"Sydney…Sydney!" God dammit, they had gotten to her. Jack gritted his teeth as he evaluated the situation. It didn't look good. He concluded that Sydney's attacker had used gas or a targeted spray, and since he hadn't heard a scuffle. The gas must have been quick acting, obviously silent and almost certainly lethal.

He toggled his com as he ran towards the fourth floor. "I need an extraction team on the roof, NOW! I'll be there in ten minutes with Sydney. She may need medical attention, so be prepared. I'm going radio silent." He quickly switched the com off as he stood in front of room 402. Jack pressed his hand against the door, checking for heat, and then taking a deep breath, put in the combination and opened the door.

He was glad he had taken that breath, since the smoke residue signaled that a gas was suspended in the air. There was no sign of Anna Espinoza or the statue, all he saw was Sydney's motionless body strewn aside like a rag doll on the ground. Her limbs had taken an unnatural position, and Jack could barely make out Sydney's chest rising and falling with every breath. He lifted her up, reminded of her childhood, and how many times she had fallen asleep on his lap and he had carried her to her room. She stirred out of consciousness, mumbling, "Dad…get the bag…" He grabbed the bag, not understanding its importance, and surprised at its weight. Jack ran up the stairs, two at a time, to the roof.

As soon as Jack climbed onto the roof, he saw the helicopter looming above them, with the extraction team reaching out to grab Sydney. Once Sydney and the bag were safely inside the helicopter, Jack climbed into the cockpit as well. All that was left behind was a strange gas, an empty safe, a baffled receptionist, and a beautiful sunset.

Inside the helicopter, the medical team quickly hooked Sydney up to a respirator. The team began checking her vitals and taking blood samples.

Jack climbed close to the stretcher, wanting to be close to Sydney. He reached out and smoothed back her hair from her face. He remembered their last conversation, the bitter words exchanged and felt an all too familiar guilt wash over him. "How is she?"

"It's pretty early to tell, but I think she'll make it. She'll need to go to the hospital for further tests. I wish I knew exactly what kind of gas she was exposed to…"

Jack knew taking Sydney to an SD-6 hospital would be yet another complication, but he realized protesting could and would arouse heavy suspicion. So Jack did the only thing he could do, he sat next to Sydney, reaching for her limp hand and hoping she knew he was there. To his amazement, a crumpled piece of paper was in her enclosed fist.

Sydney,

I was never one for formalities, and I know you feel the same way. So I'll get to the point.

You owe me. That gas that you breathed in could have been lethal, in fact, according to my report that gas did kill you. But I've decided to let you live and I can imagine you would want to know why.

Sydney, we're not so different, you and I. We're just two brilliant agents trying to do what we think is right. I respect your talent so much that I've decided to make you my ally to help me further my end. To put it simply, you're in my debt. And you will repay that debt.

I know the way your mind works, you could just escape, seemingly vanish of the face of this earth, so you would never fulfill your side of the bargain. But, remember Sydney, you've signed yourself into a binding contract by living instead of dying, and the one thing I hate more than anything else is a person who tries to break a contract. So I placed a special surprise in the gas, a tiny, undistinguishable poison that will latch onto every single cell in your blood stream, reproducing faster than any virus known to mankind. No doubt you will have countless doctors search for it in your blood, but the beauty of this poison is that it becomes part of your cell, melding itself into your bloodstream until cell and poison are one and the same, indistinguishable from each other. But never fear, Sydney dear, the poison will stay dormant as long as it's missing its necessary counterpart. The simplest way to put it is I've given you half the poison, the keyhole but without the key.

Now, unless I've grossly overestimated your intelligence, you must realize what a brilliant poison this is. If you ever attempt to evade my interests, I can simply contaminate every place and every possible food source in your vicinity. This mass contamination will be absolutely harmless to everyone, since it is only half of the poison, but for you Sydney, it will mean a very painful death. Good bye, Sydney. Do try and get some sleep, after today's incident I think you're losing your touch.

Very cordially yours,

Anna

Jack sighed, distressed that his daughter had to take on yet another burden in her already horrendously difficult life. And if what Anna was saying was true, there was nothing anybody could do. Jack rubbed his eyes, suddenly very tired. He absent-mindedly glanced around the cockpit, his eyes catching sight of the bag. He remembered its unexplainable weight, and Sydney's insistence on bringing it along despite the fact she had recovered nothing to put into the bag. His curiosity sparked, he walked towards the bag, ripped it open and peered inside.

"What the hell…"

----------------------0-------------------------

Since I left you all at another *evil* cliffhanger ;) I'd like to make up for it by personally thanking each one of my faithful and friendly reviewers. I love you all!

Melia, Andi Horton, Starr Light, Secret Agent Girl, Lex, tennischickGGEA, swtangelrelina , Jennifer stross, Melia…again! Thanks girl!, Siricerasi, charmedgal005, spider-elf, mudpie7386, Coley, Vaughnscutie, Hidden Identity

Please continue to review! :)