Sydney walked over to Vaughn's desk and threw the folder she was carrying forcefully down in front of his face. "I need to go after Simon Walker, Vaughn. It's a matter of maintaining my sanity."

"Syd, you know I don't have the power to send you on missions." Vaughn leaned back in his chair. He wanted to prepare himself for another screaming fight. That seemed to be the only way he and Sydney communicated these days.

"I know that. But you were always willing to help." Sydney sat down on the edge of his desk. "Look over the file. I think I've gathered enough information to warrant a mission."

Vaughn flipped through the file. "A raid, Sydney? You want to go busting into where Walker is currently staying guns ablazing?"

"I was never one for subtle."

"And I was never one to refuse one of your wacky schemes." He knew that he should be avoiding the topic of their past together, but he just couldn't resist.

"It feels like yesterday to me, you know. I know I've been gone two years, but I just can't get the rest of me to adjust." Sydney sighed and moved to get up off the desk. She was trying to concentrate on being graceful so hard that she practically guaranteed a nose first head dive into the floor.

Vaughn caught her as she was about to hit the cement. "Are you okay?" he whispered as he stood her up.

"If I had known that this was all it took to get me back in your arms, I would have called on my klutz skills sooner." She had meant it as a joke, but it came out more on the seductive side.

Vaughn stared at her lips which were inches from his. "God, I wish I could tell you what you want to know, Syd."

Here eyes widened at his comment and she shrugged out of the grip he had on her. "You know something about the two years I've been gone." It came out more as a statement than a question.

"That's not what I meant." Vaughn was quick to correct.

"Then what the hell did you mean by that comment?"

"I can't say."

"I'm so sick and tired of this government, classified crap," she screamed calling most of the office's attention to her. "It keeps interfering with my life. I can't stand it."

He stared at her in silence knowing there was nothing he could say to make her feel better. It was the first time for that since the first day she walked into the CIA headquarters and into his life. He had always prided himself on being her guardian angel, but now he felt more like a demon for withholding information that could help iron out the wrinkles in her life.

"I could tell you were keeping something from me," Sydney informed him. "I just had no idea why. It probably has something to do with the past two years. Everything seems to have something to do with that." Sighing she picked up the folder she had slammed on his desk. "So, do you think Dixon will buy my pitch for a mission?"

"I think you can guilt trip him into letting you try," Vaughn agreed.

"I know it's completely inappropriate and Lauren will be furious when she finds out I asked you this. Do you think that you can come along with me if Dixon agrees to this? I'm not used to going on missions without you by my side. It would make the transition a little easier."

"I haven't gone on a mission since you disappeared that day." He smiled to himself. "That could be partially because I went insane for a while there. But I like to think that it was also because I knew it wouldn't be the same."

"Is that a yes?" She smiled at him.

"Yes. Lauren shouldn't be upset by it, anyway. I think I've earned her trust."

"Thank you. I'm glad our conversation didn't end with yelling this time." She turned and walked out of his cubicle.

"I'm glad you made it out of that conversation without putting the moves on her," Weiss said from the other side of the cubicle. Knowing that Vaughn was about to curse him for eavesdropping, he added, "If the CIA didn't want me to hear your conversations, they would have given you a real office and not a cubicle without a proper ceiling."

Vaughn laid his head into his hands. "It's getting harder not to tell her, Eric."

"You're doing well, buddy. Just hang in there."

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Back your bags, gentlemen," Sydney called as she passed Weiss and Vaughn's area a few hours later. "We're going to funny, sunny Cairo."

"What's so funny and happy about Cairo? I thought there was a massive heat wave spreading through the city currently," Vaughn asked Weiss as he watched Sydney walk past on her way to run the op by Marshall.

"I think she's just excited at the prospect of kicking the asses of grown men again," Weiss joked.

"As long as it isn't mine," Vaughn said. "We should probably go get our bags packed. Knowing Syd, she wants to leave immediately."

"You need to say goodbye to Lauren, Vaughn," Weiss reminded. "You have to keep up appearances."

He was answered by a massive wad of paper dropping from the sky onto his head.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

"Can you hear me now?" Sydney asked as she walked into one of Cairo's finest hotels.

"Loud and clear." Vaughn's voice resonated in her ear. "Too bad we can't see you," he commented. "I heard that you got a beauty of costume for this one."

"Who knew that two-bit hookers stayed at such nice hotels?" Sydney glanced at her reflection as she passed one of the lobby mirrors. She was wearing a cheetah print mini skirt and white halter top. Her hair was piled recklessly on top of her head, and her makeup was straight out of the 80's. She didn't feel comfortable at all, but that was just standard for her missions. She found a quiet corner of the lobby and prepared for Simon Walker to appear.

