Chloe shut herself in one of the cubicles. She needed to think, needed to plan what to do. They were getting closer to finding out the truth and she knew she needed to try and stop them. The reality was that Chloe had found out the truth two weeks before but she couldn't share it with them, she couldn't risk Jack finding out who had betrayed him. It would destroy him. She'd set up a dummy trail and paid off the witness she'd located, feeding him false information that would lead them to the fake betrayer.
It had been three months since Jack had returned from China and, during that time one of CTU's primary objectives was to identify the individual responsible for the Chinese locating Jack before they'd been able to get him out of their reach. Jack Bauer was a hero within CTU; he should have been a hero to his nation, if only the nation knew who he was. But, his colleagues had spent the weeks since his return fighting for justice on his behalf.
When Chloe had found out the truth she'd arranged with Chase for him to deal with one half of the problem and he'd done it in typical Chase fashion. He'd first tormented, then he'd threatened. Finally, with Chloe's help he had built a case that would send the perpetrator to jail; the one cloud on a clear, justice laden horizon was that he would never pay for what he'd really done, but he was now tied up in a knot of deceit that he was unlikely to escape from for a very long time. Chloe had to satisfy herself with at least a degree of justice. The other half of the problem was harder to deal with; the individual in this case had gone along with the other's plans, driven partly by anger and partly by the psychological influence bestowed on her. Chloe was sure that she'd not realised the full consequence of her actions, however she knew others may not see it like that. Now was not a time for honesty, now was a time to cover up and deceive in order to protect. To Chloe the solution was simple.
Chloe took a deep breath, deciding that it was time. Once this started she knew there was no backing out. She released herself from her hiding place and stepped purposely into the hallway and strode confidently towards the tech room where the final stages of her plan would be set in motion. Three simple steps stood between her and the end result. The first step took a few taps of her fingers on the keyboard and the information they'd been looking for was now in the CTU server. The second step was to inform Chase that the final stages had been set in motion and, the third step was to wait. Chloe had never been good at just waiting, she sighed for the tenth time in as many minutes and paced the tech room in an effort to make time move faster.
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Chase knocked on the apartment door and waited for a response. He waited a few moments but there was no answer; he knew she was in there, he'd been watching her close enough to be sure of that. He moved quickly and examined the lock, sighing in satisfaction when he succeeded in levering the door open with a few simple movements. The apartment was dark and there was a strong stench of whiskey in the air. He groaned in frustration, maybe he hadn't thought this through as well as he might. He should have known that her fragile state of mind would drive her into her old methods of coping; like father, like daughter he thought with a sigh.
He reached the window and opened the blind, allowing the sunlight to fall over the room. His gaze focused on the prone figure lying across the couch, her blonde hair the only part of her visible from under the blanket that was draped over her. He glanced at the half full bottle on the floor beside her then he moved into the kitchen and filled a tumbler with ice cold water. A part of him was actually looking forward to waking her like this, the part of him that still hated her for how she'd dealt with things between the two of them.
Kim Bauer gasped in shock as the icy liquid pulled her sharply from her dreamless, alcohol induced sleep. She coughed and spluttered at the same time as she looked around the room wildly. Eventually her eyes focused on the man standing above her.
"Chase! What the fu. . . ."
"Now Kim, just because you're drinking like a sailor doesn't mean you need to start swearing like one darlin'. Now, get up and get in the shower, we've got an appointment."
Kim stared at him in disbelief.
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Chloe was rehearsing her lines. She knew she would be needing them any minute now. She continued to pace the room for a moment before she knew she couldn't hide any longer. She moved out of the room and headed for her workstation. CTU was quiet today, there was order instead of the usual chaos and for that she was grateful. Trying to do this today if they'd been facing a major threat would have been virtually impossible.
She'd been at her workstation when Curtis approached her. She took a deep breath before she raised her eyes to meet his.
"Chloe, you got a minute?" he asked, a frown marring his expression.
"Not really" she said with a scowl.
"Bill needs you in interrogation two" he said simply.
Chloe followed him along the hallway and walked through the door that he'd opened for her. She'd expected to find Jack with Bill and was surprised when he wasn't there.
"Sit down Chloe" Bill demanded, the tone of his voice daring her to argue.
