he's a nice person but I'm not sure whether or not I can really call him dad." Isabelle admitted feeling a wave of relief hit her as she stated it.

**_And you do your best to show me love  
But you don't know what love is  
So are you listening?  
So are you watching me?  
Well I can't pretend that I don't see this  
It's really not your fault_**

"Would you like to move on?" The doctor's voice was a faded mumble in Isabelle's brain. She felt herself nod and then heard the next question clearly.

"How do you feel about your friend Mark Reed? I understand he's been living in protective custody but you still talk to him."

It was true, Mark had been moved to protective custody for the time being as he was not charged with any crime but was still threatened by both Sloane and his own mother. Isabelle had made sure Sydney understood that and had in her own way helped Mark get the protection he needed.

"He's a good person. I just think he got caught up in the wrong family." Isabelle said quietly.

"Do you think you got caught up in the wrong family?"

"No...I think I got the right one." Isabelle whispered almost too quietly but the doctor still heard. Isabelle heard the quiet scraping of a pen for a few minutes before the next question was asked.

"You still didn't answer my first question. How do feel about him?" This question struck something deep inside Isabelle. She tried to answer but couldn't, something was stopping her.

**_And no one cares to talk about it  
To talk about it  
Cause' I've seen love die way too many times  
When it deserved to be alive  
I've seen you cry way too many times  
When you deserved to be alive  
Alive..._**

"Isabelle?" The distance of the doctor's voice was growing.

"I'm fine." Isabelle whispered hoarsely not realizing how much pressure she had put on herself.

"He's the only friend I can talk to about anything because he knows my family's secrets." Isabelle answered thinking for another minute.

"I think this was productive." The doctor said writing one more thing down after she looked at the clock.

"I want to talk to you again alright? Tell your mother same time next week." Dr. Lewis told Isabelle with a smile.

"Great." Isabelle said sarcastically before she left and repeated the message to Sydney.

**_The scars they will not fade away_**

Isabelle sat quietly in the same chair she had been occupying her time in for the past day and a half. It was her second night at the office and her father was the one watching her this time. He slept soundly at his desk while Isabelle toyed around on her mother's computer. She walked through firewall after firewall looking at all the projects her mother had been involved in.

There was always a mention of some person named Rambaldi but Isabelle didn't really pay any attention to it. She just liked to look at the placed her mother went while Isabelle was either at school or being babysat by someone.

**_And no one cares to talk about it  
To talk about it  
Cause' I've seen love die way too many times  
When it deserved to be alive  
I've seen you cry way too many times  
When you deserved to be alive  
Alive...  
Alive..._**

A message box appeared on the screen asking whether or not she could recieve a message. She complied with it and waited for the message.

"Bored as hell...guards hate when I ask for food." Isabelle laughed as she read Mark's message. He must have known where she would be.

"Hey Mark." Isabelle typed holding the same smile she had everytime she thought about him.

* * *

_That would be the next chapter. I thought I needed a cute ending instead of a creepy cut off. _

**Emergency - Paramore - All We Know Is Falling**


	16. Broken Heart, Shattered Dreams

_I've had a small amount of writers block but I think I've worked it out. I hope this chapter lives up to this story's following. _

_Character death!_

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 16_**

**Broken Heart, Shattered Dreams**

Isabelle looked at the clock for about the hundredth time. Four hours to go and she would be out of APO. She liked seeing where her mother worked but she wasn't about to live at the office. The last day had been as boring as a Monday at school but after the excitement of the last week or so Isabelle wasn't complaining. She sat back in the desk chair next to her mother's desk but she wasn't relaxing.

A phone rang on the desk in front of Isabelle but no one was picking it up. Isabelle reached forward and answered her mother's phone and she cringed at the voice on the other line.

"Isabelle, let me speak to your mother please." Sloane sickening polite voice met Isabelle's ear drums and made them bleed with hate.

Isabelle didn't answer she walked down the hall into the debriefing room where her grandfather was talking about some new mission or something of the likeness.

"Isabelle, is something wrong?" Jack asked stopping everything.

"Mom, phone." Isabelle's voice cracked with fear and Sydney noticed this.

Sydney rose from her seat and took the phone from Isabelle's outstretched hand.

"Hello." Sydney answered without fear.

"Sydney, nice try at hiding your daughter's new friend." Sloane teased on the other line and Sydney tensed up realizing what had happened before he even mentioned it. Isabelle had left the room but was watching the reactions through the window, she knew something was wrong.

"Where is he?" Sydney asked not allowing the fear in.

"You can meet me in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco tomorrow night at eleven o'clock. I'll bring Mark but I request a trade." Sloane was official and right to the point.

"What do you want?" Sydney asked shuddering from a cold that was no where in the warm room.

