Chapter Two

An awkward moment of silence washed over the pair in the hallway. Sark broke the silence by coughing. "So, what brings you to my temporary doorstep Agent Bristow?"

"I'm not here to take you into custody if that's what you're asking" she smirked at him. "At least I'm not taking you into custody yet."

"Well that's always good to hear. Would you like to come in? I could offer you a drink."

"Sure I'll come in, but I don't need anything to drink."

"So what brings you to Paris? What kind of mission has the hopeless CIA sent you on this time?"

"Actually, I'm not on a mission." He looked at her surprised. "I'm taking a well deserved vacation. My first one in a long time."

"Really? Well I cannot say that you don't deserve a vacation. You overwork yourself Sydney, you really do."

"Are you concerned for my well being Mr. Sark? That really surprises me." She said raising an eyebrow.

"Oh? And why would that be? I have feelings you know."

"You just don't seem to be the type of person who would care about whether or not I work too hard."

"I respect you Agent Bristow. I feel that you are my equal. You are an incredibly talented and beautiful woman." He took two steps closer to her.

Sydney was now suddenly a little uncomfortable. She moved her hands behind her back touching her gun, just in case he tried anything that she did not approve of.

"Do you know what I have always wanted to do?" Sark asked Sydney.

"What is that?" she asked breathlessly. She wasn't even sure it came out of her mouth at all.

Sark moved even closer. Closing in the space between them. Moving his hands up to grasp her shoulders lightly, slowly pulling her towards him, tilting his head to hers. Their lips briefly touched when gunfire erupted in the hallway behind his closed door.

"Shit!" Sydney cursed. Oh of course this has to happen right now. She grabbed her gun from her back and watched Sark run for his gun next to the bed.

"What do you think we should do now?" Sark quickly asked.

"Well… we need to do something, but we have to see who's out there and how many of them there are."

"So how do you propose we do that agent Bristow?"

"I'll do what I do best… improvise" she said with a definite smirk on her face as she went to open the door. She paused and looked back at Sark. "Your room is near the stairwell right?"

"Of course. I always need a quick getaway."

"Great" she stated as she opened the door. The gunfire suddenly stopped and Sydney moved out into the hallway silently. "Sark, keep this door open for cover. We'll need it."

He nodded his approval to her as he was slowly formulating a back-up plan. The only problem was that there was only one plan, and she had figured it out before him. That made him a tab pissed off. She was always one step ahead of him. Always making him think harder, but getting there before him. It was infuriating, but he respected that about her.

Suddenly the gunfire was back. There were at least four men with pistols at the other end of the hallway. Luckily, Sark could duck out of the room behind the door. As he did, he threw the door open and placed a chair in front of it, propping it open and providing some cover for the pair as they escaped.

Sark joined Sydney shooting their way towards the stairwell together. Occasionally, a bullet would hit the walls around them, but the door did seem to be doing its job of protecting them. Once they made it to the stairwell, they ran as fast as they could down the stairs, being careful not to fall. One of them always glancing back to make sure that no one was there and one always looking forward to make sure that no one was ahead.

Once they got to the ground floor, confident that no one was following them right now, they ran out into the parking lot. Sydney was checking out where they were right now, while Sark had gotten out his keys and began jogging towards a car.

"So, would you like to go for a ride?" he asked her.

"Why I'd love to. Thanks for asking" she replied. She eyed the car for a moment. "This is a really nice car Sark."

"Thank you. I like to drive the best."

"I could have guessed. The fine wines, expensive tailored suits, the fact that you're a rich British spy… it just makes sense."

"Well, I think that you've analyzed me sufficiently enough for the moment," he began to drive out of the parking lot towards the centre of the city. "I think that we should do a little shopping."

"You want to take me shopping Sark?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, we can't exactly go around Paris looking like this now can we?"

"I guess you're right. Do you know a place where I could get something a little nicer?" she asked.

"Of course I do! You just told me that I know how to live expensively didn't you?"

"Well, Sark… CIA agents don't get paid too much. If we could find a department store or something-"

"Sydney… what am I going to do with you? I will take you to where I see fit, and I will pay for your new clothing. After all, it's the least I can do after you got us out of there alive and you're not currently taking me into custody."

"I guess that should be alright. I just think I feel a little odd about a terrorist buying me clothes."

"Well you haven't heard then!"

"Heard what?" she asked. Not having any idea as to what he was referring to.

"I'm out!" he stated excitedly. He chuckled for a moment after seeing the disbelief written over her face. "I decided a few weeks ago that I'm tired of the death and the whole life. I quit Sydney."

Sydney was speechless. She couldn't formulate more than one thought he's out. That thought was bouncing through her mind. He's out, he's out, he's out!

"Syd, you still in there?" he said while quietly laughing to himself.

"You're out? And you just called me Syd!" she glared at him.

"Yes, I'm out. I left Irina's agency, the covenant, all of it. I left everything behind."

"Why did you decide to do this?"

"Sydney, I did it for the same reason you became a double agent."

"What?"

"I lost someone that I loved."

She looked at him with a definite look of sorrow "Sark, I'm so sorry. Who was she?"

He looked away and cleared his throat. "I cannot tell you that… yet."

"Why not?" she looked at him, her eyes pleading for an answer.

"Because you'll hate me forever, you'll force me to pull over this car and you'll give me the beating of a lifetime."

"Why Sark? Who could you have loved that I would kill you over?"

He sighed. He was giving in, and she knew it. "Lauren Reed."