Sydney stared at her indefinable significant other in shock. She was not supposed to run into him headfirst during missions. It was against the rules. Sark reached out and grabbed her arm, lifting her onto her feet.
"I told you I had business to take care of," he said, pulling Sydney into a side hallway.
"But you didn't tell me your business involved CyroTech Incorporated."
"And you didn't tell me the CIA was sending you to Quebec. We both held information from one another, Sydney. It's a necessary component of our job."
"Why are you here?" she asked while she continued to scan the area for approaching adversaries. She needed some facts, and she needed them now.
"I think you know." He pulled her into a vacant room and out of any form of passerby traffic that could get them into trouble. "There's a list of names that I need to get. And I bet you already have it."
She nodded, unwilling to lie to him. However this situation resolved itself, it wouldn't be with him attacking her. They could trust that much. "This is like my worst nightmare."
"It's not that bad. I haven't even told you why I need it." He grasped her hand and stayed silent until she looked him in the eye. "You know I've been trying to recall my reasons for attaching myself to you emotionally. I blew my last good lead because you needed me, and I don't regret it. The thing is I have my suspicions to the reason why I so willing gave that lead up. One of them, the one that I believe the most, is I was trying to protect you."
She threw her arms up and looked around the room. "You call this protecting me?"
"Yes. The reason I came here today was I had it on good reason that CyroTech was getting dangerously close to a point I didn't want them to reach. They were going to come after you."
"How do you know that?"
"They have been working on a special project for the past year. Every single Rambaldi descendant that is currently known has been subjected to a series of tests to identify the base code of their genetics. CyroTech is trying to reconstruct Rambaldi's DNA from scratch." Sark pointed to her purse. "If you look at the list I know is hiding somewhere in that purse, you'll see that it's not of the world's political leaders. It's all of Rambaldi's descendents."
Sydney realized almost immediately that he was holding something back. "And?"
"And your sister."
"What does Nadia Santos have to do with Rambaldi's descendents?"
"We don't have time for this." Sark held up his hand before she began to argue that point. "Let me make a copy of that list while we're talking. That way I can explain and meet my objective at the same time."
She was almost shocked when she realized she hadn't hesitated a second. Maybe it was because she trusted he had her well-being first in his mind. Maybe she just understood that the information wasn't that highly secret and letting him have the list wouldn't cause a national emergency.
Whatever the reason, she handed over the downloader, and he withdrew a similar device from his pocket to start the copying process. She took a seat at a vacant desk and looked up at him. "I don't even want to know how you got your hands on hardware like that. While we're waiting for it to finish copying, I want you to tell me what my sister has to do with Rambaldi, and why it was the right decision to let you see it."
"We should have come up with the answer to the question of your sister a long time ago. It was actually simple. Let me start with asking you a question, darling. Who in your family is connected to Rambaldi?"
Under other circumstances, she would have yelled at him for beating around the bush. This time, she could sense that all this indirection was being used to make a point. "Well, obviously I'm connected, and my sister." She stopped talking for a moment. "I guess you could say that my mother is connected because the CIA and myself thought she was the woman in the prophecy for a while."
"Exactly. Your father is not involved with Rambaldi other than in terms of his work with the CIA. Arvin Sloane was only connected to Rambaldi in the form of a pawn. Rambaldi used him to show you, the woman in the prophecy, where her sister was located. It was no coincidence that Sloane chose to cross your father and recruit you into SD-6 without his knowledge."
"There are no coincidences when it comes to Rambaldi or my father," she said, alluding to the two men who had been pulling strings left and right throughout her life to make sure she went down one specific path, the path they wanted her to take and not the one she chose for herself.
"Sydney, I think your mother, and consequently you and your sister, are descendents of Rambaldi."
"No way," she said, refusing almost immediately to accept his blunt purpose. "There's no way. The CIA tested me when we first thought that I could be the woman in the prophecy. They said I had no connection to Rambaldi other than my mother's sick obsession for him."
"The CIA made a mistake. It wouldn't have been their first."
"So, you think that my name and Nadia's will be on that list?"
Sark looked at the screen, noting the progress of the copy. "Your mother's name will be on the list, too."
"What's the significance of this new development?"
"You and your sister are the only two confirmed descendents of Rambaldi. Every other name on the list is just a potential descendent. If CyroTech is planning on fulfilling their objectives, then they're going to start with you and Nadia."
"So, I'm in danger."
"Yes. You'll be in danger if that list stays here with CyroTech. This is why we both need a copy."
"I don't understand, Julian."
"You need to give the CIA your copy so that you can fulfill your mission. I wouldn't deny you that. However, when they realize the nature of the list, you'll probably never see or hear about it again. It'll be filed away somewhere deep in Project: Blackhole."
"How do you know about--" she cut herself off. "I don't even want to know."
"The copy you let me make, you and I can use it to get to the bottom of what's really happening."
Sydney decided that it was time to start thinking rationally about her situation. "How am I supposed to believe you when you say you're doing this for my good?"
