A/N: So here's another update. Thanks for reading, and if you can please let me know what you think.

Chapter 16: Darkness

The darkness slowly began to fade. Her head ached, and little by little she began to feel the rest of her body. She slowly lifted her head and looked around the room. Everything looked fuzzy, and as the room came to focus she realized that her hands were tied to the back of the chair. She heard someone groan behind her, she slowly turned around and spotted Simon sitting behind her, arms tied to the back of the chair.

"Simon."

"Ummmm."

"Simon, are you alright?"

"Sure babe, how about yourself?"

"Peachy." she replied. "What the hell happened?"

"I don't know, someone must have told them that we were coming." he said.

"Who else knew?"

"No one that I can think of."

"There has to be someone." she said.

"Could we stop with the chit chat and get us out of here." he said.

"I don't think I can get loose." she said. She tried to wiggle her arms out of the rope but it was impossible, it was too tight. Suddenly she stopped moving after hearing a few noises. "Do you hear that?"

"What?" he asked continuing to try to get free.

"I think someone's coming." she said.

"Great." Simon said sarcastically. Seconds later the door opened and in came two men. The men circled the room for a few seconds before they stopped in front of Simon.

"Who do you work for?" the taller man asked.

"Listen, man, this is a mistake. I don't know what your talking about." he said. Sydney heard the sounds of Simon being beaten, and closed her eyes trying to regain her composure. After a few minutes the sounds stopped and she watched as the two men walked to the door.

"Next time, you might consider being a little more cooperative." the second man said in a Russian accent. She saw them leave and as soon as the door closed, she continued to try to free herself.

"Are you alright Simon?" she asked, genuinely concerned. Simon didn't answer, he just groaned. Finally after a few seconds she heard him whisper. "I'm fine."

She waited, for what seemed like an eternity, before she asked her next question. "Did you recognize either of them?"

"No. Did you?"

"No. Why didn't you tell them we work for the covenant?"

"You sound surprised."

"I was told you had no loyalties, except to yourself."

"You heard correctly, and that's exactly why I didn't tell them anything."

"I don't understand."

"Listen darling, if we told them, we would be worse than dead. First of all, they wouldn't have let us go until we died, and if the covenant got word that we talked, they would extract us only to torture us as long as is humanly possible. I've worked with them before, I know their techniques and believe me a beating, or death is much more pleasant. I suggest that when they ask you, you too keep it to yourself, it's for your own good."

—Hours later—

The men walked into the room once more, this time they stopped in front of Sydney.

"Have you decided to talk?"the tall one said.

"I don't know anything." she said as she closed her eyes expecting the beating that was to come. Instead she heard the man whistle. She opened her eyes and several armed men walked into the room. Three men approached Simon and untied him. They carried him out of the room, continually beating him to prevent an attempt of escape. Two more armed men walked toward Sydney.

Before they untied her, the taller man began to punch Sydney. She couldn't fight back, she was tied to the chair, all she could do was take the beating. One man from behind her cut the rope while two more carried her from the arms and dragged her out. In front of her a man would hit her with the baton in his hand every few seconds. She was in so much pain, but she tried hard to stay awake. Finally she was taken into a cell. They threw her on the floor and locked the door, leaving her there, bleeding and in pain. Once she heard the men leave, she closed her eyes and thought of her beloved Vaughn. She silently cried, hoping and wishing that this would be over soon, and that she would once again be in the arms of the man she loved. With those thoughts she fell asleep on the cold concrete floor of the dark cell she was in, and dreamt of Vaughn.

–Two weeks later in LA–

Jack walked into the restaurant, and looked around until he spotted Agent Vaughn sitting at one of the tables at the far end. Jack walked towards him and sat down across from him.

"Agent Vaughn." he said matter-of-factly.

"Jack, thank you for coming." Vaugn said to him. It was awkward seeing Jack in a such a social setting. Aside from Jack being one of the most intimidating men that Vaughn had ever met, he was also the most unsocial, to say the least.

"You said it was a matter of life or death. I assume that this has to do with Lauren."

"Actually no. Lauren is the least of my worries right now."

"Then what is this about?" Jack asked as the waiter approached them.

"Can I take your orders?" the waiter asked.

"I'll just have a cup of coffee." Vaughn said.

"Nothing for me." Jack said.

Once the waiter left, Vaughn began telling Jack what their meeting was all about.

"It's about your daughter."

"What about her?"

"She's alive." Vaughn finally said. He had thought of a million different way to break the news to Jack. He didn't want to shock him, to make it seem like he was being delusional. Finally he had decided to simply say it, no preparing Jack for it, simply telling him the truth. Surprisingly Jack's face showed no emotion. Vaughn always knew that Jack wasn't an emotional man, but to have no reaction to the news that his dead daughter wasn't actually dead, it seemed heartless to him. "Aren't you going to say anything?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

"I already knew." he simply said.

"What? How long have you known?"

"Longer than you if that's what you're asking."

"You've known all this time and you did nothing to help her? What kind of father are you?"

"Listen Agent Vaughn, I can understand that you have feelings for my daughter, but don't presume to know anything about me, simply because you and my daughter are close. What kind of father I am does not concern you and whether you choose to believe it or not, everything I do, I do for her." Jack said, more seriously than usual. Jack stood up but before he left, Vaughn spoke up.

"Jack wait. If you really do care about your daughter, than you should stay." he said. Jack turned around and sat down once more. "Sydney and I have maintained contact for the past few weeks. She was supposed to contact me 12 days ago, she didn't. I think something went wrong, I'm sure that if she was okay she would have made it known to me. That's why I called you, I need your help. I don't have the resources I did when I was at the CIA. I need you to help me find her."

"The last I heard, she was in Algeria, a mission to retrieve the missing keys. She told Kendell she wouldn't be able to contact him for some time. Are you sure that she was supposed to contact you?"

"She was supposed to show up at a restaurant, just sit there, and once she showed up I was to be informed. It was simply so that I knew that she was alright. She didn't show up. She contracted three free-lancers, they haven't been able to reach her either. I have a few contacts in Algeria, they've been on the look-out for her. They tell me that there hasn't been any sign of either Sydney or Simon. She's in danger Jack, I know it."

"I believe you. I'll look into it and get back to you as soon as I know anything."

"Thank you." Vaughn watched as Jack stood up and left. He was relieved that Jack believe him, he knew that Jack would find her. He only hoped that they weren't too late.

—In Algeria–

"Simon." she called out. "Simon, can you hear me? Simon?" Calling out for him was now just as difficult as standing up. Her body was so frail and broken. Over the past few weeks they had been starved and beaten, and tortured in many different ways. Simon had been taken out of his cell almost an hour ago, when they returned him he looked dead, but she knew that they wouldn't have brought him back if he was dead.

"I'm here." she heard him say. She closed her eyes in relief, he was the only person that she had now. They had become friends, if you can even call them that, over the several days that they had spent together in opposite cells. Their cells were only separated by a concrete wall, but they would sit in the corner next to the bars and talk to each other every day, and from time to time he would reach his hand out to her and momentarily she would feel safe.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'll be fine. How are you holding up?" he asked. She stayed silent, all he could hear were her sobs. "Hey, it'll be fine. We'll get out of here, I promise."

"I'm so tired." she said as she wiped away her tears. "I don't know how much more I can take. I just want to go home, all I ever wanted was to go home."

She saw his hand reach out of his cell she reached out hers as well. They held each other's hands in silence. It was comforting to her, it made her feel less alone. At least they had someone to share their pain with.