babylonwood app
Life is not a game that has a clear and present winner,
And I think you'll find the line is fine between the saint and sinner.
The Player
User Name/Nick: Chris
User LJ: kawaiispinel
AIM/IM: KawaiiSpinel42
E-mail: whatineverhad@gmail.com
Other Characters: Gabriel, Desmond Descant, Sokka, and Juliet Burke
The Character
Character Name: Julian Sark
Character Journal: sarkraticmethod
Canon: Alias
Age: 24
From When?: The beginning of 3X21: Resurrection, just as he's about to be tortured by Michael Vaughn about the whereabouts of his partner and lover Lauren Reed. Sark would eventually break under the torture and then later get tricked into revealing information that leads to Lauren's death, all of which leads him into a slow redemption.
Abilities/Powers: As a spy, Sark is extremely well-versed in espionage. He's an expert blackmailer and extortionist, although his true talent lies in negotiations. He's a closer, at heart, and knows how to make deals, even with the most stubborn of clients, which is a feat, considering people have often failed to take him seriously due to his youth. He has some hacking abilities, although he's nowhere near as talented as a career hacker and computer expert, but his gift for cryptology all but makes up for it, as he's an expert at cracking and creating cyphers. As an assassin, he's trained to use various firearms, although his skill lies primarily in long-range- he's not remarkably brilliant with short-range firearms, having been mostly trained to take out targets from a distance. He's skilled in several forms of martial arts, but not a master of any of them, so he can take someone in a fight well enough, but put up against a master and he'll do down. Beyond that, he can fight with both poles and edged weapons- given his grace and fighting style, he's likely had fencing training. He can speak several languages, although onscreen he's only been shown speaking French. It's likely, however, that he can speak Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Irish Gaelic, and a few others, given the scope of his business ventures. He also has brilliant spatial reasoning skills, as typical for career spies, and can both forge documents and recognize forgeries on sight.
Power Limitations: None. He's a squishy human that bleeds when you attack him.
Inventory
-One black t-shirt.
-One pair black slacks.
-One pair of comfortable shoes.
-Two pairs of half-broken handcuffs- one attached to either wrist.
Personality: Sark is wise beyond his years, a product of being prematurely ambitious and self-reliant from a young age. Since he was very young, he's been treated as though he's worthless (implied- given his relationship with his father) and so he strives to do everything he can to prove that he is anything but. In any endeavor, he seeks to be the best, although he is hardly what anyone would call a leader. He's a follower, the sort to manipulate things as directed by a superior, but never take the lead himself. He's not particularly built for it, although he can manage in a pinch, if only because failure, to him, is not an option.
He is placid, formal, and generally polite. He addresses everyone he speaks to by title and last name and will very rarely expect to be on a first name basis with people (in fact, he is rather irritable at being referred to as Julian and will ask that people call him Sark or Mr. Sark). He never loses his temper and even when angered will never raise his voice. He is trained to be emotionless and calm and not to betray any weaknesses. Although dryly sarcastic, that seems to be the only sense of humor he possesses, although he does occasionally find amusement in some circumstances (he was amused, for example, that Sydney had no idea where she'd been for the two years he was in US custody). He never loses his cool, save in situations where he has no control or can't forsee a easy out or an outcome that works in his favor, and situations like that generally turn him into a complete mess, especially if he thinks he won't make it out of the situation alive. He's quiet, more prone to introspection, and when upset tends to withdraw further into himself and get significantly colder or harsher, depending on the situation. He has a capacity for hatred, but he doesn't often think most people are worth getting that annoyed at and will generally classify people as either nuisances or allies.
His training and conditioning causes him to obey and defer to what he considers the proximate authority- in the usual case, it's Irina Derevko, but since her betrayal, he's sought new ones of his own choosing. He will work or even bargain with people he doesn't consider on to be on his intelligence level or worthy of his respect if they suit his purposes, but he prefers to deal with people who can keep up with him. Most importantly, he looks for people who will respect him for his substantial talents and don't judge him, because he's extremely young. One of the worst things you can do to him is insult his dignity and station by implying he's too young or suggesting that he's weak because he's young.
