He thought he could see the look of surprise on her face but he couldn't be sure. When she had looked up and saw him she had immediately turned to speak with staff, so he wondered. They hadn't talked in a while. She got up from her table and looked to where he was standing. A couple of her men were keeping him from getting any closer until she nodded to them. Walking towards her, she matched his smirk with one of her own.

"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in."

She knew where he had been but didn't mention it. He took her hand and raised it to his lips in greeting. Just because he had been caged like an animal didn't mean that he had become one.

"Please, have a seat Mr. Sark."

He held her chair for her as she sat and then joined her.

"I see your manners are still impeccable, considering."

"I would love to reminisce about old times Alex, but I should warn you that I'm here for a reason."

Alex nodded once to this. The only time people came to see her was when they wanted information, so it wasn't a surprise.

"Drink?" she asked him.

Once they were settled, drinks on the table and no interruptions he got down to business.

"Someone is looking for information," he started. "I wanted to talk to you about it first. Seems this person is very adamant that they find out. I know you normally only deal face to face, but I felt I needed to ask you first before I said anything."

"You know how I run my business Sark. Obviously you think I can help so how about you get to the point and stop being so cryptic."

"Now, now, you American's and your need to 'get to the point'. You should learn to enjoy the anticipation sometimes. It hurts me that you don't enjoy spending time with me." He pouted.

She laughed out loud with no desire to hold back. Soon he joined in, their greetings to each other now complete. It was as close as either got to having friends.

"First, I'm not American, " she said to Sark when the laughter had subsided. "second, anticipation at the right moment can be extremely satisfying and third, I find it hard to believe that you couldn't find someone to 'enjoy spending time with you'."

The two of them were frighteningly similar although if asked both would deny it. Sark had heard of Alex years ago and had been keeping her as a successful contact for the past 3. She stayed out of people's way and was very good at what she did.

"You know I don't want to just find anyone, I want someone special, someone who will love me for me – "

He couldn't even finish the sentence without laughing.

"Let's get this work out of the way and then we can continue this conversation of your search for true love. Now, someone is looking for information about someone else and you think I can help? If you were any more vague you wouldn't even be here."

"I can see your confusion about the situation. To clear things up a little the information this person is looking for is about Sydney Bristow."

Hearing the name Sydney Bristow just confused Alex more. As far as she knew Sydney had gone missing for 2 years and come back with no memory. The time that had passed since then didn't really shed any light as to what happened to her. There were rumors of course but Alex didn't deal in rumors, but her gut did tell her that there was more to Miss Bristow's missing time.

She sat there and considered what Sark was asking. After a minute she let Sark know what she was thinking.

"I can't give you anything right now, I have to do some checking first but if everything works out here are the terms; I need to know who I am dealing with. Each bit of information has its own price. If I find someone that has something, my fee does not include further negotiations. And finally, there will be no retaliation towards me or my business. If it doesn't work out or the truth can't be handled, not my problem. I think that's about it for now."

"Of course Alex. Your terms are more than fair. I will relay this to my…friend. In the meantime you will find out if you can help or not."

They looked at each other, Alex smiling first.

"Anything else?"

"No."

"Good. Now how about another glass of Petrus?"