Disclaimer: Does anybody really care if I write this?
Note: This chapter is kinda broken up, but certain things in this chapter will come in to play later.
Ch. 5 "Drunken Fathers and Lying Daughters"
The stewardess was starting to get really pissed. No matter what she did, the passanger would not follow her wishes, not matter how much she smiled and asked politely. She was this close to shaking the man silly. He was so drunk he probably wouldn't even be able to remember it, so there was no danger of him suing her.
"Sir, please get off the plane. We're in Los Angeles and we need to let the passengers board the plane for the next flight," she asked so sweetly she almost puked.
"Did you know that my life is a living hell?" The passanger motioned for her to come closer. "Do you know what I go through everyday? I'd tell you, but that would be stupid. And I'm not stupid, even though some of the things that have happened to me may indicate otherwise." Even though he was drunk, very drunk to be precise, Jack was still able to pronuciate better than a lot of people who haven't had a drop at all.
Finally, she just gave up and called security. There is no way to describle how funny it was, seeing Jonathan Donahue Bristow being carried off the plane by two guards. At first he refused to be escorted off the plane and if he hadn't been so drunk he might have gotten sued for assaulting a guard. Even though he probably could have gotten away from them, he must have realized that it would just be better to go along with them and not cause anymore trouble. Drunk as he was, he knew how Sloane hated attention brought to one of his agents. And Jennings Aero Space wouldn't be paticulary happy about it either.
A taxi took him home. It was only a 45 minute drive to his home, but it took about twice that long considering Jack's state and that the driver didn't understand English very well. And when you're drunk it's hard to speak another language.
Syd arrived home and ran to tell her nanny about what had happened. She went by her father's study, on her way to Linda's room and was shocked to find her father. He was in his desk chair, asleep, holding a bottle of some sort of alcoholic beverage. He looked horrible and as Sydney got closer she discovered he smelled just as bad as he looked.
Wondering if he was dead, she reached to poke him and then jumped back when he awoke with a start.
"Sydney, what are you doing here?" Jack asked furiously, mostly mad at himself for letting her catch him in this state.
"I was looking for Linda." Syd replied meekly.
"Well, she wouldn't be in my study would she?" Jack shouted.
"I'm sorry," Syd said as she fled the room.
Jack looked at the fleeing form of his daughter as she rushed up the stairs and then looked at the empty bottle. He threw it into the waste basket with disgust and then fell back into his chair. "Good going Bristow."
"Syd wait!"
Sydney slowed down her pace and let Will catch up to her.
"Hey, I was wondering if I could borrow your notes for the science test tomorrow?" Will asked.
Syd absent mindedly handed him her notebook.
"So, Syd," Will continued, "I was thinking we would grab something to eat after school and then go over to the aracade for awhile..."
Will's words made Sydney stop in her tracks. She had forgotten that Will and she had made plans for that night when Danny had asked her out. She didn't want to hurt Will, but she really wanted to go with Danny.
"Um, I don't think I'll be able to hang out with you tonight. My father is home and we're going to have dinner together."
"Good. You and you're dad should spend time together," Will responded a little let down, but glad that Sydney's father was paying attention to her for once. He knew how much it meant to her. "Besides I was getting tired of you beating me at PacMan."
As they walked to class Sydney started feeling lots of different emotions. She was happy that she could still go on her date and not hurt Will's feelings, but sad and a little bit scared that she was getting so good at lying to people. She had hardly even thought about it before she said her excuse. "Well, it's just good practice for my job," Sydney thought, trying to comfort herself.
She ran home after school to got ready for her date with Danny. She tried on every outfit she had and finally decided on a red t-shirt that said KISS ME on it, secretly hoping and afraid at the same time that Danny might follow the message, and a short jean skirt. She left her hair down and put on her favorite necklace, a heart shaped locket that had been her mothers. She raced down the stairs and nearly knocked into her father who was surprisingly, still home. They hadn't talked since she had found him drunk in his study the night before and both were reluctant to start the converstation. It didn't help that Jack noticed the locket. Sydney saw an emotion flicker across his face and then dissepear. He was marveling at how much she looked like her mother...and how if not prevented the same thing might end up happening to her. He tensed at this thought and then regained his cold, impersonal composure.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" He said in a manner that gave Syd impression that he really didn't care, but wanted to know so he could give his opinion on the matter. She also realized that her father, even though he wasn't a very good one, would probably have the same reaction as most typical fathers on the subject of their daughters dating: no.
"I'm going to the arcade with Will," Sydney lied, although she found it harder to lie to him than it had been with anyone else.
"Awfully dressed up to go to the arcade," Jack stated, trying to scrutinize the situation.
"I just felt like it, that's all," Sydney replied. She was beginning to wonder if it was worth all the trouble it was causing. Then she thought about Danny. "Yep it's all worth it," she thought. She could see her dad was still hesitant so she quickly added, "Linda said it was okay, unless you have a problem with it or you had something else planned." Since she knew he didn't have something planned he couldn't very well use that as an excuse and since Linda was pretty much raising her, he couldn't exactly complain.
"Of course I don't have a problem with it," he said in a matter of fact kind of voice.
Syd didn't give him time to say anything else and rushed out the door. Jack went to the liquor cabinet, examined the contents, removed a bottle of brandy, and settled in for a long, cold, lonely night.
After debating for a few minutes, Syd and Danny finally settled on a movie. He, being a polite gentleman and wanting to impress her after suggesting a horror movie earlier, bought the drinks and popcorn. They settled into seats about five rows from the front and talked quietly as the previews, well... previewed. What they didn't know, what Syd with all her spy training had not detected, was that someone, sitting in the back of the theater, was watching.