While not excessively violent, when provoked he does lash out, although he prefers more subtle ways at getting back at people. He could be called cowardly, considering he has been known to switch sides to suit his purposes (he claims his loyalties are flexible, which is the truest statement- the most important person in Sark's life is always himself) and out of fear of his own life. He shifts alliances to whatever side he thinks will suit his purposes and is on no one's side but his own, even while he's serving whatever master will suit his purpose currently. His primary objective in any endeavor is to survive, so while he lives for risks and the thrill of danger (according to him- anything worth doing as an element of risk involved), if he finds that the situation has become too much for him to handle and may eventually segue into a threat to his life, he will find some way to put an end to his current alliance. This, of course, is easier when you have contacts and other people to help you take down your former employer, so he's constantly on the prowl for a bigger fish or, at least, some amount of leverage he can use to blackmail his employers into doing what he wants. He always has a plan and thinks three steps ahead whenever he can.
Despite his criminal background and his occupation as a terrorist, Sark doesn't believe in unnecessary violence or torture. If he's going to hurt someone, he wants to have a reason for it... It doesn't have to be a good reason, but it has to suit a purpose. He's not fully a sociopath- he's a businessman. He takes no pleasure in hurting people (despite his fight-mania, which has nothing to do with hurting people and more to do with getting delight out of the adrenaline rush of a good fight) and is fully aware that his actions are distasteful, but he shows no remorse for them. He does what he has to do and nothing less, no matter what it is, no matter how disgusting or horrible. He follows orders to the letter, no matter what they are, provided he still has respect and a desire to please his current employer, and has done things he doesn't agree with- for example, setting off Rambaldi's suitcase neutron bomb for the sake of killing one person, despite the collateral damage it would cause. He loves his job and loves doing it, however, because it gives him respect and power- two things he desperately craves.
While not open about these aspects of himself, he is, in fact, capable of compassion and love, despite what anyone might think. It just takes a hell of a lot to bring those emotions out, given that he tries to keep them locked away... They always show up, however, as evidenced to how he gets emotionally attached to his lovers. The one time he ever came close to truly betraying Irina, his master and the woman he practically worships, was out of a desire to save a woman he loved dearly. He also resisted torture for the first time in the entire series to protect Lauren Reed, although he did eventually break and clearly felt horrible for it. However, he does have a hard time with casual relationships. Things like friendship don't occur to him- people are assets or annoyances and nothing more. He treats people more like pawns if they're useless to him and as business partners if he finds them worthy of his time. The concept of casual friendship is not something that interests him, as he doesn't have time for it.
He doesn't trust easily, as he suspects that everyone is just as much of a rat as he is, although he has been known to trust too willingly in some circumstances, and then have it bite him on the ass. He trusted Lauren, thinking she would willingly follow him out of a need for a better job, the same as him, but she turned around and revealed his plans to McKenas Cole- an act that would've led to his death, had Cole not found a way to benefit from the endeavor.
His biggest fears are abandonment and being rendered worthless, and every other fear he has can be traced back to those two things. His dedication and ambition all serve to keep himself ahead of the game so he won't be rendered obsolete and be replaced. Since his first capture by the CIA and the revelation that he's no longer any use to them as an asset in custody, he's been in a particularly low place mentally, because there's nothing he can do to fix that- being unable to get out of a situation and thus being "trapped" is another thing he can't abide. He joined the Covenant out of desperation due to that situation and a complete lack of options, and they treated him horribly, reducing him to a foot soldier, despite his talents. He was Irina's lieutenant, her operations director, and nothing less will appease his ego.
It's implied that Sark is also afraid of dying, because it's the one situation he can't argue his way out of and if he dies, it means that everything he's ever done will mean nothing- he'll simply fade away and how useless he was in the grand scheme of things will come to light, as he won't be remembered. In 3X02: Succession, he actually shows the first bit of weakness he shows in the whole series when he tells Sydney that “His life's in danger, isn't it?” when the CIA is trading him to the Covenant, confirming that the thought of being killed scares him enough to show weakness in front of the woman he considers his greatest opponent.
