24: Alternate Scene

Episode 4.25: "Day 4"

By

Chris Wright

Based on the television series 24

24: Alternate Scene – Day 4

Jack ended his call to David Palmer and placed the cell-phone back into his pocket. He felt a little emotional as he said goodbye, but that was to be expected. He would much rather be alive and in this situation than what had previously been planned for him however.

The future was uncertain in his eyes. Right now, he would walk down the train-tracks for a few hours, then try and find a discrete way out of Los Angeles, but that would only take care of the near future. As for what he would do after that, he didn't have the faintest idea. He put on his aviator shades and began walking into the sunrise, and into the unknown.

Tony pulled back into the CTU parking lot and drew up in a spot a fair distance away from the secured entrance to the building. He and Michelle sat in silence without leaving the vehicle, not really knowing what to say after what had just occurred.

"I don't need to tell you that we need to forget this happened," Tony murmured to his newly reconciled wife.

"I know Tony. Jack Bauer is dead."

"People are going to question us; they're not going to stop until they hear the things they want to hear."

"I'm not going to tell anyone Tony," Michelle said, turning to look into the eyes of the man she had once loved, and still loved.

Tony reached over and held her hand in his, allowing himself a small smile, "It's been a hell of a day…"
"Sure has," Michelle said, squeezing her husband's hand, "Did you mean what you said earlier? About leaving here?"

"Every word."

"So did I."
The two gazed into each others eyes, as if compelling them to say the next words.

"It isn't going to be easy. But we can't be happy being here; we need to get out."

"Then I'll be right beside you," Michelle said in a choked voice, a solitary tear escaping the corner of her eye and rolling down her cheek. Tony caught it and wiped it away with one finger, leaning over the center of the car and kissing Michelle ever so softly. As he pulled away, suddenly all Michelle wanted was to leave this place and start a new life. Tony was the man she loved, and she had been stupid to shut him out for so long.

Inside the CTU building, Audrey was sat in Bill's office with her head in her hands. She had managed to stem the tears, but the numb shock of the situation still had a hold of her. Bill had given her a cup of coffee, but at that moment all she wanted was enough vodka to numb the pain. Twenty four hours ago, she was still in the early stages of a relationship with Jack Bauer, and the greatest worry she had was how to tell her father. Now her ex-husband and new love were dead and she was alone. The day had been trying enough without even taking into account the events of an hour ago, but this was too much. Bill entered the room slowly and sat on the couch next to Audrey, not quite knowing what to say, especially as he knew very little about what had happened.

"I'm so sorry Audrey."

"I just don't understand."

"Neither do I."

"Jack would never try to escape. He's not the sort of person to run away from problems. David Palmer himself told Jack that there was no other option, and he had accepted that."

"I know. But there's no way to skirt around it; Jack ran."

"It doesn't make sense!" Audrey yelled, unable to keep her emotions in check.

"Sometimes," Bill sighed, "Nothing makes sense."

Tears burst from her eyes as Bill embraced her, trying to calm her down. Bill would have also, but he was too numb. Although not completely from what had happened, but also from what he didn't know. There was something not quite right about the whole situation.

Chloe sighed as she sent off the fake report of death to the coroners that would seal Jack's fate. She was alone in the deceptive darkness of the server room of CTU, and had never felt so alone. For years she had looked up to Jack as her boss and even as a friend. She had often thought of what he would be like as a boyfriend or husband, but that was just the silly side of her brain talking. But there was no denying that Jack Bauer was a great man; or more accurately, had been a great man. He had often done the wrong thing, but every one of those occasions had morphed into the right outcome. In his years at CTU, he had thwarted numerous assassination attempts on a Senator; helped to detonate a nuclear bomb safely in the Mojave Desert and stopped the country from wrongly committing itself to World War Three; masterminded an elaborate sting operation involving the people who had turned him into a drug addict and eventually stopped an dangerous virus from being released across America; and recently saved the Secretary of Defense from execution and the country again from various devastating attacks. But now after giving his all to his country, he was being sacrificed. And thus, for all intents and purposes, Jack Bauer was dead.

The last words Chloe had said to Jack before Tony and Michelle whisked him away from CTU under cover of darkness were that she would take care of everything. She intended to be the guardian of the secret; after all, she doubted anyone would be able to get into her computer to find out the truth. She sighed deeply as the report finished sending and then closed her laptop. She had to help make preparations for the phony funeral.

Three days later, outside a small church on the edge of the Los Angeles County Cemetery, three people stood huddled against the wind. There was certain sadness amongst them, but there was something else there. They were dressed in black, giving a lot away about the occasion they were attending.

"Well this is going to be awkward…" Chloe said with her trademark bluntness.

"We're here to mourn Jack; it shouldn't be awkward," Michelle replied

"Well considering he's not actually dead. What are we supposed to say?"

"We have to act as normal as possible…even you Chloe," Tony snorted, drawing the famous pout from Chloe, "We have to act like Jack as dead, and as far as Michelle and I are concerned, he is. You're the only one who will have contact with him. If you have a problem with being here then you shouldn't be."

"I don't have a problem."

"Then let's go."
Michelle and Tony took each other's hand and moved towards the church door in a show of solidarity; eventually followed by a scowling Chloe.

