What Happens in Australia, a 24 + Eureka Crossover fanfic

What Happens in Australia…

A 24/Eureka/Dr. Who fanfic

Chapter 1: Crossing Paths

See Author's Note at end

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A voice in Jack's head told him to just keep walking, to ignore what he saw was about to happen. But maybe it was his old training as a CTU agent, maybe it was years and years of trying to save the day, or maybe just because the woman was pretty: Bauer knew he could not walk away.

"Damn it!" he swore, and turned around…

Five minutes earlier…

The evening sun was just beginning to finally cool off as Jack Bauer trudged through downtown Alice Springs. Not that the Australian town was big enough to have a "downtown," but there were enough buildings and people around that Jack felt as exposed as he would have walking through Grand Central Station. He pulled his cap lower over his forehead and kept his gaze down, just in case a random security camera happened to be pointed his way.

Jack had been on the run for six months now, ever since the failure of the New York Peace Conference. He had made it from the U.S. to Mexico, and then down to Peru where he had been able to prevail upon the loyalty of a few of his contacts from his old CTU days to get passage on a freighter to Sydney. From there, he had worked his way inland to Alice Springs, where he was to meet yet another contact, who would help him get to Australia's west coast, and from there to Sangala in Africa where he could finally disappear, safe from the reach of the CIA teams chasing him.

He was still thinking through the protocols for meeting his contact when he nearly walked into someone.

Also five minutes earlier…

"No…We are not doing a presser."

Dr. Tess Fontana ran a hand through her reddish-blond hair in frustration as she walked along the Alice Springs thoroughfare. "I told you we don't have enough to go public with yet," she said into the cellphone. "I will not be the laughingstock of the international scientific community. Again."

The American scientist had just finished a very tiring day at Australia's newest and largest privately-funded radio telescope array. She had been in Australia for over six months now, overseeing the start-up of the facility just on the outskirts of town. She had just about gotten used to the hot, dry weather, which is why she didn't mind most days leaving her car in a public park and walking half a mile to and from the company shuttle that took her to the array. She told herself that it helped her stay grounded, in touch with the rank-and-file workers at her facility. She also reminded herself that she needed to have a serious talk with the contractors who were supposed to have finished the employees' parking lot last month.

As Tess was listening to what her deputy project manager was saying (and thinking up words that would frighten men who poured asphalt for a living), she took her eyes off where she was going and nearly plowed right into the most wanted ex-spy in the world.

"Hey!" she said, coming up short. Tess noted Bauer's scruffy blond hair and ratty clothes. Jack was taller than her, but he was still in the street, with the step of the sidewalk giving her an extra two inches or so on him. He had to look up from under his cap. Tess could tell that the man was preoccupied with something, but she got a glimpse of intensity behind his blue eyes.

"Sorry," Bauer said, slurring the word into one syllable. He shifted to his left, which unfortunately was where Tess immediately tried to move to get past him. After an uncomfortable moment, Bauer smiled weakly at her and then pointed to his right, drawing his body up so that Tess could see he was going to stand still and that he wanted her to pass him in that direction. Which Tess took as if he was telling her where to go, which she did not like. Not one bit.

"Watch where you're going!" she said as she stalked by into the crosswalk. Or, at least, started to walk into the crosswalk, until she noticed that the light was about to change and she wouldn't have time to make it across the street. "Jerk!" she turned and shouted in Jack's direction, and then just as quickly, "Oh, no, David, not you…some guy on the street…" she said into the cell.

Jack Bauer had begun walking away as soon as Tess started to move, so he was already ten yards away by the time Tess' invective reached him. As it was, he still barely resisted the urge to wave back at her as he continued down the sidewalk.

After he passed a couple more storefronts, Bauer risked a glance back. He needn't have worried: Tess was already back on her phone, chatting away at some poor guy Jack did not envy. He knew she had gotten a good look at him, but he doubted she would remember a random street bum. Still, having recognized her American accent, he had been careful to hide his own a moment ago.

