Hello again,

Here we go, chapter 6. Skaters, you'll like the end of this chapter, and the next one will be even better! Sorry this took so long, it's been a really busy week with classes and stuff.

As always, thanks SO much for your reviews, they're what keep me writing chapter after chapter! And the coffees from Starbucks, of course, but reviews are so much better! Thank you.

X's, and O's endless always,

Kate

Sydney sat in the big leather chair in Sloane's office, waiting for him to say something, anything. But he was silent. She hated the way he kept pacing around the room, never saying a word. Thoughts kept rushing into her head, turning into crazy ideas. What if he knew she had helped Kate escape? What if he knew what she had been doing all this time? What if-

"Sydney, we need to discuss your mission on the Austen case."

Syd's heart beat faster. "Yes." She couldn't say any more.

"We still don't know how the girl escaped. Amazing, really. Not many hostages escape from this place."

Syd closed her eyes at the knowing tone in his voice. "Amazing," she echoed.

"So you'll understand," Sloane continued, "why we need our top agents on this case." He stopped, resting a stiff hand on the back of Sydney's chair. Syd tried to keep from shuddering at how close he was. "I need you to take this mission, Sydney. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Sydney squeezed her hands together as a cold shiver ran down her spine. "Thank you, sir," she said stiffly.

"Sydney, Sydney," he chorused. "Always so formal. After we've known each other for so long, don't you think it's about time you called me by my name?"

Sydney forced a small smile. "When do you want me to go over there?" she asked briskly, changing the subject.

Sloane gave her a look, noticing how nervous she seemed. She didn't move.

"How about Thursday? We'll have a meeting to go over everything, and then send you on your way? All right?"

Sydney nodded, full of anger. Now that she knew everything, it was even harder to sit silently alone in this room with the one person who she knew she had to destroy.

"You know, Sydney," he leaned over the desk to look her in the eye, "if there's anything you want to tell me, you can."

"Thank you," she replied firmly. "But I'm fine."

"All right then," he said, still holding her trapped in his imposter's smile. "That's all."

Later Sydney burst through the door of her apartment, still fuming. The first thing she heard was loud, bright laughter. She smiled softly, all the bad thoughts in her head melting away. She was home.

She found Will in the kitchen, making what appeared to be a pizza. He was tossing the dough over his head, covering himself in a cloud of flower. Kate was there, her brown locks now turned gray. She was almost like a different person. She was almost happy.

"Hi," Syd called, forgetting about the fact that her kitchen had disappeared into a pile of white dust.

"Hey," Will said. He tossed a handful of flour in Syd's hair. "Sorry, too tempting," he teased.

"You're cleaning that up," she said to Will, shaking the flour out of her hair as best she could. "Hey," she said to Kate, who was staring out the window with a faraway look. Kate smiled softly. "Hi."

"I'm gonna go for a run," Syd said, kicking off her heels and searching under the couch for her old, worn sneakers.

Kate's head perked up. "Can I come?"

Syd nodded, surprise in her voice. "Hang on, come with me for a sec, I'll find some shoes for you."

Kate followed Syd into Syd's small bedroom, where she was searching through her closet. She tossed Kate a pair of worn, old sneakers that must have already run a thousand miles. Kate pulled them on, tugging the laces tight. Syd reached into her purse, digging around for a moment before she found a white bracelet.

"Sorry, you'll have to wear this," she tossed it to Kate. "It's a tracker, you can't leave the house without it."

"I'm not gonna run," Kate reached out to hand it back.

"I thought that was the idea," Syd snapped back.

Kate glared at Syd again before she finally clipped the bracelet around her small wrist.

The California sun beamed down on them, and Kate breathed in all the light. She almost forgot everything, the way she had had to become someone else all her life, the heavy white plastic around her wrist. She almost, for the first time she could remember, felt free.

This was what she lived for, the freedom of running. She felt like she could fly, she felt unstoppable, like she could accomplish anything. She had always told herself that she was born to run, but it was a lie. She was born to be free.

They stopped under a tree, its branches protecting them from the powerful rays of the sun. Kate took a deep breath as she stared out into the endless ocean.

Syd grabbed her water bottle out of her bag. "Four miles," she said, throwing it to Kate.

Kate nodded, eagerly gulping down half the bottle as she finally caught her breath. She dug the toe of her shoe deep into the dirt. Four miles. She remembered running much farther than that with Sawyer, in those few moments that they spent off the road. He was the only person who had ever been able to keep up with her, that loved that freedom as much as she did. Kate closed her eyes tightly, blocking the memories away. Why was it that everything reminded her of him?

She needed to talk to someone, she realized. Remembering what Vaughn had said to her about Sydney, the picture of her and Danny, she couldn't bite the words back anymore.

"It was my fault." Syd looked up at her, but didn't say anything. "He shot the gun because of me."

Sydney just stared and listened. Kate took a deep breath and swallowed back her tears. She couldn't cry anymore. She'd cried enough.

"Jason saw me, he recognized me. A while ago, before the island, I'd gotten Jason to break into another bank with me. But he tried to kill the manager, so I shot him. Back in L.A he came in with a gun and some other guys who were working for him. He grabbed me, tried to take me somewhere where he could talk, get me to help him, I guess. But I hit him, and Sawyer pulled him away from me."

She couldn't stop the words now. The memory was playing like an unstoppable horror movie in her head, and the story rushed word after word from her mouth.

"He pulled out the gun, and I called to Sawyer to let go. He wouldn't, but Jason pointed the gun at me and he let go." Kate felt her voice shaking, but she wouldn't let it.

"Jason kept the gun pointed at me and said that if I didn't help him he'd shoot. I didn't know what to do. So I said yes, and he turned away. I grabbed the gun and shot them, but I didn't kill them. Jason-he got away. He shot Sawyer." Kate didn't even notice Sydney standing there, listening to her every word. "He was dying, he told me to run. So I did."

Kate looked up at Syd, who was looking at her with the same pain in her eyes that Kate had been feeling. She had a story to tell too.

"Danny died- he died because I told him. About what I do." Syd stared out on to the ocean. "Sloane, he made me believe that it was my fault, that I killed him. Maybe it was true. But if I would have had to stay with him, lie to him everyday-" Syd's voice trembled into silence as she shook her head. "I couldn't stand him not knowing. I loved him. I couldn't lie anymore."

Kate listened, just as Syd had for her, and she understood. She understood what Vaughn had said to her, the only one who knew what she was going through was Sydney. He had been right. But could she find a friend in Sydney, someone who she had once thought was her enemy?

As Sydney looked back at Kate and smiled, the answer came to her. Yes, she could.

Syd had listened to Kate's story, and she was surprised to find how similar it was to her own. She smiled at Kate. "Come on, it's getting dark."

Sydney was about to spring to her feet and run again when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her backpack with a sigh.

"Who's that?" Kate asked as Syd squinted at the caller id.

"Vaughn," Syd replied. She tried to hide her smile. She liked hearing his voice, she realized. But the smile didn't escape Kate.

"Oh, Vaughn," Kate replied, rolling her eyes and laughing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Syd snapped, but Kate was already racing down the road again. Syd put the phone to her ear. "Hi," she said.

"Syd, we need you," Vaughn said urgently.

Syd's smile turned into a concerned line. "What's wrong?"

"There's been a walk in." Vaughn paused. "Syd, it's him. James Ford. He's alive."