(no subject)
Author: Kathy Bruce
Title: Unforgettable Truth
Feedback: Yes!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Alias or the characters. Alias is the creation of J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, and is owned by ABC, and Touchstone Television. I only came up with the storyline, and my characters.
Summery: Can Jack move on? (Oh, I dunno. I never good at these things)
A/N: I thought Elizabeth was an interesting character in season five of Alias. And, I thought about writing about Elizabeth, and Jack. I had fun writing it. Oh, thanks, for beta checking, Linda!
~~~~~
Unforgettable Truth
Jack Bristow had many secrets.
His daughter never knew about his past. His darkest past. But, she did know about Elizabeth. All she knew was that she was a very close friend, and that was it. One thing she didn’t know, and was too little to understand, was that her own father had had an affair with Elizabeth. Right after he was released from custody. Elizabeth was there when he was drinking and she forced him to stop.
Jack didn’t realize that he really liked this woman, but he had noticed that she had different smiles. They could light up the room, and he loved every little smile she made.
He had felt like he'd lost his mind when Laura was killed in an accident. He drank almost twenty four hours a day. He controlled himself better if he was drunk. The CIA didn’t think that way. Devlin was a close friend to Jack. More say a ‘true best friend.’ He would never have considered Sloane a true best friend. He was more like the back burner of the stove.
Year had gone by. Everything was starting to get back to normal. Sydney was in a new school, although she felt she didn't fit in there. Jack went back to his daily work. Elizabeth was there with him as they were working on the next mission, and she told him she was going back home to England. Jack knew this day would have to come. He looked at her and told her, “I wish you could stay.”
She smiled, “Me, too. But I need to head back to MI-5.”
“The CIA really could use you.”
“Yes, they could use me. But I miss my home.”
Jack slightly smiled.
She looked at him as her hand touched his cheek.
“Jack, I will be back. You need to move on. Be there for your daughter. Before you know it, she’ll be all grown up.”
His hand touched hers as the two looked into each other’s eyes. He gently kissed her on the lips and she kissed back.
“Come and visit me sometime and bring Sydney.”
He looked at her, “Since Laura’s death….Sydney's become close to you. How are you going to tell her?”
“I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.”
Jack looked at her, “Why don’t you come over tonight. I’ll make dinner.”
“No offense…you’re a terrible cook. I’ll do the cooking.” she smiled.
“No one is perfect.” he smirked.
She chuckled, “Seven a clock?”
“Sounds fine. When are you leaving?”
“End of this week.”
An hour went by as the two sat at the round oak table. and they talked throughout the rest of the night. Sydney became tired and went to bed. Jack and Elizabeth decided to get comfortable on the couch. Jack poured more wine into their glasses.
Neither realized that they had talked until two in the morning, until Elizabeth became tired and noticed the time on her watch.
“I’d better head out,” she said, standing up, followed by Jack.
She grabbed her purse as she looked at him, Elizabeth said,
“I was going to tell Sydney about leaving.”
“Tell her tomorrow.” He smiled, then kissed her. The kiss was long, and their heartbeats quickened. Jack asked Elizabeth to stay overnight, and she did. When morning came, Jack followed Elizabeth to the front door. She turned, and they both grinned.
“It was a wonderful evening, wasn’t it?” She gazed into his dark brown eyes.
“Yes. It has.”
They continued to kiss until she broke it up, “I really have to go.”
He understood as she left. Not for the last time. Just for awhile. Immediately afterward, Sydney walked up behind her dad.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?” He turned and looked down at her.
“Where did she go?”
“She had to do some stuff. Get ready for school.”
Sydney sighed, as she didn’t want to go to that school. She wanted to tell her father that, but, of course, knew that he wouldn’t listen to her.
She entered her room. Her room was huge. She chose what she was going to wear as she sat down at the edge of her bed, looking at a photo of her mother. She didn’t want to start crying, and tried her hardest not to. She didn’t want to upset her daddy. She stood up and dressed herself, and fixed her hair as her mother would have done. She wanted to see her mother again. She had almost forgotten what she had sounded like, including her laughter. She could remember how her father could make her mother’s face turn red from telling a joke or some funny story.
