Chapter 1
Disclaimer: The only characters JJ can't claim are Leah and Jeff. So far.
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"Happy birthday!" Sydney said brightly, pulling aside the thick curtains to allow bright sunlight to flood the room.
"Aw, Mom," Leah complained, pulling the blankets over her head. "Can't a girl sleep in on her birthday?" she begged from underneath the blanket.
"Come on, sleepyhead!" Sydney chided. "A girl doesn't turn eighteen every day! You don't want to sleep the day away, do you?"
"Yes," came the muffled reply; Leah had turned over and put her pillow over her head.
"Come on," Sydney repeated, tugging at the tangle of blankets. "Your Jeffrey's already called twice, and I think he's of the distinct impression that I don't like him and am trying ot run him off."
"Ugh," Leah moaned, rolling out of bed and adjusting the tank top and shorts she'd slept in. "I've warned him about calling early on Saturdays. What time is it, anyway?"
"Almost eight."
"Mmmm…" Leah mumbled, falling backwards onto her bed.
Sydney yanked the blankets away before Leah could tug them back over her head.
"Up!" she ordered crisply. "I'm not answering the phone again."
"I'm gonna kill Jeff," Leah muttered.
Leah stumbled into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her f ace. It was barely June. She'd graduated less than a week ago, third in her class. Didn't a girl deserve a break? Her summer job didn't start for another week yet. She'd been accepted to a college one state away, in South Carolina, just a couple hours away from her hometown in Georgia. And she couldn't even sleep past eight on a Saturday!
Looking up at her tousled brown curls in the mirror, she sighed. Then she grabbed a clip from the counter and pulled the whole mess back from her face.
"What kind of breakfast food do we still have?" she asked, rifling through kitchen cabinets a few minutes later.
"I think we still have some cereal in eh pantry." Sydney grinned. "And there are brownies in the fridge."
"Better. Milk?"
"Yep."
Leah sat down at the kitchen table a minute later with a plate of dark chocolate brownies and a tall glass of milk.
"I still don't see how you eat that for breakfast," Sydney said with a disdainful look over her shoulder while she refilled her coffee cup.
"And I don't see how you drink that stuff ever," Leah retorted. "It can be mostly milk, and I still can't choke it down."
"A few years at teaching and you'd change your mind," Sydney said with a shrug.
"A soda suits me fine."
The silence that fell would have been comfortable if Leah hadn't fallen back on thoughts that had plagued her often lately, as they always did near her birthday. Her mother sensed her train of thought as well.
"Mom," she finally said softly. "Can we talk?"
Sydney tensed up, but took a seat facing her daughter silently.
"Mom, two years ago I asked you, and you said I wasn't old enough, I wouldn't understand. But I'm eighteen today, Mom. I'm an adult. I think I deserve to hear the truth about my father, Mom." Leah's eyes were pleading.
Sydney had made a point of never lying to her daughter; she never wanted Leah to go through the same trauma she had upon learning the truth about her parents. But she'd never told Leah the whole truth, even though Leah had always known there were secrets she didn't know.
"Leah, I'm not sure…" Sydney began.
"Mom, I'm an adult. I want…I need to know who I am, where I come from. Not just part of it, but all of it. You've never even told me how you met my father," Leah accused.
"Leah, I've explained that I haven't told you because I don't want to lie to you. I'm just not sure what I can tell you now so that it won't hurt anybody."
"Mom, just tell me the truth. Please."
Sydney sighed; she had never been able to refuse those sparkling green eyes when their owner had asked something of her, even before her baby girl had turned them on her.
"Leah…I haven't always been a teacher. When I was nineteen…" Sydney decided a simple version of the truth would be best. "I started working in intelligence."
"Intelligence?" Leah knitted her eyebrows until a crease appeared between them. "You mean like FBI?"
"CIA," Sydney corrected. "I met your father I the CIA. He was my handler."
Leah's eyes were wide and confused.
"So…my father was CIA too?" she asked.
Sydney nodded. "V-Michael and I were attracted to each other the first time we met, but…the agency frowned on Agent-Handler relationships."
"And he was your handler. You didn't just say 'screw the rules'?" Leah asked, eyes twinkling.
Sydney smiled wanly. "Not from a long time. Then, one time, he was sent with me on a mission. The night you were conceived, Leah…" Sydney swallowed over a lump in her throat. "That was the last time I saw him. When I found out I was pregnant, I ran. It would have gotten us both into too much trouble, and I didn't want to risk loosing you, baby. So…I just disappeared."
