Chapter Ten

"So what can you tell me?" Sydney asked Max, trying to control her eagerness.

"What am I supposed to be telling you again?" Max frowned, dawdling. Sydney could tell that she was still reluctant to tell her, a complete stranger, anything, despite the incredibly convincing argument that Sydney had offered her a few minutes ago. "I've forgotten the question."

Sydney gave her a pointed look. Max knew perfectly what the question was. But she repeated the question anyway – "Why did you call me Julia?"

Such a simple question. Not such a simple explanation, though.

Max sighed, knowing she'd have to spit it out sooner or later. "Back at Manticore, all the X5s were placed in groups called units. All the X5s in my unit were really close, even though we weren't supposed to be. We kinda......looked after each other, you know? Cos there was no one else to look after us."

Sydney nodded in understanding and encouraged her to keep going.

"We thought of each other as family. They were my brothers and sisters, even though we weren't blood related or anything. We even gave each other names," Max told her, only now getting to the important part. "One of the X5s – one of my sisters – we named her Julia. I can't really remember why." She paused. "Well, anyway, you look a lot like her. I mean, obviously you look a lot older than she was back then, but -"

"But........" Sydney prompted.

"You look like an older version of her," Max whispered, almost sadly. "I swear, I honestly thought you were her, all grown up and everything. It really freaked me out, cos I haven't seen her since we were nine years old."

"So you're saying that I look just like her?" Sydney said in a hushed voice.

"I – I don't know. Like I said, I haven't seen her since I was nine. But there's certainly a resemblance. OK, maybe more than a resemblance," Max quickly corrected herself.

"So......where is she now?" Sydney asked. "Is there any way we can find her?"

Max shrugged. "She's still at Manticore, most likely," she said, lowering her eyes as if remembering something she didn't want to. "She didn't escape with us."

"Did you see her while you were at Manticore?"

"No," Max replied, shaking her head. "I spent half the time with X5s I didn't even know. The other half I spent cooped up in a cell with an annoying, arrogant dickhead."

The words "annoying arrogant dickhead" made Sydney think of a certain Covenant operative called Mr. Sark. But she didn't question who Max's "annoying arrogant dickhead" was.

Sydney sighed, unsure if she was even heading in the right direction. Maybe she was pursuing a lead that had absolutely nothing to with her missing two years or the Covenant. But there was definitely something unusual about Julia, who supposedly looked just like her, and furthermore, had the same name that Sydney had used when she had disappeared.

Coincidence?

She had no idea.

Suddenly, Sydney remembered the video footage of the X5s that she and Vaughn had downloaded from Manticore.

"Wait one second," she told Max hastily, and flew out the door. Ten minutes later she returned with a laptop. Max observed quietly as Sydney set it in front of her, turned it on and started playing the video footage.

Max watched it disinterestedly for a few seconds, and then realised, "Hey, that's us!"

"Yes," Sydney confirmed, and then paused it at the spot she wanted. "Is that Julia there?"

Max leaned forward in her chair, looking closely at the little girl Sydney was pointing to.

Sydney found that she was actually nervous. What if that X5, who undeniably looked exactly like Sydney when she was a child, was Julia? What would she do then?

"Yep, that's Julia," Max stated confidently.

Sydney swallowed uncertainly. "Are you sure?"

"Positive........is that what you looked like when you were a kid?" Max inquired, reading Sydney's mind.

She nodded and sank into the nearest chair, tucking her dark hair behind her ear absentmindedly. So maybe she wasn't going insane when she had noticed that little detail a few days ago.

"I don't get how this can help you find out about where you've been for the last two years," Max said matter-of-factly. "I mean, sure, there's definitely something funky going on here, but other than that.......I don't think Julia's got anything to do with what happened to you."

"I don't know if it can help me either," Sydney told her, feeling slightly bewildered. "I have no idea what any of this means, or why there's an X5 out there who looks exactly like me."

Silence ensued for a few moments as both women collected their thoughts.

Finally, Max started to say something, but stopped.

Sydney regarded her curiously. "What is it?"

"Look, I don't know if this is right or not, so don't jump to conclusions." Max began tentatively. "But if it helps any, you might want to know that Manticore is big on cloning. They have a DNA lab, where they keep all the DNA of the X5s. They use it to clone more mignons for them to experiment on," she said bitterly. "Anyway, I'm pretty sure that all the X7s are clones of us, except they're younger versions of us."

"So you're saying that Julia might be a clone of me, or vice versa?" Sydney whispered, her eyes wide with dismay. She wanted to tell herself that this was impossible, but with the all the crazy things that she'd seen in her lifetime, she knew that she couldn't rule out the possibility completely.

Max looked at her almost sympathetically. "I could be wrong," she said consolingly.

She drew in a composing breath. "Maybe. But it's a very logical explanation."

Sydney stood up, determined, as she always was, to get to the bottom of this. As weird as all of this was, she had to keep her head in the game. "Look, I'm going to talk to the other CIA agents and tell them what you've told me."

