Remedy
The drive back to CTU was subdued.
"I can't believe he's called me back in after sending me home," Chloe kept muttering. She'd taken the wheel; Jack had been in no mood to argue, curling up instead on the backseat and shivering violently. "Plus, he's going to take one look at you and…" She sighed. "Well, it's his problem. He knows I'm sick."
"He must have his reasons," Jack muttered, his head pounding.
Chloe snorted. "Yeah, right…. Oh, we're here."
She pulled up in her usual space, and after flashing their ID badges to the bored looking guy at the security station, they proceeded back onto the floor they had vacated only hours previously.
Bill ran down the stairs towards them, his pace slowing dramatically as he took in the sight before him.
"Not you too," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "That's five people down," he added, more to himself than to the ailing agents stood in front of him. Sighing, he made a decision. "I need one of you here," he told them. "Chloe, as you appear to be in better shape, I'm going to have to ask you to stay. Jack, I'm calling you a cab home."
He was about to walk away when Jack called after him in protest.
"Bill, I'll stay."
"You will do no such thing." He reached into his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. After pressing several buttons, he held the phone to his ear and turned away as he began to speak.
Chloe snapped, her irritation palpable "Jack, go home. Stop… being so… stop being you for a second and take a look at yourself! Honestly, I doubt this, whatever it is, will take very long."
Jack leant his head against the doorframe and groaned. "I hate this."
"Yes, well, go home and rest." Chloe cringed at how motherly she must have sounded. Not quite the impression she had wanted to give him…
"I'm sorry, Chloe," he said quietly.
Before she had a chance to respond, the floor erupted into chaos, and she found herself dragged into the middle of it, watching helplessly as Bill took Jack's arm and led him outside to wait for the cab.
…
Chloe hummed to herself as she worked away in tech one, the hum of the servers providing ample background music to her tuneless noise.
A sudden whir jolted her out of her reverie, and a string of expletives followed as she worked frantically to figure out why the machines weren't doing as she asked them.
"Come on, don't do this now… damnit!" she shouted, losing her normally composed demeanour and hitting the computer sharply with the palm of her hand. The machine hissed dangerously, causing Chloe to back away in horror, stupefied as to why she couldn't fix this particular problem.
She slammed into something solid, and found herself steadied by strong arms as she stumbled towards the wall.
"Easy," he murmured as she struggled against him, his arms slacking a little in their grip around her as she slowly found her footing.
At the sound of his voice, Chloe stiffened.
"What are you doing back here?" she demanded, pulling away and turning to face him.
"I told Bill I was well enough to come back," he replied, shocked by the coolness of her tone.
"Oh, right."
Neither could meet the other's eyes. Chloe stared away towards the now silent server; Jack kept his gaze focused on the wall just past her head.
"How are you?" he asked finally, hating the bitter silence between them.
"Fine. You? Duh, you must be okay, you're back here." She answered her own question, anxious for him to just leave so she could go on pretending like that night had never happened…
"Chloe… about that night…"
Her heart felt as though it were about to be ripped from her chest. She looked at his face; it was as though he could barely bring himself to say the words, to acknowledge what had happened.
"Forget about it, Jack," she told him, moving away and refocusing her attention to her earlier task. "I know I have."
Jack stared at her in disbelief, tears flooding his eyes unbidden. "You have?" He tried desperately not to let his voice waver.
Still she didn't look up. "Yes. It was silly. Heat of the moment."
"Heat of the moment…" he murmured.
"Yes."
"I, uh…" He stumbled away from her, towards the sliding doors leading to the main floor. "I've got to go."
She heard the doors click shut behind him. Only then did she look up, blinking furiously at the sudden moisture now pooling in her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her choked words echoing around the hollow, empty room.
…
"Chloe!"
She spun round at the sound of her name, to see Bill striding towards her, annoyance printed all over his face.
"Yes, Mr Buchanan?"
He came to a stop in front of her, his eyes telling her that this was serious. "Chloe, have you seen Jack?"
"No," she answered quickly, alarm rising in her chest. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"Milo's just informed me that he saw him leaving the floor four hours ago. I was hoping you'd be able to tell me where he is."
Chloe's heart started to beat rapidly. "Four hours ago?"
Bill nodded tiredly. "Yes. It seems he's been out of the building for four hours and no-one thought to tell me." Sighing, he added, "I appreciate he has a habit of doing that, but since this is unrelated to a terrorist threat, I would have liked to have been kept in the loop."
"Mr Buchanan, I don't know where he is, okay? He's not been well, maybe he's gone somewhere to rest…" Chloe's voice trailed off as realisation dawned on her. Bill watched her face attentively.
"You know where he is, don't you." It wasn't even a question.
She nodded quietly.
"Then go and find him."
"Mr Buchanan, I don't know if he'll want to come back. I mean, he left here for a reason."
"I don't mean find him and bring him back." Bill placed a hand on her shoulder. "I mean, find him and tell him."
"Tell him what?"
"How you feel."
…
She pulled the car into the somewhat familiar parking lot and killed the ignition, noting immediately that his black SUV was not to be found among the sea of vehicles already littering the area.
Maybe he's not here…
Certain that she was right, Chloe stepped out of the car and made her way over to the main desk. The tall, balding, middle aged guy that turned to greet her recognised her from her last visit.
"Ah, you're back," he mused, an irritating twinkle in his eye.
"Yeah… listen, is room 10 free?"
