Chapter 3

I reach but I feel only air at night.
Not you, not love, just nothing.
I run to you,
Call out your name,
I see you there, farther away…

Evanescence, Farther Away

Two hours and 100 miles later, Sark and Sydney were casually discussing possible destinations, mostly centering on Europe. It had taken him quite a bit of time and effort on the early part of their drive, but Sark had eventually gotten Sydney to relax, and began to see her acting more like the woman he knew, rather than the familiar stranger that had been in his hotel room.

"How about Austria? Or maybe Switzerland, that's nice this time of year, isn't it?" Sark gave her an amused sideways glance.

"Sydney, when isn't Switzerland nice?" At his comment, a grin covered Sydney's face, the first true smile he'd seen from her in a long while, he mused. She continued looking out the window, watching the world fly by while still ruminating on where else they could go. After a few moments of silence, he heard Sydney laugh lightly; shortly thereafter, she turned to look at him again.

"I've got it: Liechtenstein." He glanced at her sharply, curiously.

"Liechtenstein?" he repeated. Sydney nodded, looking quite serious.

"Yes. Adam, let's go to Liechtenstein."

"Ok Sydney, why Liechtenstein?" She paused for a few moments, contemplating her answer.

"Because… it's different."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I did indeed hear you, but I don't follow."

"Ok. People escape to Europe and whatnot, they usually go for France, Germany, England- one of the bigger ones. Liechtenstein is just… different." Sark turned to stare at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road ahead of them. Sydney kept her eyes on him, awaiting a response.

"So you're telling me that the sole reason for choosing Liechtenstein is… that?" Sydney shrugged lightly, finally turning to look out the window once again.

"Pretty much. Is that a problem?"

"Well, aside from being decidedly bizarre and perhaps a bit out of character… no. No problem at all." Sydney smiled.

"Glad to hear it." They lapsed into a comfortable silence before Sydney eventually looked at him again, a question in mind.

"Are we going anywhere in particular?" He shook his head.

"No. My goal for tonight is simply to get out of California; once that's been accomplished, we can figure out a more sold plan."

"Oh. Ok."

"Sydney?" He waited until he had her complete attention before speaking again. "Are you all right?"

"Fine. Why?"

"You don't quite seem yourself."

"You keep saying that."

"You keep giving me reason to say it." Sydney frowned lightly.

"Am I really? Acting that strange, I mean?" Sark sighed.

"Yes… and no."

"How so?" She pressed.

"You're undeniably different from the woman I fell in love with, but at the same time, you have very little memory of our time together- how could I possibly expect you not to be different?" he reasoned.

"Does that…" Sydney paused to gather her thoughts, gently biting her lip as she tried to put them into words. "Do you wish I was still the same as I used to be, when we were together before?" Sark glanced at her curiously, wondering about her line of questioning.

"That's… a hard question to answer, Sydney," he said truthfully.

"I know," she replied, almost apologetically. Long moments passed in silence as he thought about his response.

"I miss it. I miss what we had, I miss the trust. But you? You're still you, Sydney. Different, yes, but everyone changes; it's inevitable. I'm not going to lie to you, I'm not going to say I wouldn't love for things to be the way they used to be, but I know that's a time long since passed, and I can accept that. But no matter what happens, I love you Sydney, and nothing can ever change that." He kept his eyes focused on the highway, steadfastly refusing to look at her. He was somewhat surprised with the words that had spilled from his own mouth; never before had he opened up so much to anyone, not even Sydney, and here he'd poured his heart out twice in one day. He gave her a surreptitious glance out of the corner of his eye, and found her to be staring ahead pensively, apparently considering his words.

"Thank you," she whispered after a lengthy silence.

"For what?" Sark questioned.

"Just… being you."

"Well, I can't very well be anyone else, now can I?" Sydney smiled lightly.

"No, I don't suppose you can." They fell into another amicable silence, with Sydney occasionally pointing out things she found interesting along the side of the highway. Eventually, Sark caught sight of a road sign he'd been waiting to see.

"We should be reaching Nevada fairly soon, Sydney. Would you prefer to stop not long after that, or keep going until it's dark?"

"Are you tired at all? I mean, do you want or need to stop?" When Sark shook his head, she continued. "Then I'd rather prefer to keep going. The more distance between us and LA, the better." He gave Sydney a quizzical look, but nodded in assent.