Sark smiled and held his hand out to her. She hesitated for a moment but then slipped her hand into his. "Sydney, you and I both know that there will come a day when our objectives clash. We are on different sides of the law, at least for now."
"That's apparent every single time I realize that I can't tell any of my friends or family about our relationship."
"There will be a day when you can tell your friends about me. I don't think I'm that horrible of a person."
"You obviously haven't looked at yourself through the eyes of a CIA employee or an employee of any other country's government agencies. You kind of are a horrible person."
"I have my reasons."
"And someday you'll tell me them?"
"Someday, I promise. For now, I want you to be sure to know that I won't be that horrible person everyone seems to think I am. At least until I get some more answers about our missing two years, you won't have to worry about me double crossing you or using you for my own purposes."
"You admit that you would use me once you've found the answers to your question," she hissed.He held up his hand to stop her before she really started yelling. "Okay, that definitely came out wrong."
"I would say so." A beep signaled the end of the copying process. Sydney stood up from her seat and walked over to grab her copy. "You are asking for a lot of trust from me."
Sark let out a deep breath. "I know that I'm asking a lot of you. No matter how much history we share, I know my past indiscretions will always be in your mind. But I hope you can trust that I love you. Since you came into my life, I haven't been able to do one thing right. I make mistakes I never would have made in the past. You throw me off."
"And you don't throw me off?" She teased while sliding the downloader back into her purse.
"I'm sure I do. That's one of the reasons we're so good together." He touched her cheek lightly. "Listen, love. Just trust me on this one. I might be doing things that are in direct conflict with your work at the CIA, but I would never, ever do anything that would put you in danger."
"I know," she said, leaning her head into his touch. "If there's one thing I'm certain about, it's that. Now you and I need to leave before someone finds us."
He nodded and slipped his copy of the CyroTech list into his pocket. "Thank you."
"I do trust you," she said watching him walk out of the room.
He paused at the door and turned back to look at her. "I know." She saw him struggle with himself for a moment before asking, "Will I see you tonight?"
"Yeah," she said, returning his smile, and watched him leave.
She had made it out of the facility with ease, which made her wonder how much of an evil organization CyroTech was if there was such a minimum amount of security. Sometimes, she found herself feeling slightly unfulfilled if she made it out of a building without some form of an explosion or a gunfight. The abnormal had become the normal for her.
Vaughn was waiting for her at the airport. Thankfully, he didn't have too many questions about why it had taken her so long to reach the rendezvous. She really hadn't come up with a way around admitting she was with Sark. Usually she could depend on her lying skills, but this time she had a feeling they wouldn't be good enough if she had to use them.
The flight home had felt almost normal to her. She and Vaughn had engaged in the post-mission talk they were accustomed to, detailing what they think the next step would be. It gave her hope that they could return to being friends without having to sacrifice any of their closeness. She would always love Michael Vaughn and what he had been to her when she was dealing with her double agent status and her mother's sudden reemergence
Something had occurred to her on the flight home that she didn't share with Vaughn. Their relationship was now so delicately strung together that she didn't feel it was time to start drudging through theories that would only cause them more pain. She had to give the difficult issues they had just argued their way through heal before moving on to other subjects like her current relationship or the issue with Vaughn's memory failing him..
Instead of telling Vaughn, she filed it away and chose to go straight into the office in exchange for running straight home. She had a question for her father, and she needed an answer.
The CIA facilities were practically deserted at two in the morning, but Sydney wasn't surprised to find her father hard at work. Work had always been a number one priority in his life. She walked over to his desk and stood over his shoulder until he felt her presence.
"Sydney, you're home from Quebec."
"I have a question for you," she said abruptly. "It occurred to me that during our last conversation you seemed to be grappling for information about my life. That got me wondering why you wouldn't know. I mean, it has been established that you know every single event that will happen in my life. So why are you so out of the loop now?"
"Because you aren't following my direction anymore," Jack said sternly. "Because you won't trust me to know what's best for you. Instead, you've taken things into your own hands. Things are not going to turn out well."
"I am an adult, Dad. I should be able to make my own decisions. I just wanted you to know that I still love you. I don't know if I can forgive you, but I do love you. If you will relinquish your control over me, I think we might even be happy together. Maybe I'll start telling you stuff again."
"You don't understand the importance of Project SAB47."
She glared at him. "No, you don't understand the importance of personal freedom. I don't care what some old man said about me in the distant past. I'll do what I want with my life. I'll choose what I do and what I don't. I'll decide where my career is going to take me and who I'll let work alongside me." She stared her father straight in the eye. "And more importantly, I'll choose whose bed I lay in at night."
She could see the shock on her father's face at her audacity, and that was the only reward she needed. Reasoning and pleading hadn't worked. Maybe blunt honesty will do the trick.
"Listen, Dad. I want you to think very hard about the outcomes of our little situation. Play them through in your mind. When you've realized that the only option you have is give me my freedom, call me at home." She shook her head and made her way back out of the facility.
She had plans to see the one man she actually trusted.
