** I am in no way associated with Alias. The usual disclaimers apply.
PART FIVE
1 month later…
LOS ANGELES
Sydney looked at Weiss skeptically.
"I don't believe it…"
Weiss smiled proudly. "Believe it…"
"But…"
"But what?"
"Doesn't it seem a little weird?"
"What? That I could actually apprehend a wanted terrorist?" He didn't try to hide his hurt expression.
"No… that you apprehended him at Donut King…"
Marshall spoke up from where he was sitting in the briefing room.
"Maybe he has a soft spot for their jelly donuts… because they are quite tasty, discounting the fact that over 75% of the product is sugar and I'm not supposed to have sugar, because, well… I have bad glands". He smiled sheepishly.
Sydney raised an eyebrow at Weiss. "All I'm saying is… I don't like it, it's suspicious."
Weiss glanced at her almost condescendingly. "Syd, it's Sark, I'd be suspicious if there wasn't something suspicious about it."
She furrowed her brows.
"You know…" Weiss said absently, "… you shouldn't' keep doing that, you'll get wrinkles".
Sydney winced as she remembered who she had heard that advice from before.
"Did you want to see him?"
Marshall's question startled Sydney back into reality.
"No."
The answer was simple. She didn't want to see him. Why would she?
"Ahh… o… okay then… well of course you wouldn't… you know mortal enemies… and… everything." Marshall stammered an answer whilst making sword fighting motions with his hands.
Sydney smiled grimly.
"You'll need to be available to testify at the trial". Weiss looked up at Sydney uncertainly, puzzled by the shadow behind her eyes.
"Yeah, of course…" She paused, considering. "Please tell me they're pursuing the death penalty?"
"It's too early to say yet… but considering what Sark's done in the last few years… and the fact that he's already escaped Federal custody - most likely."
"Good." She smiled again.
An awkward silence.
"Well… well not for Sark." Marshall added carefully.
***
Sark paced the small cell like a caged tiger, his eyes narrow but alert. He felt a chill permeating his body – not just from the cold of the room, but from his captivity.
He wore a standard prison garment, and the sleeves itched at his wrists as he ran a hand through tousled hair.
He didn't like being a prisoner, in fact he hated it. All this for a jelly donut. He grunted, annoyed, his usual calm disposition fraying as he contemplated his 38th night in CIA custody.
The trial had started just over a week ago, and Sark actually looked forward to the daily outings. He hadn't seen Sydney yet, which he was beginning to find bothered him more than he'd like it to. He would have thought she'd be a key witness for his prosecution, seeing as how she had been present at quite a number of his more dastardly acts.
He rubbed his hands together absently, his finger squeezing an invisible trigger, and sat in the corner of his cell.
***
Sydney watched the surveillance screen thoughtfully.
The security feed was being relayed to the ops centre from the maximum security prison where Sark was being held. Sydney had yet to figure out why monitoring Sark was of importance to the ClandOps unit working from the centre, but that was only one of many oddities she had discovered since her return to the CIA.
She squinted at the screen. Sark looked so much more like a lost little boy and a lot less like a criminal mastermind as he sat crouched in a crook at the back of his cell. She figured he was getting weary of his imprisonment, and noted almost inattentively his clenched fists and tense shoulders.
Marshall startled her as he approached.
"Have you seen any of the trial?"
Sydney turned to him, her thoughts still on the blonde assassin captive in the cell.
"No. The CIA have restricted my access…" She looked at Marshall almost sadly.
"That's probably just until they sort out the whole, you know, 'missing for two years' thing." He smiled at her reassuringly.
"I'm not sure. I get the feeling that there's a lot more going on." Sydney searched Marshall's eyes for any clues that he might know what was deliberately being withheld from her. She smiled when she realized that even if he did have clearance, Marshall would still be the last to know.
"Well, I'd trust your instincts, if I were you…" Marshall gazed at her earnestly.
"Yeah…" Sydney smiled and turned back to the screen.
"I'm giving evidence tomorrow…" She paused as she saw Sark look up at the surveillance camera, as if he felt he was being watched.
Marshall touched her arm lightly. "Good luck…"
"Yeah…" Sydney answered absently as she wondered what use luck would be now.
Sark stared up at her, and she could imagine the vivid blue of his eyes that the black-and-white camera didn't show up.
A lump formed in her throat when she thought she saw him mouth her name, and, forming a gun shape with his thumb and finger, tap his hand against his forehead.
She swallowed and turned and walked out of the Ops centre.
