Woohoo, what a cliffhanger eh? Enjoy this...try not to be too confused...hey if J.J Abrams can make Sydney disappear for two years, I can do whatever I desire in my tale...mwuhaha.

The insanity of TONIGHT's premiere makes me feel not so guilty about the insanity of this next chapter. Please, don't kill me.

Sydney was getting really sick of waking up in places she didn't recognize. Why can't I just have one normal day, she thought. Her entire body ached, though she hadn't been injured at all, besides a possible concussion. Her hands and feet were bound to a chair, and though she had escaped these kinds of restrictions before, she didn't have the strength to attempt escape at the moment. She looked around; nothing much to look at. She was in dark room, walls black, with one small candle burning in a corner. She heard no noise, so she assumed that the room was probably sound-proof. Good, no need to waste my voice then, she thought.

She sat silently, trying to remember the moments before she had blacked out. She had been in the bathroom in the airport, crying over Michael and surprisingly, Eric Weiss. Oh God, Eric, where are you, she thought. She almost laughed out loud at the irony of it all. Years before, she had called Vaughn her guardian angel, and now she was waiting for Eric to come rescue her. Weird. Whoever knocked me out must have hit me pretty hard. She paused at that thought. Who had knocked her out? She knew that she had seen a face; she just couldn't remember who it belonged to. Why can't I remember?

At this, a door opened from behind her. She waited patiently to see a face, but first heard a voice she immediately recognized.

"Long time no see, Miss Bristow. We really should try to see each other on a more regular basis."

"Sark."


*****


"What do you mean you're not sending out a team to find her?"

"Eric, I care about her as much as you do, however, we have no leads on where she is. It would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!" Marcus Dixon shouted.

"Well, there is no way I'm going to let another two years go by without her, which is what you guys are going to allow to happen," Eric spat out.

"We have every intention of getting Syd back...right now, we have to wait," With one last look, Dixon turned around to talk to Marshall. Eric's thoughts were interrupted by a new voice.

"Come on man, you need to relax, we're going to find her," Michael Vaughn said quietly. Eric looked at him in disbelief.

"Give me a break man. I know you're freaking out, no matter how much you try to hide it. I can tell by your face that you're worried."

"Yeah, well, I am. But Sydney's not the only person I'm worried about."

"What me? You don't need to worry about..."

"No, well yes, I'm worried about you...but I'm worried about Meg."

"Why, is she freaking out about Sydney?"

"That's just it man, I don't know. She hasn't come home in three days."

"Oh man, I'm sorry. I had no idea," Eric stated quietly, looking in his best friend's eyes. A few moments passed before Vaughn spoke again.

"Look Eric, I'm sorry that I came down on you yesterday. I've always been too emotionally attached to her. I know that I'm married, and no matter what, I am committed to Meg. It's just hard, because part of me will always love Syd. I always wonder how things would be if..." he trailed off.

"If she had never disappeared," Eric finished for him.

"Yeah," he sighed, running his hands through his hair, "but I have to get over it, and I will. Just please cut me some slack, because you're my friend man. I don't want to lose that." At this, their eyes met, and Eric understood. They both did. Now with that out of the way, they could focus their energy on something much more important: Finding Sydney.


*****


"Well, Mr. Sark, why don't you start by telling me why you brought me to this place?"

Sydney smirked as Sark came into view. He hadn't changed a bit, which was almost comforting considering the complete upheaval of her life...same cocky smile, same elegant air to him...for a second, she almost forgot she hated him. Almost.

"Ah, Miss Bristow, what would be the fun in that? I'd love to hear what you've been doing for the past two years," he smiled as she visibly stiffened.

"You know very well that I've been missing Sark. You also know that I've lost everything."

"Miss Bristow, everything? Really, isn't there anything you're not considering?"

"My parents, Will, Eric. That's about it."

"Ah, Mr. Weiss. I've heard things..."

"Shut up," Sydney spat out, wishing she could spit in his face.

"Mr. Weiss is a touchy subject? Alright then. We won't discuss him. We have more important things to cover."

"Like what?" she asked, annoyance growing.

"Like the missing years of your life. I can give you the answers you want. It's time you knew what happened to you Miss Bristow."

"I work with the CIA Sark, in case you've forgotten. Analysts and field agents are investigating my hiatus as we speak. So why in the world would I trust anything you have to say about my disappearance?" He smiled at her, amazed at her brilliance under pressure.

