Kaylee watched her sister get into a car that was extremely noticeable as government issued. She was surprised that Sydney had managed to stay so long in Kaylee's own house without someone in her mother's organization realizing she was there. Also it was surprising that Sydney had managed to stay in her presence. Usually the biting, hurtful comments Kaylee flung at her visitors had them running screaming after a few minutes. This time, Kaylee had been extreme mean just to try to get Sydney gone sooner.

Her reason for the extra meanness pulled up in a familiar Jag within minutes of Sydney's departure.

"Damn it," Kaylee said. She was too worked up by her sister to deal with Sark. "Damn you Sydney!"

"Is it official Hate Sydney day?" Sark asked as he walked in the door with a huge bouquet of dendrobium orchids.

"What is this?" Kaylee asked as she took them from his hands. "They're beautiful."

"Straight from Hawaii."

"You flew me in flowers?" she asked.

"I thought it would be a nice gesture."

Kaylee smiled and went into the kitchen to put the orchids in some water. And to clear her head a little. She had just sworn to Sydney that what Sark and she had was not a relationship. But then he had to go and do something as simple and relationship-like as bring her flowers.

"You don't do that when you're using someone," she muttered to herself as she cut the stems. "Or when you're just having a good time."

As much as she hated it, she knew that her conversation with Sydney had stirred up a few things inside of her, and there was no way to solve the problem unless she actually talked with Sark. "This is going to be hard," she thought.

She had just prepared herself to turn around and march back into the other room to confront Sark when she felt a pair of arms snake around her.

"I couldn't wait for you to come back," Sark whispered in her ear as he gently nibbled on her earlobe.

Kaylee mustered up all her strength and pushed herself away from Sark. "We have to talk." She paused. "Sydney was here."

"Bristow came here?" Sark asked thoroughly confused.

"Yeah. Another effort to get me to leave the dark side."

"Did you ask her about your father?" Sark inquired. Jack Bristow's complete lack of any contact with his second daughter was weighing heavily on her mind these days. He couldn't really sympathize considering his father abandoned him when he was little though not before subjecting him to years of physical and mental abuse. But no one knew about that part of his life.

"Actually, she volunteered the information. I guess we must think alike because she knew that was what I wanted to ask her about most." Kaylee paused. She was still having an internal debate about whether or not to fully clue Sark in to the conversation that had taken place about him only minutes earlier. It could go either really well or frightfully wrong.

"Say whatever you're debating if you should say." Sark grabbed Kaylee's hands as he was talking and began to pull her close to him again.

"No." Kaylee shoved him back a little. "I don' t think you're going to like what I have to tell you, and I'd prefer to keep myself out of arm's reach when I do. That and I can't really think too well when you're close to me."

"What did Sydney say to you?" Sark's protective side was rearing its head.

"Why do you do that? Honestly?" Kaylee asked.

"Do what?"

"Act so protective over me. I have to know. Do you feel obligated because of who my mother is?"

Sark laughed. "How many times are we going to need to go over this? I don't feel an obligation to be with you because of Irina and I'm not using you because you look like Sydney and she's the one I really want to be with.

"What are you doing?" Kaylee asked.

Sark looked at her confused. "Again. What did Sydney say to you? Because the questions you're asking me are coming out of the blue."

"It was the same routine she pulled in Madrid. She reminded me that you've murdered people and are dangerous to be around. It's nothing we haven't gone over a million times. I know who you are."

"So if you've heard the things she said before, why did it upset you so much this time?"

"Because she changed her strategy." Kaylee shrugged back the tears that were brewing slowly in her eyes. She didn't want to give Sark any clues as to how she was feeling. "She said that you were only using me to get ahead. That when this whole Rambaldi business was over, you would drop me without much thought or remorse. I have to know if you're using me or not. I can deal with it if you are. I just have to know."

"It's not true," Sark denied. "I'm not using you."

"That's what I told her. But it's awfully hard for me to believe it. You have a very interesting past. Full of using people to meet your needs. I've done my own background check on you, too."

"Goes without saying in this business," Sark commented.

"You've never had a woman in your life, with the exception of my mother and Sydney, for more than a week. You live from day to day never making attachments, never tying yourself down to anything or anyone. Why all of the sudden would you start doing that? With someone you barely know? Who happens to be the daughter of your employer? Who also is the key player in a five hundred year old prophecy?"

"That's just a coincidence. And anyway, you and I happened before we learned that you were definitely the woman in the prophecy. I have no ulterior motives when it comes to you." Sark looked at Kaylee pleadingly, hoping she would believe what he was saying and knowing that she had no real reason to. He never had a single problem getting people to believe him before. That's why he couldn't understand why he was having such a difficult time convincing Kaylee.

"Sark, every woman you've ever slept with was a way for you to get ahead in a mission or to gain something you wanted. There's never been someone who you just cared about. Who you wanted in your life for a completely selfish reason. So I don't think it's quite so strange for me to believe that you don't care about me. At least as anything more than someone to fill up time with."

"Kaylee, you're my partner in this organization. Of course, I care about you."

"You're missing the point," Kaylee said trying to mask her frustration. "I'm not talking about our work relationship. I need you to define whatever the hell this is. This whole after-hours thing we have going on."

"Kaylee, if you want to live this life, you need to know that you can't set boundaries or try to define things. It just doesn't work. Living life day to day, hour to hour, minute to minute, that's the way to be successful."

"Don't patronize me. I'm not some little child who doesn't understand this world. I know that if you want to survive you have to keep yourself free of any and all attachments. So don't give me that crap!"

Sark noticed the fury building in her eyes and didn't know exactly where to go from there. That lack of knowing the next step irritated him to no end. "If you know you shouldn't have attachments, what the hell are you trying to do in this conversation?"

"I just want to know. Am I the same as every other woman you've been with? Is this whole thing new for you? Am I just a convenient distraction? Just someone there for you to use to release all that pent-up adrenaline you have after a mission? Just someone to fuck and forget when the mission's over?"

"That's out of line. Why the hell would you say that?"

"Because that's what you treat me like half the time," Kaylee screamed. She tried to lower her voice a little. "I'm not like every other girl."

"That's plainly obvious. No one has ever pulled this kind of shit on me. I don't have relationships. I can't no matter how hard I try. It's a part of who I am. You're going to have to get used to it."

"I could get used to that. I really could," Kaylee admitted. She took a deep breath knowing that this comment was going to hurt her a hell of a lot to say. "What I can't get used to is wasting my time on a man who doesn't love me as much as I love him." Kaylee looked away from Sark. He noticed for the first time that tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"I don't know what to say," Sark admitted after a few moments of pure silence.

"That says it all right there." Kaylee looked at him once last time and walked out of the room.