It wasn't long before Harriet had reached Sydney in the bathroom, discreetly passing around her to refresh herself in the mirror.
"Julia!" She said in apparent surprise. "Sorry to run off like that. You know how it is with the leaders…always wanting something right?"
Although Sydney couldn't honestly relate to any "dealings" with any Covenant leaders she offered a small nod. "Don't worry about it." She falsely assured the brunette.
"I wasn't expecting to see you here or Julian for that matter. I never thought him the type to attend such tedious venues." She talked to Sydney with an exaggerated sense of knowledge about Sark Sydney wondered for a brief moment whether Harriet had any interesting info on him, but dismissed the idea, concluding that she was simply a moron under the orders of The Covenant.
"Really?" She replied in the same surprised tone.
"Yes. Especially the two of you working together." She roamed. "I'd never have guessed you two to be such compatible partners." Harriet added to reinforce the obvious bait for Sydney.
"I find it helps to work with someone who knows you don't you think?" She asked in an innocent manner.
"I suppose." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Is that all you do…work with Julian?"
Sydney thought about how to word her answer before she spoke. "I'd say Julian and I have a very…unprofessional relationship."
"I see." Was all Harriet said.
"Well it's been lovely talking to you. I hope to do it again sometime." Sydney lied, making a clear b-line for the bathroom exit.
"Sure." She heard Harriet mumble a she stepped out into the crowded hall again. The music was a little too monotonous for her liking, but still she gave a polite smile to irrelevant suits that happened to look her way as she swayed over to seat herself next to Sark again.
Aware of some people still watching her she casually ran her hand across Sark's shoulders before seating herself to take a sip of her drink.
"I take it you had a nice chat then?" Sark couldn't disguise his curiosity.
"She thinks you're spoken for if that's what you mean." She sighed, casually scanning the hall. "Has Jawlenski showed his face yet?"
"Not as yet, but he will. If I remember rightly he likes to make a delayed entrance. For the time being though I must admit I'm quite enjoying our rather convincing façade."
"Do me a favour and get over yourself, Sark." She sighed deeply raising the crystal glass of Martini to her lips again, this time taking a fuller amount. When she was done she removed the cocktail stick, which pierced the olive and raked it off into her mouth, combined with an evil glare in his direction.
"As memory serves me…Julia, you once called me cute." He recalled raising one side of his mouth to give a half smirk.
"Um…" She agreed, rolling her neck to look at him. "…And I also called you a dog." She retorted.
Sark was about to reply when his gaze was drawn to a man entering the crowd at the far side of the hall. "He's here."
"Jawlenski?" Sydney asked discreetly looking over to Sark's eye line.
"Yes. Talking to the gentleman in the grey suit."
"I got him." She told him, finishing off her almost full drink, which half calmed her. "I guess all we do now is wait."
He raised his eyebrows, surprised at her ability to have such a high intake of alcohol at once, while she collared the waiter over for another drink. "Before you surfeit in alcohol may I suggest we get the job done first?"
"I'm fine." She quipped back, sliding the drink closer to her from the waiter only to stare blankly down into it lazily stirring it with the olive cocktail stick.
It had been roughly an hour and Sydney feared she might actually die from boredom. Either that or repulse from having to act like she didn't want to rip Sark's throat out. Nevertheless she had managed to keep her mouth closed when they had mingled among the crowd, making happy with the other morons filling the room. She was just about to head over to the bar for yet another drink when a sharp screech echoed around the hall and she saw a man announce himself over a microphone on a small built up stage at the rear of the room.
"Thank god!" She let out, realising too late what she had said and cringed slightly at the shocked faces now surrounding her. "I love the donating part!" She added in an attempt to mask her inner frustration. The confused audience offered some wary smiles before turning their attention to the stage.
"Exactly how many have you had?" Sark asked below a whisper in her ear. Any spectator would assume he was whispering sweet compliments in her ear and that's what amazed Sark the most; the fact that as far as anyone else in the room was concerned Sydney was his for the night., a concept he wouldn't have difficulty accepting.
