Chapter 39:  Truth and Lies

Once the door closed behind the security guard that had escorted Sark's newfound parents to Sark, Irina and Jack's loving façade dropped quicker then Sark could grasp the concept of them actually being in the room. 

Jack grabbed Sark and pinned him to the wall almost choking him to death before Irina stepped in and pulled Jack back.  Before Sark could thank her, she punched him in the stomach.

"What did you do to my daughter you sick son of a bitch!"  Irina growled.

"Really Mother!"  Sark drawled out sarcastically, hiding his feeling of betrayal at her lack of faith in him.  "Is that the proper way to greet your son?" 

Irina had never lied to him; there had never been a personal closeness between them.  In fact she had quashed all his attempts to develop one and he'd stopped trying.  She had helped him reinvent himself into the man he was today and in turn he had shown her absolute loyalty.  That same loyalty had helped prevent him from exploiting her daughter no matter how tempting it had been. 

"What did you do Sark?"  Irina asked again through gritted teeth as Sark's impassive face gave her no clue as to what he was thinking.

"I am what you made me, you trained me well."  Sark said cryptically giving in to his need to punish Irina for her lack of trust in him.  He was in a no win situation, anything he said would either incriminate him or she wouldn't believe it since she had already made up her mind. 

Irina responded with an uppercut that knocked Sark unconscious.  "Bastard!" 

"I thought the plan was to find Sydney first, then knock him out."  Jack said wryly not blaming her for her loss of temper.  He wished he could have been the one to wipe that arrogant smirk of Sark's face. 

"The plan changed."  Irina said angrily.  The punches were not nearly satisfying enough.  God knows what mind games he had played with her daughter.  The sick part of it was that it was she who had taught him the manipulation skills he'd undoubtedly used on Sydney. 

Sark was right; she had made him into the lethal, emotionless, and immoral,

man he was today.  He had been an apt pupil until he had surpassed even herself in certain areas.  He had been useful and loyal to her until now but had messed with her family, a transgression that was unforgivable.

The connecting door between Sark and Sydney's room flew open as Sydney rushed into the room excited to tell Sark of her late night adventure.  "Sark, you won't believe what ha….penned."  Sydney trailed off as she noticed the two strangers. 

"Oh, hello!"  Sydney said confused.  Both people looked vaguely familiar.  "Who are you?"  She asked curiously.

The woman looked worried and slightly guilty and the man looked grim.  The man stepped toward her but stopped as he noticed her blank face.

"Sydney, we're here to get you out."  Jack said keeping his voice calm and even.  Inwardly, he was terrified, Sydney had always been able to take care of herself but all traces of her training seemed to have disappeared.  She had run into the room without checking to see if it was secure first.  Then when confronted my people she didn't recognize, she made no attempt to be disguise her emotions.  She was an open book and she wouldn't last a day the spy world.  

Jack's movement allowed Sydney to see beyond him to Sark's motionless figure.

"Sark!"  Sydney cried panicked as she dove to the floor next to him.  "Sark, are you ok?  Wake up!  Please wake up!  Sark?" she asked shaking his body.  His body stayed unresponsive.  "Don't leave me, don't leave me!"  Sydney cried pitifully as the fear of losing the only person she trusted overwhelmed her.

The pain in Sydney's voice finally broke through Irina's shock at the discovery of how dependant Sydney was to Sark.  "Sydney, he's only unconscious; he'll be awake in a minute."  Irina said gently touching Sydney's shoulder.

Sydney shook off Irina's hand and gathered Sark in her arms protectively, glaring at the two strangers warily.  "What did you do to him?"   She accused as her fear for Sark's life subsided to anger.

"The question should be what has he done to you?"  Jack spat out disliking the obvious attachment Sydney had formed with Sark.  No doubt under Sark's machinations. 

"Jack!"  Irina cautioned.  She knew that they had to tread very lightly with Sydney.  "Why don't we move him to the bed where he will be more comfortable?"  She said realizing that to gain Sydney's trust, she had to play Sark's "mother" for a little longer then she had planned.

Sydney's eyes narrowed suspiciously, hugging Sark closer to herself.

"I'm so glad that our son has you to take care of him."  Irina lied, slightly stressing the word son.  The words elicited coughing from Jack and a tentative smile from Sydney. 

Irina continued to ramble to put Sydney at ease.  "My husband isn't as uncaring as he comes off; he's just worried about you.  I think he feels responsible for your accident."  Irina explained.

They moved to pick up Sark but Jack stepped in and carried him to the bed.

"Why should he feel responsible, was he there?"  Sydney asked curiously watching Jack toss Sark onto the bed a little more roughly then necessary.

"No, he encouraged Aiden, or Sark as you call him, to be such a daredevil growing up, fast cars and no fear can be a dangerous combination." Irina trailed off. 

"I don't know why, but I feel like I can trust him."  Sydney said matter a fact-ly.

"Sark?"  Irina asked.

"No, well, I do trust Sark but I was talking about your husband."  Sydney clarified.  "I feel like I know him.  It was the same thing I felt when I first met Sark after the accident."