Bauer was about to turn back to his own path when he noticed the man following Tess. Jack paused in mid-stride, scanning around. There were no other pedestrians close by, just the beautiful scientist and the man following her. The man who had his hands in his pockets and the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up around his head, despite the hot Outback climate.

"Damn it!" he swore, and turned around.

Tess put away the cellphone and reached for her keys. She was nearly at the point where she could leave the sidewalk and cut across the grass to where her car waited, in the shade beneath a grove. She made sure to walk a few steps further on the sidewalk, to get past the dumpster she had once smacked her elbow on.

The man who grabbed her did so without warning, running up from behind and pulling her with him: it was so quick she didn't even comprehend it as an attack, letting him propel her all the way behind the dumpster before even trying to brace her legs or fight back against his momentum. Her purse went flying, spilling its contents all over the grass.

"Hey –ugh!" she said, as his right hand clamped around her throat and his left grabbed her waist. She tried flailing her arm back at him, but he stayed nimbly out of the way while keeping his vise-like grip on her. He continued pushing her away from the street, toward a row of bushes which bordered the park. She tried to dig her shoes into the soft ground to resist their progress, but he was too strong.

"Shhhh…shhhh…" said her assailant, and he took his hand off her throat, only to produce it again in front of her face, this time holding a knife. Tess was terrified and started struggling again; she was so filled with panic and focused on the knife that she didn't even hear the running footsteps.

Jack Bauer closed the distance between them quickly. He delivered a double-handed strike to the back of the assailant's neck before the hooded man could even react. The thug remained on his feet, but Tess was let go and she fell straight to the ground.

Good, thought Bauer, out of the kill zone. He maneuvered around the criminal, forcing the hooded man to follow him away from Tess. The criminal still had the knife, however, and he lunged at Bauer. Jack recognized the move as an amateurish one, and he instantly countered it, catching the man's wrist and trapping it with an arm lock while getting in a punch to the man's nose. However, the man did not drop his knife, and instead he twisted his body away and kicked at Bauer's knee, forcing Jack to release him and hop backwards in pain. The criminal pressed his advantage, and struck at Bauer again, this time diving at Jack's other leg. Bauer was just barely able to step aside and avoid the thrust, and got in a blow to the side of the thug's head in passing which staggered the man.

Still, the mugger did not go down or drop his weapon, and once he gathered his senses, he turned and faced Bauer in the first semblance of a fighting stance the ex-CTU agent had seen him exhibit yet. But Jack didn't wait for the attack to come to him: he rushed the criminal on his non-weapon side, hooking the man's free arm and pulling it with him as he stepped around the man's back. The mugger was taken off-balance and fell to one knee. He slashed clumsily with the knife, almost catching Bauer in the back, but that just left an opening for Jack to grab him around the neck. He slashed again, but Jack had leverage and gravity on his side now, and he used them to his advantage. Unfortunately, the criminal showed his inexperience even more by continuing to try to fight, and it was just a matter of time until –

A sick popping sound came from the man's neck. Bauer felt his opponent go immediately limp in his arms, heard the sound of the knife hitting the ground, and he knew that the man had just died. After holding on for a second longer to make sure, Bauer slowly lowered the dead man to the ground.

He looked around, to check on Tess. She was already sitting up, and looking with horror at both him and the dead body.

"Are you alright?" Bauer asked, as he scanned the area for any potential witnesses.

The words seemed to jolt Tess back to reality. "Yes," she said, coughing a little. She went back to staring at the dead mugger. "Is he…?" She stood up and began to walk toward the man's body.

"No! Don't touch him!" warned Bauer, as he realized what she was about to do, but he was too late.

"He's dead," said Tess, after she knelt down and checked the man's neck for a pulse. Great, lady, just great, thought Jack. Get your fingerprints all over his body, why don't you?

