Sydney led Kate to the women's bathroom, made sure it was empty, and locked the door. "What's wrong?"
Kate dug in her purse for a moment, then pulled out a worn photograph and passed it to Sydney.
Sydney stared at the picture in shock. It was a wedding picture…of her own parents. "How…what…where did you get this?" she stammered.
"Is that your mother in the picture?" Kate asked. Sydney nodded. Kate took a deep breath and said, "She's my mother too."
"We're sisters," Sydney said softly after a moment.
"At least half sisters," Kate said. She took the picture back from Sydney. "I've never known for sure whether that's my father."
Sydney felt a half-hysterical laugh bubbling up, but suppressed it. She had to make sure this was real, and not some sort of trick. "When's your birthday?"
"June 2, 1982," Kate answered. "I was born a month early, though."
"My mother left on October 26, 1981," Sydney replied. They both quickly calculated and realized that their mother must have been about four weeks pregnant when she left. Sydney slid down the wall to a seated position. After a moment, Kate joined her.
"She was spying, wasn't she? On your father? I know she was a KGB agent" Kate said.
"Our father," Sydney corrected. "And yes, she pretended to be his wife for ten years. Up until a few years ago, I thought she had died in a car accident."
"How old were you?"
"Six." They were silent a moment, and then Sydney said, "What about you? How come she never told you who your father was?"
"I haven't seen her since I was four," Kate answered. "She worked for the KGB when I was little; they'd send her on undercover assignments for weeks or months at a time, so I lived with her parents. Then, when I was almost five, Kresniev came to our house and said that I was 'needed for the good of the Soviet Union'. My grandparents asked him if he could wait a week because my mother was coming home for my birthday. He said they were 'disloyal' and killed them. Then he took me to Moscow and put me into training to be a spy. I've been trying to get away ever since."
"Sounds like your life has been as crazy as mine," Sydney said. She looked at Kate again. "You know, I always wanted a sister."
"Me, too," Kate said with a small smile. "Do you know anything about Mama? All I know is she's on the CIA's most wanted list."
"Dad knows how to contact her. We should tell him about this."
Kate nodded. "And we should probably get out of here…someone might want to use the bathroom."
Sydney smiled. "Absolutely." They got up and left the bathroom together.
Next: Jack meets his other daughter.