Chapter 3: …I'm Crazy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Alias, but several characters in this story are MINE!

A/N: I think you'll like this chapter, sorry for taking so long to get it up!

A/N: I don't like the version of Sydney I portray here either, but you have to remember that in this story she's never had CIA training and therefore hasn't been trained to hide her emotions. It could be a lot worse, trust me. I revised this chapter at least a dozen times.
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"Sydney? Are you okay?" Danny's voice exclaimed.

"Danny?!?" I'm…I'm fine. I was just…expecting someone else," she finished quickly.

"I wanted to let you know I'll be home a little late tonight," Danny said after a pause. "We had an emergency earlier, so my schedule is a little behind. Will you be okay?"

"Oh, yes, I, um, Lorrie and I were talking, and we, er, I wasn't expecting you to call," Sydney said nervously.

"Lorrie? That little girl that's always rude to you?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes, that's her. What time will you be home?"

"Not until 7:30 or 8:00. Go ahead and eat without me, I'll get something when I get in." Danny fell quiet. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked again.

"I'm fine, Danny. You surprised me is all. I'll see you when you get here. Jaime will probably still be awake then, too. Love you."

"I love you too, honey. And you'll be okay?" Danny repeated yet again.

"I'll be fine," Sydney laughed, hoping she sounded nonchalant. "I feel so silly. You must think I'm being ridiculous, letting an unexpected phone call rattle me like that. We were really deep in conversation, I guess we lost all track of time."

"Yes, I do think you're being ridiculous, but I'll let you explain later. I really have to go if I want to get home at all tonight," Danny said, sounding a little less worried. He shook his head. She got too involved with those kids.

"All right. See you then."

"See you."

Sydney hung up the phone and collapsed in her chair laughing.

"Danny thinks I'm crazy!" she cried. "I can't keep answering the phone like that until she calls!"

Lorrie grinned. "You covered well. Since when does an unexpected phone call leave you shaking like a fox being chased by a pack of hounds?"

"Oh hush. What would you do if your mother was going to call you? This is weird." Sydney laugh died away and apprehension replaced the giddiness she'd been feeling a moment before.

"And scary," Lorrie added. "You really think it's her?"

Sydney nodded slowly and closed her eyes. "I couldn't forget her voice. But if it is her…" She opened her eyes and looked at Lorrie.

"…Then she didn't die," Lorrie finished. "And we have to figure out what really happened."

Lorrie was starting to kind of enjoy the situation. It was weird, like in the movies. She was starting to think like those movie detectives.

Then the phone rang again.

Sydney gasped but jumped to answer it before it finished its first ring.

"Hello?" she said, careful to keep her voice calm.

"Sydney." The voice sounded too calm and almost relieved.

"Who…is…this?" Sydney said forcefully.

"Are you there alone?"

"Yes. I'm alone," Sydney said for some reason, looking pointedly at Lorrie as she said it.

"You know who I am, my Sydney."

The sound of that phrase, "my Sydney," threatened to pull her into the past for the second time that day, and into memories she'd managed to bury or at least adjust to. Hearing the voice changed everything.

"Mom?" she said, barely audibly. Lorrie stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

"Yes, Sydney," Laura Bristow said, sounding sad now.

"But…you…how…" Sydney sputtered.

"It was a mistake, Sydney. I should never have left. I can't explain what I did now. Jack hasn't told you about me?" Laura added after an awkward pause.

"He knew?!?" Sydney yelled.

"Ask him. But don't tell him you spoke to me. Do me that favor, Sydney, and I'll try to explain it as best I can. I promise you I'll try. Good-bye."

"No! Don't…" Sydney cried, but she heard the disappointing hum of the dial tone before she could finish.

Lorrie stared in disbelief as Sydney returned to the table.

"It was her? And you're dad knew about her?" she asked. The whole mess was becoming less fun and more disappointing. She'd hoped it had been someone playing a joke and they could find out who did it. She never imagined this might be for real.

It was all Sydney could do to nod in reply to Lorrie's question.

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Almost an hour after the shocking phone call, Sydney struggled to make the one phone call she knew she had to make to get any answers, for the time anyway. She knew she'd have to call her father. After all, hadn't her mother practically begged her to ask him about it, and then she'd explain it to her? Who knew what her father might know? She may never want to speak to Laura Bristow again after she talked to Jack. And why was her mother so anxious to keep her existence, or at least her contact with Sydney, secret? Sydney should be elated to find out her beloved mother wasn't dead after all, but there was something wrong with the whole thing. And it didn't help her to think that Lorrie's father was looking for proof that Lorrie's mother has only disappeared, not died, as well. Sydney had the very unpleasant feeling that her life was about to change forever.

"Mrs.…Sydney, you have to call him. You want to get it over with before your husband gets home, don't you? If your mom doesn't want you to tell anyone about her, at least find out why," Lorrie urged.

"I'm going to, Lorrie," Sydney snapped. "I just have to figure out how to ask him without sounding abrupt and unnatural. He's a sharp guy, and I don't want him suspicious. I'm not telling anyone anything until I find out something drastic, but something about this just doesn't' feel right to me," Sydney admitted.

