Chapter 2: We're in this together

Disclaimer: I do not own Alias or any of the characters seen in this story (except Lorrie and Kaitlyn and Jamie and Lorrie's dad and Danny's mother and may be a few more).
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Sydney laughed. "That's unlikely. It must be my mother-in-law."

"I was sure she said she was your mother. My mistake, I suppose," she replied, passing Sydney the phone from behind the desk.

"Lydia?" Sydney said, expecting to hear Danny's mother invite her to dinner that night, or to some other social event.

"Sydney?" another voice said apprehensively.

That voice sent Sydney plunging back twenty years, into memories she had long since hidden away and forgotten. Family outings, baking cookies, tea parties, dolls…Sydney shook herself back to the present.

"Who is this?" she snapped unintentionally.

"Sydney, I hoped you'd remember. This would be so much easier…" the voice said sadly.

"Who is this?" She raised her voice slightly, but just enough for the secretary to look at her worriedly.

"Sydney, I need to see you," the voice said. "I'll call you when you get home. If Danny answers the phone, I'll have to hang up. Please don't tell him anything. Or your father. Don't tell anyone about this please." The voice sounded almost frantic.

Sydney heard the click of the receiver being replaced. She stared at the phone for a second before handing it back to the secretary and walking quickly from the office before the woman could ask any questions. She had completely forgotten about Lorrie until she reentered the lounge to find her. By the time she remembered why the girl was there, she had no time to hide her confusion before Lorrie read it plainly on her face.

"What's wrong?" Lorrie asked, having calmed down during Sydney's absence. "Is your baby sick?"

Sydney could only shake her head and sit down dazedly in a chair next to Lorrie.

"You look like you just saw a ghost," Lorrie commented.

"I think," Sydney started, hardly believing the words as she said them, "I…just spoke to…my…mother."

Lorrie stared at her. "But you said she died!" she cried accusingly. "How could she call you?"

"I…don't know." Lorrie stared at her, so she continued. "If you heard your mother's voice right now, would you recognize it?"

"Of course," Lorrie said readily.

"So would I," Sydney said simply.

"But…how…" Lorrie sputtered.

"I don't know," Sydney mumbled.

Suddenly Sydney glanced at her watch. They had five minutes before she had to get her class.

"I live behind you," Lorrie admitted. "I see you outside sometimes."

"I've never seen you," Sydney said distractedly.

"I don't spend much time outside," Lorrie said almost as distractedly.

Sydney thought of something. "Lorrie, could I drive you home today? We could talk."

"But I'm supposed to ride the bus…And can't you get in trouble?" Lorrie asked.

"No one has to know. Besides, your dad won't notice, will he? I'd like to get a chance to talk to you for a little while. Okay?"

Lorrie was quiet for a second before she answered. "Okay. I hate the bus anyway."

"Come to my room at the end of the day. Come on. Lunch is over," Sydney said quickly.

"Mrs. Hecht…" Lorrie said softly before they walked out of the lounge. Sydney stopped and turned to face her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Do you really think that was your mother on the phone?"

"Yes. I think so. Whoever it was said she'd call me at home later, so we'll find out."

"We?" Lorrie asked.

"Yes, we," Sydney said firmly as they hurried back to the lunchroom.

*************************************************************************************

Lorrie seemed uneasy as she slipped into the passenger seat of Sydney's SUV. She sat stiffly as Sydney drove away from the school, and didn't seem to relax when they were out of danger of being caught.

"What's wrong?" Sydney asked, glancing quickly at her.

"Nothing. I've just never had a teacher take me home before," Lorrie said simply.

"You don't like the idea?" Sydney asked, grinning.

"I didn't think I would."

Sydney sighed. "Lorrie, could you tell me more about…your mother's accident?" she asked softly.

"Why?" Lorrie snapped, instantly guarded again.

"Well…it sounds like what happened to my mother. You were a little older than I was when it happened, so may be you noticed some things that a six-year-old might miss," Sydney explained calmly, not showing that Lorrie's reaction bothered her.

Lorrie hung her head. "She drove off a bridge. They said her braked failed. I thought it was strange, because she'd just had new brakes put on two days before. But the didn't want to listen to me. I was just a little kid. The cops said her body must have been washed downstream, but Daddy said he didn't think that was possible from where they found her car. Then I realized he thought she'd run away. I was really mad. I didn't talk to him for weeks. By the time I would speak to him again, he was all caught up in finding Mom. You believed your mom was dead, though, didn't you?" Lorrie asked suddenly.

"I did," Sydney said. "I don't see how she could be alive. Surely she wouldn't have done that to me and Dad?" she added absently.

"Now you sound like me."

"I do, don't I? See, we're in this together," Sydney said. "I have to stop and pick up my son," she explained when she pulled up in front of the day-care. "Do you want to come in with me?"

Lorrie shrugged. "Okay."

Kaitlyn was waiting for Sydney just inside the door. "Sydney, he's been a little angel…Who's this?" she asked, looking at Lorrie.

"This is Lorrie, one of my students," Sydney said. "So Jaime was good? No problems?"

"None at all. He was just cranky this morning. He didn't even cry when he woke up. Whoa!" she gasped when Jaime twisted in her arms and lunged at his mother.

"Come here, baby. Are you glad to see Mommy?" Sydney cooed.

"Ma-ee!" he cried joyfully.

Lorrie laughed.

"Do you want to hold him?" Sydney asked her.

"Uh…" Lorrie stepped away quickly. "I don't think so."

"Why not? Jaime just loves to meet new people, don't you baby?" she added when Jaime cooed.

"No, thanks. You keep him," Lorrie said loudly.

This time Kaitlyn laughed.