He scanned the list tacked up on the wall behind him. It seemed to take an age before he finally turned towards her, his eyes sparkling with glee as though he was trying and failing to keep a secret. "Yes, it is," he replied, grinning. "Shall I get you the key?"
But Chloe wasn't listening.
"Hey, where are you going?" he called as she backed away and headed hurriedly back towards the car.
He's not here. He's not here. He's. Not. Here.
Chloe hastily climbed back into the car and locked it behind her, disappointment raging through her veins. Biting back tears, she thought frantically of anywhere else he could be, her mind coming up blank.
It was then that she noticed the Government issued vehicle parked next to her.
…
"What the hell?" Jack muttered aloud as he moved towards the front door. Who visits you in a motel?
He wanted nothing more than to be left alone. No-one would find him here, and he could stay for as long as he wanted, unable to go back and face the knowing stares from the agents on the floor, those who had seen him and Chloe return all those weeks ago and had no doubt been giving her grief about it ever since.
It was selfish; he knew that. She didn't deserve this, the comments made when people thought she wasn't listening. He knew how much it bothered her, although she never let it show. He'd always been able to read her.
At least, he'd thought he had.
Jack unlatched the door and threw it back in frustration. The angry words died on his lips when he saw Chloe stood on the other side.
"Bill sent me," she offered.
Jack said nothing, merely stood back to let her in. She paused before crossing over into the room, her analytical mind taking in every detail and noting how every one was the same as before.
"I'm not coming back to CTU, not today," Jack told her, needing to keep it brief. "Tell him I'm not feeling too great."
Chloe turned on her heel and felt her temper flare in her chest. "I'm not lying for you, Jack." She regretted the words instantly, when, for the second time that day, Jack took an unsteady step away from her. "Jesus, Jack. I'm sorry." She stared down at her feet. "Bill didn't really send me," she informed him quietly. His head snapped up but he said nothing, waiting for her to continue. "Well, he did. But he didn't know where you were. And he didn't want me to bring you back to work."
"What did he send you for?" Jack asked, when Chloe fell silent.
She took a shaky breath and counted to ten, needing to build the courage up inside her. "I didn't mean what I said earlier, Jack."
Jack felt his stomach tie itself in knots, and he closed his eyes. "What did you say earlier?"
"About… about… you kissed me," she stuttered in reply, her resolve wavering at his apparent nonchalance. She forged ahead regardless, needing to say it before she lost the nerve. "I haven't forgotten about it," she finished, her voice now a whisper.
Silence filled the small room. Suddenly, the air became oppressive, and Chloe found herself moving back towards the door and the safety of her car.
"I'm sorry, Jack. I just needed to tell you."
"What are you trying to say?"
His words, so soft yet full of meaning, stopped Chloe in her path. "I think I'm trying to tell you what you tried to tell me, all those weeks ago," she said sadly. "At least, what I thought you were trying to tell me. Obviously I was wrong, and I now feel stupid, so I'm just going to leave-"
"No."
"What?"
He moved towards her, closing the gap between them in two short strides.
"We never quite say it, do we?" he murmured, reaching out with a shaking hand and brushing his fingers against her cheek. "Doesn't stop us from feeling it though, does it?"
Chloe bit her lip, unable to answer him, her skin reacting to his touch.
"You don't need to tell me," she managed finally, her breath coming in short gasps as he tangled his fingers in her hair and began smoothing it back from her face. "It's okay."
"What if I want to tell you?"
"Huh?" Chloe blinked stupidly, her mind refusing to co-operate.
"What if I want to tell you that I love you? That I'm in love with you. I want to tell you every single day, if you'll let me."
She couldn't help the tear that slid down her cheek, nor the torrent that followed as he caught first one then another drop with his thumb, drying her eyes and murmuring words into her ear.
"How did you find me?" he asked later, as they lay side by side on the bed, Chloe curled into his side and his arm protectively around her waist.
"Don't laugh, but I asked the guy if our old room was taken, and he said no. So when I saw the CTU car, I figured you had to be here, so I knocked on every door till you answered."
In spite of her warning, Jack felt a grin spread across his face.
"You're laughing," she accused him.
"I'm not. It's just… you must have gotten some strange looks." He paused. "And there I was thinking that if I took one of CTU's cars no-one would notice."
"Not smart, Jack. Bill would have seen that the car had gone, sooner or later."
"True."
"Plus, I almost gave up… I couldn't see your SUV and I thought that maybe you weren't here, after all…"
"You always knew where to find me, Chloe," he whispered into her hair, not needing to spell out what he meant. "I could never hide from you."
She wriggled out of his grip and lay so that she was facing him. "Did you know I would come looking for you?"
He shook his head. "No," he told her sincerely, his body aching at the loss of contact. "I didn't come here for you to follow after me. I didn't even mean to come here. I just got in the car and drove."
"I'm sorry I hurt you," she said quietly. "I was scared."
"I'm scared too," Jack admitted.
"Of what?"
"Hurting you… losing you. I don't want this to go wrong."
His vulnerability tugged at Chloe's heart. "You can't hurt me, Jack. And I'm not going anywhere. Whatever gets thrown at us, we deal with as a team, like we always have done." She shyly edged towards him and brushed her lips against his. "I love you, Jack."
"I love you too, Chloe." He rolled over so that he lay on top of her, his mouth increasing its pressure on hers. Pulling away for air, he regarded her seriously. "Now, I don't know about you, but I think four hours have passed."
Chloe nodded, not able to respond before he brought his lips crashing back down to hers in the first, of what promised to be many, bruising kisses.