Sydney is an important part of Sark's life- as the daughter of the woman he worships (Irina), he has a great deal of respect for her and even more than that, he considers her his most worthy adversary, after confronting her for the first time in a fight. She's the Holmes to his Moriarty and one of his greatest ambitions is to form a partnership with her. In a bizarre way, he's in love with her, although some of that is transferring his unreturned feelings for Irina onto her daughter. Part of his feelings for her is less wanting her and more the fact that she's unattainable- he's not accustomed to not getting what he wants and Sydney's constant refusal keeps him interested- were she to ever submit, he'd likely lose interest. Despite this, he wouldn't hesitate to kill her if he had to- it's nothing personal, it's just business.. Well, business and personal revenge, as he did threaten to make Sydney pay for shooting Allison.
....He forgot about that pretty quickly, though. Oh well.
Of course, even more than Sydney, there's Lauren. Lauren, who likely never loved him, but he believed she did and, in fact, loved her back, even more than he did Allison. He allowed himself to be tortured for her sake and actually felt guilt when information he provided allowed her to be killed. He even openly wept over her body. If there's anyone he's ever cared about as much as he cares about Irina, it's Lauren and, just like with Irina, he was mostly a tool to her and he spends a lot of time trying to convince himself otherwise.
The only person who has ever actively scared Sark in canon is McKenas Cole- during their one scene in 3X11: After Six, Sark shows more fear than he's ever shown anyone and it starts from the second Cole walks through the door. Throughout the entire scene, he's visibly tense and only relaxes (marginally) when it's clear Cole isn't going to threaten him anymore- he even goes as far as to never keep his back on Cole when Cole's circling him.
...It's worth mentioning, okay?
History: /breaks it down old school
Y'all act like you've never seen an assassin before
Got a foot in the door- all that and more before 24.
Took out one Russian crime lord- kid knows the score
Anything for Irina- just say the word
It's the return of, "...Oh wait, no way, fuck me.
Irina's Sydney Bristow's mom, ain't she?"
And Jack Bristow said... Nothing, you idiot.
Jack's badass. He doesn't have to say shit.
Feminist spies love Julian
"Oh, Mr. Sark. I'm sick of him.
Look at him, drinking his you know what,
staring at you know who."
"Yeah, but he's so cute though."
Yeah, he might have a couple of screws up in his head loose
But it's no worse than what's going on in Rambaldi's bedroom
He doesn't feel the need to get up in your scene and let loose, 'cause
he's way too classy for that shit- just get the kid some Petrus
His loyalties are flexible- ain't inexplicable
And if you're lucky, he'll just sell you out for his life
'Cause that's his game, no matter who holds his line
You expect better- bitch, he don't need your time
Of course, he'll sell you out for a song- you think you're so great
He was smarter than you in fourth grade
Too good at this shit to ever go straight
"Agent Bristow, you know we'd click
That is, if you'd ever get off Mr. Vaughn's dick
Leave your morals behind and learn a few tricks."
He's got an excuse- his daddy left him to bleed
Spread his seed, then turned around to leave
So if you feel a pressing need
To jeer, then just switch the gear....
....Yeah, I totally fooled you, didn't I?
ANYWAY.
Not much is known about Sark's early life. We know that his father was a Russian politician worth $800 million dollars and that he was physically abusive to his son in the short time that the boy was around him, and that he eventually sent him away to a boarding school in England when he was very young and left him there. From there, he was picked up by Irina Derevko and groomed into an operative, becoming her operations director at the young age of 21.
