A/N: Yeah it's a little shorter than usual sorry. And sorry that it took so long to write. I just did it today actually, school and all. But I hope you like it. And yeah. R/R please!
It was the day before she had to go back to LA. Tomorrow she would have to go back to her life and go back to hated Sark. Oh, how much they were both looking forward to tomorrow. Sydney had gone on a run, something she did regularly. Sark, Simon and Mark were all talking in the kitchen. Having pointless conversations, Sark had grown quite accustomed to Simon and Mark. And he found that he liked them very much. And they both liked him as well. He wasn't always the evil cold-hearted bastard that everyone made him out to be. Especially when he was around Sydney.
Today they were arguing whether who was better, the Russians or the CIA. Mark said nothing, just watched the two men argue, laughing silently to himself.
"The Russians are always getting themselves into trouble!"
"So is the CIA!" It had gone on for a while. And then finally Mark spoke up.
"How about, they both are better in some areas compared to the other. But neither are actually better then the other." Mark nodded, and Sark and Simon both stopped talking and looked at the older man. Then they glanced at each other, and shrugged.
"Fine," they muttered simultaneously. Mark laughed and shook his head. Standing up he walked around to the sink and grabbed a teapot.
"Tea?" He asked them, knowing they both would nod their heads without needing to look up. He liked them because of that. Sydney had always wanted coffee in the morning, and he hated coffee, he thought it was vile stuff, but yet he made it for her anyway, and made tea for himself. Having two other Brit's in the house that wanted tea over coffee was something he liked.
Putting the pot on the stove he jumped up to the counter. "Does Sydney have to go back tomorrow?" He asked, rather suddenly, but he had been thinking about it for a while.
"Yes," Sark said rather sadly.
"Oh." Mark had talked to her since she had gone back to the CIA and had been away from the house. She had always seemed so much happier being in London than she had when she was with the CIA.
Sark didn't question him further as to why he asked, knowing how much he cared for Sydney.
None of them said anything until the pot whistled, telling them that the water was ready, hopping off of the counter Mark reached up to grab three mugs and some tea bags.
After pouring water into each mug with the tea bags he set them on the table in front of Simon and Sark and sat down in his chair again. They all watched the tea slowly seep into the water. It was now a sullen mood as a boom of thunder went off in the background. Sydney would be coming home soon, they all thought, knowing she didn't like to run in a thunderstorm.
After a few more minutes they heard the back door slam, they all thought it was Sydney. What a mistake that was, the next thing they knew there were men dressed in black running into the kitchen, holding guns at them. Simon and Sark were clam, but Mark looked a little nervous. Sydney had warned him that this might on day happen, but he hadn't ever expected it to.
"Simon Walker and Mr. Sark, you are under arrest by the authority of the CIA." They said as they walked towards them, holding out handcuffs. The men paid Mark no attention, but just took Sark and Simon who could do nothing but stand there.
When they were situated they led the men out of the house and into black vans out front, talking about how easy that had been. They left Mark there, who after they heard them roll away collapsed to the floor, shaking.
Sydney arrived at the house five minutes later, she didn't see anyone at first so she walked into the kitchen. "Hey –" she stopped when she saw Mark crumpled on the floor. "Oh, my god," she said running over to him. "Mark, what happened?" She asked him as he held onto her like a scared child.
"They came, with guns." He muttered, not making much sense.
"Who came? Where are Simon and Sark?"
"They took them." Mark told her sadly, finally looking up at her. "The CIA, Syd, the CIA took them."
Syd's eyes widened as he said the name that she dreaded to hear. "When?" She asked coldly, but Mark knew it wasn't him that she was angry with.
"About five minutes ago." He told her, looking down. Sydney stood, pulling Mark with her.
"Pack some things," she told him, he nodded not asking where they were going. "Meet me in the garage in fifteen minutes, she told him before running off and up the stairs.
Once she was alone in her room she began to throw her things around, trying to find her guns. Once she found the one she wanted he stuffed it into the pocket as she grabbed her keys off of the bedside table. They were going to LA. She was going to find out what this was all about, and she was going to get them free. No matter what, she would get them out.
