Disclaimer: same

A/N: Thanks to ArodLoverus2001, Danielle87, Eyghon, SoApQueEn, tine, Mizzle fo' Rizzle, and Gils for reviewing chapter 49! Again, I am so sorry that it takes me so long to get these updates out. I have these ideas and it takes me like a week to get anything put on paper. RL is kicking my butt and I don't like it. Anyway, thank you guys so, so much for the continued support. Here's chapter 50. The song in this one is "Passive" by A Perfect Circle.

OOOOO

Even before Weiss, Dixon and I reached Rambaldi's temple out in the middle of the Egyptian desert, I knew that Sloane beat us there. I could see a second desert vehicle parked just to the side of a small brick structure rising maybe six feet out of the sand. Dixon stopped the engine, coasting the car a short distance before it came to a halt. Weiss looked over at him in question.

"If anyone is outside, we don't want them to hear us," Dixon explained. The three of us climbed out of the vehicle, walking the rest of the way towards the structure. Since it appeared that Sloane already reached the temple, Dixon handed me a gun and suggested that everyone move as quietly and low to the ground as possible, to reduce the chance that someone would see us.

I reached the side of the structure first, glancing around the corner to the front. I saw Sark emerge from the small doorway, squinting at the bright light and putting on a pair of dark sunglasses. Dixon came up behind me, and I motioned for him to go around to the other side of the structure. Surrounding Sark would give us the chance to see if Sloane or the others were anywhere to be seen, and give him less of a chance to escape.

Weiss stayed with me as Dixon disappeared around the other corner of the building. I kept my gaze locked on Sark as he stepped over to the Jeep, leaning back against the side of the vehicle and looking out over the desert. I glanced around the corner again, seeing Dixon at the ready. I nodded, and everyone started moving.

Dixon and I both had guns at the ready, aiming them right at Sark. Weiss emerged behind me, yelling for Sark to put his hands behind his head. He looked over at the three of us as if he found something amusing, smirking as he followed Weiss's instructions.

"I knew someone was late to the party," he said sarcastically, aiming his statement more at me than at Weiss and Dixon.

"Keep quiet and I won't shoot you," Weiss shot back, shooting Sark a sarcastic glare. Sark smiled again, kneeling down on the sand and keeping his hands clasped behind his head. "Where's Sloane?"

"I do believe he's inside," Sark answered. "And, as I said… You're a bit late to the party."

"Yeah, we caught that part," Weiss snapped. Dixon glared at him, trying to get the two of them to stop arguing. Weiss glared at Sark again but didn't say anything else. I just shook my head at both of them.

"We'll keep an eye on him. Go find Sydney," Dixon said to me. I nodded, turning away and going inside the temple.

OOOOO

I lost track of time wandering through the seemingly endless corridors in the central room of the temple. I gave up on the small flashlight after trying a few different paths, scooping up a couple of the small metallic objects off the floor of the main room. I examined one of them for a minute, trying to figure out where the light came from. After a moment, I realized it wasn't reflected off anything, but that still didn't answer my question. Finally, I decided I could figure it out later, and went back to looking for my sister.

Half of the corridors I tried dead-ended, and some of them connected to each other, leaving me wondering which ones I already tried and which ones I hadn't. After trying six or seven of them, I started to get frustrated.

I stepped out of another of the doorways, finding myself back in the lower right corner of the room. I sighed in annoyance, brushing my hair out of my face and looking around the room. I couldn't see anything that gave me any kind of a clue as to which way to go; which left me with nothing. Aside from that, I felt certain that my parents and Sloane already arrived, and I was no closer to finding my sister.

"Yeah, this will be an easy one to explain," I muttered under my breath, thinking of the look my father would give me when I got back to the surface. I was about to start towards one of the other doorways when I heard something on the stairway leading down into this room. Knowing it might be Sloane, I ducked back into the doorway behind me, wrapping my hand into a fist around the small metal object I carried for light.

To my surprise, the figure on the stairs was Bill Vaughn. He stepped into the center of the room, taking no notice of me as he picked up a couple of the small metal things off the floor. He glanced up, eyes scanning the area for a long moment. Finally, he started off again, going through the door in the upper right corner of the room.

It suddenly struck me that he knew where to go.

