Disclaimer: My mind's not creative enough to think of Alias. But JJ's is.

A/N: Always pay close attention to exactly what is said in your conversations…

The art of deception

***Sydney's POV***

She opened her hotel door still as confused as she had been when she had left the room last, maybe, if it were possible, even more confused. Closing the door, she slumped on the bed.

"We meet again Miss Ming." a man said advancing. It was the same man with the curly brown hair down to his ears and brown, puppy dog eyes.

"hello, Mr.- I didn't catch your name the first time. What ever could it be?" she asked crossing her legs not really paying attention.

"Oh you know what it's about. I want information on your lover." he told her.

She sat up straight with this, crap, I forgot.

"Yes, being in the certain positions with Mr. Henre I'm sure you've come across new information. And I'd appreciate it if you handed that information over to me as declared in our agreement. So, hand it over, now." the man demanded.

"Well, I need your name of course, if I am to do business with you, after all, how can I be sure it's with the right person?" Sydney asked.

"hmm, if you're trying to stall me, you should try to make it less obvious." the man sneered.

***Sark's POV***

"My girlfriend?" he asked. Fuck, how do I get out of this one? Keep your cool Sark, you're not Julian right now, you've got this. Sark wondered if the man could hear his hear his heart beating loudly. "How do I know your not CIA?"

"Nice, very nice. Calm down, it's a joke, I make a joke to help forget how screwed you are because your scamming us." the guy told him in some foreign accent that resembled a mix of Scottish and British.

"What?" Sark asked confused.

"Do you have no sense of humor Mr. Henre? I make another joke." he told him, his voice still in the accent.

"A joke." Sark echoed in a strained smile. "Oh. Nice." That was close, too close.

"So, you want to know why you're really here?" the man asked.

"Of course, it's the only reason you still have my attention." Sark told him, resting backwards on the chair once more.

"Ok, tell me what you know about Sydney Bristow." the told him, his voice still in the accent.

***Vaughn's POV***

He ran down the hallway, having discovered Sark's room number. I'll make him tell me where Lauren and Sydney are. He thought as he pulled out a card splicer (or slicer I forget which) and opened the door. Glancing down as he heard his phone ring he pressed the talk button and awaited the sound of someone's voice.

"Vaughn?" a pissed off voice called from the cell phone.

"Is this line secure?" Vaughn asked.

"Yes." Dixon replied.

"This is he, what's wrong Dixon?" Vaughn asked in a whisper.

"I need you to go to find out what happened to Lauren." Dixon yelled.

"It'll take me awhile to reach Paris, so…" Vaughn started.

don't give me that bullshit, I know you're in Paris right now. We're not stupid. I want you on the plane when Bristow comes back because you're going on a mission as soon as you guys come back. Which means you have tomorrow and a few hours today to figure out and a few hours to sleep. This will not be a problem?" Dixon asked in a voice that hinted that it was more a statement that a question.

"No." Vaughn told him hanging up. What happened to Lauren? He wondered walking towards the door. Sydney would have to wait. He closed the door quietly behind him.

*** Emily's POV***

She opened the closet door as she heard the door close. Everything was going according to plan.

***Sydney's POV***

"I'm not stalling." Sydney defended herself. "It's called being informed."

"Ok, I'll bite. Name's Richard Hatfield." he told her extending his hand.

"Ok, Richard. Take a seat." Sydney told him.

"I'd rather not." Richard retorted.

"I wasn't a question." Sydney stated coldly. "So, I give you information on Henre and you give me information on your organization. Question, how do I know your information is legit?"

"You'll just have to trust me." Richard insisted.

"Ok, I don't like getting screwed over. So I want your information first." Sydney told him.

"Ok, in this folder, there is information about my organization, information that is well worth what you are bringing me." he told her.

Sydney smiled. "come with me." she ordered heading towards the door. He followed her and now they were standing right besides the door. She looked into his eyes and saw confusion and her smile widened. "Do you remember what happened yesterday, when you asked me if we had a deal?" she asked.

"What did happen?" Richard countered.

"What happened? What happened was I didn't give you an answer dumbass." she told him, pushing him into the hallway and slamming the door in his face.

"But, thanks for the information." she whispered.

***Richard's POV***

"You will pay for this Miss Ming, wait and see." he mumbled walking away.

***Sark's POV***

"Miss Bristow? The CIA Agent? What about her?" he asked calmly.

"Did you know that she killed one of our men?" the man asked.

"No, but it's reasonable. She's a great agent. Which is why I tried recruiting her earlier. Who did she terminate?" Sark asked.

"Reed." the man informed him. "Now, if I were you, I would keep my guard up around her, because word is that she's still here in Paris and get her to lower her guard." the man advised Sark.

"Any thoughts on how I could do that?" Sark questioned.

"Shouldn't it be like second nature to you, Mr. Henre? I mean, being such a great asset to us, one would think that deceiving people would be second nature. Anyway, her main mission is to take us down and we simply cannot have this. She has her past fueling her anger and passion for annihilating us. Your primary mission from now on, wipe out Agent Bristow. That's not to much to ask is it?" the man asked.

"No, no it's not." Sark told him.

"Aren't you gonna drink your wine?" the man asked staring at the drink.

"Tell you what," Sark told him, standing up. "Why don't you drink it first, and then if you are still alive and awake then I'll go after Bristow."

The man looked scared, but he still imbibed the drink.

Sark smiled as this happened.

"see, it's perfectly…" the man trailed off as his head hit the table.

"Thought so." Sark said as he walked out of the room.

A/N: Moral of this chapter? Always pay close attention to exactly what is said in your conversations… and watch out for the art of deception because it lies within all of us. So… please leave a review please.