Sydney didn't have much time to think about the problem that Lauren was causing and the exact reason that she was present at this gathering. Simon Walker had chosen that moment to make his grand entrance. Sark came back from wherever he had wandered off to a few minutes earlier in time to see Simon nod at several different people as he worked his way to the front of the room. When he reached his destination, he scanned the room trying to gage which of his guests had neglected to show up.
"Well, it looks like most of you took my invitation seriously. Good. Because I have something that you all want. A few weeks ago, I came across some interesting information. You all know of the prophecy that Milo Rambaldi predicted in the book that the lovely Sydney Bristow stole from K-Directorate about three years ago, correct?"
The room bustled with the sounds of people whispering, clearing their throats, and trying to figure out what Simon Walker was hinting at.
"I'll take that as a yes. It seems that the CIA has cracked part of the prophecy and discovered an even more important prophecy. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The woman in Rambaldi's prophecy has been identified as Kaylee Derevko, the daughter of Irina Derevko and an American CIA agent, Jack Bristow. She also happens to be the sister of the previously mentioned Sydney Bristow."
Sydney grasped Sark's arm harshly as she felt him try to stand up. "Don't let your heart control your actions," she hissed. "He's not insulting Kaylee. He's just sharing information that we already knew. So don't try to be her knight in shining armor. Or at least wait until she's actually present."
"Therefore," Simon continued, "Kaylee is meant to have render the greatest power unto utter desolation. For years, most of us believed that to mean the woman in the prophecy was going to create or find a weapon that would be most useful. Or she was going to discover some information that will give her control over most of us present here tonight." Simon paused dramatically. "We were wrong. The prophecy should have been taken to a more literal sense. Kaylee was prophesized to provide the greatest power or the key to complete devastation. Of what? No one's sure of that."
"Get to the point, Walker," a gruff Russian man yelled from the back of the room.
"Patience, comrade. Kaylee Derevko had a child two years ago. By doing that, she in a sense rendered a new life to existence. That child is the key to complete devastation."
Sark leaned over to Sydney and asked, "Did you know that?" She nodded and continued to stare at Simon through squinted eyes.
"That is why we're here tonight. This little kid just became the hottest property in the game. I have the location of where this child and mommy dearest are staying. Play your cards right and it will be yours." With that, Simon walked out of the room leaving everyone buzzing about where exactly this key was.
Sydney turned to Sark. "You realize this means that he has the address of Kaylee's home written down somewhere."
"All I'm thinking about is how much danger this whole thing is going to put Kaylee in."
"Let that go for now, Sark. Focus on the job we have to do. Simon invited you and I for a reason. There also had to be a reason why he wanted us to come together. I think I've figured it out. He's going to let everyone here try to figure out where he would have kept the location that we're all now seeking. So, it has to be in this building somewhere. I think he wanted you and I here to make it more difficult. There's no way in hell that we're going to let anyone come within ten miles of her." Sydney paused for a second and then screamed, "Shit!"
"What's the matter?"
"I shouldn't have sent my parents away. They were here to help us protect Kaylee. Now it's just you and me."
"Okay." Sark took a deep breath. "We're just going to have to figure out where this object that tells Kaylee's location is before anyone else does. While we're searching, we can try to figure out the answer to another obvious question."
"Which would be?"
"If you, me, Irina, and Jack were the only four invited here to protect Kaylee, then why is Michael Vaughn's wife here?"
Realization dawned on Sydney's face as Sark pulled her to her feet and began to walk quickly in the direction that Simon Walker had left.
~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~
A few minutes later, they discovered Simon Walker sitting by himself in what appeared to be an office.
"Sydney, Sark, I figured you would be the first two to find me," he said putting his feet up on his desk and reclining back in the chair. "You two were always the most promising spies out there. Funny that it took me to force you two to team up."
"Don't flatter yourself," Sydney snarled in disgust. "If it hadn't been for you, Sark and I would have not only been friends, but we would have become family over two years."
"That's right. You were taking a dip in that gene pool, weren't you?" He smirked at Sark.
"Where did you write down Kaylee's location, Walker?" Sark snarled.
"Right here." He held up a piece of paper in his hand. Sighing, he stood up from his chair and began to walk over to the other two. About halfway around his desk, he paused. "Do you hear that?"
"What?" Sydney asked taking the bait.
"I think we're about to have company." Simon smiled at her.
"Give me the paper, Walker. And I won't hurt you," she yelled. "Too much, that is."
Simon was about to make a comment back to her when the window behind him shattered. Before he realized what was happening, a woman was on top of him ripping the paper out of his hands. "Beautiful entrance, Ms. Espinosa."
"Hello, Sydney," Anna said as she stood up. "Looks like I'm going to be paying your sister a visit."
Anna bolted for the door and made it out before Sydney or Sark could process she was trying to escape. "We have to get that paper from her," Sydney screamed as they began to run after her.
Sark nodded and pulled a gun out of his jacket. "Being friends with a cold-blooded killer can be to your advantage at times."
The duo ran swiftly down the hallway right behind Anna. As soon as they got within range, Sark began firing his gun at her. Anna ducked into a room off the hallway, and Sydney followed. As soon as she entered the room, the lights went out.
"Looks like Simon's on my side," Anna said. Sydney pinpointed her location somewhere to her left and up a little. She took a blind swing at the air and wasn't surprised when she didn't connect with anything.
"Sydney?" Sark asked from the doorway. "Are you all right?"
Sydney chose not to answer. She was trying to concentrate on tracking Anna's position.
"I think she might have gotten a little scared of the dark and decided to hide."
Sydney listened closely to where Anna's voice was coming from and made her way slowly over to the right side of the room. She swung hard again and this time connected with a face. She grasped the person's arm tightly so they couldn't make a getaway.
"Sark?" she called.
"I'm still in the doorway, Sydney."
"Stay there. I have her, and she's not getting away." Now that Sydney knew she had Anna in her grip, she threw a knee hard into Anna's midsection and heard a satisfying groan. She whipped her around into a headlock and hissed into her ear, "Give me the paper and I'll let you go."
"I don't believe you. There's no way both of us are getting out of this one alive."
"My bet's on Sydney," Sark called from the doorway. "She has a nasty habit of winning. And I don't think you can really kill her. I mean, how many times have you come back from the dead?"
Sydney couldn't take the time to answer as she felt Anna begin to struggle to get out of her grip. She punched her hard in the face. Anna suddenly made herself into dead weight, and Sydney tumbled the ground. Before she could recover, Anna punched her hard in the temple. Sydney lashed out to get a grip on her again but was mad to feel just air all around her.
"She got away, Sark," Sydney yelled.
"I'm aware of that," Sark answered back.
The lights flicked back on, and Sydney saw that Anna had taken Sark's gun away from him and was holding it to his head.
"Looks like I got your boyfriend," Anna taunted.
"I'm not her bloody boyfriend. Why does everyone assume that I am?" Sark looked over to where Sydney was standing. "Syd, don't worry about me. My life doesn't mean anything. Just get the paper back from her."
"Oooo," Anna whispered. "Do we have a martyr here?"
Before either Sydney could make a move, Anna shoved Sark out of the doorway and into the room. "Bye bye for now!" she called as she slammed the door shut.
Sydney immediately ran to try the doorknob. "She locked us in."
"And there are no windows and no vents. We're stuck in a box."
"And she's going after Kaylee."