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Chapter Ten:
Promise You That

Sydney jolted as each gate slammed shut behind her. The last time she had been in a prison was to see her mother. And while this was a different facility, it was still causing some painful memories to surface.

And things were only going to get more painful.

Using all her effort to keep her breathing steady, Sydney took the final few steps before arriving at the cell. She turned, and bracing herself, let her eyes fall on the monster within.

"Sydney." Sloane sounded slightly surprised. "Now here is a face I never thought I would see again."

"So this is where your grand plan has led you," Sydney murmured. "Any regrets, Arvin?"

"You know me better than to think that, Sydney," he replied calmly. "Now, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I need a way to contact Allison Doren."

"From the rumours I heard before getting put in here, you are going to need a psychic to do that."

"You were ill informed. Now, how do I contact her?"

"Out to exact a little revenge, Sydney?"

"My motives are none of your business."

"Ah, but you, Sydney- you are my business. You always have been. I don't want to see you getting into a situation you can't get out of. I care for you too much—"

"Do not start on that notion again," Sydney said evenly. "You are incapable of caring for anything other than power."

Sloane's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you saying that I did not care for my own wife?"

"You didn't. At least not enough to give up your quest for Rambaldi, which, essentially, was a quest for power. A quest that killed Emily."

"The years have hardened you, Sydney. It hurts me to see it happening."

"A person tends to 'harden' when the ones they love continue getting killed or sent away," Sydney spat. "Now, for all you have done, the least you could tell me is a way to contact Allison Doren."

Sloane was silent for several (long) moments. "You won't be able to use any of my channels," he finally said. "She will have heard of my incarceration and will be suspicious if she is contacted in any such manner. You will need to go through an associate."

"Name?"

"Given that Mr Sark is also in a predicament like mine, I would suggest Simon Walker."

Sydney blinked. "Walker?"

"I have never met him, but was aware that Allison was always in contact. The two had a tit for tat arrangement."

Refusing to thank him, Sydney simply nodded. "If this information proves fruitless I will be back." She went to walk away but stopped. "What did you do with her?"

"Who?"

"Francie. Where is her body?"

Sloane shrugged. "That was Allison's task. I never asked for details and she never volunteered."

Sydney shifted her gaze to the walls of the cell. "I've wanted you dead for a long time, and I so wanted to have that honour."

Sloane's face remained passive. "Past tense, Sydney?"

"I've come to realize that death is too good for you. I will relish in the fact that you will rot in here for the rest of your life. Arvin Sloane, confined without a taste of freedom or power. It's enough to bring a smile to my face. Enjoy your life, Arvin, while the rest of us are living ours."

While Sydney and Vaughn were boarding a plane to Connecticut, Weiss and Jack were pooling their resources to find a way to make contact with Simon Walker. Engrossed with his work, Weiss almost jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Oops, sorry!" he heard Lilly laugh. He turned, unable to shake Sydney's voice out of his mind.

"Hey."

Lilly smiled. "What are you up to?"

"Just catching up on some paperwork."

"Did Sydney and Michael get away ok?" she inquired, perching herself ion the edge of his desk.

"Uh huh," Weiss replied, non-committal. He shuffled a couple of pieces of paper before him, waiting for Lilly to press some more or bring up the idea of her helping again. But it never happened.

"Ok, well did you want to see a movie tonight?" she asked. "Your pick."

"Sure…" Weiss glanced back at his computer. "I need to get through this and then I'll check what's on."

"Great. Let me know," she said and then walked away.

Slightly unsettled, Weiss watched her leave and then turned back to the computer.

He had no idea what to think.

"This one on the left," Sydney pointed out and Vaughn pulled to a stop.

"So, how do you want to play this…" Vaughn trailed off, spotting the 'For Sale' sign sitting in the middle of Harmony's front lawn. "Oh, now, this is just too easy."

Sydney grinned as she unbuckled her seat belt. "Come on, let's go house shopping."

After knocking on the front door, the two waited for a few moments before it opened, revealing a small blonde woman inside.

"May I help you?"

"Hi, sorry to disturb you like this," Sydney started, "but my fiancé and I will be moving here in the next few months. We're down from LA to look at a houses and we were just on our way to our agent's when we saw your house and well—"

"We just had to stop," Vaughn chimed in.

"I know that we don't have an appointment and that it's a complete inconvenience, but we were wondering if we could have a look." Sydney asked. "I mean, if you wan we could contact your agent and do this properly, or you could just tell is to bugger off or—"

The woman smiled. "Like I am going to let a couple this interested just walk away. Please, come in."