"Because I was there Sydney. I was the one who took you."


*****


In L.A., a cell phone rang.

"Vaughn."

"Hello Mr.Vaughn,"a voice, obviously altered, answered him.

"Who is this?" he demanded.

"I cannot disclose that information."

"What is this about?"

"Your girlfriend Sydney Bristow."

Vaughn gasped, and waved Eric over to him, mouthing that there was a caller claiming to know something about Sydney. Eric's eyes lit up, and stood close to Vaughn, attempting to listen to the call.

"Speechless, Mr. Vaughn? That's a shame, perhaps I should let you go then..."

"No! I'm here!" he shouted, "Where is Sydney?"

"If you ever want to see Miss Bristow again, look in a location that you know well."

"What location? What are you talking about?" he demanded.

"Mr. Vaughn, keep in mind that Miss Bristow could have been brainwashed during her absence. Just consider it," and with that, the caller was gone. Vaughn swore loudly, causing several agents to look in his and Eric's direction. Eric dragged Vaughn into the 'flirting corner' demanding to know what was going on.

"The caller said that we should look in a place that I know well, and that I should consider that Syd may have been brainwashed....what exactly is that supposed to mean? God! What are we going to do?" Vaughn yelled, earning a supportive pat on the back from Eric.

"Just think for a minute man. Were you and Syd ever together in a lab of some sort that performed procedures of any kind?"

"Eric, we've been in several places together...the lab where she destroyed the circumference maybe..."

"You weren't in the lab Vaughn, only she was. The caller said that you knew the place well," Eric interrupted. They both became silent, considering what the answer was. Vaughn was racking his brain. What lab had he been in that Sydney had been also? Suddenly the answer became clear.

"Oh my God, Eric! The lab in Paris, where Sydney found me after I disappeared. She told me Khasinau was about to perform a procedure on me!"

"Vaughn! That's it, man. That's the answer we've been looking for! We've got to tell Dixon, so we can send a team right away!" Weiss started to walk away, but stopped when he noticed Vaughn had not moved from his spot.

"Vaughn, come on man, what's wrong?" Vaughn was silent for a moment, obviously deep in thought.

"Eric, I'm excited to find her. I'm ecstatic. But there's one question that will be burning in my mind."

"And what is that?"

"Who just called us?"


*****


"You're responsible for this?! I'll kill you Sark, so help me..."

"I'm touched Miss Bristow really," he laughed at her attempts now to remove the ropes that bound her arms and legs.

"After you killed Alison, Sark and I took you with us. He wanted to perform tests on you to see..." he trailed off.

"To see what?"

"To see if you were truly the woman in the prophecy of Rambaldi." Sydney laughed out loud.

"You mean to tell me that this is about Rambaldi, again? You guys really need to get a life."

"After extensive training, tests, and work in the field, we discovered that you aren't the woman in the prophecy."

"Well, happy day. May I go now?" she asked impatiently. Then she paused for a moment. "What do you mean, work in the field?"

"You truly are amazing Miss Bristow, you don't miss a thing. At first, you would not comply to our orders. After certain procedures, your attitude changed."

"Procedures?"

"In other words, you were brainwashed. I imagine that's what you Americans would call it," Sydney could not believe what she was hearing. It couldn't be true...though it would explain why she couldn't remember anything.

"What did I do during this time that I...wasn't myself?"

"You were an assassin," he stated. He watched as the color drained from her face. Well, for once, he thought, Sydney Bristow is speechless.

"That's not all, Sydney..." she looked up to meet his gaze. What could be worse than what he had already told her?

"You and I became very close during the period you were with Sloane and I. When Sloane was taken into CIA custody, we grew even closer."

Sydney could not believe what she was hearing; she became friends with this viper?

"Like what, we became best buddies, we had sleepovers, what?" she demanded.

"We..."

"WHAT?"

"We have a child together Sydney."

"What are you talking about? You're a liar! I would like to think that I would never, ever sleep with you, brainwashed or not."

"Well, you did. Anna is evidence of that. I will have DNA tests performed if you need further proof. However, I think when you see her, you will see the truth."

Sydney struggled to absorb this information. A daughter? How could she not remember having a child? Oh God. She had a child. With Sark. She wished she had never asked any questions. Somehow she knew that what he was saying was true. If it was, she didn't know if she wanted to escape from this place, let alone live. The weight of the situation weighed heavily upon her heart, which became painfully evident when the world became black, and Sark's face was the last thing she saw.