Chapter 1
Jack raced down the narrow corridors of CTU's lower levels, desperate to catch up with Nina before she escaped again. I don't believe this. She was barely alive. How could she escape? He scowled at himself. This is Nina we're talking about. She's an expert at this. How could Tony have been so stupid? He knows how she works. He should have known she'd try something.
Shaking his head to clear it, Jack continued his pursuit, finally stopping outside the primary server room. He heard voices inside, his heart beating faster as he recognized the voice of Kim. She had cornered Nina and was threatening to kill her. Jack looked in, watching in horror as Kim raised her weapon to shoot Nina, her hands trembling. Nina responded by raising her own weapon.
No. She is not killing my daughter. Jack pointed his weapon and fired, his shot hitting its mark as Nina went down. He moved in, telling Kim to leave the room before gazing down at Nina. Her calm demeanor was long gone, replaced by fear and desperation. She doesn't know anything else. I can see it.
"You don't have any more useful information, do you, Nina?" he asked.
"I do" she replied, her voice faint from blood loss. Jack glanced down to see her reaching for the weapon she had dropped.
This ends now. "No, you don't" he told her, moving to block the camera from view. He quickly pointed his weapon to shoot, but stopped just before he pulled the trigger. His hand shook slightly, and he brought up his other hand for support. But still he couldn't pull the trigger.
"What are you waiting for, Jack?" Nina called out. "Do it. You've won, now come on."
Jack stared at her. What the hell am I doing? This is what I've been dreaming about ever since she killed my wife. Why can't I kill her? He dropped his arm, pointing his weapon at the floor. If I kill her now, I'll be no better than she is.
"You're not going to kill me?"
Jack holstered his weapon. "Killing you... is not going to bring Teri back. And I'm not a murderer like you." He turned Nina on her back, cuffing her hands behind her. "No, Nina. You're not getting out of this so easily." He pulled out his walkie. "This is Bauer. Nina Myers has been apprehended. Send security to Alpha server immediately." Jack pulled Nina up. "But if you try and escape again, I will kill you."
2424242424
"Jack!"
Jack was snapped out of his memory by Tony calling out to him. He shook his head. "I- I'm sorry, what were you talking about?"
Tony resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I wanted to see if you had taken care of that problem I talked to you about the other day."
Jack nodded. "I put Mueller on it. He said he'd have it fixed by the end of the day." He frowned. "Was there anything else?"
"No. Most of the major protocols are being handled by our replacements. The final protocol shifts are going into effect tomorrow. Once that's done, we're out of here for good."
"Good." Jack looked past Tony and out into the bullpen, his eyes resting on the woman sitting at the central station. He smiled slightly as Chloe slowly turned to meet his gaze, her irritated demeanor fading rapidly. She returned his smile, then scowled as her phone rang, and she turned away to answer it.
"Well?"
Jack stared at Tony in confusion. "Well, what?"
"Are you going to ask her?"
"Yes, I am. Soon."
"When, Jack? Come on, you've been putting it off long enough."
Jack glared at Tony. "I have not been putting it off, Tony. I've just been waiting until we're done with CTU for good. I want everything to be perfect. That's why I'm going to ask her in a couple of days, after we get out of here."
"Good." Tony pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Will this help?"
Jack grabbed the paper out of his hands, scanning it briefly. "The Black Rock Gardens? How did you-"
"Bill took care of it. When he found out what you were planning, he set everything up. You know Chloe loves that place. She'll say yes."
Jack grinned. "Thank you, Tony." He looked down, his grin fading. "It almost seems too good to be true."
"I know what you mean." Tony turned around as Chloe burst into Jack's office, and Jack quickly stuffed the paper he was holding in his desk. "What's going on, Chloe?"
"Jack, we have a problem. Nina Myers is out of prison."
"What?" Jack felt his heart beat faster. "What happened?"
"We don't have all the details yet. The only thing we know is that someone broke her out." Chloe turned to leave. "Mr. Buchanan wants to talk to you. I'll let you know if anything else comes in."
Jack struggled to control his rapidly beating heart. "Thank you, Chloe." She left, and Jack sank down into his chair. I don't believe this. How the hell could this happen? I knew I should have killed her when I had the chance.
"Jack." Jack stared at Tony. "Jack, I know what you're thinking. Don't. I know you hate Nina, but think about it. We're going to be leaving this place for good tomorrow." Tony put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Do me a favor. If we can't find Nina by the end of tomorrow, don't go looking for her on your own. If she comes after you, then you can take care of her. But if she doesn't, then leave her."
"Dammit, Tony, she killed my wife. She would have killed my daughter." His fist tightened. "I should have killed her when I had the chance."
"I know what she did, Jack. I was there, remember? You didn't kill her because you knew it was wrong." Tony dropped his hand as Jack's phone rang. "I'll see what I can find out."
Jack watched him leave, then picked up his phone. "This is Bauer."
"Jack, it's Bill. I assume Chloe told you about Nina Myers."
"Yes, she did" Jack replied shortly. "I'm going to find her, Bill. What's the problem?"
"Look, Jack- I'm going to get right to the point. I know about your history with Myers. And we have orders to bring her in alive."
Jack frowned. "Bill, what are you getting at?"
"I need you to stand down on this one."
"You can't be serious" Jack replied. "Bill, I know her better than anyone else here. I can guarantee you won't be able to find Nina if you don't let me in on this."
