Sark woke up in a soft, luxurious king size bed. He turned over, expecting Sydney to be lying next to him, surprised when his arm came in contact with a portion of empty bed beside him. His next thought was one of panic. He hurried to the door, expecting it to be locked tightly, but it swung open easily. Across the hall was an open door, and through it he could see Sydney lying on a smaller bed with someone standing over her.

"Who the hell are you?!?" Sark shouted.

"Calm down sir! I'm only hear to help. They sent me to tend to this young lady here."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Its quite all right." The woman was petite, but hearty. Sark guessed her to be in her late fifties.

"What's your name?" Sark asked, curious as to who this woman was.

"I'm sorry, I was instructed to care for the girl, but not to speak to you. They said you might be a danger to me, but that there was someone who needed me."

"I'm no danger to you as long as you're helping Sydney, not hurting her."

"Sydney. That's her name."

"Yes."

"Well Mr. ..."

"Lazarey," answered Sark, deciding to go with his real name. "Julian Lazarey."

"Well Mr. Lazarey, I can tell that you care for this young lady very much."

"Yes I do."

"So, I'm going to break the rules and tell you what's wrong with her."

"I'd appreciate that."

"She was whipped. Over a hundred lashes on her back. They shot her in the ankle, and then it appears they stepped on the wound and it seems that she has a number of drugs in her system which make it very painful for her to breath. I've given her the antidote to those. It should take affect very soon. Other than multiple cuts and bruises, that's all. I've stitched up her back as best I can. Taking showers and baths will be very painful for her when she wakes up, but you still need to make her take them." Sark was unable to mask his horror of what had been done to her. He just stood there open mouthed and wide eyed. "Now, my question is, sir, why did they do this to her and somehow you came out unscathed?"

"I had information they wanted, about the whereabouts of Sydney's mother and aunts. They knew it would hurt me worse to see her like this than to actually do it to me."

"So, if you're prisoners, how did you get this beautiful apartment instead of a dank cell in a basement somewhere?"

"I gave them what they want so Sydney could see a doctor."

"If you gave them what you want why are you still here?"

"They're ransoming us. Sydney's parents are very important people."

"Well, when Sydney wakes up, make her take a shower, but you'll have to help her. I doubt she could stand on her own. And try to get her to eat something. I'll be back in a week."

"Thank you Doctor, I'll do exactly as you say." The doctor walked out of the room. Sark sat down on the bed beside Sydney. "I'm so sorry, love. I'm so sorry." Sark sat there for a moment, then stood up. "I suppose I might as well move you into my bedroom." He picked up Sydney and, cradling her gently in his arms, walked across the hall and laid her in his bed. He pulled up a chair and sat with her. After he was confident she wouldn't wake up soon, or be disturbed, he left the room to explore their temporary home. Sark walked out the door and down the short hallway. He came to a railing and looked down over a living room. He found the stairs a few feet away and went down them. He tried the front door, and it was locked just as he expected. He walked down another hall towards the back of the apartment, where he found a kitchen, a breakfast room, a library with a baby grand piano, a small bathroom, a utility room, and a well equipped fitness room. Everything was beautiful, but there were no windows and only a single locked door, but the thing that surprised him the most were the pictures. All round the house, in beautiful frames, were pictures of Sydney. Sydney and Will, Sydney and Jack, Sydney and Irina, Sydney with two strange men, and one with one of those men and a small girl, then a very recent one of her and Eric. All the sudden he heard a scream.

"JULIAN!!!" Sark forgot all about the pictures and ran up the stairs and into the bedroom.

"What's the matter?" Sydney was sitting up in bed, grimacing in pain. She gave him a relieved look as he ran through the door.

"I thought you'd left me."

"Left you? Why would I do that, love?"

"Never-mind. Come here." Sark walked across the room and sat down beside her on the bed. He put his arm around her and kissed her hair.

"Do you remember what happened, Syd?"

"Of course I remember. Where are we?"

"I'm not quite sure. We're in a fairly large apartment it seems, but I'm not sure of the exact location of it."

"How the hell did we get moved from a basement cell to a luxury apartment?" Sark just looked at her guiltily. "Oh Julian you didn't. Tell me you didn't."

"I'm sorry, love. Look what they did to you. If you had stayed in that filthy cell you would've gotten numerous infections and probably died. So I made a deal."

"What kind of deal."

"I tell them where Katya and Nadia are and they give us a nicer place to stay and you see a doctor."

"So that's why I can breathe again."

"Yes. The doctor gave you the antidote this morning. She also stitched up your back and removed the bullet from your ankle. I'm sorry, Syd. I'm sorry you had to go through all this because of me."

"You tried to get me to stay behind. I wouldn't and I wouldn't change a thing. If I hadn't gone with you it would be you in my shape and you'd be lying in that filthy cell. At least we're together. And when we're together, we can amuse ourselves," Syd said with a wink. She moved closer to Sark and placed a firm kiss on his lips.

"Sydney, sweetheart, what if I hurt you?"

"You won't."

"I think we should avoid doing this at least until the doctor comes."

"Avoid doing what?" Sydney asked as she kissed his neck,

"Sydney," he groaned. "All right, I'll make you a deal. As soon as the doctor leaves next time, I'll make the most amazing love to you. Right now, you'll just have to settle for a cool shower with me."

"So you'll take a shower with me but you won't have sex with me?" she asked, a bit confused.

"Doctor's orders, love. I'm under strict instructions to never let you shower alone," he informed her with a grin. "And I don't plan to violate said orders."