A Helping Hand



Sydney stepped inside the house and sighed a little as she closed the door behind her. She shrugged out of her coat and hung it up, then smoothed the wrinkles out of her shirt. She ran a hand through her hair, frowning when her fingers got caught in a few tangled strands.

She ventured to the couch and sat down upon it slowly, carefully, as if she was afraid she would injure the piece of furniture. She gingerly removed her shoes and set them on the floor as she lifted her legs onto the couch, stretching them across the cushions. She leaned back against the arm of the couch, feeling an odd comfort at the solidity of it.

She rested her hands in her lap, then crossed her arms over her chest, then propped her elbow on the couch, leaning her now-clenched fist against her cheek. She sighed again, wondering when Will would come out into the living room.

Sydney rested her hands back in her lap again as she allowed her shoulder to lean against the couch and her head to drop onto that same shoulder. Her eyelids felt heavy and she had to struggle to keep herself awake.

What the hell is Will doing?

She let her eyes close as she exhaled, lifting her hands to place them under her cheek as a pillow. She drew one leg to her chest and kept the other straight, her body feeling relaxed in the strangely comfortable position. She fell asleep rather quickly, grateful for any time she could buy before she had to tell Will about Francie. Before she completely slipped into slumber though, she tucked a few strands of her silky chestnut hair behind her ear and drew her other leg up to her chest, allowing herself some warmth as there was no blanket nearby. She sighed a little, and slept.


She awoke to Will sitting near her, his elbow on the arm of the couch propping up his head. Sydney saw that he was looking down at the circles of air he was making with the ankle of the leg that rested on his knee.

Sydney drew in a shaky breath and Will turned his head to look at her. His eyes were soft and sad-looking and Sydney briefly wondered for a moment if he had somehow found out about Francie already. She knew it was impossible, as she had found out through Sark and hadn't told anyone yet.

"I heard about your mother and Sark," Will said quietly. "Kendall called a little while ago."

Sydney nodded solemnly. "Will—"

"I'm sorry, Syd," Will told her, scooting closer to her to reach under her cheek and grasp one of her hands in his own.

"Will, we really need to talk about something, okay?" Sydney's voice was barely above a whisper.

Will nodded and rubbed his thumb across the smooth skin of her hand. Sydney squeezed his hand suddenly and looked Will in the eye as if to make it clear to him that there was something important she needed to say and that it wouldn't be a simple task for her to complete.

Sydney rubbed at her eyes and rested her elbow back on the couch again, turning her forearm towards her and making a fist upon which to place her chin as she stared into space.

Will moved closer to her, close enough so that Sydney could smell the shampoo he had used when he had evidently showered earlier. Something about that fact struck Sydney as oddly comforting and she turned back to him as he reached a hand to her face. He squinted and Sydney knew he was looking at the redness of her eyes from having cried earlier.

"Tell me what's wrong," he said gently, running his thumb over the knuckles of the hand that still rested in his.

"Francie's not at a chefs' conference in New York," Sydney said slowly.

Will raised an eyebrow at her and his mouth twisted into something of a smirk. "What do you mean? How do you know?"

Sydney swallowed the lump in her throat before she spoke again. "This is going to be hard for you to comprehend." She sighed and saw Will's eyes darken in something that she took to be a mask for whatever pain he knew he would be feeling in the next few minutes. "Last night, I was with Sark. We had gone to his apartment at the end of the day when we left work. It was just—peaceful." Her voice broke a bit on the last word as she felt tears spring into her eyes. She looked up at the ceiling, willing the tears back into their ducts. "Um, maybe I should start a bit earlier than that," she decided, figuring it would be easier to explain if Will had some background information.

"Look, Syd, I already have this sinking feeling in my stomach that you're going to tell me something happened to Francie, and you stalling like this isn't making things easier," Will told her, releasing her hand and moving away from her. He leaned forward, propping his elbows up on his knees.

"I'm sorry," Sydney said harshly, her teeth clenched, "that all this shit had to come crashing down on me all at once and that I'm having trouble dealing with it."

Will shot her a sideways glance and saw the anguish in her eyes and on her taut lips that were pursed defiantly. "I didn't mean to be cruel," he began, "I just know that whatever you're going to tell me will be hard for me to stomach, and the longer it takes for you to say it, and the more I see you growing upset—" He shook his head sadly. "It's just making me crazy."

