Please note that it can take me up to 5 hours to write a chapter and I really REALLY love it when people review. Makes me feel all happy and mushy on the inside hehehe...

ATTENTION all Collingwood Supporters of Victoria!!! Although we just lost our game to Melbourne I am confident that strength and good support from the club will win us our next match. To all the Melboune supporters out there...YOU SUCK (pouts)...but it was a good match and you played well!

A Note to the following reviewers...

majesticness: Thank you for noticing that slight typo in chapter three. I thought i got them all, slippery suckers they are!

Chapter Five - True Love Never Dies

For Sydney the journey on the plane was somewhat tiresome. She had travelled so much during her missions that the thrill of the flying had lost its edge. Arriving in Shanghai at three in the afternoon. She hailed a taxi, which took her to the Hilton Hotel. Located in the city's centre, it was one of the most prestige hotels in the area. Having called ahead from Sydney, she booked the presidential suite. I'll only be there for a day, may as well do it in style. She certainly wasn't kidding herself when she meant style. A 3-bedroom apartment, it was situated on the top floor of the grand building and had a balcony, providing Sydney with a magnificent view of the city. Walking through the main body of her miniature palace, with its high ceiling and crystal chandelier, she opened a door to her left. Sparkling white tiles lined the floor and a mirror expanded the entire length of the wall, greeted her. The bathroom was the size of her old bedroom back in LA. Walking into the room, her heels clicked upon the hard marble floor and spun a full 360 degrees for a proper view of the place. Her favourite feature was the classic porcelain bathtub far right side. All along the edges were white and pink candles of different sizes; some lavender incense was also placed in the corner and a lighter lay next to it. Walking out through a door separate from the one she entered in, she reached the main bedroom. It consisted of a double king-size bed, with pearl coloured sheets of silk and a royal blue doona cover over them. This majestic bed was surrounded in four high beams of deep brown mahogany wood. Running her fingers over its slippery surface she could clearly see it's grains breaking through the dark wood polish. Then, leaping into the air, she landed, shaped as a star, in the dead centre of the bed. The covers were thick and soft beneath and she felt like she was sinking further and further into it. Taking off her shoes and throwing them on the floor, she made her way to the head of the bed and crawled under its welcoming covers. Bringing her knees up towards her chest, she curled into a ball and went into a deep slumber.

It was to be another six hours before she woke up and wandered back outside onto the busy streets. It was now half past nine and she was very keen to be up and about. The bright lights of the buildings illuminated the city sky that remained hidden from the brilliant glow of the stars and moon by a thick layer of smog. She walked aimlessly around the city block, observing the local residents around her. A group of teenage girls passed her talking and giggling madly to each other and an old man, sitting outside his home puffing on a cigarette, staring at her as she passed. She strolled past a traditional local restaurant where two businessmen were sitting at a table drinking some green tea and slurping up noodles. Feeling a bit peckish herself, Sydney started to make her way back to her hotel to for some room service. Why eat by myself in a restaurant when I can do it in the comfort of my own room! She thought, chuckling to herself.

Opening the door to her room she noticed the lights were out. Moving her hand alone the wall next to the door she searched for the light switch, and turned it on and off. Nothing. She walked through the door and over to a lamp on a table. It didn't come on either and that would only mean one thing. "I wouldn't bother with that if I were you." Astonished her eyes widened to see the outline of a person sitting on the sofa. She undoubtable recognised his voice. But it can't be. "It doesn't work." Shaking her head she released a tear, which sprung from her eye and trickle down to the blood-red carpet below. She knew the darkness of the room wouldn't permit him to see it. "Julian..." she exclaimed in a soft airy voice.

"I had to see you again Sydney." He stood up from the sofa and started to walk towards her. "It killed me not to be with you." She turned to face him, to stand opposite the man who broke her heart and shattered her dreams. Whose smile would make her melt and whose embrace wiped away all her worldly troubles. To him, she looked exquisite in the moonlight which creped into the room through a crack in the curtains.

"That was a choice you made." She said, lacking of any emotion in her tone as she pushed past him in the walk over to the bedroom. Only a few steps behind, he followed her there.

"And I admit it was the wrong one. Sydney I'm so sorry you had to go through this. I only did it because...

"What happened to my mother?" She interrupted whipping herself around, changing the direction of the conversation, head held high and staring at him with cold eyes. "Is she dead, alive, in a coma, what?" She saw he was reluctant to answer her. "You're her right hand man, I know you know."

"I presume Vaughn told you what happened in Albania while you were in the airport. I couldn't hear a thing but from your expression it looked as if he was." She silently nodded. Taking a deep breath and bowed his head as if in prayer and spoke. "I'm sorry, I tried to grab her but she was too far down the cliff, only just out of my grasp. If I were to reach down any further I certainly would have fallen myself. I ran back to our truck to retrieve some climbing equipment, but I was too late." He took a slight pause and looked up to see her leaning against the bedpost, a lonely tear flowed down her face. Another soon followed it, then another and another, until water was streaming down her cheeks. "I came back and she was gone, vanished. There was no sign that she had managed to climb back up. I could only assume that..." He didn't finish but she could tell what he was going to say. She fell. One of the world's greatest spies dies, not in the line of duty, but as a result of falling off a cliff.

