/b Facing Reality /b Gaudy /b gaudy9@hotmail.com /b Sadly I don't owe Alias. I'm just borrowing the characters, they belong to JJ Abrams, Bad Robot, etc. /b PG-13 /b Sequel to a href="- love.nu/fanfiction/gaudy/cleansing.php"Cleansing/a. bAuthor's Note:/b I want to thank Jess for betaing this. And you guys convinced me to write the fic, so here is the sequel.

h2Facing Reality/h2

Sydney took a deep breath and opened the safe. She muttered a cursed as she saw the documents were gone. Miffed that Sark had bested her, she had no doubt it he was the one that took the documents, she closed the safe with more force than needed and the alarm triggered.

She stared at the safe for a moment in shock until Kendall's voice crackled through the ear piece. "Agent Bristow, get out of there."

Sydney took a look around and carefully ran out of the room.

"Did you retrieve the documents?"

"They were already gone," Sydney informed, out of breath.

"Dammit," she heard Kendall curse, and cringed at the sound.

She heard the guards barking out orders and their heavy foot steps right behind her. She pushed her legs to go faster.

As she left the guards behind her, she saw a figure ahead and drew out her gun. Just one shot and it would give her enough time to catch up with him and retrieve the documents. She sucked in her breath as Sark turned and for a few seconds they stood still. A time not so long ago she would have been able to shoot him, but now she couldn't even get herself to do so even if she told herself it wouldn't do him too much damage. She lowered her gun and watched as Sark left, and she began to run towards the extraction point.

* * *

Sydney threw her keys in her purse, placed it on the kitchen counter, and filled a glass with water. As she took a sip she closed her eyes, and she was back with Kendall.

"Did you see who took the documents?" Kendall questioned again.

"No," Sydney replied, her face remained stoic. She wasn't lying; she hadn't seen him actually take them. She hadn't seen him opening the safe or in the brief moment she caught a glimpse of him, the documents were nowhere to be seen.

Denial was good.

"And you didn't notice that the scene had been tampered?"

Sydney glared at him. "The place was normal enough, I had to act quickly," she conveniently forgot her quick paralysis. "And the safe didn't jam or look like it had been previously open."

Kendall paid no noticed to Sydney's glare. "And you saw no one when leaving the premises?"

"No," she lied again. She had been too far away to actually tell it was Sark...right?

Kendall sighed in disappointment.

But as she cleaned her glass she wondered what if next time wasn't so easy? What if she actually had to engage in a one on one battle? Or what if she wasn't alone and one of her partners was with her?

"Sydney, are you losing your touch? The door was unlocked."

Sydney didn't reply, she just watched as his made his way towards her and in a few quick strides he was standing in front of her. She saw the challenge in his eyes, he wanted a quick verbal fight, but she wouldn't give him the pleasure. Instead she let a predator's look take over her eyes as she evaluated him from head to toe. Her eyes darkened with lust. iHe sure knew how to wear a suit./i Almost hypnotized she moved her hands to his arm and trailed the perfect lines of the suit. There wasn't a wrinkle out of place.

The smirk in his face seemed to freeze. This was not the reaction he had been ready for. But before he could say anything else, her hands moved to his shoulders and she kissed him. His hands went to her hips and his fingers dug into her skin. Not sure whether to press her against him or push her away, as her teeth pulled at his lip he pressed her against him, and thrust his hips against her, letting her know the effect she had on him. They both moaned, and Sydney gripped his shoulder tighter.

"Sydney," he said after he broke the kiss.

She pressed her finger to his lips. "Please," she said, but her eyes begged him to just follow her lead.

His icy blue eyes stared into her for what seem ages, until he dropped his gaze, and he pressed his hips against her again—jolting her.

"Th—"

Sark didn't let her finish he crushed his mouth against hers, his fingers already working on the buttons of her clothes. If she wanted to escape reality for a few hours, he would help her, but he'd also be sure to remind her that she needed to face it.

She sighed into his kiss, and relished the urgency in which his fingers worked to get rid of her clothes, the counter pressing against her back was unnoticeable. She didn't give a damn that they were in a kitchen just about to commit sin...treason. This was what she needed. She needed him. She needed to remember that there was much more to them than the fighting, the rivalry. She needed to leave the hard, cold reality behind.

She gasped as Sark pulled her up and in reflex she wrapped her legs around his waist as he started walking. Walking towards sanctuary.

As he moved to place her on the bed she held on to him tighter, making him fall on top of her, and she gave him a lazy smile, which quickly vanished at the intense look in his eyes. He wanted her.

Her fingers trembled as she started to take his suit off. She had believed once he was incapable of feeling. But at moments like this she remembers how wrong she was. How could someone incapable of feeling make her feel like this? How could his eyes darkened with desire? How could he care enough to make her forget and also remember?

She arched her back as his fingers brushed her nipples, but she didn't let him finish his foreplay, she rolled him so he was on his back and moved on top of him, moaning as he filled her with a hard thrust. She moved against him—with him.

His fingers pressed against her thighs, and she knew that that would be the only evidence that her dream wasn't a dream at all.

As she stumbled over she screamed his name and somewhere in the back of her mind she heard her name escape from his lips.

She laid quietly beside him, her arms wrapped around his waist, until he took her hand, kissed her palm and stood up. "Sark..."

Sark searched for his clothes. "I have to go. I stayed longer than I should have."

Sydney nodded and watched him get ready. She also stood and put on her robe, walking towards him. She almost laid her hand on him when he spoke.

"Why didn't you take the shot?" He asked, not looking at her.

She withdrew her hand. Silence. iIt was suffocating,/i she thought. But there was no other way to answer him. He wouldn't like it. I love you's made Sark uncomfortable, he rather face a gun.

He didn't ask again, but the question still hung in the air. She felt an ache in her heart as she saw him put on the last of his clothes. "Perfect," she mumbled as his jacket came into place. Was there another word that fit him better? Because she couldn't think of another one.

Sark looked Sydney over and then took his gun, he watched as Sydney looked away. "Sydney," once he had her full attention he continued, "I would have taken the shot and if the need arises, I will."

She swallowed a sob and nodded. Reality was slapping her in the face again.

bTHE END./b