When I disembarked in Vilnius, I noticed a young man walking towards me. He wore a black leather jacket, and a black cap obscured his long, dark hair. He bumped into me as he walked by. When I turned stare after him, I noticed him motion for me to follow. I hesitated, until he turned to glare at me briefly. Seeing his face for the first time, I knew it was Sark, even under the disguise. I trailed him out.
He led me out of the airport and down the street, before turning into an alley and heading up another road. I followed him carefully, hoping not to appear too obvious. Finally, he got into a car, leaving the passenger door open. I climbed in and pulled the door shut.
"Don't you think that whole cloak and dagger routine was a bit excessive?"
"Not in the least. Agent Dixon has reason to believe that Sloane may suspect him of being disloyal to SD-6. No chances can be taken in this matter."
"Understood. Can I take it Dixon is here?"
"Yes." There was silence for a few minutes, as Sark concentrated on driving and I thought about Syd. Then, something occurred to me.
"Jack told me that you and Irina had found something that might help us find Sydney."
"Indeed." I waited for him to expound on that, soon realizing he wouldn't do so voluntarily.
"Ok. Care to share?"
"Not particularly."
"Excuse me?"
"Irina can explain it better than I can. She's the one who discovered it in the first place."
"Fine," I said irritably. The rest of the five minute drive was passed in cold silence. I was all too happy to oblige when Sark parked and, turning to me, said, "Get out."
We walked into the drab gray building, and I soon set my sights on Irina, Jack, and Dixon. As Sark went over to say something to Irina in private, I couldn't help but marvel at the gathering. Who would have ever thought that this eclectic group of people would honestly be working together for one common goal? I took a moment to mentally tell Sydney how amazing she truly was, before I went to join the other four people.
"What did you find?" I asked, looking straight at Irina. Jack cut in.
"I called in an old favor from someone at the CIA. He took the tracing that you had done, and he went deeper with it, tech the CIA doesn't have. He managed to narrow it down to this city."
"From that, Sark and I checked into phone records from the past few days, and came up with just four phones that have made phone calls to America. If we split up and search those four places, there's a chance that we may yet find Sydney here. Alive." I was dumbstruck. Never had we knowingly been so close to finding her. It brought back memories of the near miss in Mexico, and I grew determined not to let that happen again.
"That sounds good," Dixon finally spoke.
"Ok. Jack and Irina will be working together; the rest of us will be on our own. We'll meet back here as soon as the searches have been concluded," Sark stated. Irina spread a map of the city across the lone table in the room, and began pointing out where each of us was going.
"Jack and I will take this one; it's farthest away, and from what we've gathered, larger and somewhat guarded. Sark, you'll go here. You shouldn't have any difficulties getting in; it's believed to be a residential home. Dixon, this is a store of some kind. I don't imagine they'll take too kindly to someone barging in, but I trust you'll be able to handle it. And Vaughn, this is your mark. We haven't been able to determine precisely what it is, but we're fairly certain that it's not guarded. Is everyone clear?" As we each took one last look at the map of Vilnius, I felt a new hope rising within me, one I hadn't felt in a very long time. We were going to get Sydney Bristow back; we had to.
Jade: I watched 'American Outlaws' today (I love Col Farrell…) and seeing Kendall made me laugh so much!
Secret Agent Girl: Hmm… happy at all? ;) Figured it was about time for Francie to put in another appearance…
miss.pebbles: Hmm… steamy Sarkney… I don't know if I could manage that… but it doesn't matter, not intending to try anytime soon.
Ryanne: Have her hiding out w/ Sark? I don't know if that could even make sense… but it won't happen either way.
Lara: Very glad to hear that I helped to cheer you up, that makes me happy!
Roogal: Thanks for the review, great to hear from someone new!
carrie: Here's more more! And hopefully, more coming soon!
Breezy: Crazy cliffhanger? Hehe. Thanks for the review!
mary_d: Great to hear from you as always. That's the thing I miss most about real Franice, we won't get to see her find out about Syd. And yes, Syd is still alive.