"Leeny?" Sark choked out.

"Yes, dear brother. It's me," Lina said as she hopped off the stage. She was still talking in a Russian accent, which added to his confusion. "I'm awfully sorry I had to kill your lady love like that. It's all in a day's work, I guess."

"Wha… Wh… Why did you have to?" he stammered. The events of the last thirty seconds were too much for even him to process.

"What you're experiencing right now is shock. And grief, sadness, anger. They're emotions. I know this may be new to you, dear brother. Embrace them, Julian. Embrace what's happened. I shot the only woman you've ever loved. Probably the only woman you will ever love."

He just stared at her in disbelief.

"I know what you're thinking right. Cummings got to my little sister. She's been brainwashed and forced to do this. Or maybe this is all an elaborate ruse for you to admit your feelings for Sydney. No, I don't think that's it. Or even better! I'm a double. Someone's doubled me like they doubled your ex-girlfriend. How is Allison by the way?"

"Dead," Sark managed to spit out.

"Well, that seems to be a common theme with you. No, Julian, I'm not brainwashed or doubled or cloned or setting you up or any of those easy outs. I'm just me. The woman you raised."

Sark stood up, finally laying Sydney's motionless body down gently on the wood floor, and walked over to his sister. In the back of his mind, he knew that he had to figure out why and when his sister had become such a cruel person. If he didn't lock away the waves of emotions that were ripping their way through him and work out why his sister had done this horrendous act of violence, he knew it would eat away at him for every day that he lived. "So, then explain to me why you let her get all the way through the building and then shot her dead with the exit in sight."

"It wasn't supposed to come to this, Julian." Lina took a step toward him. She was surprised to see him take a step away from her. She had thought he had seemed to get a hold on his emotions, but maybe he was a little angrier than she supposed. "It should have been easy. Mr. Cummings offered me a sizable sum of money a few weeks ago to get this Sydney Bristow into his custody. Imagine my surprise when she turned up as your partner."

"But why did you kill her? You and I both know that you don't get paid for dead bodies." It took all of his efforts to maintain focus on his sister and not dwell on the fact that he might be able to save Sydney if he could just get both of them out of the nightclub immediately. His sister wasn't about to let him do that, so he wasn't even going to try.

"I got a little angry at the effect she had on you. It screwed everything up here tonight." Lina started waving the gun that was still in her hand at her brother in anger. "You weren't supposed to pick her, you idiot. When I staged that little scene when she and I both had guns to our heads, you were supposed to pick me, your baby sister, the woman you always do everything to protect."

"But I didn't," Sark said with a smirk. "I picked Sydney."

"And that made me a little mad, brother dearest. And you know how I get when I'm mad."

"Why would you do this to me, Lina? I still don't understand."

"You were always the better spy, Julian. I got tired of being second-best in everyone's eyes. It seems like being better than you is a fantastic motivator."

"There was a reason I never wanted you to get involved in this world." Sark could feel his attention slowly slip away from his sister. It was killing him not to be next to Sydney, trying to make her come back.

"I know. You protected me from it from most of my life. But isn't it a guarantee that if something's forbidden, you're going to want to try it. If you hadn't tried so hard to keep me from it, I might have just worked side by side with you."

"The life I lead is too cruel even if you were by my side the whole time. I almost die every day, and that's not an exaggeration."

Lina glared at her brother. "You're the one who forced me to find other means of employment. I could have worked with Irina Derevko, just like you, but I couldn't let you know I had become a spy." She paused. "Would you stop looking at her like she's going to come back from the dead? I killed her!"

"You obviously don't know your objective that well. That woman has an uncanny way of returning from the dead."

"She's not coming back. I shot her in the heart." Lina was happy to see the harshness of her statement affect her brother. His normal coolness faltered for one second, but it came right back.

"When you love someone, you never lose hope. Especially with lives like ours." He turned his attention away from Sydney's body. If he kept looking at it, he knew he'd lose his concentration, and there was still more to figure out. He looked his sister over. "What now?"

"Well, I'm going to the back-up plan. You were always Mr. Cumming's second choice. So I guess I'll have to hand you over to him instead of Sydney."

"I'm your brother, Lina. You are honestly that cold-hearted to hand your brother over to his enemy?"

"Absolutely, our father taught us how to be ruthless since we were small. I'm just following in his footsteps. I'm following in your footsteps."

"I'm not going to fight you," Sark said.

"I can tell." She started to laugh as she saw his eyes well up with tears once again. Smiling, she held her arms open for him. "If our father was alive to see you now! Oh, Julian, I really love you, you know that."

Sark nodded and embraced his sister in defeat. "I love you, too, Leeny. I'm so sorry… for everything."

Lina's face scrunched up in pain as she felt the metal of a knife blade slide into her abdomen. She pulled away from her brother and saw the blood stained knife in his hands. "Julian?" she whispered before she hit the floor.

"If you had really known me, sis, you would have known that I wouldn't let you get away with killing Sydney. I can be just as unfeeling as you." He stared at her body for a minute as he watched her slip away from life. This was the last thing he had ever wanted to do, but it was the only thing he could think of to end this fight. He wouldn't give up on the hope that Sydney could still be brought back.

He dropped the knife where he stood and walked over to where Sydney lay. He took her body up in his arms again and held on for dear life. "I've never been one to believe in a higher power," he said out loud. "But if there's something up there, watching over, I could use some magic right now. I know that I'm the least worthy person out there. But that would make Sydney Bristow the most deserving. Please. I don't care if she never wants to see me again. Just bring her back."

Sark figured his plea was his last ditch effort and it probably wouldn't work. Which is why he was so frightened when Sydney's body jumped as if it were shocked. He waited a few moments and then he felt her body shake again. Still in disbelief, he saw her chest begin to rise and fall.

He didn't waste any time as soon as he heard her begin to breath, shallow but surprisingly steady. His cell phone was where he left it in the pocket of his pants. Flipping it open, he dialed the number of the only person he knew would help him save Sydney.

When he heard a gruff voice answer, he took a deep breath and began, "Your daughter needs your help to keep her alive."