"He was going to hurt you," said Bauer. "You dropped your purse and your car keys, but he didn't go for either of those," he explained, pointing to her scattered belongings in response to the way she looked up sharply at him.

Tess didn't react for the moment, or at least it seemed that way to Bauer. Then she abruptly turned to one side and vomited.

Wonderful, thought Bauer, More DNA evidence. "Here, let me help you," he said, offering his hand to the woman. As he helped her stand up, he noticed her cellphone was lying on the ground with the faceplate smashed in. One of us must have stepped on it during the fight, he thought.

Tess didn't notice the broken cellphone. Instead, she suddenly looked up at Bauer, having come to a realization. "You're American," she stated.

Bauer cursed himself. He had been so caught up in the fight and its aftermath that he hadn't given a single thought to hiding his accent. He simply nodded and grunted assent. There was no point in denying it; that would simply invite more questions.

"My name's Tess," said the woman.

Damn it! "No," said Bauer.

Tess was taken aback. "Huh?" she said.

"No. No names," repeated Bauer. "Just get your stuff, get in your car, and go." He went to grab her purse and begin helping her gather her things, to help her catch the hint.

"But...but we have to report this to the authorities," said Tess, looking around. "A crime was committed…and that man is dead," she said, looking back at her dead assailant. "We need to call the police, the consulate…"

"No consulate. No police," said Bauer. He had found a piece of cloth in her glasses case, and he went over to the body to see if it would be any good for removing fingerprints from the dead man's neck.

"You're in some kind of trouble, aren't you?" Tess asked, not quite discretely taking a step away from Bauer.

Bauer nearly groaned in exasperation. Why can't you just run away? Jack's contact was skittish to begin with about helping such a high-priority fugitive as himself, and being late to their agreed-upon meeting would only serve to fuel that man's paranoia. He needed to disengage from this situation, and in relatively short order.

"I know a lawyer," Tess was saying. "Here in town. He can help you -"

"No," Bauer said again.

"No consulate. No police," said Bauer.

Tess watched her erstwhile rescuer grab the lens cloth from her glasses case. She didn't know why, but she had the sudden feeling that this man was one of those people who could kill somebody eight ways from Sunday with just his pinky finger. He literally just killed a guy with his bare hands! she thought, with the corollary Who knows how many others?

Then she connected the dots: "You're in some kind of trouble, aren't you?" Tess asked, taking a quick step back. It was only when she saw him start walking away from her and over to the body did she relax. But the look on his face as he glanced back at her revealed that she had divined at least one of his secrets.

"I know a lawyer," she blurted, that part of her personality that always wanted to help others reasserting itself. "Here in town. He can help you -"

"No," Bauer said again.

"No, really, I know a lawyer," insisted Tess. It was true. She had recently met an attorney who practiced in Alice Springs. She had even let the man take her to dinner. Twice. And the fact that he had turned out to be married was completely irrelevant to the present situation.

"Steve can help you," she repeated. "If you turn yourself in – "

"No," said Jack. "I can't turn myself in." The man stopped as if marshalling his thoughts, or debating how much to tell her. "Lady, let's just say you're right: I am in some trouble. Some serious fucking trouble. I get caught for something like this" - he gestured to the dead mugger - "it's over for me."

"What…what kind of trouble?" Tess asked.

"No," said Jack. "I can't turn myself in." He stopped and thought. She seems really smart. Maybe I can use that to my advantage. "Lady, let's just say you're right: I am in some trouble. Some serious fucking trouble. I get caught for something like this" - he gestured to the dead mugger - "it's over for me."

Her response was predictable: "What…what kind of trouble?" she asked, hesitant to get the words out, as if thinking through the implications of what he had just said.

Okay, thought Jack, cover story time. He made a show of deliberating before beginning to talk, as if deciding whether to tell the truth. "I was running heroin into Port Stanley," he finally said, after theatrically letting out a breath. "My boat got impounded. The local drug boss said he would fix it – I assumed that meant he would bribe somebody." He stopped and faked a pained look at Tess. "He and his crew shot up the harbormaster's office! Killed a guy! I had no idea they were going to do that!"

