Jack Bauer had lost everything: his job, his family, his name and his freedom. At the height of his despair, he had to decide whether to give up the one thing he had left…his life.

Borrowed Heaven

Jack opened his eyes and looked around. For no reason that he could recall, he was standing in a terminal in LAX. Even stranger, it was totally deserted. He called out, but no one answered.

All he could remember was wishing he were dead. He walked outside. It was sunset, and the sky was on fire. Live music was playing in the distance. Nobody was around. Jack decided to follow the music. The sense of despair was still lingering like a cold fog, but curiosity was starting to push it away.

He followed the music to a forest a klick away from the airport. The trees were thick, but he wasn't afraid. He made his way through, noting that these were not southern California trees. He had seen trees like this farther north, on camping trips to Washington and Oregon, but never around L.A.

The music was getting louder, but it didn't cover a woman's giggling and a man's throaty reassurances. Jack changed course, unconsciously going into stealth mode. He wanted to see for himself that there were people here, but he didn't want to get captured or tortured. He had already been through enough of that for five lifetimes.

He reached a clearing. A man and a woman were lying together in the soft grass, staring into each other's eyes. That was no surprise in such a romantic setting. The shock was that these people were dead.

"Tony? Michelle?" It took two tries for Jack to choke the words out. On the other hand, he himself had been "dead," so maybe this wasn't as complicated as it seemed.

Tony Almeida and Michelle Dessler didn't answer. They didn't even look up at the sound of his voice.

Drawn as if on a track, Jack moved toward them. He walked right up to them, saying their names, and still they didn't look up. He waved his hand between their faces. It was rude, but he was starting to panic. Nothing; not the slightest blink or twitch.

"We can't, Tony, not here," Michelle laughed. "What if someone…you know…shows up?"

"Baby, you have got nothing to be embarrassed about," Tony told her. He kissed her deeply. "You are perfect. I love you now–" he kissed her again "–and forever."

"I love you, too," Michelle sighed. Then her solemn expression turned impish. "Maybe just a quick one."

They both laughed.

Jack gave them their privacy. There must be someone else around. He still hadn't found the source of the music. After a few minutes, he emerged from the forest to find himself on a lake shore. A wide grassy expanse led down to a beach. More than a hundred people were dancing, eating, barbecuing.

Jack threaded through the throng of dancers, trying to get their attention and failing. He saw Claudia Salazar and Gael Ortega tearing it up, and Jamey Farrell with Stephen Saunders. That was a little surreal. But their smiles were genuine.

On the fringe of the crowd, Jack saw a familiar figure standing still as a post–Edgar Stiles. Jack threaded through the crowd towards him, but no one seemed to notice, least of all Edgar himself. He was watching the stage with a small, serene grin. Jack followed his gaze to a stage set up right on the lake's edge. There was a blonde that he didn't recognize, pouring her heart into the microphone.

Now that you've left me, there's no returning
I keep comparing, you're always winning
I try to be strong but you'll never be more wanted
Will you make me at home?

Jack thought he saw her wink at Edgar. That was nice. He suspected Edgar had a crush on Chloe, but that it wasn't mutual. Not to mention he was dead and she was alive. That was kind of a hurdle, too.

When the blonde singer finished her song, she exited the stage to meet Lynn McGill, the young man Jack had sent to a martyr's death. Jack moved closer. Damn. He looked even younger up close. Worse, Jack gathered from their brief conversation that the girl was his sister. Jack wondered if they had died on the same day. That had to be a parent's worst nightmare.

Jack moved away, toward the shore.

On stage, Reza Naiyeer was slinging on an electric guitar. The dancers were now flocking around the bar. Jack looked back and saw with a twinge of disappointment that McGill's sister hadn't ended up with Edgar.

She was sitting in Hector Salazar's lap. It seemed Saunders wasn't the only criminal who had entered polite society. Jack wondered if the murderers and conspirators here had paid for their crimes. He wondered if he would have to pay for his if he were to come here. Maybe it was like purgatory, where you burned off your sins and emerged clean.

The thrum of Reza's guitar washed through the area, and he began to sing.

Through early morning fog I see
Visions of the things to be
The pains that are withheld for me
I realize and I can see

Seated at a round table close to the lake, Jack saw the back of someone's head, David Palmer, Richard Walsh, an older woman he didn't know, John Keeler, and Jessie Hampton. Jack had watched Officer Hampton die more than seven years ago. He had miscalculated, and it cost the young woman her life.

That suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

President Palmer (Jack still had a hard time thinking of him as just David) was speechifying enthusiastically. "I don't understand, stammers the Republican. Yesterday I was here and there was a golf course and club and we ate lobster and caviar and danced and had a great time. Now all I see is a wasteland full of garbage and my friends look miserable. The Devil looks at him, smiles, and says, yesterday we were campaigning. Today you voted for us!"

A hearty laugh rose from the table.

"You don't think I'm going to let you get away with that, do you, David?" Keeler chuckled. "So a woman in a hot air balloon realizes she's lost…."

Jack walked around the table to get a better look. The person with their back to him was Teri. His breath caught in his throat. She looked just the same as she had seven years ago.