I waited a moment before following him. I still didn't have any idea where Sloane and the others were, or why in the hell Bill was here but Vaughn was nowhere to be seen. Still, I wanted to try and find Nadia, and Bill seemed to know his way around where I didn't, so it couldn't hurt to try following him.

About halfway down the corridor, I started to hear voices. I stopped again, listening for a moment. It took a moment before I realized it was Bill, and that he was in conversation with Nadia.

"You have the key?" Nadia asked. I tucked my 'light' away again, pressing up against the wall at the corner of the hallway to listen.

"Yes, it's here," he replied. There was a long pause. "Are you certain about going through with this?"

"I came all the way out here, didn't I?" Nadia retorted, a kind of anger in her voice I hadn't heard there since Russia. The sound sent a chill down my spine. "After everything that happened, I still ended up right where you said I would."

"Sometimes, predicting the future is all it takes to make it come true," Bill answered quietly. I could see the two of them around the corner, working with some kind of elaborate locking device on an old stone door. I stayed where I was, intrigued for the moment by their conversation. It almost seemed that the two of them planned this.

I remembered seeing them talking at the library before Nadia and I left, wondering if they set all of this up during that conversation. Several more minutes passed, and then I heard a 'whooshing' sound as the door slid open, dust flying out. I realized with a chill that this room probably remained closed for five hundred years.

"Let's go," Bill started. I looked out around the corner, surprised when Nadia pulled her gun on him.

"Against the wall," she ordered. He looked at her in surprise, not quite sure how to react to this turn of events. "I'm not letting anyone get to that artifact."

"Nadia, you don't understand. What lies in that room-"

"Belongs to someone other than you," she interrupted. "I know you think you sacrificed enough to have the right to retrieve it, but I won't let you near that device until my father is here."

Realizing that Nadia would wait for Sloane – that she probably planned to hand the greatest power over to him – I knew I didn't have another option. I stepped out around the corner, gun drawn and aimed at Nadia.

"No one goes in that room," I stated matter-of-factly. Nadia looked over at me, anger flaring in her eyes when she realized that I followed her inside the temple.

"Sydney, go back now," she started.

"I can't do that," I replied. "I can't let you hand whatever's in that room over to Arvin Sloane, and if shooting you is the only way to stop you, fine." Nadia narrowed her eyes.

"This isn't what it looks like, now go before someone else comes down here!" Nadia shouted in reply. I looked from her to Bill, and then back at my sister. I couldn't tell if she wanted me out of the way to protect me or because she really wanted to hand the artifact over to Sloane. "Sydney, please, just trust me on this."

I stared at her for a long moment, unsure of what to do next. I looked over at Bill, seeing that his gaze remained locked on the gun. When I glanced back at Nadia, I realized that she stared at me, still pleading with me to do as she asked and stay out of the way of whatever plans she cooked up.

Before I could respond to her request, however, Bill grabbed Nadia's gun and wrenched it out of her hand. She cried out in surprise, running after him into the next room. I glanced back over my shoulder, praying that it would take Sloane and my parents a little while longer to figure out where the three of us were, and followed them inside.

OOOOO

Unfortunately, when I got inside the temple, things only got more complicated. I knew that Jack and Irina would be inside somewhere with Sloane, and that my father was probably still with them. Sydney and Nadia went inside somewhere as well, but I had no idea where any of them were.

The main rooms of the temple stretched several hundred feet underground, and it was pitch black, making it impossible to see anything. I had to go back outside for a moment and get a flashlight from the Jeep, not missing the smirk that Sark directed my way as I did so. Dixon secured him, and Weiss tried to get a radio signal to get the police or someone out there for backup, since everyone already ventured inside the temple. I didn't stick around to see whether or not it worked.

I went down a long stairwell and into a short corridor with some kind of writing all over the walls. After that I found another set of stairs and emerged in a much larger room. I couldn't tell what it was or even where it was in relation to the rest of the place, but shining my flashlight over the far wall eventually revealed another passage. I kept moving, hoping that I would catch up with Sloane and the others before something went wrong somewhere in the depths of the temple.

However, when I stepped into the adjoining room, I knew this wasn't going to be so easy. There was a small room in front of me, three different paths leading off in different directions. It didn't take long for me to realize that this was some kind of an ancient maze, probably designed to keep the curious explorer from ever finding Rambaldi's greatest power. If you knew which way to go, it wouldn't be that hard to navigate. If you had no clue, you could be lost down here forever.

