Author's Note: First of all a big thank you to DianeM for beta reading this story, in addition to the amazing amount of punctuation correction she's also identified British only expressions that I'd used without realising. So a huge thank you to her. Also, a huge thank you to jbird and emmaloufudge for their reviews. I don't write for the reviews but they certainly are very nice. As always if something isn't understandable or you think there's some other problem with the story please let me know, I'd like to improve. Now on with the story. Enjoy!

The Sloane Residence

One Week Later

'So much could go wrong with this,' Sydney thought. In another life being invited to dinner at her boss's house would have been an amazing opportunity, a chance to impress him and get ahead in her career. In another life, though, she wouldn't have manipulated her boss's dying wife to get the invitation, and she certainly wouldn't be planning to break into his safe to steal part of a priceless manuscript. In another life she wouldn't be a spy whose cover was a loan officer for a bank, or a double agent whose goal it was to bring down her boss to get justice for a dead fiancé. Another life would be a little simpler, less chance of things to go wrong and end in her death and the death of everyone she cared about. As if sensing her doubt, her phone rang.

"Hello, it's Francie." Despite herself, Sydney smiled hearing Vaughn's voice at the other end. Vaughn was her CIA handler and in many ways the guardian angel she'd once jokingly called him.

"It's Francie," Sydney told Will, who nodded in understanding. Will was someone who would be hurt if this went wrong. He wasn't part of her insane life, he was just a reporter and a good friend. She never should have let her guilt help Emily persuade her to bring a friend. "I'm sorry I have to take this," she apologised to her boss, Sloane. She was committed to the plan now.

"Francie's a friend who's having a hard time right now," Will explained as Sydney hurried out of the dining room towards Sloane's office. She put her cell in her pocket and pulled out her safecracking equipment. She'd feel a lot more confident using a Flinkman special, but the CIA issue would have to do. She dropped the paperclip bug into a mug on Sloane's desk, which held pens and other small miscellaneous office equipment, and set to work.

"How's it going?" Sydney whirled round, relieved to see her father, Jack Bristow, standing there holding a new bottle of wine.

"Almost done," Sydney told him. As if to prove her right, the safe clicked unlocked at that moment. She pulled open the door and turned back to Jack in shock. "The manuscript's gone." From another corner of the house a loud crash sounded and Sydney exchanged a worried glance with Jack. He went off to investigate the noise and she quickly erased any evidence that she was there. She was halfway down the corridor from the study when Sloane rounded the corner up ahead.

"What was that?" Sydney asked, trying to calm her rapidly beating heart. If she'd been just a few seconds slower, she would have been caught and with the manuscript missing completely, instead of the one page that she had been planning on taking and substituting with a counterfeit, and that would have been very bad.

"A broken window," Sloane said, not slowing his stride at all as he headed to the study. Sydney followed him. He didn't head towards the safe; instead he went to his computer and tapped a few keys. "The security system has been turned off."

"Sydney, Arvin," Jack shouted. Sydney turned and ran in the direction of her father's voice. He was in the dining room bending over an unconscious Will.

"Will," Sydney cried, rushing to her friend's side. She felt his pulse, which was strong and steady. Something had knocked him over the back of his head, and he was bleeding.

"Have you seen Emily?" Jack asked, standing up, his eyes taking in the scene and looking for anything out of place.

"What about Emily? What's happened?" Sloane demanded, striding into the dining room.

"I just found Mr. Tippin unconscious. I don't know what happened to him or where Emily is," Jack told him. Sloane paled slightly, turned and left the room, presumably to search for his wife. Jack looked back at Sydney and Will; he had a bad feeling about this.

FBI Headquarters

The Same Time

"You're here late." Don Eppes smiled as he walked into the breakroom and found Liz Warner, his girlfriend and sometimes colleague, pouring a cup of coffee.

"I could say the same, Eppes," Liz retorted, moving over slightly so Don could get to the coffee machine but would still have to invade her personal space.

"The report on the explosion at Mason's came in," Don explained. Mason blowing himself up hadn't seemed right, but it turned out not to be anything suspicious, just a faulty grenade that he'd probably planned to throw in their direction, not worth wasting anymore time on. The gang he'd just outfitted with weapons was worth pursuing. However, it had been two weeks and there'd been no sign of them, which was troubling. It meant either they'd caused trouble somewhere and the FBI hadn't heard about it, or they were still biding their time, which meant when they eventually attacked it would be on a big scale. The team was still working on the case, but the trail was well and truly cold, so they were also working other cases until a new lead surfaced.

"So, you about ready to head home?" Don asked her, giving her his patented smile.

"I think the rest of my paperwork can wait till tomorrow,"

The Sloane Residence

10pm - 1 Hour Missing

"What have we got?" Samantha Spade asked. She'd been shot a month ago, a drop had gone bad and she'd been caught in a hostage situation. However, after two weeks of intensive physiotherapy her limp was barely noticeable, so it was time to get back to work.

"Good to have you back, Samantha," Danny Taylor smiled. He'd been worried about her but she seemed to be fine. "Emily Sloane, 52 years old, housewife, appears to have been abducted."

