I made a wallpaper/cover art thing for this today… it's posted at my message board. Here's the link if anyone wants to look:
Sydney slept very little that night, Sark's serious words reverberating in her mind.
Your life may well depend on it.
She finally gave up trying, throwing back the covers and deciding to take a shower. She stopped briefly to look outside her window, observing the gray sky of the early morning before the sun had made an appearance. Nearly ten minutes later, Sydney realized that she hadn't moved yet. The sun would be rising again soon, dispersing the darkness and mist, and she needed to get moving if she wanted to see her mother before reporting in to SD-6.
She took a quick, hot shower, hoping the heat would help to disintegrate Sark's warning. It didn't. The phrase haunted the forefront of her consciousness, not loosening its grip on her sanity.
Your life may well depend on it.
When she approached her mothers cell a short time later, Sydney still hadn't drawn any real conclusions. She was beginning to believe that, one way or another, Sark had discovered her double agent status- and so had Sloane. It was the only logical explanation she could come up with.
"Sydney?' She suddenly became aware that she had been standing in front of her mother, saying nothing, for a full minute. Irina was staring at her, looking worried.
"Hi," Sydney said hesitantly.
"What's going on? Is something wrong?"
"No. I mean… yeah. Kind of."
"What is it?" Sydney explained, briefly but thoroughly, the incident with Sark. Irina listened quietly, waiting for her daughter to finish before commenting.
"And you think he knows your double agent status?"
"More importantly, I think Sloane knows."
"Have you told anyone this?"
"I talked to Dad last night, but I didn't tell him that."
"Why not?" Irina sounded angry, and Sydney frowned slightly.
"I wasn't thinking of that last night. I was still trying to figure out what Sark meant."
"You're not going in to SD-6 today, are you?" Sydney's momentary hesitation was all Irina needed.
"Why? If you operate on the assumption, the hope, that Sloane doesn't know, you could be setting yourself up for a painful fall Sydney. You know this."
"And if I don't go in, don't call in, Sloane will suspect something for sure Mom. I can't take that chance."
"But you can take the chance of him killing you the moment you walk in the door?"
"He wouldn't do it that way."
"I know that Sydney. It may have been slight hyperbole, but it got my point across, did it not?"
"Yes, it did. But if he becomes suspicious, the first thing he'll do is go after Francie and Will. I can't let that happen."
"I understand your concern Sydney, but-"
"Here's what I'll do: if I don't get in touch with Vaughn by 9, he'll know that something's wrong, and that I need help. After 9, I'll check in every two hours. If the CIA has turned anything up, he'll let me know." Irina considered the idea for a moment.
"Don't take this lightly Sydney."
"I'm not Mom. I promise." Irina nodded.
"Be safe."
"I will." Sydney called the guard over and asked for pen and paper. He quickly produced the requested items, and Sydney scribbled a note to Vaughn, explaining the situation.
"Can you get this delivered to Agent Vaughn?" The guard assured her that he could, and she turned back to Irina.
"Thank you," she said sincerely, before turning and making her way out.
Once outside, Sydney could see that the sun had come up, and the foggy gray darkness of the early morning Los Angeles sky had melted into a warmer blue. A quick glance at her watch revealed the fact that she only had 45 minutes to get to work at SD-6. She took a shortcut home, changed quickly, and headed back out just as Will and Francie were waking up.
When she walked into Credit Dauphine ten minutes before 8, the first thing she saw was Sark, working on a computer. He didn't even glance up as she walked by. As she reached her desk, her father stuck his head out of his office.
"Sydney, a minute?" she nodded to him, quickly turned her computer on, and headed for his office.
"Take a seat," he offered, shutting the door behind her.
"What's up?" she questioned. Jack sat behind his desk, and pulled out his pen, signaling that they had one minute.
"You went to see Derevko?"
"I wanted to get her opinion on what happened with Sark."
"And?"
"She doesn't think I should have come in today." Jack frowned, prompting Sydney to continue.
"Dad, I think Sark knows. I think Sloane knows." Jack's pen beeped, and he put it back into his pocket.
"Thank you Sydney, I'll see what I can find out." She nodded to him and returned to her desk. After taking a moment to get everything in order, she realized that she had neglected to grab any coffee that morning. With a sigh, she headed for the break room.
She had just slipped in and poured herself a cup when she heard the door click shut. She looked up, less than surprised to see Sark standing there. He moved to grab himself some coffee, coming to a stop right next to her.
"Why are you here?" he hissed.
"Why wouldn't I be?" she replied in the same quiet tone.
"You may not give my words much merit, Miss Bristow, but in this case, it would be in your best interest to take heed." The steely look in his blue eyes brought back memories of what he had said to her previously.
Your life may well depend on it.
They stared at one another silently for a long moment before Sydney turned and went back to her desk. She could feel Sark's eyes drilling a hole through her as she walked. She ignored him.
Half an hour later, she sent Vaughn a text message before going in to her father's office.
"I haven't seen Sloane at all today," she noted quietly.
"Neither have I," Jack replied. He said nothing else, but his eyes told her everything she needed to hear: something's not right. Be careful. She returned to her desk and worked quietly, keeping a careful eye on everything around her. She noticed an unusual quietness; she hadn't been the only one made curious by Sloane's absence.
As lunch approached, Sark appeared by the side of her desk.
"Care to grab a bite?" he queried. His tone was pleasant, but his eyes were serious. He had only asked as a courtesy; Sydney could tell there was no way she would get out of spending her lunch with him.
"I'd love to," she gritted through a forced smile.
"Pleasant," he responded in the same tone. A few minutes later, they were both in his car, on their way to a local park. As soon as they were walking to a vendor, Sark spoke.
"I'm sure you were perplexed by Sloane's disappearance," he began.
"You're quite the quick one," Sydney shot back. He stopped walking and glared at her. She returned the look with equal malice.
"You really make me wonder why I even bother trying to help you," he growled.
"Help me?" Sydney questioned.
"Surely you don't think I go around warning people for the fun of it."
"With you, one would never know." This earned her another dour look.
"If I had a bit of logic, I would leave you to your own devices… only I swore I wouldn't. Fine." He fell silent, and Sydney tried to puzzle out his random ramblings to himself. He spoke again before she could get anywhere.
"Sloane knows." Even though she had suspected it, the news still took Sydney's breath away.
"More than that… he's targeted Mr. Tippin and Miss Calfo. There's a team heading for your home as we speak."