I try to find a way to make
All our little joys relate
Without that ever-present hate
But now I know that it's too late

Willing himself to look away from her face, Jack moved back around the table to peer over her shoulder. She was sketching Jessie and President Palmer. Here was his wife, as beautiful, talented, and vivacious as ever. He had never allowed himself to imagine that he might see her again the way he saw her in his memories.

The game of life is hard to play
I'm gonna lose it anyway
The losing card I'll someday lay
So this is all I have to say

Several couples were slow-dancing. Jack spotted Ryan Chappelle and a pretty blonde woman he remembered hazily as the woman for whom Kim had worked after dropping out of high school. Carla Matheson. He seemed to recall that she had died and Kim had been accused of her murder. Yet, like everyone else, she seemed to be having a good time.

Tony and Michelle emerged from the trees to join the party. Jack noticed that the area was ringed with tiki torches and crisscrossed with Chinese lanterns. It was beautiful, but he wished he could smell the fresh air or feel the breeze on his skin. It had been so long….

The only way to win is cheat
And lay it down before I'm beat
And to another give my seat
For that's the only painless feat

Jack looked back at Teri's table. None of them looked like they had a care in the world, not even battle-scarred veteran Richard. Jack knew that Richard had at least one scar, because he had acquired it in the Hotel Los Angeles attack in '98. He had seen a grenade seconds before it went off and had gotten between Jack and some shrapnel. Jack had wanted to thank him, but he couldn't find any words that were remotely adequate. In the hospital, he tried to explain before finishing with a pathetic, "How do you thank a man for sacrificing a kidney to save your life?"

Richard had just smiled. "First, don't say I never gave you anything."

The sword of time will pierce our skins
It doesn't hurt when it begins
But as it works its way on in
The pain grows stronger, watch it grin

Taking another look around, Jack was surprised at how many people he recognized. He always knew that he had seen more death and misery than most, but he didn't dwell on it. He took it on willingly, to spare others. The things he had seen, the sacrifices he'd made, the sins he'd committed, were etched on his body like a tattoo. He was living a half-life, with his body walking and his heart here, buried in a mass grave. Now he wanted to rest. He had done his share.

Suicide is painless
It brings on many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please

He spotted Nina Myers at the bar, having a drink with Walt Cummings and Sherry Palmer. He almost laughed. It was insane, this crew of terrorists and politicos and federal agents and cops and collateral damage. If traitors like Nina could fit in here, surely even someone as battered and damaged as Jack could, too.

And you can do the same thing if you please.

Reza finished his song amid loud applause. Jack made a decision.

"All right," Reza announced, "We've had a request. No more songs about death." An appreciative chuckle rippled through the crowd.

Jack was so used to being invisible, it came as a surprise when he saw someone looking right at him. She was a petite blonde girl, surely still a teenager. "Hello," he said.

She gasped a little. Indicating with a bob of her head to follow her, she led him a short ways into the forest. When they were alone, she whispered, "What are you doing here, Jack Bauer?"

Jack smiled. "Visiting. Until I can figure out how to get a permanent visa."

He could tell by her blank expression that she didn't understand the metaphor. "I'm Maya Driscoll," she said. "Aunt Teri said you worked with my mother."

"That's an overstatement. She fired me on her first day."

"Oh. That sounds like something she would do," Maya sighed. "It's too bad."

"Why's that?"

"I was hoping you could talk to her for me."

Jack's smile was rueful. "I don't think she'd want to talk to me, even if I could do it."

"Oh," she said again, tears suddenly springing to her eyes and spilling down her cheeks.

Instinctively, Jack reached out to brush them away. When he touched her, though, she felt as cold as death. He must have felt the same way to her, because she shuddered and pulled back.

"Sorry," he said.

Maya didn't seem to notice. "It's just…I sliced my wrists open to punish her. I wish I could tell her I'm sorry. I want to tell her I love her, and that everything's okay for me, but now I never can."

The father in Jack wanted to hold her as she cried, but as it was, he couldn't do anything but stand there.

Teri found her at that moment, and immediately swept her into a tight embrace. It seemed right that Teri, the warmest and most loving person Jack had ever known, should be the one to look after this orphan girl.

Jack was reminded forcibly of Kim. If he died, Kim had no one. True, she had said she never wanted to see him again...but as long as he was alive, it was still her choice.

In a prison in China, Jack Bauer regained consciousness. Cheng Zhi was standing over him.

"Good morning, Mr. Bauer. We were afraid you might have left us for good."

Choking on his own blood, Jack mumbled, "Not a chance."

He was already planning his escape.

Disclaimer: 24 and its characters are the property of their respective owners. The lyrics come from two songs, "Summer Sunshine" by The Corrs, and "Suicide is Painless" (the theme from MASH) by Johnny Mandel. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Author's Notes: This story is set in a continuity for a series of stories I'm still working on, something I affectionately think of as the Deadpool. When characters on 24 die, they continue their lives in a sort of purgatorial version of Los Angeles International Airport. Here, Jack wakes up thinking he had a really weird dream, but this story is intended to fit with the others (when they get written!).

Thanks for reading!