Once she got back downstairs into the garage she found Mark standing with her guard, both looking grim. She had locked the house up, and she knew that no one would enter it for a long time. She nodded to both of them. "Get me my jet, we are going to LA." She said as they got into the SUV parked a little ways away from them. The guard nodded as he sped off towards the airport, making calls on his cell phone.
Sydney knew that he would get them a jet. And maybe it they were lucky she would get to the CIA before they did. People would wonder, but she didn't care. She wondered why they had taken them. TO her knowledge they hadn't done anything big other then take down the Covenant, and that was at her bidding.
But she could wait to find out.
Once they got to the airport, her guard insisted that he come with him. Sydney was to tired to argue with him and she knew that Mark would feel safer if he had him there. So she just nodded in reply as they got on the plane. She gave Mark some aspirin and told him to try and get some sleep.
She sat down a few seats away across from the guard. "I don't know how they got in Miss Sydney." He answered honestly and shamefully.
She shook her head and placed her hands on his clasped hands that lay on the table. "It's not your fault, they can do a lot." She would know, she had done a lot with them. "I need you to stay with Mark." She told him and he nodded, knowing that she wouldn't want him to protect her now. "I'm going to take you both to the home I have there, the CIA took out the cameras in it a while ago." The guard looked up at her and nodded.
"Thank you," he told her. She was the only charge that he remotely cared for and he had had many charges.
"Welcome, and thank you." They were being honest. "You've done a lot for me over the years, and I'd probably be dead if it weren't for you."
He could say anything but she understood. "Try and get some rest," she told him softly before standing up and sitting in another seat.
Simon paced the cell that the CIA had thrown him in. It was a jail cell, they hadn't told him what they did wrong. Sark sat on his bed with his head in his hands. This cell was not as nice as his other one during his stay at the Rotunda. Simon and Sark could look through the bars into each other's cells. Both of them were thrilled to be there.
Simon made a growling sound as someone walked in. Two people actually, Jack Bristow and Michael Vaughn. Sark assumed dully that he was growling at Vaughn, since he didn't think Simon had had the pleasure of meeting Jack Bristow.
Vaughn said nothing, didn't even look at them, even though Sark glared challengingly at him. Daring him to say something, how they found the house, anything. But no, Vaughn appeared to be to much of a pansy at the moment.
"You gentlemen," Jack said icily, "are here because we have evidence that you committed a crime." He looked pointedly at Sark, whom he detested.
"Well duh," Sark said sarcastically. "What's it this time?"
Simon said nothing, just kept pacing, trying to ignore them. "Well, you, Mr. Walker, seemed to have been doing some illegally trades for information on the organization that used to be the Covenant." He said, Simon didn't even look up he was guilty of that. But Jack went on, "And you, Mr. Sark, are being charged with the murder of Paul Jamison."
Sark frowned, he hadn't killed him, but he wasn't going to say that. But he hadn't that that the CIA would care about the murder of a man that they were going to kill anyway. "And you are also being charged with the murder of Will Tippin." He added, Vaughn's head shot up, apparently he hadn't known about Will.
"He's dead?" Vaughn and Will had been friends at one point.
"Yes," Jack answered, without looking at him, his gaze still on Sark.
Sark didn't have anything to say, and then decided to be the sarcastic son of a bitch that he was known for. "Well, if you're done wasting our time." He said looking away from them. "We have to adjust to this lifestyle." He sneered, "I mean even though we'll only be in here for a short stay." He smirked, and Jack fumed.
"I wouldn't be so sure," he said bitterly before turning on his foot and storming out. Sark made him angry, no matter where he ran into him or what the situation was.
Vaughn didn't stay long either, he was deeply guilty for what had happened, and he didn't even know what had happened. He left rather quickly following after Jack.
"Damn him," Simon muttered after him. "I knew we should've killed him."
Sark thought on that statement for a moment, "I don't think he had anything to do with this," it was an odd statement, coming from him, he understood that, but he really didn't think that Michael would do that. Give up where they lived. And plus, Jack thought that he had killed Paul, Vaughn saw Sydney kill him, or just after she did.
"Why not?" Simon asked, stopping his pacing to face Sark.
