THE LOST BRISTOW

Sydney watched as their car pulled up
to Union Station. "Here we are," she said, as the car
pulled to the curb to let them out. She turned to
Mischa. "Are you sure you're alright?" Mischa
nodded. "I want to get that bioweapon. Hopefully
Sloane has a lead on where-" she cut herself off to
sneak a look at Jan before continuing, careful with
her words so she didn't hurt him. After all, whatever
Michael Bristow was, he was also Jan's father.... "_
he might be," she finished as they headed into the
train station.

Jan listened to them. "It's okay, I
despise him as much as you do... even though he's my
father. I won't--- HEY!" Jan said, interrupted by a
man he didn't know holding him tight. "Sydney, I got
him! I... well, used my hands to prevent him from
going anywhere... see?" Marshall said as he showed
what he had done. "Thought you could trick us, huh?"
"Well, you have to get up early to catch
father Marshall Flinkman!" Marshall added.

"Marshall, it's ok, you can let him
go," Sydney said, as they entered the APO HQ and
Marshall grabbed Jan. She looked at Jan, a faint
smile curling up the ends of her lips. "He's on our
side," she said, her eyes fixed on her son. Mischa
laughed. "Don't worry Jan- he's not dangerous, at
least so we think. This is Marshall, the head of op
tech of APO. Marshall, this is Jan Bristow." Sydney
watched the introduction and gently touched Marshall
on the arm. "Marshall could I have a private word
with you?"

"Really? I mean, sorry, young Bristow."
Marshall said, immediately retracted his hands from
Jan's midriff. "Hold it against you, Mischa." Jan
finished. "And now I won't hold it against you,
Marshall Flinkman. It's nice to meet you." He said,
extending his hand for Marshall to shake. Marshall did
of course just that. It wasn't like Jan had known
Marshall from the gadgets he had provided since he
could never ask his mother. "For you, Sydney? Always."
Marshall said.

Sydney pulled Marshall into her office
and closed the door. "I need your help. We have to
keep his identity classified for now- from everyone.
I need you to create a trail on his fake name-
Natchios. Give him a past, just for the time being.
I think it's safer for him. He'll be joining our team
here but I want nobody else to know about this- even
Sloane. I trust you haven't mentioned anything yet?"
she finished, looking at Marshall, knowing she could
count on his help. Meanwhile, Mischa took jan over to
her desk, where she sat fr a minute and sighed. The
pain in her abdomen was lessening, but it was by no
means gone. "Jan, we have to find him," she said,
looking up at him. "Do you have any idea where he
might have gone?" "I do," said a voice from behind
Mischa, as she felt a cold hand touch her upper back.
"Glad to see you are back with us safely, Mischa." He
turned to Jan, extending his hand. "I'm the director
of APO, Arvin Sloane," he said, waiting for Jan
to shake his hand.

"Uhm... Syd? You're talkin' to the
master hacker of SD-6, CIA and APO all combined! You
just go meet with Sloane and I'll come up with
something. Jan'll be safe." Marshall said, then went
to his place and started making up the file on Jan
Natchios. . . *Hmm... so THIS is Arvin Sloane... bald
guy...* Jan thought as he saw him for the very first
time. He was so sweet on interrupting Jan's reply,
even though Jan would just say that he wouldn't know.
"Hi there Mister Sloane, my name is Jan Natchios." Jan
replied and shook Arvin's hand.

Sydney smiled at marshall, and looked
up to see Sloane approaching Jan and Mischa. "Oh,
no," she said rushing from the office, waving her
hands behind Sloane's back, hoping Jan would not tell
Sloane who he really was. She breathed a sigh of
relief when she heard him say Natchios. "Arvin, i see
you've met Mr. Natchios. He has agreed to help us
find Michael Bristow and the bioweapon he stole."
Mischa knew Sydney had her issues with Sloane, and
mischa herself still did not completely trust him, so
she said nothing when Jan used his fake name with
Sloane. "I was just telling them, Sydney, I have some
new intel that might be of use to us, if you wouldn't
mind stepping into the brieifng room- all of you," he
said, motionging towards the glass door of the
briefing room.

Meanwhile, Marshall quickly finished
with the biography of Jan Natchios. That he had lost
his parents when he had been young, orphanized at an
orphanage and had been brutally beaten there. 2 years
ago he had been de-orphaned, so to say and adopted by
Michael Natchios.

