Title: As You Were

Author: BlueDaze

Distribution: Cover Me

Rating: PG 13 (for some badness)

Summary: You know what they say…life's full of surprises.

Vaughn could not really remember what he had been doing before the sleeping gas had seeped in through the air vents. Probably working on his computer. Probably thinking that he was going to have that drink with Weiss after all.

But it was more likely than not that he was wondering if Sydney Bristow was still alive.

You see, she had been missing for, oh, going on three months. Three months and twenty-nine days, if he was going to be anal about it.

Bottom line is that she was gone. No one knew how or why, only that her car had been found abandoned on the side of highway 180. They were unable to tell if she put up a fight.

It could have been SD6. It could have been the DSR. For all they knew, she could've been abducted by extraterrestrials or that she had decided to drop this life like a hot potato and run away in search of something better. Something real, as she had mentioned to Vaughn so many times before.

Vaughn had interrogated the hell out of Jack, pressing him for any information no matter how scant. But her father knew nothing. Just that she was gone and…her desk at SD6 had been cleared. Sloane had given up all hope of finding her as well.

Her and Sark. It seemed that the night she vanished, was also the same night Sark had disappeared as well. It was everyone's suspicion at SD6 that the two had eloped or some other bullshit explanation like that. The thought made Vaughn's stomach turn. He (thought he) knew that Sydney would never do a thing like that.

Because what they had was special.

Kendall said that Sydney was a clever girl. It would not take a whole lot of effort on her part just to fake her own death. And if she was that desperate to leave this life what were the chances that she wasn't going to try?

Vaughn didn't listen at first. He used up every resource he had to find her but it all resulted in more than dead ends. Sydney seemed to have gone out for milk one day and never returned.

Said three months had passed. Weiss, in his most tactful way, was bugging him to just move on. Dead or alive, he told Vaughn, she has to be in a better place.

Vaughn didn't believe him. For all he knew she was being tortured in a Korean prison or in the nether regions of SD6.

But there were other reasons.

 Vaughn didn't believe him because he missed Sydney. Vaughn didn't believe him because of the small part of him that still needed Sydney Bristow beside him.

Michael didn't believe him because Sydney's smile still haunted his dreams.

I promised her a hockey game.

I told her that it would all be over someday.

That was what he had been thinking before the sleeping gas hit him.

Vaughn came to. His vision was stinging and blurry. He groaned when he felt waves of nausea crash over him. Jesus, was he hung over? He couldn't remember a whole lot except…hey, hadn't he and Weiss been talking about getting drunk afterwards?  Maybe all this was just the evil after effects of binge drinking gone horribly awry. It wouldn't be the first time.

But then he remembered hitting the floor of the operations center.

Vaughn sat up-or at least tried to. "Shit," he muttered after realizing that his hands were tied. He looked around and groaned again.

The entire CIA operations center was in the same predicament as he was. Everyone, including Weiss, Jack, and Kendall, was bound and shaking off the effects of the drug. Something caught the corner of his eye and he managed to twist his body toward Irina. She, too, was tied up. She caught his glance and her stare said it all: can't blame me for this one.

"What the hell is going on?" Weiss said.

"We appear to be held hostage," Kendall said, furious. He looked at Vaughn as if to blame him for the latest disaster. Vaughn glared back.

"By who?" Jack demanded.

As if to answer that question, Gerard Cuvee strolled into the room. Irina let out venomous hiss.

"You."

Cuvee made a sound with his tongue. "My, my Irina. All this time you had me believing that you were a free woman. And it turns out that you were servicing the CIA." He gave a disgustingly knowing smirk. "I guess some things never change."

Irina didn't blink at this blatant insult to her dignity but Jack looked enraged enough to kill.

"Why?" she asked, simply. Cuvee shrugged. "Why not?'

"You see, the Agency has something I need back."

"Rambaldi's flower."

Cuvee nodded in the affirmative. Irina smiled. "Go to Hell, darling," she said, sweetly. "You're never going to get it."

Cuvee grabbed a fistful of Irina's hair and pulled her to him. It looked as though he was going to strike her. Instead his mouth twisted into hard smile. "We'll see," he sneered. And then he kissed her, so severely that it hurt.

Irina twisted her head away and somehow managed to head-butt him. He let out a yell and staggered back. She said something in Russian-a curse, probably- and with contempt, spit where he had been standing.

Cuvee rubbed his forehead and for a minute it really did look as though he were going to hit her. Instead he laughed. "I'm sure you'll come around, Irina." He paused before going on, a look of growing triumph on his face. "After all, your employee did." The look of confusion on her face amused him. "You didn't think I came alone did you?"

They all heard a loud click.

Sark stood in the entrance of the rotunda, hefting a large machine gun, sliding its safety back. He glanced up and grinned at their prisoners. "Hello Irina. Long time, no see."

"We are so screwed," Weiss said, pointlessly. Vaughn found it hard to disagree.

Sark walked forward, still toting the firearm. Vaughn recalled what Sydney had told him once.

With Sark, it's usually shoot now, shoot again, shoot some cows along the way and that's just the warm up. He's not the guy you go to for a fair fight.

Screwed seemed to sum up their situation.

"So this is where you've been hiding yourself the entire time," Sark commented. "I have to say… I expected better accommodations."

"Nathaniel," she whispered. She looked genuinely hurt to see that he and Cuvee were conspiring together. "How-"

"Still, I had my suspicions," Sark told her as though he didn't hear her. "You had left in such a rush…" Suddenly, he dropped his light demeanor. He looked lost and wounded by her betrayal. He carefully leveled his machine gun at her. "You left me. You just left me, Irina, all by myself and I had to go to SD6, to that bastard Sloane…"

"How is Sloane by the way?" Sark asked, his tone becoming casual once again. "I realize that I left without leaving any notice. I hope he was not too upset."

