Title: I'm Your Villain
Author: Diabolikal Rapture / Britt
Summary: After Sark's escape Sydney is determined tofind himand return him to CIA custody.
Disclaimer: Don't own Alias.
A/N: First attempt at some Sarkney, requested by qblisa, so I hope you like this! Takes place after 4x09 Man of His Word. Title taken from the song by Franz Ferdinand. Please R&R. / Britt
I'm Your Villain
Sydney stared at her computer, the glow of the screen illuminating her as she continued to run through the events of the past week. Sark's escape ate at her, gnawed at her mind as she wondered whether there was more they could have done, more she could have done to prevent his escape. Sure things had ultimately gone her way; the bomb had been secured, Anna had been detained, and she and Nadia had managed to survive the predictions of the prophecy...but still...it was always the one that got away that always seemed to overshadow any kind of accomplishment.
What seemed to annoy her even more was Sark himself, his cocky attitude, and sudden changes that had been brought about by months of solitary confinement. Sure Sark had kept his word, but his word meant little to her. His objectives were never clear, and his loyalties could never be predicted. Sydney wondered if he even had an employer now, seeing as the CRF had all but dissolved, whether he'd completely abandoned the Covenant, or whether or not he had found himself a new player to work for. Regardless of the identity of the employer, one thing and one thing only seemed to ring true regardless of the circumstances... Sark operated for no one but himself.
Syd frowned. It was easy enough to imagine Sark's capture; the harsh reality was that it'd be difficult to set in motion. He was smart, he could sense traps and he wouldn't willingly walk into them. Sark wouldn't make it easy for her, and who knew how long it'd be before an opportunity presented itself. All she could do was wait...
Sark slipped into the room shrouded in darkness as he inched closer inside. He'd found out that the room wasn't secured in any way other than a lock, but he still felt weary of some kind of alarm system. Something of such high secrecy wouldn't normally be left open to intruders. He stood from his crouching position as he removed his night-vision goggles and turned on his torch. He shone it over the interior of the mausoleum. It looked exactly as it had the first time he'd visited her there.
Sark turned towards the southern wall, to the screen that held her remains. He snorted. He still couldn't believe that they kept her here. The respect they held for the dead seemed so hypocritical. The body of an agent was given such an elaborate funeral, a memorial, a hero's send off. And there behind that screen she laid…no such burial for her. But he was going to make sure that she received the burial she deserved. Sark crouched once more and reached towards the screen and felt himself hesitate before pressing the button that he'd witnessed Vaughn press not long before. The light shone green as the screen unlocked, and the drawer slowly began to open. He took a step back and stared down at the drawer, preparing himself for what had to be done next.
Last time viewing her body had been more for his amusement, to see Vaughn's reaction, to toy with him. It had been hard then to view see her, to come to realize that she was dead, that Vaughn had killed her, but this time it would be so much more difficult for him to bare. This time there weren't CIA agents surrounding him, watching him, monitoring his reaction. This time he was on his own, left in the silent and dark room with nothing but his emotions and her dead body. He drew in a breath before lifting the lid off of the drawer. He knelt down and stared at the body bag for what seemed like an eternity. He fought with himself, first reaching for the zipper then quickly pulling his hand away. He'd seen her body before, he really didn't want to see it again. But Sark's better judgment took over his emotions, and he knew that he had to view the body and be sure that it was the body of Lauren Reed that he was going to steal. He reached for the zipper again, this time pulling it down in one swift motion, revealing her pale face to him.
Sark looked away as he re-zipped the bag and signaled his employees. Two light sources approached from outside, the light dancing around the room with the movement of the men. He took a step back as they moved towards the open drawer and lifted her body rather carelessly. He kept quiet as they moved past him. They waited for him outside as he finished his other objectives for the night and returned the room to its original state.
Soon they were in their vehicle and driving towards their next destination. Everything had gone according to plan, and who knew how long it would be before the body was noticed to be missing? The CIA didn't want anyone to know of Lauren's death…at least that was their so-called reason for hiding her body from the public. But Sark knew that that wasn't it. Whatever their intentions had been, they were destroyed now. He smirked. Giving Lauren peace was his main objective, but making Agent Vaughn suffer was just the constellation prize for his actions. Sark tried to picture his face upon hearing the news of Lauren's disappearance. He only wished he could witness his reaction first hand. He sighed. He couldn't get everything he wanted...but he'd sure try.
"I just don't understand how it could be gone..." Vaughn continued to ramble on as he and Sydney drove towards the mausoleum. It continued to bore into him, the idea that her body was out there somewhere, God knows where, and more than likely with Sark. The very thought of that man's named raised Vaughn's continued to elevate his anger levels.
"We should have known he'd come back for her." Sydney had tried to console him since they'd received news of the kidnapping of his wife's body, but nothing she said helped.
"Why wasn't there higher security? We practically opened the door for him and handed her his body ourselves." He couldn't help but feel that this could have been prevented...it hurt so much because he knew that he could have been stopped. Vaughn had put in a request to have her body moved after Sark's visit, but those things take time to process, and it hadn't been long since that visit. The CIA had facilitated it all for Sark...but it would be Vaughn who brought him back into custody, whether his actions were under protocol or not.
Sydney pulled into the curb before following Vaughn to the mausoleum. She hadn't been there before, sure she'd offered to go with Vaughn and Sark, but her offer had been declined. She could only imagine what had happened within that tiny room as Sark forced Vaughn to view Lauren's body. They both moved through the crowd of agents already at the scene before finally entering the site. Vaughn stared down at the drawer, now open and empty. The agent on-site stepped forward to greet them.
"Agent Vaughn, Agent Bristow," he nodded towards them as he shook their hands. "Fingerprints on the side of the drawer confirm that it was Julian Sark who...removed...the body from its resting place." He paused, monitoring Vaughn's reaction to the situation. Everyone knew of his relationship with Lauren, and everyone knew to tread carefully. "There's something you need to see...the drawer wasn't completely empty..." He trailed off as he left them for a moment before returning with a small envelope in his hand.
Vaughn took the envelope from his hand as he and Sydney looked down at it. Sark had been kind enough to leave a note behind. She was half-expecting it to be one of those "I O U" notes...Vaughn pulled out the piece of card from within and flipped it over to find a message. It simply read:
Even in death you couldn't hold onto her.
Vaughn tightly clenched his jaw as he tried to control his anger. He'd wanted to kill Sark more now than he ever had before. He swallowed his emotions, determined not to show his colleagues, or Sydney how the entire situation affected him. But unbeknownst to Vaughn, Sark had witnessed that clenching of the jaw so characteristic of anger, and he smiled as he knew he'd gotten to Vaughn, even with something as simple as a piece of card.
Vaughn left the mausoleum with Sydney close behind.
"Vaughn, we'll find him, and we'll get her back."
"Yeah, we will. But we can't wait for them," he said as he gestured towards the agents around them.
Sydney frowned as she watched him take out his cell phone and dial, giving her no time to question what he meant by that. She wanted Sark in custody more than anyone, but something in Vaughn's voice told her that he wanted Sark as much as she did...but probably not to take back into custody. She snapped out of her thoughts as Vaughn began to speak into the phone.
"Has the tracking device been activated?"
Thanks for reading, hope you liked it. I will try to update ASAP. Also want to say that I'm very anti-Lark, but I just needed to have some kind of moment with Sark before continuing on,and I know there's little Sarkney right now but I'm heading towards it, promise/ Britt