Chapter Eleven

"Well, Julian, are you going to tell me who shot me?" Sydney asked, incredulously.

"We were right before, with Cole. It's the Covenant."

Sydney stared at him in disbelief. "What? How is that possible? We dismantled the Covenant! They're gone!"

"Looks like we didn't get them all" he said frowning.

"How did we let that happen? How did no one know that they are still around?"

"I don't know. But we have to get rid of them, or else they will continue to come after us Sydney. I'm not going to let them try and take you away again."

"I know. I don't want that to happen. And plus, I don't really want to get shot at again in the near future. So how about we hold off the raid until after that ball thing next week?"

She moved into his caring embrace and sighed into his chest. "I'm not going anywhere" she repeated.

"I think we can wait though, I haven't heard about any movement from the key players for a while. So, we should be alright." Sark stated.

"OK."

Sydney goes behind his desk and sits in his chair, in front of his computer. "So what have you found, Julian?"

"Sydney, you're in my chair."

"Get used to it" she smiled.

"Fine. So," he pointed to the documents on the computer, "you can see the maps of their locations, satellite photographs and the names of the main players, with their background information. Everything we need to take them down. Syd," he turned her to him in the rotating chair, "it's going to be done. We're going to be finished with this life for good."

"Who said anything about me being out? I thought that you wanted to leave."

"Syd, come on. Don't be this way."

Sydney got up out of the chair and walked out of the room, Sark following close behind her. "Come on love, please. I'm sorry, I thought that you wanted to leave."

"I do, but I don't think I'm ready. I'm afraid that you might go back again. What if people still come after us, even after the Covenant is gone?"

"I can't tell you."

"I know" she sighed, "I just need some time to think. Alright? I'm going to go into my room and sit on the bed, maybe listen to some music, and think all about what I'm going to do."

"Sure. I'll see you around dinner then?"

"Of course." Sydney placed a kiss upon his lips and retreated to her bedroom.

Once she was out of view, Sark exhaled deeply and leaned against the wall.

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Sydney sat on her bed for three hours before coming out for dinner. In that time she had decided that she would leave the CIA and stay here with Sark until she figured out what she wanted to do with her life. But only if they could successfully bring down the Covenant.

She heard Sark's door close and his footsteps move to his bedroom. It was safe to leave the comfort of her room.

Slowly and quietly opening and closing her door, she sneaked down to the kitchen. She decided to cook dinner for him when she got to the kitchen and saw everything in the fridge. She wanted it to be an eventful night. She was going to tell him about leaving the CIA, and she wanted to see how long she could stay.

"Sydney? Is that you?" she heard from the hallway.

"Yeah, but don't come into the kitchen Julian! Stay in your room or the study until I call you alright?"

"What are you doing?"

"Just do it! Please?" she pleaded with him.

"Alright love. Just don't burn the place down."

"I promise I won't."

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An hour later, Sydney had created an elaborate meal of Chicken Parmesan (ok, so maybe she wasn't the best cook, but she knew some things).

The table had two off-white candles burning brightly at each side of the table, and Sydney was wearing a white dress that she had bought in town, and earlier, she had requested that Sark wear a suit. She was about to tell him something very important, and she wanted things to be perfect.

Sark came into the dining room looking unbelievably handsome in his suit and stopped when he saw Sydney. His mouth hung open and his heart stopped beating in his chest.

"Sark? Is everything alright?"

"Yes, of course. It's just that, you look…"

"I know. It's not good enough," she frowned, "I'll just go change into something different."

Sydney started to walk past him when he grabbed her arm and pulled her to him, kissing her with the most passion that he ever had. When the finally pulled apart, Sydney took a deep breath , "wow" she sighed.

"I was going to say that you are stunning tonight."

She blushed, "well, I must return the compliment. You look so handsome tonight Julian."

"It's all for you, love" he took her arm, "shall we?" and they walked to the table.

"I wanted to talk to you about this morning. What you said about me leaving the CIA…"

"Sydney, I really do want to apologize about that. If I ever came across as forceful about that. I just thought that you didn't need to be with them anymore. SD-6 is gone, and that's what you wanted. Wasn't it?"

"Yeah. That's what this dinner is for. I wanted to thank you for saying that. Because I wouldn't have come up with this decision if it hadn't been for you. Once we bring the Covenant down, for real, I'm going to leave the CIA."

He smiled, "really?"

"Yes, really. And I was wondering if I could stay with you while I figured out what to do with my life. I wouldn't be here that long, just so long as I could figure everything out. And if I became a burden I would be able to leave, you just have to tell me when."

He just smiled, he hadn't said anything in a while and it was worrying Sydney. "Sark? Did I say something wrong?"

"No, nothing wrong. I just wasn't expecting my dream to come true. Sydney Bristow, wanting to stay here with me indefinitely."

"Well, I must say that I never thought that I would ask to."

"I never thought you would."

"But is it alright with you?"

"Yes, of course, you can stay. As long as you'd like. You woman like you could never be a burden."

"I'm sure that when you find the right woman, fall in love, and have her get pregnant, she will become a burden," at his confused look she continued, "hormones."

He laughed. Something that made Sydney's heart flutter.

"I think I might have already found the right woman."

Sydney's heart didn't dare to think it would be her. "Oh," she frowned.

Sark knew this was the right time and setting to tell her that he was falling in love with her, he just had to do it.

"Sydney, she's the most beautiful woman that I have ever laid eyes upon. She's brave, strong, vibrant, courageous… just amazing. I'm falling head over heels in love with her. She makes me crazy, but that makes me feel even more for her."

Sydney's eyes were filling with tears, her face looked heartbroken. Inside she had felt like her heart was slowly being shattered. She couldn't take it anymore and got up from the table. Sark was in front of her, "Well, I hope that the two of you are happy together. I'll be out of here tomorrow" she choked out and ran to her bedroom.

Sark couldn't move. She thought that she was talking about someone else. But he had seen her face, she was being torn apart thinking about him and another woman. She must have feelings for him too! He was as happy as he had ever been when he went to her bedroom.

He stopped outside the door and listened to her. She was crying. It was loud, and every whimper he heard, cut out a little piece of his heart.

He opened the door and went in. "Please leave me alone Sark." Sydney called him Sark. She was really hurt. "I don't want to hear more about her, please."

"Sydney, are you really that clueless?" she turned to look at him. Her eyes were puffy and red. Her face was broken.

"What are you talking about?"

He smiled and took her hands in his. "Sydney, the woman I was talking about… that woman is you."

"Me? You're falling in love with me?"

"Yes, Sydney. I'm sorry that I hurt you like this, I thought that you would have known. I thought that you would have figured out that it was you."

"Well, I can be a little silly sometimes."

"Sometimes? Darling, I think that you're always silly."

She laughed and playfully slapped his chest. "Could you just hold me for a bit?"

He pulled her into his arms and held her until she stopped crying, then they went downstairs again and ate their dinner.

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