Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who left feedback. I've given up predicting how long this story will run, so we'll just call this Chapter 5 of howevermany.
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As I'm running, I manage a hoarse whisper into my comm. "Dad, did you get that?"
"Yes. I'm leaving to circle around right now. Is he alone?"
"I don't know. I didn't see anyone, but whoever attacked Weiss is still out there."
"It wasn't Sark?"
"Not unless he ironed that suit in the last ten minutes."
"I'll watch out. I'm going." I hear a crackle over my comm link, and it goes silent.
He's already out of sight by the time I reach the van. The back door is still open as I crawl halfway in. The driver looks at me over his shoulder.
"Do you know where Agent Vaughn is?"
"No, but I'm about to find out." I'm on my knees in the van, feeling around for the statue. Weiss is back against the partition behind the front seat, sitting partially up, eyes just beginning to focus. I crawl back to him and rest my hand against his cheek.
"You okay?"
"Never…mission…again…gay." We're partway back.
"We'll get you out soon, I promise." I only pray I can keep the same promise to Vaughn.
The statue is lying near Weiss' feet. Not believing what I'm about to do, I grab it and scurry back out of the van. I know I'm well past my ninety seconds, but I need to buy Dad some time. If I know Sark, he's not going to give up something he wants so badly over one extra minute. I jog slowly until I come closer to his side of the house, then break into a run. I reach the corner again and stop, flattening myself against the wall, peering slowly around the edge. A voice speaks to me from the darkness.
"Stop skulking, Sydney, you're late."
I step slowly around the corner.
"Go back to where you were. Step into the light, where I can see you." My spine stiffens as I think of everything I'd like to do to the source of that voice. But I can't take any chances; this is for Vaughn. Just the thought makes my heart pound faster. Please, please let Vaughn get out of here.
I cross the wall slowly until I am standing near the window where I first encountered Sark. The window casts a pool of light onto the lawn, and Sark steps slowly into the light, eyes roaming over me, no doubt looking for weapons, and stopping on the statue grasped in my left hand. He raises his eyes to meet mine, his gaze hard and cold.
"Now, Sydney, I'm disappointed in you. We made a deal, and I was fully prepared to hold up my end of the bargain. But it seems you have failed to honor it. Do you know what one of my associates found in the woods?" The chill that started at my heart spreads to my entire body as a figure steps slowly out of the shadows. Two figures. My father stumbles forward slowly, hands behind his back, bleeding from a cut on his cheek. Behind him, my masked attacker -- Weiss' masked attacker -- follows with one arm outstretched, pointing a gun at my father's head.
I grip the statue more tightly, willing my hand not to tremble.
"I have what you want. Let him go."
Sark just smiles.
"Ah, Sydney, it's a little more complicated than that." He motions with his left hand, and my heart freezes a second time. Two more figures emerge from the shadows. First is Vaughn, hands bound in front of him, a large bruise beginning to form on his swelling jaw. If it weren't for the adrenaline rushing through my system, the sight would turn my stomach.
Just behind him, grinning proudly, is Salencia. One of his hands rests near the base of Vaughn's neck, and I can see the glint of a blade against his dark suit.
The five of them form a perfect line, something right out of my nightmares. Sark in the middle, with the two men I love most positioned on either side, each at the wrong end of a deadly weapon. But I'll be damned if I'll let Sark see how much this scares me.
"Stop playing games, Sark. Just let them go and I'll give you the statue."
That insipid smile hasn't even faded.
"We can still make our trade. To show you just how magnanimous I am, I'm willing to overlook your transgression and hold up my end of the bargain. We just have one small problem: one statue only gets you one hostage. So who will it be?"
The masked attacker pulls back the hammer on the gun, keeping it trained on my father's head. Salencia moves his hand forward, positioning his knife at the side of Vaughn's throat.