D: Not mine. J. J. and all them's. Got nothin'. Don't bother.
An: Here's the next chapter!! Hope the little cliffy last chapter stumped a few of you. I'll explain what it's all about in this chapter. Remember, this is all AU, some of the info. on people's history is all made up, so don't take it seriously with the show. Some of it is not known to anybody so I just had fun filling in the blanks. So, hopefully you'll be able to enjoy this!
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[previously]

"Why is your birth date in quotations?." Sydney asked.
"Because, that's my guessed birth date." Irina responded.
[Now]
"Guessed? Doesn't your mother know when she gave birth to you?" Jack asked, not understanding.

"She didn't 'give birth' to me..I was adopted when I was 9 years old. But they ARE my parents. Always will be." Irina revealed. Sydney gaped. So did Jack.

"I didn't know that." Jack said.

"Well, I didn't know until I was much older myself. When my parents finally passed on and I had to go through all the legal troubles with keeping my pueblo." Irina said.

"But you were 9 years old..surely you have SOME memories of before you were adopted." Sydney suggested, still confused. Irina could only shrug.

"I don't really...my birth date was guessed because when I went into the orphanage in Russia, they didn't know my age..they guessed how old in years..and subtracted that from the date I was entered into the orphanage records, January 10, 1963..so my birth date was put as January 10, 1955. When I was adopted, I was 9. But I don't have any memories...it's recorded that I was found wandering, crying for my mother. For my mother..and someone named Yelena. A schoolboy of about 14 found me; took me home where his parents took me to the local authorities. They searched all over for my mother until taking me to the orphanage late that night. For months the orphanage then searched as well, but nothing came up. And I don't remember much of anything. Just some flashes of people's faces...I'm not even sure if those are possibly from people at the orphanage. One is of a little girl..shorter than me, calling me by my name." Irina shared, getting a little bit of a far away look.

"Wow...you've never tried to look again?" Sydney asked softly. Irina smiled motherly at Sydney placing her hand over Sydney's.

"I didn't need to. I had a home..wonderful parents..they tried, I just don't remember anything." Irina answered, letting it drop there. Next she produced a birth certificate.

"And this is your birth certificate." Irina said smiling and handing Sydney her birth certificate.

"But, I have that. How'd you get it?" Jack said, getting upset.

"You have hers, with Laura being her mother's name. This one has my true name, with Sydney's true full name. Remember when we just put the initial 'A' cause I told you the women in my family had middle names with 'A'? Well, I had her middle name already chosen, just didn't put it on the certificate you've got." Irina explained. Sydney looked at her REAL birth certificate and gazed as another part of her life unfolded itself. At 'mother's name' it said: Irina Anashka Derevko. And her name: Sydney Alewndra Bristow. {pronounced: Ah-lawn-drah}

"Alewndra? How'd you come up with that pretty name? What does it mean?" Sydney asked curiously.

"Alewndra is the Russian form of Alexandra, from Alexander..The defender of man. Kind of ironic how it's appropriate NOW." Irina shared, smiling at Sydney. Sydney grinned and nodded.

"Alewndra..Sydney Alewndra Bristow..that's pretty. I love it!" Sydney said, face all dimpled as she gazed at it.

"Jack?" Irina asked, biting her lip. After all, she was THEIR child.

"It's perfect." He answered, smiling slightly at Sydney.

"Fits you well." He commented.

"The rest is legal stuff...my adoption papers, the pueblo deed to me and my heirs, my estate, medical papers. Stuff like that." Irina said, shuffling through some, letting Jack and Sydney browse through them.

"Says here they tried some psychologist on you? Therapy?" Jack asked as he looked over some medical documents.

"Something like that. I was maybe..11 or 12. I kept having those horrible nightmares, crying for my mother, my real mother since I called her 'mamashka'..and to some girl named Yelena. They just wanted to help me out. They didn't know what else to do." Irina said, her face frowning at the memories.

"How do you know Yelena is a 'girl', not a woman...like an aunt or something?" Sydney asked. Irina froze. She furrowed her brow in thought.

"I..I don't know. I just always thought of her as a 'little girl'. That's what I feel I know her as. You know...now one's ever asked me that?! Not even those doctors!" Irina said surprised, smiling at Sydney. Sydney just shrugged.

"Gosh mom, what a child hood." Sydney mumbled seeing all the documents and files out in front of her.

"I loved my life growing up..I don't remember much of before...before the adoption. To me it started from there. After that it was wonderful." Irina said truthfully. Jack's brow furrowed. Irina saw this and studied him.

"Jack,..what is it?" Irina said finally. He looked up at her, locking his eyes with hers. Finally he exhaled.

"It just doesn't make sense..why a 9 year old doesn't remember where they come from..who they are..what happened. Younger yes. That'd be more plausible. But...9 years old, that's hard to understand." He said, eyeing her. Irina nodded, understanding his logic.

"The doctors said that..that something tragic must have happened. To cause me to block it all out. I still have flashes..memories that couldn't be from my new family. But that's it." Irina stated in a small voice. He nodded afraid for Irina for the first time. Not knowing where you came from on top of knowing that it could all be because of some horrific tragedy costing her her loved ones. Possibly her parents and maybe a sibling.

"Mom, what do you think of regression therapy?" Sydney softly asked. Irina looked frightened a moment.

"I did it. It's completely safe." Sydney added in. Irina gulped pursing her lips.

"I'll think about it." Irina said in a whisper. Jack couldn't believe it, but he felt proud of his ex-wife for even thinking about the idea. The rest of the papers were put away, Irina giving Jack her citizenship papers to put on record and the copy of Sydney's birth certificate to her to put at home.

"What's in the box?" Sydney asked next, really curious now.