"If you're implying that I'm drunk…" Her voice trailed off for a moment overwhelmed by the sudden nauseous feeling, which filled her as she spun on him. Without hesitation Sark extended his hand to grab her arm, steadying her. "…Then you're probably right." She admitted teetering slightly on her heels. "But that in no way means that I am incapable of doing what we came here to do tonight."
"Then I suppose we should head upstairs then." He suggested.
Flicking her arm out of his grip she turned steadily to see that the man upon the stage was making his way through the crowd accompanied by a few more Covenant suits carrying large buckets. "Dammit!" She shouted, this time aiming to attract the attention of the people surrounding her. Turning to Sark she said, "Honey, I forgot my purse. I left it upstairs in our room."
"No need to worry, Julia." Sark made as if to calm her reaching inside his jacket pocket to retrieve their room key card. "It wont take a minute for you to pop up and get it."
"Okay." She smiled snatching the card from his fingers began to hurry towards the elevator. However, Sark rushed to her side when she staged stumbling past the crowd, falling into a nearby businessman, who wasn't too disgruntled by the incident.
"Maybe I should go with you." Sark said for the benefit of the onlookers. He turned to address them, saying quietly, "She tends to get a bit carried away at such venues", and with a polite nod he saw Sydney to the elevator. Sydney only let go of her head when the doors had rolled shut and took the time to take a deep breath.
"I can't help but think that our little shared back then wasn't entirely acting on your part." Sark implied.
"Look, you are only here because I need help to get this file. You want to question my methods? That's fine, but leave it until after we get what we're here for."
"Would you even address my questions then?" He retorted casually, sneaking another glance at the back of her dress in the elevator mirror.
She wasn't entirely sure she would have answered him if the elevator doors hadn't swung open at that moment. Choosing to ignore him she cautiously stepped out of the elevator out into an empty hallway, which lead in only one direction, to the pentagon suite. Sark wasn't far behind her as they stalked a little way down to the sharp corner at the end of the hallway. She stopped for a brief moment resting her back against the wall. "You ready?" She whispered and then stepped out around the corner as a result of his curt nod.
The guard spotted her instantly and shifted into an armed stance. "Miss, you're not supposed to be up here."
"I'm not!" She gasped in shock, slapping one hand on the wall to steady her, which was half staged. "But my room is up here."
"This is the pentagon suite." He informed her in a serious patronising tone. "Only Mr. Jawlenski has access to this floor."
"Wow." Sydney slurred. She looked up and down the hall in a drunken manner. "Then I guess I'm really in the wrong place." He made no attempt to lower his gun, so Sydney threw her hands up in confusion. "I was just trying to find my room. You don't happen to know where it is do you?" She asked edging closer towards him, yet he didn't lower his gun. "I mean I have the key card, it says the room number right here…"
He cocked his head to observe the number on the card. "203 should be on the second floor." The guard told her dropping his gun down to his side to point at the elevator. "Just take the second elevator…" his voice trailed off.
Sydney slid the card open in her fingers, releasing a clear gas aimed directly at the guard. He slumped helplessly against the wall down to the floor. She looked back to see Sark emerge from around the corner.
"Excellent work." He complemented. Sydney shifted the man from the doorway and assessed the lock on the door. "How do you propose we get through the door without a key?"
She didn't answer. Instead she raised the hem of her dress slightly to fumble her fingers around the edge of it. Sark was about to raise concern before she snapped open a section of the lining of her dress to withdraw a small metal rod. There were a few more parts she had hidden, but was able to construct a digital lock unscrambler, which she slid into position above the door lock and waited patiently for it to carry out its work.
He was hardly surprised that she had come prepared, yet he couldn't help but be amazed at her methods. "That's a wonderful dress." Was all he said, yet she received the full impact of his imposing comment and she was repulsed as she saw his eyes stray from hers for just a second.
Unsure of how to react to his remark Sydney gave a brief sigh before giving the door handle a sharp twist as the device gave a quick high pitched charge. "We're in." She told him, unclipping the unscrambler and tossing it back to him. Pushing through the door after her he began deconstructing the device in the same way he had watched her assemble it.
"We better hurry. I'm a bit suspicious that Jawlenski only assigned one guard." Sark told her, pushing the door to a discreet close.
