Jack Bristow rushed into CIA headquarters, and threw open the doors to Marcus Dixon's office hastily, surprised that all the agents that Sydney had wanted had already gathered. Plus another.

Lauren Reed.

Jack rolled his eyes. It seemed that before, when Sydney had been back in Los Angeles, Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn had suffered some 'marital trauma'. Now that Sydney was gone again, they had gotten closer. He rolled his eyes again; like he cared anyway.

"Jack," Agent Dixon said, "You heard from Sydney?" he asked eagerly. Everyone else in the room looked at him in equal anticipation. Jack nodded.

"Yes," he said, "She's with her mother, and Sark."

"Sark?!" Vaughn demanded, and Lauren placed a calming hand on his arm. He calmed a bit. "Is she nuts?" Jack smirked.

"She just might be, Mr. Vaughn. Either way, we're going to her," Jack said, then turning to Lauren, "Except you," he said. Lauren's eyes widened, and her face grew red.

"Excuse me, Mr. Bristow, but wherever my husband is going, I am going. He's been at her beckon call for years. I'm going," she said, and Michael looked at her uneasily, then shrugged in Jack's direction. Jack scowled.

"Miss Reed, I can appreciate...your devotion...to you husband, but I don't want your presence to upset my daughter. Besides, we have no idea what we're getting into. You're not field rated," he said. Lauren sighed.

"You said it yourself, Mr. Bristow, Sydney is already upset. And despite certain...tensions that have kept us at a distance from one another, I respect Sydney, and I know she feels the same. And you're right, we don't know what we're going to be dealing with when we reach our destination, however, I'm a highly trained analyst, I'm good under pressure, and I can fire a weapon with the best of agents," she said, glaring at the older man. Jack sighed. Why argue? She was going to go anyway.

"Fine, Miss Reed. You can go, but I don't want any petty arguments started with my daughter, understood? If you do, you're on the first plane home," he said. She nodded, and thus he turned the rest of the agents.

"After my initial contact with Sydney, I had the call traced. I contacted Irina, and she let me know that this is just a meeting of sorts," he said. They all looked at him skeptically. Weiss took this moment to chime in.

"Why are we going halfway around the world for a meeting?" Weiss asked. Will nodded in turn.

"Yeah, why can't she come to us?" Will asked. Jack sighed.

"I don't know any details as of now. You know Irina, always cryptic," Jack said, and they all nodded, "I just know that Sydney wanted to meet with everyone personally, to arrange a long-term mission of sorts, and that it is too dangerous for her to move out of the area she is in now," he said. Vaughn's eyes locked with Jack's, mirroring Jack's own concern for Sydney's safety.

"What kind of danger are we talking about, Jack?" Vaughn asked, his forehead wrinkling slightly. Lauren noted this and hid a small smile. She squeezed his hand, and he returned the gesture, silently thanking her for her understanding.

"The Covenant is after both her and Sark," Jack said, and they all looked at him questioningly, all excluding Dixon.

"So she knows?" Dixon asked Jack, and the others glanced at Dixon.

"Yes, she knows," Jack said, glaring at Dixon intently.

"Um, excuse me? She knows what?" Weiss asked, and Will struggled to hide his chuckle. Jack looked to all of the people before him.

"This will all come as a shock to you, but you must remember that this is confidential, and must be kept that way. Dixon and I, given our level of clearance, have been aware for sometime, that during the time that Sark was taken from CIA custody, he was brainwashed by the Covenant, and he worked with Sydney, when she thought she was Julia Thorne," Jack said. All the younger agents gasped, and looked to Dixon for confirmation. He only nodded.

"You mean, you both have known, all this time, where Sydney was, and that she was with Sark?" Vaughn demanded.

"No. When Sark turned himself back in, he admitted all that I've just told you, along with how he was snapped out of his so-called 'trance', and how he made Sydney remember who she really was. He took her to Irina, who in turn had Sydney's memories from the past two years erased. Irina did this, so, that in the case of capture, nothing could be extracted from Sydney's memories, simply because she would have none," Jack said. All of them looked at him with wide eyes, and the room remained silent for several moments.

"You think you've heard it all, and then something like this happens," Will said, and the others nodded.

"There's more," Jack said.

"What?" Lauren and Vaughn asked in unison.