"He's not a disease, girl, just a baby. And Syd, since when has this child like meeting new people? I have to take him everyday because none of the other girls will!"

Lorrie blushed bright red. "I've just never held a baby," she muttered.

"You haven't? Well, we'll have to fix that, won't we?" Sydney said, depositing her squirming son in Lorrie's arms.

"Mrs. Hecht, take him back, please! I'm going to drop him! Please!" Lorrie cried.

"Jaime, be still!" Sydney scolded. "Lorrie, just hold onto him. You won't drop him. Don't worry," Sydney laughed, finally taking Jaime back. "Come here, you little squirt," she said, laughing as he blew a raspberry at her. "Stop that."

"I'll see you in the morning, Syd. If we're lucky, he'll be in a good mood tomorrow, too," Kaitlyn said.

"Not likely. Come on, Lorrie, he's not going to bite you," Sydney teased, and Lorrie blushed.

"I know that. He is kind of cute," Lorrie admitted.

"Wor-ee!" Jaime screeched at her.

Sydney laughed at her look of amazement.

"And smart," Lorrie amended.

*************************************************************************************

"What time do you need to go home?" Sydney asked as she pulled up in front of her house.

"Daddy's never home before seven," Lorrie said, shrugging. "I'll go home by then, whenever you want me to."

"Whenever you're ready," Sydney said pointedly as she unlocked her front door.

"Mrs. Hecht, since I told you about…about my mom…will you tell me about yours?" Lorrie asked uncertainly.

"Outside school, you can call me Sydney. I'll tell you. Let's get inside first, okay?" Sydney said to buy a little time to get her thoughts in order.

Lorrie nodded. "Okay…Sydney."

"Would you like a snack? I think we've got some cookies in the kitchen. We've got sodas, too."

"Um, thanks. Just a soda would be good."

"Okay." Sydney quickly strapped Jaime into his high chair and gave him some crackers to keep him quiet. "Here you go," she said, handing a soda to Lorrie and grabbing another for herself. "Sit down. We'll talk."

"Okay," Lorrie said hesitantly, waiting for Sydney to speak. When she didn't, Lorrie asked, "What happened?"

Sydney took a deep breath. "Whenever I was at home and she had to run to the bank or do some other boring chore, she'd always let me come. She'd never tell me it wouldn't be any fun and that I would be much happier if I stayed at home. That day, she wouldn't let me come. She didn't tell me it would be boring. She specifically said that I just couldn't come, that I had to stay with my father. Not that I had to stay home with him, just that I had to stay with him. I pouted and wouldn't hug her good-bye. I didn't realize anything was going on; I was just a little kid whose mother was refusing to take her somewhere. Next thing I knew, Dad got a phone call. I sat there on the floor and watched his face turn all…stony. Like he was afraid of crying. Then he told me Mom was dead. I started crying, but he didn't seem to notice. When I was ten, I finally got brave enough to ask him for details. It's true, I was scared of him. From the second he received that call, he was a different person. He told me something went wrong with her car and she drove off the docks. I had gone for four years not even knowing that much." Sydney stopped and took a shuddering breath, barely holding back the tears that she'd held back for twenty years. "The only other thing he told me that day was that they never found her body," she continued. " I was in college before I ever had the nerve to ask him anything else. By then, he claimed the details had gotten fuzzy and he was trying to forget. I assumed he just didn't want to talk about it, but now I'm not so sure," Sydney said, having realized as she related the story that her father's behavior was very suspicious. Had he known something? May be even when she was ten?

"You think he knows she's alive but he's not telling you?" Lorrie asked, reading her mind. "Why would he do that?" Lorrie seemed to reconsider that question. "Is he like my dad?"

Sydney nodded. "He was never around after Mom died."

"Could he have been looking for her, and just not told you?"

"I'm beginning to think so," Sydney said grimly, suddenly very angry with her father.

They sat in silence, except for Jaime's babblings, for several long minutes before one of them spoke again.

"You don't talk to your dad much, do you," Lorrie asked quietly.

Sydney looked at her in surprise.

"How do you know that?"

"You don't seem happy about talking to him about all this," Lorrie said. "You got quiet all of a sudden."

"You're right. He lives here in LA. I moved off after college, but Danny and I ended up back here because this is where his family is. It's been months since I've spoken to my father; Danny's parents are more like parents to me than he is. Birthdays and Christmases are about the only times we talk, and sometimes not even then," Sydney said. It seemed as though she was talking about someone else for all she seemed to care. She found she really didn't care any more, either.

"And you don't mind?" Lorrie asked in awe. "My dad always remembers my birthday, even if he isn't around for it much."

Sydney shrugged. I'm used to it, I guess. This is how it's been since I moved out when I was eighteen."

"Why did you move out?"

"I wanted to get away from home. At best, Dad and I were civil. We disagreed about everything, even my career choice. My mother was a teacher," Sydney explained absently. "I was just tired of it."

Lorrie nodded. "Me too. The only time Dad says much to me is when I mess up. He made me play basketball when we first moved here, and he was furious when I quit the team after a week. Just like he gets mad if I do bad in school." Lorrie shrugged.

"Surely he can't…" Sydney stopped abruptly as the phone rang, reminding them of why they were waiting there.

Lorrie stared wide-eyed at Sydney, who stared back, seemingly frozen in place.

"Aren't you gonna answer it?" Lorrie whispered after three rings. Sydney jumped up and snatched up the phone before it's fourth ring.

"He-hello?" she forced out shakily.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

So, surprise surprise, Mommy's alive after all. Of course, we all knew that. But the point is, Sydney didn't and she's just finding out, and a mysterious young girl is finding out with her…