Chloe sat, she knew this was just the beginning and there would be plenty of time for her to fight any demand for her compliance.
"What's this about?" she asked, deliberate confusion evident in her expression.
"I think you know" Bill said coldly.
"Really?" she asked "if I knew then why would I ask?"
Chloe jumped as Bill slammed his palm down hard on the table that separated them. "Do not play me Chloe. Not today. I want to know why there is evidence that you spoke with a man called Lee Chan on the day we unearthed the Logan conspiracy."
"Who?" Chloe asked innocently, knowing she needed to be convincing in her initial denial of his accusations. If she gave in too easily they would know something was up.
"We have evidence" Bill said, his voice dripping with barely restrained anger as he slammed a file down in front of her.
Chloe glanced through the papers, not that she had to. She knew what they contained; after all she'd been the one to plant the information in the first place.
After a suitable amount of time had passed she looked up at Bill and spoke softly "I'll only speak to Jack" she said, knowing that he would be standing in the outer room behind the one way mirror.
"No Chloe, you'll speak to me" Bill said calmly with authority.
Chloe sat back in her seat, her arms folded across her chest, her expression challenging him to deny her request. She glanced up as the door separating them from the viewing room opened and Jack Bauer walked in. This is it; she thought to herself, now is the time that she had to give the most convincing performance of her life.
"Jack . . ." Bill said a warning note in his voice.
"It's alright Bill" he said, his eyes never leaving Chloe "I can handle this."
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Kim felt humiliated; Chase was the last person she wanted to see her like this. She stood under the cool spray of the shower, trying to clear her mind and figure out what the hell was happening. Just then she jumped as the shower curtain was abruptly opened and the man in question stood before her holding a towel.
She tried to cover herself quickly. Chase laughed "Not much point in doing that Kim, I've seen it all before" he said scathingly.
Kim snatched the towel and wrapped it around her body as she stepped out of the shower. Chase left her to get dressed and when she walked back into the living room she found him sitting at the table drinking coffee.
"Sit down" he said, his head nodding in the direction of the seat opposite him where another steaming cup sat.
Kim did as he said, unable to summon the strength to fight him at the moment. "Why are you here?" she asked, her expression nervous.
"I told you, we have an appointment" he said simply.
"Who with?"
"Your father".
The two words cut through Kim like a knife. That was the last thing she expected him to say, the last thing she wanted to hear.
"What?" she asked incredulously "I can't Chase, I can't see him. You don't understand, I just can't face him."
"I understand perfectly Kim" Chase said with a bitter smile "after all, how could you face the man who loves you above everything and everyone else? The man you betrayed."
Kim sat in silence as tears formed in her eyes then fell in a steady stream down her cheeks.
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Chloe was alone in the room with the man she'd apparently betrayed. The man she was supposed to have turned over to the Chinese to suffer months of torture, the man she had been loyal to for years, the man that she loved beyond any other. He stood, leaning against the wall watching her intently, then he smiled.
"You want to tell me what this is about Chloe?" he asked, his expression questioning.
Chloe took a steadying breath, her heart rate was unsettled and she needed to get it under control before she could speak. She knew from his expression that he thought she was up to something, that he didn't really believe that she'd done what they said she'd done. Chloe had to convince him that he was wrong.
"I did it" she said simply "I'm sorry Jack, I know you don't want to believe it but it was me, I can't deny it."
She saw the confusion flit across his expression. Chloe had never lied to him before but he couldn't believe that she was telling the truth now. He needed to get to the bottom of this and the only way was to play along with it for a while.
"Ok Chloe, lets say I believe that you gave me away to the Chinese and you impeded the search for me. What possible motive would you have for doing that?"
"I was angry" she said, her eyes lowering to the table in an attempt to look ashamed of her actions. The truth was she was struggling to look at him and maintain the façade.
"About what?" he asked, moving towards her.
Chloe still refused to look at him and she was struggling to fight through the tears that were now threatening to overwhelm her. She knew once the words left her lips she wouldn't be able to take them back, wouldn't be able to change what would happen and she knew with absolute certainty that he would be lost to her forever.
"Chloe?" Jack demanded; the frustration and anger evident in his voice.