Despite Jack's illustrious record, not many people had shown up to see him off. As the young minister looked out from his pulpit to the congregation, he could only count around twenty mourners scattered around the room. He had never heard of Jack Bauer, and simply imagined that he wasn't a very popular person. He had no idea of the real truth.

In the front row sat Kim Bauer with her Aunt Carol. She hadn't stopped crying since Bill Buchanan had broken the news of her father's death to her, and was still sobbing uncontrollably in her Aunt's arms. Chase Edmunds sat next to the two, but seemed disconnected in some way, a look of sadness on his young face, but also one of understanding.

The row behind held Audrey Raines and James Heller, both clearly and visibly devastated at the news. Audrey had stopped crying the day before, but the pain had yet to go away. She blamed herself partly, even though she had nothing to do with it. She wished with all her heart that she had had the chance to tell Jack how she truly felt, but now he was gone and those cries would fall on deaf ears. She stared forward to the coffin and willed a small message, hoping that somehow, somewhere Jack would hear it.

The remaining inhabitants were various CTU and DOD employees who had known Jack; Bill Buchanan and Curtis Manning amongst them. Also, almost at the very back, Kate Warner's tearful eyes were hidden behind a black veil as she took in the funeral of the man who had saved her life and also the one she had loved once upon a time.

Tony, Michelle and Chloe entered the church quietly, sneaking slowly in beside Curtis and Bill with a small, respectful smile as they sat. Kim turned around and also managed a small smile, glad that more friends had managed to make it. She held a crumpled piece of paper in her hand that held the reading she had agreed to make. Although the tears were flowing, she did not feel them on her heavily made-up face. She didn't feel her skin against the welcoming warmth of her Aunt, and she certainly didn't feel her hands gripped tightly by Chase's. She hoped that the non-feeling would continue when she was reading as an orphan in front of all those people.

Kim walked slowly up to the pulpit, staring at the floor and trying not to meet the eyes of any of the mourners. She climbed the stairs, her weak legs almost giving way before she managed to hold herself up on the podium of her sadness. She looked out on the sea of emotional faces and began her speech.

"I'm sure there's a few of you in here who don't know who I am…not all of you have had the misfortune to work with me or try and find me!"

A small communal laugh raised form the congregation.

"So for all you, I am Kimberley Bauer, Jack's daughter…his proud daughter. A lot of people come up here at funerals and pour their hearts out about how unfair it is that their loved ones have gone, but I'm not going to do that. I'm going to tell you all about my Dad.

"Most of the time, he gave everybody who knew him hell; I'm sure people like Tony and Chloe could vouch for that!" Kim smiled, just missing the slight squirming of the two mentioned, "But he was a good person. For years he did he jobs that other people would either be refuse or simply be too scared to do. There's been times when he's been down, but he always got back up, and helped the country he loved. I don't care how classified it is, but I want to say that Jack Bauer has saved this country from assassinations, nuclear bombs, viral outbreaks and nuclear meltdowns.

"But he never craved the attention he deserved. He never went on national TV and told the story of his and his colleague's bravery. He has acted in the best interests of the country for his whole life…" she swallowed heavily, "…even at the cost of his family."

Everyone in the church could identify with what Kim was saying; and most were simply surprised that she could find the strength to say all of this.

"So let's just thank God for having someone like Jack Bauer…" Kim choked through rapidly approaching tears. She quickly descended the pulpit and moved quickly back to her seat before the tears fell, upon which she was comforted by Chase and Carol. But Kim's breakdown wasn't the source of Chloe's sadness and dread; she had asked to do the final reading.

"I don't really know why I'm up here," she began, "I guess I just wanted to pay my respects to a great man…and a great friend.

"I searched for hours and hours for a reading to suit Jack, but I guess the one I found will just have to do."

Chloe unfolded a small piece of paper from her pocket and spread it out in front of him, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
A time to be born and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted; A time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time for war, and a time for peace."

The reading stirred emotions in many of the congregation; it seemed so fitting for a man like Jack. Chloe re-folded the paper and slipped it back into her pocket, slipping back down the stairs for the pulpit in a sort of anti-climactic way. Her reading had been momentous, but she had little idea of what else to say. As she passed Jack's coffin, she whispered a silent apology, wishing for ignorance to the situation.

The small congregation had shrunk even further in number after they left the church and moved slowly towards Jack's final resting place. Only Kim, Chase, Carol, Bill, Curtis, Tony, Michelle and Chloe were left, with the male contingent carrying the coffin. The whole process was moving in a sort of chaotic slow motion that no-one could quite comprehend. It felt like time wasn't important anymore and that it had been pushed aside. Time meant nothing to them anymore.

The group watched as the simple coffin was lowered into the ground and to rest. The service was over, but Jack's life, unknown to most of them, was nowhere near over. Kim leaned over the gaping hole in the ground and dropped a single white lily to the coffin below. Not many people would know it, but it was Teri's favorite flower when she was alive.

"I'm sorry Dad," Kim whispered as the soil was tossed back into the whole, covering the secret up forever.

Many, many miles away, Jack Bauer stared into the sunset and wondered what the future held for him. He would have to come to terms with the fact that the person he used to be no longer existed. But in the quiet moment of reflection as he sat by the side of a disused railway track, he wondered whether everything he had done in his life up to now was worth it. As he stared into the rapidly darkening evening sky, he knew it wasn't.