"It's not a question of what I want but of whom. I think you have an ideaof who I'm talking about." Sydney could hear the smile in Sloane's voice. Sydney looked directly at Isabelle and for the first time really noticed how much Isabelle had grown up in the past week and few days. Isabelle was continuously sleep deprived and Sydney knew the consequences of the trade.

"No deal." Sydney said into the phone with no trace of emotion in her voice.

Isabelle had disappeared from the spot she was standing in before and had rejoined the room recognizing the now silent and tense room.

"I guess Mark can stay and have fun here. Aren't we having fun Mark?" Sloane held up the phone and a torturous scream was heard from the other side. It was loud enough that even Isabelle heard it while she stood in the doorway.

Isabelle tensed at the sound and felt a strike of pain through her heart. She didn't exactly know why she cared so much about Mark but she tried to explain her feeling to herself none-the-less. He had saved and helped her so she cared, that was her explanation even though it was a complete and total lie. A lie that she would live with until she could sort out what it exactly was she felt.

"DON'T GIVE IN SYDNEY, LET ME DIE!" Mark shouted and Sydney caved not able to let a life she could have saved go.

"Let him go Sloane." Sydney painfullypleaded into the phone.

"Only if we have a deal." Sloane kept his voice calm and collected the entire time. If you had a conversation with him you would never know this man was as evil as evil could be.

"We have a deal." Sydney said reluctantly.

"Perfect. I'll see you tomorrow." Sloane hung up the phone and Sydney did the same. She couldn't look at the room around her and Isabelle walked forward.

"What are we going to do?" In that moment, Isabelle had volunteered herself for a mission.

"I have a plan." Marshall told the still room. Everyone turned in his direction begging for his answer and he went through his explanation making sure he covered every detail. The plan would be set in motion the following night, hopefully Sloane wouldn't expect anything from them as it was now a hit or miss situation.

Isabelle zipped up a black sweatshirt she had been given by her mother. She sighed quiety as she looked at her blank reflection in the mirror of the bathroom at APO. Her mother walked in to see Isabelle standing quiety her eyes absent of any life or emotion.

"You alright?" Sydney had to ask even though it was a clear no.

Isabelle shook her head no, not able to answer. She felt a knot choke in her throat and tears fell freely from her eyes. Sydney walked forward and wrapped her arms around the broken young woman. Isabelle collapsed onto her mother and cried for several long minutes.

Thecar ride took forever but Isabelle didn't mind the time passing. She shut her eyes to try and get the world to fade away only for a few seconds but found herself being gently shaken awake nearly three hours later. She had fallen asleep, it couldn't have come sooner.

Isabelle watched as people set up and hid variously around the park while she stood alone, watching and waiting. Sydney stood beside her not daring to take her eyes off Isabelle for fear that someone would show up and steal her away again.

Another hour passed and soon it was eleven. Isabelle was tired but she wouldn't let her tiredness show. Sydney kept Isabelle close as they walked silently through the park both equally as nervous as the other.

When they passed another park bench, they were greeted with a faint and unwanted hello.

"Where's Mark?" Isabelle asked finding strenght somewhere inside of her.

"Right here." A loud voice spoke from another direction and soon Lauren was dragging a badly bruised and beaten Mark from behind a tree.

Isabelle made a motion to run to Mark but Sydney stopped her.

"Let him go." Sydney said harshly to both Lauren and Sloane.

"Gladly, but first you leave her and walk out of here, alone." Sloane informed Sydney but she didn't move.

"You have to. Please...just do it." Isabelle whispered feeling a rush of tears threaten to fall but she fought them back.

Sydney painfully walked away trying to keep strong.

"It'll be alright Syd." Vaughn's voice spoke gently over the com device.

Sydney didn't answer she walked out of the park leaving Isabelle alone by choice. She sat in the van where Marshall listened in on the conversation going on.

"Let him go." Isabelle whispered dangerously.

"I'm sorry Isabelle but I can't do that." Sloane said sounding apologetic but only for a moment.

"What?" Isabelle stepped back preparing to run for it but someone grabbed her from behind, somebody she didn't know.

A shot rang through the darkness and the person attempting to take her away fell. Isabelle breathed easily once again even though the situation was far from an easy one.

"Got him." Dixon's voice spoke over the com.

Lauren dropped Mark and began firing into the darkness. Shots fired back and soon Isabelle was on the ground and crawling towards Mark. She helped him up and she struggled to help him behind a tree for cover.

"Are you alright?" Isabelle asked checking Mark for any serious injuries or bleeding.

"I'll be fine." Mark said to her watching her worry about him. He smiled despite the circumstances and she met his eyes for a moment. She turned away to look worriedly around half expecting to see her mother emerge from the darkness somewhere.