Sydney realized it was her birthday, and she knew that her own father had forgotten about it. She thought of pretending to be sick, but her father would always know. She had put one of her mother’s favorite necklaces on - one that matched her outfit.
She grabbed her books and threw them into her backpack, then started to talk to herself.
“Books in bag. 2 number two Pencils. Crayons. Ruler. Glue.” She wished her mother was here to help her. “Paper tablet.”
Jack stood there watching his daughter, and he smiled, “Sydney?” he said in a calm smoothing voice.
She looked, “Daddy?”
He walked up to her, and he gave her a gift, “I know it’s early, and you thought I might have forgotten, but I didn’t.”
Her brown eyes lit up, and she quickly opened her gift.
“Diary.” he looked at her, “You can write your thoughts in it”
She really didn’t want a diary. What she really wanted was a doll. A doll that she’d been wanting since she’d first seen it advertised on television. She looked down at her diary.
“It needs a password, daddy.”
“Just open the book.”
She sighed and opened the book, and there was a photo of her mother. She had never seen that photo before.
“For me?” she looked at him.
He nodded.
“Yes. Your mother bought this diary last year. She was always ahead of herself.” He gave a soft chuckle.
“More than I was. She would be angry if I forgot our anniversary.”
Sydney smiled, and she knew he was right. She closed her diary after finding the password, and she would remember it in a heartbeat. The diary was red, and bore the symbol of Rambaldi. She knew that the diary had meant something, as did this weird looking symbol on top it. If she had bought the diary, it would have something cute on top of it, like a kitten or something.
She could hear the school bus horn honking, so she gave her dad a hug, grabbed her bag, and left.
Deep inside, Jack knew that Sydney didn’t like the gift. He had even considered not giving her the diary until she was older.
He had always thought that he wasn’t a good father figure, but he was trying his hardest to make it work so the family wouldn’t wind down. He knew that Laura wouldn’t want that.
He stood up and walked into his bedroom to get ready for work. He knew if he showed up when Elizabeth did, that’s when the rumors would start.
Once at work and at his desk, his phone rang.
“Bristow.”
It was a female voice. Jack could barely hear her, especially with the loud, annoying static. He hung up, and stared down at the phone with a sigh. Elizabeth approached him.
“You look puzzled.”
“I am,” he said, looking up at her. “What can I help you with?”
“The mission plan is complete. Devlin was very impressed.” she chuckled, “That man even gave me a hug! I couldn‘t believe it. In my lifetime, a CIA director hugged me!”
“That’s all he’d better be doing,” Jack joked.
Elizabeth smiled.
“Don’t you worry. How did Sydney like her birthday present?”
Jack sighed, “I think she wanted something else. She wasn’t interested in the diary.”
“She’s six.”
“I know. It was her mother's idea."
“I wanted to buy her something. If that’s alright?”
“That’s fine,” Jack said, smiling slightly. “Does Devlin know that you’re leaving?”
“Yes. He hates to see me go. As does everyone else.”
Elizabeth left as Jack’s phone started to ring again. He answered it with a sigh.
“Bristow.”
All Jack could hear was breathing. Then a loud popping sound, and static. He was annoyed with it, “Look, if you have something to say to me then say it. If you don’t, then don’t call here.”
He hung up. Devlin stood in front of his desk.
“Is everything all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You need to head over to SD-6. Sloane might have a mission planned for you.”
Jack nodded. A couple hours later he showed up at SD-6, met by Dixon, who had only started to work for SD-6 a couple of weeks ago. Jack had felt bad for lying to him about who he was really working for. As the two men sat down in the office, Sloane explained to them what they needed to do. This was Dixon’s first mission with Jack, as they both got along pretty well.
Sloane looked at them both, “You two leave tonight.”
Jack sighed as the others looked at him.
“Is there something wrong?” Sloane asked.
Jack couldn’t believe that Sloane had forgotten his goddaughter’s birthday. He looked at him and said,
“It’s my daughter’s birthday. I wanted to take her out to her favorite place for dinner.”
