Disclaimer: These characters are not mine, I just play with them

NEXT OF KIN

„ You need to rest, Sydney."

She rubbed her forehead absentmindedly, not willing to meet her father´s stern look yet.

She could feel him worrying for her. She could feel his suppressed anger and suspicion like a storm-cloud hovering over both of them.

" I know, I know…."

She looked up, trying to muster up a brave smile. She knew he did not like her watching over Sark day and night, just sitting there, waiting for ….

She didn´t even know herself what exactly it was that she was waiting for.

Sydney knew that this was a bad time for her father too.

" I will try to contact your mother." He whispered to her, his tone clipped, almost harsh as though he was tasting something disgusting in his mouth.

" We will get to the bottom of this ……"

Sydney knew his tone was not meant for her, the barely contained anger ……it was directed at her mother.

But Sydney did not allow herself to ponder Irina and her motives now. It was a luxury she could hardly afford…….not now, not here.

She had enough on her plate already.

There was the tiniest change in the rhythm of his breathing as Sark opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, giving his eyes the time to get used to the light.

There was a pulsating, sharp pain in his back and in his shoulder, where the bullet had left his body.

Gingerly he tried to move his arms and found that he couldn´t. There were restrains that ensured that he could not leave the bed.

Then something else caught his attention: Something peculiar and completely unexpected, something soft and smooth tickling the fingers of his right hand.

He turned his head to find Sydney next to his bed. She had obviously fallen asleep on the chair next to his bed, one shoulder leaning against his bed, her head on the mattress. Her hair had fallen across her face, tickling his hand.

For a moment Sark just stared at her.

Sydney Bristow……the woman he had worked against these past years, the woman who had foiled so many plans, the woman he had sought to kill more than once …….

Sydney  …… sister……..

She had been waiting her for him to wake up. She had cradled him in her arms while his life´s blood was flowing out of him so slowly.

" Sydney….."

His voice sounded raw and hoarse to him. They must have had him intubated some time before, but since he had breathed on his own the tube had been removed prior to his waking up.

" Sydney…."

She took a deep breath as she straightened herself, tugging her hair neatly behind her ears.

" You are awake!" she whispered tonelessly, locking eyes with him.

Her brown eyes boring into his blue ones and suddenly Sark remembered the first thought that had come to his mind upon first seeing Sydney Bristow.

Jane Austen …pure and simple and …..close to laughable. Pride and Prejudice, that was what looking at her back then had made him think of. Something Mr. Darcy had said about Miss Elisabeth Bennett ……a pair of fine eyes…….and how they  emphasized a woman´s beauty……

Sydney had a pair of very fine eyes, deep and dark and bedazzling.

" It seems I may have wandered in Byron´s footsteps for a time…" he murmured, his brow creasing up slightly as he stared at her.

" What?" Sydney asked with narrowing eyes. What was he talking about?

" You are a very beautiful woman, Sydney. I have always thought you were. There has always been a part of me that felt….. a certain ….attraction. Now it seems ….the fact that I was drawn to you …….it could have been the blood calling …..."

He gave her a weak smile while Sydney still looked at him, her expression torn between confusion and surprise. Maybe it was the coma talking …..

" You are my sister…."

 Just hearing it from his lips made it seem more real. Sydney sat very still, waiting for the confusion to set in ……the tangled mess of feelings that the pure notion that they were related should invoke…….

There was none, her feelings were as clear and transparent as a crystal figurine.

His coughing made her snap back to reality.

" Here …"

She pored water from a pitcher and held the glass to his lips so he could drink.

The gesture was strangely intimate.

Sark still looked at her in his assessing way, when she put the empty glass down on a nearby table.

" I take it your father is less than thrilled about this new …development?"

" Can you blame him?" She returned the question coldly.

" Hardly …..at this point of time I would rather like  a word or two with your …..our illustrious mother myself."

" She never told you ….."

" Obviously not ….." His voice was neutral, but there was something …a tiny tremor, that Sydney detected before he abruptly changed the subject.

" I guess you have a deal for me, right? The CIA would not just let you sit here at my bed out of you new found sisterly affection."

He closed his eyes for a moment, inwardly reprimand himself. Old habits died slowly ….

" Forgive me Sydney, I did not mean to…."

" It´s okay." She said, nodding. " I understand and ….You are right."

It was a comforting feeling, to know that there was no need to lie to him. He knew the realities of her profession…….he would not judge her for it since he was expecting nothing less. It surprised her how much relief she felt.

Sydney sat back down on the chair she had been occupying theses past days.

" So …..what are the stakes?"

" The CIA is authorized to offer you a full amnesty….if you tell us everything you know about the Covenant; their operations, directives, projects…full disclosure.

If the information you provide proves useful they will drop all charges against you and you will go free."

He looked at her for a moment, thinking.

Sydney still marvelled at the fact that his young, handsome face hardly ever betrayed any emotion. Whatever it was that he was pondering, whatever was on his mind, he had learned long ago to keep it all locked up, buried within himself.

" Tell them no…."

Sydney´s eyebrows shot up in astonishment. She knew that right then and there it was her face that displayed all her emotions. She could feel them washing over her features in waves and she chided herself for it.

" I don´t think you understand. There is not going to be a better offer ….."

Sark nodded, his blue eyes never leaving her face as he interrupted her. He had made up his mind by just looking at her …..

" I will tell them everything they want to know. Full disclosure, as you said, of the Covenants plans and operations I know of. I will tell them that and more. I might even be able to provide them with the key to foiling Sloane´s grand scheme, though I cannot boast that I was privy to all it´s workings. But ….apart from the amnesty, there is something else I want.

Sydney stared at him unflinching while he silently returned her gaze. His face betrayed nothing.

For a moment Sydney felt her heart harden, convinced that he was going to ask for money.

Sark gave her a wry, self-mocking smile, as though he was able to read her mind and knew what she was thinking.

" I would very much like my freedom Sydney, but ….I ….."

He took a deep breath .

! As you must very well know by now, I never had a family. Until Sloane´s little revelation and Adrian Lazarey´s death,  I did not even know who my real parents are. Now that I know what is left of this – frankly more than just dysfunctional- family…."

He hesitated for a moment, trying to find the right words. It annoyed him, this had never been a problem before.

" ……I don´t feel inclined to …walk away from that just yet. It might seem preposterous, most likely presumptuous, but ……I want to work with you, Sydney. Not simply with the CIA ….but with you."

Sydney swallowed hard. She had not expected this and now he had rendered her speechless. Every coherent thought had fled from her mind. His cool, neutral voice was the only thing that remained.

" I want to bring him down. Back there in that god forsaken cellar, you told me that we would kill him for what he did. We might not have the opportunity to kill him, but I would like nothing better than to see the look on his face when he realizes that it was us who destroyed his life´s work…….that we did it ……together."

The thought brought the shadow of a smile to Sydney´s lips.

" I don´t know if they will go for this ….." she finally said truthfully. Again she surprised herself ….the thought of working with him was not something she would look on with distaste.

" Sydney …" Sark sought her gaze again, holding the eye contact.

" I will not lie to you. I think we have both lied enough. The things I did to you …..I will not apologize for them, because I did not know. Neither do I expect regrtet from you, since you did not know either. These things …..are in the past and that is where they should maybe remain. I cannot change the man I am today. We both know that I do not share most of your scruples or principles and I do not expect you to trust me …..but …..now that I know that you are my blood, I will never forget that. If I can gain your trust one day, you will find me to be a very useful ally."

Sydney sighed almost inaudibly.

" There is something you need to know."

Her voice was barely above a whisper.

" I killed Lazarey…."