Earthly Posessions: The Confession

20 Months Earlier…

Sark held the door open for Sydney and gestured for her to walk inside a small house in Adana. She looked at him hesitantly. It was cold outside and even though the fog had started to subside she could still feel the chill of the morning. She snuggled herself further into her jacket and felt the smell of freshly brewed coffee make its way towards her. The house looked so warm, and Sark seemed so inviting… but she was on a mission, she reminded herself, and she couldn't let her guard down, not even for a minute.

Earlier that week Sark had contacted her and told her that there was something during her missing two years that happened, something that she wasn't fully aware of; something that she had to know about. He told her he had been battling with his conscience, but Sydney wasn't sure if it was this was part of his endgame.

Cautiously, she stepped inside the brightly lit house.

"Please have a seat," Sark told her, closing the door behind him and jumping on one of the cream coloured sofas.

She took a seat and looked around at her surroundings. She saw a large crystal vase, she guessed it must've been 24% lead crystal from the way the rays of light reflected a thousand rainbows. She pretended to settle down in her seat, making sure that the vase was closer to her. It could make for a useful weapon against Sark.

"Would you like some coffee?" Sark got up from his seat and headed towards the kitchen.

"No thanks," she told him as he walked into the kitchen.

He made his way back to the living room, holding a mug in his hand. He sat next to Sydney and turned to look at her. "Were you followed to the airport?"

Sydney had seen Vaughn at the office before she went on her trip to Turkey, but ever since Lauren he seemed to forget about Sydney. She doubted it even occurred to him to follow her.

"Yes, but I got rid of them," she told Sark.

He smiled and sipped on his coffee. "You're a clever girl, Sydney."

Sydney sighed and looked out the window. Trees were swaying softly in the wind and a bird was chirping far away, she could barely hear it. "What do you want, Sark? You told me to come half way around the world, make sure I'm not followed, and for what? To have coffee?"

A look of sadness spread across his face. "I've done a lot of things lately which are… questionable."

Sydney stared at him, unblinking.

"Remember Patagonia? Remember how you torched the place?"

Sydney looked away from him. She couldn't stand to see his face, everything about him reminded her of the Covenant, of what they must have done to her, of how they destroyed her life. Two years of her life that she could never get back, two years of joy and happiness and self-knowledge. Even now, as she tried to move on with her life, her friends and family had to remind her of those inexplicable years, as if that missing period in time was what defined her.

"Sydney… you were a little late. They uh… the covenant," Sark said, straightening himself up, "told me to keep quiet, I had to, or they'd kill me. But I can't stay quiet any more, Sydney, it's too much."

Sydney continued to stare at him.

"Please say something," Sark told her, his hand moving toward her cheek.

Sydney grabbed his hand and pushed it back towards his body. Coffee splattered across his body and he sat up straight, moaning in pain. "Don't you dare touch me," she growled, staring him down.

Sark stood up and proceeded to take off his shirt, where a large coffee stain was starting to slowly seep into his skin. "Sydney, I… I just wanted to show you…" Not bothering to finish the sentence, he walked out of the room and came back with a child, no more than 18 months old, who was sleeping soundly in a stroller. "Syd this is… she's yours."

Sydney stared at the little girl, not knowing whether or not to believe him. She couldn't, this was insane. "I don't understand."

"She's yours." Sark put the brakes on the stroller and scooped the girl up into his arms. "Here, hold her."

"No."

"Just for a minute."

Sydney reluctantly picked up the young girl. Staring into her face she realised that she had the same pouty lips, the same forehead that she did. Sydney still wasn't sure if Sark was telling her the truth, she would have to take a DNA test.

Sark grabbed a pair of scissors and, as if reading her mind, carefully snipped a small lock of hair from the girl's head. Sydney watched as he bagged it into a small zip-lock bag and placed it on the coffee table. "For a DNA test," he told her.

"Who's the father?"

"I think it would be best if you sit down."

Sydney felt a lump form in her throat. She just couldn't accept what Sark was about to say and yet she knew it would be the only viable explanation.

Sark sat down next to Sydney, slowly stroking the girl's hair. "Her name is Adana," he told her. "She was born here, so I named her after this place."

"You named her?" Sydney asked, bracing herself for the inevitable.

"She's ours."