A/N: So I typed this chapter and the last in one day. And they are kidna long, so I apoligize. But hope you like them. Now, the episode where Sydney is taken into custody by the NSC.. that is in here, but I didn't remember what exactly happened, so I tweaked it to fit the story. So yeah. Hope you like it! R/R please!

Sydney woke with a start, she didn't know where she was and was suddenly scared. She tried to push herself out of the bed she was in but when she put pressure on her left arm she was overcome with a sense of excruciating pain. Looking down at her arm she saw a think white bandage wrapped around her arm.

Looking around the room she found that she was in her own room, in her London room. But she had no clue how she had gotten there. The last thing she remembered was falling into Sark's arms, and being shot. Michael, she had seen Michael. She didn't know, but she was beginning to get a little dizzy.

Laying back into her bed she raised her good arm over her forehead, and breathed shakily. She was so confused; looking around she realized that she didn't even know how long ago that had been.

Closing her eyes tightly she shook her head. No, Michael couldn't have been there, she tried to tell herself, not really being successful. She had to find out. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed she tried to stand. Finding it incredibly hard to, she had been laying down for a long time, her body could tell. She sat down quickly and then after a few minutes she stood back up. She was in sweat pants and a tank top. She didn't care what she looked like.

Walking out of her room, she didn't bother closing her door but headed downstairs. From the looks of it, it was late afternoon, early evening. Making her way down the stairs she heard voices coming from the living room. Wandering towards the living room she held her hand on the wall so not to fall. She was very dizzy suddenly and didn't need to faint in the hallway.

The door to the living room was open and she stopped when she saw who was inside.

Sark and Simon sat on one sofa, and Michael Vaughn sat on the other facing them. None of the men noticed she was there, so they continued talking.

"Why were you there?" Simon said, and sounded rather angry.

"I told you already, someone tipped me off that something was happening. Honestly, I don't know why I'm telling you this." Michael said sounding deeply annoyed.

"You are telling us this because you are currently a guest in the house of a woman you shot, Mr. Vaughn," Sark said coldly. "And may I remind you that we are only letting you stay until she wakes up."

Sydney stood in the doorway quietly, watching the interaction between the three. Slipping into the room she went unnoticed at first, her spy skills kicking in. It wasn't until she was standing right next to the sofas did the even look away from each other.

Sark, Simon and Michael all stood when they saw her in the room. "Sydney," Sark said concern not hidden in his voice as he moved to take her by the elbow and help her sit down. Once she was seated, the men sat back down, each of them looking at her with a concerned look.

Michael looked away from Sydney when she met his gaze, and wrung his hands nervously in his lap. "I," he begun, but stopped. "I didn't know it was you," he said in a small voice. As if he was deeply sad for shooting her.

"No, you didn't know it was me," she replied in a voice that showed no emotion. She couldn't afford to show emotion, not right now. "I heard why you were there." She told him, looking straight at him.

"Yeah, I don't know who sent it." He was talking about the note, and was a bit relived to see that she shrugged in response.

She looked at Sark and Simon who were looking at each other with frowns. "What?" She asked them quietly, knowing they had something on their mind.

"It's just that," Simon started, "Agent Vaughn here is CIA. And he now knows the truth about you, about us," Simon told her nervously.

Sydney winced in pain as she used her bad arm to shift her position. Luckily it went unnoticed by everyone. Looking intently at Vaughn she pleaded to him with her eyes.

"I'm not going to tell them," he said suddenly. "Simon and Sark told me everything, Sydney, I swear I won't tell. If it were me, I would probably have done the same thing." That was a lie and they all knew it, but Sydney believed that he was sincere in not telling the CIA what had happened.

"Fine. We don't do anything," Sydney told them, still looking at Michael. "But if you say anything, you will regret it," she told him icily, finally letting her emotion show. Michael was reminded of her mother, she was becoming her mother's daughter, and they all knew it.

"I know," he said softly. "All the CIA needs to know that the Covenant is no longer a threat." He looked at Sark and Simon, who were both nodding, approvingly, but looking concerned. As if they didn't fully believe that Michael wouldn't tell his employers.

Sydney put her hand on her forehead, "How many days?" She asked quietly.

"Two," Sark answered, not looking at her, but staring at the floor.

"I'll need to go back tomorrow," she said. Her tone becoming emotionless again. This caused Sark to look up at her.