There was nothing that Sloane could do, and all he could say was,
“I’m sorry, Jack. This job is important.”
The men left the office as Dixon looked at him, “Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll talk to my wife. I’m sure she would love to watch her.”
“I’ll let you know. I might have someone else watching her.”
Dixon nodded, and walked off.
Once back at the CIA offices, Jack found Elizabeth.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she asked him.
“Yes.”
Elizabeth always knew by the look on his face.
“If you wouldn’t mind….” he began.
“I’ll watch your daughter.”
“That would be great. I hate to lie to her.”
“Protection.” she said, closing the folder.
Jack was already out of the country as Elizabeth pulled up to the school. Sydney saw her as she walked in, and ran up to her.
“Elizabeth!”
“Hey! How was your day?”
“Alright. I guess. Where’s daddy?”
“He had to go out of town.”
“On my birthday?” she frowned.
“You and I will go out, and do girl things.”
Sydney’s birthday was on a Friday, and Elizabeth rented movies, bought pizza and a couple of sodas for dinner. The two sat on the couch as they ate their dinner and watched a movie that Sydney is allowed to see.
Elizabeth looked at Sydney and told he, “I need to get something from the car. I’ll be right back.”
Sydney nodded as she watched the movie.
Elizabeth walked back in with a gift and handed it to Sydney, whose eyes grew deeper. She quickly opened the gift, and taking the lid from the box, she gasped.
Elizabeth smiled, “Is that the doll you wanted?”
She nodded, “Yes!” she hugged her, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome sweetie.”
Friday 1981
Jack hurried back home. He knew that Elizabeth was leaving shortly, and he didn’t want to miss her. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, and he wasn’t even sure if he would have the time to say them.
When he arrived home, he saw his daughter crying. Elizabeth was trying to calm her down, but it wasn’t working, and it was breaking her heart as well. Jack stood there, watching, until Sydney noticed him.
“Don’t let her go.” Sydney cried.
“I have to.”
Jack walked out with Elizabeth, as she wasn’t feeling well. As the two faced each other, he touched her check gently, telling her,
“I do love you,” he said, gazing into her eyes.
“I love you, too.”
They both hugged, and kissed for the last time as she stepped in the cab. The cab driver pulled away, and she was gone.
Sydney wasn’t taking this so well, and started to blame her father for Elizabeth’s departure. She ran to her room, and Jack heard the door slam. He sighed, not having anticipated that it would affect his daughter this way. As he entered Sydney’s room, he found her with her face buried in the pillow, crying.
Jack sat at the edge of the bed.
“There is nothing that I can do, Sydney. She has a home there, and a job.”
“You could have stopped her. You could have her move in with us!”
“This is how the world works.”
Jack was never good at explaining things to his daughter.
A few months had gone by when Jack decided to visit Elizabeth. She said she had some news to tell him.
Sydney was seven years old at the time, and father and daughter had started to grow apart from each other. Jack wanted to take his daughter to England, figuring this would be the last time he would ever take her on a vacation during Christmas. He had already called and hired a nanny for Sydney for after the vacation, but didn’t have the guts to tell her. He knew that she wouldn’t understand. But he knew he wouldn’t be a good father figure to her, and in fact, thought he was the worst father. Laura would have made it simple. She'd been good at this - until her death (or so he thought). He was getting close to the truth about Laura but the doors kept slamming in his face.
Sydney took out the diary, pressed the Rambaldi eye, and the book opened up. She started to write her thoughts. Jack always wondered what she wrote in her diary, but the girl needed some space and privacy, and this was it.
The plane finally landed and the two saw Elizabeth holding a baby in her arms. Jack wondered whose child it was. They approached as Elizabeth smiled, “Look at the both of you.”
Jack and Sydney slightly smiled. Jack leaned over and saw the baby. The baby had crystal blue eyes and was starting to get curly blonde hair.
“Who’s the baby?”
Elizabeth became silent as her husband walked up and looked at Jack.
“Jack, this is my husband.”
