It was the fourth of July and Nina couldn't remember for the life of her the last time she had been so hot. Leaning against the railing of the boat she was currently aboard, she took a long swig of water from her bottle before pressing it to her forehead, letting out a tiny sigh of relief. The sun was beginning to go down, she noticed, and gazed out into the water, entranced by the rippled patterns created by the choreography of the colors. Setting her water bottle back down, she continued to stare, not quite oblivious to the noises on the other side but able to ignore them.
When Tony had invited her and the rest of CTU to spend the holiday on his parents yacht, she couldn't say that she wasn't surprised. Tony was somewhat new, had only started the year before, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. It wasn't hard to guess that he had feelings for her, but she was doing him a favor by not letting him get involved with anything. That's what she told herself, at least, and she was a damn good liar. Even to herself. Must be a side effect.
Still, the opportunity had proved to be hard to resist, and she had found herself with about half of CTU by the dock at seven this evening. It's not like she had anywhere else to be, same as the rest of them. The jobs they worked didn't tend to offer much social time, and no one would risk missing an opportunity to see their colleagues get drunk, as usually happened in this kind of situation.
Nina snapped to attention a moment later, all lazy musings gone in an instant, as she heard erratic footsteps bounding up from behind her. It was instinct, beaten into her from years in the agency, but that didn't stop her from smiling ruefully to herself as she caught sight of the excited puppy bouncing around her feet.
"Hey, you scared me," she scolded it half heartedly, but laughing as the hyper brown lab placed his paws on her jeans, wagging his tail and demanding attention. She rubbed him behind the ears affectionately, before gently nudging it off to return to whoever it belonged to. She remembered seeing the dog as they had first climbed on the boat, but had been too amused by the look on Tony's face to pay attention to the owner.
Glancing at her watch, which read 8:49, she grabbed her bag and headed over to where everyone else was. Gathered around the front of the boat – the bow? She had never been one for sailing – were Mason and a couple of other cronies from Division. She hadn't been surprised to see George here, he wasn't the kind of guy who would miss a chance to get trashed and make an idiot out of himself. Missing was Chappelle, not like that was a big loss – he had cited scornfully that someone needed to manage Division what with everyone running around like chickens with their heads cut off over silly fireworks. Tony had relayed this to her the other day in the break room and she'd smiled, not at all shocked. It didn't matter, she had told him, as Chappelle wasn't exactly a party animal to begin with.
"And you are?" Tony had responded, raising an eyebrow.
"Sure, why not?" Nina had grinned. "If it gets me out of the office for a few hours, I'm game." That had been more or less the end of their conversation as they finished their coffee and left.
As she made her way downstairs to the makeshift living room, Nina could make out Tony and one of the new analysts, Jamey something, holding a rapid conversation in Spanish. She attempted for a moment to translate it in her head but quickly gave up – she was too rusty.
"Oh, hey, Nina," Jamey greeted her, stepping back from Tony for a moment. "Where've you been?"
"Around," Nina answered vaguely. "Looking at the water – it's a great boat, Tony."
"Thanks," he grinned, looking slightly smug. "We were about to head upstairs and see what was going on, maybe play a game of cards. Interested?"
"Maybe in a bit," she told him. "Actually, I haven't seen Jack in awhile, why don't I go find him and we'll come find you to play?" Tony scowled but nodded.
"All right then, see you in a bit." She climbed upstairs in front of them and went the opposite direction as they did, towards the back of the boat. A lone figure was sitting on one of the benches, gazing out into the water as she had done earlier.
"Jack?" she questioned, clearing her throat in advance to alert him of her presence. He didn't say anything, just raised a beer to his lips and took a long drink.
"What are you up to?" she asked, staring out into the water as well. "The party's over there, you know." Way to lighten to mood, Nina.
"Yeah," he answered, and his voice was hoarse. Only then did she take in the scattered bottles all over the floor next to him, and she swallowed a sharp breath.
"God, Jack," she muttered scornfully. "How drunk are you?"
"Just drunk enough," he slurred. "Just enough." He moved to take another sip but she took the bottle from him and emptied it over the side of the boat. Jack made an angry noise like a cat being attacked, but she ignored it.
"Look at yourself!" she ranted. "Christ, yes, I know things have been bad for you but you can't do this to yourself. Do you really think that your wife will take you back if you keep acting like this?" She had hit a nerve and she knew it as he rounded on her, his eyes flashing.
"What's it matter to you if she takes me back, anyway? What makes you think I want to go back after she threw me out?"