"Then we'll just have to not be a round to find out." Sydney replied pacing around the large pentagon suite, trying to find Jawlenski's server. "Any guesses as to where he keeps his…" Her voice trailed off as she spotted the large four-posted bed just past the kitchen area.
"So predictable." Sark muttered as he followed her through into the bedroom.
Sydney traced the underneath of the bed frame with her fingers feeling for any sort of concealed compartments. She paused when she came across a small metal latch and eased it open to reveal a nifty wooden drawer, which she slid out towards her. Inside was a laptop, which she fired up immediately. "It's encrypted." She informed him, unable to disguise the edge of panic in her voice.
Sark shifted over to her to take a closer look and began typing. "It's a standard Covenant firewall. It'll take two minutes to disable."
"Just hurry." She warned him, sitting back slightly as she watched him tap the keyboard frantically. It became a rhythm to her and she found herself lost for a moment unable to avert her eyes from his nimble fingers, which danced over the keys. She convinced herself it was purely the effects of the large amount of alcohol she had consumed downstairs.
"Done." He said, moving back to let her in to the laptop screen. As he did so he saw her shake out of some deep running thought and was curious as to what had captured her so fully.
"Good." Sydney assured herself, chasing away the haze in her head. She reached around to the back of her dress, sliding a small disc in a plastic wallet from the wide stretch of cloth, which draped across the small of her back. Popping it in the laptop she set about copying the data. "We're almost done." The CIA file transferred successfully onto the disc and Sydney returned the laptop exactly as they had found it.
"Surely it can't be that simple." Sark rose for concern as they made an exit from the room.
"We'll just have to find out." She replied, suddenly aware that the guard was quickly coming around to consciousness. "Now get gone." Sark did as commanded, slapping the unscrambler into her palm before he slipped around the corner of the corridor, out of sight. Satisfied that he wasn't spotted, Sydney popped the metal pieces back into her dress and then crouched down to the guard and fanned him in a feeble attempt to revive him.
The man sprung to his feet immediately, bringing his gun up to his defence. "Back up!" he shouted.
"Hey! Relax! I was just trying to help!" Sydney yelped straining her hand up in the air. The guard looked very confused, not letting the gun drop. "You fainted." Sydney elaborated.
"I what?" The guard asked in disbelief.
"Yeah. You…fainted. I was just trying to find my room and you go ahead a faint." She rambled in a drunken state. "I mean talk about bad luck!" She saw him examine the door, which apparently was how he had last checked it. "Look, do you need some water or…"
"I'm fine!" He spun on her, gun aimed to perfection. "Now go before I report your whereabouts! You're not supposed to be up here."
"Okay, okay!" Sydney gave in, retreating down the hallway, which lead to the elevator. Once she was clear round the corner she picked up her pace, running towards the elevator doors. Sark was waiting for her, ready to dash inside when it came to the pentagon floor.
"Did he buy it?" He asked.
"I think so." Sydney slurred as she came to a halt beside him. She regretted having so much to drink earlier and willed her spinning head to go away from her short sprint.
"You think…?" Sark began but he paused as he heard deep laughter rising in the elevator shaft. He shot Sydney a puzzled look, yet the one he got back from her wasn't much help.
Her mind raced wildly, considering all the options and with no weapons she was out of any logical ideas. Still the voices approached them faster and a subtle ring sounded from above the elevator. "Oh God." She muttered inwardly.
"Sydney?" Sark prompted her for a plan, now somewhat panicked.
The reply she gave wasn't remotely what he had been expecting; yet he would be the last to complain. Just seconds before the aluminium doors had flung open Sydney had launched herself against him, sending him hard against the wall, ruffling his hair about as she did so. Although extremely confused about her frenzy, he didn't question, even when she scrunched his shirt collar up in a deliberate action. Then just as the three men had stepped out from the elevator she had pressed her lips hard against his presenting the gentlemen with a much believable display of a lustful couple.