"But you can't go back, you won't be better," he let his voice die down; Simon had left the room when she said that. Michael looked at Sark with an odd look, it had sounded like he was worried, and he cared for her.

Maybe he does, he thought.

"I have to, and you know it," she told him softly, meeting his eyes. They stared at each other for a moment before nodding. She looked back at Vaughn who had been watching the interaction between them. "You can stay here tonight, and then we can go back tomorrow." She told him, liking that plan. "I'll think of a reason I was in London before then." She nodded, looking at him, waiting for him to agree.

"Alright," he said slowly. He didn't really like the idea of staying in a house with murders and a CIA spy who had a whole different life she had hidden so well.

Simon walked back in with Mark in his tow. "Miss Sydney!" He exclaimed, rushing over and giving her a hug. Michael was surprised, he had never seen this man, and was wondering why she had allowed him to hug her.

"Mark," she said returning the hug.

Sark laughed, something else that surprised Michael. "Mark has been worried sick about you, Syd, hardly slept a bit." He said with a small smile as Mark stood back up.

"Can I get you anything? Anything at all?" He asked, sounding genuinely happy that she was all right.

"No thank you, Mark," she said, looking up at him, "I'm fine. I think I might go back to bed." She stood and watched as Michael and Sark stood with her as well.

"I'll help you," Sark offered her his arm, which she gratefully took.

She smiled at all them and gave Mark a kiss on the cheek. Then she looked at Michael, "If you don't have a room already, Mark will give you one." She told him with a smile and then she and Sark walked out of the room.

Upstairs back in her room Sydney slipped quietly back under her covers. She smiled at Sark who sat on the edge of her bed. "We were worried," he said quietly.

"I'm okay," she smiled weakly at him. She was feeling weak, and dizzy again. "I always am."

"I know, but I was still worried. You've gotten shot to many times recently," he told her frowning. He kissed her on the forehead and stood, smiling down at her as he pulled her covers up around her.

Smiling back she sighed, "Thank you," she told him. "For everything," she meant for not killing Vaughn and keeping her safe.

"I would do anything for you and you know it," he told her honestly, before leaning down to plant a lingering kiss on her lips.

She smiled against his lips, "I know," she said smugly, before kissing him again and snuggling down into her bed.

"Call if you need me, I'll check on you later," he promised as he left the room.

Rubbing the back of his neck Sark walked back to the living room. He hadn't slept more than two hours in a row for two days. And he was beginning to look worse for the wear. Michael was still sitting on the couch and Simon was sitting across from him. Mark had returned to the kitchen and was telling the cook to start on dinner, as it was around six, and none of them had eaten anything today. They would make Sydney eat when she woke up.

Michael looked up when Sark walked into the room and gave him an odd look, "what?" Sark barked as he flopped down into the leather chair.

"Do you love her?" He asked suddenly, Sark, who was not expecting that question, shot his head up.

"What?" He asked incredulous.

"Do you love her?" he repeated, staring at him.

Sark couldn't answer right away. Truth be told he wasn't in love with her, but he knew he was falling in love with her, he didn't know. "I don't know," he said in a quiet voice.

Vaughn stared at him before looking away. He didn't say anything, just looked around the room. "How long has she had this place?" He asked, not knowing with man to ask.

Simon was the one to answer, "Almost two years," he said, first thing he had said in a while, "This is her second favorite home." He told them, nodding, standing and going to look out the window. It was gray and raining, thunder rolling in the distance. The weather reflected all of their moods. Michael understood that Simon had been with Sydney for two years, after having met her as Julia Thorne, and when she left the Covenant he had stayed with her.

"She had more then one homes?" He asked, wanting to fully understand the woman she had become.

"Several, all over the world, but you can't tell her you know. Or anyone else, for that matter. The apartment in Florence was her favorite, the one you took her from." He said bitterly, he was still angry that he had had to give up that apartment. It was his favorite, and he stayed there when she was elsewhere. But he understood they couldn't go back there.

Sark listened in as well, he didn't fully understand the past two years of Sydney's life, and Simon was the greatest link to those other than Sydney herself. Or at least, the greatest one still living.

"Next question?" Simon asked, he liked answering questions, he didn't know why, maybe it was because he wasn't being tortured for answers, or he wouldn't go to jail for them.

