Vaughn sat down at his desk, his gaze not moving from Sark for a second. Vaughn couldn't help being suspicious of him based on Sark's past associations.
"It's nice to finally meet you." Sark stretched his hand out, but Vaughn didn't take it.
"Now the pleasantries are out the way, maybe you can tell me why you're in my office." Vaughn said.
"I'm here to strike a deal." Sark stated. Vaughn was surprised that Sark had the audacity to act as if his being there was the most normal thing in the world.
"Do you really think you're in a position to do so?" Vaughn asked disdainfully. Jack could feel the animosity between Vaughn and Sark increasing and decided to interrupt.
"How did you get to LA?"
"I flew from Chambery to Paris and then from there to LA. I was arrested when I landed here." Sark explained.
"Chambery?!" Vaughn exclaimed. "You actually chose to fly across France from a tiny airport that only has flights to Paris and is whatjust a sixty minute drive from Geneva?" Vaughn stared at Sark in disbelief.
"Good guess, it was sixty-five minutes to be exact." Sark said
"Many would think that you wanted to get caught."
"Why would I want to do something as silly as that?"
"You tell me. Even your mother had the sense to leave from Nice." Vaughn responded.
"She still got caught." Sark said.
"What happened to Khasinau?" Jack asked.
"Khasinau was just a front. He doesn't have the resources continue. Therefore without my mother, the organisation has collapsed. My guess is that he's gone into hiding somewhere."
"So what do you have to offer the CIA?" Jack asked Sark.
"In return for setting me free, I am willing to offer my services."
"There will be some conditions of course." Vaughn said.
"Such as?" Sark sat forward curious to know what Vaughn had in mind.
"First. How about you give the CIA the Rambaldi document that you received in exchange for Will Tippin."
"Why do you think I know where that is? I only followed the orders I was given." Sark replied.
"Come on! If you insist on continuing this pretence of being just an innocent employee, we can always end this meeting right now." Vaughn warned. Sark didn't reply, but just smiled at Vaughn, annoying him even more.
"I'm sure you will also be able to recover all the other artefacts Khasinau and Laura hid." Jack added.
"And even if you can't, we'll have your mother in custody soon and we can get the information from her."
"Very well." Sark conceded.
"Second"
"There's more?" Sark asked surprised.
"Yes. Second. You will go and tell Sloane you want to work for SD-6."
"What?!" Sark exclaimed finally betraying his cool demeanour.
"Sloane will naturally wonder what's happened to you after he finds out about the organisation's collapse. So you will say, rather than work for K-Directorate you now want to work alongside your sister and father."
"I'll talk to Sloane first and convince him it's a good idea." Jack said.
"Nepotism is such a wonderful thing!" Sark's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"It obviously helped you get your last job." Vaughn retorted.
"And to prove your allegiance, you'll give Sloane certain intel that the CIA has pre-approved." Jack said.
"Is that it?" Sark asked.
"No. Third. If you ever intentionally blow your cover, or Jack or Sydney's at SD-6, you'll be on your way to jail so quickly that your feet won't even touch the ground. This deal can be rescinded at any moment. Do you understand?" Vaughn said.
"Yes." Sark replied looking far from happy.
"Did you think you could just walk in here and get away with it all?" Vaughn asked.
"It seems I should have given you more credit." Sark answered grudgingly.
At that moment Weiss knocked on the door of Vaughn's office.
"We're ready now." Weiss said.
"Follow Agent Weiss and he'll take your statement." Vaughn said. Without another word Sark stood up and followed Weiss out of the room.
"Can we trust him?" Vaughn asked, once he and Jack were alone.
"We have no choice, but neither does he. His only other alternative is jail."
"And do you think Devlin will approve all of this?"
"Devlin will understand. Like you said it's better he works for us rather than K-Directorate. And we will stop Sloane getting his hands on all those artefacts." Jack replied "Maybe that will be enough to be in Devlin's good books for a while!" Jack added. Vaughn smiled despite himself.
"Can I tell Sydney?" Vaughn asked hopefully.
"I have to talk to Sloane and set the ground work." Jack stood up to leave Vaughn's office. "Sydney should know about this as soon as possible."
"Thank you." Vaughn said.
~~~
Vaughn quickly updated Devlin and then headed to the warehouse to speak to Sydney. While he waited for Sydney, he began to think of the best way to tell her about Sark. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't hear Sydney approach.
"Hey!" Sydney said smiling brightly. Vaughn turned to face her and managed a brief smile. "You're back at work I see." She added, noticing that he was wearing a suit.
"I have something to tell you." Vaughn said.
"What is it? What's happened?" Sydney saw how serious Vaughn looked and became worried.
"Sark was in my office earlier today."
"What? How?!"
"His story is that he wants to work for the CIA instead of rotting in jail for the rest of his life."
"And you agreed?"
"Not just me. Your father was there too. Sark's field experience will be invaluable to us and we will be able to keep an eye on him at the same time."
"And he'll follow CIA orders?" Sydney asked.
"He has no option. Eric is taking a statement from him today and tomorrow he and your father will go and see Sloane."
"Sloane? Are you crazy?!" Sydney began to pace around as she tried to make sense of it all.
"Sark will be able to help bring down SD-6. The sooner we can do that, the sooner you'll be free." Sydney finally nodded her head as she accepted his reasoning.
"Thank you for letting me know."
"No problem." Vaughn replied.
"I think Sloane would have suspected something if he had seen my surprised reaction!"
"Are you okay with all of this?" He asked, astonished she had taken the news so well.
"Yes. I mean it's a shock, but I can deal with it."