After Will had gotten home, he realized he hadn't returned Syd's science notes to her. The test was tomorrow and he knew she would freak if she didn't have them to study that night. He decided to go over to Syd's house to return the notes, so Sydney wouldn't kill him the next day.
He usually just walked into her house, but since her father was home he figured he should knock. Will was just about to turn around and go home when the door swung open, almost hitting Will in the face. Standing in the doorway, towering over him stood the menacing, intimidating, and just plain scary Mr. Bristow or as Will liked to call him, Count Dracula. It made perfect sense! That's why he never smiled or showed his teeth, because it would reveal his fangs. When he had told Syd this she had just laughed, but Francie had seriously believed him. Of course, that was when they were seven, but it was still fun to tease her about. To this day she had never gone trick or treating at Syd's house if Jack was there.
"Hello, Mr. Bristow. I'm Will, Syd's friend and I just wanted to give her the notes I borrowed," Will was practically shaking the whole time and I don't know if it was the brandy or what, but Jack seemed to be enjoying it.
"Yes, I know who you are. I'll see that she gets them when she gets home," Jack responded. Then after seeing Will's puzzled face and letting the situation sink in he realized something with this scenario was a little bit off. "Isn't she suppose to be out with you?"
"We were going to, but then she said that you and she were going to have dinner tonight," Will answered, still not comprehending the situation fully.
Now that the effects of the alcohol were starting to wear off, Jack was racking his brain for what could have happened. He didn't think she had another mission, but what other reason would she have for lying?
Will's brain was finally kicking in and he too was trying to come up with an explanation for Syd's weird behavior.
Jack, not being too in vogue with what teen girls wore, decided to ask Will. Although he hated asking for help, especially that of a fourteen year old boy, he was desperate for a lead.
"She was dressed up, if that means anything," Jack stated. When Will looked at him strangely, he figured he had hit upon something.
"I have to get home," Will fibbed quickly. As pissed off as he was at Syd right now he didn't want to get her in trouble with her dad, especially, as he hoped was the case, that he was wrong. And if he wasn't, he wanted to yell at her before her dad got to her.
Jack could see through the boy's attempt to lie, but decided it was probably a waste of energy anyway. He would go on his own hunch and if it turned out to be true atleast he'd have someone to blame his unrest upon. And then he could also blame Sloane for his drinking binge that would follow.
Will scanned the room. He had ruled out the scary movies and the animated flicks. Instead he had opted for either a love comedy or a sci-fic flick as his best chance to find Syd. He had figured that if Syd had decided to stab him in the back and go out with that Red Sox hating Danny, they'd probably have gone to a movie. Will had tried this theater first, since it was the closest one and had told the understanding usher his predicament, only changed a little bit of the story and she had agreed to help him. Being one of Syd's best friends he found her in the first room he went to and then he ran back to get a ticket and took a seat a few rows from the back. During the whole film Syd didn't realize that she had more stalkers than the main character in the movie.
While Will had followed his lead and found what he had been looking for, Jack took an entirely different direction and found something he did not particulary want to find. He found Marshall.
Marshall had stayed after school to clean up an experiment that had gone awry. He had just finished up when Jack had poked his head in the door and asked Marshall if he knew where Principal Sloane was, as he was not in his office. Marshall, happy to be of help, led Jack down the various halls to the meeting room, where Sloane sometimes occupied himself.
The five minute walk to the conference room was the longest walk Jack had ever partaken on. Once Marshall had found out who he was, the computer genuis had launched into a lengthy and very hard to follow one-sided conversation.
"Your daughter is very cool, sir. Everybody loves her....well, I don't love her as in I want to date her or marry her...I mean not that I wouldn't be lucky to....I just consider her a friend...she doesn't perchance talk about me, does she?"
Jack gave Marshall one of his infamous looks, thinking the whiz kid with even less social skills than he, would shut up. But then considering who he was talking to, he wasn't so lucky.
"So," Marshall continued. "I take that as a no."
By the time the pair arrived at the conference room, Jack was about ready to squeeze Marshall to the point of bursting and see if he still talked. Jack wondered how anything that involved Marshall ever got done. He bet that the kid aggravated Sloane on occasion. Maybe he had a use after all.
Sloane was sitting at the head of the table, looking over some document strewn across his desk. As Jack approached him, a grin slowly spread across Sloane's face. He always enjoyed his confrontations with Jack. It was always so easy to provoke him.
"What do I owe this unexpected pleasure to?" Sloane said as he rose from his desk.
Jack met Sloane's smirk with a cold smile of his own. Jack, never one to make small talk, went right to the point.
"You wouldn't happen to know where my daughter is, would you?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the smile on Sloane's face fell.
"I take it that you don't know where she is?" Sloane asked uneasily.
Jack took note of the alarm on his boss's face and realized that Sloane didn't know anything, unless he was an even better actor than Jack had given him credit for. Now he wished he had made that little friend of Syd's spill his suspicions.
"It's probably nothing," Jack said casually while trying to back out of the room. He didn't want Sloane involved in Sydney's life anymore than he already was.
Sloane of course saw through this little charade. "Jack, you wouldn't have come to me if you weren't really worried. Why don't you tell me what's going on? You know you can trust me, especially in Sydney's case."
Left with no other choice, Jack told Sloane the details of the situation. As the story unfolded the look on Sloane's face became more troubled. This didn't help the situation. After they had talked for awhile Sloane advised Jack to go home in case Sydney called and that he would contact security. Jack left the office with mixed feelings. If something had happened to her, he knew that telling Sloane was the best thing to do. But if she was just doing that whole teenage rebellion thing, than he hoped he hadn't ruined her chances as having any privacy.
