Unexplained

Chapter Ten

Flames

Nairobi, Africa

Sydney waited two more minutes after Sloane had begun chanting in Latin. She finally hefted the stake up and slid her way out of the ropes without too much commotion. Lyle noticed and opened his mouth to speak, but Sydney clamped it tight. Then, she kicked him in the groan, which was enough to shut him up for a few more minutes. Miss Parker took great delight out of that. Jarod was out of his bindings and he met Sydney in the center. It was at that minute that Raines took notice of the two missing members. "Arvin, stop. They've moved from the formation."

Sydney slid behind the machine.

"You mean I'm not supposed to be here?"

Jarod, in the depths of the chamber that Rambaldi had left, called out, "Or me in here? That would mess everything up?"

"Oooppppsss..."

And with that, Sydney kicked her leg out and knocked Sloane down. Raines had grabbed the falling manuscript, ready to guard it with his life. Sydney grabbed a hold of the tube travelling from the oxygen tank to Raines himself and it jerked itself out of it's hold. Raines gasped for air, holding the manuscript tightly. Sydney struggled with him, trying to rip the page in half. If she could tear it while Jarod destroyed the Rambaldi device from the inside, they should prevail. Sloane tried to slip his way up on her, but Sydney ducked and punched him in the gut. She was going to take great enjoyment out of beating the crap out of this man. But she realized she'd need some help to take down two madmen. So she released Sark, believe it or not. He threw himself at his father, trying his best to take the manuscript from him. Raines looked confused for a brief moment, as if for once he'd been surprised at the outcome of the event he'd so carefully planned for. Clanging metal echoed throughout the entire compound as the Rambaldi device was struck down. Sydney performed a perfect roundhouse kick, knocking Sloane to the ground. Several teeth fell out of his mouth and he spit some blood out. He disgusted Sydney. She grabbed him up by his hair, pulling him towards the very stake that had bound her. She'd tie him up and this time, no one would be moving. She glanced back at Sark and noticed him ripping the Rambaldi documents to shreds. She knew that it took a lot of willpower for Sark to destroy the man's legacy, the Centre's legacy, his legacy. He was doing it for her. Instinctively she knew that. And she respected him all the more for it, which was something great since Sydney had never respected Sark before. She tied Sloane to the wall and noticed Sark yanking Raines over to the position next to Sloane. She glanced over at the monumental invention and noticed the top tipping over. She ran to Miss Parker, untying her as quickly as her fingers could go. Miss Parker ran to Ethan and Sydney to Angelo. Lyle was last to be transferred to a comfortable spot beside his father. And then Jarod dashed out from the inside of the machine to the edge as it tumbled down into a zillion different pieces, electric sparks flying all around. Sydney ducked and realized that Sark was covering her from the fire that was spreading around the warehouse. Sirens wailed as several vehicles pulled up in the front of the compound. She pulled away from Sark and saw that Jarod, along with Parker, Angelo, and Ethan had disappeared. "Where'd they...?"

She realized that Sark was gone, too. Just by moving away from him, he'd run from her. And she had no idea where he had gone. Only Lyle, Raines, and Sloane remained, tied to the wall, trying to concoct an ingenius plan to get out of the warehouse before the CIA captured them.

Jack slammed the car door shut, Vaughn and Weiss following suit. Some local police had followed them, for back up at the most, a hindrance at the very least. Jack noticed the flames at the top of the building and dashed into the warehouse. "Sydney?" He coughed out as the smoke filled his lungs.

"Sydney?"

"I'm here, Dad. I've got Sloane. And Mr. Raines and Mr. Lyle."

She suddenly felt some arms around her and she hoped that it was Sark who had returned to her. But instead, it was Vaughn handing her an oxygen mask. She took a grateful breath from it and saw that Jack was given one as well. Vaughn and Weiss looked like some kind of horror monster from the thirties with the huge masks on and it made her laugh incredulously. Vaughn stared at her curiously before untying Sloane to take him to a car. Jack had taken Raines and Weiss held Mr. Lyle. Sydney followed them out to the cars. Jack pushed each one into a car and then drove away after a hug from Sydney and instructions for Vaughn to find out what had happened to Sydney exactly. Sydney sat on a rock, staring at a cactus as the sand swept over the scenery or lack thereof. Vaughn slowly approached her, choosing his words carefully. "So, where are Sark and Jarod?"

"Gone. Vanished into thin air."

"Where would they have gone?"

"I have no idea."

"How did you get here, Sydney?"

"I flew on a plane."

"How did you know to come here?"

"Jarod knew. So did Sark. He contacted Mr. Raines and found out where he was holding the device."

"And you trusted him. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that this was my one chance to capture Sloane and end this Rambaldi mess forever."

"You should have told me."

"No. You wouldn't have trusted Sark's information. You would have brought the whole CIA into this and it's not what Jarod or Sark wanted."

"That shouldn't matter. They're both fugitives."

"Jarod shouldn't be. He did nothing wrong. He's helped so many people in their lives. And Sark. He helped me."

"After all the people he killed, you think that absolves it. He helped you."

"It should count for something."

"Tell me where he is, Sydney."

"I don't know."

"He must have told you something."

"Nope. Not a word. He was there and then he was gone. Just like Jarod."

"Why are you protecting them?"

"I'm not."

"You are. You're lying to me. You've been lying to me since Jarod arrived and we captured Sark. I don't like what's happening to you. I'm seeing this dark side..."

"You think this is dark? This is very far from some deep abyss of darkness. I don't know where they are. And if I did, I don't think I would tell you."

"Sydney, I thought you trusted me."

"I did."

Sydney turned away from Vaughn, not wanting to look at him.

"But you don't now?"

"Just leave me alone, Vaughn. I've had an ordeal to live with. I need to process the information. I've destroyed the Rambaldi prophecy, captured Sloane, and closed down the Centre."

"You know about the Centre?"

"Obviously."

She wrapped her arms around herself, as if warming herself, despite the fact she was in the middle of the desert.

"Sydney, come home."

"I can't go back to Los Angeles right now. I'm going to stick around for a little bit."

"I'll stay with you."

"I don't want you to. I don't need you to. I need to be away from the CIA, from procedure, and from you."

"Are you saying that we're over?"

"You have a bunch of questions, don't you?"

"Answer this one."

"Yes. I think we are."

And with that, Sydney walked on across the desert, the sun shining on her like a halo. Vaughn watched her walking around the blazing compound before turning to the remaining car to drive to the make shift airport where Jack and Weiss were. Little did he know that Sydney was leaving the village to get on another plane. One to Scotland, on the off-chance that Sark had wanted to join his half-siblings on their one way trip to Carthis.