"Good.'" Vaughn smiled at Sydney. He glanced at his watch before saying, "I should be getting back to the office. Devlin is still watching my every move."
"How are you doing?" Sydney asked.
"Better." Vaughn simply said.
"If you need to talk aboutthings." Sydney offered.
"I'll be fine." Vaughn didn't want to burden Sydney with any more, especially as she now had so much to cope with. "I'll meet up with you after you get your next SD-6 mission." He said changing the subject.
"Okay." Sydney then turned around to leave the warehouse.
Vaughn's thoughts returned once again to the recent developments and wondered what exactly he was getting himself into.
~~~
Sydney walked into SD-6 the next day and headed straight for the conference room. She was surprised to just see Marshall there.
"What's going on? I was paged for a meeting." She said to Marshall.
"Sloane is in his office. He wants to see you there."
"Where's Dixon?" Sydney asked when she noticed he wasn't at his desk.
"He's been sent to Cairo on a mission." Marshall replied.
"Oh, okay. Thanks." Sydney said before leaving the conference room. She was surprised that Sloane had sent Dixon away without telling her, but she realised that Dixon would probably ask Sloane too many questions about what Sark was doing there.
Sydney walked to Sloane's office and she opened the door. She could see her father and Sark already sitting there. She took the empty chair next to Sark's and waited for Sloane to begin speaking.
"I must say that this is aninteresting development." Sloane looked directly at Sark, but he gave no emotion away. "Sydney, Jack told me you are up to date with the situation."
"Yes." Sydney replied.
"And what do you think about it?" Sydney could feel that Sloane was watching her carefully.
"I'm sure SD-6 will benefit greatly."
"That's what I think too." Sloane's attention then returned to Sark. "I have reviewed the intel you passed on to me and I want you and Sydney to work together for your first mission. It's a test." Sloane said.
"A test?" Sark repeated.
"A test of your newly found loyalty to SD-6." Sloane replied.
"What's the mission?" Sydney asked.
"I want you both to find the artefacts that Khasinau has stored away. We want to get to them before K-Directorate finds them." Sloane replied.
Sark repressed the urge to laugh. It seemed to him that all the agencies were doing were chasing after each other and their only motivation was to stop the rest from getting the prize. But he knew that without him neither agency would have anything at all. The realisation pleased him.
"I'll do my best for SD-6." Sark said before smiling at Sloane. Sloane didn't entirely believe him, but the possibility of retrieving so many artefacts outweighed his mistrust.
~~~
Jack stayed in the office to talk to Sloane after the meeting was over. So Sydney walked back to her desk, closely followed by Sark.
"So what happens now?" Sark asked Sydney.
"We'll fly out tonight." Sydney answered.
"But before then?"
Sydney glared at Sark. "You don't need to know."
"I think I should know." Sark protested.
"Why did you come to LA anyway?" Sydney suddenly asked.
"You're the first person to ask me that since I got here!"
"Was it to be closer toMom?" Sydney's voice caught on the word 'Mom'. "Did you want to see her, or maybe you planned to help her escape?"
"Maybe I've seen the light with regard to my motherour mother." Sark answered.
"How about you didn't want to go to jail?!" She whispered. "I think that's nearer the truth."
"Now be fair, sis." Sark looked at her face, enjoying the fact she was getting angrier by the minute.
"Drop the 'little brother' act or else!" She warned.
"Okay, okay!" Sark put his hands up as if to surrender.
"I don't believe you and I don't trust you." She noticed the surprised look on his face that he then quickly covered. She suddenly felt sorry for him, but she couldn't explain why. "But we have to work together, so I suggest that we both at least pretend to make an effort to get along."
"Fine by me." Sark was actually looking forward to the mission. It would give him a chance to see Sydney in action. He had heard a lot about Sydney from his mother and he wanted to know what she was like firsthand.
~~~
Vaughn met Sydney as usual for their counter-mission meeting in the warehouse.
"Of course we would prefer for SD-6 not to have any of the artefacts, but Sloane is watching you both very closely."
"So do we hand over fakes?" Sydney asked.
"No, we will only hand over certain documents after we have made copies. This way, we know what SD-6 has in their possession." Vaughn said.
"This isn't exactly going at the pace I was hoping for." She sighed. "I thought this meant that SD-6 would be brought down faster."
"Sloane is already very suspicious and I don't want to risk your safety more than necessary. At least this way it looks like a SD-6 mission and you don't have to worry about hiding things from Dixon on this mission either."
"That's true."
"Be careful. You can't trust Sark, not yet anyway." Vaughn said visibly worried.
"I can take of myself!" Sydney smiled, trying to reassure him, but he didn't return the smile. "I'll be careful, I promise." She added.
"Good." Vaughn gazed at Sydney for a few moments, before looking away, a little embarrassed that he revealed how concerned he really was. Vaughn's pager beeped and he read the page. "I have to go." Vaughn gathered up his briefcase and stood up to leave.
"Is something wrong?" Sydney asked.
"No. It's just someone I have to meet. I'll see you when you get back." Vaughn said seemingly preoccupied, before he left the warehouse. Sydney wondered why he didn't tell her who had paged him, but she looked at her watch and saw that she didn't have much time to go home and pack her suitcase before she had to be at the airport.
~~~
Vaughn walked into the CIA safe house after showing his identification. He was ushered into a room where there three other agents were, each with guns in their hands, ready to fire if needed. Vaughn sat down on a chair after setting his gun on the table.
"I need you to answer some questions." Vaughn said.
Opposite him sat Sydney's mother with her hands cuffed, and the slightest of smiles on her face.
~~~~
A/N: I'm not exactly sure where I'm going to take the story after the mission, so any ideas will be gratefully received- thanks!!