"Oh, thank you." Sydney said, stepping through the door. "I'm Anne and this is Christian."

"I'm Harmony," the woman replied and Sydney and Vaughn exchanged a quick glance. "Now please, excuse the mess. I usually go crazy right before a viewing. Keeping this place clean 24/7 is virtually impossible with four kids running around."

"Four- wow," Sydney commented as they entered a large family area, adjoined to the kitchen. She spotted a family portrait above the television- Harmony, her husband and four boys.

"Yup. I've got a thirteen year old, eleven year old and ten year old twins."

"They must keep life interesting," Vaughn said. His mother would occasionally remind him of what he had out her through. He could only imagine timing that by four.

"Chaotic would be the term I'd use," Harmony laughed and then proceeded to lead Sydney and Vaughn throughout her house.

From the general chit chat that Harmony kept going though the tour, Sydney and Vaughn discovered that she was a midwife at the local hospital, her husband was in advertising and that they had lived in this house since they married a little over 13 years ago.

As they continued the tour of her home- 'That's right,' Sydney thought to herself, 'this is not just a house, it's a home,'she could not help but feel a pang every time she saw a family photo or a mess left behind by one of Harmony's sons. It was only when they returned to the entrance hall that Sydney realized what those pangs were.

Jealousy.

"And so that's about it," Harmony said as they found themselves back at the entrance hall. "Do you have—" she cut off at the sound of a car pulling up outside. "Oh, that will be James and the boys."

"Well look, we should probably head off then," Vaughn said. "We've imposed enough. But we'll get our agent to contact yours. We loved the house."

As Sydney and Vaughn walked outside her eyes fell on Harmony's husband and the four sons she had just witnessed growing up through photographs. She felt the pang again.

"What do you think?" Vaughn asked Sydney when they had gotten into their car.

"I think that we can cross Harmony and her children off," Sydney murmured.

"Are you completely sure?"

She nodded. "Harmony has had nothing to do with espionage. When myself and the rest of the Project children were being recruited, she was getting married and starting a family. I don't think the Covenant would risk this is they had no way of telling whether Project Christmas had been successful on the mother."

"Can we be sure that she has never played a part in the spy world? Maybe there is a classified reason that there is very little intel on her."

Sydney raised her eyebrows. "Given what you do, would you ever let two strangers, who showed up completely unexpectedly, into your house?"

Vaughn laughed. "You make a good pint."

"And as for the little intel, Harmony is insignificant. Why would the Agency have any concern with a suburban mother of four?" Sydney replied. "Now can we please go straight to the safe house? I feel like doing absolutely nothing until our flight tomorrow."

It was later that night when they were curled up in bed, in the safe house, that Vaughn finally cracked. He had been picking up on weird vibes from Sydney all day. A combination of curiosity and concern made him scrap his earlier plan of waiting until they reached home before pressing her.

"Syd." He put a hand on her shoulder and she turned over immediately. "Is everything ok?"

She frowned slightly. "It's the same as it always is."

"Then why have you been in a funk all day?"

"I haven't—" she broke off with a sigh. "It's just…today…"

"What? The fact that we seem to be getting closer to the truth about Hope?"

Sydney shook her head. "No, Harmony and her family," she paused, biting her lower lip. "The entire time we were in that house I couldn't help but think 'I could've had that'." She sat up slightly. "Am I ever going to have that? Or am I going to be a spy for the rest of my life?"

"Sydney—"

"As much as it eats at me, I don't hate my job. I hate the way I was brought into the life, but that doesn't deny the sens eof purpose and accomplishment…but along with that comes a sense of loss." She paused, looking directly at Vaughn. "I want the normal life too. I want what Harmony has."

Vaughn shifted closer to her. "And you will have it."

Sydney let out a little laugh. "You can really see is leaving the CIA and heading for the suburbs one day?"

"Of course. You're not the only one who wants the normal life." He paused. "Though maybe not the suburbs. I was imagining more along the lines of the Italian or French countryside, or on the ocean somewhere…"

Sydney's face turned serious. "Promise me," she urged. "That when we find the truth about Hope, whatever the outcome, that we will start anew. Because whatever we find out will mean a new chapter in our lives. Why don't we make it a new start, full stop?"

"I couldn't agree more," Vaughn said.

"Well then?"

"What?"

"Promise me."

Vaughn smiled. "A new life, a new start and a new home. Sydney Bristow, I will do all in my power to promise you that."