"That has some of my most precious belongings." Irina said smiling as she opened the antique box and it began to play a melody. Sydney's eyes flashed in recognition.

"You used to put me to sleep with that song!" Sydney exclaimed.

"Yes. As MY mother did for me. It's a Russian song..VERY old." Irina said as she reached in to pull out something. She pulled out an old set of rings.

"My parents' wedding rings. Papa and mama's." Irina explained setting them on the table. Sydney gazed at them with a small smile on her face.

"And this was on me when I was found by the school boy." Irina said pulling out a necklace, white gold, with a charm/coin with a tiny inscription in Russian. But it was only half of the coin.

"We have no idea where the other half is." She said softly fingering it.

"It's the only thing from the past that I have. That and my first name." Irina stated.

"May I?" Jack asked cautiously.

"Of course." Irina smiled, smiling as he gingerly fingered it, looking it over.

"Have you ever tried to trace the #'s to see where it was made, and how many? Maybe they have records or something." Jack asked. Irina shook her head no.

"Can I research it?" Jack asked hesitantly. She got slightly teary eyed, confused.

"But why? You'd DO that ...for ME?" Irina stated out. Jack eyed her.

"Yes..I can tell that not knowing about where you are from is one of the reason's you're the way you are today. The walls you put up." Jack simply said, not afraid to tell the truth. Sydney nodded in agreement.

"Bringing all these memories up and telling us all about your past..mom, that's gotta be tough. Seems to me you've NEVER done this before." Sydney answered, holding her mom's hand. Irina could only nod.

"I'll probably start having those damn nightmares again." Irina mentioned, fingering her parents' rings.

"What else is in there?" Sydney asked, seeing that the box wasn't empty.

"Oh..well..MY wedding rings." Irina said, pushing her thoughts away and pulling out 2 rings that hooked together. Sydney recognized them from being on her mother's hand when she was little.

"You still have those?" Jack asked, shocked. Irina's eyes narrowed.

"Of course. Believe it or not, BRISTOW, they are VERY precious to me." Irina said a little bitterly. Sydney's eyebrows just raised as she watched her parents' face off in a stare once again.

"But it was all fake." Jack bit back. Irina's jaw tensed and she placed both hands on the table leaning forward to pin Jack with her gaze.

"The 'idea', so to speak, MIGHT have been, but not the ACT itself. It NEVER was and NEVER will be. Who you married MIGHT not have been me in name, but was me physically. Truthfully. That was all of me that day and ALL the days afterwards. How else do you think Sydney and..how Sydney came to be?" Irina snapped back, completely offended. She'd had enough of him trashing what she still held very sacred to her. Her family.

Jack just swallowed, eyeing his former wife's angry tear filled eyes. He prided on that how now, he was able to tell if she was lying to him. Now, he almost wished he couldn't. Because she was telling him the God honest truth. He swallowed again and looked down.

"I think that's all for now. We'll see to it that these get in a safe place." Sydney said suddenly, to break the tension.

"I want my jewelry." Irina said, taking her parents rings, placing her moms on her ring finger and her father's on her thumb of her right hand. Then she took her own wedding rings and placed them on her left hand. She gave the envelope to Jack and held onto the music box.

"Can this stay on my table here?" Irina asked softly.

"We'll just check. I'll put these in a safety box too. Thanks mom..for sharing all this with us." Sydney said as she got up, giving her mom a hug.

"My pleasure baby." Irina murmured back.

"Good day Irina." Jack nodded awkwardly towards her. She nodded stiffly back.

Jack and Sydney left, Jack going straight to tech-ops for them to investigate Irina's necklace.

"Notify me as SOON as you get anything." Jack said sternly.

In the meantime, he also started the search of where Irina came from, starting where the last document goes back to. Her entry papers into the orphanage. The JTF also got a lead on a front the KGB used to use in Russia to conduct important business. The believed Sloane and Sark might go there to pick up where the KGB left off.

So Sydney, Vaughn, Eric, and a handful of field agents were going to be sent. It was about 2 weeks since Irina took them to her family's home, then revealed all of her past. And as thought, she did start having the nightmares again.

Jack happened to walk in during one. To his dismay, he watched Irina toss about with the saddest look upon her face, crying out for 'Mamashka' and Yelena until she startled herself awake, gasping for breath. She calmed herself down then felt someone watching her. She looked up and saw Jack, gasping slightly.

"Told you I'd get those again." She simply said, getting up and stretching a little.

"You should really think about that regression therapy. They help a lot." Jack suggested, holding a case folder. Irina nodded then motioned to the folder.

"News?" she asked crossing her arms comfortingly across her chest.

"Well, we traced your necklace back. Seems that it was bought by a middle aged women..with 2 very young daughters. She gave each of them one half of this coin. The younger one was referred to by her as Yelena. The two girls were no more than a year apart,..but the older one was MUCH taller for her age. That's all we could get form the shop owner. He's quite old now, but still remembers the two little girls 'with dark hair and eyes' he says." Jack revealed, causing Irina to gasp and place a hand over her mouth, tears to her eyes. She mumbled slightly.

"I..I..I must have a little..s-sister! Oh my!? Where could she be?!" Irina said, turning away, her hands trembling slightly.

"Irina...I think you should do the regression therapy. We have intel in that we're not the only ones investigating your past. Sloane's going after your family." Jack said solemnly, watching as Irina grew concerned, then angry.

"He won't HURT my family. Even if I remember them or not. I want to do the regression therapy. Now." Irina said evenly, her eyes ablaze.

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An: There it is, my take on Irina's past. Not much of a cliffy, but hope you all enjoyed it!! I loved coming up with her past. Please read and review and tell me what you think!! I love it when I get reviews, they make my entire week!!! So please just click that little purple button, even if it's just to say hi!!! Thanx!