Sark wasted not time in receiving the kiss by cupping his hands firmly around the small of her back, encouraging her closer, yet it was clear she was in complete control. Secretly objecting to his suggestive hands, Sydney reached back to lay her own on his. To untrained eye it would look like a normal loving gesture, but Sark knew it was her way of making sure his hands did not wander. With her other hand she raked roughly through his hair, pushing his head back hard. He found it all rather delightful in a painful way, feeling her warm up against him.
The front man of the three cleared his throat as a signal for them to address him, feeling insulted by their lack of response to his entrance. Pulling away, Sydney twisted in Sark's grip to lean her back against his chest, which heaved revelling from the kiss. "Sorry." She chuckled giddily as a show of embarrassment in front of the men who were now studying her. It was clearly Jawlenski and his minions.
"May I ask exactly what you two might be doing up here." Jawlenski asked.
"We got lost." Sydney breathed. "And we were just trying to find a room." She slowly lifted one arm to drape across the back of Sark's neck as a frisky gesture, only in truth she nipped at the nape of his neck; her own way of urging him to talk.
"I see." Exclaimed the businessman. "You know this area is strictly off limits?"
"Yes. We were just on our way down. Julia here appears to have had a little too much to drink…." He ran a finger down the inside of her raised arm. "…not that I'm complaining."
Sydney smiled slightly, discreetly dropping her arm back down. Her smile widened as she stepped her foot backward to dig her heel hard onto his toes. He was unable to react in his desired way, so instead he countered it with a small nibble on her neck, which apparently made her release her heel.
"Mr. Sark." Jawlenski addressed him. "I wasn't aware you'd be attending tonight."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Sark chimed at all three of them; making it known he wasn't to be intimidated by them in any way.
"And you Julia…" He continued, pausing for a moment to take her all in. "…I've been hearing some very interesting stories about you." Jawlenski came forward to take both her hands, pulling her towards him and out of Sark's grasp. Sark's frustration was palpable and Jawlenski delighted in his attitude. Whenever they had worked together there had always been a strong underlying presence of competition on Jawlenski's part and Sark could see that was still the case.
"All good I hope." Sydney prodded, letting herself draw closer to him. She got the impression that Jawlenski wasn't the most professional of people within The Covenant and reassessed her judgements of Sark for a moment.
"Could a woman like you ever do anything bad?" He replied in a seductive manner.
All of Sydney's suspicions were confirmed and she tilted her head considering the question. "Do you really want be to answer that?"
Jawlanski only laughed. "She's a wild one Julian." He said shifting his gaze past Syd to Sark. "Sure you can handle her?"
"In all respect…she's not the type to be handled." He quipped coolly shuffling forward slightly, neatening his appearance.
"I like that in a woman." Jawlenski told her. Sydney simply offered a sweet smile. "You know I would love to work with you sometime. Maybe next time you're around you could drop me a line. I think it'd be a good experience for us both."
"Absolutely." Sydney assured the man, working her hands out of his. "Next time I'm around." She added as she moved passed him to head into the elevator.
Sark stepped in on cue offering a firm arm around her waist. Normally she would have rejected it, but she found herself leaning into it for stability. Jawlenski watched them both as they retreated into the mirrored elevator cabin. He smirked at the quick wink Sydney gave as she pushed a button next to the door.
Relief filled them both as the doors swung to a close and Sydney backed away from Sark taking a deep breath. Sark made an attempt to talk, but her raised hand silenced him.
"Don't." She warned him. "Just don't."
They had made it back down to the ground floor, having made a quick stop at their room to get Sydney's purse for authenticity purposes. They had done it; got the file, yet Sydney felt far from relieved. She knew that she was only halfway to clearing her name in the CIA and the hardest part was yet to come. For now though, all they could do was wait. There was no leaving the hotel tonight so she decided she would start fresh tomorrow morning and made a b-line for the bar in search of some more alcohol, mostly to remove the taste of Sark from her mouth. She glanced over at him and saw that he was in a deep trail of thought so Sydney left him to his own thoughts. As long as he wasn't talking she was happy for now.
Sark saw her to the bar, yet he was lacking in the way of cocky remarks. His head was too busy replaying their kiss before and he found himself completely oblivious to the droning sounds of the people around him.
