I love this story. :D It's cool and I love how you portray Irina. Keep up the good work! :)

This is really well written and fits perfectly into the storyline. :) I've read several fanfics describing the perspective of Irina, but I think this is probably the most accurate portrayal of her feelings and the events that made her the hardened woman she was during the Clue hunt.

Sad, but I like it

Oh my goodness, that was amazing! The angst is so...angsty, and I like your use of brackets and time skips (and the somewhat awkward exchange with Fiske, of course).

I read this a few days ago and forgot to review. " My reviewing skills are really low now. T-T But I'll try my best.

'You're Irina Spaskaya'

I thought her last name was Spasky? I did some research on it, and I couldn't find Spaskaya. e.O Maybe it's just me or...?

And, without a trace, she fades away.

Brilliant.

Your author note at the end, helped. :) Hah, there's nothing I can really say that's original. Muse took up all the criticism and all the other reviewers took the praise. This is a marvelous story, and I enjoyed every minute of it. You've really captured Irina's character and this was sufficient for my - how do I say it? - thirst? - of reading about minor characters. Some parts were a bit rushed, but all in all, it flowed really well. Much better than anything I can write, obviously. ;)

Well, done, Joyce. I'll now go to review your other fics.

-Alexis

*author alerted

Yay! I get a cookie for not skimming! -steals cookie- Anyways... CONGRATS! THAT WAS AWESOME! Excellent IC portrayal of Irina, especially near the end. The whole life story was really believable too. I LOVED IT!

Thank you for your explanatory A/N, Joyce. It helps muchly.

I loved the beginning. The first few moments were very well written, I think- and there doesn't seem to be much that needs commenting on. Besides the overall feelings of "ILOVETHIS."

/She hates school beginning in her tenth grade./

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say here- did you mean that Irina didn't hate school until tenth grade, or did you just mean to say that she specifically hated school in tenth grade? Because she has hated school before, prior to meeting Nadia, I believe.

/punches her on the side./

I've never punched someone on the side. I think I could punch someone in the side, though, if I wanted to.

/"Zdravstvujtye?"/

What a wonderful word.

/After a quick glance, she decides that the window is the best escape. She opens the windows and climbs through./

First, "windows" probably shouldn't be plural the second time, as it was singular before. However, I think you should just not include the word there... But then, in the sentence after:

/She turns around to close it, but it's locked from the outside./

There, I would probably say "window" instead of "it" again after changing the window from before. But... I don't even get how you can't close it if it's locked from the outside. O_O You just shut it, and it's already locked. Whoop. No problem.

Formulating. Forging. She likes to create things with the letter F. :P Haha, just kidding, Joyce- it's fine. And funny. More words that start with the same letter. (:

/She easily blends in, and she isn't the star student or athlete or pretty much anything./

A touch of awkward phrasing there, as well as a pinch of contradiction. Didn't you mention that she was always the best at pole vaulting? I distinctly remember her always winning first, but just not caring because her father wasn't there. {The idiot. Why wouldn't you go see something cool like pole vaulting?} So she would be seen as more of the athlete, yes? Maybe only known as "crazy spazy pole vaulting lady", but that's at least it isn't "not anything."

The next section... I don't know. It just seemed odd that he tells her at a party. And what is even more strange is the fact that he asks for an alliance when they're already family, and shouldn't exactly need an alliance...

And I've noticed that you certainly like to use "deadpan" instead of "said" an awful lot.

That was not a deadpan moment for Isabel. That was a said moment for Isabel. Deadpanning is being like, "Duh" or "I don't care" or "I'm sarcastic." It is not "I want you to work for me so that I can manipulate people because I am so evil mwa ha ha ha." Do not use deadpan every time you can. It is a fun word to use when describing the tone of someone, but you're starting to use it in the wrong place, and it makes me sad. ):

The snapshot when Nikolai is born. When Viktor and Irina break up. It's... Oh, maybe it was just the first time that I read it that it seemed a bit off. How silly I am.

OHMYGOODNESSHEHADBREASTCANCER. JUSTLIKEHERMOTHER. Aha. I feel so SMART.

I'm loving the dramaticness of this...

He's dead, Irina. Irina, he's dead. He's DEAD, Jim- I mean, Irina...

/The clue hunt officially begins when Grace dies./

I disagree. I think it officially began when Gideon died. Grace simply "started" the clue hunt with her will because of Amy and Dan. Irina may not know about the Amy and Dan part, but you'd think she'd know about Gideon's death and the beginning there, especially because she made the silly alliance with Vikram...

Good assessments, Irina. What a smart, sneaky person. EXCEPT.

When she bumps into the Holts, things start to not make sense. I mean, overall, yes, but I just would have written it differently.

/Just when she's about to leave,/

That gives us the impression that she has the detonator in place, hence why she is leaving. But no, big Holt sees it, and demands she hand it over. Meaning it cannot be in place. So why was she leaving?

Again, the assessments are good of the Holts, but really, they're obvious. Like, duh- let them do it, she won't get caught, they won't beat her up. It's quick, like you said, but I just think you should also add easy. Because it is.

