Author's Note: So if you've seen the series finale of Alias, you know that both Jack and Irina die. Which I am SO not okay with. The two of them can't die so easily. Which is why I wrote the scene from the previous chapter. Basically, Jack and Irina had a plan that puts all of the character inconsistencies found in the series finale into perspective. We finally get our happy ending, folks. Enjoy, and please review!

The Final Hello

Jack slowly opened his eyes to see a pair of concerned bright brown eyes staring at him. He smiled instantly. "Hello," he said simply. His voice was hoarse from disuse.

"Hello," she returned.

A single tear slid down her left cheek. He reached up to wipe it away, but was prevented from doing so by the stitches in his chest. He groaned in pain. She helped him lie back down before administering a small syringe of morphine into his IV. He nodded and sighed in relief.

"You shouldn't move," Irina told him. She lightly ran her hand over his bare chest where the bandages covered his battle wounds.

Jack covered her hand with his, just above his heart. "We had a protocol arranged," he reminded her.

With a sly smile, she leaned over and kissed him, long and lingeringly.

"That's not what I meant, Irina."

"Why not? Is my kiss not definitive proof for you? I can certainly tell it's you, Jack."

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Instead, he just watched her, waiting for her to initiate their security protocol.

Irina sighed and conceded. "How is Isabelle?"

"Sydney reads her favorite poem to her every night."

"Just like we read it to her on her fifth birthday."

"From the first edition book that I brought back from London."

She couldn't help but smile at the happy memory. "Do you want me to recite some of it?"

"Yes, please," Jack replied, echoing her smile.

In a strong, clear voice, she recited the lines of the poem her daughter had once loved so much. "'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: All mimsy were the borogoves, And the mome raths outgrabe."

Jack nodded. They had proved their true identities to one another in the manner they had agreed upon months before. "Did everything go smoothly on your end?"

"Not entirely, but it's all over now. How did it go for you?"

"Well obviously I had a slight hiccup when Sloane shot me."

Irina's eyes darted to his chest. "Three times, I see. Then what happened?"

"Sydney shot him. Twice in the chest, once in the head."

She smiled with pride. "Good for her."

Jack shook his head. "But he didn't die. Turns out Rambaldi figured out immortality."

Her eyes went wide. She obviously knew that the Horizon gave this immortal gift, but she had not expected Sloane to succeed in unlocking it. "So what did you do?"

"I convinced Sydney and Vaughn to go after you, just as we wanted, leaving me for the med-evac team that Dixon sent. As soon I could, I went back down to the tomb, set the explosives, and got out just in time. Sloane should have a nice time under rubble for eternity."

"He really is immortal?" she asked in disbelief.

Jack nodded. "I could hear him shouting after the dust cleared."

"Bozhe moy," Irina whispered in awe.

He regarded her carefully. "Irina?"

"No need to worry, sweetheart. No more Rambaldi. Sydney fulfilled her prophecy. It's all over now," she assured him.

"And how did that go?"

"We were expecting Sydney and Vaughn, of course."

"We?"

"Sark and I."

"Sark?" Jack asked with an angry tone.

Irina smiled. "Even when his allegiance was in question, he was always under my orders. Julian Sark has always and will always work for me. I will never doubt his loyalty."

"How can you be so sure?"

"I found him many years ago when he was only a young boy. An uncle of mine divulged to me that he had fathered a son who could grow up to be a great man if given the right guidance. I recruited and trained Sark myself. He would be dead many times over if it weren't for me. So he is the only one who I never lie to. He is a good asset to have," she explained.

"Lazarey was your uncle?" Jack asked in surprise. Why didn't the CIA know that?

Irina nodded. "My mother's brother of sorts. As I'm sure you know, being an expert in my file, my mother was orphaned in the October Revolution and never knew her real family. She was raised in a Soviet orphanage and Lazarey was one of the children she grew up with. He was always very close with my family, but never in any sort of official capacity. Which is why no one would ever know the connection between us."

"So Sark has been under your thumb the entire time?"

She nodded once more. "And will continue to be. He's terribly useful. He intercepted Dixon's call for a med-evac for you, which is how Sark was able to send in the team with this convenient mobile operating room. They told me you were unconscious when they found you. Blood loss."

"I'm not surprised. Getting shot three times and nearly blown up will do that."

Irina's eyes welled up with tears again. She turned away from him.

Jack took her hand in his. "What's the matter?"

She looked back at him reluctantly. "Those ten years we were married, I used to have nightmares that something like this would happen to you. Even when I had a mission to carry out, I was always worried about your safety. When Sark told me he had to send the surgical team, it was like my nightmare coming true. I didn't know if you were going to live, Jack. I didn't know if I would get to see you again."