It was late or early rather. Sydney didn't even bother to check the time; for fear that she wouldn't be able to reach any readable conclusion from the symbols on the watch on her wrist. She shuffled into their hotel room, followed by Sark and threw her purse down on the mini bar.
"My God. That was the most boring night of my life." She sighed slipping her shoes off one after the other.
"I found it rather…eventful." Sark replied.
"Oh please!" She scoffed. "You call that eventful? You need to get out more."
"I wasn't talking about the Charity event, Sydney." He elaborated, walking over to place himself on a stool behind the mini bar surface. Sydney made a quick departure, moving swiftly through into the bedroom to access the bathroom. "I was talking about that kiss you and I shared!" He shouted back to her.
Sydney heard him very clearly, yet chose to ignore him and instead leant on the edge of the bathtub to release hot water from the taps. She dipped the tips of her fingers in the water to check it was hot and poured an excessive amount of bubble bath into it. "Hot is good." She chimed. "So good." Feeling a little nauseous from bending over she stood tall and stepped back into where Sark was pouring himself a glass of red wine.
"Want one?" He asked, showing her the bottle. Even though she couldn't make out the letters of the label she shook her head, opting not to fuel herself with any more drink. "We need to talk, Sydney."
"We really don't." She said. Avoiding him completely she slid open the large French doors connected to the balcony and stepped out into the cool breeze of the night…or morning, she wasn't entirely sure.
He traced her steps and met her out on the cold concrete slab attached to the building. She stared blankly out onto the thriving street below, half attempting to fix her gaze on a solid subject.
"We kissed Sydney." Sark said matter of fact.
"You don't say." She sighed, wanting so much to not be having such a conversation, least of all people with Sark.
"Sydney." He called her, drawing her full attention to him and in that moment he was completely taken aback by her, by everything about her. The way she stood before him bare foot. Cold. Yet there were no signs of shivers along her skin. The loose strands of hair reached for him in the light breeze and he imagined her doing the same, yet he knew any chance of that would only be her drunken stumble.
"Listen to me, Sark. We kissed, but I want it to be clear to you that I was only acting upon last resort instincts. I would never-!" She broke off, composing herself.
His gaze never left the streetlights down below. "I appreciate your honesty, however I must make it known that my feelings aren't as mutual." He bought his eyes up to hers for what he was about to say. "Sydney I…" There was a slight awkward pause of hesitation before he finished. "I wanted you to know that I would hate for a meaningless kiss to be the reason for us not to work together."
"You're right." She nodded. He hadn't fully expected for her ranting of disgust for him to end just yet and took her reaction at face value. "It was meaningless." Sydney added, taking a stride back into the room. There it was; the final words that were engineered to rip through him like ice. Sark remained in the night trying to make clear distinctions on exactly what he felt. The only conclusion he came to was that when it came to Sydney, nothing was clear.
Desperate for the night to officially be over, Sydney stopped the water flow from the tap and sat there for a few long seconds. It was then that she realised her sheer exhaustion. Feeling an opportunity to stand up she raised herself unsteadily and returned to see that Sark was still on the balcony.
"Sark." She went out to him.
He could hear the sound of metal clinking in her hand as she came to stand behind him. "That time again is it?" He mocked, taking another sip of his wine.
"I'm feeling rather…drunk." She frowned at her own admittance to him. "So I'll let you choose where you wanna be; balcony or bedroom? The bathrooms out because I find it easier to relax when you're not in close proximity and well…I'll be getting a bath!" She rambled, leaning against the doorway. He only looked at her, mind still whirring in thought. "Balcony it is then!" She came forward to grasp his wrist, but he caught hers first.
"Sydney. I'm not going anywhere." He assured her.
There was some edge in his voice that made her curious as to what he had been thinking about. She stood straight, meeting his gaze full on. "We've had this conversation."
"That was before. I have nothing to gain from escaping. More to the point I don't want to, Sydney." Sark confessed bending her wrist up between them and plucked the handcuffs from her fingers.
She wasn't sure why she gave them up so easily or why she had let him have hold of her for that long. Scared of what all the evidence lead to she squirmed her wrist out of his touch and marched in to the bathroom.
"Enjoy your bath." He called back to her, simply to take the last words, which he very rarely got around her.
