One Day...

myah, myah... ok, so you did pick a name that sure isn't in any other fic. or any baby name book. sounds like syd became a hippie from the drugs they gave her in labor... ;)

ok, so already LB is a smart kid. well, you know how to hook me. now if she goes off on any adventures, or starts speaking other languages, i'm gonna do a spastic dance. not dissimilar to my spastic alias theme dance...

but no dancing til my head feels better, which seems a long ways away :(

hugs,
t
 
myah, myah... ok, so you did pick a name that sure isn't in any other fic. or any baby name book. sounds like syd became a hippie from the drugs they gave her in labor... ;)

I found it on the internet you freak.. and they use Lily for short. Anyway, the name means Beautiful Lily LOL LOL. http://www.parenthood.com/babynames_search...hName=Lilybelle

ok, so already LB is a smart kid. well, you know how to hook me. now if she goes off on any adventures, or starts speaking other languages, i'm gonna do a spastic dance. not dissimilar to my spastic alias theme dance...

yeah i don't know why all my "kids" are like super smart. i guess i just want them to be that way. but no, lily is not Jolie smart. she's bright but not a super genius freak that travels on her own.
 
Thanks for the reviews guys!!! :smiley:

OK, I'm going to post the last "boring" slow chapter now.. and tomorrow, the better stuff starts!!!! Enjoy!!

Recap:

I hung up the phone and continued back to my apartment, slipping into bed immediately. It had been a very long and emotional day.

Chapter 3:

The next few months actually passed rather quickly. Cole had me on the run to track down the last piece of Rambaldi felgercarb he needed to “fertilize my eggs.” I had started working with this man, Andrian Lazaray, against Cole to find the Rambaldi artifact. Cole had wanted Lazaray dead, but I saved his life and we were both working for Kendall. We needed 12 keys in order to open a secret vault Rambaldi supposedly hid the artifact in. So, I was on a treasure hunt for keys.

Most of the time I would tell Cole I found dead ends. Sometimes, I would give him a fake key. It was grueling work but every step I took was a step towards my daughter.
It would be a little over a year a half I would have been “dead” to the world when Lily’s birthday came around. I was anxious to end this as soon as possible and Lazaray knew that. I had told him all about Lily throughout our long journey’s together and he was proud of me for trying to get back to her.
He told me he had a son but their relationship was non-existent for his whole life. I had no idea how old his son was, but I knew Lazaray regretted his decisions in life. His regret inspired me to work harder for Lily.
Finally, it was the end of September. I was leaving on September 30th for Geneva and Lazaray and I were on our way back to Rome after hunting down the 11th key.

“Have a great break, Julia. You deserve it. Give that little girl the happiest birthday she could have.”
“I plan to, Andrian. I’ll be back in five days.”
“Take your time. I’m going to try to do some work on that last key while you are gone. Stay safe.”
“You too. I have the fake key I am giving Cole. I’ll see you next week.” I walked away from Lazaray and made my way into Covenant headquarters. After marching up to Cole’s office, I slammed the fake key on his desk.