"You used me" she said simply.
"What?" he asked sharply, the anger barely restrained now.
Chloe took a shuddering breath, the tears now falling freely down her face. She conjured up an image in her mind, the image of her father, the man who was responsible for her general mistrust of other people. She knew the only way she could look at Jack and lie to him convincingly about how she had hated him for a while was to pretend that he wasn't Jack, to pretend that he was in fact another man who really had hurt her, a man who she knew she would never forgive.
Jack balked at the look in her eyes when she finally raised her face to him, what he saw there was pure hate, an emotion he had never seen in Chloe and one he had never thought he'd see when she looked at him.
"You used me" she said, the words skipping off her tongue and dropping into his consciousness like ice falling down around him, it chilled him to the bone. "You knew I loved you and you kept asking me to sacrifice everything for you, yet what did I get Jack? Nothing! Absolutely nothing. You just carried on regardless; asking again and again, then when everything was over you just went back to Audrey. And what did she do for you Jack? Nothing, she couldn't even stick around when you came back."
Chloe watched the emotions cross his features, confusion, sadness and then anger. She'd known he would settle on anger because he couldn't deal with the other emotions.
In two steps he was next to her, pulling her roughly from her chair and shaking her until she felt like every part of her was jarred by the violence she saw in him. His face was only inches from hers and she struggled to maintain her deceit in the face of such raw emotion.
"Dammit Chloe, how could you do this? How could you?" He let go of her abruptly, so abruptly that she almost fell. He legs were shaking and she had difficulty holding herself up. She had no choice but to fall back against the wall where she would have at least some support.
The despair she saw in his expression almost broke her. She couldn't bear to see him like this but she knew it was for the best, better he felt this way towards her than his own daughter. He turned back towards her and he was now unnervingly calm although there were tears in his own eyes.
"I did love you Chloe; you were my friend, the one person I could turn to when everyone else let me down. I never thought I would find that kind of a connection with someone; had never had that kind of connection with anyone before. I can't believe that you didn't see that" he said softly.
Chloe felt the tears falling in earnest. She wasn't fooled by his calm demeanour; she knew that beneath the surface he was as angry as he'd ever been.
When he turned to her again she visibly shrank away from the look he gave her. "All you've succeeded in doing is making me realise that there is no-one I can really trust. But that's ok Chloe, I've been there before. I never thought I'd trust anyone again after Nina but then you came along and you were different. But, not so different after all".
Chloe looked away from him, unable to stand his indifference to her; she would have preferred him to stay angry. The next thing she heard was the click of the door as he walked out of the room. Once alone Chloe sank to the floor as the sobs racked through her body.
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Kim sat in the passenger seat of Chase's car, they turned into the CTU parking lot and Chase identified himself to the security guard. They were obviously expected, although not by her father. Chase had told her that Jack didn't know she was coming; he hadn't wanted to tell him in case the plan had backfired. Kim didn't know what Chase had done to prevent her father from finding out the truth about her, but whatever it was she was grateful.
Kim gave a moments thought to Barry, now locked in a prison cell awaiting trial on charges of fraud and malpractice. Talking to Chase had confirmed her thoughts that Barry had been a conman who had played on her vulnerability to increase her dependence on him. She'd found out that she wasn't the only one of his patients who he had done this to, some he had tricked for money, some like her he'd tricked in order to gain control over them.
She sighed as she thought of her father. She felt guilty about what she'd done, not that she had been responsible for Barry contacting the Chinese consulate that day. She felt the anger that she'd been incapable of feeling at the time wash over her. She recalled how she had found out that Barry had made the call. She'd received a message from Chloe that her father was missing, telling her that he had been tricked into thinking she was on the phone for him and that was when he'd been grabbed. She'd been so distraught and felt guilty that she hadn't been nicer to him when she'd seen him, eventually Barry had got angry with her, he told her that her father had got what he deserved. It was then that she realised Barry had been responsible. But it was only now that she fully understood he had done it because he was concerned she was slipping away from him. He'd hated the fact that when they'd left CTU that day she had talked endlessly about how she wanted her father in her life again and how, when the current threat was over she would contact him and arrange to meet up.