"So why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh yeah, by the way I left your mother to die on a cliff face and she fell to her death. What the hell was I supposed to tell you?!"

"How about the truth instead of pulling that stunt and faking your own death! When you died, I died. My soul died when I thought yours did. Months after it happened, when I was up in the Snowy Mountains...It was like a sadness that never went away, I would be cooking myself dinner and break down into tears over something insignificant, like dropping a pan! Even though you're back that sadness is still there. It's still lingers because you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth. I gave you my heart and soul and you took yours from me." Unable to stand the sight of him anymore she turned away from him. "That night on the beach you told me that you owed me everything and I owed you nothing. Since that night nothing has changed. I still owe you nothing because you are nothing to me."

"That's not true Sydney. You know it in your heart as much as I do in mine. I didn't tell you the truth, because I thought it would kill you to hear it. I didn't want you to wake up everyday in bed with the man who allowed your mother to die. I kept it a secret from you because I loved you."

"Without trust there is no love."

"But I did love you. I still love you." He said the last sentence so softly that Sydney wondered if had actually mentioned it. He had never actually said "I love you" to her before, she didn't think he was capable of acknowledging such an emotion. She knew he felt it, but, given what he was, wouldn't be so quick to mention it. "I know that you still feel the same way about me..." Coming up from behind her, he slid his hands up her back and with one hand, moved aside her long slick chocolate hair to the opposite side of her fragile body and then rested them on the on the tips of her shoulders. His face made its way closer to her neck until she could feel his breath penetrating her skin. She unknowingly moved her head sideways, allowing him room to gently plant a soft feather kiss on the long of her neck. "...because, my dear Sydney, true love never dies." She was his true love.

She let him to continue exploring the crook of her neck with his mouth. In short moment of ecstasy, she quietly moaned his name, Julian, and could feel his lips smile on her skin as a result of hearing it. Those lips took such an effect on her that she wouldn't be able to make him stop. He knew what he was doing and knew how she would react to it. Slowly his hands moved down her arms until her hands were in his own. He placed the lose one on her hips and, pulling her away from the support of the wooden beams, stopped kissing her porcelain neck and moved her backwards into his embrace. He held her there in his arms and for the first time in months she felt safe.

"How did you pull it off?" She asked, never looking directly at him.

"The Helix machine. There was a second one." She had a quick flashback from the first time she heard of this extraordinary machine. She was back in the CIA and was at morning brief on the extraction of Agent Lennox. She looked to her side to see Vaughn turn at the same time and give her a heart- warming smile. Then her father's over-powering voice got louder and, refocusing their attention, both looked back to face him. "Over the past few years it had become common practice for wanted terrorists to employ men who looked like them. Decoys designed to mislead intelligence agencies. With this new procedure this would no longer be necessary. Men like Osama Bin Laden could simply be made to look like someone else." She smiled. Of course there was a second machine! Why wouldn't there be?

"Julian..."She whispered, finally turning around and looking up to face him.

"Shhhh..." He interupted and ran a finger along her cheek. He could still feel dampness where tears where running down minutes ago. Ever so slowly, Sark moved his face closer to her own, right until they were only centimetres apart. Sydney's hands had moved from their resting place on her hips up to his chest where she could feel his beating heart. "I don't know if I can do this." She said looking back down at the floor. Tenderly he lifted her face back up towards his own and, closing the gap between them until, at last, his lips touched her own. She parted them and gave him better access to her mouth. It was sweet and tender; I've missed this so much. I've missed him so much, that for that moment, she had forgotten what he had done to her, and only lived in that instant of time. Their kiss deepened and she could feel him subtlety pulling her towards the bed's direction. Before that enchanting kiss could go any further she stopped it, reality taking a hold of her.

"I can't do this." She said pushing herself away from his embrace. "You broke my heart and my trust." She took yet another step back. "I can't deny that I still love you, but right now, when I looked you, all I see is a liar."

"Technically I didn't lie to you. Lying implies deception. I just didn't relay certain information." He could tell she was far from amused by his effort to lighten the mood with his little remark

"Are you telling me that fooling me into believing you were dead wasn't a form of deception? Seriously Sark, how stupid do you think I am?"

"You're a lot smarter than me, Miss Bristow. You wouldn't do something so profoundly stupid to one you love. Please forgive me Sydney." He begged, walking closer to her, trying to close that gap between them. Reaching out he placed a strand of stray brown hair behind her ear. She didn't speak. Didn't breath. Didn't move. "Please. You're all I have left in this world."

A bit corney I think in some sections, but oh well! As tempted as I was to include a Sark Slapping Scene, it didn't seem appropriate at this time. (maybe later, lol).

Now, there are two ways we can go about this..(1) I get an overwhelming amount of reviews from S/V shippers chanting "DIE SARK DIE" in which case Sark will be slapped and lucky if Sydney doesn't beat him to a bloody pulp. (2) S/S shippers retailiate and proclaim that Vaughn is a nasty bastard and Syd and Sark are meant for each other, in which case they'll be getting back together in the next chapter. It all depends on you...