Jan didn't say anything and just
followed the others walk into the briefing room. . .
even though he was very impressed!! It'd just always
be his father and him on a plane reviewing their
mission and optech. And now... here he was with more
people than two and in a lot more spacious
environment!!

Mischa took her seat and motioned for
Jan to sit next to her. Sydney took her usual seat,
at Sloane's side. Sloane stood and addressed the
group. "According to my close personal contacts, the
weapon has been recovered by a top ranking covenant
official- someone whom we are all very familiar-" the
screen blinked and a picture of Michael Bristow came
up. Sloane turned back and continued. "From what I
have discovered, it would seem he has taken the weapon
to a warehouse in Zurich, awaiting transport to a more
extensive Covenant run facility for analysis and mass
production. Mischa, if you are up for it, I'd like
you and Jan to go back in and attempt to recover the
weapon." MIscha nodded. "Absolutely, how about you?"
she asked, lookign at Jan.

Jan listened to what Sloane had to say,
and tried his best not to tense up when his dad's
picture flashed onscreen. Jan looked from Sloane to
Sydney, and from Sydney to Mischa. "Mischa, are you
sure? I was more thinking about me and Sydney... you
should be examined for wounds." Jan said, shielding
himself from Sloane and giving Mischa hurtful eyes...
for what he had done to her. Meanwhile, Marshall
quietly had joined the briefing room and sat down.

"No, I'm sure," she said, shaking her
head. Sydney nodded in agreement. "You two
should go. I'll monitor you here from base ops. Only
if you're sure your up for it Mischa." Mischa looked
up and smiled. Sydney of all people should know she
never backed down from a challenge. "Absolutely," she
said. Sloane smiled. "Excellent. Your plane leaves
in an hour- good luck to both of you." Sloane quickly
left the room, as Mischa stared at Sydney and Jan.
"I'll be fine, you two. I have to see this thing
through."

Jan wanted to sigh, give a sign that he
wasn't okay with the way it was going to be played,
but who was an APO newbie to object??? Jan smiled.
"Let's do this!" Jan said, before Sloane left the
room. When he had, Jan sighed. "Phew, that was close."
Jan whispered.

Mischa watched as Sloane left the room,
and Jan sighed with relief. Despite the situation,
she laughed a bit. "We'd better head back to the
airport. I promise when this is all over, I'll show
you more of LA than the airport, the freeway and APO,"
she said with a grin, standing. She left to go gather
her things, and Sydney looked at Jan. "You'll be
fine. And I'll be with you on the coms every step of
the way. We'll get him this time, Jan, I know it,"
she said, smiling at her son.

Jan grinned with Mischa. "I'd love that
a lot, Mischa." Then, unknown to Sydney, Jan's face
fell when she left to go gather her things. Then he
heard Sydney speak, and turned around with a new
facial _expression while continuing to listen to his
mother. "Thank you." was all Jan could say. That
bastard of a father was about to pay, BIG TIME.

Sydney smiled at Jan, and stood with
Marshall. "My poor boy, and all he has been
through," she said to Marshall, in hushed tones so Jan
could not hear. She knew she could confide in
Marshall since he knew the truth. Mischa returned,
and looked at Jan with a smile. "Are you ready/" she
asked softly.

"Uhm, yeah.... I haven't had that
experience yet with Mitchell.... so... I'm in the dark
there." Marshall said back in whispery tones. Jan
smiled and hugged Mischa carefully. "When I'll be
goin' on a mission with you, I'm always ready!" Jan
said beaming, then unbeamed his smile since he had let
something shimmer through... and if his dad had been
right, the rule would have to be applied for all
agencies. . . that falling in love between co-workers
wasn't allowed....

"Great!" said Mischa with a smile,
hugging Jan, then noticing a change in his _expression.
She turned to Sydney and smiled. "We'll be in touch
Sydney," she said. Sydney nodded. "Good luck," she
wished them, as Mischa took Jan by the hand and began
walking out the door. "Jan, what happened?" she
asked, concerned. "Is there something on your mind?"

"It's just... after all the things I did
to you... I... am kinda, you know. You're sweet, but I
know having a connection like that is against
protocol." Jan admitted to Mischa. "Plus if he did
anything to you...."

Mischa stopped, looking around to see
that they were alone, then turned to Jan and smiled.
"Jan, stop tormenting yourself about what happened.
You were being lied to. I certainly don't blame you.
And as far as protocal goes, if you're feeling the
same things I am, we can work around that. Something
tells me we would have Sydney's support." She took
hold of his hand, and looked into his eyes as she
said, "It's funny- I've been worrying about the same
thing. If he did anything to you, I don't know what I
would do. But we both know the job we signed up for.
It's dangerous, yes, but nothign he could ever do...
to me, could compare with what you've been through."
She paused, and smiled at him. "We can protect each
other, right?" she asked, smiling.

