It was good to be home. Espinosa was still at large, but at least she didn't have Sark's

Mom. That's what Sydney had to taken to calling the Mona Lisa. If only he knew. The

thought made her smile mischievously.

"What's that smile for?" asked Weiss. He was helping her cook dinner for Nadia and

Vaughn.

"I'm just happy to be home."

"What? Didn't you enjoy Paris, zee capital of love?" His French accent was absolutely

horrendous. She laughed hysterically at his antics for another fifteen minutes. Just as Weiss

was beginning to make her cry, the doorbell rang. A breathless Sydney wiped the tears from

her eyes and took a quick peek in the hall mirror to make sure her make-up hadn't run.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door.

"Hey, guys, come on–Sark? What are you doing here?"

He certainly looked magnificent in his black Armani suit, and his black Armani tie, and his

black Armani overcoat. Even his hair was curled to perfection. Something was up. Sydney

could smell it in the air.

"A good evening to you as well, Sydney. I hope you have sufficiently recovered from our

eventful trip."

Sydney's cheeks attempted to turn a bright red. She willed them not to.

"What do you want, Sark?"

"I simply wanted to return these." He held up a pair of lacy, black string bikini underpants.

"I found them mixed in with my own clothing."

Sydney gasped. She had worn those on the day of the mission. Their absence hadn't been

missed. Just as she reached to snatch them from Julian's hands, an angry voice growled,

"What's going on here?"

Vaughn. Standing on the porch. Watching Sark dangle Sydney's sexy underpants in front of

her. Crap.

Sark placed the object of everyone's attention in her hands and smirked. "I was just

leaving."

He practically danced down the walkway to his black Mercedes.

As soon as the perpetrator was gone, Vaughn immediately wanted to know what was going

on. "Why was he holding your underwear?"

Sydney tried her best to explain about the...mix-up. Though the fiasco in the bathroom

artfully managed to be left untold, most likely for the best. When she was done, he seemed

satisfied with her explanation. "I'm sorry, Syd. It's just after what he and Lauren did–"

She nodded to show her understanding.

In truth, Sydney Bristow was getting very tired of reminiscing about Lauren.