Jack heart stopped as he thought he swear he heard hear her say, 'Husband.'
Sydney looked at the man and then at Elizabeth. She noticed right away that Elizabeth was scared of her own husband. She didn’t say anything about it.
_______________________
After arriving at Elizabeth's home, Jack left to do something and Sydney could hear arguments in the next room. She sighed as the baby started to cry. As she walked up to the door of the room, she heard a hard slap. She knocked, and the husband opened the door.
“What is it?” Andrian looked down at her.
“The baby is crying.” she said, looking up at him. She could see Elizabeth trying to hide her face.
“Hold him.”
“He needs to be changed.”
Andrain sighed as he looked over his shoulder, “Change him.”
Elizabeth looked at him as she walked passed. Sydney followed her, “You shouldn’t let him hit you.”
Elizabeth stopped and knelt down to her level.
“Listen, every thing will be all right.”
“Hitting is wrong.”
“Sweetie, I’m begging you not to say anything to your father. You have to promise me.”
Sydney had seen this before. Not by her parents, but her friends' parents. Sighing, she nodded slightly. She hated to be stuck in the middle of this.
Elizabeth stood up and walked to the crib, picking the baby up. She started to change him as Sydney walked up and asked,
“What’s his name?”
She had totally forgot, “It’s Julian.”
Sydney said hello to the boy, putting a little smile on his face. They didn’t know that years later the two would be working and fighting against each other.
______________________
Elizabeth saw Jack sitting at the table by himself. Sitting next to him, she told him,
“I missed you so much.”
“I missed you.” he answered, looking at her.
“How did you two meet?”
“I was with a few of my girlfriends and we decided to go to this congress meeting. That’s how we met. Jack?”
He looked at her.
“He isn’t the father of Julian.”
Jack started to take a sip of his coffee.
“He’s your son.”
Jack spit out his coffee.
“My son?”
“The boy has your curly hair.” she smiled, “I told my husband the truth.”
Jack didn’t care if Andrian knew. How on earth was he going to tell Sydney that she had a half brother? He looked at Elizabeth and asked,
“Does Sydney need to know?”
“It’s up to you. I think she should know.”
Jack thought that in a way he should have been grateful. He had a son. He had always wanted a son. He could remember the nights after Laura had learned she was pregnant, and the two would argue about what the sex of the baby should be. Laura would always win.
He sat there and stared at the door, “A boy.” he happily muttered.
Elizabeth looked at him with a smile, “A boy. I thought I was homesick and when it wasn’t going away I forced myself to see the doctor, and he told me the news. Jack I wanted you to be there for the nine months. I was trying to get hold of you but you were out of the country. I was really scared of having this baby all by myself.”
“What about your sisters?”
“They showed up, and told me that I’d do just fine. Then they started to argue about how should I name the baby boy. They didn’t like the name Julian. I told them off.”
“I’m here now.”
Elizabeth looked at him.
“What is it?”
“What’s what?”
“You have this look. You have something up your sleeve, don’t you?”
He sighed.
“Yes. I want you to watch my daughter for a few months.”
“Why?”
“For me to know.”
“Jack?”
“I think Laura is alive.”
She chuckled.
“Jack, she’s dead. There is no way that she can be alive.”
“That woman had lied before. I believe that she--”
“Jack, in your heart you want her to be alive. She’s dead. She was killed. You’ve seen the body yourself.”
Jack sighed, “Could you just watch Sydney?”
“Yes. I will.”
“I've hired a nanny to take over after two months."
“Nanny?”
“I don’t want to explain.”
“Jack, why a nanny?”
“My job for one thing.”
“Take time off. I’m sure Devlin would understand.”
He sighs, “I’m working for another--” then he changed his mind, deciding not to tell her.
She knew him too well, “You have another job?”
“Yes. That’s all I can say.”
She smiled, “Jack you know me. You can tell me.”
“I can’t. If you know the truth, they will kill you and me, and even Sydney. End of story.”
Elizabeth sat there, wondering what Jack had gotten himself into.
Title: Unforgettable Truth
Feedback: Yes!
Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Alias or the characters. Alias is the creation of J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot Productions, and is owned by ABC, and Touchstone Television. I only came up with the storyline, and my characters.
Summery: Can Jack move on? (Oh, I dunno. I never good at these things)
A/N: I thought Elizabeth was an interesting character in season five of Alias. And, I thought about writing about Elizabeth, and Jack. I had fun writing it. Oh, thanks, for beta checking, Linda!
~~~~~
Unforgettable Truth
Jack Bristow had many secrets.
His daughter never knew about his past. His darkest past. But, she did know about Elizabeth. All she knew was that she was a very close friend, and that was it. One thing she didn’t know, and was too little to understand, was that her own father had had an affair with Elizabeth. Right after he was released from custody. Elizabeth was there when he was drinking and she forced him to stop.
Jack didn’t realize that he really liked this woman, but he had noticed that she had different smiles. They could light up the room, and he loved every little smile she made.
He had felt like he'd lost his mind when Laura was killed in an accident. He drank almost twenty four hours a day. He controlled himself better if he was drunk. The CIA didn’t think that way. Devlin was a close friend to Jack. More say a ‘true best friend.’ He would never have considered Sloane a true best friend. He was more like the back burner of the stove.
Year had gone by. Everything was starting to get back to normal. Sydney was in a new school, although she felt she didn't fit in there. Jack went back to his daily work. Elizabeth was there with him as they were working on the next mission, and she told him she was going back home to England. Jack knew this day would have to come. He looked at her and told her, “I wish you could stay.”
She smiled, “Me, too. But I need to head back to MI-5.”
“The CIA really could use you.”
“Yes, they could use me. But I miss my home.”
Jack slightly smiled.
She looked at him as her hand touched his cheek.
“Jack, I will be back. You need to move on. Be there for your daughter. Before you know it, she’ll be all grown up.”
His hand touched hers as the two looked into each other’s eyes. He gently kissed her on the lips and she kissed back.
“Come and visit me sometime and bring Sydney.”
He looked at her, “Since Laura’s death….Sydney's become close to you. How are you going to tell her?”
“I’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.”
Jack looked at her, “Why don’t you come over tonight. I’ll make dinner.”
“No offense…you’re a terrible cook. I’ll do the cooking.” she smiled.
“No one is perfect.” he smirked.
She chuckled, “Seven a clock?”
“Sounds fine. When are you leaving?”
“End of this week.”
An hour went by as the two sat at the round oak table. and they talked throughout the rest of the night. Sydney became tired and went to bed. Jack and Elizabeth decided to get comfortable on the couch. Jack poured more wine into their glasses.
Neither realized that they had talked until two in the morning, until Elizabeth became tired and noticed the time on her watch.
“I’d better head out,” she said, standing up, followed by Jack.
She grabbed her purse as she looked at him, Elizabeth said,
“I was going to tell Sydney about leaving.”
“Tell her tomorrow.” He smiled, then kissed her. The kiss was long, and their heartbeats quickened. Jack asked Elizabeth to stay overnight, and she did. When morning came, Jack followed Elizabeth to the front door. She turned, and they both grinned.
“It was a wonderful evening, wasn’t it?” She gazed into his dark brown eyes.
“Yes. It has.”
They continued to kiss until she broke it up, “I really have to go.”
He understood as she left. Not for the last time. Just for awhile. Immediately afterward, Sydney walked up behind her dad.
“Daddy?”
“Yes?” He turned and looked down at her.
“Where did she go?”
“She had to do some stuff. Get ready for school.”
Sydney sighed, as she didn’t want to go to that school. She wanted to tell her father that, but, of course, knew that he wouldn’t listen to her.
She entered her room. Her room was huge. She chose what she was going to wear as she sat down at the edge of her bed, looking at a photo of her mother. She didn’t want to start crying, and tried her hardest not to. She didn’t want to upset her daddy. She stood up and dressed herself, and fixed her hair as her mother would have done. She wanted to see her mother again. She had almost forgotten what she had sounded like, including her laughter. She could remember how her father could make her mother’s face turn red from telling a joke or some funny story.
