CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – THE LETTER, PT. II

Jack looked Sydney straight in the eye, and said the only word his voice could rasp out:

"Sark."

Sydney's eyes instantly widened with fear and confusion.  Is he here?  Is he after me?  Her head turned, rapidly scanning the room for any immediate danger.  When she found none, she returned her gaze to her father, waiting for him to elaborate, but he appeared too distraught to explain.  It was then that Sydney saw the pages he held on his lap.  She stepped closer, trying to make out what the documents were and was startled when he snatched them away from her reach, quickly standing and moving across the room.

"Dad?"  She didn't understand what was going on, "What are those papers?  What about Sark?"

Jack had always prided himself on the ability to keep his cool under in the most pressure-filled situations.  He had been tortured, been torturer, and a participated in a million different terrifying scenarios, but he had never been fully at a loss for words.  But this was different.  How do I tell my daughter that the past two years have only been filled with suffering for her?  How can I explain to her that the reason she is lucky enough not to remember that pain is…

"Sark…"  He again growled out the only syllable that he was able to force past his lips. 

Sydney saw her father's mood rapidly altering from pain and confusion to pure, unadulterated anger.  Not wanting to press him, she slowly lowered herself into the recliner he had just vacated, and waited.

It was a full ten minutes before Jack relaxed enough to sit down on the sofa, and another five minutes before he began to speak.  "This is a letter from your mother."

Sydney's eyebrows shot up in surprise, but she made to comment.

"The letter is very… informative.  It appears that you have been with her for the past few months, tracking Sloane.  Our guess was correct: you shot him."

This confirmation came as no surprise to Sydney, so she just nodded, urging Jack to continue.

"He kidnapped you and tortured you for months until your mother rescued you.  He faked your death.  When you recovered, you stayed with your mother and hunted Sloane without contacting anyone."  Jack's voice was thick with grief and guilt.  He still was unable to absorb the fact that Sydney has requested Irina's assistance and not his.

In an effort to compose himself, Jack squeezed his eyes shut with a hand rubbing his temples.  After a deep sigh, he handed a page from the letter to Sydney, and with a murderous snarl spat out the name of the person she was still wondering about.

"Sark."

Sydney turned her attention to the page before her, eyes devouring the words in that familiar script.

As to Sydney's current condition… the memory loss.  That is partially my fault.  I made a mistake in trusting an associate in our chase for Sloane.  I know that you have been out of contact with the CIA, Jack, so I'm not certain whether you were aware of Sark's escape from custody.

After I discovered you had retired, I knew it was safe to extract Sark.  I had trained him for years and sent him to infiltrate Sloane's organization for me, so I was sure he would be useful in my search for Sydney.  In truth, Sark was helpful… he was the only reason I was able to discover where Sloane was keeping Sydney.

After we had extracted her from Sloane's custody, Sark assisted me in Sydney's rehabilitation and later in hunting for Sloane.  He seemed to be everything that I had known him to be, and he was even softer… friendly even… toward Sydney.  But after Sydney eliminated Sloane, Sark's true intentions were revealed.

Apparently, while in Sloane's company, Sark had fallen prey to the Rambaldi obsession.  He only assisted us in discovering Sydney and Sloane because he wanted Il Dire for himself.  His overtures toward Sydney had been in hopes of winning her trust, so she would complete the Rambaldi prophecy… for him.

Of course, Sydney refused, she and Sark fought, and he escaped.  Sydney then believed her troubles with Rambaldi were over.  We discovered where Agent Vaughn was assigned, and Sydney immediately left for Hong Kong.  I did not accompany her… and I should have.

Sark was waiting for her.  He caught her unaware, drugged her, and used hypnotic techniques to erase her memory.  He wanted another chance to win her trust and convince her to activate the machine.  He left her in Hong Kong and fled to New Zealand to wait for an opportunity.

That was where I found him, while you and Agent Vaughn were helping Sydney

Now Sydney understood her father's shock.  She had always known that Sark was dangerous, but she never truly believed that he would go against her mother. 

Sydney's hands began to shake.  She tightened her fists in an effort to control the rage bubbling inside her, crumpling the page of Irina's letter in the process. 

Was she never going to be rid of Rambaldi?  She had always assumed that removing Sloane from the picture would allow her to have a normal life.  A life with Vaughn.  Milo Rambaldi and his work would apparently never permit that to happen.  For every Sloane, there would be a Sark to carry on the obsession.

She wanted to kill him.  Only one thing kept her from grabbing her father's gun and hijacking the first plane to New Zealand.

Needless to say… he will not bother Sydney anymore.

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A/N:  Thanks, again, everyone for your patience.  I'm sure now that the server-thingy is back up, you have an abundance of terrific updates to read, & I am very flattered that you take the time to read &/or review my little piece.  Just in case this ever happens again, I want you all to know that Realizzata is also posted at SD-1.com and at aliasuncovered.com.  I hope you like the new chapter!