"Does that mean I can go?" Max asked hopefully.

She wasn't being treated badly here at the CIA, but Sydney suspected that Max was still eager to get back home.

Sydney shook her head apologetically. "I'm afraid not. We still need to keep you here for more questioning." At Max's indignant look, she added quickly, "I promise I'll keep my end of the bargain. It won't take long, OK? I'll organize for you to stay somewhere more comfortable while you're waiting."

Max slumped into her seat, seeming to know that she wasn't getting out of here anytime soon. "Yeah, whatever," she muttered indifferently.

"Max?"

"What?"

Sydney offered her a quick but genuine smile. "Thanks for your help."

Max hesitated, before returning the gesture.

Behind the bad-ass attitude, Max was a good person. Sydney had no doubt about that.

Sark stared at the file on his computer, unsure of what he would find once he opened it. They were the files on Julia that he and Lauren had taken from the Manticore files. He had been eager to find out what was on those files – mostly because he wanted to discover more about the enigmatic X5 that was currently residing in his house – but only now had he found the time to look at them.

He finally clicked on the file, and video footage appeared on the screen.

A small, cold room with a tiny girl standing nervously in the middle.

Sark took a closer look and realised that the little girl was Julia – she couldn't have been more than seven or eight years old. The fact that she was practically bald almost threw him off, but those dark, sorrowful eyes were most definitely hers.

Sark watched curiously as a door to the room opened, and in walked a woman he knew all too well.

Irina Derevko.

Yes, it was definitely her. Younger, and still possessing that mysterious beauty and charm that she had almost twenty years later.

Julia seemed to regard her with trepidation and didn't make a move towards her. Irina, however, looked delighted to see Julia and immediately enveloped the small X5 with a hug. She let go after a few moments and seemed to regain her composure as she bend down to Julia's eye level.

That was when Sark cursed the fact that the footage had no audio. He couldn't hear a thing as Irina talked to Julia – no doubt working her charm on her - and the video was too shadowy to read their lips. So Sark compromised by looking at the expression on Julia's face.

Only there was no expression.

Julia's face was a blank canvas – cold and unemotional. Sark wasn't even sure if she was registering what Irina was saying to her. What he saw on Irina's face, though, was the opposite. He had never seen such warmth and love in his previous employer's eyes before.

No, actually, he had. That warmth and love could only be seen in Irina's eyes when she looked at her daughter, Sydney.

Sark continued watching.

A few more minutes of talking suddenly seemed to spark Julia's anger. For the first time, she showed some emotion as pushed Irina away and started yelling something at her.

Sark couldn't ignore the hurt that flashed in Irina's eyes for the briefest of moments.

Unfortunately he couldn't see what happened next. As he heard the door to his bedroom creep open slightly, he hastily shut down the video and resumed normal work.

"Sark?" Julia hesitantly poked her head into his room.

Sark glanced up, looking like he had been completely engrossed with his work when he was actually thinking about what connection Irina had to Julia. Surely Julia knew who Irina Derevko was – Sydney's mother, ex-KGB agent and The Man - after all, she had been briefed on all aspects of Sydney's life. And surely she'd know the answer to his question.

Before he was tempted to ask, he blurted out, "What is it, Julia?"

Sark sincerely hoped that she hadn't come in for a chat. He had been trying to distance himself from her after his conversation with the Covenant agent; trying to treat her just like any other captive of his, with coldness and indifference.

Why?

He was afraid that he was starting to actually starting to care for her. And he was afraid that he'd miss her when she left.

Sleeping with her – which was what he had done - was fine. Whatever. But talking with her, laughing with her, caring about her, missing her – out of the question.

It had to stop.

Better to prevent the disaster from happening right now than to pick up the pieces later on.

And their unusual relationship would surely end in disaster.

"Sark, are you listening?" Julia interrupted him.

Sark blinked. "What?"

"I'm going now. They're........waiting outside for me," Julia said quietly. "I just came to say bye."

"Oh. Right." Sark muttered, trying to ignore the disappointment in his gut. What was wrong with him? He should've been glad that he wasn't playing babysitter for the Covenant anymore. He could move on to more important things. "Well, bye then," he said gruffly.

His air of finality seemed to cut Julia, although she covered it up well. She didn't say anything back, but instead hovered waveringly around the doorway, looking like she wanted to tell him something.

Sark couldn't help but stare at her as her brow furrowed in thought, debating something in her mind.

She's beautiful.

She seemed to finally come to a resolution. She walked up and planted herself next to him on the bed, looking at him with those inquisitive eyes that seemed to see right through him.

What was she doing?

"I believe there are some people outside waiting for you," Sark reminded her, wary of her closeness. The last time they were on a bed together, they were –

"They can wait a bit longer," Julia replied shortly, thankfully stopping his imagination from running wild.

"Can I ask what this is about?" Sark asked slowly.

"It's about you."

"Oh?"