"Motive?" Samantha let her eyes drift across the scene. She didn't realise until her eyes found him that she'd been looking for him - Jack Malone, her boss, her friend, her ex-lover, the man she still loved despite it being over and the man who saved her life a month ago. "Be back soon," he'd said, but she hadn't seen him for days, not until the team as a whole came to visit. She knew then without being told that Barry had got to him, that he'd gone back to his wife. There was no other reason why he wouldn't have been to visit.

"Her husband, Arvin Sloane, is the CEO of Credit Dauphine, an investment bank based downtown." Danny told her. He followed her gaze and decided to ignore her preoccupation; her confusion was perfectly valid, after all.

"Ransom?" Jack finished his interview and turned. His eyes met hers for a long moment before he turned and walked over to a young man holding an ice pack to his head.

"Probably, Jack's just finished interviewing the husband and he might know more."

"I'm just going to…" Samantha gestured vaguely which could have meant any kind of direction and headed for Jack. Danny shook his head and headed for the NYPD officer at the door.

"This is a complete waste of time," Sloane fumed; next to him Jack Bristow was as calm as ever. "Our people should be on this."

"Our people are on this," Jack said calmly, "but appearances must be upheld, if . . ."

"The reporter," Sloane cut him off and glared darkly in Will's direction.

"Mr. Tippin's presence here tonight, given events, is unfortunate," Jack allowed. Whatever else he was going to say was stopped by the ringing of Sloane's cell phone. Everybody stopped and looked at him.

Sloane took a deep breath to regain his poise before he answered, "Yes." Whatever, the person on the other end said shook him. Given his audience, he was extra careful to maintain his calm demeanour, but Jack Bristow had known Arvin Sloane for almost thirty years and knew him better than most. "I understand," Sloane said as he stared at his phone for a moment before he returned it to his pocket.

"Mr. Sloane." Jack Malone walked tiredly back over to the MP's husband. It was all going wrong. A month ago he'd gone back to his wife and begged for a second chance. He hadn't expected it to be easy, but he hadn't expected it to be this hard. It seemed Maria's terms for taking him back were to make his life as difficult as possible and to blame him for everything. If he tried to fight, she'd always end the argument by bringing up his affair and how he'd traded his life for his mistress.

That was actually mostly why he was having trouble sleeping. He was feeling guilty over not having gone to visit Sam more, a foreign emotion in regards to her, though he certainly should have had cause to feel it before because it was just all so easy with her. Now, on top of everything he had this case. Usually a work case would be a welcome respite but Sam was now back at work and however relieved he was at that prospect, it would make Maria worse. He also had to deal with what he predicted was going to turn out to be the most uncooperative family member ever. "Who was that on the phone? Was it a ransom demand?"

"No," Sloane replied simply. "It was a colleague of mine from London." Sloane met Jack Bristow's eyes to ensure his meaning wasn't lost. "A business matter, nothing important."

"If a ransom demand is received, rest assured, Agent Malone, you will be the first person we call," Jack lied. He doubted they'd call the FBI at all. "Now, if you'll excuse us. It's been a long evening and I think my friend should get some rest. If you're all finished."

"I don't believe the techs have finished yet," Jack Malone said, more to be obstructive than anything else. He truly had no idea whether they were done or not. They might well be, since there wasn't much to process. There were no obvious signs of forced entry apart from the broken window, which didn't look like it had been used to enter or exit. It was all very odd.

"They're finished," Jack Bristow stated coolly. While being less than perfectly cooperative with the FBI was probably not the best strategic move, he didn't think Arvin could take much more. He was irritated enough as it was. Also, he himself was impatient to find out why the Alliance was calling. "My daughter Sydney will show you out."

"Very well," Jack Malone agreed through gritted teeth. He turned smartly on his heel and began ordering everybody out.

Jack Bristow looked over to Sydney and nodded once to let her knew she was in charge now, before he followed Arvin to his study. He quietly clicked the door shut behind him. "What did Christophe want?"

Arvin looked up at Jack from where he was sitting, looking defeated, in his office chair. "Emily's somehow found out about my work for SD-6. They want me to kill her, Jack."

Jack frowned slightly in confusion, "They want you to kill her? Christophe wasn't calling to inform you of security sections action?"

"No. The Alliance won't believe this, Jack. They'll think that I somehow anticipated their order. What am I going to do?" Sloane asked. Jack didn't answer, thinking furiously about the best move he could make here. He felt sorry for Arvin, as they had been friends for a long time, but his first loyalty here wasn't to his friend, it was to the CIA. The move he made had to be the most advantageous to them. While he was thinking, Sloane stood and walked over to the safe, which caught Jack's attention. While the theft was almost certainly connected, Arvin didn't need more bad news tonight.

"No." The exclamation of outrage and disbelief was more heartfelt than Jack would have believed. He'd realised over the past few months that Sloane was getting more and more interested with Rambaldi. That was certainly the direction where the majority of SD-6's resources seemed to be moving. Perhaps, though, he'd underestimated how entranced Arvin was becoming. One thing was sure - he'd have a lot to report to his handler tomorrow.