“Here. I’m leaving now, I’ll be back in five days.” I stormed out of his office, leaving him to stare after me.
“Should we trail her again, Boss?”
“No. She’s just mourning her child. Leave her,” Cole said, picking up the key to inspect. “She’ll be back.”

~~~

I woke up early the next morning and made my way to the airport. I had myself booked on a very early flight to Barcelona before taking another flight to Geneva. I couldn’t be too careful with Cole. I had already bought Lily a few things in Rome but couldn’t resist wandering through the small toy store in the Barcelona airport and picking up some more gifts.
Before I knew it, I was in Geneva being picked up by Keith. “It’s so good to see you!” He said, sweeping me into a big hug.

“I’m so happy to be back. Can we go now?” I asked anxiously. Keith laughed and we made our way to the car.
“Did you bring enough toys?”
I smiled. “I just can’t help it. I don’t get to spend time with her so I am spoiling her. My dad used to do that to me. It’s bad, I know. But I don’t know what else to do right now. Oh! Is my dad here?”
“He’s coming in later. He also brings Lily gifts every time he comes. She has more toys, books and games than Davi!”
“Oh…”
“No, no. He brings something for Davina too.”
“Really? How sweet. Well, Davi is also welcome to Lily’s toys.”
“Thanks, Syd.”

I stared at the streets as we whizzed by, anxious to pull up to the Erikkson’s cute little blue and grey house. Finally we were there and I saw Jonna and the girls all standing by the door.
“Oh!!! She’s walking!!” I screamed when I noticed her standing up.
“Yeah. And good luck trying to catch her. As soon as she got herself up, she took off and turned into a speed demon.”
I laughed and jumped out of the car. I saw Lily start to toddle toward me at a rapid pace, so I knelt down and waited for her to reach me.

“MOMMA!!!!” Lily screeched and rushed into my arms. I stood up and twirled her around.
“Oh! sweet pea! You are walking! Look at you! And you are getting so big! Oh, Mommy has missed you!” I covered her in kisses and held her tightly against me, letting a few tears slip down my cheeks.
“Momma. Pwesent?” Lily looked at me hopefully. I laughed, realizing that we do spoil her.
“Lily, your birthday is tomorrow. Presents tomorrow.”
“No. Pwesent now.”
“Well, then I’m your present. You are getting your Mommy today.” Lily pouted at me. Laughing, I walked toward Jonna and Davina. “Hello, everyone!” I said, giving out hugs and kisses.
“Welcome back, Sydney!”

“Hi Aun’ Syddie,” Davina’s small voice rang out. I smiled at the little girl who was standing on the ground staring up at Lily and I.
Jonna smiled. “I hope you don’t mind, we’ve been teaching her to call you Aunt Sydney since Lily is practically like a sister to her.”
“Not at all. It’s sweet. Actually, I brought the girls new pajama sets. Davina’s has little strawberries all over them and Lily has cherries. They are so adorable.”
“Oh! We can use them tonight.”
Jonna and I continued to sit and talk about baby things while she showed me all the latest pictures of Lily. Hours passed and Lily took a short nap on my lap while we chatted. She woke up when the doorbell rang and rubbed her eyes as Keith answered the door.

“Gampy!” I looked down at my baby and saw her smiling and pointing across the room. Looking up, I saw my dad was standing there watching us, smiling. “Gampy!” Lily began squirming off my lap.
I set her down and laughed, standing up to greet him. “Gampy?” I teased and watched his cheeks grow red while he reached down to pick up Lily, who had toddled over to him.
“You better not tell anyone about what she calls me,” Dad joked as he leaned over to kiss me hello.
“Why not? I think that should be your new code name.” I received an icy glare for that comment. “Oh, lighten up, Dad.”

“Pwesent, Gampy?” Lily asked for the second time that day.
“Lily. I told you that your birthday is tomorrow. Presents tomorrow.” Lily pouted again and looked up at her grandfather. “She greeted me with that demand as well. Dad, you have to stop spoiling her!”
“Nonsense. I give her learning tools, not just mindless toys.” I rolled my eyes as he turned to look into Lily’s eyes. “Lily, Mommy is right. Presents tomorrow.”
“Boo,” came the reply and we laughed.

“Dad, I’m going to give her a bath. Do you want to come?”
“No, I’m just going to relax for now.”
“Okay.” I took off down the hall to grab the new pajamas I got for Lily and headed into the bathroom. Jonna told me her new favorite thing was bubble baths, so I prepared the bath and placed Lily in the water. Immediately she began popping bubbles and giggling, making it easy for me to wash her silky waves of brown hair.
Half an hour later we were finished with the bath and Lily was in her new pajamas, settled on my lap as I sat with my dad.
“I have to find a way out of this. I hate only seeing her for a few days every three months.”
“Sydney,” my dad warned, about to embark on some lecture about how I am helping the CIA.
“We’re so close to finding the artifact, Dad. We only have one key left to find, and then the location. After that…I have to get out. I refuse to live like this.”

“So you’d rather endanger your life, and Lily’s?”
“This isn’t a life. I’m going to figure a way out of this, and you can’t force me otherwise. I’ve already missed too much in her life.” Just then, Lily sighed, causing both of us to look at her.
She grinned at us and opened her mouth. “No fights.”
I looked up at my dad and smiled. “Listen to your granddaughter, Gampy.” I watched his face turn a few colors as I stood with my daughter in my arms. “We’re going to bed. See you in the morning.”

After placing Lily in her crib that had once again been placed in my room, I watched her sleep for a few minutes before climbing into bed. My mind restless, I tried sorting out a variety of plans for escape before I finally drifted into a dreamless sleep.

>o<

I woke early and slipped out of the room to create a small pile of gifts in the living room before Lily woke up. Jonna, also up early, added the few gifts her and Keith bought as well, and lastly, my dad came and added his contribution.
Staring at the small mountain in front of us, I laughed. “Okay, this kid is officially spoiled. Dad, you cannot bring her more than one gift from now on when you visit. I’ll have to follow that rule as well!” I took a few pictures of “gift mountain” so one day, when Lily is an ungrateful teenager, she can look back and remember how much she was loved.

We then heard Davina’s soft cries for her mother, so Jonna and I headed back toward the bedrooms and while she went to Davina’s room, I went into mine to check on Lily.
She was still asleep, so I stood there and watched her breathe. I never tired of this sight. She deserved so much more than seeing me every so often. I saw her eyes start to flutter open and a huge smile crossed her face when she saw me looking down at her.

I smiled in return and reached into the crib to tickle her. “Good morning, Miss Lily. Happy Birthday, darling.”
She climbed to her feet and placed her hands on the edge of the crib. I leaned down to look her in the eyes and she planted a kiss on my nose. “Pwesents?” She asked so innocently, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Such a one track mind, little girl!”
“Well, I guess she takes after her mother, then.” I heard from behind me. “When she wants something, she focuses on it until she gets it.” My dad came up behind me and put one hand on my shoulder and the other on Lily’s head.

I smiled. “I guess she does.”
“Happy birthday, Lily,” my dad said, and picked her up from the crib.
“Hi, Gampy!” She smiled at him. “Pwesents?” she asked again, looking at us hopefully.
“Okay, okay, sweetie. Yes, we have presents for you.”
“Yay!” Lily clapped her hands together and squirmed in Dad’s arms. We turned and headed into the living room and watched her eyes grow wide at the presents that lay in a pyramid before her.

