Disclaimer: Not mine, never was . never will be …..

Notes: The last fragment like pieces before the real story kicks in.

BLOOD TIES

She just sat there like she had been doing for hours until they had melted into days.

Unmoving, …..unable to let go of his hand.

He had lost too much blood, that´s what the doctors said.

They were not sure if he would ever wake up. It was a close call.

Sydney wasn´t sure what she felt anymore.

When they had found them and back in the helicopter, she had felt nothing.

There had been nothing left to feel…..no anger, no fear, no heartache, no confusion.

She had felt as though someone had reached inside her heart and just ripped every trace of feeling right out of her.

Her whole body was shaking violently, but she had not even noticed.

All she had been able to do was just stare at him………

Sark…….thief, assassin, criminal, ……..mortal enemy …..brother.

She wasn´t sure how and why ……but just then her mind had been so very clear on one thing:

She needed him to live.

" It was a trap!"

She had repeated it several times in the helicopter for Vaughn´s benefit, for her father and maybe even herself.

" You shot Sark?" Weiss had asked curiously, while dabbing at her head wound with his handkerchief.

Sydney shook her head.

" Sloane did….." she had answered, still holding on to Sark´s arm, clutching

 at him almost franticly.

" It was a trap for both of us ….I can´t even fathom the purpose…"

He was  so still……..so very, very still ………

" We need to do something, he is bleeding out, the wound is a through and through , he is still loosing blood!"

" Sydney, we´ll be in the hospital in a few minutes! You look like you need medical attention too. Don´t worry, we will not loose this opportunity! Mr. Sark can provide us

with a lot of information concerning the Covenant, we will make sure that he survives."

Vaughn´s voice….such a soothing sound it had always been to her.

Now, there was nothing left that could soothe her.

" No …..you don´t understand. Sloane …..he said something and this time, I know he wasn´t lying. We need to ….."

" Sydney calm down!"

" We need to save him!"

" Sydney …."

" No …….HE IS MY BROTHER!"

Silence

Complete and utter silence as they all stared at her.

Of course they had not believed. It was preposterous …….

She had hated to see the hurt in her fathers face. The thought that her mother had betrayed them both …again, just as he was working with her secretly. The thought that Irina had kept this secret from both of them …..

The DNA test had been proof enough. There was nothing to taint that piece of evidence.

People lied. Science did not.

Still they had checked and double checked the results.

Sydney buried her face in her cold hands, breathing deep.

Where would they go from here?

She did not know. There were guards at the door 24 hours a day.

The CIA did not want him to escape.

To her it seemed a ludicrous idea. So far he had not moved, let alone gained consciousness.

And she had been paralysed by his condition. Unable to leave the chair she had been sitting on for the last three days…unable to take her eyes of his face.

Sloane had told the truth. It had not taken her long to figure out why.

Because this time, the truth could hurt more than a thousand lies. The truth could inflict more pain, cause more damage and confusion.

She still did not know how she felt.

She had hated him for so long.

She had blamed him for too many things.

And yet, when she looked at him now, she did not see the man who had tried to shoot her in the snow, who would have let her drown in the icy waters, the man whose intrigues and ploys had endangered her and all that she held dear.

There was no confusion now ……..

There was just one thing on her mind as she stared at him with a pained expression on her beautiful face.

Come back to me ……..