MADRID

"How's Sydney?" Sark asks the minute he swings through the door, his steps quicker than usual.

Irina glances up from her laptop. "She's in our Hong Kong medical base – still unconscious but stable." The pain on her face is so clearly visible that Sark wants to turn away – he senses exactly how she feels. She continues. "It's unclear what's actually wrong with her – there's no internal damage, no bleeding, no viruses – she's almost in a coma, but there's no reason why she should be. It's just . . ." She breaks off and starts again bluntly. "We're checking the device. There's a wire that looks-"

"I saw it," Sark replies. "Like it was strained. Almost split in two."

"I've got people on it right now."

"Are they good?"

Irina exhales. "They're good."

Sark follows her eyes as they trail away. "Is there anything I can do?"

She looks back up. "I'll give you a few days to rest up, if you need it. Come back when you're ready."

"I don't need it."

Her voice is gentle but firm. "Then it's an order. Come back in a week. You'll be better for it."

Their gazes meet, until Sark breaks the silence by saying, "I understand." He turns away and leaves Irina alone in the room.

AUSTRIA

He's always liked it here – it's quiet with enough energy and sights to save it from monotony. It's so unlike Italy – the beauty of it is not so flamboyant.

He takes a long walk around the city, just enjoying the crisply fresh wind on his face, watching all the people walking to their normal jobs, with their normal families and meeting their normal friends, never glancing once at him and knowing who he really is. He feels welcomed, in that respect. He enjoys the feeling of freedom for once. Perhaps Irina was right.

He knows he could be spotted. For once, he doesn't seem to care. He could spend all day like this, walking, free, with no one calling him, no one to steal a life away from so casually, as he does, no one wanting things for their own greedy, pointless purposes. When he thinks about it, it all does seem so pointless, so useless. He doesn't know what he'll get in the next life.


With a pang he remembers, asking Sydney to come away, so she could enjoy the freedom he feels now. If she had come – but this was not a week of things that could have been.

"Sydney." He runs his fingers through her long, beautiful brown hair. Her arms encase him, radiating heat and closeness all through him. God, they're so alive together. A smile plays on her lips.

He smiles back at her, and they turn together, herself so close to him, her lips so close.

"You haven't told me your name," she whispers.

His blue eyes glint at her innocently, before he murmurs back. "Aidan."

Her face is charmed, and she repeats, "Aidan."

His touch moves her, and he hears her moan of pleasure. "Are you satisfied now, Agent Bristow?" he asks with a light grin.

"Not quite," she breathes back, pulling him in closer for another kiss.

"Sark." Irina's voice takes him back to the present. "I thought I was doing you a favor when I gave you a week off."

Sark shifts. "Athens. Catacombs of St. Athanasius. You want to recover the coordinates of the Rambaldi vial from a certain resting place, the name on which is Ana Karteles." He pauses, unsure if there is more.

Irina tucks her hair back. "And you'll have a partner." She looks directly at him. "Allison."

Sark blinks. "I was under the impression that she was being sent to Germany."

"They're still trying to recover the material from Marcovic's lab. It would be useless to send her there when she could be assisting the organization in field work."

"Surely you've noticed our recent – animosity to one another as of late."

"And I know it won't affect your performance. You work well together."

Sark's mouth tightens a little. "I truly don't think this is a good idea."

Irina briefly closes her eyes. "Don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

"If this mission fails, the blood is on your hands, Irina."

She looks at him with weary eyes. "Aidan . . ."

That has done it. Sark rises.

"No. Not Aidan," he says, his voice rising. "You've passed the time when you ever had the right to use my given name. I'll be taking the mission with Allison. Just remember what I've said. We're past that level now."

He turns, strides out of the room, and quickly pulls the door shut behind him.