"He cares about Sydney to much." Sark said simply. "He wouldn't do something that would hurt her this much."
Simon considered this and opened his mouth to speak, but decided against it. Instead he just sat down on his makeshift bed and faced Sark. "So what do we do now?" Simon had obviously never been in jail with the CIA before.
"Now, we wait," Sark smirked.
Sydney had taken the two men to her apartment and left them there, telling them they could do whatever they wanted she just wanted them to stay inside the house. They would be safe there, she knew, and she needed them to be safe, she wouldn't be able to handle something happening to them as well.
She was now speeding off towards the Rotunda, where she knew they would have her. She had a gun in her pocket and she would shoot anyone who got in her way. She would get them out.
She was driving pretty fast and made it to the Rotunda in fifteen minutes, a trip that usually took her thirty. Storming inside she made her way to Dixon's office. None of the people milling around thought any differently upon seeing her this way, they were so used to see her doing this.
She flung open the door to Dixon's office and found her father, Vaughn, Eric and Dixon all sitting down, talking. They all stood when they saw her. Michael wouldn't look her in the eye, she would deal with him later.
"Syd, you're back early." Dixon said, very surprised at seeing here today. He hadn't expected her back until tomorrow.
"You have Sark and Mr. Walker in custody, why?" She asked through gritted teeth, regaining her breath back.
"I would ask you how you knew that," her father started, "but I don't think I want to know why."
She couldn't talk to them; she needed to see her two men they had taken. "Where are they?" She asked, even though she knew full well where they were. But she would much rather have their permission to go see them, then get on their bad side right now.
"You can't see them right now, Sydney," Dixon told her shaking her head.
"Fine," she said and stormed out of the office, they all knew where she was going; she was going to see them anyway. Michael was the first one out of the door; they followed her to the holding cells.
"Syd!" Michael called after her as she made her was into the main room where they were. She had to fight her way past a few guards but she finally got to them.
Sark and Simon had both looked towards the main entrance upon hearing Michael yelled Syd's name. So she was here, just as Sark had thought.
A moment later she came into view. She walked to where the cells connected and stopped. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. Both men got up and walked over to her. Sark reached through the bars and laid a hand on his shoulder. The people following her took that moment to walk into the room.
"Let go of her!" Jack roared. Sydney took a step back and Sark felt his hand drop.
"Let them go." Sydney said, looking at the four men who were standing there. They each had a look of confusion on their faces.
"We have no intention of letting them go. They are murders and thieves."
"Who did they kill?" She asked them, knowing who it would probably be.
"Paul Jamison, ever heard of him?" Eric asked her, this being the first time he had spoken since she stormed in.
"Yes, and now let them go. They didn't kill him."
"How would you know?" Dixon asked her, fearing the answer.
She looked directly at Vaughn, "Because I was there." She said simply and Vaughn looked up, silently pleading with her to understand. He hadn't told them anything, they had figured it out on their own, through video surveillance, she had never been caught on screen. She understood, and much to everyone's dismay she went on.
"Sark didn't kill him, and anything you have on Simon wasn't done for him. It was done for his employer."
"Sydney stop, don't." Sark pleaded with her, ignoring the look that Jack gave him for talking to his daughter.
"No, I want to say this." She shot back at him, glancing at him then looking at Simon. "You could never figure out who Simon's employer was, could you? Not from the first time he met with Vaughn." She watched as Eric shook his head, but Dixon and Jack just stared at her.
"Simon works for me." She told them, Eric, Jack and Dixon's eyes widened. "I killed Paul Jamison, it was my idea to bring down the Covenant." She let it all out, and she felt much better for it, but she also felt horrible at the look on Eric's face, she had never wanted to hurt him this way.
Dixon wasn't about to believe this, "What about Will Tippin?" He asked, knowing she wouldn't have killed her once best friends.
"I killed him as well. Sark," she looked at him sadly, he held his head in his hands, "tried to talk me out of it, and that's the only reason why he was there."
"Why?" Jack managed to ask her, he couldn't believe how she reminded him of Irina at this moment.
"He was working for the Covenant."
"But, we never found any evidence-" Dixon let his voice fade away. She had had the disk with the information on it for a while, she must have read it, and taken it off.
