chapter 1
{9 days earlier}
“I’m just not sure we can trust him,” Sydney stated nervously.
“Why not?” Sark questioned. “He is your father.”
“By blood only. I’m almost thirty years old, Adam, and I have never known Jack Bristow. That one simple biological fact isn’t cause enough for me to trust him implicitly.” Sark nodded before moving on to his next question.
“Are you even considering it?” Sydney thought for a brief moment, then gave a slight nod.
“Yes, I am. After all, SD-6 and the Alliance have been the proverbial thorns in our sides for years now. If we help the CIA capture Arvin Sloane, it may make things easier for us.”
“Or, it could allow the CIA to devote more of their time and resources to capturing you.” Sean Sterben, a longtime associate, spoke up for the first time.
“That’s true…” Sark trailed off, and Sydney easily picked up on his line of thought.
“But the CIA has been after us for the last six years, and they’ve gotten nowhere fast. There’s no reason to believe that just because the Alliance is gone, they’ll get any closer to us.” She and Sark locked eyes.
“It’s your call,” Sark said softly. Sydney released a breath, and then nodded.
“We’ll do it. We’ll help the CIA take down SD-6, but only because it’s going to be beneficial to us. I still want absolutely nothing to do with Jack Bristow.” With that said, she stood up and walked into the lush German home she and Sark shared on the banks of the river Rhein.
“Something feels very… off… about this whole thing,” Sean said cautiously.
“I trust Sydney to make the right decision,” Sark replied.
“Oh, so do I, really I do. But come on… working with the CIA? That’s… not really smart.” Sark glared at him, and Sean held up his hands.
“Ok, ok, listen… I’m just looking out for the two of you, ok? You can’t trust the CIA, and you know that as well as I do. Sure, Sydney may get a promise from them that as soon as this Sloane guy is captured, you two will be free to walk, but do you really believe that?”
“No. But we’ll find a way out. We always do.” Sydney rejoined them a moment later.
“I spoke to… him,” she began.
“Who, your dad?” Sean asked. Sark glared at him again, and Sean shrugged.
“Yes,” Sydney replied through gritted teeth. “We’ll be meeting tomorrow morning in London, and he swore there would be nothing else going on.” Sean sighed.
“Yeah, that’s what they all say… then they steal your peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” Sydney stared at him in confusion as he stood up and left. She swung her glance to Sark, who shrugged.
“I don’t understand him either.” Still looking baffled, Sydney turned and walked back into the house. Sark watched her in amusement before following her in a short time later.
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Early the next morning, Sark and Sydney were walking through Piccadilly Circus in London, on their way to the underground tube station. They would board a train there and take it to Covent Garden, where they were meeting with Jack. Those stations had been chosen simply because they tended to be more ‘touristy’ areas, and were guaranteed to have a crowd, thus offering a measure of protection to all involved.
As they got on board the Piccadilly line, Sark and Sydney were speaking quietly.
“Sydney, we’ve been working together for eight years now, but you’ve never truly explained your issues with your father.” She rolled her eyes.
“You picked a great spot to discuss this,” she mumbled.
“It’s my gift,” he replied. She chuckled lightly, then turned serious.
“Ok. You know the story about my mother- how she disappeared, wasn’t really who she said she was, KGB, all that. What you don’t know is that after we lost her, my father fell apart. I know now that he must have been keeping himself busy at the CIA, but back then, I thought he just didn’t care anymore, that maybe he didn’t love me… or, maybe he just never did. He wasn’t there for my first high school softball game, my first date, my 16th birthday… I’m not even sure if he was at my high school graduation. I never knew him at all, Adam. So, on my 19th birthday, I ran away from home… and never looked back.” Sark was silent for a long moment. As he finally began to formulate a reply, Sydney interrupted him.
“Look- Covent Garden. Let’s go.” He grasped her hand as they stopped out into the station.
“We’ll continue this discussion later,” he stated. She angled her head and stared at him.
“There’s nothing left to discuss here.” She freed her hand and began to lead the way out. Sark, however, had seen the way she tried to hide her tears as she spoke of her father, and he knew the conversation was most certainly far from over.
