Bitter Sweet Love
Disclaimer:I do not own the 24 or the characters mentioned in the story, if I did own them though- I doubt Season 6 would have happened the way it did.
Setting:Straight after the end, of the finale of Season 6.
A/N: This is from both Karen and Bill's views; the lines that separate- show it's the other person's POV.
I doubt if Daniels hadn't approved me for military transport back to LA, I don't think I could have got out of Washington faster. Thank goodness I hadn't unpacked my suitcases from earlier on during the day- when I had resigned.
I'm on an aircraft flying back to Los Angeles, finally.
"Uh, Stevenson is it?" I say to one of the agents nearby, who's hunched over and keeps nervously checking his watch while rocking backwards and forwards in his seat. I wonder if he's afraid of flying, looks like it.
"Yes ma'am," the agent replies, sitting bolt upright and looking straight at me. He must've thought I was asleep, or something like that, with that reaction when I spoke. Well I don't blame him, a lot of this ever-so-long journey- I've had my eyes shut, but I wasn't sleeping, no, I've been thinking about Bill and our future, if there even is a future.
"How much longer till we touchdown?" I ask the agent; I thought it was only appropriate to ask him, as he's always checking his, is that a Rolex watch?!
"An hour and a half ma'am," Stevenson tells me, once again checking his, yes Rolex watch.
"Thank you," I say with a nod, I resume my to my thinking, and close my eyes.
An hour and a half?! I wish this jet could go faster, I know it's one of the fastest in the country, but I just hope this piece of metal will get me home in time to fix the marriage I have so carelessly ruined.
I hold my left hand to my heart, making sure my ring finger is over my heart too, it's a small gesture Bill told me to do whenever I felt lonely and missed him.
Whenever I do the gesture, it gives me hope that I can keep going even though Bill and I aren't together; it also makes me feel closer to him. He told me to never forget to do that if I ever really need him, and can't reach him, I never will.
I'm driving home for the second time from CTU in the past 9 hours. Hmm 9 hours that must be a record. Talking about records, how is the covert operation going to be written in my record? Will it say something like 'Jack and I went against a direct order from the Whitehouse', or will it say something along the lines of 'the operation was a success?' Either way, I've still lost my job, so nothing much matters now. My career has been running long enough I guess, 25 years of service to the country, it's time to put my feet up and let the newbies come along, it's only fair.
It's only as I park my truck in the two car driveway do I realise I haven't thought about Karen for the past hour or more.
Karen… I miss her; I wish she were here, right now, with me, just the two of us.
I hold my left hand up to my heart and notice the gold band sparkle in the rising Sun.
I yawn as I step out of the aircraft it was a long flight, and an exhausting one at that.
"Ms Hayes, would you like me to escort you home?" Agent Stevenson asks me.
"Do you know your way around LA, son?" The young agent shakes his head, and blushes a bit. How exactly are you meant to escort someone somewhere if you don't know where you are going yourself, I guess he's only being polite. Born and raised in Washington I believe he told me, typical.
"Don't worry, I'm fine driving myself home, thank you for your kind offer though," I smile as I put a hand on his shoulder.
"Take my advice though, son, have a rest, put your feet up and drink some coffee, it's been one hell of a day, and I know you've been awake longer than me," I say winking to him. He nods appreciatively and gives a small smile, the first smile I've seen him make.
I tried sleeping earlier- it didn't work, I just couldn't close my eyes without having flashes from the previous day and thoughts of Karen appear. So instead I took a nice cold shower, and had a bitter coffee. Hmm now that I think about it, life is a lot like coffee- bitter, bitter sweet.
I know I've hurt Karen I really didn't meant to but she in turn has hurt me but I know she too didn't intend for that to happen, I just wish I could say sorry. Why is life so unfair? I should know though, I've been around long enough to know life is not always fair.