"At least," Jack hesitated, "I believer there's more. I think the Covenant found great value in Sydney and Sark for some reason. We must go to her, and find out why the Covenant wants them so desperately," Jack said. They all nodded, and Jack handed them all a folder, with listed aliases and flight plans.

"Lauren, I predicted your being here, so I took the liberty of making arrangements for you as well. You will be traveling with Dixon, because I believe it's too dangerous to be traveling with your husband," Jack stated. Lauren nodded, and smiled at Dixon, who returned the gesture.

"Weiss, you will be traveling with Will. It would be too suspicious for you to be traveling with Mr. Vaughn, seeing that you have known each other for so long," Will and Weiss nodded. Jack glanced at Vaughn, who knew what was coming.

"Mr. Vaughn, you will be traveling with me," Jack said simply, and Vaughn nodded slowly. Jack then turned to all the rest of them, and stood up straight.

"Mr. Vaughn and I will be departing first, Tippin and Agent Weiss will be second, and Dixon and Ms. Reed will bring up the rear. Your instructions are in your folders, along with aliases, passports, and the like. Any questions?" Jack asked, and all of them shook their heads. Jack sighed, anxious to reach his daughter.

"Then, good luck," he said, and they all stood up, leaving the room.


*****


"I'm scared to see my father," Sydney blurted, as she and Julian toiled in the kitchen. Julian glanced at her, smirking.

"I would be too," he said, then remembering, "Oh wait, I am, because I'm the father of your child," he said. Sydney laughed, which had been Julian's desired effect.

"That's true. He'll hurt me, but he'll kill you," she said, laughing hysterically. Julian threw down the dish towel he had been using to dry dishes, and placed his hand in the water, and flicked his wrist, splashing her in the face.

"What's so funny, Miss Bristow? Am I really that amusing? It takes two you know," he said, and Sydney splashed him, still in a fit of giggles. This continued for several minutes, both of them splashing and laughing together. Suddenly, Sydney slipped, and Julian leaned forward to catch her in his arms. As she looked up at him, her laughter faded as she got lost in his beautiful, soulful blue eyes. They had come under such a change this last month. Before, they had been cold, unfeeling; and now, all she could see was depth and emotion. Love.

He, at the same time, couldn't help but think that she was beautiful, despite the wet splotches now adorning her clothing, and the hair that was sticking to the side of her face. Her eyes danced when she looked at him now, a far cry from the hate and rage that inhabited her brown orbs before. He knew that she wasn't Julia...and that he wasn't Andrew...but some part of those two concocted individuals lay beneath the surface of who Sydney was, and who he was as well.

He was snapped out of his reverie when she stood up, still in his embrace, and kissed him suddenly. When he moved his arms along her stomach and eventually put them around her waist, he smiled a little at the feel of the bulge that was forming along her abdomen. He had created a life inside of her. They had created a life together. Her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer, and as the kiss deepened, he couldn't help but think that this was the safest, the most secure, the most at home, that he had ever felt in all his years. Sydney felt the same.

When she finally pulled away from him, their breaths were short, but were taken at the same time, as if they were one body. She smiled up at him, her hand playing with the hair growing back in at the base of his neck. He smiled at the touch, and moved his hands to the side of her face, basking in the glorious softness of her skin.

"This is strange," he said, smirking at her. Her eyes smiled at him.

"But wonderful," she said, and before she could press her lips to his again, he moved a finger to her lips.

"Sydney, don't you find it strange, that we're this close?" he asked, and she frowned momentarily.

"Well...do you?" she asked. He sighed, then smiled.

"I should, because we were enemies, but then again, maybe we never were," he said, and she laughed.

"What?" he asked. She shook her head.

"I was thinking the same thing the other day," she said, and he laughed as well.

"We really are a perfect match," he said, playing with her hair.

"You've been saying it for years," she said, and he smirked.

"Yes. You should really listen to me more often Bristow. I'm a pretty smart man," he said. She rolled her eyes, but smiled, kissing his forehead tenderly.

"I know that," she said.

"Good," he said. Suddenly, he had lifted the sprayer from the sink, and had it pointed in her direction. She narrowed her eyes at him, pointing her finger at him.

"Don't you dare, Julian," she said. He grinned mischievously, and sprayed her anyway.