Sydney realized it was her birthday, and she knew that her own father had forgotten about it. She thought of pretending to be sick, but her father would always know. She had put one of her mother’s favorite necklaces on - one that matched her outfit.
She grabbed her books and threw them into her backpack, then started to talk to herself.
“Books in bag. 2 number two Pencils. Crayons. Ruler. Glue.” She wished her mother was here to help her. “Paper tablet.”
Jack stood there watching his daughter, and he smiled, “Sydney?” he said in a calm smoothing voice.
She looked, “Daddy?”
He walked up to her, and he gave her a gift, “I know it’s early, and you thought I might have forgotten, but I didn’t.”
Her brown eyes lit up, and she quickly opened her gift.
“Diary.” he looked at her, “You can write your thoughts in it”
She really didn’t want a diary. What she really wanted was a doll. A doll that she’d been wanting since she’d first seen it advertised on television. She looked down at her diary.
“It needs a password, daddy.”
“Just open the book.”
She sighed and opened the book, and there was a photo of her mother. She had never seen that photo before.
“For me?” she looked at him.
He nodded.
“Yes. Your mother bought this diary last year. She was always ahead of herself.” He gave a soft chuckle.
“More than I was. She would be angry if I forgot our anniversary.”
Sydney smiled, and she knew he was right. She closed her diary after finding the password, and she would remember it in a heartbeat. The diary was red, and bore the symbol of Rambaldi. She knew that the diary had meant something, as did this weird looking symbol on top it. If she had bought the diary, it would have something cute on top of it, like a kitten or something.
She could hear the school bus horn honking, so she gave her dad a hug, grabbed her bag, and left.
Deep inside, Jack knew that Sydney didn’t like the gift. He had even considered not giving her the diary until she was older.
He had always thought that he wasn’t a good father figure, but he was trying his hardest to make it work so the family wouldn’t wind down. He knew that Laura wouldn’t want that.
He stood up and walked into his bedroom to get ready for work. He knew if he showed up when Elizabeth did, that’s when the rumors would start.
Once at work and at his desk, his phone rang.
“Bristow.”
It was a female voice. Jack could barely hear her, especially with the loud, annoying static. He hung up, and stared down at the phone with a sigh. Elizabeth approached him.
“You look puzzled.”
“I am,” he said, looking up at her. “What can I help you with?”
“The mission plan is complete. Devlin was very impressed.” she chuckled, “That man even gave me a hug! I couldn‘t believe it. In my lifetime, a CIA director hugged me!”
“That’s all he’d better be doing,” Jack joked.
Elizabeth smiled.
“Don’t you worry. How did Sydney like her birthday present?”
Jack sighed, “I think she wanted something else. She wasn’t interested in the diary.”
“She’s six.”
“I know. It was her mother's idea."
“I wanted to buy her something. If that’s alright?”
“That’s fine,” Jack said, smiling slightly. “Does Devlin know that you’re leaving?”
“Yes. He hates to see me go. As does everyone else.”
Elizabeth left as Jack’s phone started to ring again. He answered it with a sigh.
“Bristow.”
All Jack could hear was breathing. Then a loud popping sound, and static. He was annoyed with it, “Look, if you have something to say to me then say it. If you don’t, then don’t call here.”
He hung up. Devlin stood in front of his desk.
“Is everything all right?”
“I’m fine.”
“You need to head over to SD-6. Sloane might have a mission planned for you.”
Jack nodded. A couple hours later he showed up at SD-6, met by Dixon, who had only started to work for SD-6 a couple of weeks ago. Jack had felt bad for lying to him about who he was really working for. As the two men sat down in the office, Sloane explained to them what they needed to do. This was Dixon’s first mission with Jack, as they both got along pretty well.
Sloane looked at them both, “You two leave tonight.”
Jack sighed as the others looked at him.
“Is there something wrong?” Sloane asked.
Jack couldn’t believe that Sloane had forgotten his goddaughter’s birthday. He looked at him and said,
“It’s my daughter’s birthday. I wanted to take her out to her favorite place for dinner.”
