A/N – This story takes place around a month after Day Three. Although Nina's son Joseph has appeared in other stories, he will be part of the "fanon" surrounding Alex Myers as a OC from now on (I tend to call it "Alexcanon" to separate stories based on the actual timeline from ones which aren't), and should be considered a totally different character to the one in Avenger. Also, the California Adoption Services are fictional as far as I know, and as far as this story is concerned. Most characters in this story are property of Fox, the rest are figments of my own imagination. This is also a 24-hour story, as each chapter in the story is an hour in the day of Alex Myers and CTU.

7:00am, Alex's apartment, Los Angeles

Placing the spoon and bowl which he had just used to eat breakfast into the sink, Alex Myers sighed as he looked at the clock. He wasn't due at work until 9am, but like many a night recently, Alex had slept very little. It was like an alarm clock in his mind every night at 3:00am, where he would suddenly see Nina's dead body no matter what or if he had been dreaming of something else, as if someone had suddenly switched his mind over like a television. The picture was vivid, and in his dream all he could focus on were her dead eyes, which stared into space. This scene would go on for some minutes, before he would wake up suddenly, sweat running down his face and when this happened, he could never go back to sleep and would end up just lying there, looking up at the bland white ceiling.

A knock on the door caught his attention, and not expecting anyone, he first looked through the peephole before opening the door. Unsure of what the couple wanted, he opened the door and examined the pair, one of whom was holding a small boy who could only have been three or four.

"Mr Myers?," The man, a balding, stocky man with brown eyes and a moustache who looked 50 enquired. Alex nodded, and the man took out an identification card.

"I'm Gregory Grayden, this is Olivia Logan. We're from the California Adoption Services," the man explained. The woman, who was much younger than the man was black, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes smiled as her partner spoke.

"California Adoption Services?," Alex asked, totally bewildered at this point. He hadn't contacted anyone about any adoption, and he had no plans to. Wondering if they had the wrong person, Alex gave them his full name and asked if they were at the right address.

"Believe me, you're the right Alexander Myers," Olivia said, her voice was Southern Californian with an hint of the Midwest.

"This is your nephew, Joseph Myers," Gregory said, pointing to the young child, who was busy playing with a toy. Alex stared at Gregory with confusion. The only way that the child, Joseph, could be his nephew was if he were Nina's son. Alex looked at the boy, who had big blue eyes, curly dark brown hair and a button nose. He certainly looked like a Myers to Alex.

"My sister died a month ago, but I never heard of any pregnancy or child," Alex replied.

"My condolences, sir, but that is why we're here. You see, your sister Nina asked to keep this child a secret from anyone who worked at, er...CTU, until her death, and as you're her only remaining living relative, Joseph's foster parents were happy to give you custody," Olivia told Alex. It was a somewhat bizarre statement, as if they had no idea who Nina had been or what she had done in her final few years.

"So, what happens now? Do you not need me to fill out some paperwork or anything?" Alex asked, unsure of what the proper procedure was.

"Yeah, you'll need to make an appointment at CAS, but we're confident that you're capable of looking after Joseph," Gregory replied. He passed Alex a notepad.

"This has all the information about allergies, likes, dislikes and so on," Gregory said. Olivia passed Joseph to Alex, who took hold of him with some anxiety, having not held too many young children in his life. Alex couldn't help but smile as the young boy looked at him. As the pair bid Alex goodbye, Alex wondered how he was going to do this. CTU was no place for a small child, and having a baby in the building had caused some problems when Chase's daughter, Angela, was an unexpected guest of Chloe O'Brian. Walking into the main room of the apartment, he gently lowered Joseph down onto the couch and sat down next to him. Leafing through the notepad, he tried to get a good understanding of his nephew.

7.25am, MDC Los Angeles, Los Angeles

Tony Almeida was lying on his bed in the small grey cell he would now call home for god knows how many months and years. His thoughts were mostly of Michelle, the woman he had loved enough to commit treason for. He knew that he shouldn't be in jail, but he knew that his actions were reckless and yes, selfish. Taking the photo of Michelle off the wall, he gazed at her beautiful, perfect face, framed by curly brown hair and lit up by a sweet smile and brown almond eyes.

"You gonna eat today, Tony?," a voice came from the door. The voice belonged to Tony's cellmate Riley Ortega, a Mexican-American kid who was in jail for numerous burglaries. Although he knew little about Tony's case, he knew a lot about Michelle, and that Tony loved her more than anything. They had become good friends, and had helped each other cope with adjusting to life behind bars.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go in a minute," Tony replied, never taking his eyes off the picture. Riley nodded and disappeared from view. Wiping a solitary tear from the corner of his eye, Tony gently placed the photo back in its place, sighed quietly and got up, about to start yet another dull day in prison.

7.40am, outside Alex's apartment, Los Angeles

Having given Joseph a banana to eat, Alex had then cleaned up half of the banana from around Joseph's face before putting him in the backseat. Explaining to Joseph that he was his uncle was best left until there was more time.

"Joseph, I'm gonna take you to a friends house. She's a really nice lady, and she'll look after you for a while until I finish work, OK?," Alex spoke to the kid as he made sure the seatbelt was in place. Passing Joseph his stuffed teddy, Alex got into the car and wondered if Kim was going to be OK with looking after Joseph.

7.55am, Kim and Chase's house, Valencia

Kim and Chase were in the kitchen, having breakfast when the doorbell rang and as Kim opened the door, she was surprised to see Alex for the first time in weeks.

"Hello, Alex. How are you?," Kim said, sincerely. Although she had hated Nina Myers, she had not wanted her dead, and in this regard, her sympathies were closed to Alex than to her father.

"I'm fine. Look, this is gonna sound weird, but could I ask you to do something for me?," Alex replied.

"Sure, what?," Kim asked, before noticing that there was a small boy stood next to Alex, staring up at her.

"This is Joseph. It's a long story, but I need someone to look after him, just until this evening," Alex responded, hoping that Kim would be OK with the idea of having two small children to look after.

"OK, I'm happy to do that, but who are his parents?," Kim asked. She didn't know for sure if Alex was a father or not, but she had presumed he wasn't.

"He's..he's my nephew," Alex replied, and both of them knew what that meant.

"That doesn't change anything, Alex," Kim replied. She knew that Alex was nothing like Nina, so why would her kid, who had probably never known her, be?

"Thanks so much, I appreciate it," Alex replied, smiling. As he gave Joseph a quick kiss on the cheek and said goodbye to both him and Kim, he wondered what being a parent would be like. Getting into his car and driving off, he realised something, something that caused his mind to become so conflicted with ideas that he thought he was going crazy. He decided not to go directly to CTU, but pay someone a visit first.

07:59:57

07:59:58

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