"Sydney," Michael started but stopped when she held her hand up.
"You don't understand do you?" She shook her head sadly, "Let these two go," she gestured at Simon and Sark, "They didn't do anything that they weren't told to do. And don't give me that bull story about how I shouldn't have killed anyone, or destroyed the Covenant because you were going to do it anyway. It was just more personal for me."
"You were the one to get Sark out of prison weren't you?" Jack asked him, finally all of this was making sense in his head. She truly was her mother's daughter.
"Yes, I did break him out. I needed him." She shrugged. Eric wouldn't look at her neither would Dixon. Vaughn felt horrible at all of this, he had known and now it was hurting the people they both cared about. Looking back at Sydney he could see it on her face as well.
"You broke into my house," she held up her hand when Dixon was going to say something and continued, "You took two people out of my house. My guests, you scared the living daylights out of Mark and you made my guard feel that he was unworthy of the job he had. I'm sorry for hurting any of you, but everything that was done was done at my expense. And now, please, let them go. They aren't going to take the place of the new Covenant, I wouldn't let them."
Eric walked out, he didn't want them to see the hurt on his face, Jack couldn't speak and Dixon didn't want to. "Fine," he said defeated. "Where are they going?" He asked her, motioning for one of the guards to come.
"To my apartment for the time being, then to London." She told them, holding her head up high and she stepped away from the cells as the guard went to unlock them.
"Sydney, you are staying here," Dixon told her, in a stony voice, void of emotion, for her feared what emotions he let out would tear him apart.
Sydney watched as Sark and Simon exited the cells they had, but did not come over to her, a guard stood blocking their way. "Get them a transport," Dixon told the men, hating that he was letting two criminals go. The men nodded and walked Sark and Simon out, Sark turned to look at Sydney, looking defeated, but was pushed onwards before he could say anything.
"Come with me," Dixon ordered as he turned on his heel, Sydney followed him with her head down and Michael and Jack followed after her. Once they were in his office Dixon sat down behind his desk and motioned for Syd and the others to sit down. "Start from the beginning. From when you disappeared." He demanded tersely.
Sydney wrung her hands together before she started. "After the fight, the one with Allison Doren, the Covenant set fire to my apartment." Dixon nodded he knew all this. "Well, they took me and Allison out of it first, I don't know what they didn't with her, but they took me to the hospital. I'm not sure why, but they didn't do anything until I had recovered from the fight." She paused, fighting down the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.
"Then the brainwashing started. They tried for six months to break me, trying to tell me I was Julia Thorne, a hired assassin who worked for the Covenant. But because of Project Christmas," Jack straightened at the mention of this, "I couldn't be broken. So I had to pretend to be her, so they wouldn't kill me.
"Then, they were done with the brainwashing, I had to kill someone, as a test, to see if I had really changed. I passed they let me be Julia Throne. And through the remaining six months of that year I rose quickly in the operations of the Covenant. I don't know why, but I did. I met Simon he became my partner. Paul Jamison ran the Covenant, ran the operations that were meant for me. He was probably the only one who realized that I wouldn't stay with them. The next year passed and I got fed up with the Covenant."
She stopped talking for a moment, trying to find the right words to say this. She hadn't told anyone the whole story, not even Sark, and the only reason Simon knew was because he had been with her. "I left them, left the Covenant. I was never touched after then, but I was watched. Paul knew the strength I had, I could have brought them to destruction if I had wanted to. And I did, but not then. I worked by myself and Simon came with me." She looked at Michael, "I actually was in LA for a while checking on all of you, but you had lives, I didn't fit in here anymore," she didn't have to add that she still didn't.
"I didn't do much of anything for a while, only a few random things. Then later on in that year I met Paul in a club and he gave me information of Allison Doren. Where she was. After three years I still had a grudge against her, she stole away the one person in my life who hadn't been affected by what I did." She sighed and looked down at her hands. "I had her brought to me, and I killed her." She shook her head, "Then I wanted Sark." Michael coughed, this was the part that he knew about, the part that worried him the most. "As it figured it wasn't enough that I just got him out of prison. We became partners," she shook her head sadly at the look of disturbance in Jack's face. "Paul contacted me, he wanted Sark dead, figured I had to do it, since he was the on who had given me information on Allison. An eye for an eye." She laughed bitterly. "I didn't do it, obviously. But then you asked me to get the disk from the Covenant, with everyone in the operations on it. Will Tippin was on it, he had been with them for a year.