"Why did she kill Allison?" Michael asked, even though he had a feeling he already knew.

"Easy, because she stole her best friend away from her. Allison stole the one thing that had been constant in her life. Other than Will," Simon said from his understanding of the situation, neither Simon nor Sark knew if Michael knew that Will Tippin was dead, so they didn't bring it up.

"Who was the man that she killed while taking down the Covenant? And why did she want to take down the Covenant?" Finally the questions that he wanted to ask had come out. He had actually wanted to ask Sydney, but he had waited long enough, he needed to know the answers now.

"Paul Jamison," Simon told them, turning to lean against the window. "He was the leader of the Covenant, and was her superior while she was there." Simon paused and crossed his arms over his chest. "She wanted to take down the Covenant because she wanted to get them back for basically ruining her life. And because she didn't want anything bad to happen to those from her past because she wouldn't kill Sark."

Simon had spoken in depth with Sydney about these two subjects. She had had to, they had become good friends, as well as allies.

"So she took down the entire organization that gave us, and her, hell for three years, so they wouldn't hurt anyone and she didn't have to kill someone she once hated?" Michael asked, trying to make sense of all this. It was a lot to take in, especially her not wanting to kill Sark.

"Mostly by herself, too." Sark spoke up. "All I had to do was tie up the loose ends." He said truthfully, "And get everything ready to go," he shrugged, leaning back into the chair. Taking silent pride in the look upon Michael's face when he heard about Sydney wanting to keep him alive.

"I see," Michael said, slowly nodding, it wasn't making that much sense, but it was easier to take as it sunk into his brain.

Before any of them could say anything, Mark walked into the room. "Dinner's ready," he said from the doorway.

The three men, all hungry, stood silently and followed Mark into the dining room. They sat at the table and looked at each other. Before they started eating, they made a silent truce with the CIA agent who was keeping their secrets.


The next day Sydney found herself on a plane with Vaughn. Sark had spent the night in her bed at her request, which she was grateful for. As she had woken up when he came in and checked on her before he went to bed himself.

She was glad the three men weren't at each other's throats before they had left, figuring that it was because of her that they had formed this quasi-truce.

Once they had said their good-byes Sydney and Vaughn had taken a cab to the airport, where they had their own private plane waiting for them, courtesy of the CIA.

They had been on the plane for an hour before either one of them said anything to each other.

Sydney had been reading a novel as she sat cross-legged in the plane seat. She had a jacket over her arm, because she wasn't planning on telling the CIA that she had been shot. Vaughn had been watching her off and on for the past twenty minutes. Finally he gave up trying to read the papers in front of him and stood to move into the seat across from her.

When he sat down she looked from her book, "Why didn't you tell me?" Vaughn was trying to keep the hurt from being evident in his voice.

Sighing she marked her page with the cover and set her hands in her lap. "I couldn't tell you," she started.

"Bullshit," he interrupted her, "You could always tell me everything, even before everything," he paused and swallowed, "happened. And now suddenly you are lying to me left and right."

She stared at him, calm and understanding, just sitting as he let out his anger. "You couldn't know, you had responsibilities elsewhere. Not to mention the fact that I know you couldn't have lied to your country the way I did," she said bluntly.

Staring at her, he slowly realized that she was right. "You mean Lauren?" He asked her, wanting the meaning of responsibilities.

"Yes, she was investigating me, and I thought that if you couldn't have me," she paused, "You would go back to her. And if I told you anything then you would tell her as a way to get back at me." There she had said it, and Vaughn was stunned.

"I wouldn't have," he said quietly, after a few minutes had passed of them just staring at each other.

"I know that now," she told him honestly. "But I couldn't have taken that chance, without knowing whether or not it would have blown up in my face." She looked down; it was awkward, them having this conversation.

"Why Sark?" Michael asked her, not getting why she would want to work with him.

"When you were sick, a few years ago, I needed to antidote," Michael nodded he knew all of this, "I had had to work with Sark to get it." Michael nodded again; he knew that too, he just didn't know where this was going. "And as much as I didn't want to admit it, we worked well together." Michael didn't do anything, just stared out the dark window of the plane.

"When I was planning on coming back, and doing everything, I knew I would need someone I could trust. And even though I had never been on the same side as Sark, I knew he was someone I could trust. So we, Simon and I, planned it so I could get him out of jail."

