Sydney couldn't believe that she was in Madrid and no one except her father knew about it. It always surprised her when she was able to give the CIA the slip. Strangely, she did it quite often. She called her father immediately after landing safely. Jack had promised to inform the CIA that she was in Madrid as soon as possible so that she wouldn't get into too much trouble by avoiding authority. He also promised to explain to Vaughn why she had to leave so suddenly. Though Jack admitted to himself that Vaughn would probably be a lot more understanding than Sydney thought.

"Love makes it easy to accept the strangest things," Jack had said.

Sydney thought back to that moment and realized that he was probably referring to his relationship with Irina Derevko. He still can't understand what exactly had come over him during those years of happiness. It must be hard realizing that you were living with a spy for eight years and no one was able to tell.

It was surprisingly easy to locate the café with the directions her father had given her. Pessimistic as ever, he told her not to be surprised if it wasn't even there anymore. It had been twenty-four years since he had last visited that particular area of Madrid.

The café was in the correct spot and bustling with busy lunchers. "Why would my mother want me to come here?" Sydney wondered to herself. She got her answer almost immediately. "Sark," she whispered.

She watched him pick up two glasses of wine from a small bar that was outside the café. Obviously, he had company for lunch. "Of course it's a blonde," Sydney said softly to herself with a laugh. She couldn't properly see the blonde's face because an umbrella was in the way. Trying to figure out if her mom had wanted her to just see what Sark was up to or if she was actually supposed to engage him in some witty banter, she tried to shift her position. The least she could do was figure out who this mysterious girl was.

By the time she had shifted position, Sark and the blonde were no longer sitting at the table. Sydney watched as he led her into an open area where the tables had been cleared away. They danced slowly to the romantic music that was softly playing from the speakers.

"Hmmm," Sydney said to herself. "Maybe Sark has human emotions after all. Damn! I still can't see the blonde's face. Though that hair doesn't look too natural. Maybe it's a wig." Sydney's brain was still churning as she watched the blonde pull Sark into a rather passionate kiss. Sydney smirked as she realized that the show she was receiving helped prove she had been correcting in thinking Sark was a good kisser. It was amazing the things she had thought off when she had been stuck in a briefing room listening to Sloane go on and on about all the "good work" that SD-6 was doing.

"Hey!" Sydney said to herself. "That wig looks just like the one I wore in Tunisia."

She was just beginning to put two and two together when Sark twirled his companion around so that she faced Sydney's direction.

It was Kaylee.

"My sister is romantically involved with Sark," Sydney hissed as she got up to move in on the couple. She didn't know her sister that well, but there was no way she was going to let anyone she shared blood with be drawn in by Sark. "That snake," she whispered. She weaved in and out of the traffic to make her way over to the couple.

"What the hell is going on?" Sydney screamed as soon as she was within earshot.

"I knew we should have stayed home," Sark muttered as he prepared himself for a fight.

Sydney waltzed right onto the makeshift dance floor and, true to routine, punched Sark in the jaw.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Kaylee demanded.

"It's okay," Sark said as he rubbed his jaw. "It's what she does. What do you want, Agent Bristow?"

"I want you to get your grubby hands off of my little sister. That's what I want," Sydney demanded.

"Why, Agent Bristow, do you think I'm seducing your little sister?" Sark said. He plastered his trademark cocky grin on his face. "I do believe you have this situation all wrong."

"Oh, do I?"

"Yes. You see, I'm not seducing your little sister. It turns out she's seducing me and doing a smashing good job if I do say so myself."

"It's true," Kaylee added. "I don't know how you could resist a grin like that."

Sydney stared at her sister in disbelief before murmuring, "It's actually quite easy. Like this." Sydney punched Sark again. "See. The grin's all gone." Sydney kicked Sark hard in the shin making him lose his balance and hit the pavement hard.

"What the hell are you doing here, Sydney?" Kaylee asked as she helped Sark up.