"A bath. That's all I need." Sydney chimed to herself, reaching for a towel, which she lay beside the bath. Taking a deep breath she began unfolding her hair in front of the mirror. Removing her dress she placed the disc within her clear sight next to the sink basin.
She would have undressed further had it not been for Sark's abrupt intrusion. "What the-?" Sydney yelped grabbing the towel to cover herself. "That's it" Where are the handcuffs!"
"They know." He blurted out.
"Who? Know what?" She quizzed, feeling the weight of her own brain in her skull.
"The Covenant. There's at least a dozen police cars parked outside the entrance. It can only mean they know, Sydney."
"Damn it!" She paced for a few seconds, unable to think of a logical plan. "How can they know?"
"The guard must have tipped off Jawlenski. What do you propose we do?" He waited expectantly.
"They can't know about the disc. We have to get out of here." She began gathering her things together, clutching her towel frantically.
"How? There's no way out other than the main entrance, which if I forgot to mention is surrounded. They're probably on their way up here as we speak."
"Get your things. We're leaving." She ordered him, impressed by herself when she saw he obeyed without further question. It wasn't long before they had the necessities collected, including the disc. They both halted in their strides when they heard a bold knock at the door. Sydney swore under her breath as she signalled Sark to follow her into the bathroom.
They dumped their bags in a cupboard underneath the sink and Sydney closed the door quietly. Sark stood there awaiting her next clever idea. He wouldn't have opted for enclosing themselves in the bathroom only to be found by the police, but here he was and he just hoped she had a game plane to such madness.
Aware that the police had entered the room Sydney quickly fixed her hair into a brunette wig, courtesy of the bag she had in the cupboard. "Get in!" She gestured towards the bath.
"Excuse m-." Sark began, but he was unable to finish as a result of her knocking him backward to land in it. Sydney then stepped in herself, lowering each strap of her bra, which she then concealed beneath the bubbles.
Sark emerged sat upright, wiping the water away from his eyes. He didn't even have time to take a large breath before the door swung open and Sydney slid his entire body down with the weight of her heel upon his shoulder.
He lay there still, listening to the muffled sounds of voices. Sydney's was unmistakable, yet he was unable to make out exactly what she was shouting. Her foot remained above his shoulder and her instep was flush against the side of his face. The feel of her skin was extraordinary as her other leg slid into place beside him. He was completely smothered in her and if he had been able to breathe it wouldn't have made much difference. It was only moments before he was about to raise alarm for the need of air when he felt her push against him, raising herself out of the water and for a moment the water seemed cold to him. Then he felt himself being tugged upward by a hand, which he was only relieved to discover it belonged to Sydney.
Sydney saw the door burst inward and prepared herself. "What is the meaning of this!" She demanded, slapping an arm across her chest as if she were completely naked.
A swat team of three invaded the room, taking it in turn to raise their eyebrows in shock. "Pardon the intrusion, Miss." The leading officer spoke. "We're under the impression that a Julia Thorne and a Julian Sark are staying in this room."
"Well that is obviously not the case officer! I am Shelly Walters and a very good customer to this hotel. I'll have you know that I will be filing a formal complaint against this first thing tomorrow! How dare you invade upon me like this! I am outraged!"
The men backed up easily. "I apologise. There's obviously been a mix up in the relaying of information. I'll see to it that you're fully compensated. I'll return after we've carried out our assignment. Don't leave your room, Miss." And with that the men left the room in search for, who they didn't know they had already found.
Sydney hopped out of the bath, planting her sodden feet on the soft floor of the bathroom and grabbed the towel to provide herself with some level of decency. Then she plunged her hand through the bubbles above the water to grasp Sark's shirt collar, bringing him to the surface.
"We've got to go. Now!" She told him, spinning around to the cupboard behind her, yanking their bags out onto the floor.
"How? I have no doubt that the entire entrance is full of swat teams." He said, examining his saturated clothes, which clung to him all over.
