I don't own 24 or anything to do with it!

I Know

They stood in a dimly lit back corridor of CTU, watching in silence at the remaining agents on the floor helped bring the day's life changing events to a close, events they had been part of.

They didn't need to speak, didn't need to look at each other to know the other was there, quietly feeling the same pain, sharing the same emotional burden.

Jack took his eyes away from the main floor and closed them, leaning his head back against the wall.

It was Chloe who broke the silence. She needed to speak, to do something to interrupt the confusion of thoughts that were battling inside her head.

"It's over, Jack." Her voice was barely audible but he heard it, heard the anguish as she tried to hold back the tears.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and turned to her, the one person who had been there for him throughout the day, constantly at his side. The one person, he realised, who was still there. And this time she wasn't just a voice in his ear. She was real, and was hurting in a way he'd hoped no-one should ever have to.

"What now?"

His question hung between them, adding another layer to the already heavy air.

She looked at him with tired eyes.

"Buchanan needs me to help Milo clear up… then… who knows. I can't go home, that's for sure. I guess I'll just crash at Nadia's until… until Morris…"

Jack nodded. "Where is he?"

"Well, after he almost killed you, Bill had him put in holding."

Her bluntness caused him to wince at the memory. Two years in China meant Jack had lost his edge, was nervous and couldn't judge people like before. He'd had Morris down as a nice guy. Nice, but lazy, not good enough for Chloe… maybe he had been right on that part.

But when Morris had jumped him in the car park, had pinned him against the wall and held a gun to his head, a weakened and defeated Jack saw then that Morris was far from nice. He'd almost let him do it, almost begged Morris to pull the trigger. But then suddenly, they were surrounded. Morris gave it up quite easily but it still took three field agents to drag him back inside. All the while Jack had kept his eyes locked with Chloe's, forcing himself to hold on just a bit longer. From across the car park, as her ex-husband held him at gun point, she had sent strength flooding through him, had given him a reason to want to live.

"It's not your fault," he told her, as though reading her mind.

"I know, it's just… if he… if you…" She didn't need to complete the sentence.

He didn't tell her he'd wanted to end it, didn't tell her it was because of her that he was still here. She didn't deserve that burden, more guilt than she was already harbouring.

He'd never told her how much she meant to him. Not once.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

She smiled sadly. "What about you, Jack? All that's happened to you today and you're worried about what I'm going to do."

He returned the smile. "I just… care about you, Chloe."

And he did. She could hear the sincerity in his gentle tone, felt a rush of feeling well up inside her.

A few moments of silence followed before he answered her question.

"I need to leave for a bit, I don't know how long."

She nodded, waited for him to continue.

"Every time I come back here, someone gets hurt." As his eyes met hers she knew he was including her in that statement.

"You haven't hurt me, Jack," she told him, her voice shaking.

She desperately wanted him to know this truth, and yet at the same time understood that he would never let himself believe it. For years he'd carried that enormous weight on his shoulders, guilt over Teri's death, over driving Kate away and now over losing Audrey. Why should her words change that? But she had to start somewhere, couldn't bear to see him torturing himself any longer.

Which is why she understood his need to break away from the world, the world he had saved so many times but had let him down in return.

"You're hurting, Chloe."

"We both are!"

She said it so matter of factly that it shook him. Not bothering to deny it, he said, "Which is why I need to leave."

He was letting her go, believing she could rebuild a better life if he wasn't in it. She ached for him but didn't move; both knew what would happen if she took that step.

He turned away from her and looked once again out onto the main floor.

"Looks like they need you out there," he said, emphasis on every word.

Chloe felt a tear slide down her check but wiped it away furiously. He was ending the conversation, giving her her cue to go back out there and get on with her life.

So she took it.

Walking past Jack and towards the double doors leading to the main floor were the most painful steps she had ever taken. She knew this was going to be hard, but if it helped him, then she would do it.

One hand on the door, she turned round to face him for the last time.

"I'll be here when you come back."

As she stood before him, looking stronger and more confident than he knew she felt, the brutal honesty of her words filled him with hope.

"I know you will."

That was all she needed to hear.

With that, Chloe opened the door and walked quickly through it, not looking back, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes or wanting to see the sadness in his.

It was only when she reached her station did she finally turn back, knowing already what she would see.

The corridor was empty.