"Our mother paid me a visit earlier today. She told me a little bit about the Rambaldi prophecy and left me with a hint that she wanted me to come here. So, I came. Much to my surprise, she must have just wanted me to witness Sark controlling my sister." Sydney backhanded him.

"God, I wish you would stop doing that," Sark mumbled as he curled over in pain.

"Listen, Sydney," Kaylee said harshly. "Our mother's purpose in having you come here has nothing to do with Sark or I. We aren't even supposed to be in Spain so there's no way she could have known you would run into us. Would you stop doing that?" Kaylee asked as Sydney kicked Sark again. "How did you run into us, by the way?"

"This is the café where Mom proposed to Dad. She made me ask him about the story which is what led me here in the first place." Sydney saw that Sark was recovering quickly from the previous blow and tried to hit him again. Kaylee grasped her hand before it made contact.

"I think we've had enough of you beating up my boyfriend," Kaylee said simply. "Sark, do you have any idea why Irina wanted Sydney to come here?"

"I think it has something to do with that," Sark mumbled. He pointed to the building across the street.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sydney demanded. "That's just a building."

"Follow me," Sark said as he began to hobble across the street. When they got closer to the building, Kaylee and Sydney both gasped in shock. The buildings walls were engraved with Italian words. It was like a huge manuscript on display for every passerby to look at.

"What is this?" Sydney asked as she felt the grooves of the words with her right hand.

"This is the most public Rambaldi artifact known to the man. Milo Rambaldi had this building created when he was alive. Inscribed on it is text which he claimed could only be understood by 'the woman'. Irina and I agreed that he was referring to the woman in his prophecy. I'm surprised you've never heard of this building, Agent Bristow. I think Irina wanted you to discover it so she could be certain that you weren't the woman. That whole prophecy is like a three way ping-pong match between you and her and…" Sark's voice trailed off. The pain Sydney had inflicted on him was clouding his judgment. He almost said too much to his most skilled adversary.

"And who, Sark?" Sydney asked. She wasn't going to let his slip-up fade away without comment.

"And me," Kaylee said. "It's only natural to assume that I'm a contender in the prophecy if both you and Mom are. Sark was trying to protect me."

"From who?" Sydney asked.

Kaylee slid her hand into Sark's. "From the world, including the government you work for."

"Irina and I know what happened to you when the CIA thought you were the woman in the prophecy. Neither one of us want to see the same thing happen to Kaylee. Which is the main reason that you never knew of her existence," Sark admitted. He partially made up the last part but he figured it was a good, solid lie that would divert Sydney slightly from the quest he knew she was on. It was only natural when encountering a sibling you didn't know you had for the first time

Sydney continued to stare at the wall for a few more moments. "I don't understand it, Sark. None of it." Sydney purposefully shot a glance in her sister's direction. "You can tell her that. And make sure she knows that I've seen Mount Subasio." She turned to leave but changes her mind. "Can I speak to my sister in private?"

"As long as you promise not to punch me again," Sark said. He dropped Kaylee's hand and made his way back across the street. Let it go down in history. This was the first time he had ever willing given control of a situation to Sydney Bristow.

"Listen," Sydney said before her sister could start talking or yelling. "Sark is a dangerous man. I don't think you should be getting involved with him."

"No, you listen," Kaylee demanded, suddenly furious with Sydney's whole big sister routine. "You might be my sister, but you don't know who I really am. Sharing the same blood means next to nothing in the world we live in. I'm not like you. I probably never will be. I'm not all good and open and vulnerable and nice. You know what our mother is like. She raised me in her own image, and I'm proud of that. I'm proud to be strong like her. Mom raised Sark in her image too. I know what and who he is. He is stubborn and cocky, and it doesn't matter to me."

"He's a cold-blooded killer," Sydney inserted.

"I know," Kaylee whispered. She grabbed Sydney quickly and pulled her into a hug. Before leaving, she whispered in Sydney's ear, "He's exactly like me, Syd."