She didn't have to wait long for he walked out of the elevator two minutes after she showed up. "I'm following Walker out of the hotel, guys," Sydney informed Vaughn and Weiss. They were both listening in just to be on the safe side. The CIA couldn't afford for something to go wrong in this mission. Sydney wouldn't survive another two years missing.

Sydney hefted the massive bag she was carrying onto her right shoulder and slowly made her way out to the front of the building. She was happy to see that Walker wasn't in a hurry and was taking his time entering his BMW. "Time for me to make a quick change," she whispered. She wasn't planning on capturing Simon in her prostitute getup. It would be too humiliating.

She watched him chat with a few women who had flocked to his car when they saw him exit the hotel. Outside the hotel was the perfect place for changing one's appearance because of the wonderfully large bushes. Sydney jumped right in all the while watching Walker to make sure he didn't start his car and leave.

"Thank god you can always count on a man to flirt," she whispered. She took off her mini-skirt rapidly and threw on a pair of blue corduroy capris. The halter top stayed on.

"What do you mean by that?" Vaughn asked her.

"Nothing. You wouldn't understand, what with you being a man." She wiped off her over-the-top makeup real quick and splashed a bottle of drinking water she had on her hair. She threw it back into a ponytail and prepared to make her way over to Walker's car.

"What are you doing, Sydney?" Vaughn hissed in her ear. "Walker just passed us and you're nowhere in sight."

She realized that Walker had indeed pulled out of his parking space and wasn't within her line of vision. "Damnit." She rushed over to where the CIA had parked a fairly nice SUV for her to follow Simon in. She turned the keys that were waiting in the ignition and gunned the accelerator.

Within ten seconds, she had him back in her sights. "I've got him, boys. Don't worry. I may be a little rusty, but I can still spy with the best of them."

"Just don't lose him," Vaughn instructed.

"Because that was what I was trying to do," she mumbled.

"We heard that," Weiss informed her.

"Sorry. I'm a little testy. Wait. He's pulling into a parking garage. Damn!" she yelled.

"What's the matter?" Vaughn asked.

"It seems like I always get my ass handed to me on a plate whenever I'm forced to fight in a parking garage. I guess I'll just have to chance it." Sydney barely got her last sentence out before her earpiece went dead. "Vaughn? Weiss? Are you there? I can't here you."

Vaughn cursed as he realized that her earpiece must have malfunctioned slightly. He and Weiss could still hear her loud and clear, but it appeared like she couldn't hear them. As long as she kept the earpiece in, at the very least they could tell if something was going wrong.

Sydney sighed and ripped the earpiece out of her ear. If she couldn't hear Vaughn or Weiss what good was it? She parked her SUV next to Simon's BMW. He must have been in a hurry to get somewhere because he had exited his car within seconds of parking. She pushed the door open and slid out of the car crouching on the cement. She really didn't think she had done the best job of tailing him. The sudden disappearance from view could only mean that he had seen her.

The sound of a gun's safety being clicked off next to her head backed up that theory.

"Ms. Bristow. I'd like to say that it's been a long time since we've last seen each other. But I do believe we had a couple great nights in Vienna a few weeks ago. And by great nights, I mean really really great nights. We knew you had all that pent-up energy just bursting to get out."

"I don't want to know if you're telling me the truth, Walker." She stood up from her previous crouched position. "I just want to warn you that I'm about to knock you unconscious and take you into CIA custody."

"You and what army?" he said.

"I don't need an army," Sydney said with a laugh. "Just call me an army of one."

Simon laughed as he shoved her roughly into the side of her SUV. "Get up off the floor Sydney." He kicked her hard in the ribs. "Oh wait. You can't." He stomped on her arm hard with his left boot. There was a satisfying crack. "I do believe I broke your wrist. Brings back memories of our last fight. I beat you all by my lonesome self then. Only took me about five seconds. Let's see if I can break my record."

He was about to deliver a heavy blow to her head with the butt of his gun when he heard squealing tires. "Damnit. I thought I told my men not to let anyone in this parking garage."

"That will probably is my backup," Sydney informed him. She would have liked to pretend that she didn't need it, but her position on the garage floor with Simon's boot resting pinning her head would really kill that lie.

Simon ducked as the person in the car screeched to a halt right behind Syd's SUV and began to fire bullets straight at his head. Sydney dragged herself up since she had the chance. She was surprised that the car in front of her wasn't the one she had left Weiss and Vaughn in. She began to hobble over to the car.

