THE LOST BRISTOW

Jan had seen his mother from the peripheral vision of his eye and after he had
secured
Mischa with her seat belt, Jan Bristow actually hesitated... was he going to
have a
conversation with his mom or not? "Mischa... would you mind if I talk with my
mom for
awhile? I mean, he's out for the count anyway..." Jan said, daring NOT to speak
the name
of the man who had actually set Jan's earlier plan, when he had been evil so to
speak, in
motion....

"Of course not, Jan, I'm ok," she said softly, smiling. "i'm going to rest a
bit anyway," she
added with a smile. *** Sydney watched her son with MIscha. She was so proud
of this
boy she had never before known, at how tenderly he took care of Mischa. She
smiled as
she saw them talk.

Jan softly kissed her cheek. "I think that's the best prescription for now." Jan
said with a
smile. The last touch was a hand touching hers, and then he got up and walked
over to his
mother. As he was face to face with her, all he could let out was... "Mom?"

Mischa smiled. "I think you're right," she said softly, She felt Jan kiss her
cheek, then
gently brush her hand with his as he headed over to his mother. Mischa put her
head back
and closed her eyes, trying to keep the visions of what had happened to her from
flooding
her mind. *** "Jan," said Sydney with a smile. She patted the seat next to
her, indicating
he should sit with her. "What's on your mind?" she asked, smiling at her son.

Jan sat down at the seat offered to him, and sighed. "I don't understand any of
this. Dad...
was he like this before? This.... bad?" Jan asked her. "And there is something
you should
really know... but I'll you go first..." Jan said as he looked at his
birthmother.

Sydney sighed. "No, he wasn't," said Sydney, looking over at Michael's
unconscious form.
"There was a time when I loved him more than anything, and he loved me. It was
perfect,
or so I thought. But his path changed, and took him in a direction that led to
this." She
paused, and turned to look at her son. "The thing I regretted the most, about
your father
changing like he did, was that he took you away from me." She took his hand in
hers the
way only a mother could and looked directly into his eyes. "Not a day went by
that I didn't
think of you. You need to know that." She stopped, and smiled, and sat back in
her seat.
"Now what did you need to tell me? You know you can always tell me anything, no
matter
what," she added, smiling at her son, now a grown man.

Tears streamed down as he looked into the eyes of his mother, the one according
to his
dad had given him up for adoption. He had seen through that lie. . . which led
to believing
his mother's story. "I... what Dad said, about me and Mischa.... I did... think
of doing that
to her, but I just kept it a threat, a possible idea... call it leverage."

"Jan," said Sydney softly, putting her arm around her son, "you didn't know who
you were
really working for, and you never intended to see that through." She looked at
her son's
tear-streaked face and saw in his eyes the guilt he felt. "You cannot hold
yourself
responsible for your father's decisions. What he did to Mischa- and to you- was
his own
choice. And your guilt is exactly what he wants. Don't give it to him, Jan. I
know it's hard,
but I do not blame you, and I guarantee you she doesn't either," she said
softly, nodding
towards Mischa's now sleeping form in the back of the plane.

Jan reached for his mother's shoulder and laid his face there... to dry his
tears. Jan didn't
remove his face from that place. "At least... now every thing's okay again... I
hope I put
him out for a good time...." Jan spoke of his father. "Was...there ever someone
else that
stood between you and him?" Jan suddenly asked.

Sydney held her son close, hoping to make him feel better. "You did," she said
softly. She
thought back to Mischa and said softly, "Jan, everything is ok for now, but you
know she is
going to need your support. You are going to need to be strong for her," she
told her son,
holding him close. "But I can be strong for you, when you need me." She heard
her son
ask about her and Michael, and if anyone else had ever stood in between them.
"There
was one woman," she said, remembering Michael's first wife, Lauren. "She
betrayed him,
and all of us," she said softly. "I don't think your father ever really
recovered from that."
She wanted to spare him the whole story- how Michael had been forced to shoot
Lauren
dead. Instead, she held her son close, trying to take his pain away. "I'm here
for you, Jan,"
she told him softly. "I know your father did horrible things to you, in the
past and with
what he made you watch. You can let it all out," she said softly. "Mom is
here."

"Thank you.. mom." Jan said. Then he let his head up to look into his mother's
eyes and
gave her a kiss on her cheek.

Sydney smiled as Jan kissed her cheek. She reached over and wrapped her arms
around
her son, giving him a warm hug. "Jan, are you sure you're ok?" she asked
tentatively,
holding her son close. She was so worried about Jan, with all the changes in
his world in
just the last day or two. The last thing she wanted was for her son to feel
alone in his time
of need.

"I am now." Jan said with a smile. "I was wondering... did something similar
happen to
you? And working for an organization you believed to be the CIA?" Jan asked his
mother.
They were talking together about things now, so why not ask that question? What
Sydney's
son didn't realize however, was that he was opening up a can of old worms, not
to
mention reopen past wounds....

Sydney pulled back a bit as the memories of SD-6 came flooding back all at
once. "Yes, it
did, actually, a long time ago," she said, remembering what she had gone through
and all
the people in her life that she had lost because of SD-6. "Actually, that's how
your father
and I met.." she said, and she began to tell the story. How she found out what
SD-6 really
was, how she had gone on that mission by herself, then marched into the CIA
offices and
written out her statement for his father and Agent Weiss. She told her son how
his father
was her handler as she served as a double agent for two and a half years. "You
see," she
said concluding the story and looking over at Michael, "there was a time in my
life when I
put my life in your father's hands everyday. And back then, he never let me
down. He was
always there, not matter what I needed from him." Her eyes filled with sadness
as she got
quiet, her mind back in that time again.

Then the pilot announced that they were going to land the plane. "I'm sorry if
I opened up
old wounds again, Mom." Jan said softly as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"No," Sydney insisted. "Jan, it's natural for you to be curious. It's ok. I
can only imagine
the questions you must have, and I promise you, I will answer every single one."
She
buckled her seat belt and looked at her son. "Just not right now, since we're
landing.
Once we get back and everything calms down, we'll have a dinner, just you and
me, and
we'll tell each other about our lives. Now," she said, in a mothering tone,
"buckle up."

Jan laughed shortly, and buckled up. "You know, that's just what Mischa had said
to me
when I had visited her in the plane hospital wing on board the other plane." Jan
told his
mom.

Sydney laughed. "She's a good girl, that Mischa Vaughn," she said softly, smiling. "And the mother in me has not failed to notice that she has her eye on you." She poked Jan's arm playfully and winked at him. "Anything your Mom should know?" she asked with a smile as the plane descended in the LA airport.

******************************END CHAPTER 8****************************************