Chapter Two: Breakfast with Sark
Sydney, believing that she was at home in her own bed, woke up slowly, stretching languorously until her spider senses alerted her to his presence. Confused, she gathered the blanket around her defensively; and scrambled off the bed. Her ankle collapsed under her weight but Sark grab her before she could fall.
"Careful, Ms. Bristow, I haven't been diligently icing that ankle for the last 12 hours to have you break it." Sark was barely able to get her on the bed before she pushed him away.
"What are you doing here?" Sydney asked still slightly groggy.
"You're in my room." Sark replied in a patronizing tone. Sydney took in the large furnished studio style room slightly confused as to how she got there.
"Why did you bring me here then?" Sydney countered still trying to clear her head.
"I believe it was you who 'dropped' in." Sark stated before walking into the kitchen area.
"Oh!" The memories of the last two weeks came with a crash eradicating all traces of the few seconds of joy she felt in waking up in a comfortable bed.
"I've made you some food. Before rejecting it, please keep in mind that you'll need a lot more strength for your next escape attempt." He gestured toward a small table set for two. He politely pulled out a chair for her to sit in but she ignored him and sat down in the opposite chair.
"I gave you my word that I wouldn't TRY to escape. I escaped so." Sydney stared at the food suspiciously until Sark reached over and ate a bite from her plate.
Convinced that it was safe, she forced herself not to eat too quickly even though she was ravenous. She didn't want to get sick especially not in front of Sark since he'd already seen her at her worst. She wondered if the omelet was delicious because she was so hungry or if it was the food itself.
It took her a few bites before realizing that the omelet was prepared exactly the way she liked it. She stopped eating as a few things came into focus. The surreal ness of the situation, eating breakfast with Sark would have been the last thing she would have thought she would be doing two weeks ago. Another more disturbing realization was that Sark had manipulated her into coming into his room, taking a rest, and eating food all the while making her feel that she had a choice in the matter. She lost her appetite. She'd underestimated him and forgotten for a few moments how dangerous he was. She promised herself that she would never do it again.
"Care to share your thoughts Ms. Bristow?" He dabbed his mouth with his napkin and leaned back into his chair, giving her his full attention.
"You're a killer." Sydney blurted out unable to contain her annoyance at being manipulated.
"Not my top ten topics to talk about during breakfast but if you insist. I have killed but then you have as well." Sark pointed out.
"But you enjoy it." She accused.
"I enjoy it about as much as you do." He stated not offended.
"I don't enjoy killing!" She denied insulted.
Sark stared into her eyes, searchingly, forcing her into an electrically charged battle of wills. Thrown by what she sees there, Sydney looks away first.
"We are alike, you and I. We do what needs to be done." Sark explained.
"I'm not like you! I'll never be like you. I watched as you executed the head of FTL and K Directorate without blinking and eye..."
"They deserved to die." He said emotionlessly cutting her off.
"How can you sit there and be so blasé about it? Even if they deserved it, it still doesn't make it right for you to kill them."
"Spare me your lectures Ms. Bristow. Are you telling me that if you had a chance to execute the men who were responsible for killing your fiancée that you wouldn't take it?"
"That's different, they took the man I loved, what did K-director and FTL ever do to you?" Even as she finished the question she realized that something had been done to him.
"You don't want to get into this kind of a discussion with me Ms. Bristow, you might not like what you hear." He was good at hiding his tension but with her trained eye she could see it, the slight narrowing of his eyes and clench of this jaw. For the first time in the last week she had the upper hand and she pettily decided it was Sark's turn to feel uncomfortable.
"But I do want to get into this kind of discussion! What horrible things did they do to you Mr. Sark?" Sydney taunted.
"Who said they did anything to me?" He replied evading the issue.
"Come on Sark! Don't you want to share war stories? Don't tell me YOU had a fiancée that they decided to execute for no reason at all?"
"I hate to cut this short but I do have a previous engagement." Sark said getting up but not before Sydney noticed a flash of some kind of emotion on his face.
"Running away?" Sydney taunted.
"I recommend you finish your breakfast before it gets cold. I'll be back in 15 minutes to brief you before you leave." He said cryptically leaving the room.
"Before I leave for where?" She shouted out but all she heard was the shutting of the door.