"Oh my God!" said Tess, a look of genuine concern on her face.

"I managed to get a ride all the way out here while the authorities were focusing on rounding up the drug gang," Jack said. "I've got an old friend near here who can get me to a safe place down south, so I can lay low until this blows over." He stopped, pleased with himself. Sprinkled a little truth into my lie to make it more believable, he thought. After all, I am here to meet somebody. And she's smart enough to have picked up on the false direction of travel I planted in that story; she'll remember that when she goes to the police, and send them on a wild goose chase.

"Jesus!" Tess said. She shook her head, then looked down at the dead man again.

I need to extricate myself ASAP, thought Bauer. I need to get to Solly's place and pick up those travel documents before he bugs out on me. "That's why I can't get involved in this, why I can't go to the consulate or the police," he said. "Nobody knows I'm in Alice Springs. I need to find my friend and get on my way." He took a step toward Tess, adding a pleading tone to his voice. "I need you to do something for me. Grab his feet." He turned away from her, and bent down over the dead man's upper body.

"Grab his feet."

Tess bent down to grab her dead assailant's legs, but then she suddenly realized that she was bending down to grab her dead assailant's legs, and stopped. "N-…N-…No!" she sputtered. "I am not grabbing his feet!" she said. It was a sign of just how batshit insane her day had become that she had had to stop herself from doing so.

Bauer simply ignored her, with a huff picking up the mugger's body under the shoulders and dragging it toward the dumpster.

"Uh…People are going to find him there!" sputtered Tess, pointing to the dumpster. Dear God! she thought. I'm suddenly an expert in hiding dead bodies?!

"Better than out in the open," said Bauer, as he tried to heave the body into the side opening of the dumpster. Unfortunately, he lost his grip in the process and the body hung on the lip of the opening, threatening to fall down on the outside of the container.

Tess was only a few feet away, so she did the instinctive thing and reached out simultaneously with Bauer to try to hold the body against the metal wall and push it into the dumpster. However, they weren't able to get leverage before gravity overcame their tenuous effort and the corpse flopped gracelessly to the ground.

"Damn it!" said Bauer, though with more annoyance than anger in his voice. He reached down and grabbed the dead man's left arm, and, with a renewed spurt of adrenaline and purpose, jerked the corpse up. There was a sick, snapping sound as the shoulder joint broke, but Jack was able to get under the body and throw it over his own shoulder. He staggered under the weight as he maneuvered it toward the trash receptacle, and this time Tess didn't wait before coming over and adding her strength to pushing the body up, over, and into the opening. Once they heard the body hit the floor of the dumpster, Bauer slammed the door to the opening shut.

Tess just stood there, looking down at her hands in shock. She couldn't believe that she had just helped throw a human being into the trash, even if he had been dead. "Are you okay?" Jack asked.

She looked back up at Bauer. "An hour ago, I was in a department heads' meeting," she said, "and now I'm in the middle of the goddamn French Connection! That's the very fucking definition of not okay!" She walked a few steps, then turned and gestured toward the dumpster. "I was almost killed, and now that person is dead, and I HELPED MOVE A BODY!"

"If it means anything, you didn't help all that much," said Bauer, unconsciously rubbing at the small of his back.

But Tess wasn't paying attention. "That one's not on my bucket list," she continued. "Run with the bulls, climb a mountain, commit felony obstruction…"

"He was going to hurt you," said Bauer, looking straight into Tess' eyes. "He won't be mourned." Bauer looked around. Tess realized that he was making sure no one had seen them. That made her nervous.

"What's your name again?" Bauer asked. Despite herself, and the situation, Tess was slightly miffed that her now partner-in-crime couldn't remember her name.

"Tess!" she stated.

"Tess," said Bauer, "there's one more thing I need you to do for me."

She looked up expectantly at him.