Mark gazed at the scene before him, Sloane had brought back up and the agents were firing from unknown locations on both sides. He looked at his mother and watched her fall in an explosion of gun fire. He choked back a tear and crawled over to retrieve the thrown gun from her body. He crawled back to the tree and breathed heavily holding the gun in triumph.

"I'm sorry." Isabelle said attempting to comfort him even though she wasn't really sorry Lauren was dead.

"Don't be, she wasn't my mother." Mark told Isabelle feeling a fiery anger envelope him but not at Isabelle or the C.I.A. The anger was at his mother and Sloane. He handed Isabelle the gun not daring to use it on anyone else in the massacre before him.

She debated whether or not to use it for a few seconds but finally found her answer. She stepped out from behing the tree towatch Sloane hurry away from the scene, she shut one eye took aim and fired.Sloane fell, clutching his leg in pain.

Isabelle and Mark ran forward to block the fallen criminal and villain. She pointed the gun straight atSloane's face making sure he wasn't going anywhere. Mark looked around before he felt a sharp sting in his stomach. Isabelle looked terrified as Mark fell to the ground in pain, still unaware of what was happening to him.

**_I feel so numb  
All I've become  
Has fallen apart  
Hole in my heart_**

Isabelle felt something sting in her right shoulder and she dropped the gun in pain. Sloane tried to crawl away but another shot told Isabelle he was dead.

The next moments played out in slow motion. Isabelle crawled to Mark and gripped his hand in hers not daring to take her eyes off of him. He gasped for air while she held her open wound with her left hand, still gripping Mark's hand with her right.

Mark coughed loudly, a light crimson liquid staining his lips. Isabelle felt a part of her leave while she watched him suffer.

"I wish there had been more time." Mark whispered, large gaps between his words.

"Me too." Isabelle's voice cracked with each word.

"I wanted to ask you out the moment I saw you." Mark admitted to her the gaps becoming longer between words and his voice fading.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." Isabelle felt a tear fall from her eye and then more followed suit.

"I think...no...I know...I love y-you." Mark painfully whispered to Isabelle.

Isabelle leaned down and pressed her lips gently onto Mark's. He weakly returned the kiss but felt a sharp regret that he had not done so sooner.

"I love you too." Isabelle felt a sob wrack her body as Mark took his final breath and his eyes no longer moved. They stared openly, lifeless, out into the night sky littered with stars.

Isabelle placed her hands over his eyes and shut them. She felt a wave of dizzyness envelope her as she shut her eyes. The world became black as she remembered she had been shot too and had slowly been bleeding out.

**_Severed fragments of my being  
Piece together, give life meaning  
Fragile quilt of faded memories  
Torn apart by life's disease  
again..._**

Isabelle awoke to daylight pouring into her hospital room. She felt like throwing up when sherecognized her bloody clothes that lay in a plastic bag on a chair beside her bed.

She remembered the events of the night before and the rest of the world became a dream to her. She couldn't think about anything else, only Mark's empty eyes. Her heart stung with loss and she soon realized she was crying again. Had she become so numb she didn't even recognize the stinging tears in her eyes? It was the same thing with the bullet that had been embedded in her shoulder, she had been so focused on Mark she had forgotten completely about her injury.

**_I will cry  
All is a lie  
That you must break  
Heal my heartache_**

The door opened and Sydney walked inside the room. She noticed Isabelle was awake and realized that she was crying. Sydney walked over to her daughter and lay down next to her. Isabelle rested her head onto her mother's shoulder and cried out all the pain she felt.

Isabelle couldn't comprehend what was happening before her in the next few days. She was home again but that didn't matter anymore, she pulled on a black dress and held a red rose. She followed her mother to the small service that was being held for Mark, he had no familyother than thefugitive Sark soIsabelle and Sydney made the arrangements. Vaughn attended the funeral for his daughter and realized how much pain Sydney must have felt at his own funeral.

**_Severed Fragments of my being  
piece together, give life meaning  
fragile quilt of faded memories  
torn apart by life's disease  
again..._**

"Mark Reed was a good person. Unlike his mother he wasn't a lackey to some insane criminal. He saw the world for what it was and he tried to see the good in everyone. He was a friend and more when I needed him. I'm going to miss him and I'm not going to forget everything that he did." Isabelle laid the rose on the casket and watched as it was lowered into the ground. Her father wrapped an arm around her as she felt a wave of sobs overcome her again. It was the first time he had ever been there for her and she was glad for the comfort.

**_Life's disease again_**

Sark watched in the distance as the trio left the burial ground. He left a white rose at the headstone and left the cemetery. He drove off in his car and disappeared from the world once again.

