Hello all, this story was posted a while ago, but I took it down. I decided to put it back up again. If you have read it before I apologize. This story is finished so I will get it up as soon as possible. I would like to thank my Beta, Tigerlilly Brown. Now on to the show...
Jack awoke with a jerk. The room around him was dark-- he was not sure where he was. He brought his hands up to rub his eyes. Looking around the room, he could make out a picture nearby. He, Teri and Kim were in the photograph. It had been taken just after he and Teri had reconciled and he had moved back into the house. They were all there together, happy and smiling, but that was before...
Before Nina killed Teri and his life went to hell. In the end, he killed Nina, but it did not change the fact that Teri was dead. One shot and he thought he would feel better, but the pain was still there surrounding him, threatening to crush him. He left CTU hoping to leave that pain behind.
Jack thought he was happy in Washington, it was no longer his job to save the world, but the minute that siren whispered his name, he left Audrey and his life with her behind to do it all over again.
Now, a little more than three years later, he was broken and he was not sure if he could ever pull himself back together. Depression surrounded him. He tried to fight it, but something was missing and he could not seem to function. Kim still refused to talk to him; he left messages and sent her emails, but there was no answer, only silence and that was worse than her anger.
Jack switched on the light trying to figure out what had woken him up. The room around him was chaos. Dishes littered every surface, some with food, other just the remains. His mind cleared as he fought the urge that was always there, heroin. He was grateful that the Chinese had never learned of his addiction and recovery - that may have been the tool they needed to break him.
The phone rang and Jack stared at it. Who would call him? He had managed to either alienate or cause the deaths of everyone he cared about, except Chloe. She was the only one he could not drive away, even though he had tried many times.
She came regularly to check on him and try to get him to start living again, but he couldn't seem to do it, even for her. Now, looking back, considering all she had done for him and risked for him, Jack should be able to do that one thing for her.
The ringing persisted. It had to be Chloe, and she deserved a little of his time if she needed it, "Hello?"
"Jack," her voice was filled with pain, "I need you now." Her words were punctuated with a scream of pain.
Panic infused him, "I'll be right there. Where are you?" Jack asked, pulling on a pair of jeans and grabbing a shirt off the floor.
"In the house. Master bath. I called Morris but he doesn't answer his phone anymore. We had a fight a few days ago. Jack, there's blood. I'm scared. I don't want to lose this baby, not now, not this way."
He rammed his feet into the first pair of shoes he saw, and grabbing his wallet and keys, Jack ran across the lawn up to Chloe's house.
When Chloe found out she was pregnant, she immediately bought a house but she made sure there was a garage with a space over it for Jack to live in. Chloe was worried about him and wanted him nearby. Morris had been angry, but Chloe told him that Jack needed her. For once she had not backed down to Morris' demands and she relished the small victory. Chloe had told Jack that in the past she would have given in, but not this time. Not now.
Jack burst though the back door and took the stairs two at a time, the whole time shouting Chloe's name. He found her curled up on the bathroom floor, her bathrobe spotted with blood. The phone lay just outside of her relaxed fingers.
Kneeling beside Chloe, Jack lifted her up into his arms. Chloe's head lolled against his shoulder but she didn't open her eyes. Jack gently slapped her cheek as panic threatened to take over his brain as Chloe vanished and it was Teri in his arms again, cold and dead.
Closing his eyes, Jack grabbed for control. Opening them slowly, Jack looked again and there was Chloe, still alive and warm, her breath tickling his neck. There was still time to save her.
Lifting her in his arms to carry her out to his truck, Jack paused to grab her purse and the quilt off her bed to wrap her in. Chloe needed to stay warm-- she was going into shock.
Out in the garage, Jack stared at his truck, still amazed that Chloe had kept it for him. When he asked her about it,she smiled, saying she knew he would need it when he came home. In the end, he always came back to her.
Opening the driver's door, Jack climbed inside with Chloe still in his arms, he laid her down on the bench seat of the Yukon. Settling himself behind the wheel, Jack pulled Chloe close to him and she roused, "The baby, Jack. I'm losing the baby."
Wrapping his arm around her and pulling her closer, he whispered,"Sh sh, the hospital is nearby. Nothing is going to happen to you or the baby. I promise. I give you my word. I will do everything in my power to make sure that nothing happens."
Jack heard Chloe sigh as she buried her head in his shoulder and cried. Whatever had fogged his brain was gone. His body started to function normally again, and his instinct and reflexes were once again at his beck and call. Chloe needed him and he was alive once again. Jack Bauer needed to be needed.
Weaving in and out of traffic, Jack made it to the hospital faster than Chloe thought was humanly possible. He parked in the closest lot and raced into the ER, shouting, "I need some help. She's having a miscarriage. The pregnancy is about six months along. Somebody help me, please."
Chloe's voice broke through the panic, "Jack, they will be here as soon as they can. There are other people who need them too."
Jack searched the area frantically for someone to help. A nurse came up to him, "Calm down, sir. Bring her over here."
After laying her down on the bed, Jack stepped back, unsure of what he should do now. He had gotten Chloe here, but he was not sure if she still wanted him at her side. Morris should be here, not him. It was not his place.
The nurse pushed him back further, "Are you the father or family?"
Chloe's eyes and hand locked on to his, "Jack, don't leave me now. Please stay with me. I can't be alone, not now."
Jack looked at the nurse and said, "Yes, I am," not saying which one he was.
The other woman left and Jack sat down on the chair next to the bed. Chloe still held his hand as she spoke, "Jack, I didn't want this baby at first but now I want it so much. I couldn't bear to lose her, not now after everyone else I have lost. Thank you for being here with me."