There was nothing that Sloane could do, and all he could say was,
“I’m sorry, Jack. This job is important.”
The men left the office as Dixon looked at him, “Jack?”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll talk to my wife. I’m sure she would love to watch her.”
“I’ll let you know. I might have someone else watching her.”
Dixon nodded, and walked off.
Once back at the CIA offices, Jack found Elizabeth.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” she asked him.
“Yes.”
Elizabeth always knew by the look on his face.
“If you wouldn’t mind….” he began.
“I’ll watch your daughter.”
“That would be great. I hate to lie to her.”
“Protection.” she said, closing the folder.
Jack was already out of the country as Elizabeth pulled up to the school. Sydney saw her as she walked in, and ran up to her.
“Elizabeth!”
“Hey! How was your day?”
“Alright. I guess. Where’s daddy?”
“He had to go out of town.”
“On my birthday?” she frowned.
“You and I will go out, and do girl things.”
Sydney’s birthday was on a Friday, and Elizabeth rented movies, bought pizza and a couple of sodas for dinner. The two sat on the couch as they ate their dinner and watched a movie that Sydney is allowed to see.
Elizabeth looked at Sydney and told he, “I need to get something from the car. I’ll be right back.”
Sydney nodded as she watched the movie.
Elizabeth walked back in with a gift and handed it to Sydney, whose eyes grew deeper. She quickly opened the gift, and taking the lid from the box, she gasped.
Elizabeth smiled, “Is that the doll you wanted?”
She nodded, “Yes!” she hugged her, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome sweetie.”
Friday 1981
Jack hurried back home. He knew that Elizabeth was leaving shortly, and he didn’t want to miss her. There were a lot of things he wanted to say, and he wasn’t even sure if he would have the time to say them.
When he arrived home, he saw his daughter crying. Elizabeth was trying to calm her down, but it wasn’t working, and it was breaking her heart as well. Jack stood there, watching, until Sydney noticed him.
“Don’t let her go.” Sydney cried.
“I have to.”
Jack walked out with Elizabeth, as she wasn’t feeling well. As the two faced each other, he touched her check gently, telling her,
“I do love you,” he said, gazing into her eyes.
“I love you, too.”
They both hugged, and kissed for the last time as she stepped in the cab. The cab driver pulled away, and she was gone.
Sydney wasn’t taking this so well, and started to blame her father for Elizabeth’s departure. She ran to her room, and Jack heard the door slam. He sighed, not having anticipated that it would affect his daughter this way. As he entered Sydney’s room, he found her with her face buried in the pillow, crying.
Jack sat at the edge of the bed.
“There is nothing that I can do, Sydney. She has a home there, and a job.”
“You could have stopped her. You could have her move in with us!”
“This is how the world works.”
Jack was never good at explaining things to his daughter.
A few months had gone by when Jack decided to visit Elizabeth. She said she had some news to tell him.
Sydney was seven years old at the time, and father and daughter had started to grow apart from each other. Jack wanted to take his daughter to England, figuring this would be the last time he would ever take her on a vacation during Christmas. He had already called and hired a nanny for Sydney for after the vacation, but didn’t have the guts to tell her. He knew that she wouldn’t understand. But he knew he wouldn’t be a good father figure to her, and in fact, thought he was the worst father. Laura would have made it simple. She'd been good at this - until her death (or so he thought). He was getting close to the truth about Laura but the doors kept slamming in his face.
Sydney took out the diary, pressed the Rambaldi eye, and the book opened up. She started to write her thoughts. Jack always wondered what she wrote in her diary, but the girl needed some space and privacy, and this was it.
The plane finally landed and the two saw Elizabeth holding a baby in her arms. Jack wondered whose child it was. They approached as Elizabeth smiled, “Look at the both of you.”
Jack and Sydney slightly smiled. Jack leaned over and saw the baby. The baby had crystal blue eyes and was starting to get curly blonde hair.
“Who’s the baby?”
Elizabeth became silent as her husband walked up and looked at Jack.