Isabelle sat quietly in the back of the car, she hadn't spoken in the past few days but had been sleeping wonderfully, despite the harsh circumstances.

**_Severed Fragments of my being  
piece together, give life meaning  
fragile quilt of faded memories  
torn apart by life's disease_**

**_Severed Fragments of my being  
piece together, give life meaning  
fragile quilt of faded memories  
torn apart by life's disease  
again..._**

When Isabelle and Sydney reached home, Isabelle walked straight up into her room. She didn't say a thing and sat silently on her bed. She felt empty, not able to cry anymore. He was gone and that was all Isabelle could handle, she had shut down.

_**I will cry.**_

* * *

_Sad chapter I know. Anyway there's probably about two closing chapters that will finalize the story. Please leave a review...thanks._

**Life's Disease - Stutterfly - And We Are Bled Of Color**


	17. Pain Trapped Inside

_This is the last chapter I know but it had to come, it's kind of slow and still a bit depressing but I think you all will like it. Enjoy! In any case there will also be an epilogue so techincally this is the next to last chapter. If you think about it that way. I'm going to start writing an X-Men: Movie fiction so if anyone likes thatI hope you check it out. I'm not sure on the title yet and I'm still working out what exactly it is I'm going to do but yeah just stay on the lookout for that. Did anyone see The Last Stand? I loved it but was really sad by the end._

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 17_**

**Pain Trapped Inside**

Isabelle lay down in her bed andshut her eyes.As if on cue she was instantly engulfed into the darkness of sleep. She continuously replayed the scene over and over in her mind. Mark lying on the ground cold and bleeding and her being powerless to stop any of it. She thought of how things could have gone differently, she could never have run after Sloane and Mark wouldn't have been shot. She was foolish and she realized that now, if she hadn't been so blinded by hate, Mark wouldn't have paid the price.

**_We'll do it all, everything, on our own  
We don't need anything or anyone _**

Isabelle opened her eyes to a clear darkness inside her room. There was no moonlight shining into her room, no starlight to give even the slightest shimmer, just darkness. Isabelle turned over onto her side and pulled the covers high over her head. There was no way she would leave this room when the sun came up.

She let a few tears fall once again but did not let the sadness over take her. She shut her eyes and allowed the tears to fall freely but she wouldn't sob or let anyone hear how she felt. She didn't want her mother to see her suffering, she couldn't allow the pain to eat away and ruin her newfound family. She just needed time and soon she would be alright, she would bounce back...just like mom.

**_If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world_**

Isabelle wanted to scream, wanted to show somebody the world was not a perfect place. She wanted to but she wouldn't because naivety was all anyone had to rely on. Once a person saw something for what it was there was no changing how a person views that thing. This was Isabelle's dilemma, she saw the world asgreat at times but horrible at othersand her family for what they really were, liars and heroes. There was no changing how she viewed those things now, she would come to appreciate the good in the world and the bad. The same would go for her family she wouldn't trust everything they told her but she would care about them none-the-less.

**_I don't quite know how to say how I feel  
Those three words are said too much  
They're not enough_**

Isabelle rose from her bed and walked over to the desk where her computer sat. She turned it on and began typing away, quiet enough so as not to wake her mother. She went over page after page of news reports searching for one thing, a picture. A memory she could savor for the rest of her days. She finally found one, the one they used for his obituary, a school photo of Mark Reed. She saved the image and kept it someplace safe where she could look at it if she ever wanted to.

She sat looking at her desktop background for a few minutes before something struck her. She began to type away on the computer again, this time she didn't care whether or not she was heard. She was pretty sure her mother wasn't sleeping anyway.

**_If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world  
Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden that's bursting into life_**

She continued to type away and input code after code before finally reaching her goal point. She landed on Sloane's files and began to copy every single bit of information he had before she deleted it. When she found a map of all the bunkers he had with explosives she ordered them destroyed, passing as Sloane. She was smart enough to not get caught and she was pretty sure not one of the head of the bunkers knew she wasn't Sloane.

The news the next day proved Isabelle's suspicians, various explosions and destroyed wharehouses let her know she had doneher job. She made sure the source wouldn't be traced back to herself and after copying the files to a disk she deleted them permanently. She incripted every file to make them unreadable and unreachable to anyone who tried.

**_Let's waste time  
Chasing cars  
Around our heads  
I need your grace to remind me  
To find my own_**

"Here." Isabelle hoarsely told her mother the next day handing her a disk full of information.

"What's this?" Sydney asked pouring coffee for herself.

"I remembered something." Isabelle recalled the bits of information she had seen while being held captive and would not let her mother know any more than that.

Sydney didn't question Isabelle about her actions, if anything she was more proud than frustrated or worried. There was a knock on the door shortly after their conversation and Sydney answered it.

