Author's Notes: Thanks for all the great reviews and enjoy this extra long chapter! Please review, they really help to keep writing! Hope everyone is as excited as I am for tonight's episode!

Disclaimer: The characters of Alias belong to ABC and J.J. Abrams and all those great people.



**Sydney POV**

I woke up the next morning and felt another body very close to mine. It was a warm, comforting feeling. I had to think a second, and remember, that it was Sark. After we had kissed, we laid in bed just talking and practically making out. We didn't want to take it fast because we were practically just starting.

I felt Sark's body shift over and I saw his smiling face meet with mine for a short kiss.

"Morning," he says.

"Good morning to you too," I tell him with my biggest grin.

"We have a lot of work to do today," he informs me.

"Can't we just lay here all day?" I ask him playfully.

"I only wish," he says getting out of the bed.

I lie back into the bed and put the covers over my bed. I feel him jump on the bed and pull them off my head.

"Not fair," I tell him.

"Sydney, my love, we really must do this mission now," he informs me professionally.

"Alright," I say to him and jump out of the bed.

"I'm going to go to my room and we'll meet in 15 minutes?" he says and questions.

"Sounds good," I tell him and start to get things ready.



We meet at the van and hop in and set out. We have small talk for the beginning of the ride out to the house, but I soon change the conversation to hopefully get some more information on Sark.

"So, what are these papers in the vault going to have on them anyway?" I ask him, as if I was curious about our mission.

"Hopefully information that I have been looking for ever since your mother's disappearance," he tells me.

"What? And you're not going to give Sloane the info?" I ask him.

"Some of it I will," Sark says. "I know what you're trying to do."

I perk up at his comment, remembering that he does know about my double agent status, "Oh really?"

"I'll consider giving some of it to take to the CIA," he says mildly. This is where we were going to be able to easily get into a fight or two.

"How generous of you," I tell him in my cocky attitude.

"Fine then," he replies.

I glance over at him and soon enough am giving him the stare of death again. What happened to the chemistry that we had earlier? Did it die as soon as we were brought back to reality? Could we not survive in the mess that is our jobs?

We ride the rest of the way in silence and get to the designated location. We do a glance over and it appears that the building is vacant, as to be expected. I turned on my CIA transmitter just so they could hear, in case of something bad occurred, and prayed that Sark wouldn't say anything about last night. Knowing him, he would for that exact reason.

We perused the property and easily accessed the security system with the fingerprint we gathered from the party last night. We walked in and easily found the painting and area to be "removed."

We started working very professionally and within no time, had the job done. We pulled off the piece of wall, and sure enough, there laid a safe.

Sark placed the code scrambler on the door and it opened in a minute or two. He opened the door and in it laid a good carton full of papers.

"We don't have time to pick and choose, so we're taking the whole thing," he informs me. Sounds fine to me. . We place it in a briefcase and start putting the wall back together. We work together as if we were two, professional partners with no underlying issues at hand.

As we both are placing the painting back on to the wall, I hear a voice in my head, rather, Vaughn's voice coming through my head, saying, "Someone's here."

I tell Sark, "I think someone's here."

"Well, they won't find us," he says as we quickly make our way out the back to the trees and sure enough, someone had arrived at the house. We peer through the trees to see who it was, but it only seemed to be the cleaning company or something along those lines. We made our dash through the trees and made it back to the van.

"Close there at the end," I say under my breath as soon as we jump in the car.

"You call that close?" he asks me, back again with the cocky attitude. One small little issue that we have can cause so much friction between us.

"Under these circumstances," I reply back to him.

We drove back to the hotel in silence and gathered up the gear and he drove me to the airport. We didn't discuss anything that had happened, and I figured it was going to stay that way now. I didn't get it, we shared such a wonderful evening together and the next day we end up hating each other again because of our jobs. Go figure.

As I headed down the lobby with my one bag in hand, I noticed he was waiting in a chair by the exit in an alcove. I chose not to acknowledge him at first, until he called out my name. I turned and saw him and carefully went over to sit next to him.

"You rang?" I ask him.

"Sydney, is this how it's going to be?" he asks me.

"I guess so," I reply.

"Do you want it to be like this?" he asks me, placing a hand on mine.

I whisper softly, "No."

The question remained in my mind still, do I want to be with him? There was always Vaughn and I don't think the CIA would let me be in a romantic relationship with a well known assassin. I could imagine Kendall right now having that conversation with me.

"How about when we get back to LA, we go out to dinner," he asks me.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" I ask him playfully.

He leans in very close and replies, "Yes. Do you accept the invitation?"

I lean in even further and tell him, "I'd love to."

He pulls in even closer and we share a gentle and affectionate kiss. I had to pull away because I had to catch my flight.

"Airport's calling me," I tell him.

"At least let me drive you," he says.

"If you're offering," I reply.

We walk hand in hand to the exit and he ushers me to the van. I jump in shotgun and he gets in the driver seat.

"Is this safe?" I ask.

"What?" he replies, meaning my question could have several possible meanings.

"Us, together, is this safe?" I say, restating my question in more depth.

"In some respects, it may not be, but in the end, if it's meant to be, it will be," he says, in retrospect it's the most romantic thing he's said yet. I give him a smile in recognition, and he continues driving the van towards the airport.



When we arrive at the airport, he grabs my hand right before I exit the door.

"Sydney," he starts.

"Yes?" I ask very sheepishly.

"I love you," he says before kissing me quickly.

"I'll see you back at home?" I ask him.

"Of course," he replies and I jump out of the car.





I waltz in the airport and check in and head towards my gate. When I get there, I sit down in an open chair. I really despised airport chairs, but I'm over it. I looked up and the desk and realized that my flight had been delayed. Just my luck, isn't it?

I walked up to the desk and asked the woman in Russian what the matter was. She says that the plane's landing gear had been injured in the landing here and that the nearest mechanic was in Moscow and was going to be flown here. I asked her how long it was going to be and she said at least 4 hours. So, I retreat back to my very uncomfortable seat and reach for the book I had out of my bag.

I started reading and heard my cell phone go off. I picked it up and noticed it was a number I didn't recognize. I pressed send and pulled the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?" I say.

"Dear Sydney, it seems your stuck in an airport?" his British accent informs me.

"Yes, I've been made aware of that information already," I reply to him.

"Well, I think I could remedy the problem," he tells me.

"Oh really?" I reply playfully.

"Turn around and look near the bathroom," Sark says.

"Okay," I say and get up and scan the room, finding the bathroom, and sure enough, his blue-eyed, blonde haired body is waiting for me. I grab my purse and walk over to him, ending the call on my way.

"What are you doing here?" I ask him.

"I did a check on your flight and found it to be delayed," he tells me.

"Yeah, just my luck, isn't it?" I smile at him.

"I've cleared it with Sloane, you can ride back to LA with me," he informs me.

"Seriously?" I reply with a grin on my face.

"Indeed," he tells me.

We walk out the airport and jump back into the van. Smiles are exchanged, knowing that this airplane ride could be very eventful.

"Wait," I say.

"What?" Sark asks.

"My bag," I exclaim.

"My men are talking care of that," he informs me.

"You have men for everything, don't you?" I ask him.

"Practically," he replies, being serious.

My feelings for Sark were in the developing stages. He had declared his love for me, and I had to admit some thing inside of me had some feelings for him as well. His mysterious state of being probably helped me to yearn to want him, but we'll just have to wait and see.