Sydney was relieved to find her parents alive and in relatively good condition. Her father had a slight concussion, and her mother had received, ironically another shot in the shoulder. Sydney squeezed Julian's hand after all of Sloane's men had been cleared from the house, in silent thanks, again, for his rescue. He simply smiled, placing his hand over her burgeoning abdomen, so thankful that their children were safe. When his eyes moved to meet Sydney's, he found that the same emotion was present in her own. Tears welled in her brown eyes, and her lower lip quivered slightly.

"I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to them," she said, caressing her stomach slowly. Julian's heart broke at the sound of her cries, and he pulled her to him quickly, stroking her hair with one hand and holding the base of her neck with the other.

"I will never let anything happen to them, or you, for that matter, Syd. It is my job to protect you...to love you...them. Forever. When I promise you that, I mean it," he said, pulling back to wipe the tears from her eyes.

"I can't live like this Julian. I can't live in fear that Sloane will try to kill me. There's no doubt in my mind, that with all the searching that his men did, that they know now, that I'm pregnant. He'll never stop looking for me," Sydney whispered, her arms draped loosely around Julian's waist.

"I know. We have to leave this place. I have to take you somewhere that he'll never find you, or the twins. Let me think about it for a few days, okay? In the meantime, we'll go to a home that I have in the Caribbean," he said, smiling. Sydney's eyes lit up at the thought of being near the beach again.

"Really?" she asked, moving her hands to wrap them around her shoulders.

"Really. It will be good for us to rest for a few days. Besides, I have a feeling that after those few days, we won't be seeing any beach for a very long time..." Julian said, trailing off, as he looked at the floor. Sydney pushed up on his chin, forcing him to look at her.

"What is it?" she asked, concern filling her eyes.

"I...this is all my fault," he said, as he fought the tears that were threatening to spill over his eyes. Sydney gasped, and moved her hands to frame his face.

"Honey, this is not your fault," she said, her voice raising unconsciously.

"Sydney, I brought you back into all of this. I should have just let you live your life, apart from me. I was selfish. I love you...I wanted you with me. Now, you're going to be living your life in hiding..." he trailed off, tears finally pouring down his cheeks. Sydney gasped at the sight, having never seen him like this before.

"Julian, even if you hadn't brought me here, I would have eventually discovered that I was pregnant, and I would have found out who the father was...eventually. You told me everything I needed to know. Never regret bringing me here...I love you. I will never regret being with you. Never," Sydney said, her hands shaking his head slightly. He only nodded, and smiled at her through his tears.

"I love you so much. More than you will ever know," he said. She smiled back.

"I love you too."



"When are you leaving?" Jack Bristow asked his daughter, as he watched her pack her suitcase.

"Plane leaves early in the morning," she said, pausing to look back at him.

"And Julian is sure that this beach house is safe?" he asked tentatively. Sydney stopped packing and turned to face him.

"Dad, Julian's mission in life is to keep me and the twins safe. He's taken all the necessary precautions," she said, smirking slightly. Jack rolled his eyes.

"I'm just worried Sydney. I'm a father," he said. Sydney smiled.

"So is he," she said, and Jack sighed.

"I'm still not used to that. I'm not sure if I ever will be," he said. Sydney stepped closer to him, sighing loudly.

"I'm not used to it either. Dad, you and I both know that we don't choose who we love. We just love do," she said, smiling softly. Jack sighed.

"So you really do love him?" he asked. She nodded.

"I do," she said simply. Jack hesitated, but smiled softly as well.

"Then I'll support anything you do," he said, stepping forward to embrace her. Tears began forming in her eyes as she whispered into his shoulder,

"Thank you."



"You have everything you need, sweetheart?" Irina asked as Julian packed Sydney's suitcases into his trunk.

"Yes, mother. I'm positive," she answered, with a slight trace of irritation.

"Alright," Irina answered, glancing down at the ground. Jack stood by her side, and he recognized that Irina was not sure how to handle this goodbye. Truthfully, neither was he. Both of them were out of practice when it came to parenting. Now, it could be years before he would see his daughter again. The sound of Irina's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Sydney..." she trailed off, and Jack was startled by the tears that were forming in his wife's eyes. "I love you so much," she finished, as she stepped forward to embrace her daughter. Sydney was already crying.

"I love you too, mom. Thank you for all you've done for me," she said, pulling away to smile at her. She turned to her father then, and stepped forward to embrace him. Instead of his usual stiff reaction, he held onto her tightly.

"I love you Sydney," he whispered.

"I love you too," she said, pulling away. Julian moved to stand by her side, and he stepped forward to shake Jack's hand. Jack smiled, finally seeming to accept the relationship between this man and his daughter.

"Take care of her," he said, his eyes intense. Julian nodded.

"I will, Mr. Bristow. You can count on that," he said, and then turned to Irina.

"Thank you for taking care of Sydney. I appreciate it," he said, leaning forward to shake her hand. Irina pulled him into an embrace instead.

"I've always thought of you as a son, Julian. Take care of my daughter," she said, pulling away quickly. Julian, obviously surprised by her gesture, only nodded.

"I will," he said. With a final nod to the two people in front of him, he led Sydney to the passenger side of the car, and helped her to climb in. He walked back to the driver's side and did the same, driving the car into the horizon.

Jack and Irina glanced at one another as they realized that this would be the last time they would see her for a long time. They both sighed as they re-entered Irina's home, and prepared to leave for their own destination.



Sydney sighed as she watched the sun disappear beyond the horizon, and smiled when Julian pulled her closer to his chest. She sat on the sand, between his legs, her back to his chest, as they had done for the last six nights they had been in the Caribbean. They both loved the ocean, and wanted to spend every night watching the sun go down, for there was nothing quite as spectacular as the sun setting over the ocean.

"So beautiful," she whispered, and he pressed his chin onto the top of her head softly.

"Yes," he said, "you are." She laughed softly, and tipped her head back.

"You're crazy, but I love you anyway," she said. He laughed, and she realized then how much she loved the sound.

"Good," he said, kissing her nose, "because you have no choice." She laughed, leaning her head back up to look at the horizon.

"I know," she said, and he pulled her even closer to his chest.

"I love you," he said.

"I know. I love you too," she said, smiling, as she stroked his arms that were wrapped protectively around her chest. They sighed simultaneously, and it made Sydney smile. Despite their differences, they were completely in sync.

"If you would have told me a years ago that we would be here, I would have laughed in your face," she said, and he smirked slightly.

"Tell me about it. You were so infuriating back then," he said, laughing loudly. She turned around, wrapping her legs around his mid-section.

"Infuriating? Me? What about you Mr. Lazarey? You were such a..."she trailed off, and his eyes danced.

"What? Such a what, Miss Bristow?" he asked playfully, kissing her forehead softly. Her eyes closed at the touch.

"I suddenly forget," she said, smiling. She opened her eyes again, and leaned forward to kiss his lips softly. When she pulled away, his eyes had become serious, and she looked at him questioningly.

"I'm going to protect you," he said. She nodded, smiling at him.

"I know. I have no reason to doubt you, Julian. I love you," she said. He smiled softly, then pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?" she asked, and he pulled away to look at her, his blue eyes beautiful in the twilight.

"For all of that. Loving me. Thank you," he said. She smiled, and then moved to a standing position. She held her hand to him, and smiled.

"Let's go inside," she said. He looked at her questioningly.

"This is our last night here. We've seen enough of the beach. I want to go inside with my future husband," she said, smiling mischievously. His eyes danced, and he grinned devilishly.

"You don't have to ask me twice, Bristow,"