I paused for a long moment, eyes scanning the walls in a futile attempt to find something that might be useful. Of course, I found nothing. Finally, I figured if I tried going in one direction, I could retrace my steps if I hit a dead end and, hopefully, not get lost somewhere and be unable to find my way back.

I tried going straight, passing through four more of the little rooms before I hit a dead end at a small room with no exits, other than the way I came in. I went back to the room where I started, going right this time and finding the same problem. Four rooms with even more paths, and then a dead end to sum up the corridor. The same was true of the left corridor as well, leaving me right back where I started.

I knew picking different directions was a risk, especially in the complete darkness of these corridors. There was absolutely nothing distinguishing from one to the next, and I had no idea how I would to navigate back to the starting point if I hit a dead end somewhere down the line.

Finally, I resigned to go back to the larger room and look for another way around this area. However, as I rounded the corner, I already knew something changed since I last came through this room. A dull green glow came from the room now, and I could see a couple of glow sticks on the floor.

"Ah, Mister Vaughn." I looked up, seeing Sark seated on the stairway that led into this room. He smirked as he watched me step into the room, turning my flashlight off and watching him carefully. "Forgive the lack of proper lighting. Your associates detained me a bit longer than I expected and didn't really have the chance to dress the place up."

"What'd you do to Weiss and Dixon?" I questioned. Sark smiled outright, shaking his head a little.

"They're no worse off, I assure you. Unconscious, but alive and otherwise unharmed. My task now is simply to keep you from reaching Rambaldi's artifact before Mister Sloane has that same opportunity," Sark explained, coming all the way down the stairs and into the center of the large room. The glow sticks provided just enough light for me to see him, but weren't good for much else.

"So, what? You're gonna stand in the doorway or something?" I questioned, looking at Sark in disbelief. After everything I saw him do, I never saw him in a physical fight. Getting someone else to do the dirty work for him, no problem. Using some kind of a weapon, sure. Hand-to-hand combat? Not once. Not even when he tortured me. With Sark, it was all about the tools and the gadgets and the more 'inventive' things he cooked up.

"Just because I don't flaunt my skills, Mister Vaughn, does not mean they aren't there," he shot back, obviously catching on to what I thought. "And, while your friends did manage to render my sidearm quite useless, I assure you that this will not be a problem."

Dead as dead can be
My doctor tells me
But I just can't believe him
Ever the optimistic one
I'm sure of your ability
To become my perfect enemy

I didn't respond, watching as Sark stepped closer and kept his eyes locked on me. I could tell he tried to gauge the best way to attack, suddenly not so sure about this situation. I tightened my grip on the flashlight, thinking for a moment about reaching for the gun I strapped to my leg under my jeans, but realizing that Sark would immediately come at me if I made such a move. I didn't go for the weapon.

For several moments, both of us remained absolutely still. Then, moving faster than I expected, he came at me, ducking as I swung the heavy utility flashlight at him and slamming his forearm into my elbow. The flashlight immediately fell from my grasp, clattering to the ground. I knew it was broken the second it hit, but didn't have much time to think about it as Sark's other fist hit my chest, all the air rushing out of my lungs.

I fought to keep my balance as he continued this onslaught, elbowing me in the face and kicking the back of one leg. I fell to the ground and he stepped back, laughing a little and smiling down at me as I tried to catch my breath.

"Come now, Mister Vaughn. Surely you're not that out of shape," he chided. I kicked one leg up at his chest. He caught my foot without pause, twisting my leg painfully. I reacted quickly this time, going with his movement rather than fighting it and throwing him off balance. As he struggled to regain his footing, I brought my other leg around and swept his feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the ground as well.

We both jumped to our feet at the same moment, and I ducked another of his swings, kicking him in the stomach. He stumbled back against the wall, moving out of the way just before my fist came into contact with his jaw. I gritted my teeth in pain as my knuckles came into contact with the brick wall, pain shooting through my left hand and up my arm.

Wake up
And face me
Don't play dead
Cuz maybe
Someday I will walk away
And say
You disappoint me
Maybe you're better off this way

I nearly fell to the ground again when Sark got a kick in directly under my arm, intensifying the pain I already felt. I used the wall to steady myself, spinning around and using my right arm to backhand him. His head lashed painfully to the side, and I could see the pain his neck was in when he turned to face me again.

