Thanks for the reviews, guys! Much appreciated! I'll try to be quicker on the rest of the updates; the challenge ends Oct. 4th.
Two days later, Sydney and Sark were in a Los Angeles hotel room,
waiting for Jack to arrive and detail what would happen next. Watching Sydney
pace the room, Sark finally broke the silence.
"Sydney…" he began cautiously. She stopped her motions and looked at him
expectantly. When he didn't continue speaking, she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Adam?" He rubbed his jaw thoughtfully, unsure of how to broach the subject.
"I'm not really sure of the best way to go about this, so… I'll just say it. I
think we need to talk. Right now." Sydney looked worried, but maintained her
composure.
"About what?"
"Your father." The worry faded from her face, replaced by a mixture of anger
and annoyance.
"I told you before, that subject is closed. It is off limits,
understand?"
"I understand perfectly, Sydney. You don't wish to discuss it because you can't
admit how much it hurts. You don't hate him because he's not your father;
you're angry with him because he is."
"Stay out of it Sark. You don't know enough about the situation to make
judgments like that."
"Oh really? I know what you told me, and I know what I saw in London. That
gives me plenty to base my opinions on."
"I see. Well please, Adam, enlighten me. Impart your wisdom upon me." Her
sarcasm didn't even faze him; he merely nodded in acquiescence and continued
speaking.
"You and your father don't despise one another the way you both would have
everyone else believe, and neither of you truly wants to abolish your
relationship. You both have too much stubborn pride to be the first to
apologize for any past transgressions, and until one of you can take that first
step, you'll simply continue playing this utterly ridiculous game that's been
going on for far too long now. And before you even ask how I drew these
conclusions, I'll tell you: it was completely obvious just by observing the two
of you for a mere half hour. If either of you truly despised the other, you
wouldn't have been so hurt by the things that were said. Don't bother denying
it, I was there. Each of you was wounded by something the other said, and that,
to me, proves that there's no way you can honestly-" Sydney finally cut him
off.
"Stop it!" she pleaded. He immediately fell silent, knowing she had more to
say.
"Yes, Adam, you're right. I don't hate him; all I ever wanted from him was
acceptance. I didn't expect any kind of 'normal' father-daughter relationship,
I just wanted to know that he cared. You're correct on all accounts… are you
happy now?" she demanded, stubbornly fighting back tears.
"Of course I'm not happy, Sydney. I don't want to hurt you, but you have the
opportunity now to perhaps fix things with your father. I didn't want you to
just pass that up." Before she could reply, there was a knock at the door.
"He has the worst timing…" she said lightly.
"Shall I answer it?" Sark questioned.
"No… I'd like to." He nodded and moved to take a seat.
"Be right there!" Sydney called, rushing to the sink to wash her face quickly
before hurrying to the door. She pulled it open, and almost slammed it shut
again.
"Who the hell is that?" she demanded, seeing another, younger man standing
behind her father.
"If you'd kindly let us in, I'll explain." She stepped aside, permitting them
entry, before closing and locking the door.
"Thank you. I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to risk being spotted
in a hotel with a CIA agent and two internationally known freelance assassins,"
Jack said flippantly.
"So he's a CIA agent?" Sydney asked. Jack glanced back at his companion.
"Yes. He was Spike Nash's handler, as a matter of fact, and for that reason, he
has an understandable- if entirely too personal- interest in seeing this case
through." The CIA agent gave Jack a look before holding his hand out to Sydney.
"Michael Vaughn," he said quietly. Sydney looked at his outstretched hand, but
made no move to take it. Jack looked somewhat amused as Vaughn hesitantly
pulled back.
"Is he going to be my handler?"
"Not quite, but you will be working together."
"Not quite? Would you mind clarifying?"
"We're going to get you into SD-6 on the premise that you, being my daughter,
have decided to end your days as a freelancer, and come work with me at SD-6.
As such, you'll be given any information you need by me."
"So where does he come into the equation?" Sark questioned.
"Vaughn will be working more with you, Mr. Sark. He'll be passing along
information from Sydney and myself, and any missions Sydney might have, you
will show up and intercept whatever it is." Sark nodded
"And what am I supposed to do then? Hand it over to the CIA?"
"Fortunately, we're not anticipating her being there long enough to be sent on
any missions, so that's something we'll only worry about if it actually does
pop up," Vaughn threw in. Sark smirked.
"Very well. If that's all I'm needed for, I believe I hear a bath calling me."
Sydney smiled at him as he walked away. Only when she heard the water running
did she turn her attention back to the two CIA agents. She caught sight of
Vaughn writing something on a small white card. A moment later, he looked up at
her.
"Miss Bristow, you'll-" she cringed and held up a hand.
"Just… call me Sydney, please." Looking slightly surprised, he nodded.
"Ok Sydney, you'll be working almost exclusively with your father, but I wanted
to give you my cell number, in case of emergency." He held out the card, and
she accepted it, looking at it briefly before tucking it into her pocket.
"Thank you," she said sincerely. He nodded, then smiled at her.
"You're welcome." She shifted her focus to Jack.
"So what's the plan?"
"I'll be here tomorrow morning, and you'll go into SD-6 with me. I'll introduce
you to Sloane, and he'll decide if you're SD-6 material- I can practically
assure you that the answer is yes. From there, it's up to you to gain his trust."
Sydney nodded in understanding.
"All right. Is there anything else?"
"No, nothing. You'd better get some sleep; I'll see you in the morning." Once
Jack and Vaughn were gone, Sydney turned her attention to getting ready for
bed. A few moments later, the bathroom door opened. Sark walked out, wrapping a
towel around his waist in the process
"That look definitely works for you," Sydney noted. Sark rolled his eyes.
"You would think so."
"Of course I would." He smiled lightly, searching for a pair of pants.
"So what's the plan Syd?" he questioned as he rifled through a suitcase. At her
prolonged silence, he stopped his search and glanced up to find her giving him
an odd look.
"What?" he asked, somewhat defensively.
"You just called me Syd," she stated.
"Is that a problem?" Sark said, looking perplexed.
"Oh, no, not at all… it's just very rare, coming from you."
"Well, I happen to be rather fond of your full first name, Sydney," he replied.
"Oh yeah? Well that's good, because I happen to be rather fond of yours as
well, Adam." He grinned at her as he finally found the pants he wanted. She
briefly outlined the plan for him as they prepared for bed.
"So what's my role? Stay in the hotel room and just wait?"
"Honestly, I don't know. Maybe Vaughn will get in touch with you in the
morning."
"I'm a bit worried about this whole thing," Sark admitted.
"So am I," Sydney replied. "But we've already come this far. We've gotta go
through with it."
"I know. Just promise you'll be careful, dealing with Sloane."
"Of course I will," she replied, kissing him lightly before falling into bed
for some much needed sleep. He followed suit after turning off the lights.