"You're right... Mischa." Jan said,
smiling. Jan suddenly thought of the intentional
scare-tactic he had used on her, saying the word rape.
He silently thanked God for not going through with
that idea. Jan looked around and seeing none, not even
the nefarious Sloane, kissed Mischa softly on the
wound he had made on her neck.

Mischa smiled as she felt Jan's lips
gently kiss the wound on her neck, and wrapped her
arms around him. "We need to get going," she said,
smiling. Sloane watched from his office, seeing the
intimacy between Jan and Mischa when they thought
nobody was looking. He just looked, his gaze stoic,
thinking he will have to discuss this with Sydney. He
wasn't sure he liked it.

"You're right. We wouldn't want to lose
track of him." Jan said and left together with Mischa
the building of APO.

They arrived at the airport and boarded
the plane. Mischa took her seat and looked up at Jan.
"Well, here we go," she said with a smile, patting
the seat next to her.

"Yup. Finally with you for the very
first time instead of him." Jan said, as he took the
seat offered to him by his fellow partner. "I'm kinda
nervous... then again, I was when I got on my very
first one." Jan said. Another different part was that
he had earphones in now as well.

Mischa rested her head on Jan's
shoulder and took his hand in hers. "It's always
nerve-racking on the first mission, well sort of," she
said, realizing that Jan had indeed been on missions
before. "This time we've got a very powerful weapon,"
she said, smiling. "Each other," Mischa said, after a
pause, looking up at Jan and smiling, gazing into his
eyes.

*What?* Jan couldn't help but wonder.
*Love? Us?* Jan added to his thoughts. "You're right."
Jan said smiling. He suddenly remembered his very last
day working under his father's wing... the dream he
had had. Could Mischa be the one he had dreamt about??

Mischa looked out the window, and
sighed. She hoped she could protect him, but deep
down she was afraid. What if he got hurt? But
still.. what she had said was right. Before they were
both alone against Michael Bristow. Now they had each
other. She turned back to Jan and smiled. "At least
this one is strictly recon. The wardrobe on some of
these missions can get kinda of... elaborate," she
said with a smile.

Jan suddenly reached for Mischa's hand.
. . ~~I didn't hear you leave, I wonder how am I
still here, I don't want to move a thing, It might
change my memory~~ Jan smiled at Mischa softly... ~~
Oh I am what I am, I'll do what I want, but I can't
hide I won't go, I won't sleep, I can't breathe, until
you're resting here with me, I won't leave, I can't
hide, I cannot be, until you're resting here with me~~
Truth was, that Jan couldn't sleep the night they were
at the safehouse, just the two of them, Jan had had
the recurring dream where he had had her, moving in
for the kiss, and everytime that phone would ring...
but this time, THIS time. Jan slowly moved his lips
towards Mischa's...

Mischa closed her eyes, her lips moving
closer to Jan's. "Jan," she whispered softly, as she
felt her lips brush against his softly. Until that
moment, she hadn't realized just how much she had
wanted this to happen.

~~I don't want to call my friends, They
might wake me from this dream, And I can't leave this
bed, Risk forgetting all that's been, Oh I am what I
am, I'll do what I want, but I can't hide, I won't go,
I won't sleep, I can't breathe, until you're resting
here with me, I won't leave, I can't hide, I cannot
be, until you're resting here with me~~ Jan smiled
softly, or at least tried to since his had been caught
in Mischa's... and a lone tear slipped out of his eye,
a perfect one to ruin this moment. He wondered how his
mother was doing back at APO... with Sloane and
Marshall. "Mischa..."

Mischa felt the tear slip down Jan's
cheek. She pulled back a bit and looked at Jan.
"What is it?" she asked, concerned for Jan. Back at
APO, Sydney prepared the coms for base ops. "Shooting
Star? Fallen Angel? How do you read?" asked Sydney,
speaking to the agents on the plane.

"I've never felt like this before..."
Jan whispered to Mischa, then heard a crackling in her
ear, and was SHOCKED! He nearly jumped from his seat
back into his seat! "Fallen Angel and Shooting Star
here. We read you loud and clear..."