Chase had been good to her; he'd listened when she told him she'd known pretty much straight away who had taken her father. But she'd been so confused by Barry that she'd done nothing about it. If only she had gone with the instinct that told her to ignore Barry she may have been able to help CTU find him sooner. Instead, here she was going to see her father for the first time in nearly two years. Chase had helped her to see that Barry had used his skill to make her psychologically dependant on him, the realisation hadn't eliminated the guilt she felt but it had eased it. Chase had also convinced her not to tell her father, he'd told her it would only cause him more pain and he didn't deserve any more of that.
"You ready?" Chase asked her, touching her arm gently to get her attention back from her thoughts.
"Yeah" she said with a smile that failed to hide her nervousness.
"Off you go then" he said, reaching across her to open the door.
She looked at him in surprise "aren't you coming with me?"
Chase smiled at the pleading tone of her voice "no darlin', you're on your own with this one. Think of it as the beginning of your independence Kim. You need to start living your life for you."
Kim nodded in understanding, knowing he was right. "Thank you Chase, for everything" she said warmly.
"No problem" he said as she climbed out of the car. Kim moved to shut the door but he stopped her.
"I'm here if you want me to be" he said simply "but you need to figure out what you want first".
"Ok" Kim said, smiling brightly at him. She turned and walked into CTU feeling lighter than she had in a long time.
Chase watched her go, then turned and drove out of the parking lot. He hoped she could lie to rest the ghosts of the past and he hoped she would call him soon.
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"I want you to let her go" Jack told Bill.
Bill looked at him in surprise "you can't mean that Jack. She is responsible for your capture. You must want justice."
"I don't" Jack said, looking defeated. "Please Bill, just let her go. Whatever she did, she's paying for it now. Sending her to prison won't change anything, won't make a difference to anyone."
Bill started to say something then appeared to change his mind. "Ok Jack, whatever you want." The truth was, the only charge that would stick was that of aiding and abetting in the kidnap of a government agent, they wouldn't be able to make the charge of treason stick so Bill felt that the choice was Jack's.
Just then Curtis buzzed through to tell them that Jack had a visitor. Jack sighed; the last thing he wanted was to stay here any longer than necessary. He just wanted to go home, to forget that today had happened. But how could he forget? The only person that had been left that meant anything to him had been Chloe. What was the point of anything if he really was alone in this world that held nothing for him?
"Jack?" Bill repeated for the third time before he got a response.
"Sorry" Jack said, snapping out of his thoughts. He moved to follow Bill who had told him his visitor was in one of the holding rooms. Jack had a moment to wonder why; normally visitors were directed to one of the more open rooms towards the front of CTU.
He walked into holding room 3 then stopped short as he saw the woman standing there. He felt his heart contract, he hadn't believed he would ever see her again but there she was, his daughter standing before him with tears streaming from her eyes.
"Daddy?"
It had been so long since he'd heard that reference to him and he felt as though the world was collapsing around him as he gathered his daughter close and gave into his own emotions.
00000
Chloe O'Brian sat in her apartment staring out of the window. It had been a month since she'd left CTU and she'd spent most of that time keeping herself occupied with settling into her new apartment. She'd moved because she wanted a complete change, hadn't wanted things to be familiar and reminding her of what was missing from the picture of what her life had been like. She was living off her savings; she couldn't face looking for another job just yet.
She'd heard from Chase only to tell her that everything had gone down as planned, and then she'd cut him off telling him she couldn't deal with talking to him for a while. She told him she'd be in touch in a few weeks. The reality was she didn't know if she would have ever felt able to be in touch with him again. It hurt her to think of him, hurt her because when she thought of Chase she thought of Jack. But Chase had found her; he'd called five minutes before telling her he needed to see her. Chloe had tried to say no but he'd been insistent. Eventually she'd given in and told him she would meet him in the park near her old apartment after nightfall. She looked at the clock on her wall and realised if she was going to get there she would have to leave soon.
She shrugged her jacket on and grabbed her purse and keys before walking out of the door. Although the park was several miles from her new apartment she decided to walk, unable to deal with being with other people even now. She'd become a virtual recluse over the past few weeks, unable to face people going about their everyday lives when she felt as though her own life had no meaning.
