Chapter 3...

((Hi guys: This is the chapter that will answer all your questions. I would like to thank dropstitch@juno.com for bringing this to my attention.. that I needed to tie up these loose ends. Thanks for the great feedback!!))

Both Vaughn and Sydney didn't think about their visitor at all afterwards. They simply relaxed in each other's company. But, there was one thing that began to nag at Sydney's thoughts after awhile.

She had heard her father's voice before, clearly. He had called her, hadn't he? She remembered that Noah had been carrying a self-recorder. So it was, ofcourse, a trap.

But it did make her thing..

He'd died, she knew that, but she didn't know all the details. She didn't want to upset Vaughn by asking, but she just had to. She had to so that she could set herself at peace.

She was snuggled up on the couch with him, watching an old French film.

"Michael..." Sydney whispered, making sure he hadn't dozed off.

"Mmm?" was his hazy reply.

"I want to know something.." she said, sitting up.

Vaughn sat up aswell, and propped himself up against the couch.

"What is it, Syd?" rubbing his eyes.

"It's about my father, Irina.. you know. Everything that happened at the airport."

Vaughn sighed, and leaned back on the couch.

"I knew you'd ask eventually, so I thought about what I would say.." he began.

Sydney listened intently, and began to gobble up every word.

"Irina had a gun pointed at my head," he swallowed, remembering the horrific feeling of the cold end pressed against his head. "You had suddenly pulled out a gun, and.."

"I know, I wasnt thinking." Sydney interrupted, but then let him contue.

"And there was a bang. You went down, and then the rest was only a blur."

"Im sure it was Sark... yes, it was, I remember now. Sark had shot you, but for some reason the bullet hadn't hit you directly. I seem to remember Irina yelping out in pain, so I suppose she was hit aswell, by the same bullet."

"Why would Sark want to shoot Irina?" questioned Sydney.

"Maybe he's just a bad shot," joked Vaughn, lightly smiling.

"Okay.. well, go on."

"I remember being thrown to the ground, and someone stood on my back. There was blood trickling down my face, but Im sure it wasnt mine. I didnt feel anything."

"There had been a lot of thuds, and I remember some furniture flying around the room. Irina suddenly fell down, and you could see the blood was oozing..."

"Ugh." Sydney said. "Maybe you can spare me the gory details?"

Vaughn laughed. "Okay.. well... Irina was down, and then I heard another bang. Sark and another man had guns pointed at us. I was still lying at the floor, but the other man had his gun pointed at me. Jack must have only had one bullet left because he shot the man who was pointing at me, and in turn, Sark shot Jack."

"Dad saved your life then.." Sydney then added, slightly puzzled. "But how did you escape? If... if.. Dad was shot by Sark, and Sark was alive, how did you escape?"

Vaughn grimaced. "Here's the most confusing part, and even I dont get it... Irina still had the gun, even though she was down. And she suddenly sat up, made the shot, and then fell down again."

Vaughn licked his lips, they had gone dry. "So your Dad saved my life, and your mother saved both of ours."

Sydney sat quietly. "My mother shot Sark?"

"Yeah."

"But why?" Sydney was positively confused. "She had been trying to kill me before! She had done everything in her power to hurt me.."

"I dont know Sydney, it's a mystery to me. Maybe she was hallucinating and saw Sark as someone else.."

"We'll never know then," said Sydney cutting him off. She leant in to him.

"Thanks for telling me," she tried to smile. But the thought that she now owed her life to her mother, stung her. It confused her, it hurt her.. It made her feel... weird. Even she wasn't able to explain exactly how she felt.

'I guess I'm glad I know' Sydney assured herself. She began to drift off into sleep.. 'What time is it? 1pm? 2pm? Geez, I really must have had a late last night...'