"Hello, Sydney," Sark called as soon as she got within hearing distance. "Get in the car."

She stared in shock at the man she had thought was dead. It wasn't possible that he was alive. But then again everyone said it wasn't possible for her to be alive, too. "What the hell are you doing?" she screamed.

"We don't have time. Get in the car. I'll explain later."

Sydney was about to scream no at him, but Simon chose that moment to start shooting at her. She raced around to the other side of the car and jumped in. Sark immediately sped off.

"We're being followed," Sydney informed him as they left the parking garage.

"I can lose them," Sark said. He turned in direction that led away from the city.

"So, explain to me what the hell you are doing here in Cairo... alive... helping me..." Sydney waited for Sark's answer. She heard him take a deep breath. Realizing that she was probably being more civil to him then he deserved, she held up her hand. "You have time to say five words before I come to my senses and order you to pull this car over and let me out to fend for myself."

"Someone had to help." Realizing he had an extra word, he added, "Bitch."

"Very funny. I guess I'll give you the chance to explain in a little more detail."

"You were the one that wanted me to be brief," Sark said as he swerved the car to the right and down an alley. "I'll try again. I'm not dead."

"Obviously," Syd sneered as she locked her seat belt into place. She had been a witness to Sark's driving in all those times he had been in the car chasing her. She knew that a seat belt was a must.

"It has to do with your sister."

"Don't tell me that she agreed to give you a second chance," Sydney said as she braced herself for another sharp turn.

"I didn't ask for one," Sark replied. "What it boils down to is that I knew those incompetent CIA fools would let Simon Walker kidnap you again." Noticing Sydney's pissed off look, he quickly added, "Which I had nothing to do with the first time. I was being blown up in Hong Kong at the time."

"Good point," Sydney said. She relaxed back into her seat slightly as Sark guided the car off of the road and into the sand that was bordering the road. "Quick side note. Where the hell are you driving to?"

"Simon Walker wouldn't personally follow us into the desert. He'll stay in the city. Of course he'll send some of his employees after them. But I know for a fact that we can outsmart them."

"Accepted. Continue with the explanation of why you are helping me."

"As much as I know you won't believe me, I like you, Sydney. Enemies as good as you are few and far between. You were always the one to keep me on my toes in this game. I respect you enough to keep you from spending another two years in hell."

"You know where I've been the past two years?"

"I have my theories." Sark nodded towards the rearview mirror. "Look. Only two cars kept up with us."

"Nice. How about you try to decrease that number by two?"

"Working on it," Sark said. He flung the car into a 180-degree turn and began to race back towards the two cars. At the last possible moment, he veered to the right and watched as one of the cars went sailing into the sand and got stuck there. Its wheels spun out helplessly.

"What kind of car is this?" Sydney asked. She couldn't believe that they hadn't gotten stuck in the sand yet with the way Sark was driving.

"Let's just say I requested some modifications. Figured that with you around I'd end up in a car chase at some point."

"Watch out," Sydney screamed as she saw the one car still following them try to ram them from behind. There was a loud crunch. Sark was forced to turn left to correct the spin that the impact had sent them in. "It was nice and all, you trying to help me. But it isn't really going to be much of a help if you get us killed," she screamed.

"Relax. I know what I'm doing, Sydney."

She tried to calm her breathing as Sark darted the car back and forth across the desert sands.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Sydney was surprised that, upon looking in the side mirror, she saw the one car was still keeping up with Sark's frantic driving movements and trailing them. She could have sworn that Sark had been driving in this way for at least half of an hour. "This strategy isn't really working," she observed.

"You don't know my strategy. Look." Sark pointed to the rearview mirror again. Sydney noticed for the first time that the engine of the car behind them was steaming. "I wasn't trying to lose them. I was only trying to get them to stay with us long enough for their engine to overheat. Another modification to this car."

Sydney allowed herself a small smile. But it quickly left her face when she noticed something strange in the path they were traveling. "What is that, Sark?" she asked.

"Shit!" he screamed as the car suddenly left the ground. He had been so preoccupied with the car behind them he had missed the fact that there was a railroad track cutting through the desert. The car couldn't take such a jolt at the high speed he was going. He prayed that they landed as softly as possible as he felt the car begin to tip to its side.

Sydney realized his mistake as she felt the car reconnect with the ground. That would have been fine if the car wasn't on its side. She was surprised to realize that the only thought in her head was a memory that she recalled from her time missing. This was not the first time she had been in a flipping car. As she lost consciousness, she hoped this wouldn't be the last time.