Vaughn looked back at her, remembering the night in the club where he had first met Simon, "That night, in Slankster's, there was a woman who came and sat down next to Simon as we were talking," he started, and looked to her for a reaction.

"That was me," she told him, looking him directly in the eye. "I wanted to be there, but I knew you couldn't see me. So there I was." She shrugged. "Great place, Slankster's," she muttered, chuckling and shaking her head.

Michael shrugged and looked back out the window. "So what do we do when we get home?"

"Nothing, we go on as normal, or as normal as we ever were." She looked out the window also, "You continue working for the CIA, and I," she dropped off before she said anything else.

Michael knew the conversation was over when she looked down at her book and began to read.


When they landed, there was a car waiting for them. And it was just like when Sydney had been thought to have killed Allison. She and Vaughn were taken directly into the Rotunda and taken into Dixon's office.

"I don't know whether you know," Dixon began, looking at the two of them, "but three days ago the Covenant was dismantled." He stared at Sydney and Vaughn who were sitting side by side in front of his desk.

Vaughn nodded, but Sydney didn't say anything, just looked at Dixon with a clear face. "I knew," Vaughn told him, "But I was tired up for the last three days, with something else." He told Dixon, with was partially true.

Dixon looked at Sydney, "Did you know anything about this?" He demanded, "I find it very strange that the day this happens you leave the country, going one place but wind up in London. Where it happened," he wasn't necessarily accusing her of anything, he just wanted answers.

"I agree, it does seem odd," she completely agreed with him. And Vaughn was finally realizing for the first time how hard it had been for Sydney to be a double agent.

"But you had nothing to do with it?" Dixon asked her, hoping that she would say she didn't know anything about it.

"I had nothing to do with it," she said calmly, as if it were true.

Dixon nodded, "The good news is that there is no more Covenant, the bad news is, we don't know who will take over in their absence." Dixon sighed as he sat back down. "You two can go home for the day, just come back tomorrow," he nodded at both of them.

Sydney pushed up with her bad arm without noticing it, and cursed. Dixon looked at her strangely, and Vaughn held her elbow, looking at her with a worried face.

"It's nothing, just cut it," she lied, blinking through tears caused by pain.

Dixon looked at her strangely, before nodding, "Go to the doctor if it gets worse," was all he said before looking back down at his papers.

Vaughn didn't let go of Sydney until they had gotten out of Dixon's office, "Are you alright?" He asked her worried.

"Yes," she nodded, putting her hand over where she was shot. "Honestly, I am, I just can't put to much pressure on it."

"I'll drive you home," he said, he knew her car wasn't there, and his was.

Surprisingly she nodded and let him lead her to his car. On the car out they passed Lauren who looked at the two of them with hatred. Michael and Sydney ignored the stares, but Michael had a terrible feeling that his soon to be ex-wife was not going to leave Sydney alone until she was ruined.

Once they had reached Sydney's house and she was safe inside, did Michael see her relax. Ever since she had been in the car to the airport has she been tense. He didn't want to ask her about it, but she saw the confused look on his face, "I don't like to leave home," she told him, sitting on the sofa, "And since this is sort of like home, I'm comfortable here."

She hadn't been like that before, so Michael knew it must have had something to do with her being with the Covenant for two years.

"Call me if you need anything," he looked down at her and smiled, "Anything at all, and I'll come by. I'm living next door now," he told her, and she smiled at him.

"Thanks, I will," even though she just planned on going to bed, she was beginning to feel dizzy, and needed to sleep. "Goodnight," she told him, smiling.

"Night," he told her and made his way back over to his new place. Eric was sleeping, as it was pretty late, he would talk to him in the morning on their way to work.

Sydney hadn't felt like going into her bedroom, she had gotten comfortable on her couch. She fell asleep flipping through the channels, and was woken up by her cell phone ringing.

"Hello?" She answered groggily.

"Syd, it's me."

"Oh, hello, Julian." She smiled, glad it was him.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright." He told her, and she smiled again.

"I'm fine, I think I'm just going to go to bed." She paused for a second, "I'm glad you called," she said softly.

"Really?" He sounded unsure and happy at the same time, "Then I'll defiantly call more often." He chuckled, "Alright, then, goodnight, love. Call me if you need anything."