Vaughn walked in carrying a few bags and a box. He smiled at Isabelle who returned the gesture despite the heartache she was going through. Her eyes were red from crying but she covered them well, even if her parents noticed they wouldn't say anything for they understood.

**_If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world  
Forget what we're told  
Before we get too old  
Show me a garden that's bursting into life_**

"Is he staying?" Isabelle asked trying to get the hoarseness out of her voice.

"Yeah he is." Sydney smiled as Vaughn planted a kiss on her forehead.

Isabelle smiled, she had a family now, but at a cost she wouldn't soon forget.

'Maybe being an agent wasn't such a bad thing.' Isabelle thought as she walked back to her room.

**_All that I am  
All that I ever was  
Is here in your perfect eyes  
They're all I can see  
I don't know where  
Confused about how as well  
I just know that these things  
Will never change for us at all_**

Isabelle shut her door quietly and took one fleeting look at the picture that she had left up on the computer. She laid down on her bed and shut her eyes trying to fall back asleep. A distant ringing caught her ears and she soon found herself rummaging through her things trying to find the source.

She eventually found the phone the ringing belonged to. It was an unknown cell phone that had somehow found it's way underneath a pile of papers in her desk drawer. She answered it knowing full well she probably shouldn't have.

"I'm so sorry." Irina's voice was sympathetic over the phone.

"Thanks." Isabelle choked out over the phone not really sure what to say.

"Truth takes time Isabelle don't forget that." Irina stated to her grandaughter before hanging up.

**_If I lay here  
If I just lay here  
Would you lie with me  
And just forget the world_**

Isabelle was stunned at the sudden partial conversation she had just had. She pressed the end button and continued to stare at the phone. A soft knock was heard from the opposite side of her door.

"Come in." Isabelle said a little too loudly still holding the phone out in the open.

"What's that?" Sydney asked looking at the unfamiliar phone.

"Truth takes time." Isabelle repeated her grandmother's phrasing and Sydney knew exactly where the phone had come from.

**The End**

* * *

_Yes this is the closing chapter but I assure you there will be one more. It's an epilogue that will travel ten years into the future so we see what Isabelle's life is like. I hope you liked this story and please leave me a nice review even if this ending sucked. _

**Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol - Eyes Open**


	18. The Aftermath

_Here is the epilogue I promised. Its basically just an insight on Isabelle's life so I hope you like it and remember to leave a review.

* * *

_

**_The Aftermath_**

Ten years ago she had been kidnapped and learned the truth. Now she understood the secrets and all the lies. She had even told the same amount in the time from them. At 26 she was working for the C.I.A. while both her mother and father were retired. She had lied to them, they didn't want this life for her so she told them something that wouldn't hurt them. She worked as a tech specialist for a computer company, it was the most boring and intricate lie she had ever told.

"Agent Vaughn please step inside my office." Her superior officer told her officially.

In the ten years since her kidnapping her parents had been married and she had dropped the hyphen to her name. Once formally called Isabelle Bristow-Vaughn she was now Isabelle Vaughn.

She had been called earlier that day while she was visiting her mother at their old home. She thought back to the awkward yet familiar conversation that followed the ring of her cell phone.

"Sorry." Isabelle apologized as she answered her phone.

"Agent Vaughn we need you at the office now." The monotonous voice stated.

"It's my day off." Isabelle told the officer her cover already beginning.

"This is very important Miss Vaughn." The voice told her showing a hint of emotion.

"Can't you just get Stevens to fix it?" Isabelle asked rolling her eyes at her mother.

There was no answer on the other line.

"Fine. I'll come in." Isabelle said before she hung up the phone.

"I'm sorry mom, I've got to go." Isabelle apologized giving her mother a quick hug.

"Love you." Sydney said to the figure leaving.

"You too." Isabelle replied as she shut the door behind her.

Back in the present time Isabelle walked into the office awaiting the information she was about to recieve.

"As I'm sure you're aware a young man by the name of Mark Reed died ten years ago." Isabelle flinched as the older agent brought back painful memories.

"Yes I remember." Isabelle told the man before her letting her anger shine through the words.

"Then I'm sure this information will bring some insight onto you." The officer handed Isabelle a manilla folder holding files.

"What's this?" Isabelle asked taking the folder from the man's outstretched hand.

"Read it."

Isabelle opened up the folder and was met with a picture of an man who looked similar to the Mark she remembered, only older. She read the paper that followed the photograph and dropped the folder in shock.

"He's alive?" Isabelle asked feeling hot tears sting her eyes.