Jack stared at Sark for a long moment. "No. I think he took your disappearance quite well. Perhaps he may have even been a bit relieved."

Sark smiled. "Good to hear. Please give him my regards whenever you should see him again." Vaughn noticed Jack glance at the machine gun and knew that he was indeed wondering if he would survive to see Sloane.

Jack started to speak again. "I believe Arvin was more distressed about Sydney's disappearance than he was about yours." Sark gave him a pointed look. Jack swallowed. "You-you wouldn't happen to know about that. Would you?"

Sark's eyes glazed over. He lowered his gun, remembering. Vaughn knew that if his hands were not tied, he could've taken Sark.

"Sydney…she's gone." He sounded sad about it. He was silent for a moment. Blood thundered in Vaughn's brain.

"She was at the bluffs, wasn't she? She was waiting for someone, someone to come-but he never did. She was very close to the edge…" Sark grinned, an angelic demon.

"Did you kill her?" Vaughn didn't even realize that he had spoken until the words left his dry mouth.

Sark gave a dreaming smile. "I saw her fall. That's all I know." He looked lost once more. "It's all I remember."

Vaughn wasn't sure but he thought he heard Irina sob. In that moment, he knew that he had to survive this. He had to live.

He still had to kill Sark.

Weiss was staring at him, warning him with his eyes not to try anything that would result in suicide. Everyone else in the rotunda was silent, either too petrified to speak or too fascinated by the exchange already taking place.

"Well, now that we have reintroduced ourselves," Cuvee announced, apparently bored with the heightening tension in the room, "Why don't you direct me to your operations lab?"

"Won't do any good," Jack said, almost snarling. "It's already been destroyed."

Cuvee whipped around. "That's a lie," he said, hissing.

"No, it really isn't," Jack said, without pity.

"You destroyed a Rambaldi artifact?"

"You destroyed my family; seemed only fair."

From the look on Cuvee's face, Vaughn was grateful that Sark was the one holding the gun. Nothing would have restrained Cuvee from blasting Jack into oblivion.

On the other hand, Sark was completely unhinged…

Vaughn risked a look at Sark and saw that the destruction of the flower did nothing to faze him. In fact he seemed almost amused that Cuvee seemed on the verge of losing it.

"Well, there goes your plans, huh boss?" Sark said cheerily. "Let's call it a day-"

"Wait," Cuvee commanded. He eyed Jack for a moment. "You must have discovered something in the short time the flower was in your possession. You must have figured our how to use it somehow…"

"Give me your gun," he told Sark.

He sighed, exasperated. "I don't see how that's going to solve anything."

Cuvee snatched the firearm away from Sark. Within moments, he had it aimed at Jack's forehead.

"Tell me what you know," he barked. Jack kept his silent defiance.

"TELL ME!" Cuvee screamed, practically foaming at the mouth.

Jack looked at him, his eyes slowly darkening. "Fuck you."

Cuvee let out freakishly inhuman scream. It echoed around the rotunda and everyone knew that Jack Bristow was dead man. Cuvee's finger tightened on the trigger.

"Wait." It was soft, almost imperceptible request. Cuvee looked at Irina who had just spoken. Her deep brown eyes were pleading.

She never resembled Sydney more than she did in that moment.

"The CIA lab managed to extract fluids from the flower that may hold the key to Rambaldi's endless life. CIA has someone from the Office of Scientific and Weapons Research analyzing it. It's not here."

At this, Cuvee seemed to have calmed down. "Is that a fact?"

He looked at Jack, as though still deciding whether to kill him or not. "Only a senior officer can gain access to the lab," Irina mentioned.

"And where is this lab?"

"It's far…but I can show you. He told me where it was."

Cuvee scrutinized Irina, trying to uncover any hidden motives. Finally, he smiled satisfied. "You always manage to surprise me, Irina."

"Sark, we're leaving. Ms. Derevko is going to show us where the lab is." He swung the machine gun at Jack. "And her husband is going to grant us access." Jack's only response was a cold glare. "Until we leave, I don't want one hostage breaking loose. I am going to notify the others."

With that he tossed Sark the machine gun and left the room.

Irina looked at Sark for a long while, the hurt taking it's time to sink in. "Why Nathaniel?" she asked, sad.

Sark took the time to ponder the gravity of the question. "It's not like any of us have a choice here, Irina. It's not like any of us ever did."

"Did you really kill Sydney?"

"She's gone. That's all you have to know," he replied.

She shook her head, as though still unable to process what was happening. "I don't understand- how can you do such a thing?"

He shrugged. "You know what they say…life's full of surprises."

A musical laugh rang across the room. Everyone started at the sound, unnerved by its gaiety.  Vaughn followed the sound to the entrance of the rotunda, his body automatically bracing him for the worst.

When he saw the figure standing there, he knew the worst had arrived.

Sydney Bristow stood there, half –obscured by shadow, but there was no mistaking her eyes…which were shining with teasing mischief. It was a look he had seen before but at the moment it could not have looked more alien.

She strolled toward Sark, her hands clasped behind her back, deceptively sweet. It was as if she were daring the others to guess what she had hidden.

"Life's boring," she told him, her voice sing-songy. Sark laughed and reached out to embrace her. She cupped his face affectionately. "We're full of surprises."

She looked back at the others and grinned, madly.

"Hey Mom. Hey Dad. It's been a long time." Suddenly, her eyes began to glow with a predatory light. "Did you miss me?"