Notes: Thanks to my betas once again and to Jen for helping me with the action sequence. Also
I would like to thank everyone who voted for me in the SD-1 awards. Means alot to me you all
enjoyed the fic enough to take the time to vote.

~

Darkness still filled the sky when Syd's eyes opened. She heard Sark stir and than slip back
into a restful sleep. Some part of her subconscious knew whatever had woken her had disturbed
his sleep as well but today her mind was on other things.

This morning was different from most others she experienced for the last few years. It had
been forever since she allowed herself to lay in a bed and bask in the awareness
that someone else was there. Of course she rarely had the opportunity to do so. Syd was
almost giddy at the thought of what had happened the night before. The nerve racking dinner
and the kiss by the ocean had been emotional and challenging. Most importantly they made her
feel alive again. If only that had happened the evening would have been prefect but the sex
had taken it to a whole new thrilling level.

Syd glimpsed towards Sark's shadowy figure. There was just enough moonlight to capture an
impression of him. For once he seemed at peace, almost sweet. Initially, Syd's mind could
not connect what she saw to those first images of him on the SD-6 monitors so long ago but
the denial did not last.

In another moment of self-hate, Syd berated what she was feeling. What was wrong with her?
Last night she followed her emotions and desires, not her obligations. This was no Vaughn
either. It was far more complicated than that and part of her knew there would also be no
'good end.' She had willingly fucked a man who was the enemy of the United States government,
a man she should be destroying.

Where the self hate was coming from and what scared her most was her reaction to it all. Syd
knew she could make herself feel guilty about anything but now she was mortified that she
felt no remorse for what she had done. Not only had she loved it, she wanted to do it again
and again if possible. She wanted to pretend everything was fine and this was like any other
relationship. Tempting ideas over took her and she suffered through each one, doing her best
to push them away. She despised herself for wishing to be happy.

Unfortunately, Syd was no closer to knowing what to do when Sark woke up. He edged closer to
her, sleepy satisfied smile on his face and began rubbing her back.

"Tense? I can fix that," he said playfully nibbling her ear.

This only resulted in her tensing more. "Sark," she shakily whispered. He pulled back. There
was uncertainty in his eyes as he waited for her to continue. "I'm-"

He shook his head with hurt, disappointed eyes. "Don't."

Syd knew she could not explain what she was feeling to him. Not yet so she remained quiet.
He jumped out of bed and started throwing his clothes on in a grumpily yet business-like
manner.

Rising somewhat, her hands clenching the sheets to her chest, Syd screeched as though shocked,
"You couldn?t expect it to be that simple!"

Sark shot her the coldest glare she had even seen him give causing her to draw back at the
sight. He headed towards the door and parted saying in a hardened tone, "We don't have time for
this Ms. Bristow. You better be ready in an hour."

As the door shut, her heart sank. Seeing Sark like that was devastating. She hated to have to
do that but was somewhat relieved that not too much damage had been done. He would forgive
her, she told herself. Once she figured out what to do, everything would be ok. At least if
she decided no, she did not continue leading him on. It was not a love they were sharing or
anything. Just an intense interest and desire to get closer.

Was it worth the risk? She had so much to think about and little time to do so. She had to get
ready for the museum. Today, Sydney was going to be Kathleen Marcis the art historian. A
professional yet an artistic air would be fitting today. She took out her outfit, a stylishly
cut gray pantsuit along with some jewelry but began looking around knowing something was
missing. That something was over by the bed, half twisted round the frame of the bed. She
picked up the dark blood red scarves she had brought with her to go with the outfit and threw
them into her suitcase. That was the last thing Sark needed to see today and Syd could do
without the reminder herself while on the mission.

She dressed quickly, finished packing, and gathered what she needed to complete the job. This
was going to be a hit and run. There was only 3 hours between their appointment to see the
statue and their scheduled departure. They needed to get the coin and head straight for the
airport. There was no time for screw ups.

