"You think I should just waltz on in there and say hello, don't you?" Kaylee asked as Jack Bristow pulled up along the front of Sydney's house. "Do you realize how wrong that is on multiple levels?"

"Where else do you want to go?" Jack asked.

"Well, there's always waiting in the car while you go tell the CIA that your daughter, the one who works for your ex-KGB agent wife, is in town. You know so that they don't try to kill me or anything."

"Sydney is fully capable of keeping you out of harm."

"What if Sydney tries to kill me?" Kaylee asked.

"She won't. Now get going." Jack motioned for her to pull the door handle.

"You're not coming in with me?"

"No. It would be a little too awkward right now to explain to Sydney why I was able to extract you. Just walk up to the door and knock. She'll let you in."

Kaylee looked at the house in front of them in awe. "If you say so." She got out of the car. She turned to walk up the drive but quickly changed her mind and walked around to the driver's side of the car. She knocked lightly on the window signaling Jack to role it down.

He looked at her expectantly. "I just wanted to thank you," Kaylee said.

Jack just nodded curtly and drove away.

"Here we go," she muttered to herself.

She walked up the relatively short drive and banged loudly on the front door. Instead of Sydney, a blond haired man answered the door. "If all men in L.A. look like this, why haven't I come here before?" she though to herself. Looking back at him, Kaylee almost laughed at the shocked look on this man's face.

"Is Sydney home?" she asked.

"You're her," the man said as he stepped away from the doorway to allow her entry.

"Um… maybe," Kaylee said with a smile. "And you are?"

"Will Tippin. Sydney's best friend. And you're her sister."

"And I have a name. It's Kaylee." She held her hand out for him to shake.

"Oh. I knew that." He just stared at her outstretched hand and made no move to grasp it.

"You're amusing," she said with a laugh.

"I get that a lot. Um, if you don't mind me asking, what the hell are you doing here? According to Sydney, you were waiting for hell to freeze over to come visit her."

Kaylee dropped her luggage near the front door and began to give herself a tour of her sister's home. "Let's just say the situation changed slightly." She thought about what he had just asked. "Why does Sydney tell you so much about her job? Isn't it supposed to be top secret or something like that? You know the kind of stuff you only see on those hour long dramas on TV?"

"Long story," Will said hoping she didn't ask for more information. He didn't know if he was even allowed to be talking about this with her. Sydney's life was so much like a piece of fiction that he wouldn't be surprised if this was someone in makeup posing as her long lost sister. Since she hadn't said anything for a few seconds, he assumed she wasn't going to pry. He wasn't so lucky.

"Try me. We probably have a while before Sydney comes home." Kaylee let herself into Sydney's bedroom. "God this is disgustingly her. Who's the guy?" Kaylee pointed to a picture of Sydney and Vaughn.

"That's Vaughn, Syd's boyfriend."

"Michael Vaughn?" Kaylee asked, surprised.

"Yeah. You know of him?"

"He was my sister's fucking handler! Mr. Hands Off, if you know what I mean. I think our little Sydney likes to break the rules. Nice. Sister's got a bad side."

"Yeah. It was a romance doomed from the start but magically found a way to survive."

Kaylee laughed. "You've seen too many movies, Mr. Tippin."

"Will." He smiled at her. She noticed his bright blue eyes flashing from behind his glasses. It made her think of Sark, and she had to look away before she started crying.

"Why does he have to vaguely resemble Andrew?" she cursed herself. Trying to forget the connection she had just made, she looked back up at his position out in the hallway.

"Okay. So tell me about how you got sucked into a world of spies and danger." Kaylee walked out of Sydney's room and across the hall into Will's bedroom.

"It all started when Sydney's fiancé, Danny, died." Will noticed Kaylee stiffen slightly at the mention of fiancé. He glanced down at her hand. "Nice rock," he commented.

"Thank you. I prefer not to talk about it."

"Or the guy who gave it to you," Will supplied. He calmly touched Kaylee's shoulder and edged her out of his bedroom and back into the hall. "Anyway, I was investigating Danny's death when I stumbled upon the name SD-6. My investigation got a little too close for comfort, and Sloane tried to have me killed. But not before I was kidnapped for a bluff I made about something called the Circumference."

"You were kidnapped?" Kaylee said. "Wow, it must really suck to be my sister's friend."

"You have no idea," Will said with a laugh. "Though honestly it's all worth it."

"So, you were kidnapped. Were you tortured?" Kaylee flopped down on the coach in the front room. There was a gleam in Kaylee's eye that Will noticed hadn't been present before.

"Okay, you're scaring me. You're like Bizarro Sydney. You look like her, spy like her, even talk like her. But you aren't really her."

"Just call me Evil Sydney."

"Or Mini Me," Sydney called from the doorway of the kitchen. "What the hell are you doing here cozying up to my best friend?"

"Dad brought me here." Kaylee looked at Will, wondering if she could talk in front of him.

"Ask Sydney, not me," Will said. It was easy to guess what she had been thinking.