"Don't act all innocent with me," Julia snapped, glaring at him. "You've been avoiding me all day –"

"I've been busy with work," he explained simply.

"Don't interrupt," she ordered. "It's not that, I know it's not that. You're different. You don't talk to me like you used to. You don't joke around and stuff - you just look as if you want me to go away."

Sark smirked. "I wasn't aware that you enjoyed my company so much, Julia."

She looked slightly embarrassed. Ah, he'd gotten her there.

"So what if I do?" Julia said defiantly. "Anyway, I just wanted to know why you're acting so weird. And I'm going to get it out of you, even if it means I have to torture you myself."

Sark raised his eyebrows. "What are you going to do, talk me to death?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I have my ways." Then she started interrogating him. "So what is it? Did I do something wrong? Did you break something of mine? Was I so bad in bed that you can't bear to look at me anymore?"

Her? Bad in bed? Was she insane?

"Will you stop it?" Sark exclaimed, shaking his head. "You're completely mad, you know that?"

"Tell me!"

Her determination was somehow maddening and endearing at the same time.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with me, and I wasn't acting strangely. It really must have been a figment of your imagination," Sark told her, in the hope of evading her.

He knew that she would start asking questions. But he had hoped, by some stroke of luck, that she'd be out of his life by then.

"Denial," was all Julia had to say to him.

Sark sighed. "Alright. Perhaps I was in a bad mood." He offered her a half-truth in order to satisfy her.

"I don't think you're telling me the truth, Mr. Sark," Julia said accusingly.

She could read him better than he thought.

"Well that's all you're going to get, I'm afraid," Sark crossed his arms stubbornly, hinting that the conversation was going no further.

Julia either didn't get the hint or was simply ignoring it. "Oh, I beg to differ."

Sark had only just noticed the mischievous glint in her eye when Julia launched herself at him. He gasped when her fingers found their way to his ribs and she started tickling him. Squirming to get out of her reach, Sark found that escape was futile. Julia had pinned him to the mattress with her legs straddling his body, and was quickly discovering all the most ticklish parts of his body.

She attacked him mercilessly for a good three minutes. When she finally decided to give Sark a break, they were both giddy with laughter, which was a rare thing for them.

"Is this what you meant when you said that you'd torture me yourself?" Sark asked, his chest heaving as the last remnants of laughter escaped him.

"Yeah. It's a totally legit way to interrogate someone, I swear!" Julia grinned, a little breathless.

Her breath tickled his face. That's when Sark realised the position they were in. Julia's body was spread on top of his, her hands still on his chest. Somehow his arms wrapped themselves around her.

It took all of his willpower not to flip her over and tear her clothes off.

"Am I squashing you?" Julia whispered, her lips hovering dangerously close to his.

Unable to tear his gaze away from her mouth, he murmured, "Not really. You're quite light actually."

Suddenly she rolled away from him to the other side of the bed, as if to get as far away from him as possible. Sark sat up, unhappy that the warmth of her body had left him. He had felt rather relaxed just lying there on the bed.

Then Sark surprised himself by saying, "Do you want to tell me what this is really about?" Somehow, he instinctively knew there was more to this little interrogation than Julia had let on.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Julia stated calmly, climbing off the bed.

"Come on, Julia. You don't expect me to believe that you came in here asking all those questions and going to all that trouble just for the sake of it," Sark said to her as he stood up and began smoothing his clothes. "The answer to why I've supposedly been acting strangely is hardly that important, or interesting. So what is this all about, really?"

Julia avoided his gaze and started busying herself by tying up her dark hair. "I was just worried about you, that's all," she said softly, a pink tinge appearing in her cheeks. "Something seemed to be bothering you. You know, you could have talked to me about it, if you wanted to. I wouldn't have minded."

Sark stared at her. She had been worried about him? That wasn't exactly the answer he had been expecting.

"So, are you going to tell me why you've been acting weird?" Julia piped up hopefully, abruptly changing the subject.

"Uh........no," was all he could manage to get out.

Julia growled, exasperated. "You're so impossible!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up in defeat. With a resigned sigh, she said, "I have to go now."

Sark kept his gaze on her as she walked towards him, and before he realised what was happening, Julia Thorne was kissing him. The kiss was soft and teasing, rather different from the rough, heated kisses she'd given him when they'd slept together.

Different, but nice. Very nice.

Julia pulled away all too soon. The taste of her lingered on Sark's mouth.

She didn't allow him to ask why she'd just kissed him. Smiling sweetly, she said, "Bye, Sark," and left him standing dumbfounded in that same spot for a good few minutes.

When he finally managed to shove the memory of her mouth against his to the back of his head, he suddenly realised why she did it – to torture him. To make him want her, and make sure that he couldn't have her – because now she was on a plane to America and he wouldn't ever see her again.

It was Sark's punishment for being a complete ass to Julia in the past twenty four hours.

A/N: A very long chapter to make up for the very short chapter before. Hope you like it! Please review! : )