"Go home."

When he saw Tess was taken slightly aback by what he said, Bauer continued. "Go home. Go home and forget this ever happened."

"No…No…" Tess started again, "I have to go to the police…"

"Tess," said Bauer, "no one knows this happened. We both can just walk away."

"It's my car," she said. "Alice Springs isn't that big: everyone knows I park here." She pointed to the dumpster. "When they find the body, I'm the first person they'll ask – "

"They're not going to pin this on you," Bauer said exasperatedly. "He had at least a hundred pounds on you," he said. "There's no way they'll believe you broke his neck."

"I'm sorry! This has never happened to me before!" Tess practically shouted, tears beginning to well up. She was still looking at the dumpster.

Jack walked up close to her again. "Tess, I just saved your life. A minute ago, you wanted to help me. If you still do, if you feel you owe me anything," he pleaded, "then give me twelve hours."

At his entreaty, Tess looked up.

"Twelve hours," Jack repeated. "Then you can go to the police. Hell, you can write a book about it for all I care! But give me that head start. Please."

Tess said nothing. Bauer could tell she was at least considering his request. Time to close the deal, he thought.

"Go home. Sit down. Lie down. Have a drink," Bauer suggested. "Wait until tomorrow morning, and then go to the police station. They won't question that you waited so long to come forward. If you want, you can tell them I knocked you down when I ran away, and you don't remember what happened after that. Either way, they'll buy that: it's called shock."

Tess had been staring off as she listened to Bauer's proposal, but she came back to attention. "I know what shock is," she said.

"Can I count on you, Tess?" Bauer asked.

Tess at first appeared to still be wavering on the decision. After a long fifteen seconds, she gave an almost imperceptible nod.

"Thank you," said Jack, and he began to head off toward his rendezvous. Tess just stood, staring at the opening she had helped push the body through.

"Hey!" she said, turning to face Jack as he stopped to look back to her. "Thank you. For saving my life."

It was Jack's turn to nod. "Don't shower or change your clothes," he said as he walked away. "Don't talk to anyone else. Oh, and wash under your fingernails. They'll check there." With that, he turned around and picked up his pace, almost on a near jog as he oriented himself and figured out which way he needed to be going. He did not look back.

Tess didn't react, other than to wipe her eyes. She remained standing, not even nodding as she watched Jack walk away. After he'd rounded a corner, she bent down, picked up her keys, and got into her car.

She started the engine, then had to quickly bail out the door as a wave of nausea hit her. She threw up for the second time that afternoon, barely having the presence of mind to bend over to make sure she did not get any of it on herself. After everything that was going to come out came out, she slid back on her haunches into a sitting position against the doorframe, the car's engine still running. I don't have to lie to the police, she thought to herself. This really is shock.

She would have sat there all day, if she hadn't heard a car drive by. The car didn't stop; rationally, she knew that the driver probably wasn't even looking in the direction of the park, but the thought of getting caught next to a containterized dead body spurred her into action. She got up, practically jumping into her car as she pulled the door shut behind her. Without stopping to put on her seatbelt, Tess backed out of the spot and drove away.

Whether she did it by choice, or just unconsciously, she drove in the opposite direction she had seen Bauer go.

"Damn it!"

Bauer picked up his pace as he continued to head southwest. He knew from his watch that he was already late to his rendezvous. No good deed... he thought.

He dipped into the culvert in the side of the road when he thought he heard a car, but when he saw that no one was coming, he climbed back up and resumed his fast walk. He knew that soon, he would meet his contact and have the passport and documents he would need to continue on to Africa. Soon, he could leave Australia behind.

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A/N: This story has been sitting half-finished in my computer for the last two years. It was meant to be the first chapter of a prequel for my Doctor Who/Eureka/24 stories, but it just dragged on. The Doctor doesn't even show up until Chapter 3 or 4.

Let me know what you think. I'm especially interested in how effective you think the POV switching was.

-Independent Dude