Sydney thought this over as she searched the kitchen for some crackers for Jaime to keep him quiet; he wasn't the center of attention for once in his short life, and he didn't like it a bit. She gave a handful of crackers to Lorrie, who was sitting closer to him that she was, and Lorrie instantly began giving them to him one at a time to keep him from cramming them all into his mouth at once.

Finally, Sydney picked up the phone and dialed the only number she had for her father, his cell number.

"Bristow," Jack's voice said sharply.

"Dad, it's me," Sydney said, suddenly unsure of how to begin the conversation. He would definitely know something was up.

"Sydney?" Jack Bristow could not have sounded more shocked if he'd just been informed that Mt. Everest had spontaneously sunk into more of an Everest Valley.

"Dad, I…I wanted to talk to you…about…Mom. See," she continued quickly, "I was talking to a student today, and some things she said got me thinking about Mom. You know, you never told me very much about what happened then, and you still haven't. Could you tell me some of it?"

The long silence at the other end of the line surprised her. Was it that hard of a question?

"Not now," Jack said finally. "May be I could join you for dinner and we could discuss it." His tone was, as usual, all business and left no room for argument. He was not asking, he was telling her what they were going to do.

She sighed and prepared for the fight.

"Dad, I'm already having company for dinner tonight. What's the big deal anyway? Why all the secrets?"

"Who is your guest?" Jack asked, completely ignoring her question. Nothing new there.

"My student," Sydney said, growing irritated. Her voice was more snappish than she intended, but at least her wasn't walking all over her anymore, like he'd done when she was a teenager. If he'd said she couldn't do something, she'd gone meekly to her room and read all night.

"I'll be there anyway."

Sydney wondered if while she'd been reminiscing he'd been making arrangements to get to her house for dinner.

"Dad, I don't think…Dad?" Sydney held the phone away from her ear and stared at it. "He hung up on me!" she cried in disbelief. So much for not walking all over her.

"What did he say?" Lorrie asked, not at all concerned that he'd hung up on his own daughter.

"He asked if he could dome to dinner. He's never been here," she added thoughtfully. "But when I told him I already had company he said he'd be here anyway. Really, he didn't ask, he told me he was coming."

"If you'd rather I didn't stay…" Lorrie started, but Sydney cut her off.

"Of course you're staying," she said, not realizing she was doing much the same thing her father had. "Dad expects you to be here, and if you're not he'll think I lied and just don't want to see him. Which I don't, but I wouldn't lie to get rid of him. Besides, we're in this together, remember? I need you now." Sydney smiled reassuringly.

Lorrie couldn't help but smile back. She hadn't felt so…content since her mother had died. It was good to be content, not just exist for a change.

"Right. Together. I'll stay," Lorrie promised.

"Good. I think you'll be helpful in figuring out whatever's going on. And may be we can figure out something to do about your dad."

Lorrie's smile dimmed.

"I don't want you to talk to my dad. You'll just make him mad," she warned.

Sydney drew her eyebrows together.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because he's always mad. He gets frustrated easily when things don't go his way. And lately…" Lorrie broke off in a shrug.

"He's frustrated because he can't find your mother?"

Lorrie nodded.

"Lorrie, you can't let it get to you. Have you ever given any thought to what you'd like to do when you grow up?" Sydney asked abruptly.

Lorrie was a little flustered by the sudden change of subject.

"A little. I'd kind of like to…well…I'd like to be a psychologist. Then I could help crazy people like us," Lorrie said sheepishly.

"Good. Don't let anything stop you from getting that. Focus on that, and the here and now doesn't seem as bad. That's how I got through college and most of high school, living with and so close to Dad. He didn't approve of me becoming a teacher like my mother."

"If Dad knew I wanted to be a psychologist, he'd say all they do is get paid big bucks to listen to rich people whine," Lorrie confided. "My mom was a doctor. I'd like to be like her, but I can't stand the sight of blood. So, I'll be a psychologist instead. It's almost the same. You're helping people feel better."

Sydney was surprised by the girl's response. That was a way she herself had never been able to look at things. She could have placated her father by taking an interest in a profession that was like teaching in her eyes but wasn't really, and still satisfied herself, but for her it had to be the exact same thing. Besides, teaching middle school was an experience she wouldn't forego for anything in the world.

"Keep thinking like that, Lorrie. It'll take you places," Sydney finally replied.

Sydney stood and began moving around the kitchen, finding the ingredients for spaghetti, the one meal she knew her father still ate and that Danny liked. Plus, spaghetti is almost as good reheated as it is fresh.

By the time her father had showed up, Sydney planned to make her life seem picture perfect. No one, especially her father, needed to know that what had once been very close to actual perfection had just been turned upside down.

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Good, right? Stay tuned, folks, you'll love the scene coming up in the next chapter. Sydney asks one innocent question and it sends Jack storming out the door like she's firing a gun after him…