"That's why we're not going out that way." Sydney replied, quickly slipping into a black combination of flared bottom jogging trousers and a casual zipped jacket. She had no time to fix her hair, but managed to whip her wig off to let loose her half wet hair. It was hard for her not to fixate her eyes on Sark as he stood before her, soaking wet. "Get something dry on, quickly." Was all she said as she hauled her bag over her shoulder to shove passed him out into the bedroom. She heard Sark rustle about as he undressed, yet she did not turn her head. Instead she dropped to her knees to peek underneath the bed and reached for the harness she had used to lower herself from the rooftop onto the balcony.
Without haste she moved quickly through the hotel room to get to the balcony, where she dropped her bag and began fixing the wire around the railings of the balcony. Sark came to join her, his own bag in his hand and a puzzled look on his face. "So this would be plan B then?"
Sydney drawled her head up to look at him and saw that he had changed into a black jumper and a pair of casual dark jeans. Like her he had thought practically and chosen convenient attire. "You got a better plan?"
He had no answer. Grateful that he had chosen not to throw any sarcastic remarks her way she clipped the end of the wire onto the front of the harness, checking it was secure and slid her shoulder through one of the leg spaces. Picking up her bag with her other arm she turned to him expectantly.
"You really don't expect me to-" He began, but was hushed by her abrupt frustration.
"Listen! Those men will be back as soon as they realise that they came knocking on the right door and believe me it's only a matter of time until they do! I got what I came for and I'm quite happy to let you stay here to find your own way out." Sydney continued to attach a metal canister to both the harness and the end of the wire to enable her to control the speed at which they fell.
Hesitantly Sark slung his bag in his arm and stepped forward to slide his other arm through the free leg space in the harness. He caught a glimpse of the street below and fully appreciated the height they were about to dismiss and launch themselves willingly over the railing.
Sydney gave a few last tugs of the cable and then paused looking straight at him. He was close, but she knew that if she didn't want her arm broken they would both need to hold on to each other. However, she prolonged that fact as long as she could and raised herself up on the ledge of the balcony and dangled her legs over. Sark didn't waste any time in doing the same.
She turned to him abruptly. He saw a glimpse of discomfort in here eyes and he knew it wasn't because of the harness around her arm. "You ready?" She breathed, calming herself for the absurd fall they were about to perform.
"It would be rather useless if I said no wouldn't it?" He replied, giving her a flicker of a smile.
"Okay. Here we go." She warned him, securing the bag she held in her hand and wrapped her other arm around the cable to clutch the canister, making sure she was able to function the small lever. Then with extreme disbelief of what she was about to do, she edged closer to Sark beside her and linked her other arm around his back, which he returned by wrapping his firmly around her waist.
Sark looked directly at Sydney, now aware that this was not a prank of any sort. Sydney, on the other hand, was too distracted looking down at the shadow of the street below, trying to judge their exact height. She brought her eyes across to his for a brief moment and realised that he was staring at her, holding her and in that instant she kicked her heels back sharply against the balcony, sending them to slice through the bitter night air.
They came to a quick grounding and a smooth one too, courtesy of Sydney. As soon as the pavement met her feet, she sprang out of Sark's grip, unclasping the canister along with the harness. She knew there was no time to collect the wire, which dangled freely above them, but taking both the harness and canister she began to sprint away from the hotel.
"What now?" Sark shouted as he followed step.
"The car." She replied, not bothering to slow down. They careened around the back of the hotel and entered the large parking garage. Sark took Sydney's lead aware that she had been the one to park the car and zigzagged through cars as she did. "Here." She told him, fumbling the keys out of her bag to deactivate the alarm system. The silver car gave a brief shower of beeps, before both of them reached the doors.
Sydney had automatically gone to the driver's door, but paused in front of it. Noticing her hesitation, Sark did the same, looking expectantly across at her over the hood of the car. "Sydney." He prompted after a beat, eager to know why the frantic run had suddenly halted.
She threw the keys over to him, which he caught perfectly, although thoroughly confused as to why e now had them. "You drive." Was all she told him as she passed round the front of the car to switch doors. He did the same, seeing no time for question.
In unison they popped both doors open and dropped down into the car and offloaded their bags onto the seats behind them. Sark slotted the key into the ignition and revved the car to life before skidding it out from the lot Sydney had parked in and out of the garage.