She grabbed her suitcase and headed out the door towards Sark's room. Syd took a deep breath
to prepare herself as she gave a firm knock. A stone faced Sark opened the door, carrying his
own belongings and acknowledged her with a nod. God he looked good. He appeared casual; as
much as one could wearing a black suit. His look could even be called slightly unkempt. There
was no tie this time and his messy hair carefully arranged. Sark wore a pair of black wire
rimed glasses that made him less like himself and more like whatever he thought Daniel Wilson
to be. Almost like an intellectual with more on their mind than their appearance. He seemed
slightly older though she blushed at the fact that she did not know how old he truly was. At
least she knew his first name, Syd thought.

To break the uncomfortable silence she spoke the first comment that came to her head. "You
ready for this?"

The annoyed look he gave her, made her regret it right away. "When have I not been?"

"I did not mean to say that, sorry."

"Well it seems you say a lot of things-." He stopped. Syd knew Sark was biting his tongue to
keep things as professional as he could. "Let's go," is all he added.

They headed down towards the rented car, threw their suitcases in the trunk and started off.
Syd spent the short ride looking out the window and thinking. Words like charming, intelligent
and exhilarating came to mind. He was one of the few men she felt measured up to her
expatiations mentally and physically. Sark kept Syd on her toes and he seemed to have a
understanding of her, something she also could not say about many others. And now Sark had
an extra lure since she found out what an amazing and unpredictable lover he could be.

Syd knew just as well that he was dangerous. She had been long told money and power ruled his
actions. By most, he was considered an arrogant remorseless killer, something to be feared not
loved. She still knew nothing about his motives for working for SD-6. Could everything that
happened last night all be part of some trap he was setting? He would be working for her
mother of course. Had she sent one of her most trusted employees to seduce her daughter?

She bitterly laughed away the idea. Her mother had held a grip over her while sitting in that
CIA cell. Had she wanted Sydney by her side she would have done more than she did to achieve
that. Part of Sydney fumed at the idea that Rambaldi information had been Irina's purpose at
the CIA and not her. In a sick way it would have at least showed her mother cared about her
fate.

Syd suddenly realized that they had reached their destination and just like so many times
before they fell into sync with one another. They got out, gathered what they needed and
headed towards the entrance the entrance now Daniel Wilson and Kathleen Marcis. All Sydney's
and Sark's problems put aside for the sake of completing a mission.

A bulky middle aged man, clearly of Greek descent, greeted them in well spoken English.
"Welcome. I'm Mr. Cornelius. You must be here to see the statue?"

"Yes, that is us." Sark grinned cheerfully and made the introductions.

As Sark most likely expected, his sociable behavior put the man at ease at once. Though Syd
had seen this many times before, she was still impressed by the range of aliases Sark was
able to become. She never fully got use to seeing them either. They reminded her that she may
have never even seen him to true form.

"We shall open viewing of the statue up once everyone gets here," the man added after Sark
finished speaking.

Sark and her exchanged a telling look. They both knew things were not going as planed. Syd
pushed her hair back and gave the man her best fake smile.

"We were not aware there would be others."

"There was such interest that we decided to open it up to more people. Don't worry you'll get
some time alone," he said tapping one of the note books Marshall had given them.

They were lead into a room where four individuals, three woman and one man, were assembled.
Syd listened as names and professions were given, taking in as much info as she thought would
be needed. The man, who was older than the rest, started dominating the conversion. Syd would
have been grateful she did not have to add anything if he had not been so darn boring. Books,
awards and his renowned in the field of Corinthian art were more focused on than anything that
may have been held in the museum.

To her surprise though, Sark was able to comment on much of what was being said, art related
or not. She knew he was meticulous with knowing everything he could on missions like this but
his knowledge went beyond that. It was not something that could be quickly learned and it left
her wondering if it came from a true love of the topic or some side effect of Rambaldi
research. This was just another reminder of how much was left to learn about him.

Excusing herself, Syd walked over to the table where some morning refreshments were laid out
for them. To look like she was really there for food she picked up a piece of cantaloupe and
took a bite, relaxing for a second. Barely a minute later Sark joined her, picked up a glass
of orange juice and took a sip.

"We can't both get away without being noticed," Sark quietly told her.