~~~

After tearing into the pile of gifts and breakfast, all of us headed to the park to let the girls play in the beautiful fall weather. The day was perfect, I couldn’t believe my daughter was a year old and that I had spent six months away from her, not to mention a year and a half away from my old life. I was determined to have a solution to this problem before another six months went by.
The rest of my stay passed too fast, as usual, and before I knew it, another tearful goodbye occurred and I was on my way back to Rome to be Julia.

When I got back to my apartment, I saw Lazaray had left me an urgent message, which meant he had the key. I left a message on his cell phone telling him I’d meet him in our usual spot at four in the afternoon the next day.
>o<

Morning came and I went to see what bullshit Cole wanted me to do for him now. Luckily, he was too preoccupied with something else and didn’t want to be bothered with me for the day. I always loved those rare occasions.
At four I slipped across town to meet Lazaray. I saw him sitting at our café sipping coffee so I sat down at the table next to his.

“Andrian. I got your message. Does it mean what I think it means?”
“Yes. Now we just have to find the location.” He slid a book to the edge of his table, a sign for me to take it later. “A copy of the coded clues are between pages 46 and 47. Contact me when you have something, or I’ll contact you first.”
“Sounds like a plan.”

“So, how was your visit?”
“Fantastic. She got really big, and is just getting cuter every time I see her. She’s walking now too.”
“Hopefully it won’t be too much longer before you can be with her all the time.”
“Yes. Hopefully. I need to come up with a plan for that too.”
“I may have a suggestion for you…”
“Please share.”