Leah's jaw dropped.
"HE doesn't know about me?!?" Leah cried.
Sydney shook her head and dropped her eyes. She couldn't stand to see the tears in her daughter's eyes.
"I just always thought he knew. I thought there must be some really good reason he wasn't around, like…I don't know! I just thought he'd know, Mom!" she cried, keeping the tears mercilessly in check.
"I'm sorry, baby," Sydney said in shame. "There have been so many times I almost wished I'd told him, but Leah, I loved him, and you so much, and you will never understand the danger we'd all have been in if some people had found out about us, or about you."
"I'd like to meet him," Leah said after a long moment of hesitation. "I want him to know me."
Fear filled Sydney's eyes, and though she forced it under a cool calm quickly, its appearance didn't escape her daughter.
"No. Leah, the people that would have hurt you then would still hurt you now, if they found you. Please, Leah, let this rest. For me, Leah," Sydney begged.
Leah stared steadily at her mother for several minutes before standing silently. Sydney thought she heard Leah say "I need to know who I am," but her voice was so quiet it could have been anything.
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Jeff was all smiles when Leah pulled up in front of his house in her Dodge Neon that she'd managed to get about a year ago. He knew nothing about the suitcase I the trunk of the little red car that she'd tossed out her window so her mother wouldn't see her sneak it out.
"Happy birthday, Baby," he said, greeting her with a hug and a kiss. Jeff, too, would be going off to college in the fall, and hearing the term of endearment only served to make her feel guilty about taking off for who knew how long during their last summer together as kids.
"Thanks, Jeff." Leah sighed. "I need a favor. Can I use your computer?"
"Sure, Babe. What's up?"
"I'll explain in a minute. Let me regroup, okay?" Leah requested. Suddenly, she wasn't sure what she could or should tell Jeff.
"Okay, sure," Jeff said, worried by her tone alone.
Leah accessed her e-mail account on Jeff's computer and began typing what proved to be a lengthy letter to her mother. By a skill that had proved to have an actual use on few occasions, Leah talked as she typed.
"My mom told me some things about my father today," she began. "She said that before I was born, they were both working for…the government. I guess she got scared when she realized she was pregnant, because she ran. She never told my father about me, and she as much as refused to today when I asked her."
"That's harsh," Jeff commented.
"I need to know him, Jeff. He's part of who I am, and I need to know that part. I'm going to find him."
"How? I mean, birth records aren't going to help if your mom didn't record his name."
"No, Jeff, you don't understand. I'm going to find him. I'm going to LA."
"Why LA?"
"Mom used to tell me about living there, before she got pregnant. That must be where she was living when she worked in the…government."
"Is your mom okay with this? When are you leaving?"
"Mom doesn't know. That's why I need your help. I'm leaving today. I need you to send this e-mail to my mother, once I've had a few hour's head start. When she calls, Jeff, please don't tell her where I'm going. You don't even have to tell her you saw me today, if you'd rather stay out of it," Leah said.
"God, Leah, are you sure? You shouldn't really travel cross country alone. I could come with you…" Jeff offered.
"You're so sweet," Leah said, trailing a finger affectionately down his cheek. "But I think I need to do this alone. I've got over a thousand dollars saved up in the bank. I'll withdraw it all before I leave and hide it in my car. I'll be okay. Please do this for me?"
"Leah, I'm not going to regret this, am I?" Jeff asked. "If anything happens to you, I'll never forgive myself for letting you do this alone."
"I promise, Jeff. You won't regret this. I'll be back before the end of summer and we'll do something really special before we have to leave for college."
Jeff sighed. "Okay, Leah, I'll do it. Are you going to leave now?"
Leah nodded. "Mom won't start to worry for a good three hours yet, and by then I can be well into Alabama."
The walked back out to her car hand in hand.
"I love you, Jeff. You're the best. I'll call you tonight, okay?" Leah said.
"Okay. Oh, wait. I almost forgot to give you your present," Jeff said, dashing back inside and returning with a package wrapped in bright red paper. "You can open it when you get homesick," he teased.
"Thanks, Jeff." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek and got into her car. Jeff leaned down to the open window.
"I love you, Lee. Be careful."
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Cute, huh? If I were Leah, my mother would have caught me and torn my hide into about a thousand pieces, despite adulthood…I swear the woman has eyes in the back of her head, and some sort of telepathic link into my mind…but anyway…
What do ya'll think? Naturally, Jeff is going to regret not tagging along, but that's just the Bristow in Leah…She attracts trouble. Right?