"The doctors will fix this. I know it. In another three months you will hold your baby, and then you'll be part of a family again." Jack squeezed her hand, remembering one late night she told him about being alone with no family.
"Did you know that you are the only one left? Everyone else is gone. Tony, Edgar, and Michelle all died. Chase and Morris left. You left too, but you always came back."
Jack turned away as tears threatened to spill over. Only Chloe would say thank you for disrupting, practically destroying, her life. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by the doctor.
Working feverishly, the doctor stopped the miscarriage, although Chloe had to remain in the hospital until the next morning to run some more tests.
When Chloe was moved out of the ER and into the women's ward, she would not release his hand. As he jogged beside the gurney, something began to shift and the pieces fell into place. Jack did not understand what was happening, but Chloe needed him, and this was where he would stay.
Once she was settled, Jack said, "The baby is fine and so are you. You need to rest now." After he spoke, Jack brought their linked hands to his lips.
Tears welled up in her eyes and he caught one with his thumb. Chloe's eyes closed at his touch. This was her life. The man she wanted and loved didn't know how she felt. The man who did love her, or said he did, just wanted to control her. When she would not submit, Morris left.
Taking a trembling breath, Chloe spoke, "I'm scared, Jack. I think Morris left me for good. I left messages. What can I do? Last time we talked, Morris said he tried to make this work but I wasn't trying hard enough. Morris said that he would never leave me, but he just walked away. Not just from me, but the baby too."
Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her into his arms. "It will all work out in the end. You'll find a way to make it. Chloe, you are strong. If anyone can do this, you can." He placed a kiss on the top of her head.
On the way to the hospital, Morris formulated a plan. When he received Chloe's messages, he had been afraid, but there was a small part that hoped this would allow him to draw Chloe back to him while she was weak.
Chloe had no one in her life. Both of her parents had died separately years before, and there were no other close relatives to call -- she would be alone. Then everything could be like it was before CTU and Jack Bauer. All he had to do was break Jack's hold on Chloe.
When he entered the room, he found her in none other than Jack Bauer's arms, looking as though she belonged there. Morris swallowed, realizing that he had lost, and he had a long time ago. All this time he was lying to himself, and so was Chloe. She was Jack's and she would always be, even if he was never hers.
Jack had saw Morris in the doorway, and tensed as he waited for Morris to come in and cause a confrontation. Instead, a strange look crossed Morris' face, something Jack could only call defeat. Then Morris turned and left without a word.
Walking away, Morris said a silent goodbye. He stopped at the nurses' station and asked for a piece of paper to write Chloe a note.
Jack watched the other man leave, confused. Where was Morris going? After he laid Chloe back down, he whispered, "I'll be right back." She was almost asleep.
He tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and Chloe sighed as she settled, "Come back soon."
Out in the hallway, Jack looked for Morris. When he saw him down the hallway, Jack called out, "Morris, where are you going? Chloe's in there." He gestured back to the room.
Morris ignored Jack and kept writing. After a few minutes he turned and looked at Jack. On his face was a sneer, "Where am I going? Away the from here, from you and most of all from her. You're not a stupid man Jack, but you are blind. You must see it and I am tired of fighting you. Chloe is yours, I don't want her anymore. You are the first person she thinks of whether it is your memory or you in the flesh." Morris paused to take a breath and fold the letter he wrote.
"She loves you and would walk through fire for you, the mighty Jack Bauer, and you toss her enough crumbs that she stays hoping that someday you will notice her devotion to you." Morris studied Jack for his reaction but he saw only shock and confusion, he asked,"You really didn't know?"
Jack could hear the amazement in Morris' voice. Jack looked to the open door, "You're telling me that Chloe, that she..." Jack ran his hand through his hair, unsure of what he thought of this revelation.
Morris stepped closer to Jack, "If you hurt her, so help me I will hurt you. That child she was carrying may be mine, but it might as well be yours for all the attention and care I have gotten from her since you came back into her life. You were always there between us like a ghost since China took you that day. I was the one who held her when she cried every night. I was the one who stood by her when she kept looking for any evidence that you were alive, even when everyone told her to stop. What did it get me, nothing but a broken heart because she loves you." Morris seemed to run out of steam, "I used to think it would have been better if you had died, but it would not have made a difference. Unless she had your body right there before her she would keep watching that door in case you came through it. Until you are with someone else, she will keep hoping that you will love her back. There is no place for me in her life with you in it too." Morris paused and folded the letter he had been writing. "Tell her... tell Chloe goodbye. This is for her."
Morris handed him the letter and walked away. Jack watched him go, stunned at what Morris had said. Did Chloe really love him? He would never have thought it was possible for anyone to love him. Both Audrey and Teri had loved parts of him. Jack had never been able to show them all of himself willingly. He was afraid of what might happen. With Audrey it had happened when he had to cause Paul's death. She had run for him, and would have again eventually. Jack saw that now – before he entered her life, Audrey lived in a world where the bad guys wore nice suits and voted down your legislation. She looked at the world with a kind of naiveté that Jack shattered. Audrey deserved to go back to that world without him to pollute it.
Chloe, on the other hand, saw all of him day after day for years. She had seen him kill and had not flinched. Chloe knew what choices Jack had made and what they had cost him. He had few regrets-- Kim and Audrey being hurt were the biggest ones. The deaths of Teri, David Palmer, Tony, and Michelle weighed heavily on him. They had died because he could not save them. In the end, he had won and he saved more lives than he lost.
Jack tuned and walked toward Chloe's room his thoughts in a muddle from Morris' revelation.
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