“I’ve heard rumors about a doctor in Hong Kong who has come up with a way to erase memory. Perhaps you can research that. I mean, if you memories are erased of the past year and a half, can Cole really expect you to work for him?”
I mulled over Lazaray’s suggestion. “But that means my memory of my baby would be gone too.”
“There may be a way around it. I only have heard the rumors. You’d need to talk to the doctor.”
“Thanks for the suggestion.” I stood up and discreetly slid his book into my purse. “Always a pleasure Andrian. I look forward to when we meet again.”
“Until then, Julia.”

>o<

I dove headfirst into all kinds of research over the next few months. Most of my time was spent trying to decode the clues to locate the Rambaldi artifact. In addition, I made initial contact with the doctor in Hong Kong that Lazaray had mentioned, Dr. Cho. His research did sound somewhat promising for my situation and I told him about my predicament of not wanting to erase the memories of my daughter. He told me he’d research a way to alternate his technique and to get back to him.
Finally, after three and a half months, Lazaray and I had the location of the Rambaldi artifact. We met in our café once more.

“Andrian, before we go, there is one thing I need to do.”
“You need to visit her.”
“Yes. Because afterwards I am going to go to Hong Kong, and I don’t know how long I’d be out of commission.”
“I understand. Contact me when you are back.”
I stood up and went to Covenant headquarters to find Cole.
“You were looking for me, Ms. Thorne?”

“Yes. I know the location of the artifact. I just wanted to let you know I am leaving tomorrow and don’t know when I’ll be back. It could be about ten days. The journey will be a long one.”
“This is good news. Take your time, but not too long. I don’t expect to be waiting forever.”
I smiled towards him while thinking about the fact that he’d never see me again. “Of course, Sir.”

~~~

I went back to my apartment and packed anything I really needed into a large backpack. In addition, I packed a large shipping box of other belongings and addressed it to my father. After double-checking that anything else in the apartment was nothing I really needed, I went to sleep. The next morning came and I quickly went to the post office to mail the package and returned home to grab my bag. Five hours later I was in Geneva. This was the first time I’d arrived at the airport without telling Keith and Jonna ahead of time, so it was strange not having anyone there to greet me. Instead, I grabbed a taxi and headed to the Erikkson’s.

>o<

Jonna and Keith were giving the girls lunch when they heard a knock on the door.
“Are you expecting company?”
“No,” Keith said and crept towards the door silently to look through the peephole. “It’s Sydney…” he said, letting out a sigh of relief while throwing open the door. “Syd?”

>o<

I stood there, nervously wringing my hands as Keith opened the door.
“Syd?” he said, looking puzzled.
“I’m sorry this is unexpected…”
“No! No, come in. We’re just giving the girls lunch. Is everything okay?”
“Yes…and no. Once the girls are asleep tonight I’ll tell you everything.”
“Sure.” Keith led me towards the kitchen and upon seeing me, Lily broke into a huge smile and tried to get out of her high chair.

“Momma!”
I laughed and grabbed her before she succeeded in climbing out of the chair and injuring herself. “Hello, darling,” I said, kissing her cheeks. I sat down at the kitchen table with Lily in my lap and began to feed her the lunch Jonna prepared.
“This is a surprise, Sydney. We weren’t expecting you for a few weeks.”
“I know, Jonna. I told Keith I’d explain everything tonight after we put the girls to sleep.” Jonna simply nodded, knowing not to question.

“Hey, after lunch do you mind if I use the bathroom to dye my hair back to its natural color? I promise I’ll clean any mess up.”
“Of course, Sydney. Our house is your house whenever you are here. Do what you need to.”
I smiled gratefully, anxious to become a brunette once more.

~~~

After feeding Lily and playing with her for a few minutes, I retreated to the bathroom and emerged an hour later as a brunette. It felt good to look like me again.
As I walked into the living room, everyone looked at me in shock, not used to seeing me as well, me. I smiled.

“Meet the real Sydney Bristow.” I glanced at Lily’s expression and smiled wider, noticing her confusion. I knelt down on the floor where she was playing. “It’s Mommy, Lily. Mommy has different color hair.”
Lily reached out and pulled on my hair for a few seconds. “I like, Momma.”
“I agree, Sydney. As pretty as you were blond, brown suits you much better,” Jonna broke in, taking Davina on her lap.
“Thanks.”