"We recently recieved some intel that stated Mark Reed wasn't in his grave and has been in hiding for years now. We excavated his grave and found that there wasn't a body inside, just some sandbags." The superior officer explained as Isabelle picked up the contents of the folder from the ground.

"What was the intel?" Isabelle asked as she picked up the picture and took a fleeting look at it before placing it back into the folder.

"A phone call from Mark to his father. He explained everything in the call, we have it on recording if you should like to hear it. He mentioned you're name on it." The officer handed Isabelle a tape player with the recorded message on it.

Isabelle pressed play and was met with Mark's voice. One she missed for years now.

"Hello." Julian Sark's voice said on the tape.

"Hey dad." Mark's voice said awkwardly.

"Mark? How did you...?" Sark couldn't finish his question.

"I was drugged the night before. When I was shot the drug kicked in and knocked me out. It even stopped my heart. A few hours later somebody I didn't know gave me the antidote and I've been hiding. I'm so sorry for what I put you through." Mark apologized and Isabelle thought she could hear a sob.

"It was the only way Mark."Sark admitted over the phone.

"It was you?" Mark asked sounding amazed.

"Partially. I made a phone call and made sure you would be alright.I wasn't sure whether or not it had worked so every year I still place a flower on you're grave."Sark stated flatly but still emotionally at the same time, it was a weirdtone of voice.

"Thank you. How's Isabelle?" Mark's voice sounded worried when he mentioned Isabelle.

"I don't know Mark. I've only ever seen her once and that was at you're funeral. Usually by the time I show up at you're grave, there's already a rose there from her." Sark stated unsure of how to answer.

Isabelle heard Mark let out a small amount of breath. He sighed and spoke a harsh goodbye before he hung up the phone. Somehow Isabelle could have sworn she heard Sark whisper 'I understand' but it was possible it was just static. She stopped the tape thinking about what she had heard.

"Did you hear anything else from him?" Isabelle asked still gripping the tape tightly.

"No we didn't, we'll keep you posted." Isabelle left the room at his final words and went down the hall to her own office. She shut the door quietly and walked over to her computer. She didn't turn it on but rather just sat in the chair, she let out a sigh and pressed the enter key to bring the computer back to life.

She sighed as she began to type, positioning satellites in new places and searching the globe for one Mark Reed.

**_For a minute there I thought you worth my time  
But now that the introduction's over  
There's something on my mind  
And now's the perfect time  
Lights out, to sleep you go  
This poison's like your own_**

Isabelle gave up on her search after about an hour of nothing. She sat back in her chair and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, a habit she had recieved from her mother.

She turned the chair around in a circle waiting for any sign that Mark would contact her. It was stupid to think that he still cared, he had probably only asked about her to make sure she wasn't looking for him. Isabelle thought over all the negatives that she just couldn't believe.

**_Will you think about the things you did wrong?  
And by the way where'd everybody go?  
And I sat it up and you sat it down  
And now it won't be long_**

Isabelle noticed a blinking message screen on her computer. She opened it and found it to be spam mail but soon she realized there wasa hidden message inside. She took out a pen and paper and began to decipher the code. She re-read the message about a dozen times still not believing what she had written.

'Grave Marker...noon.' That was all the note said. Isabelle grabbed her jacket off the chair and was out of the office faster than anyone could even think to notice it was her.

**_Yeah I'm Drowning  
I'm drowning for your love  
Yeah I'm drowning  
I'm drowning for your love  
Yeah I'm Drowning  
I'm drowning for your love  
Yeah I'm drowning  
I'm drowning for your love_**

Isabelle sat in her car breathing heavily for a few seconds before turning the key in the ignition. She checked the mirror to make sure she wasn't being followed, she wasn't. She drove towards the cemetary, slowly and quietly.

She stopped outside the cemetary not quite ready to get out of the car yet. She let out a huge breath she had been holding and checked herself over in the mirror. Her usually bright green eyes had faded over the past ten years, they weren't dull but they were a lot less brighter at least according to Isabelle they were. Her shoulder length brown hair had grown a few inches and she was taller than before but she was still the same Isabelle as always.

**_Was this a mistake?  
Oh my God, was this a mistake?  
Would I do it all again?  
Would I do it all again?  
I was drowning for your love  
I was drowning and waiting for your touch  
Would I do it all again?  
Would I do it all again?_**

Finally after what seemed like an hour of waiting Isabelle stepped out of the car. She paced herself when walking, not going too fast or too slow. She was still disbelieving at the fact Mark was really alive. She couldn't believe the truth unless she knew it was actually true and she saw him face to face.

Isabelle's thoughts traveled back to two years ago when she was on a mission in Rome. She had passed the same busted up coffee shop and remembered meeting Mark. For a split second she even thought she had seen him pass down the same alleyway as eight years before but she shrugged it off as reminiscing and she returned to the job she was doing.