"That should give us another hour or so before it's time to stop," he noted.

"Great," Sydney replied with a brief smile.

"Do you miss any of it?" Sark asked suddenly.

"Miss any of it?" Sydney repeated, looking baffled.

"Yes… do you regret leaving?"

"Oh, you mean do I miss LA, the CIA, all that?"

"Yes."

"I don't," Sydney replied with certainty. Sark frowned slightly.

"You don't miss any of it?" he pushed, recalling Will's reaction when he'd received the phone call.

"No."

"I find that both odd, and a bit hard to believe." Sydney turned and stared at him, looking confused.

"Why's that?" she questioned somewhat harshly.

"You left behind the only life you truly know, and for the 2nd time, people you love are being forced to mourn your death… and I'm supposed to believe you're perfectly ok with that?"

"Adam, I'm here with you, and that's all that matters." His frown deepened almost imperceptibly, and he offered her no reply. With a light sigh, Sydney once again stared out the window, her back partially turned.

Sark brought his right hand up to tiredly rub his jaw, feeling somewhat guilty for doubting Sydney. Noticing her left hand resting on her thigh, fingers occasionally tapping in mild annoyance, he decided that would be the way to mend things before it got out of control. As he reached out to take hold of her hand, she pulled away slightly. A quick glance at her face showed that she didn't seem to realize she'd done it; it was evidently an unconscious action. His frown returned in full force, and he alternated watching the road and looking at Sydney. Her eyes never strayed towards him, and his confusion with her behavior only grew deeper. He finally retracted his hand, resting it on the steering wheel and sighing in frustration.

This finally drew Sydney's attention, and her curious expression quickly focused on him. He of course noticed her look, but chose not to acknowledge it, keeping strictly focused on his driving. After a few moments, Sydney turned away again, and Sark finally risked a quick glance at her. She'd closed her eyes, and he almost thought she might have fallen asleep until she spoke.

"How much longer?"

"Not much… perhaps 20 minutes," he replied.

"I assume we'll be finding a hotel of some sort?" Sark nodded.

"Most likely one of the… less than five star places. If, for some reason, anyone came in search of me, I dare say the first places they would check would be the top of the line hotels."

"I agree," Sydney said softly.

"Boulder City is just ahead," Sark noted, pointing out a sign to his left.

"Is that where we're stopping?"

"Yes. I suspect we're nearing the Arizona border; if we get up and go at a decent time in the morning, we should cross it by noon."

"Adam?"

"Yes?"

"Are you… it's just, you seem a bit paranoid. Do you think there's someone tailing us? Or is it just cautionary measures?"

"I'm fairly certain no one followed us from Los Angeles; even if they had, there's no way they're still with us. But I'm not taking any chances right now." A short time later, they pulled into the parking lot of the Boulder Dam Hotel. Sark stepped out, took a moment to survey their surroundings, and then stretched carefully. When he turned around, he saw Sydney standing in front of the car, looking at the small building in front of her.

"It looks pretty decent," she observed as Sark grabbed his bag out of his trunk.

"Shall we?" he questioned.

"We shall," Sydney replied, falling in step with him as he walked into the small but welcoming hotel lobby. While Sark went to the front desk to get a room for them, Sydney took a few moments to wander the lobby, studying the images on the walls. Sark watched her out of the corner of his eye, taking joy in her fascination with the works. She finally moved over to stand next to him just as Scott, the man at the front desk, was managing to dig up a room key.

"Here we are- room 14. Enjoy your stay," he said with a smile. Sark took the key, giving Scott a look of scrutiny in the process.

"I'm not sure he even looked at you once," Sark noted in confusion as he and Sydney entered their room.

"Well, maybe you're more his type," Sydney suggested playfully. Sark rolled his eyes.

"Somehow I doubt that. Or perhaps it's just wishful thinking on my part. Either way, I'm going to take a shower now."

When Sark reentered the room ten minutes later, it was to find Sydney sprawled out on the single bed in the room, still fully dressed and on top of the covers, but already well into sleeps embrace. With a sigh, he draped himself across the couch as comfortably as he could possibly get and slowly slipped into a night of uneasy sleep and haunting dreams.

Sorry it took so long! I don't even really have a valid reason this time. Just hope some of you are still with me, and keep your thoughts coming- I love to hear what you're all thinking could happen.