Two days later they were in Sydney, Australia, which both of them found completely ironic. Of course, Sark, idiotic as he was, would hide in a city named after his daughter's mother. However, neither of them laughed about it as they would have months earlier. Instead, they focused on the task at hand; Sydney mostly because she wanted to find her daughter, Eric because he wanted things to go back to normal, and maybe that would happen after Sydney was reunited with Anna.
They discovered that Sark was in a house in the middle of nowhere, which surprised Sydney. She had almost expected him to have their daughter in some testing facility to see if she was 'the one' to fulfill Rambaldi's outlandish prophecy. When they approached the house at night, she was shocked at the simplicity of it all...a swing set was placed on a beautiful front porch of a Victorian-style house. She could hear Sark singing to Anna in the widow's watch, or high gazebo tower of the home. This shock was instantly replaced by anger; all the moments she had missed with Anna could never be reclaimed.
Her rage led her, along with Eric, past the guards with almost no problems...they had taken them down in less than a minute. Eric surveyed the area, giving her a sign that everything was clear. At the signal, she did not hesitate. She raced up the spiral staircase to the second level of the house. Eric followed and together they checked all the rooms, until they found the obvious staircase that led to the widow's watch. Sydney looked at him, tears forming in her eyes.
"I don't know if I can do this Eric," she whispered, looking down to the ground. He sighed, lifting her chin up, forcing her eyes to face him. With his other hand, he reached down to her hand and grasped it tightly.
"Sydney Bristow, you can do anything," he said, wiping a tear from her face, "Now let's go get your kid already, alright?" He smiled at her, which restored her fervor to be reunited with her daughter. Still clinging to each other's hands, they climbed up the stairs together, to be instantly met with Sark, who was holding a bundle in his arms.
*****
She realized she had a lot of work to do. They would have to trust her, just like they had trusted Irina, and when they least expected it, the black widow would strike. She was ready for it; at least, she believed she was. Yes, she had mourned for the death of her husband, but that had been weeks ago. She had to face Jack Bristow, but she was already over that. She knew that her only weakness would be her mother...if she saw her, the plan would never be completed. She had to get revenge for her 'father's' incarceration. After all, he was the only father she had ever known. No, Jack and Irina Bristow weren't her parents anymore. As far as Melina was concerned, they never were.
*****
It was hard for Sydney to decipher all the feelings that she encountered at the moment Sark came into view. Firstly, she was livid...she hated him. Secondly, she was in awe of the creature he held in his arms. Anna, she thought. Sark had been right; Sydney would have never been able to deny the little girl as her own. She was the mirror image of Sydney as a child, minus the fact that Anna had clear blue eyes, much like Melina's. This recollection of her sister caused Sydney to feel a deep sadness, one that should not have been felt at this moment. Sark eyed Sydney suspiciously, knowing that he had been made. He had escaped from her two months ago, but had realized then that it would only be a matter of time until she found him, and Anna, and took his little girl away from him. Perhaps she deserved to have her...he had to admit that he didn't deserve this little bundle, the most perfect being he had ever laid eyes on. Hadn't they all made mistakes though? He realized that Sydney probably had regrets similar to his own....he didn't want to give up the one thing in his life that he had done right. But maybe, if he did some more right things, if he gave her up for a time, Sydney would let him see her again.
"Here," he said, and more delicately than he had ever done anything, he handed Anna to Sydney. At the instant that she touched her little hands, Sydney began to weep, pulling the baby to her chest and embracing her, loosely of course. Rather than cry at the sight of a stranger, the baby seemed to take in Sydney's every feature and instantly become familiar with her. Sydney assessed that Anna was nearly a year old, but was mostly in awe of the pure beauty of this little girl that she...and Sark...had created.
Eric watched Sydney as she moved timidly, not sure how to handle being a new mother, though he realized that Sydney had probably held her many times before; she just couldn't remember. He looked to where Sark was standing, him watching the reunion as well. He looked over to Eric and nodded solemnly. Sark met Eric and placed his hands in front of him, waiting for the inevitable snap of handcuffs. Eric looked at him with confusion, and though he hated the man who stood before him, he realized that Sark wanted to make things right, maybe for the first time in his life. He returned the nod, placing handcuffs on his arms, and motioning to Sydney, they all walked out of the house. Sydney still observed Anna's every move as they walked, while Eric was thanking God that there had not been a bloody battle for the little girl. Maybe things were finally looking up.
*****
"You got her that easily, seriously?"
"Yeah, Will, it was the weirdest thing...it was just like he gave up."
"Well, Eric, I wouldn't count on Sark turning over a new leaf just yet. I'll never trust him. Look man, I'm sorry but I've got to go. They want me to try to talk to Melina Bristow," he sighed loudly.
"Ouch. Alright buddy. We'll talk to you when the plane lands. See you later."
"Bye," Will said, closing his phone. He showed his identification card to the guard at Melina's cell, and walked slowly to her cell window once the guard had removed the bars. He watched as she moved from an Indian-style sitting position on the floor to a standing position in front of his face.
"Miss Bristow."
"Hello Agent Tippin. I've heard a lot about you. You're superior analyzation skills has the KGB pulling their hair out," she smiled. He almost thanked her, but immediately pushed himself to remember that she had almost killed Sydney, her own sister.
"Miss Bristow, I am here to discuss agency issues with you, not my own personal accomplishments, understood?" he stated bluntly, rather impressed with his own assertiveness.