"I couldn't stand that they had taken both of my friends from me. I killed him, here in LA. And then we brought down the Covenant." She looked at Vaughn, wondering whether or not to say that he was the one who had shot her. Deciding against it, he would get in trouble too, "I killed Paul and Sark, Simon and I took down the Covenant, just like you were going to. I was shot by a security guard on the way out. And you know the rest." She leaned back into her seat, feeling a mixture of gratefulness and defeat at having told the entire story. But she feared what would come next.
None of them spoke for a few minutes after she had stopped speaking. Vaughn was the first one. "It's not true," he said bitterly, his voice laced with guilt. "She wasn't shot by a security guard. I shot her." He said bitterly, looking right at her, and he sighed.
"Well, I never thought I would see the day when anything like this would happen," Dixon muttered, he meant her working with Sark.
"I could have," Jack muttered, more to himself than the rest of them.
Sydney's head shot up, "What?" She asked him, rather surprised.
"You do have Irina Derevko as a mother," he said rationally.
She could have cried at that moment. It all came together, the thoughts that she had been dreading and yet she had known for three years; She was her mother's daughter. Not only did she look like her mother, she had the same mindset, and she had been doing something like what her mother had been doing for a while. She held her head strong but Michael could see that she was ready to break down.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with any of you." He said sadly and shook his head. "Sydney, you aren't going to go anywhere, I want you to stay in LA for the time being. And if you leave then I will have no choice but to arrest you. And Michael you are being suspended from active field duty."
They both nodded, not wanting to look at each other, "Go home, now though, Syd someone will call you when I want you to come back." She nodded and the two stood up. They started walking out; it was as if they were little kids and had just been yelled at.
Dixon put his head in his hands as they walked out. He had lost her, he thought and knew Jack was thinking it too.
Sydney didn't talk to Vaughn as they walked out, and neither knew where Eric had gone. Vaughn didn't say anything either, he walked her to his car, "I'll be seeing you," she said quietly as she got into her car. He watched her drive off sadly; the next few days would certainly be interesting.
Sydney entered her house and threw the keys on her hall table. Four pairs of sullen eyes greeted her. "Hey guys," she said trying to smile as she plopped herself down onto a chair.
They all looked at her worried. They all needed to know what was going on. "Oh, right," she muttered to herself, and then looked at the ceiling. "You all shouldn't be in any more trouble. You can go back to London whenever." She told them, not looking at them, nor adding that she herself couldn't go back for a while.
"Syd-" Sark started, but she shook her head and stood up.
"Don't say anything." She muttered to him. "I need to think, damnit." She cursed as she walked into the kitchen. Talking a glass from her cabinet, aware that they were all watching her, she filled the glass with water.
She wasn't thirsty though; she just looked down at the water. "Damnit," she screamed as she flung the glass across the room. All the men stood up. But she wouldn't let any of them come near her. She needed to think, she couldn't think with people surrounding her.
She didn't her best to ignore the hurt looks that everyone was giving her as she stomped into her bedroom. She as she shut the floor she slid to the floor and burst into tears. She didn't bother locking the door as she crawled over to her bed and lay face down, crying into her pillow.
She dully noted as she heard her door open and close. She knew someone had come in but she didn't care whom. She had a feeling it was Sark, but she didn't want him to see her this way.
She felt someone sit on her bed next to her, a hand softly touch her back. "Syd," Sark called to her softly. That was all she could handle, she sat up into his arms and sobbed into his shoulder.
"I don't know what to do," she cried, and that scared her. She always had a plan, always knew what she was going to do, and now she didn't, and it scared her more than anything. And all he could do was hold her.
A/N: Sorry if I've contradicted myself in any of this. I'm tired and all and yeah, I didn't feel like going back and rading over everything to make sure. So yeah.