>o<

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the girls and put them to bed shortly after dinner. Once they were settled, I ushered Keith and Jonna into the living room, anxious to tell them everything.
“So, Lazaray and I found where the artifact is, and we’re heading there in a day or two, after I get back from here. Afterwards, I’m not returning to Cole…I’m going to Hong Kong to meet with this doctor who will perform this procedure on me…to erase my memories.” I went into how I was hoping to erase the last two awful years of my life, but worried about forgetting Lily. I told them I was making a video to send them, my dad and Kendall, to try and explain what I had done and why. “So, if I am not back in three months, it’s just because I am still trying to remember Lily…but I will. I promise. I’m refusing to abandon her. My dad won’t let me.”

I watched Keith and Jonna’s faces turn to shock and then pity. “Sydney, I can’t imagine how hard this life is for you,” Keith said slowly as Jonna nodded in agreement. “We’re here for you though and support your decision and if you don’t contact us…we’ll find you and help you remember too.”
“Thank you for understanding. And please…this is confidential, as you know, and I do trust you two. I just had to come and see Lily once more, even for just a day, just in case.”

They nodded at me again and smiled. Jonna got up and moved next to me and hugged me as tears slid down my cheeks. I hoped the next few weeks would bring more freedom and allow me to have my daughter.
Too bad I couldn’t foresee the pain that was about to come.

>o<

I returned to Rome the next day and two days later, Lazaray and I began our journey to the Fish River Gorge in Namibia.
“These are the coordinates of the Rambaldi cube artifact. We have to go in that cave,” I said, pointing toward a small hole hidden among some cliffs. Lazaray nodded and we started inside, flashlights beaming ahead of us.

A mile trek led us to an elaborate vault, which we assumed housed the cube. We noticed the 12 holes designed for the keys we had been collecting for some time. After inserting 11 of the keys, we noticed the 12th would stay put and Lazaray volunteered to hold it open. However, a sheet of metal came down on his arm, and he became trapped in the wall. Suddenly, the cave began to collapse.
“Sydney! Take the artifact and go. You have to get out of here! Get back to your daughter!”

“I’m not leaving you.” I looked around and tore my belt off my pants. “Here, bite down on this. I’ll cut you free.”
Taking a deep breath, I sliced Lazaray’s arm just below his wrist and quickly wrapped an extra shirt around the bleeding wound. “Come on, we have to go!”
Supporting his weight, the two of us made out way out of the cave just seconds before it completely collapsed.

“Sydney,” Lazaray said weakly. “Just take me to a hospital and call Kendall about me. You need to go take care of that cube and do your thing.”
“Are…are you sure? I mean, I could stay…”
“No. You need to go. Now. Before anyone knows we definitely have the cube. I’ll be fine. It’s been a pleasure working with you all these months and maybe one day we’ll be able to cross paths again.”
I nodded and we made our way back to our jeep. After depositing Lazaray in a hospital and calling Kendall, I knew I had more work to do.

First, I made the decision to hide the cube from everyone, including Kendall. I decided to go to Graz and hide the cube in a hotel’s long-term security vault under the name Julia Thorne.
After Graz, I made my way to Hong Kong for my appointment with Dr. Cho, hoping that the rest of my life was about to begin.

>o<

Hong Kong

“Good afternoon, Sydney. I have been reviewing your case and I have tried to modify my procedure so that your memories of the past two years will be erased, however, allowing you the ability to remember your daughter. I think what will happen is you will not remember her at first, but if you leave yourself reminders like video, photographs, letters, etc. the memories of her will slip back into your mind slowly, like grains of salt in an hourglass. Your mind will also know that something awful happened to you during the two years you can’t recall, but you won’t know specifics. I couldn’t help that factor…there was no way your mind would accept having a child without understanding something about the missing time. Do you understand what I am saying?”

I nodded. “Thank you for spending extra time researching my case. When can we do this?”
“I suggest you take a few days to get your affairs in order, Sydney. Like I said, you need to leave yourself reminders of what you hope to remember. How about we schedule the process for two days from now?”