"We read you Pheonix," said Mischa,
turning a bit, and realizing they were not as alone as
they thought they were. "We got you, Pheonix.
Switching to radio silent until we land," she said,
switching the coms off and looking at Jan. "You were
saying?" she said, her hand brushing his cheek softly,
a smile spreading on her face as this time she moved
in slowly towards Jan's lips...

"Well... I...." Jan said, but then
Mischa's lips had caught his, and instinctively kissed
her back. "I've never felt anything like this for
anyone before." Jan told his partner.

Mischa kissed Jan softly, then their
lips parted as he told her he hadn't felt anything
like this before. "Me neither," she said softly. She
smiled, wrapping her arms around him and gazing into
his eyes. "It's kind of nice," she added.

Jan responded with the same procedure;
wrapping his arms around her and gazing into her eyes.
"Amen to that." Jan said with a smile. "Have you
already eaten, Mischa?"

"No, I haven't," she said, smiling.
"Maybe after our mission we could get some dinner- in
Paris," she said with a smile. "I'll bet Sydney will
cover for us."

Just when Mischa had said that, Jan felt
they were decreasing in height. "I think we're about
to get into our mission mode." Jan said smiling. "I've
never been to Paris before.... a tempting thought."
Jan said.

Mischa laughed and gently let Jan go,
buckling her seatbelt as the plane landed. "Well,
this is it," Mischa said, taking a deep breath. She
flipped her com back on. "Shooting Star to Pheonix.
Fallen Angel and I are landing now. We should be at
the warehouse shortly." she said into the com. "Copy
that, Shooting Star. Good luck you two," she said.

"Yeah." Jan said softly, as he too felt the plane begin to descend, lose height.
After they
had succesfully landed, Jan heard his mother wish them good luck. "Thanks mom,
we
won't disappoint." Jan said. *Neither will I, since I have to prove myself, now
that I am not
under my father's wing anymore...* Jan thought as his hand reached for Mischa's.
"Let's
start this mission!" Jan said smiling as he looked at Mischa.

Mischa smiled and nodded, heading over to the van that was waiting for them at
the
airport. She tossed Jan the keys. "You drive, I'll make sure we're all set.
The warehouse
isn't far from here."

"Copy that, Shooting Star." Fallen Angel said to his partner as he opened the
door of the
van using the keys he had just gotten from Mischa. Jan opened her door first
then moved
around to open his side, got in and buckled himself up while waiting for Mischa
to get in.

Mischa smiled as Jan opened her door for her, got in and buckled her seatbelt.
She
inventoried their supplies, making sure they both had weapons and enough ammo
incase
they had company. She checked to make sure the coms were working, too, all
while Jan
drove. "Turn right here," she said, looking at the map. "It should be two
miles up on the
left."

"Check." Jan said as he turned into the desired direction after hearing the
instructions from
Mischa. He then looked at Mischa Vaughn for a bit, thinking if she was the one.
"Almost
there. We got enough ammo and weapons to take care of this?"

"Check," she said with a smile. Mischa looked over at Jan, and looked at him
for a
moment. "Are you going to be ok with this?" she asked, concerned abot the
emotional tll
this was likely taking on him.

"Even if I wouldn't be, I would have to, Mischa." Jan said to her. "I mean, he
has been lying
to me ever since I started as an agent." Jan told the female counterpart of the
mission. At
least he wasn't with a lying traiterous scumbag like his father on a mission.
No, he was
with someone he could confide in, someone who would tell the truth, someone
like...
Mischa Vaughn.

"I know, just know that I'm here for you Jan. I know this isn't easy," she
said
sympathetically, giving him a smile. She looked out the window and pointed.
"There it is,"
she said. There was a large warehouse, completely black and deserted. "Here we
go," she
said, loading her weapon and holding Jan's for him until he could park the van.

Jan drove toward the warehouse, and parked behind it. "Thanks for loading it for
me,
partner." Jan said with a smile. \

"My pleasure," said Mischa, handing Jan his weapon. She looked up at the
warehouse. "I
don't like the looks of this," she said. "Something isn't right." She clicked
her com and
spoke to Sydney. "Pheonix, this is Shooting Star. Are you sure this is the
location? It
doesn't feel right." Sydney checked the intel back at base ops and clicked back
to Mischa.
"Affirmative, Shooting Star. That's it. Proceed with caution, you two."
Mischa shrugged
her shoulders. "Ok, then, let's go in."