After a few minutes of walking, Sydney and Sark had made their way to Drury Lane and were searching for a hotel- the Drury Lane Moat House. They were to meet Jack at Maudies, a bar/restaurant within the hotel.
“There, on the left,” Sydney said as she spotted their destination. Sark’s hand on her shoulder stopped her from going in.
“Are you sure about this?” she sighed, then shook her head slightly.
“No… not at all. Actually, it may well be the worst idea I’ve ever had.”
“But we’re still going through with it,” Sark added.
“Yes.”
“Are you sure there are no ulterior motives involved?” he questioned, receiving an annoyed glare in response.
“Don’t start,” she warned, shrugging his hand away and walking into Maudies. Sark sighed, but followed her in.
It didn’t take them long to spot Jack Bristow, seated in a secluded corner not far from the door. He didn’t glance up as they entered, nor even as they sat across for him.
“I’ll admit, I’m surprised you came,” Jack noted.
“I said we would, didn’t I?” He finally looked up.
“Yes, you did. But while it’s fairly obvious that my word means nothing to you, your word alone doesn’t hold up too well with me either.” Sark refrained from commenting, choosing instead to simply watch the tense stare down between father and daughter.
“Oh? And why is that? Because my leaving damaged your pride?” she asked venomously. Jack gave her a bemused look.
“Hardly. I just find it difficult to trust someone who would ally herself with an internationally wanted assassin… even if that someone was my daughter.” His wording caught Sark’s attention, and before Sydney could fire off a retort, he butted in.
“Was your daughter?” he questioned. Jack barely spared him a glance.
“Yes, past tense. She isn’t my daughter anymore.” Sark saw the pain flash across Sydney’s face, but knew it would be imperceptible to Jack.
“Fine by me. You were never truly a father to begin with.” This time, the pain registered in Jack’s eyes. Sark had finally had enough, and he interceded again.
“Shall we just skip the rest of these pleasantries and commence with business?” Sydney and Jack each looked away from the other, and after a heavy silence, Jack spoke first.
“Obviously, since you’re here, you have some interest in seeing SD-6 destroyed, and hopefully the Alliance with it. I’ll also assume that, for some reason or another, you believed me when I promised I would be here alone, as I trusted you two to be.” Sydney nodded slightly, still refusing to look at him again.
“So we do have some common ground… it’s a start,” Sark muttered. Jack ignored him, continuing right where he had left off.
“The key to all of this is Sloane. SD-6 is perhaps the most powerful arm of the Alliance, and if we destroy that, the rest should fall in its wake. We’d been growing closer to this goal- the CIA has had two double agents within SD-6, one of them a man named Spike Nash. Unfortunately, his cover was somehow blown last week. His body was found two days ago, barely recognizable.” Sydney, now entranced in Jack’s tale, was finally looking at him, listening intently to every word.
“Nash was in for three years, and he got us close- very close. We’ve estimated that if we can get someone back in there to pick up where he left off, it should only take another week, two tops. The Alliance is scrambling to keep SD-6 afloat, but if we waste any time whatsoever, all of Nash’s work will be lost.” Sydney and Sark exchanged glances.
“So where do we come into play? I highly doubt we could just stroll in and inquire about any open positions within a secretive terrorist organization,” Sydney sniped.
“You could always try that, but I wouldn’t suggest it,” Jack replied dryly.
“So what is the plan? I know you wouldn’t have come here without one in mind,” Sark stated.
“You are correct. You, Sydney, will need to find a way to infiltrate SD-6 and gain Sloane’s trust… all in the space of two days.”
“Why her? Why not me?” Sark demanded.
“You’re both rather well known, as I’m sure you’re aware. But Sydney has a distinctive advantage, at least in this case.”
“And what might that be?” Sydney asked warily.
“You’re my daughter,” Jack said simply. Sydney and Sark exchanged looks.
“How will that be beneficial? Doesn’t Sloane know you’re CIA?” Jack almost smiled at that.
“I mentioned that we’ve had two double agents within SD-6. What I didn’t mention… is that you’re talking to the other one.”