I've been pacing the study up and down trying to decide what to say to Karen when I ring her. I've picked up the phone numerous times and have started to dial her cell but I keep stopping halfway through dialling her number and just hang-up. I don't know what to say to her. What should I say? "Hey Karen, it's me, about earlier…." no…. it's too 'I want to talk to you about what happened earlier' which I really don't. "Hey Karen, it's me, are you free at the moment? How's Wayne? What's his condition?..." no… way too many questions. I place the phone back onto my desk. I still don't know what to say.
The sound of the front door being unlocked and opening startles me, I then hear the familiar jingle of keys being placed onto the bench… it's her…. she's home…
Maybe I should have knocked, rather than just opened the door, no, I'm entitled to walk into my own property. I place my house keys onto the bench. It's warm inside the house; the morning sun is beaming in through the windows bouncing off every reflective object. It's eerily quiet in this house. I know Bill's home because his truck is in the driveway, he must be asleep I conclude.
The thoughts of the day come back to me again, Jack Bauer… hmm- it's funny, whenever he comes back into the world he does best in, it seems I'm working overtime, working for 24 hours to be precise, must be just a coincidence…
I walk into the lounge and near the window; the lounge is the sunniest room at this time of the morning. The view was one of the reasons I chose this house, it has the most beautiful sight of the sea. I'm glad Bill and I found this house and moved in together.
She's just standing there, looking out on the sight I bet she surely missed. We used to always walk into the lounge in the morning sit on the couch and see the sun rising, it's a beautiful sight indeed.
I pull myself away from the wall- I'm currently leaning against. The only person I really wanted to see is here, only 10 feet away. I need to feel her, hold her and show here how much I love her. I decide now's the best time to do it.
The smell of cologne makes me open my eyes- fully, immediately, I feel his arms wrapping around my waist before I get to turn and face him, face my Bill.
I've missed this sort of contact, with Bill and me- it's one of the things I woke up regretting when I was in Washington DC. I lean back into his embrace, I feel safe now. I wish we could be like this forever, but time ticks on and things need to be said and done.
I hope this is a good sign that our marriage won't end.
Love is so fragile; I wish I knew that before. I also now know that the love that I have with Bill, can never be broken.
I feel him gently nuzzle my shoulder. I can't stand it any longer; I need to look at him.
I feel her turn in my arms, and the next moment I find her looking at me, searching my face, for something, she then hugs me tightly and begins to cry. She's usually so brave, and never lets her emotional side out, unless she's really hurting- which she is now. Right now she needs someone who can help her, save her and love her, and I know that someone right now is me.
"Shh," I tell her as I slowly lead both of us to the couch, and sit us down.
"I… just…." she hiccupped; her words don't easily flow when she cried. I hold her tight and as I do I slowly feel my t-shirt get a bit wetter.
"Sorry," I say, that's the only word I can currently get out of my mouth, that's the only word I need to get out of my mouth, the other words are just to fill the time, fill the quietness of the moment.
"Shh, it's all right, we'll talk later," I hear Bill say rocking me reassuringly. . Talk later, rest today that sounds good, I'm too exhausted; I want to go to sleep.
"Hey, c'mon you look tired, let's go upstairs and get some rest," I hear Bill say over my sniffling. He must be reading my thoughts, he does often, I like it when he does, because it just shows the forever-strong bond we have. I nod at his statement. A few moments later I find myself in our bedroom, on the bed. I then start to drift; the sniffling from earlier subsided quite a bit. I know our marriage isn't over, if anything it's finally really started, a new beginning perhaps. Then I'm gone, asleep at last.
I crash down next to her- on the bed, removing my shoes as I'm at it. I watch her face start to relax as she starts to finally rest. I admire her beautiful features; I can't believe I parted with this, some many months previous.
Her breathing is even and her sniffling has gone, yes she's most definitely asleep now.
She looks cute as she sleeps, I think I'll find it easier to rest now with Karen next to me and the thoughts of today and yesterday put aside. My eyes finally close; my last thoughts are of Karen and me happily together. I hope that's what she wants, because that's all I want in this world. Yes, Karen was right, and I was not. 'I love you, and that's all that should matter' was what she'd said to me earlier on the day. I love her, and that is all that really matters.
A/N: Cheers for reading, if you find the time please do review, I love to hear what you think.