**_Will you think about the things you did wrong?  
And by the way where'd everybody go?  
And I sat it up and you sat it down  
And now it won't be long_**

Isabelle trudged through the cemetary steadily approaching the grave marker that she visited once a year. She felt strange approaching the grave without a flower to lay on the headstone but she got over it.

When she reached the headstone there was no one there. She looked around half expecting Mark to jump out at her but he didn't. She felt stupid and crazy at the same time. There was no way he was alive, it was just a trick. She sighed and leaned against the grave marker, she looked up at the cloudy grey sky and shut her eyes.

**_Yeah I'm Drowning  
I'm drowning for your love  
Yeah I'm drowning  
I'm drowning for your love  
Yeah I'm Drowning  
I'm drowning for your love  
Yeah I'm drowning  
I'm drowning for your love_**

There was a shuffling of feet somewhere behind Isabelle and she opened her eyes to see the figure standing before her. Her eyes widened at the sight, she allowed her eyes to wander gracefully over the new Mark Reed. A person she hadn't seen in years, her old friend and first love.

Mark smiled when he saw Isabelle standing peacefully looking him over. He was doing the same thing, his grin growing wider when he met her eyes.

**_The oxygen paints all your fingertips red  
Theres the car, by the bridge where nobody goes  
Keep on laughing, keep on laughingwith every blow  
Is it wrong to be so evil with so much joy?  
Keep on laughing, keep on laughingwith every blow  
And these screams keep on bringing me out of my sleep  
Thats what she said when she hit her final blow_**

"Mark." Isabelle stated his name and smiled at his nod even though it wasn't a question.

She walked forward and collapsed into his embrace. He was warm and inviting, Mark rubbed his hand on her back as she buried herself more into his shirt.

"I've missed you." Mark told Isabelle hearing a muffled 'me too.'

Isabelle shut her eyes enjoying the peaceful quiet that had become of their relationship. Mark in turn shut his as well also soaking up the reunion.

**_She lied, she didn't lived at all  
A question with no answer  
And now it is resolved  
She lied, she never lived at all  
We'll keep on laughing, keep on laughing, keep on laughing_**

"I'm so sorry." Mark apologized as Isabelle pulled away from him.

"I understand." Isabelle airily spoke to him.

Mark took Isabelle's hand in his own and she led him back to her car. He sat in the passenger side and continued to hold her hand even as she drove.

**_I was drowning for your love  
I wasstranded and waiting for your touch  
Would I do it all again? (Yeah!)  
Would I do it all again?  
I was drowning for your love  
I wasstranded and waiting for your touch  
Would I do it all again? (Yeah!)  
Would I do it all again?  
Forher dead body  
Forher dead body_**

"Where are we going?" Mark asked Isabelle not wanting to break the content silence.

"Home." Was Isabelle's reply as they drove on to her apartment where years of happiness between the two would make up for the ten year absence.

* * *

_That's just my fluffly little aftermath piece. Anyway thanks for reading this story and I hope you check out any of the other stories I've written and the new story that I'm going to start working on once summer rolls around. Other than that I'm probably just going to do a bunch of one-shots for 'Lost' so you can read those too. _

_Thanks once again for reading this story! _

**Poison Like Your Own - Rookie of the Year - The Goodnight Moon**


	19. The Aftermath Pt II

_After a while of debating, I've decided to write another part to the epilogue. This is just really fluffy, but so what? _

_We all know where the disclaimer is. . .right?_

* * *

**_Discovering The Waterfront_**

**_Chapter 19_**

**The Aftermath: Pt. II**

Two years had past since Mark's return. He had since joined APO and was often paired on missions with Isabelle, but they had quit, together. The duo had been inseperable since he had come home. They were living together and had gotten married shortly after he came home. The poets were right, true love never dies.

Isabelle awoke slowly to the soft sound of crying. It was more of a whimper and not a full out cry but she heard it none-the-less. Thanks to the amazing technical quality of a baby monitor.

_If you listen to the sound of hope in the  
Children's voices, Asking questions you'll know  
How Blindness is a blessing  
But I know your type, you're always right,  
your tongue controls your mind.  
But I guess, life's the lesson._

She padded into the hallway of the new apartment, boxes still littered the hallway where she and Mark had placed them. The one quality they shared at its highest level was laziness and unwillingness to unpack box after box. It was just so agonizingly boring. Isabelle left their bedroom and entered the smaller bedroom down the hall.

She walked over to the crib and picked up the toddler inside.