"We can't wait too long. Though we can catch a later flight, I think now will be the best
opportunity we have." Syd thinking about her hatred of failing muttered to herself, "We don't
want this whole trip to be a wash."

The comment did not go unnoticed by Sark. The corner of his mouth twitched like it did
whenever he was exceptionally displeased with anything. It was one of the few behavior
traits she had picked up on him in the last two years.

"I am not the type to give up without giving it a try."

Sark words may have been just about the mission but Syd?s mind traveled towards their personal
issues. Though Sark's eyes moved over her, he made no further comment to make it clear.

"I'll find an reason to leave the room for a bit and you can keep them distracted," Sark added
like nothing had happened.

Syd could not believe what he was saying. "Wonderful idea," Syd sarcastically said. "Leave the
clueless one with the art experts."

She also had to make sure she knew the code for the CIA. There would be no point in them having
the other five pieces of the code and not this one. Without Sark's watchful eye on her, it may
end up being the easiest time she had with memorizing it as well.

"There will be both the security system and two guards to handle."

"I've taken on more. I have taken on you."

Sark smiled and handed her his part of the equipment. "Don't take too long," he whispered with
an encouraging nod.

As she was leaving, one of the late comers arrived. She heard a thick Russian accent converse
with that certain English one, as she walked down the hall.. For some reason the man's accent
reminded her of Irina, giving her a chill.

Syd snuck towards the security system and let the scrambler go to work. It only took a few
seconds till everything was set and she was on her way. This she was thankful for. Something
was bothering her and Syd wanted to take her mind off it. She wanted to act.

She headed towards the door for the back rooms. As she looked in she saw that the area looked
like any other storage room except two unusually large armed guards were walking on one end of
it. She could do this. Men like these were the easiest to take down. They were so comfortable
with nothing happening that when something did they were slow to act.

Syd squatted behind a bunch of boxes looking over the scene. She needed to take them both out
fast or the other may be trouble. Syd looked around at the resources about her and picked up a
vase out of a half opened box. Most likely worth a small fortune, Syd thought as she smashed
the vase some distance away from her. The guards took the bait and after pushing the button on
the notebook, it joined the fragmented pottery among another set of boxes a little ways over.
It was just in time for the guards to arrive at the spot and they were overwhelmed by the
colorless gas. The first collapsed with a loud smash into the boxes but the second man dazedly
stumbled back and started going for help.

Syd sighed with disappointment. Sark had been right during that meeting back at SD-6. They
should have just taken these guys out by force instead of alerting the whole place that
something was wrong. Time to put her skills to work. She ran towards the weakened guard giving
him a flying kick straight to the head, thinking that would do the trick. To her surprise the
man managed to grab her leg, sweeping her off her feet. She winced as she painfully hit the
hard floor with a crash. They struggled, rolling about the cold floor till Syd managed to
elbow him in the chest. The man gasped for breath as Syd pinned him to the floor. Straddling
him, she punched him in the face impairing him further and put him into a choke hold till he
was knocked out cold. She untangled herself free from the man and looked down at the bloody
mess before her. As Syd ran to the safe, she shook off the pain that was surging through her
hand and cursing the day she became a spy.

Syd got to work at cracking the walk-in safe. What would have caused must people endless
heartache at attempting, she did with instinctively. She entered the numbers to the combination
like they were written on her hand. As the safe opened, she wasted no time in looking for what
she needed. Her eyes ran over the room at the items around her. Finally, off it a right back
corner, she saw a glass case that held the coin. She took her already throbbing hand and
smashed it into the glass. Quickly grabbing the item, Syd made her way out with the item. All
things considered it had been a below average mission but at least it was completed. She
rapidly turned the corner of the hallways one after the other till Syd suddenly stopped.
Confused by the unexpected sting she felt in her back, she attempted to reach at the source of
her pain.

"Excellent job as always, Ms. Bristow."

She unsteadily turned towards the voice and stared into the set of blue eyes before her just as
the tranquilizer took effect causing her to pass out.

End of chapter 9

You can also say this is the end of part one of this fic. Next part will be in Sark's POV. I
will keep on posting it in within the same thread though.