Sydney settled down into their brand new four bedroom house in Boise, Idaho. It wasn't really where she wanted to be, but Tempe, Piedmont, and Sacramento hadn't worked out for them. This was their fifth new home in just that many months. Like clockwork, every third week or so, someone magically discovered the location where she was and tried to either hurt one of the adults or both of the children. It was getting to be annoying.

Now Sark had some crazy scheme that he wouldn't tell her about.

That wasn't just annoying. It was downright aggravating.

She had been bugging him for days, since he decided to do whatever he was trying to do. It was almost immediately apparent to her that Sark was hiding something from her. For the first time in their relationships, he really refused to tell her what he was planning, and she couldn't think of any way to get the answers out of him. Not even overt sexual advances worked.

It was like the old Sark had decided to pay her a visit. He was conniving and manipulated of everyone just so he could fulfill this silly plan of his. She was starting to think that maybe he had gotten bored of the married life and the 1.5 kids they currently had. If she was being honest, she didn't know how he could manage to think of their life of constant moving and dodging bullets as anywhere close to boring, but it wasn't a complete impossibility.

She was pulled from her thoughts as Lauren entered the room with Sydney's six-month-old daughter in her arms. They were both bundled up for the relatively chilly day outside. Obviously, Lauren planned on going somewhere.

"Where are you going with Hope?" Sydney asked.

"We thought we'd go out and see the neighborhood's Christmas decorations," Lauren explained simply.

"We?"

Vaughn stepped into the room with Tyler. "She means the three of us and Hope. We were going to grab some dinner after it gets too cold to walk around."

"And then the new Disney movie is playing at the movie theater," Tyler said with a smile.

"Well that sounds like a fun day," Sydney said, straightening Tyler's crooked hat with love. She turned back to Lauren and gave her a funny look. "You're not evil, are you?"

Lauren smirked. "I thought about it once. Thought about betraying my husband, maybe trying to kill him. Then I might steal your husband away from you. It would all end in a brilliant gun fight to the death between the two of us." She sighed. "But then I thought do I really have that much energy? So instead I got up off the coach and got a cup of coffee."

Nodding her acceptance, she turned her attention back to Tyler's father. "I just wished someone would have run it by me before taking my daughter out of the house. I mean, it isn't like she's in constant danger of being abducted or killed, right?" Sydney slapped her hand dramatically. "Oh, that's right! She is in constant danger."

Lauren gave her a weird look before continuing on her way out the door. Vaughn leaned down to kiss Sydney lightly on the top of the head. "This whole trip was your husband's idea. We thought he would have told you."

Before Sydney had a chance to ask them to elaborate a little more, all four of her fellow housemates were out the door. "Well," she said to herself. "Now what am I supposed to do? There are no new leads on this crazy new Rambaldi prophecy for me to pursue. I haven't seen Sark in over six hours, and my child was just abducted for a day of fun."

As if answering her plea, her cell phone began to ring from the other room. She managed to hop over the stray cat that Tyler had found in the alleyway behind his new school and maneuver her way around the hundreds of still-to-be unpacked boxes without killing herself or causing anything irreversible harm. It was a feat that took all of her spy training to pull off, but she did it.

"Mountaineer… I mean Agent Bristow…. I mean Agent Four… I mean… Oh hell! This is Sydney. You better have something good for me."

"That was cute," Sark said from the other end of the line.

"Where the hell have you been all day, mister? And why didn't you tell me that you were going to have Lauren and Vaughn take our child out of this house?"

"It was a surprise."

"I don't like surprises. You know that."

"You'll like this one when you see where it's headed, love." She could practically feel him grinning widely through the phone and had to clench her hands into fist to keep from hitting something. He was so infuriating. "I left you a little surprise on the bed upstairs. I'll be home in fifteen minutes. You better be ready."

Before she could yell at him for his shady behavior, he had already hung up on her. "Well, Mr. Rude, I don't think I'm going to play your little game," she yelled at the dial tone. She threw her phone at the couch which it bounced off of and hit the floor.

She crossed her arms and stared out the window, determined to know the very second he pulled into their driveway. Within seconds, her curiosity had gotten the better for her, and she was racing up the stairs to the bedroom she shared with Sark.

Sitting there on the bed was the prettiest red dress she had ever seen. She reached out to touch it and practically fainted when she felt the soft silk material. There was a rather expensive looking necklace and a matching pair of earrings next to the dress. She didn't know when he had found time to sneak away and buy this stuff, but it seemed like her husband hadn't lost his taste in clothing or jewelry.

"He really doesn't change," she said with a laugh, picking the dress up. She was going to have to hurry if she was to be ready when he got home in ten minutes.

Sark walked up the front walkway to their front door. He had tried to take the long way home but found that he really couldn't put off seeing how Sydney looked in the short little dress he had bought her the day before any longer than he already had. When he saw it on the mannequin in the dress shop window, he knew that it had been made for his wife.

"Sydney, I'm home," he yelled, walking into the kitchen and setting his packages down on the floor. He turned just in time to see her descending the staircase. "Wow."

She smiled at him, glee at his reaction apparent in her eyes. "Really?"

"That dress looks twice as beautiful on then I thought it would."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. She walked over next to him and got on her tiptoes to give him a small peck on the lips. "It was really nice of you."

"I try," he said, unpacking the bags he had brought it.

"The only problem is you forgot to get me shoes to match the dress."

"You don't need shoes," he said without looking up at her.

She walked around to stand between her husband and his unpacking job. "What do you mean I don't need shoes? Of course I need shoes."

"Not where we're going," he said, lightly pushing her out of the way.

"That's the real question now, isn't it, Julian? Where are we going with me dressed up in this skimpy red dress and no shoes?"

