Chapter Fourteen – Familiar Faces
Sydney walked in the door of her house late on Sunday evening. The four days of intensive treatment had failed. Sydney remembered nothing about her life.
She spent her last two days in the hospital studying the
details of her life. She worked with
Vaughn learning about her missions, both CIA and SD-6. She worked with her father on her childhood
and details of SD-6 that Vaughn did not know.
Before Will left, he had detailed her years in college. Armed with only facts and photographs, she
had to be the Sydney Bristow that everybody else remembered.
Tomorrow she had to return to work and attend Emily's
funeral. Tonight, she had to face
Francie.
"Syd!" Francie exclaimed when she heard the door open and
close. She got up from the couch and
greeted her with a hug. "I'm so glad
you're home! I've never been so lonely
in all my life!" Francie released her.
"It's good to be home," Sydney said.
Francie suddenly frowned at her, "Why didn't you call me?! I was going crazy! When you didn't come home and I couldn't get you on your cell
phone, I was so worried that something had happened to you. Thank God that I was able to get Will on his
cell! I was ready to file a missing
person report on you!"
So the CIA had missed something and Will had covered for
her. Maybe he was making a good career
move.
"Sorry," Sydney said.
"My boss asked me to stay longer.
I couldn't say no. And I was so
busy that I never found time to call."
"You know what?" Francie asked rhetorically, "It doesn't
even matter. I'm just so glad you're
home." Francie hugged her again.
This time when Francie pulled away, she studied
Sydney. A look of concern covered her
face. "Are you okay, Syd? You don't look too good."
Sydney was ready for this one. "I've had a rough week," Sydney said. "I'm tired, and I've got to be at work early tomorrow. And on top of all that, I've to attend a
funeral."
"Oh, Syd!" Francie said sypathetically. "Who?"
"My boss' wife, Emily."
"Oh, you really liked her, didn't you?" Francie asked.
"Yeah, I did," Sydney replied.
"I'm sorry Syd."
"I'll get through it," Sydney said with a small
smile. "I always do." Sydney forced a big yawn. "I'm so tired, Francie. I hope you don't mind it I go to bed
straight away."
"No supper?" Francie asked obviously concerned.
"I grabbed a salad at the airport," Sydney said as she
pulled her carry-on down the hall towards her bedroom.
"Some things never change," Francie commented.
*****
The next morning, Sydney was up early and out of the house
before Francie woke up. Jack had
suggested that they meet for breakfast and go into the office together. Sydney agreed.
Once inside SD-6 headquarters, Jack casually walked Sydney
to her desk and then headed for Sloane's office. "We'll leave at 2:30," he called back over his shoulder.
They had arrived early enough that Sydney could get
familiar with her surroundings before Dixon arrived.
"If anybody at SD-6 could figure out that you're faking
it, it would be Dixon," Jack had told her during one of their sessions.
Sydney got a cup of coffee and discretely examined the
rest of the office. Back at her desk,
she had another problem. She didn't
know her logon or her password. Panic
washed over her. She looked into Sloane's
office, but Jack wasn't there. Her
palms started to sweat as she tried to figure out how to get into her computer.
She heard footsteps approaching from behind her. "Please don't be Dixon! Please don't be Dixon!" Sydney prayed
silently.
A piece of paper dropped on her desk. She looked at the jumble of letters and
numbers, and then smiled broadly. It
was her logon ID and password! Sydney
looked up to watch her father walk into Sloane's office, holding a steaming cup
of coffee.
As she logged on to the SD-6 system, Sydney prayed it
wasn't too complex. Jack had told her
that she should go through her email and if she needed help with anything to
send a copy to him. The CIA had
provided them with customized PDAs that could download information from any
computer system, encrypt it, and send it anywhere. Jack and Sydney's PDA's were directly linked using a form of
wireless LAN. They would be able to
share information with absolute security.
Sydney was overwhelmed by the amount of email she had, and was still working on
it when Dixon arrived. She hadn't
noticed him when he approached, but she did notice the 'Java Doctor' bag that
he set on her desk. Sydney recalled from
her lessons that the Java Doctor was her favorite coffee house and that she and
Dixon often went there.
She gave him a warm smile. "What's this?" she asked.
"Your favorite," Dixon answered matching her smile.
She opened the bag to find a strawberry and cream cheese
croissant. "You're the best,
Dixon!" She took the pastry out of the
bag and took a bite.
"Well, it's good to have you back," Dixon replied. He moved around to his desk, took his jacket
off, hung it on the back of his chair, and sat down. "You know about what's been going on around here?"
"If you're talking about Sloane, yes, I do." Dixon nodded at her. "Are you going to the funeral?" Sydney
asked.
"Yeah, Diane too," Dixon said referring to his wife.
"It's a sad day," Sydney said.
"Uh-huh," Dixon nodded absentmindedly. He studied her in silence for a while – long
enough for Sydney to get nervous.
Finally he said, "Syd, you know that you can talk to me any time,
right?" Sydney met his gaze. "About anything."
Sydney looked into his eyes. "Yes,
Dixon, I do… Thank you." And as it is
with good partner teams, they both understood the deeper meaning of their
statements. Dixon wanted Sydney to know
that he was loyal to her, and Sydney thanked Dixon for keeping her secret.