"It's fine to talk in front of him. Will is trustworthy unlike most of the people you spend your time with."

Kaylee shrugged the hurtful comment off. "Listen. I need a place to stay for a bit. Jack thought it would be okay for me to stay here. Just tell me now if that's a problem."

"No, it's not," Sydney admitted. She sat down on the coach next to her sister. "I'm sorry if I was rude there. It was just a little shocking to find someone you haven't heard a word from in three months on your coach."

"Understood. Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning."

"I'm trusting you by telling you this," Kaylee admitted. "Please just do me one thing."

"What's that?" Sydney asked.

"I was staying with my boyfriend in Newcastle, Australia. It was as close to a home as I've ever come. Please don't let the CIA ruin that. Don't let them take that place away from me. They can go crazy with my cottage in Paris. Just don't let them have Newcastle."

"Agreed," Sydney said. She knew a thing or two about personal havens and could respect her sister for wanting to keep hers secret. "Will, do you intend on staying for this? Because if you do, there may be a few things I need to clear up before we start."

"I think this will probably be pretty damn interesting, so yeah, I'm staying."

Sydney sighed. It would have been so much easier if he had just left the room. "Kaylee, why don't you start by telling him who the boyfriend you shared an Australian home with is? And don't be surprised if he flips out a bit."

Will looked questionably back and forth from one sister to another. Kaylee had no idea why this should upset Will but had a feeling it would hurt him rather badly. "My boyfriend's name is Andrew Sark. He works for my mother, almost like a--"

That's as far as she got in her explanation before Will started screaming and cussing. He was yelling something about finally getting his chance with a Bristow, having it ruined, and something about a callous, insensitive bastard. After a few minutes, he calmed down.

"Could you please explain that reaction?" Kaylee asked, genuinely intrigued.

"The kidnapping I mentioned earlier, and the torture that brought a gleam to your eye, that was done by your significant other. Because of him, I lost my job, my reputation, and the respect of everyone by Sydney and Jack."

"Oh." Kaylee frowned slightly. "Well, that sounds about right."

Will's mouth dropped open. He looked at Sydney for a little help.

"Bizarro Sydney, that's me!" Kaylee said.

"She knows who Sark is," Sydney explained to her best friend. "She's aware that he's a merciless killer. She doesn't care. Don't try to change her mind about him. She's oblivious."

Will nodded. "I think you can continue with your story," Sydney said to Kaylee.

"Sark and I were living happily in Australia. He didn't involve me in any work, and I didn't ask about anything. Then, yesterday, our father shows up out of the blue and tries to convince me Mom has been lying to me all along. I didn't buy it because that was your tactic. I guess he planted the seeds of doubt into my head just like our conversation at my cottage did."

"I thought I did pretty good in that argument," Sydney said smugly. She was glad to finally learn that she had had an effect on her sister.

"Oh, you don't know how good," Kaylee answered just as smugly.

"What do you mean?"

"Without that conversation, I would never have pushed Sark to define our relationship."

"I'm surprised you made it out of that one alive," Will interjected. "Sark doesn't seem like the type of guy who would want a relationship."

Kaylee laughed. "I guess I owe you some thanks, Syd. Because of you, Sark admitted that he loved me."

"That guy's capable of love?" Will asked honestly.

"Oh yeah," Kaylee said with a smile.

"Eww."

"Back to the story, Kaylee," Sydney demanded.

"So I doubted the idea that my mother wasn't lying to me. Dad told me that she had gotten pregnant with me for the sole reason of preventing you and her from being subjected to the Rambaldi prophecy. Which is more like a curse now."

"He told you about the whole death thing," Sydney guessed.

"Correct." Seeing Will's puzzled face, she elaborated. "You see, I'm going to render the greatest power unto utter desolation or some crap like that. Then, everyone I know is going to screw me over with lies and deceit. I'm going to get self-destructive and end up dying. Wanna trade lives?"

"No way," Will said. "I've learned the hard way that the life of a Bristow is not something you would actively seek."

Kaylee continued. "Sark came home and saw I was upset. He tried to comfort me but was interrupted by a call on his cell phone. After he got off the phone, he rushed off to catch a flight. Mom needed him. And I guess that is where his priorities lie." Kaylee felt the tears begin to well in her eyes. "Damnit! I swore I wouldn't cry."

"Talk to Sydney about it," Will said. "It's not that it makes me uncomfortable. It's just she's extremely good at dealing with it. Lots of practice."

"You are such a jerk!" Sydney yelled. She smiled at her best friend and turned to her sister. "I think that's enough for now. You can stay here as long as you want. As a guest, not a prisoner."

"Unless you want to be a prisoner," Will threw in.

"Though with this guy living him, I'd be surprised if you could last a day," Sydney added. "Anyway, stay as long as it takes you to sort things out. Maybe by the time you leave I'll understand this whole Sark thing."

"And maybe you can explain about that massive engagement ring," Will said, trying to be helpful.


"What?!?!" Sydney shrieked.