By the time Chloe reached the park she was having second thoughts about it as a meeting place. The park was not well lit and she shivered against the cool night air and her own nervousness at being alone in such an isolated spot after dark.
She approached the area where she'd arranged to meet Chase and sat on the bench close to the footpath that was relatively well lit. She jumped when she heard a movement to her left.
"Chase?" she called out, suddenly afraid and wishing she hadn't sat in such an obvious spot.
"No, not Chase" came the response.
Chloe's heart skipped a beat at the sound of his voice and just as her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she was trying to make him out he stepped into the light.
"Jack! What are you doing here?" she asked, unable to stop the tremble in her voice.
He moved towards her and sat down beside her. "I wanted to see you" he said softly "so I asked Chase to set this up."
"Why would you want to see me?" she asked, her voice sounding small.
He reached out his hand towards her face but Chloe jumped as though afraid of what he might do.
"Relax Chloe, I'm not going to hurt you" he said, frowning at the pain in her expression.
Chloe decided she needed to toughen her resolve and get out of there fast. "Why are you here Jack? I thought we'd said everything that needed to be said."
Jack sat back from her a little, recognising her need for some distance. "We did Chloe, but things have changed. Yesterday Kim told me the truth."
Jack watched the range of emotion crossing her features.
"She did?" Chloe asked, "Why did she do that? She shouldn't have done that" Chloe said, tears now falling from her lashes.
Jack sat looking at her for a moment, wanting to take her in his arms and erase the pain that she was in. But he knew she would want more of an explanation.
"She couldn't live with it anymore Chloe. And she knew something had happened with you. I didn't tell her about you and neither did Chase but eventually she guessed that you'd left CTU under a cloud and she did some digging. I think she wanted to find an excuse where she had no choice but to tell me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't want you to know" Chloe said, her eyes falling to the ground when he looked directly at her.
"Why not? It was the truth Chloe. Did you think I wouldn't be able to handle it?"
"I didn't want you to have to handle it. You've been through so much and I knew you wanted Kim back in your life. This seemed like a good way to do it and when Chase agreed to help me it just seemed to spiral."
Jack sighed, "Chloe, Kim is my daughter. I would forgive her anything, that's what parents do. You love your children unconditionally and you accept that at times they will do things to hurt you but you forgive them and you just wait for them to come back to you. If they do, then you consider yourself lucky, if they don't then you just carrying on loving them no matter what."
Chloe looked at him in surprise, but the expression he wore told her that he was telling the truth. He was a good father.
"I guess I never understood that" she said, the look of pain clouding her vision making Jack want to protect her from any new pain.
"I have a question Chloe" Jack asked, his hand reaching out now to lift her chin so she had to look at him.
"What?" she asked with a shuddering breath.
"How did you convince me it was you? I understand why you did it but I don't understand how you looked at me with such hatred. Without that I would never have believed you, but when I saw the look in yours eyes I had no choice but to believe you."
Chloe couldn't bear the intensity of his gaze any longer and she shifted away from his touch, blinking back the fresh tears that were forming in her eyes. She again looked to the ground as she spoke.
"I . . . . I can't tell you Jack" she said on a shaky breath.
"Why not?" he asked, moving forward so she couldn't escape him even if she could escape looking at him. She was silent for a few moments, unable to find the words that would give him a satisfactory answer.
Eventually she summoned the courage to look at him and when she did she saw patience and she saw understanding in his expression.
"Because it's too painful Jack".
He nodded as though he understood perfectly what she was saying even though he couldn't possibly.
Chloe sighed and eventually she sat back against the bench. She looked at him then, deciding that he deserved at least some honesty from her otherwise he might believe that she really had felt hatred towards him.
"I imagined you were someone else Jack. Someone who hurt me badly" she said simply.
Jack reached for her again and this time she didn't try and stop him. His fingers traced the tracks of her tears, gently wiping away the fresh tears as they fell. Eventually he spoke.
"Maybe one day you'll be able to tell me about it" he said gently, "if you want to I'll listen."
She smiled at him through her tears and in response he pulled her towards him and held her, gently rocking her in a soothing motion. Eventually they pulled apart and Chloe brushed away the last remnants of her tears.
Jack took hold of her hand and tugged her up from the bench. "Come on, let's get you home."