She'd been awake for most of the night, throwing up and aching like she wouldn't believe possible. It was like the worst hangover ever but without the fun of the dinking part. She'd managed to grab a couple of hours sleep in the early hours and was now attempting to sit herself up on the side of the bed. She swung her legs around as another wave of nausea enveloped her. Feeling light headed she sat for a while, controlling the nausea to reduce any risk of motion sickness when she started to move for real.

Maybe I should eat something, she thought. "Bad idea Chloe" she said to herself when another wave hit her at the thought of food. She managed to sidle out of the bed and move slowly to the bathroom where she splashed cold water over her face then stared at her reflection in the mirror; hollow eyes, dark circles and a paler than usual complexion did nothing to appease her sense of despair. She didn't have much going for her in the looks department at the best of times so this was just great. She couldn't even face her morning coffee which was just about the worst situation she could find herself in at this time of the morning. She opted for a cup of chamomile tea instead; for some reason she thought of Edgar at that moment, a single tear forming and rolling softly down her cheek. Chamomile tea and Edgar? She knew there was a connection somewhere but couldn't quite process it.

Oh god, she thought to herself – this is what she's like without her coffee. She was going to be totally useless at work today. She thought about calling in sick but if she did that Bill and Karen were likely to send the cavalry round – Chloe O'Brian sick? They'd probably assume she was being held by terrorists and had called in sick under duress. Anyway, she wanted to go in today; it was to be Jack's first day back at work and she wanted to see that he was ok. She hadn't seen him since he'd been rescued from the boat headed for China and as she'd spent practically the best part of a week working around the clock to find him she felt she had a vested interest in his welfare now. At least that's what she told herself.

Since Jack's rescue he had spent a week in hospital having his injuries treated, then had taken a month off – spending time with both Kim and Audrey. The anticipation of seeing him today had occupied most of her waking thoughts over the weekend. Chloe got up from her seat at the kitchen table, the chamomile tea seeming to have settled the nausea for the time being at least. As she showered she recalled that she'd been ill one day last week and mentally noted that a trip to the doctor wouldn't be a bad idea. She had been under some added pressure the last few weeks and put these episodes down to that, but she thought a medical would be sensible.

By the time Chloe got to work she felt marginally better, still tired and aching a little but the nausea had gone. Bill caught her as she walked in, checking that she was ok and looking concerned. Chloe told him she was fine, frowning at his new found friendliness to her. She recalled how sharply he had spoken to her in the past and realised that over the course of the last few weeks something had changed. It probably had something to do with the time they had worked together from his home to try to help Jack. It was then that they both realised they were genuinely working for the same team. He told her that Jack was here, in conference room one and that he had already asked after her, obviously wanting to thank her for her part in his rescue.

Chloe stood at her station and looked over at the conference room, she could only see the back of his head and he was surrounded by a number of people from division. She decided she would catch up with him later.

Chloe went about her normal morning routine (normal being a day when there was no major threat) for thirty minutes or so before her system crashed. She growled in frustration as she tried unsuccessfully to reboot it. After a few minutes she went into tech one to reboot from there. She was just finishing up when she heard a movement behind her, turned and saw him standing before her, a lopsided smile on his face.

"Hey Chloe"

"Hi Jack. You look better than you did in the pictures I saw of you – which isn't surprising really I guess….. God, sorry that's insensitive of me isn't it?"

He laughed then, a sound she rarely heard from him. "It's good to see you Chloe, how've you been?"

"Ok I guess" she smiled.

Jack walked towards her, stopping barely inches from her. "Chloe I want to thank you for what you did, I've heard from Bill and Karen that without you I would probably be in China by now. Not just that though, I want to thank you for helping me that day; with Logan, with everything."

Chloe saw a flicker of pain cross his face, probably remembering the almost impossible situation he had found himself in.

"Jack, its fine. I was doing my job, if anyone needs to be thanked for that day it is you. You're the one who put everything on the line; I was just supporting you because I knew you were right. I trusted you."

Jack reached up and stroked the side of her face while she looked into his eyes, searching for a clue as to how he really was. He closed his eyes briefly as if trying to shut out the memories that must surely still be haunting him. The hand that had been on her face moved around the back of her neck and he pulled her to him. He buried his face in her hair and held her tightly. Chloe wasn't normally comfortable with this kind of close contact but today this felt right.

They stood like that for several moments, interrupted only by Bill who came into the room looking for Chloe. "Sorry to interrupt" he said, "Chloe, I need you to take a look at something for me."

Chloe stepped away from Jack, smiling up at him. "I'm glad you're back" she said as she walked away with Bill.

Jack smiled to himself, a kind of sad smile. "Yeah, me too" He said to no-one in particular.