"I will, goodnight," she said and hung up the phone. She decided she would move into her bedroom and sleep in her bed. It was just inviting. She changed out of her clothing, and only managed to put on a tank top before tiredness washed over her, and she fell into bed with her underwear and a tank top on. She didn't care she was just so tired.

She barely had time to pull up the covers before she was fast asleep.


Sydney woke a few hours later to the sound of a door opening somewhere in her apartment. She knew she hadn't left any open and there wasn't a reason for anyone to come into her home, or at least she didn't think so. Grabbing her gun out of the bedside table drawer she managed to pull on some sweat pants before leaving her room. She didn't see anyone at first, but her senses told her that someone was there.

Turning quickly into the kitchen she found no one there, turning around slowly she was met by a fist flying into contact with her face, knocking her immediately unconscious.


Sydney woke up slowly a while later in a small room, all white, with a dirty mattress on the floor, onto which it seemed she had been dropped onto.

Her arm and head where both throbbing, and the bandage on her arm had blood on it, as if someone had ripped open her wound. She had no idea where she was, as was the usual case when she woke up after being knocked out by someone.

She didn't have to wait long to talk to someone, as the door opened and a short man walked in. "Hello, Sydney," he smiled. When she got a good look at him she saw it was Robert Lindsey, who was closely followed by Lauren Reed, who looked down at Sydney with glee.

Sydney stood and tried to keep her balance with all her might, which was hard seeing as her throbbing head was now making it very hard for her to see straight. "What do you want?" She demanded of them, trying her best to sound intimidating.

"Why, we just want to question you on some things. Mainly, some people's deaths." He said with a shrug, Lauren remained silent behind him. Her expression displaying her emotions.

"Where am I?" She asked them next.

"In a maximum security prison of course," Lauren finally opened her mouth, "They only send the really dangerous people here." She told her trying to hide her smile.

Sydney couldn't think of an answer, so she just stared at them.

"You will be moved to a cell a little later, but I think you should stay in solitary for a little while longer," Lindsey told her, smiling, and they both backed out of the room, the door shutting with a loud thunk and the door locked from the inside. There was no way for her to get out. Defeated and in pain Sydney dropped back down to the dirty mattress.

"What have I gotten myself into?" She asked herself out loud, putting her head in her hands.

In what seemed like hours later, the door to her cell opened again. This time it was four men she didn't know, each of them huge and sinister looking. One of them grabbed her by her good arm and dragged her up. Now, she was in all sorts of pain and didn't appreciate being handled like that, so she promptly punched the man holding her arm in the nose. And then kicked the next one in the knee, causing him to fall, finally she made her way out into the hallway, and began to run.

The alarm sounded, as she passed the guard station. Lauren and Lindsey ran out behind her, as the guards caught up to her. When they got a hold of her she was thrown into the wall and beaten with their batons. Not very good behavior of a prison.

An unconscious Sydney was carried by Lauren who looked down on her with shock, never having seen anyone beaten like that before, and thrown into a different cell, one more like a prison cell.

The bars shut with a loud noise and Lindsey nodded to the men who were going back into the office. He beckoned for Lauren to follow him, and he led her to Sydney's cell. "I know she won't talk, she's a very stubborn girl, but we can try," he told Lauren, a hidden meaning in what he was saying. And Lauren knew that Lindsey was just doing this because he hated Sydney. And she wasn't about to stop him.

Sydney awoke a few hours later with a headache worse than she had ever had before in her life, and her arm was throbbing, and the bandage had more blood on it. She was now in an actual prison cell, one with bars and everything, and it made her feel a little better then that room had. At least she could see outside. There was a little window over the makeshift bed that if she tried hard she could see out of.

She knew the torture would follow soon, first were the beatings, then the torture, she wondered what they would start with. Electric shock or perhaps something more original. She would just have to wait until later to find out.

Not much later, about half an hour later, Lindsey showed up with two guards, and opened her cell. She didn't have the strength to fight back as the guards grabbed her by the arms and dragged her down the hallway.

They took her into a room and strapped her down on an uncomfortable metal table. Looks like it's going to be electric, she mentally sighed. A doctor that looked vaguely familiar stepped up beside her. "Sydney Bristow," he told her with a fake smile, "I've heard a lot about you." He told her as he put two sensors on her forehead.

She gave him a sarcastic smile, "Oh really, like what?"