"This isn't my call." Bill sighed. "Jack, I know you want to help, but this is an order straight from Division. You, Tony, and Chloe are out of this."
"Bill, you cannot pull your best people off of this, and expect to find her." Jack paused. "Please let us in on this. At least let me help run tactical from here."
"...I'm sorry, Jack. I can't."
"Fine. Then I'll do this without CTU." Jack slammed down the phone and reached for his weapon. I'll find her, and I'm going to finish the job this time. He stood up and walked down to the main floor, where he was accosted by a handful of security. "I'm sorry, Agent Bauer, but Mr. Buchanan has ordered us to take you to Holding."
"Get out of my way" Jack snarled, lashing out at one of the guards. He went down in a heap, joined a minute later by Jack, who was being subdued by the other guards. They picked him up and marched him off the floor, stopping in front of Holding Room 1. Jack was led inside and sat down, his arms cuffed firmly behind his back. They can't keep me locked up forever. Once I get out of here, Nina's mine.
2424242424
Jack shifted his arms, which were growing stiff from being locked behind his back. He had been kept in Holding for over a day, save for a couple of trips to the bathroom, and he was growing restless. Chloe had stopped by earlier to let him know they were still looking for Nina, and Bill was sending her and Tony home, but other than that, he was left alone.
He looked up as the door opened, and Bill walked in, motioning for the guard to release Jack. Jack rubbed his sore wrists, looking at Bill expectantly.
"I'm sorry about this, Jack" Bill said quietly.
"So am I." Jack stood up. "Am I free to go?"
"Yes." Jack began to walk past Bill, but was stopped by the CTU leader. "Jack... we're going to find her."
"I know." Jack walked out of Holding, his head bent down to avoid the stares of his now-former colleagues as he walked through the bullpen and out the door. The guard at the check-out station stopped him. "Agent Bauer, we need your access codes and your gun."
Jack stared at the guard, then pulled out his badge and gun, dropping them on the desk in disgust before walking out of the building and climbing into his car. He sat for a minute, then fired up the engine, pulling out quickly. Once the CTU building was out of sight, he pulled out his phone, dialing Chloe's number. He frowned as her voicemail came up. Chloe always has her phone on. He tried her number again, but got her voicemail again. "Chloe, it's Jack. I need you to call me back as soon as possible. It's important." He hung up and called Tony. "Tony, it's Jack."
"Jack. Bill said you had been released."
"Yeah, I'm out of CTU. Listen, Tony, do you know where Chloe is? I tried to call her, but she wasn't answering."
"No, I haven't spoken to her since we left CTU a few hours ago. Why?"
Jack shifted into the next lane. "I need her help."
"Oh, I see" Tony replied. "You still want to go after Nina."
"Yes. I made the mistake of not finishing the job when I had the chance. This time, she's not getting away. And once Nina's gone, I'm going to ask Chloe to marry me."
Tony was about to respond, but his attention was diverted to the TV he had on. His heart skipped a beat by what he saw.
"Tony, you still there?"
Tony shook his head. "Jack..."
"What?"
"...I think we found Chloe."
"Where is she?" Jack asked.
"Downtown. The old Enterprise building."
Jack was confused. "What is she doing there?" Tony didn't reply. "What is it, Tony?"
"...Nina has her hostage."
2424242424
Jack elbowed his way through the crowd gathered outside the abandoned building, his eyes scanning for any sign of Chloe or Nina. This is all my fault. If I had just killed Nina back then, Chloe would be safe now.
"Ms. Myers, talk to us" the lieutenant on duty called out to Nina.
"There's nothing to talk about. I want to speak to President Daniels. If you don't get him on the phone, I will kill her" Nina replied. "If you or any of your men come any closer, I will take this whole building down."
Jack spotted a lone officer on the edge of the crowd. Perfect. Sneaking up behind him, Jack put him in a sleeper hold and dragged him out of sight. Taking the officer's weapon, he slowly made his way towards the building.
"Hey! Stop right there!"
Jack cursed as he was spotted by a SWAT team. He ducked to avoid their shots, then bolted down the closest alley, doubling back to try and lose them. He was halfway out when Nina's voice sounded.
"I told you not to come any closer! Now this woman's blood is on your hands!"
Jack sprinted towards the building, but was knocked off his feet by a thunderous shockwave as the building collapsed. His head struck the pavement, and he slipped into unconsciousness.
2424242424
Jack felt a dull throbbing in his head as he was snapped back to consciousness. He began to sit up, but was forced back down by a heavyset medic. "Take it easy, sir."
"What the hell happened?" Jack asked. He looked around curiously. "Where am I?"
"St. Thomas. You were found outside the building that collapsed two days ago, sir."
"2 days?" Jack looked up at the medic. "Did... they find anybody else?"
The medic shook his head. "I'm sorry, sir. I can't release that information."
Jack grabbed his arm to keep him from leaving. "Please, sir. A friend of mine was in that building. I need to know if she made it out okay."
The medic gazed at him, then wrenched his arm free. "What was her name?"
"Chloe O'Brian."
The medic pulled out his PDA, scanning through it. He stopped, read the screen for a minute, then put it away, looking back at Jack. "They pulled a body out of the wreckage last night. A man named Bill Buchanan ID'd the body as Ms. O'Brian a couple hours ago. I'm sorry, sir. She didn't make it."
No. No, this can't be happening. Jack watched the medic leave, then broke down. I'm so sorry, Chloe. This is all my fault.