Nina sighed in frustration. "The fact that you're drinking yourself to death in attempt to not think about it? I don't know, Jack! Running away from it isn't going to change it, you know that."
She wasn't sure why she was saying all of this. Her instructions were clear – she need to have Jack Bauer's unconditional trust. She needed him to come to her with anything and everything, she needed his information. And she had succeeded. He came to her with pretty much everything – including his marriage. That hadn't been part of the plan, and if there was one thing Nina Myers hated it was being unprepared and having no control. She needed to get that control, that upper hand, back.
"No, it won't," Jack agreed, breathing hard. "Nothing will change it, so why the fuck does it matter what I do?"
"Come on, Jack," Nina exclaimed. "Look, I'm not a relationship guru, okay? I don't know what happened between you guys and I don't want to." It was true – she had no desire to know anything about Jack's romance issues. "But you can talk to someone, you can try to move on like an adult, instead of throwing your life away!"
"Talk to someone?" Jack spat bitterly, and the alcohol in his breath was incredibly apparent. "Nina, talking to someone isn't going to do a damn thing. I'm not a fucking psychological experiment. Teri and I are over and you're right, I need to accept it. Just let me figure out how!" He was practically yelling by now, and Nina winced as the muffled babble of voices on the other side of the boat quieted. She glared at him.
"Fine," she whispered angrily. "Good luck figuring it out. Let me know how it goes." She stood and began to walk away, seeing tiny spots of red behind her eyes. Only one person could make her lose her cool, and that's what had just happened. She was about to round the corner when she heard his voice.
"Nina…"
She stopped and turned slowly to be greeted by the sight of Jack slumped over on the padded bench, not meeting her eyes. He placed his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands, combing through his hair erratically – something that she knew from experience was a sign of either stress, exhaustion, or drunkenness. She figured now that it was probably a bit of all three.
Padding silently to her previous spot, she sat next to him and put a hand on his back, feeling him trying to keep his breathing under control. It was coming in short and shallow bursts, and she rolled her fingertips in a small circle by his shoulder blades. He normally wasn't so easy to read – he, like her, needed to be in control – but on the rare occasions she saw him drunk she felt like she could read his mind.
"Don't do this to yourself, Jack," she finally said, breaking the silence. Her voice wasn't sympathetic, pleading, or even necessarily kind – it was almost tired, and definitely frustrated, as though watching him like this was draining her. "There's nothing you can do at this point, you know that. Just let it go."
"I want to," Jack said quietly. "I'm just – not ready to."
"I'm not saying give up on your marriage," Nina clarified carefully. "I'm just saying that if Teri wants you to come back she'll tell you, but until then you don't have to just wait around for her."
Jack lifted his head rather abruptly, and Nina moved her hand from his back quickly, as though she'd been scalded. He was looking at her completely differently – it reminded her a little of how Tony stared at her when he thought she wasn't looking. But – no, it wasn't the same. Where Tony seemed to long, Jack… Jack seemed to already have whatever it was he wanted.
She realized a moment later just what that was.
"You're right," he agreed hoarsely, leaning back and folding his hands in his lap as though he didn't quite know what to do with them. "I shouldn't just sit here and wait for her to call." He shifted once more, and it was then that Nina noticed how close they were and how quickly the sounds of the water below her and birds above her became blurred. She tried, rather vainly, to stand up but he grabbed her arm in a vice like grip and forced her to stay sitting.
"I should be able to live my life," he continued, and he sounded so drunk that Nina wasn't sure whether she should be terrified or amused. "I should be able to do what I want."
"That's what I said," Nina muttered, this time avoiding his gaze. "Jack-"
"It is, isn't it?" Jack answered, sounding surprised. "Then you'll forgive me for taking your advice." His face moved closer, his eyes clouded and unreadable, and she tried once more to struggle away but when his lips touched hers she didn't have the heart to fight anymore.
As kisses go, it wasn't phenomenal, and the only fireworks she saw were after she opened her eyes and noticed a couple of colored sparks fading away into the distant sky. As drunk as he was, the awkwardness of unfamiliar mouths meeting was enhanced and he tasted strongly of liquor, something that she had never been entirely fond of. The fact that every single consequence of this brief moment was running through her mind the whole time didn't help matters.
None of this stopped her from enjoying it.
She shouldn't enjoy it, it was too dangerous, this was never supposed to have happened. He was never supposed to fall for her – but who's to say that he even did? It was so clear that he missed his wife and daughter, and would do anything to get them back – but he didn't have them right now. And she had just told him, more or less, that he had her.
It seemed that he wanted to have her. He wanted her.
