Author's Note: In anger over Audrey's return, I began mentally making a list of all the qualities I love about Jack and Renee's relationship. The one that stuck out to me the most was that both of them did everything to save and protect the other when they were together. I thought of the scene where Jack is tortured by the Russians after Renee kills Vlad, which got me thinking "What if the roles were reversed?" This is set in a completely AU world in which Jack and Renee are happily living together after day 8. This fic has descriptions of violence and torture, so don't say I didn't warn you. ;)
Renee rolled over, wrapping the cream sheet around her like a cocoon. She looked over to find Jack in the kitchen flipping pancakes. Reaching over to his nightstand, she fumbled around for his phone before bringing it to her ear. "Jack's phone," she answered. Nothing but static on the other line, then words all at once. "No, you have the right number." Renee sat up as eight beats of silence made Jack twitch. Renee hung up the phone, staring blankly at the wall. "Jack!"
"I wish people would stop telling me shit," Jack said as he loaded his black bag full of gear.
"Jack," Renee placed her hand over the bag until he looked up at her. "You don't have to do this. Just report it anonymously to the police."
He seemed to consider this for a moment before retorting, "These people are after me because I killed someone they love years ago. I've stayed put for over a year. For the longest time I would disappear somewhere...I'm not running again."
"Fine. But we're doing this together. I am not sitting on the sidelines while you get your ass kicked-"
"I don't want you getting hurt again. Please." He cut her off, but knew that there was nothing he could do to change her mind on this. One look into her eyes and he gave in. "Fine. But you're wearing a vest. Chloe should call with a lead on their location in 15."
***
Jack should have been there 10 minutes ago. Renee glanced at the clock half a billion times, before calling Chloe. "Jack's not here yet. Stay on the line in case something happens."
"Let him go," her voice was surprisingly calm, despite the tremors in her words. "I'll trade you. Me for him." She waited for a response, digging her nails into the palm of her hand to keep from running over to him. Jack was beginning to drift back into consciousness. "You'll have more fun with me, don't ya think?" Her eyes scanned those of her captors.
"Re-" Jack started only to be interrupted by the barrel of the gun hitting his temple. Renee inhaled sharply at the sight.
"You're running out of time to make a decision. If what you're seeking is revenge, this will hurt him more than anything you could ever do." Fighting the tears threatening to come had never been harder as she stared at Jack's bloodied, unconscious body on the ground. She could feel her body shaking. If she was alive when this was over, Jack will probably kill her himself.
"Enough." A man with dark skin and short black hair held up his hand. His accent was thick. Renee assumed he was the leader. He walked over to her slowly and lifted her chin inspecting her eyes. "You look scared. Stop shaking."
"It's hard to look your best with a gun in your face." Her body was still now, challenging him as her eyes moved past his shoulder to his men.
"Okay. Let's take her." He grabbed Renee's wrist flinging her towards the door. "Leave him here. The police can deal with him."
When Jack's eyes opened, he panicked. Jerking his body upward, he immediately knew he wasn't in a hospital bed, but he was restrained to an uncomfortable seat. They were moving, and when he heard her voice it all clicked.
"Make a left here," the familiar voice demanded. "The tracker says on West and 3rd. You can leave once we get there."
"Renee? Where is she?" Jack continued to panic, squirming every way he could to get out of the restraints; but Chloe was prepared for this.
"Stops moving Jack you'll only hurt yourself. Renee let herself be taken. We're looking for her now. I couldn't risk you doing anything stupid." Her voice was cold as her mind flashed back to what she thought would be their last day together. She could see Jack with his rifle pointed at President Suverov's head. He stopped moving.
"So you know where she's at?" Jack's voice was calmer, but the edge was still there.
The silence was deafening. Chloe bit her lip. "We know the general area. But the data is over 8 hours old."
His voice was barely audible when he replied weakly "I can't lose her again, Chloe. Not again."
"I know." Her jet black hair blocked Jack's vantage point of her face.
By the time they took Renee's blindfold off and threw her into a dark, dusty room, she had already matched almost everyone's voices with their names. She studied the room, searching for anything that could be a potential weapon. Stumbling upon a broken pencil, she tucked it uncomfortably inside her shoe. Her breathing quieted to listen to the approaching footsteps. Tip toeing to behind the door, she attacked the moment it opened. The first pain she registered was her left eye and cheek, followed by the familiar taste of blood. A knife cut into her right ankle as she turned and smashed her opponents head into the ground. A sudden, unexpected force jerked her from the ground, taking her to a new room and throwing her down, kicking her abdomen, legs and arms, until she was barely conscious. Relief came for 10 seconds until the weight of his body was on top of hers, strangling her throat as her mouth began to feel the moisture of his tongue.