"That you are really stubborn. Now, this is going to hurt you, quite a bit, but all you have to do is say what we want to know, and the pain will stop," he told her calmly. He turned on the machine to the lowest setting it was on. Electricity flowed through her body, shocking her and making her shake on the table. She said nothing, the Doctor looked at Lindsey and when Lindsey motioned for him to turn the power up, he did.

Still not a word out of Sydney's mouth. But the power was beginning to hurt more and more; soon she wouldn't be able to take it. Suddenly Lindsey's voice filled the room, "That's enough for today," he said, and the machine was turned off.

"Well, I'll be seeing you," the doctor told Sydney as she was carried out of the room and back to her cell.


It was like she was back in the Covenant's custody, in the days before she had convinced them she was broken. Still being tortured, they withheld food from her, giving her completely inedible food to eat. All trying to get her to tell them something they knew she wouldn't tell them. But that wasn't the real reason, the real reason was because Lauren and Lindsey hated her so much, they were twisted enough to not stop.

This went on for a week. She had become numb, the shock treatments only felt like needles being poked lightly into her skin, and they hadn't tried any other form of torture yet, so there was nothing new. She had also lost all hope of being rescued.

She had given up; it was on the eight day of her being held when things changed. The doctor that was giving her the shock treatments wasn't anywhere to be found. In his place there was a new doctor, a younger looking one, one that didn't look as friendly, on the contrary. This new doctor looked rather daunting, like he was capable of really hurting her.

He didn't do anything at first, just strapped her to the table and talked to her. Really talked to her, told her his life story. How he had been in love once, but she had left him to be with his brother. How he had become a doctor, a twisted one, and had actually been considered as being made the doctor for the Covenant. Before it had imploded that is.

He didn't seem to want to hurt her, but she knew he would, they were all the same. They would all hurt her; she just had to remain numb. This new doctor had heard of her too, heard of her stubbornness and her toughness. He would prove himself worthy if he could break her, and he was going to try his hardest, and not give up until she spoke, he was dead or she was dead.

He started out with electric shock as well; this was not a surprise to him. But he didn't start out with the lowest setting; he went straight to the highest. Seeing it had no outward affect on her, other than her shaking, he turned it off for a while and left her side. He came back a few minutes later with another machine, and hooked her up to this one as well, he was going to hook her up to both of them, or so it seemed.

Once she had been hooked up to the new machine, he turned on the first one, to high speed, but didn't turn on the second one, instead he reached over to his table and picked up a little blowtorch. Turning it on he watched her for a second before moving the flame closer to her skin.

The shock of the burn on her arm and the shock of electricity made her scream. For the first time in eight days did she scream. Her screams could be heard echoing through the entire wing of the prison. Reaching over with his other hand he made to turn the other machine on, but instead his hand was shot.

"Damnit!" He yelled, dropping the torch, turning it off, onto the floor and reaching into his pocket with his good hand for his gun. Not getting very far as he was shot several more times in the chest before he could defend himself.

Sydney was still shaking and screaming on the table, still hooked up to the machine that was on high. The shock was going to kill her. The person who had shot the doctor ran over, she could hardly hear the footsteps, and turned off the machine. She fell limp on the table, her head falling to the side, the pain in her arm was unbearable, she could feel her wound from getting shot had been ripped open once again and was now bleeding, and the burn wound was agonizing.

She couldn't bring herself to look at the person who was saving her, not knowing whether they were just going to hurt her as well. She felt her head being moved over to look at the person, "Sydney?" The worried British voice asked her.

"Julian?" She asked weakly, not opening her eyes, as she could hardly move.

"I'm here, love, I'm getting you out of here," his voice seemed far away, and she felt herself slipping out of reality. She felt herself being picked up and carried away from there. Being held closely to Sark's chest as he took her away.

She knew that she was in a helicopter and that there was yelling around her, she saw Simon and Vaughn looking scared and Sark was still holding her tightly against his chest. But the rest was dark; after they took off of the ground she couldn't remember anything.


When Sydney hadn't come into work the day after they had been questioned, Vaughn knew something was wrong. Sydney knew better to disappear; he had left on his lunch break and found her gone, her gun lying on the floor. Silently cursing the CIA because they had taken out the video surveillance before then.

He had a feeling that Lauren and Lindsey were behind this, but he couldn't prove it. He didn't even know if she was really gone, he just knew something bad was happening. He let it go the first day, but then the second day came by, and no Sydney.