Sydney nodded slowly. She could see his point. She had even told herself that she was going to try and stay composed for Will's sake but she was failing miserably and Will was growing even more worried. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I just need to give you some background information or else I'm not going to be able to explain this."

Will nodded and scooted closer to her again, resting an arm on her knees and looking her in the eye.

"Agent Jim Lennox, a couple of months ago, had his identity stolen by a scientist who created a device that allows a person to alter his or her appearance," Sydney said, sniffling a bit. "Long story short, we were able to determine the real Lennox from the fake and eliminate the scientist and his lab. But, while Lennox and I were in the lab, we found that a second person had had this same procedure done. We didn't have the name of the person, though."

Will stiffened. "Someone took Francie's identity?"

Sydney nodded. "But that's not everything. We don't know who it was."

"Wait, are you saying that some double or something has taken her place here?" Will asked, casting a nervous glance about the living room.

"Yes," Sydney said quietly, dropping her gaze from Will's eyes.

"So where is Francie?"

Sydney looked forlornly off into space again, her face twisting up as she was close to crying once again.

Will understood Sydney's actions immediately. "She was killed," he said slowly, turning away from Sydney and looking straight ahead. He was silent for a long moment as was Sydney. "How exactly did you find out?"

Sydney turned to look at Will and found him staring into her eyes. "That relates to how I started to tell you this. Sark and I went to his apartment last night and that was when he told me." She held his gaze, wanting to see how he would react.

Will's temper flared. "You were told this by someone who just took off with your mother this morning to God knows where?"

"Yes."

"You actually believe him?!" Will stood up and paced and Sydney was quick to step in front of him, putting her hands on his shoulders to keep him still.

"Will, I don't have a choice. I basically told him I didn't trust him this morning which could have been one of the reasons why he left."

Will inhaled sharply and looked away from Sydney. "What exactly did he tell you?"

"He said that Francie had been killed by this double that Sloane had recruited—I blame myself for not asking Sark who the person was—and that the person took her place," Sydney explained.

"Jesus," Will mumbled, stepping back. Sydney stepped forward, staying with him, keeping her hands firmly planted on his shoulders. He spoke quietly, "She's really gone."

Sydney nodded slowly and her heart broke when she saw the tears in Will's eyes. Instinctively, she reached her arms around him, pulling him to her in an embrace. To her surprise, Will pushed her away and went to the door. He grabbed his coat.

"I need to just—I need to—" he started, trying to sound firm. He had failed and he knew it. He felt Sydney's gaze on his back and he hung his coat back up with trembling hands. He clenched his fists as the tears started to fall. He threw a punch at the wall and Sydney rushed up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and gently leaning his head forward so that it was buried in the crook of her neck.

"We'll get through this, okay?" she whispered, her own voice cracking. "Sloane's the one to blame for this, and he won't get away with it, I can assure you."

"I know," Will said quietly, "but what about your mother and Sark? Where do they fit in with all of this?"

Sydney pulled back a bit and Will lifted his head to catch her gaze. "I'm beginning to think I was stupid for believing that Sark could betray me. So many things have indicated that he wouldn't, but I just thought that it was impossible for me to be able to fall in love with someone with his kind of past. I was just so scared that he was using me, but I really don't think he was, and I was an idiot for accusing him. I think he left with my mother because he wants to find Sloane and rid the world of him once and for all, so that nothing can happen to ruin things anymore."

"That makes sense," Will admitted, clearing his throat and wiping his eyes roughly. "But I don't exactly think the CIA will take kindly to the fact that he just left, and that he left with your mother. Plus, I don't think they'll believe a word of what you say about Sark and your mother going after Sloane themselves, without informing the CIA of what they have planned."

"The CIA doesn't need to know what I believe," Sydney said thoughtfully. "I might be able to come up with a plan to find out if I'm right."

"Sydney, that's crazy and you know it," Will said. "Although on the other hand, if you are right, then you'll get to have a hand in murdering Sloane." He said the last two words venomously and his throat clogged with another round of sobs. He breathed deeply, trying to calm down and accept what was happening. Nothing would be over until Sloane was gone and he wasn't going to allow himself to turn into Milquetoast. He would support Sydney's plan and help her with whatever she needed to execute it.

Sydney sighed heavily and let Will take her into his arms. She smiled when she heard Will's voice in her ear.

"What can I do to help?"