I blocked the next kick he aimed at my stomach, grabbing his arm and twisting it around so he ended up with his back to me. I knew his shoulder probably healed from the last time I ripped it out of the socket, but he still fell to his knees at the pain in his back that this position caused him. I was about to go for my gun when he brought his other hand up, taking advantage of my lack of balance and grabbing the front of my shirt, bringing me to the floor again.

Again, we got to our feet at virtually the same time, though it took a little longer this time around. Pain throbbed in my hand, and while I tried to shake it off and tell myself it was nothing, I knew there was a good possibility that I broke at least some of the bones in my left hand. Sark circled me for a moment, and then tried again to kick me in the chest. I moved out of the way, waiting for him to get close enough to bring my knee into his stomach. He doubled over, and I drove my elbow into the back of his neck. He crumpled to the ground, giving me a chance to step back and retrieve my gun.

I cocked the weapon, clicking the safety off as Sark looked up at me. He smiled when he saw the weapon; knocking one of the glow sticks out from under his arm and shaking his head in defeat. I took another step away from him, not wanting to risk that he would knock my feet out from under me and get his hands on my gun.

Leaning over you here
Cold and catatonic
I catch a brief reflection
What you could and might have been
It's your right
And your ability
To become my perfect enemy

"I knew you stashed that weapon away somewhere," he admitted with resignation. "I just didn't know where you might hide it that it wouldn't come loose in a struggle."

"Guess I surprised you with that one then," I shot back sarcastically. "Where did Sloane go? I know he told you how to get through that maze over there."

"No. He didn't," Sark replied, shaking his head.

"I don't believe you," I stated simply. He didn't say anything for a moment, and then shook his head a little. "Fine, I'll figure it out myself."

"The artifact isn't through that maze," Sark admitted suddenly. "There's another passage, behind the stairs there. The light I have here masks the light coming from that other corridor."

Wake up (Why can't you)
And face me (Come on now)
Don't play dead (Don't play dead)
Cuz maybe (Cuz maybe)
Someday I will walk away
And say
You disappoint me
Maybe you're better off this way

I kept my weapon trained on him, backing up to the stairs and looking over my shoulder. Sure enough, I saw an orange-ish glow coming from another path. I hadn't even thought to look that direction when I came through here the first time, and the glow sticks did just as Sark intended.

"Mister Sloane and the others are down there somewhere," he added. I looked back at him, stepping closer again. "Well?"

"'Well' what?" I questioned.

Maybe you're better off this way
Maybe you're better off this way
You're better off this
You're better off this
Maybe you're better off

"Surely you won't just leave me sitting here on the floor," he replied with a laugh. "Even you're not that stupid." I didn't reply. "And you can't come close enough to knock me unconscious without running the risk of losing your gun. Quite the dilemma you have here."

"Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head," I instructed. He smiled, but made no move to do as I said. "Now."

"Or what? You'll shoot me?" he questioned. "If that's what it comes to, go right ahead. Better than leaving me here to follow you, or taking the risk that you lose that weapon you're so proud of surprising me with."

Wake up (Why can't you)
And face me (Come on now)
Don't play dead (Don't play dead)
Cuz maybe (Cuz maybe)
Someday I will walk away
And say
You fing disappoint me
Maybe you're better off this way

Of course, I knew exactly what he wanted. He wanted to appeal to that twisted sense of logic Lauren programmed into me with the Inferno Protocol. He wanted to activate that conditioning. To make me cross that line, yet again, and shoot him in the head. I knew that was what he wanted, and even that wasn't the worst part.

The worst part was that I wanted to.

I could practically see myself walking over beside him and putting a bullet in his head. Getting him out of the way. After everything he did, the people he killed, the way he played absolutely everyone he ever met, it would practically be doing the world a favor.

Go ahead and play dead
I know that you can hear this
Go ahead and play dead
Why can't you turn and face me?
Why can't you turn and face me?
You fing disappoint me
Passive aggressive bulls

"Why not?" Sark asked. I looked up at him, and then walked over right beside him. He smirked a little, just like Olivia did on the pier when I killed her. I pressed the gun right up against his temple and knelt down beside him.

"Because you're not worth it," I spat. I smacked him in the side of the head, hard, with the butt of the gun. He fell to the ground, unconscious. I took a moment to compose myself, and then grabbed one of the glow sticks and turned to the corridor he pointed out, going down after Sloane.