“That works. Thank you, Dr. Cho. I will see you soon.” I stood up and slipped out of his office, heading for my hotel room to make a few videos.

~~~

As I sat on the bed, facing the video camera, I first decided to make a video for Kendall. Sighing, I turned the camera on and began to speak.

“Kendall. I'm sorry. I know you're expecting the cube with the DNA, and instead you get this DVD. You've been great to me. You've been a real friend, and I'm grateful for that. But I can't go along with it, the plan we had, not anymore. You know what this is about, and I'm hoping you can understand. So I'm taking care of it myself, the Rambaldi cube. I mean, even if it's with the CIA, it'll never be safe, not really. I've seen too much. Everything gets stolen. Everything. So I've got a plan. I've found someone, someone who can help me; a man who has done advanced research on how the brain stores short and long-term memory. I'm not going to tell you the specifics of what I'm doing with the cube. In fact, I don't want to know them myself. Which is why I'm going to try and have my memories erased, to keep the Covenant from ever doing what they want with Rambaldi's DNA, I'm going to have everything that's happened in the past two years removed. If this doesn't work, I mean if this kills me, better I did it than the Covenant. But if this works, if I come back and I don't remember, do me a favor. Don't ever tell me about what I've been through.”

Wiping the tears that dripped from my eyes while speaking, I turned off the camera. “This is harder than I thought.” Taking a deep breath, I popped in a new DVD and prepared to speak again.

“Dad. You’re going to have to listen to this carefully and help me when this is all over.” I sat and explained the procedure I was having done to my father, and generally why I was doing it. “…So you have to help me, okay? Please don’t let me forget Lily. You need to help me remember. I cannot desert that little girl. I’ll see you soon. Don’t be too mad. I’m doing this for Lily. She deserves a full time mother. I love you.”

Finally, I had one more DVD to make. Placing a new disc into the camera, I started all over again, fighting to keep the tears back.

“My darling Lily. You are much too young to understand what Mommy is saying right now. But, I have to go away for a little while, and I’m not quite sure when I will be back. The reason I am going away is purely to benefit you in the end, and I am hoping it works out. So please don’t forget me, because I am going to try my hardest not to forget you. I love you very much and one day, we will have the normal life you deserve. I love you very much, sweetheart. Keep being the delightful little girl you always have been for Jonna and Keith. Hugs and kisses, sweet pea.”

Shutting off the camera, I collapsed in tears on the bed. What was I doing? Am I insane to be going through this procedure? No…it’s for the best.

>o<

Two days later, after mailing off my DVD’s, I walked into Dr. Cho’s office and refused to think about the past. This was about going forward and if I gave it any further thought, I risked chickening out and running away. Thus, I pushed forward.

“Good morning Sydney! Are you ready?”
“Yes, let’s do this.” I followed the doctor into his lab and we started the procedure.

The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a dirty alley in Hong Kong. My hair was stringy and grimy and my sweater was filthy.

“How did I get here?” I tried to sit up but my head felt like it weighed twenty extra pounds and I collapsed back onto the ground. “Oohh,” I groaned.
A minute later I managed to push myself up and stumble over to a payphone. Dialing a familiar string of numbers, I waited until I heard someone pick up. “Dispatch.”
“This is officer 2300844, calling for connection. Confirmation: looking glass.”
“Stand by.”
“This is Kendall.”
“I just woke up in Hong Kong. I don't know how long I've been here or how I got here.” I waited for a minute. “Hello?”
“Get to our safe house at Chwing Chausse Way as quickly as possible. You remember how to get there?”
“Of course I do.”
“I’ll make sure they are expecting you.”
“Okay.”

>o<

An hour later I was at the safe house and no one was answering my questions. A woman thrust a pair of clean clothes at me, so once in the privacy of my own room, I began to change. As I took off my sweater, I noticed a long scar about three inches long on my stomach. “What on earth happened to me?”

TBC

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THing are gonna get crazy!!
I'm so excited I got to read two updates!
I hope it doesn't take her to long to remember her daughter!
Great update!
Can't wait for more!
And thanks for the pm!
 
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