Sydney threw her cell phone and purse onto the table in the entryway of her house. She wasn't in the mood to get any more calls. Though the random wrong number call she had gotten earlier had provided her with just the right opportunity to leave the party. She didn't think she could take much more of having to be brave. And the sight of Lauren and Vaughn acting so happy together was beginning to make her physically ill.

"It's not his fault, Sydney," she told herself as she checked her answering machine for messages. She had hoped the guy Eric had affectionately called her mystery man had phoned while she was out. He would understand the sheer pain she had put herself through that night.

Frustrated that there was no blinking red light on her answering machine, she walked to her room and dug through the mound of clothes that had magically appeared on her bed throughout the day. "I never understand where the clothes come from and how they find their way out of my closet," she grumbled as she threw the heap of clothes off of her bed and onto the floor. She found her favorite pair of sweatpants and one of her old t-shirts from college. Her dress hit the floor, and she was in those comfy clothes before you could blink.

As she pulled the bobby pins out of her hair and threw it up into a quick ponytail, she decided the tiny little hors d'oeuvres that were served at the party were definitely not enough to fill her up. Excited with the idea, she made her way to the kitchen to fix her favorite snack of midnight cereal.

The sound of her door clicking shut and the deadbolt being turned stopped her in her tracks.

"It's just me, Sydney," Sark's voice called out.

She relaxed and kept walking towards the kitchen. "Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock, Andrew?"

"I thought that knocking might scare you," he said sitting down on the coach and putting his feet on her coffee table.

"And just letting yourself in wouldn't scare me at all," she answered sarcastically. "Get your feet off my table. Boy, you seemed to have left your manners at the door."

She fixed herself a bowl of the first cereal she could find and sat down next to Sark on the coach. "What are you doing here? And without a phone call to warn me you were coming? I would have vacuumed."

"Figured you weren't going to go to the big party I heard was going on tonight. Too much pain and suffering to be had there, I understand that. Thought you might want a little company and a little something to drown out your emotions with. I brought wine." He reached down to pick up the bag he had brought in with him.

"Wine doesn't mix well with cereal," she informed him. "And for your information, I did go to the party. But I left early. You know two years ago I think it would have creeped me out realizing you knew the location of my spare key."

"It's like routine now. I let myself in making sure I lock the door behind me."

"Wouldn't want Will or Kaylee stumbling upon us being all chatty and friendly." Sydney's eyes widened. "Or worse my father. After realizing you were alive, he'd would kill you on the spot."

"Jack's going to have to get used to the idea of having me around."

"I thought you were given your pursuit of Kaylee a rest until she figured out those things I was telling you about."

"I know. But in the back of my head, I have the whole thing planned out. I've seen the events occur a million times and I do have to admit I'm a genius."

"And completely full of yourself." Sydney laughed recalling something from earlier that evening. "And I have something to tell you that will probably inflate your ego a little more. You wouldn't guess what Weiss said to me while I was there, though."

"He accused you of withholding information from him?" Sark guessed.

Sydney looked at him in surprise. "Actually, yes, but that's not what I was referring to. He accused me of having a new boyfriend. A boyfriend named Andrew."

"He's on to us, darling. You must leave this life behind and elope with me immediately."

Sydney couldn't help but laugh. After she had calmed down, she turned a little serious. "You know that the CIA would kill me if they found out about all the times you and I have met these past three months and the fact that I've been lying to their face."

"No, they would kill me regardless of the fact that I am the only thing keeping you sane these days. I should be given a medal for that. Instead there's the nasty threat of imprisonment hanging over my head. You'd probably just get a light slap on the wrist if we were caught. Me, I'd get the death penalty for corrupting the wholesome Agent Bristow."

"Life sucks," Sydney mumbled through a mouth of cereal.

"Now who doesn't have manners? Good god, woman. Close your mouth when you chew!"

Sydney laughed again. "So is this a personal visit or business?"

"To be honest, it's a little bit of both. Like I said, I was concerned for you what with that nasty party going on, and then, on the business side, something came to my attention today. I was actually hoping that you were going to be at that party and not here in the house when I let myself in."

"You were going to snoop!" Sydney said feigning shock.

"No, I wasn't." Sark paused and thought it over. "Wait. Yes, I was." He stood up and went to her front door. "Just as I thought. You haven't checked your mail yet today." He threw a very pricey looking envelope in her lap.

"What's this?" she asked as she set her empty cereal bowl down.

"Open it and then we'll discuss."

Sydney ran her hand across the front of the envelope. Her address was on it, but there was no postage. So it must have been hand delivered. She flipped the envelope over and broke the wax seal that was keeping it closed. There was a small square of paper inside. She read it aloud.

"Mr. Simon Walker requests the presence of Agent Sydney Bristow at a gathering he is hosting for all of his work acquaintances. He encourages that all of his guests arrive unarmed. September 7th, 2005. 8PM sharp. P.S. Please don't mention this gathering to your respective superiors or anyone else who might interfere. Mr. Walker wouldn't like that."

Sydney flipped the card over to discover there was a handwritten note on the back. "Wear that tight black number. I always loved that one. Simon."

She flung the invitation onto the table in front of her. "That man is such a pig." She turned her attention back to Sark. "And he knows something about my missing two years that no one's been able to find out. He's always hinting at the fact that we had a relationship, but there is no evidence anyone can find of that." She turned her attention away from Walker and back to the invitation. "How did you know this would be here anyway?"

"I got one myself this morning. I figured that if I got one, you must have had one too. I'm not sure what this whole meeting is about, or even why Walker invited me. I haven't ever had contact with the bastard."

"But you figured a united front is the best way to approach this mysterious gathering."

"The invitation seemed less of an invitation and more of a command. I don't think Mr. Walker will be taking no for an answer."

Sydney thought over what he was trying to get at. Realization dawned on her face. "Why, Andrew. Are you asking me to be your date?" Sydney batted her eyelashes at him.

"No. That was less of an invitation and more of a command," he joked.

Sydney smiled at him and reread Simon's note to her. "Do you think I should wear my little black dress like he asked? Could help us in the long run."

"I think that was more of a request than a command. Anyway, I don't think you want to call any extra attention to us. And if I know the dress he was referring to, it'll call everyone's attention to you."

Sydney smacked Sark's arm. "I know you said you didn't know for sure, but I know you have to have a theory on what this whole thing is about."

"I think that Simon has something that he thinks every government agency would want. I assume that we'll be seeing a lot of familiar faces there. Most of them will be people you or I hoped we'd never see again."

"Oh joy." Sydney flipped the invitation over and reread the printed part. "You gambled on the fact that I would have an invitation. He clearly said not to mention it to anyone. Why did you take the chance and come over here tonight?"

"Like I said, I hoped that you would be out so that I could snoop before you got back. To be honest, I didn't think it really mattered if you were here or not. If this were truly a gathering of the world's best spies, Sydney, you would probably be at the top of the list. So it wasn't much of a gamble."

She nodded her acceptance of his reasoning. "Did your invitation have a comment written on the back?"

"Yeah. That's another reason I wasn't so scared to bring your attention to yours."

"Explain."

"Well, mine said 'Bring your new phone pal with you'."