You wanted more:D The flashback is set in the 24th hour of season 6 (hope it happens!) and the non-italics are in the next season… (if they were still working at CTU).
Disclaimer: Me – no owny 24.
Her voice quivered, "Be careful." She said at last over comm.
He nodded, although she couldn't see him, it was an acknowledgement of respect – he'd do all that he can.
He remembered when she first told him to be careful like that. He'd taken it as a sign of an unsaid truce between them. He didn't apologize verbally to her, but then he didn't expect to apologize for doing his job in the first place. But his actions were picked up upon as if he had apologized and this was the first step in the right direction.
He remembered the end of that day, holding her against him, so that all she could smell was GSR and sweat, the testimonies to a day they'd both rather forget. It took her half a day, but by the end of it, Nadia was one of the few that weren't celebrating that a national catastrophe had been avoided. Doyle wasn't celebrating either. He'd made a lot of mistakes and Jack had shown him that he might still have things to learn about this job. Something he didn't even think there was a possibility of when he first came to L.A to take over.
"Why not me?" He murmured to her, as she stayed silent against him, too afraid to cry – too hesitant to do anything at this moment. She pulled away and looked at him.
"Why not blame me?" repeated himself, voice hard. "I let Cheng get away with the component when Jack would have blown himself up to save it. If the Chinese hadn't wanted the component back, they wouldn't have broken into CTU and wouldn't have killed Milo."
She recoiled at the harshness of his words. It was more real each time she heard that he was dead, but she still didn't feel any closer to moving on.
"But you don't put the gun in my hand, because the gun wasn't in my hand. It wasn't in your hand. But you know whose hand it was in."
She nodded. "Yeah."
He didn't say anything now. He ran his hand over her hair. The sunlight streamed through the windows, leaving a subtle hint of a new day.
"Carpe diem" she said softly. A tear now brimming in eyes that stayed to strong to water before, that kept emotion to a minimum.
"Seize the day" he said just as softly back.
She leaned up and pressed her lips to his, a gentle motion – but one finally surrendering to the prompting of her own fears. She didn't have to hesitate anymore. She could give him exactly what she was too scared to do with Milo. Life wasn't about thinking things through or worrying what was going to happen tomorrow… because there might not be a tomorrow. Life was about action. She thought that he understood that better than anybody.
Today was all that mattered.
"Have you spoken to Jack?" she said as they broke apart, determined to get right back to business.
"I think all is forgiven" he responded, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Good" she said again, and quickly pressed her lips to his cheek this time, before rejoining division.
That was another thing she learnt from Milo. Never leave someone questioning, if you aren't questioning something yourself.
Mike Doyle paused. He knew she was waiting for him to say something before ending the conversation. He'd hoped he hadn't let the silence linger too long.
"You too…" he said finally. He should have said that last time, but he wouldn't forget to again. Each day was a chance to correct the mistakes of the past. Each day was another chance to 'Carpe Diem'.