"You should know by now that it's going to take more than Arvin Sloane to kill me, especially with so much at stake." He smiled, trying to allay her fears. This was a time to rejoice. They were finally together and finally free. Jack opened his mouth to say something else but closed it again, looking around the room.

"Do you need something?" she asked.

He looked back at her, the slightest bit sheepishly. "I'd like to kiss you again, but you told me not to move. Would you mind?"

Irina laughed, actually laughed, for the first time she could remember. "I think I can manage." She leaned in and kissed him, much more passionately than the last time. It was somewhat difficult, trying to avoid his injuries. He seemed not to mind, however, and pulled her closer to him. Eventually, however, she put a little too much pressure on his chest and he grimaced under her kiss. She stood up immediately. "I'm sorry. Perhaps that's all we should do for now."

Jack's eyes twinkled. "Pity. You've already got me on my back, all ready to go."

She shook her head at him with a smile. "You're incorrigible. Let's get to my safe house, shall we?"

"I assume you have a way to transport me somewhere."

"The medical team was instructed to leave before I got here so there would be no witnesses to our little escape into the anonymity that death has so conveniently provided us, so I'll be driving us up past the Russian border to my house in the forest." Irina stood up and limped to the front of the transport.

Jack noticed and immediately asked with slight alarm, "What happened to you?"

"Our daughter stabbed me in the leg with a shard of glass. I suppose it's my own fault, for baiting her the way I did."

"It was all part of the plan, Irina. You said you didn't mind being made the villain."

"And I don't, since it means we have the world to ourselves now. But I was a bit impressed with Sydney. I had years to recover after giving birth before going back into the field doing the kind of things she's been doing, not six months after Isabelle was born."

Jack smiled. "I'm glad you've noticed what I've always known. Our daughter is incredible."

"Yes she is. And now she's just as free as we are. She and Vaughn can go and have a dozen more children, and they never have to hear the name Rambaldi or Irina Derevko ever again." She looked back at Jack and noticed a strange sentimental look in his eyes. "I know you'll miss her. You've had much more of a relationship with both of my daughters than I ever got to. But I think it all worked out."

She was right, Jack knew. His relationship with Sydney had never been better. For so long, his whole life was consumed by trying to protect her the best way he could, and now it would be years before he would see his beloved daughter again. And both Sydney and Nadia missed out on a relationship with their mother for a myriad of reasons. They would never get that time back, and he knew that a part of Irina would always regret it. But the two of them had finally worked together and achieved exactly what they wanted: Sydney and her family were safe, and he and Irina could share their lives the way they always wanted.

Irina decided to leave him to his thoughts. "You rest. It's time we made our move. It will be a few hours before we get through the Russian border. Longer, depending on patrol movements."

"Irina," he called out to her before she could start the engine.

She poked her head back into the room. "Yes?"

"I love you."

She couldn't help the wide grin that spread over her face. "I love you, too. Now get some rest."

The drive to the safe house was smooth and easy. No complications to speak of, for which Irina was eternally grateful. After her fight with Sydney, the fall through the glass to where she and Sark had hidden the foam mat underneath the faux tile floor, the quick patch job she did on Sark after he had been shot by Vaughn, and the long trip from Hong Kong to Mongolia, it had been quite a day. All she wanted now was to curl up in bed with Jack and get some much needed rest.

Jack had recovered enough strength to hobble from the transport vehicle into the house with Irina's aide. He didn't like having to lean on her like this when she herself was injured, but he was well aware that she had been through worse. They went straight into the bedroom, though not for the usual reason. She helped him get comfortable in bed, then took a quick shower, eliminating the last of the blood and glass and grime from her body. Jack was asleep when she crawled into bed beside him. She watched his chest rise and fall beneath the bandages.

"You don't have to watch me like that." His voice cut through the darkness, startling her slightly.

"Yes I do," she countered. "I still can't believe that we really did it, that we can be together without one of us knowing that we eventually have to say goodbye."

Jack reached out and caressed her cheek. "I know. It seems a little too good to be true. We get to be together forever."

"Forever," she echoed with a breathy sigh. "It won't be long enough."

"It never is, sweetheart."

Irina kissed his cheek and snuggled close to him, resting her head on his shoulder, careful not to disturb his wounds. They fell asleep together, knowing that their dream of forever was at last real and beckoning them wherever they chose to take it.

The End

Author's Note2: I hope you liked this story even half as much as I liked writing it! Also, I have a standalone epilogue planned, so look out for it if you're interested! Thanks so much for your support of my story and my obsessive love of these characters. :)