“Jack, this is my husband.”
Jack heart stopped as he thought he swear he heard hear her say, 'Husband.'
Sydney looked at the man and then at Elizabeth. She noticed right away that Elizabeth was scared of her own husband. She didn’t say anything about it.
_______________________
After arriving at Elizabeth's home, Jack left to do something and Sydney could hear arguments in the next room. She sighed as the baby started to cry. As she walked up to the door of the room, she heard a hard slap. She knocked, and the husband opened the door.
“What is it?” Andrian looked down at her.
“The baby is crying.” she said, looking up at him. She could see Elizabeth trying to hide her face.
“Hold him.”
“He needs to be changed.”
Andrain sighed as he looked over his shoulder, “Change him.”
Elizabeth looked at him as she walked passed. Sydney followed her, “You shouldn’t let him hit you.”
Elizabeth stopped and knelt down to her level.
“Listen, every thing will be all right.”
“Hitting is wrong.”
“Sweetie, I’m begging you not to say anything to your father. You have to promise me.”
Sydney had seen this before. Not by her parents, but her friends' parents. Sighing, she nodded slightly. She hated to be stuck in the middle of this.
Elizabeth stood up and walked to the crib, picking the baby up. She started to change him as Sydney walked up and asked,
“What’s his name?”
She had totally forgot, “It’s Julian.”
Sydney said hello to the boy, putting a little smile on his face. They didn’t know that years later the two would be working and fighting against each other.
______________________
Elizabeth saw Jack sitting at the table by himself. Sitting next to him, she told him,
“I missed you so much.”
“I missed you.” he answered, looking at her.
“How did you two meet?”
“I was with a few of my girlfriends and we decided to go to this congress meeting. That’s how we met. Jack?”
He looked at her.
“He isn’t the father of Julian.”
Jack started to take a sip of his coffee.
“He’s your son.”
Jack spit out his coffee.
“My son?”
“The boy has your curly hair.” she smiled, “I told my husband the truth.”
Jack didn’t care if Andrian knew. How on earth was he going to tell Sydney that she had a half brother? He looked at Elizabeth and asked,
“Does Sydney need to know?”
“It’s up to you. I think she should know.”
Jack thought that in a way he should have been grateful. He had a son. He had always wanted a son. He could remember the nights after Laura had learned she was pregnant, and the two would argue about what the sex of the baby should be. Laura would always win.
He sat there and stared at the door, “A boy.” he happily muttered.
Elizabeth looked at him with a smile, “A boy. I thought I was homesick and when it wasn’t going away I forced myself to see the doctor, and he told me the news. Jack I wanted you to be there for the nine months. I was trying to get hold of you but you were out of the country. I was really scared of having this baby all by myself.”
“What about your sisters?”
“They showed up, and told me that I’d do just fine. Then they started to argue about how should I name the baby boy. They didn’t like the name Julian. I told them off.”
“I’m here now.”
Elizabeth looked at him.
“What is it?”
“What’s what?”
“You have this look. You have something up your sleeve, don’t you?”
He sighed.
“Yes. I want you to watch my daughter for a few months.”
“Why?”
“For me to know.”
“Jack?”
“I think Laura is alive.”
She chuckled.
“Jack, she’s dead. There is no way that she can be alive.”
“That woman had lied before. I believe that she--”
“Jack, in your heart you want her to be alive. She’s dead. She was killed. You’ve seen the body yourself.”
Jack sighed, “Could you just watch Sydney?”
“Yes. I will.”
“I've hired a nanny to take over after two months."
“Nanny?”
“I don’t want to explain.”
“Jack, why a nanny?”
“My job for one thing.”
“Take time off. I’m sure Devlin would understand.”
He sighs, “I’m working for another--” then he changed his mind, deciding not to tell her.
She knew him too well, “You have another job?”
“Yes. That’s all I can say.”
She smiled, “Jack you know me. You can tell me.”
“I can’t. If you know the truth, they will kill you and me, and even Sydney. End of story.”
Elizabeth sat there, wondering what Jack had gotten himself into.