_If they said 40 years  
I would die before I let them take  
the love that I have paid for with my tears.  
And now the time has come  
to cut our tongues out and commit ourselves as you did in your memory we..._

"Hey Jack," She whispered quietly and he stopped his whimpering almost immediately. Isabelle's grandfather had passed away right before Jack was born, therefore she named him after her beloved grandfather. Mark had no problem with it, as long as the middle name was Julian which Isabelle agreed to wholeheartedly.

_Tear down the walls and let them know  
We could have it all  
We could have some hope  
this city could be ours by nightfall._

It was amazing how much Jack looked like Mark. They had the same face frame, the same eyes, but he had dark brown hair, much like her own. She imagined what Mark would have looked like as a small child and found she was already looking at him. Jack wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, clinging onto her as if he would drown without her.

_Do you hear the war drums beating?  
Are you truly happy doing nothing, darling?  
I need to find the center  
'Cause love is something right  
its not cooked up over night  
In sticky situations you tried  
but less is more forever_

"Aw, I love you too baby boy." Isabelle placed a light kiss on his forehead and she watched as his lips curved upward in a small smile. He could talk, though it was only a few words at best and several phrases.

He was smart for only two years old but he was the quiet type. Isabelle and Mark had picked up on that when he started talking. He would say 'I love you mommy' or 'I love you daddy' and that was it for the entire day. Every so often he would say a word or two, but mostly he just made gestures.

Mark seemed to understand his son's quiet demeanor more than Isabelle did. She knew Mark could talk up a storm but she found that it was usually only to her, making her feel special. He was definitely the quiet type, exactly like Jack. The two had elected to quit the C.I.A. and get "normal" jobs. Isabelle stayed at home and Mark worked at a computer company. . .literally. They were very commercial and suburban, even if they lived in a three bedroom, Los Angeles apartment.

_And they said 40 years  
I would die before I let them take  
the love that I have paid for with my tears  
and now the time has come  
to cut our tongues out and commit ourselves as you did in your memory we..._

"Jacky, you want to go and lay by Mommy and Daddy?" Isabelle suggested. She felt the swift nod and carried him out of the room. She passed the bathroom, felt her stomach turn and placed Jack on the ground.

"Hang on, I've got to go take care of something." She entered the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. Morning sickness sucked, but she had survived it once and she could do it again.

"Alrighty," She said to Jack after she had rinsed her mouth out and left the bathroom but not before she flushed the stomach juices away.

_Tear down the walls and let them know  
We could have it all  
We could have some hope  
this city could be ours by nightfall, nightfall_

"Mommy?" Jack asked after Isabelle had picked him up again.

"Yeah?" She returned, waiting for his next question.

"Park tomorrow with Daddy?" He couldn't quite form complete sentences as he only knew a few words, but he could still be understood.

"Sure. We can go to the park tomorrow, but we have to ask Daddy. He might be off of work tomorrow and we might be able to have lunch there. Fun right?" Jack picked his head up from her shoulder and looked directly into her eyes. It was amazing how quiet but sincere he could be.

_Tear down the walls and let them know  
We could have it all  
We could have some hope  
this city could be ours by nightfall_

He nodded quietly and Isabelle smiled at how innocent he was.

"I love you baby boy," She told him in a whisper as they entered the bedroom.

Mark turned over, he had obviously heard the conversation as he was now awake and smiling. He had never gotten over how much he loved Isabelle. Jack was only another additive to the equation that made up their family and now they were having another. There was no way Mark could have been any happier than he was at this moment in time.

_The minute I was born you stole my heart  
The minute I was born you stole my heart  
The minute I was born you stole my heart  
The minute I was born, the minute I was born!_

"Come here." Mark whispered, his voice semi-hoarse from unuse while sleeping.

Jack bounced lightly in Isabelle's arms. She placed him onto the bed and he immediately jumped onto Mark. It was probably one of the sweetest things any person could have witnessed in their life. Mark and Jack lay down quietly on the bed as Isabelle lay down next to the duo. She ran her hand absentmindedly over her still flat stomach, secretly thinking over names.

_Tear down the walls and let them know  
We could go all night  
We could just stay home  
this city could be ours by nightfall, nightfall_

Mark was staring at her, smiling, while Jack snuggled softly between the two.

"What?" Isabelle asked with a smile.

"You," He whispered, causing her to blush lightly.

_Tear down the walls and let them know  
We could have it all  
We could have some hope  
this city could be ours by nightfall_

She gave him a quick kiss which he returned with just as much love in the gesture.

Lies had made up their lives before but everything turned out alright. To think, if a kidnapping had never taken place, they might not be there now. It was a twisted but still incredibly fateful end that did in fact justify the means.

_

* * *

_

_There we go, a fluffy and hopefully satisfying ending to all of you readers out there._

**Bitter Uprising - The Classic Crime - Albatross**


End file.