She had never been more thankful for having held her food in until now. She leaned over, kicking his body off of hers as she purged any meal she'd ate in the past two days. Crawling to a corner of a room, she let herself puke until all she was doing was gagging on her own saliva. This bought her 45 minutes of alone time until she was handcuffed to a pipeline
***
"Damnit!" Jack yelled, slamming the van door shut. No longer restrained and having drawn strength from the water Chloe forced him to drink, a new anger and energy overtook him (not to mention the pain meds she stole from the doctors office while Jack was searching the buildings).
"Jack! Police scanners just recieved a call about a noise complaint in an abandoned house. The neighbors reported screaming and things shattering. They just got back from vacation not 10 minutes ago."
"Drive!"
"Yelling is not going to make me go any faster!" Chloe's voice was angry but she understood as she made a sharp U turn.
***
The probing of her skin would have kept her unconscious if not for the electricity surging through her, or the burn marks being formed. She had yet to speak, only scream and occasionally spitting in their faces.
Her will to live was fading. Perfect. Hadn't that been their goal all along? What better way to avenge their leader than doing what would hurt Jack Bauer the most? Jack. Reluctantly her mind drifted to a place she rarely allowed it to go; the idea of Jack in China for 20 months. She had only been here for about 10 hours.
I didn't want to die for nothing. I wanted my death to mean something. His words from what had to be over a year ago played in her head. It was the only time she didn't regret asking him about China, something she only did when he would have a nightmare. Both of them hated the subject, but there were days he needed to get it out of his system.
The sound of gunfire startled her awake as her tortures ran to defend themselves. She pinched the pencil between her big toe and the one adjacent to it, and worked her shoe off. Kicking off the pole with all of her weight, she stabbed her preoccupied captor in the throat, then choked him into unconsciousness with her feet. One out of six. In a matter of minutes they were all dead, a bloodbath beneath her.
"Renee!" Jack's voice was loud and panicky.
"Over here!" The pain of talking hit her, but Jack was there within seconds. He undid her handcuffs as she collapsed into his arms, half naked, bloodied and bruised.
"Shhhhh. It's okay." He held her close but gently for a minute before directing her to lean back. Reaching for the gauze in his bag, he wrapped it around her waist, then her head, and so forth. He took out four of the painkillers Chloe had supplied him along with a water bottle. They could hear the police announce their arrival, but with all the bodies it might take the police a few minutes to reach them. "Chloe gave me a change of clothes for you. Do you want them?" She nodded yes. Slowly, he lifted up her legs one by one and slid the black leggings on.
"I...I can't...move my arm. It's broken." She lifted the arm up that she could still use and he slid the shirt over her head and eventually got it around her hand, up her arm, and onto her black shoulder. He'd never seen her in this bad shape, but he decided to hold her until the police found them.
"I got her Chloe. She's okay. You might want to stay out of this mess. Police are coming."
"Okay Jack, " the voice spoke into his ear. "Thank you. Keep me updated." He kissed Renee's forehead as he took the com. out of his ear and shoved it into his pocket.
"You're shaking...I'm okay...promise." Her voice was exhausted, but she still found the strength to lift her head up and kiss him on the lips before laying her head on his shoulder again. "See?"
Jack looked up to find a wide-eyed police officer staring at them. It didn't take long before they were surrounded by them silently watching. Jack leaned close to Renee's ear, "Lets go," he whispered. The cut on her ankle was deep, and not as fresh as the others. Renee sat up, but Jack carried her before she could protest.
Jack sat next to the hospital bed and held ice to his own wounds.
"Take me through what happened," the officer said. Jack looked at Renee and lightly brushed the hair off her forehead. She would wake up any minute and Jack didn't want any of the officer's here when she woke up. "Mr. Bauer?"
He twitched and looked towards the direction of Officer Reynolds, a tall, medium weight caucasian male with dirty blonde hair and a round face. "During my first few years at CTU, I was part of a group tasked with bringing down a man whose name is top level security." Jack looked around the room, antiseptic walls and counters. "To bring him down we had to detonate a small bomb. Everyone was supposed to be out of the area...But they weren't. There was a 12 year old boy left. I gave the go ahead not knowing he was in there..."
Neither man spoke for a minute. Officer Reynolds broke the silence, "So this was a revenge vendetta?' His words were solemn and he finally let himself look at Renee.
"It was supposed to be me. She found me and begged them to take her instead."
"How did she find you?"
"I'm assuming she tracked the signal on my phone until it died and used drones from there." In reality this was Chloe, but Jack chose to leave her out of his story. "It's a second instinct to her."
Renee began to stir and the officer dismissed himself. It never ceased to amaze Jack how many words could be said in their silence. One mind and two bodies. They sat like this until a nurse came to check on her, making small talk to disintegrate the tension. "I would do it again," she whispered. "And I know you would do the same for me. You have."
Words began choking him, but she knew what he would say. He would tell her how he loved her, but he didn't have to, because everything they did for each other was an act of love; the sleepless nights, the petty fights, every time he touched her, so gentle from hands that could do so much harm, the sacrifice. It was everything.