Almost done everyone! ENJOY! The last chapter will be here soon!
DISCLAIMER: Quotes from the show were provided by SARKNEYHAVEN...shoutout to them...it's a great site!
It had been six months since Eric Weiss had passed away. The funeral had been lovely, not a dry eye in the house. Phillip had held onto his mother's hand throughout the entire service, young Michael held onto his sister Taryn, and Anna was accompanied by Alexander Sark. Everyone had been surprised when Sark had arrived - he had never really been cordial with Eric. However, Anna had wanted him there, and that was all the incentive he needed to be in attendance.
The months dragged by slowly for all of them. Taryn felt the weight of the loss of a second father, and Michael and Phillip lost the only father they had ever known. Anna spent time with Sark in Ireland, calling to check up on her mother from time to time.
Sydney was the worst. She poured herself into teaching. All her hours were devoted to grading papers and preparing lessons. Occasionally Phillip would catch her 'talking' to Eric, just like any other day - like he had never died. She felt guilty; three men had died because of her - Danny, Vaughn and now Eric. She hated that she was a toxic woman.
One night, she arrived home from school after dusk, and sighing, put on one of Eric's favorite jazz cds. She turned on the faucet of the bathtub, removed her clothes slowly, and sunk into the water, allowing the tensions of the day to leave her body.
She looked at her left hand, amazed at how much she had aged in the past six months. Before Eric had died, everyone had remarked how beautiful she looked as a woman now in her fifties. Now she was just tired. She felt like she had aged twenty years in six months. The golden wedding band that remained on her finger taunted her; she had never removed it, but she could no longer bear its weight. She removed it, noting the palor of the skin that had been beneath it all these years. She placed it on the soap dish, once again sinking into the warm, steaming water.
She must have dozed off, for soon she was dreaming - of Vaughn, of Eric, her children. She saw them all - Anna, Taryn, Michael and Phillip - all so beautiful - she had done something right. Soon she was seeing Alexander Sark, not as he was now, but as he looked in his youth...memories began flashing in her head...
-FLASH-
Sark looks at Sydney in an icy cave, holding a gun to her face,
"Whatever Arvin Sloane pays you, it can't be enough? Would you consider coming to work for me if it meant I'd let you walk out of here? I believe if you took the time to hear the comprehensive offer, you might actually say yes."
Sydney looked him up and down, obviously checking him out.
"You're cute, but I'll pass."
-FLASH-
Vaughn looked at Sydney in shock.
"Sark asked you to come work with him?"
"Like it wasn't even a question, like it was a done deal. Sark is like the good-looking guy in high school who know how cute he is and won't take no for an answer," Sydney answered.
-FLASH-
Sydney cocked her gun and shot at the glass that was protecting Sark. He doesn't even flinch. Cocky bastard; all she wanted was the antidote.
"You and I, we're destined to work together. I truly believe that," he said.
-FLASH-
Sydney heard Sark's voice over the walkie-talkie, as she struggled to walk in her geisha outfit
"You are so good, do you know that?
-FLASH-
Now a memory she didn't recall...
Sark rubbing her very pregnant stomach.
"Do you think she hears you?" he asked, smiling at her.
-FLASH-
Sark comforting her as she cried.
"Sark, I'm so scared...I just want to know the truth," she said, collapsing into his arms.
"I know Syd, I know."
-FLASH-
Sark crying as he looked down on an injured Sydney who was lying in a hospital bed.
"God, I love you! Now wake up so I can tell you!" he screamed. When he threw himself over her body, she opened her eyes, only he didn't notice.
-FLASH-
Sark kissing her, for the first time, in the rain.
-FLASH-
"Come on Sydney, push!"
"I can't!" she screamed, the pain unbearable.
"Yes, you can! Once more, honey, once more!"
A push. Pain. And then, the cries of their little one.
"She's here...and she's beautiful!" Sark cried, stroking Sydney's face, and they both grinned at one another.
-FLASH-
Sark holding her hand, twisting the golden band on her ring finger.
-FLASH-
Sloane. A terrified Sark and Sydney.
"You fell in love with her Sark, that wasn't part of the plan."
"Mr. Sloane..."Sark began.
"Don't! You betrayed me! You've gone soft...you love her!" Sloane aimed the gun at Sydney and fired. Sark pushed Sydney away, taking the bullet in his arm. Sydney screamed, but before she could check him, Sloane pulled her away, taking her into the night.
"Sydney!" Sark yelled.
"Alex! No...Alex!"
"Shut up!" Sloane yelled, gun pointed in her face.
"Let me go!" she screamed.
"You'll never see him again Sydney. You'll never see your daughter again!"
"No!"
His men tied her up, throwing her in a dark vehicle. She screamed again, to which a man hit her in the head with his gun.
"No," she whispered as she lost consciousness, "Anna...Alex..."
-FLASH-
Sydney woke with a start. She immediately shivered; the bath water had grown cold. She shook her head, tears falling down her cheek. She remembered! She remembered everything now. Sark...hating him, learning to respect him, to love him...to marry him. He was her husband. Why had he let her go? Why had he never forced the issue, tried to split her and Eric up?
He still loved her. The realization hit her like a Mac truck. And to her surprise, she realized she loved him too.