Chloe followed Bill to her station, noticing that Spencer had arrived. Every time she saw him it made her angry. Oh, she understood that he was just following orders, that he wasn't really a traitor, but she felt he'd been a traitor to her, that he'd betrayed her in the worst possible way. She tried to ignore her feelings for the sake of work, he'd been brought back in when Jack was missing and just hadn't gone away yet. She wanted to know how long he would be here but didn't want to ask Bill, didn't want to risk giving her feelings away.

Just then she noticed that Jack was standing opposite, staring at Spencer, his controlled anger clear. Oh shit, she probably should have warned him. Before she had a chance to approach him, Spencer looked up and, seeing the expression on Jack's face he paled slightly. Jack approached his workstation just as Spencer stood up "it's good to see you back" he said nervously. Jack's expression didn't change and Chloe decided it was time to intervene.

She stood with her hand on Jack's arm, explaining to him why Spencer had been brought back in, how he had helped to find Jack. "And you're ok with this?" Jack asked Chloe.

"Well, no….yeah, oh I don't know Jack, but this is work. It's not personal."

"It's always personal Chloe".

Just then Chloe felt another wave of nausea come over her; she managed to control it but had more difficulty controlling the dizziness that accompanied it. She must have paled significantly because Jack was looking at her with concern, or at least she thought it was concern. It was hard to tell when he was so out of focus. As her legs buckled beneath her, she felt strong arms around her. Jack lifted her easily and she heard him calling her name as though through a long tunnel as he carried her into medical.

Chloe had been out of it for a couple of hours, drifting in and out of consciousness. She was dehydrated so they'd started an IV and ran some tests. When she finally woke, she was on her own. She looked around her trying to figure out what had happened just as the door opened and Jack walked in. "Hey, you ok?" he asked gently.

"I don't know, what happened?"

"You fainted. The doctor said you must have been ill for a while to get that dehydrated. Why didn't you say something Chloe?"

"I guess I thought it was just some kind of bug or something, I don't know…I suppose I'm not the best at looking after myself and certainly not good at giving into things like bugs."

"Tell me about it" Jack said a wry smile on his face.

Just then the doctor came in with the results of her tests. Jack was just about to excuse himself but Chloe wasn't ready yet to be on her own "stay, please" she said.

He sat down next to her on the side of the bed. "Actually Ms O'Brian, you may prefer to hear the results of the tests alone" said the doctor kindly.

"Why?" she asked sharply "is something wrong?"

"Not exactly, it's just that the results are personal and you may prefer not to discuss them in front of a colleague."

She felt Jack's hand reach over and squeeze her own, as if telling her it was her decision. "No, its ok you can tell me in front of Jack."

"Well, if you're sure" and, at Chloe's nod, the doctor continued. "The test results revealed that you're dehydrated Ms O'Brian, most likely as a result of the early stages of pregnancy."

Chloe looked shocked, as did Jack. "But…..but, how can that be? I'm not pregnant" she said, her voice rising in near panic.

"Actually, you are." The doctor said kindly. "We're not sure how far, I'll need to examine you and ask a few more questions to determine that."

Chloe's mind was in turmoil. Pregnant? Oh my god, I can't be pregnant. I'd be the world's worst mother. She felt tears sting the back of her eyes, she'd been scared a lot since working at CTU but she'd never been as scared as she was now.

The doctor told her he would leave them for a few minutes and would return shortly to examine her. Thoughts were running wildly through her mind, how pregnant is she? Oh, god, would she tell Spencer? Well, it would be hard to keep it from him seeing as he was working back here now.

She felt something stroking the back of her hand, looked up and saw Jack, his face full of concern. She'd forgotten for a moment that he was there. He shifted on the bed so he was facing her, taking her hand in his. "Chloe?" he asked hesitantly.

"Shit Jack, how did this happen?"

He smiled to himself before answering "well I would imagine in the normal way Chloe."

"Funny" she said rolling her eyes and concentrating her features in her trademark frown that told him she was trying to process everything that was happening to her. He sat, offering her comfort until the doctor appeared in the doorway a few minutes later.

"Chloe, I'll come back in a while" he said before giving her hand a final squeeze and leaving the room.

The doctor asked her several questions then examined her. When he'd finished he sat in the chair next to the bed. "The thing is Ms O'Brian; the dates you have given me don't tally with my examination."

"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.

"Well, according to the dates that would make you about six weeks pregnant. In actual fact you appear to be closer to fourteen weeks."

"How can that be? I hadn't been with anyone back that far. The only time for a couple of years was about six weeks ago…..oh my god, but…but that can't be." She said; panic engulfing her at the realisation that there had been another time. "No, it can't be from then, I would've known. It can't be him" she said tears now flowing freely down her face. Oh god, this was worse than she'd thought. Not that anyone could be much worse than Spencer, but at least she knew she could handle him. The other one, well….he was a different matter entirely.