She was never supposed to fall for him, either, and she was sure that she hadn't. Nina Myers was not stupid, and falling for the guy who she was supposed to use as a pawn in a chess game was about as stupid as stupid could get.
But if she had to play the game, she mused, why not begin practicing? The way he was looking at her now, his eyes slightly darker and his fist clenched, didn't really leave her much of a choice. If she was going to play him she was going to play to win.
"Jack," she whispered, satisfied in her decision, but she wasn't allowed to finish as he kissed her again, hard and passionate and she was suddenly relieved she was sitting down. As his tongue dueled with hers and his hands found positions in her hair and around her waist, she figured that the risk of it all was more exciting than she had considered because she had never been so turned on in her life. The strong liquor taste was still abundant but now, as she relaxed, she tasted something spicy and musky and uniquely Jack behind it all. She realized in some part of her mind that it made perfect sense, the mask of protection and strength surrounding the true person that she had been lucky enough to get to know.
No. That she had been assigned to get to know.
This time he broke it, his breathing still erratic but coming in longer bouts. He ran his hand through his hair once more, leaning back and she could tell that he was beginning to sober up.
"Nina-" he started, the slur less pronounced, but she cut him off.
"Don't apologize. I can't help you work out things with two women, now." She sounded serious but her eyes held a hint of a smile. He didn't see, as his own were focused on the knees of his jeans. Nina bit back a laugh at his nervousness.
"Jack, look at me," she demanded. He did so, reluctantly. "It's late, and we'll probably be setting the fireworks off soon. I'm going to see everyone else and watch the show. If you want to mope around over things out of your control, feel free. If not, well, you know where to find me." She laid her hand on his arm for a brief moment before standing and walking away. He stared after her.
Nina found Tony, Mason, Jamey, Milo, and a few other techies from CTU and Division well into a game of poker downstairs, beers scattered around the table and a bowl of pretzels and chips in the middle of the table. She raised her eyebrow as a general roar spread over the table, with Tony and George pounding their fists on the table and Jamey and Milo high-fiving. Nina cleared her throat loudly. "What's going on?" she asked evenly.
"We're playing Poker," Tony announced, and he stumbled slightly over the words. "Why didn't you bring Jack back here, we waited for you all!"
"He didn't feel like playing," she said shortly, not wanting to get into it or even think about what had occurred. "Anyway, it's late, about 11:30. What do you say we let off the fireworks?"
There was a general agreement as everyone conceded, grabbing handfuls of chips and pretzels on the way out. Nina and Jamey helped Mason climb up to the deck, seeing as he was the drunkest out of them all. The two woman very carefully avoided each other's eye as he fell the moment he tried to stand properly, cursing violently.
"All right!" Tony exclaimed cheerfully, a boyish gleam in his eye. "Come on! Let's send 'em up!" Nina, Jamey, Tony, and Milo each grabbed a lighter and set up the fireworks very carefully, as George lolled around on the deck, humming softly to himself.
As they finished, Tony looked around briefly. "Where's Jack?" he asked, looking at Nina. She shook her head.
"He wasn't feeling great, he'll come if he's up for it." Tony nodded his understanding.
"Okay. We'll do the smaller ones first, and then the bigger, and at midnight we'll let off this one." He pointed to a huge black tube with the words 'Black Cat' written on it. "Milo, why don't you light the first one?"
And so he did, and the fireworks began to take off one by one, everyone taking turns. Even George did one, with Jamey's help. Nina couldn't help but glance around occasionally, but tried to push him out of her mind.
As Milo's watch signaled 11:59, Tony stepped forward and lit the fuse of the Black Cat. Everyone backed away, grabbing onto a railing – the smaller fireworks had rocked the boat decently, so they were careful to be on the safe side. Only moments before the clock struck twelve did the fireworks shoot up, exploding in rapid succession, each more colorful and powerful than the last. The same moment they went up, a hand covered Nina's mouth and another grabbed her arm, pulling her to the side despite her muffled protests and kissing her roughly.
She relaxed as she recognized the not quite familiar taste of Jack, and after a moment even returned the kiss – albeit hesitantly. It grew gentler as he realized that she wouldn't fight, and when she let go of him she blinked against the real fireworks that seemed appropriate right now, no matter how cliché. After taking a deep breath, she rolled her eyes mockingly.
"You know, it's not New Years, Jack," she informed him. He grinned, before kissing her again.
"You mean I need an excuse?" His voice sounded slightly rougher than before, and she felt a wave of heat wash over her that was quite unrelated the humid outdoors. She shook her head.
"I never said you did."