Now Vaughn was exceedingly worried when Jack Bristow asked him where his daughter was. That was something he would never do. He had no choice; he had called the one person who needed to be told, Sark.

Dialing the number Sark had given him, his cell phone, Vaughn suspected, he waited for someone to answer.

"Sark," answered the crisp British voice.

"Sark, this is Agent Vaughn,"

"Ah, Agent Vaughn, to what do I owe this pleasure? What pray tell am I being charged with now?"

"Nothing, its Sydney,"

"What's wrong with Sydney?" His voice dramatically changed, from a bitterly sarcastic tone to a deeply worried one.

"She's gone, someone took her. But I don't know where she is, but I might know who took her."

"Someone took her," Sark repeated, Vaughn could hear the anger rising in the man's voice. "Who was it?" The calmness of his voice scared Michael.

"I think it was Robert Lindsey and Lauren Reed." Vaughn answered honestly.

"Thank you, Agent Vaughn, I'll be in touch," Sark told him briskly before he hung up the phone, leaving Vaughn to listen to the dial tone.

Stuffing the phone into his pocket he went in search of Lauren. He found her typing away at her computer in her office, he didn't knock just went right in, slamming the door behind her. "What did you do with her?" He demanded, trying not to yell to loudly.

"What are you talking about, Michael?" She asked, not looking up from her screen.

"What am I talking about? I'm talking about Sydney Bristow, what did you do with her?" He yelled, his temper getting the better of him.

"I personally did nothing to her," she answered in a calm voice, finally looking up at him. "We've made sure she can't hurt anyone else."

"We?" Michael screamed. "Who are we?"

"Director Lindsey, and I, of course. The NSC." She replied serenely.

"If you have put her somewhere where she is hurt, I will make sure you and Lindsey are ruined, do you understand me?" He threatened her before walking out. And there was no doubt in her mind that he would stand strongly on that threat.

Over the next few days he was in close contact with Sark and Simon, and finally on the seventh day of Sydney being gone, there was news of where she was being held. It was a maximum-security prison out in the desert. Incredibly high risk, but Sark and Simon had assembled a team to get Sydney extracted. They had narrowed the search down to the wing where they knew that she was going to be. They wanted Vaughn on that team, because they both felt the same way he did. The two Brits were flying out that night, and would be there by tomorrow, and then Michael would meet them there.

The next day, Sark and Simon had arranged a team with a helicopter to bring them in and get them out of the prison with Sydney, they hadn't slept the night before, and were all incredibly quiet. All wanting to get this over with and have Sydney back in their arms. Even though Simon and Sark would have to leave after Sydney was put in the hospital. Because no doubt she would have been tortured.

It was an unspoken agreement that Sark would be the one to carry Sydney out of the prison; she wouldn't fight him, if she had the strength to fight anyone.

Once they reached the prison, they and their men made there way inside, first they went to the block of cells, Sydney was not in any of them, the majority of them were empty.

There was another room, a large room that was like an operating room, that was the second most likely room she would be in. The three men raced down the hallway to said room, before they could reach the room guns were fired from behind them, the same time there was an inhuman scream coming from the room they were almost at. It was Sydney they all knew it was.

Simon and Vaughn nodded to Sark and began to shoot at the men whom were shooting at them. Sark rushed into the medical room and shot at the man who was holding a blow torch to Sydney's arm and had her hooked up to two electric shock machines and was about to turn on the second one.

The first shot hit the man in the doctor's coat in the hand, which made him drop the blowtorch and reach to get his gun. But he never had the chance; Sark had emptied his gun into the man's chest. Then he finally laid his eyes on Sydney, she was still hooked up to the machine and was shaking like crazy on the table. Running over he turned off the machine and pulled the sensors off her head.

She fell back limp onto the table as he unhooked her from the restraints on the table. She wouldn't look at him so he gently lifted her face to look at him. "Sydney?" He aske worried.

"Julian?" Was her weak reply, she didn't open her eyes, but she knew it was him.

"I'm here, love. I'm getting you out of here," her told her as he picked her up and cradled her against his chest. It almost killed him to see her bleeding and still shaking as she was.

The gunfire had stopped when he got into the hallway and he followed Vaughn and Simon who were running outside. They entered the helicopter and all turned their attention to Sydney, who had opened her eyes for a brief moment only to close them again, unconscious.