Notes: Sorry it took so long. Lots of S/S from this point on. Big thanks to all those who
helped me narrow down the list of names for Sark and Zara who picked the final one.

~

Syd never got a chance to speak to her father before she had to leave early the next morning.
She was in a relatively good mood looking forward to being out of the SD-6 offices for a few
days. When she arrived at the airport she went over to the place they always met before
missions. As usual, she saw Sark by himself, sitting in a corner and flipping through some
pages on his lap.

"Good Morning Sark."

He looked up from what he was doing and took her in for a moment. "Suddenly we are all friendly
again I see. We must stop this love/hate relationship of ours."

She blushed thinking about what she had said the day before. "I am sorry but you have to admit
that if our places were different you would not trust me either. I do like you but it is not
like you are all cheerful at the office either."

"At the office we have business to do Ms. Bristow."

She sat down facing to him. "I don't have any other life besides business anymore."

"I never have. Our trade does not allow for it."

"No friends?" she inquired.

Sark titled his head slightly down as his now harsh blue eyes rolled back a bit. Syd could tell
he was irritated by the question. "No," he responded in a severe tone.

Before Sydney could reply, the announcement was made that their plane was loading, so they got
their self together and headed off. On the walk to the plane Syd could not help but think how
she identified with the loneness he must feel.


Once on the plane, Sydney just sat there thinking over the past two years. For the first time
since she had walked into Sloane's office and seen Sark standing there, she let herself think
that she had been wrong about Sark's motives at SD-6. He was getting the job done and was even
hurting his old allies, which included her mother's organization. He must have really wanted to
start over with SD-6 after her mother's walk-in to the CIA. Still she told herself that he
worked for SD-6, her enemy. Her purpose in life was revenging Danny's death. She could never
forget that.

Still, part of Sydney wanted to start a friendship between them and the guilt was overwhelming.
She told herself there had to be a reason she wanted a friendship with Sark besides her own
desire to do so. Syd was doing the best she could to convince herself that it would help
accomplish her objective to take down SD-6 even faster. He was closer to Sloane than anyone at
SD-6 these days and any information she could get from him could be valuable. It was to bad
that on a subconscious level she knew that she was just making excesses.

Sydney decided she would talk to Sark but she did not know how to open up the conversation.
Their discussions up to this point had normally been about business or just banter back and
forth. It was a rare thing when they just sat and talked about their lives or maybe life is the
better word. She occasionally talked about herself but it was a rare event when Sark did. It
took a while before Sydney thought of something she could say to create peace between the two
but once she recalled that day, she knew what to say.

"Sark?" She waited until she knew he was listening and continued, "I want to take back
something I once said."

She saw his eyebrow raise like they always did when he was curious about something and knew
that she had his interest.

"And what may that be?"

"That we would never be friends. I was wrong. You are kind of a decent guy and well I like
you."

"You were not that cruel yesterday Ms. Bristow," Sark said with amusement.

"It's Sydney now. We are friends after all."

At this Sark shifted a bit towards her and looked at her suspiciously. "You are serious aren't
you?"

"Yes," she could not help but laugh out.

Sark pressed together his lips and gave his head a small shake before turning right back to
looking out window. After he remained quite for a few seconds she started talking again.

"And what about you? Can I call you Aidan?"

Sark looked back at her with amazement but said nothing.

"I've looked at any information I could find on you in the SD-6 files over the last two years."

She watched Sark take a deep breath and rub his temple for a second before he leaned over and
whispered, "As I assumed you would but when we are in public. You know better than to talk
about stuff like this."

"You are right, sorry. It was a foolish mistake."

"It is fine, just remember next time." He gave her a remorseful smile and after few moments
added, "Want to talk about something else?"

~

My heart is crammed in my cranium
And it still knows how to pound
Well, I found you
Maybe you can help me
And I can help you
--- Headache by Frank Black

end of chapter 5

Thanks for reading. Reviews are appreciated.