When we first meet Sark, he takes out the entirety of FTL (a terrorist organization) with a small team and a shotgun, even going as far as taking out the leader (Quan Li) in broad daylight in the name of “The Man” (Irina's moniker). This attracts the attention of SD-6, a rival terrorist organization that operates by pretending to be a part of the CIA, and they send Sydney Bristow (a double agent working for the real CIA) to investigate a business transaction in Moscow between Sark and the head of Russian crime syndicate K-Directorate. Sark is insulted when Illyich Ivankov, the leader of K-Directorate, refuses to do business with him, both because of Sark's age and the fact that he refuses to give details about his employer, and has his two bodyguards kill the man. Lavro Kessar, the newly promoted head of K-Directorate, accepts Sark's offer. It's revealed that Sark and his employer are interested in technology made by a 16th century inventor and pseudo-prophet Milo Rambaldi- the same man that Arvin Sloane, the leader of SD-6 is obsessed with- leading to SD-6 making Sark and The Man their top priority.... Which makes them the CIA's top priority as well.
During a clusterfuck between the CIA and SD-6 in Denpasar, Sark is taken into SD-6 custody and interrogated, revealing his cooperativeness and flexible loyalties for the first time, although at first he keeps quiet, believing Sloane intends to kill him as revenge for his organization's attacks against SD-6. When Sloane is more than willing to cut a deal, Sark gives away the location of Alexander Khasinau, the man SD-6 and the CIA believe to be The Man. Rather than having Khasinau assassinated or brought in, Sloane insists that Sydney steal a Rambaldi document from him, instead. Unfortunately, it becomes another clusterfuck and Sark and Khasinau both escape. BUT WAIT... SD-6 PUT AN ISOTOPE IN SARK'S WINE, SO HE CAN BE TRACKED. YAY.
...Except he had a blood transfusion.
....And then was promptly okay enough to fly to Los Angeles and kidnap a dude.
Yep.
Anyway, the aforementioned dude was Will Tippin, Sydney's best friend, who everyone believes knows more than he actually does, because he's an idiot who sticks his nose in shit he shouldn't. Sark has Will tortured for information and then booty calls Sydney to tell her that if she doesn't bring the Rambaldi document she stole from Khasinau's nightclub, Will will be killed. Sydney convinces her father to help her and Jack personally makes the trade- document for Will- himself.
In season two, Sark is left in charge of all of Irina's assets (Irina having been revealed as The Man at the end of Season One and then promptly turned herself in at the beginning of this season), and is still Indiana Jones-ing some shit over Rambaldi's endgame in Irina's name. He eventually allies with SD-6, after tricking Sydney into handing him Sloane in exchange for something that could save her handler's (Michael Vaughn) life. Sydney believed he intended to kill Sloane, but, really, Sark only meant to fake an assassination attempt and make himself out to be Sloane's savior in order to convince him to cut a deal. Together, he and Sloane manipulate Sydney into destroying all of the SD cells, allowing Sloane to continue his masterstroke- the gathering of all of Rambaldi's artifacts. This eventually leads to the two of them breaking Irina out of CIA custody, because SURPRISE. She wasn't really redeemed after all. She just needed access to the CIA's shit to further her plans with Sloane. What a twist.
As the CIA races to keep up with the trio, Sark coordinates the murder of Francie Calfo with his partner and girlfriend Allison Doren. Using a technology called Project Helix, Allison is able to become a perfect double of Francie and she assumes Francie's life, while simultaneously acting as a spy. Unfortunately, as things begin to get hotter, it becomes clear that Allison might get found out and Sark disobeys a direct order to make sure that Allison is safe, an action that, while it worked in Irina's favor, eventually leads to Irina selling Sark out and leaving him in CIA custody, where he remains for two years. After a confrontation between Allison and Sydney, it's believed that both women were killed.
As Sydney is the main character, this was obviously not the case.
Sydney eventually shows up again with two years missing from her memory, much to Sark's amusement and surprise. It's revealed that he's been bled dry of all available intel and has no value to the CIA, except as a commodity in trade. As it turns out, the new rising star of organized crime- an organization called The Covenant- has an interest in Sark and a CIA agent they're willing to trade. The trade goes sour, however, when Zachariah Bob Lindsay, a douchebag whose only real role is being a douchebag, screws everything up and The Covenant gets both Sark and the agent.
Sark meets Ushek San'ko, one of the Covenant heads, and believes himself to be on death row for killing a member of San'ko's family accidentally. However, San'ko is willing to forget the incident, provided Sark becomes the financial backer for the Covenant- as it turns out, he's recently inherited $800 million from his estranged father who has recently been killed. Sark agrees and becomes the Covenant's bitch, even though he hates every second of it and they treat him badly and don't let him play any reindeer games.
