Not everyone who plays the game survives....
justprompts : Fear is a great motivator- Art Bell
"Thank you for coming in, Mr. Sark."
Sark found it almost amusing that Geiger said that like it was his choice coming here and he wasn't, in fact, practically accosted in the parking garage by security section and escorted to the office. He might have had a dozen snappy retorts to that, but he knew Geiger by reputation and he wouldn't be doing anyone any good if he didn't play nice with the new boss, especially since this arrangement was only temporary.
... He assumed.
"It was... No trouble at all," he drawled in reply, his gaze flickering over to the two men who had brought him here- escorted would be the term, although Sark would hardly call it that. Geiger followed his look and nodded to indicate that they could leave now and allow the two of them to be alone, and they responded with the meaning of haste, like even they weren't too eager to spend any time in a room with Geiger. Sark didn't make the mistake of assuming that their absence meant he had nothing to concern himself with. Geiger was fully capable of being a threat without a security detail backing him up.
Geiger's smile didn't quite reach his eyes when he turned his focus back on Sark, before he immediately went straight to shuffling through papers on Sloane's desk- well, his desk now, for a little while anyway. "I've read your file extensively."
"That doesn't surprise me." Sark straightened up in his chair a little bit, but gave no visible indication of anxiety. The file was hardly complete and even after his extensive debrief with Mucullough, there were still things that even Sloane was unaware of. He was permitted few secrets to keep Sloane content, but he held the ones he had close like a talisman. "I imagine my presence here was cause for alarm."
No use pretending that most people- even men like Geiger- wouldn't be slightly put-off by a renowned terrorist and known enemy of SD-6 being tossed into the midst as if he'd always belonged here. Really, if half the employees of SD-6 were aware of what force they were serving, they would find Sark to be the lesser of several evils, but that wasn't the part of it that Geiger was obviously concerned with (and he had to be concerned about something or else he wouldn't have brought it up).
"Not alarm, no." Geiger looked up and his smile continued to be strangely predatory. "I'm just curious why a powerful figure in global organized crime, someone who only just recently inherited the entirety of his former employer's assets... Simply turns himself in."
Sark's expression didn't shift, although he found some bit of irony in that statement that would have amused him in any other situation. He just tilted his head to the side a bit as if considering the weight of that statement. "Mr. Geiger, are you suggesting that I might have an ulterior motive?"
"All I'm suggesting is that if I were newly promoted to a position of power, I wouldn't give that up for anything unless I thought I could stand to gain from it." For as genial as Geiger sounded, there was accusation in his voice and the way he leaned over the desk suggested a subtle threat display or a gesture of dominance.
Sark lifted his chin, responding with a gesture of slight defiance meant to show that he wasn't intimidated by Geiger's tactics. "I never said I didn't stand to gain from this alliance. Sloane and I agreed to combine our efforts and there was nothing more to it than that."
Geiger's smile didn't fade. "We'll see."
There was a threat there in those two words and Sark wasn't oblivious enough not to see it. Geiger had singled him out and would, more than likely, if given the time and a lack of appropriate distraction, uncover his secrets and possibly Sloane's as well, which meant that moving the timetable up and giving Sydney probable cause to destroy SD-6 and the Alliance once and for all was crucial. He didn't trust Geiger not to pry even if the Bristows and their own considerable secrets kept him occupied for awhile. Professional paranoia at work, really. There were few things that Sark found more unnerving than people trying to uncover what he'd much rather keep hidden. As it turned out, fear was the best sort of motivator when it came to getting things done in a timely manner.
"Will that be all?" He asked dryly after a moment, giving no indication on his face that might show exactly where his thoughts were straying.
"Yes," Geiger said, already mostly ignoring him in favor of a folder on the desk. He looked up abruply about the time that Sark actually stood up and added, "No... Just one more thing. You should know that Sloane, in my humblest of opinions, is a traitor and people who find themselves still loyal to traitors are suspicious as well in my mind."
Sark almost smiled. "If you've read my file, then you should know enough about my loyalties to assure you that isn't the case."
Geiger laughed and this time the smile did reach his eyes, although if that was expected to make him seem less threatening, Sark was meant to be disappointed. "That, Mr. Sark, doesn't really help your case, does it?"
"No," Sark responded flatly, somewhat offended at the light mockery and the continued subtle threat-mongering. The only way this situation could be more of an annoyance is if Geiger decided to call him on his age like so many others had a tendency to do in their attempts to intimidate him.
When Geiger sat down and waved him out looking for all the world like Sark was the one wasting his time and not the other way around, he turned on his heels and exited without the slightest trace of haste or tension, even though internally he felt strangely unstrung and anxious to track down Sydney and put Sloane's plan into execution immediately. Geiger might lose interest in him given everything else he had to concern himself with, but Sark hadn't survived this long by assuming anything about anyone and not planning for every possible situation. Besides the sooner this was over, the sooner he could get out of here and move onto the next part of the plan and that was more of a motivator than the fear of having his secrets uncovered was.
Phase two was much more interesting than phase one, after all.