"Be careful." Jan whispered to Mischa after thanking him for giving him back
his weapon.
The Glock 27. was put away into a hiding space of his jacket while Jan and
Mischa carefully
crept closer to the warehouse, creeping further into the unknown....

Mischa followed Jan silently into the warehouse. They had no idea Michael
Bristow was
watching them the whole time. As they entered, Mischa looked around, but there
was no
sign of any Covenant activity. "Jan, do you see the weapon?" she asked in a
hushed, but
was yanked from behind with a gun to her head before he could answer. "JAN!"
she yelled,
as she felt her com pulled harshly from her eear and heard it crushed on the
floor. "Hello
so," Michael Bristow said, an evil grin on his face. "One move and your new
girlfriend gets
a bullet to the brain."

Jan whirled around and saw in horror that his father had gotten hold of Mischa
Vaughn
once again. The moments of yesterday came rushing back to him, it hadn't been
that long
since Jan had been on the side of his father, interrogating Mischa Vaughn....
Jan looked his
dad in the eye. If looks could kill. All the while eyeing his dad, Jan thought
of something to
say... but didn't find the words.
"You hurt her one bit...." Jan began, but was interrupted by his dad.

Michael Bristow laughed. "Miss Vaughn, it looks like my son is finally
speechless," he said.
"I told you I'd make you suffer," he said coldly, seeing the pain in his son's
eyes as he
tightly held Mischa Vaughn in his grasp. "Let me go, you bastard," Mischa said,
kicking
and squirming in his grasp. Michael bristow pressed the gun tighter to her
temple, and
she stopped squirming a bit. "Now, Jan, first I need you get rid of that com."
"Jan, just get out of here!" MIscha called to him, in an attempt to at least
save one of
them.

Jan, not knowing that APO actually did ALL their missions together, in the field
and out of
the field, felt his hand go to the comm that was in his ear. He mouthed the
words, 'I'm
sorry, mom' into the comm, but without speaking them. He didn't know that people
at APO
would see this unfold. He removed the comm from his ear.
He would NEVER admit it to his father, but he was paralyzed with fear for
Mischa's safety.

"That's a good boy. On the ground, crush it," he said, pressing the gun closer
still to
Mischa's head. Mischa ever so slightly shook her head, her eyes, filled with
fear, not just
for herself, but for Jan. If Michael Bristow had Jan in his clutches, he would
surely kill him.
but Mischa didn't see any other way to protect him.

In a flash Jan did the things his bastard of a father requested of him. He
didn't know why
he did it that fast. . . maybe he didn't want to be knocked out by his dad? "Let
her go,
Michael. You want me, not her." Jan said, challenged was more like it.

Michael laughed again. "You don't get it do you?" he asked, shaking his head.
"Anything I
do to her hurts you twice as much as anything I do to you, and like I said, I'm
going to
make you suffer." He turned to look at Mischa, an evil look in his eyes. "I'm
goign to
enjoy it too, maybe my son's threat from earlier," he said, tracing his finger
softly over her
jaw. Mischa tried to pull away, but Michael held her tightly against him so she
couldn't
move.

Jan's face registered shock when he heard that his own threat still was
remembered by his
dad. "You do that to her and I won't think twice about killing you..." Jan said,
feeling the
Glock 27. in his secret pocket. It seemed like it was beckoning Jan to use it...
but that
would also endanger Mischa's life. And he didn't want to hurt her.

"You're not in any position to make threats, my boy," said Michael, and for
effect he
roughly yanked Mischa's head back by her long blonde hair. Mischa cried on out
pain,
feeling the gun still pressed to her temple. "One false move and she's dead,
you know
how quick I can react." Michael looked at Mischa, gently touching her soft
skin. "I'm not
usre you could really stop me, Jan, but I've got amuch better plan for the two
of you."
Mischa kept trying to pull away from Michael's touch, but it was no use.
Michael looked
back at Jan. "You see son, I'm only just getting started."

For the first time in Jan's life, he wondered what his mother, and not his
father, would do
in such a situation like this. Then again, perhaps this hadn't happened in
Sydney's years of
being a member of APO.

In a flash, Michael brought the butt of his gun down on Mischa's head,
rendering her
unconscious. He swung his leg out, kicing his son right in hte chest, knocking
him to the
floor. Michael cocked his weapon, and stood over his son, the gun pointed
directly at him.
"Like I said, this is going to be fun," he said, bringing the butt of the gun
down on Jan's
head as well.

Jan was envelopped in a world of darkness.

***********************END OF PART 5****************************************