Sydney, believing that she was at home in her own bed, woke up slowly, stretching languorously until her spider senses alerted her to his presence. Confused, she gathered the blanket around her defensively; and scrambled off the bed. Her ankle collapsed under her weight but Sark grab her before she could fall.
"Careful, Ms. Bristow, I haven't been diligently icing that ankle for the last 12 hours to have you break it." Sark was barely able to get her on the bed before she pushed him away.
"What are you doing here?" Sydney asked still slightly groggy.
"You're in my room." Sark replied in a patronizing tone. Sydney took in the large furnished studio style room slightly confused as to how she got there.
"Why did you bring me here then?" Sydney countered still trying to clear her head.
"I believe it was you who 'dropped' in." Sark stated before walking into the kitchen area.
"Oh!" The memories of the last two weeks came with a crash eradicating all traces of the few seconds of joy she felt in waking up in a comfortable bed.
"I've made you some food. Before rejecting it, please keep in mind that you'll need a lot more strength for your next escape attempt." He gestured toward a small table set for two. He politely pulled out a chair for her to sit in but she ignored him and sat down in the opposite chair.
"I gave you my word that I wouldn't TRY to escape. I escaped so." Sydney stared at the food suspiciously until Sark reached over and ate a bite from her plate.
Convinced that it was safe, she forced herself not to eat too quickly even though she was ravenous. She didn't want to get sick especially not in front of Sark since he'd already seen her at her worst. She wondered if the omelet was delicious because she was so hungry or if it was the food itself.
It took her a few bites before realizing that the omelet was prepared exactly the way she liked it. She stopped eating as a few things came into focus. The surreal ness of the situation, eating breakfast with Sark would have been the last thing she would have thought she would be doing two weeks ago. Another more disturbing realization was that Sark had manipulated her into coming into his room, taking a rest, and eating food all the while making her feel that she had a choice in the matter. She lost her appetite. She'd underestimated him and forgotten for a few moments how dangerous he was. She promised herself that she would never do it again.
"Care to share your thoughts Ms. Bristow?" He dabbed his mouth with his napkin and leaned back into his chair, giving her his full attention.
"You're a killer." Sydney blurted out unable to contain her annoyance at being manipulated.
"Not my top ten topics to talk about during breakfast but if you insist. I have killed but then you have as well." Sark pointed out.
"But you enjoy it." She accused.
"I enjoy it about as much as you do." He stated not offended.
"I don't enjoy killing!" She denied insulted.
Sark stared into her eyes, searchingly, forcing her into an electrically charged battle of wills. Thrown by what she sees there, Sydney looks away first.
"We are alike, you and I. We do what needs to be done." Sark explained.
"I'm not like you! I'll never be like you. I watched as you executed the head of FTL and K Directorate without blinking and eye..."
"They deserved to die." He said emotionlessly cutting her off.
"How can you sit there and be so blasé about it? Even if they deserved it, it still doesn't make it right for you to kill them."
"Spare me your lectures Ms. Bristow. Are you telling me that if you had a chance to execute the men who were responsible for killing your fiancée that you wouldn't take it?"
"That's different, they took the man I loved, what did K-director and FTL ever do to you?" Even as she finished the question she realized that something had been done to him.
"You don't want to get into this kind of a discussion with me Ms. Bristow, you might not like what you hear." He was good at hiding his tension but with her trained eye she could see it, the slight narrowing of his eyes and clench of this jaw. For the first time in the last week she had the upper hand and she pettily decided it was Sark's turn to feel uncomfortable.
"But I do want to get into this kind of discussion! What horrible things did they do to you Mr. Sark?" Sydney taunted.
"Who said they did anything to me?" He replied evading the issue.
"Come on Sark! Don't you want to share war stories? Don't tell me YOU had a fiancée that they decided to execute for no reason at all?"
"I hate to cut this short but I do have a previous engagement." Sark said getting up but not before Sydney noticed a flash of some kind of emotion on his face.
"Running away?" Sydney taunted.
"I recommend you finish your breakfast before it gets cold. I'll be back in 15 minutes to brief you before you leave." He said cryptically leaving the room.
"Before I leave for where?" She shouted out but all she heard was the shutting of the door.