"Understood, Agent Tippin," she nodded, smiling again. He didn't like her smile; too devious, he concluded.
"Do you have any information you will be willing to exchange with the CIA for a possible plea bargain?"
"No, I don't really trust the CIA at this moment," she stated clearly.
"You don't trust us? We don't trust you, Miss Bristow. You almost killed one of our greatest assets, and did kill one of our best men."
"I had my reasons. Remember that man was my husband, Agent Tippin. I may not be the easiest person to understand, but I did what I did for my family."
"How was killing Agent Vaughn for the family?"
"It was for Sydney," she stated bluntly.
"Um, okay. Whatever. You killed the love of Sydney's life, for her?" Melina laughed.
"You and I both know that she and Agent Vaughn were not meant to be...if they had been, I never would have been able to make him fall in love with me. She's meant to be with Agent Weiss. It's been clear from the beginning. When I posed as Meg Vaughn, I realized how much Agent Weiss cared for my sister."
"Don't call her that," Will spat out, "you tried to kill her."
"I never would have shot my own sister Agent Tippin..."
"I guess there will never be any way to prove that now will there Melina? You're in here for life." She smiled, and looked in his eyes. He snapped at the crystalline beauty of her gaze.
"Well, at least I did what I set out to do...Sydney is happy. That's all I want."
Will seemed to contemplate this for a moment. He didn't buy it, but yet, what if the girl was telling the truth? What if she really had set out to accomplish all of this...to unite Weiss and Syd, so they could raise both Anna and Taryn? But what about Vaughn, why had she shot him, if she had loved him? His brain could not register all these questions at once, so he decided to leave, possibly to come back to get more answers.
"Goodbye Miss Bristow," he stated and as he turned to leave, he heard her say,
"Goodbye Will," and he almost stopped; she sounded just like Sydney. He kept walking.
Melina smiled. It wouldn't be long now. No, this was only the beginning. Sydney would pay, as would Agent Weiss, and Melina would reclaim Taryn as her own...her daughter being the only living reminder of her love for Michael. Yes, it wouldn't be long now.
*****
Sydney awoke on her seat in the airplane, and found herself immediately searching for Anna's face. She looked over, realizing that Eric was holding onto her daughter, as he had been an hour ago when Sydney had finally fallen asleep. She smiled, watching as Eric told little Anna stories about the Bristow family, yo-yo's and a brave man named Michael Vaughn. Sydney's heart melted at the sight, impressed and touched by Eric's natural ability with children.
"Hey," she said, stretching, interrupting his one-sided conversation with her daughter.
"Hey!" he said, and turned to Anna, "Look who's awake Sweet Pea? Who is that...it's mommy!" he said, and handed Anna over to her mother. Sydney embraced the child, sighing deeply as Anna yawned, laying her head on Sydney's shoulder. Within minutes, she was asleep. Sydney looked over to Eric, and laughed for the first time in weeks.
"Your stories have always put people to sleep Weiss," she stated with a straight face, only to crack up when his mouth opened wide in shock.
"Whatever Bristow, she totally loves me," he stated, poking her in the shoulder. Sydney looked up at him, rewarding him with a dimpled smile.
"I can't argue with that Eric. She definitely has taken a liking to you...though I can't imagine why..."she laughed again at his expression. His face turned serious.
"I was worried about you, you know. I was starting to think you'd never laugh again."
"Eric, I was just obsessed with finding her, you know? I mean, she's my baby," Sydney looked down, stroking her daughter's hair.
"She's beautiful, just like her mom, that's for sure," he stated quietly, and when he looked up, he was met with Sydney's brown eyes. They were welled up with tears, and his heart immediately broke when he saw her like this.
"Syd...what's wrong? What did I say?" She hesitated a moment, looking up at him, smiling as he reached over to wipe the tears from her face.
"Eric..."she trailed off, "What's going on between us?"
"What...what do you mean?" he asked.
"There's something going on between us...there has been for a while...I've just been too stupid, too wrapped up in grief and self-pity to realize..."she trailed off, her eyes lowering to his lips, "that there is something powerful between us."
He looked at her, his mind only now processing the words she had just spoken. Sydney Bristow felt something for him? How had he gotten so blessed?
"Well, I mean...I've noticed...but...I don't want to pressure you. I mean, Mike just died, and now you've got a daughter..." She put a hand over his lips to interrupt him.
"You know what Vaughn asked me before he died? He asked me to help you take care of Taryn...he wanted you and me together, because he saw something. He said that with you, I could find the kind of love that had eluded him."
Eric was shocked. Vaughn had said all that? Why didn't he say anything to me?
"I can't believe he said that to you," he stated.
"Yes, that's what he said. I couldn't tell you at first, because I was confused by it myself. I felt so guilty even thinking about another man...but Eric, being with you is so natural to me...it's like breathing."
"And we all need to breathe..."he stated, smirking slightly.
"Yes, we do," she said, and with that, closed the space between them, placing her mouth on his own. When they separated, she looked at him, smiling through tears.
"So what do you say Agent Weiss, want to honor an old friend's last wish, raise a few daughters and find everlasting love in the process?" she asked him in a joking tone. He took her face in his hands, grinning ear to ear.
"You know Agent Bristow, most men would be scared off by a proposition of that magnitude, but I must say, I'm feeling pretty adventurous," she smiled again, and as their plane landed in L.A., Eric was once again kissing Sydney Bristow.