"I just want the ghosts to go away"- Sydney Bristow (Alias-Echoes)

Wind blew against her face and ruffled the edges of her brunette hair.

As far as she could see was the water that stretched out in every direction. It was beautiful and yet she couldn't enjoy it.

"Could be worse," her companion offered from where they sat beside her.

"Yeah, how?" she snorted as she pulled her knees up to her chest.

"We could be stuck with Sloane," he offered and the hint of a smile touched her face.

"You're right," she agreed after a moment of silence.

"No comments about how your worst nightmare was to be stuck with me?" he enquired and she felt his eyes on her face.

"Are you asking to be insulted? Or do you really think that you hold that much priority in my life?" she turned to him.

"I'd hate for you to miss an opportunity to express your hate for me," his voice had taken on a slightly annoyed twist.

"The self-pity thing doesn't work for you. I'd stick to the callous, emotionless mask. It fits you so much better," she told him.

"There's the Sydney Bristow we know and love," he rolled his eyes.

The two fell into a companionable silence as they watched the waves lick at the shore.

"You'd think that after all these years I'd learn not to believe someone's dead until I see a body and sometimes not even then," she told him.

"It keeps life interesting," he offered.

"I'd take boring if it would make the ghosts go away," she said.

"Be careful what you wish for," he warned.

"I'd settle for getting out of this fine mess we're in," she amended.

"Would it upset you if I told you things had to get worse before they get better?" he enquired.

"Aren't you optimistic?" she shot back.

"Hypocrite," he accused.

"I never called myself optimistic," she reminded him.

"Right, so any ideas?" he changed the subject before she could snap at him.

"Here's two the best people in espionage and we can't figure a way out. What a sorry team we are," she snorted, delaying the inevitable return to reality.

"Was that a compliment?" he ignored the second half of her statement.

"Don't get used to it," she replied.

"Why don't we start at the beginning," he suggested.

"Which one?" she asked.

"We can skip ahead to the part right before we became fugitives," he told her.

"Technically, you've always been a fugitive," she corrected him.

"You get the point," he said irritably before he dove in.

Sydney's eyes shifted uncomfortably away from Sark as they stood in the CIA morgue.

She had been surprised when he requested not only to see the body of Vaughn's ex-wife, but that she accompany him. She would have thought that he would want to see Vaughn suffer, to make him confront Lauren Reid's death.

Now watching as the guard slid open the metal slab she instantly looked away. There was nothing there that she wanted to see.

The sudden intake of breath was what finally forced her to look. Not the one of Sark, she had expected that, but the one of the man who had escorted them there.

Sark had sunk to the ground, his handcuffed hands laying in his lap as he took in the cool metal slab that should have contained Lauren Reid.

However, all that was there was the cool metal.

"Is this a mistake?" she directed at the guard as she forced herself to smother the sudden burst of terror that had worked it's way into her heart. It was ridiculous, she had watched Lauren die.

"I'll check," the man turned and moved back the way they had come, leaving Sark and Sydney alone.

Sark turned and looked up at her, his blue eyes held more emotion then she thought he was capable. A mixture of grief, depression, but what shocked her the most was the look of terror.

"I'm sure it's just a mistake," she tried to deal with both of their fear. Fear that was for two very different reasons.

"I had hoped that I would be wrong," Sark whispered under his breath.

"Wrong about what?" she asked with little interest.

"I believe that Lauren is very much alive. That we have all been played," he told her carefully.

"Don't be delusional," she snapped as she kicked the slab closed and waited for the man to return. She made a mental note to review his file and see what medication they were using on him and the side effects.

"Don't be naïve. When will you learn that you can't trust anyone. Nothing is ever as it seems and the rules to the game are constantly changing," Sark returned, his eyes taking on a gleam that caused her to take a step back. She knew that look, the look of someone who was terrified, cornered, nowhere left to turn. She knew the feelings that went with that look the nausea, terror, it all threatened to consume you.

"You can't be serious," Sydney broke in.

"I seem to remember you declining beginning," Sark returned.

"You aren't allowed to tell me what I was thinking," she snapped.

"Fine, why don't you explain things," he argued.

Fine," she agreed.

"I'd think that you'd be overjoyed to discover that Lauren was alive," she offered in the same, slightly bored tone.

Sark shot her a look, but was spared replying by the man's return.

"I'm sorry Agent Bristow, but this is where she should be. We're going to have to do a thorough search to see if anyone else has been misplaced. I can assure you that this has never happened before," the man told her.

"I'd like to see the security cameras from the past few months. Everyone who's had access to her body," Sydney requested.

"Of course. Security is on it's way down now and I'll request it then. I suggest that we get Mr. Sark out of the building," the man said and she turned to see that Sark still hadn't moved from the floor.

"Come on," she told him as she glared pointedly.

"You can't honestly have never considered the possibility that she may be alive, Especially after everything we've seen?" Sark enquired as they moved down the hall.

"I watched her die," she pointed out.

"Just like you saw Will dead?" Sark goaded.

"Don't you talk to me about Will," she snapped as she turned on him.

"You died yourself, Sydney, I'd think that you of all people would have double checked, but I suppose you were too busy reuniting with Michael Vaughn," Sark continued to bait her.

He didn't have time to duck as she punched him and he reeled back.

"Aren't there rules against prisoners being treated like this?" Sark enquired as he recovered.

"You're a terrorist, rules don't apply," she turned and the two started moving again.

It took her a moment to realize that he had implied that Will was still alive and a chill coursed through her. Her pace automatically increased and he struggled to keep up.

"I suppose you're starting to see the possibility," Sark continued to pester her as he made his pace match hers.

"Lauren Reid is dead. Just because you want her to be alive, doesn't mean that she will be," she snapped irritably.

"I can assure you that I do not wish for Lauren Reid to be alive," Sark told her.

"Really?" she let the doubt drip from her voice.

"If she is alive it means that she's betrayed both of us," he continued.

"By letting you rot in prison?" Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Who do you think would have been in on helping her fake her death?" he asked.

For a second she flashed to watching Vaughn shoot Lauren, to seeing her body fall into the hole and hearing Lauren's last words.

"You're not going to play me," she snapped at him as she finally reached the door where a security team was waiting for them.

"Think about it Sydney," he called after her as he was escorted into the back of a van and his feet were handcuffed.

As the doors closed she turned and walked back in the other direction to find the security tape.

As she listened to the sound of her feet hitting the tile, Sark's words echoed in her head.

I would really appreciate it if you would review and let me know what you think and if I should continue.