"And me?  What do your instincts say about me?"  Irina asked not being able to help herself.

"You seem familiar, I feel like I should know you.  But I'm sorry I don't remember you."  Sydney replied diplomatically.  Her instincts told her that this woman wanted something from her.  Sydney didn't distrust her but she wasn't completely at ease with her.

"We have met before haven't we?"  Sydney asked.

"Yes, though I wasn't there to see you grow up, I have always thought of you as my daughter."  Irina said truthfully.  Sydney still had the slightly wary look in her eyes when Irina spoke to her but the anger was gone, unlike their first reunion.  Maybe this was a good opportunity to repair her relationship with her daughter. 

"Oh!"  Sydney groaned.  "But I don't even know your name!"  She said feeling a little guilty.

"My name is Laura."  Irina said ignoring the deadly glare from Jack.  "And my husband's name is..."

"Jack."  Sydney interrupted Laura.

"Do you remember me?"  Jack asked hopefully.

"No, Laura called you Jack earlier."  Sydney said noticing the disappointment that Jack quickly hid.  She concentrated and tried to recall something. 

"Oh, Jack Bristow, I love it!" Laura said throwing her arms around her husband.  In her hand she held a leather bound book of Crime and Punishment in Russian.  "I can't believe that after all these years, you still remember." 

"It's the same book you were looking at when I first met you."  Jack said gruffly with a small smile on his face.  "It's taken me a while to track it down but I finally found it.  I remembered the inscription on the first page…"

Laura looked inside the book.  "Oh Jack!  It is the same book!  All that time and effort to find this book, I would have been happy with a regular copy."

"It had to be the real thing.  You are the one thing in my life that is real and good, you deserve more that I can ever give you." Jack said urgently.

"Jack, don't you know that all I want is you.  I don't need anything more then that.  No wait, there is something I want."  Laura said smiling wickedly.

"Whatever it is, it's yours!"  Jack vowed.

"I want another baby." Laura said simply.

"Are you sure?"  Jack asked gently.

"Positive!"  Laura said eyes glowing.

"Then I guess we should get started!"  He teased grabbing her.

"Have I told you how much I love you?" She said looking into his eyes.

"As I recall, not since last night and I think I'm about due one right now."  Jack said playfully as he lifted her into his arms causing her to squeal and laugh girlishly.

"Jack Bristow, I love you!  If I forget to tell you tomorrow or the day after that, I love you, I love you, I love you!"  Laura said kissing him in between each I love you.

"I remember something!"  Sydney said excitedly as the memory stayed vivid in her mind, not fading like the others.  "It was your birthday Laura…and Jack had given you a book, a Russian copy of Crime and Punishment.  You were talking about having another child." 

"That was a long time ago; I'm surprised you remember it."  Irina said pointedly avoiding Jack's angry gaze.  She still remembered that day and that damn book that had destroyed everything.

"So it really happened!  I can even remember exactly what I was thinking too.  It was that moment that I promised myself that I would marry a man that would love me as much as Jack loved you."  Sydney said smiling.  She didn't notice the awkwardness her words had created between Jack and Irina because at that moment Sark groaned.

"Sark!"  Sydney said rushing to the bed.  "Hey, are you ok?  What happened?" 

Sark groaned again.  "Didn't they tell you what happened?"

"No, we were just introducing ourselves and then I remembered something."  Sydney said excitedly.

"Really?  What?"  Sark said glancing at Irina and Jack, assessing the situation. 

"It was so clear, so vivid; I could remember exactly what I was feeling at that moment."  Sydney explained euphorically.  This was her first happy non confusing memory and it felt wonderful. 

"And what were you feeling?"  Sark asked.  This was the first time ever that Sydney had added emotions to her memories.  She had always been detached from the memories, refusing to believe they were hers. 

"I was happy Sark.  I felt like I belonged and… I was loved.  It's strange that it's a memory of your parents that brought on that feeling.  Tell me about my parents Sark!"  Sydney commanded brows furrowing as an unpleasant thought occurred to her.

Sark reading her mind put her at ease.  "They'll be here before you know it."  He said truthfully. 

Relieved, Sydney leaned into Sark.  Sark shot up from the bed causing Sydney to almost fall over.  Jack and Irina didn't miss the hurt look that was evident in Sydney's eyes at Sark's rejection.  "If you will excuse me Sydney I need to introduce Jack and I.."  Sark was cut off my Jack. 

"Laura, needs her rest."  Jack interrupted before Sark could give away Irina's real name.  "We traveled all night and she must be exhausted.  Sydney, maybe we could talk after I get Laura situated?"

"I'd like that."  Sydney said smiling.

"I don't need a nap, I'm fine right here."  Irina protested.  She knew what Jack was up to.  He was trying to prevent her from making any headway with Sydney. 

"Darling, you can't hide anything from me; you need to take a break before you injure yourself."  Jack said grabbing her arm.   

Irina grudgingly allowed Jack to drag her from the room.

"After my…"  Irina began but the door closed before she could finish her sentence.

Sydney stared at the close door for a moment before staying anything.  "You have very peculiar parents."  She told Sark.