As it turns out, Sark's father was only mostly dead (or not dead at all, really), and the Covenant manages to capture him in the hopes of getting information out of him, regarding his connection to Rambaldi (everyone wants Rambaldi's dick in this show). Sark personally tortures him with a blowtorch, taking out twenty-four years of daddy issues.
Oh, and speaking of people not being dead- Allison, apparently, survived that whole fight with Sydney, despite being shot about forty times. It doesn't matter though, because she dies for real via stabbing, like, four episodes later, so whatever.
Eventually, Sark gets sick and tired of being treated like the Covenant's gold-plated lap dog and seeks help from the Covenant's resident golden girl- Lauren Reed, who just so happens to be Michael Vaughn's wife. They form a plan to assassinate the Covenant's cell leaders and then blackmail the Covenant's leaders into giving them higher-ranked positions. Unfortunately, Lauren told off on Sark to the Covenant's second-in-command, McKenas Cole, Sark's former partner in Irina's organization, and Sark nearly shits his pants in fear, because Cole is a scary motherfucker. Thankfully, Cole found a way to turn this to his advantage and makes Sark and Lauren co-leaders of the American branch of the Covenant.
After some whirlwind adventures regarding FUCKING RAMBALDI, and lots of sex, because Lauren and Sark are kinky bitches, Sark is captured by the CIA again and an enraged Vaughn (who, you know, is justifiably pissed because his wife is kinda evil) is about to torture him for information on Lauren's whereabouts. Thank God, for the Wood.
First Person Sample: [Sark comes onscreen, looking like his usual unamused self.]
If this is the CIA's version of a joke, I admire their attempt at humor, but I remain unimpressed. And here I thought virtual simulation was far beyond their grasp- is this procedure experimental? I should remind you that I remain a valuable asset and anything that might render me useless to you will be your loss. I'm certain Mr. Vaughn is chomping at the bit for a chance to make me more... Cooperative.
[A beat. Like he's waiting for a response.]
Come now, Mr. Vaughn. I know you must have something to say to me.
Prose Sample: Footsteps echo loudly in quiet halls, but his feet don't make a sound, padding as lightly as a cat down the stone corridors towards the library. It's almost as if the hems of his novice robes don't even swish as he walks, so he's more of a ghost than a living, breathing individual. That was how he was trained, after all- blend into the shadows, walk without a sound, strike, and leave no indication you were there, save the body on the floor.
The library doors creak open, the first sound he's made since he entered the monastery, and even that he could have prevented had he wanted to sneak inside, but this much, he wants his target to hear. Costel Dalca- now Brother Costel to the kindly and accepting monks of this order who would never dare ask about his bloody past- sits behind a large writing desk, transcribing something from a large tome in front of him. Dalca looks significantly different from the photograph of him he was given during the briefing, supposedly taken about three years before he went into hiding. Where he was once a robust man with a neatly trimmed beard and expensive suits, now he sits a gaunt man, scruffy, broken by piety and poverty and supposedly better for it. Rumors had said that he had truly abandoned his old life and that hiding in a monastery wasn't some erratic course of action chosen by a man who had nothing left to lose. He had honestly decided to seek penance for his sins, of which he had many. Not being in the game anymore, however, was hardly an excuse when it came to Irina Derevko and Dalca had delivered her a crushing blow too many to simply allow him to live.
"I said I wasn't to be disturbed," Dalca mutters, not looking up from his work.
"Yes, I know," he responds, keeping his voice soft, allowing a small hint of nervousness creep into his tone- the very picture of a harried novice who is afraid he's going to get a lashing if he's not careful. "But the Abbot sent me to tell you that he needs this translated right away." He holds up an old book, the cover worn down to a dull brown, the lettering so faded as to be completely indiscernible, and the binding so frayed and ragged that it was a miracle that it wasn't falling apart in his hands.