/"Sure," she says/

That's not a thing I picture Irina saying. Honestly, I would picture Irina pretending to consider, pretend to give in, say "Fine," reluctantly, and then run of with a sly smile.

/Eisenhower places it just around the corner. The family marches away, military style, and Irina scoffs./

Wow, he actually seems like an idiot there. Like, he REALLY does.

butthenbutthenbutthen things get moar ahqward. Yes, it's good that Fiske approaches her- drawing in the whole man in black siting from the book. However, the dialogue is SO FREAKISHLY AWKWARD. {And somehow, it seems as if they're in the middle of the room in plain sight where everyone can see them, even though I know they're not... Gah.}

But then. It's like... Really, I just don't think Irina and Fiske would say that. It's too easy. Too awkward. Too weird. Would you mind me writing how I think it would go? I hope not.

"Fiske," she hisses. "What are you doing here?"

"I would ask the same of you," he replies.

She is silent, not wanting to admit that the detonator is really hers, knowing that he is Grace's brother...

"You are here to protect them," the realizes. Then, coldly, she glares at him. "Do not interfere, old man. You will regret it."

"I don't believe I will," he says. "But perhaps you might..." And he disappears into the shadows.

/the end. Now, I understand that you didn't want it to be too long, and you wanted Irina to pretend she had nothing to do with the detonator, but Fiske isn't that thick. And... I didn't really get the reference to 21 Years. I mean, I did, but I didn't, because she was married to another guy and had Nikolai with him. So. It's nice that Fiske confronts her, and everything, but it's not a real connection.

/After spying on them for so long, she realizes that/

I think that was a tad rushed. In fact, I think that adding "and" right before that would improve it. Funny what one word can do.

I think the rest is excellent, though. Especially the last two lines- oh, those were perfect. I wonder if you had that at the very beginning, knowing that THAT was EXACTLY how you would end it, or if you agonized over the ending for weeks and weeks... Or maybe it just happened.

BUT I REALLY LIKE THOSE TWO LINES. LIKE, A LOT. (:

Now, this review is long enough already. Okay. DONE. Yay for Summer an Sy, you wonderful peoples you, and I liked the times you purposefully rushed things.

Overall, this was very bittersweet, and that is my favorite genre. (:

I love this story, and it breaks my heart. Irina was always my favorite chara, even more when she died, even if I know so many people who hate or don't like her. Thanks for writing this, you're truly awesome!

I love it! Irina is my fav person dude I lve this story

Hiya, Joyce! [Sorry, for the late review! "]

Wow, this is truly amazing, Joyce. Since September? [That's the month I joined ff xD] Well, it's worth it. It's an AWESMAZING piece. :)

I love how you captured a whole life's story in just a one-shot. *claps like a giddy school girl*

I almost cried at the end. D': I know, I'm weird... *sniffs*

To clear this review up: This is an AWESMAZING! piece you just wrote. This is one worthy fic that can be in this archive. And you portrayed Irina perfectly. :) Congratulations! ;D

~Kaye

September? O_o But it was certaintly worth it, because this was really good. Im sure Jos proud of you for adding Irina/Fiske. This was certaintly worth twenty minutes of my time. Going to my favorites!

Wonderful. Maybe it's just the fact that it's almost midnight, but I can't find any mistakes. It's just... wonderful. Perfect grammar and spelling, perfectly in-character.

And you get extra brownie points for the Irina/Fiske reference. I love you for using that. D

*claps like a hysterical mother at her 5-year-old daughter's talent show*

*ends clapping*

That was beautiful, Joyce! I loved everything about it - the plot, the grammar, the spelling, the ending, the ICness, the emotion incorporated into this story - everything. Each and every aspect of your story was executed perfectly (props to Sy and Summer for the amazing beta'ing job they did.)

All the snapshots of Irina's life, to me, sort of flowed with such a liquidity and made me get this fuzzy feeling in the inside.

As of now, I don't really have /that/ much of CC since the others already pointed a few thing out. But, I still have to say something, right? -.-

Well, I guess the only thing that really bothered me was the fact that the beginning started out a little bit like the inspiration for this story (Yesterday's Feeling by dnrl, right?). But, that's all. :) I still loved this.

Continue writing, Joyce! This world needs it.

~Jamie's Dream~

P.S. Favorited.

I loved it. I usually don't read fanfics about anything other than Amy and Dan and Ian and Natalie, but this caught my eye. I read it and it was amazing. Kudos to you for a wonderful story.

Amazing. Truly amazing, Joyce. An astounding piece.

~"out of the Mrs. Ponomarev's pencil case"

It would be better without the 'the'.

But that's it. I really liked this. I liked the brief snapshots. All those matched up with the book, too. It's so believable, I wouldn't be surprised if Irina's real background the authors of the 39 Clues had in mind was similar to this.

And, of course, the touch you mentioned in the author's note, with the blurred memory, was a great addition to an already brilliant story.