He finally looked up at her and smiled slightly. "Nowhere. We're staying right here."

She raised her eyebrows at him in shock. "Really?"

"I had some of your favorite food brought in to the city for you." He gestured to the boxes he had been unpacking.

"Shelled lobster salad. Mixed sashimi. Thai-baked sea bass. Risotto di zucchini." Her eyes caught on the last box. "Oh my god! Is that…"

"Raspberry Ripple ice cream with chocolate truffles," he finished.

"These are from the Ivy, my favorite restaurant in London. How the heck did you get all this, Julian?"

"I had it flown over." He held up his hand before she could ask him how again. "I had the chef flown over to make this all for you at one of the restaurants downtown."

"How did you get him to agree to do that?"

"I simply told him that it would make the day of his prettiest customer." Sark chuckled to himself.

"What's so funny?" she asked as she began to open up all the packages.

"I hadn't even told him my name at that point. But still he said, 'Mrs. Lazarey wants it'? That man has a memory for beautiful women."

"This is so nice. It's too bad that we're going to have to rush through it if we want this placed cleaned up by the time Lauren and Vaughn get back with the children."

Sark turned and winked at her. "They're not coming back. I had them lie to you. They're seeing the new Disney movie on a CIA jet while they fly to Chicago to visit with your father. He's on a rather boring assignment and agreed seeing the children would brighten up his night. They won't be back until tomorrow evening."

"No way," Sydney said shaking her head. "There's no way you actually got us the house all to ourselves for a whole night. You're not that good. I'm not even that good."

Sark just continued to smile at her. He put the ice cream into the freezer and closed up the packages she had opened in her excitement. "Let's go eat." He grabbed a few of the boxes and, placing his hand on the small of her back, led her into the living room.

She stared in awe. The room was lit only by the massive fire roaring in the fireplace on the one wall. "How did you find the time to start a fire?"

"You might not be that good, but I am," he assured her. "Now stopped trying to be polite and feminine. I've lived with you long enough to know that you're dying to dig into this food."

She nodded with excitement and ripped open the first box. "I still can't believe you had all this flown in on a whim."

Sark gave her a strange look. "Not on a whim, Syd. I've been planning this for a while."

"How could you?" she said, not really paying much attention to him as all her focus was on the delicacies in front of her. "You didn't even know that we were going to be living in Boise or at least that we would still be living there when you found time to pull this off."

"You really have no idea why I'm surprising you with all this?" He shook his head as she looked up at him in puzzlement. "Unbelievable. You are so the man in this relationship." He sighed when she continued to look at him in confusion. "What's today's date?"

"December 15th…" Her voice faded off as she realized what she had just said. "Oh god! Today's our one year anniversary."

"Bingo. Finally you put two and two together." He took the wine glass out of her hand and set it down on the fireplace hearth. "Good thing that you look sexy enough in that dress to keep me from getting mad." He reached up and touched the side of her face gently. It surprised him when Sydney shrugged away from his touch. "What's wrong?"

"I can't believe I forgot our wedding day. It's only been three-hundred-sixty-five days, and I've already forgotten the most important day of my life."

Sark grabbed her arms forcefully and pulled her in so close that she found herself sitting on his lap. "I love you, Sydney Lazarey. No matter how many anniversaries you forget along the years, and trust me there will be plenty of anniversaries in our marriage to forget, the fact that I worship every single thing about you won't change. You are my world."

She leaned back against him. "I don't know why you put up with me."

"Did you hear any of the things I just said?" He kissed her lightly on the top of the head while she lazily stroked where his hands were entwined and resting on her stomach.

"I know. It's just that our life is pure chaos again because of me. I keep wondering how many apocalypses and certain death situations it's going to take for you to realize your mistake and run away screaming."

He pulled away slightly so that he could maneuver himself to look into her eyes. "I will never run screaming from you. No matter how many horrible situations we, and I do mean we, find ourselves in, I will be there right back your side. We need each other, Sydney. If you've learned nothing else in the past few years, you should have learned that. I can't survive without you, and you can't survive without me."

She pulled him into a kiss roughly, taking him by surprise when she used her tongue to force his lips open and gain entry into his mouth. He could feel her pulse speed up where his hands grasped her wrists. It didn't surprise him that she was beating in the same fast rhythm as his own heart.

Feeling his hands let go of her slowly and work their way to the straps of her dress, she pulled back. "You sure know how to sweet talk a girl, Julian."

"I always knew how to make you hot."

She shook her head. "No, this is new. Usually it takes you and me in a life-threatening situation to get me going. I seem to remember our first time together."

"That nightclub in Paris," Sark said, the memories of taking her forcefully on that bathroom counter flashing through his head.

"Not exactly the train car in Kiev or that park in Milan, but still a good memory." She stood up and took a step back from him as she slowly pushed the straps of the dress off her shoulders and let the dress pool into a puddle on the floor. Sark swallowed loudly as he realized that she hadn't been wearing a single piece of clothing underneath the dress the whole time he had been home. He couldn't figure out why he was sweating so much all of the sudden.

"So, tiger, let's not waste anymore time now that we have the house to ourselves." She bent her finger and motioned for him to come close.

Without another thought to their past or future, dwelling completely in the present, he got up and pulled her up off the floor. She wrapped her naked legs around his waist and let him carry her up the stairs and into their bedroom. When he set her down on the bed, she looked up at him and smiled. "I've missed you, Julian."

"I never went anywhere, but I know what you mean."

She grabbed his tied forcefully and pulled him down on top of her. "Now shut up and have your way with me."

"Wish granted," he said, leaning down to try to take her to places they hadn't even dared to venture yet.