Dalca looks up at that and seems to grow more annoyed that the novice who dared to disturb his concentration has his hood up and thus obscuring his features- clearly, he'd like to know precisely which novice he was going to snap at for this interruption. "Very well. Come on, let's have it," he growls, urging him forward.
So angry, for a monk. Of course, Dalca was always known for his temper. Even three years of servitude to the Lord could not break him of that.
The awkward steps he takes towards the desk belie the killer's grace underneath the robes. Gently he lays the book down where Dalca has cleared a place for it and starts to pull his hands away, but Dalca catches him by the wrist so hard that a jolt goes down his spine as a thousand different scenarios run through his head. Has he been made so quickly? Should he forsake the plan altogether and retaliate?
Dalca speaks before he can fully decide which way to react. "Your gloves, novice."
"Sir?"
Dalca jerks his wrist up as if he doesn't believe he's capable of seeing his own hands unless they're directly in his face. "Why are you wearing them? It's in the middle of summer."
He makes a point to swallow, to let his voice tremble a bit, "Sir, it's very cold in the basement, and.."
Dalca releases his wrist with a grunt of disgust and opens the book, flipping through the pages carefully. "Spoiled children, the lot of you. You experience a proper winter in Romania and then you can whine about the cold." He pauses, studying his fingers and noting the black ink staining his thumb and forefinger- quite unusual for such an old tome. "What the...?"
The poison in the ink is fast-acting, thankfully. The words are barely choked out before Dalca's on the floor, gasping and sputtering. The candle on his desk very nearly hits the floor too, as his leg jerks out involuntarily and kicks the desk, but it's saved at the last minute. In the same motion that catches the candle, the boy in novice robes removes his hood, exposing a pale face and intense bright eye eyes, framed by a head of thick blonde hair.
Dalca chokes out a laugh. "You," he sputters.
Julian Sark doesn't react, merely kneels down beside Dalca and pulls a small vial out of his robes. "The poison currently in your bloodstream is absorbed through the skin. It is quick to take effect, but slow to kill. I estimate that you will be in agonizing pain for the next nine hours." He shakes the vial. "This is the only antidote."
Dalca hisses and makes a lunge for it, but Sark stands up and steps casually out of Dalca's reach. "I have been instructed to give you the antidote, provided that you cooperate with Irina Derevko's terms."
The old Romanian spits on the ground and scowls, staring to look less like a monk and more like the Romanian crime lord he is. "That Russian whore. She sends little boys to do her work, does she?"
Sark's jaw twitches, but he doesn't give Dalca the satisfaction of a better response than that. "You will give her the operations manual for your entire organization. She's well aware that you still have contacts, despite your..." He gives the monastery's library a cursory glance, "...Circumstances. She requires access to them. Obviously, you won't be needing them anymore." He shakes the vial again, quirking a brow. "In return, I am prepared to give you the antidote and ease your suffering."
Dalca looks like he's considering spitting at him again, but clearly the pain is truly starting to overwhelm him, because he groans and mutters a code to a bank vault somewhere in Portugal that adds up to what Irina already knew about Dalca's operations. The code memorized, Sark rolls the antidote over to the Romanian's twitching form and the man greedily gulps it down, only to come up choking even more than he already was. "You little traitor," he gasps, sounding like his throat is closing up. "You said it was the antidote."
Sark brushes a piece of imaginary lint off of his robes and shrugs, moving over to collect the poisoned book to take with him, lest it leave a bigger mess behind than Irina particularly wants to clean up. "For all intents in purposes, it is. It will eliminate the symptoms of the poison. Unfortunately, it will also kill you significantly faster, which is the true mercy, really."
He pulls the hood back over his head and gives an ironic little bow and turns on his heels to walk out of the library. Dalca's dying curses echo throughout the whole hall as he makes his way out, until they finally stop altogether, plunging the monastery into silence once more. This section of the monastery is empty at this time of night, so it will be awhile before dear Brother Costel's body is found.
And, by that time, Sark will be long gone, leaving no sign he was here, save for the body on the floor.
Special Notes: I'm not sorry for the rap interlude. :|